Three Kingdoms: Wolong's brother-in-law, tricking Liu Bei into seizing Jingzhou

Chapter 439: I will blast you until you lose your temper! It is more important to run away to save your life! You have a theoretical basis for surrendering to Han!
Jinyang Prefecture, provincial capital.

Cao Ren walked into the hall exhausted, slammed his helmet hard on the table, sat down, and guzzled several glasses of wine.

The generals who followed him in were all covered in dust and looked gloomy and tired.

They urged the soldiers all day and all night long to carry soil and stones to seal up the gaps and cracks. Huge rocks flew over their heads every moment. Under the high-intensity pressure, these Qin army generals were mentally exhausted and overwhelmed.

"General Hussar, this is not a solution."

"The soldiers were already exhausted and their morale was low. Most of them had barely slept for several nights."

"If the Han army stops bombarding the city, once the 200,000-strong army attacks from all sides, how will the soldiers have the strength and morale to fight to the death?"

Le Jin was impatient and finally couldn't bear it anymore and was the first to reveal the truth.

Once he took the lead, the other generals no longer had any scruples and began to complain.

"Yes, General Huoqi, it is not a good idea to passively take a beating like this. If the Han army bombards for a few more days, before Liu Bei's army can attack the city, the morale of our soldiers will collapse without a fight."

"General Huqi, if we continue to defend like this, the lives of our fifty thousand soldiers will all be lost in Jinyang City."

"Defending Jinyang City is not a solution, General Huqi, we must find another way out."

Zhu Ling and other generals started shouting, and were almost saying that they wanted to abandon the city and break out.

Cao Ren held his head in his hands, looking listless and in pain. He no longer had the generosity he had previously shown in defending the city to the death.

The Han army's bombardment with Hanwei artillery for more than ten days had completely destroyed his temper.

"enough!"

Cao Ren could no longer bear it and roared loudly.

The generals stopped talking and swallowed their saliva, not daring to say another word.

"I know you all want to break out, but what's the point of breaking out now?"

"There are 200,000 Han soldiers outside, surrounding Jinyang City so tightly that not even a fly can fly out. How are you going to break out?"

"Besides, Xihe and Shangjun have been captured by the big-eared bandits. Even if we manage to break through, how can we cross the river and retreat to Guanzhong?"

Cao Ren spitted and pointed in the direction outside the city, exposing the desperate situation they were facing.

All the generals were startled and lowered their heads silently, the only remaining hope in their eyes disappearing bit by bit.

"What the General said is true, but in the current situation, we can't count on His Majesty to save us."

"Even though there is little hope of breaking out, there is still a glimmer of hope. If we still insist on holding on, all 50,000 of our soldiers will die in Jinyang City."

"We will die if we die. At most, we will be loyal to His Majesty. But General Huoqi is the most famous general of the Qin Dynasty. If he unfortunately falls into Liu Bei's hands..."

Zhu Ling didn't finish his words and looked up at Cao Ren.

Cao Ren shuddered, and a flash of fear flashed across his solemn and ferocious expression.

As Cao Cao's younger brother and the most famous general of the Qin royal family, if he were really captured by the Han army, he would kneel at Liu Bei's feet as a prisoner...

Cao Ren didn't dare to think any further and shuddered violently again.

That kind of humiliation is more painful than killing him!
"He is right. I am the general of the Qin cavalry. I am the emperor's cousin. How can I fall into Liu Bei's hands? I can't..."

Cao Ren fell silent, and a hint of fear gradually emerged in his originally stern eyes.

"In fact, if the General of the Cavalry really thinks it through and decides to break out, there is a chance."

Xun You, who had remained silent all this time, finally spoke when he saw that Cao Ren's will was wavering.

A glimmer of light flashed in Cao Ren's eyes, and he looked suddenly at Xun You.

The gloomy eyes of the generals also began to light up again, and they all looked at the Minister of the Qin Dynasty.

"Gongda, what do you mean?"

Cao Ren's eyes lit up and he asked impatiently.

Xun You slowly stood up, walked to the map and pointed:
"Although the Han army has occupied Xihe and Shangjun, blocking our way to retreat westward to Guanzhong, there should not be a large number of troops stationed in the Yanmen area to the north."

"We can break out from the north gate, go all the way north to Yanmen County, then turn to Wuyuan, Yunzhong, and Shuofang counties, then turn south from the north to Beidi County, and then return to Guanzhong!"

"Although this route is long and winding, it can at least save the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers!"

Cao Ren's heart trembled, he jumped up, and rushed to the map in a few steps. He scanned the map and outlined the breakout strategy mentioned by Xun You in his mind.

This escape route starts from Yanmen, passes through Wuyuan, Yunzhong, Shuofang, and ends in Beidi. The distance is nearly a thousand miles!
It is about three times the distance from Xihe Shangjun to Guanzhong!
During this period, it is possible to pass through the area controlled by the Xianbei people.

It is really unknown how many of the 50,000 troops can finally escape back to Guanzhong alive.

"General, although this route is longer, it will catch the enemy by surprise. Liu Bei will be less prepared."

"I think Xun Lingjun's strategy of breaking out is feasible."

"At least, it's a thousand times better than being trapped in Jinyang City and waiting to die!"

Le Jin was the first to strongly praise Xun You's strategy.

All the generals followed suit and agreed.

The hesitation and concern in Cao Ren's eyes gradually disappeared as the generals agreed.

"Well, at this point, Xun Lingjun's strategy of breaking out seems to be our only option."

"Let's follow this plan and break out from the north gate and retreat to Guanzhong via Yanmen!"

Cao Ren waved his hands weakly and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

All the generals breathed a sigh of relief and their spirits were restored.

"But Gongda, if your plan is to succeed, the prerequisite is that we can break through the siege of the Han army." "There are more than 200,000 Han troops outside the city, and there are at least 40,000 Han troops in the north of the city alone."

"Lord Xun, do you think we have a chance of breaking through the Han army's encirclement and successfully heading to Yanmen County?"

Zhu Ling's words poured a bucket of cold water on everyone's heads.

The faces of Cao Ren and his generals, which had just cleared up, were once again covered with a layer of gloom.

Xun You's brows furrowed again, and he twirled his thin beard with his hands, feeling helpless for a moment.

Apart from concentrating 50,000 troops and charging into the Han army's encirclement, he really couldn't think of any other good plan.

But given the current morale of the army, and the fact that we are not at an advantage in terms of troop strength, what chances do we have of winning by charging head-on?
In the end, the most likely outcome would be that the forced charge would be futile, and they would have to wait until the Han army reinforcements arrived and take advantage of the situation to annihilate all 50,000 of their troops outside the North Camp.

There was deathly silence in the lobby.

Everyone's face was as gloomy as iron, their brows were twisted into knots, and they stared at the map thinking hard.

"General...General, Xiu...Xiu has a plan, but I don't know if I should tell you about it or not."

A timid voice sounded, breaking the silence.

Everyone's eyes turned and gathered towards Yang Xiu in the corner.

This genius of the Yang family, who had been scolded by Cao Ren and nearly killed in anger, kept a much lower profile after that day. He always hid in a corner and dared not speak or show his head during military meetings.

Today, at this critical moment of life and death, when the military discussion has reached a deadlock, Yang Xiu had no choice but to speak out in order to save his life.

"You...what plan do you have? Tell me about it."

Cao Ren's tone was lukewarm, and it was obvious that he was still resentful of Yang Xiu because of Cao Zhi's death.

Yang Xiu coughed a few times, then bowed and said:

"General Huqi, Xiu's plan is to ask Xun Lingjun to pretend to surrender to Liu Bei!"

Fake surrender?

Or Xun You?
Everyone was startled, and looked at Xun You in surprise and confusion.

Xun You's eyes widened and he looked at Yang Xiu with a blank look.

"The Xun family is a prominent family in Yingchuan, and Yingchuan is now owned by Liu Bei. This is the basis for Lord Xun to surrender to Liu Bei."

"The news of Xun Wenruo's suicide has spread widely in the country. Rumor has it that it was Your Majesty who forced Xun Wenruo to commit suicide."

"Whether it is true or not, this incident could be one of the reasons why Xun Lingjun surrendered to Liu Bei."

"Therefore, You's plan is to ask Xun Lingjun to write a letter to Liu Bei, pretending to surrender to him, and falsely claiming that he has secretly gathered a group of people who want to surrender to the Han Dynasty, and will launch a mutiny in three days to seize the South Gate of Jinyang, and ask Liu Bei to lead the army to support him."

"By then, Liu Bei will certainly mobilize his main forces at the South Gate, attempting to attack our Bingzhou from the South Gate with the help of both inside and outside forces. Then, his camps at the other three gates will certainly be empty of troops."

"At this time, the General of the Cavalry can lead my 50,000 soldiers to break out from the north gate and we will surely be able to break out in one fell swoop!"

"I wonder if the General of the Cavalry thinks this plan is feasible?"

Yang Xiu revealed his overall plan.

This time he was very low-key and did not dare to pat his chest to make any guarantees. Although the plan was out, there was no trace of the absolute confidence on his face that he had in the past.

The gloom on Cao Ren's face disappeared, and joy gradually appeared in his gloomy eyes.

"What a great plan to feign surrender!"

"Great, Yang Dezu, your plan of pretending to surrender to Liu Bei and hiding the truth is really brilliant!"

"Okay, okay, if this plan works, you will save 50,000 soldiers in Bingzhou!"

"You have made great contributions to our Great Qin!"

Cao Ren was extremely surprised and delighted, and kept praising Yang Xiu, as if he had forgotten all about the scolding he had done to Yang Xiu that day.

Yang Xiu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, with a smile on his face.

He did not dare to show any pride, and humbly bowed to Xun You:

"Xun Lingjun, is there any flaw in Xiu's plan? Please give me some advice."

Xun You pondered in silence, carefully considering Yang Xiu's plan in his mind.

The nobles of the world all take their hometown as their foundation, and they tend to be loyal to whoever controls their hometown.

Now Yingchuan is occupied by Liu Bei. In theory, the Xun family should choose to be loyal to Liu Bei.

It was only because when Cao Cao retreated westward to Guanzhong that year, Xun Yu firmly chose to continue to support Cao Cao and took him and a large number of Xun's descendants with Cao Cao to retreat westward to Guanzhong. Although Xun Yu lost his hometown, he still followed Cao Cao.

Although Xun Yu committed suicide, Cao Cao still valued Xun Yu and even made him the successor of Xun Yu and the Minister of the Chancellery.

On the surface, he seemed to have no reason to betray Cao Cao.

However, given his current situation where he is trapped in an isolated city and his life is in danger, if Liu Bei extends an olive branch to him, it would make sense for him to surrender to Liu Bei for the sake of his life, the future and fate of the Xun family, and revenge for Xun Yu.

After weighing the best strategies and thinking for a long time, Xun You took a deep breath.

"Although Dezu's plan is not perfect, it is ingenious!"

"I think this plan is worth a try!"

"This plan is our only chance to successfully break out!"

Xun You gave his position.

Cao Ren let out a long breath, and the remaining worry in his eyes disappeared with Xun You's statement.

(End of this chapter)