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

Weikou waters.

The attack on the Wei River is still going on.

More than 6,000 Han soldiers were blocked more than 50 steps away from the south bank and could not move forward.

On the surface, they were suppressed by the Qin army's rain of arrows and could not raise their heads or move forward.

In fact, it was Liu Bei who ordered that the boats and rafts could only "infinitely" approach the south bank, but were not allowed to actually land.

Of course, the feint attack on Weikou had to be staged, but it was just an act after all, and we couldn't really disregard the lives of the soldiers.

There were nearly 70,000 Qin soldiers on the other side of the river. If 6,000 of them forced their way to the south bank, wouldn't that be like a sheep walking into a tiger's mouth, and giving the Qin army their heads?

On the north bank, Liu Bei's eyes were not on the Wei River, but always looking upstream.

The signal smoke had already risen upstream, which meant that Gan Ning was building a pontoon bridge and Huang Zhong and Ma Chao were crossing the river on the bridge.

Is the erection of the floating bridge going smoothly?

After it is built, can it carry 30,000 soldiers across the river safely?

Can Huang Zhong and his men set up camp in time?

Can they withstand the attack of the Qin army?
Concerns flashed continuously in Liu Bei's eyes.

"Our bridge is fifteen miles away from Weikou. The Qin scouts passed the message to Weikou, and Cao Cao sent troops to intercept them. It would take at least five or six hours to go back and forth."

"This is enough time for Han Sheng and his men to calmly cross the river, set up camp on the south bank, and gain a foothold."

Seeing Liu Bei's worry, Xiao Fang smiled and comforted him, and even suggested:
"I think Your Majesty can order us to prepare, and as soon as the victory report arrives, we will immediately move our troops upstream and use the main force to cross the river on the bridge."

Xiao Fang's confident judgment gave Liu Bei confidence, and the worry and speculation in his eyes faded away.

"This strategy was yours, Jinglue. Over the years, you have never made a mistake."

"I am just worrying too much."

Liu Bei laughed at himself and whipped his horse whip lightly:
"Pass the order down, tell all troops to be ready to move upstream at any time—"

"Good news, good news—"

Ma Su came galloping over, holding high a battle report in his hand, dismounted his horse and walked forward excitedly.

"Your Majesty, General Han Sheng just delivered the victory report!"

"Our army successfully built a pontoon bridge fifteen miles upstream, and 30,000 soldiers and horses crossed the river safely and set up camp."

"Not long after I set up camp, 30,000 Qin troops came to attack. General Huang and General Ma joined forces to defeat the Qin army."

"General Huang, please ask your majesty to lead the army upstream and cross the river!"

The Han army soldiers around were immediately excited and encouraged.

Liu Bei was overjoyed and laughed:
"As the Prime Minister expected, not only did the floating bridge plan work, but Han Sheng and his men also defeated the Qin army. This really gave me a surprise!"

After saying this, Liu Bei turned to Xiao Fang and praised him highly:

"Jinglue, Jinglue, your floating bridge plan is truly an unprecedented and ingenious strategy. It will surely go down in history!"

Xiao Fang smiled faintly, cupped his hands and said:
"Your Majesty, we have already established a firm foothold on the south bank. We do not need to continue to play along with Cao Cao. Let's cross the river with our army."

Liu Bei laughed.

So an imperial decree was issued to recall all the 6,000 Han troops who were performing on the Wei River.

At the same time, more than 100,000 main forces were mobilized and immediately moved westward along the coast and upstream to cross the river.

...

South bank.

Cao Cao's gaze was also staring upstream, with more anxiety than worry in his eyes.

He was worried whether Cao Zhen and Pang De's 30,000 troops could reach the place where the Han army was crossing the river upstream in time and whether they could successfully defeat the Han army that was halfway across the river.

"All of my 20,000 soldiers are elite. Although General Zidan is young, he is the most outstanding general among the younger generation of the royal family."

"Besides, there is Pang Lingming and 10,000 Xiliang cavalrymen."

"We can attack them halfway across the river and annihilate the several thousand Han troops who have sneaked across the river. I think this should be a piece of cake."

"Your Majesty, please be at ease. Perhaps good news is on the way."

Zhang Song saw Cao Cao's worry, stroked his sparse beard, and smiled confidently.

The anxiety in Cao Cao's eyes was only slightly reduced, but it did not completely disappear. Zhang Song's judgment was flawless, and every word and sentence was reasonable.

But it also depends on who is on the other side.

If it were an ordinary counselor, Cao Cao would naturally not have any worries.

But that was Xiao Fang.

A person who cannot judge with common sense, a person who can turn the impossible into possible.

Faced with such an anomaly, no matter how reasonable and flawless Zhang Song's judgment was, he could not make Cao Cao feel at ease.

"I just hope that this time, Yongnian, your judgment is correct..."

Cao Cao nodded slightly, but his tone revealed a hint of guilt.

at this time.

The Han army's boats and rafts that were originally attacking on the Wei River suddenly turned around and retreated to the other side of the shore.

Soon, the Han army was out of the range of an arrow, and the Qin army archers had to stop shooting.

"The Han army stopped crossing the river, it must be because the battle upstream has come to an end!"

Guo Jia frowned and pointed out the motive of the Han army's retreat.

Cao Cao's heartstrings immediately tensed up and he looked upstream again.

Dust and fog rolled towards the camp.

Soon, flags with the word "Cao" and "Ma" on them came into view.

The troops of Cao Zhen and Ma Chao are back!

"Your Majesty, it must be Zi Dan and his men who have returned victoriously."

"Liu Bei learned that the crossing of the river upstream had failed. It was meaningless to continue to play tricks here, so he had to order the troops to retreat!"

Zhang Song speculated with a smile, his brows burning with pride that his plan had succeeded.

Cao Cao was greatly encouraged and laughed:

"Come on, follow me to welcome Zidan and Lingming!"

Cao Cao was in a very good mood. He whipped his horse and headed straight for the West Camp Gate.

Zhang Song and other ministers followed closely behind, all of them were in high spirits, even Guo Jia's face was full of anticipation.

Only Jia Xu still looked towards the Han camp on the north bank, but he couldn't help but feel an ominous premonition in his heart.

Xiyingmen.

Cao Cao stood in front of the camp gate, smiling and welcoming the returning troops of Cao Zhen.

He had even prepared words of praise in his mind, waiting to highly praise and reward Cao Zhen and Pang De, and then make some bold remarks to boost morale.

Gradually, the smile on Cao Cao's face disappeared, his eyes widened, and his breathing became heavier.

The excited and joyful discussions among the soldiers on both sides gradually died down, and were replaced by discussions of surprise.

The self-confidence and complacency on Zhang Song's face gradually dissipated, his eyes bulged wide, and cold sweat rolled down his forehead.

There were 30,000 troops when they left, but only more than 10,000 people returned.

Moreover, the flags were tossed to one side and the other, the soldiers were demoralized, and the troops were in disarray.

It doesn't look like they are returning victoriously, it's clearly a miserable defeat!
Cao Cao's heart was in his throat, and his hand, which was tightly gripping the whip, was shaking slightly.

The sound of horse hooves rang out, and Generals Cao Zhen and Pang De rode forward first.

The two men dismounted from their horses and knelt down in front of Cao Cao, covered in dust.

"Your Majesty, the Han army built a floating bridge ten miles upstream, and 30,000 soldiers crossed the river on the bridge. By the time I led the army to arrive, the Han army had already set up camp on the south bank!"

"We tried our best to attack the enemy camp, but we were unable to break through, and the soldiers suffered heavy casualties!"

"Your Majesty, the Weishui defense line has been lost!"

Cao Zhen knelt on the ground and reported the bad news in a trembling voice full of grief, anger and shame.

Cao Cao's body swayed, his hand shook, and the whip fell out of his hand. (End of this chapter)