Vol 2 Chapter 2878: Fan Li's last plan forced him to survive, but Cao Kerang cleverly saved hi

Chapter 2878 Fan Li’s last plan forced him to survive, but Cao Kerang cleverly saved Cao Cao

Chapter 2874: Fan Li’s last plan forced him to survive, and Cao Kerang cleverly saved Cao Cao

The person in the camp is naturally not Cao Cao, but Cao Wei's military advisor, Fan Li.

As for why Fan Li was so late and still in Cao Cao's camp, this was actually an accident.

Even before Cao Cao sent troops to Dingtao, Fan Li had already planned for Cao Cao. If Dingtao could not be rescued, he would turn Jiyin's 200,000 people into hungry people by burning grain, and then throw this burden to Cao Cao. The Qin Army thus increased the Qin Army's logistical pressure and gained precious breathing space for itself.

Therefore, after voluntarily giving up Dingtao, Cao Cao reacted so quickly. Not only did he immediately transfer the county soldiers from the eight counties of Jiyin, he also took away all the materials that could be taken away, and those that could not be taken away. Then set them all on fire.

On the way to withdraw the troops, Cao Cao, who calmed down, gradually regained his senses and discussed with Fan Li how to deal with it next.

Faced with such a bad situation, Fan Li had no other choice but to propose to continue squeezing the Demon Sect and regain his strength by sucking the Demon Sect's blood.

With the population of Cao Wei, even though it could recruit an army of 300,000+ or ​​even 400,000 troops under extreme military expansion, the meager national strength would not be able to support it at all.

At this critical juncture, it was Cao Cao who introduced wartime centralization. Through the hardships of the people of Yanzhou, he could barely supply the consumption of the 300,000 troops on the front line. However, he did not expect that the special national conditions under wartime centralization would lead to an unexpected situation. Let Fan Li come up with an alternative scorched earth policy.

 What is the scorched earth policy? That is to say, destroy farmland, destroy water sources, relocate people, etc., and use all means to destroy the channels through which the enemy can obtain supplies. It can be said to be a poisonous plan that can damage the enemy by eight hundred and damage itself by a thousand.

It’s not that Cao Cao never thought of implementing a scorched earth strategy, but doing so would have minimal impact on the Qin Army because the Qin Army’s logistical supply line was very stable. On the contrary, it might cause Cao Wei’s internal self-confidence to collapse.

 Cao Wei's territory is only that large. Even if wartime centralization is implemented, the logistical pressure will not be small. Once the scorched earth policy is implemented, how will Cao Wei support the people and the army?

The risks of the scorched earth policy are too great. If you are not careful, you may even kill yourself. That would be a big joke.

What Cao Cao didn't expect was that it was Wei's special state of centralization during the war that went wrong, allowing Fan Li to come up with a scorched-earth strategy that was not necessarily scorched-earth.

When the people in the occupied areas have become hungry, as long as Ying Hao does not want Yanzhou uprising troops to spread all over the place, he must provide emergency food to the hungry people. Once food is provided, the Qin army's logistical pressure will greatly increase.

Even if the Qin army did not provide food to the hungry people, they could still lead the hungry people to revolt, and then let the rebel army deal with the Qin army. Although this would not cause much damage to the Qin army, even if the Qin army occupied Yanzhou, all they would get was a piece of white land.

It has to be said that Fan Li's plan is a naked conspiracy, far more clever than the ordinary scorched earth policy, and for Cao Wei, who is about to enter the abyss, it is also an effective medicine to extend his life, but he did not expect that This would be his last resort.

After Cao Cao led his army to retreat to Changyi, he knew that there was not much time left for him to prepare, so he had in mind that if Chen Liu's 100,000 troops were destroyed and the main force of the Qin army invaded again, he would attack Shanyang and Ren. Cheng, Dongping, Jibei and other five counties also had the same vicious idea of ​​turning them into a burden.

Once Chen Liu's 100,000 troops were wiped out, Cao Wei would only have 14,000 cavalry that retreated eastward. The total number of garrison and county soldiers stationed in the eastern cities was 40,000, as well as the newly recruited 50,000. It only amounts to an army of one hundred and four thousand.

You know, Cao Cao deployed 300,000 main troops on the Western Front before, but he only blocked the four-way 370,000 Qin army for two and a half months. The 300,000 main army lost 200,000, and now this last One hundred thousand will also enter the countdown to destruction.

Although there are still 135,000 rebels on the Demon Sect side, 100,000 of them are new recruits who have never seen blood. Even if they all come to support Wei, the total strength of the two sides will only be 230,000. Among them, There are still 150,000 new troops, how can they stop the wolf-like tiger Qin army?

Therefore, although Fan Li still had hope of making a comeback, Cao Cao knew from the beginning that he could not win in a fight. His only hope was to delay until the Qin army ran out of food and retreated.

How to delay it? Fan Li's 'baggage' tactic is currently the best method.

Cao Cao believed that he could not defeat the Qin army, so he let millions of hungry people in the five counties eat up the Qin army's backward supply line.

"Ying Hao, don't you claim to be benevolent and righteous and to be destined by destiny? I want to see if you care about these people."

Cao Cao looked at the bright moon in the sky and couldn't help but said to himself: "You have fallen into the trap. No matter when the Central Plains is starved to death and millions of corpses are lying in the ground, even if you destroy the Wei Dynasty, all you will get is a white land." ”

I have to say that when it comes to cruelty, it has to be Cao Cao. In the original history, he did a series of cruel things such as plotting against Xuzhou and using human flesh as military food.

Now even Fan Li has only turned 200,000 people in Jiyin into starving people, but Cao Cao is preparing to use the millions of people in the five eastern counties to bring down the Qin army. Liu Bei and Sun Jian can't compare to this ruthlessness even if they flatter each other. .

It was precisely because of Fan Li's plan that Cao Cao saw hope. At the request of An Lushan, most of the leaders of the Demon Sect rebel army went to Mount Tai, so he did not follow the army back to Qiao County, the new capital, but led it himself. A small number of cavalry went east to the Jade Emperor Peak of Mount Tai.

This time, the leaders of the Demon Sect Rebel Army gathered together to select a leader. Among the leaders of the 16th Demon Sect Rebel Army, except for Yuan Jiuling who participated in the Puyang Battle, An Lushan, Shi Siming, Fifteen rebel leaders including Chongjiu, Zhang Er, Chen Yu, Wei Jiu, Han Xin, Tian Rong, Liu Wuzhou, Li Zitong, and Du Fuwei all arrived.

 Cao Cao rushed over at this time. In addition to meeting these fifteen people, he was also planning to discuss with them the next matter of resisting the Qin Dynasty. He also planned to swindle another batch of money and food from the Demon Sect.

Before the war, the Demon Sect was lucky and thought about having both sides, but the Qin Dynasty ignored them at all, so they wanted the Three Kingdoms Alliance to be in the front, and they could just hide in the back and provide money and effort.

However, with the battle at the Jade Emperor's Summit, the Demon Sect's vitality was severely damaged, and the top elites were completely destroyed. As a result, they no longer had any luck in their hearts, and they completely embarked on the path of anti-Qin.

This is also the main reason why the Demon Sect knew that the materials sold to them during the Wei, Song and Ming Dynasties were expensive, but they were still willing to pay for food.

After the fall of the Wei, Song and Ming Dynasties, they may still be treated well, but only the Demon Sect must be liquidated.

The Demon Sect has no way out. The only way out is to unite the three kingdoms of Wei, Song, and Ming to fight against the Qin Dynasty. Therefore, the alliance between the Three Kingdoms Alliance and the Demon Sect is actually a two-way journey.

The three kingdoms of Wei, Song and Ming were eyeing the Demon Sect's money and food, while the Demon Sect was counting on the alliance of the Three Kingdoms to repel the Qin army. The Demon Sect also knew that this alliance would cause heavy bleeding. After all, apart from money and food, it had nothing else to offer the Three Kingdoms Alliance, but it was impossible to give the money and food to them in vain.

The money and food of the Demon Sect does not come in vain, but is accumulated bit by bit by the ancestors.

 If you give it to them for free, they are not allies, but vassals.

If this is known to the people below, it will definitely cause dissatisfaction among many people, but currently no one in the Demon Sect dares to take this responsibility.

 So, they deliberately bought expensive materials from the Three Kingdoms Alliance, and in this way indirectly supported the Three Kingdoms Alliance with money and food.

Although doing this is a bit self-deceiving, it is still acceptable to the leader of the Demon Sect Rebel Army who currently lacks prestige, and at least it can make him look better.

The meeting of the Demon Sect did not go well. Among the leaders of the Fifteenth Route Rebel Army present, the four most powerful An Lushan, Shi Siming, Chongjiu, and Zhang Er all wanted to be the leaders, so naturally they refused to obey anyone. , and among them, the strongest Chongjiu has the greatest advantage.

 The Demon Sect values ​​strength. In the absence of Yuan Jiuling, Chongjiu, who is the strongest, is naturally the most convincing.

Just when the balance was gradually tilting towards Chongjiu, what no one expected was that Shi Siming would suddenly fall towards Anlu Mountain.

Shi Siming's idea is also very simple. Rather than having the meat eaten by outsiders, it is better to eat less than not to eat at all.

Shi Siming will choose to join forces with An Lushan, firstly, the relationship between the two families is closer, and secondly, only the two families can suppress Chongjiu by joining forces, thus ensuring that the two families get the maximum fruit.

With An Lushan and Shi Siming joining forces, they were as powerful as the Tang Dynasty and were about to be destroyed, let alone Chongjiu. Naturally, they had to avoid the edge for a while, and once he retreated, he would never have a chance again.

In the eyes of other people in the Demon Sect, Zhongjiu's retreat was a sign of giving in. Then he would definitely not be able to lead the Demon Sect, so they all turned to the more powerful An Lushan.

In this way, An Lushan relied on joining forces with Shi Siming to suppress Chongjiu, thus gaining the support of most rebel leaders and becoming the apparent leader of the Sixteenth Route Rebel Army of the Demon Sect.

An Lushan didn't bother Chongjiu after becoming the leader. After all, their alliance was still very fragile. If they were fighting among themselves at this time, they would be courting death.

 After that, An Lushan initially gained the trust of the major rebel leaders by balancing the interests of all parties and showing fairness in dividing interests, and temporarily secured his position as the leader of the Demon Sect Rebel Alliance.

Just when An Lushan was preparing to fight, he received news that Cao Cao was coming to Mount Tai, and he could tell at a glance that Cao Cao must have come because the war was unfavorable, otherwise he would never have left the front line at this time.

 Cao Cao is the king of Wei, one of the three kings of the Central Plains, and Mount Tai is within the Taishan County of Wei State. Now that he is going to Mount Tai in person, Anlu Mountain will naturally not dare to neglect it.

Even before Cao Cao entered Taishan County, An Lushan had already sent Shen Gongbao to greet Cao Cao. When Cao Cao arrived, he was going to bring all the rebel leaders down the mountain to greet him in person as a show of respect.

Although Shen Gongbao was born in Taoism and was a master of the Song Dynasty, he liked to make friends, and many of his close friends were from the Demon Sect. In this Demon Sect Conference, he also made great efforts for internal unity, so Anlu Only Shan would trust him so much.

Of course, An Lushan would send Shen Gongbao to greet him, mainly because it was his own request.

 As for why Shen Gongbao asked to greet Cao Cao?

 In fact, it was because Cao Kerang beside him wanted to return to the Cao family as soon as possible.

 As for why Cao Kerang is by Shen Gongbao's side?

 Actually, it was because Cao Kerang’s master was also one of Shen Gongbao’s friends.

In order to strengthen the power of the anti-Qin alliance, Shen Gongbao went around to persuade his comrades to go down the mountain. Some agreed, and some refused. Among those who refused, Cao Kerang's master was among those who refused.

Although Cao Kerang's master refused, when Cao Kerang learned that Cao Wei had been at a disadvantage in the Central Plains War, he was worried about the safety of his family and relatives, so he decided to go down the mountain to help his family. This is why he followed Shen Gongbao to join the Demon Sect. General Assembly.

 Shen Gongbao and Cao Kerang, one is a half-step grand master and the other is the God of War, so they naturally travel extremely fast.

When the two rushed to Liangfu County, it was already dark, but Cao Jun happened to have arrived at Liang Fu, so the two immediately went to see him.

 After finding the camp of Cao Jun, Shen Gongbao said to the guarding soldiers: "Brother, please inform me that Shen Gongbao and Cao Kerang want to see the King of Wei."

The soldiers saw that Shen Gongbao had an immortal demeanor and that Cao Kerang was even more majestic and magnanimous, so they did not dare to be negligent in the slightest and hurriedly went to report it.

At this time, Cao Cao was in the camp, discussing important matters with Fan Li. He was naturally overjoyed when he learned that Shen Gongbao had brought Cao Kerang to see him. After all, although Cao Ning was the number one general in the Cao Wei clan, he was actually recognized as the number one general. One is actually Cao Kerang.

In the battle of Dingtao, Cao Cao had just lost Cao Qiudao, the only great master of the Cao family, and now Cao Kerang, the most powerful person in the Cao family, took the initiative to surrender.

Cao Cao was so excited that he ran to the camp gate to greet Cao Kerang himself without even wearing shoes. He wanted to express his respect for him, but he was lucky enough to avoid Kong Xuan who had sneaked into the camp.

Because of Cao Kerang's arrival, Cao Cao was lucky enough to escape the disaster, but Fan Li, who was left waiting in the camp, was miserable. He didn't know anything. He didn't even have time to say his last words, and was killed by Kong Xuan's plan of Jin Zhisuge. Cut in half, the dead one can no longer die.

 (End of this chapter)