Chapter 201 Xun You is awesome!
Cao Hong?

It's a familiar name.

It seems that Zhang Fei really caught a big fish!
But merit is merit, and fault is fault!
"Zhang Yide has made great contributions and his military rank has been promoted one level."

Jin Mao changed the subject and said, "It is true that he failed in his duty. Considering that changing the generals at the critical moment will be disadvantageous to the war, I will punish him by making him serve as a meritorious officer while serving his sentence!"

Zhang Fei's mood was like a roller coaster, ups and downs, and he still wanted to argue.

Jin Mao shut him up with one sentence: "If you keep talking, I'll remove you even if you're given a military rank!"

So Zhang Fei shut up.

As for how to deal with Cao Hong, Jin Mao was in a dilemma. It was impossible to persuade him to surrender.

It’s like if Jin Yun was captured by the enemy, Jin Mao didn’t believe that Jin Yun would surrender sincerely.

How could Cao Hong, a relative of Cao Cao, surrender?

Kill him, and you will create a feud with Cao Cao.

It’s not that he still has the idea of ​​surrendering to Cao Cao. Although the current Jin Mao cannot be compared with Yuan Shao and Dong Zhuo, he is definitely one level higher than Cao Cao.

Therefore, do not provoke him unless Cao Cao is eliminated.

If this son of the plane explodes, Jin Mao might be finished.

Let it go, you'll lose a lot again.

There is a third way, which is to send it to Hua Tuo, but it would be worse than killing him.

The news about Wang Lang's incident was not spread widely and was only circulated within the Shenxin religion.

Even so, believers in God call it "God's punishment" and no one wants to experience it.

Helpless, Jin Mao asked the three counselors: "Do you have any way to deal with Cao Hong?"

All three of them are smart people. Since Jinmao didn't say to kill them, they certainly can't let them go. The only thing left is to sell the rest!
Xi Zhicai stepped out first and said, "My lord, if Cao Cao values ​​Cao Hong enough, I suggest that we sell him for a good price."

In fact, Xi Zhicai could completely guess Jin Mao's thoughts. Ever since the He Qi incident, no one dared to show it too obviously.

Sure enough, Jin Mao was very interested and said, "This is a good idea, but if you sell too little, you will suffer a loss, and if you sell too much, you may not be able to sell it all."

“How much is reasonable to sell?”

Xi Zhicai glanced at Cao Hong lying on the ground, and his originally lifeless look suddenly came to life.

So Xi Zhicai came up with an idea: "My Lord, there are people in the audience who know the truth."

"Why not ask Cao Hong?"

"That's true." Jin Mao nodded, stared at Cao Hong who was looking down and saying nothing, and asked, "What do you think?"

But Cao Hong just pretended to be dead and didn't say anything.

Seeing Jin Mao looking over, Xi Zhicai said with a smile: "Then execute him. I'm sure Cao Cao must have believed that Cao Hong is dead."

Jin Mao thought that was the case, so he agreed and said, "Then cut it down."

"Somebody come!"

"Wait a minute!"

Cao Hong then raised his head and shouted: "I am willing to exchange five hundred gold for my life!"

Five hundred gold?
To send away beggars.

Jin Mao frowned deeply, but since Cao Hong had already given in, he couldn't say anything too final, so he asked the three people for help again.

Zhou Yu stepped forward and said, "I heard that the Cao family of Chenliu is a prominent family, and they have a lot of ways to make money."

"Since Cao Hong doesn't want to live, my lord, just execute him."

Although Cao Hong was notoriously stingy, he valued himself more than money, and hurriedly said, "No matter what the price is, as long as I have it, I will give it to you!"

Jin Mao looked at Zhou Yu with satisfaction. It was different when there was a traitor among the nobles, as he understood everything very thoroughly.

Xi Zhicai is from a poor family and doesn't understand the ins and outs of the matter. Xun You is not a direct descendant of the Xun family and cannot get in touch with them. Only Zhou Yu is being trained to be the next head of the family and has extraordinary knowledge and experience.

"I don't want more either." Jin Mao Lion said, "A thousand strong war horses will be enough."

"Just kill me!"

Cao Hong said with a sad face: "Even if I sell my whole family, it is not worth 500 war horses."

Jin Mao was about to agree but was interrupted by Xun You.

"A thousand war horses, that's a thousand!"

Xun You hadn't spoken for a long time, but when he spoke he delivered a powerful blow: "You can give out 500 horses, but can't Cao Cao give out another 500 horses for you?"

Jin Mao didn't understand what was going on, but he knew that Xun You wouldn't speak without a purpose and that he must have his reasons, so he sat back and waited to see what was going on.

Cao Hong's family was able to accumulate a huge fortune, so they were naturally well versed in business. When he saw that Jin Mao did not speak and only a few advisers were bargaining, he became bolder.

"Then you kill me."

Seeing Cao Hong's stubborn attitude, Xun You was not anxious and said, "Think it over carefully."

"For every refusal, my lord will raise the price by a hundred war horses. Now you need 1,100 horses if you want to survive!"

Cao Hong had never seen such a way of bargaining that increased the price, and he became anxious: "You are not trustworthy!"

Xun You continued to raise the price: "One thousand two hundred horses!"

"you…"

"One thousand three hundred."

Cao Hong closed his mouth and didn't want to talk.

Xun You said in a sarcastic tone: "Now there are 1,500 horses. I am afraid my lord will not be able to get more. Let's stop here."

"If you don't agree, then behead him."

Seeing that the three counselors all said to chop him off, Jin Mao stood up and was about to give the order when Cao Hong collapsed.

"One thousand five hundred horses!"

"But I have a condition!"

Cao Hong just lied. His family could afford the money, but fifteen hundred was really the limit.

Jin Mao looked at Xun You, but didn't see any expression on his face, so he sat back and motioned for Xun You to continue.

"As a prisoner, what right do you have to negotiate terms?"

Xun You changed his usual humble attitude and said aggressively: "Your family will provide 500 horses, and the other 1,000 horses must be provided by Cao Cao!"

"My Lord, I will write a letter to Cao Cao. If what Cao Hong said is all lies, please execute him!"

Without giving Cao Hong a chance to refute, Xun You took out a piece of paper and wrote a letter quickly with fluent strokes.

"Somebody come!"

Jin Mao knew that Xun You must have his reasons for doing this, so he sent someone to deliver a letter to Cao Cao.

Seeing that there was no way back, Cao Hong felt frustrated but also relieved.

Considering that Cao Cao had just gained a lot of benefits from Jingzhou, he should redeem him.

But Cao Hong didn't know that all of this was seen by Xun You.

After Cao Hong was dragged away, Xun You said with a heavy face: "My lord, Cao Cao's troops are mostly cavalry, we must be on guard!"

Xun You expressed his own guess: "Cao Hong's reaction shows that Cao Cao has more than 2,000 cavalrymen, and they are all middle-aged war horses!"

No wonder Xun You behaved so strangely just now. Jin Mao couldn't help but sigh, this is too awesome.

Being able to discern key information with just a few words and actions, this is the power of top strategists!

"Then what should I do?"

Jin Mao humbly asked: "Gongda, what do you think needs to be changed in the previous plan?"

Xun You stepped out and bowed, saying, "My Lord, I still need the battle report from the front before I can make a judgment."

Jin Mao nodded and urged his men to deliver battle reports from the front line.

evening.

The news of Cao Cao's change of formation finally came back. Jin Mao looked at Xun You.

"My Lord! This is Cao Cao's trick."

Xun You said excitedly: "Please attack quickly!"

Jinmao was a little confused, the span was too big.

Just after saying that the combat power of Cao Cao's subordinates was higher than expected, Jin Mao thought he should be cautious, but the reversal came too quickly and he was a little overwhelmed to react.

"Gongda, please describe it in detail."

Xun You bowed and said, "My lord, do you still remember that the former Minister of Agriculture (Tang Mao) criticized Yuan Shu at the banquet?"

Jin Mao had a lot of things to do, so he didn't remember all this and turned to look at Xi Zhicai.

Seeing Xi Zhicai nod in affirmation, Jin Mao stretched out his hand to signal Xun You to continue.

"Yuan Shu is a man who is arrogant and conceited, but has no real talent for action."

Xun You simply summarized it: "Cao Cao had just been defeated, but he was able to regroup and hold out against our army. He can be called a hero in troubled times."

"Which of these two is stronger or weaker, let's not discuss it for now."

"From the perspective of his official position, Cao Cao was a subordinate of Yuan Shu and should have obeyed Yuan Shu's orders."

Jin Mao nodded continuously, then stood up and walked to the geomancy map, marking out the three parts of Cao Cao, the fake Yuan Shu, and Cai Mao respectively.

There doesn't seem to be anything wrong.

Yuan Shu served as the central army behind Cao Cao, while Cai Mao and Cao Cao were divided into the left and right wings. This was a very common arrangement, and Jin Mao would have done the same.

"Gongda, do you see anything unusual?"

Xun You came to the geomancy map, pointed at Yuan Shu's spot and said, "Here!"

Jin Mao was very confused and said, "Gongda should know that our army marches in the same way."

Xun You shook his head and said, "But Yuan Shu is not the lord. When he was the General of the Tiger Guards in Luoyang, he only had 2,000 men under his command. How could he know how the army would march?"

"Did you understand from the beginning how tens of thousands of troops should march?"

Jin Mao thought about it carefully and realized that it was true. He had received Zhu Jun's true teachings, but he still made many mistakes when he commanded 50,000 men in battle for the first time.

As the saying goes, practice makes perfect.

Jin Mao doesn't think he is a military genius, but could it be that Yuan Shu is one?
If that were the case, would Yuan Shu still have become what he was in history?

Obviously, Yuan Shu was not a military genius either.

When it comes to large-scale marching and fighting, everyone has to learn from scratch.

In other words, Xun You's guess makes a lot of sense.

"You mean, this person is not Yuan Shu?"

Xun You nodded and said, "Yes! I don't think this person is Yuan Shu!"

He then explained: "If it is really Yuan Shu who is here, he should be here!"

Xun You pointed at Cao Cao and said, "Yuan Shu has not engaged our army. In his eyes, we are nothing but chickens and dogs. We can defeat him with one blow."

Jin Mao couldn't help but wonder, "Why didn't he do it?"

Xun You explained: "First, Yuan Shu is very careful about his reputation and does not want to lose his troops; second, Yuan Shu is too lazy to do it himself."

"My Lord, imagine if a group of tens of thousands of bandits appeared in the territory right now, would you personally go and fight them?"

In the past, when there were few people and generals, Jin Mao would have done it himself. But now, there are so many powerful generals, it would be too embarrassing for him to do it himself.

"Gongda, you convinced me!"

Jin Mao asked, "What do you think we should do?"

Xun You took a deep breath and said, "My lord, you should mobilize all your troops, cook at midnight, abandon the camp, and set out at 3 p.m. We can win the battle in one go!"

Jin Mao hesitated and asked, "Isn't this too hasty?"

At this time, Xi Zhicai stood up to help Xun You: "My lord, if you don't make a decision, you will suffer the consequences!"

Zhou Yu looked at Xun You with admiration, his eyes full of fighting spirit, and said with a fist: "Even you think it's hasty, the enemy will definitely not expect it."

"This is a perfect fighter plane!"

Seeing that the three were so sure, Jin Mao no longer hesitated: "Okay! Let's do it!"

"Somebody come!"

"Order the Second Battalion Captain Dong Xi to lead his troops to attack north overnight."

Jin Mao pointed to the forest east of Xiling County on the geomancy map and said, "Stand here to stop the cavalry fleeing north!"

"Order the admiral of the navy, Huang Gai, the captain of the first battalion, Ling Cao, and the captain of the vanguard, Guan Yu, to prepare food at midnight and to attack at 3 pm."

"Wait a minute!" Zhou Yu said excitedly, "My lord, I think we should order the navy to set out at midnight and launch a surprise attack before the Jingzhou navy can react!"

Navy night attack?

This is too risky!

However, Jinmao thought about it carefully and realized that this was a high-risk and high-return order.

No matter how low the military literacy of the Jingzhou navy is, if they deploy their formation and have six thousand archers and crossbowmen fire two rounds at you, no one can withstand it.

Those are human lives!
It would be different if the navy launched a night attack. Tonight is a clear night, and with the moonlight, the navy can launch a surprise attack with minimal risk.

Even if we are discovered by the enemy, it is still much better than facing them head on.

If Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin had not had to defend the banks of the Huai River, Jin Mao would have been confident that he could defeat the enemy head-on.

But things are different now.

Jin Mao agreed to Zhou Yu's proposal: "Let's do as Gongjin said!"

"Order the entire central army." Jin Mao ordered again: "Set up the pots and cook on the spot, and follow the navy north at midnight to first capture the enemy's navy camp, and then defeat Cao's army!"

This is also the first time that Jinmao has launched a comprehensive offensive operation of 40,000 people. No one knows how many unexpected things will happen.

The time he gave the order was Youshi (18:).

The naval camp was on the left wing of the central army, and the order was received at the end of the You hour and the beginning of the Xu hour (19:).

The Second Battalion where Dong Xian was located was ten kilometers away from the central army. By the time the messenger arrived, it was already the beginning of the hour of Hai (21:).

In other words, Dong Xi started his long-distance march by cooking only one hour earlier than the others.

Dong Xi was also a poor student. He was good at charging into battle, but he had difficulty in commanding troops.

By the time Dong Xi woke up his soldiers and started cooking, it was already midnight.

The entire army was held back by trivial matters before it set out, and by the time it set out, it was already the morning of the morning.

In addition, the entire Second Battalion had to march ten kilometers, which was a huge challenge for the soldiers without war horses.

The vanguard army was closer to the central army, orders were delivered promptly, and Guan Yu's arrangements were fine.

The problem lies in communication.

As a result of the replacement of a wave of soldiers, the situation became that the general did not know his soldiers, and the soldiers did not know their general.

Especially the heavy shield soldiers, who are the elite among the elite, and they look down on Guan Yu.

Even with the endorsement of the navy's sword and shield soldiers, there are still many people who do not submit to Guan Yu.

Guan Yu had no good solution to this problem and could only convey Jin Mao's order.

Fortunately, none of these elite soldiers would obey Jin Mao's orders and carry them out obediently.

Ling Cao's situation is much better than Guan Yu's.

The First Battalion was indeed elite, but Ling Cao was not a newcomer either. He had good relations with many veterans, and after a period of adjustment, there were no major problems.

As for the 3,000 new soldiers, they are just greenhorns who just graduated from the recruit camp. No one dares to show their teeth in front of the veterans, so they are very well behaved.

The only problem probably lies with Ling Cao. This guy is not a person who will keep to himself.

(End of this chapter)