Chapter 980: Know Yourself and Your Enemy
After Xu Shu once again told everyone the purpose of convening everyone for discussion, he quickly walked to the map hanging on the wall of the small hall and introduced the current situation of Cao Cao's army to everyone.
It can be said that after several years of development, Cao Cao has now become the second largest prince in the world after the Eastern Expedition Army in terms of territory and population. And it can be said that if the Eastern Conquest Army did not join the three counties of Yuzhou, Cao Cao's territory and population might even be larger than that of the Eastern Conquest Army.
However, relatively speaking, although Yuan Shaojun's territory and population are not as good as the previous two, in terms of soft power, they are not as good as the two. Yuan Shao's high reputation among the world's scholars and the talents and wealth under his rule There are so many aspects that it can be said to be unique in the entire world.
At present, Cao Cao's army occupies most of Yanzhou, most of Xuzhou, nearly half of Qingzhou, and a small part of Yuzhou. There are a total of eighteen counties and a total of more than 180 cities. The total population under his rule has reached nearly Nine million.
According to the information gathered by the Shadow Guard in recent years, Cao Cao's army has a total of more than 800,000 soldiers and horses. Its troops are divided into two parts: the Chinese army and the foreign army. The Chinese army is equivalent to the military barracks of the Eastern Expeditionary Army, with about 200,000 soldiers and horses; the foreign army is also called the county army, which is equivalent to the garrison of the Eastern Expeditionary Army. The army is about 600,000 strong.
Based on the intelligence sent back by Shadow, Guo Jia and other military advisors basically figured out the composition of Cao Cao's army. Cao Cao himself had the most elite Chinese army of 100,000 troops in his hands. In addition to the Qingzhou soldiers and tiger and leopard cavalry who had fought against the Eastern Expeditionary Army, there were also five elite troops and horses, each numbering about 10,000 people.
In addition to these 100,000 troops, the four brothers Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Dun, whom Cao Cao trusted most, each had nearly 10,000 elite troops in their hands. The remaining dozen prefects each had 3,000 to 5,000 men in their hands. wait.
The force distribution of Cao Cao's army is different from that of the Eastern Expeditionary Army. The Eastern Expeditionary Army implements the separation of military and political affairs. The responsibilities of the county governor are government affairs, while military affairs are in the hands of the captain. The most powerful elite combat barracks are respectively in the hands of the captain. In the hands of the people most loyal to Huangfu Chaobo.
But Cao Cao's army is different. Cao Cao has many kin generals, so some of the best counties under his rule are in the hands of these kin generals, so they also hold absolute military power in their hands. As for other generals, even against Cao Cao They were loyal and held ordinary or even poor positions as county governors. Correspondingly, the military power they held was much weaker.
Judging from the current situation of Cao Cao's army, there is no sign of troop mobilization yet. However, although Shadow has a large number of personnel under Cao Caoye, not everything can be discovered, just like Cao Cao cannot figure it out. The arrangement of the Eastern Expeditionary Army was the same.
Xu Shu spent nearly an hour explaining to everyone what the Shadows learned about Cao Cao's army, including the strength of the troops in various places and the situation of the generals in Cao Cao's army. He explained everything to everyone in detail.
After explaining the situation of Cao Cao's army, Xu Shu further explained the situation of his own army.
As a result, it took nearly half an hour.
After Xu Shu finished speaking, Huangfu Chaobo said: "Everyone, the art of war says that only by knowing the enemy can you be victorious in every battle. Now that the situation of both the enemy and ourselves has been clearly explained to you, next, I would like to ask Mr. Xun to tell you Tell us about the two allies who will fight against Cao Cao next year."
After hearing Huangfu Chaobo's words, Xun You stood up and said: "My lord, all lords and generals, you should know that last month, you were ordered to go to Langya as an envoy to reach an alliance with General Ye Laixiang of Guangwu. The other party agreed that next year When our army launched an attack on Cao Cao's army, we also sent troops to the East China Sea to attack Cao Cao's army."
"At the same time, Sun Ce's army from Jiangdong will also send troops to Huaibei to attack Xiapi County and Donghai County under Cao Cao's army. In this way, Cao Cao's army will face simultaneous attacks from three princes including us."
"Of course, our Eastern Army is also surrounded by enemies. However, the possibility of Lu Bu's army in the north being able to launch an attack is not high.
Moreover, Hedong and Hanoi are also well prepared. I believe that Lu Bu's army has basically no possibility of invading our territory. As for Yuan Shao's army in the east, the Lord has conducted a detailed inspection of Wei County's defense situation in the past few days and made adjustments to its defense line. Moreover, our army has also formed an alliance with the Black Mountain Army. The other party has promised that once Yuan Shao's army sends troops Wei Jun, the other party will definitely send troops to assist. "
"The Xiliang Army in the west no longer has the intention or strength to break through our army's defense in Hongnong, so it is safe. As for the Nanyang Army in the south, if the Yingxi Army, which dominates the world, blocks it, Sizhou and Yuzhou will be fine. . The two counties of Qingzhou to the east are also on the defensive in the upcoming war. The Lord also went on inspection more than a month ago, and I believe that the defense has been strengthened again. "
Speaking of this, Xun You paused for a moment and then said: "So for this battle, the troops that our army can go out are the five combat barracks in the three counties of Henan, Chenliu and Yuzhou, as well as the lord's guard camp, a total of about 150,000 troops. The total number of soldiers, plus the drafted guards and civilian craftsmen, should be about 250,000. "
After Xun You finished speaking, Huangfu Chaobo stood up and said: "A few months ago, I have sent you the general strategy for dispatching troops. I believe everyone has already considered how our army should fight this battle. , where is the truth, where is the truth, and what kind of results are to be achieved, everyone can speak freely. "
As soon as the voice fell, everyone fell into deep thought. It was not that they were deliberately silent, but that everyone was frightened by their lord's actions. There were not many people in the world who had the courage to send out 250,000 troops at one time.
After a moment, Guo Jia stood up and said, "Gentlemen, Jia has a piece of information to remind everyone. At present, 80,000 of Cao Cao's 100,000 most elite central troops are in Changyi City, the seat of Yanzhou, and 20,000 are still in Xiapi. They should be two of the five troops mentioned in the intelligence."
Huangfu Chaobo nodded, which means that Cao Cao's Qingzhou Army, Tiger and Leopard Cavalry and the other three central armies have now returned to Changyi.
At this time, Pang Tong had stood up from his seat, walked slowly to the front of the map, and said, "My lord, in my opinion, the army can be divided into two routes. The Huben Camp, the Hubu Camp and the Jinwei Army will attack Yanzhou as one route, while the Shenwu Camp, the Fenwu Camp and the Zhenwu Camp in Yuzhou will march to Yuzhou and capture the place where Cao Cao started his army in one fell swoop."