The Rebellious Officials and Traitors of the Late Han Dynasty

Chapter 408 This Jia Xu is too cruel
Cao Cao did not say anything because he knew that all the noble families in the world were like this. If Cai Mao and others could betray Qin Shou today, one day in the future, these people would also betray him.

So, to some extent, he and Qin Shou were actually the same kind of people. They were both wary of those aristocratic families and even wanted to abolish them.

"Let Li Dian be the vanguard, Xiahou Yuan be the rear guard, and I will personally lead the army to Jingzhou."

Cao Cao clenched his fists and said, "Whether Cai Mao will surrender to me or not, one thing is certain, that is, Qin Shou is no longer in Jingzhou, and the Huben Camp is no longer in Jingzhou, so we still have a chance."

Guo Jia and others nodded after hearing this.

As long as Qin Shou is not in Jingzhou, everything is possible.

"According to the intelligence, Qin Shou has no generals available. Bashu, Jingzhou, Jianghuai, Hebei, Bingzhou and other places all need generals to guard them. Qin Shou has no one under his command." Cheng Yu chuckled.

After hearing this, Cao Cao's eyes lit up and he thought to himself. Suddenly he realized that Qin Shou really did not have that many generals under his command. Unlike himself, he did not have both the Cao and Xiahou families coming to help him.

With the help of these people, I can easily achieve my current achievements. This is probably the difference between aristocratic families and poor families. After all, it takes three to build a fence, so there should be people around to help.

Guo Jia and others also approved of Cao Cao's arrangement. Cheng Yu sent people to spy on Jingzhou while arranging for the army to go on the expedition.

Soon, on the day of the expedition, Cao Cao received news that the Jingzhou navy had withdrawn its troops and there were no naval warships patrolling the river.

"It seems that Cai Mao really wants to surrender to me." On the warship, Cao Cao said with a little pride.

Since Qin Shou made his debut, he has been invincible in every battle. No one knows how many enemies have fallen under his double swords. Even Cao Cao did not dare to compete with him before.

Now that Qin Shou had finally suffered a great loss, Cao Cao felt extremely satisfied. He wished he could capture Xiangyang right away and then stand on the city wall of Xiangyang to shout to Qin Shou.

"After the navy enters the Han River, send people to the Han River navy camp to take charge of the troops in the camp." Cao Cao's eyes flickered. He did not believe Cai Mao. Even though there was not a single warship of the Jingzhou navy on the river, Cao Cao, who was suspicious by nature, still did not believe him.

"Should we let Li Dian lead the navy up the river and take control of the Jingzhou navy?" Guo Jia suggested.

Cao Cao thought for a moment, nodded, and said, "That's great, but I'm worried that there might be Qin Shou's men in the Han River. After all, Cai Mao can deceive his superiors and subordinates, but it's unlikely that he will surrender to us before the overall situation is determined."

Guo Jia also understood the reason. Without Xiangyang in his hands, the overall situation in Jingzhou would be uncertain. People like Cai Mao could give him convenience, but they would never surrender to him. If he failed to take Jingzhou, it would be equivalent to cutting off his own retreat.

"Forget it. Let's concentrate our forces and quickly capture Xiangyang. Li Dian will be in charge of the navy just in case." Cao Cao thought about it and decided to proceed according to the plan. Everything should be based on capturing Xiangyang. As for the Han River navy, as long as Xiangyang is in hand, the Han River navy will be like a rootless duckweed and can be manipulated by him at will.

"What my lord said is true."

After hearing this, Guo Jia and Cheng Yu agreed with each other's point of view. Li Dian was calm and steady, and being in charge of the navy also left himself a way out.

At Shangyong Port, Cai Zhong was drinking with the two brothers Shen Dan and Shen Yi. Suddenly, cavalrymen came galloping from outside and broke into the central army tent.

"General Cai, the General of Zhennan's Order."

The messenger glanced at Cai Zhong who was drinking, and there was a hint of disgust in his eyes.

When Cai Zhong saw this, a trace of embarrassment appeared on his face, but he quickly returned to normal. He took the letter from the messenger, opened it, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.

"Cai Zhong obeys the order." He took a deep breath and quickly responded.

"General Cai, General Zhennan asked me to tell you that if you are late by even one day, he will kill you."

After the messenger finished speaking, he turned and left, leaving the three people in the tent looking at each other in bewilderment.

"General, what is General Zhennan's order?" Shen Dan asked curiously.

"General Zhennan ordered me to attack the Hanjiang Navy camp and wipe out Li Dian within two days."

Cai Zhong said quietly.

Shen Dan heaved a sigh of relief and chuckled, "General, you have been in the Hanjiang Navy Camp for a long time. Everything inside is under your control. Wouldn't it be easy to break into the Navy Camp and wipe out Li Dian? This is a credit from General Zhennan!"

A hint of jealousy appeared on the faces of the Shen Dan brothers.

It is easy to be an official if you have someone in the court. Look, Cai Zhong is drinking with the two brothers here, but the credit goes directly to them.

Looking at his two brothers, they offered the three counties of Shangyong. Apart from the position of prefect, it would be very difficult for them to be promoted in the future.

Cai Zhong smiled bitterly.

"You two don't know that the Han River Navy Camp was ceded to Cao Cao on the orders of General Zhennan. My brother sent someone to tell me that my Jingzhou family was preparing to surrender to Cao Cao. Now it seems that it was the strategy of General Zhennan and the military advisor to lure Cao Cao to attack." Cai Zhong felt bitter.

What he cared about was not the upcoming war, but Cai Mao’s trust in him. Such a big thing was not told to him in advance.

After hearing this, the two brothers Shen Dan broke out in cold sweats, but they soon realized that this might be a scheme of Jia Xu, Cai Mao and others, who deliberately fooled Cao Cao and just kept it secret from Cai Zhong.

"General, the military advisor and General Zhennan probably did this to prevent the news from leaking. Just imagine, if even the general doesn't know about this, it is even more impossible for Cao Cao to know." Shen Dan said hurriedly.

"Yes! General, you see, hasn't Cao Cao been fooled now?" Shen Yi also spoke.

Cai Zhong nodded immediately after hearing this and said, "Yes, that's true for me and Cai He, especially Cai He. If he knew that this was a plot set up by our military advisor, I'm afraid he would definitely reveal the flaws when he went to Cao Cao as an envoy. Only if he himself doesn't know can he make the enemy believe it."

When the Shen Dan brothers heard this, looks of horror appeared on their faces, and a figure suddenly appeared in their minds.

Perhaps only Jia Xu could come up with such a strategy.

It seems that he is plotting against Cao Cao, but in fact, he is also plotting against the noble families in Jingzhou. Anyone who dares to take the opportunity to collude with Cao Cao at this time will definitely not have a good end.

The two brothers were also very fortunate that they were far away in Shangyong and not in Xiangyang. Otherwise, the two brothers would have been deceived, and at that time, it would have been the serious crime of quarreling and exterminating the clan.

This Jia Xu is really cruel.

(End of this chapter)