After Cao Cao got the news of Liu Biao's death, he wanted to take the opportunity to conquer Jingzhou and kill Liu Bei by the way. Unexpectedly, the news that Jiang Dong had taken Jiang Xia and Sun Ce had passed away arrived in a month's time before setting off.
Cao Cao couldn't sit still anymore, and called civil and military discussions in Xuchang's prime minister's residence.
Cao Cao, who is over 40 years old, is in the prime of life, full of vigor and domineering. Cao Cao sat on the lobby, patrolled left and right, and said: "Liu Biao and Sun Ce died one after another. The place in Jingzhou will soon be in chaos. I don't know what the public think
Xun You stepped forward and said: "Back to the prime minister, Jingzhou has always been a strategic location. Taking Jingzhou will not only strengthen its strength, but also seize the money and food that Jingzhou has accumulated over decades. Moreover, if our army does not take it, Liu Bei will definitely take it. If Liu Bei Occupying the entire territory of Jingzhou will inevitably increase in strength, and it will be even more difficult to destroy him. We should immediately send troops to Jingzhou to destroy Liu Bei."
Cao Cao nodded and said, "Gongda's words are right to my mind, what do you think?"
Liu Ye continued: "After Liu Biao's death, the Jingzhou government must be in the hands of the Cai clan. I expect that Chua clan will establish Liu Biao's youngest son, Liu Cong. However, Liu Biao's eldest son is now living in Xiangyang, and Liu Bei is joined together. Liu Bei must be on the side of the Qing emperor and support the eldest son , Send troops from Xiangyang, if so, I fear that Jingzhou is not owned by me, and the public should guard against it."
Cheng Yu continued: "It is imperative to send troops, but please pay attention to the prime minister. Yuan Shao is in our north, and the strength is equal to us. If they attack us behind us while we are sending troops, the consequences will be unimaginable.
Cao Cao was a little at a loss for a while. He glanced at the counsellors and found that Guo Jia, who was the first to speak, lowered his head uncharacteristically today. He seemed to be thinking hard about something. He couldn't help asking, "Fengxiao, what do you think?"
Guo Jia was still silent and didn't seem to hear Cao Cao's inquiry. For a long time, he suddenly raised his head and said: "Yuan Shao will not take the initiative to beat us in a short time. This can be assured. However, we must be prepared because our army and the Han army are in There must be a fierce battle in Zaoyang."
Everyone was in an uproar, thinking, "Zaoyang is just a small county below Xiangyang, why are we fighting there."
Cao Cao couldn't help but hesitated, but he knew that Guo Jia never said falsehoods. Since he said so, he must have his reason. He quickly asked: "Feng Xiao, tell me carefully."
Guo Jia shook his sleeves, his eyes glowing with Rong Zhi, and said loudly: "Jingzhou now has five counties in Liu Bei's hands, and Jiangdong has Jiangxia County. Liu Cong's hands are only Nanxiang County, Nanyang County and Nanjun. Nanxiang County and Nanyang County are located in the north of Jingzhou, close to the area we occupy. Liu Bei will certainly not compete with us. However, Nan County is different..."
"Why? What does that have to do with Zaoyang?" Cao Cao asked hurriedly, feeling that the more Guo Jia said, the harder he understood.
"Feng Xiao is too worried. Liu Cong is weak. He always has his uncle Cai Tao as the master. Cai Tao is also a villain who sees profit and forgets righteousness. As soon as our army arrives, Xu Yi Cai Tao, a senior official, will inevitably surrender, and Liu Bei will surrender again. What can I do?"
Before Guo Jia could answer, Cheng Yu hurriedly raised his opinions and questions.
Guo Jia smiled and said: "Don't worry, listen to me slowly. Liu Cong and others are not worried and don't need to think about it. However, Nanjun is in the heart of Jingzhou. If our army occupies Nanjun, we can separate Xiangyang from Jingzhou. The connection between the four southern counties. Liu Bei, Liu Xun, Zhuge Liang and others could not have imagined this. No matter what Liu Cong and Cai Hao plan, Liu Bei will occupy the southern county. In order to prevent us from going south to occupy the southern county, he will send heavy troops to block it. And Zaoyang This is the only way for our army to go to Jiangling, the capital of Nanjun. In this way, the two armies will inevitably have a fierce battle in Zaoyang."
At this time, Jia Xu repeatedly shook his head and said: "If we dragged on in Zaoyang for too long and Yuan Shao attacked us behind the scenes, wouldn't it be because the snipe and the clam are fighting, and the fisherman is profiting, and I will all become snipe and clam?"
"Why does Mr. Jia have the ambition of others and destroy his own prestige? As long as his father gives the child a good soldier, the child will destroy Liu Bei within half a month."
A hearty voice came from under the hall.
When Cao Cao saw it, he couldn't help laughing: "Zhang'er is a newborn calf who is not afraid of tigers, and his courage is commendable, but Liu Bei's subordinates about Zhang Zhao and other fierce generals, you are definitely not their opponent."
The rugged and sturdy Cao Zhang proudly said: "Zhang'er has been practicing archery and horsemanship since he was a child. Now he is eighteen years old. My martial arts is not under the uncles in the army, so why not be afraid of Liu Bei's big ear."
Cao Cao smiled and said, "If you take you as the pioneer, how about you?"
Cao Zhang replied: "Open the road in every mountain, build bridges when you encounter water, stand up when you encounter a crisis, don't hesitate to look back, take the lead; and you will be rewarded if you have merit, and you will be punished if you are guilty."
"Hahahaha" The hearty laughter came from Cao Cao's mouth again.
After laughing, Cao Cao's expression was straightened and he said solemnly: "Remembering your youth, forgive you for your unreasonable sins, Guan Zhang, and Zhao Zhiyong, even my most powerful generals feared him by three points and retired."
Cao Zhang was reprimanded by Cao Cao, although he was very unwilling, but his father was embarrassed and reluctantly retreated.
Guo Jia stood up, staring at everyone, and finally said to Cao Cao: "If you want to achieve a great cause, you must win in danger. Now is a good time to destroy Liu Bei. When Liu Bei develops and grows, he wants to destroy him again. , But it's difficult."
"In the opinion of the minister, two armies should be sent. The armies all the way captured Nanxiang and Nanyang County. I expect that these two counties will surrender us if they don't resist. After the two counties are taken, they can go south to attack Xiangyang. The other way is to attack. Nanjun. Both Xiangyang and Nanjun are critical to Liu Bei's destiny. Even if Liu Bei cannot be put to death, it can hurt him half of his life."
Jia Xu's strategy was very vicious, and it was in Cao Cao's heart.
"Okay, so Liu Bei can't look at each other from the beginning to the end, it will inevitably lead to chaos."
After Cao Cao heard this, he was very happy.
"I have a siege weapon that can help the lord to win an early victory. I transformed a Thunderbolt car based on the ancients' stone car. This kind of Thunderbolt car is so powerful that it can throw boulders weighing up to 50 catties. Any solid city can be used. It can't be beaten by him. What's more, in a small city like Zaoyang, as long as there are dozens of Thunderbolt cars, it can easily smash the city walls of Zaoyang within half a day."
With that, Liu Ye took out the blueprint of the design from his sleeve. The application of Fashiche has been recorded since the Spring and Autumn Period.
The original catapult was very simple in structure. It was a huge lever. The long end was a holster or wooden basket with stones, and the short end was tied with dozens of ropes. When the order was issued, dozens of people pulled the ropes at the same time. Using the principle of leverage to throw stones out, this is the ancient god of war. The first large-scale use of stone carts in the history of Chinese war should be Li Xin (the distant ancestor of the parachutist Li Guang) attacking Chu. The Chu army secretly prepared a large wholesale stone carts. When the Qin army crossed the river, they suddenly launched at the same time, with countless sharp stones. It smashed into the Qin army like a dark cloud, and the 200,000 Qin army was completely defeated, and Li Xin himself was defeated and committed suicide.
Later, Wang Jian, one of the four generals of the Warring States Period, led an army of 600,000, and then captured the Kingdom of Chu, which shows the power of the stone chariot at that time. With the development of technology, Fashiche has become more and more advanced.
After seeing the drawing, Cao Cao exclaimed, "Okay, just build ten cars based on this drawing. How long will it take to complete?"
"Within a month!"
Liu Ye replied confidently.
Cao Cao let Liu Ye be responsible for supervising the construction of the Thunderbolt car, while mobilizing grain and grass, convening the army, and preparing the troops to march towards Jingzhou in two ways.
……
In the deliberative hall of the Cishi Mansion in Xiangyang, Liu Qi's face was pale, listless, and his cheeks were abnormally thin. Seeing Liu Beizhi in the appearance of a white-faced scholar, he immediately cried: "My father has been victimized by the dog thief Cai Hao. Please avenge my uncle."
Zhuge Liang stepped forward to comfort him and said: "Don’t worry, Liu Jingzhou and my lord are brothers of the same clan. How can we not hold on to the eldest son to get revenge? The army going south needs to be planned slowly."
Liu Qi said with a tear: "No matter when you send troops, as long as you can avenge your father."
Liu Bei sighed and said, "Don't worry about your nephew. Within ten days, Bei will condemn the soldiers to avenge Jing Sheng's brother."
After Liu Qi heard it, he wiped the tears from the corner of his eyes, thank you and retired.
Liu Bei asked: "The death of Liu Jingzhou will bring disaster to Jingzhou. What do you think?"
Zhuge Liang said slowly: "Not long ago, the spies came to report that Cao Cao's army was frequently mobilized in grain and grass, and that there was a 100,000 army gathered near Xudu. It is self-evident that Cao Cao's heart is going south. On the whole, Cao Cao's actions are possible. One army was sent through Runan and went south to the front line of Nanjun. Another army was sent to attack Nanyang County and Nanxiang County. Cai Hao of Gangneung probably had been scared long ago. They will inevitably surrender to Cao Jun."
Mi Zhu repeatedly nodded and said: "What the military division said is quite true. In terms of topography, the southern county is in the heart of Jingzhou. If the Cao army occupies the southern county, it will inevitably cut off the connection between Xiangyang and the four Jingnan counties, and the area we occupy will be lost. The waist is cut into two parts, and our army will inevitably face the calamity of extinction by that time."
Liu Xun stood up and said: "With our current strength, we cannot fight Cao Jun in these two places at the same time. It seems that we can only abandon Nanyang and Nanxiang counties and take Nanjun with all our strength."
Zhuge Liang said very agreeably: "The son's words are very reasonable. Cao Cao's army will go south to occupy Nanjun and will inevitably pass through Zaoyang County. We should send an army to Zaoyang in advance, and then send another army to attack Nanjun, if we can If Nanjun is taken, our city can be connected together. In this way, we can gain a firm foothold in the six counties of Jingzhou, and Cao Cao can't help us."
"If we transfer all the troops out, will Cao Cao take advantage of the emptiness of Xiangyang to attack Xiangyang?"
Liu Bei expressed his concerns.
"The lord's worries are very reasonable. I expect that after Cao Cao goes south, Cai Tao will inevitably surrender. Then the defenders of Nanyang and Nanxiang will surrender Cao Jun without resistance, and then Xiangyang County will be completely exposed to Cao Jun.
"Then are we in danger?"
Before Zhuge Liang finished speaking, Mi Fang shouted, it seems that this person must be a person who is greedy for life and fear of death.
Zhuge Liang smiled and said: "Don't worry, naturally there is a way to crack it..."