NOVPUB"Given the current situation, my Lord, please divide your troops into two groups, a vanguard for the night attack. Should they fail, the second team can provide support. At worst, tonight’s night raid would merely become a forced assault," Jia Xu spoke calmly, head bowed. Cao Cao might be fully prepared, but to annihilate a formidable enemy, there were only two opportunities: one was to catch them off guard at the outset, and the other was to drag out a bloody battle to exhaustion.
It could be said that if it came down to a protracted fight, Jia Xu could guarantee survival was absolutely in their favor. The only one on Mount Tai who could feasibly endure a drawn-out conflict with them was definitely not Cao Mengde.
The problem was, if they really dragged it out, it would end up a scenario where both Cao and Liu suffered, to Yuan Shao’s benefit. After all, even for Liu Bei, securing Yanzhou wouldn’t equate to controlling the north—it would be better not to take Yanzhou at all!
Jia Xu and other strategists had once contemplated a bold move—inflicting heavy damage to take down Cao Cao directly and then ceding Yanzhou to Lyu Bu. But this approach was ultimately abandoned, not due to a lack of vision, but because of Yuan Shao.
This era, whether acknowledged or not, was shaped by Yuan Shao’s display of courage at the Battle of Jieqiao. It had stunned everyone in the realm. Even Yuan Shu, thanks to Lyu Bu’s favor towards the Yuan Family, had sheltered Lyu Bu. What Jia Xu and the others feared most was that Yuan Shao would show boldness, allowing Lyu Bu to return to his homeland in Bingzhou, and even create opportunities for him to do so.
To Jia Xu and company, the likelihood of this happening was slim, but they snuffed out the idea due to its hazardous nature—should such an unfortunate event occur, the Han Dynasty would have no choice but to sleep through its misfortune.
This was something Jia Xu hadn’t mentioned to Chen Xi: if he had, Chen Xi would have told Jia Xu that the odds of it happening were as high as ninety percent.
Despite the favorable celestial phenomena in the years 191 and 192, Xun Yu and Xi Zhicai managed to capture Nanyang County, adding 2.4 million people to Cao Cao’s cause, enabling his rise to power. However, since the slaughter in Xuzhou, disasters like locust plagues, droughts, and severe cold had been nonstop, leaving most provinces and counties without any grain reserves.
From this period on, capturing any provinces and counties wouldn’t result in three years’ worth of grain reserves. Forget three years—three months’ worth would make for a wealthy and prosperous region. At this point, any claim to the land, no matter how battered, was a victory...
In other words, Lyu Bu’s lack of grain was inevitable. At this time, whether Yuan Shao chose to support Lyu Bu with grain to relocate to Bingzhou, or directly seized Yanzhou while Lyu Bu was deprived of supplies, he would acquire Yanzhou. Nothing was more important than the Yuan Family North-South Union.
No matter how deep the enmity was between Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao, under circumstances where Liu Bei was the only rival left in the Central Plains, and the rest belonged to the Yuan Family, they would surely eradicate Liu Bei!
As for whether Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao would prioritize their family above all in such a case: both Jia Xu’s understanding of human nature and history—even Yuan Shu’s defeated retreat northward carrying the Imperial Seal, seeking to join Yuan Shao—indicated that aristocratic family members indeed placed their family first.
Unlike the historical scenario of one Yuan rising as another fell, which was much less cooperative and necessary, in this life both Two Yuans controlled more than two states’ worth of territory and were still expanding. Once they united victoriously, they could immediately intimidate several states in the south. Then the Yuan Family would redistribute the resources of the Two Yuans combined, significantly boosting the entire family’s strength.
Approaching control over the territory of Eight States, with three grain-producing regions and three horse-producing regions (notice it’s the entire Yuan Family, not just Yuan Shao or Yuan Shu), they wouldn’t need any strategems to dispose of Liu Bei, who had yet to recover from a major battle with Cao Cao half a year prior. This process could even take less than a month.
The reason was that Lyu Bu, newly in control of Yanzhou, would definitely not be able to withstand an onslaught from Yuan Shao this summer. As for the talented individuals supporting Cao Cao, Tian Feng and others had repeatedly suggested taking the opportunity to eliminate Cao Cao. In the current situation, where a successful union practically guaranteed a change of power, the Yuan Family would certainly seek immediate victory in that union.
Once Yanzhou fell into Yuan Shao’s hands, the Yuan Family would immediately deal with Liu Bei, whom they had completely surrounded. Then, holding Yu, Ji, Bing, Qing, Yan, Xu, Yu, Yang, Jing, and Jiao—ten states in total, plus a large part of Sili—tch, such an image is almost too beautiful to behold.
In fact, Jia Xu had estimated that, were it possible to defeat Cao Cao with minimal losses, they might be able to end the chaos at a swifter pace. Liu Bei, well-equipped with troops and supplies from Qing and Xu, wouldn’t find it too difficult to withstand the first wave of attack from the Yuan Family, commanding the power of Eight States. Afterwards, deploying Chen Xi’s long-prepared strategies, securing the north would be no problem. Aside from the risky process, it didn’t seem too bad.
However, the process was indeed rather dangerous. If miscues occurred, the Yuan Family might control ten states by this year, and unify the realm by the next.
This was why, although Jia Xu had a method to conquer Cao Cao, he dared not use it: it was simply too risky.
But then, Chen Xi was resolute that this was the best time to eliminate Cao Cao, trusting Chen Xi’s judgment, Jia Xu believed that vanquishing Cao Cao with minimal losses, followed by a war against the Yuan Family, would be a faster way to end the turmoil.
Because of this, Jia Xu decided to wait for the right moment to kill Cao Cao here—if the plan succeeded with virtually no losses, they would embark on a new chapter of history. After all, Chen Xi meant that he could handle the aftermath; if the plan didn’t work out, then there was no helping it. They’d send a disguised messenger to Cao Cao with news that Yanzhou had been seized, urging him to quickly retake it. Under no circumstances would Jia Xu expend significant combat power to take down Cao Cao.
"Fortunately, the food tailored by Zichuan for the army is effective. For the past two years, regularly feeding the troops with liver from sheep, pigs, and chickens has allowed most men to see at night. Night battles, victory or defeat hinges on this move. Ziyang, Fengxiao, Wen Ru, it’s up to you to seize the opportunity against Cao Cao," Jia Xu took a deep breath, thinking steadfastly.
