The World Online

Jiangling, City Lord’s Manor.

After returning from the port, Cao Cao was in an excited state.

They would definitely fight this war, but the problem was how.

Cao Cao summoned Chen Hao and Jia Xu, these two strategists, for a discussion. As the player representative, Ouyang Shuo was also invited. The special use of the voyage squadron meant that Ouyang Shuo would have a lot of speaking rights.

Seeing Cao Cao so excited, Ouyang Shuo had to calm his spirits, “Prime minister, allow me to introduce to you the player situation of both camps.”

”Speak!” Cao Cao did not dare to underestimate the players again.

”During this battle, our player army has 270 thousand. Without the navy, we only have 250 thousand troops. The enemy player camp has 350 thousand troops, and they might have a navy too.”

”The difference is so great?” Cao Cao frowned.

Ouyang Shuo nodded.

After the loss of Red Cliff, the remaining Cao troops that escaped numbered around 100 thousand. Along with the 30 thousand troops Cao Ren left at Jiangling City, they had around 130 thousand troops.

At the same time, the Sun Liu Alliance Army had split into three routes.

Liu Bei led 20 thousand troops to go against the current of Xiangjiang to attack Linxiang. Huang Gai’s navy was less than 10 thousand. After entering Dongting Lake, they would turn into Yuanjiang.

Hence, only around 20 thousand Zhou Yu forces chased Cao Cao.

According to such a comparison, although Cao Cao had a lack of players, it was not that important as the numbers on both sides were similar.

However, the important problem apart from numbers was morale.

After the Cao army suffered that grievous defeat, their morale had already hit rock bottom. They lacked the mood and the will to fight. Hence, in history, their huge army was chased all the way by Zhou Yu.

In the end, Cao Cao did not spend too long here, leading his troops back north. A year later, the Jiangling that Cao Ren defended was taken down.

With that, it was easy to see that the 130 thousand Cao army was not going to be of use in a short time. On the contrary, the Zhou Yu army possessed high morale and were at their sharpest.

The morale of the native army would also affect the morale of the player army.

The Lords in the Cao Cao Camp had lost all hope in this battle and were deflated. On the contrary, the players in the Sun Liu Camp would want to end this battle in one swoop.

Even with the presence of the voyage squadron, it was not looking good for the Cao army.

Apart from that, there was one more factor that should be considered. After Sun Quan received the new about the victory at Red Cliff, would he lead the army to assist the frontlines?

Even if he would not, Ouyang Shuo believed that Di Chen and the others would find a way to persuade him.

With that, the situation would greatly worsen.

The Battle of Red Cliff was far from a naval battle; the battle of armies was the main component.

……

”How does their navy compare to yours?” Cao Cao asked.

Ouyang Shuo thought about this matter; among the enemy, probably only Xiong Ba, Zhan Lang, and Xunlong Dianxue had decent navies. Their warships were bought from Shanhai City.

As for cannons, only Xunlong Dianxue had obtained 30 from Shanhai City.

Whether or not Xiong Ba or Zhan Lang had their hands on any cannon technology, Ouyang Shuo did not know. Although such technical manuals were not common, they were not unique either.

Strictly speaking, Xiong Ba and the rest had chances to obtain such technology from other avenues.

Gaia also had a rule that when a certain technology was grasped by more than five in a country, it would be opened to all players.

Based on that example, if Ouyang Shuo taught the steam engine technique to Consonance City, Fallen Phoenix City, Stone City, and Black Lion City, the entire region would receive it.

Hence, shortly after Avic Fort developed the steam engine, the entire country entered the industrial revolution.

”Warships are similar, firearms weaker.” Ouyang Shuo replied.

When Cao Cao heard this reply, his brows jumped, “Wen He, say your thoughts.”

Throughout this entire process, Jia Xu did not make a sound till Cao Cao called him. Only then did he stand up and say, “Lord, I feel that we should attack using the navy and defend using the army.”

”Please elaborate.”

”The navy can face Zhou Yu’s forces and try to crush them at once. It is best if we can regain Red Cliff.” As expected from Jia Xu, such a clear path of thinking, “With that, we can use the win to raise the morale and sweep away the problem at hand. Secondly, we can use Red Cliff to crush the Sun Liu Alliance Army.”

”Occupying Red Cliff can help to stop any reinforcements and cut off their resources. Only then can our army have a fight to the death with the main force of Zhou Yu.”

Jia Xu paused to allow them to digest his words before continuing, “After describing the navy, the army would be easier to understand. Before the navy takes over Red Cliff, our main force should rest in the city to defend it. First, we need to rest and heal up. Secondly, we can bring over the other troops around Jingzhou to assist. Most importantly, we must use this time to stock up on resources.”

During the Battle of Red Cliff, the Cao army used Red Cliff as their main camp and had transported all their resources to there. In the end, one massive fire burned it all up.

The end of the East Han could not be compared to the wilderness of the main map.

It was chaos, lives were horrible, and many strong youths joined the army, so there were like no men in the villages. Hence, there were huge plots of empty land with no one to farm.

Consequently, grain became all the more precious to the army.

If they wanted to gather up grain for a war, it would take close to half a year. As a result, the generals such as Xiahou Dun and Zhong Yao on the backlines were extremely important.

Moreover, it was the winter period, so the families were only left with some grain to pass the season, which made it all the more difficult to collect grain.

In history, Cao Cao did have his reasons for choosing to retreat.

Jia Xu’s analysis hit the spot and each word made sense. When Ouyang Shuo heard his words, the light in his eyes shone even brighter. Without a doubt, a strategist like Jia Xu was something he lacked the most.

If he really does not want to, I will have to kidnap him.

Cao Cao did not decide right away, turning to Cheng Yu and asking, “Zhong De, what do you think?”

Cheng Yu was one of the five strategists under Cao Cao’s Camp. After Guo Jia died, he became the most important one. At the same time, he was the only one out of the five who had the ability to lead the troops to battle.

On this topic, there was also a classic story, ‘After the defeat at Red Cliff, if I had Guo Jia, I would not have lost!’

Some people read this as Cao Cao being unhappy with Cheng Yu, Jia Xu, and the rest.

In truth, it was not.

If one carefully read the history books, they would notice that the strategists in his camp did not fail. Jia Xu had advised him to not advance and to calm down the situation in Jingzhou.

In the end, Cao Cao did not listen and rushed to unite the land.

Cheng Yu also predicted the Sun Liu Alliance saying, ‘Sun Quan is newly appointed and has never been worried about anything. Cai Cao is invincible, taking down Jingzhou and shocking the land. Although Sun Quan has strategies, he cannot face you alone. Liu Bei has many famous generals, so Sun Quan will definitely seek his help to defend against us.”

In hindsight, if Cao Cao had listened to Cheng Yu and prepared early, he would not have been caught off guard by Zhou Yu at Red Cliff.

With that, it was not hard to understand what Cao Cao was doing. At this moment that decided his fate, he sought both their opinions.

When Ouyang Shuo saw this, he felt truly ashamed. His actions in Shanhai City were more arrogant than even Cao Cao.

Cheng Yu instantly stood up, “Lord, I agree. Only one point, the enemy has Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang. Along with them knowing about our situation, they might plan against the voyage squadron.”

”That makes sense, so what should we do?” Cao Cao was not afraid. Since he had decided, he would not change and back off easily.

”We should fight quickly.” Cheng Yu explained, “Since they are prepared, they would not expect us to strike out without hesitating and resting. With that, we can totally catch them off guard.”

”Great idea!”

Cao Cao rubbed his beard. He smiled, but no one could catch his real thoughts.

When Ouyang Shuo saw that, he could only envy Cao Cao.

When could he gather such a group of strategists under his charge?

”Prime minister!” Envy was envy, but Ouyang Shuo was always a spontaneous person, so he asked to fight, “I am willing to lead the voyage squadron to strike and take down Red Cliff!”

Considering that the enemy had some people he could meet with, Ouyang Shuo needed to personally lead. If not, facing the players was not something Zheng He could handle alone.

Ouyang Shuo also wanted to teach the Sun Liu Navy a lesson.

It was time for the voyage squadron to use this battle to grow famous in China.

”Great! Cao Cao laughed, “I hope your squadron can achieve victory for us!”

”Yes!”

Ouyang Shuo solemnly replied.

A discussion of the specific battle plans followed. Apart from that would be to plan for the players. After all, since Ouyang Shuo would not be in Jiangling, he needed to make early arrangements.

The Battle of Red Cliff was going to start once again between naval forces.

The true battle was about to begin.