Three Kingdoms: I choose Xiao Qiao and Da Qiao, why are you crying, Diao Chan?

Chapter 120: Using the Cai family as bait to lure the tiger away from the mountain! (Thanks to book friend 2024…5946 for the monthly ticket~)

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After hearing Lu Bu's suggestion, Cai Feng knelt on the ground in fear, touched his head to the ground, and loudly defended himself:
"Marquis Wen, don't believe the rumors. My Cai family always supports Marquis Wen!"

Looking at the trembling man lying on the ground, Lu Bu smiled and said:

"Master Cai, you are worrying too much. I have never doubted your Cai family.

"In the spring of next year, I plan to advance to Nanyang. By then, I will inevitably need your help."

Cai Feng, who was lying on the ground, had an intriguing expression on his face, and then he stood up and said:

"Don't worry, Lord Wen. My Cai family will definitely do our best to provide material assistance to Lord Wen!"

Lu Bu then stood up, helped Cai Feng up, and said with a smile:
“Then I would like to thank Patriarch Cai first.

"By the way, I have prepared a lunch. If Master Cai doesn't mind, why don't you join me for dinner?"

Although Cai Feng was reluctant in his heart, he didn't dare to say "no" at this time, so he could only nod:
"Then I will respectfully obey your command."

After finishing an extremely torturous meal, Cai Feng said goodbye cautiously and left.

Lu Bu did not try to persuade him to stay. He just watched the other party leave in a hurry with a half-smile on his face.

When Cai Feng passed through the gate, Hou Cheng happened to meet him.

Seeing Hou Cheng greeting him with a cheerful face, Cai Feng responded even though he was confused.

Hou Cheng came to the backyard and clasped his fists towards Lv Bu who was chatting with Huang Yueying.

"Hou Cheng greets the Lord and the Mistress."

Lu Bu raised his hand, and the clever Huang Yueying tactfully entered the house.

Lu Bu then teased Hou Cheng:

"Looking at your cheerful look, you must have succeeded, right?"

Hou Cheng couldn't help laughing:
"Thanks to my lord's brilliant plan, I was able to achieve my wish!"

Lu Bu sighed:

"You bunch of old bachelors, you need me to personally help you find a wife. I really admire you..."

Having said that, he still took advantage of this opportunity to both put a pressure on the Cai family and help Hou Cheng get what he wanted.

It can also allow Mrs. Cai to persuade Cai Feng, which is killing three birds with one stone.

Hou Cheng then said seriously:
"You should have told Cai Feng that we were going to attack Nanyang next spring, right?

"I hope this guy won't do anything to let us down, otherwise the Cai family might really cease to exist..."

Seeing Hou Cheng's worried look, Lu Bu comforted him:

“Don’t worry, even if something happens to the Cai family, I will ensure the safety of Madam Cai and Liu Cong.

"If Cai Feng really dares to betray me, I should kill him as a warning to other clans."

Hearing that Lü Bu was willing to guarantee the safety of Madam Cai and her son, Hou Cheng was relieved and immediately asked:
"In the next period of time, I will closely monitor the Cai family's every move.

"If there is anything abnormal, I will report it to you as soon as possible."

Lu Bu said "hmm":
“If Cao Cao knew that I had come to Xiangyang, he might turn his attention to other parts of my army.

“But it is winter now, the other side will not send troops easily.

"But Cao Cao is always using false tactics when deploying his troops, so we should be careful."

Zhang Liao and Zhou Yu are in charge of Runan.

As a top strategist and a famous city defender among the Three Kingdoms, Lu Bu was not too worried.

The only thing to worry about is that Jiangxia also borders Nanyang.

However, he sent Sun Ce, Wei Yan, Kuai Liang and Yu Fan to garrison Jiangxia with 40,000 soldiers.

There will also be Lujiang nearby to provide support, so it will be equally difficult for Cao Cao to attack Jiangxia.

Next, maybe we can wait peacefully until the beginning of next spring. …

Nanyang County, Wancheng.

Cao Cao, with eyes as bright as stars and power as loud as thunder, was leaning on the couch where Yuan Shu once slept.

In front of him stood a group of civil officials and military generals.

Xi Zhicai, with a slightly pale complexion, bowed to Cao Cao and said with a smile:

“My lord, according to the plan, Lu Bu has been lured to Xiangyang.

“Next, we can consider taking action against Jiang Xia.

“If we can successfully capture Jiangxia, we can cut off Lü Bu’s connection with Lujiang.

"Then we will formally send troops from Nanyang to besiege Xiangyang.

"As long as we can capture Xiangyang and kill Lu Bu, Lu Bu's army can be easily disintegrated!"

After listening to Xi Zhicai's words, Cao Cao nodded with satisfaction:

"Zhicai's plan is brilliant. Although Lu Bu took over the entire Yangzhou with his own bravery.

“But it is still easy for this general to destroy him.

“This time we are using the Cai family as bait to lure the tiger away from the mountain.

“Although the two Jiangxia defenders, Sun Ce and Wei Yan, are brave, they are both young and inexperienced.

"As for the counselors Kuai Liang and Yu Fan, they are mediocre and need not be a concern.

"Compared to the guy who gave Liu Bei advice last time in Xuzhou, he is much worse."

Hearing this, all the counselors present immediately looked ashamed.

I thought attacking Xuzhou would be a sure win.

Unexpectedly, Liu Bei suddenly became a military genius, repeatedly defeating the larger enemy with a smaller one, and making every possible plan!
It was as if a top veteran strategist with decades of combat experience was giving advice!

In addition, two top generals, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, intervened, causing them to return in defeat...

However, everyone knows that Liu Bei could not have such talent, and there must be an expert guiding him behind the scenes.

However, Cao Cao sent people to investigate secretly, but did not see any advisers around Liu Bei.

The only suspicious thing was that there was a little servant boy of about twelve or thirteen years old accompanying the three brothers Liu, Guan and Zhang.

But no one would think that such a little book boy could fight against all the advisers on his side by himself.

Before figuring out the matter, Cao Cao did not dare to take any action against Liu Bei who was stationed in Xiaopei.

After much thought, among all the surrounding forces, the weakest one for Cao Cao is undoubtedly the brave but unwise Lu Bu!
Although Lu Bu started from Lujiang, pacified Jiangdong and acquired ten counties in just two years.

The main reason was that there were no strong enemies around, and Lu Bu's bravery was unstoppable, so he succeeded easily.

But Cao Cao believed that when facing him, the other party would be easily controlled by him like a naive child!

Now that the other party was easily attracted to Xiangyang, it can be seen that the other party was unable to see through their motives.

The reason why Cao Cao was in a hurry to attack Jiangxia was not just to expand his territory.

It was also to regain the upper hand over Lu Bu after the defeat in Xuzhou, so as to stabilize the morale of the army and his own prestige.

At this time, Xun Yu stepped forward to state the enemy information he had obtained:
“Now Jiangxia has a total of more than 40,000 soldiers and horses, mainly stationed in Yundu County and Jingling County.

“Among them, Yundu City has 25,000 soldiers and Jingling City has 15,000 soldiers.

"Sun Ce and Kuai Liang stationed their troops at Yundu, while Wei Yan and Yu Fan guarded Jingling.

"It is winter now, and the enemy will certainly not expect us to advance at this time.

"We must capture at least one city before the enemy reacts, and then use this city as a base to advance deeper into Jiangxia.

"In addition, we must send troops to Xiangyang and Runan at the same time to contain the enemy and prevent them from having the energy to support Jiangxia!"

(End of this chapter)