♂?，，

  Thanks for the rewards from past Long Wang Ke, hehe.

  ————

  Liu Feng certainly knew that Cao Cao's 800,000-strong army was just a boast, and the actual number might need to be greatly discounted, but what the real number was, Liu Feng had no way of knowing.

  "I see. Then, according to your view, Mr. Yuan Zhi, how many troops did Cao Cao bring with him on this southern expedition?" Liu Feng feigned a look of sudden realization.

  "Actually, although Cao Cao occupies nearly half of the world, his total number of soldiers and horses is not as many as one would imagine. The reason for this is that Cao Cao has always had a unique way of using troops."

  Xu Shu was originally worried about military affairs, and now he had Liu Feng, a young man who "humbly" sought advice, Xu Shu's interest rose, and he naturally talked freely.

  "Is it not better to have a smaller but more efficient army rather than a large one?" Liu Feng suddenly thought of this military tactic and muttered it out loud.

  Xu Shu's eyes gleamed with a strange light: "Young Master, it seems that you have spent quite some time pondering Cao Cao's military tactics."

  Liu Feng was taken aback and hastily forced a smile, saying: "This isn't it, but in the past when I heard my father mention Cao Zhen, I remember him saying something like this."

  What actually made Liu Feng think of this key point was the mysterious note in Liu Qi's study. The note read that Cao Cao had also recruited soldiers widely like other warlords in his early years, but after three consecutive defeats, he changed his attitude towards using troops.

  Once was during the Battle of Dong, Cao Cao led 5,000 new recruits to fight against Xu Rong, a general under Dong Zhuo, but was defeated despite having several times more troops. The second time was during the Battle of Yanzhou, where 30,000 soldiers from Qingzhou were defeated by Lü Bu's 10,000 cavalrymen. The last and most painful defeat was during the campaign against Zhang Yang in Wan City, where the remaining soldiers from Qingzhou who had survived the Battle of Yanzhou were ambushed and defeated by a much smaller force led by Zhang Yang, resulting in the loss of two sons and the death of General Dian Wei, and Cao Cao himself barely escaped with his life.

  The mysterious author of the note noticed that after Cao Cao's three failures, he realized the importance of the quality of his soldiers. He then persisted in using a small but highly elite force. After many years of trials by fire, such an elite army would not disintegrate even when faced with situations like the death of its commander-in-chief on the battlefield.

  That mysterious author used Cao Cao's example to illustrate the importance of the principle in The Art of War that an army values quality over quantity.

  Thinking of this, Liu Feng became even more curious about the mysterious author and was eager to find out who it was, so he thought of finding an opportunity to ask Liu Qi who that person was.

  Xu Shu believed Liu Feng's explanation and continued: "Cao Cao's army is indeed elite, and the training of elite troops is not easy. Therefore, I estimate that after Cao Cao destroyed the Yuan family, his total number of soldiers should be around 300,000 people. These soldiers, in addition to monitoring the lords of Guanzhong and the northern border Hu people, also need to be stationed in various states in the north, and it is absolutely impossible to bring them all to the south at once. Based on this estimate, Cao Cao's invasion of the south this time should not exceed 150,000 soldiers."

  150,000 troops and horses, although it doesn't sound as impressive as the 700,000 to 800,000 large armies in novels, but being in this era himself, Liu Feng knew how terrifying this number was.

  "Adding Liu's 10,000 or so surrendered troops, Cao Pi's military strength in Jingzhou should be around 250,000. Of course, excluding grain transportation and the garrison of newly surrendered counties, and removing some surrendered troops with low combat effectiveness who are not suitable for battle. Conservatively estimated, Cao Pi's western route army should have around 100,000 people, among which the new surrendered water army in Jingzhou should be around 50,000. As for Cao Ren's northern route army, it is roughly around 70-80,000 people, with no more than 20,000 water troops."

  After Xu Shu's analysis, Liu Feng finally had a clear understanding of Cao Jun's true strength. However, after dispelling the clouds and seeing the enemy's true situation, that kind of fear only increased without decreasing.

  It's like facing an enemy wrapped in a cloak, when you only see his ferocious face, your heart is just filled with unease, but when the enemy sheds his cloak and reveals his steel-like muscles, the absolute power displayed truly makes one's heart tremble with fear.

  "So that's what you mean..."

  Liu Feng was about to ask again when suddenly a sentry on the nearby watchtower shouted, "A boat is coming! A boat is coming from the east!"

  There is a fleet; can it be that reinforcements from Eastern Wu have arrived?

  Liu Feng and Xu Shu's spirits were lifted, and they rushed to the edge of the plank bridge, their hands on the railing as they gazed out in the direction of the river. Before long, a sail appeared on the rippling surface of the water, but disappointingly, it was not the mighty fleet of Eastern Wu that had entered their field of vision, but just a small sail.

  "What's the excitement about? Next time, take a closer look before shouting loudly." Xu Shu complained to the equally disappointed sentry on the watchtower with a hint of disappointment in his eyes.

  For some reason, Liu Feng suddenly had an inexplicable feeling in his heart.

  A fast boat dashed out of the Water Fortress, following the usual practice to inspect a small flat-bottomed boat sailing upstream on the river. It was originally thought that it was just an ordinary civilian ship, but the small boat sailed towards the direction of the Water Fortress under the escort of the fast boat.

  At this time, Liu Feng's feeling in his heart became more and more obvious. He had a strong premonition that the incoming ship was bound to be out of the ordinary.

  After a cup of tea, the flat boat docked, and a scholar wearing a linen robe came ashore. Liu Feng, with his exceptional eyesight, immediately recognized the man as Sun Qian, who had accompanied Liu Bei in retreating to Fankou.

  "It turned out to be Sun Gongyu." Xu Shu also recognized Sun Qian, stepped forward quickly, and smiled with a fist: "Brother Gongyu, you've had a hard journey."

  Liu Feng also followed up and cupped his hands, saying: "I have seen Gong Yu Shu."

  Sun Qian was a veteran minister who had followed Liu Bei since the beginning of his career in Xuzhou. Although he did not have as much power as Zhuge Liang and Xu Shu among Liu Bei's advisors, his position and Liu Bei's trust in him were unmatched by others. Therefore, even Liu Feng, the eldest son of the Liu family, had to address him respectfully as "Gong Yu Shu".

  "Great young master, Yuanzhī, it's been a long time! You're looking well." Sun Gan smiled and returned the courtesy, his face beaming with warmth.

  "How can I be fine? Just look at my dark eye sockets. If Brother Gongyu returns this time without any good news for me, I'm afraid my eye sockets will become even darker tonight."

  "Gong Youshu, this time back, is there any instruction from Father, or has the Eastern Wu side already prepared to send troops?" Liu Feng was also anxious in his heart, he didn't want to sit idly at Xia Kou waiting for Cao Zhen to come and clean up.

  Sun Gan was calm and composed, unhurriedly brushing off the water droplets on his sleeve, seemingly intentionally teasing them as he slowly smiled and said: "I think you all will have a good night's sleep tonight."

  Sun Qian's words lifted the spirits of the two men, and Liu Feng's premonition grew stronger. Xu Shu's eyes sparkled with excitement as he urged: "What's going on? Has Eastern Wu finally decided to send troops?"

  "The fleet from Jiangdong will arrive at Xiakou tomorrow morning, the lord has asked me to inform you in advance, prepare wine and meat overnight, and wait for Zhou Da's arrival tomorrow morning to offer him military service."

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