CHAPTER 1117: CHAPTER 1073: CAO CAO’S NORTH STRATEGY

While Chen Xi still had the mood for romance and leisure, Bingzhou had already turned into a mess. Not only was Lyu Bu fighting, Cao Cao was also engaged in battle, and so were the Qiang and Hu. To make matters worse, the opponents were not just the Xianbei, but also the Qiang and Hu.

Naturally, the Qiang and Hu were dealt with by the Qiang and Hu, while the Xianbei and Huns were handled by Cao Cao and Lyu Bu. However, it was clear that the relationship between Cao Cao and Lyu Bu was not good. After opening his heart, Lyu Bu became utterly straightforward about love and hate.

Hate is hate, dislike is dislike; he would not wrong his own people for any reason. If it ought to be done, it would be done, with no mercy!

Therefore, even after Cao Cao sent food to Lyu Bu without any discount, Lyu Bu did not show any goodwill. He only stated that as long as he lives, the Xianbei and Huns would not cross Jiuyuan. His iron-solid body was the last line of defense for Bingzhou.

How should one put this? Cao Cao was very happy to hear this. Although Lyu Bu had a peculiar personality, he never compromised when it came to warfare. If he said he would hold, even if he was battered and bloody, he would hold the line.

Thus, with Lyu Bu’s assurance, Cao Cao was not worried about the Hu people attacking from the east, and he began to prepare to collaborate with the Qiang and Hu, that is, Ma Chao, to deal with the Xianbei in the western part of Bingzhou.

This meant that, strategically speaking, Cao Cao and Lyu Bu were now allies watching each other’s backs. Moreover, Lyu Bu would not retreat even slightly in the face of an enemy, which was good news, but Lyu Bu’s exhibited hostility towards Cao Cao was quite displeasing to him.

After all, he, Cao Cao, had presented Lyu Bu with a substantial amount of grain, and had even specially offered a lot of meat to win him over, yet Lyu Bu was so indifferent. One must know, Cao Cao had always wanted to win over Lyu Bu and his followers.

However, despite the lack of rapport, Cao Cao’s ambition had not waned, and national interests were still placed above personal interests. With an intention to keep the overall situation in mind, he did not stoop to argue with Lyu Bu and instead began mobilizing his civil and military officials to severely punish the Xianbei. It was not necessarily to annihilate them, but to at least render them incapable of further turmoil.

Of course, Cao Cao’s current strength was not very strong; after all, there was a marked difference in combat power between raw recruits and battle-hardened elite soldiers, especially after he had been weakened by Liu Bei in Xuzhou and had yet to recover.

Nevertheless, due to the rare opportunity, Cao Cao finally resolved to dispatch a significant force to attack the Xianbei Tribe, instead of the previously planned strategic defense. For this, he even mobilized the Cao Ren’s unit stationed in Wancheng to Chang’an, in hopes of achieving a decisive victory in one battle.

It must be known that under Cao Cao, only Cao Ren’s unit in Wancheng was battle-tested, and this elite force of over ten thousand was perhaps the strongest in Cao Cao’s faction, having never suffered a devastating defeat. It could be said that it was Cao Cao’s most excellently equipped and skilled army!

Always led by Cao Cao’s brother, Cao Ren, stationed in Wancheng to guard against Yuan Shu, and later against Sun Ce, until recently when Zhou Yu, in collaboration with Ma Chao, eased tensions with a distant dialogue, allowing the strained atmosphere to relax somewhat.

After Ma Chao sent large groups of horses out of Wancheng, Cao Cao seemed to express goodwill by withdrawing more than half of the original garrison from Wancheng.

Upon receiving news from Wancheng, Zhou Yu withdrew the troops stationed in Nanyang back to Xiangyang, causing the previously tense situation between the two sides to suddenly ease and the atmosphere to significantly improve.

With such a premise, Cao Cao finally completed the integration of his army and secretly raised an army of fifty thousand, appointing Zhang Xiu as the Vanguard to go to the northwest of Bingzhou and prepared for a grand operation.

This appointment deeply moved Zhang Xiu, evoking a sense of dying for a bosom friend, although he did not notice Cao Cao’s longing gaze as he bid farewell to his aunt, Lady Zou.

Subsequently, Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, and Cao Ren successively led troops on the expedition. This time Cao Cao did not go himself, but he sent all his powerful valiant generals to Bingzhou, including Xun Youi, Cheng Yu, Du Xi, leaving only Xun Yu and Dian Wei by his side.

As for Ma Chao, he was currently full of vigor, but those were trivial compared to the fact that after gaining power and strength, he did not clash with Cao Cao. Instead, he showed more respect towards Cao Cao, likely a form of respect towards wisdom, so he agreed to Cao Cao’s suggestion to take the Northern Desert route to flank the Xianbei, executing a strategy entirely akin to what Huo Qubing did years ago.

The difference was that this time Ma Chao led the Qiang and Hu. Whether this was a Token of Allegiance or something else, Ma Chao did not care. He was very aware that the Qiang and Hu needed food, slaves, finances, and livestock, while what the Han Dynasty wanted was stability in the Northern Frontier. Their demands were not conflicting, and eliminating the Xianbei would free up space nicely.

Thus, Ma Chao set out with the Qiang People who were willing to trust him. Though taking the Northern Desert route was extremely dangerous, Ma Chao’s valor, coupled with his royal title, prompted part of the Qiang People to follow his steps into battle.

As for the majority of the Qiang and Hu, they remained observant. The road to the Northern Desert was too perilous, and just taking this route would mean losing twenty percent of the people due to blizzards and strong winds. Additionally, Ma Chao did not force anyone; it was purely voluntary, resulting in only over 8,000 Qiang People, who were young and fearless warriors, following him.

For the other Qiang People, Ma Chao, with his royal command, instructed them to follow his father and uncle’s command until his return, allowing Ma Teng to lead the Qiang Clan and prepare to assist Cao Cao.

The turn of the Qiang and Hu towards Cao Cao could not be concealed when the majority of Qiang and Hu began to move, so the timing of action became very important, with only one shot at it. Hence, Zhong Yao came personally to serve as Ma Teng’s strategist.

After becoming Ma Teng’s strategist, Zhong Yao didn’t do much; he simply valued Pang De, whom he had always regarded highly, even more, greatly enhancing Pang De’s troops and rotating a substantial amount of weapons and equipment to Pang De for rearming.

Regarding the large groups of Qiang People, Zhong Yao directly eliminated the old, weak, and sick, retaining only the strongest ones, then trained them in an almost frenzied manner. He was well aware of why the Qiang and Hu could not match the Han, and knowing the reason, solving it was equally straightforward.

Getting the Qiang People to identify as citizens of the Han Dynasty was the key idea; having the Qiang Clan’s warriors recognize themselves as part of the Empire was crucial. It was something that seemed difficult, yet it could also be extremely simple!

The simplest way was to have a general with a Legion Talent train them since the Legion Talent is a combination of will and Cloud Qi, and the chief general’s will inherently contains one’s own cognitive notions. Over time, the soldiers would subtly come to agree with it!

This method was too slow, however, so Zhong Yao set his sights on Pang De. As long as Pang De activated his Legion Talent, its instantaneous enhancement effect would directly resonate with numerous responders, and a battle-hardened, unbreakable war soldier unit would emerge. (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to vote for it on Qidian.com with recommendations or monthly votes. Your support is the greatest motivation for me. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)