Cao Cao of Xuchang ushered in the spring of the fourteenth year of Jian'an in one disappointment after another. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 With the news of the negotiations in Changsha in Jingzhou, followed by the invitation sent by Jingzhou, Cao Cao, who was originally looking forward to seeing the civil strife in Jingzhou, completely put away the thoughts of watching the tiger fight from the mountains.

"The greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment. We all thought that whether it was Liu Bei, Sun Quan, or even Li Sheng, who was in the south or Changsha Taishou, they all had extraordinary ambitions for Jingzhou. They will definitely fight over the ownership of Jingzhou after we withdraw our troops, and finally split and war breaks out because the result of the dispute cannot be convincing to the public. But from now on, we still underestimate them. Liu Bei, Sun Quan, and Li Sheng are all heroes, and they are no longer below me in their grasp of the overall situation, of course they will see that before they are completely weakened, the three of them must not disagree. Because that's going to give me a chance. Cao Cao read the fold he had just sent in his hand, and sighed with a little regret. At this moment, he was sitting in the meeting hall of the Prime Minister's Mansion, discussing matters related to Jiangnan with several of his cronies and advisers. The situation in Jiangnan is changeable, but it is so surprising, which makes him really feel a little stuck in his throat.

This recital came from Jingzhou, and there is nothing in it, but Jingzhou asked Liu Qi to be the pastor of Jingzhou, Liu Bei to be the Taishou of Xiangyang, Zhang Fei to be the Taishou of Xiyang, Li Sheng to be the general of Zhennan, and Tai Shici to be the Taishou of Jiangxia. Although it is involved in such a large number of personnel arrangements, both the emperor and Cao Cao himself clearly understand that this twist and turn is actually just a formality, whether the court agrees with the opinion of the head of this fold or not, Jingzhou's sphere of influence has been divided up according to the good arrangement of the fold. The matter was thus determined, and the chaos that Cao Cao expected did not occur in Jingzhou, which was the main reason for Cao Cao's sigh.

"I heard that Zhou Yu has returned to Chaisang." Jia Xu on the side didn't seem to hear Cao Cao's sigh, and still reported to Cao Cao the latest information he got from Jiangdong in his slightly gloomy voice: "Tai Shici has officially taken over Jiangxia, and he has 5,000 men and horses in his hands at this moment. At the same time, Zhou Yu also ordered Jiang Qin to garrison Xiakou and command a naval army along the way, with about 5,000 men and horses. With the tens of thousands of troops of the Jiangdong Army, being able to garrison 10,000 troops in Jiangxia shows that their ambitions for Jingzhou have not stopped. It's just that they still want to maintain this alliance for now. ”

"That's true, but that's for later. At least for now, the balance of Jingzhou will not change much. Zhou Yu also understood this, so he withdrew most of his military horses to Jiangdong. Cheng Yu felt that what Jia Xu said was not wrong, but he saw the long-term but did not see the immediate trouble: "At present, Li Sheng has ceded Xiangyang and Xiyang, although this is an extremely wealthy city, but it is also the front line with our army. Based on Liu Bei's relationship with our army, I estimate that the front line of Wancheng will be under tremendous pressure for a period of time in the future. ”

"It's a troubling issue, but it's not the most critical one. In fact, even if Liu Bei wants to go north to attack Wancheng, it will take some time to prepare. The two places that have just been received in Xiangyang and Xiyang need to be stabilized, at least for a few months. Therefore, I am not worried about the safety of Wancheng. I heard that Xiahoudun of Runan was going very well there, and it is estimated that he will be able to end the bandit suppression and return at the end of this month. At that time, as soon as Runan settled down, he transferred General Xiahou's men and horses to Wancheng to prevent Liu Beijun's attack. Xun Yu thought for a while and said: "Actually, what I'm most worried about is the matter over there in Huainan, Sun Quan attacked Huainan, and at this moment he has mobilized 20,000 soldiers and horses, and our army only has 5,000 people in Hefei. This is still a broken army that has retreated from the Red Cliff battlefield. Although Wen Yuan and others are guarding, the difference in strength is really too much. Now that Zhou Yu has led the troops back, he can also reinforce the past in an eagerness. Zhou Yu is a master, since he can't see the benefits in the west, he will definitely make a move in the east. In this regard, the lord must take precautions as soon as possible, if Huainan is lost, the Jiangdong army can attack Yanzhou in the west, and Xuzhou in the east, and we will decline. ”

"Huainan's affairs are troublesome." Cao Cao sighed deeply: "I have to go in person." What do you say? He said, glancing at the strategists around him.

The crowd was silent. In fact, they all understand that although the form of Huainan is in crisis, it can't reach the point where Cao Cao has to go in person to solve it. After all, there are too few Jiangdong soldiers, and if only one general was sent to command tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in the past, then the siege of Huainan could naturally be solved. But before it was before, and now it is now. The fiasco of the Battle of Chibi not only caused serious damage to Cao Cao's military strength, but more importantly, he witnessed the beacon fire, and after experiencing such a strategy, Cao's army greatly overestimated the strength of Jiangdong. They were worried that if there was still that Zhou Yu around, things would get troublesome. Although the Huainan Road was not as dangerous as Jingzhou, it was a springboard for the Jiangdong Army to guerrilla attacks on the Central Plains, and it was enough to make Cao Cao unable to settle down, whether it was to the west, east, or north. If Huainan is really lost, what kind of terrible scene will appear on his side. This terrifying situation made Cao Cao can't help but weigh it carefully. Therefore, in the case that it is uncertain to send anyone over, only Cao Cao himself can go in person. Cao Cao would never allow Huainan to fail.

Seeing that everyone bowed their heads and was silent, Cao Cao's heart was also strangely uncomfortable: "What is this!" I don't think I was so silent when I faced Yuan Shao's army. At that time, there were still Fengxiao who came to persuade me to resist the enemy, but now ...... "Although Cao Cao himself knows that such silence is no wonder for his subordinates." After all, everyone has palpitations after the war, but just such a look really makes him angry.

Yes, it's anger. This anger was buried deep in his heart, and he wanted to shout loudly, but he knew it wouldn't work. As a monarch, he can't be superficial in any way. What is needed in the current situation is not his anger, his outbursts, but his calmness and news of victory over the enemy.

"Forget it, let's do it pro-levy. If the situation requires me to do this, that's the only way to go. Cao Cao's brows, which had been furrowed for a long time, finally relaxed, and he finally ordered: "Set the ninth day of March in the fourteenth year to raise troops, stay in Gongda and Miaocai to guard Xuchang, with Cao Chun and Xu Huang as the vanguard, and command 50,000 troops with me to Huainan to defend against the enemy." ”

"Yes!" Everyone in the hall was a body of order, and quickly dispersed to prepare: some went to mobilize grain, grass and ordnance, some went to mobilize soldiers and horses, and some wrote a letter to ask the emperor for permission to send troops. Cao Cao listened to their scattered footsteps, and a slight smile appeared on his face. He didn't bother them, but pulled Jia Xu on the side and walked away from the back garden.

"Wenhe, I just said so much in the palace, but I forgot to ask you one thing." The small pavilion in the back garden is located in the plum blossom group, at this moment the cold winter in the north has not passed, the plum blossoms are still full of blooming, Cao Cao and Jia Xu looked at the beautiful scenery of red and white, and lightly opened the topic.

"Lord, but what about Jingnan Li Sheng?" Jia Xu was in charge of the intelligence department for Cao Cao, and he was only concerned about the only remaining heroes in the world, and he naturally knew much more about their affairs than others. Although it was slightly ignored because Li Sheng was not publicized before, but now with Cao Cao's strong strength, his understanding of Li Sheng is much clearer than before. Listening to Cao Cao's question at this moment, he naturally reacted very quickly: The lord asked that it was him.

"Wenhe, what do you think Li Sheng is calculating? If I say that I gave up Xiangyang and Xiyang just to maintain the alliance, I don't believe it anyway. Although the alliance is important, Xiangyang and Xiyang are also existences that can affect their strength, just give up their territory like this, isn't Li Sheng afraid of raising tigers? To be honest, Cao Cao was a little puzzled by Li Sheng's thoughts, in his opinion, his own strength was much more powerful than any alliance or the like, and he couldn't understand Li Sheng's practice of giving up territory for the sake of the alliance: "The city that has been hard to build, just let it go." I don't know if to call him smart or stupid. ”

"I'm afraid it's not stupid." Jia Xu groaned for a moment and shook his head heavily.

"How?" Cao Cao asked.

"From the point of view, Li Sheng's move has three major benefits." Jia Xu stretched out three fingers as he spoke, and without waiting for Cao Cao to ask, he continued to talk to himself: "First of all, the security of the territory: it is said that Liu Bei and Sun Quan led the three alliances to defeat our army, but it is not Liu Bei or Sun Quan who has gained the most benefits in this battle of Chibi, but Li Sheng, who has always only inserted one foot in the end. Li Sheng led the army as the Taishou of Changsha, before Chibi, he owned a county in Changsha, and after Chibi, he not only had half of Jingzhou south of the Yangtze River, but also occupied Jiangling and Xiangyang, it can be said that most of the territory of Jingzhou fell into his arms and achieved the greatest victory. The fruit of victory is tempting, but it is not something that one person can swallow. Li Sheng's territory has been expanded, and he does have the strength to compete with Sun Quan and Liu Bei, but the foundation of this strength is not so solid. For Li Sheng, after taking Jingzhou, he had the problem of the unstable morale of the people in the new territory, and Sun Quan and Liu Bei were eyeing Jingzhou. Under such circumstances, it is obviously unrealistic to completely keep what has already been obtained, and Li Sheng cannot solve this kind of problem at the same time, so he chose to give in. After withdrawing from Xiangyang and negotiating with Liu Bei and Sun Quan, the three parties had reached a certain consensus on the territory of Jingzhou, which allowed Li Sheng to concentrate on the internal affairs of his new territory and consolidate his rule over the new territory. This is probably the most important point of Li Sheng's decision to give up Xiangyang - to make concessions to ensure safety, and to retreat to gain time. ”

Speaking of this, Jia Xu paused, and looked at his lord Cao Cao with a sigh of relief. I saw him nod slightly, as if he was very interested in what he was saying. "That's one thing, but what about the two?" Cao Cao asked.

"The second is the issue of reputation." Jia Xu went on to say: "To achieve great things, you must be famous, and you can only be famous in order to attract people from all over the world, otherwise no matter how benevolent and righteous you are, and your wisdom is outstanding, it will be in vain." Because people don't know about you, how can they take refuge in you? Just like Liu Bei, people all over the world know him, isn't it just for him to bear the title of this imperial uncle? Jia Xu said with a smile, and at the same time looked at Cao Cao's face with the corner of his eye: "Li Zixu is better than the earliest Liu Bei, at least he has a little reputation in Jingzhou, although this reputation has little to do with the martial arts of the war, mainly from his background, his governance and other aspects, if we are here, it will not become the standard for trouble, but in Liu Biao's place, this is a very outstanding talent." Liu Biao made him the Taishou of Changsha because of this. It's just that no matter what, his reputation is also resounding in Jingzhou, and at this moment, if he doesn't do something big that shocks the world, how can he let the world know about him? You must know that it is still too difficult to compete for the world with his original reputation. ”

"Hmm, do you want to leave a name? This is also a matter of great importance. In particular, his reason is very good--to exchange Xiangyang City for those families who once surrendered to us. Hehe, in this way, presumably those officials and students in Jingzhou will have the courage to take refuge in him. This is soul winning. Cao Cao followed Jia Xu's words, thought about it for a while, and obviously quickly realized: "It's not just about winning people." In the case that the family in Jingzhou is grateful to him, I am afraid that the development of his territory will also be very smooth. After all, those wall grasses in Jingzhou have not suffered a little loss. ”

"That's true, as far as we can get it. Li Sheng had already confirmed the position of Taishou in his territory. Jia Xu echoed with a smile: "Li Sheng takes Zhao Yun as the Jiangling Taishou, Liu Qi as the Wuling Taishou, Kuai Qi as the Guiyang Taishou, and Pang Shanmin as the Lingling Taishou." ”

"Among the four great guards, those who have followed Li Sheng for a long time and those who have newly attached to Li Sheng account for half each. I guess he did this to appease those people's hearts. Cao Cao nodded lightly in approval: "Although he is an enemy, I also have to admit that he is very experienced in this regard." Gangneung and Wuling are both important places, so they naturally have to be firmly in their own hands. As for Lingling and Guiyang, one is not dangerous, and the other is remote, and it is really the most appropriate place to place the two people who have put a question mark on their center. I don't think there is any opposition to this from those people in Jingzhou. ”

"I don't know that there is no voice, and they still agree with it. Some families, such as the Kuai family, the Pang family, and the Huang family, have taken the initiative to cut off contact with us. Jia Xu lifted a mocking smile on his lips: "It's really a group of people who don't know the height of the sky, do they think that a hairy boy like Li Sheng can compete with the world's heroes?" Not to mention the lord, even Liu Bei and Sun Quan are much stronger than him. Now that the general trend of the world has almost been determined, where is there still a place for others to interfere. If this Li Sheng was a few years earlier, there would still be a chance to compete with us, but now...... It's so hard, it's so hard! He shook his head again and again, and there was some regret in his words.

"Hehe, Wen He is still regretting one less enemy?" Cao Cao looked at Jia Xu's shaking head and laughed happily. Although Jia Xu didn't do it on purpose, it was precisely because of this that Cao Cao found it interesting. After all, scarcity is expensive.

laughed and laughed, but after laughing, Cao Cao still remembered the so-called business: "What about the third? He asked again.

"Third, but I am exempt from continuing to contact our army." Jia Xu smiled and stretched out his third finger: "Jiangdong has won Jiangxia, so there is no need to say more." In addition to Li Sheng, everyone thinks that it is Liu Bei who has gained the most benefits, but what kind of place does Liu Bei own-Xiangyang. It was a big city, but it was also one of the frontlines against our army. Under the alliance of the three families, Liu Bei could not attack Sun Quan in the east, Li Sheng in the south, and the mountains in the west, and the only way out was to the north, and the north was our territory. Li Sheng may be a little afraid of meeting the lord, he gave Xiangyang to Liu Bei, which may not have the intention of using Liu Bei to attack us on his behalf. It can be expected that in the future, Li Sheng will use his own grain and grass to support Liu Bei's northward advance. Because the deeper Liu Bei goes north, the more he weakens us, the greater the entanglement between Liu Bei and us, and the more in line with Li Sheng's interests. Li Sheng will not go north, I think he will definitely go west after a few years of development, and take Xichuan, which is temporarily beyond the reach of our army's forces, in order to obtain the capital of Dingli. This is probably the only way for him to dominate the world. ”

"Well, there's a good chance it is." Cao Cao nodded: "Then do you have any strategy for this?" Although Cao Cao asked Jia Xu to be in charge of intelligence gathering, Cao Cao, who knew that Jia Xu was indeed very capable, did not simply regard Jia Xu as an intelligence collector, he still valued Jia Xu's planning ability very much. He knew how terrible it was for Jia Xu to set up a plan against the enemy. Because he had been framed by such a scheme, he lost his eldest son, nephew and the general in the army whose strength was comparable to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.

"We still don't have enough information about Li Sheng, but as far as the overall consideration of Jiangnan is concerned, there are still a few ways to think about it here." Jia Xu narrowed his eyes with a smile.

"Say!" Cao Cao is still very direct.

"Now the affairs of the court are in the hands of the lord. The lord can crown Zhou Yu as the Jiangling Taishou, Liu Bei as the Jingzhou Thorn History, and Li Sheng as the Xiangyang Taishou. Although I expected that they would not obey this holy decree, it denied the legitimacy of their arbitrary distribution of Jingzhou territory, that is, the correct name. Once the correct name is not there, it is possible to be biased. If you have the strength, who doesn't want to take Jingzhou all. Of course, they would not have done such a thing at this time, but it undoubtedly planted a seed among them. As for when this seed will take root and sprout, it depends on our means. This calculation is also one. Jia Xu narrowed his eyes and smiled, with a light like a poisonous snake in it: "Second, you can go to Jiangdong and spread lies about Zhou Yu and Lu Su privately lending Jingzhou to Liu Bei. This is a lie that is obvious at a glance, but it is this lie that gives Sun Quan, the lord of Jiangdong, a reasonable excuse. You don't need others to believe it, as long as Sun Quan believes it himself. I think with Sun Quan's fiery beating heart, I must always think about opening up remote lands. If the battle in Jiangbei doesn't go well, I think it's likely that he will look to his former allies. In some ways, he was a man who would not take a loss. Once Sun Quan has further ambitions for Jingzhou, the balance of Jingzhou will definitely be broken. And once the balance is broken, then the three parties in Jingzhou, whether it is Li Sheng, Liu Bei, or Sun Quan, will be stuck in this quagmire and cannot extricate themselves. ”

"This seems to make some sense, but isn't it too slow to deal with Jingzhou's affairs like this?" Cao Cao thought about it, although he thought that what Jia Xu said was very reasonable, but he also understood that this thing could not be successful in a few years, he thought about the time it would take, and thought about his already somewhat decrepit body, and couldn't help but be a little unwilling. "Isn't there a faster way?" He asked.

"Things are in the past that are at your fingertips. If we intervene again, this Yizhou will not fall into our hands, whether to give it to Li Sheng, or to Liu Bei, we must make a choice. Jia Xu shook his head and glanced at Cao Cao. He didn't say much about this matter, he knew that Cao Cao could hear the reproach on himself—the things that were at his fingertips were ruined by Cao Cao's own hands. If he hadn't treated Zhang Song like that, I'm afraid that the current Yizhou would eventually fall into his own hands. "Alas......" Jia Xu sighed in his heart, but there was nothing else he could do. It's already like this, and he can only cry out for help.

Cao Cao was silent, and he also regretted his pride when he won Jingzhou. It was because of this pride that he actually dizzy and asked Yang Xiu, the Leng Qing leader, to entertain Zhang Song and mess things up.

"It's really not enough to succeed, but more than to lose." Cao Cao, who thought of this, was secretly annoyed in his heart, but this annoyance was not aimed at himself, but at the damn Leng Qing head. Because this matter is not wrong in terms of his reaction at the time, so the fault can only be the person who helps him do things. And Yang Xiu, who undertook this matter, was undoubtedly the best object of anger. Although Cao Cao didn't have a seizure now, he already had a plan for Yang Xiu in his heart. As Jia Xu said, a seed has been planted.

******

No one is perfect, nothing is perfect. When Cao Cao focused his eyes on Li Sheng and Sun Quan, Liu Bei, who was considered to be able to do so as long as he guarded the danger of Wancheng, was secretly planning this other counterattack. The target of the counterattack was not Wancheng, which was located directly north of Xiangyang, but Runan, which was only separated by a mountain from Xiyang. Although Li Sheng did not teach him exactly what Liu Bei to do, according to the topographic map from Xiyang to Runan left by Li Sheng and Li Sheng's move to let Wei Yan cooperate with him in intelligence, Liu Bei was already very confident in fighting such a Runan strategy.

"At this moment, Cao Cao is in a period of weakness, the wounds left on the Chibi battlefield have not healed, if we quickly launch an attack at this time, then Cao Cao can only meet the enemy in the east to save the east, and the enemy in the west to save the way to the west. According to the information given to us by Li Zhennan, the banditry in Runan was completely planned by him. Up to now, Cao Cao still hasn't seen clearly that the large and small hills that are lined up in Runan, and even the mountains that are constantly fighting with each other, actually have a common master. Although now that the master has retired and the bandits have temporarily calmed down, Cao Cao will only think that it is the result of Xiahoudun being ordered to suppress him, because he neglected the control of Runan and did not continue to keep Xiahoudun in Runan, but dropped Xiahoudun to Wancheng to defend against us. This seemingly correct arrangement is actually a mistake. As long as that Xiahoudun leaves, the lord can launch in Runan, and by accepting the various arrangements left by Li Zhennan, I can quickly attack all parts of Runan. After all, the lord originally came out of this Runan, and the lord's official position is also the pastor of Yuzhou, with such a foundation and reputation, it is a matter of course to attack Runan. Ma Jian explained to the generals in the hall with a smile. At this moment, all the arrangements have been prepared, and the biggest obstacle Xiahoudun has also left Runan, and now as long as there is a mobilization here, the whole army can be mobilized to carry out a quick strategic operation.

Although Liu Beijun's movements before this were extremely hidden, it was mainly external, as for the internal, except for Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Chen Zhi, the three generals who had a comprehensive understanding of this matter, other people more or less understood from the movement of the army below - this war will soon be ignited.

"I hope this time I can have a good time." Seeing the news of the imminent battle spread out in front of them like this, Liu Beijun's people were not afraid at all, and even they looked forward to the arrival of this battle: they never washed away the fiasco of Dangyang, although they fought with Cao Cao in Chibi, but in this battle they only acted as an assistant, just beat the water dogs on the side, and there was no real shame. Now that I have Xiangyang and Xiyang, I am full of passion for the future development while sighing at Li Sheng's benevolence and righteousness. After reorganizing the army and replenishing the food and grass, everyone from the general to the soldiers will be able to fight a battle. They all hoped that this would be able to wash away the shadow of defeat through victory in the First World War.

"Let's hear how the Strategist arranged this battle." Thinking like this, everyone looked at Ma Jian with blank eyes.

All of a sudden, Ma Jian became the focus of everyone. Under this scorching gaze, the young man, who had obtained a high position at a young age, was slightly nervous, and two patches of red were faintly lifted on both cheeks. I saw him take a deep breath and cough twice in a pretended posture, and then he spoke as calmly as possible: "The goal of this raider is Runan, but the real goal is not only Runan." I have calculated with the lord, and roughly divided our army into two roads, one with the three generals as the main generals, from Xiyang to Runan through the mountain road. Because the key to this road is the swiftness of the strategy, only the courage of the three generals can be competent. Runan has a large number of people to cooperate with us, although Li Sheng's people have basically withdrawn, but the foundation is still there, and the three generals are going to cooperate with General Wei Yan and completely accept Runan. As for the other way, please ask Guan Junhou to lead the army, first attack Xinye, Anzhong area, and then decide according to the situation of Runan. If Xiahoudun heard that Runan had been lost, he led his army back to the north, and this prince took advantage of the situation to attack Wancheng. If not, the troops will be stationed in Xinye to lay the foundation for our army's future policies. In this advance, 50,000 of our army's 65,000 soldiers were sent out to do their best, and only 15,000 people were left in the rear to defend it. Therefore, it is the first battle after the defeat of our army in Dangyang, and everything is still requested to do your best, and you will be ashamed of the snow. ”

"No!" Liu Beijun's people all bowed down to receive the order.