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

Not only Liu Bei, but all the ministers present changed color slightly.

Liu Zhang and Zhang Lu finally lost their temper and both left the battlefield.

It's not that everyone is afraid of them.

Even Cao Cao, a man of immense strength, was brought to such a wretched state by the Emperor and his allies; how much more so would Zhang and Liu, two self-serving traitors?

With the current strength of the Han Dynasty, if necessary, it is fully capable of waging war on three fronts simultaneously against Wei, Hanzhong, and Shu.

The problem is the timing.

Currently, the Han state has over 400,000 troops, all of whom are engaged in suppressing the puppet Wei state. In particular, the main force of 300,000 troops is located far away in Bingzhou.

The garrison troops in Jingzhou numbered only about 40,000.

The garrison troops along the Luoyang and Xuchang line numbered only ten to twenty thousand.

The two traitors, Zhang Lu and Liu Zhang, could mobilize at least 150,000 troops, giving them an overwhelming advantage in the local battlefield of Jingzhou.

If the two traitors were to truly launch a full-scale attack on Jingzhou at all costs, the situation would indeed be far from optimistic.

If Jingzhou falls, the south will be thrown into turmoil, and the consequences will be unimaginable.

"Cao Cao must have used the excuse of 'if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold' to persuade Liu Zhang and Zhang Lu to send troops to attack my Jingzhou. This is Cao Cao's plan to besiege Wei to rescue Zhao."

Lu Xun immediately saw through it all, then cupped his hands and said:
"Your Majesty, the troops stationed in Jingzhou are limited and insufficient to defend Xiangyang and Jiangling, and to stop the two traitors from attacking together."

"I believe that we must immediately dispatch troops south to reinforce the Jingzhou front."

"If we can keep the two traitors' troops out of the country, that would be the best outcome. As a second-best option, we must at least ensure that Xiangyang and Jiangling have enough troops to hold out until His Majesty breaks through Jinyang and returns south."

The generals all nodded in agreement, echoing Lu Xun's strategy.

Liu Bei's complexion gradually returned to normal.

To be fair, Zhuge Liang's report initially shocked him somewhat.

After calming down and thinking it over carefully, I realized that the Han Dynasty now has the strength to take on three opponents at once, so why should we be afraid of the two traitors, Liu Zhang and Zhang Lu, coming to our aid?

At worst, we can just transfer 60,000 to 70,000 troops from the Bingzhou front to the south.

With this in mind, Liu Bei naturally regained his composure.

"Boyan is right. Jingzhou must not be lost. We should definitely withdraw our troops to reinforce it."

Liu Bei nodded slightly, then turned his gaze to Xiao He:
"Bowen, what do you think of Boyan's strategy?"

Xiao He coughed lightly, but said:

"In my opinion, the accounts should not be calculated in this way."

"Although my troops attacking Bingzhou totaled more than 300,000, nearly 40,000 were used to defend Puban Ferry, another 20,000 were used to defend Linxian Ferry, and another 20,000 to 30,000 were divided to advance and occupy the newly established Yanmen, Shangdang, Yunzhong and other counties."

"In reality, the actual number of troops our army used to besiege Jinyang was no more than 200,000."

"If we need to transfer troops to reinforce the south, then more than half of these 60,000 to 70,000 troops will have to be drawn from our besieging army."

"This means that the number of troops we have besieging Jinyang will be reduced to 150,000 to 160,000."

"The Wei army currently besieging Jinyang numbers nearly 50,000."

"Is a mere three-fold troop advantage insufficient to besiege a fortified city like Jinyang?"

"If this causes delays or postpones the capture of Jinyang City, wouldn't it be a case of losing more than one gains, and penny-wise and pound-foolish?"

Upon hearing Xiao He's words, Liu Bei's eyes flickered slightly, and he silently calculated in his mind. Sure enough, upon closer examination, the troops besieging Jinyang might indeed be insufficient.

“Bowen is right. If we delay the attack on Jinyang because of the aid to Jingzhou, it will indeed be a loss.”

Liu Bei nodded slightly, then looked at Xiao He:
"But we cannot ignore the danger to Jingzhou, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable."

"Bowen, do you have a solution that satisfies both sides?"

The eyes of Lu Xun and the others all turned to Xiao He.

Xiao He smiled and asked:
"Does Your Majesty truly believe that Zhang Lu and Liu Zhang would really fight with all their might for Cao Cao and mobilize the entire nation's army to deal with us?"

Liu Bei was taken aback, failing to grasp the hidden meaning in Xiao He's words.

"If I remember correctly, Zhang Lu and Liu Zhang have a blood feud involving the murder of a mother and the killing of a son. They are sworn enemies."

"Over the years, although there have been no major wars between Zhang Lu and Liu Zhang, there have been constant conflicts. Zhang Lu wanted to destroy Liu Zhang and take his place, while Liu Zhang wanted to take Hanzhong and control the entire Yizhou."

"Even if the two men mediate for Cao Cao and temporarily put aside their differences to jointly send troops against our Han Dynasty, I believe that they are only on the surface but not in their hearts. They will still harbor their own ulterior motives and be wary of each other."

Xiao He calmly analyzed the psychology of the two thieves, and then said:
"That makes things easier. Since the two traitors each have their own ulterior motives, it gives us the perfect opportunity to sow discord between them."

"I know that Zhang Lu has an important minister named Yang Song. This man is highly trusted by Zhang Lu and is also greedy."

“We can send someone to Hanzhong and offer them a large sum of money to persuade them to whisper in Zhang Lu’s ear that Liu Zhang will take advantage of the fact that Zhang Lu’s army has come out in full force and Hanzhong’s defenses are weak, and then march north to seize Hanzhong.”

"The same goes for Liu Zhang's side. We can send spies to Chengdu to spread rumors that Zhang Lu is feigning an attack on Xiangyang, but in reality, he is taking advantage of Chengdu's weak military presence to march south and seize Shu."

"The two were already outwardly friendly but inwardly hostile, and they were wary of each other. Our series of actions only added fuel to the fire, making the two traitors even more hesitant to launch a full-scale eastward expedition, lest the other take advantage of their weakness."

"In this way, the final result will surely be that the two traitors will send tens of thousands of troops eastward to make a show of it, but they will not dare to use the entire army of the country to invade my Jingzhou."

"With the current military strength of Jingzhou, it is more than enough to deal with a mere tens of thousands of Sichuan soldiers who are attacking."

Liu Bei suddenly realized the truth, his eyes clearing as if the clouds had parted to reveal the moon, and in the blink of an eye, he was enlightened.

"What a brilliant scheme to sow discord! Bowen's plan has managed to repel over ten thousand without losing a single soldier!"

Liu Bei clapped his hands in praise and exclaimed in admiration:

"Unexpectedly, Bowen had already thoroughly understood Liu Jiyu and Zhang Lu, and even knew Yang Song very well."

"Good, good, good, this is the perfect solution!"

Lu Xun and the other ministers also suddenly realized what was going on, and their admiring gazes all turned to Xiao He.

Lu Xun thought to himself that if he were given some time, it wasn't impossible for him to come up with this plan to sow discord.

As for Yang Song, Zhang Lu's trusted close advisor, he had only heard of him to some extent.

But Yang Song's secret greed was something he could never possibly know.

Xiao He once again demonstrated to them his almost supernatural ability to recognize people!

How could Lu Xun not be utterly convinced and submit to him?

"Alright, let's follow Bowen's plan and use a divisive tactic to break Cao Cao's plan to besiege Wei and rescue Zhao!"
Liu Bei laughed heartily and made the decision.

At that moment, Liu Bei ordered Deng Zhi to take a large sum of money to Hanzhong to secretly meet with Yang Song.

A large number of spies were also sent to Chengdu to spread rumors that Zhang Lu intended to take advantage of the situation to seize the Shu region.

Liu Bei remained unmoved and continued to lead his 200,000 main force to besiege Jinyang City! (End of Chapter)