Chapter 396: Chapter 375: Let us begin a new chapter...

"Given the current situation, my Lord, please divide your troops into two groups, a vanguard for the night attack. Should they fail, the second team can provide support. At worst, tonight's night raid would merely become a forced assault," Jia Xu spoke calmly, head bowed. Cao Cao might be fully prepared, but to annihilate a formidable enemy, there were only two opportunities: one was to catch them off guard at the outset, and the other was to drag out a bloody battle to exhaustion.

It could be said that if it came down to a protracted fight, Jia Xu could guarantee survival was absolutely in their favor. The only one on Mount Tai who could feasibly endure a drawn-out conflict with them was definitely not Cao Mengde.

The problem was, if they really dragged it out, it would end up a scenario where both Cao and Liu suffered, to Yuan Shao's benefit. After all, even for Liu Bei, securing Yanzhou wouldn't equate to controlling the north—it would be better not to take Yanzhou at all!