Hulao Pass.

The thick curtain blocked the bitter cold wind outside the tent. The charcoal fire in the brazier was burning vigorously, and the entire military tent was warm. Guo Jia struggled to release the thick brocade fur on his body, and with the help of his personal soldiers, he moved to the brocade mat beside the brazier and lay down on the brocade mat by the brazier. Then he sighed a long time and stretched his legs comfortably.

Cao Zhen said with concern: "Military advisor, you are already so sick, so you don't have to go to war with the army, right?"

A faint smile flashed across Guo Jia's face, and he shook his head and said, "It's okay, I'm just a little sick person, so don't worry, young master."

Cao Zhen said: "Although the horse butcher is cruel and cunning, the Western Liang Iron Cavalry is even more famous, but I really don't take them seriously. It is better to sit in the Hulao Pass. What if I lead a large army to fight against Nanyang? The purpose of this battle is to restrain the 20,000 Liang troops in Nanyang. As long as I fight steadily and never underestimate the enemy's advance, I will not give the enemy an opportunity to take advantage of it."

A bitter smile appeared on Guo Jia's face.

Cao Zhen is a newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers. It is good to have this courage and courage, but if he is brave and courageous, it is arrogant. Even if Cao Cao personally fights, he will not dare to speak out and defeat the horse butcher. Even if Cao Zhen is talented, he is young after all and lacks enough training. How can he be the opponent of the horse butcher who has always fought for many battles?

However, Guo Jia certainly cannot say this, so as not to hurt Cao Zhen’s self-esteem.

“Ticticaca…”

When Guo Jiazheng didn't know how to persuade Cao Zhen, he suddenly heard heavy and messy footsteps outside the tent. Cao Zhen listened and said happily for a moment: "It's Uncle Ren, Uncle Hong has arrived."

As Cao Zhen finished speaking, Cao Ren and Cao Hong came in together.

Cao Zhen rushed forward and looked at Cao Ren. Cao Hong knelt down and saluted, "My nephew kowtow to Uncle Ren, Uncle Hong."

"Zi Dan (Cao Zhen's name is a word for prose) is not polite." Cao Ren and Cao Hong also stretched out his hand to help Cao Zhen up, then turned to salute Guo Jia, "Re (Hong) see the military advisor."

Guo Jia bowed his hand with difficulty and replied, "I have met two generals."

Seeing that Guo Jia was so weak, Cao Ren couldn't help but complain: "The military advisor was so sick and weak, so he shouldn't go to the army to fight."

Cao Hong also said: "Yes, if the military advisor has a few shortcomings, how can the lord spare us?"

Guo Jia shook his head and waved to Cao Ren. Cao Hong sat next to the brazier and said weakly: "The enemy is in front of him, and the two generals don't have to worry about the health of this military advisor. This time, he sent someone to summon the two generals to Hulao Pass to discuss important matters. Given the dangerous situation, the lord decided to change his strategy and turn defense into offense."

Cao Hong was shocked and said in a lost voice: "Turn the defense into the attack?"

"Yes, turn defense into offense." Guo Jia nodded and said powerlessly, "From Hangu Pass to Yingchuan, it lasts for more than a thousand miles. It is absolutely impossible to defend with only 30,000 troops. Therefore, our army can only carry out selective key defenses in the secondary direction, take the initiative to attack in the main direction, and use attack instead of defense!"

Cao Ren said: "I don't know where the military advisor decided to attack, Tongguan, Hedong or Nanyang?"

Guo Jia stared at the burning charcoal fire in the brazier, and there seemed to be two gloomy flames flashing in his turbid eyes, saying, "Go to Nanyang, because the horse butcher is in Nanyang!"

Cao Hong said: "Our army will attack Nanyang. What if the horse butcher ignores it and attacks Yingchuan?"

A faint confidence suddenly flashed across Guo Jia's pale face, and he said calmly: "With this military advisor here, Ma Butcher would never dare to attack Yingchuan at the risk of being cut off!"

A deep sadness flashed through Cao Ren's eyes and said in a deep voice: "But the military advisor has thought that Ma Butcher is stationed in Guanzhong, Hedong and Xihe. Once our army is in Nanyang, there are still many troops with Ma Butcher Ma in Nanyang, Gao Shun, Xu Huang, and Fang Yue are likely to launch a fierce attack on Luoyang from both Hangu Pass and Hedong. How should our army resist at that time?"

Guo Jia said: "This is the selected key defense that this military advisor has just mentioned. As long as Wen Lie (Cao Xiu) guards Hangu Pass and General (Cao Ren) you defend Luoyang, our army can pinch the main throat of the Liang army. The Liang army will never be able to make a big move and will not pose a fatal threat to Yingchuan."

Cao Ren said: "Military advisor, is this too risky? As the saying goes, "Water has no shape and soldiers have no momentum. Although Hangu Pass is natural and dangerous, no one can guarantee that it will block the Liang army's fierce attack! If Hangu Pass falls and the passage to the Liang army's front to Guandong is opened, it will be like a tiger coming out of a cage, and the consequences will be unimaginable."

Cao Ren is worthy of being a clan confidant of Cao Cao. He is experienced in many battles, so he is much more mature than Cao Zhen’s considerations. He knows that although Hangu Pass is natural and dangerous, it is not difficult to break. At that time, the butcher only had eight hundred chaotic people, but he still captured Hulao Pass, which was heavily guarded by the Han official army? Did Li Dian’s more than a thousand troops also captured Hangu Pass, which was heavily guarded by the Liang army?

Guo Jia launched a large army to attack Nanyang, and the troops in Luoyang would be drawn out. At that time, Hangu Pass would really be in danger, and even if Cao Ren was willing to rescue, he would not be able to withdraw his troops.

"Military advisor, Hangu Pass, Luoyang's gains and losses are of great importance, and enough troops must be left!"

Guo Jia pondered for a moment and asked Cao Ren: "The general thought how many troops could be left to ensure that Hangu and Luoyang would not be lost?"

Cao Ren said: "It depends on how many Liang troops the horse butcher mobilized to attack! If the horse butcher attacks with 30,000 troops, at least five thousand defenders are needed. If the horse butcher attacks with 50,000 troops, at least ten thousand defenders are needed. If the horse butcher mobilizes 100,000 troops to attack, at least...40,000 defenders are needed!"

"Forty thousand!" Cao Zhen said in a lost voice, "Our army has only 30,000 troops on the western front. Can the butcher Ren and Ma gather 100,000 troops to attack Luoyang and Hangu Pass?"

"That's not good." Cao Ren said in a voice, "Xihe County is stationed with 50,000 Gao Shun's army, and 8,000 elite soldiers of Xu Huang, and Ma Chao's 20,000 iron cavalry in Nanyang. The horse butcher has pacified Hanzhong and has obtained at least 20,000 new Hanzhong surrendered troops. In addition, Ma butcher also has 10,000 naval troops from Ganning, who can be put into war at any time."

[Cao's army's detailed work is quite powerful, and can clearly understand the configuration of the Liang army's troops. However, this is also caused by the Ma Butcher's encouragement of industry and commerce and allowing Guandong merchants to enter and exit Guanzhong, Hetao, Liangzhou and Mobei. In fact, Ma Butcher did not intend to conceal his strength.]

"In fact, as long as the Liang army has enough food and supplies, the butcher of horses can mobilize more than 100,000 troops to launch a top-superior attack on Luoyang and Hangu Pass at any time!"

"Hey." Cao Hong said with great depression, "Ma Butcher Ma is getting stronger and stronger, but our army's strength is still standing still. This is not enough! In the face of absolute strength, no matter how careful our army is in the calculation or deliberate way, it cannot change this huge gap!"

"The Liang army is indeed powerful, far stronger than our army, and even stronger than Yuan Shao's Hebei army!" Guo Jia said this and said coldly, "However, the Liang army has the most fatal weakness! If our army can grasp this weakness, the powerful Liangzhou military group can be frozen overnight, and there is no need to worry about it from now on!"

"Um?"

"oh!"

"The fatal weakness of the Liangzhou Army!?"

Cao Ren and Cao Hong lost their voice at the same time. The young Cao Zhen reacted as soon as possible and said sternly: "The military advisor is saying...Ma butcher!?"

"Yes, it's the horse butcher!" Guo Jia took a breath and whispered, "The horse butcher is not only the greatest advantage of the Liangzhou Legion, but also the greatest weakness of the Liangzhou Legion!"

Cao Hong said in confusion: "What does the military advisor mean?"

Guo Jia said: "The biggest advantage of the Liangzhou Legion is that the horse butcher has irreplaceable authority in the minds of Liangzhou soldiers. Moreover, the horse butcher has experienced many battles and is extremely deceitful in using troops. Just talking about the dangers of using troops, no one can surpass him in the world, so the lord is also quite inferior to that of the lord."

"The biggest weakness of the Liangzhou Legion is because the Ma Butcher has too high prestige in the minds of the Liangzhou soldiers! So no one can compare with him in the generals around him. Even Ma Chao, a Jin Xiliang, would be hard to match the Ma Butcher. The Ma Butcher's descendants are young, and if the Ma Butcher died suddenly at this time... Humph."

Cao Hong suddenly realized when he heard this.

The fact is true, as Guo Jia analyzed, Ma Yue has irreplaceable authority in the Liangzhou military group. Even Ma Yue deliberately trained it to deter the situation (Ma Yue had a long talk with Ma Chao, allowing Ma Chao to take on the main straits of the Ma family when Ma Yue died and assisted the young Ma Zheng). Ma Chao was far from comparable to Ma Yue.

If Ma Yue suddenly died in battle at this time, the seemingly powerful Liangzhou military group would likely collapse overnight.

Cao Ren said sternly: "So, the military advisor has to risk sending troops to Nanyang?"

"Yes, this is the last and only chance of our army!" Guo Jia sighed softly and said with concern, "The victory and defeat will be decided in only three months at most (Guo Jia is so sure that Cao's army only has three months of military rations, and Cao's army will not last three months). If the lord wins, the matter can still be done. If the lord loses, Luoyang will be unavailable. Yingchuan will no longer be able to defend it. For the lord's great cause, it is completely worth taking this risk."

Guo Jia’s idea was that it would be better if he could kill the butcher Ma in front of the formation. If he took a step back, even if he could not kill the butcher Ma, he would not only lose Nanyang, but even Hangu Pass and Luoyang were lost. But at that time, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao had already decided to win. If Cao Cao was defeated, everything would be done. If Cao Cao won, he could lead the army to fight the butcher Ma himself! Therefore, the victory and defeat in Luoyang and Nanyang are actually insignificant!

"I understand." Cao Ren stared at Guo Jia deeply and said in a deep voice, "If you only guard for three months, six thousand elite soldiers will be enough."

Guo Jia said: "This military advisor and the general have 8,000 elite soldiers. Generals should remember that soldiers are tricks. The victory or defeat is often only in one thought. Therefore, as long as there is a slight chance, the general should also make a hundred times the effort to achieve the best result."

In October of the tenth year of Jian'an (197), Emperor Xian of Han, Cao Cao personally led 30,000 elite troops to the north, attacked the west with a sound of the east and the west, and defeated Yuan Tan, Yuan Xi and Yuan Xi successively, Yuan Tan, and Yuan Xi led only thousands of remaining troops to flee back to the Liyang camp. Yuan Shao was furious when he heard the news and personally led the army across the Yellow River to the south.

Seeing that the Hebei army was so powerful, Cao Cao abandoned the Baima, Yanjin and retreated to Guandu. Yuan Shao was in power and refused to forgive him, so he urged the army to advance to Guandu.

In Guandu, the two armies are in a round formation.

The Hebei general Yan Ming slapped his horse out of the formation, danced three-pointed two-edged sword and rushed to Cao's army formation and shouted: "Hebei Yan Ming is here, Cao Cao's traitor is here, and he will die quickly!"

"Don't be rampant, Cao Zihe from Qiao County is here!"

Cao Chun shouted loudly and came to fight against Yan Ming with a slap.

The two horses intersected and joined together. Cao Chun then stabbed Yan Ming in the shoulder with a gun, and killed him by the horse. Cao Chun turned over and pulled his sword and took the sword to the head of Yan Ming. He calmly got on the horse and provoked Yan Ming's head with a spear. He roared three times to the sky. The Cao army soldiers responded with a loud bang, and the sound was as if the sky had collapsed and the earth was broken, and the sound was terrifying.

Yuan Shao looked back at the generals behind him and said, "Who dares to fight?"

Tian Yue, a powerful general in Youzhou, and the famous general in Qinghe, were slapped into the battle at the same time. They fought with Cao Chun. The three horses were intersecting ten rounds and could not decide the winner. Cao Chun then shot the horse and left. Tian Yue and Ju Yuanjin chased him relentlessly. He heard the sound of the bowstring. Ju Yuanjin was already caught in an arrow in front of him and turned over and fell off the horse. Tian Yue was suddenly shocked and was stabbed by Cao Chun with one shot.

Cao Chun killed two powerful generals from Hebei again, and Cao's army boosted its momentum.

Yuan Shao said in shock: "There is such a tiger general under Cao Aman's tent. What can you do if you do?"

"Lord, don't worry, wait for someone to kill him!"
Chapter completed!