Three Kingdoms: I help Liu Bei grow thousands of miles

"Gu understands that it is difficult to raise supplies, but will Guan Yunchang wait for us?" Cao Cao asked back.

"Your Majesty, the snow fell in a hurry this year. Although our soldiers are short of winter clothes, Guan Yu's army must also be short of them. I think Guan Yu must be bluffing. Maybe he will wait until next spring to send troops." Shi Zhong Huan Jie said.

Sima Yi quickly waved his hands: "A soldier's situation is unpredictable, and there is no law. Bo Xu (Huan Jie) is a bit decisive. If Guan Yu doesn't follow the common sense, wouldn't he be at a loss? It's better to make preparations earlier to be safe."

Huan Jie argued: "Although Guan Yu is arrogant, he sent troops in summer and autumn. He would not disregard the lives of Jingzhou soldiers in order to capture Fancheng, right? Besides, there are no resourceful men in Xiangyang. I think it is absolutely impossible to defeat the king's [-] troops. Impossible."

"Using Hu Xiu and Fu Fang to earn money to open the gate of Xiangyang City, this deceitful method is not Guan Yu's style. I don't believe that the other party has no masters. In addition, it is rumored that Sun Quan was completely defeated in Jingzhou. This master in Jingzhou is not ordinary. Strong." Jiang Ji frowned.

Huan Jie seemed to have realized something, and quickly asked: "Could it be that Xu Shu that Zitong was talking about? This person is one of Liu Bei's four great military advisers. You said that he offered a plan to capture Xiangyang. I believe that with a little bit of defenders behind the town, Sun Quan can defeat Sun Quan's number of roads." The army? Is this too strong?"

"That's unknown." Jiang Ji resentfully.

Cheng Yu who was standing aside suddenly said: "I don't know much about others, but I have heard of Xu Yuanzhi's deeds. This person is not that powerful..."

"What else does Zhongde know?" Cao Cao asked.

Cheng Yu shook his head helplessly, then closed his eyes as if an old monk was in meditation.

Cao Cao was furious when he saw this, he slammed the case and shouted: "Give all the spies to the orphans to investigate, and at this time, I don't even know who the opponent is."

"Wei." The officials hurriedly bowed and saluted.

"Zitong (Jiang Ji), immediately write to Wen Manji (Wen Hui, the governor of Yangzhou) in Hefei, asking him to inquire about the news from Jiangdong. If Sun Quan suffers a big loss in Jingzhou, he must know the details. Let Gu down." Cao Cao was full of depression.

"The minister takes orders." Jiang Ji answered with cupped hands.

Chapter 592 I'm Not Waiting For You

Cao Cao was furious when he slapped the table, and the people below started to act immediately.

As time passed day by day, the news from all over the place gathered in Wancheng one after another, Lantian's name kept appearing in Cao Cao's ears, especially the detailed information sent by Wen Hui from Huainan, which was provided by the "friendly army" Jiangdong .

He was defeated by Zhang Liao in the Battle of Hefei, and Sun Quan never hated him so much now, because in terms of the loss of soldiers and future alone, Zhang Liao's losses to Jiangdong were far less than the losses he caused in several fights with Lantian.

Sun Quan regards Lantian as an enemy, so he writes Lantian's message in handwriting, and finally writes a few pages, and instructs Ruxudu Zhou Tai to hand it over to Wen Hui.

Cao Cao was stunned when he read Sun Quan's letter, because the writer's mood can be seen from the way he writes, and he knew that Sun Quan must be in a bad mood at that time.

"King Wei, is it really that Lantian?" Yang Xiu asked tentatively.

Cao Cao snorted coldly: "What a loyal elder Liu Xuande, what a mysterious owl Lan Ziyu lurking in the dark, who said that there are only four masterminds under Liu Bei's account? This person is still above Zhuge Liang in Liu Bei's heart, and his degree of insidiousness is also great. Better than Zhuge Liang."

After hearing this, Sima Yi was very moved, and he asked in shock: "Information about Lantian has been circulated in many places. It is rumored that he is Xiaopei's hermit. He fled to Jingzhou because of the war in Xuzhou at that time. By chance, he became Liu Qi's disciple. After Liu Qi passed away, The four counties in Jingnan changed to Liu Bei, so he was deeply trusted by Liu Bei, and now Liu Beibiao is Jiaozhou shepherd and rear general. I haven't heard that this person has any strategies..."

"How can you trust all the rumors? Look at Sun Zhongmou's personal letter. This person is far from as simple as you think." Cao Cao threw out the letter with a wave of his hand.

After Lantian was promoted to the post of Jiaozhou pastor, he would submit a formal report to the emperor, so his personal information was packaged by Song Chen, and it had been publicized on a small scale in Xudu's market. The packaged information was what Lantian wanted everyone to know.

Sima Yi stepped forward to take the letter in small steps. Except for the old minister Cheng Yu who seemed to be asleep, the rest Jiang Ji, Dong Zhao, Huan Jie, and Yang Xiu all surrounded him. Who could resist a secret being revealed?

"Lan Tian is actually Liu Bei's brother-in-law..."

"He was the one who attacked Jiangling after the Chibi War..."

"Lv Lingqi, who disappeared from Xiapi, went to Jingzhou to marry Lantian, and gave birth to two boys and one girl..."

"Gao Shun is still alive... The camp has expanded to tens of thousands..."

"Sun Quan attacked Jingzhou twice, and all of them were defeated by this person..."

"Zhang Fei and Fazheng are also in Jingzhou..."

……

"Your Majesty..." Sima Yi and the others read it excitedly, then folded the letter and handed it back to Cao Cao with a heavy face.

Cao Cao squinted at everyone: "After reading Bi Yan'er's letter, do you feel touched?"

Sima Yi swallowed, "If everything in the letter is true, then this Mr. Xuan Xiao is indeed very powerful. At least Diu Xiangyang has a direct relationship with him."

"How do you know?" Cao Cao asked with a frown.

"Because it's exactly the same as throwing Jiangling back then. In addition, the letter mentioned Gao Shun and the army of ten thousand soldiers. This person was originally a mighty general under Lv Bu. You must guard against him, Your Majesty." Sima Yi reminded.

Cao Cao nodded lightly, "Gu thought it was Fazheng or Xu Shu's scheme. Zhong Da reminded Gu, but being trapped in the camp is a thing of the past. Bi Yan'er is no match for them because they are weak, and our soldiers fight in battle. I have rich experience, as for Gao Shun, I almost forgot about it, now I also have general Zhang Wenyuan, who was also a fierce general of Lu Bu, so why should I be afraid of him falling into the camp?"

"Your Majesty, I don't know if Lantian is in Xiangyang. Guan Yu has this person to help him, and General Zixiao's side may be in danger..." Jiang Ji stammered.

"The so-called soldiers are precious and fast. If I were Lantian, should I stick to Xiangyang or take the initiative to attack?" Cao Cao frowned and knocked on the table, talking to himself, and then suddenly told Sima Yi: "Zhongda, quickly urge the rear to get the quilt, although Guan Yu is unlikely to attack in winter, but it is hard to say if there is an extra Lantian."

"Wei." Sima Yi cupped his hands and stepped aside.

Cao Cao then read the letter in detail, and everyone in the hall discussed in groups of two in low voices. Lan Tian planted a dark cloud in their chests, which would not dissipate for a long time.

At noon, Cao Zhang hurriedly led his armor into the palace, and clasped his fists to report: "Father, Guan Yu sent troops to surround Deng County yesterday. Unfortunately, Xu Shang was beheaded by Guan Ping. General Lu Jian is still holding on to the city, but he probably won't be able to hold on." how long."

Everyone was shocked when they heard this, and Cao Cao jumped up against the case, pointing at Cao Zhang and yelling, "What are you talking about? Guan Yu is besieging Deng County? What is Zixiao doing? Why didn't he report to me?"

Cao Zhang explained: "Guan Yu has warships for transporting troops. They sail around Danshui at night, so they can appear in Deng County without anyone noticing..."

"Dezu, get the map quickly." Cao Cao urged.

"Wei." Yang Xiu trotted back out.

After a while, Cao Cao called everyone to analyze the battle situation before the case. No one knew Guan Yu's real intentions, because Deng County was only tens of miles away from Fancheng, so why did he go around Cao Ren's defense area?Aren't you afraid of pinching back and forth?

"My lord, do you think there is a possibility that Guan Yu deliberately went around and attacked Deng County in order to lure General Zixiao to rescue him, because Fancheng's water and land are blocked, and now Fancheng has become the former Xiangyang..." Sima Yi A hypothesis is put forward.

Cao Cao opened his eyes wide and kept tapping on the map. It took a long time before he said: "Zhong Da's words are reasonable. Guan Yu relies on Jingzhou's naval superiority.

"Your Majesty, the winter clothes are not yet ready, and it is not good for the army to send troops hastily..." Sima Yi remonstrated.

Cao Cao snorted coldly: "I don't want to send troops in a hurry, but Guan Yunchang didn't wait for you at all, Ziwen (Cao Zhang), why don't you pass the order?"

"Wei." Cao Zhang cupped his fists.

During this period, [-] winter clothes were brought in from the rear, but for the [-] Cao troops, there was still a big gap, and only officers and soldiers who were close to the general had the opportunity to receive them, and the rest of the soldiers could only rely on single clothes to keep out the cold.

There are walls in the city to shelter from the wind, and you can light a fire in the camp to keep warm, but the cold wind in the field is like a knife cutting through flesh, and Cao soldiers often suffered from frostbite during the march.

Because the Jingzhou navy was a problem, Cao Cao did not dare to use the water to supply food and grass. He asked Cao Zhang to supervise the transportation of food and grass by land, and ordered Zhang Liao to lead the army to cross the river from Xinye to the west, trying to find a way to relieve the danger of being trapped in Deng County.

In late December of the 24th year of Jian'an, Li Yi's fleet transported winter clothes from Guangzhou to Xiangyang. Tens of thousands of troops took a boat detour to Danshui overnight and marched northward. He cut it off the horse.

In the morning of the next day, dozens of cavalrymen of unknown origin arrived at the north gate of Fancheng. They threatened at the gate that they were presenting Cao Ren, and then they left three wooden boxes and walked away.

After the cavalry left, the city guards brought the wooden box into the city.

Cao Ren felt bad when he saw the wooden box, and when he opened it, there were three bloody heads.

In addition to the Wei general Xu Shang who was beheaded by Guan Pingzhen, these three people were taken advantage of, and there were also Lu Meng and Lu Chang who were used to sacrifice the flag.

Chapter 593 Asking the reason, I am the same

When Cao Ren saw the heads of the three, he was speechless for a long time. It is reasonable for Lu Chang to lose his life in Xiangyang, but Lu Meng and Xu Shang were far beyond everyone's expectations.

"General, shouldn't General Xu be in Deng County? How come..." Niu Jin hesitated to speak.

When Xu Huang saw it, he was also full of doubts: "Before, we used the strategy of the king to publicize that Sun Quan would attack Jingzhou, which greatly affected the morale of Jingzhou soldiers, so that the opponent weakened their offensive. But this is only two short months. General Guan not only captured Xiangyang, but even Lu Meng was captured and beheaded..."

"During this period, Xiangyang practiced next to the Han River one after another. I thought it was Guan Yu's bluff. It turned out that he really solved his worries. Now that Jiangdong is not behind him, the king must come to defeat the enemy head-on..." Yilang Zhao Yan put forward his own point of view.

Guan Yu withdrew to the south bank of the Han River, the siege of Fancheng was temporarily lifted, and the officials left behind were mobilized. Among them, Man Chong, the prefect of Runan, also withdrew to Pingyu during this period, because too many bandits in the south of Xudu responded to Guan Yu, Cao Cao ordered him to go back to stabilize Live in the situation in Runan.

In Fancheng, apart from being full of love and resourcefulness, Zhao Yan, who is familiar with classics and history, is quite knowledgeable. His analysis made everyone nervous. Room.

"What Boran (Zhao Yan) said is true, we must send the battle situation to the king of Wei as soon as possible, but since Xu Shang has already given the leadership, Deng County may have fallen, and Gan Ning is suppressing by water, I don't know if the news will be released. Send it out..." Cao Ren frowned.

Zhao Yanjin said: "The scouts did not find Jingzhou soldiers crossing the Han River, so Guan Yu must have taken a detour to attack Deng County. Maybe news has been sent to Wancheng, but it cannot be ruled out that Guan Yu's siege was so fast that the news of his request for help could not be sent. Let’s go out, so we must do our duty, if one scout can’t be sent out, we can send ten scouts, if ten can’t, we can send a hundred or a thousand scouts, even if Guan Yu wants to stop the vast land north of Fancheng, it’s not easy.”

Cao Ren stood up suddenly, and said to his confidant Niu Jin: "We can't just wait for death, we will do it according to Boran's wishes. You send more troops to the direction of Deng County to spy, and in addition, send [-] scouts to Wanwan. city ​​delivery."

"The last general takes orders."

Cao Ren then ordered to the generals: "Go and purge the troops immediately. As long as the main force of the king of Wei goes south, we will immediately send troops to attack Guan Yu."

"Wei." All the generals answered in unison.

In wartime, the whole city is on alert.

Cao Ren not only imposed a curfew in Fancheng, but also required the soldiers of each battalion to sleep with their clothes on, and went to each battalion to inspect the preparations for the battle. For some reason, he always felt too much pressure.

After the encouragement of the generals, the officers and soldiers of each battalion seemed to be fighting spirit high. After all, they were not fighting alone this time, and they would not be in a panic when Cao Cao's main force converged. Many of their battalions are facing a shortage of winter clothing.

In the evening of the next day, Cao Ren received the news from the scouts that all [-] sentries were intercepted and killed on the way. Due to the dense guard guards arranged by Guan Yu, the scouts who went to Deng County to inquire about the news returned without success.

"I'm still too conservative..." Cao Ren murmured.

Niu Jin hastily added: "Half a month ago, the scouts discovered that there were many more horses on the other side. I guess Guan Yu should have added a certain number of cavalry, and the range of interception may have increased. Why don't we follow Zhao Yilang's suggestion before, and let's go again?" How about sending hundreds or thousands of people out of the city?"

"Since Guan Yu intends to stop him, it won't work just to send scouts to deliver the letter. We should use soldiers and horses to counteract the attack, so that nothing will go wrong." Zhao Yan continued to offer advice.

Cao Ren nodded, and then told Niu Jin: "Quickly select a smart scout, so that the messenger can go farther to the west. Even if Guan Yu is intercepted by cavalry, it is impossible to chase in the direction of Shandu?" (Shandu Both are located west of the Han River, northwest of Fancheng)

"The last general will do it." Niu Jin turned and walked out.

"General Yin and General Zhu, your trilogy is the latest to come, and the organizational system of each battalion is also the most complete in Fancheng. How about you taking charge of this feint attack?" Cao Ren asked tentatively.

"Uh……"

Yin Shu and Zhu Gai looked at each other in dismay, they refused to nod and did not dare to reject Cao Ren, they could only express their opinions in silence.

"Is there a problem?" Cao Ren emphasized his tone.

Yin Shu bowed his head and clasped his fists: "General, although our department is fully staffed, all the soldiers are determined to kill the enemy. However, when we arrived, we were in a hurry and did not have enough winter clothes. At this time, the weather is cold after the heavy snow, and a hasty attack may not be good for the army..."

"What about you?" Cao Ren looked at Zhu Gai again.

"Me too." Zhu Gai responded with an innocent look on his face.

The two thought that it would be no problem to defend Fancheng, but they were so thinly dressed that they fought desperately with Guan Yu in the wild, and they didn't want to be the first bird at all.

Seeing that Cao Ren's face was gloomy, Zhao Yan was worried that he would make some impulsive decision, so he stood up and spoke for the two of them.

"In fact, a feint attack does not have to be fully organized. It is enough to send a few thousand soldiers and horses to be able to advance and retreat freely. Our purpose is to spread the news. Besides, Guan Yu is already well-known in China. It is difficult for ordinary generals to be his opponents. If there is damage, it is not beautiful. ..."

Zhao Yan was originally the governor of the army, and Yin Shu and Zhu Gai had also restrained him. At this time, his words not only pointed out the facts, but also beat Yin and Zhu's response just now. The original intention was to maintain the harmony between the generals in Fancheng.

Cao Ren knew that Cao Cao valued Zhao Yan very much, so he paid more attention to his suggestion, but he still disdained that the two of them were timid to fight, so he sat down and snorted coldly: "Guan Yu has not recovered from the poisoned arrow, even if he has amazing martial arts, we don't have to be so nervous Bar?"

"General, the last general is willing to feign an attack." Xu Huang also stood up to make a rescue.

Cao Ren's face softened slightly, and then he waved his hand and said, "Gongming is still trustworthy, you all go get ready."

"only."

Yin Shu and Zhu Gai followed Xu Huang and retreated with fists in their hands. They were convinced of Xu Huang's righteousness, because the officers and soldiers in Xu Huang's battalion were not convinced enough.

Although the deployment was completed, Cao Ren's face was full of gloom. Ever since he faced Guan Yu head-on, the invisible pressure made him breathless. This was a very real feeling he had since he dispatched troops.

Cao Ren still remembers that he used to conquer Xuzhou with Cao Cao. At that time, Guan Yu was guarding the Pi for Liu Bei.

Have you become weaker in the past 20 years?Or is Guan Yu stronger?It is more intimidating than when he cut Yanliang.

Suddenly looking back, Cao Ren found that Yilang Zhao Yan hadn't left yet.

"Boran, do you have anything else to do?" Cao Ren asked suspiciously.

Zhao Yan nodded and replied, "Actually, both Yin and Zhu are telling the truth. Letting the officers and soldiers fight in single clothes will greatly limit their combat effectiveness."

Cao Ren spread his hands, "We have more than [-] soldiers in Nanyang. How can such a huge amount of supplies be prepared in a short period of time? There were only [-] winter clothes shipped from the rear, and the King of Wei allocated [-] pieces to Fancheng. I can only send them part of it first..."

Chapter 594 It's Hard To Get Away

Zhao Yan smiled wryly and shook his head: "How can I not know that the quilt is nervous, but Gongming's trilogy is mostly recruits, and a lot of losses have been lost in the defense of Fancheng before. Letting him alone this time to feign an attack may chill the hearts of other soldiers... ..."

Cao Ren thought for a while, then frowned and said: "Xu Gongming is so sincere, how can he let him fight alone, I will let Niu Jin send troops to go with him, but Guan Yu chose this season to start the war, we can't wait until the winter clothes are ready, let alone wait When the spring is warm and the flowers are blooming, if there is an all-out war and the clothes are still thin, can Bo Ran (Zhao Yan) have a clever plan to help me?"

Zhao Yan picked up his beard and thought, and seemed to gain something from his expression, but in the end he shook his head and refused to speak.

Cao Ren looked at his words and looked at his face, and asked: "It's a close call, even if Bo Ran is in a difficult situation, he should tell me."

Zhao Yan's expression was solemn: "It's not easy to make winter clothes for war in this season, and such a huge quantity is not easy. I guess we have to wait until March and April next year to prepare everything, but at that time, it will basically not be used. At present, there is only one method. Desirable..."

"What is the best way?" Cao Ren asked anxiously.

"There are still many households in Fancheng, but I don't recommend it as a last resort..." Zhao Yan hesitated to speak.

Cao Ren understood in an instant that there was really no way to rob the people, but the consequences would be a big loss of popular support. Unless Fancheng was abandoned, this kind of tactic could not be used.

"For the time being, it's a bad idea..." Cao Ren nodded slightly.