Three Kingdoms: I help Liu Bei grow thousands of miles

Chapter 508 Set a Trap and Send Cao Cao Off

In February of the 24th year of Jian'an, Cao Cao returned to Yangping Pass after a few years.

After Cao Cao arrived, he found that although Yangping had tens of thousands of troops, he had never had any battle with Liu Bei. In addition to Liu Bei's passive avoidance of battle, it was also related to the confusion of generals at Yangping Pass.

Xia Houyuan died in the battle at Dingjunshan, and Guo Huai and Du Xi jointly elected Zhang Yun to be the acting governor. After Cao Cao received the news in Chang'an, he even gave Zhang Yun a false holiday to supervise the Hanzhong military forces, and Zhang Yun appointed Guo Huai as Sima.

Zhang Yun held the Cao Cao Festival in his hands, and Xu Huang of Nanzheng also obeyed his general's order to ensure that the grain and grass were transported to Yangping along the north bank of Mian River.

Under the deployment of Zhang He, Cao Jun in Hanzhong ensured that the grain road between Yangping Pass and Nanzheng was unblocked, and he also did a good job in monitoring the shipbuilding of Liu Beijun on the south bank. The problem occurred after Cao Hong arrived at Yangping Pass.

Cao Hong and Cao Zhen arrived at Yangping Pass with an army of 5. The number of defenders at Yangping Pass instantly became more than [-]. In addition, the total strength of Xu Huang's troops in Nanzheng was equal to that of Liu Bei's army.

At this time, Liu Bei was still building ships on the south bank at a leisurely pace. He had no intention of crossing the Mianshui River and attacking Yangping Pass.

Zhang He did not choose to take the initiative to cross the river to fight Liu Bei under the conditions of equal strength and complete warships. It was not because he still wanted to fight at this time, but mainly because he could not command the clan generals Cao Hong and Cao Zhen.

Because of Cao Hong's lack of ability, his official position at this time was General Protectorate, and his duty was to supervise the other generals in the army. Although this was a vain position with no real power, he was too senior and was one of the four generals of Cao's clan. I don't dare to provoke the existence.

Cao Zhen is not as qualified as Zhang Yun, but he is Cao Cao's favorite adopted son. Before he was conferred the title of General Conquering Shu, he served as the third commander of the Cao Army. This position was to command the personal guards and the imperial army. Cao Cao's confidant Shi Huan, and Xia Houyuan who died in Dingjun Mountain.

Zhang He didn't dare to command Cao Hong and Cao Zhen, and the two clans also didn't dare to take over Zhang He's command because of Zhang He's integrity. They just muddled along until Wei Wang Cao Cao came.

After Cao Cao arrived, the issue of command power was easily solved. He considered that the issue of corvee must be resolved quickly.

Looking at the map of Hanzhong's east-west direction, Cao Cao frowned and snorted coldly: "The big-eared thief wants to fight with us, how can Gu follow his will? It seems that we must dig a trap for him."

Liu Ye saw that Cao Cao's eyes fell on the vicinity of Nanzheng, so he tried to guess: "Liu Bei will occasionally send troops across the Mian River to attack our army's grain road. Could it be that King Wei intends to use grain as bait?"

Cao Cao shook his head, "Raiding Liang Dao can't attract Liu Bei's main force. Don't the big-eared thieves want Hanzhong? Get Xu Gongming back to Yangping Pass, and let's hand over Nanzheng to Liu Bei."

"King Wei, what do you mean?" Cao Hong asked anxiously.

Cao Zhen, Zhang Yun, Guo Huai and other generals in the big tent were very puzzled, thinking how could they send the city away before the battle started?
"Just do what Gu said." Cao Cao played tricks.

"Wei." Liu Ye responded with cupped hands, as if he understood Cao Cao's intentions.

A few days later, according to Cao Cao's military order, Xu Huang marched along the north bank of Mianshui to Yangping Pass with great fanfare, fearing that Liu Bei's scouts on the south bank would not be able to find him.

When Xu Huang arrived at Yangping Pass, the scouts released by Cao Cao were patrolling back and forth by the Mian River, paying close attention to the movement of Yizhou soldiers on the south bank.

It's a pity that after two days of observation and the letter sent by the soldiers and horses left behind in Nanzheng, it was learned that Liu Bei was indifferent to the "pie falling from the sky".

Cao Cao stood beside the Mian River and sighed: "The big-eared thief has an expert around him, and he can actually see Gu's strategy. This fellow is not easy to deal with now."

"My lord intends to turn to the hostess and give up Nanzheng to lure Liu Bei to go, and then use heavy troops to cut off their food supply and trap them to death in Hanzhong?" Liu Ye continued to speculate.

Cao Cao smiled awkwardly. Liu Ye also saw what he thought was a clever strategy, and he must not be able to hide it from Pang Tong, who is known as Fengchu.

"The big-eared thief avoids the battle because of cowardice. He doesn't come to fight with Gu Gan, but Gu Gan crosses the river to find the battle. Where Miao Cai lost his glory, Gu will find it for him somewhere." Cao Cao snorted coldly.

Liu Ye nodded, "If the king of Wei crosses the river from here to the village on the south bank, we can also shorten the distance of grain and grass transportation and reduce the risk of grain and grass being attacked by Liu Bei. However, Liu Bei's main force is building ships on the opposite bank, so crossing the river from here may be half-crossed by the other party. Instead of attacking, why not lead the troops to cross again to the east? This way we can turn around and outflank the rear.”

Cao Cao shook his head when he heard this: "How can Liu Bei's simple and crude boats block our warships? The big-eared thieves crossing the river from this will certainly not be able to resist, and looking east to find a place where there is no one to cross the river, our army's flanks will be easily attacked. From the ambush of Liu Bei's soldiers, Zhang Fei has learned so well now, and the big-eared thief has Pang Tong and Fa Zheng to help him, and the bad water in their stomachs is probably more than the scum in front of them."

"Uh, Wei Wang is wise." Liu Ye hastily complimented him.

Cao Cao turned around and put his hands behind his back, and said leisurely: "Let's go, now go back to the camp and deploy."

"only."

Cao Cao returned to Yangping Guan and gathered the generals and said: "The so-called first attack is controlled by others. Liu Bei wanted to confront our army in Mianshui. Gu decided to take the initiative to attack. Zi Yang (Liu Ye) and Zi Lian (Cao Hong) prepared their ships as soon as possible. Zi Xu ( Du Xi) was in charge of allocating food and grass in Guanzhong, and the rest of the generals immediately prepared their troops and horses, and two days later boarded their ships and attacked the south bank in the morning."

"Wei." The civil and military personnel in the tent responded in unison.

After Xu Huang agreed, he hesitated to say anything, but Cao Cao felt that he seemed to have something to say, so he stretched out his hand to stop and asked in harmony, "What does Gongming want to say?"

"The supply of food and grass for our army is transferred from Baoshui to Mianshui in the south. There is a distance of tens of hundreds of miles in Hanzhong. Liu Beiai sent people to harass Mianshui along the way. Now Nanzheng's defenders are scarce and less than a thousand. , unable to effectively support the grain road in the eastern section, I will eventually ask Ying to lead troops to guard the safety of the grain road." Xu Huang said sonorously.

"Gongming is thoughtful, and the king of Wei should agree to his request." Liu Ye stood up and spoke for Xu Huang.

Cao Cao thought Xu Huang was brave and good at fighting, so he couldn't show his full potential when he was sent to guard food. At this time, Cao Cao suddenly saw Zhang Yun with a stern expression, so he looked at him and said, "Gongming, I still have other uses. Jun Yi is always cautious. How about you ten thousand soldiers and horses to protect food?"

"The last general takes orders." Zhang Yun responded decisively.

"King Wei, then general."

Seeing that Zhang Yun had picked his own peaches, Xu Huang couldn't help asking about his mission.

"The big-eared thief acts recklessly. He can harass our army's food road, but I can't cut off his food road? As long as Liu Bei's stronghold of Jinniu Road is broken, what do I think he will eat in Dingjun Mountain?" Cao Cao sneered.

Guo Huai followed up and said: "King Wei, the last general was ordered by the governor of Miaocai to attack Liu Bei's Mianbei camp, but the terrain there is narrow and difficult to defend."

Cao Cao walked to the map hanging in the tent, pointed to a place outside Yangping Pass and said, "Liu Beineng sent people to cross Zouma Ridge and then attack Maming Pavilion Road, why don't we use the route of the Big Ear Thief?"

Guo Huai was taken aback when he heard this, and thought that the king of Wei really had a better move.

(End of this chapter)