Chapter 364: Natural Enemy Nemesis
Xu Shu keenly noticed the problem.
The three princes were forced to return to defend by Tian Ze's strategy of besieging Wei to save Zhao, leaving only Liu Bei and his troops to hold on.
In this way, although he was able to block Zhao Yun's troops and cut off their food supply, Liu Bei himself was put in a relatively dangerous situation.
Although it seemed to have the support of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, it was actually no different from Zang Ba's army, an isolated force.
Because its north and south sides were blocked by Zang Ba and Zhao Yun respectively, it could only receive food and grass support from Yuan Shao and Cao Cao's armies from the east and west.
"Intercept Liu Bei's food supply route." Zang Ba looked at the terrain on the map and pondered slightly.
"There is no problem on Cao Cao's side. Pingyin City and other places are connected to the Taishan Mountains. The area between them and the Yellow River is relatively narrow, so it is not difficult to plunder here, and they can advance or retreat."
"But Yuan Shao's side..."
Looking at the vast plain, Zang Ba couldn't help but feel a headache.
Xu Shu smiled when he heard this: "We are not the only ones fighting. Zilong has many cavalrymen who can come and go like the wind."
"There is no need to plunder food and grass. As long as they disperse and harass Liu Bei's army's food supply, Liu Bei won't be able to hold out for long."
Although most of the area between Mount Tai and the Yellow River was the territory of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, due to the presence of the Tianze navy, most of it was isolated and uninhabited in order to protect the people from being robbed.
Although this avoided many concerns of the coalition forces during the battle, it also increased the logistical pressure on Tian Zefang.
But in the current situation, it has become a difficult problem for Liu Bei.
This is why Xu Shu said that Liu Bei was an isolated army.
"If Zilong moves, it will be dangerous if the enemy army surrounds the city."
Xu Shu said: "It's okay. The three armies of the lords have retreated. General Xu Huang should have been released by now. With him by his side, Liu Bei will not dare to act rashly."
In previous battles, Tian Ze had never used Xu Huang's troops or his own troops to ensure that the land of Jizhou was safe and not give the various princes any opportunity to take advantage.
Now, with the retreat of the three princes to the south, the pressure on Jizhou was suddenly reduced. Tian Ze only needed to lead his troops to stay there, and Xu Huang had some room to advance and retreat.
In Xu Shu's eyes, the fact that the various princes had divided their forces and retreated had doomed the battle to strategic failure. Liu Bei's staying could not change the overall situation, it could only delay some time and energy, and the form was greater than the reality.
"What a talented military advisor." Zang Ba exclaimed.
Although Xu Shu is young, he is much better than him in knowledge and vision.
His attention was more focused on the gains and losses of one place, while Xu Shu could clearly see the changes in the overall battle situation.
"However, we still have to be wary of Yuan Gonglu." Xu Shu suddenly said.
After this period of contact, Xu Shu had a new respect for Yuan Shu.
Their current embarrassing situation is not only due to their talents, but also to their character.
As arrogant and conceited as he was in the past, Yuan Shu is now as calm and cunning.
After fighting in the Taishan Mountains for a long time, they had never had a direct encounter with Yuan Shu. This tolerance made Xu Shu more alert.
Yuan Gonglu is not as simple as he seems, nor is he really vulnerable.
Apart from anything else, Ji Ling under his command is definitely capable of competing with Zang Ba.
Even if they broke the harassment and siege of the surrounding bandits, Yuan Shu was definitely the one who had the upper hand in the Taishan Mountains.
Not to mention anything else, just the troops under his command, plus the bandits that were already all over the Taishan Mountains, probably add up to nearly 200,000 people.
Less than 20% of the entire Taishan mountain range is now in the hands of Zang Ba, and the rest is occupied by Yuan Shu.
Moreover, they still couldn't figure out the deployment of troops in various places. They only knew where Yuan Shu was, and that was obviously a trap prepared by the other party. "I understand." Zang Ba nodded.
He had never suffered any loss since he started out, but now he hit a wall when he met Yuan Shu. It was as if he had met his natural enemy, and he could not afford to ignore it.
If someone now said in front of Zang Ba that Yuan Shu was a waste, Zang Ba would definitely challenge him.
Yuan Shu is a waste, so what is he when he is forced into such a situation by Yuan Shu?
After clarifying the battle strategy, Zang Ba took quick action and contacted Zhao Yun, intending to encircle Liu Bei from the east and west and cut off his food supply.
Zang Ba's operations on the west side progressed exceptionally smoothly.
Relying on their extraordinary mobility and nearby mountains, they firmly blocked Cao Cao's army that was transporting grain.
The cunning Zang Ba, under the banner of bandits, deliberately let go of some of the grain-transporting troops to create the illusion that his own grain-robbing troops were insufficient in number.
Not only did they intercept a lot of food and fodder, they also took the opportunity to ambush and severely damage a Cao army that came to suppress the bandits.
At this point, Cao's army completely gave up their hope and realized the identity of this group of bandits.
However, Cao Cao was already overwhelmed by the threat of Zhang Liao's army and had no energy to take care of this matter.
After weighing the pros and cons, they had to give up transporting food and fodder to Liu Bei's army.
The troops led by Zhang Liao and Guan Yu were not dispatched just to scare Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, but they actually fought a great battle with them.
Tian Ze's original strategic plan was to consume the princes in the Central Plains and prepare for the conquest of Xiliang.
After Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and Sun Ce retreated and fought on their own, Zhang Liao and other troops became less cautious and began the battle step by step.
Except that Sun Ce's side did not start a major war because of the presence of Zhou Yu and the special nature of naval warfare.
Zhang Liao and Guan Yu had no scruples and launched a fierce confrontation with Cao Cao and Yuan Shao without any hesitation in avoiding a decisive battle.
Cao Cao is also having a headache now.
His talent should have made him almost invincible in small-scale combat, but he was somewhat restrained against Zhang Liao.
Zhang Liao knew that he was no match for Cao Cao in playing the game of false and real, so he simply used the tactic of adding fuel to the fire and appropriately dividing his troops to fight the enemy.
Although Cao Cao was always able to create a huge military advantage, due to Zhang Liao's selective division of troops and containment, the advantage was not exaggerated.
However, Zhang Liao's talent offset the difference in troop strength very well, making it extremely difficult for Cao Cao to fight.
As a result, even if Cao Cao could win, he would have to pay the price of losing nearly times his military strength.
On the surface, it seems that there is no loss, and even considering the cost of soldiers on both sides, it can be considered a big profit.
But the foundations of both parties are different!
Tian Ze's goal is to destroy the foundation of the princes in the Central Plains.
Every time Cao Cao and other princes lost a soldier, they would lose one, but as long as Tian Ze did not lose a large army or an organized unit, they could easily replenish their forces.
If this continues, the gap in strength between the two sides will only grow larger.
Cao Cao also quickly realized this problem.
Although there were many reports of victory on various battlefields, after carefully calculating the losses on both sides, Cao Cao no longer took the initiative to attack, but instead adopted a strategy of defending and counterattacking.
(End of this chapter)
