The Three Kingdoms: Zhaolie, the strategist, and the rise of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 71 Three Armies Attack Xuzhou Together
Cao Cao was relatively calm most of the time, but he became distracted because he was betrayed by his best friend and his home was robbed.

but,

Cao Cao still couldn't swallow the humiliation that Liu Da'er took advantage of his misfortune to steal his ass.

"Liu Bei secretly provided money and food to Lu Bu, hoping to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, so that he could reap the benefits."

Cao Cao narrowed his eyes, murderous intent in his eyes.

"He captured the huge Xuzhou without firing a single shot the day before yesterday."

"Now they want to take advantage of my lack of time to take care of Yuzhou and swallow up Lu and Pei."

"Is there such a beautiful thing in the world?"

Cough cough cough...

Xi Zhicai coughed more violently, but he still tried to keep his spirits up and said:
"Liu Bei has great ambitions. Now he controls a large state and has the assistance of a rare person. He should not be underestimated."

"Yanzhou is trapped in internal strife, so it is not easy to send troops. However, we can send three armies to control Liu Bei."

In terms of strategic coordination, Xi Zhicai may not be as good as Xun Yu, and in terms of being ruthless and ruthless, he is not as good as Cheng Yu.

But in terms of talent, strategy and numerous ingenious ideas, he is currently the best in Cao's camp.

Although it won’t last long.

Xi Zhicai also knew that he did not have much time left, so he came to see Cao Cao even though he was sick.

Do your best to help him before he leaves this world.

"What's the plan?" Cao Cao asked hurriedly.

"When Liu Bei first occupied Xuzhou, he was able to conquer Langya in the north and Guangling in the south within a year. This was because he had the assistance of a great man."

Xi Zhicai began to analyze for Cao Cao in an orderly manner.

"Perhaps the genius named Li Yi helped Liu Bei temporarily stabilize the situation in Xuzhou."

"But Liu Bei is, after all, a warrior from the north. How can he truly conquer Xuzhou in just one year?"

"The stability of Xuzhou is only a superficial phenomenon. If something unexpected happens, Xuzhou will inevitably get out of control."

Xi Zhicai has a very sharp eye and sees through the essence of the problem.

In history, Liu Bei actually stabilized Xuzhou very well, at least it seemed good on the surface.

As a result, as soon as he went out to fight Yuan Shu, Lu Bu attacked his home base.

What I want to say here is not that Lu Bu stole the home, but that once Lu Bu stole the home, Lao Liu was actually helpless.

The scholars and powerful people who welcomed Liu Bei to Xuzhou did not resist Lu Bu's army at all, but opened the gates to welcome them.

Li Yi has indeed helped Lao Liu stabilize the situation in Xuzhou, but he has not yet been put to the test.

That is similar to the situation in history when Liu Bei went south to attack Yuan Shu.

When he really leads the army out, can Lao Liu's Xuzhou still hold out?

Liu Bei's control over Xuzhou now is indeed much stronger than it was in history.

That’s why Xi Zhicai wants to add fuel to the fire on this basis.

"Liu Bei asked Chen Gui to return to Pei as the chancellor, and ordered Zhang Fei to lead troops to station in Lu. This move was an offense against Cao Gong, but in reality it was an offense against Guo Gong."

Although Yuzhou is in chaos now, it actually has a nominal owner, and that is Guo Gong, the Yuzhou governor appointed by the imperial court.

This man's strength should not be underestimated, he has tens of thousands of troops at his command.

Before Cao Cao rushed back to Yanzhou, Guo Gong led his troops to besiege Juancheng.

There are few soldiers in Juancheng, and it is the only two cities Cao Cao has before. Once it is lost, Cao Cao may be really finished.

At that time, many people thought that Guo Gong was an ally of Chen Gong and Lu Bu.

In fact, it was not the case. Guo Gong simply saw the civil strife in Yanzhou and wanted to take advantage of the situation.

However, the people in Juancheng did not know about this and everyone was very scared.

Guo Gong asked to meet Xun Yu, and Xun Yu did not hesitate and went out of the city to keep the appointment.

Xiahou Dun stopped him and said, "You are the backbone, how can you take risks alone?"

Xun Yu said calmly:
Guo Gong and Zhang Miao have no friendship. The fact that he came so quickly and wants to see me shows that he has not yet made up his mind to become our enemy.

So we can lobby him. Even if he can't help us, at least he can remain neutral.

If we doubt him and don't go to see him, he will really help Lu Bu when he gets angry.

Guo Gong and Xun Yu met, and Xun Yu remained calm and composed.

So Guo Gong decided that Juancheng was well prepared and difficult to attack, so he took the initiative to withdraw his troops. What is a talent who can assist the king? Xun Yu is a typical example of a talent who can assist the king.

Help you stabilize the base until the boss comes back.

If Juancheng was lost, Cao Cao would be killed by Lu Bu before he could wait for Yuan Shao's support.

Speaking of Guo Gong, Cao Cao didn't have a good impression of him.

This man took advantage of the situation and even got his hands on his own backyard, Yuzhou.

After pacifying Yanzhou, the first person Cao Cao wanted to destroy was him.

"Guo Gong still has tens of thousands of troops under his command. Now Liu Bei has appointed Chen Gui as prime minister and has returned to Pei State, threatening Guo Gong's rear wing."

"Now you can send someone to tell Guo Gong that Liu Bei is going to conquer Yuzhou. Guo Gong will be alarmed and will definitely raise an army to attack him."

"This is the army."

Guo Gong's sphere of influence was mainly in Liang State. He was able to gather tens of thousands of troops mainly because Liang State was a prosperous place and was less affected by the war.

Pei State was adjacent to Liang State, so it was impossible for Guo Gong not to have a sense of crisis.

Although Liu Bei was the governor of Xuzhou, he was the governor of Yuzhou before he took over Xuzhou.

If you want to attack Yuzhou, you have a legitimate reason to send troops.

of course,

The most important point is that Guo Gong is short of food.

Guo Gong was a local celebrity. Relying on his influence, he quickly gathered tens of thousands of troops.

But it is very difficult to continuously supply food to tens of thousands of mouths.

He had previously led his troops to attack Juancheng with the original intention of stealing food.

Everyone knows that Xuzhou had a good harvest last year.

If Guo Gong did not want the officials and soldiers to eat each other, he had to send troops to rob the food of Pei State.

"I will capture Guo Gong sooner or later. If I can make him attack Liu Bei now, it will save me some energy."

"What about the other two routes?" Cao Cao asked again.

"Qingzhou Yuan Tan."

Xi Zhicai calmly said the man's name.

Yuan Tan was Yuan Shao's son, but Xi Zhicai did not mention Yuan Shao, only Yuan Tan.

This is related to Yuan Shao’s chaotic family relationships.

According to Yuan Shao's idea, he wanted to divide his three sons and one nephew into four states.

So he let his eldest son Yuan Tan take charge of Qingzhou, his second son Yuan Xi control Youzhou, and his nephew Gao Gan command Bingzhou.

As for his most beloved youngest son, Yuan Shang, he stayed with him, in Jizhou.

Yuan Shao’s base camp was in Jizhou, and anyone with a discerning eye could see his intention in keeping his youngest son by his side.

Therefore, the struggle within Yuan Shao's empire over the succession to the throne had become increasingly intense.

This is no secret.

Yuan Tan had just defeated Tian Kai in Qingzhou and had made great military achievements. He wanted to use this military achievement to win the trust of his old father.

"Yuan Tan just occupied Qingzhou and was full of ambition and pride. We can send someone to invite him to attack Xuzhou together."

“These are the two paths.”

Kong Rong was originally a prey in Yuan Tan's pocket. If he were captured and brought to Yuan Shao, his reputation would surely soar.

However, Liu Bei intervened and brought Kong Rong to Xuzhou.

If Yuan Tan knew that Yanzhou was willing to cooperate with him to divide Xuzhou, he would definitely not miss this opportunity.

Xi Zhicai cunningly chose Yuan Tan instead of Yuan Shao.

Because Yuan Shao and Liu Bei were allies at this time, and Cao Cao did not really intend to cooperate with Yuan Tan to send troops to Xuzhou.

He just wanted to lure him and Liu Bei into attacking each other.

Even if Yuan Tan pursued the matter later, Cao Cao would simply brush it off by saying there was no such memorial.

After all, he is Yuan Shao's younger brother, not your Yuan Tan's younger brother.

Can you blame me for destroying the alliance between your father and Liu Bei?
……

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(End of this chapter)