In the twelfth year of Jian'an, 208 A.D. was destined to be a year that would go down in history, and the Yuan family forces in Hebei with Yuan Xi as the center began to attack the Cao family forces in the Central Plains in an all-out way. Yuan Xi personally led 100,000 troops to confront Cao Cao in Qian County, Yuan Tan led 100,000 Qingxu soldiers and Cao Cao's general Xiahoudun to fight in Shouchun, Yuan Shang led 100,000 Bingzhou troops to Guanzhong to attack Xiahou Yuan in Guanzhong, Gao Gan led 100,000 Jizhou soldiers and horses to attack Chenliu, and Cao Cao also sent Xiahou Shang to Chenliu to fight against Gao Gan.

Yuan Xi and Cao Cao are the two most powerful forces, and the duel between the two is related to the belonging of the north, and even the belonging of the world, which has become the focus of discussion among literati and scholars, and it is also a topic of idle conversation among ordinary people. It is difficult to distinguish the winner of this evenly matched battle for a while, and it depends on the national strength of the two countries.

No matter who wins or loses, they will pay a painful price, the war is cruel, there is no winner, if you have to say that there is a winner, it is to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, take the opportunity to strengthen the power of their princes, Liu Bei is one of them. Uncle Liu Huang since Zhuge Liang's assistance, finally began to run, Xinye defeated Xiahou Dun, Xiangyang defeated Cao Ren, and now also occupies Xiangyang and Jiangxia, using his five years of operation in Jingzhou, won a lot of people's hearts, with Cai Mao's surrender, Liu Bei used Liu Qi's name to collect Liu Biao's old department, Xiangyang army has 70,000 people, plus Jiangxia's 30,000 army, there are already 100,000 people.

During this time, Liu Bei listened to Zhuge Liang's advice and did not rush to attack Nanjun, but recruited talents in Xiangyang. Jingzhou celebrities have come to vote one after another, Kuai Yue, Kuai Liang, Cai Mao, Zhang Yun, Yi Yi, Li Yan, Ma Liang and others have all voted under Liu Bei, and Liu Bei's strength has risen sharply. Zhuge Liang thought that when the time was ripe, he should capture Nanjun so as not to have too many dreams at night.

Just as Liu Bei was about to raise troops to seize Nanjun, Sun Quan's envoy Lu Su came to ask for Jiangxia. Zhuge Liang thought that the army was about to be dispatched now, not the time to tear his face with Sun Quan, so he persuaded Liu Bei to use Liu Qi as an excuse, saying that Liu Qi was still alive now, and he was powerless.

Lu Su saw that Liu Qi was terminally ill and died soon, so he promised to come back after Liu Qi's death, and if he didn't keep his promise, he could only meet in arms. Lu Su went back and told Sun Quan the truth, but Sun Quan was furious and scolded Liu Bei for not believing his words. Lu Su persuaded him with good words, Liu Qi died soon after, and Liu Bei had no excuse to occupy Jiangxia. Sun Quan had lost patience with Lu Su, and although he didn't say anything about him to his face, he secretly ordered Zhou Yu to prepare a sneak attack on Jiangxia. Now that Cao Cao and Yuan Xi are fighting, it is a good time to seize Jingzhou, and Zhou Yu also thinks that Lu Su believes in Liu Bei too much, obeys Sun Quan's orders, and is ready to attack Jiangxia at any time.

Liu Bei did his best to attack Nanjun with Xiangyang's troops, the Central Plains was in a big war, Cao Cao was even difficult to deal with Yuan Xi, naturally it was impossible to have troops to support Nanjun, Cao Ren ordered the city gate to be closed and guarded, he had 50,000 soldiers and horses, Liu Bei's troops were not much more than himself, and it was a dream to take the opportunity to take Nanjun.

Just when Cao Ren wanted Liu Bei to show him his ability to defend the city, but he didn't see Liu Bei's army attacking the city, Liu Bei just stationed the army more than ten miles away from Nanjun and monitored Nanjun. Not to mention that Cao Ren was puzzled, even Liu Bei didn't know what Zhuge Liang wanted. Liu Bei modestly asked Zhuge Liang: "Military advisor, if we garrison the army here, and if we don't attack the city, and Cao Ren won't surrender, how can we capture Nanjun?" ”

Zhuge Liang shook his feather fan and said confidently: "Don't worry, my lord, Kong Ming can take Nanjun without a single soldier, but the time is not yet ripe, our army is not only here to target Cao Ren, but also to prevent Sun Quan." ”

Liu Bei was surprised when he heard this, and asked, "Didn't Zijing already promise to persuade Sun Quan to hand over Jiangxia after Liu Qi died?" ”

Zhuge Liang replied with a smile: "The lord doesn't know, Sun Quan bullies the soft and is afraid of the hard, and the people who fish in troubled waters must think about the Central Plains War to capture Jingzhou, as long as our army shows enough strength, he will not dare to act rashly, and can only wait for Liu Qi to die before he dares to threaten the order of the imperial court." By then, our army had already taken the entire Jingzhou, and even if he did not let out Jiangxia, Sun Quan would not dare to send troops to take it. ”

Liu Bei suddenly realized, so it was, but how to take Nanjun was still puzzled. Zhuge Liang continued to analyze: "Cao Cao's war in the Central Plains is unfavorable, and Cao Ren can't help here, as long as our army promises to let Cao Ren return north to support the Central Plains, he will be willing to give up Nanjun." Moreover, if Cao Cao is defeated too quickly, it will not be conducive to our army's capture of Yizhou. ”

Zhuge Liang deserves to be a top strategist, and Sun Quan and Cao Ren are indeed as Zhuge Liang expected. When Sun Quan learned that Xiangyang had sent troops to attack Nanjun, he ordered Zhou Yu to capture Jiangxia. Zhou Yu would not have no strategic foresight like Sun Quan, he found out that Liu Bei's army was stationed not far from Nanjun, but he did not attack the city, one was worried that Jiangdong would attack Jiangxia, and the other was to deter Cao Ren.

Zhou Yu seemed to understand something, and immediately went to meet Sun Quan. Sun Quan saw that Zhou Yu was coming to see him urgently, and knew that there must be something urgent, so he asked: "Lord, the matter of Jiangxia can be delayed, if I expect it to be good, Zhuge Liang will let Cao Renbei return to the exchange of Nanjun conditions, our army should seize the time, promise Cao Ren on the same terms, and attach that he will send troops to Yangzhou to support, and Nanjun can get it." ”

Sun Quan thought so, and did not send Lu Su this time, for fear that Lu Su would not be decisive enough to do bad things, but sent Kan Ze to go. At this time, Cao Ren was meeting Liu Bei's envoy Sun Gan, Sun Gan expressed to Cao Ren the purpose of this visit, wanting Cao Ren to give up Nanjun, and Liu Bei guaranteed that Cao Ren's army returned to the Central Plains safely.

Cao Ren hesitated, the war in the Central Plains was unfavorable, Nanjun had become an isolated city, if he could return to the Central Plains safely, he could still help Cao Cao to deal with Yuan Xi; It's just that he gave up Nanjun like this, he was really unwilling to be so cheap Liu Bei, sat back and watched Liu Bei be strong, and said to Sun Gan: "I can understand Uncle Liuhuang's proposal, but I just think about things too simply, let's not talk about whether you will go back on your word and sneak attack our army." Second, I can borrow from Jiangdong. ”

As an excellent lobbyist under Liu Bei, Sun Qian was naturally prepared and confidently said: "Compared with the detour to Jiangdong, the way back to the Central Plains from the Han River is convenient, and the general also knows that the war in the Central Plains is imminent, and there may be more variables a moment later." Moreover, when my lord came, he promised that as long as General Cao gave up Nanjun, our army was willing to send General Guan to help Cao Sikong and expel Yuan Xi from the Central Plains. Cao Ren and Man Chong agreed to Liu Bei's exchange conditions. After Liu Bei captured Nanjun, he did not break his promise, and sent Guan Yu to lead an army of 5,000 people to follow Cao Ren to help.

When Sun Quan's envoy arrived in Nanjun, Nanjun had already changed hands, Kan Ze was a careful man, knowing that Jiangdong and Jingzhou would have a struggle, in order not to startle the snake, he did not meet Liu Bei, so he returned to Jiangdong and reported the situation to Sun Quan. This time, Sun Quan did not swallow his anger anymore, and despite the dissuasion of Zhang Zhao and Lu Su, he ordered Zhou Yu and Cheng Pu to attack Jiangxia.

In the Central Plains battlefield, Cao Cao and Yuan Xi each invested 400,000 troops, although the two seemed to be of equal strength, but Cao Cao almost tried his best, and Yuan Xi still had Youzhou, Sanhan, and Dongying's soldiers eyeing him, and he could enter the battle at any time, and the follow-up forces continued, if this continued, Cao Cao would definitely be dragged down.

Cao Ren's army of 50,000 suddenly returned north, and with Liu Bei's help, Yuan Xi had to reformulate his plan. Yuan Xi originally thought that an army of 400,000 was enough to defeat Cao Cao, but he didn't expect that Liu Bei also had the heart to oppose him, and it seemed that he could only continue to increase his troops.