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

Dusk.

The water level of Ruoshui finally dropped.

Only then was Zhang Fei able to lead 30,000 main infantry, wade across the river and reach the north bank.

Guan Ping and Deng Ai, two generals, had already led more than 16,000 infantry and cavalry and were waiting on the north bank.

"To the Prime Minister, to the General of the Cavalry."

"We attacked from both inside and outside, severely damaging Cao Zhang and killing more than 5,000 enemy soldiers."

"The remnant of Cao Zhang has led 5,000 remaining soldiers back to Juyan City."

Guan Ping stepped forward to report the results of the battle.

Zhang Fei took one look at Juyan City, his eyes spitting fire.

What was originally a smooth northern expedition was repeatedly schemed against by Cao Zhang, causing him to lose face.

At this time, Zhang Fei was eager to raze Juyan City to the ground and cut Cao Zhang into pieces.

"Pass on my order. The army will immediately surround Juyan. Make the city like an iron barrel. Don't let even a fly out!"

Zhang Fei pointed his Zhangba Snake Spear at Juyan City and gave orders with an annoyed look on his face.

Xiao Fang smiled faintly and said:

"Yide, I'm afraid there's no need to go to all that trouble. If I'm right, Juyan City is now an empty city."

Empty city?

Zhang Fei was stunned, his eyes rolled around for a few seconds, and suddenly his mind lit up:
"Prime Minister, do you mean that the little bastard Cao Zhang has already abandoned the city and fled?"

Xiao Fang smiled slightly and agreed.

Zhang Fei frowned and shouted:

"What are you waiting for? Attack the city immediately!"

After the order was given, tens of thousands of Han troops rushed towards Juyan City like a tide.

Half an hour later, the Han army captured Juyan City without bloodshed.

This last Qin city in Liangzhou changed its flag to the Han flag.

"Prime Minister, just as you expected, Cao Zhang has escaped!"

On the top of the city wall, Zhang Fei gave Xiao Fang a thumbs up.

Xiao Fang gently waved his feather fan and sneered:

"Although Cao Zhang is a common man, he is not a reckless man who is not afraid of death. He knew that he only had 4,000 soldiers and horses left, and that defending Guyan would mean waiting for death, but he still dared to stubbornly hold on."

"Even if he wants to act foolishly, Guo Jia will not let him do so. He will definitely persuade him to abandon the city and flee before our army crosses the river in large numbers."

Zhang Fei seemed to understand something, but he said:
"Then according to the Prime Minister, where can this kid Cao Zhang escape to?"

"Northern Sai, grassland!"

Xiao Fang pointed his feather fan to the north:
"It's impossible to go south. There's only desert to the west and east. Cao Zhang's only way out is to go north."

"Go north across the Juyan Lake, then walk through a stretch of Gobi Desert, and you'll enter the northern grasslands."

"Now the Xianbei have replaced the Xiongnu and occupied the northern grasslands. The Xianbei leader Kebi Neng is a man of great talent and strategy. He is said to have 100,000 soldiers under his command and is poised to unify the grasslands."

"I expect Cao Zhang to go north to the grasslands and attach himself to Kebi Neng under the pretext of forming an alliance with him."

"Then he can use the Xianbei's power to invade our border counties of You and Bing, and open up an enclave for Cao Cao in the north."

Xiao Fang took his time and pointed out all of Cao Zhang's plans.

Zhang Fei suddenly realized and slapped his thigh:
"Okay, it turns out that Cao Zhang is still thinking of joining the Xianbei barbarians, hoping to continue to cause trouble for our You and Bing states."

"How can I let him succeed? I must eliminate him in Liangzhou and never let him escape!" Zhang Fei was about to give the order, for the entire army to march north immediately without any rest to pursue Cao Zhang.

"In order to escape, Cao Zhang must have abandoned his baggage and fled at full speed at night without hesitation."

"Although our army has the advantage of cavalry, once the enemy army crosses the desert, the grassland is vast and there is no trace to be found. I am afraid it will be difficult to catch up with Cao Zhang."

But Deng Ai poured a bucket of cold water on them at this time.

Zhang Fei frowned, punched the battlement hard with his fist, and said through gritted teeth:
"Shi Zai's words make sense. Once Cao Zhang enters the grassland, it will be difficult to catch up with him."

"Could it be that I really want to let the remnants of the Cao family escape from my hands?"

Zhang Fei was unwilling to give in and kept pounding on the battlements.

Xiao Fang didn't think so and laughed coldly:
"Cao Cao's army of several hundred thousand men was utterly destroyed by your majesty, and they fled to Shu like dogs that had lost their homes."

"Cao Zhang is just a mere person. Even if he were to flee to the grasslands and join Ke Bineng's army, what kind of waves would he cause?"

"At worst, when Your Majesty sends troops to destroy the Xianbei in the future, he can also eliminate the remnants of the Cao family."

"Besides..."

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

At this point, Xiao Fang suddenly changed the subject:
"We have deployed a group of troops in advance, so we may be able to kill Cao Zhang."

This statement came out.

Zhang Fei, Deng Ai and Guan Ping were all surprised.

Everyone looked at Xiao Fang in surprise.

"Prime Minister, you said that a group of troops were deployed in advance. Which group of troops?"

Zhang Fei asked in surprise and excitement.

Xiao Fang was not in a hurry. He asked Xu Chu to bring the map and spread it in front of Zhang Fei.

"Yide, look, Liangzhou and Bingzhou seem to be separated by Guanzhong, a thousand miles away, but in fact, there is only two hundred miles of grassland in between."

"The Juyan State is located in the northeastern bulge of Liangzhou, and the Shuofang Commandery is located in the northwestern bulge of Bingzhou. This two hundred miles of grassland is located right between the two places."

"So before you, Yide, set out on the northern expedition, I asked Your Majesty for permission to order Zhang Liao to lead the Shuofang garrison, go out of the border into the grasslands, and head west to Guyuan, to prevent Cao Zhang from escaping to the grasslands."

"According to the time, Zhang Liao's troops should be not far from Juyan. Maybe he can catch Cao Zhang just in time."

Xiao Fang pointed at the map with his feather fan and explained his layout one by one.

Kebi was able to rapidly expand his power by relying on the surrender of a large number of powerful and famous people in the Han area. While the Han and Qin were at war, he successively annexed the Western Xianbei and the Eastern Xianbei, and was on the verge of unifying the grassland.

Naturally, Xiao Fang could not help but be on guard against such a foreign force rising outside the Great Wall. As early as after pacifying Guanzhong, he made suggestions to Liu Bei and began to mobilize talented generals to strengthen the border counties of You and Bing.

Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, Zhang Xiu and other famous generals who were skilled in cavalry warfare were transferred to You and Bing states to command border troops and intimidate the Xianbei people.

As Zhang Liao was from Bingzhou, he was naturally transferred by Liu Bei to Shuofang to take charge.

After hearing Xiao Fang's plan, everyone suddenly realized what was going on and were immediately amazed and impressed.

Zhang Fei widened his eyes and exclaimed in an extremely admiring tone:

"My dear Prime Minister Xiao, you had already predicted that Cao Zhang's remnants would not flee to the Western Regions, but would flee to the grasslands via Guyan instead. You actually secretly sent Zhang Liao to intercept them in advance?"

"You are so shrewd and farsighted. You are so cruel to hide this from me!"

Deng Ai, Guan Ping and other young generals were also shocked and impressed again by Xiao Fang's wisdom.

Xiao Fang smiled faintly and said:

"I'm not sure Cao Zhang will flee to the grasslands, and Zhang Liao's troops were just a precaution. I didn't expect that they would come in handy now."

Zhang Fei looked towards the north, as if the vast grassland had already appeared in his mind.

"Zhang Wenyuan, I hope you can arrive in time. Don't let Cao Zhang's remnant escape this disaster..." (End of this chapter)