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

Chapter 125 Blue Tips (Thanks to Sad Little Bunny for the monthly ticket support~)
Xiangyang City.

Lu Bu looked at the letter that had just been sent from Jiangxia and frowned slightly.

It was a bit unexpected, yet also expected.

Cao Cao is truly a hero in troubled times!

When using troops, you must be cunning and never use ordinary people's thoughts to guess the opponent's intentions.

Although winter is cold, it is not completely impossible to fight.

As long as the equipment is good enough, the disadvantages of severe cold can be overcome.

Sending troops in winter can achieve unexpected results.

However, Lu Bu believed that with his financial situation, he could not provide all of his hundreds of thousands of soldiers with leather armor to keep out the cold.

But with Cao Cao's strength in Yanzhou and Yuzhou, plus the full support of the local aristocratic families, it is entirely possible to achieve this.

Compared with Cao Cao, among the aristocratic families under his command, the only ones willing to fully support him are the Qiao and Huang families.

Even Zhou Yu's family didn't fully support him...

This is the impact of background gap.

Cao Cao's father was the Grand Marshal, and his grandfather Cao Teng was also a popular figure around Emperor Shun.

Especially in such troubled times, people with family background and influence are more likely to be valued and have high hopes placed on them.

Before he started his career, Lu Bu was just a boy from Baotou, Inner Mongolia with no background.

A mere commoner, a pariah in the eyes of the aristocratic families...

If he had not gained fame by following Dong Zhuo, and had not made great contributions in killing the thief Dong, coupled with his bravery like a lone peak, who would have taken him seriously?

Lu Bu sighed slightly and then pulled his thoughts back.

The letter said that Cao Cao had sent a large army to besiege Runan and personally led the army towards Jiangxia.

This letter was sent ten days ago. By now, Cao Cao's army should have arrived in Jiangxia.

Lu Bu didn't expect that Cao Cao would not take action, but would instead lead an army of 100,000!

It seems that he wants to kill him in one fell swoop.

But this is underestimating him.

If it were the original Lu Bu, he might really be killed by the opponent in one blow.

But now, after two years of hard work, he has no less capable and brave generals under his command!

He is no longer the Lu Bu in history who only had Chen Gong and a group of third-rate generals by his side.

If Cao Cao wanted to eat him in one bite, he would only choke himself to death!

Of course, Kuai Liang's letter also mentioned the anonymous letter and the three tips.

This time, along with the letter came a blue treasure bag.

The moment he saw the brocade bag, Lu Bu guessed that it must have been made by "a bad man".

He already had the talent to rule the world, and he had gained countless experiences from decades of continuous growth in adversity...

For everyone in this period, he is definitely the top boss!

When he thought of that guy, Lu Bu felt both fearful and excited.

Of the three treasure bags sent by the other party, the red one has been opened, and the yellow one was opened after the Jiangxia crisis was resolved and was left in Jiangxia.

As for the remaining blue sachet, he was instructed to deliver it to him before opening it.

Lu Bu opened the blue brocade bag and took out the note inside. There were only a few simple words on it:
"Execute the Cai family and attack Xinye.

“Defeat the fake enemy and cut off the food supply.

"Fu Dafu, capture Cao the thief!"

Just six simple sentences, but they clearly give strategic instructions.

Especially the last part, "Ambush Dafu and capture the thief Cao", made his heart beat fast.

If we can capture Cao Cao in this battle and kill him, we can instantly eliminate a great threat!

However, Lu Bu soon calmed down, because he knew from the beginning to the end who had given him this brocade bag!
If it was that guy...

If the other party wanted to assist Liu Bei in rebuilding the Han Dynasty, then it would be impossible for him, his competitor, to really reap the benefits!
It seemed that the first secret bag was to help them resolve the crisis in Jiangxia, but in fact it was to gain his trust.

The second tip is where the trap lies!
The other party asked me to destroy the Cai family...

Although it can be seen from various signs collected recently that the Cai family did have contact with Cao's army, it is still far from the point of rebellion.

If the Cai family is executed without solid evidence, it will only make it more difficult for him, who does not have a strong background, to gain the trust and support of other families.

And the image of benevolence and generosity that he has established in the past two years will collapse in an instant!
As for "attacking Xinye", this is indeed a good suggestion.

If they can successfully advance, not only will they be able to greatly reduce the pressure on Jiangxia, they will even have a chance to cut off Cao's army's retreat!
But according to the investigation of his subordinates, the enemy had deployed 30,000 troops in Deng County, south of Xinye.

If you want to attack Xinye, it will be difficult to do so without breaking through Deng County.

However, Zhuge Liang's next sentence, "defeat the false enemy", seems to explain one thing.

The 30,000 defenders in Deng County may just be a cover.

There were no 30,000 defenders in the city at all. It was just a trick to tie down the army in Xiangyang!
If this is true, then he can indeed easily break through Deng County and march into Xinye.

Thinking of this, Lu Bu immediately ordered someone to call Ji Ling, who had recently surrendered to him, and ordered him:

“General Ji, take a dozen soldiers with you and pretend to be villagers near Deng County and go to the county town to buy charcoal.

"We must find out roughly how many defenders there are in Deng County."

"The last general takes command!"

Ji Ling is as loyal and hardworking as ever.

After Yuan Shu's death, he also chose to be loyal to him unconditionally.

Lu Bu looked at the note in his hand again.

"Cutting off the food supply" naturally refers to cutting off the food supply from Xinye City to the enemy's front line.

The larger the number of troops deployed and the longer the duration, the more food and grass will be consumed.

Although with the popularization of curved plows and dragon-bone water wheels across the country, the grain production of the people across the country has increased significantly.

Many people also know that these two inventions came from Lu Bu.

But the amount of food and grass consumed by an army of 100,000 was also extremely huge.

Although food production has increased, it does not mean that the soldiers' consumption has decreased.

Instead, it was the advanced but complex means of transportation such as the wooden ox and flowing horse.

Apart from Lu Bu's army and Liu Bei's army which now has Zhuge Liang joining, no other forces can be controlled.

The food and fodder carried by the frontline soldiers can certainly sustain them for a period of time.

However, in the future, food and supplies will need to be transported from the rear to the front line continuously to make up for the consumption on the front line.

However, the food routes have always been relatively hidden.

The only thing that can be confirmed is that Xinye City is one of the enemy’s grain transit stations.

As long as Xinye can be captured, one of the enemy's food routes will be cut off, which will bring huge food and grass pressure to the enemy.

If Cao Cao knew that Xinye City was attacked, he would definitely come back to provide assistance.

If we ambush the enemy's reinforcements at Dafu Mountain in advance, we will have a chance to capture and kill Cao Cao!

This is what is called "ambushing Da Fu and capturing the thief Cao."

In Zhuge Liang's eyes, Cao Cao was always the "thief Cao" who destroyed the Han Dynasty.

This plan does seem good, but will it really go so smoothly?

If Cao Cao knew in advance that there was an ambush at Dafu Mountain, then the ambushers at Dafu Mountain would be in a dangerous situation!
So, is Zhuge Liang really helping him, or is he setting a trap for him?

Lu Bu obviously prefers the latter.

But it must be said that the note did provide him with some useful information.

And Xinye City must also be attacked!
Only in this way can we provide support to Jiangxia from the flank!

(End of this chapter)