Chapter 258 Backstab "Xiaoxian, in your opinion, Tian Ze's next target is most likely Sili. What should we do then?" Cao Cao asked. Mao Jie did not answer, but looked at Xun Yu and Xi Zhicai: "My lord, in terms of strategy, I am not as good as Wen Ruo and Zhicai. I just have some superficial views on analyzing intelligence and thinking about problems." "My lord, you should consult Wen Ruo and Zhi Cai on this question." One's own family knows one's own business. Mao Jie considered himself to be first-rate in all aspects as a civil official and strategist, but there was still some gap compared to Xun Yu and Xi Zhicai. His greatest advantage is that he can break away from the identity of Cao Cao's adviser and consider the entire world from an absolute third-party perspective, thinking about problems without being restricted by any distractions. To be fair, if he could see it, how could Xun Yu and Xi Zhicai not see it? It was just that they were the ones who were in the know. Upon hearing this, Cao Cao smiled slightly and looked at Xun Yu and Xi Zhicai. How could he not understand the strengths of his civil and military officers as he is so smart? Xun Yu and Xi Zhicai looked at each other, and Xi Zhicai spoke first: "My lord, we also have hidden men around Li Jue and Guo Si, but they don't have many soldiers, and they are not close to Li Jue and Guo Si." "If we want to capture Li Jue and Guo Si and seize Sili before Tian Ze, I'm afraid it will be difficult to do so."
"Tian Ze has always acted prudently and has stationed heavy troops in Shangdang and Taiyuan. Once we enter Sili in the west, he will definitely take action." "The troops we sent are too few, and I'm afraid it will be difficult to defeat Tian Ze. If we send more troops, I'm afraid Tian Ze will take advantage of the situation to bypass Chang'an and turn around to attack Luoyang, cutting off our retreat. At that time, our army will be in a dilemma." Xi Zhicai, who took an unconventional approach, had some hidden players planted around almost every prince, but not many of them did well. For example, Cai Mao, who had played a huge role before, was only taken down by Xi Zhicai relying on his talent. It is not impossible to take down Li Jue and Guo Si again, but time does not allow it, and it is likely to make things difficult for Tian Ze. After occupying the strategic location of Bingzhou, Tian Ze was in a dominant position, overlooking the Central Plains and had completely seized the strategic initiative. "My lord, Zhicai is right. Although Li Jue and Guo Si are strong on the outside but weak on the inside, we also need to recuperate now. We are unable to annex them, so we can only wait for their help." Xun Yu also said. When Cao Cao heard this, he suddenly got a headache. If Li Jue and Guo Si were enemies, it would not be difficult to deal with them. But Cao Cao could not trust these two stupid teammates to form an alliance with them to deal with Tian Ze. "Hongnong is close to Nanyang. Can we contact Liu Xuande to send troops to help?" Cao Cao asked. Xi Zhicai sighed, "My lord, Liu Bei does not have many troops now. I am afraid he is unable to attack. At most, he can station troops at the border of Nanyang as a threat." "Moreover, Liu Bei has just conquered Jingzhou, and he needs a long time to sort out his rule. For him, there is no benefit in sending troops. It would be better for him to think about how to take over Yizhou, Jiaozhou, Yangzhou and other places." Xun Yu said. "Yuan Shao's situation is similar. At most, he can contain Guan Yu's army in Jizhou, but he has no spare energy to come to our aid." At this moment, Cao Cao was extremely envious of Tian Ze's terrifying internal affairs and logistics. For him, a war like this could be fought almost at any time and all the time, but for them, every fight would cause serious injuries, and the cost of continuous attacks was too high to be borne. If he had not reached the point where he could no longer retreat, he really would not want to fight with Tian Ze again. "Contact Gongsun Zan in Liangzhou and Liu Yan in Yizhou, and ask them to send troops to help." Cao Cao said. "promise." Xi Zhicai understood that the chances of success of doing so were slim, but now they had no other choice but to do their best. …… In Linzi, Yuan Shao summoned his ministers to discuss the matter and made a judgment similar to Cao Cao's, determining Tian Ze's next move.
But even so, so what? Yuan Shao would even rather Tian Ze attacked the Central Plains. If Yuan Shao attacked Jizhou, even if there were only Guan Yu's army and local garrisons, with only 200,000 troops, Yuan Shao would not be able to shake them at all. And if Tian Ze led his army across the Yellow River to attack Qingzhou, even if there were 300,000 troops, Yuan Shao would be confident that he could hold the other side back. Tian Ze had to defend one city after another, and it would take him less than a year to reach Linzi. After all, today is different from the past when Tian Ze swept across southern Hebei. Cao Cao does not have an "internal fight" that "ignores the overall situation". Sun Ce and Liu Bei behind him also understand the principle of "the lips and teeth are cold". Yuan Shao has the capital to fight with Tian Ze. When Tian Ze attacked Sili, Yuan Shao could only sigh in despair. We can't expect Li Jue and Guo Si, those two hotshots, to invite them into the country! As the defenders, even if these two guys had the advantage, with their limited abilities, Yuan Shao should be thankful that they could hold out under Tian Ze for three months. We can only hope that Cao Cao will be stronger and be able to hold on, or at least not let Tian Ze take Chang'an so easily and hold Tian Ze back. "My lord, if Cao Cao devotes all his efforts to advancing westward, can we take the opportunity to annex Huainan? Or take over Yanzhou and Yuzhou?" After everyone had almost finished discussing, Guo Tu suddenly asked. Tian Ze was too strong and there was no hope of winning, so he instinctively wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to develop secretly and backstab his allies. Anyway, they and Cao Cao have done this secretly many times before, so they are familiar with it. "Absolutely not!" Upon hearing Guo Tu's suggestion that Yuan Shao do the same thing as Lu Meng, Ju Su hurriedly tried to dissuade him. "My lord, we are facing a powerful enemy. The only way we can have a chance of survival is to unite with Cao Mengde. If we plot against our allies before the battle begins, we will completely destroy the little trust we already have, and it will be difficult to compete with Tian Ze." Ju Su was not a pedantic person. If Yuan Shao had the opportunity to completely annex Cao Cao, he would not hesitate to persuade Yuan Shao to stab him in the back. All the concepts of benevolence, righteousness, and morality are nothing but clouds in the face of huge interests. However, Yuan Shao could not swallow Cao Cao. Doing so would only intensify the internal strife and internal consumption in the Central Plains, which would be detrimental to the overall situation. Obviously, Yuan Shao understood Ju Su's meaning and knew that he absolutely could not turn against Cao Cao at this time, so he rejected this plan without hesitation. "What about capturing Yuan Shu's Huainan?" Guo Tu asked again cautiously. "The time is not yet ripe." Xun Chen also supported Ju Su. Your allies in front are fighting with knives, and you are stealing chickens behind them. Who would feel comfortable with this? And now it's not just Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Sun Ce are also eyeing the fat piece of meat Yuan Shu. If they take action first, they will undoubtedly incur public anger. Many times, acting first may not necessarily give you the advantage, but may instead result in the biggest loss. "During this period of time, we should focus on development. The gap in strength between our soldiers and those under Tian Ze is really too big." "We don't ask to be comparable to them, but at least we must ensure that we are not overwhelmed in large-scale battles even though we have twice the number of troops." Ju Su glanced at the generals and said. Shen Pei and all the generals lowered their heads in shame. Strength is the greatest confidence, strategy and diplomacy are just supporting factors.
The fundamental reason why they are in their current predicament and have been defeated and retreated from Hebei is that they are too weak. The army was so weak that even with twice the strength of the Tianze Army, they were defeated by the enemy. The most terrifying thing is that, except for the situation when Yuan Shao was around, they have become accustomed to it. (End of this chapter)