Yuan Shang concentrated all his efforts and went out to the Zhazhai in Guandu overnight, breaking down the barrier outside Guandu Tucheng in one fell swoop, leaving Cao Zhi helpless and leaving the entire Cao army helpless.

It’s not that no one in Cao’s army could see through Yuan Shang’s plan, but that Yuan Shang fully dismantled Cao Zhi’s dozens of villages overnight. The number of people and generals used was not something Cao’s current strength could not compete with.

The current situation is indeed not that Cao's army loses strategically to Yuan's army, but that there is indeed a gap with Yuan's army in terms of overall power.

When Yuan Shao and Cao Cao confronted each other, although the Yuan army was better than Cao's army in terms of quantity, the overall quality and combat effectiveness were different from Cao's army. In terms of talent, although Yuan's army had many talents, they were not good at it. On the contrary, the Cao army was full of talents, with civil officials and fierce generals like rain, which was terrifying.

But now, the number of Yuan's army is still better than that of Cao's army, but the combat power of the army is no less than that of Cao's army, and it is more and more powerful. On the other hand, the talents of Cao's army have gradually withered, and fewer and fewer people can use it.

Yu Jin died at the hands of Zhao Yun, Xu Chu died at the hands of Ma Chao, Cao Chun died at the hands of Yan Xing, Cheng Yu was beheaded, Xiahou Yuan, Zhong Yao and others surrendered, Xun You lived in Hebei, Zang Ba and Li Tong were captured alive, and Zhang Liao surrendered to Yuan Shang. Rumors were said that Guo Jia was beheaded by Yuan Shang in Xuzhou, and after Li Dianle broke into Xuzhou, he was besieged in a city with birds, and he could not ask for help... Now the good generals that Cao's army can use are limited to Xiahou Dun, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Cao Zhang, and Xu Huang. And the counselors, only Jia Xu can truly compete with the Yuan army's counselors.

With Cao Zhi's current military source and talents, he could not withstand Yuan Shang's attack at all. The destruction of the village overnight fully proved all this. Under Jia Xu's advice, Cao Zhi had no choice but to concentrate all his troops and horses in Guandu Tucheng, without dispersing his manpower to prevent them from being defeated by Yuan Shang. The current Cao army can no longer bear any losses.

After hearing that Cao Zhi had contracted his troops, Yuan Shang immediately attracted his confidant advisers and generals to discuss the situation. He asked directly: "Everyone, Cao Zhi will take all his troops and generals to his newly built earth city. Judging from the current situation, how can we defeat Cao's army?"

When Yuan Shang finished speaking, Zhang He below said, "After several major battles, the Cao army has reduced its troops a lot and is difficult to replenish. Moreover, the generals have withered seriously. In the eyes of the last general, it is no problem to suppress Cao's army with all their strength and overwhelm them in terms of numbers."

Yuan Shang nodded and said, "We are indeed not at a disadvantage in terms of the number of troops, but the main forces of the Cao army are all there, and they are also a trapped beasts fighting. If you are too anxious, you will jump over the wall and bite it back. Although it will not bite us to death, it will hurt a lot... Although I have promised to defeat Cao Zhi in Guandu head-on and return the reputation of my Yuan family falling in Guandu in the past, this way of losing one thousand enemies and hurting eight hundred themselves is not appropriate."

Around Yuan Shang, Ju Su stood up with a smile and advised: "Lord, in the eyes of the princes in the world, the biggest difference between Yuan and Cao, do you know what is it?"

When Yuan Shang saw Ju Su talking, he attached great importance to it. He thought about it and said, "I really don't know this..."

Ju Shu said: "In the eyes of the princes, the most terrifying thing about my Hebei army is lord, but Cao's army is just the opposite. In the eyes of the princes, the most terrifying thing about Cao's army is the old ministers left to Cao Zhi by Cao Cao, and Cao Zhi himself is not terrible."

Yuan Shang thought for a while and said, "Mr. Ju means..."

"Cao Zhi is not very powerful himself. As long as he can get rid of the effective support around him, it will be much easier to defeat him."

"Oh?" Yuan Shang seemed to be interested when he heard this and said, "Tell me in detail?"

Ju Su said: "At present, the important people under Cao Zhi include Xun Yu, Jia Xu, Xiahou Dun, Cao Ren, Xu Huang, Cao Zhang and Cao Hong. Xun Yu is now guarding Xuchang, so he can ignore it for the time being. The remaining people are all in Guandu. If you find a way to get rid of the remaining people, it will be equivalent to cutting off Cao Zhi's right-hand man. Major matters can be settled! These people are the only talents left in Cao's army. Kill one less, and the Cao army will lose morale!"

Yuan Shang was stunned when he heard this, thought for a while, and said, "These people are the mainstays of the Cao army. It's not easy to kill them..."

Ju Su smiled and said, "Old Jia Xu, who lives in silence and does not lead troops, is just giving advice. Unless he destroys Cao's army, Xiahou Dun and Cao Ren, take charge of the entire army for Cao Zhi, is the supreme commander, with many guards around him. Even if he fights, he can't be eliminated. Xu Huang is currently guarding the east city of Guandu Tucheng for Cao Zhi and leads his own army, but he has always been cautious and cannot be seduced. Cao Zhang is very skilled and has the courage to be inappropriate, and is not easy to attack. Among these people, I think the easiest person to be eliminated is Cao Hong!"

Yuan Shang thought for a while and said, "Cao Hong...well, he is also considered an old man of Cao's army."

Ju Shu nodded and said, "Although Cao Hong is a man with some abilities and abilities, he is irritable by nature and is very fond of merit. I heard that he is rich and stingy. Now, he leads an army to guard the north city of Guandu Tucheng for Cao Zhi. If he uses the plan properly, it may be easier to lure him out."

Yuan Shang suddenly realized, thought for a while, and said, "Yes, Cao's talents are gradually declining, and the damage of Guo Jia and Zhang Liao has hurt them. If one of his generals is removed at this time, Cao's army will definitely be in chaos... But how should we lure Cao Hong?"

Ju Su thought for a while and said, "It's very simple. In the future, we will send troops to besiege Cao's army on all sides of the city. At that time, we will attack the other three cities on the other side, but only on the weak side of Cao Hong. Xiahou Dun, Cao Ren and others, the main forces of the Cao army's central army, will definitely use most of the reinforcements to support the three sides of the crisis, and Cao Hong's side will be defeated."

Seeing Ju Su's serious look, Yuan Shang couldn't help but feel happy.

"Mr., Mr. Yuan dare not agree with your plan. Cao Hong may be very happy with the merits, but don't forget that there are other people from Cao's army in Guandu City. If others don't say it, Jia Xu is the most powerful poisonous man in the world. I'm afraid you can't hide it from him when you attract a snake out of the hole."

Ju Su smiled and said, "It may not be possible, if it doesn't work once, then try a few more times. The lord believes me and give Cao Hong a few more times the fruit of victory. If someone reminds him, he will also be moved... It will definitely be effective."

Yuan Shang thought for a while and nodded, "Okay, then let's give it a try."

The next day, Yuan Shang divided the troops and horses into four directions according to Ju Su's strategy to attack Guandu according to Ju Su's strategy. In order to show his strength, he also used the mechanical weapons made by Ma Jun.

In this battle, Yuan's army used elite soldiers and high-quality machinery and equipment on the southeast and west sides. Only in the north, Yuan Shang sent an ordinary general named Guan Kun under his command. This general had average ability and limited ability to command troops. Compared with the brave and tough Cao Hong, the gap was very big.

There was an emergency on the east and south sides, but the north side was smooth sailing. Not only did it protect it very well, but it also made Yuan Jun so hard that it was beaten. Xiahou Dun and Cao Ren focused their energy on the other three sides, and Cao Hong was left alone.

After about an hour of fighting, the Yuan army in the north was obviously unable to hold on and struggled to retreat. Cao Hong was overjoyed when he saw this. He was experienced and he could tell at a glance whether the enemy had deceived or not. At present, in his opinion, the Yuan army in the north was extremely frustrated. If he led his troops to attack, it would be no problem to kill the enemy general.

The Cao army now needs to win battles to boost morale!

So he quickly sent people to the Central Military Office and asked Cao Zhi to go out of the city to pursue him.

Cao Hong was full of passion and waited for the military order to go out of the city to chase and kill the enemy generals to shock the army. However, the orders of the central army made him discouraged. Cao Zhi sent someone to reply to four words for him. The content was very simple and concise.

"Stay on standby."

Upon hearing this, Cao Hong suddenly felt like a deflated ball, watching Yuan General Guan Kun lead a group of defeated generals to slip away from his eyes.

Yuan's army had a strong attack today, and it was not until Shen Shishi. The four brothers Cao Zhang, Xu Huang and Xiahou Ba were guarded by the four brothers of Cao Zhang, Xu Huang and Xiahou Ba. They all suffered losses and were barely supported, but Cao Hong's side went very smoothly.

That night, all the generals came to Cao Zhi's commander to report the results of the battle. Everyone just reported the worries but not the good news. Only Cao Hong said how he repelled Yuan Jun and how he killed Yuan Jun. After saying that, he looked at the generals proudly, waiting for everyone's praise and praise.

But the problem is that after a long silence, none of the people in the tent praised him.

The young general Xiahou Ba touched his chin, thought carefully for a while, and then hesitated: "Yuan Jun attacked the three sides of the east and south, but only showed weakness in the north. Could it be a fraud?"

After saying this, Cao Hong's nose almost turned crooked.

Okay, if you are not happy with the fight, it is Yuan Jun’s attack! I will fight smoothly and beat Yuan General to the point of urinating. Is it a fraud?

Cao Hong snorted heavily and said unhappy: "The nephew is too worried. Yuan Jun has been fighting for a day and has returned without success. What are the tricks? Why didn't I see it? If the lord hadn't stopped him, maybe I would have let the head of the general Yuan in the north today."

When Xiahou Ba heard the thorn in Cao Hong's words, he knew that what he had just said was a bit too direct, so he smiled embarrassedly and said, "Don't blame me, uncle, I'm just talking quickly, just talking casually."

Cao Hong turned his head when he heard this and ignored him.

Seeing his bad temper, his brother Cao Ren sighed helplessly and said, "Zi Lian, Zhong Quan is also kind. After all, Yuan Shang is so deceitful, so it's always good to be careful."

Cao Ren is Cao Hong's brother. Although Cao Hong was angry, he didn't dare to squirt with his brother easily. He shook his head angrily and stopped talking.

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Chapter completed!