My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 613 The Curtain Rises
Although Cao Cao ultimately didn't stab him in the back, Yuan Shao wasn't stupid, and naturally harbored resentment.

Cao Cao's current show of goodwill suggests that Tian Feng's words made a lot of sense.

Thinking of this, Yuan Shao frowned slightly.

Tian Feng was upright and arrogant, never showing any mercy even to his lord, and would often reprimand him without hesitation. Although he had always been tolerant, he had harbored a lot of resentment. Now, Tian Feng had accurately predicted the changes in Cao Cao and Liu Bei's situation. If Tian Feng knew this, he would probably become even more arrogant and disdainful of others.

Holding Cao Cao's letter, Yuan Shao paced around the study a few times with his hands behind his back before finally making a decision: "Go and invite Xun, Xu, Guo, and the two Xin officials here."

Yuan Shao planned to keep it a secret from the Hebei faction and first summon people from the Henan faction to give him advice.

It was during the Chinese New Year, and everyone was on holiday at home, so they quickly arrived.

Once everyone had arrived, Yuan Shao didn't waste any time and directly showed everyone Cao Cao's letter.

Just as Yuan Shao had anticipated, the Henan scholars present initially showed delight, but their joy quickly froze on their faces, clearly realizing the dread behind their surprise. Almost all the Henan scholars' first reaction was—this matter must not be revealed to the Hebei faction.

Xun Chen and Xu You were the first to react. When they saw that all the people Yuan Shao had summoned were scholars from Henan, and that neither of the two great strategists from Ji Province, Tian Feng and Ju Shou, were present, the corners of their mouths couldn't help but curl up slightly.

The others were much slower to react, but no one present was stupid; even Guo Tu eventually realized what was happening.

"Hey……"

Guo Tu suddenly sighed loudly, drawing Yuan Shao's attention: "Gongze, why are you sighing?"

Guo Tu straightened up, cupped his hands towards Yuan Shao, and said, "This is a joyous occasion, but I've been thinking about something that's causing me some worry."

Yuan Shao smiled easily and asked with puzzlement, "What troubles you? Now that we have so many wise men here, you may ask us for some advice."

Upon hearing Yuan Shao's words, Guo Tu immediately said, "My lord, what I am thinking is not for my own personal gain, but for your sake."

Yuan Shao looked curious and immediately asked, "What do you think is troubling me?"

Instead of answering, Guo Tu said, "The General sent gifts the other day. I heard a rumor that the Prefect had privately told the Lord that he should heed his advice, otherwise he would surely regret it now."

Yuan Shao's face immediately darkened. After a long silence, he forced a smile and said, "Tian Yuanhao is exceptionally intelligent and resourceful. With his assistance, what worries do I have? You, Gongze, have made such a fuss with rumors. What are your intentions? I will only spare you this time because of your loyalty. But if there is a next time, you will be punished without mercy!"

Guo Tu was overjoyed, but he feigned fear and repeatedly apologized.

Yuan Shao then rose, straightened his clothes, flicked his sleeves, and went to the back hall. The matter of discussing war preparations with everyone that he had wanted to discuss earlier was thus left unresolved.

Yuan Shao originally summoned the scholars from Henan to prepare for war. However, once preparations for war began, communication with the Hebei faction was inevitable, and Cao Cao's letters could not be concealed at that time.

Although Guo Tu's advice was baseless, it perfectly matched Tian Feng's usual demeanor, infuriating Yuan Shao. If he were to inform Tian Feng of Cao Cao's letter at this point, who knew how the latter would ridicule his lord?

Furthermore, Cao Cao had only just begun to back down, and although there were rifts between Cao Cao and Liu Bei, there were no signs of them going to war.

Yuan Shao was already hesitant about whether to interrupt his period of recuperation and instead begin preparing military equipment. As a result, he temporarily abandoned his plan to march south and decided to wait and see for a while longer.

**
Time flies, and three months have passed in the blink of an eye.

As the weather warms and spring returns, the two forces in Sichuan are gathering their strength and preparing for a major battle that both sides know is inevitable.

After the supply lines were restored, Cao Ren's army set off again to Luocheng to join Cao Ang. However, Cao Ren still left 10,000 men to garrison the Fucheng and Zitong line, with Li Zheng as the main general and Yan Pu as the assistant, to unify the command of all allied forces from Baishui Pass to Fucheng, and to protect the rear of the main army from the threat of the Left Army.

In early March, Cao Ren led the remaining 20,000 troops to Luocheng and successfully joined forces with Cao Ang.

At this time, Cao Ang had more than 16,000 men under his command (the 4,000 men left behind at Baima Pass were brought by Cao Ren and successfully returned to their posts), Cao Ren had 20,000 men, Zhang Wei had more than 5,000 men, and Huang Quan had more than 7,000 men, totaling more than 48,000 men, all of whom were elite field warriors.

After a winter of rest, the Dongzhou soldiers and Shu troops in Chengdu gradually recovered their strength. Not only did their morale improve, but many wounded soldiers also recovered and rejoined the army.

The Dongzhou army's strength has recovered to over 17,000 men, while the Shu army has recovered to over 13,000 men. In addition, there are over 1,000 wounded soldiers who still need time to recuperate.

As for the remaining thousand-plus wounded, they naturally did not survive the winter. Even with the help of military doctors in Chengdu, their lives could not be saved.

In this way, the allied forces would have a total of nearly 80,000 troops capable of field battles, with another 10,000 in reserve who could be mobilized at any time. The route from Fucheng to Chengdu was an official road, and the terrain consisted of plains and hills, making it extremely easy to march. As long as Cao Ang gave the order, although they could not arrive in the morning and evening, they could reach Luocheng within four days and arrive at the walls of Chengdu within six or seven days.

In comparison, if Liu Fengjun were to remove the troops he had recruited from Zhao Wei's side, the core force of the Left Army would only number around 30,000.

Lu Xun's forces only had 20,000 troops capable of field battles. Cuan Yang's forces were good at defending cities, but not so safe in field battles. Moreover, they were not yet fully integrated into the Left Army, so it would be risky for them to participate in battle rashly.

Liu Feng personally led 3,000 personal guards, plus 4,000 men from Fu Tong and Xi Zhen, for a total of 7,000.

Although most of Gan Ning and Huang Gai's 12,000 naval troops were able to go ashore and participate in the battle, naval forces are technical troops, and replenishing them after losses is much more troublesome than with land forces.

Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, the combined naval forces of Gan Ning and Huang Gai could only number between six and eight thousand men to land and participate in the battle.

In the most optimistic scenario, the number of troops in battle would be 35,000, less than half of Cao Cao's army. If Liu Zhang's army in Chengdu were added, the number would be only one-third of the enemy's strength.

This is also the source of the confidence that the allied forces led by Cao Ang and Cao Ren dared to engage in open battle.

However, although Cao Ang and Cao Ren were not afraid of a decisive battle, they still did not want to fight.

How could Cao Ang and Cao Ren not know how strong the Left Guard Army was?

Back when they marched west to welcome the emperor, without the Left Guard Army to oversee the operation, Cao Cao's army simply couldn't have accomplished it. Later, they swept through Yingyin, conquered Yuzhou, swallowed Jingxiang, and coerced Jiaozhi into surrendering—each of these feats was a world-shaking achievement.

You can't accomplish these things by relying on luck alone without real ability.

Moreover, their goal was merely to expand Cao Cao's territory, not to eliminate the Left Guard Army.

Now, Guanghan and Hanzhong are in Cao Cao's hands, and most of the counties in Shu Commandery are under Cao Cao's influence, only they have not been taken because of Liu Zhang.

Objectively speaking, Cao Cao's army had already secured the best possible base of support they had envisioned. The next step was less about eliminating or driving away the Left Guard Army, and more about persuading them to withdraw. If the Left Guard Army was willing to retreat, Cao Cao and the entire Cao clan were quite willing to acknowledge Liu Feng's claim to the other commanderies and kingdoms of Yi Province.

Cao Cao, Cao Ang, and Cao Ren weren't fools; there was absolutely no need for them to fight Liu Feng in Shu.

If a real battle breaks out, even if they win, Cao Cao's army will inevitably suffer heavy casualties and be severely weakened.

If Yuan Shao were to march south and take advantage of the situation to invade, and Liu Zhang in Shu were to seize the opportunity to cause trouble, then their campaign into Shu would not only be in vain, but they would also suffer heavy losses, which would be a huge loss.

Therefore, although Cao Ang had a much stronger army, he never took advantage of his power to bully others. Instead, he acted as the weaker party and humbly requested Liu Feng to negotiate peace.

This stance was adopted after multiple discussions among Cao Ang, Sima Yi, and Yang Xiu.

Sima Yi believed that Liu Feng was outwardly kind but inwardly shrewd, seemingly gentle but actually ruthless. His actions in Yangzhou revealed his character.

Therefore, Sima Yi strongly opposed using force to oppress others, believing that if Cao Cao's army really wanted to bully the weak, Liu Feng, even if he was weak, would never tolerate or back down.

Cao Ang deeply agreed, which is why he made this concession.

Cao Ang's willingness to back down seemed to have moved Liu Feng, so he did not actively seek battle as he had when he sent deer to Liu Feng during the New Year. As the forces of both sides gathered more and more, they did not break out into battle immediately.

Cao Ang was secretly delighted and wanted to make persistent efforts to reach a reconciliation with Liu Feng as soon as possible.

Although Cao Cao's army relied heavily on Zhang Lu in Hanzhong and Liu Zhang in Shu for most of its food supplies, if he could make peace with Liu Feng, wouldn't Liu Zhang and Zhang Lu's assets become Cao Cao's?

While Cao Ang continued his efforts, Zhuge Liang was preparing to launch an attack in Jiangzhou.

This northward expedition was overseen by Zhuge Liang, while He Qi served as the frontline commander, leading all the troops in the Ba Commandery.

The first to set off was not He Qi, but Wang Ping, who had originally been following Liu Feng to Guangdu.

After arriving in Guangdu, Wang Ping was entrusted with an important mission and returned to Jiangzhou.

When Wang Ping went there, he only had about six hundred young and strong Ba people with him, but when he returned, the number had surged to three thousand. In addition to his original troops, there were also Ba people from other tribes selected by Lu Xun, as well as support from Ba King Du Yue.

At this time, Wang Ping was promoted by Liu Feng to the position of military commander, leading a separate branch of the Cong army, and was the first to set off north.

However, Wang Ping did not walk along the Fu River, but rather along the Xi Han River.

Wang Ping's troops, transported by hundreds of ships under Su Fei's command, traveled north along the Xihan River, landing south of Langzhong in Chongguo County. After a final resupply in Chongguo County, they traveled by mountain road to Jiange.

This road is a mountain path, extremely difficult to travel, and only the Ba people who live in the mountains year-round can travel it as easily.

Wang Ping will take this path to bypass Zitong, reach Jiange from the west, and capture it.

Three days after Wang Ping's troops set off, He Qi also led an army of 20,000 northwards from Jiangzhou. After reaching Guanghan, they turned into the Zitong River, their target clearly Zitong.

This served both to support and cover Wang Ping's surprise attack, and also as a formal offensive against Zitong. Meanwhile, Xu Chu's troops remained stationed in Guanghan to guard against a counterattack from the allied forces in the direction of Fucheng.

At this point, Cao Cao's army's deployment along the Fucheng line came into play.

Cao Jun's scouts detected the movements of the Left Guard Army as He Qi's fleet left Guangyuan and entered the Zitong River.

Upon learning of the invasion of the Left Army, Li Zheng, the General of the Central Army in Fucheng, was greatly shocked. On the one hand, he actively reorganized the military preparations, and on the other hand, he hurriedly sent a message to Cao Ang and Cao Ren at the front line.

Li Zheng's forces were split in two. The main force of 8,000 men remained stationed in Fucheng with Li Zheng, while the remaining 2,000 men, led by Li Zheng's cousin Li Dian, were stationed in Zitong. Meanwhile, the Nanzheng County troops under Yan Pu's command were divided in two by Li Zheng, assigned to Fucheng and Zitong respectively. As for the training soldiers, they had long since been converted into laborers and deployed to the supply lines.

Although Li Zheng responded proactively, he was unable to stop He Qi's advance.

Although Fucheng and Zitong are positioned in a defensive formation, their coordinated defense system has significant weaknesses because it lacks Guanghan as a fulcrum.

Putting aside other matters, if Li Zheng's main force from Fucheng were to go to Zitong to provide support, the Left Army of Guanghan would have the opportunity to launch a surprise attack on Fucheng.

This is one of the reasons why Li Zheng left two thousand men in Fucheng, but only gave two thousand to Li Dian.

This precisely demonstrates Li Zheng's mastery of military strategy and his skill in strategic planning.

Zitong County is of medium size; although it is not a large city, it is quite fortified.

Therefore, Li Zheng only needed to leave 2,000 men led by Li Dian in Zitong as the core, along with several thousand soldiers from Nanzheng County, to ensure that the Left Army could not quickly capture Zitong in a short period of time. Meanwhile, Li Zheng only needed to leave 2,000 men in Fucheng to cooperate with the Nanzheng County soldiers in defending the city, thus eliminating any concerns about threats from the Guanghan direction.

In this way, Li Zheng could free up more than 6,000 mobile troops to pose a serious threat to the Left Army under Zitong City, preventing them from launching a full-scale attack on the city.

After all, Fucheng is only fifty li from Zitong, and a forced march would only take a day to reach it. The Left Army also had to worry about the danger of being attacked from the flank and rear by Li Zheng while they were halfway through the siege.

If Li Zheng were to divide his forces equally between Fucheng and Zitong, it would seem to strengthen the defenses of the cities, but in doing so, he would be unable to send troops to support either Fucheng or Zitong if attacked by the Zuo Mu army.

An attack of six thousand men is enough to pose a fatal threat to an army of twenty thousand, but three thousand men are not enough, and they are even lacking in the ability to defend themselves.

After all, not every military commander is of the caliber of Han, Bai, Xu, and Chang.

Cao Ang and Cao Ren were also extremely shocked upon receiving the news.

Both of them had considered that the Left Guard Army would inevitably harass Cao Cao's rear. Moreover, Sima Yi, Yang Xiu, and their generals unanimously judged that the Left Guard Army's attack point was most likely to be Zitong and Fucheng.

It's not that they're particularly clever; anyone with even a basic understanding of military strategy could see it.

Fucheng and Zitong were both fortified cities, located on Cao Cao's supply lines, and also served as large-scale military stations.

(End of this chapter)