Chapter 299: Reverse the Truth
The next day, when the garrison at Chenliu camp was in trouble, the military order from Sikonggong Mansion arrived first.

After receiving the order, Guard Han Hao couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and said to the equally nervous and relieved Commander Ding Fei: "The military advisor inferred that this was a trick by Hebei and Guanzhong to lure them in."

Ding Fei also read the silk military order with a relaxed smile: "Now that we have seen through the enemy's plan, we should defend the camp firmly."

As guards and military commanders, they were qualified to attend and observe the highest level military meetings.

They both knew that after the defeat in Liyang, the direction of the imperial army's attack had to be adjusted.

Looking at the whole world, we can only turn towards Jingzhou.

By taking over Jingzhou, forcing the surrender and incorporating Jiangdong, we can get more than 200,000 veteran soldiers.

The reorganized army will be brought to the Central Plains, and will have the advantage in decisive battles whether with Guanzhong or Hebei!

Therefore, any loss of troops and small-scale battles before the final decisive battle are meaningless.

From a long-term perspective, generals and armies like Zhang Liao and Zhang Xiu, whose native places and hometowns of their veteran soldiers are controlled by the other side, are inherently suspicious of each other and are full of hidden dangers.

Therefore, Ding Fei said: "Cao Gong was very kind to Zhang Xiu. Now that Zhang Xiu has rebelled against the court, it may not be a bad thing."

Han Hao, who is from Hanoi, had a dull smile on his face in response to this statement.

His loyalty was tested during the campaign against Dong Zhuo.

Therefore, Cao's army in the Chenliu camp held its ground and allowed Zhang Xiu's troops to pass.

When the nearly 3,000 soldiers led by Zhang Xiu passed near the Chenliu camp, they all walked with heavy steps. Under the repeated urging and scolding of Zhang Xiu's troops, these nearly 3,000 people filed northward.

Following the west bank of the Yingouqu River, Zhang Xiu's troops bypassed the Chenliu camp and headed north for dozens of miles, then turned northwest along the road towards Xingyang.

By going to Xingyang, they could meet the Hongnong fleet one day earlier; at the same time, they would be far away from the Chenliu camp, increasing the raiding distance of the Chenliu camp's troops.

Considering the current heat in the Central Plains, the army has no combat effectiveness at all after marching for dozens of miles.

The fierce battle that Zhang Xiu had expected did not happen, and he arrived in Xingyang safely two days later.

No county along the way dared to obstruct, and the counties around Xingyang had already been emptied.

The population of the people in the surrounding mountains is, on the contrary, greater than that in the counties.

Therefore, a military stronghold like Xingyang lacked garrison troops, and the few county soldiers fled upon hearing the news, leaving the city empty.

After Zhang Xiu took over, he traveled to the northern suburbs with Black Bear to inspect the ferry and river beach terrain.

During the afternoon break, Zhang Xiu couldn't help but sigh.

Black Bear was puzzled: "Why is General Zhang like this?"

As far as he knew, Zhang Xiu's daughter was engaged to Cao Cao's son, both were little girls and boys, and the marriage was still ten years away.

Therefore, all of Zhang Xiu's children lived in the manor and were rescued.

He kidnapped Lady Yin and her son with Cao Cao halfway, which was actually a way to provide Zhang Xiu with an insurance policy.

Zhang Xiu immediately explained: "I never thought that after the battle of Liyang, the army under Cao Mengde's command had lost its fighting spirit, to the point where they dared not fight, investigate, or harass us."

As he said this, he couldn't help but sigh again.

It is a terrible thing for the army to lose its temper and have no fighting faith.

In the early stages of the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao fought fiercely, first sending all his troops to expel Liu Bei.

Without Liu Bei, Xuzhou would be in a state of disintegration, and people like Zang Ba nearby would not dare to openly confront the court.

By relying on the righteousness of the imperial court, the power of Xuzhou can be quickly integrated, indirectly driving Zang Ba and others to confront Yuan Tan of Qingzhou.

After Cao Cao returned victoriously from Xuzhou, he led his troops to the north bank of the Yellow River.

Later, Yuan's army continued to advance on all fronts. Even after the deaths of Yan Liang and Wen Chou, the Yuan army continued to advance and was in a stalemate with Cao's army at Guandu.

Even at this point, Cao Cao and his army still dared to fight a decisive battle with Yuan Shao.

It was after the failure of this decisive battle when the two sides joined forces that Cao Cao was forced to grit his teeth and hold on.

The heat and dryness in the Central Plains that year were similar to this year.

Many tributaries dried up, and the water levels of rivers and canals dropped, making it difficult for ships to navigate. This forced the Cao and Yuan armies to transport food by land at night, as it was too hot during the day for people and animals to bear, so they had to choose night.

After Yuan's grain transport teams were defeated repeatedly and the Wuchao grain storage point was burned down, the Yuan army, which was out of food, surrendered.

At that time, Cao Cao still had food outside the battlefield, but it was difficult to transport it to the front line.

The hot weather had a great impact on the Battle of Guandu.

Can it really not be delivered to the front line?

Logically speaking, with so many prisoners, three times the number of Cao's troops, even if they surrendered, if they were not fed for three days, it would be considered a false surrender and they had to be killed.

But in reality, is there another truth?
Zhang Xiu also participated in the Battle of Guandu, so he was very emotional: "At Guandu, the weather was hot and it was difficult to fight for a long time wearing armor during the day. At that time, the officers and soldiers under Cao Mengde were quite stubborn and brave. Now they are afraid of the strength of General Taishi and the scorching heat."

Black Bear was not surprised to hear this. He looked up at the cloudless sky and said, "It is said that it is difficult to get off a tiger once you are riding it. At that time, the soldiers of Yuan and Cao armies could only grit their teeth and hold on no matter how reluctant they were. If time could flow back and the soldiers of the two armies were given a choice, I think neither the Yuan army nor the Cao army would want to go to war."

Zhang Xiu said nothing. This time, Black Bear returned to the Central Plains with Guan Yu. Through Guan Yu, he had a deeper understanding of the Battle of Guandu.

It has only been three years, and the Battle of Guandu had a huge impact on Cao's army, directly determining their current combat mentality.

Both sides died tragically.

The Yuan army suffered a total of 130,000 to 140,000 casualties, while the Cao army suffered at least 50,000 casualties. This was an estimate of Cao Cao's main force in the central army, and the casualties of the various fringe armies were not taken into account.

He always suspected that the surrendered Yuan army was all killed, and a big reason for this was that the Cao army suffered too heavy losses during the battle.

When Cao's army recorded various wars, their gains and losses were often as vague as possible; and the data on their losses would be even more vague.

For example, if the truth is that Cao's army suffered heavy losses and the officers and soldiers of Cao's army are filled with resentment, Cao Cao cannot control them and can only cooperate with the army to carry out an organized killing of the surrendered soldiers.

If this is the truth, then it must be covered up, and food shortage becomes a very reasonable reason.

It can not only cover up the tragic casualties during the Guandu period, but also cover up the huge problem of Cao's army being out of control.

These two issues are very important. Concealing the tragic casualties internally can maintain deterrence externally and suppress the outbreak of conflicts internally.

If a conflict does not break out, it is not a conflict.

The problem of the military being out of control is equally serious and must be covered up.

Cao Cao is bad enough, but not stupid. Doesn't he know what surrendering means?
This is the key to quickly gaining Hebei!

So the real situation is that Cao Cao was powerless. It is possible that Cao Cao could not control the revenge of Cao's army, or it is possible that Cao's army had no confidence in suppressing and recruiting the surrendered troops and could only allow the killing of the surrendered troops to happen.

Perhaps Cao's army was particularly weak at that time, and they were able to kill 80,000 of them in one fell swoop, which shocked countless people inside and outside the country.

Therefore, Cao's army did not make any big moves two years ago, and wanted to pinch the very weak Liu Biao of Jingzhou. As a result, Yuan Shao took the initiative to launch the Battle of Cangting, forcing the main force of Cao's army to move north.

The fact that Yuan Shao dared to attack even though he was defeated so badly also shows that Yuan Shao believed he still had a chance to win, which meant that Cao's army had not been able to recover.

Last year, Cao's army first dug the Suiyang Canal and then besieged Liyang. They adopted a tactic that consumed more manpower, material resources and time, rather than sacrificing manpower to launch a strong attack!

This shows that from Guandu to now, the vitality of Cao Cao's main force in the central army has never recovered, and they still have fear and resistance to field battles!
Therefore, during the Battle of Liyang, the tactics that he taught to Yuan Shang were quite targeted, which was why they were able to win so easily and Cao's army retreated cleanly.

With this calculation, Cao Cao was actually the same as himself, fearing that the flanks and branch battlefields would collapse, thus affecting the overall morale.

On the river bank, Black Bear frowned in thought, realizing that he had seen through Cao's army's strengths and weaknesses.

If it weren't for the righteousness of the imperial court, the Qingzhou soldiers who brought their own food, and the scholars who were enslaved under the system of forced labor, the Cao army would have already turned against Cao Cao and wiped out his three clans.

So, we really can’t strike hard anymore.

If the fighting continued, the 20,000 to 30,000 veteran soldiers in Cao Cao's central army would be defeated, and the spirit of Cao's army would be completely dispersed.

Cao Cao's biggest weakness also lies here. From the campaign against Dong Zhuo to now, Cao Cao's central army has suffered too many casualties.

After several years of training a group of capable grassroots military officers, most of them were killed in one battle; when they recruited more people to train, they were beaten again.

Until now, Cao Jun’s central army has still not gotten over the casualties of the Battle of Guandu!

While Black Bear was thinking, Zhang Xiu didn't dare to disturb him.

Zhang Xiu did not expect that the attitude of Cao Cao's central army would be so weak.

(End of this chapter)