Chapter 390: Attack but No Defense
On the way from Sili to Xiliang, Tian Ze sighed deeply after learning about the military situation from the Central Plains.
"Sure enough, we still have to do it?"
Today, Tian Ze no longer hides his strength.
Because the times have changed, no matter how much Tian Ze hides, his exposed strength will still make the princes in the Central Plains fear him.
He simply stopped pretending and laid his cards on the table, letting all the warlords understand the gap between the two sides.
The huge gap in overall strength is enough to make anyone feel despair.
Most of the civil and military officials under the various princes had no hope of defeating Tian Ze. The only reason they continued to resist was to gain more say for their lords in the future.
Although these people would not surrender to Tian Ze, nor would they do anything without putting in effort, they would always be conservative when fighting against Tian Ze to avoid "unnecessary" losses.
Only a very small number of people, knowing that it is impossible, still want to fight to the end.
Under Tian Ze's subtle influence, the number of those who resisted was decreasing.
In the minds of Yuan Shao and others, this last chance not only refers to the last good opportunity to fight, but also the last chance to launch an all-out war.
Although Tian Ze did not want to see such a brutal fight, Yuan Shao and others had already burned their boats, so he had no choice but to respond.
Guo Jia, however, looked at the situation around Sili and south of the Yellow River on the map with some excitement.
"Millions of troops!" Guo Jia murmured.
You know, the population under Tian Ze's rule is nearly 50 million, and the total population of the five princes including Yuan Shao is less than 20 million.
Even if we calculate it based on a 10-for-10 ratio, the number of troops that can be recruited is no more than two million.
Coupled with the losses in recent years of war, this army of millions can be said to be their last strength.
It's just like the State of Zhao who mobilized all its national strength in the Battle of Changping.
“If we can swallow this million-strong army in one fell swoop…” Guo Jia looked at Tian Ze with shining eyes.
Tian Ze's mouth twitched slightly.
"Fengxiao, your old problem has come back again."
joke!
The commander of the nearly one million troops on the opposite side is not Zhao Kuo, so it is not easy to annihilate them. Tian Ze doesn't even dare to think about it.
Tian Ze would never do such a risky thing.
It's enough to be undefeated, Tian Ze doesn't even care about winning.
Seeing Tian Ze's attitude, Guo Jia couldn't help but sigh: "What a pity!"
In Guo Jia's view, this is a great opportunity!
There are millions of soldiers scattered everywhere, and they are in an offensive posture, with loopholes everywhere.
With just a little planning, it is easy to destroy all the enemies along the way and then defeat them one by one.
From a military perspective, this could not be a better situation.
It is entirely possible to conquer the world in one battle.
But from the overall perspective, Guo Jia knew that Tian Ze would never do that.
Leaving aside Sun Ce and Liu Bei, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao fought this battle with the idea of risking everything and destroying themselves together.
If Tian Ze dares to fight a decisive war, the two of them will dare to bring the war to Jizhou.
Especially Yuan Shao.
As arrogant as he is, he will do anything when he is forced into a desperate situation.
Once a war breaks out, the risks are too great.
"If we don't fight now, we will have to fight again in the future. Your Majesty, you must be prepared."
Knowing that the matter could not be done, Guo Jia stopped thinking about it and instead gave advice.
The war with the princes of the Central Plains will have to be fought sooner or later. No matter what choice Tian Ze makes, it will have to be fought sooner or later.
"I know, but I just want to minimize the damage while ensuring that everything is safe." Tian Ze sighed.
"Fighting and fighting, the casualties are all Han Chinese, why bother?"
Hearing Tian Ze's words, Guo Jia shook his head slightly.
A man born between heaven and earth, how can he be depressed and inferior to others for a long time? Born heroes like Yuan Shao and Cao Cao would never bow their heads easily.
This battle is inevitable.
Both of them were open-minded people. They quickly put the matter behind them and began to focus on the war at hand.
"Have you thought about the overall tactics for the battle against Gongsun Zan?" Tian Ze asked.
Guo Jia nodded.
"In cavalry combat, there is only attack but no defense. Gongsun Zan is the best at this."
"But if we choose to retreat, we will definitely be at a disadvantage."
"Your Majesty, I'm sure you have heard of the power of the White Horse Volunteers."
"Therefore, we should choose the lesser of two evils. In this battle, we will fight with attack and use force to defeat speed!"
A gleam of light flashed in Guo Jia's eyes, and his heart was filled with excitement.
Although his best strategies were not put to good use, Guo Jia's tactical abilities were still among the best in the world.
Guo Jia did not take his opponents in this battle, Han Sui and Fa Zheng, seriously.
The only thing he was worried about was Gongsun Zan.
This is a Xiang Yu or Huo Qubing-like character. Although their strategies are different, they have almost pushed the situation of their troops to the end.
His grasp of combat opportunities and use of his soldiers were extreme.
This kind of opponent is definitely worth Guo Jia's real skills.
"Wenyuan is also good at speed. He is the commander of this battle. I would like to see who is stronger between the two of them." Tian Ze said with interest.
Gongsun Zan is a talented general rather than a commander, and he is certainly no match for Zhang Liao when it comes to large-scale combat.
However, this general's attainments in cavalry were terrifying, and he was definitely among the top three in the world, and it would not be an exaggeration to even call him the best.
After all, the most important thing about cavalry is speed, and Gongsun Zan is the one who has taken speed to the extreme.
However, Han Sui under Gongsun Zan had rich experience in commanding large-scale battles.
With Sasuke, this battle will be quite interesting.
Although the speed of large-scale cavalry marching is not very fast, it is still much faster than that of infantry.
After all, there is no need to worry about logistical issues along the route.
Tian Ze led 100,000 cavalry and quickly arrived at the battlefield agreed upon with Gongsun Zan.
The remaining 100,000 infantrymen, as agreed with Gongsun Zan, moved south and occupied the Wudu area to guard against attacks by Liu Fan and Liu Bei.
The other half stayed behind to hold the line, just in case.
After learning this, Gongsun Zan could not help but shake his head speechlessly.
"This Tian Chengshou is still so timid."
He knew Tian Ze very well as he had known him since he was young.
This arrangement was not because he did not trust Gongsun Zan, but because he was wary of the "what if" that might happen.
Tian Ze's style of doing things has always been that he will not take action unless he is absolutely sure.
One hundred thousand elite cavalrymen were not only all Gongsun Zan had, but also extremely important to Tian Ze. If there was too much loss, it would be painful enough for Tian Ze to die, so he bought a second insurance policy.
Fa Zheng on the side glanced at Han Sui calmly.
Although he did not change his expression, Fa Zheng clearly sensed the disappointment in Han Sui's heart.
Catch the thief first to catch the king.
Tian Ze personally led the troops to the battle, and he had only more than 100,000 soldiers with him. This was almost the best opportunity.
Fa Zheng believed that given Han Sui's viciousness, he definitely had some thoughts.
I just don’t know if it was still there just now.
But it doesn’t matter now, because this guy is definitely gone now.
(End of this chapter)
