Chapter 66: Food is not that easy to burn! Ah Liang, you are still young, don't worry! Let's lure the tiger away from the mountain!

Waste utilization?

Use Zhang Yun to defeat Liu Biao?

Especially the last sentence, which made Lao Liu's eyes light up.

Earlier, scouts had sent back urgent reports that Liu Biao was leading his main force northward along the Yu River, heading towards Yuyang with great momentum.

Obviously, the battle of Rangyang deeply angered the Lord of Jingzhou, and he was eager to come to him to avenge the shame.

Liu Biao's family background was extremely rich, and Liu Bei was well aware of this.

In the battle of Rang County, Xiao Fang defeated Zhang Yun and achieved the rich results of killing 3,000 enemies and capturing 5,000 enemies.

But for Liu Biao, it did not cause any serious damage.

Liu Biao still had more than 30,000 soldiers and horses under his command, which was two to three times his current strength.

Although the number of Jingzhou soldiers he captured was not small, he did not have time to digest and absorb them and reorganize them into his own troops in such a short period of time.

Although the gap in military strength has been narrowed, it can still be described as huge.

At this time, while Old Liu was happy about the great victory in Rang County, he was naturally also worried about Liu Biao's massive attack.

From Xiao Fang's tone, he knew that there was a plan to defeat Liu Biao's main force in one fell swoop. How could this not boost his spirits?

"If we can defeat Liu Jingsheng's main force, we can turn the tide of the battle and switch from defense to offense!"

"Jinglue, do you have any brilliant ideas?"

Liu Bei suppressed his excitement and asked immediately.

Everyone's curious eyes were all focused on Xiao Fang, and they all pricked up their ears to listen.

"Fang once said that the biggest weakness of the lord compared to Liu Biao is the small number of soldiers."

"If we engage in a head-on battle, even though our army is brave and elite, we may not be sure of victory."

"Besides, if we fight head-on, even if we win, it will be a tragic victory where we kill one thousand enemies but lose eight hundred of our own."

"Liu Biao has a great family and a great business. If he is defeated, the worst that can happen is that he will retreat to Xiangyang and rely on the natural barrier of the Han River to defend it."

"Although my lord has won, he has suffered heavy losses and is unable to cross the Han River to seize Xiangyang."

"Then doesn't this give Cao Cao an opportunity?"

Xiao Fang raised his hand and pointed towards the north:
"Cao Cao is currently sitting on the mountain watching the fight between the tigers, waiting for the lord and Liu Biao to fight until both are defeated."

"If the lord wins a tragic victory and loses his vitality, Cao Cao will surely take advantage of the opportunity and march south in a big way."

"How can the main force, which has won a tragic victory over an exhausted army, resist Cao Cao's fierce and ruthless troops?"

"Wouldn't it be that the Nanyang land that you have conquered with great effort would be a wedding dress for Cao Cao?"

Hearing this, Liu Bei couldn't help but shudder.

He seemed to feel that Cao Cao was standing behind him at this moment, his pair of eyes as cold as knives, staring at him.

"Jing Lue's words make sense. We must be on guard against Cao Cao!"

Liu Bei agreed with it and nodded heavily.

Xiao Fang took a sip of wine, and then turned the glass back to the south:

"Therefore, in this battle with Liu Biao, we must not only win, but also minimize casualties and preserve our strength."

"In this case, the only way to win is to use a surprise attack!"

Liu Bei seemed to understand something, so he asked:
"Then according to the military advisor's plan, how can we achieve a surprise victory?"

Xiao Fang was about to speak, but he saw Zhuge Liang standing beside him, looking thoughtful, as if something was brewing in his mind.

"Aliang, what do you think we should do?"

Xiao Fang took back the plan that was about to come to his mind, intending to give his brother-in-law another chance to show off.

Let's take this opportunity to see how far Zhuge Liang is from the level of Sleeping Dragon.

Everyone's eyes turned to Zhuge Liang again.

Zhuge Liang was not stage-frightened. Seeing that his brother-in-law gave him the opportunity to show off, he naturally wanted to seize it.

So he calmly stood up, took the map and spread it in front of Liu Bei and Xiao Fang.

"Liang's understanding of winning by surprise is to attack the enemy's weak spot!"

"As the saying goes, food and fodder must be sent before troops move. Liang believed that the Achilles' heel of any army, no matter whether it is strong or weak, is food and fodder."

"My lord, brother-in-law, please look."

Zhuge Liang raised his hand and pointed to a place on the map:
"Liang heard from the spies that Liu Biao's army's grain and grass were stored at Xiyangju after they moved north from Xinye, and then transported north along the Yushui River to the Yuyang camp." "Liang boldly guessed that my brother-in-law's strategy to defeat the enemy must be to ask the lord to send a surprise force to go around the enemy's rear, destroy Xiyangju in one fell swoop, and burn Liu Biao's grain camp."

"If the food and grass are lost, the weakest part will be hit. Although Liu Biao has many soldiers and horses, they will be in chaos without fighting!"

Zhuge Liang pointed at the three words "Sunset Gathering" and expressed his judgment calmly and confidently.

Everyone's eyes lit up.

Old Liu was even more excited. He stood up suddenly, his eyes fixed on where the setting sun was.

"Attacking the enemy's food camp and burning their food and grass is indeed a brilliant strategy to achieve a surprise victory..."

Liu Bei praised and turned his gaze to Xiao Fang:
"Military Advisor Jinglue, is this your strategy?"

Xiao Fang did not answer, but gave Zhuge Liang an approving look and nodded slightly.

At the age of less than sixteen, he was able to extend his understanding of war from being limited to the fighting of soldiers and horses to food and military supplies. He came up with such a great strategy of defeating the enemy without fighting, which was worthy of his potential as a Sleeping Dragon.

Zhuge Liang's growth exceeded his expectations, which naturally made him very pleased and satisfied.

However, being satisfied does not mean that he approves of Zhuge Liang's plan.

"Food and grass are the enemy's weakest link. Liang, you can think of burning the enemy's food and grass. It is indeed precious."

Xiao Fang first praised it highly, then changed the subject and asked:
"But Aliang, have you ever thought that Liu Biao is not a fool? Will he set up heavy troops to guard the important granary?"

"Also, on the way from Yuyang Camp to Xiyangju, will Liu Biao set up patrol posts to prevent our army from launching a surprise attack?"

"Even if the cavalry sent by the lord can pass through the enemy's defense line, pass Liu Biao's ears and eyes, and successfully reach Xiyangju, can they quickly defeat it?"

"If we fail to capture the city after a long siege, and Liu Biao's reinforcements arrive, our army will be attacked from both sides. What should we do?"

"Or, if Liu Biao takes advantage of the weakness of Yuyang and sends troops to attack Yuyang, how should we respond?"

Xiao Fang responded to Lao Liu's questions with a series of rhetorical questions.

In fact, he had thought about burning grain.

After all, there are ready-made examples of the Battle of Guandu and Cao Cao's burning of Wuchao, so it is not impossible to apply and learn from them.

But after thinking about it carefully, Xiao Fang rejected this plan.

The key reason why Cao Cao was able to successfully burn Wuchao was the loyalty of Xu You, his guide.

It was the intelligence brought by Xu You that enabled Cao Cao to avoid Yuan Shao's checkpoints, cross seventy miles of enemy-occupied areas, and miraculously appear outside Wuchao.

What is even more miraculous is that Cao Cao, with only 5,000 soldiers, actually managed to capture Wuchao, which was heavily guarded by 10,000 troops, before Yuan Shao's reinforcements arrived.

Therefore, in Xiao Fang's opinion, Cao Cao's success in burning Wuchao was due to at least 70% luck.

If Lao Liu wanted to successfully launch a surprise attack on Liu Biao's grain camp without a guide, I'm afraid that luck would have to account for at least 90% of the attack.

Xiao Fang naturally would not offer such a strategy with such a small chance of success to Lao Liu.

"Military advisor, your words make sense. The granary is an important place, so Liu Biao will definitely take strict precautions."

"It's not easy to disrupt this sunset gathering."

Liu Bei nodded in agreement, and the excitement on his face gradually faded.

As a veteran fighter, Lao Liu's combat experience surpassed that of most of the contemporary princes. Naturally, he immediately understood the profound meaning of Xiao Fang's words.

Zhuge Liang also suddenly understood, and couldn't help showing a bit of shame on his face. He bowed to Xiao Fang:

"This plan of mine is indeed not well thought out and seems to be just empty talk. Thank you for your correction, brother-in-law. I have learned from your advice."

Xiao Fang waved his hands and said disapprovingly:

"It's not a bad thing to be able to talk about war on paper. At your age, being able to do so is already extraordinary."

"All you need is practical experience. Don't worry. There are plenty of opportunities."

Zhuge Liang seemed to understand something, and hurriedly took out his pen and knife to write down what Xiao Fang said.

"I understand. It means that the chances of success in attacking the enemy's food camp are slim."

"Military Advisor, didn't you say you wanted to use Zhang Yun to defeat Liu Biao? Why did you go around in circles and not say a word about Zhang Yun?"

Zhang Fei finally reacted and couldn't help yelling.

Liu Bei was also shocked and couldn't help but look back at Xiao Fang with a look of doubt on his face.

Xiao Fang smiled, drank the wine in the cup, and said slowly:
"Although Aliang's plan to attack the enemy's grain camp is not feasible, we can pretend to attack the enemy's grain camp and lure Liu Biao to send a large number of troops to Xiyangju to deploy defenses in an attempt to ambush our army."

"In this way, the enemy's main camp will be empty, and my lord can send out all his troops to defeat the enemy's main camp in one fell swoop."

"As for Zhang Yun, he is the bait we used to lure Liu Biao into the trap!"

(End of this chapter)