The Nameless of the Common Clans

"Yu Sheng had already started to resettle the people in Zhongmu last year. Now, except for the soldiers defending the city, it is almost an empty city." In the Xingyang government office, Xun You analyzed the pros and cons of abandoning Zhongmu. Zhongmu was a node on the periphery of the defense system arranged by Yu Sheng, but the terrain near Zhongmu was not suitable for fighting, at least in terms of terrain, it was not favorable to Chen Mo, so when choosing Guandu as the battlefield, Zhongmu was destined to be abandoned.

Before this, although the Zhongmu garrison was not 5,000, it was more than 3,000. After the decision to use Guandu as the main battlefield, the Zhongmu garrison was gradually transferred back, but the loss of Zhongmu in this battle still made Yu Sheng feel a little distressed.

"In a war, casualties are inevitable, at least Zhongmu bought us enough time." Chen Mo patted Yu Sheng on the shoulder. Although the loss was not too much, and in terms of loss, although the Cao army won the city, the price paid was no less than the soldiers who died in Zhongmu.

Pang De, who was standing aside, looked at Xun You and bowed, saying, "Sir, what if Cao's army chooses to attack in other directions instead of Guandu?"

The battlefield was indeed ready, but how to make Cao's army fight with them at the decisive battle place they chose according to their wishes was a problem. It was very important to grasp the rhythm of the war, and Cao Cao would not let them control the rhythm.

"No matter where you want to attack, Guandu is inevitable. If Cao's army dares to bypass Guandu, our army can take advantage of the situation, retake Zhongmu, and cut off Cao's supply. As long as they want to fight this battle, they can only come to Guandu." Xun You smiled and said that Guandu was a good place. If Cao's army did not take Zhongmu, there were indeed many ways to go, but as long as Cao's army took Zhongmu, Guandu could not be avoided.

Of course, going to Zhongmu was also the best choice for Cao's army. If they gave up Zhongmu, they could only go to Meishan, where the terrain was more unfavorable to Cao's army.

The generals suddenly realized that Yu Sheng's defense line was too good, especially after Chen Mo's main force arrived. Even if Cao's army was unwilling, it could only develop this line. If the troops were moved to the Meishan line, Chen Mo could instantly cut off their retreat and even take Suiyang directly.

"Now the troops of various units have gathered in the Guandu area. According to the previously determined positions, Cao's army will probably arrive soon." Chen Mo looked at the generals and smiled, "It's time for us to set off, Yu Sheng."

This battle will be a decisive battle. Chen Mo will personally preside over it. He looked at Yu Sheng, who may not be good at fighting, but the general who makes him most at ease.

"I am here!" Yu Sheng stepped forward and saluted Chen Mo.

"You continue to stay in Xingyang and arrange the baggage and food routes." Chen Mo looked at Yu Sheng. Although he was not charging into battle, Yu Sheng controlled the lifeblood of the army in front. Only Yu Sheng could do this kind of thing, and Chen Mo could be at ease.

"I will obey your orders!" Yu Sheng bowed and accepted the order.

"The rest of the generals, follow me to Guandu." Chen Mo continued.

"Yes!"

The generals agreed, and immediately organized their troops and went to Guandu to prepare for a decisive battle with Cao's army.

...

Chen Mo was actively deploying the battle of Guandu, while on the other side, everyone in Zhongmu City was also discussing this matter.

"Awesome!" Looking at the map, Cheng Yu sighed and said, "If Zhongmu is not broken, we can't see anything, but now that Zhongmu is broken, there is only one way left for our army."

"Zhongde, what do you mean?" Xiahou Dun frowned, what do you mean by only one way left.

"Although our army has broken through Zhongmu, we have also fallen into Chen Mo's calculations. Next, to continue to move westward, we must first break through the Guandu camp in the north. If we don't break this camp, it will be like a sword hanging over our heads. If we can't break it, our army will not be able to send troops. Fengxiao's plan to seize Guandu first was probably for this reason, right?" Cheng Yu turned his head and looked at Guo Jia. At that time, Guo Jia spent a lot of effort to seize Guandu. Cheng Yu didn't quite understand it at the time, but now that Zhongmu has been broken, Cheng Yu looked at the map again and understood Guo Jia's intention at the time.

This is to seize the initiative!

Unfortunately, they failed to seize Guandu in the end, which made them very passive now. They can only continue to follow the road given by Chen Mo. As for how this road is, there is no need to say more. If it is easy to walk, Chen Mo will not be so calculating.

"It's just Guandu. The military advisor failed to break through that day because the army was alone and deep. Now that Zhongmu has been taken, it's not difficult to break through the Guandu camp." Xiahou Dun smiled. He didn't understand why the two people were making a fuss.

"It's too late~" Guo Jia sighed, feeling a little cold. He took out a jade bottle from his arms, poured some powder, and drank it with wine. His expression eased a little.

Cao Cao didn't say anything, but Xiahou Yuan on the side was a little anxious: "Why is it too late? Sir, what do you say?"

"If my guess is correct, Guandu may have a large number of troops stationed at this time. If you want to break through Guandu at this time, you will have to fight a decisive battle with Chen Mo." Guo Jia raised his neck and sighed.

Ah?

Xiahou Dun frowned. This was a nonsense, so he didn't know how to respond, but he understood one thing. Guandu is probably now the enemy's world, but how did the other party know about this? The scouts sent out to gather intelligence seemed to have not yet sent back the news.

Just as Xiahou Dun was puzzled, he saw a dusty scout coming to the door and bowed and said, "My lord, there is urgent military information from the front line."

"Come in!" Cao Cao, who had been silent, raised his head and looked in the direction of the scout.

"Yes!" The scout walked in quickly and handed a bamboo slip to Xu Chu, who passed it to Cao Cao.

After reading the intelligence, Cao Cao smiled bitterly and handed it to Xu Chu, asking everyone to circulate it: "Before, I was still hoping for luck, but now it seems that Feng Xiao's words have come true."

Everyone looked at the bamboo slips and looked at Guo Jia in amazement. A large number of Guanzhong troops had gathered in the Guandu area, and a huge camp had been established.

Guandu was only fifty miles away, which meant that the Guanzhong army had been preparing for this battle.

Xiahou Dun looked at the map and understood why Guo Jia said before that they had only one way out. Guandu gathered heavy troops. If they did not fight and chose to go straight to Xingyang or other places, Guandu could send troops at any time to cut off their retreat.

"The military advisor is really a god!" Xiahou Dun said with admiration.

"This is not the time to admire him." Guo Jia sighed and said, "Even if we can see it, we can only follow the path given by Chen Mo. It doesn't matter whether we see it or not."

In this confrontation between the two sides, Chen Mo can be said to have taken advantage. As long as they want to attack, they can only follow the path given by Chen Mo and fight a decisive battle with Chen Mo. But even if they win, Chen Mo can still retreat to Luoyang, and they can only get the cities east of Chenggao, which cannot hurt Chen Mo at all.

If they can follow their own plan, the decisive battle should be in Chenggao. As long as they win, they can take Luoyang. But Chen Mo's early deployment of troops is equivalent to putting himself in an invincible position. If he wins, he can take the land of Yan and Yu states. If he loses, he will only lose a dozen cities. The overall situation has not changed.

Unfortunately, in a war of this level, both sides are exerting their strength, especially the other side's plan is not worse than their own, so it is naturally impossible to follow Guo Jia's best idea.

"So how should we fight now?" Xiahou Dun asked, "Please give me some advice, military advisor."

"I don't deserve your advice. Now we can only follow Chen Mo's idea and go to Guandu to fight him." Guo Jia shook his head and said, "But it's not completely impossible to win. Our army is as good as Chen Mo in weapons. Besides..."

Guo Jia looked at everyone and said in a deep voice, "You can send people to secretly find out where Chen Mo's food is stored. If we can cut off the enemy's food supply, our army will win!"

The strategy of cutting off food supply is the most cruel but also the most effective strategy on the battlefield. If it succeeds, it can directly determine the outcome of a war, just like the battle between Chen Mo and Yuan Shao in Muye. After Yuan Shao's food and grass were burned, Chen Mo forced Yuan Shao to fight him, which led to the decline of the Yuan family and the division of the Central Plains between Chen and Cao.

It is the same now. If they can cut off Chen Mo's food supply, they don't have to fight a decisive battle with Chen Mo. They just need to drag it out, so that Chen Mo will be defeated without fighting. Even if the rear can raise food and grass again, Cao's army can move the decisive battle to Chenggao. This is Guo Jia's original calculation. With Chenggao as the place of the decisive battle, as long as they win, they can attack Luoyang in one fell swoop, like a dagger piercing Chen Mo's heart. Even if they can't kill Chen Mo directly, they can make Chen Mo unable to take care of the southeast, and then plan Jizhou and Youzhou to reverse the current situation between the two sides.

But the problem is that everyone knows that this is a poisonous plan. No one will not take precautions. Chen Mo is even more skilled in using troops. How can they easily find Chen Mo's grain storage? Moreover, Chen Mo can't just watch them rob food. Cao Cao also has to take into account that the logistics and food are not cut off by Chen Mo.

The grain robbery plan is probably difficult to work, but we have to try it.

Cao Cao knocked on the table, looked at everyone and said: "Generals, go and organize the troops. Tomorrow morning, we will send troops to Guandu!"

"Yes!" Upon hearing this, the generals hurriedly took the order and left.

In the government office, only Cao Cao, Guo Jia and Cheng Yu were left. Xu Chu consciously walked outside the door to guard against anyone coming.

After everyone left, Cao Cao looked at Guo Jia and Cheng Yu and said, "Feng Xiao, Zhong De, what do you think of our chances of winning this Guandu campaign?"

Guo Jia and Cheng Yu looked at each other, and after hesitating for a moment, Cheng Yu said, "My lord, since Chen Mo has chosen the battlefield, he must be confident. I'm afraid our chances of winning this battle are not high."

Cao Cao nodded. He knew Chen Mo's character. If he was not sure, how could he choose this place as the battlefield? He looked at Guo Jia and said, "In that case, we can only take an unconventional approach?"

"That's right." Guo Jia was silent for a while, then nodded and said, "But Jia is worried that Chen Mo is already prepared."

"We have to give it a try after all." Cao Cao sighed.