My father-in-law Guan Yu, I persuaded Liu Bei to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang at the beginn

Chapter 259 Cao Cao: You're all screwing your father over, what a disaster! The Battle of Guandu is repeating itself, why not learn from Yuan Shao?
Cao Pi changed color, Cao Chong changed color, and all the ministers, including Cheng Yu, were horrified and changed color.

Cao Pi was instantly terrified and broke out in a cold sweat.

It was his idea to lure Cao Zhi back.

The current outcome is that Cao Zhi failed to lure him back, and instead lost the important town of Suiyang!
How can we explain this to Cao Cao?
Cheng Yu and the others were shocked. How could Cao Zhi suddenly want to return to Wei?

The important town of Suiyang was inexplicably defeated by the Chu cavalry!

Then their planned strategy of marching south from Suiyang to capture Pengcheng and Xiapi, and cutting off the southern expedition of Qing and Xu, has been rendered useless.

"Your Majesty, what... what exactly is going on?"

Cheng Yu snapped out of his daze and looked at Cao Cao with a surprised and suspicious gaze.

Cao Cao was startled, leaped off his horse, pointed his whip at Hao Zhao, and excitedly demanded:

"What did you say? Say it again!"

He couldn't believe his ears and refused to accept this cruel reality.

Hao Zhao trembled with fright and had no choice but to kneel on the ground, trembling as he recounted the whole story in detail.

He also truthfully relayed all the disobedient words that Cao Zhi had asked him to convey to Cao Cao on the Wo River.

"boom!"

Cao Cao felt as if he had been hit hard on the head with a heavy hammer, and for a moment his vision blurred.

A surge of anger welled up inside him, rising straight to his throat.

Cao Cao suddenly clutched his chest and staggered back half a step.

Upon seeing this, Cao Pi and Cao Chong quickly stepped forward to help Cao Cao up.

Cheng Yu, Jiang Ji, and the others suddenly realized what was going on.

Their King Wei had secretly orchestrated this farce without their knowledge!
This is a case of trying to lure your wife and son back but failing and being tricked by your son, who then helped Liu Bei seize your important town of Suiyang!
"Your Majesty—alas~~"

Cheng Yu wanted to say something, but swallowed the words back and could only shake his head helplessly.

Cao Cao's forehead veins bulged, his mouth twitched violently, and he lashed his horsewhip hard against the ground.

"You bastard, you bastard!"

"I have already spared your life, yet you show no remorse, actually helping that big-eared thief to toy with me! You beast, you beast!"

Cao Cao beat his chest and stamped his feet, his hysterical roar of grief and indignation echoing over Baima Ferry.

The roar made Cao Pi tremble with fear, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

He came up with the plan, but now he's lost both his wife and his army. What will Cao Cao say to him when he realizes what's going on?
Bian Shi and Cao Zhi were his biological mother and brother, yet they conspired together to trick Cao Cao again.

What if Cao Cao, in his fury, takes his anger out on him?
That nascent hope of winning the throne will likely be stillborn...

"Alas, I never imagined that my fourth brother could be so unfilial. It's one thing for him to be afraid of punishment and refuse to return to Wei, but how could he help that big-eared thief scheme against our father like this?"

"How could he utter such disobedient words, even advising his father to surrender to that big-eared thief?"

"I truly cannot comprehend how such a beast could exist in this world. This is truly a misfortune for the Cao family..."

Cao Chong shook his head and sighed, his eyes filled with both resentment and confusion.

These words of lamentation, however, only fueled Cao Cao's anger and resentment, making him grit his teeth in frustration.

Cao Pi shuddered again.

In his view, his prodigy brother was seizing the opportunity to stir up trouble.

Isn't this blatantly kicking him when he's down and targeting him?

Cao Pi's eyes darted around, searching for a solution. Suddenly, a glint of light flashed in his eyes, and he quickly cupped his hands and said:

“Father, I believe that although my fourth brother is foolish, he is not so devoid of conscience that he would never do such a beastly thing.”

"Your subject suspects that perhaps his intention to return to Wei was discovered by the Big Ear Bandit, so the Big Ear Bandit used this as a pretext to force your fourth brother to cooperate in setting up this plan and attacking and destroying our Suiyang."

Cao Cao's body trembled, and his anger subsided by a third as he finally began to calm down.

Being betrayed and schemed against by his son, he, as the father, naturally lost face in front of the officials and became a laughingstock of the world.

In comparison, he naturally preferred to believe that his son was forced by Liu Bei and had no choice but to do so.

"But this matter was kept strictly confidential, so how did that big-eared thief find out?"

"Could it be that someone didn't want Mother and Zijian to return, and deliberately leaked the secret to that big-eared thief?"

"But very few people know about this, so who could have leaked the secret to that big-eared thief..."

Cao Pi feigned confusion, but silently pointed the finger at Cao Chong.

Cao Cao was already suspicious, and with Cao Pi's guidance, his cold gaze suddenly turned to Cao Chong.

It was Cao Pi's idea to bring Cao Zhi back to Wei, so it was impossible for him to have leaked the secret to Liu Bei.

With Cao Zhi's return, he would undoubtedly covet the position of heir apparent, thus posing a threat to Cao Chong.

Cao Chong happened to be among those who knew this plan.

Could it be...?

Cao Cao frowned deeply, his suspicions growing, and his gaze toward Cao Chong gradually turned cold and sharp.

Cao Pi noticed his change in expression and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Cao Chong, however, was not good at understanding Cao Cao's thoughts and did not notice the suspicion. He simply cupped his hands and said:

"Father, things have come to this point. The fall of Suiyang is a foregone conclusion and cannot be reversed."

"With the loss of Suiyang, my strategy of capturing Pengcheng and cutting off Qingxu will be rendered useless."

"Your Majesty, I believe you should reconsider whether we should continue the southern campaign against the false Chu?"

Upon hearing this, Cao Cao was startled, and his suspicion deepened. "We just lost Suiyang, and you're already advising me to withdraw my troops and abandon the southern campaign? What do you mean by that?"
Could it be that you secretly colluded with that big-eared thief and made some kind of deal?
You leaked information to Liu Bei in order to use him to prevent Cao Zhi from returning to Wei and eliminate the threat to your claim to the throne.
In return, you helped Liu Bei capture Suiyang, and then persuaded me to go south to destroy Chu.

Cao Pi observed Cao Cao's changing expressions.

His eyes darted around a few times, and he immediately said with conviction:

"How can Father's great cause of conquering the false Chu and unifying the world be abandoned halfway because of the loss of a mere Suiyang?"

"Our Great Wei has hundreds of thousands of soldiers who have already set off for various battlefields. If we suddenly stop at this time, the morale of the army will be greatly damaged."

"If Liu Bei's army takes advantage of the situation to advance north and invade our borders, wouldn't our army be in a passive position? How should we respond?"

"Cang Shu, we must not be too short-sighted. We must not lose our courage because of a small setback, lest we ruin Father's great cause of unifying the world!"

These words struck a chord with Cao Cao.

Cao Cao looked at Cao Chong with a hint of disorientation in his eyes, and coldly snorted:

“Cang Shu, your second brother is right. You are indeed too short-sighted.”

“If I do not attack the Big-Eared Bandit, he will still come to attack me. Since I have no choice but to fight this battle, I will naturally take the initiative into my own hands.”

"The arrow has already left the bowstring; there's no reason to retract it!"

Ridiculed by his elder brother and reprimanded by his father, Cao Chong was thoroughly humiliated and could only lower his head meekly, daring not to express his opinion again.

Cao Cao then mounted his horse, his face flushed again, and cracked his whip, saying:

"By my order, the army shall immediately march south and march straight to Suiyang."

"Our determination to reclaim Qing and Xu and annihilate the false Chu will never change because of the fall of Suiyang!"

Cao Cao was determined to do so, and no one dared to question it.

Thus, the main force of the 140,000-strong Wei army crossed the Yellow River and marched straight towards Suiyang.

...

Five days later, the Wei army marched south along the Bian River, reaching the territory of the Liang Kingdom.

At this time, Liu Bei's 100,000 Chu troops had already advanced to Qiaoyang and joined forces with Zhao Yun's troops.

Suiyang City is situated between the Bian River to the south and the Sui River to the north.

These two waterways run parallel to each other southward north of Suiyang, only thirty or forty li apart.

After passing Suiyang, the two water systems begin to diverge, and the distance between them begins to widen, with the terrain gradually widening in between.

Suiyang City is situated at the mouth of a funnel-shaped passage between two waterways, where the passage narrows and then widens.

Therefore, after Liu Bei's army arrived in Suiyang, it quickly built a north-south barrier with Suiyang City as the core and the Sui River and Bian River as the shield.

When Cao Cao's army arrived, a deep trench and high walls, stretching for dozens of miles, with watchtowers and arrow towers forming an impregnable fortress, had already sprung up from the ground.

Liu Bei personally led his main force and stationed himself in Suiyang, waiting for Cao Cao's army to come and fight.

With their southward advance blocked, the Wei army had no choice but to set up camp northwest of Suiyang, stretching for more than ten miles, thus creating a stalemate with the Chu army.

Dusk.

After personally inspecting the Chu army's defenses, Cao Cao returned to his tent, seething with anger.

"boom!"

Cao Cao threw his helmet onto the table and snorted coldly:

"That big-eared thief does have his own sense of reason. He knows that I am alone with strong troops and horses, so he dares not fight me head-on and has become a coward!"

The ministers then followed suit.

Cheng Yu frowned deeply, his face showing worry, and said:
"I suspect this must be Xiao He's strategy. Liu Bei is imitating the Battle of Fancheng back then, waiting in comfort and not fighting, so as to deplete our army's food and morale, and then launch a counterattack when the opportunity arises."

The Battle of Fancheng!
Mentioning his old wounds, Cao Cao's heart tightened.

The generals also felt a chill run down their spines, and the thrilling memories of those years involuntarily surfaced in their minds.

"Our army is facing off against the big-eared bandit here. The troops from Nanyang and Qingzhou are also expected to enter the stalemate. It will be difficult to determine the victor for the time being."

"However, according to reports from spies, the big-eared bandit has incited Ma Chao and his generals in Liangzhou, as well as Zhang Lu in Hanzhong, to send troops to jointly attack our Guanzhong region."

"At that time, the General of the Flying Cavalry will face enemies on two fronts, and the situation in Guanzhong will definitely be critical."

"I am worried that if we confront Liu Bei in Suiyang for too long, and if the war in Guanzhong goes against us, the consequences will be unimaginable."

Jiang Ji spoke with a heavy tone, his voice filled with worry as he offered his reminder.

Cao Cao frowned deeply, remained silent for a moment, and then glanced at his ministers:
“Zitong’s words are reasonable. Guanzhong cannot be ignored, and the battle of Suiyang cannot be dragged out for too long.”

"Do any of you have a good plan to break this deadlock?"

Cao Pi rolled his eyes a few times, and made a move to offer a plan.

Sima Yi coughed lightly behind him and nudged Cao Pi with his elbow, signaling him not to show off.

Cao Pi swallowed hard, reluctantly suppressing the urge to offer his advice.

At this time.

In the silence, Cao Chong spoke loudly:
“Father, the Battle of Suiyang is quite similar to the Battle of Guandu between you and Yuan Shao back then, both in terms of timing and location.”

“Back then, Yuan Shao built an earthen hill in front of our Guandu fortifications, which put our army under pressure from above and almost forced us to our knees, causing our morale to collapse.”

"Your Majesty, why don't you follow Yuan Shao's example and build an earthen mound in front of Suiyang City, and place trebuchets and powerful crossbows on it, so that you can bombard the Chu army in Suiyang from a high vantage point?"

"Under such high pressure, I believe that within a month, the Chu army will be unable to bear the torment and their morale will collapse!"

Cao Cao's spirits lifted, and a look of surprise instantly appeared in his eyes.

(End of this chapter)