My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 747: The Northern Expedition Begins

Xiahou Dun thought he had captured the messenger sent by Taishi Ci to report to Zhou Yu, and he was inexplicably excited for a moment.

He immediately ordered his men to bring the messenger up so that he could interrogate him personally.

After a while, the messenger, who had been repeatedly searched, beaten, naked, and with his hands and feet tied, was brought before Xiahou Dun.

The people below were obviously very serious about their work, making sure that the messenger could not have any hidden weapons. Even if he had hidden something, it would not be able to be used, and it would not cause any harm to General Xiahou.

It is hard to imagine other generals being so cautious.

If generals like Zhao Yun and Taishi Ci wanted to personally interrogate the enemy's messengers and spies, why would they need such strict vigilance? If the spies had the courage to assassinate, they would also have to consider the enemy's martial arts.

Even Cao Ren or the deceased Xiahou Yuan would not need such cautious security.

But Xiahou Dun was different. After all, he had been a hostage general and had one eye shot blind. The people around him had long been scared and had to be as careful as possible.

Xiahou Dun is definitely a character who is highly glorified in the novel. In the official history, Xiahou Dun's military achievements are really not impressive, but he did make some achievements when he was in charge of a region and stabilized the situation.

At this moment, Xiahou Dun felt relieved when he saw the miserable condition of the messenger. He walked up to the other party and paced back and forth a few steps, as if trying to put on a more friendly attitude.

"What did Taishi Ci ask you to tell Zhou Yu? Did he want you to tell Zhou Yu not to worry, that he would soon reorganize reinforcements and come to rescue Nanpi again? Or did he want you to tell him that Zhao Yun would also come to rescue Nanpi? As long as you explain clearly, this general will not bother you and will even provide you with food, clothing and wealth."

Xiahou Dun tried his best to make his tone more friendly and not to argue with the poor soldiers at the bottom. This also made the conditions he offered seem more authentic.

However, the reaction of the captured messenger was a little beyond his expectations. The other party neither resisted nor opened his mouth, but also did not give the answer he wanted.

"General Taishi didn't ask us to inform Zhou Yu that reinforcements were coming...General Taishi only had the former Qingzhou troops of Master Yuan. He failed to break through the general's blockade, so he could only cross the river again to rest and send support across the river to divide the enemy's forces."

Xiahou Dun couldn't help but frown when he heard this.

Taishi Ci is actually so cowardly? Is there a conspiracy?

And if it was pure bad news, why did Taishi Ci inform Zhou Yu? To dampen Zhou Yu's morale?
This is definitely not reasonable. Taishi Ci must have other good news to tell Zhou Yu.

However, Xiahou Dun was a man of some brains and had some basic knowledge. He realized that these captives in front of him did not seem to be very cunning.

When they said those words just now, their expressions and tones were very natural, and they had no intention of hiding anything. They obviously knew that "this news is not good news, so the enemy will not deliberately block it, and there is no problem in saying it out."

Xiahou Dun felt that there must be something wrong with the way he asked the question, such as not asking the key points, which led to the enemy not bothering to lie to him.

After adjusting his thinking, he decided to bring these captives back to Dongguan County first, and then ask Xun You who was with the army to help him with the matter.

Of course, on the way back, he would also ask the military officers and the imperial guards to help him interrogate the prisoners to see if they deliberately said that some of them would be kept and some would be beaten when necessary.

……

A day later, Xiahou Dun's army returned to Dongguan County smoothly without any conversation along the way.

All of Xiahou Dun's instructions were executed and carried out step by step. Halfway through, his military officers and assistants had used many methods to torture him out of some information.

After returning to the city, Xun You received Xiahou Dun's order and hurriedly inquired about the matter in person. He sorted out the confessions and conducted another round of interrogation to fill in the gaps.

In the end, after careful investigation by a wise man like Xun You, Xiahou Dun finally got an absolutely reliable piece of news.

"General Xiahou, I have already found out the details. Although Taishi Ci was repelled by you and could not reinforce Zhou Yu, he tried to break through the siege through a messenger to send a message to Zhou Yu, telling him not to panic, saying that Liu Bei already knew that the war in Hebei had started, so he would launch an attack in Huainan that day, and attack Huaibei and even Xu County with all his strength, in order to save Zhao from Wei.

Taishi Ci also explained to Zhou Yu the considerations of the Zhuge brothers. It was indeed difficult for them to quickly and massively mobilize troops to the north to directly support Zhou Yu because of the difficulty of transportation in winter. The only option was to open up another battlefield and divert the main forces of the court to the war in Henan, thereby alleviating the pressure on Hebei.

After hearing this, Xiahou Dun rarely showed an expression of "as expected", and seemed very proud.

There was no way. Xiahou Dun was not known for his wisdom, but he could really deduce the news from Xun You this time - because the Cao army leaders had already deduced that Liu Bei would launch an attack in the direction of Xudu. The Cao army just took action in Hebei before Liu Bei did.

Now Xun You told Xiahou Dun and Taishi Ci that the messengers were going to convey the same content. How could he not believe it?
Xiahou Dun was slightly pleased with himself, and could not help but curl his lips: "Everyone says Zhuge Liang is a master of foresight and Zhuge Jin is a foresighted person, but in the end they came up with this kind of response? Wasn't that predicted by Sima Yi and Jia Xu? Oh, Uncle Ling also predicted it.

Moreover, Jia Xu boasted in front of the Prime Minister that with his assistance to Zixiao, it would not be a problem to defend Xudu and Huaibei for three months. As long as we fight faster here, Bohai will be easily captured, and even Youzhou can be taken! Then we can return to the army to help Zixiao repel Liu Bei. "

When Xiahou Dun thought of this, he felt a lot more relaxed.

Afterwards, he hastily asked Xun You, "In Gongda's opinion, is it necessary to report this news to the Prime Minister? Or is it enough for us to know the situation ourselves? First of all, we don't know whether the words obtained through torture are completely credible.

Secondly, even if it is completely believable, these things were already anticipated by Sima Yi and his men, so there is no need for us to remind them. It would not be a credit to mention it, and it would just be a waste of time. "

Xiahou Dun thought about it and expressed his concerns.

Although Xun You endorsed this confession, if Xun You had the intelligence to figure it out, but because the news was not explosive and too commonplace, Xiahou Dun felt that even if he went to offer the treasure, he would not gain much credit.

Even if he didn't report it, there would be no loss. Cao Cao couldn't blame him for not reporting it. He could just say "I'm not sure whether it's a fraud, so I dare not report it."

With this analysis, it seems that the reported risk-return ratio is even lower.

Xun You, who was standing by, listened to the commander's concerns and pondered over this idea. In the end, he tactfully persuaded Xiahou Dun to report:

"General, although the report does not show any merit, it can at least reassure the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has always been full of...plans. With this letter, the Prime Minister can sleep more peacefully. At least he will know that Liu Bei does not have the spare energy to send another army to support Zhou Yu for the time being."

Xiahou Dun thought about it and it made sense.

What Xun You wanted to say just now was obviously "suspicious", but when the words came to his lips, he could only say "planful".

Given Cao Cao's temper, it's always good to take a reassurance pill.

"In that case, Gongda will write a secret letter and report the enemy's movements discovered here to the Prime Minister in detail."

Xun You bowed and accepted the task, and immediately went to write the secret letter.

After writing it, Xiahou Dun sent a messenger to Luoyang the next morning at a speed of 400 miles a day. After all, this was just to report to Cao Cao the military situation ahead and the possible reinforcements of the enemy. It was not something extremely urgent that Cao Cao needed to respond to immediately. Therefore, there was no need to rush and use the 600-mile express. That would seem like making a fuss over nothing.

Counting the days, the news will be sent back to Luoyang in about three or four days.

However, Xiahou Dun and Xun You's urgent reports actually seemed a little too late in the end.

Because before their urgent report arrived, Cao Cao had already personally felt Liu Bei's attack. Xiahou Dun's report only verified the authenticity of the intelligence afterwards and gave Cao Cao an extra reassurance.

……

The gaze is turned back to the south, towards Nanyang and Runan.

On the same day, Taishi Ci in the north failed to rescue Zhou Yu, and sent a messenger to reassure Zhou Yu, but was captured halfway.

In the city of Xiangyang, Taiwei Liu Bei, with the assistance of Shangshu Ling Zhuge Liang, has officially announced his decision to launch an attack on Cao Cao from the south and launch a full-scale northern expedition, and a swearing-in ceremony will be held afterwards.

Situ Zhuge Jin was unable to attend this final event because he had already quietly set off for Youzhou to join forces with Zhao Yun and others to plan the next phase of the counterattack against Cao's army from the north.

Therefore, the affairs in Xiangyang could only be handled by Zhuge Liang. However, in order to keep it secret, the senior officials of Liu Bei's camp did not disclose Zhuge Jin's itinerary. Even in the final stage, Zhuge Jin did not show up and only announced to the public that he was ill.

The specific reasons why Liu Bei's army finally launched the Northern Expedition against Cao Cao were also slightly adjusted due to changes in the actual situation of the war.

Before Liu Bei announced the Northern Expedition, on the battlefield in Hebei, news that Xiahou Dun, Zhang He and Gao Lan had assembled a large force to attack Bohai County and Nanpi City guarded by Zhou Yu had been sent back to Xiangyang via an express train over 600 miles.

Although Liu Bei's occupied area was relatively long and narrow, from Nanpi to Xiangyang, even if he took a shortcut along the Huai River in the middle and finally crossed the Tongbai Mountains in Xinyang to enter the Jianghan Basin, the total distance was more than 2,400 miles.

However, with the help of the 600-mile express delivery, the entire journey was still completed in just five or six days. The section of crossing the mountains in Xinyang and Qingzhou slowed down the progress a bit, but all these were taken into consideration.

Therefore, Liu Bei learned the news that Zhou Yu was attacked in early October.

The army had already made preparations for the attack, so there was no need to make any last-minute plans. So the day after receiving the news, on October 5, Liu Bei held the final oath-taking ceremony outside the city of Xiangyang.

In fact, most of the combat troops had already moved in advance to Wancheng and Bowang areas in Nanyang County, and Ancheng and Xincai areas in Runan County.

Only a symbolic cavalry unit of 10,000 people remained in Xiangyang City to participate in the oath-taking ceremony, and they would be able to march to the front line immediately after the ceremony.

At the ceremony, Liu Bei first repeated the reasons that Zhuge brothers had prepared in advance for restarting the war.

The morale of the soldiers was also quite high, and many of them were looking forward to achieving great things.

Even if Liu Bei did not recount Cao Cao's new crimes, most of the soldiers would still be willing to fight voluntarily based solely on their desire to gain merit and promotion and their belief in restoring the Han Dynasty.

But even so, Liu Bei still added a few extra lines after finishing the scheduled lines:

"…Now, Cao not only attempts to proclaim himself the King of Wei, but also shows more contempt for the emperor. He also relies on the fact that he defeated the Xianbei Kebineng, and he has once again launched an attack on our army.

In the Hebei battlefield, our army successfully blocked the 100,000 troops of Xiahou Dun and Zhang He with only General Zhou Yu's efforts! Now, Cao Cao is arrogant and his troops are largely tied up in Hebei. Henan is empty, which is a godsend opportunity for us to revive Han and destroy the bandits! Now is the time to make achievements! "

Liu Bei personally described a beautiful blueprint for the destruction of Cao's army in Henan. Most of the soldiers were so excited that they shouted in unison and were full of fighting spirit.

Seeing that people's hearts were thoroughly aroused, Liu Bei continued with the ceremony. The officials slaughtered a black ox and a white horse on the spot and took their blood for Liu Bei to swear an oath.

After the ceremony, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang set out to cross the Han River, march along the Baihe River for several days, and arrive at Wancheng.

Another messenger rode a fast horse over the Tongbai Mountain and returned to Ancheng to inform Zhang Fei, Wei Yan, and Xu Shu to take the lead in launching the attack and to support the main forces of Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang.

As mentioned earlier, Liu Bei's army's offensive plan this time was for generals such as Zhang Fei and Wei Yan to lead the troops of Runan from the north bank of the Huai River, turn into the Ru River, and go upstream along the Ru River, attacking Shangcai from Ancheng, which was still controlled by Cao's army.

Then they captured Yancheng, Wuyang, Dingling and Kunyang counties, and finally reached Ye County, completely eliminating the defense line of Cao's army blocking the Tongbai Mountains.

Then, the Nanyang army led by Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, Huang Zhong and other generals could join forces with Zhang Fei north of Tongbai Mountain to attack from the front and back and completely tear apart Cao's Tongbai Mountain defense line.

After the battle was torn apart, the two armies were able to join forces and then head straight for Cao Cao's original capital, Xu County.

Of course, while doing all this, Liu Bei's army in Nanyang would also split a part of its troops and march north to feint an attack on the three passes of Luonan in Henan Yin in order to tie down part of Cao's forces.

Luoyang has eight dangerous passes, and the three passes south of Luoyang are obviously unlikely to be attacked. But Luoyang has been the capital of the Han Dynasty for many years, and Cao Cao just moved the capital back to Luoyang three years ago. Naturally, there is no room for loss there, and Cao Cao must ensure its safety with an absolute heavy force.

Therefore, using a small number of troops to attack the three passes in the south of Luo could tie up a lot of Cao Cao's troops. From this perspective, it was very cost-effective for Liu Bei.

Against this background, on October 8th, Zhang Fei formally received Liu Bei's order to attack.

On the ninth day of the first lunar month, he led his troops northward from Ancheng, Runan County, retracing the old route he had taken three years ago and going upstream against the Ru River again.

Two days later, the news that Zhang Fei had stormed the country as a vanguard reached Luoyang and reached Cao Cao's ears.

At this time, Cao Cao had not received Xiahou Dun's emergency letter. However, Cao Cao was not surprised by the news of Zhang Fei's attack.

To him, this was just something he had expected and it finally came true. He felt a little relieved, like "the second shoe has finally dropped."

Just one day after Cao Cao learned that the enemy had invaded, Zhang Fei's troops had arrived outside Shangcai City.

Three years ago, Sun Quan blocked Zhang Fei's fierce offensive in this city.

But now that the three-year period is up, there is no need for Zhang Fei and Wei Yan to hold back at all.

The eldest brother said that he should fight all the way to Kunyang and Dingling first, and then coordinate with friendly forces to attack from the north and south to tear apart Cao's Tongbai Mountain defense line.

Even if Xu County cannot be conquered for the time being, the areas outside Xu County must be taken seriously. Otherwise, how can Cao Cao be anxious and forced to give up the attack in Hebei?

(End of this chapter)