Chapter 534

Yuan Shao seemed to have aged quite a bit all of a sudden.

He sighed long and hard.

"I didn't expect Liu Bei to have grown to such an extent!"

The chariots he spent a fortune to build were gone in one battle!

(agfh)

Other elites also suffered quite a bit of damage.

Sun Ce's expression was also uncomfortable; he brought sixty thousand troops, and lost twenty-five thousand in one battle; what face did he have to go back!

Cao Cao suffered the least loss this time, only losing one or two thousand more than Gao Shun and the others.

It was mainly because Liu Bei focused his main targets on Sun Ce and Yuan Shao's center army.

Cao Cao coughed.

"Everyone, victory and defeat are common matters for soldiers; we only lost tens of thousands of troops, but we tested out all of Liu Bei's new troop types!"

Everyone's eyes lit up; indeed, everyone had paid a bloody price, but they had also tested out Liu Bei's trump cards.

Zhou Yu nodded.

"Although our army was defeated, we didn't suffer fundamental damage, and the troops are still about twice that of Liu Bei."

"As long as we think of a way to deal with the heavy cavalry and elephant troops, our army's chances of winning will be greater."

Guo Tu curled his lips.

"Easier said than done, Zhou Zhou Gongjin, have you thought of how to deal with the heavy cavalry and elephant troops?!"

Zhou Yu had already thought about it in his heart.

"Everyone, the key to heavy cavalry lies in the word 'charge'; they only have lethality when they are charging; we can think of ways to make them unable to charge."

"We can use horse-tripping ropes, trenches, parapets, traps, etc., to trap the heavy cavalry, and then use hook-sickle spears to injure their horses' legs; the heavy cavalry armor is very heavy, and once they fall off the horse and get injured, they might not even be able to crawl up."

Cao Cao's heart moved; this Zhou Zhou Gongjin indeed had something up his sleeve!

Zhou Yu continued to analyze.

"As for the elephant troops, animals are all afraid of fire; our army can shoot fire arrows, or use cavalry to hold torches to intimidate the elephants, and then shoot the barbarian soldiers on the elephants with powerful crossbows."

Cao Cao couldn't help but look at Zhou Yu again and laughed heartily.

"A hero comes from youth; Zhou Lang is indeed full of wisdom!"

Zhou Yu cupped his hands.

"Lord Meng De is too kind with his praise."

Cao Cao couldn't help but have ideas about Zhou Yu; it's a pity that Zhou Yu and Sun Ce were close friends, and he couldn't poach him!

Sun Ce had some sense of crisis; he heard that the Cao thief liked other people's things the most, so he had to be careful.

Cao Cao added,

"Heavy cavalry is very difficult to accelerate on muddy roads, and crossbow bolts will also lose at least half their power on rainy days."

He cupped his hands to Yuan Shao.

"Alliance Leader, I suggest that next time we choose weather that is about to have heavy rain to fight Liu Bei."

Yuan Shao secretly cursed that this Cao Cao Aman was truly sinister!

Last time it was sunshine, this time it was heavy rain; he probably had eight hundred schemes in his mind!

"That's fine!"

He paused.

"Meng De is full of wisdom and commands well; this time you fought to a draw with Liu Bei's left flank; how about you take command in the next great battle?"

Cao Cao didn't decline; if he could defeat Liu Bei in the next battle, his status in the eyes of the Hebei soldiers would soar, and entering Hebei in the future would be half the effort for twice the result!

Xu You cupped his hands.

"My lord, Liu Bei's main army is gathered here; I suggest sending troops to raid Anyi and other cities in Hedong; Hedong Commandery is the place where Liu Bei started his career and is also an important place for him to obtain money and grain; he will definitely send troops to rescue it."

Yuan Shao nodded.

"Good! Xu You's suggestion is not bad!"

Zhou Yu and Sun Ce exchanged glances.

Sun Ce cupped his hands.

"Alliance Leader, our Danyang elite troops are all mountain elites and can cross Mount Zhongtiao to advance."

Yuan Shao and Cao Cao exchanged glances; Sun Ce still had thirty-five thousand men, their role was average, and they had just suffered a crushing defeat; letting him go to harass was also fine!

"Alright then, Bofu, be careful."

Sun Ce and Zhou Yu left the center army camp.

"Zhou Gongjin, why did you ask me to go attack Anyi?"

Zhou Yu said in a low voice,

"My lord, our army only has thirty thousand men left; rather than being assigned by Cao Cao to face Liu Bei's elites, it is better to take Hedong and achieve merit from another side."

Sun Ce's eyes lit up; that was the logic; rather than being controlled by others, it was better to lead troops outside yourself!

"Good, just let me turn Liu Bei's Hedong upside down and see how he can steadily guard the camp!"

Both sides called a truce for a few days; during this period, except for some small frictions and sending ruffians to curse each other, there were no big movements.

Liu Bei listened to Jia Xu's report on the intelligence of the past few days.

"My lord, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu have already led troops to Mount Zhongtiao, intending to attack Anyi, but because they were unfamiliar with the terrain, they were met with a head-on blow by Xu Rong and Zhang He; the two retreated to defend in the mountains, neither advancing nor retreating."

Sun Ce didn't expect that when he went to pick a soft persimmon, he actually encountered Xu Rong, who had made his old man suffer a loss back then.

As a result, he was also repelled by Xu Rong...

Liu Bei nodded.

"Zhou Yu's strategy is not bad; have someone notify Xu Rong and Zhang He to be wary of the Sun army using fire tactics."

Zhou Yu was a famous arsonist; Liu Bei had to remind Xu Rong and Zhang He.

"Report!"

A scout came to report.

"My lord, Cao Cao sent someone to deliver a challenge letter, challenging you to a great battle tomorrow!"

Liu Bei opened it and looked; Cao Cao's general meaning was that the Allied forces were careless last time, and you Liu Xuande, if you have the ability, come out and fight again.

Jia Xu frowned.

"My lord, this Cao Cao has ill intentions; I observed the celestial phenomena tonight, and I fear there will be heavy rain here tomorrow."

"Heavy rain will greatly reduce the power of our army's crossbows, the roads will be muddy, and the heavy cavalry is too heavy; if they get stuck in the mud, they won't be able to exert their power."

Guo Jia also said,

"I also observed the ants in the camp moving house; I fear it will be a heavy rain."

Liu Bei sighed secretly.

"Being a strategist is really not easy; not only do you have to be good at language and mathematics, but you also have to understand biology and geography!"

Zhang Fei??

"Guo Fengxiao, you are really idle enough to actually watch ants moving house."

Liu Bei waved his hand.

"Zhang Yide, stop talking nonsense; a great battle must pay attention to the right time, the right place, and the right people; observing the abnormalities of animals can very well predict future climate, such as preparing winter clothes if it's going to snow, or storing grain well to prevent it from getting wet if it's going to rain heavily."

Poor student Zhang Fei??

"It's too difficult; I'd rather charge and fight."

Guan Yu, however, was thoughtful, seemingly having learned some knowledge.

Liu Bei sent people to make the grain and fodder rainproof; it wouldn't be good if it got damp.

He stood up tall.

"Since Cao Cao wants to have a great battle in the rain with our army, then let's fight!"

Everyone's eyes lit up; rainy days indeed have advantages and disadvantages; it just depends on how you use them!