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Seeing that his court slowly becoming chaotic where the two sides were debating who they should attack, Cao Cao or Yuan Shao, Lie Fan raised his hand causing the rambunctious hall to be serene as everyone stopped talking, and seeing that everyone's attention was on him Lie Fan then announced that he have made his decision and that their next target would be Cao Cao to their west.
Lie Fan's decision shocked the entirety of his court, especially the people who advocated the plan to invade Yuan Shao, as they felt that Lie Fan would feel the same as them and choose the easier and safer option.
It turns out they think wrong when Lie Fan doesn't feel the same as them and decides that they will invade Cao Cao, some with the mind to see the bigger picture fully accept what Lie Fan decides like Chen Gong and Chen Qun.
The rest who don't have the same capability as them or have it but don't accept Lie Fan's decision, but don't dare to protest openly to Lie Fan right now and await his explanation of the reason why he chose Cao Cao.
Lie Fan after waiting for the reaction of his retainer to calm down, began to explain the reason why he chose Cao Cao to be their next target.
He chose Cao Cao because everyone here should have known that Cao Cao had the biggest potential and largest pool of talent after him, which means that Cao Cao's future growth would be the biggest hindrance to his rise to the seat of Emperor.
Also, Cao Cao held several strategic locations right now that supported his legitimacy if he wanted to rise as Emperor in the future, such as the former capital of the Han Dynasty Luoyang, and Chang'An.
He also holds the Emperor in the palms of his hand now, even though the influence of the Han Dynasty is waning don't underestimate a lean camel as it's still stronger and bigger than a horse.
Using that influence Cao Cao could gather support from others, voluntarily or not to boost his power lastly he was much smarter and calmer than Yuan Shao, and had thicker skin where the condo stood any kind of humiliation, unlike Yuan Shao.
Listening to the list of reasons that Lie Fan had why he chose Cao Cao, those who still hadn't accepted why Lie Fan chose Cao Cao finally gave in and accepted why the one that Lie Fan chose was Cao Cao.
Seeing that everyone in the room finally accepted Lie Fan's decision, Jia Xu as Lie Fan's head advisor then led the discussion to the next topic to decide when they would launch their attack, and what preparation needed to be done in the meantime.
When Jia Xu opened this discussion, Huang Zhong and Dian Wei both cupped their hand toward Jia Xu and Lie Fan and then together they suggested that the attack on Cao Cao be held 5 months from now.
Huang Zhong then continued their suggestion by saying that, his and Dian Wei's army had been stationed in the west to guard their border against Cao Cao, where they were stationed at Xiaopei and Shouchun. (A/N: In the last chapter I wrongly put Shouchun as one of Cao Cao's domains, even though it should have been part of Lie Fan's domain and I have changed it to Runan.)
So they had more hands on knowledge of their defenses whereas Liu Ba and Chen Deng their advisors had studied the defense line built by Cao Cao's army, and they were very guarded but there was a week that they could exploit which was the second week of each month.
When Cao Cao's Army supplies came in, and by common sense when this happened their army should have been somewhat lax as they needed to store and distribute these supplies, and this could be their moment to attack.
Also, the reason why they suggested they attack in 5 months is so that the new recruits could have adequate training according to the standards that have been set in the army, and give time for Liu Ye's Climbing Tigers invention to be made and perfected.
Huang Zhong and Dian Wei's suggestion was received well by everyone in the room, especially Jia Xu and Lie Fan who had known about this from the Oriole because this kind of military information was a top priority for them to know.
Of course, this doesn't mean that they don't appreciate the news that Huang Zhong and Dian Wei had just shared, as this means that they have initiative and are serious about doing their assignment.
Lie Fan wanted this type of initiative from his retainers, as this shows that they have their own mind and truly live up to the historical facts he had known about them, he hoped that this initiative would keep going on.
Jia Xu: "General Huang and General Dian's suggestions are very good and I approve of this move, preparing our men is essential, and Master Liu Ye's invention also could increase the siege power of our army if it had been mass produced before our attack when it passed the prototype test."
Chen Gong: "I also agree, that the training of our recruits is essential to at least prevent how low the average combat power of our army will be reduced since they don't have any real combat experiences or at least an experience in hunting but it contributes any combat power."
Xun You: "Strategically choosing to attack in the middle of the year in the summer seasons is the best choice, since we could almost utilize any tactics in the book except for tactics that needed water or the help of rain."
Liu Ba: "That right Master Xun You, we also noticed that Cao Cao's army created a supplies camp that was very susceptible to fire tactics due to the weather, and they created it at a large plain, not bothering to hide it from prying eyes even though it was a transit point so not every day there's a supply stored there."
Chen Deng: "Also with Cao Ren now leading Cao Cao's Western campaign as its Head General, the defensive power of Cao Cao's Army guarding their border to us isn't as strong when Cao Ren leading them, even though there's still Guo Jia and Xi Zhicai in Xuchang who could organize the army from there."
Lie Fan was silent observing and listening to the discussion of his advisors while thinking about what kind of strategy could be used to take on Cao Cao because he knew that in terms of talent and proficiency in military strategy, Cao Cao was vastly above him.
Just look at how he managed to develop his force, he managed to develop it in the right direction and was very stable in the early stage without the help of great advisors, while he already employed the help of advisors such as Sun Qian, Jia Xu, and Xun You.
Even though he had a vision of how his force would develop for the future, he couldn't be as decisive and as sure as Cao Cao as he needed advice from his father and mother at the time, as well as his advisors.
So that's why he needed the best advice and suggestions from his advisors, to ensure that at least their campaign would go well and prevent as much loss as he could in.
Especially since now, Cao Cao had employed the help of Guo Jia and Xi Zhicai who were two of the best military strategists of this era, even though Xi Zhicai's fame wasn't as much as Guo Jia since he died early.
But even though his fame wasn't as great, there were times when Xi Zhicai was remembered by Cao Cao who said that if only he had Zhicai beside him, he could take on his enemies more easily, and this was before Xun Yu recommended Guo Jia to Cao Cao.
Even when he knows of Guo Jia's abilities, Cao Cao sometimes lamented the loss of Xi Zhicai because he couldn't imagine how powerful the combination of Xi Zhicai and Guo Jia was.
As Lie Fan was thinking of this, his advisors began to come up with a plan of attack on Cao Cao's towns which would become their target, and the first target would be Runan, Jibei, Qiao, and Beihai.
Huang Zhong and the Qinglong Army would attack Jibei as they were positioned at Xiaopei and had an easier path to advance there, while Taishi Ci led the Zhuque Army to attack Beihai as they were positioned at Langye.
Dian Wei would lead the Baihu Army to attack Runan as they were positioned at Shouchun, and lastly, the Qilian Army would be led by Lie Fan himself to siege Qiao.
This was proposed by Xun You, Chen Gong, and Lu Su who could be said to have the highest military strategy proficiency amongst Lie Fan's advisors, and Lie Fan who was in a daze woken up from hearing Xun You's voice.
The plan of attack was immediately approved by Lie Fan, who had asked Xun You to repeat his words, and after hearing the repetition he gave his approval.
After giving his approval, Lie Fan then asked what they should do with Zhang Liao and half of the Qilin Army who was supporting Gongsun Du's Army in fighting the Goguryeos, to invade more land to be added to the Gongsun Clan's domain.
Hearing Lie Fan's question, Jia Xu tells Lie Fan that they should let Zhang Liao stay there to help Gongsun Du in invading and stabilizing the region, before recalling them back to the mainland and helping them in facing Cao Cao.
Because the Qilin Army had received an increase of men from the new recruits, the generals leading the Qilin Army such as Lie Fan himself alongside Zhao Yun and Ji Ling, could take on Qiao and so Cao generals who were guarding it.
There was a difference in the numbers of talented and powerful generals serving Lie Fan and Cao Cao, where Lie Fan had the advantage over Cao Cao as he had much more than Cao Cao.
Especially since some of the generals were sent to Cao Cao's Western campaign such as Cao Ren, Xu Huang, and Zhang Ji who had a massive impact on the placement of Cao Cai's talented generals.
Lie Fan hearing this nodded his head as he was enlightened by Jia Xu's words, Lie Fan's other advisors were also in the same mind as Jia Xu especially the military advisors Xun You, Chen Gong, and Lu Su who think in a military perspective what Jia Xi said make so much sense, and as Lie Fan ended the court meeting, something happened at their southern neighbors.
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Name: Lie Fan
Title: Three Heroes Who Defeat Lu Bu
Age: 31 (198 AD)
Level: 16
Next Level: 462,000
Renown: 825
Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 9)
SP: 1,121,700
ATTRIBUTE POINTS
STR: 936 (+20)
VIT: 598 (+20)
AGI: 583 (+10)
INT: 587
CHR: 96
WIS: 509
WILL: 397
ATR Points: 0