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

Chapter 220 The life and death of the entire clan is decided by the hands of Duke Chu! Cao Cao wanted to cry: Is the child prodigy insignificant in front of the gods?

My goodness, someone in Xiaxiang City has defected and secretly leaked the Wei army's secrets to them.

Moreover, the leaked secrets were quite explosive and really surprised everyone.

He entered the Huai River from the sea, attacked Xuyi by surprise, and also used the ships of Gongsun clan!
I have to admit that this is indeed a brilliant and imaginative plan.

Xuyi controls the mouth of the Si River where it flows into the Huai River. If it were captured by the Wei army, the 60,000-strong army would be trapped between Xiaxiang and Xuyi.

With the food supply and retreat routes cut off, even the fierce and ferocious Northern Army would collapse without a fight!

There was a sudden commotion in the big tent.

Liu Bei was also shocked. He quickly stood up, took the silk book, and read it carefully word by word.

"Bo Wen, Shi Yuan, who do you think wrote this book?"

"If Cao Cao really uses this plan, and if we are careless in our defenses, and the Wei army enters the Huai River from the sea and attacks Xuyi, the consequences will be disastrous!"

Liu Bei sucked in a breath of cold air and looked at the two of them with suspicion and lingering fear.

Xiao He took the silk book and flipped through it several times before sneering:
"Lord Chu, if my guess is correct, this book must be written by Yang Xiu."

Yang Xiu?

Liu Bei's eyes moved, and he asked Xiao He how he made that judgment.

"Yang Xiu was Cao Zhi's chief advisor. Cao Cao has publicly announced several times that if the southern expedition is victorious, Cao Chong will be the chief minister and will be made the heir apparent of the pseudo-Wei."

"When Cao Chong ascends the throne, who can guarantee he won't settle scores with Yang Xiu and the Hongnong Yang family?"

"Yang Xiu, if not for himself, must also be concerned about the future of his family. Naturally, he will stop at nothing to prevent Cao Chong from succeeding with his plan."

"Then secretly leaking the information to you, Lord Chu, so that we can be prepared and Cao Chong's surprise attack on Xuyi will fail, becomes his only option."

Xiao He analyzed the situation slowly and gave the reasons for his speculation.

Liu Bei seemed to understand something and nodded slightly.

After all, Yang Xiu had previously betrayed Cao Ren in order to save Cao Zhi and help them capture Shouchun.

"Furthermore, during the Battle of Huainan and the Battle of Sishui, Yang Xiu witnessed the power of the Duke of Chu and the invincibility of our army."

"With Yang Xiu's intelligence, he might have seen that Cao Cao might be driven north of the Yellow River, and the Henan provinces would be seized by the Duke of Chu."

"The Yang family is rooted in Hongnong County. Once Henan changes hands and Hongnong becomes the property of Duke Chu, the life and death of the Yang family will be decided by Duke Chu's whim."

"There's no way the Yang family would flee to Hebei with Cao Cao. So they'd have no choice but to submit to the Duke of Chu and abandon Wei and return to Chu."

"Then Yang Xiu used the leak to gain some credit for himself, and it could also be considered as a way to find a way out for the Yang family."

Xiao He sorted out all the abacus beads on Yang Xiu's computer clearly.

At this time, Pang Tong sneered:
"Military Advisor Bo Wen's words make sense, but I would like to add one more point."

"Although this letter is unsigned, I have some knowledge of calligraphy and can recognize that it is Yang Xiu's handwriting."

"He personally wrote the letter so that he could have evidence to claim credit for his deeds to the Duke of Chu. He left his name unsigned because he was afraid that the letter wouldn't reach the Duke of Chu and might be leaked to the spies of the Pseudo-Wei regime, and then to Cao Cao, who would have claimed his life."

"I have to say, this Yang Xiu is indeed quite clever."

After hearing what Xiao and Pang Tong said, Liu Bei no longer had any doubts and was convinced that the book was written by Yang Xiu.

"Since I know of Cao Cao's scheme, should I immediately send more troops to Xuyi to prevent Sun Guan from attacking from the sea into the Huai River?"

Xiao He smiled and said:

"Lord Chu's appetite is too small. Now that we know Cao Cao's tricks, how can we be satisfied with just defending Xuyi?"

Liu Bei understood the meaning of Xiao He's words and immediately became excited.

Xiao He pointed at the map and smiled meaningfully:
"Cao Cao is not imitating others by imitating others in Handan. He wants to learn our previous strategy of entering the Huai River from the sea. In fact, I originally wanted to repeat the same trick..."

At this moment, Xiao He took his time and slowly unfolded his plan.

Liu Bei suddenly understood and said with a smile:
"So, Bowen, you already had a plan in mind. Even if Yang Xiu hadn't leaked the secret, Sun Guan and Gongsun Gong would have fallen into our trap."

"Okay, okay, Bowen, your plan is really ambitious. I will follow your plan!"

Liu Bei was filled with heroic spirit and immediately shouted:

"Come here, quickly order Xingba to disembark and come ashore to listen to orders."

...

Ten days later.

On the sea east of Donghai County.

A fleet of more than seventy ships is sailing south along the coastline.

At the bow of the flagship.

Sun Guan and Gongsun Gong were standing side by side, looking into the distance.

"We should have passed Haixi from here. If we go another hundred miles south, we should be Huaikou."

Gongsun Gongyao pointed ahead and said.

Sun Guan looked around for a long time but couldn't figure out what it was, so he said:
"Brother Gongsun, can you direct the fleet away from the coastline to prevent our whereabouts from being discovered by the Chu State's spies?"

Gongsun Gong gave a bitter laugh and sighed:

"Brother Sun, you don't go out to sea often, so you don't know the dangers of the sea."

"Let me tell you, the further we are from the coastline, the more likely we are to encounter strong winds and waves. If we get caught in a storm and the boat capsizes, we'll all fall into the sea and become food for the fish."

"So, when sailing out to sea, you have to stay close to the coastline. This is the farthest distance, and you can't go any further."

Sun Guan didn't know much about navigation, so he just said "Oh" when he heard what Gongsun Gong said made sense.

Seeing that he was still uneasy, Gongsun Gong pointed to the "Gongsun" flag above his head and said with a smile, "I'm afraid you will be defeated."
"Brother Sun, don't worry. Although my Gongsun family is far away in Liaodong, we often have maritime business dealings with your Qingxu and Jiangdong."

"Even if Chu's spies on the shore spotted us, they wouldn't be suspicious as long as they saw our Gongsun clan's flag."

"Don't worry about anything, just be at ease."

Sun Guan's worries were finally dispelled and his frown relaxed.

Gongsun Gong coughed a few times and changed the subject:
"But my Gongsun family is helping Duke Wei attack Xuyi, which is equivalent to making an enemy of Duke Chu. I'm afraid that the business between Jiangdong and Liaodong will be impossible after this battle."

"My Gongsun family is willing to help Duke Wei launch a surprise attack on Xuyi, even at the cost of such heavy losses. Duke Wei should keep his word, right?"

There was a hint of worry in Gongsun Gong's eyes and tone.

Sun Guan heard the hidden meaning in his words and slapped his chest:
"Brother Gongsun, my Duke of Wei is a great leader, so his words are his due."

"Since he promised to assign two more counties, Donglai, to your Gongsun family, he will not break his promise."

Gongsun Gong smiled broadly and said with a laugh:

"Duke Wei is such a great ruler. How could we not trust his promise? I was just asking casually."

"Don't worry, brother. I will send you and these eight thousand men to Xuyi safely and securely, and I will ensure that you achieve an unparalleled feat in front of Duke Wei!"

Sun Guan looked towards the south with a proud look.

He was already imagining the majesty of his 8,000-strong army entering the Huai River and breaking through the key to Huainan like a divine force descending from the sky.

Once Xuyi was broken, the 60,000 Chu troops were trapped between the Si River and Cao Cao could annihilate the main force of the Chu army in one battle, or even kill and capture Liu Bei, deciding the outcome of the war in one battle...

By then, I will be the first meritorious person to conquer Huainan, or even the first meritorious person to destroy Chu!

With such a great achievement, considering Cao Cao's generosity, it wouldn't be too much to make him a marquis of ten thousand households...

The more Sun Guanshi thought about it, the more excited he became, and he couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Gongsun Gong fantasized that if the Gongsun family gained two more counties, they would have four counties in Donglai. In the future, he would persuade Cao Cao to re-establish Yingzhou, and he would ask his brother Gongsun Kang to appoint him as the governor of Yingzhou.

The more Gongsun Gong thought about it, the more excited he became, and he started laughing too.

"A large number of warships are appearing ahead!" "It's the flag of the Chu army!"

Behind us, the lookout screamed a warning.

The two of them stopped laughing and looked at each other anxiously.

really.

A fleet of more than a hundred warships suddenly emerged from the bay, blocking their way south.

The fleet hoisted the "Chu" flag high and was sailing northward with full sails, taking advantage of the favorable wind.

"Why is the Chu navy here?"

Sun Guan took a breath of cold air, his face changed drastically, and he said anxiously:

"My eight thousand men are all land soldiers. How can they understand naval warfare? Brother Gongsun, quickly order the ships to turn around and retreat north!"

Gongsun Gong frowned and said in a trembling voice:
"The Chu army has the wind in their favor and suddenly rushed out from the nearby bay. We won't have time to turn and speed up, and they will catch up with us."

"If you turn around and flee north now, you'll only be guilty of a crime. It's better to remain unchanged in the face of change. The Chu army will see our Gongsun clan's flags and think we're merchant ships heading south to Jiangdong for business, so they might not pay any attention to us."

Sun Guan thought it made sense, so he had to pretend to be calm and ordered all 8,000 soldiers to hide in the cabin. Anyone who dared to show his head would be killed without mercy.

So dozens of ships remained calm and continued to sail south.

In the sea ahead, the Chu army flagship.

Gan Ning looked at the oncoming Gongsun fleet from afar, with a sarcastic sneer on his face.

Ten days ago, he followed Liu Bei's orders and led more than 8,000 navy troops south into the Huai River under the pretext of escorting food and grass. He traveled at night and hid during the day, then exited the Huai River and entered the sea, setting an ambush on the road that the Wei army had to take to move south.

After waiting for four full days, we finally saw the so-called caravan flying the banner of Gongsun clan.

Gan Ning put away his sneer, drew his sword, and shouted:
"Pass the order, all ships, speed up and charge forward, capture all enemy ships, don't let a single one escape!"

The command flags waved and the horns sounded.

More than a hundred Chu army warships, with full sails and oars, took advantage of the wind and rushed towards the oncoming Gongsun fleet like giant sharks on the sea.

On the bow.

Gongsun Gong and Sun Guan saw the Chu army's warships approaching, their palms sweating, hoping that the Chu army would not find any flaws and pass by them.

When the two fleets were less than thirty steps apart, countless sharp arrows suddenly attacked from the Chu ships.

Lords Sun Guan and Gongsun Gong's hearts skipped a beat, and their faces changed drastically with horror.

A surprise sea raid began.

...

Five days later, they went down to Xiangcheng.

"General Sun's eight thousand elite troops joined Gongsun Gong's fleet in Qu County ten days ago and set sail."

"If all went well, they should have landed in Xuyi and launched a surprise attack at the latest the day before yesterday."

Xun You pointed at the map and deduced.

Cao Cao stared at the map intently and nodded slightly:
"Are the numbers of the Chu troops in Xuyi City truly reliable?"

Xun You looked determined and said with a folded hand:
"Our spies have confirmed repeatedly that the Xuyi garrison consists of no more than 2,000 men. As long as our plan remains intact, General Sun will be able to successfully launch a surprise attack on Xuyi."

Cao Cao finally felt relieved, his expression became relaxed, and he looked at Cao Chong with a smile:

"Cang Shu, it seems that the success of your plan should be no surprise."

"Tell me, after I take Xuyi, what should I do next?"

Cao Chong came forward, pointed at the map and said calmly:

"If Liu Bei learns of the fall of Xuyi, he will surely flee south by sea. If General Sun can promptly block the Si River's entrance to the Huai River with iron chains, he can force Liu Bei to abandon his ship and disembark, then flee westward along the Huai River's northern bank toward Shouchun."

"I believe that Father should lead the main force of our infantry and pursue Liu Bei southward. Meanwhile, General Zhang should lead the remaining cavalry to immediately approach the Huai River and cut off Liu Bei's westward retreat by land."

"By attacking from both sides like this, we will surely be able to completely annihilate the 60,000 Northern Army soldiers under Liu Bei's command."

Cao Cao nodded continuously, and the curve of his lips could not be suppressed.

As Cao Chong finished speaking, Cao Cao couldn't help but sigh in admiration:

"Cang Shu, Cang Shu, I really didn't expect that your military strategy would improve to such an extent since you recovered from your illness."

"With your current intelligence, even if Feng Xiao were reborn, he would probably have to admit defeat!"

Then he changed the subject and sneered sarcastically:
"Xiao He, you've calculated everything, but you could never have predicted that my Qilin child would repay you with the same vengeance you used. Just like you did when you crossed the sea to the Huai River..."

The sound of hurried footsteps was heard, and the Tiger Guard hurried in with a battle report in his hand, interrupting Cao Cao's sarcasm.

"Your Excellency, Duke Wei, urgent news from Donghai County!"

"Three days ago, the Chu general Gan Ning disguised himself as a member of the Gongsun clan's fleet and suddenly led 30,000 Chu troops ashore at sea, attacking and destroying our Qu County!"

"The Chu army then marched westward, heading straight for our county seat, Tan County!"

Cao Cao's face suddenly changed color, and the sarcasm on his face turned into shock and astonishment in an instant.

The calmness on Cao Chong's face was instantly replaced by surprise.

The hall was in an uproar, with everyone clamoring and discussing things in astonishment.

"How could the Chu army suddenly attack our Qu County?"

"This is impossible!"

Cao Cao roared, took a few steps forward and snatched the urgent report.

It is clearly written in black and white.

The Chu army used the Gongsun fleet to lead the way, unexpectedly entered the port, and then quickly captured Qu County.

The intelligence also claimed that after Gan Ning captured Qu County, he hung Sun Guan's head on the city wall to intimidate the people.

"How could this be?"

"Didn't I order Sun Guan and his men to attack Xuyi? How could Sun Guan die at the hands of those brocade sail pirates? And how could the Gongsun clan's fleet be used by the Chu army?"

"Where have my eight thousand elite soldiers gone?"

Cao Cao muttered to himself, endless questions buzzing in his mind, and the silk book in his hand fell to the ground.

The ministers on both sides rushed forward, picked up the silk book and vied to look at it.

"Zhongtai, Zhongtai~~"

The first sound in the tent was Zang Ba's angry and grief-stricken shout.

As both of them were born into the Taishan bandit family, he and Sun Guan were as close as brothers and regarded each other as siblings.

Now that he saw his own brother die at the hands of Gan Ning, Zang Ba was naturally extremely sad and angry.

"How could this happen, this, this..."

Cao Chong's eyes widened like bells, and the child prodigy's innate confidence and composure turned into astonishment and surprise.

All the ministers were also shocked and astonished.

Only Yang Xiu had a subtle smile on his face.

Xun You's eyes narrowed as he suddenly realized something and he shouted:
"Duke Wei, Liu Bei must have figured out Master Cang Shu's plan and used it to his advantage, sending the Jinfan bandit to lead his army to intercept Sun Guan and Gongsun Gong at sea."

"Then the Jinfan bandits took advantage of the situation and continued northward, unexpectedly attacking our Qu County. They then drove westward and entered the heart of our Xuzhou, intending to capture Tan County in one fell swoop. They then moved south along the Yishui River and attacked our Xiapi from the north!"

Cao Cao and Cao Chong were shocked.

The father and son looked at each other suddenly, and the same name popped up in their minds at the same time:
"Xiao He?"

(End of this chapter)