My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 628: Chaos breaks out in Jingzhou, Cao Cao makes a plan

Zhuge Liang was in Chengdu, governing Shu with peace of mind, using both kindness and force, and all work progressed very smoothly. It was not until late July that he received an urgent report from Jing and Yang in the east, and then dispatched Zhang Fei to leave Sichuan and go east along the river to help.

However, considering the difficulty of going upstream through the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River in late summer, Liu Bei's messenger must have sent this document at least in early July.

In fact, before Liu Bei decided to mobilize the war potential in Shuzhong, there had been a month or two of trial and error between Cao and Liu in the Guandong direction.

The earliest substantive conflict occurred in May and June of the 13th year of Jian'an, and the initial planning and decision-making stage can even be traced back to April of that year.

……

Two flowers bloom, one branch each.

The timeline goes back to late March of the 13th year of Jian'an, and the focus also shifts to Xu Du under the rule of Cao Cao.

If you have no idea about this timeline, you can make a horizontal comparison - Liu Bei personally went to Chengdu and forced Liu Zhang to land, which happened in late March.

Given the remoteness of Shu and the slow spread of news, the civil and military officials in the Xudu court certainly did not know that Liu Zhang had surrendered.

However, although Cao Cao did not know that Liu Zhang had surrendered, he at least knew that Liu Bei and Liu Zhang had gone to war.

The war broke out in late October to early November of the previous year. At that time, heavy snow blocked the mountains and the roads between Qinling Mountains and Shangyong were blocked. Therefore, throughout November and December, no news about the infighting between the two Lius could be heard.

After entering the first month of this year, as Qianwei and Guanghan counties had changed hands and returned to a peaceful state, only Shu County was still under siege. Because the flow of business and travel between Qianwei and Guanghan could not be completely blocked, there were always scattered news that spread out at a low speed of natural diffusion.

Of course, since the snow in the Qinling Mountains had not yet melted and the flood had not yet begun, this natural spread could not have been from Hanzhong to Guanzhong or Nanyang. It could only have spread from Jiangzhou along the Yangtze River Gorges. If it wanted to reach Cao Cao's territory, it would naturally have to go through a longer detour.

In a nutshell, it took the second half of the first lunar month and the entire February for the news to reach Jingbei, and finally reached Cao Cao's ears in mid-March.

In other words, it actually took Liu Bei four and a half months of fighting to completely destroy Liu Zhang.

As for Cao Cao, it took no more than two months from the time he heard that "Liu Bei started to attack Liu Zhang" to the time he heard that "Liu Bei successfully destroyed Liu Zhang".

Liu Bei tried his best to block the first piece of news and let the second piece of news take its course, thus buying himself a two and a half month time difference and minimizing the risk of Cao Cao acting rashly after receiving the news.

However, what is coming will come.

On March 20, just a few days after Cao Cao confirmed that the two Lius had gone to war, Cao Cao hurriedly summoned his main civil officials to the Prime Minister's Mansion to discuss important matters.

Almost all the senior staff who were in Xudu at the time attended the meeting.

Important court officials such as Xun Yu, Xun You, and Jia Xu, prime minister's staff such as Sima Lang and Mao Jie, and Sima Yi, who has just emerged in the past two years, are all among them.

However, Cheng Yu is still serving as a local official on the front line of Yanzhou, responsible for defending against Liu Bei's army in Xuzhou and Huainan, so he cannot get away.

Guo Jia is now seriously ill and bedridden. Although he is in Yingchuan, he is not in Xudu. He is just recuperating in his hometown in Yangdi County. Historically, Guo Jia should have died of illness in Youzhou. He followed Cao Cao in the northern expedition against Wuhuan. He fell seriously ill as soon as he arrived in Zhuojun and could not walk anymore, and then died there.

Nowadays, although Guo Jia is seriously ill, after all, Cao's army has not had any wars in the past two years and has not troubled Guo Jia, so there is no inducement for his sudden death.

However, if we use a God's perspective to calculate, if Cao Cao had another war this time and brought Guo Jia with him to give advice, if he was frustrated, it would be impossible for Guo Jia to return alive given his health condition.

Stop talking nonsense.

After Cao Cao gathered his confidants, he immediately asked everyone to speak freely about the internal strife between the two Lius and to work together to think of a solution.

As soon as Cao Cao came up, he slammed the table and cursed: "Liu Bei is a villain! He pretends to unite with the clan members and the governors to fight against me, but his evil ambitions are worse than anyone else's!"

Less than a year after his defeat in Hanzhong, he turned against his former ally! How shameless! I wonder how long Liu Zhang can hold out now.

I want to send troops immediately to attack Liu Bei and rescue Liu Zhang, at least to prevent Liu Bei from swallowing Liu Zhang so easily. What do you think? This can also be regarded as besieging Wei to save Zhao. "

After Cao Cao finished speaking, he glanced at everyone proudly, his eyes quite eager.

Yes, he did suffer a crushing defeat in the twelfth month of the year before last, with the loss of more than 100,000 soldiers. But after a year and three months of rest, Cao Cao thought he had recovered somewhat.

If he had to fight again, and if there was an opportunity, he felt he could do it.

Of course, just because Cao Cao thought so didn’t mean his subordinates thought the same way.

Among the people present, some of the lower-ranking staff members who lacked a global perspective immediately stood up and advised in a prudent and cautious manner:
"I beg the Prime Minister not to raise an army out of anger! It is March now and the people are busy with farming. If we suddenly send troops, it will definitely delay the farming season.

The winter of the year before last, the king's army was badly defeated, and he only had a chance to rest and recuperate last year. He had just resumed production and slightly quelled the uprisings in Guanzhong and Heluo.

The little surplus grain last year was definitely not enough to support the court in launching another war, so even if the court had to mobilize troops, it had to first ensure that agricultural affairs in the states directly under its jurisdiction were safe.

If there is another poor harvest this year, Heluo and Guanzhong will inevitably become unstable again after winter! Please think twice, Prime Minister! "

When Cao Cao heard this, he looked up and saw that it was Mao Jie who was making such a cliché.

He was a man who did great things, so he would naturally not be deterred by such remarks, so he just let everyone continue to speak freely without making any comment. If anyone supported Mao Jie's opinion, they could second it.

Seeing that Cao Cao did not immediately express his clear opposition, Sima Lang also said a few words, which was considered to be his agreement with his colleagues' opinions.

Cao Cao sneered in his heart: These two people are not capable of planning subsequent major events.

"What a pedantic view! What's the point of giving the people a rest and resuming farming? When planning, we must naturally follow the trend of the times.

There are only a few princes left in the world now. If we don’t use the God-given opportunity of the two Lius’ internal strife, will we be able to find it again next time? We might as well think about how to send troops to attack Liu Bei!”

Cao Cao himself knew that after the disastrous defeat in the winter of the previous year, there were indeed several unstable areas in Guanzhong and Heluo. In the end, it was only by stationing a large number of troops and letting the local troops all engage in military farming that the situation was suppressed.

This is not an exaggeration. In history, when Cao Cao and Liu Bei fought the Battle of Hanzhong, resistance broke out in Guanzhong and Hebei. In Nanyang and Wancheng, there were also a large number of civilian rebels who responded to Guan Yu.

In this life, Cao Cao retreated quickly in the Battle of Hanzhong, and then retreated across the board. It can be said that the rest and recuperation of the previous year was basically paying off historical debts, and there was no further savings to speak of.

After hearing the Prime Minister finally express his opinion, the others who had not yet expressed their opinions had to admit: as the Prime Minister said, there was indeed no other choice.

The situation is difficult now, but we cannot afford to miss the opportunity.

All we can do is think about how to minimize the delay in farming time, use less manpower, and still get the job done.

The two Xuns were of high status, and Jia Xu was prudent and did not dare to make any rash suggestions. He was still thinking carefully.

Sima Yi, who was young and inexperienced, considered that his elder brother had just seconded Mao Jie's proposal, which might offend the prime minister, so he quickly stood up and said some flattering words to boost the morale of his own people and to flatter him.

Now, eight years have passed since the Battle of Guandu. Sima Yi has also heard of the "ten wins and ten losses" analysis that Guo Jia made for the prime minister. He knows that such good summary and inventory can also please the prime minister.

It is also easy to stabilize the people's hearts and unify their will. At the same time, it is not easy to expose too much real talent and cause the prime minister to be afraid.

Sima Yi then took stock of the situation and said, "I think it is the best strategy for the Prime Minister to seize the opportunity to fight! Although the court is facing many difficulties at present, the situation is very different from the previous year.

As long as the court can be united and share the same hatred of the enemy, Liu Bei will be defeated!
The reason why the king's army was defeated was actually due to three disadvantages. First, the Qinling Mountains were too steep, and it was difficult to supply money and food from Guanzhong to Shu, and the labor and transportation capacity of the people were too wasteful.

Secondly, the imperial court was not prepared to divide and disintegrate the enemy, which led to Liu Bei and Liu Zhang sharing the same hatred of the enemy. Liu Zhang was willing to join the rebellion and continuously supply Liu Bei with money and grain from Chengdu.

Third, the Zhuge brothers secretly studied the double-side stirrups, high-bridge saddles and other cavalry weapons, but kept them hidden until the decisive battle at Chencang Road, which led to the destruction of the Xiliang Army, the vanguard of the imperial court, by Zhang Fei's surprise attack, and General Pang De also died in battle. As a result, the main force of our army lost its edge and was eventually defeated.

Now, after nearly a year and a half of rest, these three initial disadvantages have been completely reversed.

As long as the imperial army no longer chooses to attack Liu Bei through the Qinling Mountains, but chooses another battlefield with convenient grain transportation, there will be no need to worry about logistical difficulties.

Liu Zhang and Liu Bei have turned against each other, and Liu Zhang's troops have become a helper to the court. Now the prime minister has many supporters while Liu Bei has few supporters.

The double-sided stirrups and high-bridge saddle developed by the Zhuge brothers have also been successfully copied and mass-produced by the court. Now all the court's cavalry are equipped with this weapon. The total number of cavalry in the court is greater than that of Liu Ni, and the strength comparison of the cavalry has also been reversed.

Therefore, Liu Bei has suffered these three defeats, and the Prime Minister has won these three victories. This year, we should seize the opportunity to march south and defeat Liu Bei!" Sima Yi said this passionately. Although it was not comprehensive, it was encouraging.

He racked his brains and listed all the advantages Cao Cao had compared to a year and a half ago, as well as the disadvantages of Liu Bei's side. He also used his eloquence to exaggerate Cao Cao's advantages as much as possible.

After hearing this, although Cao Cao knew that he was praising his own achievements, he was also happy to see it.

After all, he also needed Sima Yi's theoretical deduction to encourage the people of Xudu:

"What Zhongda said really struck a chord with me! I still remember that before the Battle of Guandu, Fengxiao once said that between me and Yuan Shao, there were ten wins and ten losses! Unfortunately, times have changed, and Fengxiao is now bedridden.

However, Zhongda's three wins and three losses today are no less insightful than Fengxiao's in those days! This is God's plan for Zhongda to inherit Fengxiao's legacy!"

Seeing that Cao Cao praised Sima Yi, the remaining important officials finally became more proactive.

Cao Cao glanced at them and asked, "According to your opinions, if I want to attack Liu Bei, where should I start? And how should I seize the opportunity?"

Since Cao Cao asked so directly, Jia Xu wanted to offer his advice. Xun Yu, who was standing by, had always been worried that Jia Xu would not care about the people, so when he saw Jia Xu was about to speak, he quickly jumped in to offer his advice.

Xun Yu stood up solemnly and said earnestly: "The Prime Minister wants to take advantage of this opportunity to raise troops to suppress the rebellion, which is of course the duty of a minister. But now is the time for spring ploughing, and what Xiaoxian and others said just now should not be ignored.

I foolishly believe that before officially sending out troops for the decisive battle, we can first use a small number of troops as decoys to launch a feint attack on a secondary battlefield and attract Liu Bei's troops.

If we keep them at bay for a month or two, the busy farming season will be over. Then we can launch a full-scale attack on the main battlefield that the Prime Minister really wants to attack. This will not only not delay the farming work of the people in the Central Plains, but also help distract Liu Bei as much as possible and avoid missing the opportunity to fight."

Xun Yu already knew that Cao Cao's army could not be stopped, so he wanted to avoid the farming season as much as possible. In his opinion, this one month was not a big deal.

Xun Yu certainly overestimated how long Liu Zhang could hold out, but according to common sense, as long as Liu Zhang could hold out for five months, he should be able to hold out for six, seven, and eight months. Liu Zhang's territory generally had enough food to defend the city, so he should have no problem holding out for a year.

When Xun You heard Xun Yu say this, he also hurriedly helped to analyze: "Prime Minister, I think what you said makes sense. Moreover, since Liu Bei took over Jingyang, I heard that he has been promoting Linyi rice for many years. Even after entering Shu, General Miaocai also mentioned that Shu also switched to planting Linyi rice.

Nowadays, people in the north only grow one crop of wheat a year. After the wheat matures, they use the extra time to plant some beans to prevent the fields from being left idle. However, people in the south grow two crops of rice a year.

From this perspective, the busy farming season in the south in summer is actually much longer than that in the north. The court can maximize the manpower advantage of our army by deploying troops in the midsummer. If Liu Bei did not want to delay the farming season, the number of civilians and auxiliary soldiers that could be mobilized to transport grain would inevitably be reduced. "

Cao Cao listened to the details added by the two Xuns, and found them to be quite reasonable. He nodded repeatedly and thought that it was indeed something that should be considered.

We must indeed fight Liu Bei, and we must start the fight as soon as possible to relieve the pressure on Liu Zhang as soon as possible.

But how to fight specifically, whether to fight with all your strength right from the start like a lion fighting a rabbit, is worth discussing.

Now it seems that the best way is to first conduct a feint attack to hold the enemy back for a month or two, and then launch a full-scale attack. During the feint attack, we can also slowly make plans and preparations for the full-scale attack.

After all, if you mobilize an army of 100,000 or even several hundred thousand at once, you won't have enough time to mobilize and assemble them. If you only mobilize 20,000 or 30,000 people and fight for a while, you can leave within three to five days.

In this case, the question becomes "If we want to make a feint attack to contain the enemy, where should we choose to make the feint attack and where should we choose as the future main attack?"

After the master and his ministers had roughly sorted out the discussion ideas, Cao Cao took the initiative to raise this question.

It was at this point in the discussion that Jia Xu, who had not had a chance to speak just now, carefully offered his first strategy for the day:
"Liu Bei and Liu Zhang fell out, which inevitably caused Liu Biao to panic. After all, Liu Bei dared to attack his allies and brothers. If Liu Biao passed away in the future, who could guarantee that Liu Bei would not annex Liu Qi?
I heard that Liu Biao had been gradually getting seriously ill since last year and was now bedridden. He must be worrying about Liu Bei's encroachment day and night, and this worry might have aggravated his condition.

Moreover, Liu Biao never dared to completely side with Liu Bei like Liu Zhang did. In the past few years, because the prime minister recognized Liu Biao's recapture of Wancheng and had always been gentle with him, there were still many people in the four counties of northern Jing who were loyal to the court.

The exiled northern scholars who fled to Jingzhou to avoid the war, as well as the Kuai and Cai families who have long had interests in Jingbei, also turned their hearts to the court. Especially Cai Mao, who is an old friend of the prime minister. If the prime minister can quickly win over Cai Mao and the Kuai family as internal supporters, explain the pros and cons, and remind them to learn from the events of Yizhou, perhaps he can persuade the internal supporters in Jingbei to respond to the court!

At that time, the imperial army will go directly south from Yingchuan to Nanyang, annex several counties in northern Jing, and then fight a decisive battle with Liu Bei. Perhaps they can take advantage of Liu Bei's scattered forces and win a great victory!"

After listening to this, Cao Cao nodded excitedly several times and regained a lot of confidence.

He himself also feels that this main direction is the most reliable.

If we take action, Jingzhou should be the main target!
This is not to say that Jingzhou is easy to attack, or that the terrain of Jingzhou is suitable for Cao's army to perform. It is that the news of Liu Biao's serious illness has lasted for almost a year, and all parties are waiting for Liu Biao to die.

Even if Cao Cao had a better battlefield to start a war, such as Bohai, Qingzhou, or Xuzhou, he still had to consider that "if I don't go to Jingzhou now, it might fall into Liu Bei's hands in a year or two."

On the interlocking confrontation fronts of Qing, Xu, Yan and Yu, the territories of the Cao and Liu armies have been clearly divided, and both sides have firm control over them. They are "in the bowl" and no one will snatch them away if they are not eaten for the time being, and they cannot be thrown away.

Jingzhou is the only piece of fat meat in the pot in the world right now. If you act too late, you may be killed by the enemy in seconds.

Cao Cao saw that Jia Xu and he agreed, so he stopped hesitating and immediately decided on the main attack direction: "Wenhe's idea agrees with mine. I also think that when we go to war with Liu Bei, we should take Jingzhou first.

In previous years, when our army went south to Jingzhou, we had to worry whether Liu Biao would surrender directly to Liu Bei out of fear. But now that Liu Bei has taken action against Liu Zhang, his meanness and shamelessness are obvious. Liu Biao has nowhere to turn to, and most of his civil and military officials who are loyal to the court will surrender!
However, since it was decided that Jingzhou would be the main attack, how should the feint attack before the main attack be arranged? It would take at least a month to raise an army of 100,000 to march south to Jingzhou. If it was 200,000, it might take a month and a half, by which time the busy farming season would be over.

During this one or two months of preparation, I cannot let Liu Bei catch his breath! It is best to launch a feint attack within ten days or eight days, and the number of troops should not exceed 30,000, 10,000 or 20,000 is appropriate."

After Cao Cao put forward the general direction, it was the turn of the two Xuns, Jia Xu and Sima Yi to find a solution.

Xun Yu was not very good at tactical planning. After a brief discussion, he found that he could not come up with a better idea, so he shut up.

Xun You's thinking has always been a combination of the strange and the normal. After careful consideration, he offered a suggestion: "I think that the Prime Minister can order the troops in Guanzhong to launch a feint attack on Hanzhong or Wudu, Yinping and other places to attract Liu Bei's attention.

Although the Prime Minister had lamented that "Nanzheng is a hell" after the defeat and retreat to the north of Qinling Mountains the year before last, and he did not want to cross Qinling Mountains again for the rest of his life, if it was a small-scale cavalry harassment, looting along the valley, and showing off their power, and they did not intend to really attack Yangping Pass, it would not waste much manpower and material resources.

I heard that since the winter of the year before last, Liu Bei also abandoned Hechi County and other places, and did not rebuild the city or settle people there to reclaim wasteland. However, there was no government to govern the area, and the people who fled there to farm did not have to pay taxes.

In the past two years, there must have been refugees who settled there. Even the Qing Qiang from western Sichuan might have come down from the snowy mountains and moved to the fertile plains of the West Han River Valley. If the imperial court used troops, as long as the troops were not numerous, it could completely plunder the local homeless people for supplies.

As long as the momentum is created, it will alert Liu Bei's garrison in Hanzhong, forcing Liu Bei to station more troops in Shu, and even directly affect the speed of his attack on Liu Zhang.

In this way, the imperial court only needs to use 10,000 or 20,000 people, and may be able to tie down Liu Bei's 300,000 or 500,000 more people, and also buy more time, making it easier for the imperial court's main force to prepare for war.

Moreover, this kind of feint is more credible in terms of authenticity. Our original intention was to prevent Liu Bei from destroying Liu Zhang too quickly, so it was only natural for us to attack Hanzhong. Even if the enemy had Zhuge Liang's wisdom, it would take at least several months for them to see through this feint. "

"Your opinion is very good! I quite agree with it!" Cao Cao stroked his long beard and expressed his approval.

Crossing the Qinling Mountains to launch a major attack would certainly be courting death. But pretending to attract enemy firepower would be no problem. The key is that all of this is reasonable, the motivation and logic are explainable, and it is enough to deceive the enemy.

However, Cao Cao didn't mind too many smoke bombs. So even though he had made up his mind, he still tried his best to make a move and asked another question:
"Besides this decoy, are there any other decoys that can be deployed at the same time?"

Sima Yi glanced around and saw that no one else had any ideas, so he decided to join in the fun and get some credit:
"I think we can still make another feint attack in Bohai County, Jizhou, and gain some results."

Cao Cao frowned, recalled for a moment, and then said uncertainly: "As far as I know, Liu Bei's territory in Bohai County is only the area east of Nanpi County, the lower reaches of Zhangshui River, and the coast of Bohai Sea.

In order to defend the land along the Zhang River, Zhou Yu built many forts and cultivated land. Even if there were fertile fields in the land farther from the Zhang River, he allowed the court to occupy it. What else is there to fight for in such a place? "

Sima Yi had been thinking about this question for a long time. He had been thinking about it while others were discussing it. So when the prime minister asked him, he could immediately explain it:
"Please do not doubt it, Prime Minister. The states bordering the imperial court and Liu Bei are blocked by mountains and rivers. Only half of Bohai County is flat. As long as we bypass the fortress, the enemy will have no place to defend.

If it were a few years ago, there wouldn't be many tough bones in Bohai County that were worth attacking. But in recent years, Zhou Yu, under the order of Zhuge Jin, has built salt fields all over the Bohai Sea. It would be best if the imperial army could launch a surprise attack on Bohai County and occupy the fertile land along the coast.

Even if Zhou Yu was prepared and quickly dispatched superior sea vessels and naval forces to counterattack, the imperial army could retreat in time. While retreating, they could loot the occupied Bohai Salt Field and dig up the seawall as much as possible, destroying Zhou Yu's years of construction and undermining Liu Bei's strength.

The Prime Minister may not know that since the 9th year of Jian'an, when Liu Bei annexed Yuan Tan, the coastline of the Han Dynasty has all fallen into Liu Bei's hands. The court does not even have an inch of the coastline, and can only rely on salt from various ponds and lakes, or on the sale of sea salt by the people.

The price of salt in the states under the imperial court has more than doubled compared to four years ago. We should take this opportunity to alleviate the difficulties faced by the imperial court."

Cao Cao thought about it and realized that this was indeed the case. The key point was that these two feints were both sudden surprise attacks, which did not require many troops. They could be staged for two months.

"In this case, let's follow today's discussion. Within ten days, I will see the feint attacks from both the east and west routes begin. The military operations will last until the end of May at the latest, and then they will be stopped. Before that, I will use troops against Jingzhou.

Wenhe, go find Bo Ning and work with him to figure out how to contact Cai Mao, win him over and appease him. Within a month and a half, have the people in Jingzhou ready!"

(End of this chapter)