Chapter 215 The decisive battle begins
Everyone's eyes turned to Lu Bu and Li Ru.
If there were anyone who knew the generals of the army led by Tian Ze best, it would be Lu Bu and Li Ru.
After all, they had fought against Tian Ze personally.
"This time, Tian Chengshou's army has a total of about 90,000 troops, including nearly 40,000 cavalry. We have identified five generals, Zhang Liao, Zhao Yun, Ma Teng, Le Jin, and Dian Wei." Li Ru said.
Qu Yi and Gao Shun led no more than a thousand men, so their fighting ability was not known to outsiders.
Although Qu Yi once assisted Zhang Liao in defeating the Xianbei at the Great Xianbei Mountain, Zhang Liao's fame was mostly known among the Xianbei, so Qu Yi was still not well-known.
"Dian Wei is a general who guards Tian Ze. He rarely goes into battle and leads only a few thousand guards. He shouldn't pose much of a threat, but he has amazing martial arts skills."
Upon hearing this, Cao Cao couldn't help but glance at Xu Chu who was standing beside him with a silly look on his face.
"We have not yet discovered Zhao Yun's talent, but his martial arts are almost as good as our master's. He commands nearly 20,000 light cavalry and is quite good at guerrilla warfare. He can fight against our master without losing the upper hand."
"Hiss!" All the generals gasped and looked at Lu Bu in shock.
But he saw that Lu Bu's face was a little dark, but he didn't say anything. Suddenly, he became more and more frightened.
It would be fine if there was only one Dian Wei, but there was also Zhao Yun. Did Tian Chengshou have so many brave generals under his command?
"Ma Teng's talent should be related to cavalry charge and melee. The nearly 20,000 elite cavalry he leads are far superior to the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry in frontal combat, and are especially good at trampling camps. Once they charge into the formation, I'm afraid it will be difficult to resist."
"Le Jin's talent has not yet been discovered. He commands nearly 20,000 infantrymen as the vanguard of the Tianze Army. He is good at frontal assaults, so his combat power must be good."
"Zhang Liao's talent has not yet been explored, but in the battle of Daxianbei Mountain, it is known that he is good at surprise attacks and beheadings. Tian Ze and his 30,000 infantry are in charge of the central army."
After listening to Li Ru's words, everyone finally had a certain idea of Tian Ze's army.
Although many situations have not yet been clarified, they feel tremendous pressure just from the known information.
Two fierce generals who can barely match Lu Bu, 20,000 light cavalry who are good at guerrilla warfare, 20,000 iron cavalry that even the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry are inferior to, the ignorant Le Jin and the famous Zhang Liao.
Tian Ze's army of more than 90,000 is really strong!
"It's okay for my lord to lead this battle, right?" Shen Pei looked at Cao Cao and Lu Bu and asked.
"As it should be."
"no problem."
Cao Cao and Lu Bu said without hesitation.
On the battlefield, there can only be one head.
In this battle, Yuan Shao had the largest number of troops and many civil and military officials under his command, and his talents were most suitable for this kind of large-scale frontal combat. There was no doubt that this position belonged to Yuan Shao.
Shen Pei nodded when he saw this, and then said, "Can I be in charge of the command?"
Shen Pei's gaze was mainly directed at Xi Zhicai and Li Ru, and they both nodded indifferently.
All three of them are the best at commanding others besides their respective lords. Although the other two are also strong, Shen Pei thinks he is the strongest.
And he has an advantage in talent, especially when he has the general information about Tian Ze.
Ju Su said: "In this battle, our advantages are that we have more soldiers, more generals, and intelligence. Tian Ze's advantages are that he has better soldiers, more powerful generals, and more cavalry."
"Therefore, we must take full advantage of the talents of Tian Ze's commander and adopt targeted measures to defeat the enemy. In addition, we must focus on preparing for a fierce battle and preventing the cavalry from entering the camp."
"We must force Tian Ze to use his cavalry as soon as possible. In addition, we must be prepared for defense and drag out the battle. The longer it drags on, the greater our chances of winning."
Li Ru said calmly: "I will try my best to create an illusion, induce the other side to send out cavalry as soon as possible and delay their decision-making and action." Many counselors began to deduce the upcoming battle situation and plan tactics.
After it was over, Xi Zhicai suddenly found Mao Jie in private.
"Xiaoxian, do you think we can win this battle?" Xi Zhicai asked solemnly.
"Based on the currently known information, there is a high possibility," said Mao Jie.
"But Tian Chengshou is definitely not that simple. It will be difficult to win this battle."
Xi Zhicai was silent for a moment, then asked the second question: "Is it possible to kill Tian Chengshou in this battle?"
"Impossible." Mao Jie said without hesitation.
"Why?" Xi Zhicai asked somewhat unwillingly.
"Tian Chengshou cherishes his life and acts very cautiously. He will not put himself in danger if there is even the slightest risk. Apart from anything else, the troops of Dian Wei and Zhao Yun alone can protect him."
Upon hearing this, Xi Zhicai let out a long sigh.
really!
"Zhicai, I understand your thoughts. But it doesn't make much sense for you to use your talent at this time. The only one who will benefit will be Yuan Benchu." Mao Jie said.
"I suspect Yuan Benchu has set his sights on Xuzhou and has already started planning something, but he hasn't found the problem yet."
"You are the lord's last trump card, and you must not reveal it easily." Mao Jie said solemnly.
"I understand, but I'm unwilling to accept it." Xi Zhicai said helplessly: "Although it will bring more benefits than disadvantages to us in the short term if we let Tian Chengshou become so powerful, I'm afraid Tian Chengshou can no longer control himself!"
"There is no other way. If we fight head-on, we will die. If we want to change the current situation, we must strengthen ourselves and unify the Central Plains as soon as possible. Otherwise, all other plans will be castles in the air."
In the beginning, Mao Jie was actually opposed to the alliance with Yuan Shao to fight against Tian Ze. He knew very well that this was courting disaster, but he could not convince Xi Zhicai, so Cao Cao chose to come.
The next day, as the sun rose, both armies began to reorganize their troops and prepare for a decisive battle.
Tian Ze's troops were in a traditional formation, with Le Jin as the vanguard and Zhang Liao in the center. Zhao Yun's light cavalry was divided into two and stationed on the two wings, while Ma Teng led the cavalry in the rear waiting for an opportunity to move.
However, the formation of Yuan Shao's army was quite strange. The more than 100,000 troops, mainly infantry, formed a fish-scale formation, and there were many cavalry corps distributed around them.
Guo Jia understood Yuan Shao's thoughts at a glance.
"Sure enough, the other side is using the human wave tactic."
"As expected. The enemy's military strength is more than twice ours, and there are more than a dozen first-rate talents alone. It's only right to deploy such a formation."
Having a large number of soldiers and having better soldiers each have their own advantages.
The former can form numerical suppression and has stronger sustained combat capability, but its actions are relatively slow. The latter has strong local combat capability, high mobility and is easy to command, but it is difficult to sustain.
It was normal for Yuan Shao to play to his strengths and avoid his weaknesses and adopt a tactic of fighting a dull battle and attrition warfare.
"In that case, let's fight. Let them see the gap between us." Guo Jia looked at Le Jin's army as the vanguard and smiled slightly.
Because Tian Ze rarely fought frontal battles, Le Jin, who was good at frontal assaults, rarely had the opportunity to display his abilities. This time, facing the powerful Yuan Shao army, it was time to show off his abilities.
(End of this chapter)
