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

Puban Pass.

"Liu Zhang, Zhang Lu, you two short-sighted scoundrels!"

Inside the main hall of the fortress, Cao Cao was slamming his fist on the table and cursing loudly.

Scattered on the ground in front of the hall were secret reports from spies in Hanzhong and Chengdu.

The ministers looked bewildered, exchanging glances, all unable to understand why Cao Cao had suddenly become so furious.

Sima Yi's plan has already succeeded, hasn't it?

Zhang Lu and Liu Zhang had already accepted Cao Cao's offer of titles and mobilized the elite troops of their kingdoms, preparing to attack Jingzhou from the east.

Then why did Cao Cao fly into a rage and berate Zhang and Liu?

Confused and uneasy, Sima Yi stepped forward and picked up the secret reports from the ground one by one.

After reading it, Sima Yi's expression suddenly changed drastically.

A spy from Nanzheng reported that Yang Song advised Zhang Lu to guard against Liu Zhang taking advantage of the situation to attack Hanzhong, and not to mobilize all the troops in Hanzhong to attack Xiangyang in the east.

Following Yang Song's plan, Zhang Lu ultimately only sent Zhang Wei with over ten thousand troops to symbolically sail eastward down the Han River.

Another secret report from Chengdu claimed that rumors were spreading throughout the city that Zhang Lu intended to take advantage of Liu Zhang's army being out in force to launch a feint attack and seize Shu with his main force, in order to avenge Liu Zhang's killing of his mother and son.

Therefore, Liu Zhang did not mobilize all the troops in Yizhou, but only ordered Zhang Ren to lead 20,000 troops eastward out of the Three Gorges to threaten Jiangling.

Sima Yi finally understood why Cao Cao was so furious.

Even at this critical juncture of life and death, Liu Zhang and Zhang Lu, these two traitors, still harbored their own ulterior motives and were wary of each other, using most of their troops to defend against each other, and only symbolically sending tens of thousands of miscellaneous soldiers to attack Jingzhou.

The combined number of soldiers from Hanzhong and Shu was only thirty to forty thousand, which posed no real threat to Jingzhou.

The Han state alone had as many as 40,000 troops stationed in Jingzhou.

If the armies of both countries sail eastward down the river, let alone capture Xiangyang and Jiangling, they will likely be defeated and routed by the Han army.

Sima Yi's plan was tantamount to failing at the last hurdle!

"Liu Zhang and Zhang Lu, those two traitors, are unworthy of being regional warlords. How could they be so short-sighted?"

"Do they think that if my Great Wei is destroyed by Liu Bei, that big-eared thief will let them go?"

"Even at this critical juncture of life and death, they're still harboring their own ulterior motives and targeting each other. What cowards they are!"

Upon understanding the reason, Sima Yi couldn't help but curse loudly.

The officials hurriedly gathered around, read the reports, and then suddenly realized what had happened.

Inside the lobby, shouts of cursing rose and fell.

The ministers of Wei all cursed Liu Zhang and Zhang Lu for their shortsightedness and lack of awareness of the gravity of the situation.

"Your Majesty, I believe that the reason why Zhang Lu and Liu Zhang, these two traitors, have suddenly become wary of each other is most likely because Liu Bei is behind it all."

"The slander of Yang Song, and the rumors in Chengdu, were mostly the work of Liu Bei."

"If my guess is correct, this must be Xiao He's scheme to sow discord, taking advantage of the feud between Zhang Lu and Liu Zhang over the murder of their mother and son."

After examining the reports in his hand, Jia Xu sighed and deduced the mystery behind them.

The ministers suddenly realized what was going on.

Cao Cao slammed his fist on the table, gritting his teeth and cursing angrily:

"You're right, this must be another of that despicable tricks of that scoundrel Xiao. That scoundrel is truly hateful, utterly despicable!"

The ministers of Wei were all filled with hatred and anger, gritting their teeth and cursing loudly.

For a time, the hall was filled with shouts of cursing Xiao He.

"enough!"

Cao Cao slammed his hand on the table, interrupting the tirade of his ministers.

The hall fell silent instantly. "Now that Liu Zhang and Zhang Lu are no longer reliable, what brilliant strategies do you have to lift the siege of Jinyang and rescue my Yuan Rang?"

Cao Cao looked expectantly at his ministers.

Despite his anger, he had to face reality.

The reality is that the strategy of "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao" has failed. If they want to save Xiahou Dun and the 60,000 soldiers, they must come up with another good plan.

All the ministers lowered their heads and remained silent.

Cao Cao turned his gaze to Sima Yi.

Sima Yi sighed and lowered his head.

The strategy of "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao" was the limit of his wisdom; he was helpless beyond that.

Cao Cao looked disappointed and had no choice but to turn to Jia Xu again.

His eyes were almost pleading.

At this point, Jia Xu had become his last lifeline.

After a moment of silence, Jia Xu said in a bitter voice:
"Your Majesty, I believe that we have no way to save the General. The only option for the General now is to save himself."

Self-rescue?

Cao Cao's almost desperate eyes finally lit up with a glimmer of hope, and he asked urgently:

"Wenhe, what should Yuan tell him to do to save himself?"

Jia Xu approached the map and pointed north of Jinyang:
"Although Liu Bei has captured most of Bingzhou and blocked the route of retreat from Jinyang to Guanzhong, I suspect that the Han army's strength in the northern part of Bingzhou is relatively weak compared to other directions."

"After all, apart from Dai Commandery, the Han army pacified the other commanderies of Yanmen, Wuyuan, and Yunzhong by issuing proclamations, without sending heavy troops to attack them."

"Therefore, I believe that the only chance for the General is to abandon Jinyang and break out northwards at all costs, heading out of Yanmen and Yunzhong into Bingzhou and into the grasslands."

"In this way, we can still retreat westward to Liangzhou by passing through the Xianbei territory."

Jia Xu then eloquently explained his strategy.

Cao Cao frowned, and the light in his eyes gradually dimmed again.

Jia Xu's solution to break the deadlock was the old trick of using the Xianbei territory as a route.

His original intention was to have Xiahou Dun use this strategy to escape.

But before the imperial edict could be delivered, Xiahou Dun was trapped and died in Jinyang City, losing the initiative.

Now Jia Xu is bringing up old matters again, and he does it very casually.

If Xiahou Dun were to use this strategy, he would first have to break through the encirclement of 200,000 Han troops outside Jinyang City, and then overcome numerous obstacles, breaking through the barriers of several counties in Yanmen and Yunzhong before he could successfully enter the grasslands.

This is almost an impossible task!
"Your Majesty knows that the chances of this plan succeeding are slim, and the odds of victory are few."

"But I really can't think of any other good plan besides this one that could allow the General to escape."

Jia Xu knew what Cao Cao was thinking, and could only sigh helplessly.

Cao Cao was shocked.

A moment later, he stood up again with his cane, and walked unsteadily to the outside of the hall, looking towards Jinyang.

In his dazed eyes, he seemed to see Jinyang City collapsing under the earth-shattering bombardment of the divine thunder cannons, the Han army's battle flag planted on the city walls, and Xiahou Dun fighting to the last moment, yet still falling amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood, rushing to the Yellow Springs to reunite with his brothers and comrades...

Cao Cao shuddered violently and suddenly came to his senses.

“Wenhe is right. This is Yuan Rang’s and those tens of thousands of soldiers’ only hope. Even if they face death nine times out of ten, they have no other choice.”

“Yuan Rang, Yuan Rang, if you had recognized the situation sooner and broken through earlier, there would still be a chance for us brothers to meet again.”

"If Heaven does not forsake my Great Wei, if the heavens have not abandoned me, then bless us brothers to meet again..."

Cao Cao gazed towards Jinyang and let out a long, desolate sigh. (End of Chapter)