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

Four thousand light cavalry from Youyan were Wei's last remaining cavalry force in Hebei, their trump card to hold off the Chu army!

Just gone?
The entire army was wiped out!

Gao Lan, one of the Four Pillars of the Court, actually perished in the Gu River.

Every word from Hu Wei was like a heavy hammer blow, plunging Cao Cao into an abyss.

"Impossible, this is impossible! I don't believe it, I don't believe it!"

Cao Cao, his body stiff, muttered to himself and shook his head repeatedly.

He was unwilling and dared not accept this unbelievable fact.

He had previously worried that Gao Lan would lose this battle.

But the worst he could imagine was that the attempt to seize the grain would fail, resulting in the loss of some troops and a retreat.

To Cao Cao's utter surprise, Gao Lan's defeat resulted in the complete annihilation of his army and the separation of his head from his body!

This bizarre ending was completely beyond Cao Cao's comprehension and unacceptable to him.

"Impossible. Even if Gao Lan's four thousand cavalry failed in their raid on the grain supply, how could they have been completely wiped out?"

"This is impossible, absolutely impossible!"

Sima Yi, equally shocked, was also unable to accept it and shouted excitedly and indignantly.

"How dare I lie about military intelligence? The report is here; please take a look, Your Majesty!"

Tiger Guard hurriedly presented a military report.

Cao Cao was struck dumb, and he shoved Xu Chu, who was about to reach out, and snatched the weapon back first.

He hurriedly opened it, and before he could even take a look, Cao Cao froze once again.

"The Beiwei Army, eight hundred heavy cavalry?"

Cao Cao spoke of this unheard-of army in a trembling voice.

Sima Yi and the other ministers all looked bewildered and confused, unable to understand what Cao Cao was saying.

Cao Cao swayed a few times, took a half step back, and leaned against Xu Chu.

The military report in his hand slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground.

Sima Yi and his companions hurriedly picked it up, and the assembled officials quickly gathered around to examine it.

Each word was like an arrow, piercing their eyes.

The Chu army, with 800 heavy cavalrymen from Beiwei, secretly hid in the granary and decisively defeated my 4,000 light cavalrymen from Youyan at Yongnu Ferry…

Sima Yi gasped, his forehead instantly beaded with cold sweat.

He couldn't understand the characters "Beiwei," but he couldn't possibly be unfamiliar with the characters "Chongqi."

Liu Bei anticipated that they would send light cavalry to raid the supplies, but he secretly hid eight hundred heavy cavalry among the expeditionary force that landed. Using the supplies as bait, he annihilated the light cavalry from Youyan who had fallen into the trap.

Sima Yi was incredibly intelligent; he instantly deduced the hidden connections within his mind.

"Your Majesty, my lord, my lord, my lord..."

Sima Yi looked at Cao Cao tremblingly, stammering and unsure how to explain himself.

"Your Majesty!"

Jia Xu stepped forward and said in an unprecedentedly solemn tone:

"The annihilation of my four thousand cavalry is an undeniable fact. No matter how unbelievable it may seem, we can only accept it."

"The problem now is that our Yishui defense line has fallen and our army has retreated in full force. We must quickly gather our troops back into the Yijing defense line."

"If we delay even a moment longer, my 80,000-strong army will be completely wiped out, and then everything will be over!"

Cao Cao shivered and suddenly woke up.

Looking back beyond the fortifications, one could see hundreds of thousands of Chu troops had already landed on the north bank, while Zhang He, Song Xian, Xiahou Wei, and other Wei armies were retreating in full force towards the Yijing defense line.

The Chu army stormed onto the north bank and was unstoppable.

Cao Cao, no longer able to question the veracity of the intelligence, hurriedly shouted:

"Quickly open the gates of the ramparts, gather the defeated troops into the city, quickly—"

The command flag was waved and the order was passed down.

The ten-mile-long Yijing fortress had all its gates wide open, and the defeated Wei soldiers fled into the fortress like startled birds.

Cao Cao stood on the city tower, gazing at the Chu banners rising along the north bank, his cane clenching so tightly it made a cracking sound.

After a long while, a weak sigh echoed from the city wall.

...

As the sun began to set in the west, the battle to cross the river came to an end.

Despite suffering nearly 10,000 casualties, the Wei army still failed to stop the Chu army from crossing the Yi River.

As the Chu army landed and approached the Yijing fortress, they began to set up camp, with camps, watchtowers, and arrow towers springing up one after another.

On the Yi River, the Chu army also built three pontoon bridges, and supplies were continuously transported from the south bank to the north bank.

Night fell in the royal tent.

"Sima Zhongda, Jia Wenhe, tell me, why did the battle turn out like this?"

Cao Cao, now in power, slammed his fist on the table and angrily roared at Sima Yi and Jia Xu, demanding an answer.

Sima Yi was sweating profusely, unsure how to answer.

Jia Xu secretly pouted, feeling a pang of grievance in his heart.

From the very beginning, he opposed holding Youzhou and insisted on the entire army retreating to Bingzhou. It was you who were instigated by Sima Yi to insist on holding the Yijing defense line, clinging to a sliver of hope in an attempt to hold Youzhou.

The war has turned into such a mess, yet I'm supposed to share the blame with Sima Yi?
I'm not taking the blame for this.

Jia Xu rolled his eyes, then cupped his hands and said:

"Your Majesty, I believe that from the moment we retreated to Yijing, Xiao He had already devised a plan to deal with us."

"The Chu army launched a surprise attack on Gukou from the sea. In the Battle of Yongnu, my four thousand light cavalry were wiped out. Today, the Chu army is taking advantage of the situation to force a crossing of the Yi River... Every step we take is within Xiao He's calculations."

"Zhongda's strategy and tactics, while not perfect, cannot be said to be wrong either."

"Unfortunately, from the very beginning, Xiao He knew all about it."

“From the very beginning, Zhongda was already lost.”

Sima Yi felt a chill run down his spine and slowly turned his head, his eyes shooting towards Jia Xu with wolf-like glare.

That old fox Jia Xu, ostensibly analyzing the battle situation, was actually trying to absolve himself of all responsibility and pin the blame on him alone.

How insidious!
Sima Yi gritted his teeth and cursed inwardly.

"Zhongda, what do you say?"

Cao Cao angrily questioned him, and his pent-up anger was indeed directed at Sima Yi by Jia Xu.

Sima Yi knew he could not defend himself, so he could only kneel on the ground and say with shame:

"I am indeed responsible for the current state of the war due to my miscalculation."

"I truly did not expect that the Big Ears rebel would have such incredible luck, that his navy was able to cross the vast Bohai Sea and capture the port with perfect accuracy."

"I also did not expect that the big-eared traitor would secretly assemble a heavy cavalry force and land in Youzhou together with the pseudo-Chu navy."

"I cannot shirk my responsibility, Your Majesty, please punish me."

Sima Yi kowtowed sincerely, begging for forgiveness.

These words, seemingly an admission of a mistake, were in fact a subtle defense of himself.

It wasn't that I miscalculated; it was just that Liu Bei was incredibly lucky.

Attacks from the sea, far from the coastline, are almost guaranteed to result in nine out of ten being lost at sea or perishing in the storm.

But Liu Bei's navy succeeded on this very first attempt.

My luck is so incredibly good, how can you blame me?
"you you--"

Cao Cao pointed at Sima Yi for a long time, but in the end, he flicked his sleeves and swallowed back all the words of resentment he had in his heart.

Sima Yi secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then glanced at Jia Xu with a hateful look.

Cao Cao waved his hand weakly and said:

"Then tell me, how should we clean up this mess?"

After considering the matter for a moment, Sima Yi cupped his hands and said:

"Your Majesty, now that things have come to this, I believe we only have two paths to take."

Cao Cao seemed to see a glimmer of hope and quickly gestured for Sima Yi to continue.

"The first option is to abandon Youzhou, lead the existing troops to retreat to Bingzhou, lose the territory but save the people."

"The second option is to leave half of the troops to defend Yijing, while the King himself leads the other half of the troops to return to Youzhou overnight. They will swiftly wipe out the enemy who have landed, stabilize the rear, and then return to Yijing as quickly as possible."

Sima Yi presented two elaborate plans.

Cao Cao's brows furrowed once more.

The first option is the same as Jia Xu's initial strategy: abandon Youzhou and preserve our strength.

It was you, Sima Yi, who strongly opposed it, which is why I rejected Jia Xu's advice. Now you're telling me to give up Youzhou. Where do I put my pride?
This second path is indeed a good strategy to turn the situation around.

However, there are two unpredictable factors.

First, can the enemy landing be quickly wiped out?

Secondly, with half of the troops withdrawn, can the remaining soldiers withstand the fierce attack of Liu Bei's 300,000-strong army?

After pondering for a long time, Cao Cao asked in return:
"I went to great lengths to build this fortification of Yijing, but now I've abandoned it without a fight and fled to Youzhou in disgrace. If I had known this would happen, wouldn't it have been better to retreat directly to Youzhou in the first place? Why did I have to suffer such a loss of soldiers and generals?"

"The first option is truly the worst possible choice."

Changing the subject, Cao Cao asked again:
"According to Zhongda's plan, what are the chances of success for your second option?"

Sima Yi's eyes darted around a few times, and he sighed:

"Forgive my limited wisdom, this is the only plan I can think of, but I dare not say how likely it is to succeed."

"This matter concerns the survival of Youzhou, and it is up to Your Majesty to make the decision."

Cao Cao's expression darkened slightly.

Sima Yi had become shrewd; fearing he might miscalculate again and take the blame, he dared not draw any conclusions.

The meaning is clear: I'll just offer the strategies; whether you use them or not is up to you.

If we fail, you take the blame yourself, don't try to pin it on me!
Cao Cao got up with the help of his cane, walked unsteadily to the map, and stared at it for a long time without saying a word.

No one spoke in the tent; the atmosphere was eerily quiet.

I do not know how long it has been.

Cao Cao took a deep breath and slowly turned around, his face already showing determination.

"My mind is made up; I will never abandon Youzhou."

"I've chosen the second path!" (End of Chapter)