Chapter 78: Who is helping who?

  "Is Master planning to help Liu Yu?" Cheng Yu asked in a low voice after a moment of contemplation.

  Li Chong's analysis had been heard by everyone, and Li Chong also asserted that Gongsun Zan would win and Liu Yu would lose. Although there were still some doubts about the victory or defeat of the two men, Li Chong's evaluation of Gongsun Zan was widely agreed upon: Gongsun Zan, a general as fierce as tigers and wolves.

  So Cheng Yu asked Li Chong if he wanted to send troops to help Liu Yu, the reason is very simple. If Liu Yu defeats Gongsun Zan, everyone will be overjoyed and can do what they want, but if Gongsun Zan defeats Liu Yu, no one will be able to sleep soundly.

  Li Chong heard this and gently shook his head.

  "Could it be that Milord intends to help Gongsun Zan?" Cheng Yu asked with a look of surprise.

  Under everyone's gaze, Li Chong hesitated for a while before slowly nodding his head.

  "..." Cheng Yu, Tai Shi Ci, Jiang Qin and others all took a cold breath, no way, Li Chong's idea was too... shocking, this was simply digging his own grave.

  "My lord, you absolutely must not have such thoughts. Gongsun Zan is a man of great cunning and ambition. Once he occupies Youzhou, he will certainly use force against Yanzheng. At present, your strength is no match for Gongsun Zan's!"

  Taishi Ci hastily spoke up, "My lord, it's better to provide aid in times of need rather than when things are going well. If you help Gongsun Zan defeat Liu Yu, he will hardly remember your kindness. But if you help Liu Yu defeat Gongsun Zan, he will certainly treat you with generosity."

  Li Chong waved his hand and said, "Alright, let me speak first. If we help Liu Yu attack Gongsun Zan, the journey is long and requires crossing Youzhou. The difficulties of a thousand-mile march don't need to be elaborated on, do they? Secondly, even if we stand on Liu Yu's side, can we guarantee that we will defeat Gongsun Zan? If we lose the battle, Gongsun Zan will immediately lead his troops to take revenge, and this is an inevitable result!"

  As soon as this was said, the generals all fell into deep thought again. Li Chong's words were not unreasonable. Gong Sunzhan's old nest was in Beiping, a thousand miles away. Sending troops thousands of miles away is not just a matter of distance. Once the battle situation is unfavorable, it will basically be the outcome of the entire army being wiped out.

  As for saying that Liu Yu defeated Gongsun Zan together, people are even more unconfident. Yuan Shao is considered to be well-prepared and strong, but he was defeated by Gongsun Zan's White Horse Volunteers in one battle, and did not dare to pursue Gongsun Zan. Until now, strategically, he is still on the defensive, which shows a glimpse of Gongsun Zan's strength.

  For a time, there was no sound in the great tent, only the occasional crackling of burning charcoal reminded everyone that time was still passing.

  After a long time, Cheng Yu finally said: "If the lord helps Gongsun Zan to attack Liu Yu, how can we ensure that Gongsun Zan will not trouble the lord afterwards?"

  Li Zhongyu tapped his fingers on the table and shook his head, saying: "I only have 70-80% confidence, so I'm hesitant."

  "Huh......" Cheng Yu asked in surprise: "How can Master have 70-80% confidence?"

  Li Chong smiled and said, "We helped Gongsun Zan defeat Liu Yu, for a short time Gongsun Zan will not turn against us, he also has no excuse. As time goes on, there will naturally be people to deal with Gongsun Zan."

  "Yuan Shao!" Cheng Yu exclaimed.

  "Not bad, it's Yuan Shao." Li nodded heavily and said in a low voice.

  Cheng Yu fell silent, lost in thought. Li Chong's words were not unreasonable. According to common sense, once Gongsun Zan occupied Youzhou, after resting and regrouping, his next target would be Yuan Shao. And Yuan Shao was the same, his greatest enemy being Gongsun Zan. The two were not only evenly matched in strength, but also had a long-standing grudge between them.

  Gongsun Zan's White Horse Army was annihilated by Yuan Shao, and even if it were Li Chong, he would have to fight Yuan Shao to the death. Moreover, compared to the rich and prosperous Hebei Province, Yanmen is a poor place where not even rabbits would shit, Gongsun Zan should not put his target on Pingzhou.

  However, there's always a chance... Got it! Cheng Yu thought for a moment and came up with a plan. He smiled and said, "Your Excellency, I have a plan that will keep Gong Sun Zan too busy to attack us."

  "Quickly tell me, what clever plan do you have?" Li Chong heard that Cheng Yu actually had a way and was overjoyed in his heart, hastily asking.

  Cheng Yu smiled and said in a low voice: "My idea is like this..."

  After listening to Cheng Yu's plan, Li Zhong sighed in his heart: Ginger is still spicy when it's old!

  Now that we've unified our thoughts, everyone doesn't have much to do anymore, so they all went back to rest, just waiting for the big battle next year.

  In addition, what can be done in winter is to train soldiers. Of course, Li Chong didn't gather all the soldiers for training, he didn't have that much food to consume.

  So Li Chong only gathered a thousand cavalry and two thousand infantry, these three thousand people were all carefully selected by Li Chong. The cavalry naturally goes without saying, in this era, those who have horses are the elite troops. Among the two thousand infantry, there were three hundred archers, two hundred swordsmen, and one thousand five hundred spearmen.

  But when it came time to train troops, Li Chong was somewhat at a loss.

  He can't even train troops, just line up the formation Li Chong is fine, after all, he has been to a third-rate university and received military training, it's not difficult to follow the example of the gourd painting, the military array Li Chong only remembers Qi Jiguang's Mandarin Duck Formation, but also because there is a song called New Mandarin Duck Butterfly Dream.

  Cheng Yu was a scholar by origin, and he only knew a thing or two about military formations. What he excelled at were clever strategies and tactics, not deploying troops or forming battle arrays. Not just Cheng Yu, but even Guo Jia, Pang Tong, and Xun You were the same way. Only Zhou Yu and Cao Cao truly mastered both aspects.

  Tai Shi Zi is also not suitable, Tai Shi Zi's martial arts are high, and his command on the battlefield is passable, but he is also not good at training soldiers.

  As for Zhou Tai and Liao Hua, can you really expect a bandit leader to be familiar with military deployments?

  Alas! I recall that Gao Shun's Trapping Camp is the strongest army of this era, and Ji Yi's Vanguard Camp isn't bad either. It's a pity, such talents aren't something one can recruit for oneself, so it's just a matter of admiration.

  However, training is always better than no training. Taishi Ci had to take on this task and spent his days drilling soldiers in the military camp.

  In the third year of Chuping, on December 17th, Li Zhong'er was in the government office's main hall handling official business when a subordinate came to report that the Governor of Beiping had sent Guan Jing to see him.

  Li Zhong hastily put down the book in his hand and invited Cheng Yu to meet Guan Jing together.

  Arriving at the side hall, someone led Guan Jing to come forward. Guan Jing looked like he was over thirty years old, and his appearance was very elegant, but he didn't look too well, possibly due to exhaustion from traveling.

  As soon as he saw Guan Jing, Li Chong stood up enthusiastically and asked about her well-being.

  Guan Jing also hastily humbled himself a few times, and after the three of them sat down, Li Chong smiled and said: "I don't know how Brother Bo Gui has been doing lately. Since parting ways at Tiger's Lair, I have missed you greatly."

  At this time, Li Chong's official position was also a governor, the same as Gongsun Zan's official position, so it was not impolite to call Gongsun Zan "Bo Gui Xiong".

  Guan Jing heard that Li Shou asked about his master, and he hastily stood up, respectfully replied: "Thank you, Lord Li, for your concern. My master also misses you very much. Every time he mentions that you single-handedly pursued Dong Zhuo, he sighs with admiration. It's just that at the time, my master suddenly contracted a cold, otherwise, he would have definitely joined forces with you to severely attack the villain Dong."