Three Kingdoms: I switched to Liu Bei, why are you crying, Cao Cao?

Chapter 70: Five families conspired together, the military advisor really has unpredictable powers!
"Does the military advisor really want to conspire with the five families?"

After a brief shock, Liu Bei came to his senses and asked.

That expression was as if saying, Military Advisor, are you serious?

It’s not Liu Bei’s fault. In fact, Xu Shu was also confused at this time!

Logically speaking, he had spent more time with Qin Zhen than Liu Bei, so he should have understood Qin Zhen better.

But it was because he knew it too well that he was surprised.

Because Qin Zhen had planned to involve many forces at the same time, but at most there were only two or three.

But now, Qin Zhen has to plan for five at the same time!
The five forces are not a bunch of fools. Not to mention Lu Bu and Chen Yu, just Cao Cao, Yuan Shu, and Sun Ce, which one of them is without a few wise men!

If Qin Zhen wants to plan for five families at the same time, it means that Qin Zhen's plan requires the manipulation of so many advisers and generals at the same time. How much control over the situation does this require?

Thinking of this, Xu Shu looked directly at Qin Zhen and said:
"Zixuan, it's not that I don't believe you!"

"But I can't figure it out. How can I plan for five families at the same time?"

In the sight of the two, Qin Zhen waved his feather fan and said with a smile:

"Most things in this world are difficult to combine, but easy to separate!"

"It sounds scary to manage five companies at the same time, but it's easy if you look at them separately!"

"All we need to do is to sort out the current situation and think about countermeasures one by one. Putting them together will form our army's strategy!"

"To resolve our army's current predicament, we must achieve three goals!"

"First, our army will first use the power of Lu Bu, Sun Ce, and Chen Yu to seize Huainan, and then let the three families give up their territory!"

"Secondly, our army must move quickly and seize the Huainan area before Cao Cao and Yuan Shu win the battle!"

"Third, our army must quickly gain a foothold, otherwise we won't be able to hold Huainan even if we capture it!"

"The so-called five conspirators are nothing more than to achieve these three goals!"

Listening to Qin Zhen's words, Liu Bei and Xu Shu both nodded.

It is indeed the same as Qin Zhen’s analysis. All the difficulties they face are due to these three goals.

After thinking about it for a while, Xu Shu narrowed his eyes and said:

"So in the final analysis, the first thing our army should do is to get the three families to send out troops first!"

"But I wonder how the military advisor plans to plan for you to advance and retreat?"

"This is easy. In fact, if Yuanzhi thinks about it carefully, he will know the key point!"

Qin Zhen smiled leisurely, put his hands behind his back and walked forward, saying:

"If you want to kill Lu Bu, you only need to start with Zang Ba!"

"Now that Lü Bu is not sending out troops, he is being held back by Zang Ba, so we can send an envoy to explain the pros and cons and persuade Zang Ba to seek peace!"

"Although Zang Ba is a Taishan bandit, he knows the big picture and knows when to advance and when to retreat. Although he has captured Ju County this time, he may not be an enemy of Lu Bu!"

"As long as he speaks powerful words and sees that Lu Bu is so powerful, how dare he not retreat?"

"Once Zang Ba retreats, Lu Bu will have nothing to worry about. Seeing the imperial edict, he will naturally follow the order and march forward!"

"As for our army's strategy to deal with Lu Bu, it still lies in Zang Ba. When we need Lu Bu to retreat, our army only needs to spread the news that Zang Ba has returned and intends to attack Xia Pi, and Lu Bu will retreat!"

Hearing this, Liu Bei nodded and smiled:

"Military advisor, this is a good plan. It will allow Lu Bu to come and go as he pleases!"

Ever since the last time he used Lu Bu, Liu Bei no longer had any fear of Lu Bu. On the contrary, he thought this guy was quite useful.

Now seeing Qin Zhen using Zang Ba to control Lu Bu, he naturally couldn't help laughing.

Xu Shu listened, nodded and said:

"Military Advisor has used this method to defeat one family, and there are still four left!"

Seeing that he had no objection, Qin Zhen took another step and said:

"After getting rid of Lu Bu, we must get rid of Chen Yu and Sun Ce!"

"The key to these two difficulties lies in Chen Yu!"

He suddenly turned around and said to Liu Bei:

"If we want to take down Chen Yu, the key lies in this man Chen Deng!"

"Chen Yu has few soldiers and a weak foundation. We don't need to take him too seriously. We just need to prevent him from attacking Sun Ce by surprise."

"Since our army left, Chen Deng has been transferred to Guangling by Lu Bu, and is now recruiting soldiers in Sheyang."

"Although Chen Yu is his uncle, he is incapable of protecting him!"

"So you can personally write a letter to Chen Deng, tell him about our army's concerns, and persuade him to go and dissuade them."

"I think Chen Deng will be afraid that Chen Yu will do something bad when he hears this news. He has always been filial to his elders, so he will go and persuade them!"

"And this is the key point. If Chen Yu really wanted to defect, he would not be easily exposed without Chen Deng's dissuasion."

"If Chen Yu has no intention of defecting, it would be even better. He has few soldiers and it would be difficult for him to defend the city. With Chen Deng maneuvering among them, he can be a help to our army!"

When Liu Bei heard the name of Chen Deng, he nodded and smiled:
"Chen Yuanlong can definitely do this!"

He and Chen Deng are each other's die-hard fans.

He was very clear about Chen Deng's character and strategy. If he didn't know, it would be fine. But if he knew about this, he would definitely go to dissuade Chen Yu!

Regardless of whether Chen Yu intends to defect or not, as long as Chen Deng is here, he can be of help to them!

When Xu Shu heard this, he stroked his short beard and said with a smile:

"In that case, if we control Chen Yu, Sun Ce will most likely send out troops. What our army needs to think about is how to make Sun Ce retreat!"

"That's right. Sun Ce and Yuan Shu are now at loggerheads. We must send troops even without an imperial edict!"

Qin Zhen raised his feather fan and fanned it slowly:

"As I said just now, the difficulty between Sun Ce and Chen Yu lies in Chen Yu."

"Chen Yu may or may not switch sides. We need to plan for these two situations separately!"

"As for our army's understanding of the situation, we just need to see whether Chen Yu will send out troops or not."

"If Chen Yu does not send troops, he is most likely preparing to defect. Then our army does not need to worry and just needs to wait for Sun Ce to retreat."

"If Chen Yu sends out his troops, it means he will not defect. Our army will spread the news that Yan Baihu and others from Wujun want to rebel." "They have long been a major concern for Sun Ce. When Sun Ce hears that they want to rebel, he will naturally lead his troops back."

"Of course, our army must also act according to the situation. If Sun Ce still does not go, our army must be prepared to make enemies with Sun Ce!"

This is also the characteristic of Qin Zhen's planning. Whenever he makes a plan, he always prepares multiple back-up plans to deal with various emergencies.

However, in his opinion, it is highly likely that Chen Yu will defect.

This is historical inertia, with many factors intertwined and difficult to change.

All he could do was to add Chen Deng to Chen Yu, because Chen Yu's betrayal was exposed, which showed that his planning level was obviously not high.

If it were Chen Denglai, even if he couldn't succeed, at least he wouldn't fail.

After all, Chen Deng is a first-class ruthless man!
If Chen Deng could really bring disaster to Sun Ce's hometown, it would also be good for them.

As for whether Chen Deng will take action to plot against Sun Ce, it depends on whether Chen Yu is determined, and has nothing to do with them directly.

Seeing that Qin Zhen had taken over three families in a blink of an eye, Liu Bei's mood also turned from gloomy to bright, and he smiled and said:
"If the three factions have exhausted their plans, only Cao Cao and Yuan Shu will remain!"

After hearing this, Xu Shu thought for a while, then smiled at Qin Zhen and said:
"The threat from Cao and Yuan is that we must not let them interfere!"

"I think the military advisor wants to target these two families so that they can't decide the winner for now and have no time to worry about Huainan's affairs!"

Qin Zhen turned around and smiled when he heard this:

"The one who knows me well is Xu Yuanzhi, but I wonder if Yuanzhi can guess the rest of my plan?"

He knew that Xu Shu was not good at conspiracies and intrigues, but he was good at strategy. As long as the purpose was clear, he could come up with a corresponding plan.

Hearing his words, Xu Shu knew that Qin Zhen was trying to test him. The two of them were both teachers and friends, and they had often planned this. At this moment, he stood up and said with a smile:
"I know what the military advisor means. This matter is not difficult for me!"

As he said this, he smiled at Liu Bei;
"If our army wants to take down the two families, we must start from the outside!"

"There are many remnants of the Yellow Turbans in Runan now. Our army can give them seals and win them over to serve us!"

"Either cut off Cao's army's food supplies or harass Yuan Shu's rear, making it difficult for the two families to fight."

When Liu Bei heard this, his eyes lit up and he said:

"Could it be that Yuanzhi was talking about the tribes of Liu Pi, Gong Du, etc?"

Liu Pi, Gong Du and others were the Yellow Turban bandits entrenched in Runan. Originally there were also He Yi, Huang Shao, He Man and others, each with tens of thousands of people. They initially responded to Yuan Shu and then joined Sun Jian.

He had been attacked by Cao Cao once before. He Man, Huang Shao and others were beheaded by Cao Cao, and He Yi surrendered.

Liu Pi and Gong Du are the only troops left, and they are now entrenched in the Dabie Mountains south of Runan, making them difficult to eliminate.

When Xu Shu heard this, he nodded and said:

"It is this group of people who are entrenched in the mountains. They are bandits and it is difficult for them to turn over. If our army takes the initiative to win them over, they will definitely be able to be used by our army!"

Having said this, he turned around and looked at Qin Zhen and said:

"The military advisor's intention is to use them to tie up the two armies first, and then use them for his own use after taking Huainan to stabilize the situation in Huainan, right or not?"

Seeing that Xu Shu had guessed his thoughts, Qin Zhen did not deny it:

"What Yuan Zhi said is correct. With this plan, we can prevent the Cao and Yuan families from fighting for the time being, and give our army a chance to seize Huainan!"

Listening to the two's plan, Liu Bei couldn't help but smile happily;
"Although Liu Pi is a bandit, if he is truly kind, he should be used!"

But as soon as he finished speaking, Xu Shu shook his head:
"Although Liu Pi and others can be used, they are all bandits and cannot be used for important tasks. It may be difficult to rely on them to hold back the two families!"

He looked up and said to Qin Zhen:
"Military advisor, you must know that Yuan Shu is not good at fighting, but Cao Cao is good at fighting. If our army does this, we may be able to hold back the two, but Cao Cao will definitely know our intentions!"

"If he wants to win quickly, he can attack fiercely. Yuan Shu may not be able to stop Cao Cao!"

Hearing this, Qin Zhen nodded first, but then returned to his seat and sat down:

"So before our army wants to do this, we should set up a trap to make them suspicious first!"

He placed the feather fan on the table and smiled at Xu Shu:
"I intend to send an envoy to befriend Liu Chong of Chen State and buy some food and grass from him. What do you think, Yuan Zhi?"

Hearing the name Liu Chong, Xu Shu's expression froze. After thinking for a while, he clapped his hands and smiled:

"Great, great, this is a great move! In this way, our army will have nothing to worry about!"

Seeing these two people playing dumb, Liu Bei was stunned and said curiously:

"Yuanzhi, why can our army succeed by sending an envoy to make friends with Liu Chong?"

Seeing that Liu Bei hadn't reacted yet, Xu Shu stepped forward and explained:

"My lord, the military advisor's strategy is to use Liu Chong to confuse Cao Cao and make him unable to figure out our army's purpose!"

"Because our army is in Pei State, and Cao Cao is in Xuchang, our army cannot threaten Cao Cao."

"But Liu Chong is in Chen State, defending his own territory with an unclear attitude. He is right between our army and Xuchang. If we form a line with our army, we can attack Liang State, Chenliu and other places, and cut off Cao Cao's connection with Yanzhou."

"If our army makes friends with Liu Chong, Cao Cao will start to suspect whether our army is plotting to seize Yanzhou."

"And Liu Chong is the King of Chen and did not participate in the war, so Cao Cao cannot attack him. He can only increase the defense in the rear to prevent our army and Liu Chong from suddenly launching an attack."

"With our army outside to hold back the enemy, Cao Cao will have difficulty in attacking with all his might, and the two families will be evenly matched!"

The key to Qin Zhen's strategy lies in the special geographical location of Chen State, which is right in the heart of Cao Cao.

As long as they could contact Liu Chong, Xuchang, Chenliu, Liangguo, Jiyin and Rencheng would all be under their threat.

Given Cao Cao's suspicious character, he would fall into the trap no matter what!
Liu Bei listened to the explanation and suddenly realized:

"I see. I didn't expect our army to behave this way!"

As he spoke, he came back to his senses and suddenly realized that the entire Central Plains had been involved in their plan without him realizing it.

There are only a few families in the Central Plains. Regardless of whether they participated in the war or not, they were all lured in by Qin Zhen!

While thinking, he was surprised and happy:

"The military advisor really has the unpredictable power of ghosts and gods! What should we worry about?"

With this, Liu Bei's army set the tone.

After discussing the plan with the two men, they began to discuss sending troops.
Regarding the timing and number of troops to be dispatched, Qin Zhen suggested:

"Our army has a plan, so we cannot act first. We need to strike back and control the situation. We cannot let the enemy know our purpose, so we can let those three forces act first, and then we can send out our troops!"

"And we can't send too many troops. We should send out 10,000 troops first, leave 10,000 behind to coordinate, and keep the rest at home. This way, Cao Cao will not be able to use his full strength!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei readily agreed and arranged his men to go in different directions.

(End of this chapter)