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

Seven days later.

Liu Bei led his army and advanced to the south of Yijing.

At this time, Cao Cao, after several months of rest and reorganization, had slightly recovered his strength by recruiting soldiers and horses.

After deploying defenses in Guanzhong and Bingzhou, Cao Cao personally led 80,000 troops to garrison Yijing.

Yijing was built on the north bank of the Yi River, using the river as a natural barrier and serving as the first line of defense against the Chu army.

If the Chu army wanted to attack Yijing, they had to cross the Yi River first.

After Liu Bei's army reached the south bank, they set up camp for ten miles, waiting for the arrival of subsequent supplies.

While the army was setting up camp, Liu Bei, at Xiao He's suggestion, ordered the veteran general Huang Zhong to lead 10,000 Chu troops to conduct a probing crossing of the Yi River downstream.

At this time, the south bank of the Yi River was already densely populated with spies from the puppet Wei regime.

As soon as Huang Zhong led his troops out, Wei's spies quickly sent intelligence to Yijing on the north bank.

...

Yi Jing, late at night.

Cao Cao, who had just fallen asleep, was awakened by his strategists and generals, including Sima Yi and Zhang He.

"Your Majesty, my spies have sent back a secret report: Chu general Huang Zhong has led 10,000 Chu troops away from the camp and headed downstream of the Yi River."

Sima Yi presented a secret report.

Cao Cao was instantly wide awake, hurriedly took the book, and eagerly examined it closely.

"Could it be that the big-eared traitor wants to send that old dog Huang Zhong to sneak across the Yi River downstream?"

Cao Cao closed the secret report and frowned.

Sima Yi nodded slightly and pointed to the map, saying:
"Although the Yi River can serve as a barrier, it is not a natural barrier. There are many places to cross it upstream and downstream. If the Chu army really wants to cross the river, we cannot stop them."

"Moreover, it is already late autumn. After winter comes, the Yi River will freeze over, and the hundreds of thousands of Chu troops can cross the river on the ice. We simply cannot stop them."

"However, I believe that we must not let the big-eared thief cross the river so easily; we must at least wait until winter."

"The further we go, the more advantageous it will be for us."

Cao Cao nodded emphatically, deeply agreeing.

The bitter cold of Youzhou is worse than that of Yecheng.

The majority of the 80,000 Wei soldiers under his command are from Youzhou, and are accustomed to the harsh winters of Youzhou, so they are naturally fearless.

Apart from tens of thousands of people from Ji Province, most of Liu Bei's Chu soldiers were from the south.

Of these, about 40,000 were pure-blooded southerners from Jingzhou and Yangzhou.

Northerners are afraid of the heat, while southerners are afraid of the cold.

If they could endure until the dead of winter, the southern soldiers of the Chu army would not be able to withstand the severe cold of Youzhou and would suffer from frostbite and death, which would surely cause a great drop in morale and resentment among the soldiers.

When Liu Bei fails to capture the city after a prolonged siege, he will naturally be forced to retreat.

However, if Liu Bei were allowed to cross the river now, he would have two or three months to launch a fierce attack on Yijing before the severe cold arrives.

Cao Cao was not entirely confident that he could withstand the fierce attack of 300,000 Chu troops for two or three months.

"Zhongda is right. In any case, we must delay the Chu invaders' crossing of the Yi River as much as possible!"

Cao Cao slammed his hand on the table with unwavering resolve and then asked:
"In your opinion, how should I deploy my troops now?"

Sima Yi, who had already planned ahead, immediately offered his advice:

"Huang Zhong's troops number only a little over ten thousand. I believe Your Majesty should immediately send cavalry downstream to prevent a single Chu soldier from crossing the river!"

A glint of light flashed in Cao Cao's eyes.

He also had nearly four thousand Youyan cavalry.

During the battle of Jizhou, more than 4,000 cavalrymen were sent to raid the Chu army's supply lines, but they were countered by the Chu cavalry and lost their opportunity to fight.

However, the remaining four thousand Youyan cavalrymen managed to survive as a unit and retreated all the way to Yijing.

Using the mobility of light cavalry, we can block the Chu army from landing. Let alone 10,000 soldiers, even 50,000 would be no problem.

Cao Cao quickly weighed the pros and cons and immediately gave the order:
"Order Gao Lan and Xiahou Chong to quickly send out light cavalry from Youyan to intercept the Chu army downstream of the Yi River."

"Under no circumstances should a single Chu soldier be allowed to cross the river!"

The Tiger Guard relayed the order.

Gao Lan and Xiahou Chong immediately led four thousand light cavalry away from Yijing and headed downstream.

As a former general of Yuan Shao and one of the Four Pillars of Hebei, on par with Zhang He, Gao Lan had been guarding the border counties of Yan and Dai since surrendering to Cao Cao, defending against the Xianbei and Wuhuan.

Now that Wei has made peace with the Xianbei and the border troubles have been temporarily relieved, Gao Lan was transferred to Yijing to serve.

Like Zhang He, Gao Lan was also skilled in cavalry warfare, so Cao Cao entrusted him with the important task of commanding the light cavalry of Youyan.

However, these four thousand light cavalry from Youyan were Cao Cao's last remaining cavalry force in Hebei. Naturally, Cao Cao was uneasy about entrusting such a surviving elite force to Gao Lan, a man outside the Cao family.

That's why he wanted Xiahou Chong, a member of the imperial clan, to accompany him in this battle.

After seeing off the four thousand light cavalry, Cao Cao breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"Your Majesty, I have some concerns, and I am unsure whether I should speak of them?"

At this moment, Jia Xu surprisingly took the initiative to speak.

Cao Cao found it both intriguing and wary, and quickly waved his hand:

"Wenhe, if you have any concerns, please speak freely."

Jia Xu approached the map and pointed towards Qing and Xu:
"I learned from previous intelligence reports that Liu Bei seems to have established a new navy along the coast of Qingzhou, and it is quite large."

"Now that the pseudo-Chu's front line has advanced to Youzhou, the navy is no longer of any use. Why does Liu Bei still want to waste resources and manpower building warships?"

"Besides, the current navy of the pseudo-Chu is more than enough, so why build new warships?"

As he spoke, Jia Xu pointed eastward towards Youzhou:
"Therefore, I am worried that Liu Bei's newly built navy is very likely intended to sail north from Qingzhou, bypass my Yijing defense line via the Bohai Sea, and land on the eastern coast of my Youzhou."

"In this way, the Chu army can ignore our Yijing defense line, penetrate straight into the heart of our Youzhou, cause our rear to be on fire, and put us in a predicament of being attacked from both sides."

"Once such a situation arises, even the most impregnable defenses of Yijing will become meaningless and rendered useless!"

Cao Cao shivered, rose from his seat, and hurriedly went to the map, leaning on his cane.

The eastern prefectures of Youzhou, namely Yuyang, Youbeiping, and Liaoxi, are all coastal prefectures belonging to the State of Wei.

Especially in Yuyang County, if the Chu army lands at Gukou, travels thirty li north along the Gu River, then turns into the Sang River and continues north, a fast boat can reach Ji County in two days.

Ji County was the seat of Youzhou Prefecture and the secondary capital of the Wei Kingdom, making it the foundation of Youzhou.

If Ji County is in danger, then all the counties of Youzhou will be thrown into chaos in an instant!
With its own backyard on fire, how can Yi Jing possibly hold out any longer?
After realizing the implications, Cao Cao shuddered and gasped.

"Wenhe's reminder is indeed very true."

"The big-eared bandit has the advantage of a navy. Back then, he launched several sea raids, catching me off guard."

"I remember that Zhang'er died in a sea attack by that scoundrel Gan Ning!"

Cao Cao pointed his cane at the map, his face showing lingering fear, and said:

"Fortunately, Wenhe reminded us. If that big-eared scoundrel had succeeded in his old tricks and launched a successful naval attack, the consequences would have been unimaginable, utterly unimaginable..."

The Wei ministers on both sides gasped in shock, all trembling with fear.

"If that's the case, then we must quickly mobilize heavy troops to reinforce Jixian County and the eastern coast, especially to be on high alert in coastal cities such as Gukou."

Zhang He immediately offered his advice.

Before he could finish speaking, Sima Yi shook his head and said:

"Our army has a total strength of only over 80,000 men. If we withdraw a large number of troops to defend Yijing, how can we possibly hold it?"

"Furthermore, Youzhou has a coastline of several hundred miles, and there are more than just Gukou as a landing site. Can we really defend every single place?"

Zhang He was speechless.

Cao Cao frowned deeply and sighed:
“Zhongda is right. Our biggest weakness right now is our lack of soldiers.”

For a moment, all the generals looked worried, but they had no good solutions.

Sima Yi's eyes darted around, but he stepped forward and pointed to the map:
“The sea is far more turbulent than the rivers, and although the warships of the pseudo-Chu were large, they dared not sail far from the coast.”

"I predict that the traitor with the large ears will send his navy to launch a surprise attack by sea, and his sailing route will definitely be close to the coastline of Qingzhou and Jizhou."

"In this way, their whereabouts can no longer be hidden."

"I believe that Your Majesty should send spies along the eastern coast of Ji Province to observe the maritime situation day and night, and bribe local fishermen to help us monitor whether there are any fleets in the near sea."

"In this way, we can get timely news of the Chu army's surprise attack and accurately predict the location where the Chu army will land."

"At this time, Your Majesty need not send out a large force. You only need to send tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry to ambush the enemy at the place where they are about to land. You can easily cripple the attacking enemy!"

With a confident smile on his face, Sima Yi presented Cao Cao with a detailed plan.

Cao Cao suddenly understood, his brows immediately relaxed, and he patted the map, praising it highly:

"Excellent, excellent, Zhongda's plan is truly a win-win situation!"

"Good, very good, let's proceed according to Zhongda's plan!"

Immediately, Cao Cao issued an imperial edict, urgently dispatching hundreds of spies with large sums of money to travel south to the coastal areas of Ji Province.

After the imperial edict was issued, Cao Cao, leaning on his cane, stepped out of his tent and looked towards the south bank of the Yi River under the night sky.

The lights of the Chu camp stretched for ten miles, faintly visible.

"You big-eared scoundrel, you have launched sneak attacks at sea time and time again. Do you really think I have no memory and will let you succeed again?"

"Hmph~~" (End of Chapter)