My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 753: Forcing Cao Cao to Give Up

"Brother! Kong Ming! Did we act fast this time? In just one month, we broke through Shangcai and Dingying, bypassed Yancheng, cleared the south bank of the Lishui River, and fought all the way to Ye County!
The Tongbai Mountain defense line that Cao relied on has completely collapsed. Brother, let's make a concerted effort and attack Xu County while the soldiers are in high spirits! "

With the surrender of Ye County, Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, Zhang Fei and others easily entered the city and celebrated their victory with a banquet in the county government office. Zhang Fei, who had been frustrated for many days, naturally wanted to drink to his heart's content and talk to his elder brother about their separation.

Liu Bei would naturally give full recognition to his third brother's military exploits: "Yide is brave and resourceful this time, and knows how to deal with emergencies. Compared with three years ago, he has really improved. It is a cause for celebration. However, you still need to make persistent efforts. Once you capture Xu County and completely wipe out the reputation of Cao thief, then we will drink together again."

At the table, Zhang Fei boasted about himself every time he drank a bowl of wine. No one knew how much he drank or how much he boasted. Liu Bei also comforted him with gentle words and did not think that his third brother was arrogant. Basically, he nodded and agreed with everything Zhang Fei boasted about.

Even Huang Zhong, who was standing by, felt that Zhang Fei had drunk too much, so he whispered to Liu Bei to remind him, hoping that Liu Bei could persuade him. But Liu Bei waved his hand and said, "It's okay:
"If Yide led an army and acted alone, even if it was to celebrate the victory after the battle, I would never allow him to drink so much. But today, the armies have joined forces, and I will lead the army myself, so let him have some fun."

Liu Bei was very humane. According to his logic, Zhang Fei should not drink like this when he was leading the army alone. But when they joined forces, Liu Bei was temporarily the commander-in-chief of the whole army, so Zhang Fei's drinking would not cause any trouble.

In short, in order to allow Zhang Fei to drink freely, there must be someone of higher status than him present to calm the situation. In addition to Liu Bei himself, the Zhuge brothers and Guan Yu would also be fine.

After a while, Zhang Fei was drunk and passed out. Liu Bei asked Zhuge Liang and Huang Zhong to drink for a while, and also asked about the strategic deployment for the next stage and whether there was anything that needed to be adjusted.

Liu Bei burped, turned to Zhuge Liang, and asked casually, "Now our army is progressing faster than expected. It has only been a month since we sent out the troops, and we have broken through Cao's Tongbai Mountain defense line from both sides. In your opinion, should we adjust the previous strategy? Should we just attack Xu and Luo in one go? Or should we continue to attract the main force of the enemy here to create opportunities for Zilong, Ziyi, and Gongjin on the northern line?"

Zhuge Liang frowned slightly, knowing that his lord was getting a little carried away because the progress was smoother than expected. He wanted to stop caring about the "main attack/feint attack" and "hammer/anvil" division of labor agreed upon before the war, and hoped that it would be changed to "everyone is the main attacker, and we will capture as much as we can."

For this reason, Zhuge Liang still had to pour some cold water on Liu Bei: "My lord, Yide's pincer attack to break through Cao's Tongbai Mountain defense line was indeed completed faster than originally planned, but my lord must not underestimate the enemy because of this.

The reason why our army can advance so fast now is that the battle line is not far into the enemy territory. The lord is also a veteran who has led troops for nearly 30 years. Naturally, he knows that the key to deploying troops thousands of miles away is to transport food and supplies.

The supplies stored in Jing and Yi were transported to Wancheng by the Han River and the Bai River, and at most to Bowang County. From Bowang to Ye County, the only way was to go over the Tongbai Mountain. This mountain road of less than 100 miles had a greater loss than the previous 2,000-mile river transport.

After arriving at Ye County, if we want to use the Lishui River, Rushui River and other rivers for further transportation, we have to find another ship. Although our army also has a large number of ship reserves in the Huaihe River Basin, which can be transported to the front line via the Huaihe River, Rushui River, and Lishui River, the number is not as large as our fleet reserves in Jianghan.

In short, if the battlefield is controlled within Yingchuan County, the distance we need to transport the war materials from Jing and Yi is not too far, and the loss is controllable. However, if we fight all the way deep into Chen County or even Chenliu, it will be too troublesome to temporarily raise transportation capacity.

It is November now, and the autumn grain in the Central Plains has been stored. Cao's army can defend the city and clear the fields. Our army cannot afford to lose food to the enemy. We cannot change the battle plan at random. Even if we want to occupy a large area of Yuzhou, we have to wait until the next harvest. Then we can eat wherever we fight, so as not to be embarrassed. "

Zhuge Liang's advice to Liu Bei was slightly put on the brakes, and he also listened to the reason and finally calmed down a little.

Indeed, the war has already begun, first in the north and then in the south, so half a year won’t be a big deal. At most we will have to wait until the next grain harvest season, which won’t be long.

As long as we can attract Cao Cao's absolute main force in Yingchuan and Sili, forcing Cao Cao to transfer all his troops to fight with us, we will naturally be able to make great progress on other fronts.

Anyway, there are only so many Cao troops in the world. The more they are attracted, the more empty the Cao troops on other fronts will be. The advantages of Cao troops in internal operations and convenient dispatch will not be brought into play.

After Liu Bei calmed down, he asked Zhuge Liang to check again to see if there were any adjustments that could be made to the original plan to better achieve the established goals:

"Now that the situation has changed, sir, do you have a good plan to attract more of Cao's main forces to Heluo faster?"

Zhuge Liang put down his feather fan, sorted out his thoughts carefully, and said firmly: "To attract more Cao troops, our army can still follow the original plan on the front battlefield and put heavy pressure on Kunyang, Xiangcheng, Yancheng and other places.

Moreover, if the opportunity is right, our army can also respond flexibly and capture one or several of the above-mentioned cities, making the situation in Xu County more critical and making Cao's bandits more nervous.

Anyway, as long as we slow down the attack on Xu County itself, Cao will not give up the rescue. Xu County is no longer Cao Cao's pseudo-capital. For our army, the significance of taking it is not that great. Even if we take it, our army will not gain much in terms of population and land. But for Cao Cao, losing Xu County will have a major blow to his prestige. The symbolic significance is too great, and he will definitely protect it at all costs. "

Zhuge Liang paused for a moment here, took a sip of tea, and let his lord slowly digest the meaning.

Only after seeing Liu Bei nod silently did Zhuge Liang continue to speak: "In addition to this frontal battlefield method, our army can also use some psychological tactics, send spies to the counties under Cao Cao's rule, and spread rumors such as 'Because the situation in Yingchuan and other places is unfavorable, Cao's destruction is imminent, and the counties in Guandong and Yanbian are unstable.'

My lord, you should still remember that a few days ago, before the Tongbai Mountain broke through Ye County, another detachment of our army, led by General Huang Lao, attacked Liang County in Sili. I think this battle example can be used to publicize it as part of the rumor attack to attract Cao's troops. "

Zhuge Liang's thoughts seemed a little jumpy when he heard this. Liu Bei was stunned for a few seconds before he reacted.

Readers who do not understand the cause and effect of the matter may be even more confused, so I have to explain it briefly here.

As mentioned earlier, according to the plan Zhuge Liang made for Liu Bei before the war, Liu Bei set out from Nanyang County and led his main force to the north. There were two offensive routes set at that time.

One plan was to cross the Tongbai Mountains from Bowang County in Nanyang, capture Ye County on the Yingchuan County side, and then attack the hinterland of Yuzhou.

Another route was to start from Luyang County in the north of Nanyang, attack Liang County in the Funiushan area, and then attack Yangcheng, and finally approach the three passes of Luonan in the territory of Henan Yin, which are the three passes of Huanyuan, Taigu, and Yique that guard the southern part of Luoyang.

In the pre-war plan, Zhuge Liang knew that he was currently unable to attack the three passes south of Luo. Cao Cao's troops were still very strong, and there were three strong passes and the dangers of Songshan and Funiushan. The cost-effectiveness of attacking there was too low. However, attacking those places would greatly restrain and shock Cao Cao, enough to attack the enemy's defenses and greatly restrain Cao's troops.

If Xu County could tie down hundreds of thousands of Cao's troops, and Luoyang could tie down another hundreds of thousands of Cao's troops, then nearly 60% of Cao Cao's total force of more than 400,000 would be sucked into the Heluo war zone. The other fronts would inevitably be extremely empty, and the opportunity would come.

Now, it has been more than half a month since Liu Bei sent out his troops. During this period of time, it seems that his main energy has been focused on attacking Ye County from Bowang and breaking through Tongbai Mountain.

But in fact, Liu Bei had such a strong military force, so he couldn't just sit there. Before breaking through Ye County, he had already broken through Liang County in the direction of Luyang on the northern line. It's just that there are no details worth mentioning in that battle, so I just glossed over it.

As for Cao's army, the reason why Xu Huang, who was originally assigned to Cao Ren, was transferred to the southern defense line of Luoyang was because Liu Bei broke through Liang County. Cao Cao felt a little critical and had to pull Xu Huang to station in Yangcheng County.

Cao Cao also gave Xu Huang the latest order in private: Yangcheng is located outside the three passes of Luonan, so it is relatively not that strategic and difficult to defend for a long time. Therefore, as long as Xu Huang can delay Liu Bei in Yangcheng for a while, if he really cannot defend it, he will be allowed to retreat in an orderly manner to Huanyuan Pass in the Songshan Mountain area. Once at Huanyuan Pass, he must resolutely defend it and not allow himself to retreat even a single step.

Zhuge Liang still doesn't know about Cao Cao's order.

But with Zhuge Liang's intelligence, he could guess that Cao Cao would definitely give Xu Huang the following order under normal circumstances, asking Xu Huang to "hold on in an orderly manner, delay time, and retreat in an orderly manner if time cannot be delayed any more."

So at this moment, since the lord asked and wanted to see if there was a better fine-tuning plan to attract the enemy's forces, Zhuge Liang did not hesitate to tell him his latest idea. And this idea was based on Zhuge Liang's speculation about how Cao Cao would use Xu Huang.

Liu Bei sorted out his memories and the causes and consequences, and then humbly asked for the specific details: "I wonder how you will spread rumors and use our army's record of conquering Liang County to force Cao Cao to deploy more defensive forces between Henan Yin and Nanyang?
The Cao thieves should have made up their minds to resist step by step and give up some unimportant small towns in the periphery to delay time. Can you force the Cao army to change their minds and not give in?"

Zhuge Liang smiled wisely: "This is actually not difficult, just do this and that..."

Liu Bei listened quietly, his eyes soon brightened, and he immediately ordered to carry out Zhuge Liang's plan.

……

In the following days, the battle lines between Nanyang and Yingchuan, and between Nanyang and Henan Yin, temporarily calmed down.

After Liu Bei's army captured Ye County and Liang County, they continuously transported the follow-up troops to the front, and also transported a large amount of military supplies from the south of Tongbai Mountain and Funiushan Mountain to the north, preparing to support an army of more than 100,000 or 200,000 to fight against Cao's army for a long time.

However, in the short term, Liu Bei's army did not achieve any new results in expanding territory.

Huang Zhong's vanguard, after crossing Tongbai Mountain, approached Kunyang, Dingling and Xiangcheng. Sun Quan personally took charge of Xiangcheng, and ordered Cheng Pu and Ling Tong to defend Kunyang, the front line, against Huang Zhong.

With veterans like Cheng Pu in charge and young and brave generals like Ling Tong leading by example, the Kunyang defenders also showed great courage. Huang Zhong needed time to organize siege weapons, destroy fortifications, and slowly take over the city.

The front line of the confrontation between the two sides roughly corresponds to the Pingdingshan area in Henan Province in later generations. Although Pingdingshan is not a very steep mountainous area, it can be regarded as a certain geographical advantage, and the defenders can still delay the battle if they want.

After Zhang Fei released his elder brother into the western Henan plain north of Tongbai Mountain, he only rested for two days before returning to the Yancheng front line to join forces with Wei Yan to prepare for an attack on Yancheng, which was being defended by Cao Zhen.

Huang Zhong faced Sun Quan and Cheng Pu, Zhang Fei faced Cao Zhen, and the generals of both Liu and Cao were confronted with each other and each found their own opponents.

When Cao Cao heard that the Yingchuan front was in danger, he also put a large number of reserve troops under the command of Cao Ren, asking Cao Ren to fully support Sun Quan and Cao Zhen on the front line.

Suddenly, the battle between Jingzhou and Yuzhou, and Jingzhou and Sizhou, became more intense than ever before, with the total number of troops deployed by both sides reaching nearly 200,000. It seemed that this would be a long-term stalemate similar to the Battle of Changping, or at least another Battle of Guandu.

During the Battle of Changping, Qin and Zhao fought for three full years, and in the end, both sides were exhausted and could not hold on any longer. The Battle of Guandu lasted for nearly a year and a half, and the intense stalemate lasted for nearly a year.

Cao Cao personally experienced the Battle of Guandu, so he was mentally prepared for this situation. He was ready for a long, hard and exhausting battle.

Many of the officials in the Luoyang court seemed to be in a state of panic. Some officials who had been quite dissatisfied with Cao Cao in recent years secretly colluded with each other and wanted to collude with Liu Bei to cooperate with him from inside and outside.

However, these people have no chance to make any substantive actions for the time being, and Cao Cao cannot take the initiative. He can only be cautious and be ready to put out the enemy with thunder and lightning at any time.

All this put Cao Cao under tremendous mental pressure.

As for Liu Bei, because he followed Zhuge Liang's advice, he began to make secret efforts and spread various rumors, which gradually produced some immeasurable effects.

……

Time flies and it is late November.

This day was another day of the grand court meeting that was held every five days.

Cao Cao had not been in good health in recent years. The sequelae of his first stroke a few years ago had never been completely cured, so before the war was resumed this time, Cao Cao seldom attended court.

All government affairs were discussed in the Prime Minister's Mansion, and the court meetings were just an empty facade, serving as a mascot.

However, in the past month and a half, with the resumption of the war and the unfavorable situation on the front line, Cao Cao had to force himself to attend more court meetings in order to stabilize people's hearts and control the situation in Luoyang.

He had no choice but to attend today's court meeting despite his illness.

He originally thought that the court meeting was just a formality, but unexpectedly, during the court meeting, some important ministers actually made some important suggestions that he did not expect.

The minister who proposed the proposal was named Geng Ji, who was one of Cao Cao's close confidants. He had now been promoted to the position of Shaofu and Shizhong, and in name his status was almost equal to that of another Shizhong, Xi Lu.

At the court meeting, Geng Ji unexpectedly bypassed Cao Cao and made a direct suggestion to the emperor:

"Recently, Liu Bei's troops have broken through Liang County and are besieging Yangcheng. Rumors are spreading in Luoyang City, and people are uneasy. The situation is as critical as it was 20 years ago. I ask Your Majesty to think twice and consider moving west to Chang'an to avoid the war."

As soon as these words were spoken, Cao Cao's face turned pale instantly. All this was unexpected. Cao Cao couldn't understand why Geng Ji, a person he promoted, would speak to himself and give such advice.

Emperor Liu Xie also showed anger when he heard this.

Liu Xie thought this was Cao Cao's intention, but Liu Xie was not going to compromise this time. Three years ago, he moved back to Luoyang from Xudu. At least he could explain that he wanted to return to Luoyang, which was the capital of the Han Dynasty.

At that time, Liu Xie secretly swore in his heart that returning to Luoyang would be the last time he would compromise and surrender to Cao Cao on major affairs concerning the country's foundation. If Cao Cao continued to make inroads and bully him more excessively in the future, he would rather fight to the death than retreat!
Especially when they left Xu Du, Empress Fu's father Fu Wan died prematurely "due to illness". During these three years, even Empress Fu secretly looked down on her husband.

Although the queen could not be openly rude to the emperor, she could use cold violence through inaction and indifference.

During these three years, Empress Fu almost never catered to the emperor, so that when the emperor did certain things, it was like facing a corpse that could only accept it. Later, Liu Xie felt bored and no longer went to the empress to solve his personal needs. At most, he would chat with the empress, and the rest was solved by the concubines.

No man can stand this kind of silent contempt.

So at this moment, Liu Xie was immediately furious. Without even waiting for Cao Cao to express his opinion, he angrily rebuked Geng Ji in public:

"Shaofu Geng! What are you talking about! I agreed to move away from Xu County and return to Luoyang because Luoyang was the capital of the Han Dynasty! Do you really think I am a coward? I will go wherever you want me to go. I will never leave Luoyang again in my life! And I will never go to Chang'an!"

As he was talking, Liu Xie actually shed tears. It was obvious that the scene reminded him of the suffering he had to endure when he was a child and was kidnapped to Chang'an by Dong Zhuo 20 years ago.

The days in Chang'an, and the journey back east amidst the chaos among Li Jue, Guo Si, Yang Feng, Zhang Ji and others, were simply not a life for human beings.

When Liu Xie was in the worst situation, he had less than 100 followers left, and the rest were all killed. On his way back to the east, the emperor summoned the ministers to discuss the recent situation. Since they had no houses to live in, they could only find a fence in the wild and sit on the ground inside the fence to discuss.

What difference was there between that miserable state and the sheep in the sheepfold? The emperor had become a dog and sheep living a similar lifestyle. If he had to live like that again, Liu Xie would rather die.

At this moment, as a bystander, Cao Cao was also very angry with Geng Ji before Liu Xie started scolding him and wanted to severely punish Geng Ji.

But after hearing Liu Xie's scolding of Geng Ji, Cao Cao was not so angry in his heart. Because he suddenly realized that Geng Ji was at least not throwing stones to test the waters for the emperor, and the emperor's scolding of Geng Ji did not seem to be fake.

As long as Geng Ji is not the emperor's man, it is unlikely that he said this because he is bad, but more likely because he is stupid.

The bad ones must be eliminated.

If he is stupid, he can still be saved. At most he will not be reused, but there is no danger.

At that moment, Cao Cao's inner judgment on Geng Ji changed imperceptibly from "this boy must not be kept" to "this boy is not worthy of being used".

However, Cao Cao also firmly believed that Geng Ji would not suddenly come out and say these things for no reason. There might be someone behind him, or there might be some other reason. Cao Cao really wanted to find out.

Cao Cao then changed his mind, stroked his beard, and asked in a cold voice: "Geng Ji! Who asked you to make such a suggestion? His Majesty has already decreed that Luoyang will be the eternal capital of our Han Dynasty. You are talking nonsense about major policies. Are you trying to go against the will of heaven?"

Geng Ji on the opposite side felt a little relieved after being scolded by Cao Cao, knowing that after Cao Cao scolded him like this, he would not directly punish him, and at most would just no longer use him.

Geng Ji had followed Cao Cao for many years, and he was very familiar with Cao Cao's methods of dealing with various people.

So he took the opportunity to make his motives clear: "Your Majesty! Prime Minister! I dare not rashly criticize the great government. I just heard that there are rumors everywhere in Luoyang, and I am afraid that Your Majesty and the Prime Minister do not know the seriousness of the situation, so I risk my life to speak up!"

Cao Cao frowned and said grimly, "Oh? What rumors have you heard? Why didn't you report the school affairs?"

Geng Ji gritted his teeth and told the truth: "I have heard rumors that when Dong Zhuo was causing chaos in the country, Sun Jian led an expedition to the north to defend the country. Sun Jian defeated Dong Zhuo's army in Liang County and killed Hua Xiong. Dong Zhuo was like a frightened bird, kidnapped the emperor and destroyed the foundation of our Han Dynasty.

But nowadays, many people believe that Dong Zhuo was a coward and acted like a villain in vain. After he abducted His Majesty, he left Xu Rong behind to cover the retreat. Xu Rong first defeated Sun Jian in Yangcheng, killed Zu Mao, and then defeated... and the Prime Minister in Chenggao. If Dong Zhuo had been patient and left a step later, perhaps His Majesty would not have to be abducted.

But at the same time, many common people and nobles compared the current situation with that of 20 years ago, saying, "Back then, Dong Zhuo did not give up Yangcheng and left Xu Rong to guard it, but now the prime minister is mostly only willing to rely on the three passes of Luonan to shrink and defend, and does not even have the courage to rely on Yangcheng to fight back against Liu Bei. Xu Huang will definitely not defend Yangcheng to the death, but just delay the time. This is even worse than Dong Zhuo back then, so the court will be moved west to Chang'an again, which is inevitable."

These words were not said by me. I just heard rumors spreading among the people and was deeply frightened. I was afraid that Your Majesty and the Prime Minister were living in the deep palace and were unaware of the people's sentiments. That's why I risked my life to make a warning..."

After hearing this, Liu Xie and Cao Cao both changed their expressions.

Cao Cao's face turned pale and his nasolabial lines twitched. He quickly asked Sima Yi and Xun Yu to check and see if there were any such rumors among the people of Luoyang recently and why they were not reported.

But while checking, Cao Cao also realized a problem.

His original plan was to let Xu Huang delay Liu Bei in Yangcheng for a while, and then abandon Yangcheng and retreat to Huanyuan Pass.

But now there are so many people gossiping among the people, comparing and criticizing their own situation of resisting Liu Bei's Northern Expedition and Dong Zhuo's resistance to Sun Jian's Northern Expedition 20 years ago.

All this made Cao Cao worry.

(End of this chapter)