Chapter 402 Cao Cao VS Xiliang Cavalry (1/2)

Chapter 402 – Cao Cao VS Xiliang Cavalry

Meanwhile, Xun You was observing the battle by Zhang He's side. As he could not see Zhang He's radar map or understand his secrets, the strategist was impressed by this general's battlefield reading abilities.

Wei Yan, Liu Xie, and Sima Yi were also there to experience a night battle. As newbies, they were confused and astonished that Zhang He could guess the night attack and accurately fired at the enemy's position.

Wei Yan was motivated, ”So, this is a great general's ability! Combat prowess alone isn't everything. I still have a lot to learn!”

Sima Yi also watched the cannon crews and colorful signal flags with interest. He did not say anything, but he managed to memorize a few relayed orders and learn the army coordination.

Liu Xie, however, as the youngest boy in the group, he was too sleepy and could hardly understand anything.

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After the failed night raid, Ji Ling and his army fortified the south shore. However, he ordered his men not to build warships to fight Zhang He in naval combat since they were underprepared.

Both sides continued their staring contest.

Zhang He, Xun You, and his subordinates did not mind a prolonged war since they had planned to weaken Cao Cao Army in this coalition against Yuan Shu anyway.

As for Liu Xie and others, they stayed with Zhang He and other commanders, taking lectures from them directly. When he heard about the hidden motive behind this war, he could not hide his astonishment.

Xun You taught them, ”We know that Yuan Shu and Xiongnu have formed an alliance, and they will bring their forces from the west here. This is one of the reasons that we avoid a direct confrontation with their army, but we can let Cao Cao take the brunt and test the water for us.”

Because all intelligence agencies could not obtain information from Khan's territories, they did not know how cataphracts or Xiliang cavalry's strength. Although Tong warned them that they were strong, but not the strongest, Xun You and Zhang He did not let their guard down.

The move here would sabotage Cao Cao's force by using Yuan Shu Army and Xiongnu Army while they were doing nothing but watching the battle from the sideline.

Sima Yi snickered, ”So, his majesty used a coward's tactic by turning Cao Cao into a scapegoat while he reaps the profit later?”

Wei Yan smacked Sima Yi's back of the head, ”Don't bad-mouth his majesty! This is not Ye, you moron.”

Sima Yi looked at his friend, wanting to retort. However, he also noticed that many generals here glared at himself, which did not bond well.Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please clickfor visiting.

”I'm sorry. I was being immature.”

Everyone nodded and ignored Sima Yi's remarks and continued teaching Wei Yan and Liu Xie.

Because of the reaction from everyone, Sima Yi learned a lesson from his mistake.

'Zhang Tong is a tough nut to crack. His prowess in battle is unquestionable. His politic game is solid since he has brainwashed all of his subordinates and pretended to be a just emperor. Bohe won't have a chance against his father in the next election.'

He glanced at his prince, pitied him.

'You're fighting the impossible, Bohe. Once Zhang Tong's consorts give birth to a son, your standing as a prince will be destroyed by their mothers.'

Currently, Du Shi and Cai Wenji each had a daughter, the second princess and the third princess.

As Tong had ordered both mothers to recuperate from their health and spend time with the daughters, none of the concubines had obtained their second child yet.

However, Sima Yi knew that it was a matter of time that Tong would give them a son.

Once Tong had a real son, Liu Xie's status as his adopted son would be on the way of his bloodline successor. Then, the concubines and their supporters would begin to suppressing this prince, whose force was still too weak in the court. Afterward, Liu Xie would be at risk of being assassinated by his foster mothers.

He clenched his fist as he glanced at all generals in the meeting tent.

'I have to boost Bohe's standing within the court as soon as possible! I have to score him a noteworthy achievement that can shock the land!'

Sima Yi turned to Wei Yan, who met eyes with him. Both of them had a similar idea.

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While Zhang He forced the battle at the Yellow River into a stalemate, Cao Cao's 55,000 soldiers faced the allied forces of 80,000 men from Guan Yu and Li Ru on the field.

Both sides did not launch an all-out strike.

Cao Cao placed horse barricades around his troops as he had expected a resistance force from Yuan Shu. However, he thought that he would have encountered only Yuan Shu Army, but he ran into Li Ru's horsemen.

As cautious as he was, Cao Cao stopped his advance and concentrated on his defense. He arranged all cannons to the front as their field artillery weapons and used their newly developed ”grapeshot” as their ammunition.

The grapeshot was a bundle of small leads and iron balls, which packed into one bag. Once firing, the rounds inside the bag would spread, like how shotgun buckshot shells worked.

The new ammo was designed and developed by Pu Jing's men. After they had collected the details from Sun Jian's deserted men, they learned about the usefulness of cannons. Accepted that Pu Jing's weaponry was useful, Cao Cao funded more gold into his untrustworthy subordinate's project.

Now, they could test these prototype grapeshots against real foes. Fifty wheeled cannons and their crews were looking forward to using these today.

As for Li Ru and Guan Yu's forces, they arranged 30,000 infantry of Hongnong in the middle while the rest of 50,000 cavalries spread to the sides, getting ready to use their mobility to pincer Cao Cao Army.