After taking refuge in Yuan Shao, Tian Feng was very loyal and actively made suggestions. In Yuan Shao's war against Gongsun Zan, he made great contributions. When Cao Cao conquered Liu Bei, Tian Feng persuaded Yuan Shao to attack Yanzhou, cutting off Cao Cao's posterior approach. Yuan Shao was unwilling to send troops because his son was ill. Tian Feng said that Yuan Shao alienated Tian Feng because his children delayed important events. Before the battle of Guandu, Xu You persuaded Yuan Shao to crusade against Cao Cao in order to prevent it from developing and growing. But Tian Feng confirmed that Yuan Shao owned Jizhou, Qingzhou, Bingzhou and Youzhou. And the money and food of military forces are several times that of Cao Cao. It is better to save your strength and bring down Cao Cao. However, Yuan Shao listened to Xu You's advice and launched the battle of Guandu. Therefore, some people have doubts. If Yuan Shao took Tian Feng's advice, could he bring down Cao Cao? The author believes that Yuan Shao can't bring down Cao Cao. The following is a brief analysis (for reference only).
First of all, Cao Cao has a big strategy and will not sit still. Tian Feng's idea is very passive, because Cao Cao will not follow his routine. Cao Cao fled alone, recruited military talents in his hometown, and then developed and occupied Yanzhou. It can be said that Cao Cao made a qualitative leap in such a short time and became a force to be reckoned with, which is also the reason why Yuan Shao and his men were afraid of Cao Cao. It is naive for Tian Feng to take down Cao Cao by saving his strength, because it requires a major premise-Cao Cao also recuperates. However, Cao Cao will not be idle when Yuan Shao is recovering from illness.
Cao Cao may have the following actions: first, Cao Cao knows that his city is small and will inevitably expand, and Jingzhou is a good goal. Although Cao Cao couldn't beat Yuan Shao at that time, he was still capable of dealing with Liu Biao. Cao Cao's men have many elite soldiers, but Liu Biao is groggy, weak and has no effective soldiers, so he is no match for Cao Cao at all. Besides, Jingzhou and Yanzhou are at the same level in the state, so the chances of winning are great for me. Secondly, if Jingzhou is successfully won, Cao can take advantage of the situation and move to Jiangdong, because there is no Sun-Liu alliance at this time. Even if Cao doesn't take Jiangdong, Cao Can will take Hanzhong and Yizhou. In a word, Cao Cao will not sit still and wait for Yuan Shao to grow and develop. If Cao Cao grows stronger, even faster than Yuan Shao, Tian Feng's strategy will be dashed.
Secondly, the essential difference between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao is ingenuity, and Cao Cao's subordinates are also superior to Yuan Shao. Compared with Cao Cao, Yuan Shao's ingenuity is a little less coquettish, and Yuan Shao is sometimes sober and sometimes confused. This is what Xu You said: My master is sometimes smart and sometimes stupid. Yuan Shao is resourceful and indecisive, and his subordinates are intrigued and suspicious of each other. For example, Xu You and Tian Feng, in order to compete for love, want to kill each other. Cao Cao, however, has the world in his mind, can act arbitrarily, is good at using troops and is better at employing people. Cao Cao's men are even more United, and there are civil servants and military commanders such as Yu Xun, Guo Jia, Dian Wei and Chu Xu. Even if it continues to develop, I believe that Cao Cao's strength will gradually catch up with Yuan Shao.
As the saying goes, few soldiers are good, but not many are brave. There are so many people with lofty ideals in Cao Cao that even if Yuan Shao doesn't come to crusade against Cao Cao, Cao Cao will wait for an opportunity to crusade against Yuan Shao, because Yuan Shu is an example. Although there were twice as many soldiers and horses as Cao Cao, they were defeated by Cao Cao. So Yuan Shao and Tian Feng's strategy probably won't succeed.