Chapter 51 10. From here, the root of Cao Cao's Southern Expedition was planted

Cao Cao stared straight at the bank with burning eyes, patted his saddle and sighed, and said bitterly: "This Liu Xuande... is as cunning as a rabbit... Sigh! But where is he going to escape?" Wen Pin, a general of Jingzhou who was standing by the side, heard the words, and hurriedly replied: "My lord, their ships are going southward with the current, and they must want to escape to Xiakou City, which Liu Qi is guarding..." "Liu Qi's child's Xiakou City?" Cao Cao frowned, and muttered to himself, "Liu Qi is a mere child, but the truth is not in his eyes. The truth is hesitating at the moment, but he continues to pursue along the river." Should he, Liu Xuande, turn around and go straight for Jiangling City?"

Anyone who is familiar with Cao Cao's temperament knows that when he asks himself this way, he actually leaves the problem to the wise men and advisers around him to think and solve it.At the same time, Cao Cao himself began to think actively and quickly in his mind.On the whole, Jiangling City is actually the headquarters of the Jingzhou navy, with weapons, armor, grain and grass piled up like mountains, and it is also the throat of a great river. If you control Jiangling, you can overlook the south of the Yangtze River.However, this Liu Xuande is actually the most powerful enemy in Zhenxiang's life. If he is allowed to escape this time, there will be endless troubles...

"Jia thought that the prime minister's eyes were so bright that he could see the key to the current situation in Jingzhou at a glance. If he can take the life of Liu Bei, the thief in this southern expedition, he will have achieved the greatest result. Therefore, the current situation in Jingzhou is very important. The core point is no longer in Jiangling City, but in Xiakou City!" Jia Xu's face was serious, and he looked very nervous, and he no longer had the grace and irony he had in Xudu, but stood up and spoke eloquently, "Liu Xuande It is indeed the prime minister's confidant's serious trouble! Today's trick of fleeing east and west and escaping the shell of the golden cicada has already shown his horror, so we must go all out to hunt him down, and don't let him go!

"Prime Minister, please use Cai Mao and General Wenpin as guides immediately, and take the 7,000 tiger and leopard cavalry under your command as the vanguard, and at the same time fly back to order the 100,000 troops stationed in Xiangyang to follow south along the Han River, take a shortcut, and go all out. Capture Xiakou City first! In this way, we can quickly seize the waterway on the lower reaches of the river controlled by Liu Qi, cut off the connection between the Jiangdong Sun family and Jingzhou, and force Liu Bei to have no place to stand in Jiangxia County. Otherwise, if our army misses this opportunity, Liu Bei is very likely to go east to Xiakou City to join forces with Liu Qi, and be able to recover from the ashes. The most worrying thing is that Jiangxia County is adjacent to Jiangdong's Echeng and Chaisang City, which gave Liu Bei the ability to lead the Jiangdong Sun family westward. , the opportunity and space for collusion and rebellion... Alas! That will cause endless troubles!"

"Wenhe. Forgive Xun's blunt words. Now if Liu Pan, Huang Zhong, etc. are allowed to sail upstream from Changsha County to attack Jiangling City, it will really cause endless trouble!" Xun You listened to Jia Xu's progress. The look on his face became more and more ugly, and he couldn't help interrupting, "As far as you and others know, Jingzhou Nanjun, where Jiangling City is located, has eighteen counties under its jurisdiction, with a population of nearly 300,000 households. It has not been disturbed by war for many years, and has been operated by Liu Jingsheng as the rear of Xiangyang Mufu. The place where the two armies fought, the population was taken captive by the Sun family. It is still uncertain whether there are 40,000 to 50,000 households in the entire county. Not to mention the barren land and scarce food and grass, even with the addition of Liu Bei and Liu Qi. The combined strength of the two thieves is no more than 10,000 soldiers. Compared with Jiangling City, which is as solid as gold and armored as a mountain, the entire Jiangxia County may not be able to withstand the mighty power of our Celestial Army for two or three rounds! At this moment, Wen He To ask the prime minister to leave Jiangling as close as possible and take Xiakou as far away is such a foolish move that even the most intelligent people would disdain! Wenhe has always predicted things like a god and planned like a ghost, why did he make such a perverted conclusion today?"

When Jia Xu heard this, he couldn't help but smiled wryly in his heart: What a clever and wise planner you Xun Gongda is, why didn't you even understand the key points of Jingzhou's overall situation for a while?Liu Bei's cunning scheme of fleeing east and west, and the golden cicada's escape from its shell is clearly there. If you don't capture him in one fell swoop today, you don't know how big it will be when he recovers. The storm is coming!Therefore, Jia Xu had no choice but to hold back and explain to Xun You: "Gongda, could it be that you still haven't seen it? This Liu Xuande is playing a trick of fleeing eastward and escaping with a loud noise! ​​With Gongda's wisdom and intelligence, he should not It is difficult to see that Xiakou City is the real destination of Liu Xuande's southward escape this time! Only by taking Xiakou City first can it be regarded as truly cutting off Liu Xuande's retreat. As long as he colludes with the Jiangdong Sun family in the near future If the possibility is stifled, we can calmly implement the ingenious strategy of closing the door and beating the dog, so that all his strength will be gradually exhausted in the conquests of the heavenly army again and again. After all, now that Jingzhou has fallen, Xiakou Ruofeng , the space for Liu Xuande to circle around has become narrower and narrower..."

"Wenhe is giving up the basics and chasing the last, and is exhausted!" Xun You's attitude seemed extremely stubborn, and he retorted unceremoniously, "You are only afraid that Liu Xuande and Sun Quan will join forces to make trouble, and you are not afraid of Liu Pan and Huang Zhong. Collusion with Liu Zhang of the same clan? You will be able to kill Liu Xuande and the others in one battle after you go straight down the Han River to the south? If they also take the opportunity to escape to Jiangling City, Liu Pan, Liu Zhang, and Liu Bei will be of the same clan Lian Zhi, what should you do to resist the heavenly army?"

"Liu Zhang and Liu Pan are both mediocre, how can they compare with the Jiangdong Sun family? Not to mention that Sun Quan has always been cunning and unpredictable, even if he has a base of more than a thousand miles and a population of nearly 100,000, he is already a formidable enemy! Jia Xu didn't expect Xun You to come up with such a tit-for-tat confrontation, and couldn't help but retort, "Gongda blindly avoids the truth and makes no changes. "However, Kuai Yue also said that day in the meeting hall of the Mu Mansion that Liu Pan's veteran Huang Zhong is very honest and courageous. I am afraid that General Zhang Yun who is stationed in Jiangling may not be his opponent...Wenhe, you Don't you know that underestimating the enemy and being conceited is the taboo of marching soldiers..."

"If Gongda is really worried that Jiangling is in danger, it is better to let General Cai Mao, Cao Chun or Xiahouyuan and other generals lead a division of tiger and leopard cavalry to rush to the rescue of Jiangling City..." "It's easy for you to say—Wenhe, how are you going to divide your troops? You must know that if you divide too much, you will be weak, and if you divide too few, you will be weak... Everything is based on conjecture, how can it be accomplished?" ... The two core counselors were arguing fiercely with each other, but Cao Cao was still unable to explain his confusion.What Jia Xu said was somewhat in line with his views, but what Xun You said was also well-founded - besides, he had always been relied on as his confidant, and he was always careful and rigorous in making plans, and would never change his position just because he agreed with his own opinions.In contrast, when Jia Xu entered the shogunate when he first entered the shogunate, he inevitably had the desire to make contributions in his heart. Perhaps his words were more unrealistic and unreliable.

Alas, Wen Ruo (Xun Yu's word Wen Ruo)... It would be great if you could send a letter of earnest teaching like before... Cao Cao couldn't help but feel a bitter taste in his heart. When he looked back, he saw Sima Yi, the soldier in charge of the army, standing respectfully beside him. He looked up at Jia Xu for a while, and then at Xun You for a while, with a look of enlightenment.So, he casually asked Sima Yi, "Zhong Da, what are your intentions?" "The lower officials are ignorant, so they dare not talk about such important military affairs." In front of Cao Cao, Sima Yi seemed to always have such a humble and reserved expression on his face - he bowed deeply and said, " Sincerely asked by the Prime Minister, I can only boldly express my humble opinion. According to the official, since Liu Pan, Liu Bei and other rebels are so concerned about Jiangling, and Liu Bei was chased by our army from the Celestial Dynasty on Changbanpo Only then did he completely kill the one who snatched Jiangling's heart - from this point of view, Jiangling City must have great merits. There is a saying in the art of war: "What the enemy strives for is what I must win." Your Excellency is at this moment It must be played as a chess game first, and not be taken advantage of by others."

When he spoke up to this point, he turned to look at Jia Xu, who was full of gloomy expression, and said calmly, "Of course, what Dr. Pay more attention. Your Excellency, after occupying the important throat of Jiangling, you can conscript a boat army to take Xiakou City from the Han River and the Yangtze River. If you attack from the north and the south, you can take Changsha County and Guiyang The county can be lowered, and there is no barrier to the west of Jiangxia County, which can be broken in a day. If the Sun family in Jiangdong dares to rush to the front, the prime minister can just kill him with one fell swoop." When he was speaking, he saw Jia Xu raised his eyebrows and seemed to be trying to remonstrate, so he said with a smile: "I don't have much to say to disturb the prime minister's plans and plans, but there is still one thing that needs to be reminded Attention, the tiger and leopard cavalry force of our heavenly army is now restless, driving more than 300 miles a day and a night, and then fought several fierce battles in Changbanpo, Changban Bridge, and smoke screens. The water is chasing down, even though the morale of the soldiers is always high and they can fight again and again, but these mounts are not made of iron after all, I am afraid that some are quite worrying." At this point in Sima Yi's words, Cao Ren, Cao Chun, Xia Houyuan, Zhang He and other Cao Jun generals who had fought against Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun and suffered a lot could not help but feel the same way. They all nodded slightly beside them, thinking that this Sima Zhongda The words are really sensible and honest, as if every word has been spoken to their hearts. "Hmm! Zhongda spoke well—analytical, rigorous, and meticulous!" Cao Cao stroked his beard with his hands, looked at him with some surprise, and nodded heavily, "'What the enemy strives for is me. What you have, you will have.'——I am determined!"