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

"A feint to the east and attack in the west?!"

Cao Pi, who had not yet figured out Xiao Fang's plan, stared at Sima Yi in shock and continued to ask:
"Tell me quickly, what strategy did Xiao Fang use to divert attention?"

Sima Yi took a deep breath and slowly walked to the map.

He raised his hand, pointed at the map and said:
"Your Highness, please look, this is our Jiange natural barrier."

Cao Pi naturally knew about this place, because his father, Emperor Cao Cao, was guarding it personally.

"This Jian Ge is a dangerous place, even birds can hardly cross it. Plus, my father is personally leading the troops to guard it. Even if the big-eared thief has more troops, he can't take it down!"

Cao Pi said so.

Sima Yi also nodded and replied:
"Yes, Xiao Fang must have thought so too, so he knew that the chances of success were slim if he attacked our Shuzhong hinterland from Jiange."

Cao Pi began to show impatience on his face, wondering what Sima Yi was going to say.

Sima Yi turned his hand and pointed his finger towards Yufu City.

Following Sima Yi's finger, Cao Pi's eyes finally fell on Yufu City.

Cao Pi frowned and his face was full of confusion about this city.

Sima Yi continued, "Xiao Fang knew that attacking from Jiange would not work, so he came up with a strategy of crossing the Three Gorges, breaking through Yufu, and advancing eastward to Yizhou!"

After hearing Sima Yi's words, Cao Pi was shocked and looked carefully at the place of Yufu.

Just as Sima Yi said, after conquering Yu Fu, they would be able to march straight into Yizhou from Jingzhou in the east.

After reading it, Cao Pi took a deep breath and a look of amazement flashed across his face. It was obvious that he could not have expected that Xiao Fang could come up with such a strategy to attack Shu.

Sima Yi took a deep breath and continued:
"So, Liu Bei's statement that he would personally lead 400,000 Han troops to attack our Jiange was just a bait!"

Cao Pi seemed to understand something, and he continued Sima Yi's words:
"You mean, Xiao Fang's real purpose is to lure my father and our main force to the Jiange front line to set up defenses."

"That's right!"

Sima Yi nodded heavily, and then said:
"In this case, Yu Fu will be short of manpower when he reaches Jiangzhou. Our army will have almost no combat effectiveness. Can it be easily defeated by Xiao Fang?"

After hearing this, Cao Pi suddenly realized.

He slapped the map and cursed angrily:

"How hateful! We were actually led by Xiao Fang from the beginning to the end..."

Sima Yi sighed, shook his head and said:
"Alas, we miscalculated and were fooled by Xiao Fang again!"

"How hateful! This country bumpkin is..."

Cao Pi's fist smashed against the table frantically, as if he wanted to smash Xiao Fang to pieces.

Sima Yi was also angry, but he knew that cursing would be of no use.

Now, the most important thing is to face reality and defend the Jiangzhou front line.

"Prince, scolding Xiao Fang now will do no good."

Sima Yi interrupted him and tapped his fingers on the map:

"Now, the Han army has approached Jiangzhou, and Yan Yan only has 6,000 soldiers and horses. I'm afraid... it will be difficult to resist!"

Sima Yi's brows were furrowed, his face full of worry.

"Then we have to think of a foolproof plan!"

Cao Pi finally came out of his anger and began to look at Sima Yi in panic.

Sima Yi reminded Cao Pi to stay calm.

Cao Pi adjusted his emotions, his eyes calmed down, and he said again:
"So in your opinion, what should we do now?"

Sima Yi did not say anything. He put his hands behind his back and paced back and forth in the hall without saying a word.

Cao Pi knew that Sima Yi was thinking about a countermeasure, but he didn't dare to disturb him. He could only worry about it himself. He picked up the wine glass and drank one cup after another.

After a while.

Sima Yi's eyes lit up, and he seemed to have a solution.

"Jiangzhou must not be lost!"

"If Jiangzhou is lost, Chengdu will lose its last barrier, and Xiao Fang's army can easily arrive. In that case, Daqin will be in danger!"

"So, we must defend Jiangzhou no matter what."

Cao Pi nodded heavily and asked:
"Then how can we protect Jiangzhou?" "Jiangzhou is the gate to Chengdu. At present, we can only mobilize all the troops in Chengdu and rush to Jiangzhou to guard the gate first, and then wait for your majesty's reinforcements to arrive."

Sima Yi walked to the map again and placed his hand on Jiangzhou.

Cao Pi seemed to understand, but he had no idea what to do, so he just nodded.

"There is no time to lose, Crown Prince. You should quickly order Wu Yi to lead his troops to reinforce Jiangzhou."

"At the same time, Your Highness should immediately send someone to report the situation to His Majesty, and ask His Majesty to dispatch troops to support us immediately!"

Sima Yi arranged in an orderly manner.

Cao Pi had already lost his composure and without giving it much thought, he immediately passed on the order according to Sima Yi's instructions.

Soon, Wu Yi led 7,000 Qin troops and marched day and night without stopping to Jiangzhou.

Cao Pi drafted an urgent report overnight and sent it to Cao Cao at Jiange.

...

The air inside Jiange Pass was filled with the smell of alcohol.

Cao Cao was discussing state affairs with Zhang Ren, Zhang Song, Yan Pu and others.

While drinking, the king and his ministers discussed how to resist Liu Bei's army.

Cao Cao stood up, raised his glass high, and said with a smile:

"Everyone, this battle at Jiange is of great importance. The future and fate of the Qin Empire and you all depend on this battle."

"I hope you will all go all out and defend Jiange with me!"

Cao Cao's words were like a boost of chicken blood, instantly inspiring all the ministers and filling them with confidence.

But there was only one person with a frown on his face.

This person is Yan Pu.

The way he looked at it clearly showed that he thought that his emperor, Cao Cao, seemed to be underestimating his enemy.

After hesitating for a moment, Yan Pu bowed and said:
"Your Majesty, although we have the danger of Jiange, Liu Bei has Xiao Fang's assistance. I think we should be more cautious."

Yan Pu's words were like a bucket of cold water poured on Cao Cao and his generals.

The exciting and confident atmosphere just now was broken in an instant.

Cao Cao frowned, looking slightly displeased.

"Your Majesty, Xiao Fang is a master of war, like a reincarnated sage. We have suffered so much at his hands!"

"I think if we are not careful, it could lead to disaster!"

Although Yan Pu could see that Cao Cao was unhappy, he still gave a fair reminder.

Cao Cao said nothing, but his face looked very unhappy.

Zhang Song saw this and immediately came to the rescue:

"Yan Zimiao, you worry too much. Don't you know that my Sword Pavilion is difficult to cross? And if your Majesty fights in person, then even if Xiao Fang has great wisdom, he can't make the Han army fly in even if they have wings?"

After hearing this, Yan Pu frowned again, but dared not say anything else.

at this time.

Cao Cao sneered, looked at Yan Pu's negative expression, and said disapprovingly:

"Our Sword Pavilion is a natural fortress. Just as Yongnian said, it is easy to defend but difficult to attack. No matter how capable Xiao Fang is, what can he do?"

"Yan Qing, we can't underestimate the enemy, but we can't be too afraid and dampen our spirits."

Yan Pu was speechless. Seeing that Cao Cao was so confident, he didn't want to spoil his fun.

Cao Cao raised his cup and wanted to drink again.

At this moment, Mao Jie suddenly rushed in and half-knelt on the ground.

He looked panicked and said in a deep voice:
"Your Majesty, urgent news from the south!"

Cao Cao seemed to be still drunk and didn't take his words seriously.

Mao Jie was extremely anxious when he saw this, and he shouted loudly:

"Your Majesty, Xiao Fang has led his army to capture Yufu City. 90,000 Han troops have passed the Three Gorges and are approaching Jiangzhou!" (End of this chapter)