My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 609 Grand Strategy
Xiangzhuang's sword dance is intended for Peigong.

Liu Feng's ambition in vying for Shu was aimed at the Central Plains.

In the face of the law, Liu Feng fully revealed his true colors.

After Zhao Wei raised his army and ceded the Three Gorges pass, Yizhou was no longer a match for Liu Feng on the chessboard.

Apart from Huang Quan, who caught Liu Feng's eye, the soldiers from Dongzhou and Shu under Liu Zhang were mediocre and incompetent, not even worthy of being called merit dogs.

Zhang Ren and Yan Yan were renowned generals of Shu, possessing top-tier qualifications, experience, and talent in Yizhou. However, when placed within the broader context of the world, they were merely average. If one had to find any redeeming qualities, perhaps only their loyalty would be worth mentioning.

Zhang Lu in Hanzhong was initially a bit of a problem. The gateway to Hanzhong, Baima Pass and Zouma Ridge, was extremely treacherous, and the route was fraught with difficulties and obstacles. The supply lines were both blocked and long, which was a real headache.

But Zhang Lu actually took the initiative to go south and venture into Sichuan, which was simply courting death.

Liu Feng thought he had already had enough good fortune, but little did he know that an even bigger surprise was yet to come. Cao Cao actually managed to persuade Zhang Lu to surrender and then led his main force south into Shu, intending to compete with Liu Feng for Yizhou.

It was after learning this news that Liu Feng had a flash of inspiration and conceived the bold idea of ​​swallowing up the Cao family.

After having this idea, Liu Feng discussed it with only eight people.

These eight people were Zhuge Liang, Lu Xun, and Pang Tong, whom their father Liu Bei had carefully cultivated and cherished, along with Xun You, Chen Deng, Liu Ye, and Lu Su.

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei was struck dumb, thinking that Liu Feng had been bewitched.

Xun You's explanation and analysis helped Liu Bei understand Liu Feng's thoughts.

Although Cao Cao has repeatedly expanded his army, and has also won over the surrender of Liu Biao, Zhang Ji and some rebel forces in Guanzhong, as well as the remnants of Li Jue and Guo Si, his strength has greatly increased. He now has more than 200,000 troops, of which no less than 100,000 are capable of field battles.

When Cao Cao entered Shu, both Cao Ang's vanguard and Cao Ren's reinforcements were elite troops from the hundreds of thousands of field soldiers, totaling more than 60,000 men.

It is no exaggeration to say that these 60,000 troops were among the most elite forces in Cao Cao's group. The reason Liu Feng did not take Chengdu, which he could have easily captured, was to lure all 60,000 of Cao Cao's elite troops to the walls of Chengdu and then annihilate them in one fell swoop.

If Cao Cao's elite forces are at risk of being annihilated or besieged, Cao Cao will inevitably continue to send reinforcements.

The continuous troop deployments will undoubtedly greatly reduce Cao Cao's control over the local areas.

At that time, Taishi Ci and Zhao Yun will march out of Yuzhou, Jia Kui and Dong Xi will march out of Xiangyang, and Zhou Yu and Gao Shun will march out of Xicheng. It is no exaggeration to say that once this strategy is launched, Liu Feng's forces will advance on three fronts simultaneously, with Liu Bei providing support in Xuzhou, launching a flanking attack on Yanzhou.

Cao Cao likely wouldn't have had time to mount a defense.

Cao Cao's army numbered 200,000, with 60,000 of their most elite field troops entering Shu, and at most another 60,000 to 70,000 of their elite troops capable of field battles. How could they possibly withstand an attack from all sides?
Not to mention that the relationship between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao is still somewhat strained and is not yet recovering.

It's more likely that Yuan Shao will offer timely help to Cao Cao, or that he will simply take the opportunity to march south, share the Cao family's territory with Liu Bei, and then decide the victor.

As long as the Cao family does not receive aid from the Yuan family, and even without the Yuan family taking advantage of their misfortune, Cao Cao will find it difficult to withstand Liu Feng's full-scale attack.

Everyone thought that Liu Feng was plotting against Liu Zhang, but they didn't know that his real target was Cao Cao.

This was not because Cao Cao was too stupid to fall into the trap, but rather because Cao Cao was too clever, too shrewd, and too aware of how ugly and dangerous his situation was.

Liu Bei then realized that his eldest son had orchestrated such a grand scheme. He even suspected that Liu Feng had already devised this plan before entering Shu, otherwise why would he leave his trump cards, the Cui Feng Army and the Wan Lan Army, unused and instead station them far away in the heart of Yu Province? At the same time, he placed the armies of Jia Kui, Zhou Yu, Gao Shun, He Qi, and others in Jing Province, while only deploying the new army and navy to enter Shu ahead of time.

Not only did Liu Bei have this idea, but Xun You, Chen Deng, Liu Ye, and Lu Su also had similar thoughts.

In fact, they were really overthinking it. Liu Feng was just intelligent and familiar with historical events and the personalities of people; he was not a god who could calculate everything.

When Liu Feng first entered Shu, his plan was simply to use Zhao Wei's uprising as an opportunity to seize the natural barrier of the Yangtze River, establish a foothold in Shu, and then gradually cultivate and conquer the region. He truly did not expect that Zhang Lu would surrender to Cao Cao prematurely under the pressure of his entry into Shu.

Upon receiving news of Zhang Lu's defection to Cao Cao, Liu Feng still planned to use Jiameng Pass to outflank Zhang Lu's rear and annihilate the Hanzhong army in Guanghan Commandery, thus clearing the way for the next step of conquering Hanzhong Commandery.

But not long after, Liu Feng miscalculated again.

He never expected that Cao Cao would disregard the pressure from Yuan Shao in the north and the danger of a complete falling out with him, and send a large army south to compete with him for Yi Province. It was only at this moment that Liu Feng had the ambition and inspiration to swallow up the Cao family's territory.

After discussing the matter in detail with Xun You, Chen Deng, Liu Ye, Lu Su, and others, Liu Bei decided to approve Liu Feng's plan.

The entire plan was meticulously planned and initiated in Chengdu.

Liu Feng used Chengdu as bait to lure the allied forces led by Cao Cao to rescue Liu Zhang.

This was a calculated move by the coalition forces.

If Cao Cao were to abandon the rescue of Liu Zhang after Liu Zhang had submitted to him, it would not only be tantamount to handing over Yizhou, but would also damage his prestige in the eyes of the world.

Even a governor with the title of ruler of a province could be betrayed if he surrendered. Who would trust Cao Cao's credibility and recruitment in the future?

Even Zhang Lu of Hanzhong, who had an irreconcilable hatred for Liu Zhang, probably doubted whether his decision to surrender to Cao Cao was the right one.
Therefore, as long as Chengdu is left uncaptured, the allied forces will surely be able to be mobilized to its rescue, and this is Liu Feng's confidence.

The second link was the Shu coalition led by Cao Cao's army.

Given the strength of the Left Guard Army, if the allied forces come to the rescue, they may not be able to save Chengdu, and their rear will inevitably be vulnerable.

Liu Feng held the Jiangzhou army of 10,000 men, temporarily organized under the command of Zhuge Liang; the Yue army of 20,000 men, led by He Qi; the Jingzhou army of 20,000 men, led by Zhou Yu; and the Jiaozhou army of over 10,000 men, led by Kuai Yue. Of these reserves, only the Jiaozhou army was too far away and would take two or three months to reach Shu. Zhou Yu could reach Jiangzhou in just half a month. Meanwhile, Zhuge Liang and He Qi in Jiangzhou could head north at any time to join forces with Zhou Tai and Xu Chu's troops, cutting off the allied forces' retreat.

To defend against an offensive of this scale, the allied forces would need to leave at least 20,000 elite troops in the rear, which would be necessary to support the weaker troops from Hanzhong County and the instructors, who would hold out for reinforcements.

The allied forces totaled only about 100,000 men. Even including Cao Ren's 40,000, the truly elite troops numbered only 80,000 to 90,000. Moreover, Cao Ren's 40,000 reinforcements could not all be deployed to Shu. With Cao Cao's military talent and vision, he would not have focused solely on Shu while ignoring the fact that Hanzhong was also a crucial link in the allied forces' supply lines.

According to Cao Cao's prior decision, Cao Ren was to leave 10,000 men in Hanzhong to garrison Huangjinshu, in order to prevent Gao Shun's troops from advancing westward and capturing Nanzheng.

All things considered, the 80,000 troops were divided between Chengdu and Luocheng, and there were considerable scheming and plotting among them. Even if Cao Cao himself went there, he could not guarantee victory.

Once Liu Feng uses Chengdu as bait to begin his actions, Cao Cao will only have two paths before him.

The first option is to withdraw troops and abandon Sichuan, which is almost impossible.

The second point is to continue increasing troop numbers.

Why did Liu Feng, despite having advantages on other fronts, never use those advantages to pressure Cao Cao? Previously, he wanted to quickly conquer Shu without attracting Cao Cao's attention or suspicion, lest unforeseen circumstances arise. Now, however, he was determined to destroy Cao Cao, deliberately holding back, giving Cao Cao room to maneuver and divert troops.

If Cao Cao were to take a chance and actually divert troops from other fronts to reinforce Shu, then Liu Feng would not be so lenient.

What are the chances that Cao Cao would do this?
Liu Feng felt it was quite large for three reasons.

First, Cao Cao himself was very fond of taking risks. He won the two most dangerous battles of his life—the Battle of Guandu and the Battle of Bailang Mountain—by ​​taking risks.

Secondly, the Nanyang incident gave Cao Cao the illusion that Liu Feng was unwilling to break ties with the Cao family. Cao Cao, however, was prone to pushing his luck and was likely to continue to increase his troops to force Liu Feng to compromise, thus replicating the Nanyang story and achieving the goal of taking Yizhou without a fight, or at least taking Shu Commandery and Guanghan Commandery.

Third, Liu Zhang's surrender brought Cao Cao's army a huge advantage, including Liu Zhang's status and influence, as well as the advantages of Chengdu, the most important town in Yizhou.

These advantages would give Cao Cao a strategic judgment that would lead to a swift victory.

Once Liu Feng is defeated and Guangdu and even Wuyang are recaptured, with the defensive systems of Chengdu and Guangdu, and supplemented by Cao Cao's elite troops, only 20,000 to 30,000 men left behind will be enough to defend Shu County with the cooperation of the Shu army. If Wuyang can be recaptured, the situation will be even more favorable.

As long as Cao Cao continues to send troops into Shu, regardless of the outcome in Shu, Cao Cao is destined to lose the Central Plains. Not to mention, Liu Feng doesn't think he will lose to Cao Ang; he still wants to use Cao Ang to continue to mobilize Cao Cao.

When the great war in Shu begins, the Left Guard Army of Yuzhou will immediately launch a two-pronged attack on Yingchuan and Chenliu, and then head straight for Henan Yin. Meanwhile, Liu Bei's army in Xuzhou will also act accordingly, launching a full-scale attack on Yanzhou with no fewer than 80,000 troops from Rencheng, Lu, Langya, and Pei, targeting five commanderies and kingdoms including Taishan, Jibei, Dongping, Shanyang, and Jiyin.

According to current intelligence, the main enemy force facing Liu Bei's army is the Yanzhou army commanded by Cheng Yu.

The Yanzhou army was originally organized to have 40,000 men. When Cao Ren marched south to Shu, Cao Cao transferred 10,000 elite troops from Yanzhou to accompany him, leaving only 30,000 men. Moreover, they were scattered in various commanderies and kingdoms, and were at risk of being divided and surrounded.

By then, Cheng Yu wouldn't even be able to defend his stronghold, Jiyin County, let alone return to Sili.

Liu Feng planned that, with the cooperation of the Flying Cavalry, they would break through Cao Cao's first line of defense within a month, penetrate deep into Yanzhou, and cut off the connection between Yanzhou and Sili within two months, eventually reaching the Yellow River.

Within three months at the latest, the battle line will be pushed to the Yellow River, and all of Yanzhou, Nanyang, Henan Yin and other places in the Guandong region will be captured.

As for Guanzhong and Hanzhong, Liu Feng had prepared several different versions of contingency plans, but how to implement them would depend on the progress of the war in the Central Plains and Yuan Shao's reaction in Hebei.

Regardless of whether Yuan Shao survives or not, and regardless of whether Cao Cao can hold Guanzhong with Hangu Pass, Cao Cao has completely lost his territory in Guandong. He can forget about keeping Shu, and even Hanzhong is in imminent danger.

By then, the Cao family would have completely withdrawn from the struggle for power.

The worst-case scenario is that Yuan Shao doesn't intervene, or doesn't have time to intervene, in which case Cao Cao will certainly not be able to hold onto even his small territory in Guanzhong. At that point, he will probably have no choice but to bite the bullet and seek refuge with his brother Yuan Shao.

Liu Feng's decision to set a three-month timeframe was based on sound reasoning.

Historically, before the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao prepared for half a year before heading south, and he only managed to mobilize a portion of his forces. Not only did he fail to receive Liu Bei's support in Xuzhou, but he also suffered disastrous defeats in the battles of Baima and Yanjin.

Yuan Shao's army was mobilized much slower than Cao Cao's, and Cao Cao was incredibly slow-witted compared to Liu Feng.

Liu Feng had calculated that he had given Yuan Shao enough face, and that it was absolutely impossible for the other side to complete the mobilization to cross the river to the south within three months.

Liu Feng took this into consideration, which is why he set the timeframe for the entire plan within three months. During this period, Yuan Shao would be unable to intervene in the Henan war unless he sent a small number of his directly subordinate troops.

Even if Yuan Shao were to take the risk and do so, he would still need to communicate with Cao Cao first. Otherwise, having gone to great lengths to cross the river to provide aid, he might end up being treated as an enemy by the Yanzhou army, which would be a laughing stock for the Zuo Mu army.

After listening to Liu Feng finish explaining his grand strategy, a series of interconnected plans that were even more ambitious and grand than Fa Zheng had guessed, Fa Zheng felt his blood boil and his spirits soar.

Liu Feng asked with a smile at the opportune moment, "Xiaozhi, in your opinion, is there anything you would like to add?"

Liu Feng proposed such a grand and feasible plan, and even consulted Fa Zheng, which made Fa Zheng so excited that he trembled with fear.

Forcibly suppressing his inner excitement, Fa Zheng pondered seriously for a long time before speaking: "Your Excellency's strategy is grand and meticulous, magnificent and well-planned. I have been thinking about it for a long time before I finally get to see it. I can present it to Your Excellency."

Liu Feng straightened his face and humbly asked, "Xiaozhi, please speak!"

"Having lived in Sichuan for a long time, I have gained some knowledge of the geography of Yizhou."

Fa Zheng spoke eloquently: "West of Zitong, the terrain gradually flattens out, eventually leading to a smooth road. East of Zitong, the mountains gradually rise, eventually reaching the Qinling Mountains. If Your Excellency wishes to sever ties with Qin, Zitong and Fucheng would naturally be the easiest options. However, military strategy states that in war, one engages with the orthodox and wins with the unorthodox. Your Excellency now holds Ba Commandery, which is home to many Cong tribes, many of whom are friendly with the Han. Why not lure them with wealth and food to recruit Cong soldiers? You don't need many, just a thousand men, to take the mountain paths, bypass Zitong, and head straight for Jiange."

(End of this chapter)