Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1201 Infighting
When Cao Qing went back and passed by Cao Pi's room, she saw Cao Pi sitting in front of the window, staring at the chessboard on the table in front of him.

She wanted to go over and ridicule Cao Pi, but after she took a few steps, she found that there was no chess piece on the board.

This made Cao Qing wonder, could it be that Cao Pi was just in a daze?

She didn't think much about it, so she walked to the window and sneered, "Second brother, you did a good thing!"

Cao Pi seemed startled, but what surprised Cao Qing was that Cao Pi did not look at her, but stared at the blank chessboard in front of him and said, "I don't understand what you are talking about, sister."

Seeing Cao Pi's reaction, Cao Qing thought that he must be hiding something, otherwise why wouldn't he dare to look her in the eye?

She sneered, "Father is in poor health, and you don't even go to his bedside to serve him. That's unfilial. Why do you ask me?"

Cao Pi seemed relieved after hearing this. He said, "Sister, when I saw my father faint yesterday, I was heartbroken. I couldn't even stand up. Even if I went to serve him, I would only be a hindrance."

Cao Qing sneered in her heart, just pretend, and wait and see how I expose you!
She said, "Did you hear what happened last night?"

Cao Pi looked up with a confused look on his face, "Last night?"

"What happened last night?"

Cao Qing sneered, "Stop pretending. How could you not know anything about the situation in the city last night?"

"Is my second brother really staying at home quietly?"

Cao Pi's cheek twitched for a moment, and then he replied as usual, "Sister is very well-informed."

"I don't know who told Sister?"

Cao Qing was stunned and found that her second brother seemed different from his usual humble self. Why was he a little aggressive?

Is this because I have pushed myself into a corner?

For some reason, Cao Qing always felt that there was a hint of danger lingering around her, which made her subconsciously stop provoking Cao Pi. Instead, she snorted coldly and turned away.

When she was about to leave, she glanced back and found that Cao Pi's arm was placed on the chessboard, trembling slightly.

Cao Qing thought to herself that you must have been behind what happened last night. Are you scared now?

Wait until father wakes up and see how I complain!

Cao Pi looked at Cao Qing's back, moved his gaze away from the back of her head, and returned to the chessboard in front of him.

His hands were on the chessboard, hidden by the wide sleeves of his robe, but at this moment he loosened his hands that were gripping the chessboard and slowly moved them back.

Cao Pi slowly raised his hand, revealing the fingers hidden by his sleeves. His ten fingers had turned red and white from pinching too hard, making them look like a blood-stained weapon.

He shook his numb fingers and then looked at the chessboard in front of him again.

Forget it. This thing was prepared for my younger brother as a last resort. There is no need to use it on a silly woman like Cao Qing.

He was pretending to be calm on the surface, but he was actually very panicked inside, so much so that he even wanted to kill Cao Qing for a moment just now.

What happened last night was not smooth at all, and most importantly, the whereabouts of the four friends are still unknown. The impending counterattack by Cao Zhi's faction in the court made Cao Pi completely panic.

He even began to think about how to trick Cao Zhi into coming over, and take advantage of the opportunity to play chess to give him a hard blow on the head.

Although this idea was extremely absurd, Cao Pi was forced into a corner. He was filled with hatred in his heart, wondering how Zhong Yao, Xu Chu and others did things!
If my father wakes up and knows what I have done, will he kill me?
Thinking of this, he became more and more annoyed. He stood up and looked out the window, only to see several maids carefully holding medicine jars and hurriedly walking towards Cao Cao's room.

When Cao Pi saw this, he narrowed his eyes slightly and seemed to be thinking about something.

The news of the incident in Yecheng soon spread to the Jin army camp in the north.

Now the Jin army has opened up the passages from Changshan to Zhao State in the west, from Zhongshan to Julu in the north, and from Anping to Qinghe in the east. With the three passages opened, the defense line was completely connected and Wei County was surrounded.

Now, Cao's army, which had more than 200,000 troops before the war, is reduced to more than 100,000, with more than half of them lost in casualties. They were forced to retreat to Wei County for defense. Under the command of Xun You and others, they established several defense lines consisting of cities to resist the advancing Jin army.

But under this situation, after the Jin army fought several battles, they found that the situation was not as smooth as they had imagined.

Cao's army relied on the strong city and hid their soldiers inside to preserve their strength. At the same time, they dug rivers and broke the dikes, disrupting the river system in Wei County. The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry were not used in frontal combat, but only for harassment at critical moments.

This approach greatly weakened the power of the Jin army's siege equipment and the speed of its advance, making Zhuge Liang, Ju Shou, Tian Feng and others feel quite powerless when they reunited.

After all, no matter how efficient the crossbows and excavators powered by steam engines are, when they encounter a fortified city, they still need soldiers to fill it.

The Jin army had fought for more than half a year, with more than 100,000 troops and tens of thousands of casualties. The post-war compensation was also a huge number. In contrast, Cao Cao only needed to fill in the people of Jizhou to stop the Jin army. This not only made the Jin army cautious when attacking, but also saved food in the city. This made Zhuge Liang and others feel at a loss.

Moreover, after this period of extremely brutal fighting, more than half of the Jin army's generals were injured. Although Cao Hong, Cao Zhen, Zhang Xiu, Ma Chao and others on the opposite side were also seriously injured, the defenders had the advantage after all.

As autumn deepened and there was only half a month left before winter, the situation became deadlocked.

Zhuge Liang and others were discussing matters when they received news from Yecheng and Yuzhou in the south.

Tian Feng couldn't hide his surprise, "Cao Cao was so angry that he fainted. The Lord really gave us a surprise."

Ju Shou also stroked his beard and nodded repeatedly, saying, "This time I am truly convinced by my lord. In such a short time, you were able to take over Jingzhou and Yuzhou, making Cao Cao's plan of several years come to nothing. You also killed Xiahou Yuan and Cao Xiu in battle. This is the most severe blow to Cao Cao in recent years."

"My lord, with such a small force, you fought a decisive victory that changed the general trend. It can be said that in terms of military strategy, you are a master of military law who can be compared with Cao Cao."

"But by comparison, the progress of the Jizhou battlefield is a bit disappointing."

Zhuge Liang said, "My lord, you won because you saw that Cao Cao's rear was empty, so you used a surprise strategy to win."

"But on the battlefield of Jizhou, there is no room for tricks. It can only be a head-on confrontation. Cao Ying has an advantage in terms of the number of soldiers and generals. It is already very good that they have fought like this."

"And we have also completed the lord's entrustment very well, dragging most of Cao Cao's main forces here, so that his rear can reveal the flaws."

"Now the lord is almost reaching Yanzhou, but judging by the weather, I'm afraid he won't be able to cross the Yellow River before winter and won't be able to join forces with us."

"But if it is true as the intelligence from Yecheng says that Cao Cao has health problems, there seems to be an opportunity that can be exploited."

Tian Feng said, "If this news is true, then it would be worthwhile even if we don't stop fighting this winter. After all, if we can capture Yecheng in one fell swoop, the battle for the Central Plains will be settled."

"But I'm afraid Cao Cao is full of tricks and will take advantage of the fact that our lord and I have not yet joined forces to lure us into attacking first, thus trapping us."

"Our defense line is not stable right now. Any breakthrough along the way will affect Wei County's offensive situation."

"What a pity! If the Black Mountain and Bingzhou route is opened, an important logistical channel for Cao Cao can be cut off, and the pressure on Jizhou will be much less. Unfortunately, Cao's army is also well-defended in Huaicheng. I'm afraid there will be no chance before the New Year."

Ju Shou nodded and said, "There is no other way. After all, Cao Cao has been cultivating the land for many years, so he still has some foundation."

"The question now is, if something happens to Cao Cao, there will inevitably be a fight for the position of successor in Yecheng. Should we wait and see, or add fuel to the fire?"

Both of them looked at Zhuge Liang. Although the three of them were all military advisors, there were also levels of superiority. Previously, Zhuge Liang replaced Yuan Xi in charge, so he was naturally half a level higher. Although Ju Shou and Tian Feng could not be said to be dissatisfied at the time, they were somewhat skeptical whether Zhuge Liang could handle the job.

But during this period of time, Zhuge Liang's performance was extremely remarkable both in battle and logistics. Ju Shou and Tian Feng thought that they might be more experienced than Zhuge Liang in some aspects, but in terms of comprehensive ability to control the overall situation, Zhuge Liang was indeed more comprehensive than the two.

Therefore, their attitudes towards Zhuge Liang have gradually changed, and they have unknowingly developed the habit of seeking Zhuge Liang's opinions on everything.

When Zhuge Liang saw the two of them looking over, he said, "The news from Ye City should have spread to Yu Province as well."

"I guess that after hearing this news, the lord will not give up attacking Yanzhou, but the strategic direction will definitely change accordingly."

"Liang guessed that the direction of the lord's previous attack was the Chenliu area in the east of Yanzhou, exerting great pressure on Yecheng. Now he may turn to the downstream Dongjun, enter Jizhou from Dongwuyang, and then join forces with us."

Tian Feng was puzzled and asked, "Instead of attacking upstream, attacking downstream, isn't this giving Cao Cao a chance to catch his breath?"

“And there’s still flooding downstream, right?”

Zhuge Liang said, "Winter is coming soon, and the water level in the lower reaches is low. This is a good opportunity to manage the river bank before the land freezes."

"This way, Qingzhou can also alleviate disasters next year and catch up with spring ploughing."

"On the other hand, the Lord did this to reduce external pressure on Yecheng, giving Yecheng enough time to create chaos, and then intervene to disrupt the situation."

"Given the Lord's character, he will choose to completely disrupt the situation at the lowest cost and cause great damage to Cao's camp."

"If we attack rashly before this, it is very likely that Cao's camp will unite against us and fight against us, which will backfire."

"So I suggest that we wait and see what happens next, and wait for further orders from the lord before acting accordingly."

Ju Shou and Tian Feng thought about it and realized that it was true. They couldn't help but praise: "Kong Ming really understands the lord."

At this time, Yuan Xi, who was at the border of Yuzhou, had just defeated Le Jin and forced him to retreat to Yanzhou. After he received the news from Yecheng, as Kong Ming had expected, he began to plan how to cause trouble in Yecheng.

(End of this chapter)