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

Chapter 273 This man's heart is with the Han Dynasty; he can help us conquer Xuchang! Planning three years in advance? And you say this isn't far-sighted?
Xudu.

Seventy thousand Chu troops from Jingzhou, together with seven thousand light cavalry under Zhao Yun, formed a total army of nearly eighty thousand, and marched in a mighty procession to Xuchang.

At this time, the Wei army in Chenliu was tied down by Liu Bei, and Cao Cao had no time to send troops south to reinforce Xuchang.

Left with no other option, Cao Chun had to withdraw all the outer camps and retreat all 20,000 troops into the city to hold the fort.

When Guan Yu's army arrived at the city, they began to besiege it at a leisurely pace.

Within three days, large camps sprang up, completely surrounding Xuchang.

Although Cao Chun had few soldiers, he was not entirely unprepared.

To defend against the Chu army's divine thunder cannons, Cao Chun worked day and night to thicken the walls of Xudu on all four sides.

At Dong Zhao's suggestion, Cao Chun felled trees to build fences, and prepared thousands of wooden fences in advance.

If the city walls were to collapse and breaches appeared due to the bombardment of the divine thunder cannons, they would be immediately sealed off with existing wooden palisades to block the first wave of Chu troops' opportunistic attack.

Thousands of laborers were also organized to carry soil and stones to reseal the breach when the Wei army used wooden palisades to defend against the enemy.

With everything prepared, Cao Chun had no way to retreat and could only be determined to fight to the death, waiting for the Chu army to attack.

Inside the central command tent of the Chu camp.

Guan Yu, along with Xiao He and the others, gathered around the sand table of Xuchang to discuss a plan to capture the city.

Everyone offered their suggestions and ideas.

Some people brought up the old issue again, advocating for the construction of large-scale divine thunder cannons to bombard the walls of Xuchang.

Some advocate using their numerical advantage of nearly three times to attack the city from all sides and forcibly breach it at all costs.

For a time, the generals were unable to reach a consensus.

"Although Cao Chun has reinforced the city walls and is preparing to put down wooden palisades to fill the gaps, we can still give the Divine Thunder Cannon a try."

"I also want to see what kind of divine power your weapon, the most powerful weapon in history, will possess."

Guan Yu stroked his fine beard and nodded slightly, then changed the subject:
"As for attacking Xudu City at all costs, that is the worst possible strategy."

“The art of war is useful. The best strategy is to disrupt the enemy’s alliances, the next best is to attack their plans, and the worst is to besiege their cities, especially a fortified city like Xuchang.”

"Unless absolutely necessary, I will not disregard the deaths and injuries of my soldiers and sacrifice countless lives to conquer Xuchang."

Upon hearing Guan Yu's statement, Xiao He's eyes showed a hint of respect.

My father-in-law is proud of his superiors but doesn't bully his inferiors; his reputation is well-deserved.

He was showing compassion for his soldiers and did not want to cause unnecessary sacrifices.

The discussion in the tent gradually quieted down.

The Divine Thunder Cannon was neither effective nor feasible, and the soldiers could not be risked by a direct assault. At this point, everyone was at a loss.

"Actually, it's not that difficult to conquer Xudu."

Xiao He, who had remained silent throughout the discussion, suddenly made this casual remark.

His words caused a huge stir, and the tent immediately erupted in excitement once again.

Guan Yu's face lit up with joy, and he quickly asked:

"Bowen, do you perhaps already have a brilliant plan to easily take Xudu?"

Xiao He took a sip of tea and said slowly:
As the old saying goes, even the strongest fortress is most easily breached from within.

"Xudu is indeed a fortified city, but if someone is willing to act as an inside agent, and work together from within and without, it would be a piece of cake to take it down."

Internal response!

These two words immediately caught everyone's attention.

"Now that Xuchang is besieged, the people in the city must be in a state of panic. There may be some who want to betray Wei and return to Chu in order to save their lives."

"Does Grand Commandant Xiao mean to lure these people into secretly joining our Great Chu, becoming our inside agents, and helping us break through the city?"

Xiao He smiled and nodded slightly.

Guan Yu suddenly realized that Xiao He wanted to persuade the Wei officials in the city to surrender so that he could help him conquer Xuchang.

"I see. Bowen's plan is indeed a brilliant strategy for breaking through the city."

Guan Yu stroked his beautiful beard and nodded slightly.

At this moment, Xu Shu said:
“Those in the city who are capable of acting as our army’s inside agents must be either rich or noble, either military generals with military power or powerful clans.”

"Xudu is the heart of Cao Cao's forces in Henan. The garrison commander is his cousin Cao Chun, and most of the Wei soldiers under his command are the Qingzhou soldiers from Cao Cao's early days. They must be extremely loyal to the puppet Wei regime."

"It will be difficult to get these people to defect and join our Great Chu."

After a pause, Xu Shu continued:
"Furthermore, regarding the aristocratic and powerful families, if it were in the past, it would have been reasonable for them to change their allegiance to a new master when they saw that the tide had turned against them."

"However, after Cao Cao implemented the Nine-Rank System, the northern gentry and Cao Wei were bound together by a shared destiny, where one's rise and fall were intertwined."

"In particular, the gentry of Yingchuan occupied half of the Wei court and were extremely loyal to Cao Cao."

"I'm afraid these people will fight to the death for the false Wei, and may not necessarily defect and submit."

Xu Shu's words clearly explained the situation in Xudu City.

Guan Yu frowned and nodded slightly.

The State of Chu implemented the equal-field system, the military system, and even the imperial examination system. All three systems were aimed at undermining the foundation of the aristocratic class.

This is why the northern gentry feared the northward advance of the Great Chu, and thus recommended Chen Qun to present the Nine-Rank System to Cao Cao.

The goal, of course, was to firmly bind themselves to Cao Wei and provide full support to Cao Cao in resisting the Northern Expedition of Chu.

From then on, the northern gentry regarded the Great Chu as a monstrous threat and were willing to do anything to prevent Liu Bei from recovering the Central Plains.

Under these circumstances, it is clearly unrealistic to expect the scholars of Yingchuan to act as inside agents to help them capture Xuchang.

“Bowen, Yuanzhi’s concerns are not without merit. Have you considered them?” Having figured this out, Guan Yu looked at Xiao He.

All eyes were on Xiao He, waiting for the brilliant strategist to offer a solution.

Everyone knows that with Xiao He's deep-seated wisdom and foresight, since he mentioned the plan of internal cooperation, he naturally couldn't help but think of the concerns that Xu Shu had.

Xiao He put down his teacup and said meaningfully:

“The gentry of Yingchuan and even the Lianghe region, in order to protect their family interests, were naturally determined to be enemies of the King of Chu.”

"However, not all aristocratic families value profit over righteousness."

"There is one exception in this city of Xudu."

"Moreover, this person's influence is so great that he could single-handedly help us take Xudu."

exception?

Guan Yu and Xu Shu exchanged glances, their eyes blank, unable to understand the unspoken meaning in Xiao He's words.

"Bowen, then who is this exception you mentioned?"

Xun Yu.

Xiao He gave that name.

Upon hearing this name, Guan Yu suddenly realized what it meant, and the blank look on his face instantly turned into surprise and delight:
"Indeed, how come I didn't think of that? Xun Yu could be of service to our Great Chu!"

Fazheng and the others suddenly realized what was happening, and a wave of excitement and joy immediately swept through them.

Xun Yu was once Cao Cao's chief strategist, the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat in the Han Dynasty, and the leader of the scholars of Yingchuan.

Unlike scholars like Chen Qun and Cheng Yu who supposedly followed the trend and decisively abandoned the Han dynasty for the Wei, Xun Yu still retained some loyalty and righteousness.

When Cao Pi murdered the emperor, no one dared to hold him accountable. Only Xun Yu denounced him before the late emperor's spirit and asked Cao Cao to execute Cao Pi to appease the world.

Cao Cao's ascension to the rank of Duke marked a significant step toward usurping the Han throne, but only Xun Yu stood up and openly opposed him.

This shows that Xun Yu's heart was not only concerned with the interests of his family, but also with the fate of the Han Dynasty.

This is why Cao Cao deeply resented Xun Yu and plotted to force Xun Yu to commit suicide.

In his grief and despair, Xun Yu indeed nearly committed suicide.

Unexpectedly, Xiao He had anticipated this and asked Liu Bei to send an envoy to secretly meet with Xun Yu, thus saving Xun Yu in time.

Xun Yu thus abandoned his suicide attempt and chose to resign from his official post and return to his hometown, choosing to retire gracefully to save his life.

That's why Cao Cao didn't kill Xun Yu.

Given Xun Yu's reputation, even though he resigned and returned to his hometown, Cao Cao was still uneasy about him and tried various methods to keep Xun Yu in Xuchang so as to keep a close watch on him and prevent him from defecting to Chu.

At this very moment, Xun Yu was in Xudu City.

"Although Xun Wenruo is no longer an official of Wei, his influence remains. If he is willing to act as an inside agent, he will surely help us capture Xudu!"

"General, Grand Commandant Xiao's plan is indeed a brilliant one to easily capture Xuchang!"

Fa Zheng was the first to see the brilliance of this plan and exclaimed excitedly.

Xu Shu was also overjoyed and said:
"When Your Majesty sent envoys to rescue Xun Yu, Xun Yu had already expressed his intention to submit. Now that our army has besieged Xuchang and the recovery of the Central Plains is just around the corner, Xun Yu has no reason not to lend us a hand."

"General, I believe that Grand Commandant Xiao's plan is feasible!"

Guan Yu stroked his magnificent beard and nodded repeatedly, but his curious gaze fell upon Xiao He:

"Bowen, could it be that when you advised the King to send an envoy to rescue Xun Yu back then, you were already plotting for today?"

Xiao He smiled and said self-deprecatingly:
"General, you jest. Even if I were the most far-sighted, I couldn't possibly be that far-sighted. Wouldn't I become a demon?"

"At the time, I just thought that Xun Yu was loyal to the Han Dynasty and was famous throughout the world. It was a real pity that he was forced to his death by Cao Cao. It would be better to save him and leave him for Your Majesty to use."

"I never imagined that a move I made casually back then would come in handy today."

"This can only be attributed to the good fortune of our King of Chu."

Guan Yu simply smiled and remained silent.

He didn't believe a word of his son-in-law's self-deprecating remarks, let alone his casual move.

You predicted that Cao Cao would force Xun Yu to commit suicide, and you even used an empty food box to force him to take his own life. How dare you say that wasn't a far-sighted plan?

"Alright, alright, whatever you say, Bowen."

Guan Yu didn't expose him, but instead said:

"Although Xun Yu is in Xuchang, the four gates of Xuchang are now closed, so it may not be easy for us to send an envoy into the city."

Xiao He picked up his teacup again and smiled faintly:
"General, rest assured, before my army even reached Xuchang, I had already instructed Deng Zhi to blend in with the civilians and officials who were seeking refuge in the city."

"By now, he must have seen Xun Yu."

Guan Yu suddenly understood and couldn't help but sigh in admiration:

"So you were already making plans to take Xuchang even before my army had advanced north."

“Bowen, Bowen, this time, you can’t deny that you have a long-term vision, can you?”

Xiao was speechless, and could only chuckle and sip his tea.

After his reflections, Guan Yu's worries vanished, and he looked at his generals with delight:

"You should all understand Bowen's plan, right?"

"Starting today, summon craftsmen to forge the Divine Thunder Cannon and prepare for the siege."

"Once Deng Zhi persuades Xun Yu to submit to our Great Chu and become our inside man, we will launch a coordinated attack from within and without to take Xuchang in one fell swoop!"

All the generals stood up and accepted the order with great enthusiasm.

(End of this chapter)