Chapter 404

According to the report from the scouts he arranged at the rear of the army, Gu Yi did not intend to send troops to pursue.

This move.

Could be considered to have let the panicked Cao Cao finally catch his breath.

However.

Several advisors beside Cao Cao still had their brows tightly locked.

Perhaps they were scared by Gu Yi.

Or perhaps it was out of inner vigilance.

The advisors suggested that Cao Cao divide his troops and not bring all twelve thousand troops to Qingzhou at once.

Regarding this, Cao Cao chose to accept the advisors' proposal.

Putting eggs in one basket, it was feared that something would go wrong sooner or later.

Thus, Cao Cao divided his troops into two routes.

One route took the main road, with Cao Chun leading twenty thousand Cao troops, paired with the forty thousand Taishan troops under Zang Ba.

The other route took the small path, with Cao Cao himself leading the troops.

However.

It was precisely this inconspicuous move of dividing the troops that saved Cao Cao's life.

Otherwise.

Facing the ambush troops totaling thirty thousand Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry and Xiliang Iron Cavalry, Cao Cao's twelve thousand infantry really wouldn't have gained any advantage.

To be fair.

The advisors of the Cao camp were actually quite high-level.

If the opponent they encountered wasn't Gu Yi.

I'm afraid that looking at the world, there wouldn't be many people who could surpass them in strategy.

After learning the news that they were arranged to take the main road, Zang Ba and Cao Chun breathed a sigh of relief.

In their view, what normal person would place an ambush on the main road?

Only the small path was a suitable place for an ambush.

But……

Perhaps it was Gu Yi's personal teaching.

Leading the originally quite upright Zhao Yun to also start developing in the direction of being "full of tricks."

Yes.

The ambush troops of Zhao Yun and Lu Bu were indeed placed exactly on the main road.

After all, the two were not professional advisors and did not think of setting ambushes on both the main road and the small path.

Actually, for Zhao Yun and Lu Bu.

Being able to formulate a relatively perfect combat plan with limited intelligence was already a quite difficult thing.

The existence of omissions was also within reason.

Moreover.

Including Cao Cao himself, the reason why the advisors of the Cao camp proposed the plan of dividing the troops to Qingzhou.

The main reason was to prevent encountering sudden situations and meeting with misfortune.

They didn't think that Zhao Yun and Lu Bu would actually lead cavalry units to ambush on the main road to Qingzhou in advance.

……

Another five days passed quietly.

During these five days, the vigilance of Zang Ba and Cao Chun also gradually decreased with the passage of time.

At first, they were quite vigilant about the troop-dividing strategy proposed by the Cao camp advisors.

But now, the two thought this was purely taking off their pants to fart—an unnecessary move.

How could there be ambush troops on the main road to Qingzhou?

Although Gu Yi is powerful, he is not a god; how could he arrange everything perfectly?

Therefore.

In the last day or two, Zang Ba and Cao Chun didn't even take the initiative to send scouts to investigate nearby.

Because the two thought this was a complete waste of manpower and unnecessary.

At this moment

The two were leading the army to rest on the main road to Qingzhou.

It is worth mentioning.

Cao Chun could be considered a rare intellectual among the generals of the Cao camp.

Before defecting to Cao Cao, he was recommended by his family to Luoyang to serve as a "Yellow Gate Attendant."

Although the grade was only six hundred shi, not a high official, it was a civil service position with a relatively high threshold.

The Cao family used the strength of the entire family to finally choose to recommend Cao Chun to this position, naturally indicating that Cao Chun still had some ink in his belly.

Cao Chun was also quite proficient in human relationships.

This time, the reason Cao Cao arranged for Cao Chun and Zang Ba to take the same route was precisely because he valued Cao Chun's social skills.

He wanted Cao Chun to take the opportunity to build more rapport with Zang Ba.

Times are different now.

The forty thousand Taishan soldiers under Zang Ba accounted for a full one-third of the twelve thousand troops in the Cao camp.

If Zang Ba could not be appeased, it would definitely become a hidden danger for Cao Cao.

And at this moment.

Cao Chun, deeply trusted by Cao Cao, instantly displayed his role as a social master.

Seeing Cao Chun carrying a pot of wine, he came to Zang Ba's side and said to Zang Ba:

"Sigh, Brother Xuangao, actually you don't need to be discouraged."

"The lord never mistreats meritorious officials."

"Don't look at the fact that Yanzhou is temporarily occupied by Gu Linzhi."

"But as long as we soldiers are still alive, sooner or later we can recapture Yanzhou!"

"By then, let alone those one or two commanderies in northern Xuzhou."

"Even the position of Inspector of Xuzhou, the lord can let Brother Xuangao hold!"

Hearing what Cao Chun said, the expression on Zang Ba's face indeed looked better.

Actually, the reason he was depressed was mainly because his psychological expectations and the gap were too large.

He originally thought that defecting to Cao Cao was a wise choice where he could lie flat.

But now it seems that defecting to Cao Cao has become a huge pit.

This made Zang Ba feel very regretful in his heart.

However.

Regarding what Cao Chun said, Zang Ba also quite agreed.

In the past, Cao Cao was just a mere Administrator of Dongjun.

Even obtaining the position of Administrator of Dongjun relied on Yuan Shao's help.

But only a few years had passed.

Cao Cao almost successfully became a great lord spanning the three provinces of "Yan, Yu, and Xu"!

Looking at the whole world, the only one who could surpass him in terms of expansion speed was likely the cheating Gu Yi.

In other words.

If there were no Gu Yi in this world.

With Cao Cao's development momentum, he would become the most powerful candidate to unify the world.

Smiling and taking the wine pot handed by Cao Chun, Zang Ba sighed:

"Zihe, I heard that the lord seems to want to form an elite cavalry similar to the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry and the Xiliang Iron Cavalry?"

Cao Chun nodded and responded:

"Yes."

"But training an elite cavalry, how could it be a simple matter?"

"But if we don't train cavalry."