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

Cao Cao froze.

At this moment, he finally understood why Zhang He abandoned the city and fled.

It's not that I can't resist his attack.

Nor is it about running away in fear.

Instead, Ma Su had already captured Jieting and wiped out his 5,000 Qin troops.

He also beheaded his beloved nephew Cao Xiu!
He went back to Jieting happily to meet Ma Su.

There was a sudden chaos among the Qin army, and panicked discussions arose.

"Jieting has been lost? Doesn't that mean the Longshan defense line is useless?"

"What? Cao Wenlie was also killed? He was the emperor's nephew!"

"Another member of the Cao clan died in battle?"

"We have lost another 5,000 soldiers. The more we fight, the fewer soldiers we have. Our territory is getting smaller and smaller. How can we stop the Han army?"

"Is Longxi also undefendable?"

The sounds of horrified discussions rang in his ears, like sharp blades piercing Cao Cao's heart.

"How dare you, you little bastard Ma Su, kill my beloved nephew!"

"I will cut you into pieces, into pieces—"

Suffering a severe mental trauma, Cao Cao's face was distorted and he let out a hideous and angry roar.

Cao Ang, Cao Zhi, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Cao Tai, Cao Chun, and now Cao Xiu...

His own son, his own brother, his own nephew.

They fell one after another, died one after another at the hands of Liu Bei.

The Cao clan's relatives were dying out and were about to be slaughtered by Liu Bei.

Cao Xiu died today, and who knows which member of the Cao family will die at the hands of Liu Bei tomorrow!
Is it his son Cao Pi?
Or Cao Zhang?

Or maybe it won’t be long before it’s my turn.

At this moment, Cao Cao was sad and angry, but he had no tears to cry.

"We still failed to defend Jieting after all. We underestimated Liu Bei and shouldn't have left only 7,000 soldiers in Jieting."

"Or, if we had returned to Jicheng a few days later and built and reinforced Jieting City first, then we would not have been able to be exploited by Liu Bei and cause the disaster we are experiencing today..."

Guo Jia looked bitter and sighed as if he had just finished the event.

Zhang Song's heart tightened when he heard this meaningless sigh, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

He glared at Guo Jia secretly.

In his opinion, Guo Jia's words were clearly a reminder to Cao Cao that it was his miscalculation in the Longshan defense strategy that led to Cao Cao leaving only 7,000 soldiers to guard Jieting, giving Liu Bei an opportunity to take advantage.

Guo Jia is trying to add insult to injury.

really.

In grief and anger, Cao Cao remembered something, slowly turned his head and looked at Zhang Song.

Zhang Song rolled his eyes a few times and pointed at Wang Ping angrily:
"Wang Ping, the loss of Jieting and the death of General Wenlie are all your fault!"

This angry shout drew everyone's attention to Wang Ping.

Wang Ping, who was caught in the crossfire, stood there in a daze, looking at a loss.

"Although the troops I left behind at Jieting numbered only 7,000, they occupied the strategic location of Nanping Mountain."

"If you hadn't fled in the face of battle and abandoned the mountain and the water source, how could General Wenlie be cut off from water by Ma Su, and how could he have lost Nanping Mountain?"

After Zhang Song had put the blame on others, he angrily said to Cao Cao:
"Your Majesty, Wang Ping is the culprit for the loss of Jieting. I beg Your Majesty to sentence him to death!"

Wang Ping was horrified.

It would be bad enough if they put all the blame for the loss of Jieting on him, but they even want to sentence him to death?

This Zhang Song is really too cruel!
Cao Cao's gaze, which was originally directed towards Zhang Song, was immediately directed towards Wang Ping, and anger burned in his eyes.

Wang Ping's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly clasped his hands in defense:
"Your Majesty, I am wronged!"

"That day I urged General Wenlie to obey His Majesty's order and to defend Jieting City." "It was General Wenlie who insisted on moving the camp to Nanping Mountain on the grounds that Jieting City was dilapidated and difficult to defend."

"Although I have been ordered to guard the water source, my army is short of soldiers. General Wen Lie only gave me 2,000 soldiers."

"When the Han army attacked us five times as many times as many as the Han army, I had few soldiers and no strategic location to resist. I fought until my entire army was almost annihilated, and then I fought desperately to break out and come to report to Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty, I have performed my duties faithfully. The loss of Jieting is not my fault!"

Without waiting for Cao Cao to speak.

Zhang Song stepped forward, pointed at Wang Ping and asked:
"I am a sharp-tongued person who can make excuses for myself."

"The walls of Jieting are low, so General Wenlie's decision to move his troops up the mountain is a move that is appropriate to the local situation and is reasonable."

"Besides, the hidden water source is hidden on the back of the mountain. With Ma Su's wisdom, how could he possibly detect it?"

"It must be because you neglected to conceal yourself and exposed the location of the side camp, which aroused Ma Su's vigilance and made him guess that we still have a hidden water source."

"Since the water source is in danger due to your negligence, even if you can't resist, you can die in Nanping Mountain and protect my hidden water source with your death."

"You are afraid of death and have abandoned the water source and fled!"

"General Cao Wenlie and seven thousand soldiers all died in Jieting, but you escaped alive. How can you face the emperor?"

"In the afterlife, how will you face the seven thousand comrades who died in the battle?"

Zhang Song was spitting and indignant, and he scolded Wang Ping angrily.

Wang Ping's face turned red and he was speechless.

There's nothing he can do. He's just a warrior and isn't good at verbal arguments.

Faced with Zhang Song's eloquent, conceptually shifting, and groundless criticism, he couldn't even think straight, let alone refute.

"Your Majesty, minister, minister..."

Wang Ping looked at Cao Cao with grievance and panic, stammering but unable to utter a word.

When he looked up at Cao Cao, he shuddered all over.

Cao Cao’s eyes can kill!
"How dare you escape to see me, you coward!"

"Come here, drag Wang Ping away and behead him to enforce military law!"

Cao Cao waved his hand angrily and gave orders.

One of the reasons was Zhang Song’s fanning the flames.

Someone has to take the blame for the fall of Jieting.

Cao Xiu was his own nephew and had died in battle, so the blame certainly could not be put on Cao Xiu.

Zhang Song is the representative of the Shu people, and he has the support of the entire Yizhou people behind him. What are you going to do now that Zhang Song has taken the blame?

Then this blame will have to be borne by you, Wang Ping.

Who made you the only one who escaped alive among seven thousand people?

Moreover, Cao Cao at this time was in grief and anger over the death of Cao Xiu, and temporarily lost his mind.

With all these factors combined, Wang Ping naturally became the scapegoat and the unlucky guy.

"Your Majesty, I am innocent. I am innocent—"

Wang Ping was horrified and kowtowed sadly and begged.

Cao Cao, who was already furious, remained indifferent and just waved his hand in disgust.

Guo Jia was about to advise, but he swallowed the words back when they came to his lips.

Pound's precedent is right there.

With this lesson in mind, even though Guo Jia knew that Cao Cao's move was excessive, he could only choose to remain silent.

Wang Ping was blamed, so the Royal Guards stripped him of his weapons and forcibly dragged him aside.

Just as the executioner was about to carry out the execution.

One of the counselors finally lost his patience and stood up with gritted teeth.

"Your Majesty, spare his life!" (End of this chapter)