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

Land at Mengjin and attack Luoyang from the north?

Gan Ning, Zhang Liao, and the others exchanged glances, their expressions filled with astonishment.

“Zhonggong, in your essay for the imperial examination, you suggested to the king that we should attack Luoyang first.”

"Tell me, why should we advance in this manner?"

Xiao He's gaze turned to the newly appointed top scholar of the Great Chu.

In this campaign against Wei, Liu Bei gave him the authority to freely select his subordinates.

Xiao He wanted to train the younger generation for Lao Liu, so the strategists and generals he selected were mostly young talents.

For example, Deng Ai, Ma Su, Guan Xing, Zhang Bao…

Guanqiu Jian, the newly appointed top scholar of the Great Chu, was naturally among them.

Now Xiao He is giving him an opportunity to demonstrate his talent and ability in front of the "older generation" like Guan Yu and Zhang Liao.

Guanqiu Jian's thoughts raced for a moment, then he immediately cupped his hands in a respectful gesture:

"In my humble opinion, if we attack Luoyang from the direction of Xudu, we must capture the three passes, including Dagu, where Cao Cao will surely garrison them with elite troops and generals."

"Throughout history, conquering strategic passes and fortified passes has never been easy."

"Even if His Majesty personally leads the army, I believe it will not be easy to break through the three passes and bring the army to the gates of Luoyang."

After a pause, Guanqiu Jian continued:

"If we were to attack Luoyang from the east, we would have to go north from Chenliu, first capture Xingyang, then break through Hulao Pass, and then advance westward to Luoyang."

"Cao Cao was obviously prepared, and he stationed tens of thousands of troops under Cao Ren in Xingyang."

"Moreover, from Chenliu northward to attack Xingyang, one still has to pass through the Jifan area, which is more than a hundred miles long, and it is extremely difficult."

"As for the area west of Luoyang, it is Hongnong and Guanzhong, which are all occupied by the pseudo-Wei, so it is even more impossible to advance troops from the west."

Changing the subject, Guanqiu Jian pointed to the Yellow River in front of him:

"Therefore, it was Grand Commandant Xiao's brilliant strategy that led him to devise the plan of advancing westward from Qingzhou via the Yellow River, crossing the Wei's defenses in Yanzhou, and landing at Mengjin, north of Luoyang."

"The forces of the pseudo-Wei regime along the Luoyang line are concentrated in the east and south. The north side, backed by the Yellow River, is the heartland of the pseudo-Wei regime, so it is impossible for Mengjin and other ferry crossings to be heavily guarded."

"If our army lands from the north, we will surely catch the Wei army off guard and advance swiftly to the south bank!"

"Then we will divide our forces to the west to seize Hangu Pass and to the east to seize Hulao Pass, thus isolating the Wei forces from the east and west outside the pass. Our main force will then be able to comfortably besiege Luoyang!"

"In that case, Luoyang can be secured!"

After Guanqiu Jian's lengthy analysis, he bowed to Xiao He with a look of admiration:
"Jian made wild guesses, not knowing whether his guesses were accurate or not."

"Everyone says that Grand Commandant Xiao is a military genius incarnate. Today, I have finally witnessed the Grand Commandant's brilliant strategies firsthand. I am truly in awe of him!"

Xiao He nodded slightly in approval.

He truly deserves to be one of the four great generals of the late Cao Wei period in history. With such insight, he is worthy of being the first top scholar in the imperial examination of the Great Chu.

"Xingba, Wenyuan, did you both understand?"

Guan Yu stroked his magnificent beard and smiled as he looked at his generals:

"This is the plan that Bowen presented to the king to deceive the heavens and launch a surprise attack on Luoyang."

Gan Ning and the others suddenly understood, and the confusion and doubt on their faces were instantly replaced by surprise.

"So, Your Majesty's main target is not Yanzhou, but still Luoyang!"

"Our Great Chu has the advantage of a navy. Although the Yellow River runs through the heart of Yanzhou, the Wei army cannot stop us from advancing westward up the river, heading straight for the north of Luoyang!"

"Grand Commandant's plan is truly ingenious and a masterpiece of divine inspiration!"

Gan Ning, suddenly realizing the truth, clicked his tongue in admiration.

Xiao He simply smiled and dismissed it.

In fact, this plan was not something he came up with on a whim or on a whim.

Emperor Wu of Song, Liu Yu, who was as powerful as a tiger, took advantage of the superior navy of the Southern Dynasty and used the Yellow River waterway to cross the border of the Northern Wei Dynasty, advance westward, first take Luoyang and then Guanzhong, and destroyed the Later Qin.

Xiao He was simply adopting the spirit of "borrowing" and imitating Emperor Wu of Song.

Amidst the exclamations of admiration from the generals, Xiao He bowed to Guan Yu:

"General, now that the troops have been assembled, let's split up and proceed."

"The General will lead his army to attack Cangting and Dong'e by land to tie down Cao Cao's main force, while I will take the waterway directly to Mengjin to give Cao Cao a surprise."

Guan Yu laughed heartily and readily agreed.

The plan has been decided.

The following day, an army of 150,000 men by land and sea set out from Gaotang and marched westward along the Yellow River.

The war against Wei was first fought on the Yellow River.

At this time, the area opposite Gaotang was Pingyuan County, which was still occupied by the State of Wei.

When the Chu army was assembling in large numbers, the Wei army was already on high alert on the north bank to prevent the Chu army from crossing the Yellow River.

When the Chu army set off westward, the Wei army commander on the opposite bank breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly sent a messenger westward to report the news.

...

Two days later.

Both inside and outside the river, the cold wind howled.

Nearly 500 Chu warships, fully loaded with nearly 60,000 soldiers and hundreds of thousands of bushels of grain, are sailing on the Yellow River.

Although it was against the current, the north wind was blowing fiercely.

This section of the Yellow River flows from southwest to northeast, allowing the Chu army to take advantage of the favorable winds and advance swiftly upstream.

Above the flagship.

Xiao He stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping across the north and south banks of the Yellow River. The Yellow River was far less wide than the Yangtze River, and the waterway ahead was approaching Cangting Ferry, where the riverbanks gradually narrowed, and the scenery on both sides was clearly visible.

"My lord, it's windy outside, don't catch a cold~~"

His wife's voice came from behind him.

Guan Yinping approached him without his noticing and casually draped a fox fur coat over his shoulders.

Xiao He felt a warmth in his heart at his wife's heartwarming gesture, so he took Guan Yinping's hands in his own and warmed them for her.

Guan Yinping blushed slightly and glanced left and right, indicating that there were other people around.

Xiao He, however, remained oblivious to his surroundings, still tightly holding his wife's hand, his gaze sweeping across the pavilion ahead, and he sneered:

"It's really quite something that Cao Cao managed to turn such an inconspicuous ferry crossing into a fortified city."

Cangting was originally a small town, and it was not an important ferry crossing among the many crossings along the Yellow River.

However, after the Battle of Qingzhou, the Wei army was driven out of the area south of the Yellow River, and the most important ferry crossing downstream, Gaotang Ferry, was occupied by the Chu army.

As a result, Cangting replaced Gaotang and became the most important ferry crossing on the lower reaches of the Yellow River in Wei. In addition, its position on the front line of the "anti-Chu" war further elevated its status.

As a result, Cao Cao had to mobilize tens of thousands of people to build Cangting into a large city at the level of a prefecture, and the city walls were thickened to withstand the bombardment of the Divine Thunder Cannon.

Xiao He looked into the distance and saw that the walls of Cangting City were covered with Wei flags, and the city was surrounded by Wei army camps and fortifications, forming an impregnable fortress.

According to reports from spies, Cao Cao had led 80,000 elite Wei troops to the Cangting line four days ahead of schedule.

"That traitor Cao must be fully prepared and ready to resist my husband and father's fierce attack by land and sea."

"What a pity, Cao Cao never dreamed that the Cangting defense line he spent so much effort building would... but..."

Guan Yinping couldn't find the right words to describe it for a moment.

"It's become the Maginot Line..."

Xiao He casually added a comment.

"The Maginot Line? My husband, what is Maginot Line? I've never heard of it before."

Guan Yinping fluttered her long eyelashes, her bright eyes sparkling with a bewildered look.

Deng Ai and the others on either side also looked bewildered.

Xiao He coughed a few times, then smiled and pointed:
"That's not important. What's important is that Cao Cao's main force is all in Cangting. He obviously didn't anticipate our strategy of rushing to Luoyang."

"What we need to do now is to seize Mengjin before Cao Cao sees through our intentions, take control of Hulao Pass and Hangu Pass, and blockade Luoyang."

"Pass down the order: all ships, sails full and proceed day and night straight to Mengjin!"

Deng Ai immediately issued the order.

Thus, more than 500 Chu warships raised their sails and crossed the Wei army's defensive line at Cangting, speeding westward.

With the north wind blowing fiercely, the ships moved like the wind, and within three hours, five hundred warships had passed right under the noses of the Wei army.

On the top of Cangting City Wall.

Cao Cao, leaning on his cane, watched the Chu army's warships pass by with a deep frown and a puzzled look in his eyes.

The generals Zhang He and Sun Li, as well as the strategists Cheng Yu and Jiang Ji, all looked suspicious.

According to the pre-battle simulation in Ye City, the Chu army would launch an unprecedented and fierce attack on their Cangting defense line from both land and water.

Cao Cao was full of confidence and prepared to crush the Chu army and give Guan Yu and Xiao a taste of their power.

However, these hundreds of Chu warships did not attempt to land on the beach, but instead passed Cangting and continued westward.

"What are those two traitors, Guan and Xiao, planning to do?"

Cao Cao frowned deeply and muttered to himself.

"Could it be that the Chu army sees that my Cangting is unshakeable, and therefore wants to cross my defenses and attack Baima, or Qinting, or even Puyang and other cities on the south bank?"

Jiang Ji guessed this from the side.

Cao Cao's expression shifted slightly.

Puyang was the most important ferry crossing on the south bank of the Yellow River and the seat of Dongjun Prefecture. Its importance even surpassed that of Cangting.

Baima goes without saying; on the other side of the river lies the important town of Liyang, the gateway to Hebei.

Jiang Ji's reminder alerted Cao Cao.

"Given Xiao He's cunning, it's not impossible. However, we have elite troops stationed in Puyang and Baima. How could he possibly break through them so easily?"

"Once he fails to besiege the city, our army can quickly converge from all sides and attack it. How can the Chu army not be defeated?"

Cheng Yuxuan denied Jiang Ji's speculation.

Cao Cao also found this reasonable, and for a moment, he could not guess the true intentions of the Chu army.

Cao Cao dared not underestimate them and sent out several scouts to follow the Chu army's warships on both banks. Once they discovered any signs that the Chu army was about to land and attack the city, they were to immediately report back by horse.

Cao Cao could only remain inactive, leading 80,000 troops to continue garrisoning at Cangting to block Guan Yu's main Chu army force advancing along the south bank.

A day later, the scouts reported that the Chu army's warships had crossed the Puyang waters but had not yet landed to attack the city.

Three days later, the scouts returned with news that the Chu army had crossed Baima but still hadn't landed to attack the city...

"They're not attacking Puyang, nor are they attacking Baima. Where exactly does the Chu army intend to attack?"

Cao Cao examined the intelligence report in his hand, his brows furrowed, and his eyes revealed deep confusion.

Cheng Yu, Jiang Ji, and the others were also completely baffled and couldn't guess what was going on.

At this time.

Jia Xu, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly stiffened and abruptly opened his eyes:
"Your Majesty, I fear this Chu army is neither attacking Puyang nor Baima. They intend to cross Yanzhou directly, land at Mengjin, and launch a surprise attack on Luoyang from the north!"

Cao Cao's face paled in shock. (End of Chapter)