The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 236 Volume Yiling, Lianying

When Liu Biao decided to fully side with the imperial court, Sima Yi was worried that something might happen.

But Sima Yi did not quite understand the internal situation of Jingzhou. He thought that he would be successful if he took control of the military power of the three counties of Nanjun, Jiangling and Jiangxia. However, he did not expect that there would be a high-ranking official of Zhang Xian's level.

Once Jingnan rebelled, only the three counties of Jingbei were left.

Wen Pin had to stay in Jiangling because he had to guard against the northward movement of Jingnan; Xiangyang now had to deal with Cao Cao alone!

"Zhongda, what should we do?"

It is totally wishful thinking for Fancheng to try to resist Cao Cao with the current limited military force, and there is no chance of winning.

Sima Yi looked across the river at Xiangyang and asked, "What else can I do?"

"Abandon Fancheng and protect Xiangyang."

"Ask General Wen Pin for help. No matter what happens in Jingnan, at least send several hundred warships to Xiangyang to block the river."

"As for the rest, we can only rely on the troops from the imperial court to move faster!"

Sima Yi turned around to write a letter and then put it in Yang Xiu's hands.

Yang Xiu was stunned: "What does Zhongda mean?"

"Dezu, please go to the imperial court and hand over the letter to the emperor!"

Sima Yi said worriedly: "The division of Jingzhou and the rebellion in southern Jingzhou are probably just the beginning."

"Have you ever thought about why Liu Jingzhou would send a messenger to deliver the message when Xiangyang and Fancheng are only separated by a river?"

"This shows that Xiangyang City is on the verge of losing control, forcing Liu Jingzhou to stay in Xiangyang City to prevent some scoundrels from causing chaos."

Sima Yi suddenly understood Liu Biao's helplessness at this moment.

Because the current situation is the price of side with the court.

After all, the scholars of Jingzhou could not see eye to eye with the imperial court. The moment Liu Biao made his decision, the outcome was already decided.

Yang Xiu also knew that this was not the time to be shy, so he took the letter directly and asked, "What about you?"

"I'm fine."

Sima Yi said confidently: "Even if Xiangyang falls, they dare not kill me."

"Why?"

"My father...was once a juren from Cao Mengde's school." (Note 1)

Yang Xiu:?
No? You still have this relationship?

At this moment, Yang Xiu had a deeper understanding of the abolition of the recommendation system.

Recommending someone to enter the officialdom is a huge favor. The consequences of handing such power to aristocratic families are also too terrible!
"Then I'll take my leave first!"

After learning that Sima Yi had this amulet, Yang Xiu no longer hesitated. He prepared three war horses and went directly to Guanzhong.

On the way, Yang Xiu worked day and night, with three war horses taking turns to advance. Yang Xiu was so shaken that he almost vomited his internal organs. Finally, he arrived at Wuguan after several days.

Zhang Xiu also arrived at Wuguan at this time. Yang Xiu used to be a teacher in Zhang Xiu's army, and the two had a close relationship.

When Zhang Xiu learned of the incident in Jingzhou, he was shocked and immediately urged his uncle Zhang Ji to lead troops to Jingzhou immediately to lift the siege of Xiangyang.

The uncle and nephew led their 5,000 Xiliang cavalry and rushed straight to Fancheng.

At this time, after Cao Cao learned the news of the rebellion in Jingnan, he was overjoyed and immediately changed direction to continue attacking Xiangyang.

Sima Yi played to his strengths and avoided his weaknesses. He had already abandoned Fancheng in the north of the Yangtze River and emptied it. He retreated to Xiangyang City on the south bank and used the navy to block the river, preventing Cao Cao from continuing to expand his victory.

When Zhang Ji and Zhang Xiu, uncle and nephew, arrived, Cao Cao had already occupied Fancheng and had a support.

Zhang Ji and Zhang Xiu were equally helpless in surrounding Fancheng and had no choice but to retreat to Xinye and set up camp.

Unexpectedly, at night Cao Cao ordered Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, Cao Chun, Yu Jin, Le Jin and more than ten other generals to charge into Xinye together, which dealt a heavy blow to the unprepared Zhang Ji and Zhang Xiu. The two had to gather their soldiers and retreat to Wancheng.

It was Sima Yi in Xiangyang who heard the news from the north and quickly sent a messenger to deliver the message.

"Cao Cao is treacherous and cunning, and he has many soldiers and generals. We must never confront him head-on."

"But I have already transported all the food and military supplies in Fancheng to Xiangyang. Fancheng is now just an empty city. Cao Cao has a large army, so he needs more food and supplies to be transported from Yanzhou and Yuzhou."

"Today, Jingzhou has changed. The battlefield has changed from the flat Nanyang to the fortified Fancheng. It is impossible to defeat Cao Cao quickly. Please use light cavalry to harass Cao Cao's food supply and make Cao's army tired. This is the only way to defeat Cao Cao."

Zhang Ji was originally unwilling to listen to Sima Yi's strategy and wanted to continue leading the cavalry to attack Cao Cao, but was stopped by Zhang Xiu.

"Uncle, I know Yang Xiu and I know that he is extremely talented and far superior to ordinary people."

"And Sima Yi defeated Yang Xiu in the imperial examination and won first place! This shows that his talent is even higher than Yang Xiu's."

"The imperial examination is not like the imperial examination. One is one and two is two! Since Sima Zhongda has this plan, we should adopt it!"

Zhang Xiu's wisdom was actually average.

But Zhang Xiu has an advantage.

That means listening to advice!
Especially listen to the advice of wise people!

Sima Yi is undoubtedly much smarter than me! In this case, why should I abandon the strategy of the smart man and rush forward foolishly?
Zhang Ji hesitated for a moment, but was eventually persuaded by Zhang Xiu and began to attack Cao Cao's food supply route according to Sima Yi's plan.

This time, he really hit Cao's army's weak spot!

Cao's army's several grain routes were robbed, but Zhang Xiu was not greedy every time. Whenever he found Cao's grain transport team, he would go up and burn it. When Cao Cao sent a large group of soldiers to come, he would immediately flee. Cao Cao was so angry that he cursed - "Zhang Xiu, you little bastard! I will never coexist with you!"

As a last resort, Cao Cao had to send more soldiers to the grain transport team to guard against Zhang Xiu.

Although this did reduce the frequency of attacks, it caused Cao Cao's logistical pressure to increase dramatically! The daily consumption of food and grass even increased several times as much as before!
For a moment, the two sides were weirdly deadlocked here, both waiting for a turning point.

Yang Xiu also rushed to Chang'an and handed Sima Yi's letter to Liu Xie.

Liu Xie originally thought that Sima Yi's letter was asking him to send troops to rescue, but Sima Yi did not do so. Instead, he pointed out that the key to Jingzhou now was not in the north of Jingzhou, but in the south of Jingzhou.

Sima Yi requested the emperor to immediately order the troops of Yizhou to go down the Yangtze River to defeat Zhang Xian together with Wen Pin and recover southern Jing.

In this way, although Cao Cao in northern Jing seems to be coming with great force, he is just a duckweed floating on the water and will retreat sooner or later.

"Sima Zhongda is extremely smart."

Liu Xie felt very relieved.

No wonder Sima Yi was able to confront Zhuge Liang for so many years.

Just looking at his courage and insight now, one can already imagine the headache Zhuge Liang had when he met Sima Yi.

Cao Cao was unlucky to meet Sima Yi when he attacked Jingzhou...

"I will immediately send a letter to my uncle, asking him to directly capture Ba County, and then quickly lead his troops eastward to Jingzhou to help Wen Pin pacify Jingnan!"

Since Sima Yi was in Jingbei, Liu Xie didn't have to worry too much. He just sent a letter to Liu Bei, who was still in Chengdu, to lead his troops down the Yangtze River immediately.

"But I still want to tell my uncle something..."

after all……

When Liu Bei was asked to send troops from Yizhou to attack Jingzhou, he always thought of some not-so-nice things.

Liu Xie's letter was quickly delivered to Liu Bei.

Liu Bei was in Shu and had no news from Guandong for a long time.

Now hearing about the drastic changes in the world, as if an all-out war has broken out, I am also extremely anxious.

Leaving Wu Yi, Fa Zheng, Huang Quan and others to guard Yizhou, Liu Bei personally led 20,000 troops including Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Zhang Ren, Yan Yan and others to advance eastward to capture Ba County.

In addition, Liu Bei also gave Guan Yu 10,000 soldiers and horses, asking him to quickly rush to Hanzhong from Jinniu Road, and then go down the Han River from Hanzhong to support Xiangyang.

"Although the emperor did not order me to support Xiangyang, he also informed me of the situation in Xiangyang."

Liu Bei was a little worried: "It is Cao Cao and Cao Mengde who are besieging Xiangyang now. The emperor may not know how powerful Cao Mengde is, and he only uses Sima Yi to stop him... This is really underestimating him!"

"Yun Chang is leading his troops to support Xiangyang. If Cao Mengde sees Yun Chang coming, he will naturally be very worried! In this way, the siege of Xiangyang can be lifted!"

When Guan Yu heard that Liu Bei wanted him to lead his troops to attack Cao Cao, his pair of almond-shaped eyes showed a complicated expression.

However, Guan Yu still promised Liu Bei: "Brother, don't worry! This time I will definitely take Cao Cao's head and put down the rebellion in Jingzhou!"

Guan Yu in turn advised Liu Bei: "Brother, you must also obey the emperor's letter! Remember not to act rashly!"

After hearing this, Liu Bei looked a little strange.

Because in the letter the emperor wrote to him, he actually emphasized one sentence three times -

"Uncle, please do not stay in Yiling camp!"

"Uncle, please do not stay in Yiling camp!"

"Uncle, please do not stay in Yiling camp!"

……

Liu Bei was speechless.

He is also a man who has fought battles all his life.

How could they make such a mistake as stationing in a company?
The emperor underestimates himself!
"Don't worry, Yunchang, I will obey the emperor's orders."

Although the emperor's instructions were a bit strange, Liu Bei still planned to obey them.

"You, on the other hand, must hurry to Xiangyang as soon as possible. Although Cao Mengde is cunning, he is a master at using troops! If you delay, something bad will happen. You must hurry to Xiangyang as soon as possible to relieve the siege! Do you understand?"

"Brother, don't worry!"

Guan Yu made a promise to Liu Bei, then took his mount and said goodbye to Liu Bei.

Because Guan Yu had seen Lu Bu's Red Hare once in Chang'an and had been obsessed with it ever since, he spent a large sum of money to buy a divine horse with fiery red fur and used it as his mount.

Liu Bei watched Guan Yu's towering back as he left, and then he led his army to Jingzhou.

But this time, Liu Bei kept muttering:

"We are not stationed in Yiling Lianying. We are not stationed in Yiling Lianying..."

"Hiss... What exactly does the emperor mean by this?"

------

Note 1:

He was recommended by Sima Jiangong, the right chancellor of the imperial court. When the king became king, he summoned Jiangong to Ye and had a drink with him. He asked Jiangong, "Can I be a lieutenant again today?" Jiangong said, "When I recommended you, I could be a lieutenant." The king laughed. Jiangong's name was Fang, and he was the father of Sima Xuanwang. -- "Records of the Three Kingdoms·Wei Shu·Records of Emperor Wu" quoted from "Biography of Cao Man"

(End of this chapter)