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

Chapter 260 Fighting the God of War, No Mistakes Are Merits! Cao Cao Wants to Take Advantage of My Face? I'll Break Him with the Most Powerful Weapon in History!
The earthen mound plan!

Nightmarish memories from that year suddenly resurfaced in my mind.

Back in the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao used this very strategy of building earthen hills to torment him to the point of near death, and he almost couldn't hold on any longer.

Think about it, you were originally hiding in deep trenches and high walls, eating and sleeping as usual, letting Yuan Shao run wild outside. Even if you didn't fight, you would still anger Yuan Shao to death.

Who would have thought that when you woke up, someone had built dozens of earthen mounds, taller than your wall?

They brought out catapults, powerful bows, crossbows, and all sorts of other weapons, allowing them to easily dominate you from above.

Do you still want to eat and sleep peacefully?
Dream on!

Even which hand you use to wipe your butt, people can see clearly, and they can rain down arrows on you anytime, anywhere, forcing you to pull up your pants and run for your life while still holding your poop.

Under such high pressure, you and your soldiers huddle under the shield wall all day long, living in constant fear. How can your army's morale not collapse?

Thinking about those painful memories he couldn't bear to recall, Cao Cao felt a chill run down his spine and lingering fear.

Cao Chong's strategy was to use the same methods Yuan Shao had used against him to deal with Liu Bei.

"Wonderful!"

Cao Cao slapped the table in admiration and laughed loudly:
"Cang Shu's plan is exactly what I want. I will use this plan to crush the morale of the big-eared bandit's army!"

Inside the royal tent, all the Wei ministers were greatly encouraged, and they looked at Cao Chong with admiration.

"Your Majesty, Yuan Shao's plan is indeed extremely powerful."

"But back then, Your Majesty used trebuchets to break Yuan Shao's earthen mound plan. What if Liu Bei had followed suit?"

Amidst the excitement, Jiang Ji poured cold water on the situation.

Cao Cao's expression changed, and his smile vanished abruptly.

Cao Chong smiled faintly, unconvinced, and said:
“Zitong is right. This earthen mound strategy can indeed be defeated by thunderbolt chariots.”

"Has Zitong forgotten that this trebuchet is no ordinary catapult? It was created by Liu Ziyang and its power far surpasses that of ordinary catapults."

"Now that Liu Ziyang has died for his country, and the method for building my trebuchet has never been passed on, how can Liu Bei build a trebuchet to break through our earthen hill?"

Jiang Ji was speechless.

Cheng Yu nodded repeatedly and smiled:
"Your Majesty, what Prince Cang Shu said is absolutely right. Only the Thunder Chariot can break through the earthen hill."

"Among the Chu army, no one could build a trebuchet for Liu Bei, so even if he built a catapult, it would be useless."

"In my opinion, Prince Cangshu's plan is feasible!"

The hint of worry that had just appeared in Cao Cao's eyes vanished as soon as it appeared, and a smile returned.

The greatest advantage of a catapult is, of course, its power.

Once fired, the power of the stone projectile is ten or even a hundred times that of an arrow.

However, its biggest weakness is its precision.

An arrow might hit the target once in ten shots, and some master archers could even hit the target every time.

The accuracy of the catapult was pitifully low; if you fired twenty or thirty stones, you were lucky to hit the target with even one.

This was used to bombard city walls; if used to bombard earthen mounds, the accuracy would be halved.

The trebuchet presented by Liu Ye was different; not only was its accuracy far superior to that of ordinary catapults, but its power was also doubled.

It was with this trebuchet that he caught Yuan Shao off guard and destroyed his earthen mound in one fell swoop.

He had Liu Ye back then, but who does Liu Bei have now?
“What Young Master Cangshu said makes sense…”

Cao Chong countered Jiang Ji's reminder with a question, and the worry in his eyes gradually faded.

“Jiang Zitong, your worries are indeed unfounded. Since Cang Shu offered this plan, how could he not have considered your concerns?”

Cao Cao smiled coldly and said with pleasure:
"Following Cang Shu's plan, we will begin building an earthen mound tomorrow to suppress Suiyang City from a high vantage point and crush the morale of the Big-Eared Bandit!"

The ministers received the order and were greatly encouraged.

Cao Chong's performance was not over yet.

Then, he pointed southwest:
"In Liangzhou, although Ma Chao and Han Sui have reconciled, they had a falling out after the battle in Guanzhong, and there must be some resentment between them now."

"Your Majesty, I believe that Your Majesty may order your uncle to send spies into Liangzhou to spread rumors that Han Sui will take advantage of Ma Chao's eastward march from Longshan to launch a surprise attack on Ji County and cut off his retreat."

“Ma Chao doesn’t trust Han Sui, so naturally he doesn’t dare to launch a full-scale attack on my Guanzhong.”

After a pause, Cao Chong continued:

"As for Hanzhong, Zhang Lu and Liu Zhang are sworn enemies who have been fighting each other for many years and have deep-seated grudges."

"Your subject believes that Your Majesty may use the name of the Emperor to send an envoy to Yizhou to confer upon Liu Zhang the title of Duke of Shu, and order him to lead the Shu troops north to attack Zhang Lu and seize Hanzhong."

"Now Liu Bei has established himself as the ruler of half of Jiangnan and holds the two provinces of Qing and Xu. His ambition to conquer the world is known to all."

"Back then, Liu Zhang feared his father, so he allied with Liu Bei. Now, he will surely fear Liu Bei and turn to our Great Wei for good relations."

"Your subject believes that Liu Zhang will accept the title bestowed by the Duke of Shu. As for whether he will send troops to attack Zhang Lu, that is of no importance."

“As long as Liu Zhang is granted a title, Zhang Lu will naturally be wary and fear that Liu Zhang will take advantage of the situation to attack his Hanzhong. He will certainly not dare to send his entire army north to attack my Guanzhong.”

"In this way, Father can repel the enemy forces from both sides without lifting a finger, and keep Guanzhong safe with just two messengers!"

Cao Chong then offered another plan in a long and detailed manner.

Cao Cao's gloomy expression vanished, and he praised:

"Cang Shu, your plan is a psychological warfare tactic, a strategy to sow discord, to subdue the enemy without fighting, which is truly the highest level of military strategy."

"Good, good, very good, very good!"

Cao Cao was overjoyed and praised Cao Chong highly, seemingly forgetting his previous suspicions about Cao Chong's leak of information.

Only Cao Pi, seeing Cao Chong steal the spotlight and receive Cao Cao's high praise, couldn't help but frown.

"Cang Shu, you are truly a prodigy in our family!"

"Very well, very well, I'll use your plan, Cang Shu. I want to see how Xiao He will respond!"

"Hahaha--"

Inside the tent, Cao Cao's long-absent loud laughter rang out.

After the military meeting concluded, Cao Chong was kept behind to discuss the next steps with Cao Cao alone.

Cao Pi, however, was filled with jealousy and left in a sullen mood.

"Zhongda, I remember when we were talking earlier, you mentioned to me that we should build earthen mounds to deal with the big-eared scoundrel, just like Yuan Shao did." "How come just now during the military council, when I was about to offer my advice to Father, you stopped me and let Cang Shu steal the spotlight?"

Upon entering the military tent, Cao Pi began to grumble and complain, full of resentment.

Sima Yi, however, poured Cao Pi a bowl of soup and tea, and asked in return:

"Second Young Master, have you forgotten Yi's previous warning?"

Cao Pi was taken aback at first, but then he realized what was happening.

Sima Yi told him not to show off, not to compete with Cao Chong for merit or wisdom, and to just keep to himself and act like a filial son.

"That's true, but the plan to build the earthen mound is clearly a great achievement. I'm really unwilling to just watch Cang Shu steal it."

Cao Pi took a sip of tea, which calmed him down a bit, but he was still dissatisfied.

Sima Yi poured himself a cup of tea, but said meaningfully:

"Second Young Master, you must understand one thing: the more you do in this world, the more chances you have of making mistakes."

"In other matters, you may perform appropriately, but in the matter of fighting Liu Bei, you would rather do nothing than be greedy for credit."

"At times like these, to avoid making mistakes is to achieve merit."

Cao Pi was taken aback again, his eyes darting around as he tried to decipher the hidden meaning in Sima Yi's words.

Suddenly his expression changed, and he lowered his voice, saying:
"Zhongda, do you mean that the big-eared thief has the ability to break this earthen hill strategy, and then Cangshu will fail to claim credit and will be guilty of a crime?"

Sima Yi smiled without saying a word, only lowering his head to sip his tea.

This is the default.

Cao Pi frowned, his eyes filled with doubt:

"But just now during the military council, didn't Cang Shu also say that only the trebuchet could break through the earthen mound?"

"Liu Bei couldn't build a trebuchet, so naturally he couldn't break through the earthen hill strategy. How could Cang Shu's plan have failed?"

Sima Yi sighed, his wary gaze drifting towards Suiyang:
"Logically speaking, it is indeed as you say, young master. But don't forget, Liu Bei has an exception like Xiao He under his command."

"This person is unfathomable, like a ghost or god, and cannot be judged by the standards of ordinary people."

"With this man in the Chu army, anything is possible."

"Therefore, to be on the safe side, we should give this credit to the Fourth Young Master. You, Young Master, must not risk taking credit for yourself."

Cao Pi shuddered and finally realized what was going on.

After all that talk, it turns out that Sima Yi was wary of Xiao He.

“Zhongda, your reminder is quite right. This Xiao He’s methods are indeed unpredictable. Father has been defeated by him countless times. Xun You and Liu Ye, with their great wisdom and resourcefulness, both died because of his tricks.”

"With such a person around, I certainly cannot risk offering advice and vying for credit."

"But I really can't figure out what methods Xiao He could possibly have to break this earthen mound strategy..."

Cao Pi muttered to himself, his wary eyes filled with deep suspicion.

...

The next day.

At Cao Cao's command, tens of thousands of Wei soldiers began to approach Suiyang and began to build earthen mounds.

To prevent the Chu army from sabotaging the city, Cao Cao, on Cheng Yu's advice, first built a tunnel to approach Suiyang, and then deployed war chariots to surround the construction site, forming a temporary fortification to protect the Wei army's construction.

For three consecutive days, the Wei army worked day and night to complete the project, and nearly forty earthen mounds gradually took shape and began to rise in front of Suiyang City.

The Wei army's series of strange actions naturally aroused the vigilance of the Chu rulers and ministers.

That afternoon.

Liu Bei stood atop the West Gate, personally observing the enemy's situation.

"Bowen, Boyan, what do you think Cao Cao's intentions are? He's using chariots, building tunnels, and piling up earth and stones."

Liu Bei held up his binoculars, observing the situation in front of the city while asking a question.

Xiao He glanced at it only once and said dismissively:
"If my guess is correct, it is most likely that someone offered Cao Cao a plan, instructing him to follow the example of Yuan Shao during the Battle of Guandu and build up an earthen mound in front of my Suiyang city."

"In this way, he can move all the catapults and powerful bows and crossbows to the earthen hill, and bombard our Suiyang city from a high position, in an attempt to crush the morale of our army."

Liu Bei suddenly realized what was happening and couldn't help but gasp.

Zhang Fei slammed his hand on the battlement and cursed:

"That would be terrible! If Cao Cao builds a mound for him, wouldn't he be able to see my butt even when I'm pooping?"

"Your Majesty, we cannot let him succeed! We must immediately send troops to stop him and prevent him from building up the earthen mound."

Liu Bei frowned slightly and pointed outside the city, saying:
"Yide, don't be impulsive. Cao Cao is naturally trying to prevent our army from sabotaging us, which is why he built the tunnel and sent out chariots to protect it."

“He came prepared. If our army blindly goes into battle, it will only result in the loss of soldiers’ lives, which is exactly what he wants.”

Zhang Fei suddenly realized something, and scratched his head, saying:

"What can we do then? Are we just going to do nothing and watch Cao Cao build up the earthen mound and then piss and shit on our heads?"

The generals all agreed, but they were all getting a little anxious.

"Since Cao Cao is imitating Yuan Shao, we can also learn from Cao Cao and use catapults to break down his earthen mounds."

Lu Xun offered a solution, but as soon as he spoke, he shook his head and said:

"However, as far as I know, the catapult that Cao Cao used back then was the Thunder Chariot presented by Liu Ye, which was far superior to ordinary catapults in power and accuracy."

"We can't build this trebuchet. If it's just an ordinary catapult, I'm afraid it won't be able to break through Cao Cao's earthen mound."

The excited looks in everyone's eyes immediately dimmed again.

Liu Bei had no choice but to look at Xiao He and ask:

"Bowen, in your opinion, how should we deal with Cao Cao's earthen hill strategy?"

Xiao He stared at the earthen hill outside the city, lost in thought and remaining silent.

After a long while, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly:

"We cannot build a trebuchet, but I can build another kind of catapult for Your Majesty."

"This catapult is ten times more powerful than the trebuchet, and can be called the most powerful weapon in history. It should be able to break through Cao Cao's earthen mound."

(End of this chapter)