When Cao Hong asked about his march, Cao Cao was a little curious and thought about taking the exam as his fellow disciple. He pointed his finger to the west and asked:

"Do you know what the cities on the west are called?"

"ah?"

"Do you know who is the enemy general who defends the city?"

“···”

Cao Hong did not speak out, lowered his head with shame. He began to regret asking the question of why he was going to march. His cousin's answers were simply asking himself the other way around, but he didn't know these things. Could it be that their military discussions have been discussed secretly these days, or was it just that he was not careful and missed them all.

Cao Cao looked at his fellow disciple and lowered his head in shame, then began to say in a deep tone:

"There are two important cities in the west, one is Xingyang, connecting the Bian River and Ao Cang, and the other is Chenggao. Legend has it that King Mu of Zhou of the Zhou Dynasty once raised the captured tigers there, so the local Qianshou called it Hulao Pass. These two cities were the important places where the Chu and Han warned against each other. Emperor Gaozu occupied Chenggao and Xingyang, and used Ao Cang's grain to support his soldiers. This was how he could always hold back Xiang Yu's troops and make him unable to take care of him. In the end, Han Xin, Peng Yue, Ying Bu and others rose up to attack him, and then they won't be able to defeat the Han Dynasty in one battle!"

"The person stationed in Chenggao is Xu Rong, the general under Dong Zhe. He has followed Dong Zhe for many years and is aware of the military affairs. Most of his soldiers are brave men from Xizhou. He was the one who captured Yangcheng!"

Cao Hong listened to Cao Cao's teachings and nodded in a hurry. He always admired his brother's talent and strategy, otherwise he would not have come to join Cao Cao. At this time, he did not dare to speak out when Cao Cao said this. Only when Cao Cao said this did he suddenly realize it and said:

"I have heard of this person's name recently. I heard that the governor of Yuzhou was scared to death!"

"What are you scaring to death? Don't talk nonsense. Kong Yuzhou is not as old as the state affairs and is bedridden."

Although Cao Cao also despised the famous scholars who talked a lot about Kong Yichang and were only able to hold back when things happened, Kong Yichang was a person in the alliance camp after all, so Cao Cao naturally would not develop the ambition of the enemy and destroy his own prestige, and quickly corrected Cao Hong's mistakes in his words.

Cao Hong immediately said it alone, but Cao Cao sighed in his heart. Although Cao Hong, Cao Ren and Cao Chun were both young people of the same generation in the clan, their talents still widened the gap. Among them, Cao Ren had the strongest military achievements, and Cao Chun was better at learning and thinking. After joining the army, he made rapid progress. Only Cao Hong, among the brothers of the Cao family, could only be considered middle and lower, and had not made much progress yet.

Therefore, Cao Cao spoke out again and said:

"Zi Lian, you said, since we all know that Chenggao and Xingyang are so important, they are the important places for the East-West competition. Whoever gets it will be invincible and blocks the enemy at the doorstep of the house and cannot move. How could the enemy general Xu Rong, who was deploying defense, not know? How could he defend Chenggao and place Xingyang in vain?"

"Oh, brother means that Xu Rong is luring us into the army and attacking Xingyang, so he can take the opportunity to attack our army!"

This time, Cao Hong's reaction was very fast. As soon as Cao Cao finished speaking, he immediately responded.

Seeing that Cao Hong was not so stupid that he could not understand military affairs, Cao Cao nodded again before continuing:

"Now Guandong Prefectures and counties are fighting against Dong's thieves, and the grain transport is not running out. The food in Ao Cang is quickly eaten up. Xu Rong guards Xingyang and cannot use Ao Cang's grain to support his soldiers, so he is unwilling to guard and instead stations in Chenggao, which is more dangerous."

"And the empty Xingyang is to lure our lonely army, who is advancing westward, to attack Xingyang. The journey from Chenggao to Xingyang is much shorter than the journey from Zhongmu to Xingyang, and the Xiliang soldiers are mostly elite cavalry. At that time, as soon as we advance, we will easily fall into his trap. He can ambush in advance and attack half a cross, or echo the inside and outside of Xingyang City, attack our army together, and even give up an empty city in Xingyang to our army. After our army enters the city, we will suddenly face it with a large army and siege us."

"Hiss—"

After hearing Cao Cao's words, Cao Hong couldn't help but take a breath of air conditioning. He said with some fear:

"I didn't expect that Xu Rong was so powerful. With a move to plaster Xingyang City, he could lead to so many killing moves behind him."

Speaking of this, Cao Hong paused for a moment, then smiled:

"But no matter how powerful Xu Rong is, he is not as good as his elder brother. He hasn't advanced yet, isn't he just seeing his little trick?"

Facing Cao Hong's flattery, Cao Cao sneered, he shook his head and said:

"This is just a military conspiracy. So what can be seen? Since we are going to march into Luoyang, Xingyang is destined to be a city that must be taken. Xu Rong is ready in Chenggao because he is not afraid that we will fall into the trap!"

"Ah? Then what should I do?"

Cao Hong had never seen military wars, and had heard heroic stories such as Emperor Gaozu's founding of the country and Han Xin's order of troops before. But when things came to an end, he heard that the enemy had set up a conspiracy and was not afraid that one of his side would not be deceived. Moreover, depending on his brother's intention, he still wanted to attack the Xingyang City. He couldn't help but scream.

Hearing Cao Hong screaming, Cao Cao immediately glared at him. Cao Hong immediately withered, lowered his head and closed his mouth and did not dare to speak. This was the secret of the army, and it was indeed not what he should have asked at this time.

Cao Cao did not say anything to scold him, a fellow disciple who had not yet been tempered. He turned his eyes to the west. Since he had seen Xu Rong's intention in making this arrangement and he was interested in marching to capture Xingyang, he naturally planned many countermeasures in his mind.

When Cao Cao thought of the countermeasures, he naturally thought of the two brothers of the Yuan family. The best way to break the plot of Xu Rong is to launch a massive feint attack from Hanoi or Yuan Shu from Luyang. Even if he could not successfully mobilize the Xu Rong troops in Chenggao, he could at least share the many forces of the enemy opposite him.

Unfortunately, Cao Cao knew that even if he wrote a letter to the two brothers of the Yuan family at this time, they would never send troops to help him. The early experiences of the three of them were similar, and they were all known for their "heroic" events. However, in detail, the "heroic" styles of the three of them were very different.

Yuan Shao's "heroes" wanted a famous chivalrous man, so he was loyal to the corporals, restrained himself and respected himself, and had a huge reputation. After the uprising, the scholars in the country could return to him like a stream.

Yuan Shu's "hero" requires arbitrary chivalrous spirit, so he is kind and kind to those who he values, regardless of right or wrong, but he is arrogant and domineering to those who alienate him or despise others, and can also be surrendered by some scholars and generals.

Cao Cao's "hero" is the kind of chivalrous spirit that destroys the family and relieves difficulties. When the country is in peace, he can fly away the eagles and dogs and be idle, but once the country has something to do, he will definitely take the opportunity to save the country and the people.

After all, the "hero" of the Yuan brothers is ultimately for themselves, while Cao Cao's "hero" is for himself, and for the family, country and the world.

Fortunately, Cao Cao's path was not a person who went to the dark side. He had the help of the Xiahou brothers, the Cao brothers, the fellow disciples like Wei Zi, the close friends like Bao Xin, and the talented people like Ren Jun who share the same family.

Because, with these, Cao Cao was confident that even without the help of the Yuan brothers, he could lead his troops alone and enter Luoyang City. Even if he could not save the emperor, he would still suppress Dong's arrogance and demonstrate to the world the justice of the Kanto Yi soldiers raising the flag to the cause.

With these, Cao Cao also had the confidence to defeat a long-time general like Xu Rong on the battlefield. When Cao Cao suppressed the Yellow Turban Rebellion, he served as the cavalry commander. He was fortunate to see Huangfu Song using troops as a god. In addition, he was also a talented person and familiar with the military strategy of Sun Wu. Therefore, although he may not be as skillful as a long-time general like Xu Rong in command, he still had the confidence to break Xu Rong's plot in the battle against military forces.

He pointed to the direction where Zhongmu City was and said softly:

"The sky is about to clear up!"

···

"The sky is about to clear up!"

Yan Xing, who was also patrolling the military camp after the rain stopped, spoke and patrolled the stables in the army. The soil in the stables must be kept dry and there should be no low-lying water accumulation. This will soak the hooves of war horses and even cause the horse herd to suffer a severe epidemic.

Horse hooves are the most likely place for a war horse to wear and get hurt. Although there are already leather horseshoes, the formed horseshoes have not yet appeared. Protecting the horseshoes is something that every experienced cavalry knows.

War horses are one of the most important resources in the army, and it is also the key to the Xiliang soldiers who can win unexpectedly and defeat the Guandong soldiers and horses. Yan Xing is not allowed to be ignored. After inspecting the stables, he had not had time to praise Ma Lin beside him for doing a good job in charge of the stables, but he had already begun to urgently order to send twice the scouts to Xingyang to Zhongmu to conduct sentry for sentry.

"Prince, why is this? Didn't the previous group of scouts in the army have returned? They all said that the rebels in Zhongmu had no intention of advancing and were constantly strengthening their camps to prevent us from attacking them!"

"You stupid guy, this military dispute, can't you see clearly with just one piece of information? Don't forget how the Yangcheng of Yuzhou soldiers was lost!"

After saying that, Yan Xing asked Ma Lin to send twice the scouts immediately. This matter is the primary thing in front of him. If you talk about knowing yourself and your enemy, I am afraid that no one in Dong's army, including Xu Rong, will know Cao Mengde's potential and strength better than him.
Chapter completed!