Chapter Thirty: Discord Has Already Arisen

  With a sullen look back at the Allied Army's camp, Cao Cao walked away with his hands behind his back and a gloomy face that seemed to be dripping with water. His attendants, Dian Wei and Xu Chu, were also taciturn and followed him silently like two iron towers as they headed towards their own camp.

  If we say that Cao Cao's anger meter was turned on after his failure to assassinate Dong, and he started recruiting and buying horses in Chenliu, then his anger is now about to burst the meter! Angry! Too angry!

  After the battle of Lu Bu, the 200,000-strong army of the nine routes of the Allied Forces and the 30,000 Iron Riders of the Pingzhou Group Army clashed, but unexpectedly failed to win, and instead lost troops! It's really a mob! Not suitable for major use!

  It's not that the soldiers are not well-trained, Cao Cao wouldn't be so angry if that were the case. No matter what kind of soldiers they are, as long as they are used correctly, they can still win battles.

  Cao Cao was furious: They had not yet communicated with Yuan Shao's main force, and Yuan Shao brought more than 300,000 troops over. Their original mission to attack the Ze Water Dam was directly scrapped! Not even a symbolic deployment of troops was made, and the biggest reason for this was still due to that scoundrel Yuan Shu.

  All the lords handed over their own grain and grass soldiers and horses for him to manage, it's simply a meat dumpling hitting a dog - gone forever!

  This kid quietly cut off the Allied army's grain and horse, and raised his own horses to be fat and strong! How can others bear it?

  To divert the attention of the vassals, Yuan Shao led these troops to unite with Cao Cao and then negotiate with him, hoping that Cao Cao could help them calm down the anger of the vassals first.

  The coalition has already had a rift, and that's not all! Dong Zhuo led tens of thousands of troops to arrive at Tiger Trap Pass, joining forces with Lü Bu and Xu Rong, totaling nearly 250,000 soldiers. Although fewer than the coalition army, they are all seasoned veterans, Cao Cao has roughly estimated the combat effectiveness of the Western Liang Army, and it is likely that a head-on confrontation will result in more defeats than victories!

  Then he suggested: Take advantage of Dong Zhuo's army just arriving, and kill him off guard! On the one hand, attack Tiger Pass directly, on the other hand, sneak up from a small road to attack Dong Zhuo's rear! Even if we don't win, we can still strike at the enemy's morale and intimidate Dong Zhuo.

  What a good suggestion! It was directly treated as a fart by the lords, and whoever let it go, just let it go! No one paid attention to it, they were more enthusiastic about surrounding Yuan Shu to ask for an explanation!

  "Yuan Shu, you've taken my grain and fodder, are you going to let my soldiers starve to death?!?" Liu Dai, the governor of Yanzhou, bellowed furiously; Yuan Shu didn't even bat an eyelid, his expression full of disdain, which only fueled the anger of the others.

  "Where has my Xiliang war horse gone? Yuan Shu! Is this how you manage the grain and fodder?!" Ma Teng also asked indignantly. This morning, Ma Teng discovered that his troops' war horses had suffered heavy losses, so he wanted to find Yuan Shu to demand some back. He thought to himself: Those war horses were all brought from Xiliang by him, they were his private property. Although now for the sake of suppressing the bandits, some were distributed to others, but he should also prioritize replenishing his own first!

  When he arrived at Yuan Shu's place, he was stunned. In the logistics camp where the horses were tied up, not a single pile of horse dung could be seen. At the gate, several lords stood with discontented faces. Upon inquiry, he was even more furious! Those warhorses had all been equipped by Yuan Shu into his own army of 50,000 men!

  Wow! You're also too awesome! Even embezzlement isn't as obvious as you are!

  "What are you yelling about! Are you showing off your loud voice? It's just a few tens of thousands of war horses, aren't they? I've already distributed them all, everyone is working together to defeat the enemy, naturally there's no distinction between you and me, why be so petty!" Yuan Shu acted in this manner, not being afraid in the least because he hadn't swallowed up all the grain, war horses, and manpower for himself, which would have choked him. He was colluding with Yuan Shao and Yuan Yi, and with these two supporting him, he naturally had nothing to fear;

  For a time, the big account was pushed and crowded, the sound of drinking and scolding was endless, and soon after, the topic turned to "Why did you occupy my territory!", "Sneak attack on my old nest", and other directions developed. If it wasn't for Cao Cao's desperate interception at that time, it's possible that before Dong Zhuo destroyed them, they would have started fighting each other first.

  This is why Cao Cao was furious, too disappointed! He had expected these lords with ulterior motives to rescue the Emperor, but the Emperor died early!

  In a fit of anger, he didn't care anymore. The Yuan brothers had gone too far! He couldn't help to calm this matter down, the Yuan brothers must pay for their own actions themselves;

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  Inside Cao Cao's military tent, Li Yu was chatting and joking with Xiahou brothers Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan, Cao brothers Cao Ren and Cao Hong, as well as Yue Jin, Xu Huang and seven others. Oh right! Next to them lay a miserable Wu Anguo, whose name was quite fitting, but somewhat exaggerated;

  "I say, sir, this Wu An is useless, why do you still keep him?" Cao Ren was indeed a man of many problems, but he was also learning from his mistakes and improving himself rapidly. Otherwise, he wouldn't have become Cao Cao's top general, capable of leading troops independently and engaging in large-scale battles with the enemy, an area where others were inferior to him;

  "Cut! No vision! Whatever you say, he's lucky to have escaped from Lü Bu's hands. Even if he lost an arm, he's still a decent general. If he studies more military tactics and adds that to his own leadership skills, he might just become a great general!" Li Yu flipped his eyes and continued stuffing food into his mouth, his appetite stunning the onlookers, with a tendency towards becoming a rice bucket.

  "Yes! That's Lü Bu!", Xiahou Dun poured two cups of wine into his mouth, too depressing! It turned out that he still thought that his martial arts were not among the top three or even the top five in this vast world, now it's good, I estimate that even the top ten can't be ranked! That Guan Yu and Liu Bei are not bear-like generals! In fact, their strength far surpasses him!

  If it were those two, he was confident that he could fight for a while, but what about Lü Bu? That guy is simply not human! He's defying the heavens! More than 50 rounds and almost beheaded Zhang Fei! Single-handedly fought against Guan Yu and Zhang Fei for over 30 rounds without falling behind! Liu Bei and Gongsun Zan came forward to assist, but he parried for over 10 rounds, then calmly ran away and shot Gongsun Zan!

  That's awesome!

  The rest of them were also silent, too shocked! Le Jin, who had always been proud of his bravery, didn't dare to call himself brave again. Today, he finally saw what true bravery was!

  "Haha! Don't be too discouraged! Lü Bu has the bravery of a fierce tiger, but lacks extraordinary wisdom and strategy. He is a light and cunning person who is often inconstant, with only personal gain in his eyes. From ancient times to the present, there has never been a person like him who was not eliminated! He can only be a brave general, not a commander!" Seeing that all the generals were somewhat disheartened, Li Yu naturally had to give them some encouragement, otherwise, they would become dispirited and when they encountered Lü Bu again, they would already be intimidated before the battle even began.

  "This man is a hero of the brave war faction, but not of the strategic war faction. He is far inferior to you all in terms of deploying troops and forming battle arrays. As long as you believe this, you can defeat him!"

  "Thank you, sir, for your guidance!" The crowd's faces improved a lot and they all bowed in unison.

  Isn't it just saying a few bad things about him? Why be so happy? Li Yu thought to himself.

  "What is a brave warrior and what is a strategic warrior? Hmm... Forgive him! I don't need to say it, you also know who it is!"

  "Cough, cough!", it's time for Mr. Li Yu to give his lecture again. He cleared his throat and said: "The so-called 'brave warriors' refers to those who use their own bravery to boost the morale of their soldiers, using a small force to defeat a large one and achieve victory; such people can often behead the enemy's commander-in-chief in the midst of a chaotic army, causing the enemy to become leaderless and fall into chaos, while their own side's morale soars, achieving the desired effect. The ancient Xiang Yu and the modern Lü Bu are among the best examples!"

  "The strategist, refers to the commander who is not brave in battle but extremely rich in strategy. In deploying troops and arraying formations, attacking and defending against each other, they anticipate the enemy's moves, grasp the situation of the battlefield, and thus achieve victory! The ancient Sun Wu, Pang Juan, Bai Qi, and Han Xin were all among the strongest!"

  Seeing Cao Ren wanting to ask a question, Li Yu waved his hand to indicate that he had not finished speaking yet.

  "As the times change, the brave warriors will slowly disappear, because individuals with bravery that defies heaven are after all in the minority! The strategic thinkers can survive for a long time! And among those present, you have both bravery and strategy! Combining strategy and bravery is your best path forward!"

  "Lü Bu has already defied the heavens! Didn't you say he was brave but lacked strategy? And yet you compare him to Xiang Yu, who ambushed and killed 200,000 Qin soldiers with just 30,000 elite troops! Who knows what Lü Bu can achieve now! Are you trying to guide us or demoralize us?" Cao Ren's weak retort.

  "My goodness! It's not that I have too many problems! You just made me talk nonsense and bring up this topic! Li Yu's face sank: "So, who do you think is more formidable, Xiang Yu or Han Xin?""

  "Of course it's Han Xin...", Cao Ren stammered out in fear, intimidated by Li Yu's ferocious gaze;

  "That's just a metaphor! Don't take it too seriously! He is not Xiang Yu, that can only be compared in terms of personal bravery! He is much dumber than Xiang Yu when it comes to brainpower! Besides, the example of breaking the cauldrons and sinking the boats is something that happens once in a hundred years! As long as you grasp the situation, you can defeat him!"

  "We don't need Han Xin, we only need the Lord! The Lord can handle him!", Li Yu said viciously, implying a warning to Cao Ren to be careful.

  These people were thinking about something, Cao Cao also came back, and as soon as he saw his face, he knew that he was not very happy.