The Supreme Call of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 169 Target Jizhou

Yuan Shao suffered a disastrous defeat, and Yuan Shu was nearly a thousand miles away. Now Liu Xiao only has to face Cao Cao.

Cao Cao is very smart. Liu Xiao's Qingzhou Army has won consecutive battles and their morale is high. At this time, they are coming in fiercely and blocking their own army between Tai'an County and Qi County. Shanyang County is already two or three hundred miles away, and it is even farther away from Xudu. It is nearly a thousand miles away, and the main force of the army is hanging outside alone. That is the way to death!
Since defeating Liu Xiao is no longer realistic, it is better to give up, be thorough, and turn around and eat Yuzhou.

Xi Zhicai shook his head and said: "My lord, Yuzhou is adjacent to Xuzhou in the east, and Jingzhou is hard to come by. It is the place of the Fourth World War. Taking Yuzhou will make our defenses more scattered. In my opinion, it is better to take advantage of Yuan Shao's weakness. When Liu Xiao wanted to go to Jizhou, he went straight to the north and took Bingzhou. Bingzhou produces good horses, a lot of salt and iron, and the folk customs are sturdy. Ma Teng and Han Sui in Xiliang have formed a pincer attack, and if we can take advantage of the situation to wipe out the two prefectures in one fell swoop, then Bingzhou and Liangzhou will be under our army's control, and we will sweep the world with the northwest cavalry, irresistible!"

Cao Cao pondered for a while, and said in a deep voice: "Sir, what you said is reasonable, and the order was issued. The army immediately gave up attacking Huangjialing, retreated southeast, entered Yanzhou, ordered people to go to Liu Xiao's place, and asked Liu Xiao for peace. Xia Houdun and Xia Houyuan led [-] troops to stay behind. Shanyang County, the rest of the troops will follow me back to Chenliu and prepare to attack Bingzhou!"

Cao Cao made a decisive decision. Since he was not sure of defeating Liu Xiao, he would shake hands cleanly and make peace, and then go to Bingzhou to gain some advantages. Anyway, Yuan Shao has lost two consecutive defeats and lost more than [-] troops. Now he has already suffered a serious injury. Now, I can play with him however I want, he has no temper at all!

Cao Cao ran away, but Liu Xiao didn't plan to do anything to Cao Cao. After all, neither of the two sides is sure that they can win the opponent. Since Cao Cao admits to counseling, there is no need to kill them all. Eat Yuan Shao's Jizhou first!
Liu Xiao returned to Qingzhou City and finally felt at ease.

"My lords, now that Cao Cao has withdrawn his troops, Yuan Shao has been defeated, and Yuan Shu has also retreated steadily. There are only three counties left. From this point of view, how should we use our troops next?"

Liu Xiao asked.

"Jizhou!"

Xun Yu said in a deep voice: "Masters, Jizhou is the head of the thirteen states of the Han Dynasty. It has a large population and rich products. Occupying Jizhou is better than occupying the two states of Qingzhou and Xuzhou. We must take Jizhou first before we have the real The capital of the king and hegemony, you can attack when you advance, and you can defend when you retreat!"

Liu Xiao said with a smile: "Wen Ruo, if you really take Jizhou, just look at it. We extend from Yangzhou all the way to Youzhou, stretching from north to south for two or three thousand miles. How can we defend? One day Cao Cao even occupied Yuzhou, you can go east to Xuzhou, cut us into two parts in one fell swoop, we can't look at each other from the beginning to the end, even if Liu Biao from Jingzhou sends troops to the east, if we want to rush to Yangzhou, it will be difficult to do it!"

Liu Xiao and Xun Yu have completely different ideas. They are not contemporaries, so they naturally have different opinions. Xun Yu considers occupying a land rich in money and food and establishing the foundation of the emperor, but Liu Xiao considers strategic depth and the challenges he faces. The opponent has a long and narrow territory, which is not a good thing. He is most vulnerable to attack by the opponent, and it is very difficult to mobilize troops and reinforcements. After all, this is the second century AD, not the twentieth century AD. There are no airplanes, no armored vehicles, or even ships. Troop mobilization But it’s too difficult.

Xun Yu said solemnly: "My lord, from Xun Yu's point of view, we would rather give up Yangzhou, and we must guarantee the land of Jizhou. The territory is narrow and long. We have too many opponents. It is really not a good strategy, but our opponent is Yuan Shao. Cao Cao, not Liu Biao, if we don't take Jizhou, Jizhou will definitely be acquired by Cao Cao, and even Bingzhou will become Cao Cao's pocket, food, population, war horses, steel, everything you expect, with the land of the four states, to counter us , we will be squeezed between Qing and Xu again. Only when we win Jizhou can we ensure that we have enough strength to challenge Cao Cao in the north. Yuzhou is the place of the Fourth World War. The Yellow Turban Rebellion completely destroyed Yuzhou The population loss exceeds [-]%, so what if we take it? It can only increase our burden, but cannot provide us with help..."

Fang Xuanling also said in a low voice: "My lord, what Wen Ruo said is not unreasonable. If we take down the six counties in Jiangdong, we will definitely face Liu Biao's doubts. No one wants to guard a neighbor who is too powerful, even In order to protect ourselves, Liu Biao may act aggressively and launch an attack on us when our foothold is not stable. This is absolutely possible. Throw it in..."

"The worst possible..."

Xun Yu smiled bitterly and said: "That means Yuan Shu and Liu Biao colluded together to deal with Feng Xiao and Sun Ce. After all, Sun Ce and Liu Biao have a grudge against killing their father. Liu Biao will not let Sun Ce become stronger so easily..."

Liu Xiao's heart was shocked suddenly. Xun Yu was right. In the past two years, his development has been too smooth. In the end, he was a little flustered. He won Yuzhou and Yangzhou, and he seemed to be stronger. He once again provoked a powerful opponent for himself——Liu Biao of Jingxiang Nine Counties!

Yuzhou is in the north of Jingzhou, and Yangzhou is in the east of Jingzhou. Surrounding Jingzhou on both sides, Liu Biao will definitely go crazy. After all, he can dominate the nine counties of Jingxiang and Liu Biao is definitely not a fool. It is impossible not to understand what he brought to him. threaten!
Liu Xiao said in a deep voice: "In this case, let's let go of Yuzhou and fight Jizhou first! Pengju, led Xu Huang, Zhijie, and Ziyi, led [-] paces to the north to leave Le'an County and attack Leling County directly With Bohai County, Bingfeng pointed directly at Hejian County and Zhangwu County; Gao Chongdian Wei Zhanghe, and I commanded [-] cavalry, went west out of Pingyuan County, attacked Wei County, and then went north to attack Zhao County, Zhongshan County, and Hanoi County and Changshan County, completely drive Yuan Shao's strength out of Jizhou!"

Xun Yu said with a sly smile: "Hey, my lord, it's best to drive Yuan Shao into Bingzhou, so that Youzhou will also become our possession. As for Bingzhou, Cao Cao is probably already eyeing this piece of fat now. Just let them dog eat dog..."

Liu Xiao shook his head and sighed: "Wen Ruo, you are too greedy. No matter what, Yuan Shao still has considerable strength. It is almost impossible to destroy all of Yuan Shao's forces. We are not strong enough. It would be good to win Jizhou, but as for Bingzhou and Youzhou, that will be a matter of the future, regardless of Cao Cao or Yuan Shao, as long as Jizhou is in our pocket, then we will be as stable as Mount Tai!"

(End of this chapter)