EBE Chapter 216 A Generous Gift for Liu Bei! The Frenzy of Dividing Yuan Shu's Land
Chapter 216 A Generous Gift for Liu Bei! The Frenzy of Dividing Yuan Shu's Land
Sikong Mansion
Cao Cao handed a letter sent by Liu Biao to Su Yu.
Upon opening the letter, Su Yu's gaze gradually turned strange.
What was written in the letter?
Liu Biao did this to serve the Han Dynasty.
They planned to send Liu Bei as commander-in-chief to lead troops to attack Nanyang.
At the same time, Liu Biao extended an invitation to Cao Cao, hoping that Cao Cao would send troops to attack Runan, so that the two sides could coordinate their efforts from the north and south.
"My lord, what do you think of this letter?"
Instead of offering his opinion directly, Su Yu asked Cao Cao for his thoughts.
Cao Cao laughed and said:
"Cao originally thought that Liu Jingsheng, who was old and frail, was just a person who was content with the status quo."
"But now it seems that this fellow's ambition to dominate is still alive and well!"
"Would Cai Mao agree to let Liu Bei take command? Would Kuai Yue agree to let him take command?"
"I imagine these two must be very dissatisfied with this."
"But Liu Jing Sheng still did it anyway, clearly intending to support Liu Bei, suppress Cai Mao and Kuai Yue, and become the true master of Jingzhou!"
Su Yu nodded and pointed to the location of Nanyang on the map, saying:
"Yuan Gonglu's rule in Nanyang is on the verge of collapse."
"If we allow Liu Bei to capture Nanyang this time, it will definitely not be good news for our army."
"Jingzhou is a land of plenty, and it was not the main battlefield during the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the Dong Zhuo Rebellion."
"If Liu Biao successfully takes over Nanyang, it will be like driving a thick nail into our southern front."
"Given time, when the decisive battle with Yuan Shao arrives, if Liu Biao were to send troops, Xuchang would be in grave danger!"
Cao Cao's eyebrows furrowed.
In a one-on-one battle, where both sides were competing in terms of raw strength, Liu Biao would definitely be no match for Cao Cao.
But Liu Biao assisting Yuan Shao is a completely different concept!
As a time traveler familiar with the course of history, Su Yu was quite knowledgeable about the power struggles during the Battle of Guandu in the original history.
It seems that only Cao Cao and Yuan Shao are vying for power.
In fact, almost all the feudal lords under heaven were closely watching this crucial battle that would determine the hegemon of the north.
Liu Biao was an ally of Yuan Shao and once had the idea of launching a surprise attack on Xuchang!
So why did it ultimately come to nothing?
Firstly, the four commanderies of Jingnan rebelled after being won over by Cao Cao.
Liu Biao needs to quell the rebellion as soon as possible to prevent it from causing greater unrest within Jingzhou.
Secondly, Liu Biao did attempt to send troops to Xuchang, but failed.
The commander sent by Liu Biao was none other than Liu Bei.
Here's something rather revolutionary.
During the Battle of Guandu, Liu Bei did not leave Yuan Shao because of Guan Yu, but was ordered by Yuan Shao to go south to assist Liu Biao in disrupting Cao Cao's rear!
Do you really think Yuan Shao is an idiot who doesn't know how to appoint talented people?
Liu Bei was the person in Yuan Shao's camp who understood Cao Cao the most, besides Yuan Shao himself.
Moreover, Liu Bei had extensive experience in leading troops.
Despite his repeated defeats to Cao Cao, the main reason was that he lacked sufficient strength, namely, insufficient troops, and he was always at a disadvantage.
But obviously.
No matter how capable Liu Bei was, in Yuan Shao's faction-based camp, no one would allocate him troops to show off his skills.
We can't expect Ju Shou, the celestial being who commands 60% of Yuan Shao's forces, to suddenly become benevolent and give a portion of his army to Liu Bei, can we?
Therefore, in order to fully utilize Liu Bei's abilities, Yuan Shao had no choice but to send him to his ally Liu Biao.
(According to the Records of the Three Kingdoms, Biography of Yuan Shao, Yuan Shao wrote a letter to Liu Biao, clearly indicating that Liu Bei should be sent to serve as a guest general under Liu Biao, responsible for attacking Xuchang.)
Liu Biao had money and grain, but what he lacked was a skilled strategist like Liu Bei!
But Liu Bei failed.
Why?
Because he encountered Cao Ren, who adopted a scorched-earth policy to blunt the enemy's advance!
A few months later, Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao at Guandu, and Liu Bei had no choice but to retreat in disgrace to Xinye in northern Jingzhou.
After all, the main battlefield has already been decided, so continuing to launch a surprise attack on Xuchang would be pointless.
On the other hand, Sun Ce's camp was initially an ally of Yuan Shao.
However, after Sun Ce's death, Sun Quan's camp became Cao Cao's ally!
As for why Sun Ce was an ally of Yuan Shao, while Sun Quan became an ally of Cao Cao, this involves the strategic shift in Jiangdong.
In short, Sun Ce wanted to launch a surprise attack on Xuchang and join forces with Yuan Shao to eliminate Cao Cao.
As a result, Cao Cao was completely unharmed, while Sun Ce suddenly died.
When Sun Quan came to power, his prestige was far less than that of Sun Ce.
Not daring to confront the behemoth that was Cao Cao, they instead launched an attack on Liu Biao, the man who killed their father.
The enemy of the enemy is the friend.
To express his friendship with Sun Quan, Cao Cao even arranged for Cao Zhang to marry Sun Quan's cousin.
The alliance between the two sides completely broke down on the eve of the Battle of Red Cliffs.
……
And now.
Liu Bei never served under Yuan Shao, but instead sought refuge with Liu Biao.
If Liu Bei were to capture Nanyang, it would undoubtedly have an impact on the Battle of Guandu.
Suddenly, Su Yu smiled.
He came up with an interesting strategy.
Upon seeing this, Cao Cao quickly inquired:
"Does Ziyi have a solution to break this deadlock?"
Su Yu pointed towards Nanyang and said:
"My lord, do not worry. Liu Biao and Liu Bei want our army to help them draw away Yuan Shu's main force so that they can seize the great opportunity of Nanyang."
"But in response, we might as well give them a generous gift!"
"If Liu Bei arrived in Nanyang only to find Yuan Shu's army waiting for him, how would things have developed?"
Cao Cao laughed unkindly.
He enjoys betraying Liu Bei!
There are hardly any good things in the world where the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
Yuan Shu must be in a terrible predicament right now.
However, Yuan Shu defeated Liu Biao once.
Winning once means you have confidence.
Upon suddenly hearing the news of Liu Bei's invasion of Nanyang, Yuan Shu would surely make the right judgment.
The problem is that Cao Cao's camp cannot rush to send troops, and cannot allow Yuan Shu to feel threatened.
otherwise.
Yuan Shu would definitely focus his military forces on Runan to resist Cao Cao's army rather than Nanyang to resist Liu Bei.
Cao Jun wanted to reap the rewards himself, not to be the thankless ones who helped Liu Bei pick the fruits of Liu Bei's labor!
.........
Xiangyang
Man Chong, as Cao Cao's top envoy, was once again given the opportunity to go on a diplomatic mission.
Man Chong never wants to go to Youzhou again in his life.
The unreliable Su Yu forgot about him in Youzhou for almost half a year.
Although Man Chong relied on his strength, he also managed to recruit Tian Yu to Cao Cao's camp.
But this doesn't mean that Man Chongjian wants to experience the feeling of being stranded in Youzhou again!
However, it was still a good opportunity to be sent to Xiangyang, a land of plenty.
Man Chong's arrival was met with great respect from Liu Biao.
In the council chamber
Man Chong patted his chest and said to Liu Biao:
"Don't worry, Liu Jingzhou. My lord will send troops to attack Runan in ten days."
"At that time, we request that Governor Liu send troops to Nanyang!"
"After this is accomplished, Runan and Huainan in Yuan Shu's territory will belong to my lord, and Nanyang will belong to Liu Biao!"
Liu Biao clapped his hands and cheered, then immediately toasted Man Chong with a cup of wine.
Everyone says that none of Cao Cao's envoys are good people.
But Man Chong was very generous and made Liu Biao feel very comfortable!
The distribution of benefits was also very good.
Liu Biao was very satisfied, and Liu Bei was very satisfied.
Cao Cao and Su Yu would be even more satisfied!
Because... whether it's Runan, Huainan, or Nanyang, they all end up in Cao Cao's camp!
……
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