Three Kingdoms Eschatology

Zhou Yu said with a smile: "Whichever is the best, they will definitely not be able to get [-], but they will send some people over. We want [-], but they will each get [-]. With this additional [-] With more men and horses, we can build a complete defense along the Mianshui."

"How long will it take, Gu Ji can't wait"

"Don't worry, Your Majesty, it won't take more than half a month at most."

……

In the old palace of Zhuyang on the other side of the Mianshui River, Feng Yu said to Chen Tiao, the intelligence leader of Daliang Dynasty: "We must find clues and evidence within half a month to prove that Sun Ce was not the victim of Tai Shici and Daliang. You can do it." ?"

Chen Tiao said confidently: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, our people started operating in Jingzhou as early as Liu Biao's time, and now we have an impenetrable eyeliner network in the entire Jingzhou territory. We will definitely find out who is related to this matter." clue."

What Chen Tiao said was true. It only took him ten days to bring very valuable news to Feng Yu.

Chen Tiao quickly found out the ins and outs of the matter through the eyeliner densely distributed in every class and corner, and found out the chief general, deputy general and others who ambushed and killed Sun Ce at that time.It's just that even if they were all captured, the testimony obtained would be useless.Because they may have been coerced and bought by Daliang to testify.

However, Chen Tiao also found an important evidence clue.When Sun Ce was ambushed and killed, General Cheng Pu of the State of Wu was always by his side.But in the end Sun Ce's body was found by Liu Bei, but Cheng Pu couldn't see anyone alive or dead, which was very strange.However, Chen Tiao's investigation found Cheng Pu's whereabouts in Jingzhou.

……

In Jiangling City, the capital of Linjiang Kingdom, there is a luxurious mansion hidden in a remote corner.Soldiers were all around the house, and hidden piles in plain clothes lay in the dark.In the two rows of wing rooms on the side of the house lived several beautiful women, chatting with each other.In another study room, a man in an ocher robe looked restless.

He was Cheng Pu who was captured by Liu Bei.Cheng Pu was secretly escorted to Jiangling, Jingzhou.After Liu Bei returned to his teacher, he persuaded him to surrender several times, but he firmly refused.But Liu Bei was not in a hurry or annoyed, and put him under house arrest in this mansion compound, with good food and wine every day, and a few beautiful women.In fact, if Cheng Pu hadn't seen Sun Ce killed with his own eyes and received such kind treatment from Liu Bei, he might have surrendered Liu Bei.

At this time, the door opened with a creak, and a maid walked in with a tray of tea.Cheng Pu looked up, but he was not very familiar with him.Questioned: "Why did you get a new one?"

The maid put down the tea, nodded, pointed to the inside of the tray with her finger, and then hurriedly backed out.Cheng Pu hurriedly removed the teacup on the tray, only to find a piece of paper folded into a square.Unfolding the piece of paper, only to find a few lines of tiny characters on it...

Another half an hour later, Cheng Pu suddenly strode out.Before he reached the gate, he was stopped, and a servant dressed as a manager said with a smile on his face: "The king has ordered you, if the general needs anything, just ask us to come down to do it, and you don't have to go out of the house to handle it yourself."

Cheng Pu snorted and said, "Go and tell King Linjiang that someone has figured it out and is willing to work for him!"

The manager confirmed with surprise: "The general is serious?" If Cheng Pu can really lower Liu Bei, it is somewhat of a credit to him.

Cheng Pu said sullenly: "I'm so bored? Don't you really talk about this kind of nonsense?"

"Okay, general, please wait in the mansion, the villain will report to the king immediately." The manager said and ran out happily.

Jiangling City is not big, and after a while, the manager came back, looking completely pleased with himself.It turned out that Liu Bei claimed that he had made great contributions.

"General, Your Majesty is calling you into the palace to meet him, and he also said that he will gather the emperor and ministers for a banquet just for this matter."

"Well, XX is fully dressed and ready, then you will lead the way ahead and take XX to the palace."

"okay!"

After a while, the door of this mansion compound opened wide, and Cheng Pu came out of the mansion on horseback. Of course, he couldn't be the only one, surrounded by more than a hundred people.

The crowd cleared the way with gongs and drums, and they arrived at the intersection where the two main roads of Jiangling City met in a short while.After crossing the intersection, two miles ahead is Liu Bei's Linjiang Palace.Less than one mile north of the intersection is the north gate of Linjiang City.

When Cheng Pu's horse had just reached the intersection, a mule dragged a dilapidated four-cart out of the narrow street on the left.Just blocked this intersection so that Cheng Pu and his party could no longer go west.

The steward yelled and cursed: "Who's mule cart, move it quickly. Blocking the official's car and delaying the official business, but you have to ask the crime... woo woo eh" Before he finished speaking, an arrow flew quickly , was shooting into his throat.He covered his blood-soaked neck with both hands, and fell off the horse.

When the rest of the soldiers were shocked, arrows continued to shoot from different corners, and seven or eight people fell from their horses in an instant.The rest of the people finally understood, and began to shout one after another: "Enemy attack! There are bandits in the city!" At the same time, they began to look around, hoping to find the location of the crossbowman.

In their panic, no one noticed that Cheng Pu had slipped away without a trace.It took these people more than ten breaths to realize that Cheng Pu was gone, and they realized that they had made a big mistake, so they shouted loudly and rode their horses north to chase him.

But when they rode their horses across a street, a tripping rope suddenly rose into the air, and these riverside warriors fell under the tripping rope one after another.

Cheng Pu had already galloped to the north gate, which was already wide open, and there were still several corpses lying at the gate, the blood stains indicated that he had just died not long ago.There were still soldiers wearing the uniforms of the Linjiang Army at the city gate, but they were obviously from Liang State, and they kept waving to Cheng Pu: "General Cheng, get out of the city quickly, there are people outside the city to meet you!" , Cheng Pu's mount has passed through the city gate.These soldiers also quickly rode on the horses they had prepared long ago, and fled outside the city...

Chapter 534 The general attack is imminent

Liu Bei lived in the side hall of the Linjiang Palace, waiting for Cheng Pu to come to see him.The banquet in the adjacent hall was ready, and the ministers of the Linjiang Kingdom entered the hall one after another to sit down.

Suddenly, the courtiers heard a bang sound like a cracking pottery.Then I heard Liu Bei's roar: "Don't dare to do this, the thief. I treat him with sincerity and sincerity, but he betrayed me so much."

When the ministers looked at each other, Liu Bei rushed outside the hall and shouted: "Cheng Pu, the white-eyed wolf, has escaped. Gu orders you to use all the troops you can mobilize to arrest him. If you really let him escape, the consequences will be disastrous!"

People who know the inside story of course know what Liu Bei meant. Cheng Pu knew all the details of Sun Ce's ambushing and killing, and Wu Guo must believe his words.If Sun Quan of the Wu Kingdom knew that Liu Bei had done this, then the [-]-strong army of the Wu Kingdom who had been stationed in Nanyang would immediately capture Fancheng and attack the hinterland of Jingzhou along the Mian River.If Wu Jun had the cooperation of Liang Guo again, it would not take long for Wu Jun to sweep across the entire territory of Linjiang Kingdom.

After everyone bid farewell to Liu Bei, they immediately took action.At this time, Cheng Pu had galloped to the riverside wharf ferry not far from Jiangling City under the protection of a dozen riders.A distance of one mile behind them was full of people and horses, and almost all the soldiers and horses in Jiangling City chased them out.

However, there were boats that Liang Jun had prepared long ago, disguised as merchant ships and fishing boats, moored in the river.

There is also a group of Linjiang Army soldiers stationed at the ferry crossing.At this time, more than a dozen soldiers on duty felt that these uninvited guests were very strange.But seeing that most of these people were dressed as military personnel, and there were one or two people who looked like generals, they hesitated, wondering whether they should go up and ask questions.

Just when he was hesitating, the noisy shouts of the chasing soldiers and horses in Linjiang City came from a distance of more than a hundred battles.

"Quick, stop them!"

"Don't let them get away, these are thieves!"

"Catch them, a great achievement! Quick!"

Only then did the defenders of these docks confirm that the people in front of them were really enemies, and they all raised their swords, guns and shields to meet them, and at the same time shouted at the people in the barracks next to them to come out and help.That is to say, the kung fu of lightning and flint, the dozen or so cavalry escorting Cheng Pu took out their bows and crossbows at the same time, and shot at these Linjiang soldiers.

The arrows were extremely accurate, and these Linjiang soldiers were only conscripts guarding the pier with simple and thin armor, and almost all of them were shot to the ground in an instant.At this time, Cheng Pu had already rushed to the boat in a few steps, and those Liang Jun scouts who were guarding him also abandoned their horses and boats.

Among the pursuing soldiers in Jiangling City, Zhang Fei ran at the forefront. When he rushed to the pier with his troops holding spears, the three ships of Liang Jun had already sailed to the center of the river.Zhang Fei roared: "Quick! Bring our warships over here! Chase!"

There are indeed many warships of the Linjiang Army docked on the other side of the pier, but there are no sailors on board.These sailors also usually live in the barracks next to the pier. They just rushed out of the barracks and hurriedly boarded the decks of their warships.At this moment, there was a sudden burst of loud noises of planks breaking, and a dull sound of deflagration.

The Liang Army ships that sailed to the center of the river opened the baffles on the side of the ship, and bombarded the Linjiang Army warships on the pier with the ballista hidden on the lower deck.Stone bombs and explosive bombs hit these ships at close range.In some warships, a large hole was pierced by stone bullets in the part below the waterline, and the river water began to pour in, and the hull began to tilt slowly.The deck of some warships was on fire, and the mast canvas on the ship was ignited.The soldiers of the Linjiang Army who rushed onto the warship had to withdraw again.

This scene made Zhang Fei gasp and stare, but he could only gallop back and forth along the river bank, watching the three Liang Jun ships disguised as fishing boats and merchant ships sail away.After a while, the rest of the troops also chased after him. Seeing Zhang Fei's appearance, Huang Zhong said, "General Zhang, don't be upset. Your Majesty has ordered Kuaiqi to order the whole country. I don't think they can escape from the border of my Linjiang Kingdom."

Under the strict order of Liu Bei, the defenders of Linjiang Kingdom moved after hearing the news and strengthened their defenses.All counties and counties have imposed curfews, and people entering and exiting must be checked repeatedly.Especially the key counties and counties leading to Liang State are full of Mingka secret sentries and ranger scouts.

But even so, Cheng Pu entered Daliang territory unharmed.It turned out that he took a small road opened from the Dangyang mountain area and entered the territory of Xiangyang, Daliang.This secret path traverses the entire southern area of ​​Handong County, which is the Austrian area where the giant ape warriors are produced.This road section is composed of countless narrow and rugged mountain roads, plank roads, and hydraulic lifts, so it is only suitable for small groups of people to walk.

……

By the Mian River, in the big tent of the Wu Army camp.Sun Quan said to his personal guards: "Go, and summon the governor of the Western Expedition."

After a while, Zhou Yu came to the tent.Sun Quan asked anxiously: "Gong Jin, last time you said that the general attack on the Liang army would be launched within fifteen days. It is now the 13th day. How are you preparing?"

"My lord, everything is going well. As expected, both Cao Cao and Liu Bei have agreed to our request. Now Wei General Zhang He has come to help the battle with [-] cavalry, half of which are the most elite tigers and leopards of the Wei Army. Liu Bei will be able to increase his troops in Fancheng in two days, and Guan Yu will be able to lead [-] cavalry to help us defend the Liang army on the Mianshui River section north of Fancheng."

Sun Quan rubbed his hands and praised excitedly: "Well done..."

At this moment, the two of them suddenly and faintly heard the sound of drums and trumpets coming from afar.After a while, a soldier hurried in and reported: "My lord, the governor, the Liang army has suddenly dispatched a large number of warships and is crossing the Mianshui River!"

Zhou Yu's expression changed, and he said in surprise, "Oh? They actually took the initiative to attack! Quickly pass on a certain military order, and immediately set up an army formation along the Mian River, ready to meet the enemy!"

When Sun Quan and Zhou Yu came to the bank of Mianshui, Wu Jun's army formation was already lined up, and dozens of Liang Jun's warships were lined up in the middle of the river.Seeing the number of Liang Jun's warships, Zhou Yu knew that they could not be attacking Wu Jun. With the strength of dozens of warships, they might be wiped out by Wu Jun before they landed completely.

On Liang Jun's side, a general with a loud voice stood at the bow of the boat and shouted: "Soldiers of the Wu Army in front, please don't act rashly. We are not here to attack you, we are going to take one of your Wu soldiers Return the general!"

When Sun Quan heard this, he said to Zhou Yu: "Could it be that Feng Yu is timid and wants to send Tai Shici back, so I can't retreat?"

Zhou Yu sneered and said, "It's not bad if that's the case. It's just that we can't retreat because of this. Tens of thousands of troops have gone through all kinds of troubles, consumed countless money and food, and came here from thousands of miles. How can we retreat just because the other party returns a traitor?" ?”

After a pause, Zhou Yu continued: "We happen to be short of someone who will sacrifice the flag before the general attack, so let's use the head of Tai Shici to sacrifice the flag."

Chapter 535

Sun Quan and Zhou Yu immediately went to the bank of the Mian River, looking at the three small boats coming towards them.Not long after, three small boats docked one after another, and a man dressed as a general and a man of scribes came to the shore along the gangway.The rest of Liang Junbing will also carry some objects ashore, these things are some meat and wine.

The soldiers of the Wu army all around, armed with knives and guns, rushed forward and surrounded them.Sun Quan waved his hand and said, "Let them come over!" The Wu soldiers stepped out of the way.

The man who looked like a general approached, only then did Sun Quan and Zhou Yu turn pale with shock, and exclaimed in unison, "Cheng Pu, why are you, we all thought you were dead in battle! How did you get here? Did you Was he also captured by Liang Jun?"

Cheng Pu fell to his knees with a thump, weeping uncontrollably, and told Sun Quan and Zhou Yu intermittently about his experiences.While he was talking, Zhou Yu and Sun Quan asked.It took more than half an hour before and after, and the two finally figured out the ins and outs of the matter.Gritting his teeth, Sun Quan was about to speak, but Zhou Yu pulled his sleeve and whispered in his ear: "Your Majesty, don't rush to express your opinion. There are outsiders here. This matter is of great importance. We have to make a decision." .”

At this moment, the literati-like man cupped his hands to Sun Quan and Zhou Yu and said, "King Wu, Governor of Zhou. A certain one is Cai Fang, the servant of the Ministry of Rites of Daliang. This matter has been cleared up. You can decide for yourself." After finishing speaking, he Pointing to the beef and mutton food and fine wine, he said, "This is my wish from Liang Jun, please accept it."

What Cai Fang said was very particular, and Liang Jun was used instead of Liang Tianzi to send these wine and meat.If you use the name of the emperor, use the name of reward.Sun Quan would definitely not accept that.

Sun Quan waved his hand with a cold face, and Wu Jun soldiers had already gone up to take the dozens of loads of wine and meat.Zhou Yu said to Cai Fang from the side: "Since Feng Yu has finished what Feng Yu asked you to do, as for the truth of the matter, our country of Wu still needs to verify and check, we can't just rely on Cheng Pu's words. Please return to the other side of Mianshui first." Bar!"

Cheng Pu shouted with grief and indignation: "Gongjin, don't you believe what XX said!?"

Zhou Yu waved his hands expressionlessly and said, "Take General Cheng down to rest." Then several Wu soldiers took Cheng Pu down.

Cai Fang smiled at Sun Quan, and Zhou Yu said: "What Cheng Pu said is the ins and outs of our Daliang's investigation into the murder of King Wu. Anyway, tell you that even if our Daliang has completed what we should do, as for you Believe it or not, it has nothing to do with me, Daliang."

After Cai Fang finished speaking, he boarded the boat again with the rest of the crew and drove away.Looking at the backs of Liang Jun's boat and the people on board, Sun Quan said to Zhou Yu, "Gong Jin, do you still have doubts about Cheng Pu's words?"

Zhou Yu said: "Of course there is no doubt about this. But we cannot claim to believe this, Your Majesty. We have to pretend to be confused." Sun Quan, who was still depressed, asked, "Why do you say that?"

"I dare to ask the king, if we openly tear ourselves apart with Liu Bei because of this matter, according to the king's wishes, what should we do next?"

Sun Quan said angrily, "What else can I do? I brought an army of tens of thousands to avenge my predecessor and my brother. After breaking up with Liu Bei, he naturally led the army southward along the Mian River, entered the hinterland of Jingzhou, and broke the Jiangling, capture Liu Bei alive and divide him into five horses to relieve Gu's hatred!"

"But your majesty, have you ever thought about it? This time we brought an army of tens of thousands to this expedition, all relying on the guarantee of our logistics and food roads by the Wei army. The reason why they did this is because our goal is Liang Guofeng Yu. If we change now The goal, can Cao Cao continue to do this? If the state of Wei cut off our food roads and even attacked us from behind, it would be a disaster for our tens of thousands of isolated troops far away from the border. Our army If it is defeated, the strength of the Wu Kingdom will be severely damaged, and the foundation that our Wu Kingdom has built over the past few decades will be completely destroyed."

Despite Zhou Yu's persuasive remonstrance, Sun Quan still said unwillingly: "Then what do you say we should do? Let Liu Bei, a thief, live freely in the world. Let my brother die without knowing it. If you don't avenge this revenge, let What face does Gu have to stand between the heaven and the earth?"

Zhou Yu sighed and said, "It's not that we won't report, it's just that it's not the time to take revenge on Liu Bei. We have to be patient..."

Sun Quan interrupted him and said, "If I could stop haste and endure, I wouldn't bring these tens of thousands of troops to Nanyang. You said that if we attack Liu Bei instead, Cao Cao will cut off our food supply. But don't we still have to ask for help?" Yu Feng Yu? Ask Liang Guo to provide food and supplies for our army. Even the two countries will join forces to fight against Linjiang Kingdom. As long as Feng Yu is willing to join forces with Gu, Gu is willing to give him all the land of Linjiang Kingdom that he has seized."

Zhou Yu shook his head again and again and said: "But the king forgot, now Feng Yu is no longer the king of Liang, and has established himself as the emperor. If we join forces with him, what is the name? Recognize our Wu State as a vassal state of Daliang, or the king Is it his courtier?"

After a pause, Zhou Yu continued: "Even if we don't care about this issue of title, there is still a bigger problem. That is, the State of Wei will definitely use this as an excuse to attack us. Now that we have exhausted our troops, the strength of our hometown in Jiangdong Empty. We can eat the grain of Liang and attack Jingzhou in the south. But the tiger and leopard cavalry of the Wei army can cross the Yangtze River at the same time and sweep across the east of the river. All of the royal family members are still staying in Jiangdong."

Sun Quan's face turned red and then pale at this time. Seeing that he did not refute, Zhou Yu continued to persuade: "On the other hand, there are nearly ten thousand elite Wei troops from Zhang Yun and twenty to thirty thousand reclamation soldiers in Nanyang. When attacking Linjiang country in the south, they stabbed us in the back. Therefore, it is unlikely that we will succeed in attacking Linjiang. In addition, if we can capture the entire territory of Linjiang country, will Feng Yu continue to be an ally with us? I don't know?"

Zhou Yu's tirade made Sun Quan gradually calm down.He asked: "What does Gongjin think we should do? When will my brother's revenge be avenged?"

"What we have to do is to find a way to quickly bring our tens of thousands of troops back to Jiangdong. To save them is to preserve the foundation of our country of Wu. As for revenge for the former king... Our country of Wu lives in the southeast corner, and we can rely on rivers, seas and mountains. Sitting on the wall, watching the competition in the world. You can always find a chance for revenge, and kill this thief Liu Bei."

Sun Quan asked again: "The tens of thousands of troops, how can we quietly transfer them back to Jiangdong. It is impossible for people to not notice this."

Zhou Yu said: "We just need to find a way to find an excuse to delay the time to launch a general attack on Liang Guo, and then withdraw our troops to the mainland in the name of escorting the baggage. Every time the escort returns, there are more soldiers and horses, and fewer come. Gradually withdraw all soldiers and horses back to Jiangdong in deception."

Chapter 536

Ever since Cheng Pu escaped from Jiangling, the entire Linjiang country was in turmoil.It's not just the clear and dark sentries, but also the sudden increase of patrolling rangers.And began to increase troops to Fancheng and Yicheng. Guan Yu, who was going out of Fancheng to support Sun Quan, also received Liu Beixin's secret order to continue to stick to Fancheng and Yicheng.

The ordinary soldiers of the Linjiang Army thought that they had received the news that Liang Jun would attack Fancheng aggressively, but they didn't know that Liu Bei was mainly guarding against Wu Jun, whom they still regarded as their allies.

Time passed day by day, and Cheng Pu could not be captured.Liu Bei knew that Cheng Pu had successfully escaped into Liang State, and thought that a war with Wu State was inevitable. He not only sent soldiers repeatedly to inform Guan Yu to strengthen the defense of Fancheng, but also continued to increase troops to Jiangxia.Even Wei Yan, Huang Zhong and other generals who were placed in Yulin to guard against Liang Guo were transferred to Jiangxia.

But what surprised Liu Bei was that Wu Jun didn't respond at all.The general attack on Handong County, which was originally scheduled to be launched in the past few days, has not yet begun.Liu Bei called Xu Shu, Jian Yong, Mi Zhu and other advisers from Linjiang Kingdom.After some discussion and deduction, Liu Bei came up with the reason for Wu Jun's move --- Sun Quan and Zhou Yu must have been unwilling to form an alliance with Feng Yu, and they could not get Cao Cao's support when attacking Liu Bei. Instead, they might be stabbed in the back by Cao Cao. So I can only choose to retreat first.

Liu Bei stood up from the couch, walked back and forth a few steps with his hands behind his back, and then said to the others: "In Gu's view, this is an excellent opportunity. We can take advantage of the retreat of Sun Quan and Zhou Yu's army to attack Wu."

Xu Shu clapped his palms and laughed loudly: "Your Majesty is wise, and Xu Shu also thinks the same way. Withdrawing troops from Nanyang to the east of the Yangtze River will take thousands of miles. When they retreat and fail to reach, our army gathered in Jiangxia can go down the river, advance by land and water, and sweep Chaisang. , Yuzhang, and then invaded and occupied the entire territory of Jiangdong."

Liu Bei shook his head when he heard this: "Occupy the entire Jiangdong area? This goal is too high. Although it is a long way from Nanyang to Jiangdong, this period of time is not enough for us to take Chaisang, Yuzhang, and even the entire Jiangdong area. Gu Ye Don't be greedy, only Chaisang, Yuzhang, and South China Sea of ​​Wu State. Then set up fortifications and camps in the dangerous places to consolidate the newly acquired lands."

Xu Shu laughed and said, "Your Majesty, of course we can't do it by ourselves, but Shu thinks that we can use Wei Guo to ambush Sun Quan's army who retreated halfway..."

Liu Bei's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Yuanzhi, how can I persuade Cao Cao to work for me? How can he do this loss-making business, he will plant trees, and we will pick peaches? Will he agree?"

Xu Shu said again: "It's not too early if there is no benefit. As long as we agree to transfer Jiangdong to Wei State after the success of uniting Wei and defeating Wu, Cao Cao will definitely agree to this condition. Of course, we will not actually give him Jiangdong in the end."

Liu Bei's face changed slightly and he said: "If you deceive him like this, won't the two countries still have to fight each other in the end? We just finished fighting Wu, and then we will fight Wei. The consequences are unpredictable..."

Xu Shu cupped his hands again and said, "Your Majesty, as long as Wu is conquered, whether we can take Jiangdong or not will be Wei's next potential target for annexation. But it doesn't matter, because at that time, the world will already be a three-legged force. If you want to attack us, you need to weigh the threat of Liang Guo, and vice versa if Liang Guo wants to attack us."

Liu Bei stroked his beard and nodded his approval again and again, and the other advisers also agreed with this strategy.Liu Bei went on to say: "Since it's settled, don't hesitate to send an urgent messenger to explain the matter to Cao Cao as quickly as possible."

……

Xudu was originally named Xuchang, but was renamed Xudu because the Han Dynasty was forcibly moved here by Cao Cao.At this time, Cao Cao was not in Yecheng, the capital of the Wei State, but in the Wei King's Palace remodeled from the old Cao Mansion in Xudu.

The reason why he came to Xudu was naturally because it was closer to Nanyang, so he could get news from Nanyang at the first time.Now Cao Cao is anxious about one thing. Zhou Yu and Sun Quan originally said that they would launch a general attack on Liang Guo ten days ago, but they have not seen any action from them until today.

At first Cao Cao thought it was because Wu Jun was not fully prepared or the assistance promised by Liu Bei was not yet in place.But after such a long time, he had to be suspicious, what kind of medicine was sold in Zhou Yu and Sun Quan's gourd this week?He immediately sent a large number of scouts to Nanyang to investigate horses and spies.

Starting from Huainan in the state of Wu to Runan and then to Nanyang, this road was originally the territory of the state of Wei, so Cao Cao quickly found out a shocking fact.The Wu army quietly withdrew their troops by using the brigades that escorted the baggage, and the number of soldiers and horses escorting the empty convoy back to Wu was much larger than the soldiers who came to Nanyang from Wu.

Cao Cao immediately summoned all the civil servants and generals who came to Xudu with him to study and judge the intention of Wu Jun's move.Guo Jia, who was nearly fifty years old, twirled his long beard and said, "It doesn't matter why Wu Jun did this. The important thing is that Wu Jun will definitely not attack Liang Guodong County with all his strength as he promised us before."

Cao Cao tilted his head, and said bitterly: "Could it be that we have been working all this time in vain and enjoying this time in vain?"

Xu You moved his head closer and said, "Your Majesty, with this change, since we can't defeat the tiger of Liang, why not use this name to destroy Wu in one fell swoop. With Wu's territory, we, Wei The country's population, wealth, and food can all increase substantially, and with these as capital, it will not be difficult to rule the world."

Cao Cao said with a bit of worry: "But don't you think about Liu Bei? If Liu Bei and Feng Yu join forces, then what can we do?"

Guo Jia laughed twice and said: "Your Majesty, although the group of people around Liu Bei have few strategists who can make good calculations, they should understand this point. If there is no Wu State, Liu Bei will unite with any party and If the other side is an enemy, it is not good for him. He can only survive if he balances the trade-offs between the other two great powers. I dare to predict that Liu Bei may also be thinking of joining forces with us to attack Wu Guo..."

At this time, a servant in charge of the order of the Wei Palace hurried in and whispered a few words beside Cao Cao.After Cao Cao heard this, a smile appeared on his face and said: "Feng Xiao, your estimate is really good. Liu Bei's messenger is here, and it must be for this matter."

After a while, the special envoy of Linjiang Kingdom came to the hall. When he saw Cao Cao, he was about to speak, but he looked around worriedly.Cao Cao said with a chuckle, "It's okay for you to say, these are all lonely confidantes, and there is absolutely no possibility of leaking the secret."

The special envoy relayed Liu Bei's meaning to Cao Cao in detail.Cao Cao and his officials had already guessed the purpose of the special envoy's visit, so they remained calm after the special envoy finished speaking.At the end, Cao Cao asked: "After the matter is completed, what guarantee can the king of Linjiang give Jiangdong to Wei Guo? If your Linjiang country crosses the river and demolishes the bridge, what can you do?"