Wei Xiaobao's Three Kingdoms Adventure

Chapter 132 Liu Bei Becomes the Target of Public Criticism
All fear comes from the anxiety of insufficient firepower.

After Zhou Yu fled back to Chaisang, he did not dare to lead his troops to fight again. He could only deploy heavy troops to defend the two ports of Jiujiang and Lukou to prevent Zhuge Liang from leading his troops to land.

Zhuge Liang led the warships back to Wanjiang Port, replaced the crossbows on the ship with catapults, and attacked Chaisang ten days later.

Chaisang City was built by the river, and the city defenses were all exposed to the attack range of the tower ships.

After the attack of huge rocks mixed with fire and wood, Chaisang City was left in ruins.

Zhou Yu sent troops from Jiujiang to attack the tower ships, but was intercepted by Lu Fan's large army and had to retreat to Jiujiang.

On the other side, Lukou Port had already been lost, and Guan Yu and Zhao Yun had already attacked Yuzhang County.

In desperation, Sun Quan proposed to submit to Liu Bei and sent Lu Su to Lujiang to seek peace.

In order to survive, Sun Quan even gave his fifteen-year-old sister Sun Shangxiang to Liu Bei as a concubine, intending to achieve the goal of withdrawing troops through marriage.

Zhuge Liang knew very well that Jiujiang Port was easy to defend but difficult to attack. Even though the walls of Chaisang had long been in ruins, there was nothing Sun Quan could do if he stayed in the city.

Moreover, Cao Cao in the north was receiving frequent news of victory and was about to break through Yuan Shao's base camp, so Zhuge Liang persuaded Liu Bei to withdraw his troops.

At this point, Zhuge Liang spent nearly two years to pacify Jiangdong.

Liu Bei submitted a memorial to the court, appointing Sun Quan as the prefect of Luling.

Wei Xiaobao had fought for two years with Zhuge Liang before returning to Xia Pi. His five wives had already sent countless letters urging him to come back. Now that they saw him return, they were all beaming with joy.

Now, in addition to the entire Xuzhou, Liu Bei also ruled most of Yuzhou and part of Yangzhou. In this situation, Zhuge Liang expressed his concerns.

Once Cao Cao unified the north, Liu Bei's strength would inevitably arouse Cao Cao's suspicion and jealousy. Instead of waiting for Cao Cao to rest and then attack Xuzhou, it would be better to attack Xuchang first when he was least prepared.

Liu Bei was shocked by Zhuge Liang's suggestion.

If we say that when he only had Xuzhou, Liu Bei's mind was indeed just to develop quietly in a corner. Now that he has occupied a quarter of the world, he does have the idea of ​​becoming a king.

However, once Zhuge Liang expressed this idea, Liu Bei couldn't help feeling a little frightened.

Zhuge Liang advised, "My lord, it is your duty to uphold the Han Dynasty. Now Cao Cao is using the emperor to control the princes, and his rebellious intentions are known to all. The emperor has suffered humiliation in Xuchang. Only my lord can rescue the emperor from danger and save the people from disaster."

Liu Bei did not have an absolute understanding of his own strength. After Zhuge Liang's analysis, he decided to follow Zhuge Liang's advice and use the military strategy of Xuchang.

There were two routes to attack Xuchang. One was to launch troops from Xiaopei, pass through Chenliu, and then cross Hulao Pass to enter Xuchang. The other was to launch troops from Shouchun, pass through Runan, and then directly attack Xuchang.

Sending troops from Xiaopei is not only short, but also has a flat road and a fast marching speed. However, the troops have to pass through Yanzhou and the marching route is not far from Yecheng where Cao Cao's troops are stationed, so it is easy for Cao Cao to detect them.

Although the road to Shouchun was rugged, it was far away from Cao Cao's territory. Even if a battle took place in Runan, Cao Cao might not be able to return in time to defend.

Zhuge Liang ultimately suggested that Guan Yu lead a group of soldiers from Xiaopei, bypassing Chenliu and heading for Xuchang under the pretext of assisting Cao Cao in his attack on Yuan Shao. Liu Bei, in turn, would personally lead the army from Runan to Xuchang. Zhuge Liang also reminded Liu Bei that after capturing Xuchang, he must immediately seize Yanzhou and Qingzhou, then control the river crossings and deploy naval forces there to defend them, preventing Cao Cao from crossing.

Cao Cao was living a leisurely life in the north. He even built a Bronze Sparrow Tower in Ye City, preparing to hold a ceremony to offer sacrifices to heaven on behalf of the emperor. He was dreaming of ruling the world together with the emperor. However, he could never have expected that Wei Xiaobao, whom he trusted the most, was leading a group of powerful generals under Liu Bei to stab him in the back.

The food and fodder that Li Tong had looted from Runan had already been sent to Yecheng. By the time the vanguard troops of Wei Xiaobao, Zhao Yun and Zhang Liao arrived to attack the city, the city was already short of rice and food.

Guan Yu stationed troops outside Chenliu City, pretending to be waiting for Cao Cao's dispatch, but in fact he was secretly controlling Guandu Port, preventing Li Tong's men from going to Yecheng to report the news, and even intercepting the messengers from Xuchang heading to the north.

This strategy came from Liu Ye.

After conquering the six counties of Jiangdong, Liu Ye selected a group of smart and capable people from the death squads raised by the four major families of Gu, Lu, Zhu and Zhang, and formed an information intelligence army to specialize in spying on the news of other princes and destroying their intelligence systems.

Liu Ye's initial idea was just to monitor Sun Quan, but later, as his intelligence army grew stronger, he gradually began to take action against other princes.

Thanks to the intelligence army, Cao Cao did not receive any news when Liu Bei attacked Runan.

By the time Cao Cao learned that Runan had fallen, Liu Bei had already marched to the gates of Xuchang, and Guan Yu had already passed Hulao Pass and was on his way to Xuchang.

Cao Cao wanted to return to rescue Xuchang, but was stopped by Guo Jia.

Guo Jia said, "If the Prime Minister goes to rescue Xuchang now, it will likely be too late. Xuchang will be heavily defended by Liu Bei and will be impossible to capture. If Yuan Shao revives and seizes Yecheng, I'm afraid the only territory left for you will be Yanzhou. If you can unify the north in one fell swoop and take over Yanzhou, once your strength recovers, it will be easy to retake Xuchang and even capture Xuzhou."

However, the Prime Minister must plan ahead to prevent Yanzhou from being taken by Liu Bei. If Liu Bei controls Yanzhou, it will be extremely difficult for us to cross the river again. Even if Liu Bei cannot attack us at that time, I am afraid we will be unable to return to the Central Plains.

So Cao Cao divided his troops to defend Yanzhou, thus delaying the opportunity to attack Yuan Shao.

Among the generals who stayed in Xuchang, some were relatives of Cao Cao, and others were former ministers of the Han Dynasty.

When Liu Bei attacked Xuchang, this old city of the Han Dynasty naturally served as Liu Bei's internal support.

Cao Cao had also sent a letter to Xuchang City, asking Cao Hong and other generals to abandon Xuchang and find an opportunity to escape to Yecheng.

Cao Hong and others defended while looking for opportunities to escape, and finally led their subordinates out of the city.

Unfortunately, just a few days after he left the city, he met Guan Yu coming from Hulao Pass.

When Guan Yu was fighting with Cao Hong, Cao Ren and Zhang Xiu, who were stationed in Wancheng, led their troops to encircle Guan Yu, allowing Cao Hong to escape.

In the end, Cao Ren and Zhang Xiu retreated to Wancheng, Guan Yu went to Xuchang, and Cao Hong fled back to Chenliu.

Wei Xiaobao and Liu Xie finally met again after two years, and Liu Bei finally met his nephew who was nominally the emperor.

However, something happened that Zhuge Liang did not expect. While attacking Yuan Shao, Cao Cao actually contacted Zhang Lu, Ma Teng and Guo Si in Chang'an, preparing to encircle and suppress Liu Bei.

(End of this chapter)