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Chen Xi had no idea that Hua Xiong had won the prize. Li Ru, who originally planned to take this formation to his grave, upon seeing that Hua Xiong, the subordinate general he had brought out from Guanzi, possessed such elite forces, decided to teach him his expert techniques. Of course, Li Ru wouldn’t reveal the name of the formation. He simply kept Hua Xiong busy with commands. As long as Hua Xiong could memorize and direct them rigidly, mastering three to five common variations and one or two killer moves would suffice.
As for mastering all sixty-four variations, Li Ru had no such hope unless Jia Xu’s brain could be transplanted onto Hua Xiong’s neck, otherwise, it was nothing but a pipe dream.
In the days that followed, as they marched slowly, Li Ru continuously explained to Hua Xiong how to use the formation, how to change it, and so on. Jia Xu, thinking that Li Ru was nearing his end and that there was no need for secrecy, listened with great interest. After ten days, while Hua Xiong was thoroughly confused, Jia Xu had almost managed to deduce the formation diagram from Li Ru’s explanations.
Of course, having deduced the formation diagram, Jia Xu continued to refine and further deduce it, figuring he could later present it with his own unique touch!
In Yanzhou, Cao Cao was furiously quelling the Yellow Turbans, as their widespread pillaging had led to a dire food shortage. Cao Cao hadn’t even had time to rejoice over his new position as the Governor of Yanzhou before discovering the province was in disarray and in dire need of food, which he lacked.
As for Yuan Shao, on whom Cao Cao had pinned his hopes, he was currently at war with Gongsun Zan. Although Cao Cao’s strategists suggested that Gongsun Zan would eventually fall, "eventually" didn’t mean he had fallen yet. Yuan Shao was too preoccupied to lend a hand to Cao Cao, having forsaken the spring ploughing in Ji, for they had the resources to be unconcerned, but Cao Mengde relied on the spring crops to feed his people.
That left only one option: to steal or to borrow. And as the Governor of Yanzhou, Cao Cao had widened his perspective and noticed Mount Tai’s prosperity. That youth named Chen Zichuan was exceptionally capable, and that man named Zhao Yun, or Zilong, was a monster in martial arts, almost peerless. To top it off, he also understood agriculture and could lead a cavalry. How could he have learned all this?
Upon further investigation of Mount Tai’s food production, Cao Cao’s eyes turned blood red. Mount Tai produced about ten million dan of grain; could they even consume all that food? Without saying much, Cao Cao, as Governor of Yanzhou, made borrowing grain his first order of business, only for his promissory note to be stopped by Lub Su before it could even reach Mount Tai.
As long as Liu Bei didn’t receive the note, it didn’t matter. But once Liu Bei got it, Cao Cao would have a just cause. And about the people of Yanzhou? Haven’t you seen Liu Ye, Lub Su, and others providing disaster relief?
When Cao Cao learned of this, he was furious and prepared to lead his troops into an angry battle against Mount Tai. However, Lub Su and Yu Jin on the border between Mount Tai and Shanyang were also ready for a fight, with tensions so high that a conflict seemed imminent at the slightest provocation. Meanwhile, the Yellow Turbans, seizing the opportunity, fervently attacked and looted every grain from Yanzhou’s territory.
"Xiaoo Zhi, how’s it going? It’s all on you now to decide our strategy," Chen Xi said after calculating the days; time was running short, and if Fa Zheng didn’t come up with a plan soon, Chen Xi was prepared to act alone.
"Zichuan," Fa Zheng said with a wry smile, he had thought of a multitude of methods, but when it came to the kind of plan that Chen Xi wanted, which would result in minimal losses and maximum gains for their side, somehow, there were always flaws.
"Tell me what you’ve come up with," Chen Xi said, looking somewhat disappointed at Fa Zheng.
Fa Zheng bowed and began to outline his scheme.
"That’s perfectly fine; why overthink it?" Chen Xi grew more frowning as he listened, "Whether it’s breaking their army, driving their soldiers, or following up with arrogance in their hearts, there are no issues. Overall, there seems to be no problem at all!"
"If someone sees through it?" Fa Zheng asked with a bowed salute.
"Strategy inherently risks being seen through. What you need is to adapt different strategies against different opponents. The Yellow Turbans are commoners turned bandits, with no prior exposure to military strategy. This strategy is already enough! A strategist’s plans don’t need to be perfect, just effective enough to defeat the enemy. We can’t afford to waste more time. I’ll make the first move, just watch!" Chen Xi sighed, feeling somewhat disappointed with Fa Zheng.
"Sound the drums, assemble the tent!" Chen Xi, with sword in hand, walked to the Central Army Tent and took the seat of honor.
Within the time it takes an incense stick to burn, all the generals had appeared in the Central Army Camp. Chen Xi stared down the seated generals with an imposing demeanor.
"Ever since my troops marched from Mount Tai into Qingzhou, many generals have expressed their desire to battle the Yellow Turbans. However, with a million Yellow Turban soldiers emerging from Qingzhou and the situation unclear, I wished to avoid recklessness. Now that the Yellow Turbans’ situation is clear, who among you is willing to help me defeat them in Qingzhou!" Chen Xi declared arrogantly, sword in hand. Although he had delegated planning to Fa Zheng for the time being, he hadn’t been idle; at least some scouts from the initial farming troops had infiltrated the Yellow Turbans, with a few even rising to the rank of Centurion.
"Leave it to old Zhang! If one comes, my Serpent Spear will kill one! If two come, they’ll both meet their end on old Zhang’s Serpent Spear!" Zhang Fei’s chest thundered as he slapped it.
"Do we have a method to break through the Yellow Turbans?" Guan Yu ignored Zhang Fei and signaled Zhao Yun with his eyes, prompting Zhao Yun to stand up and ask.
"The Yellow Turbans are nothing special—if I didn’t want to recruit the strong among them, I could have already crushed them!" Chen Xi said haughtily, his face full of pride. At this moment, it was essential to show strength without showing any signs of defeat—besides, they hadn’t lost yet!
"Generals, heed my commands! Yunchang will hold the Central Army, I’ll personally lead the charge to crush the Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou. Yide, Zilong, and Ziyi, each of you take a thousand cavalry to chase down the scattered Yellow Turban routed troops. Do not seek to kill, only to drive them, letting their rout impact the remaining Yellow Turban bandits, until they crash into the main Yellow Turban force! Zhongtai, lead the infantry as the Rear Army to rebuild farming stations, get the refugees under control from Bing Province, and distribute food!" Chen Xi’s demeanor was calm as he spoke. In truth, he wanted to add that due to food issues, the Yellow Turbans had significant internal strife, particularly now that they were spread thinly. Once a major defeat formed, they could disperse in a rabble.
"Yes, sir!" The generals replied loudly.
"Zichuan, our actions won’t cause trouble, will they?" Once the generals had left, Fa Zheng asked with some concern, "After all, I haven’t come up with the best solution yet."
"We’re running out of time. The Yellow Turbans must be pacified by mid-May, or even if we win, it will just become a burden dragging us down! Xiaoo Zhi, you must remember that all tactics ultimately serve the overall strategy. For certain strategies, you might have to sacrifice some aspects. Tell me, what is our goal?"
"To pacify the realm, restore the Han Dynasty!" Fa Zheng blurted out without hesitation.
"Restoring the Han Dynasty requires people, so our overall goal can be rephrased as minimizing casualties. If we get bogged down here past mid-May without resolving the Yellow Turban issue, even I won’t have time to establish farms in time for the summer planting season. Thus, we would have to provide for nearly two million people without food until next June!" Chen Xi said with a grim face, considering even if Tao Qian was generous, it’d be impossible to supply a year’s worth of food for two million people.