Guo Jia during the Three Kingdoms period was the "ghost talent" in the world's mouth, assisting Cao Cao for more than 10 years, and there was no defeat. So much so that after Cao Cao lost the Battle of Chibi, he missed Guo Jia more and more, but it was too late, even if Guo Jia's brain was flexible, but his body was not strong, it was just as useless.
Although Guo Jia did not live for a long time, he still relied on his outstanding performance under Cao Cao and won the praise of "Guo Jia does not die, and Wolong does not come out".
So what is Guo Jia's real strength, can he really dwarf Zhuge Liang?
In ancient times, strategists also had to find jobs, and if they were talented, they would not show up, and that would be no different from having no skills. Although Guo Jia lived a reclusive life for a while, he still chose to join Yuan Shao, who seemed to be a corporal of Lixian.
According to Guo Jia, although Yuan Shao seems to be from a prominent background, he is also a corporal who is polite and virtuous, and he is an understanding person. But in fact, Yuan Shao is not like this.
It often seems that everything can be grasped, but it cannot grasp the main contradiction, and when it is really necessary to make a decision, it becomes a straw bag. Judging from Yuan Shao's character traits, there is no chance to achieve a career in the troubled times of the Three Kingdoms.
As it turned out, Guo Jia was not wrong. Yuan Shao is indeed a representative of opening high and walking low, and a good deck of cards was played to pieces, thus withdrawing from the stage of competing for the world.
Guo Jia jumped from Yuan Shao to Cao Cao's "start-up company", although Cao Cao's camp was not big at that time, but Cao Cao's short and fast management made Guo Jia feel very comfortable.
Guo Jia is the best at doing some high-level and finishing touches, and he is also very good at studying the psychology of opponents and cooking delicious chicken soup for the soul.
Cao Cao drank Guo Jia's bowl of chicken soup for the soul that year, so as to lift his spirits. When Cao Cao was still in the early stage of entrepreneurship, he was suppressed by Yuan Shao, which made him lose confidence.
Guo Jia held the steaming chicken soup for the soul and discussed to Cao Cao his ten victories against Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shao's ten defeats against Cao Cao. After Cao Cao drank this bowl of chicken soup for the soul, he felt full of strength and recognized Guo Jia as a genius.
After that, Guo Jia was always very good at mastering the big rhythm. In the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao was worried that Sun Ce would make trouble, so Guo Jia gave his own prophecy, claiming that Sun Ce was "light and unprepared" and would definitely die at the hands of his husband.
This was really said by Guo Jia, and even made people suspect that the person who assassinated Sun Ce was instructed by Guo Jia.
After the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao's son fled to Wuhuan, and Cao Cao wanted to cut the grass and eradicate the roots, but he was worried that he would be calculated by Liu Bei after he poured out of the nest, so he was always hesitating.
But Guo Jia thought that there would be no problem, he saw the "plastic relationship" between Liu Biao and Liu Bei, and guessed that Liu Biao would stop Liu Bei.
After that, Cao Cao led the army to swagger against Wu Huan, and Guo Jia found that Cao Cao's marching speed was problematic, so he passed with great fanfare, presumably the other party had already prepared.
Guo Jia had an idea and proposed a lightning attack strategy, Cao Cao thought about it, this is indeed no problem, and the soldiers are fast. Cao Cao made a false appearance of withdrawing his troops, and secretly sent a cavalry to attack in a lightning attack.
This battle also had its due effect, Cao Cao captured more than 200,000 people, and Yuan Shang also ran to Gongsun Kang in Liaodong. But the march was also very dangerous, encountering more than 200 miles of waterless roads on the way, and after running out of food, thousands of horses were killed.
Cao Cao's army walked around the Ghost Gate, and even Cao Cao himself understood that Guo Jia had always only been in charge of mentioning, and as for the risk and implementation, he never considered this.
Judging from Guo Jia's achievements, Guo Jia's strength is really above Zhuge Liang?
The reason why Guo Jia jumped from Yuan Shao is because the combination of Yuan Shao and Guo Jia has a natural disadvantage. Although Yuan Shao came from a prominent background, he lacked the backbone of his team, and even Yuan Shao's conventional tactics were difficult to land smoothly, let alone Guo Jia's brilliant idea.
Yuan Shao's insight and strategy lack people like Zhuge Liang who can do everything, not people like Guo Jia who only mention strategy and tactics, regardless of implementation.
It can also be said that Yuan Shao has no way to implement the strategic policy proposed by Guo Jia, and Guo Jia also lacks the ability to implement the strategic policy, so the combination of the two is doomed to failure.
But Cao Cao has a very solid team of advisers and can implement Cao Cao's strategic intentions in place. When Guo Jia gave Cao Cao some chicken soup for the soul and asked Cao Cao to decide to start a war with Yuan Shao, basically his task was completed.
As for how to fight this battle of Guandu, Guo Jia doesn't know. So, Xun Yu analyzed before the battle, Yan Liangwen was also a reckless man, so there was nothing to worry about. After that, he sat in Xuchang to ensure the supply of grain and grass for the army.
Xun You's tactical deduction, allowing Cao Cao to tactically pretend to cross the river, and then attract Yuan Shao's army, using grain and grass as bait, to get rid of Yan Liangwen and Chou's two generals, is tantamount to cutting off Yuan Shao's arms.
Jia Xu persuaded Cao Cao to attack Wuchao and burn Yuan Shao's grain and grass, which determined the direction of the Battle of Guandu and laid the foundation for the final victory.
On the other hand, Guo Jia only said that he wanted to start a war, but as for when, how to start, and how to fight, Guo Jia did not have any specific strategic guidelines.
Excellent strategic decision-making ability, but not good at military and strategy, Guo Jia is like a wage earner, just like a second boss, with outstanding decision-making ability and almost zero hands-on ability.
The strategy proposed by Guo Jia is theoretically feasible, but in order to promote his feasible conditions, a strong team is needed to support it.
Let's just say that Cao Cao's expedition is also the fate of Boss Cao, otherwise it would really be explained on the road. In the end, Guo Jia was arranged by Cao Cao to the position of military advisor sacrificial wine, and it was precisely to give full play to his strengths, just mention new ideas, and land if they can be landed, which is too risky, so he will not adopt it.
It can't be said that Guo Jia is a bastard. But only when you meet the right team can you play a role. His tactical shortcomings were all made up for by other team members.
If you really want to talk about mixing water, let's open it five or five. Purely from this point of view, Zhuge Liang's comprehensive strength is much more powerful than Guo Jia.
He can not only formulate a strategy, but also lead the army to implement it, and after Liu Bei's death, he can carry the banner of Shu alone. And Guo Jia can only play his role when he meets a boss and a team like Cao Cao.
Purely in terms of survivability, maybe Zhuge Liang is still better. The reason why Zhuge Liang rarely leaves a flash of inspiration is actually limited by his duties, not that he can't think of it.
As the actual executor, the first consideration should be prudent and facilitate the implementation. It is precisely that Guo Jia does not need to think about these to come up with all kinds of wild ideas.
Therefore, Guo Jia's hat as the first strategist of the Three Kingdoms is too big for him.