Please ask me to be the emperor

Cao Wenzhao went back, looking very embarrassed. But no matter how embarrassed he was, as long as he returned to the officers and soldiers camp, all the agitations in the camp would settle down in an instant.

Because he is Cao Wenzhao, he is not only the supreme commander of this army, but also because he has an invincible record against the peasant army.

"There is a Cao Cao in the army, and thieves will be terrified when they hear about it!" The evaluation of him by people at that time is a true reflection of his reputation.

Although Mu Ziqiang and Zhang Quanchang had various thoughts, they finally breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Cao Wenzhao again.

They quickly asked: "Where did the general go? It scared us two brothers for nothing, for fear that the general would make a mistake!"

Cao Wenzhao secretly smiled bitterly and thought to himself: I'm afraid you are not afraid that I will make a mistake, but you are afraid that no one will take the blame for defeat in this battle, right?

However, on the surface, Cao Wenzhao did not show any emotion. Instead, he said with some annoyance: "At that time, Cao accidentally fell into the water and was washed downstream by the river."

"When I climbed up the river bank, I was already far away from the camp. I had to find a small boat and slowly go upstream to return to the camp."

Mu Ziqiang and Zhang Quanchang were doubtful, but fortunately the matter had nothing to do with the overall situation and they were unwilling to delve into it.

They just said: "Since General Cao has returned to camp, please order the troops to rectify and prepare to fight against the bandits again!"

Cao Wenzhao was stunned when he heard this and frowned.

His nephew Cao Bianjiao died at the hands of thieves. Once he recalled the body that fell under the flagpole, he couldn't help but feel heartbroken.

On the one hand, I wish I could take his place, on the other hand, I wish I could cut Zhang Shun into pieces with a thousand knives.

However, Cao Wenzhao led troops all year round and knew that anger could not solve any problems, but would instead affect his judgment.

The more the thief wants to irritate himself, the more he must calm down. Now the only one in the Cao family who has the ability and strength to avenge his nephew Cao Bianjiao, he must not be carried away by anger.

In the rebel camp, he endured the pain of losing his nephew and still observed the training level of the rebel soldiers, the layout of the camp and the number of rebel soldiers.

Based on his many years of experience in leading the army, he concluded that the number of soldiers that the thieves can fight should be between seven and eight thousand. This number not only far exceeded the court's expectations, but also far exceeded the strength of the officers and soldiers.

Originally, there were five thousand officers and soldiers. Although it was lower than the number of thieves, it was enough to attack but not enough to defend.

However, his nephew Cao Bianjiao failed to seize Tiexie Ferry and lost 300 elite servants. General Zhang Quanchang failed to seize Baihe Ferry and lost 700 elite soldiers.

In addition, Cao Wenzhao personally led the soldiers to defend the pontoon bridge and lost more than a hundred people. Now the number of officers and soldiers is less than 4,000.

"The Art of War" by Sun Tzu said: "The method of using troops is to surround it by ten, attack it by five, divide it by doubling it. If the enemy is small, you can fight it, if you are small, you can escape from it, if you are weak, you can avoid it."

Nowadays, the number of officers and soldiers is only half of the thieves. It is not possible to "fight" them, let alone "divide them" or "attack them".

If it weren't for the fact that all the officers and soldiers were defeated in crossing the river, I am afraid that the loss of more than a thousand officers and soldiers alone would be enough to break the muscles and bones of the five thousand officers and soldiers.

Fortunately, because the crossing of the river failed, the remaining 4,000 teams that had not participated in the crossing were all present and could still fight.

As soon as he thought of this, Cao Wenzhao decided to retreat. He sighed and said: "You two, go ahead and reorganize your troops. As for the suppression of thieves, we still need to think about it in the long term!"

Mu Ziqiang and Zhang Quanchang were stunned when they heard this, and couldn't help but subconsciously persuaded: "Victory and defeat are common matters for military officers. How can a general be discouraged?"

Cao Wenzhao smiled bitterly in his heart and said: "What should I tell you? Do you want me to say that I was captured by the thieves and taken into the camp? It is known that the officers and soldiers are incapable of defeating the thieves despite the reality of the thieves?"

He had no choice but to explain: "It's not that Cao increased the gangster's momentum and destroyed his own prestige. Since the officers and soldiers came into contact with the gangster, they have been defeated again and again, and now they have been defeated three times!"

"How could it happen again and again if there was not a huge disparity in strength between the two sides? What's more, the river crosses the east and west. Although the officers and soldiers are brave, they have no place to use them. In my opinion, to be cautious, it is better to 'prevent them from defeating them first, and then wait for them. The enemy is invincible'!"

"This" Mu Ziqiang and Zhang Quanchang looked at each other and said to themselves: "I heard that Cao Wenzhao has always been brave, but I never thought that he would be frightened by thieves after encountering setbacks. He is really living up to his reputation!"

After a long while, Zhang Quanchang reminded in a low voice: "Now the three of us are still waiting for punishment. If someone reads a book and says that we just sit back and watch the bandits plunder Henan Mansion and do nothing to save them, I'm afraid we will be punished." The end!"

Cao Wenzhao also knew that the sacred mandate was difficult and the three of them could not bear it. He was silent for a moment, and then persuaded: "If we are slandered by Xiao Xiao, the three of us will just be exiled from the army and demoted. But if this battle is defeated, I am afraid that we will not be able to save our lives even if we want to!"

"The new governor of Shanxi, Wu Luyou, had an old relationship with me. When I was waiting to be punished, he was the only one who wrote a letter to intercede on my behalf, asking the Holy One to transfer me to Shanxi to help him suppress the bandits."

"It's just that Wen Zhao has a sacred mandate. Even though he led his army through Shanxi before, he never visited this person. Now that we are in a dilemma, why not shamelessly go and beg this person again. If I can borrow soldiers, horses, cannons and By crossing the river with a boat, we can defeat the bandits in one fell swoop and avenge our shame!"

The so-called Wu Luyou in Cao Wenzhao was actually Wu Di, the governor of Shanxi. This man once served as censor during the Tianqi period, but was dismissed because of his opposition to Wei Zhongxian.

It was not until Emperor Chongzhen came to the throne that he was reinstated. Later, he was appointed as the patrol commissioner of Shaanxi and Henan.

At that time, bandits were everywhere and thieves were surging. Only Cao Wenzhao was not afraid at all. He first defeated Wang Jiayin, the leader of Hequ County, and captured and killed "Dian Dengzi" and other fierce bandits. His reputation shocked the world and was known to Wu Di.

Now Wu Di is serving as the governor of Shanxi, facing the Shanxi area that has been harmed by rogue bandits. Although the main force of the rebel army has moved to Henan, there are still fierce bandits and gangsters in many places in Shanxi, and they are in urgent need of brave generals like Cao Wenzhao to eliminate them.

When Mu Ziqiang and Zhang Quanchang heard this, they both said "Great kindness!". Afterwards, Cao Wenzhao ordered Mu Ziqiang to be the commander-in-chief and Zhang Quanchang to be his deputy, leading more than 2,000 men under his command to garrison on the north bank of the Yellow River.

Cao Wenzhao led nearly two thousand people under his command north to Shanxi to meet Wu Di, the new governor of Shanxi.

Not to mention what happened to Cao Wenzhao, after Zhang Shun released Cao Wenzhao, he just trained his troops and was not in a hurry to drive away the officers and soldiers on the opposite side.

A few days later, Zhang Shun heard that the scouts had come to report that Cao Wenzhao was leading his troops north. When only Mu Ziqiang and Zhang Quanchang were left stationed with more than 2,000 troops and horses, he couldn't help laughing and said: "I have a plan. !”

It turned out that after capturing Cao Wenzhao, Zhang Shun deliberately asked people to set up extra tents behind the tent to disrupt Cao Wenzhao's intentions.

Cao Wenzhao was defeated in all three battles and lost his troops and generals. No matter what, the officers and soldiers could no longer cross the river and threaten the safety of the rebels. Therefore, Zhang Shun expected that Cao Wenzhao would definitely want to retreat after this battle.

Although Zhang Shun didn't know that Cao Wenzhao, Mu Ziqiang, and Zhang Quanchang were all waiting for punishment, he also knew that the officers and soldiers would not give up their goals easily.

The reason why he used the virtual camp method was actually to take advantage of Cao Wenzhao's arrogance. The officers and soldiers were defeated in all three battles. Either the commander-in-chief was inferior in command, or the officers and soldiers were inferior in strength.

As a veteran general, how could Cao Wenzhao admit that his military ability was not as good as that of a young man who had just started the army less than two years ago?

Therefore, this plan appears to be a simple method of confusing the real with the fake, but in fact it is a method of attacking the mind.