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

Cao Cao's imperial edict was quickly sent to Hanzhong.

Cao Zhen knew that Hanzhong could not be defended, so he had made preparations for retreating to the south in advance. As soon as Cao Cao's imperial edict arrived, he immediately led his troops to retreat to Langzhong.

Yan Yan, who was at Yangping Pass, had to obey Cao Cao's imperial edict after receiving it, although he was extremely reluctant.

As a result, the more than 20,000 Qin troops stationed in Yangping abandoned Yangping Pass at night and retreated southward.

Nearly 30,000 Qin troops in Hanzhong then withdrew to the Jiange line to garrison.

As soon as the Qin army retreated, Yangping Pass fell without a fight, and Liu Bei led an army of 200,000 and entered the pass in a mighty force.

A few days later, the army occupied the city of Nanzheng without bloodshed.

As soon as Nanzheng was taken, all the counties responded with an order and surrendered immediately.

In the winter of that year, Hanzhong officially returned to the territory of the Han Dynasty.

Liu Bei then took all the food and grass stored in the Nanzheng treasury and used them to reward the meritorious soldiers of the three armies.

In the city of Nanzheng, 200,000 Han troops cheered and sang and danced to celebrate the capture of Hanzhong.

Liu Bei held a banquet in the county government, where he drank and chatted with his generals to celebrate this achievement.

"My lords, Hanzhong has been taken. I will take advantage of the victory to march south, capture Chengdu in one fell swoop, and destroy the false Qin."

"What should we do next? Please feel free to speak your mind!"

After several rounds of drinking, Liu Bei, full of high spirits, raised his glass and asked his ministers.

Pang Tong, Fa Zheng, Chen Deng and other counselors all offered their suggestions.

Everyone had roughly the same opinion that Liu Bei should personally lead the army and continue southward to capture Jiange.

Jiange Pass is the throat of Shu. If this pass is breached, Chengdu will have no defenses and the hundreds of thousands of Han troops will be able to enter the Chengdu Plain unimpeded.

Liu Bei kept nodding, obviously agreeing with the opinions of his ministers.

"Your Majesty, my opinion is slightly different from everyone else's."

Amidst the discussion, Xiao Fang suddenly spoke.

Everyone in the hall fell silent immediately, and Liu Bei and his ministers all looked at Xiao Fang.

Xiao Fang played with his wine glass and said meaningfully:

"I think that if we attack Chengdu from the direction of Jiange, it will just satisfy Cao Cao's wish."

As soon as this statement came out, everyone was shocked.

"I don't quite understand what you said, Prime Minister. How can I fulfill Cao's wish? Prime Minister, please explain clearly."

Liu Bei looked suspicious and asked again.

The ministers also had the same confused look.

Xiao Fang gave Xu Chu a wink, and Xu Chu ordered his personal guards to lift the sand table of the entire Shu area into the hall.

"Your Majesty, please take a look."

"If we go south from Hanzhong to capture Chengdu, we have only one way to go, which is to capture Jiange Pass. The danger of Jiange Pass is far greater than that of Yangping Pass. It is also a dangerous pass where one man can hold off ten thousand men."

"Cao Cao only needs to station more than 10,000 troops in Jiange to stop my million-strong army from marching south."

"Although Yangping Pass is dangerous, there are still loopholes like Dingjun Mountain that can be used. Jiange is impregnable, so the only way is to storm it."

"It's not like we haven't attacked Yangping Pass before, and everyone remembers the losses we suffered. Do you have the confidence that you can break through Jiange Pass?"

Xiao Fang pointed at the sand table and analyzed it proudly.

In fact, there is a strategy to break through Jiange, which is to imitate Deng Ai's strategy of sneaking across Yinping.

However, the prerequisites for this strategy are extremely harsh. What worked back then may not work now.

The Shu Han at that time had a foolish ruler and no generals were available in the court. The only general, Jiang Wei, and the mobile forces were all in Jiange to stop Zhong Hui.

Therefore, after Deng Ai sneaked across Yinping and entered the Chengdu Plain, no one could stop him, and his army was invincible all the way to Chengdu.

The situation is different now. Cao Cao is still in Chengdu, and he has many generals under his command, such as Xu Huang, Yan Yan, Zhang Ren, and Xiahou Dun.

Even if Cao Cao was forced into a corner, he could lead the army himself.

Moreover, there are still tens of thousands of Qin troops available on the Chengdu front line, so the manpower is not empty.

In this situation, what can you do even if you, a lone troop, succeed in sneaking across Yinping?

Can you defeat Cao Cao?
If you can't win, isn't that just giving away your life?

This is why Xiao Fang did not offer this plan to Liu Bei.

"What the Prime Minister said makes sense. Breaking through Jiange Pass is not as easy as breaking through Yangping Pass..."

Liu Bei stroked his thin beard, nodded slightly, and frowned slightly.

"What the Prime Minister said is absolutely right. If we attack from the north, the final result will be that we will be unable to take Jiange for a long time and eventually run out of food and retreat!"

"I agree with the Prime Minister. We should not attack Chengdu from Jiange!"

Pang Tong also agreed with Xiao Fang's analysis.

"But since ancient times, the only way to capture Chengdu is through Jiange."

"If we don't attack Jiange, how can we take Chengdu?"

Fa Zheng suddenly spoke up to remind him.

Liu Bei's expression was slightly shocked, and he suddenly realized something and looked at Xiao Fang again.

He knew Xiao Fang too well. Since Xiao Fang proposed not to attack Chengdu from the north, there must be a follow-up.

"Who said that to attack Chengdu, we must go south from the north?"

Xiao Fang smiled mysteriously and pointed to the east of the sand table:
"Yizhou is connected to Guanlong in the north and borders Jingzhou in the east. If you go west along the Yangtze River, you can also enter Shu."

"Since the northern route is blocked, why don't we change our strategy and attack Yizhou from Jingzhou and capture Chengdu?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the hall was in an uproar.

Everyone looked surprised and their eyes widened, their gazes following Xiao Fang's pointing towards the direction of Jingzhou.

Fish returns to the city.

It is also known as Baidi City. After passing this city and heading east through Wu Gorge and three other gorges, you will enter Jingzhou.

Xiao Fang's strategy was to lead his troops eastward from Jingzhou, capture Yu Fu, open a passage into Shu from the east, and capture Chengdu along the river!
"Conquer Yizhou from Jingzhou..."

Liu Bei's eyes flickered, as if a new world had been opened up.

After all, since ancient times, there has only been precedent of destroying Shu from the north to the south, and there has never been a successful precedent of conquering Shu from the direction of Jingzhou.

"Your Majesty, I think the Prime Minister's strategy is indeed feasible."

Fa Zheng opened his mouth and pointed at the sand table:
"We have the convenience of water transportation when we enter Shu from Jingzhou. First of all, food and grass supply will not be a problem. After all, we have the advantage of the navy."

"Besides, no matter how dangerous the Fishbelly City is, can it be more dangerous than the Sword Pavilion?"

Fa Zheng was obviously inclined to support Xiao Fang.

At this time, Pang Tong also said:

"Your Majesty, please lead our main army from Hanzhong to the south and feint to attack Jiange to attract the attention of Cao thieves."

"In this way, the main force of the Qin army will definitely be drawn to the Jiange line, and the strength of Yu Fu in the east will inevitably be reduced, and to a certain extent, they will be less prepared."

"At this time, Your Majesty can send a general to lead the troops of Jingyang, set out from Jiangling, unexpectedly cross the Three Gorges, and head straight for Yufu."

"Once Yufu is defeated, our army can march westward and capture Jiangzhou again."

"Once Jiangzhou is captured, Qin's eastern defense will collapse, Chengdu will be undefended, and the Qin army will surely collapse."

"Your Majesty, if you lead the main force again and rush to attack Jiange, you will surely be able to defeat it."

"With this two-pronged attack, the fake Qin can be destroyed!" (End of this chapter)