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

Liu Bei showed the victory news to Xiao Fang and all his ministers.

In the palace, all the ministers were excited.

"Ma Su is a very capable boy. He can think of things that you, Prime Minister, can think of. He is indeed worthy of being taught by the Prime Minister."

"No, it should be you, Prime Minister, who has a sharp eye. How did you discover such a great talent for the Emperor?"

Zhang Fei was both delighted and impressed, and he flattered Xiao Fang without hesitation.

"Your Majesty, Cao Cao is unwilling to lose Jieting and is leading his army to attack and recapture it!"

"I beg Your Majesty to lead the army in person and rush to Jieting to destroy Cao the thief in one fell swoop!"

Ma Chao jumped out, excitedly and eagerly asking for a fight.

With national hatred and family feuds to bear, he could not wait even a day and wished he could kill Cao Cao right now.

All the generals wanted to win merit and asked for battle.

Liu Bei's face was also filled with fighting spirit, but he pressed his hand towards his ministers, signaling everyone to calm down.

"Prime Minister, what do you think?"

The plan of conquest depends on Xiao Fang’s attitude.

Xiao Fang put away the victory report and said calmly:

"It is not surprising that Youchang could see through Cao Xiu's tricks. It is also reasonable that Cao Cao was unwilling to lose Jieting and wanted to do his best to take it back."

"I think Your Majesty does not need to rush to the west, but can use Jieting to bleed Cao Cao!"

Liu Bei's eyes lit up and he motioned Xiao Fang to continue.

"Cao Cao has just suffered a defeat in Guanzhong. He is now resting his troops in preparation for the attack led by Your Majesty."

"But now he ordered his soldiers to keep their saddles on their horses, and as soon as he retreated to Longxi, he launched a large-scale attack on Jieting."

"When our soldiers have rested and are marching into Longxi, Cao Cao will use his exhausted army to fight against my energetic elite army."

"How can he stop it?"

Liu Bei nodded slightly, having already understood Xiao Fang's profound meaning.

Xiao Fang paused, then continued:

"Besides, Cao Cao has lost Guanzhong, and the food supply in Longxi is limited. All food has to be transported from Yizhou."

"The Qin army is attacking Jieting, and their food and fodder are consuming countless quantities every day. The longer the battle lasts, the heavier the burden on Yizhou will be. It won't be long before they will be unable to supply the food and fodder."

"But our army has the entire Han Dynasty as its backing, and we have no problem with the supply of food and grass. We will fight Cao Cao as long as he wants."

"So, what I mean is, let Cao Cao attack Jieting, and we will make Jieting a wound on the body of the Pseudo-Qin, and continue to bleed it."

"If we wait until Cao Cao's soldiers are exhausted and have no more food and grass, then Your Majesty will have completely pacified Guanzhong by then, and you can lead a million-strong army with high morale to conquer the west. Wouldn't it be unstoppable and invincible?"

After hearing Xiao Fang's full explanation, Liu Bei smiled.

In short, the purpose was to use Jieting as bait to deplete the morale and food supplies of the Qin army.

Anyway, I have the famous general Zhang He, the wise general Ma Su, and 30,000 troops in Jieting. Even if you, Cao Cao, come with 100,000 troops, I will not be afraid of you.

I will fight you to the point of draining your morale and your food supplies.

When I have pacified Guanzhong and have no worries, I will lead the Han soldiers who are well fed, well drunk and well slept to march west, and won't it be easy to deal with you, right?
After understanding this, Liu Bei happily clapped his hands on the table:
"Okay, let's do as the Prime Minister said. All the generals should stay calm and let's focus on pacifying Guanzhong first."

"Send an imperial edict to Zhang He and Ma Su, and tell them to guard Jieting and bleed Cao Cao!"

...

The battle for Jieting began.

When Cao Cao arrived at Jieting in full force, Zhang He and Ma Su's armies had already joined forces.

Of the 30,000 Han troops, 20,000 were stationed inside Jieting City, 15,000 were stationed outside the city, and another 5,000 were stationed on Nanping Mountain.

The three Han armies formed a defensive formation in the shape of a triangle, supporting each other.

Cao Cao led an army of 50,000 and attacked fiercely on the Han army.

For ten consecutive days.

The Qin army attacked fiercely day and night, suffering nearly a thousand casualties, but with no results.

There was no way. It was not that Cao Cao was incompetent in using his troops, nor that the Qin army was not elite enough. The key was that the Qin army was too small in number.

Fifty thousand against thirty thousand. On the surface, they have twenty thousand more troops than the Han army, but as the attacking side, the mere twenty thousand troop advantage seems much more shabby.

What's more, Zhang He, one of the Four Pillars of Hebei, and Ma Su, the top scholar of the Han Dynasty, are a combination that cannot be easily bullied by you, Cao Cao.

Therefore, after ten days of fierce attack, the Qin army achieved no results.

Cao Cao was unwilling to give in, so he had to order troops to be dispatched from various counties for reinforcement.

Within a month, the Qin army gathered together and increased its troops in Jieting to more than 70,000, nearly twice the number of the Han army.

This number is the maximum number of troops Cao Cao can use in the Jieting battlefield.

If he wanted to mobilize again, he could only use Xiahou Yuan's army in Yizhou.

However, once this legion was deployed, Xiahou Yuan would not have enough troops to deal with the Han army's attack on Jingzhou.

At the same time, in South China, the unruly southern barbarians may take advantage of the situation and rebel at any time.

At that time, Yizhou will face the danger of being attacked from both inside and outside.

Yizhou is now Cao Cao's coffin, so we cannot mess up.

So Cao Cao could only use these 70,000 people he had gathered together to continue his fierce attack on Jieting City.

In a blink of an eye, it's January again.

The city of Jieting still stands.

Under the command of Zhang He and Ma Su, the 30,000 Han troops defended Jieting like an iron wall, not giving Cao Cao any chance.

Even during this month, Liu Bei sent 10,000 troops to replace the guard to ensure that the defenders of Jieting had sufficient combat effectiveness.

With the support of the entire Han State, Jieting was as solid as a rock.

After nearly two months of fierce attack, the Qin army's morale and strength were exhausted, and the offensive gradually became a spent force.

At nightfall, the Qin army arrived at the imperial tent.

While Cao Cao was having dinner, he was listening to Guo Jia's report on military situation.

"In the past two months, our army has suffered a total of 5,000 casualties."

"Because our army has limited manpower, without using the Yizhou Legion, we were only able to replenish less than a thousand people."

"Our military strength has now been reduced to more than 64,000 men."

"As for food and fodder, the army has less than half a month's worth of food in stock. The food team from Yizhou should have arrived seven days ago, but according to news from Chengdu, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has not yet collected enough food and fodder."

"It is estimated that the next batch of Yizhou military rations will be delayed by about half a month."

Guo Jia read the military report silently, looking at Cao Cao cautiously, observing the changes in Cao Cao's expression.

"Snapped!"

Cao Cao slammed his chopsticks on the table and said angrily:

"What's wrong with the prince? He volunteered to go to Chengdu to collect food and fodder, so why is he so incompetent?"

Guo Jia sighed bitterly and said helplessly:

"Your Highness has actually done his best, but right now my army of 60,000 to 70,000 relies entirely on Yizhou for food and fodder, which is a heavy burden on the people of Yizhou."

"Besides, transporting grain and grass from Yizhou requires crossing the Qinling Mountains, which is not easy."

"I believe that Your Highness has done his best to achieve this."

Cao Cao also knew Cao Pi's difficulties, and after hearing Guo Jia's explanation, he had to swallow back his anger.

"Send another imperial decree to urge him to deliver food and fodder to the front line as soon as possible."

After giving a somewhat weak explanation, Cao Cao sighed and picked up the bowl and chopsticks again.

But in this mood, he had no appetite. He picked up a piece of chicken rib with his chopsticks, but he was reluctant to put it in his mouth. Instead, he became dazed and absent-minded.

"Your Majesty, what is the passcode for tonight? Your Majesty, please tell me."

At this time Dian Wei entered the tent and asked Cao Cao for instructions.

Cao Cao was in a trance, and without thinking too much, he just subconsciously replied:
"Chicken ribs~~" (End of this chapter)