Choose Liu Bei at the start, I am the only one who knows the plot of the Three Kingdoms.

"Come on, let's go in."

"My lord, we went to great lengths to set this trap. If we just let it go like this, what will happen later..."

"No matter what, it's clear that the other side was prepared. I can't trade the entire Yi Province for Liu Bei's life. Without Yi Province, even if we get rid of Liu Bei, we will soon be swallowed up by Liu Zhang and his people."

After saying this, Cao Cao stood up and walked towards the Wei King's residence.

At this moment, several legendary generals were fighting, but Cao Cao could see that Guan Yu and his men were being suppressed. For Gu Rubing's safety, they had no way to fight back and could only defend passively. At the same time, they also had to protect Gu Rubing from the aftershocks of the battle.

"okay."

Upon seeing this, Cao Cao immediately spoke up to stop him.

Upon hearing this, everyone stopped what they were doing.

Gu Rubing then took the opportunity to approach Cao Cao.

No matter what, Xu Chu and Dian Wei would never do anything to harm Cao Cao. As long as he captured Cao Cao, he would be absolutely safe.

Without their own burdens, Guan Yu and his men would definitely have the upper hand.

"Cao Cao, you really have a clever trick up your sleeve. You want to keep me here like this?"

Upon hearing this, Cao Cao gave an awkward laugh.

"King Lie, you're really joking. Why would I do that? I just wanted to test just how strong these five people under your command really are, that's all."

"Is it?"

Gu Rubing certainly didn't believe Cao Cao's nonsense, but he was too lazy to care. It was indeed a loss for him not to bring Liu Zhang back this time, but if he was also left here, all his hard work over the years would be completely wasted.

"Of course, Your Highness, look how messy my place is, I won't see you off."

Gu Rubing nodded and led the five people directly outside.

“King Wei, when you first approached my lord, you promised that you would keep Liu Bei here. That's why my lord sent me to help you. And what happened? You failed to keep Liu Bei, and now you've exposed my lord. You need to give my lord an explanation for this.”

“I will explain to Sun Jian myself. You should leave too.”

Cao Cao was extremely annoyed by Gan Ning's attitude towards him.

If it weren't for Sun Jian, Cao Cao would have ordered Gan Ning's execution long ago.

Cao Cao was a little confused. Why were the legendary generals under Sun Jian's command so trash? Sun Ce was one thing, but Gan Ning was just a shadow of a legendary general. His abilities were impressive, but compared to Xu Chu and Dian Wei under his command, he was far inferior.

After everyone had left, Xun Yu came to Cao Cao's side.

"My lord, Liu Bei will surely attack us when he returns. We must be prepared."

"Don't worry, as long as Liu Zhang and Sun Jian are still on my side, I have the strength to fight."

Cao Cao was right about that.

Yizhou is not Youzhou. Yizhou is closer to Jiaozhou or the Anluo Empire. In addition, Cao Cao's generals are extremely powerful, and his strategists are also quite capable. They are far superior to Shi Xie of Youzhou.

In contrast, Yizhou is where the advantages of the three major warlords are most evident.

Gu Rubing led five men to the Jiaozhou camp, where they learned of the backup plan that Zhuge Liang had Deng Ai prepare, and understood why Cao Cao had stopped the battle at that time.

"Cao Cao, I really underestimated you."

Gu Rubing muttered to himself.

"My lord, both Yizhou and Jiaozhou have been recuperating for a long time. Winter is coming soon, and everyone will cease hostilities then. We don't have much time. Which side do you wish to attack, my lord?"

Gu Rubing looked at the map and finally decided to start with Cao Cao.

Both Yizhou and Cao Cao were extremely important to Gu Rubing.

"Alright, I'll go and make arrangements for Yizhou now."

“I’ll go there myself.”

After Gu Rubing finished speaking, he got up and prepared to leave.

"My lord, the situation in Yizhou is quite dangerous. I do not recommend that you go. Just leave the affairs of Yizhou to Deng Ai and the others."

"No, Cao Cao has Jiang Wei under his command, and I am quite interested in him. We must find a way to bring Jiang Wei over."

Seeing Gu Rubing's insistence, and knowing that Zhuge Liang also greatly admired Jiang Wei, if it weren't for the situation in Jiaozhou that prevented him from going to Yizhou, he would have personally brought Jiang Wei to his side.

"In that case, my lord, please be careful. I have already sent Zhang Liao and 50,000 troops to support Deng Ai. This is all the troops I can send. I have already sent a message to Lu Su, and Lu Su will send the troops from Youzhou to Yizhou, so my lord, please do not worry."

"Ok!"

Now that Liu Zhang has returned to Cao Cao's camp, the pressure on Zhuge Liang will return, and he will naturally be unable to send out any extra troops.

Gu Rubing only took Zhao Yun with him this time when he went to Yizhou.

When Gu Rubing arrived at the Yizhou camp, Deng Ai and Zhong Hui were already standing outside the camp with all the generals, waiting for Gu Rubing's arrival.

"Greetings, my lord."

Upon seeing Gu Rubing appear, everyone shouted in unison and then knelt on the ground simultaneously.

"Okay, everyone, get up."

Gu Rubing waved to everyone.

After Deng Ai stood up, he led Gu Rubing into the tent.

Deng Ai then explained the current situation to Gu Rubing.

"My lord, we currently have 100,000 troops in Yizhou, as well as 2,000 Yan Yun Eighteen Cavalrymen led by General Wen Yuan. Cao Cao, on the other hand, has 150,000 troops with ample supplies, and Xu Chu and Cao Zhang are both in their camps."

Upon hearing the personnel configurations of both sides, Gu Rubing could tell that Yizhou was definitely a tough nut to crack.

It's clearly impossible to take over Yizhou in one fell swoop.

"In addition, my lord, we have now occupied the entire Ba Commandery, while Cao Cao and his men have annexed 150,000 in Guanghan Commandery."

"Guanghan Prefecture?"

Gu Rubing looked at the map with a puzzled expression.

Gu Rubing originally thought that Cao Cao would annex the troops in Jianwei County, but he never expected it to be Guanghan County.

Seeing Gu Rubing's confusion, Deng Ai explained, "My lord, according to the intelligence we have gathered, they were indeed originally defending against us in Jianwei County. However, Jiang Wei suggested to Cao Cao that the focus of the defense should be placed on Guanghan Army. This way, they can not only restrain us, but also protect the safety of Hanzhong County and Jianwei County. Cao Cao listened to Jiang Wei's advice and thus focused the defense on Guanghan County."

"It's Jiang Wei again!"

Gu Rubing had to admit that Jiang Wei's strategic vision was quite remarkable.

Previously, Cao Cao focused on defending Jianwei Commandery, which effectively hindered his progress in annexing Yizhou, but also forced him to abandon Guanghan Army and Hanzhong Commandery. Guanghan Commandery was fine, but Hanzhong Commandery was completely out of Cao Cao's control.

But now, by placing troops in Guanghan Army, not only can they restrain him, but if he were to send troops to Jianwei County or Hanzhong, they could provide support at the fastest speed and potentially cut off his supply lines.

After all, the two sides were too close together.

"Furthermore, my lord, I suspect that Jiang Wei suggested focusing the defense on Guanghan County for another reason: Jianwei County has too few defensible cities, but Guanghan County has many defensible cities, especially Gangdi Road and Yinping Road, which have complete military deployments, as well as defensive cities like Yangquan, Mianzhu, and even Guanghan County, which are completely unfavorable to our idea of ​​a quick battle."

Gu Rubing also observed the places that Deng Ai mentioned.

Guanghan County has many cities with high walls, which is much better than Jianwei County.

For three days after arriving at the camp, Gu Rubing did nothing but wait quietly. And the news of Gu Rubing's arrival wasn't only received by Deng Ai and his men, but also by Cao Ren and his group.

Upon learning of Gu Rubing's arrival, Cao Ren and his men worked through the night, devising strategies, each feeling as if facing a formidable enemy.

Jiang Wei and Guo Huai, who were standing to the side, completely disregarded this.

In their view, whether Gu Rubing was there or not made absolutely no difference to them.

However, Jiang Wei himself advocated taking the initiative to attack, which Cao Ren had always opposed. Now that Cao Ren had finally begun to adopt a strategy of confronting the enemy, Jiang Wei would naturally support him.

Seeing the noisy Cao Ren and his group, Jiang Wei couldn't help but step forward.

"Generals, I feel there is absolutely no need for us to panic."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Jiang Wei.

"Boyo, what do you mean?"

"It's very simple. We have more generals than Liu Bei, we have more troops than Liu Bei, and we also have Generals Cao Zhang and Xu Chu. Our overall strength is much higher than Liu Bei's. What do we have to worry about? Shouldn't it be Liu Bei and his men who need to worry?"

Hearing Jiang Wei say this, the Xiahou brothers also felt that this was indeed the truth.

Cao Ren nodded as well.

Xu Huang stepped forward at this moment.

"Everyone, I suggest that we go out of the city tomorrow and challenge Liu Bei's side to see how strong they are overall."

"no problem."

For the past three days, Gu Rubing has been in his tent, looking at the map.

Now all of them are hoarding in Guanghan County.

The two sides have committed as many as 250,000 troops. If war breaks out under these circumstances, even if one side wins, the losses will inevitably be substantial.

This is not the result I wanted.

three days later.

Just as Gu Rubing was pondering how to break through Guanghan County, Deng Ai hurriedly walked in.

"My lord, Xu Huang is outside the camp with 30,000 troops."

"Thirty thousand troops?"

Gu Rubing was somewhat puzzled. What was Xu Huang doing bringing out 30,000 men in the current situation? Was it to intimidate him?
"Notify Zhang Liao to prepare for battle!"

"Yes!"

Outside the camp.

Xu Huang, with 30,000 men, stood quietly in place, waiting.

Not long after, the camp gates opened.

Zhang Liao led an army of ten thousand men and slowly walked out.

"Haha, Zhang Liao, you think you can fight against my 30,000-strong army with just this few men? Aren't you underestimating me a bit too much?"

"Ten thousand men are enough to deal with you. Why are you starting a war?"

"Then try it."

As soon as Xu Huang finished speaking, he immediately ordered a charge.

Zhang Liao, not to be outdone, directly engaged in battle.

The two did not waste time on each other's soldiers, but immediately began to fight.

Xu Huang and Zhang Liao were locked in a fierce battle.

Zhang Liao's 10,000 men were quickly surrounded due to their small numbers.

Gu Rubing saw all of this.

As Gu Rubing waved the command flag.

The Eighteen Riders of Yanyun charged out directly, opening a gap in the encirclement from the outside.

Xu Huang's army was thrown into disarray by the sudden appearance of the Eighteen Riders of Yanyun.

Taking advantage of the chaos, the ten thousand men rushed out quickly.

Both sides brought elite troops. Although Xu Huang's men were somewhat flustered, they quickly regrouped before Xu Huang could even find an opportunity to reorganize. They continued to carry out Xu Huang's original plan and were still trying to surround the 10,000 men.

Cao Ren, who was on the city wall, frowned upon seeing this scene.

"Ming Jin withdraws his troops!"

Upon receiving Cao Ren's order, Xu Huang immediately retreated.

This was originally intended as a test, not for any specific outcome.

Seeing Cao Ren retreat, Zhang Liao made no attempt to pursue him.

Zhang Liao came to Gu Rubing's side.

"My lord, Xu Huang's men are all elites, and their overall combat strength is almost equal to ours."

Like Xu Huang, Zhang Liao engaged in combat with the intention of probing, and both sides gained a considerable amount of intelligence this time.

"Well, let's go back."

Xu Huang returned to the city and said almost the same thing as Zhang Liao. Cao Ren's expression was not good at this time either.

At this time, he received a suggestion from Jiang Wei.

Jiang Wei's idea was to launch a full-scale attack and wipe out Liu Bei in one fell swoop.

It's important to understand that this matter carries considerable risk.

If the entire army launches an attack and Liu Bei seizes the opportunity to forcibly occupy the city, they will be attacked from both sides and will undoubtedly be defeated.

Moreover, even if Liu Bei didn't exploit any loopholes, wouldn't it still be troublesome if they lost?

However, Jiang Wei's suggestion was actually approved by the Xiahou brothers, which put Cao Ren in a difficult position.

After careful consideration, Cao Ren reassigned Jiang Wei to the rear, putting him in charge of escorting grain supplies.

Without Jiang Wei bothering him, Cao Ren immediately felt that the surroundings were much quieter.

Gu Rubing was in the camp, looking at the map for a long time, while Deng Ai and the others accompanied him.

After a long time, Gu Rubing made a decision that surprised everyone.

"We're withdrawing our troops!"

"What? Withdraw the troops? My lord, why should we withdraw the troops? No matter what, we have 100,000 men, and we are fully capable of fighting back. There is no need to withdraw!"

Upon hearing this, Gu Rubing shook his head.

"We are currently too close to each other, and we are at a disadvantage in terms of both troop strength and generals. If Cao Ren disregards everything and charges out to fight us to the death, I am not confident that I can stop him. Even if we withstand Cao Ren's attack, our losses will be extremely heavy, and we will have no ability to continue fighting. The Prime Minister cannot provide us with many reinforcements." (End of this chapter)