Chapter Thirty: Night Raid on Peng City · Prelude

  Cao Zhi's arithmetic had a profound impact and was of great help to the civil officials in handling internal affairs and military matters, but at this time, it had not yet received Cao Cao's excessive attention. The reason was not that Cao Cao did not see the importance of this arithmetic, but because he was busy arranging for the large army to launch a surprise attack on Pengcheng at night.

  The Battle of Pengcheng is extremely important for the Cao army. If they can defeat the Xuzhou army at this time, then entering Xuzhou will be a smooth journey. However, if the Cao army gets bogged down in a war of attrition with the Xuzhou army at Pengcheng, it would be very unfavorable for the Cao army which is short on food. But as things have developed so far, because Cao Zhi stopped Cao Cao from massacring Xuzhou, history has also undergone many deviations.

  If it were a normal historical event, due to Cao Cao's massacre in Xuzhou, the people of Xuzhou would have been outraged and resentful towards the Cao army. Tao Qian led his troops to fight back, but since he saw that both the civilians and soldiers were on his side, he decided to engage in a decisive battle with the Cao army outside Pengcheng. The result was naturally a crushing defeat for Tao Qian. However, the situation is now completely different. Cao Zhi stopped Cao Cao from massacring the city, and Xun Yu and Guo Jia jointly implemented a strategy to win over the hearts of the people, making the upper and lower classes of Xuzhou not only unafraid of the Cao army but also extremely welcoming. The civilians were unreliable, and the soldiers' morale was wavering. With the powerful Cao army, Tao Qian naturally did not dare to engage in a fierce battle with them. Thus, he directly entered the later stage of the Battle of Xuzhou, where he stubbornly defended the city against the Cao army.

  In this case, Cao Cao's side had gains and losses. The gain was that he effortlessly took down the vast territory west of Pengcheng in northwestern Xuzhou with almost no damage, which is connected to Yanzhou and has the people's hearts attached to it. After taking it down, Cao Cao might have directly sent someone to manage it.

  Cao Cao was not a foolish man. When he came to attack Xuzhou, he prepared to massacre the city on a large scale. Apart from avenging his father's death, he was mainly afraid that the people of Xuzhou would surrender to Tao Qian and be difficult to govern. In fact, Cao Cao's worries were not unreasonable. After all, Tao Qian had governed Xuzhou for many years, and the people lived in peace and prosperity, with their hearts following the usual logic.

  However, the problem that Cao Cao worried about was solved under the joint attack of Xun Yu and Guo Jia's mind, of course, with the help of Cao Zhi's reputation. I'm afraid Tao Qian himself did not expect that he would contribute so much to Buddhism for his devotion to Buddhism, but in the end, it benefited Cao Cao and his son.

  In fact, the people of Xuzhou are not all ignorant, and Tao Qian's achievements in governance over the years have also been evident to all. Cao Cao opened the granary to distribute grain and show his benevolence, and used various means to publicize it. Adding to this, the people of Xuzhou also sympathized with his loss of his father, so in terms of popular sentiment, he was able to split the difference with Tao Qian.

  Cao Cao was very satisfied with this, and with the support of the people, he could directly send someone to govern the places he had taken over. Xuzhou was rich and had not been damaged by war, and the western regions were not areas where aristocratic families were concentrated, which was a welcome relief for Cao's army, which had absorbed one million Yellow Turbans but had not yet digested them.

  Of course, there are not many benefits to getting these places, and the disadvantages are not without. It is precisely because of Xuzhou's prosperity that many people live here, and the land that can be allocated by oneself after being seized is only a very small part. In this way, the time for Cao Jun to digest internally is longer than that of obtaining land by massacring cities. However, overall, the benefits still outweigh the drawbacks.

  Soft means have been exhausted by Cao Cao, and now only the hard ones are left. Tao Qian led his army to garrison Pengcheng, which is exactly the best time to take him down. As long as he defeats Tao Qian this time, it will be easy to capture the entire Xuzhou with a boost in morale. It's because of this that Cao Cao attaches great importance to tonight's night raid on Pengcheng, even putting aside his far-reaching plan for Cao Zhi.

  On the main account, Guo Jia showed a calm and determined expression, constantly shaking the feather fan that Cao Zhi had forcibly given him in Guangwei. He said: "Now that our lord has obtained the right person, the timing of heaven is also calculated by Zi Yang. It is said that planning is done by humans, but success is up to heaven. Our lord should believe in the abilities of all the generals at this time, and they will definitely bring back good news tonight!"

  Cao Cao first gave a strange glance at the feather fan in Guo Jia's hand, then sighed: "Fengxiao, it's not that I don't trust Yuanrang and Miao Cai, but this battle is crucial to our army. You should also know Wenruo's letter, this year Shandong province suffered a severe drought, and it's unknown whether the grain harvest will be enough. Only by capturing Xuzhou can we alleviate the difficulties of Shandong province. Fengxiao, you should understand my mood."

  Guo Jia still had that calm and composed demeanor, gently swaying his feather fan as he said: "I believe that tonight our army will surely win!"

  "Oh?" Cao Cao was taken aback and turned to Guo Jia, although Guo Jia didn't explain much, but seeing his confident demeanor, Cao Cao's confidence also increased a bit, nodding heavily: "Fengxiao's words are reasonable!"

  Cao Cao suddenly pointed to the feather fan in Guo Jia's hand and chuckled: "Fengxiao, when did you get this feather fan? It seems that you've lost some of your rogue charm and gained a bit more elegance."

  Guo Jia heard this and shrugged his shoulders, saying: "This feather fan was given to me by the Fourth Master when he was in Guangwei. He said that as the main advisor to the lord, I should be equipped with this feather fan to show off my military strategist demeanor."

  Cao Cao rubbed his nose and said helplessly, "This kid has too many clever ideas." After a pause, Cao Cao laughed again and said, "However, this kid didn't say anything wrong. Feng Xiao, you take this feather fan, it really does have the air of a military strategist."

  Guo Jia fanned himself a few more times with the feather fan and said, "As for elegance, I'm not quite sure, but this weather is perfect for using this fan." After finishing speaking, he burst out laughing.

  Cao Cao's face fell, and he could only mutter under his breath: "Indeed a prodigal son."

  However, after being manipulated by Guo Jia like this, Cao Cao's originally tense mood also relaxed. He had someone bring in dinner and ate with Guo Jia in the tent. Afterwards, he had someone bring a chessboard and played against him. This game of chess lasted for several hours, even as it started raining outside with "drip drip" sounds, but Cao Cao seemed completely unaware, his expression calm and composed. Guo Jia saw this and nodded secretly to himself.

  Knock knock knock...

  Gurgling sound...

  Clang Clang Clang......

  Outside the camp, the sound of war drums that made people's spirits high and their blood boil began to rise with the sound of raindrops falling, followed by a continuous wave of battle cries. In an instant, Pengcheng was filled with such sounds inside and out, endless killing intent entwined with the dense clouds and lightning in the sky, as cold rain fell on Pengcheng.

  The Xuzhou soldiers on the city wall were trembling slightly, it was unclear whether they were intimidated by the killing intent or stimulated by the cold rain. Inside the Imperial Chancellor's residence, there was a state of confusion, Tao Qian hastily dressed and rushed to the west of the city with his sword at his waist, secretly anxious in his heart: "It has come so quickly, I must hold on!"

  At the same time, inside Cao's army headquarters, Cao Cao tapped the black piece with great force "slap" and pressed it onto the chessboard, then burst out laughing: "Fengxiao, you lost!"

  Guo Jia was not displeased, but instead burst out laughing: "My lord's composure is truly admirable, I am in awe!"

  Cao Cao just smiled slightly and pointed at the chessboard, saying: "In that case, let's have another game."

  In the midst of laughter and conversation, the strong enemy was reduced to nothing but ashes and smoke, and that's all there is to it!

  Facing Cao Cao's calmness, Guo Jia instead looked worried and weakly asked: "My lord, can I speak?"

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