Cao Cao's head was completely big now.

Originally, in Cao Cao's view, there were only two opponents for him to unify the world, namely Yuan Shao and Liu Bei, and as for Sun Quan, Ma Teng and the like, they were not to worry. Now that he has dealt with Yuan Shao, the hegemony is half of the success, and then he just needs to concentrate on dealing with Liu Bei. In history, in the second year after Cao Cao returned from his expedition to Wuhuan, he immediately started the battle of the Southern Expedition, and the goal was directly aimed at Xinye, where Liu Bei was located.

But now, I don't know what kind of guidance Yuan Shao's second son Yuan Xi has got, and all of a sudden he is coaxed, which has become an unstable factor that makes him feel like a fish in his throat.

It is true that Yuan Xi's current strength is still very weak, his territory is only one state, and his soldiers and horses are only in his early 20,000s, and more importantly, he has no decent talents in terms of civil and military affairs - look at the people he reuses, what Xian Yufu, Tian Yu, Xu Miao, I have never heard of, what kind of goods are they! What's even more ridiculous is that I heard that he recently used a person called Yuan Dong, and he wanted to forcibly compare with my Cao Hong, why don't you make a Yuan Nan, Yuan Bei, and Yuan Zhong come out, plus you Yuan Xi yourself, and make up a "Yuan's East, West, South, South, Central" combination?

But Cao Cao never dared to take this kid lightly, the last time he was captured by him, Yuan Xi's confident eyes left an indelible impression on Cao Cao.

"It's not good, this kid will really do what he says, and he will lead the army south next year, pointing directly at Yecheng; But Liu Bei is also my confidant, which side should I attack first? ”

At this time, Cao Cao missed Guo Jia a little, on such a key issue, Guo Jia has always been very assertive, and he will never be in a dilemma. Although his opinion is not necessarily right, for example, the last time he listened to his expedition to Wuhuan, he suffered a big loss, but Guo Jiahao is good because he always sees the problem with a straight face, and he is the person who can cure his "difficulty in choosing" the most.

"Tell me, in your opinion, should this prince continue to send troops to Youzhou next, or should he lead the army south instead and pacify Liu Bei first?"

The strategists in Cao Cao's hands expressed their opinions, some advocated continuing to attack Yuan Xi, and some advocated turning around and attacking Liu Bei. Cao Cao was angry: "I don't want to listen to pedantic words, what Yuan Xi is young and promising, Liu Bei is the dragon and phoenix, what I want is a refreshing and irrefutable reason to fight!" ”

"Lord, my subordinates have a proposal - instead of adding to your troubles here, you should first send a fine work to Jingzhou to see how Jingzhou Mu Liu Biao's physical condition is. The subordinates heard that this person is already seriously ill, and I am afraid that time is short. ”

The name of the person who said this was Cheng Yu, and he was also one of Cao Cao's main advisers.

Cao Cao's eyes lit up: "What this prince wants is a high opinion like Zhongde, the reason why Liu Bei can gain a foothold in Xinye, in addition to the large number of talents under him, the most important thing is because he has won Liu Biao's trust." I heard that Liu Biao's wife, Cai, has long been jealous of Liu Bei's talent. Once Liu Biao dies of illness, with her short-sighted womanhood, she will definitely be wary of Liu Bei stealing her son's inheritance, and only wait for her to disagree with Liu Bei, then it will be a good opportunity for our army to seize Jingzhou. Zhongde, since this plan is yours, the task of investigating Liu Biao will simply be handed over to you. ”

"Subordinates receive orders."

More than half a month later, Cheng Yu sent information to Cao Cao: "Liu Biao is really terminally ill and has not left the council for many days. ”

"Who is in charge of Jingzhou's military affairs at the moment?"

"For the time being, Liu Biao's brother-in-law, Cai Mao is in charge."

Cao Cao was stunned for a moment, then looked up to the sky and laughed: "It's really heaven to help me!" Zhongde, do you know that Cai Mao was my best friend when I was young, and my friendship with him is by no means comparable to ordinary people. If after Liu Biao's death, Jingzhou's military affairs are handled by this person, I only need a letter, and he will lead Jingzhou's troops to surrender without a fight. As long as the Jingzhou army surrenders, Liu Bei only holds a small Xinye county, even if he has two righteous brothers under his army, Xu Shu and Zhuge two major military divisions, how dare to compete with the army of our imperial court? ”

"My subordinates think the same way, and I congratulate my lord in advance!"

"I have made up my mind, from now on, let the elite of our army practice in the Xuanwu Pool to adapt to the water war in advance. As soon as the news of Liu Biao's death arrives, it will be the time for our army to move south! ”

In the thirteenth year of Jian'an of the Han Dynasty, in 208 AD, Cao Cao collectively marched south to Jingzhou in order to facilitate the dispatch of Cao troops in various states, and appointed himself as the prime minister of the Han Dynasty. Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty was helpless about this. Cao Cao later went to the Son of Heaven, hoping to return the seal of the Han Dynasty general captured when he defeated Yuan Shang to Yuan Xi, so that he could inherit the position of general that his father and brother had held.

After Yuan Xi received this gift, he said to Tian Yu, Yuan Dong and others: "It seems that Cao Cao is going to make a big southern expedition." ”

Tian Yu nodded and said: "Yes, Cao Cao has never shown favor to my Yuan clan since the battle of Yecheng, and at this time he suddenly returned the seal of the general, obviously he was preparing to start a war with Liu Biao and Sun Quan, afraid that our army would sneak attack his rear and the backyard would catch fire." Then, according to the lord's opinion, taking advantage of Cao Cao's southern expedition, will our army have a chance to recover the remaining three states in Hebei? ”

"Even if Cao Cao doesn't personally march south, I must recover the three states of Hebei. However, this matter cannot be rushed, if Cao's army has just moved south, our army will immediately cross the border between the two sides and launch a fierce attack on all parts of Hebei, Cao Cao will inevitably withdraw his troops in a hurry, then we will have one less good show to watch. ”

"That is in the opinion of the lord......"

"You and Xu Miao and the others have discussed, and sent a messenger who can speak well to Yecheng to thank Cao Gong for his good intentions in returning the general's seal, and ask for a grace period of another year for the truce between the two sides. In addition, it is said that Gongsun Kang of Liaodong has recently used the sea waterway to secretly collude with Sun Quan in an attempt to invade Youzhou, hoping that Gong Cao can play the Son of Heaven on behalf of him, authorize our army to send troops to Liaodong, and teach Gongsun Kang a lesson! ”

"The last general knows that the lord's move is to stabilize Cao Cao and let him rest assured that he is marching south, but will it be too risky to attack Gongsun Kang? Don't forget, the climate in Liaodong is similar to Liucheng, Cao Cao went on an expedition to Wuhuan, and as a result, he suffered a curse, and tens of thousands of elite soldiers were almost wiped out, and this painful lesson is still vivid. ”

"Rest assured, general, I have never fought uncertain battles in my life. Even if I do encounter a curse, I have my own plan to deal with it. No matter how poor Yuan Shang's ability is, he is my own brother after all, Gongsun Kang beheaded him to ask Cao Cao for credit, how can this revenge not be guaranteed! ”

"The last general understands, this will be done according to the lord's will!"

In August of that year, the news of Liu Biao's death spread, and Cao Cao, who had re-concluded an armistice alliance with Yuan Xi, left Cao Pi and tens of thousands of elite soldiers to defend Yecheng, and personally led an army of 200,000 assembled from seven states under his command to conquer Jingzhou in the south. A month later, when he heard that Cao Cao's troops had arrived, his childhood friend Cai Mao led more than 100,000 people from Jingzhou's land and water division to surrender without a fight, forming an encirclement of Liu Bei's Xinye from the north and south. Liu Bei hurriedly heard the news that Jingzhou had surrendered to Cao's army, and fled to Jiangling in the middle of Jingzhou with Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Xu Shu, Zhuge Liang and others.