My father-in-law Guan Yu, I persuaded Liu Bei to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang at the beginn

Chapter 173: Besiege Wei to save Zhao, and hold Cao Cao at his weak spot! Xiao He: Be bold, and take Hefei!

"You...what did you say? Say it again?"

Cao Cao's voice was hoarse, but he tried his best to remain calm and shouted at the guard in a deep voice.

"Prime Minister, the enemy army has raided Yandu City, and Master Ziwen has been...beheaded by the enemy general Gan Ning!"

The guards knelt on the ground and repeated the bad news tremblingly.

Cao Cao's head buzzed, as if he was hit on the head by seven or eight clubs at the same time, and he felt dizzy and spinning.

"Prime Minister!"

Xu Chu was also terrified. Fearing that Cao Cao would faint and fall off his horse, he hurried to support him.

"Zhang'er is dead?"

"He was killed by Gan Ning?"

"Zhang'er is far away in Yandu, how could it be..."

Cao Cao's face was as pale as paper, with big beads of sweat rolling down his face. Thousands of questions surged in his mind like a tidal wave.

Across the trench.

Liu Bei and Xiao He looked at each other and smiled knowingly.

Obviously, this was Gan Ning's "arbitrary initiative", and he successfully disguised himself as the Jiangdong Army to raid Yandu.

The yellow-bearded boy from the Cao family was caught off guard and killed by Gan Ning!
Seeing Cao Cao's severely traumatized look, Gan Ning had made another great contribution.

Liu Bei then pointed his whip at Cao Cao and said sternly:
"Cao Cao, my uncle, Military Advisor Wen, has long anticipated your intention to bring Sun Quan across the river and use his influence to wreak havoc in Jiangdong."

"Now I have killed Sun Quan and your son Cao Zhang, and foiled your plot."

"Jiangdong is already mine. If you know what's best for you, lead your troops back north immediately. I'll show some mercy and let you go."

"If you continue to overestimate your capabilities and continue to attack Ruxu Fort, my uncle, Military Advisor Wen, will surely devise a brilliant plan to make you repeat the same mistake you made at Fancheng!"

The other side of the trench.

Cao Cao, who was originally dizzy from shock, was so stimulated by Liu Bei's warning, which was almost like an ultimatum, that he sat up straight.

The horror in his eyes turned into endless hatred and anger, and his ferocious eyes, bloodshot, were fixed on Liu Bei and Xiao He.

At this moment, he finally understood what Xiao He meant by what he had just said.

It turned out that not only did they calculate that Sun Quan would escape to the north by sea and ordered Gan Ning to intercept him at sea, but they also ordered Gan Ning to strike while the iron was hot and rush to Yandu after intercepting Sun Quan, and kill his Huangxuer in one fell swoop!

First it was Cao Hong, then Cao Xiu, and then even his own son Cao Zhang...

Liu Bei's hands are stained with the blood of his Cao family!
Now, Liu Bei was so arrogant that he issued him an ultimatum, as if defeating him would be a piece of cake!
But the two of them were only separated by a trench, and he couldn't do anything to the other person!

"Liu Bei, Xiao He~~"

"I will kill you all. I will make sure you die without a burial place—"

Cao Cao roared like thunder, pointed his whip at Liu Bei, and cursed him furiously.

Liu Bei did not bother to engage in verbal arguments and just stood there, watching Cao Cao's helpless rage.

That look seemed to say:

I'll just stand here and don't move. If you have the guts, come and hit me!

"Woo——"

Cao Cao was extremely furious. A surge of blood rushed to his forehead, his vision went dark, and he almost fainted from anger.

At the critical moment, he took several deep breaths, tried his best to suppress his anger, and forced himself not to fall off the horse.

"Zhongkang, help me back!"

Cao Cao reached out his hand tremblingly and supported Xu Chu.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Xu Chu hurriedly supported Cao Cao and ordered the left and right tiger guards to return to the camp.

So Cao Cao, who was half-dazed and half-awake, forced himself to endure the dizziness and turned around to head towards the camp surrounded by soldiers.

"I didn't expect Xingba to actually kill Cao Zhang. Looking at Cao Cao's appearance, he must have suffered a heavy blow."

The surprise on Liu Bei's face could no longer be hidden.

Xiao Heze smiled and said:

"I'm afraid Cao Cao won't be able to sleep tonight. My lord, let's go back and prepare a celebration banquet and wait for Xingba's return."

Liu Bei laughed heartily, turned around and headed back to the city.

There was an uproar in Cao's camp.

The news of Cao Zhang's execution had now spread throughout the camp, and Cao's army was shocked.

"Have you heard? Master Ziwen was killed by Liu Bei's general Gan Ning!"

"He was the Prime Minister's second son. Such a noble person, yet he died at the hands of Liu Bei?"

"That's right. Together with General Cao Zixiao and General Cao Wenlie, this is the third member of the Cao family to die at Liu Bei's hands."

"Liu Bei has already conquered Jiangdong, and our army of hundreds of thousands has been unable to capture Ruxu Fortress for a long time, and the Prime Minister has even lost a son. Are we going to repeat the same defeat at Fancheng?"

"Shh, keep your voice down! Don't let General Xiahou hear us, or he'll kill us..."

The soldiers' horrified and anxious discussions came one after another.

At the camp gate.

"boom!"

Xiahou Yuan's fist hit the camp wall hard, his face full of grief and anger, and his teeth gnashed as if they were about to break.

"Big-eared thief, you first killed Zilian Wenlie, and now you've killed Ziwen. If I don't kill you, I swear I'm not a human being~~"

Xiahou Yuan was swearing a curse, and Cao Chun was filled with grief and anger, gritting his teeth and raging.

Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, Li Dian and other generals from other families just shook their heads and sighed.

Amidst sighs and discussions, Cao Cao, supported by Xu Chu and surrounded by his tiger guards, finally returned to the camp.

"Prime Minister!"

Xiahou Yuan came forward and wanted to say something to comfort Cao Cao, but he didn't know how to start.

Cheng Yu, Zhang Liao and other counselors and generals gathered at the camp gate, all looking at Cao Cao anxiously.

"Miaocai, Zhang'er is serious...seriously..."

Cao Cao wanted to ask but couldn't, obviously still holding on to a last glimmer of hope.

Xiahou Yuan had tears in his eyes, but he could not speak. He could only turn around silently and look back.

The generals made way for him, and a carriage caught Cao Cao's sight. On it lay a corpse covered with a white cloth.

Cao Cao was shocked and got off his horse in a hurry, stumbling and rushing forward.

After tremblingly lifting the white cloth, a corpse without a head and made up of two broken torsos suddenly caught the eye.

Although there was no head, Cao Cao recognized the man as his second son, Cao Zhang, from his figure.

"Ziwen——"

Cao Cao could no longer suppress his grief and anger. He looked up to the sky and cried out in grief. His eyes went dark and he fell on Cao Zhang's corpse.

"Prime Minister!"

Everyone was shocked and rushed forward.

In an instant, Cao's camp was in chaos.

...

At nightfall, in the central military camp.

Cao Cao, who had fainted due to grief and anger, finally woke up.

"Big-eared thief, brocade-sailed thief, you country bumpkin, I will tear you into pieces, grind your bones and scatter your ashes, and avenge my Zhang'er—"

As soon as Cao Cao sat up, he started to curse angrily.

Xiahou Yuan, Cao Chun and other clan members naturally felt the same way and followed suit in cursing.

Ministers such as Cheng Yu remained silent.

"Prime Minister, the revenge for Master Ziwen must naturally be avenged, but I beg you to be patient. Perhaps you have been too grief-stricken and injured yourself."

"The Prime Minister's life is linked to the whole world, and he must not fail."

Cheng Yu couldn't bear to watch it any longer, so he had to stand up and carefully persuade Cao Cao to take care of his health.

Cao Cao's anger subsided a little. After rolling his eyes a few times, he shouted in a deep voice:
"Pass on my order. Starting tomorrow, we will continue to attack Ruxuwu day and night!"

"The first one to reach the summit will be rewarded with a hundred gold coins. The one who takes Gan Ning's head will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins. The one who takes Xiao He's head will be rewarded with ten thousand gold coins. The one who kills Liu Bei will be made a marquis of ten thousand households!"

"Send more troops to capture Wanxian, Liyang, Juchao and other cities north of the Yangtze River. Anyone who breaks into a city, regardless of gender, age or status, will be slaughtered!"

Cao Cao gritted his teeth and issued several kill orders.

Especially the last order to massacre the city made Cheng Yu and others shudder and their faces changed.

After learning that Sun Quan had been killed and Jiangdong had changed its master, the cities of Lujiang County, such as Wanxian in Jiangbei, were conquered by Liu Bei.

Cao Cao was so obsessed with the revenge for his son's murder that he wanted to emulate his father's actions in avenging Xuzhou. He wanted to massacre the city and bloodbath Jiangdong to vent his hatred!

Several years later, Cao Cao once again picked up the butcher knife and wanted to kill the common people!

Cheng Yu, Liu Ye and others looked at each other, and they all knew in their hearts that Cao Cao's move was inappropriate. Not only was it of no benefit to the conquest of Jiangdong, but it would push the hearts of the people in Jiangdong to Liu Bei.

When you wave your butcher knife, who in Jiangdong wouldn't be terrified?
People will definitely support Liu Bei in his fight against Cao, so as to prevent Jiangdong from falling and being slaughtered by your butcher knife, Cao Cao!
Everyone knew this, and it was clear that Cao Cao was furious. No one dared to touch his nerves, and no one dared to speak out. After issuing the order to kill, Cao Cao stood up with Xu Chu's support and walked out of the tent. His cold and angry eyes shot towards Ruxuwu, which was not far away.

"Big-eared thief, if you have the guts, just stay hidden in Ruxuwu. This time, I will fight you till eternity!"

"I will not withdraw my troops until I have destroyed you!"

...

In the next half month, Cao Cao launched a frenzied attack on Ruxu Fort.

Encouraged by the huge reward, the 200,000-strong Cao army attacked relentlessly day and night.

At the same time, Cao's army divided into tens of thousands of troops and marched south from Lu'an, Quanjiao and other cities, launching a large-scale retaliatory attack on Liyang, Wanxian and other cities in the north of the Yangtze River.

The military advantage of Cao's army was demonstrated at this moment.

Liu's army had limited manpower, and the main force had to be gathered at Ruxu Fort to resist the frenzied attack of Cao's army. The manpower available to support the cities in the north of the Yangtze River was limited.

Moreover, cities in Jiangbei, such as Anxian, are all far away from the Yangtze River, so the advantages of Liu Jun's navy cannot be brought into play.

For a time, fires broke out all over Jiangbei and there was a sense of emergency everywhere.

...

Ruxuwu.

Emergency documents were delivered to Liu Bei in large quantities.

One of the bloody reports made Liu Bei even more angry.

The city of Xiang'an was captured by Cao's army, and Cao's army massacred Xiang'an, killing 3,000 people, leaving no one alive, young or old!

"boom!"

Liu Bei slammed the urgent report on the table and said angrily:

"Cao Cao, you have not changed your bad habits. Are you raising your butcher knife against the people again? Do you want to turn the land north of the Yangtze River into a second Xuzhou?"

Inside the palace hall, all the generals were extremely excited and were cursing everywhere, all of them were angry at Cao Cao's brutal behavior.

"My lord, Cao Cao is going to massacre all the cities in Jiangbei to avenge his son!"

Lu Xun exposed Cao Cao's motives and said with a bow:
"Our army is small, which is our first disadvantage. Most of the cities in Jiangbei are far from the Yangtze River, which is our second disadvantage."

"With these two disadvantages, the cities north of the Yangtze River are undefendable. If we delay any further, Cao Cao will surely slaughter everyone."

"Su believes that we should decisively abandon the cities north of the Yangtze River and relocate all the people in those cities to the south of the Yangtze River for refuge."

"In this way, the people can be spared from Cao's slaughter, and we can concentrate all our efforts on defending Ruxuwu!"

After a moment of hesitation, Liu Bei decisively waved his hand:

"Zi Jing's words make sense. If we delay any longer, countless people in Jiangbei will die at the hands of Cao Cao."

"Hurry and send a message to all counties to abandon their cities and retreat south immediately. Send naval forces to help the people of each city cross the river and take refuge."

Only after receiving the order for the people to retreat south did Liu Bei feel slightly relieved.

It seemed that the only thing left to do next was to continue fighting with Cao Cao at Ruxu Fort until Cao Cao was driven back.

Whether it is Lu Xun or Fa Zheng, this is mostly what they mean.

"Bowen, what do you think of the public opinion?"

Seeing Xiao He silent and pondering, Liu Bei realized that Xiao He must have other thoughts in his mind, so he asked.

"My lord, I believe you shouldn't just be content with repelling Cao Cao's forces and defending Ruxu Fort. This goal is too conservative."

"He believes that our strategic goal should be bolder and more proactive, and we should set the goal of taking Hefei!"

Xiao He came to the map and raised his hand to the north of Ruxuwu.

Liu Bei's expression was slightly shocked, and his eyes followed Xiao He's pointing and fell on the word "Hefei".

"Although you have conquered Jiangdong, the lands north of the Yangtze River and south of the Huai River are still under the control of Cao Cao."

"Even if we force Cao Cao to retreat today, if he attacks again someday, his cavalry will march south from Hefei and be able to drink from the Yangtze River in less than two days."

"This is like having a sword hanging over the heads of Jiangdong, ready to fall at any time if Cao Cao wishes."

"Then our Jiangdong region will always be under the pressure of Cao Cao and will be in a passive defensive position at all times."

"Therefore, we must turn the passive situation into the active one, capture Huainan, and advance the battle line to the Huai River!"

"In this way, we will have the vast land of Huainan as a buffer zone for Jiangdong. Jiangdong can recuperate and serve as a stable rear base to continuously supply food, fodder and troops to the front line."

"To defend the Yangtze River, we must defend the Huai River. This is exactly the truth."

After Xiao He explained, his finger landed on the word Hefei again:

"And if we want to take Huainan, we must first take Hefei!"

"This city is located between the Yangtze River and the Huai River. It is a hub connecting the two rivers. Whoever captures this city will be able to turn the passive situation into the active one, seize the initiative, and become the attacking party."

"Gu He believes that the Lord should take a longer-term view. The strategic goal of this battle should be to capture Hefei!"

Xiao He calmly put the interests in front of Liu Bei.

As a time traveler, naturally no one in the world knows the importance of Hefei better than him.

In history, the city of Hefei was like a cursed iron chain, locking Sun Quan and his Eastern Wu in a corner of Jiangdong.

Eastern Jin, Song, Qi, Liang, Chen, Southern Song...

Throughout the dynasties, countless confrontations between the North and the South have proved the iron rule that to defend the Yangtze River, one must also defend the Huai River.

No matter whether the Southern Dynasty was an aggressive monarch or a ruler of partial peace, if it wanted to be invincible, it had to take over Huainan first.

Of course, this iron rule originated in the Eastern Wu, and no one had much experience with it before.

Even a man as talented and strategic as Cao Cao only realized the importance of Hefei and Huainan and began to invest heavily in them after Zhang Liao thwarted Sun Quan's attacks on Hefei several times.

As an experienced person, Xiao He naturally had to explain the pros and cons in advance and give Liu Bei some special treatment in advance to let him know how important Hefei was.

"To defend the Yangtze River, we must defend the Huai River. To defend the Yangtze River, we must defend the Huai River..."

Liu Bei stared at the map, muttering to himself, his eyes gradually brightened, and it was obvious that he had understood something.

"My lord, Military Advisor Bowen truly has foresight and foresight!"

Fa Zheng praised it highly and pointed at the map:
"Without Huainan, it will be difficult to stabilize Jiangdong; without Hefei, it will be difficult to take Huainan."

"My lord, what you want to accomplish is to recover the Central Plains, unify the country, and restore the Han Dynasty, not just to stay in the middle of the Yangtze River."

"In this case, Huainan must be taken, and Hefei City must be captured!"

Guan Yu also looked excited, stroking his long beard and saying:

"If Huainan were to surrender, they could advance westward along the Ying River and cooperate with the troops from Jingxiang to threaten Xuchang. They could advance eastward along the Si River to capture Qingxu and further encroach upon the Central Plains."

"Brother, Bowen's strategy is indeed a far-sighted and long-term plan!"

Liu Bei's eyes suddenly became clear, and he praised happily:

"When it comes to foresight and vision, no one in the world can match you, Bo Wen!"

"Yes, our goal shouldn't just be to defend Ruxuwu and this corner of Jiangdong!"

"We must take Hefei, and Huainan as well!"

The atmosphere in the tent immediately became exciting and boiling.

"The military advisor's plan is indeed far-sighted, but..."

After Lu Xun nodded slightly, he changed the subject:
"Looking at Cao Cao's attitude, he won't stop until he captures Ruxu Fort. I don't know how long this fierce battle will last."

"Furthermore, even if Cao Cao retreats, he will certainly not sit idly by and watch our army capture Hefei. Once our army leaves Ruxu Fort and marches north to besiege Hefei, Cao Cao will undoubtedly march south again to rescue it."

"This means that we must capture Hefei before Cao Cao's army arrives."

"But this Hefei city is the strongest city in the world, how can it be easily conquered in a day or night?"

Lu Xun poured a bucket of cold water on the situation, and the exciting atmosphere in the tent immediately cooled down by a little.

"Bo Yan's concerns are not without reason. To capture Hefei, we must first force Cao Cao to retreat, and then buy enough time to attack the city..."

Liu Bei stroked his thin beard and nodded repeatedly, his eyes involuntarily glancing at Xiao He.

At this time, Xiao He had already picked up the tea bowl and slowly moistened his throat, looking leisurely and indifferent.

Liu Bei was very familiar with this situation. Xiao He had a plan in mind!

Then his eyes lit up and he asked hurriedly:
"Bo Wen, do you have a good plan that can both force Cao Cao to retreat and capture Hefei?"

Everyone's spirits were lifted, and their expectant eyes were all directed at Xiao He.

Everyone was curious and wondered what kind of brilliant strategy this military advisor Xiao had that could easily force back 200,000 Cao troops.

"Isn't Cao Cao determined to destroy Ruxu Fort and won't stop until he takes Jiangdong?"

"Then let's use the strategy of besieging Wei to save Zhao. Attack the enemy and then rescue them. This will force him to retreat with his 200,000 troops!"

Xiao He played with the wine glass, with a strange look on his face.

Fa Zheng and Lu Xun's eyes suddenly narrowed, with a hint of surprise on their faces, obviously they had guessed something.

"Besiege Wei to rescue Zhao, and attack the enemy and you must rescue them?"

Liu Bei's eyes were blank, and he couldn't understand for a moment, so he looked at Xiao He again.

Xiao He drank the tea in one gulp, then pointed to a place on the map:
"Let's join forces with Ma Chao, capture this city, and pin Cao Cao's weak spot, forcing him to pack up and leave!"

(End of this chapter)