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

Chapter 215: Let Liu Bei replace Zhu Yuanzhang! Times have changed. With our powerful Northern Army, we will defeat them squarely!
The one laughing was Xiao He.

"What does Bowen say?"

A gleam of light flashed in Liu Bei's eyes, and a hint of surprise appeared in his solemn eyes.

Xiao He walked out of the class slowly and said loudly:

"I have already explained in detail to Lord Chu the various advantages of this military system, but I have never clearly stated its shortcomings."

Liu Bei was stunned.

The advantages of the fubing system have been obvious to all, from the time Xiao Hexian established it to its current initial promotion.

As for this flaw, Liu Bei and his ministers had never thought of it.

Moreover, what does the defect of the military system have to do with Cao Cao's massive invasion and the recovery of the Central Plains?
Liu Bei couldn't figure it out for a moment, so he gestured to Xiao He to continue.

"Greed is human nature!"

"The Duke of Chu granted land to the refugees. Initially, they were naturally grateful and happy to be recruited as government soldiers. They actively trained and practiced, all with a heart to serve the country and fight for the Duke of Chu."

"Such an army with such unwavering conviction will surely be an elite force that is always invincible and unstoppable."

"Over time, however, people will inevitably become lazy and begin to think that the land they have been given is their due, and their enthusiasm for serving the country will gradually fade."

"An elite division will then become a mediocre division."

After hearing Xiao He's analysis of human nature, Liu Bei seemed to have understood something and nodded slightly.

Xiao He suddenly changed the subject, became excited, and pointed to the north:
"So if we want to maintain the fighting spirit of the palace soldiers, the best option is to lead them to the Northern Expedition, let them capture cities and plunder land, exchange their military merits for rewards such as land, and constantly motivate them to fight bravely and to the death!"

"Originally, the pseudo-Wei army was stronger than ours. If Cao Cao had simply relied on his superior numbers to take a defensive stance and focus on recuperating, even if our army marched north, it would have been difficult to defeat them."

"Cao Cao is now in disarray, hastily switching from defense to offense. This gives us the opportunity to annihilate his remaining forces."

"If we can defeat the Wei army, our army will pursue them northwards and recover the Central Plains, and drink from the Yellow River."

Xiao He revealed the secret.

In fact, there is no perfect system in this world.

Regardless of whether it is the equal-field system, the military service system, or the conscription system, if it has advantages, it must have disadvantages.

Its shortcoming is that it has to constantly reward the soldiers by granting them land based on their military achievements.

To put it bluntly, we must continue to expand and never stop expanding our territory.

Now the world is not settled, the north is not pacified, and there are vast tracts of territory waiting for Liu Bei to conquer. The expansiveness of the military system has become its advantage.

But when the world is settled and there is no place to expand, the advantages will become disadvantages.

Of course, when the world is unified, there will be a unified system, and we can change the system when the time comes.

Xiao He's words made Liu Bei and everyone else suddenly understand.

Zhuge Liang immediately stepped out of the class, bowed and said:
"Lord Chu, what Bo Wen said is absolutely right. The current prefectural military system has begun to show its strength. The officers and soldiers of each prefecture are eager to achieve great achievements in exchange for land grants and rewards."

"The Cao thief has actually led his troops south. This is a godsend opportunity for us to seize the opportunity to defeat him and recapture the Central Plains in one fell swoop!"

"I believe this opportunity cannot be missed. The Duke of Chu should mobilize all the troops of the three prefectures and the entire nation to fight Cao Cao to the death!"

Zhuge Liang stood on Xiao He's side and insisted on going to war.

Pang Tong, Lu Su, Huang Zhong and other ministers in the court were all excited and advocated war.

Liu Bei's heroic spirit was ignited, and he jumped up and said proudly:

"What you gentlemen said is true. This is a God-given opportunity. How can I miss it?"

"I have made up my mind. I will mobilize all the troops in the three prefectures to fight against Cao Cao and reclaim the Central Plains!"

The decision to go to war was thus made.

Next, Liu Bei allowed his ministers to speak freely and discuss strategies for responding to the war.

Now the soldiers of the three states have all been changed into government soldiers.

With Yingtian, the capital, as the center, the Jingzhou soldiers west of Yingtian were called the Western Soldiers, and the soldiers from the Jiangdong counties south of Yingtian were called the Southern Soldiers.

To the north of Yingtian, with the Yangtze River as the boundary, the troops of the Huainan counties such as Guangling, Jiujiang, and Lujiang are called the Northern Army.

The ministers calculated that Cao Cao's core strategic goal in this southern invasion must be to recapture Huainan and push the battle line back to the Yangtze River.

The most important city in Huainan is Shouchun.

In this case, Cao Cao would lead his main force south along the Ying River to capture Yingkou, and then go east along the Huai River for a hundred miles to capture Shouchun.

Then the Chu army's counterattack strategy was naturally tit-for-tat. Liu Bei personally led the Southern Army to fight against the main force of the pseudo-Wei, Guan Yu commanded the Western Army to fight against the Wei army heading south from Yingchuan, and Zhang Fei led the Northern Army to fight against the enemy heading south from Xuzhou.

After listening to everyone's analysis, Liu Bei nodded slightly, sharing the same idea.

"Bo Wen, what do you think of the strategy discussed by the ministers?"

Seeing Xiao He staring at the map thoughtfully, as if he had a different opinion, Liu Bei did not make a decision on his own.

Xiao He had made up his mind, so he stood up and said loudly:
"Duke Chu, I believe you should order General Yide to march under your banner to the Southern Palace Army to meet Cao Cao at Yingkou."

"The Duke of Chu should use General Yide's banner to lead the Northern Army out of Xuyi, defeat the enemy advancing south from Xuzhou, and then take advantage of the situation to advance north along the Si River and seize Xuzhou!"

In the government hall, discussions arose again.

Liu Bei's eyes moved and his gaze fell on the map.

He could naturally see that Xiao He was trying to use a tactic of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west.

That is to say, the main attack direction for recovering the Central Plains was changed from Yuzhou in the middle to Xuzhou in the east.

But why did it change like this?

Xiao He stood up, walked to the map, and pointed:
"Yuzhou is flat and has no strategic locations to rely on. It is easy to attack but difficult to defend, making it ideal for the Pseudo-Wei to utilize its cavalry advantage."

"Although there are many waterways within the territory, the rivers are narrow and shallow, making them unsuitable for the passage of our large naval vessels."

"So even if we can capture Yuzhou, we may not be able to hold it!"

"Xuzhou is different. The Si River facilitates the passage of our large ships, and Mount Tai in the north serves as a barrier, restricting the free movement of the pseudo-Wei cavalry." "In this way, we can take Xuzhou and hold it!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang and other ministers all stood up involuntarily and gathered in front of the map hanging on the wall.

Xiao He pointed to the northwest and continued:

"After taking Xuzhou, we can sail north from Pengcheng, sailing along the Sishui River, passing through Juye Lake, out of Puyang and into the Yellow River, cutting off the Yellow River in one fell swoop. In this way, Qingzhou can be taken without a fight!"

"Then the army advanced westward along the Yellow River, defeated Bai Ma, captured Yanjin, and occupied Hulao in the west, cutting off the connection between Henan and Hebei."

"In this way, the various prefectures in Henan can be conquered without a fight, and the Central Plains can be conquered with just one order!"

With an overwhelming momentum, Xiao He laid out his grand plan of launching a northern expedition to recover the Central Plains.

This Northern Expedition strategy was not something he came up with on the spur of the moment, but was based on successful precedents.

The precedent is Zhu Yuanzhang.

He was the only founding emperor in history who successfully conquered the country from south to north and unified the country.

When Zhu Yuanzhang destroyed Chen Youliang, executed Zhang Shicheng, unified half of Jiangnan, and established the Ming Dynasty, he took this route to march north to recover the Central Plains.

Another half-successful example is Liu Yu, the founding emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty, who was as ambitious as a tiger.

When Liu Yu recovered the Central Plains and took Guanzhong in the west, he used the navy as the main force. He entered the Sibei from the Huai River and then went out of Xuzhou, then entered the Yellow River. He then advanced westward along the river until he entered Guanzhong and destroyed Qin.

Unfortunately, Liu Yu's Northern Expedition only stopped at drinking water from the Yellow River, so it can only be considered a half-successful precedent.

With this one and a half successful cases, Xiao He naturally followed suit and presented it to Lao Liu.

He wanted Liu Bei to replace Zhu Yuanzhang and create new history!
There was an uproar in the hall.

The king and his ministers of Chu seemed to have opened the door to a new world after hearing Xiao He's words.

"Lord Chu, Liang believes that the strategy Bowen outlined is truly the best strategy for reclaiming the Central Plains!"

"Going north from Xuzhou will maximize our naval superiority and limit the pseudo-Wei cavalry's advantage."

"Furthermore, Cao Cao has massacred Xuzhou twice, and the people of Xuzhou must deeply hate him. Duke Chu has ruled Xuzhou for several years, and I still have favor with him. If my army returns to Xuzhou, the people of the state will surely rise up in response!"

"Lord Chu, I believe that Xuzhou should be the first destination of the Northern Expedition!"

Zhuge Liang spoke in agreement.

"Xuzhou, Xuzhou..."

Liu Bei muttered to himself, his eyes dazed, and memories of the past came to his mind.

Back then, it was as the governor of Xuzhou that he officially stepped into the ranks of princes and got the ticket to fight for the world.

I originally thought that Xuzhou was the beginning of my dream, but in the blink of an eye, I was stabbed in the back by Lu Bu and lost Xuzhou. My dream was shattered at the very beginning.

After that, he was displaced and lived in other people's homes, and was driven all the way from the north to the south by Cao Cao.

Who would have thought that more than ten years later, Xuzhou would once again become the starting point for him to lead his troops to the north and recover the Central Plains.

Could it be that this is God's will?
After reminiscing for a long time, Liu Bei smiled.

Laugh heartily!

"boom!"

The laughter stopped abruptly, and Liu Bei punched the word Xuzhou hard.

He turned around and faced his ministers, his eyes as determined as iron.

"Following Bo Wen's advice, I will personally lead the Northern Army from Xuyi north to meet the Wei army."

"Recovering the Central Plains begins with reclaiming Xuzhou!"

The plan for the Northern Expedition was thus decided.

Two days later, the emperor's decree and Chu Ling's imperial edict were simultaneously issued to the Yingyang Prefectures in the three states.

The soldiers from the three prefectures in the northwest and south quickly began to assemble.

In addition to the troops left behind in the capital and various key locations, the total number of troops that the Chu State could mobilize to fight against the Wei army and march north to the Central Plains was about 160,000.

In the direction of Jingzhou, former general Guan Yu, led Xu Shu, Wei Yan and other counselors and generals, commanded 40,000 troops to defend Nanyang and fight against the Wei Western Army.

On the Shouchun front, Left General Zhang Fei led Fa Zheng, Zhao Yun, Wen Pin and other generals, commanding 70,000 soldiers from the Western Palace, and under the banner of Liu Bei, they fought against the Wei army coming south from Yingshui.

In the direction of Xuyi, Liu Bei, Duke of Chu, led Xiao He, Pang Tong, Huang Zhong, Zhang Liao and other civil and military officials, and 60,000 Northern Army soldiers, under the banner of Zhang Fei, and marched north to fight against the Wei army coming south from Sishui.

The three armies, with the entire country's troops, vowed to march north to fight against the three Wei armies heading south.

Ten days later.

The 60,000 Northern Army soldiers led by Liu Bei went down the Huai River and arrived at the important town of Xuyi.

As soon as Liu Bei arrived, scouts came to report that the pseudo-Wei general "Xiahou Dun" and his 100,000 Wei troops had passed Xiaxiang City and the vanguard was only 30 miles away from Xuyi.

Inside the Chinese army's tent.

Liu Bei showed everyone the information that 100,000 Wei troops were approaching, and asked for their advice on how to fight this battle.

Everyone started talking about it.

The Wei army has 100,000 soldiers, while ours has 60,000 soldiers. The enemy is numerous and we are few.

The majority opinion was to hold onto Xuyi first and not go out, wait for the enemy to tire themselves out, and then seize the opportunity to counterattack and defeat the enemy.

"So what if we are outnumbered?"

Xiao He slammed the table and stood up, saying proudly:

"My 60,000 Northern Army soldiers are all fierce warriors eager to achieve success. Even if the enemy has a million troops, what do we have to fear?"

"Lord Chu, let's fight Xiahou Dun head-on and defeat his army of 100,000 in a fair and square battle!"

(End of this chapter)