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

"what?"

Cao Cao was taken aback, and nearly dropped his cane.

"Your Majesty, Wen Qin not only burned all the boats and rafts at Puban Pass, but also all the boats and rafts within a hundred miles upstream and downstream!"

"On the west bank of the Yellow River, not a single sail can be launched!"

Du Ji sighed helplessly, his face contorted with grief.

Cao Cao swayed slightly, his astonished gaze slowly turning to Jia Xu and the others.

Jia Xu swallowed hard, cold sweat beading on his forehead again, and remained silent.

Sima Yi sighed and said with a bitter face:

"Your Majesty, this traitor Wen Qin must know that he has too few soldiers to stop my army, which is ten times larger, from crossing the river, so he resorted to such a despicable scheme."

“He burned all my boats and rafts on the west bank. If we want to cross the river, we will have to rebuild them, which will take at least three to five days.”

"With these few days of delay, he can hold out until the Big Ear Bandit leads his main force to the east bank of the river and garrisons Pubanjin on the east bank with a large force."

"By then, even if we have boats, we won't be able to cross the river."

"This must be another of that treacherous Xiao's schemes!"

Cao Cao felt as if he had been struck by a heavy hammer, a dull pain shot through his chest, and he swayed and fell backward.

"His Majesty!"

Xu Chu hurriedly helped him up.

Cao Cao pressed his hand to his chest, gasping for breath, his face contorted in agony.

Jiguan, Anyi, Pubanjin... and even the entire Hedong region.

Within just a few days, they all fell into Liu Bei's hands.

The once impregnable Bingzhou defense line was breached so easily by Xiao He in the blink of an eye.

Bingzhou was transformed into an isolated province in the blink of an eye!
Xiahou Dun and nearly 80,000 Wei troops were trapped and died in Bingzhou.

What was originally a very promising situation has taken a sharp turn for the worse overnight!
"Why, why did this happen? Why?"

Cao Cao grew increasingly furious, looked up at the heavens, and roared and pounded his chest.

Sima Yi remained silent, gazing at the Han army on the opposite bank, and could only shake his head and sigh.

Jia Xu's face was as pale as paper, beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, and his legs were trembling slightly.

Having seen countless storms, he was now completely flustered and at a loss.

Only Yang Fu managed to regain his composure and bowed, saying:

"Your Majesty, things have come to this point, and all we can do is try our best to salvage the situation."

"I believe that we should quickly cut down trees and build rafts. Perhaps we will still have a chance to cross the Yellow River and recapture Pubanjin before Liu Bei's main force arrives."

"Only in this way can we have a glimmer of hope to defend Hedong and Bingzhou."

Cao Cao trembled, seeing a glimmer of hope amidst his despair. He forcefully shoved Xu Chu away and cried out hysterically:
"By my decree, the entire army is to cut down trees and build rafts! Cut down trees and build rafts for me!"

...

On the east bank of the Yellow River, at Pubanjin.

At this moment, Wen Qin stood with his spear held horizontally, his gaze sweeping across the rolling Yellow River, surveying the Puban Pass on the opposite bank.

Seeing that the smoke and fire above the pass had died down, Wen Qin concluded that Cao Cao's army must have arrived at Puban Pass.

"What a pity, Cao Cao! You have 40,000 troops, but not a single sail can cross the river. You can only look at the river and sigh!"

"The Grand Marshal's plan is truly brilliant!"

Wen Qin looked at the opposite bank with a sarcastic gaze, but then clicked his tongue in admiration.

This was Xiao He's plan.

During the military council in Anyi that day, wasn't he worried that three thousand iron cavalry wouldn't be enough to stop ten times the number of Wei troops from crossing the river?

So Xiao He gave him a plan, instructing him to take advantage of the situation after capturing Pubanjin, and then cross the river to take Pubanguan on the other side.

Then just do one thing:

All the boats and rafts along the hundred-mile stretch upstream and downstream of Puban Pass were reduced to ashes!
Without boats or rafts, what can Cao Cao do even with a million-strong army?

Cao Cao could only build boats and rafts temporarily, which took time.

Meanwhile, Liu Bei's army of 100,000 had entered Jiguan Pass, and his main force was rushing to Pubanjin day and night.

If we can delay Cao Cao's crossing of the river for about three days, we can hold out until reinforcements arrive.

When I have tens of thousands of troops stationed at Pubanjin, will you, Cao Cao, still want to cross the river?
Ask yourself, do you have enough troops?

"Pass down the order: the entire army must strictly guard Puban Ferry and constantly monitor the progress of the Wei army's raft-building on the opposite bank." "Send another messenger to Anyi to report the military situation to the Grand Marshal, saying that we have acted according to plan and everything is going smoothly!"

Wen Qin smiled coldly and waved his hand to give the order.

...

The east gate of Anyi City was wide open.

Xiao He, along with Ding Feng, Zhuge Dan, and other generals, had been waiting outside the city gate for some time.

At noon, a large army marched in from the east along the main road.

The imperial flag bearing the character "Han" was clearly visible.

"Grand Marshal, His Majesty has arrived..."

Zhuge Dan, standing beside him, smiled and reminded him, his face showing a relieved expression.

Xiao He also breathed a slight sigh of relief.

According to current intelligence, Xiahou Dun has led more than 20,000 troops south from Jinyang, passing through Pingyang County, and reaching the border of Hedong.

No news has come back from Wenqin's side yet, and it is unknown whether he has successfully captured Pubanjin.

He now faces a situation where he has only 7,000 troops and is being attacked from both sides by Cao Cao and Xiahou Dun, who together have more than 60,000 troops.

Even someone as intelligent as him wouldn't dare to be so arrogant as to easily defeat an enemy ten times his size with a mere seven thousand infantry and cavalry.

If Cao Cao were to successfully cross the river and Xiahou Dun's army were to besiege the city, he would not dare to hold Anyi and would surely choose to abandon the city and retreat to Jiguan.

Now everything is fine; all worries have vanished.

Old Liu has arrived, leading an army of 100,000.

Even if Wenqin failed to burn all the enemy ships or block the Yellow River, it doesn't matter.

So what if Cao Cao were to enter Hedong?
My army of 100,000 has arrived. It will be a piece of cake for me to defeat you and Xiahou Dun by taking on two of them at once!

As his thoughts raced, the army drew near, and Liu Bei's figure came into view.

"Your Majesty, I respectfully welcome you to Anyi."

Xiao He put aside his thoughts and stepped forward to bow in respect.

Liu Bei leaped off his horse, rushed forward to help Xiao He up, and patted him on the shoulder, laughing heartily:

"Bowen, Bowen, how laughable that Cao Cao judged a gentleman by the standards of a petty person, thinking that I would suspect that your merits are too great and that I would keep you hidden and not use you."

"That traitor Cao would never have dreamed that we, his sovereign and his ministers, would meet in Hedong and join forces to conquer another province!"

Xiao He laughed heartily and then invited Liu Bei into the city.

The emperor and his minister both mounted their horses and entered the city side by side.

"Da da da!"

The sound of hooves rang out, and a rider galloped in.

"Your Majesty, this is the Grand Marshal."

"General Wen reports urgently that he has been ordered by the Grand Marshal to seize Puban Ferry and burn all the boats and rafts within a hundred miles on the opposite bank."

"At present, 40,000 Wei troops are blocked on the west bank of the Yellow River and cannot cross the river. General Wen requests Your Majesty to send a large army to reinforce Pubanjin immediately!"

Xiao He's eyes lit up.

Wen Qin is quite something; he actually managed to achieve his goal before Cao Cao did.

"Bowen, Wenqin, what is this...?"

Liu Bei's eyes showed joy yet confusion.

Xiao He then recounted the whole story.

Liu Bei suddenly realized, and exclaimed in admiration:

"Bowen's ability to adapt to changing circumstances is truly unparalleled. Now that Cao Cao is blocked west of the Yellow River, Bowen, your plan to deceive the heavens and cross the sea has come to a perfect end!"

Xiao He smiled modestly and raised his hand, pointing west:

"I urge Your Majesty to immediately dispatch 20,000 troops to reinforce Pubanjin and completely block Cao Cao's hopes of crossing the river."

"Your Majesty should lead the main force northward, deal with Xiahou Dun, this trapped beast, and recover Bingzhou in one fell swoop."

Liu Bei laughed heartily and followed Xiao He's strategy.

Therefore, more than 20,000 troops were dispatched and headed west straight for Pubanjin.

Liu Bei rested for a day, then led his main force north along the Fen River, heading straight for Jinyang. (End of Chapter)