Chapter 149: Without killing, there is no way to show prestige, without prestige, there is no way to
Chen Gong went to Liu Biao and said that he was willing to go to Jiangxia to assist Huang Zu in attacking Lujiang.
Liu Biao was already annoyed by Chen Gong's constant persuasion to send troops to attack Xu Du, but it was difficult to drive him away. Now he took the initiative to request something, which was exactly what he wanted, and he agreed without thinking.
Kuai Yue, Cai Mao and other people in Jingzhou were also eager for Chen Gong to leave Xiangyang, and they all supported letting him go to Jiangxia. Some even suggested bringing Chen Gong 5,000 troops, which was actually assisting Liu Bei.
Although Kuai Yue disapproved, Liu Biao still gave Chen Gong five thousand soldiers and asked him to take him to Jiangxia and follow Huang Zu to attack Lujiang.
As for how to attack, that was a matter between Huang Zu and Chen Gong. Liu Biao just told Huang Zu to attack Lujiang to help Liu Bei.
Of course, these five thousand soldiers and horses were only temporarily supervised by Chen Gong and were not distributed to him. They would still have to be returned to Xiangyang after the Lujiang campaign was completed.
However, if they continue to attack Lujiang, then these five thousand soldiers and horses will be under Chen Gong's command.
Chen Gong never dreamed that he just wanted to leave Xiangyang and go to Jiangxia, but now he got five thousand soldiers for nothing. He probably woke up laughing in his dreams at night.
He did not dare to stay, fearing that Liu Biao would regret it, so he immediately led his troops to leave and took a boat along the Han River. Since he was going to attack the Lujiang River, how could he miss the boat?
Gan Ning also left Nanyang for Xuzhou two days after Zhou Ping left, leading 800 children, who were said to be children but actually his soldiers.
When Zhou Ping passed through Wancheng, he went to see Zhang Xiu again.
Now that Liu Biao was unwilling to send troops to Xu, Zhang Xiu found an excuse and also refused to send troops, saying that he would listen to Liu Biao.
Zhou Ping didn't persuade him much, he just spent the night in Wancheng, and took Zhang Wu and others on the road the next day. It was a long way to Yecheng, and the situation in Xuzhou was urgent, so he had to get to Jizhou as soon as possible.
…………
When Cao Cao was in the camp outside the city, his scouts reported back that Liu Bei's march was extremely slow and he did not break out of camp until sunrise. He had already set up camp at midnight and could only march more than twenty miles in one day.
Based on this calculation, Liu Bei could return in about ten days, but now it may take more than twenty days to return.
"Fengxiao, what do you think?"
In fact, Cao Cao had guessed Liu Bei's little thoughts and asked Guo Jia with a smile.
Guo Jia smiled and replied: "Liu Bei is like this for two reasons. One is to keep Ming Gong's troops here, and the other is because he doesn't want to exhaust his troops in the battle."
"Liu Bei left Guan Yu, Lu Su and others to stay in Jiujiang, and only led more than 10,000 troops to return to Xuzhou. If he wanted to make Duke Ming retreat, he had to ask for help elsewhere. Yi Jia expected that Zhou Wen'an must have left to ask for help.
." Guo Jia continued.
Cao Cao narrowed his eyes slightly and asked again: "Where do you think Zhou Wen'an will go to ask for help?"
"Jingzhou," Guo Jia replied, "if I were Zhou Wen'an and I didn't want to abandon Jiujiang at this time and wanted Duke Ming to retreat, I would have to go to Jingzhou to persuade Liu Zhennan to lead troops to attack Xudu. In this case, Duke Ming would definitely retreat, and
The siege of Xuzhou can be solved."
"Yes, what a pity!" Cao Cao suddenly sighed.
"What's a pity?" Guo Jia was puzzled.
Cao Cao said softly: "It's a pity that I didn't get Zhou Wen'an at the beginning. This man has extraordinary intelligence and is as good as you. As far as I know, after Zhou Wen'an followed Liu Xuande to Xuzhou, he once said that there were three major enemies in Xuzhou, and the urgent enemy was Yuan Gongliu.
The hidden enemy was Lü Bu, and the distant enemy was Lü Bu. It was easy to know that Yuan Qiao wanted to capture Xuzhou, but at that time Lü Bu was still fighting with Lv Bu in Yanzhou. How could he know that Lü Bu was the hidden enemy, so he could set up an ambush on three sides to defeat Lü Bu. And
How could we have expected that Gu was a distant enemy and had already prepared for it. There were strong soldiers in Pi below Pengcheng. Now all this is as it says. If he had been used by Gu instead of Liu Xuande, how could Xuzhou be so difficult to capture at this time!"
"He also told Liu Xuande that there are three major forces in Xuzhou. Chen Yuanlong and Mi Zizhong are on one side of Xuzhou, Cao Bao's Danyang soldiers are on the other side, and Zang Ba's Taishan soldiers are on the other side. And these three forces are now all used by Liu Xuande. Haha,
Do you think it’s a pity that such a person is lost alone?”
Guo Jia has heard about these things, and he has also thought about whether he could be like him if he were Zhou Wen'an, thinking that Lu Bu would attack Xuzhou, and whether he could conquer Zang Ba, Cao Bao and others.
Guo Jia thought for a long time, but the result was difficult. Although he might have expected Lu Bu to defect to Xuzhou, he definitely would not have expected that he would attack Xuzhou, let alone set up an ambush on three sides to defeat Lu Bu.
Moreover, Cao Bao and Zang Ba were not easy to conquer, but Zhou Wen'an was able to do these things so easily. This shows that this person's wisdom is far superior to his own.
However, a wise man will surely make a mistake. Guo Jia smiled at this moment and said: "It is indeed a pity to say this, but there is still one pity."
Although it was a pity to lose Zhou Wen'an, Cao Cao did not particularly regret it. He was just Zhou Wen'an, and he couldn't do anything about him. He would not avoid him, but Liu Bei.
"Do you want to say that it's a pity that he will return in vain when he goes to Jingzhou?" Cao Cao asked with a smile.
"Yes, Liu Zhennan is similar to Yuan Benchu. He has a plan but cannot use it. Although he has short-term desires, he has no long-term ambitions. I don't expect him to send troops to attack Xu."
"Liu Zhennan has nothing to worry about. The only person he worries about is Zhang Xiu, who is stationed in Nanyang. However, if Liu Zhennan does not send troops, Zhang Xiu's troops are weak and he will probably not send troops to Xu. There are also Yuan Benchu and Zhou Wen'an's request for help in Jingzhou to no avail.
I'm afraid I will go to Jizhou to ask for help. If Jizhou's soldiers and horses go south, the capital will be in great danger!"
The only person Cao Cao fears most now is Yuan Shao, which is why he became the general, but then gave up the general to Yuan Shao and became Sikong himself.
Yanzhou, Yuzhou and Xuzhou are basically considered as a whole. Now Yanzhou and Yuzhou are already in hand. As long as Xuzhou is captured again, Cao Cao will dare to fight against Yuan Shao's troops.
"Gonggong knows Yuan Jizhou better than Jia. He is a scheming but difficult to solve. If you are worried about him sending troops to attack, you can write a handwritten letter to him to reminisce about your old friendship and show your relatives and friends that you will have nothing to worry about.
We also prepared troops at Chenliu, so that even if Jizhou sends troops to attack, there will be no danger."
"Hahaha... What Fengxiao said is true. It's time for me to rekindle old friendship with Benchu. As long as Jingzhou and Jizhou don't send troops, I will be able to defeat Liu Xuande and capture Xuzhou. Since he deliberately went slowly, I will force him
He is coming quickly."
"How do you force me?" Guo Jia asked.
Cao Cao chuckled: "Liu Xuande prides himself on being benevolent and loving the people, so he killed some Xuzhou people to see if he could still move slowly."
Guo Jia said anxiously: "Ming Gong, it is useless to kill people, I am afraid there will be trouble in the future..."
He is just a counselor and does not support the indiscriminate killing of people. Only those who are lords will not hesitate to kill indiscriminately to achieve their goals.
"It doesn't matter. If you don't kill, you can't show your power. If you don't have power, you can't control the people. I don't want to kill you, but Liu Xuande is forcing you!"
Although Cao Cao said he was not worried about Zhou Ping asking Liu Biao and Yuan Shao for help, he was still eager to fight Liu Bei. If he fights early, he can get Xuzhou as soon as possible.
As long as Liu Bei is defeated, there will really be no fear of Liu Biao and Yuan Shao sending troops to help.
Cao Cao ordered Xiahou Yuan to lead five thousand soldiers to attack Xia Qiu, and he also ordered Le Jin and Li Dian to lead five thousand soldiers to attack Tonghou State. After they broke the city, they killed all the men in the city.
At the same time, he wrote a letter to Yuan Shao, talking about some scenes when he was in Luoyang, and said that he would have a few more drinks with him if he had the opportunity. The letter did not mention anything about the world, but it was all about friendship, but The most important thing is to tell Yuan Shao to ask the governor of Yuzhou to recommend Yuan Tan as a talented person.
He sent people to quickly deliver the letter to Yecheng, and ordered 10,000 soldiers and horses from Yanzhou to garrison Chenliu to guard against the sudden southward movement of Jizhou's soldiers and horses.
A few days later, news came back that Xia Houyuan had conquered Xia Qiu and massacred all the men in the city. Le Jin and Li Dian had also conquered Tonghou State and also killed all the men in the city who were between twenty and fifty-six years old.
Xia Houyuan and Le Jin had already led their troops back to the camp at this time, while Xia Qiu had been massacred twice and was now an abandoned city.
"Hey, Liu Xuande should be in a hurry to come back now!"
Cao Cao believed that after Liu Bei heard the news, he would definitely speed up his march and come back.
Because Liu Bei loves fame more than Cao Cao.
Cao Cao also loves reputation, but what he loves is the reputation of military commanders. He does not pay so much attention to the famous families and the common people.
He dared to offend even a top family like Yang Biao, who had "four generations and three nobles". He took Yang Biao to prison and tortured him. It was Kong Rong, Xun or others who begged for mercy, and Man Chong was not a flatterer. Yang Biao was able to escape from death, which shows that Cao Cao is really not afraid of the aristocratic family.
Cao Cao knew that Guan Yu was going to surrender to Liu Bei, but still let him leave. This also shows that Cao Cao was really hungry for generals, and he was afraid that killing Guan Yu would ruin his reputation and prevent other generals from coming to surrender.
Of course, Cao Cao didn't mean to go against the wealthy families. He killed those families who looked down on him and were against him.
