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

Chapter 440: They all surrendered one after another? Heaven will destroy Cao Ren too! It’s time to write the ending of the Battle of Bingzhou!
South of Jinyang City, the Han army camp.

"Xun You actually wants to surrender to me?"

Liu Bei showed a surprised look on his face and showed the secret letter in his hand to his ministers.

Half a day ago, a man in the dark escaped from the city, claiming to be Xun You's confidant, and presented a letter of surrender.

Xun You said that he bore a grudge against Cao Cao for forcing his uncle Xun Yu to death, and considering that he was from Yingchuan, he decided to surrender to the Han Dynasty after weighing various considerations.

In addition to him, many people in the city had lost confidence in the Qin State. Under his persuasion, they were willing to join forces to start an uprising, seize the South Gate and let the Han army enter the city as a gift of surrender.

After reading Xun You's letter of surrender, the tent was in an uproar.

"Your Majesty, this is great news. If this is the case, then we can capture Jinyang without losing a single soldier!"

"The heavens are helping your majesty!"

Zhang Fei was extremely excited and shouted with joy.

"I heard that Xun Yu refused to support Cao Cao in his attempt to usurp the Han Dynasty, so Cao Cao hated him and forced him to commit suicide by taking poison."

"Xun You is Xun Yu's nephew, so it is reasonable for him to feel resentment towards Cao Cao."

"What's more, the Xun family is from Yingchuan, and their roots are in Yingchuan, but Yingchuan is now Han territory."

"For the Xun family, if they want to continue to maintain their status as one of the top clans in the world, returning to the Han Dynasty is the wisest choice. Otherwise, they will be like a rootless stream and will decline sooner or later."

"It is reasonable for Xun Yu to return to Your Majesty for the sake of his family."

Fa Zheng carefully analyzed the pros and cons for Xun You, and was inclined to believe that Xun You would surrender.

Liu Bei was greatly encouraged.

According to the original plan, the Hanwei cannon was to be used to bombard Jinyang City for a month.

After the bombing has paralyzed the defenses of Jinyang and caused the morale of the Qin army in the city to collapse, it would be much more effective to attack the city with an army of 200,000.

But as long as it is a siege, casualties among soldiers are inevitable.

But now it’s different.

If Xun You surrendered, and the city was captured by the joint efforts of both inside and outside forces, Jinyang could be captured quickly at the lowest cost, thus avoiding unnecessary deaths and injuries of soldiers.

This is a great thing!

"Prime Minister, what do you think of Xun You's surrender?"

Although Liu Bei was delighted, he remained calm and did not forget to consider Xiao Fang's opinion.

Xiao Fang waved his feather fan and said slowly:
"According to Xiaozhi's analysis, Xun You does have sufficient reasons to surrender to the Han Dynasty, and his surrender is not without credibility."

"If it is as Xun You said, we can take Jinyang in three days without spending a single soldier, and end the battle for Bingzhou. This will naturally be the most satisfactory outcome."

"only…"

Xiao Fang thought of history.

Once in history, Xun Yu was also given an empty food box by Cao Cao, and was forced to commit suicide under Cao Cao's coercion and suggestion.

But even though Xun Yu committed suicide, the Xun family was not liquidated. Xun You was still valued by Cao Cao and even had a good end.

At that time, Xun You did not hate Cao Cao for the killing of Xun Yu, and remained loyal to Cao Wei.

Would Xun You today feel resentful because Cao Cao forced Xun Yu to death?
Xiao Fang was skeptical.

Of course, the specific circumstances of the two are somewhat different.

In history, Cao Cao occupied the Central Plains and Yingchuan was always under his control. Naturally, the Xun family did not dare to turn against Cao Cao just because Xun Yu was forced to death.

Currently, Yingchuan is under the control of Lao Liu, and the Xun family is like rootless water in the Qin State.

Under such circumstances, it is not unreasonable for Xun You to want to return to the Han Dynasty for the sake of his family.

Just because something is reasonable doesn't necessarily mean it's sensible.

Would Xun You really choose to surrender to the Han Dynasty, regardless of his family members who remained in Chang'an and the other Xun family members who were still serving as officials in the Qin State?
The Xun family members who stayed in Yingchuan are relatives, and the Xun family members who are in Qin are also relatives. We are all flesh and blood.

Another crucial point is that the Qin Dynasty implemented the Nine-Rank System for Officials, while the Han Dynasty implemented the imperial examination system.

Naturally, the appeal of these two systems of selecting officials to the Xun family cannot be ignored.

What's more, in Jinyang City, besides Xun You, there is also Yang Xiu, a troublemaker, who is not an easy person to deal with.

With so many uncertainties, it is not easy to judge whether Xun You surrendered truly or falsely.

Xiao Fang did not hide anything at the moment and expressed his concerns one by one.

The excitement of the generals gradually died down, and everyone became calm.

Liu Bei also stroked his thin beard and nodded slightly:
"The Prime Minister's concerns are not without reason. It is indeed difficult to easily conclude whether Xun You surrendered in earnest or in vain."

"But, if Xun You is pretending to surrender, what is his purpose?"

The words trailed off.

Chen Dao came in excitedly, bowed and said:
"Your Majesty, we have captured a man in black who escaped from Yuecheng in Dongying. He claims to be a close confidant of Qin General Guo Huai and he wants to see Your Majesty for something extremely urgent."

Guo Huai!

Liu Bei turned around and looked at Chen Dao, his eyes revealing his unfamiliarity with this name.

Xiao Fang was not unfamiliar with this. Guo Huai was a famous general in the late Cao Wei Dynasty. When Zhuge Liang was on the Northern Expedition, he caused Zhuge Liang a lot of trouble.

Later, his brother-in-law Zhuge Liang died of illness, and Jiang Wei took on the important task of the Northern Expedition. Guo Huai and Deng Ai became two insurmountable mountains for Jiang Wei.

This Guo Huai is a talented general!
However, at this point in time, Guo Huai was still inexperienced and had not yet become famous throughout the world. He was just an inconspicuous deputy general under Cao Ren.

Such an inconspicuous person, yet at the critical moment when Xun You surrendered, he also sent his confidant out of the city to meet Lao Liu. Xiao Fang keenly realized that there must be a connection between the two.

"Your Majesty, I have a feeling that the arrival of Guo Huai's confidant is probably related to Xun You's surrender."

"Your Majesty, please summon that man and ask him what happened."

Liu Bei became even more curious and immediately ordered Guo Huai's confidants to be summoned to the tent.

A moment later, a man in black walked into the tent with trepidation.

"Guo Huai is a general under Cao Ren, but he sent you to come here secretly to ask for an audience with me. What is his intention?"

Liu Bei sized up his confidant with a gaze as sharp as a blade, his tone intimidating without even being angry.

"Your Majesty, I am here on the orders of our General Guo to express my willingness to surrender to Your Majesty!"

"Our General Guo is originally from Bingzhou. After the fall of Yuan and Wei, he was willing to follow the trend and surrender to Your Majesty."

"However, Yuan Xi surrendered to Cao Cao, and the Qin army quickly entered Bingzhou. Our General Guo was forced to submit to Cao Qin."

"During the battle between the two armies, Cao Ren, in order to deal with Your Majesty, did not care about the lives of the villagers of Zishi, and did not listen to the advice of our General Guo, and insisted on digging the dike to flood Zishi."

"Cao Ren is ruthless and merciless, and Qin treats the people of Bingzhou like grass. Our General Guo has seen it all, and is extremely disappointed with both Cao Ren and Qin."

"So my general Guo is willing to return to his original intention and lead his men from Bingzhou to surrender to Your Majesty and submit to the Han Dynasty!"

The black-clad confidant half-knelt on the ground and generously stated the purpose of his trip. He took out a secret letter from his bosom and held it high:

"This is a handwritten letter from my General Guo. Please have a look, Your Majesty!"

A hint of joy gradually appeared on Liu Bei's face, which was intimidating without him getting angry.

Although Guo Huai is not a big shot, as long as he is willing to surrender to the Han Dynasty, it will be a happy thing after all.

What's more, first Xun You was willing to surrender, and now Guo Huai also wants to surrender, which can be said to be a double happiness.

Liu Bei was very happy. He took the letter immediately, opened it and read it with a smile on his face.

As he read the letter, the joy on Liu Bei's face turned into surprise and suspicion, and he hurriedly handed the letter to Xiao Fang.

Xiao Fang took it and looked at it, and couldn't help laughing.

That letter was indeed a letter of surrender, in which Guo Huai expressed his sincerity in surrendering to the Han Dynasty.

The key point is that in addition to expressing his intention to surrender, Guo Huai also revealed a secret in the letter.

Guo Huai claimed that Yang Xiu offered a plan to Cao Ren, ordering Xun You to lure Liu Bei into surrendering by seizing the city, and thus lead Liu Bei to transfer all his main forces to the South Gate to meet the needs three days later.

Cao Ren would take advantage of the fact that the Han army was weak at the north gate, gather 50,000 troops, rush out from the north gate, break through the Han army's encirclement, flee to Yanmen County, and then travel thousands of miles back to Guanzhong from Beidi County.

"Your Majesty, it seems that my worries are not unfounded."

"I knew that Yang Xiu was not an easy person to deal with. I have to say that his plan of feigning surrender and concealing his true intentions was indeed a brilliant move."

After Xiao Fang sighed, he sneered:
"What a pity! The destiny rests with your majesty, and at this critical moment, Guo Boji has come to surrender."

"This is the Heaven that wants to take Cao Ren away!"

As he spoke, Xiao Fang passed Guo Huai's secret letter to Fa Zheng, Zhang Fei and others.

Zhang Fei only took a few glances and immediately flew into a rage, cursing:

"Well, Yang Xiu is really sinister and vicious!"

"This guy first proposed a vicious plan to flood our 100,000-strong army, and now he is pretending to surrender, trying to help Cao Ren's 50,000 troops escape!"

"I will tear this sinister and vicious bastard apart with my own hands!"

Fa Zhengze looked somewhat ashamed and said with emotion:
"It seems that my understanding of people's hearts is still far inferior to that of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister's concerns are correct. It is reasonable but unreasonable for Xun You to surrender to the Han Dynasty."

"Now it seems that Xun You has chosen the latter. He will not care about the future and fate of his Xun family, and is determined to fight to the end for the pseudo-Qin and Cao thieves."

Liu Bei took Guo Huai's secret letter again, and a fierce murderous intent gradually rose in his eyes.

"Xun You is a man of extraordinary ideas. I intend to recruit him to serve the Han Dynasty."

"Since he is determined to be loyal to Cao Cao and even wants to play tricks on me by pretending to surrender, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Liu Bei had the intention to kill Xun You, so he looked at Xiao Fang:
"Prime Minister, in your opinion, how should I deal with this situation now?"

Xiao Fang's eyes turned slightly and a sneer flashed across the corner of his mouth.

So he instructed the man in black:

"Since Cao Ren is going to flee, he will definitely leave some troops behind to cover his retreat. Go back and tell your general to seize this opportunity to cover your retreat."

"Three days later, using the signal of raising fire, you will turn the fake play into reality, seize the gates and let my army into the city, and capture Jinyang in one fell swoop!"

After instructing Guo Huai's confidants, Xiao Fang turned to Liu Bei and said,
"Your Majesty can pretend to fall into the trap and accept Xun You's false surrender, but deploy heavy troops north of Jinyang."

"We will just sit and wait for Cao Ren to fall into our trap and let him lead all 50,000 soldiers out of the city. When he breaks out to the north, we will send out all our ambush troops and annihilate Cao Ren and his 50,000 Qin troops in one fell swoop north of Jinyang City!"

(End of this chapter)