Chapter 677 The Cao Family’s Thousand Miles Horse

Jiujiang County, Hefei.

Hefei is located on the bank of the Wan River. It has a strong city and a strategic location. It is a battleground for military strategists, so all dynasties built cities here. The center of Jiujiang County is in Hefei. As long as Hefei can be defended, the northern army can withstand the northern expedition of the southern army. If the southern army can occupy Hefei, it can lay a foundation and use it as a base to attack the north.

Therefore, Soochow in history had plotted Hefei more than once. For example, after the Battle of Chibi, the victorious Sun Quan led an army of 100,000 to besiege Hefei. If Zhang Liao had not led his army to directly attack Sun Quan's army, the city of Hefei would have fallen.

On the top of the Hefei City, a man stood solemnly. He was not tall, even a little short. He had a fair complexion, a long black beard under his chin, and a pair of small eyes with a sparkle. You could tell he was a worried person at first sight.

A strong wind blew, and a young general from the rear stepped forward, put a brocade robe on him, and said concernedly: "Prime Minister, the wind is strong at the top of the city, come down?"

"Haha, Wen Lie, it's okay."

Cao Cao smiled and waved his hand, looking at Cao Xiu with admiration: "Wen Lie, do you think our army is secretly plotting to seize Lujiang County this time, can the Jiangdong Army notice it?"

Although this young general is young, he has big eyes, a high nose, tight lips, and a look of perseverance in his facial features. He is Cao Cao's nephew Cao Xiu, whose courtesy name is Wenlie.

When Dong Zhuo took control of Luoyang, the world was in chaos and the Cao family fled for their lives. Cao Xiu's family fled to Wu County to avoid disaster. When he heard that Cao Cao was revolting against Dong, Cao Xiu persuaded his family to return to the Central Plains with his mother and defected to Cao Cao. When Cao Cao met Cao Xiu, he asked about current affairs and the art of war, and they all had high opinions, so he praised him as "my Cao family's thousand-mile horse".

Because Cao Xiu had stayed in Wu County for a period of time and was familiar with Jiangdong, Cao Cao sent troops to Lujiang County this time and specially ordered Cao Xiu to accompany him.

Cao Xiu thought carefully for a while and then replied: "Prime Minister, please forgive me for speaking frankly. When I was in Jiangdong, I once heard someone else's song, and the song was wrong. Zhou Langgu said it was Zhou Yu."

Cao Cao smiled and said, "Oh? Zhou Yu is also proficient in music?"

Cao Xiu nodded: "Zhou Yu is quite talented, but that's it. I have never heard of him leading troops in war."

Although Zhou Yu was somewhat famous when he lived in seclusion in Lujiang County earlier, his real rise to fame came when he followed Sun Ce across the river to attack Liu Yao. At that time, Cao Xiu had already gone north to return home, so he naturally didn't know.

"Sun Ce, known to the world as the Little Overlord, may not be as brave as King Xiang, but he is a rare military genius. This can be seen from the fact that he leveled Jiangdong in a few months."

Cao Xiu analyzed: "It is said that Zhou Yu and Sun Ce are close friends, so Sun Ce entrusted him with the important task of leading the army, but the strategy is just that."

Cao Cao smiled and shook his head: "Wen Lie, don't underestimate Zhou Yu."

"Oh? The Prime Minister already has information?" Cao Xiu asked doubtfully.

"No."

Cao Cao said slowly: "To be entrusted with the post of Commander-in-Chief of Military and Horses by Jiangdong's Sun family, how can he be considered an idle person? I feel that this strategy may have been discovered by Jiangdong's army."

Cao Xiu was unconvinced and said: "But Prime Minister, it is Uncle Zixiao who is responsible for leading the troops this time. Uncle Zixiao has strict military discipline and it is difficult to expose him."

"Haha, let's not mention this. Regardless of whether Zhou Yu is prepared or not, as long as he and Li Shu fight first, our army's situation will be favorable."

Cao Cao smiled slightly, looked at the horizon, and said worriedly for a long time: "The only thing I'm worried about is whether the war in Yanzhou and Jizhou will expand in scale. If so, our army will fight on multiple fronts, which will put a lot of pressure on us."

Cao Xiu comforted him and said, "Don't worry, Prime Minister. Liu Ye previously mobilized tens of thousands of troops to go on an expedition to Hebei. The battle lasted for a long time and all the food and grass were exhausted. However, our army is recharging its strength and has established military garrison in Qingxu Prefecture, hoarding more than 100,000 shi of food and grass. How could Liu Ye do this? Why did I hurt someone?"

In ancient times, the consumption of food and grass was completely unequal between wars and non-wars. It's okay to say that the army is not going to war, but once it enters a state of combat readiness, the amount of food and grass consumed rises sharply. Firstly, the army fights every day, and the soldiers' physical strength is exhausted, which naturally increases their appetite; secondly, the food and grass need to be turned over midway, and losses are inevitable during the journey. After all, the civilians who transport the food cannot go without eating and drinking; thirdly, the war horses eat more than There are a lot of people, and large families have to feed concentrated feed, soybeans, and eggs to raise horses, and the maintenance of war horses requires a lot of effort.

Horses can eat grass, but not for a long time, just like people must eat and cannot always drink gruel. If you eat grass all day long and don't eat enough food, your horse will lose weight and become unusable.

Therefore, when the battle is approaching, the war horse must be fed and fattened quickly at all costs, otherwise the war horse is likely to die midway.

So why are the war horses of the nomadic people so fat and strong? Are they richer than the people in the Central Plains, with tens of thousands of war horses fed on concentrated feed and eggs?

Of course this is not the case, because the horse breeding models in the Central Plains are different from those in the grassland. There are few horses in the Central Plains, so they need to be carefully cared for, while the nomadic war horses number 100,000 and are raised on a large scale. There are many horses to choose from. , naturally there will be fat and strong war horses. Moreover, nomads often use two or even three horses per person. If they switch horses, they naturally consume less horsepower.

"Hurting others with your own merits?"

Cao Cao pondered these four words over and over again and frowned: "With the talents of Liu Yuqing and the resourcefulness of Xun Yu, Jia Xu, and Guo Jia, it is absolutely impossible for our army to attack Jiangdong. He will definitely react. If he really hurts others with his power, That step.”

Once Liu Ye did not hesitate to "hurt others with his own strength" and fight for injuries with Cao Cao, Cao Cao would not be able to control more than three states, and his overall strength would naturally be incomparable.

"In this case, our army should speed up and attack Lujiang River with lightning speed!" Cao Xiu said resolutely: "Our army must fight quickly and hard. By the time Liu Yuqing reacts, our army has already drunk the Yangtze River. , so even he can do nothing."

Cao Cao laughed loudly, patted Cao Xiu on the shoulder and said, "Wen Lie, you are right!"

"Zhongde!"

An eight-foot-tall and muscular scribe came up to him next to him. It was Cheng Yu.

"What are your orders, Prime Minister?"

Originally, the most resourceful person among Cao Cao's troops was Xi Zhicai, but he suddenly fell ill in the past few months, and his condition became more and more serious. Therefore, Cao Cao left him in Xuzhou to recuperate and rest, and he went south with Cheng Yunan.

Cao Cao pondered for a while and then ordered: "Zhongde, write on behalf of the Prime Minister and notify Yuan Rang and Zi Lian, ordering them to increase the harassment of Yanzhou and Jizhou, regardless of casualties, it is best to cause the Liangzhou army that our army is bound to win. The illusion must be made real.”

Cheng Yu nodded and added: "Prime Minister, you can invite Yuan Shao to coordinate the attack on Jizhou to increase the pressure on Xu Huang's department."

"Yuan Shao suffered heavy casualties, will he send troops?"