Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1103 Death
All the generals in Cao's camp were shocked when they heard this. Not only because of the ruthlessness and determination implied in Cao Cao's words, which were unprecedented in all previous wars, but also because this sentence seemed to imply Cao Cao's lack of self-confidence.

Fighting until the last man standing, doesn't this presuppose defeat?

Cao Cao glanced at everyone one by one. No one dared to look at Cao Cao. Cao Cao suddenly laughed, "Do you think I'm afraid of the tiger?"

"Yes, I fought him a few years ago and suffered two minor losses, once in Qingzhou and once in Wancheng, but so what?"

"I won Huaicheng, I got the emperor, destiny is on my side!"

When everyone heard this, they all agreed. However, Yang Xiu was grumbling in his heart, according to this statement, the fierce tiger in the rumor also got the imperial seal. Doesn't this mean he has an even greater destiny?
Moreover, you say that holding the emperor hostage is destiny, aren't you deceiving yourself?
But Yang Xiu was not a fool. He naturally put on an appearance of being convinced and praised along with everyone else. At the same time, he thought that this was going to be a good show. The pressure exerted by the ferocious tiger was probably something Cao Cao had never seen before.

Cao Cao waved his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet, and said, "Even so, I will not underestimate the fierce tiger!"

"This man is my greatest enemy in my life. I really envy Yuan Benchu ​​for having such a son."

"Fortunately, he is not the legitimate son, otherwise the Yuan family would most likely fall into his hands, and there would naturally be no strife among brothers. Otherwise, how could our Cao family be as prosperous as it is today?"

"But don't be careless, this man's strategy is no less than mine. If we don't handle it carefully, all of us present here will die or our clan will be destroyed!"

"In order to keep the Cao and Xiahou families going, you should know what to do. Even if you die, you must drag the fierce tiger down with you to be buried with you!"

After hearing this, everyone responded loudly, "Don't worry, sir. We will all die to kill the tiger!"

"kill!"

After hearing this, Cao Cao nodded slightly. He and Yuan Xi were sworn enemies. The other party had a righteous cause to avenge the Yuan family, and he would never back down, because the fierce tiger would never let him and the Cao family members go!

But at this moment, some rumors about Guan Yu's demise of Baekje on the Korean Peninsula and Mrs. Ding who was taken to Jicheng suddenly flashed through Cao Cao's mind, and a trace of annoyance suddenly flashed through his heart.

Those two are uncertain hidden dangers. If Xionghu throws them out at the critical moment, it will inevitably cause instability within the Cao family. The card in Xionghu's hand is really disgusting!
Cao Cao suppressed his irritation. All he could do now was to fight the ferocious tiger as soon as possible and nip these dangerous signs in the bud.

The most ideal result is to kill the evil tiger, completely take over his territory, and unify the Central Plains and the north.

A slightly worse scenario would be to annihilate all of Xionghu's troops and force them to flee to the north. In this way, when they are at their wits' end, they would be forced to ask for peace with themselves, thus sending Madam Ding, Cao Ang and others back.

Thinking that Cao Ang might still be alive, Cao Cao suddenly couldn't suppress his excitement. If this was true, the future of his own Cao family would most likely take a big turn for the better. Cao Ang's ability was far beyond the reach of Cao Pi's younger sons!

Just as a few fantasies arose in his mind, he was immediately shocked. The war was imminent, and it was a life-and-death battle that would risk the lives of all his members and even his own life. How could he have unrealistic fantasies just because he didn't know whether the news was true or not?

Maybe this is all a strategy of the ferocious tiger, whose purpose is to make it impossible for me to be ruthless and to restrain my hands and feet. If so, I will definitely lose this battle!
He should immediately abandon all unrealistic fantasies and try every means to defeat the ferocious tiger and kill it completely. Even if Cao Ang was really alive, how could his life be as important as the lives of thousands of members of the Cao and Xiahou families?

Thinking of this, Cao Cao calmed himself down, sat up straight again, and said to the people in the hall: "I plan to place the location of the fierce tiger's decisive battle in Jizhou."

"The reason for this is that Jizhou is flat and suitable for cavalry to perform well."

"Although Xionghu has Youzhou Iron Cavalry, I also have Tiger and Leopard Cavalry and Xiliang Cavalry, and we have the advantage in numbers!"

"Not to mention the infantry. Our Cao Wei infantry is superior to the enemy in terms of comprehensive strength and numbers!"

"If we fight with infantry and cavalry, we can also avoid the navy that the enemy is good at. As long as we block the lower reaches of the Yellow River south of Yecheng in advance, even if they have navy, they will not be able to come to support us!"

Yang Xiu said at this time: "When the battle takes place, it is very likely that the Yellow River will be flooded during the summer flood season. I'm afraid it will be very difficult to block it, right?"

Cao Cao raised his head and glanced at Yang Xiu. He did not answer directly, but said to Xun You beside him: "Gongda, do you think what Dezu said makes sense?"

Xun You heard this and glanced at Yang Xiu. Seeing that he looked confused, he replied, "My Lord, if you want to stop the Xionghu navy, you don't have to block it."

"It's OK."

"Moreover, this move can also cause considerable harm to the soldiers and civilians in the territory of the evil tiger, effectively reducing its manpower, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone." As soon as these words were spoken, everyone understood what he meant. Cao Cao had used water attacks several times in recent years, and everyone was very familiar with this method. Xun You's meaning was very clear. Since it could not be blocked, then just dig it up, which could also serve the purpose of blocking the evil tiger's navy.

Yang Xiu suddenly realized what was going on and immediately bowed and said, "So that's how it is! I'm grateful for your advice!"

Xun You looked at Yang Xiu and thought to himself, don’t you usually like to guess what the Lord is thinking, and you always guess right, why are you so stupid now?
You are pretending too much. The contrast between before and after is so great. Do you really think that you can't see it?

Xun You looked over and suddenly moved his finger slightly. Wasn't Yang Xiu's current behavior just for Cao Cao to see?

A mocking smile appeared on his face, and he thought to himself, you can act all you want, but no matter how you act you can't escape the control of Lord Ming. Do you really think you are the only one who understands and we are all stupid?

With the background of the Hongnong Yang family, the outcome was determined from the day you chose side. How ridiculous that you think you are smart, but you can't even understand the simplest thing?
Yang Xiu lowered his head, thinking how could he not have thought of this plan of breaking the dike, but if the Yellow River was dug during the flood season, the lower reaches would become a thousand-mile swamp, just like the Yunmeng Swamp in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.

This move would certainly prevent Yuan Xi's navy from advancing from Qingzhou, but at the same time, everyone present knew how many people would die and how many would be displaced after the dam burst. However, everyone remained calm, apparently accustomed to this practice.

Moreover, if the river breach is to be successful, the territory controlled by Xionghu will be at great risk, so it can only be done in the area from Qinghe County in Jizhou to Yanzhou controlled by Cao Cao himself. Not only will Xionghu's territory downstream be affected, but the people in Cao Cao's territory will also be in trouble.

Yang Xiu frowned slightly. Cui Yan, who was on good terms with him, was unaware of this. Cui's family was in Qinghe. Should he remind him when he returned?

Cao Cao then said: "Playing to one's strengths and avoiding one's weaknesses is certainly one factor. The second reason is that after we gained Jizhou, we recruited many surrendered generals from Jizhou. They are familiar with the terrain and situation of Jizhou. This is also a test of their loyalty."

"It's a pity that Wen Chou died in the battle, otherwise he would have been a powerful general against the fierce tiger. The remaining generals in Jizhou are not top-notch. I still rely on you generals."

Xiahou Dun and others quickly responded. Zhong Yao smiled and said, "Ming Gong has chosen a great battlefield. Xionghu is using the name of Yuan and the excuse of taking back Jizhou to fight Ming Gong. Therefore, he cannot adopt relatively radical tactics, such as water attack or fire attack."

"On the contrary, we don't have such concerns. Since you, Xionghu, want to rescue the people of Jizhou, we can just use the people of Jizhou to block the front line. How will Xionghu respond?"

"When you attacked Shouchun, you used the people of Jianghuai to besiege the city, which made the fierce tiger helpless. If Xudu had not called for help, and you had withdrawn your troops, Shouchun would have been taken long ago!"

"Now that Liu Bei has been driven south of the Han River, he can no longer threaten Xu Du. Now that we have no worries, we can let go and do a great job!"

Cao Hong also laughed and said, "You are right. Xionghu is courting his own death this time. Besides, the people of Jizhou are not innocent either. When Xudu was attacked, riots broke out all over Jizhou. We have not yet settled the score with them!"

"Now that you have let him take the blame, you are already being lenient. What else do they have to complain about?"

When everyone heard this, they all said, "It should be like this!"

Yang Xiu listened to everyone laughing and talking, and thought to himself what a bunch of beasts they were.

Thinking about how the Hongnong Yang family had been favored by the Han court for generations but was unable to stop Cao Cao from holding the emperor hostage and stealing the power of the Han court, Yang Xiu felt a chill in his heart. He decided to do what his father could not do!
But Yang Xiu also knew that his current situation was very dangerous. In the last battle of Shouchun, he was reported because he guessed Cao Cao's thoughts, and thus was suspected by Cao Cao.

Thinking of this, Yang Xiu glanced at Xun You sideways without revealing any expression, thinking to himself, you are a piece of shit, I only told you the useless words at that time, and since Cao Cao knew about it, it must be you who told the secret.

But I'm afraid you didn't expect that someone would tell me about your betrayal and let me know what kind of person you are?
Although I'm in a bad situation now and can only perform randomly to see if I can get away with it by luck, but if I get a chance in the future, I will definitely reward you big!

Thinking of this, Yang Xiu lowered his head, a hint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes. He must survive by any means necessary and turn the Cao family upside down!

This group of people discussed the direction of the troops, and tentatively decided to launch four general attacks at the same time, with 30,000 troops in each direction, to attack Yuan Xi's territory at the same time.

Of course, the numbers here are a bit fictitious, mixed with some militia recruits. Xiahou Dun frowned and said, "There are still some problems. The Black Mountain route is not easy to defend, and Changshan is not our territory. But this road leads directly to Beixin City, which is one of the important passages between You and Ji. It cannot be ignored."

Cao Ren nodded and said, "The most suitable troops for the flanks are still the cavalry. The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry are for charging head-on, so the most suitable troops are still the Xiliang Cavalry."

"But will Ma Chao obey orders?"

Cao Cao spoke up, "When he arrives, I will meet him in person."

(End of this chapter)