The Collection of The End

——A.D. 179——

In the seventh year of Xiping, Cao Cao, who was then the Ling of Dunqiu, received a call from the imperial court and was appointed "Captain of Cavalry". The call order also required him to report to Zhenxi General Zhang Wen as soon as possible and go to Liangzhou to quell the rebellion.

"This is a good thing! A captain! Five thousand men under his command! Or cavalry!" When Cao Cao convened everyone for discussion, Yuan Shao was the first to jump out and applaud, and was surrounded by a group of people.

"So, Benchu, do you think we have five thousand cavalry?" In order to prevent Cai Wan from taunting him, Cao Cao took the initiative to talk.

After two years of governing Dunqiu, Cao Cao's temperament has settled down a little, he has become more stable, and his way of handling things has become more sophisticated. If he were now, he would never personally command people to beat Jian Tu - about He ordered a group of people to hit and run, and then rushed to the scene slowly, claiming that those people were temporarily hired rangers and had been fired.

"Ah? Isn't it rationed by the imperial court?" Yuan Shao scratched his head.

In contrast, Yuan Shao still seemed to have no progress at all and was stuck in everything he said and done. It is said that the three princes of the Yuan family had their hair turned gray due to worry and tried to train Yuan Shu instead, but Yuan Shao's younger brother... is also difficult to describe. .

"You can calculate how much it will cost for the horses, weapons, logistics personnel, and food and supplies required by the five thousand cavalry," Cai Wan continued, "and then think about whether the iron rooster who can only get in and out is willing to spend such a sum. money."

Yes, I couldn't stop her from speaking, but she finally didn't call the emperor by his name. Fortunately, Cao Cao secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Since there are currently no civil servants under Cao Cao, most of the government affairs are handled personally, and Cai Zhenji also takes on some extra responsibilities, so she is relatively familiar with logistics and especially likes to calculate accounts. As a result, her own talented woman temperament is even more Gained some knowledge.

"It's too troublesome, it doesn't count." Yuan Shao responded without hesitation.

"..."

"Wait! Zhenji! You should have known that he has always been like this." Cao Cao hurriedly stopped Cai Wan who was about to smash the konghou. Where was his intelligence?

"Hahahaha! You asked him to join the discussion just for fun, right?" The "substitute" laughed loudly.

This special "unparalleled" is also growing. At present, it is almost completely independent of the distance from Cao Cao. It has even gone to Luoyang to collect information. Those wealthy families who think they have no one around to discuss confidential information are the main ones. of victims.

After Dunqiu's "skills" reached the standard, Cao Cao tried to forge a long sword for himself and his "double", named them "Yitian" and "Qinghong" respectively, and handed them all to the "double" to carry them when needed. The moment can be "revealed" directly, creating an unexpected effect.

In addition, maybe there is something special about the "Sword Master". Although the "substitute" tried, he was completely unable to sneak into the palace.

"Well, I also think that if you are granted an official title, there will be things you can manage," the bald Dianwei, who was serving as a guard at the side, responded: "My lord, you were granted the Dunqiu Order, so why don't I give you a Dunqiu to manage?" .”

Cao Cao didn't actually put much effort into recruiting this bald man. Dunqiu's "skills" had not even developed to a high level. When the first batch of "ordinary" mixed with sporadic "excellent" weapons and equipment were delivered to his hometown, several clan elders He directly stated that this man would be given to Cao Mengde. If most of them were not hunters, Cao Cao would not be of use for the time being. It would not be impossible to take away all the men in the village.

In this regard, Cao Cao concluded that as long as you give the people what they want, they will support you. If you take away what the people want, they will oppose you. It is quite simple. As for what they "really need", or Let those Liu family members who aspire to be emperor worry about it.

"Generally speaking, when you are granted a military position, you will allocate troops." Dian Wei is no better than Yuan Shao. Some issues still need to be explained clearly to him. Cao Cao tried to explain: "But the land of Sanhe is different. There are many aristocratic families in these places. The cavalry is always ready to be called upon,

The court only needs to issue a recruitment order telling each family how many people are needed, and a large army can be assembled. "

"Well... Dunqiu is in 'Henan', and it also belongs to the land of three rivers..." Dian Wei raised his head and thought for a moment: "But my lord, are you from a wealthy family?"

Are honest people good at getting to the heart of the problem? Cao Cao responded: "Yes, and no, the problem with this recruitment order is that Benchu ​​and I do belong to aristocratic families, but there is no reserve of the so-called 'Three Rivers Knights' in the land of Three Rivers. Logically speaking, this recruitment order The order should not have been issued to us, but..."

"But it wouldn't be surprising at all if the person who issued the order pretended to be stupid in order to take the opportunity to embarrass Meng De or even punish him." Cai Wan shook his head.

"Jian Shuo, Zhang Rang, Zhang Wen, haha." The "substitute" briefly said four words without further explanation.

"Is that so? Where did Dunqiu's cavalry come from?" Yuan Shao finally understood the current situation. He was just slow to react, but not stupid (?): "I will contact Luoyang right now! Let them send 10,000 cavalry quickly !”

"Hey... Benchu, it doesn't have to be like this," Cao Cao held down Yuan Shao who jumped up and rushed out; "Since the recruitment order came from Luoyang, you and I probably already know the content. At this time, we just need to wait and see what happens. .”

This is the reason why Cao Cao and Cai Wan are willing to get along with him as a young boy. No matter how many shortcomings Yuan Shao has - mainly in terms of IQ, and how many calculations the Yuan family behind him has about this relationship, he is loyal and does not care. Selfishness, this alone is enough to eliminate any other problems.

Telling him some harmless little lies when there is nothing wrong is to enhance the relationship. When did you hide big things from him?

————

"Report! A cavalry force has arrived outside the city, numbering about five thousand. The general leading the team claims his surname is Xiahou. He has come from Qiao County for reinforcements on Cao Gong's order and is temporarily stationed outside the city."

When Cao Cao and Cai Wan were discussing how to manage Dunqiu after Cao Cao left, a messenger came to the gate of the county government office and reported loudly.

"Xiahou?" Cao Cao was really surprised this time. After his father Cao Song adopted the Xiahou family to the Cao family, he had little contact with his family. He occasionally took care of the Xiahou family casually. He was obviously regarded as the "Ten Constant Attendants" here. "You are still willing to send your children to help when you are in trouble. If it wasn't your father's deliberate request, or this family is actually very optimistic that Cao Mengde can make some achievements?

"Let's go see Brother Xiahou." Cao Cao grabbed Yuan Shao who was muttering "Why not ten thousand, let's make up the whole number" and walked out with Cai Wan and Dian Wei.

"Eh? Mr. Cao, how did you know it was a pair of brothers?" the messenger at the door responded stupidly, and then was immediately blocked and sent away by his colleagues.

"Oh, are they two? That's better." Cao Cao quickened his pace.

"Five thousand is the correct number," Cai Wan explained to Yuan Shao as he walked: "The cavalry captain can only be in charge of five thousand cavalry at most. If it exceeds, or if there are infantry under his command, the superior officer has the right to transfer them directly elsewhere - With Zhang Wen’s style and Zhang Rang’s support, it’s a sure thing.”

"Then beat him, even Zhang Rang!" Yuan Shao casually said what everyone had been thinking, causing the surroundings to be quiet for a moment.

"Report!" Another messenger came on horseback to break the brief silence: "A transport team under the banner of the Yuan family has arrived from the direction of Luoyang, loaded with cavalry baggage and supplies."

"I only provide supplies, dad is too stingy..." Yuan Shao muttered something that made everyone around him unable to pick it up.

"Let the transport team turn around and join the cavalry," Cao Cao ordered: "We will go directly to the temporary station of the cavalry."

————

The five thousand cavalry from Qiao County, although the knights are very energetic and the horses are very good, but they do not have armor or cloaks. If this troop is pulled out for the generals to taste, they will probably only get "good reconnaissance light cavalry" ", but after these cavalry were equipped with armor and weapons shipped from Luoyang, everyone who saw them would only sigh with emotion, "They are actually assault cavalry."

A war horse has three attributes: breakthrough, protection and speed. The light cavalry for reconnaissance and disruption pursues speed. The heavy cavalry for head-on confrontation needs protection. Breakthrough is the most important attribute for dealing with infantry arrays. A cavalry , if they are all composed of war horses with outstanding breakthrough attributes, equipped with armor that is conducive to assault, and paired with riders who are good at breakthrough tactics, they can be called "assault cavalry". It also has another name, called "light cavalry killer". As we all know, the unprotected cavalry of the foreign races are all light cavalry.

From this point of view, the Cao and Yuan families were very dissatisfied with Shi Changshi's conspiracy against them just after the plague, and directly sent out elite cavalry capable of making extraordinary achievements on the battlefield against foreigners, as well as outstanding generals of the younger generation, in preparation. Hit Zhang Wen hard in the face.

At the cavalry station, Cao Cao met the Xiahou brothers who came to help. They were tall and thin but extremely strong, with a serious face, wearing an eye patch and holding a single sword. Meaning, the one holding a long bow is called Xia Houyuan.

Although they were nominally his subordinates, how he treated them represented Cao Cao's view of the Xiahou family. Therefore, Cao Cao did not put on any pretense of being a lord or a superior at all. He greeted their brothers affectionately and introduced the people around him one by one. .

Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan were not too familiar with Cao Cao, and they had complete etiquette during the conversation. They only expressed interest in Dian Wei behind him and wanted to learn from each other.

Cai Wan didn't intend to get involved with a group of rough guys and generals, and went to count the supplies alone.

Only Yuan Shao, after circling Xiahou Dun twice, pointed at his single eye and shouted: "You have the blindfold on backwards!".

Cao Cao was startled. Before he could think of a remedy, he saw Xiahou Dun obediently changing his blindfold to another eye, saying "Thank you", and suddenly he didn't want to say anything else.