Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 987 Different Thoughts

Zhang Yong’s camp on the banks of the Ru River.

A group of generals surrounded Zhang Yong's tent, each one looking more anxious than the other.

"General, if we don't send troops, it will be too late."

"Scouts reported that Cai Mao led his army to attack the city this afternoon. I'm afraid the city is in danger of collapse."

"The defenders of the city are not as numerous as the enemy, and the city is low and dilapidated. If you don't send troops, Shangcai City will be captured today, General."

"Yes, General, please send out the troops..."

All the generals begged bitterly. They didn't understand why their General Zhang was behaving so abnormally today.

However, Zhang Yong felt equally uncomfortable. He felt like he was sitting on pins and needles and kept sighing.

"Why on earth...why on earth...why did big brother send a message via flying eagle and order me not to attack? Why on earth..."

"Report..."

A voice was heard, attracting everyone's attention instantly.

A scout ran in from outside and said, "General, the south gate of Shangcai City has been breached by Cai Mao's army."

"Swish..." This time, the generals could no longer hold back.

"General, the city has been breached. Are we going to watch our soldiers being annihilated?"

Chen Lie's eyes were already red with anxiety.

Zhang Yong paced back and forth, undecided. In his opinion, there must be many traps and ambushes on the way to Shangcai City from here, but now the situation is urgent, not to mention that he has already anticipated the traps and can prepare in advance, even if he is not prepared, facing the fall of the city, he must send troops to rescue.

However, he had followed Liu He since he was a child, and it had been nearly twenty years since then. He had long been accustomed to having complete trust in Liu He. Since Liu He had sent a letter by flying eagle, asking him not to send troops before "something unusual occurred in Cai Mao's army."

Although Zhang Yong had no idea what kind of changes would happen in Cai Mao's army, since his elder brother said there would be, then there must be, and Zhang Yong believed it without a doubt.

But now, seeing that Shangcai City was about to be breached and the tens of thousands of soldiers in the city were about to be lost, Zhang Yong felt heartbroken.

"General, what are you still hesitating about?" These generals were all strong men, but at this moment many of them burst into tears.

"Without my order, no one..." Zhang Yong's eyes were red. He hesitated again and again, and finally said a few words with gritted teeth: "No one is allowed to send out a single soldier. Anyone who disobeys my order will be executed!"

"General!" The generals were extremely surprised.

"Stop talking, everyone get out!" Zhang Yong waved his hands and turned his back.

Chen Lie and the others looked at each other, and finally could only sigh helplessly, turned around and were about to leave, but no one noticed that a few drops of tears gently slid across the corners of Zhang Yong's tightly closed eyes.

The generals left the tent and many soldiers gathered around them. They stretched their necks and looked at the generals eagerly.

"General, what do you think? When are we going to send out the troops?"

"My sword and spear have been sharpened twice, and are strong enough to kill the enemy."

All the generals looked at Chen Lie: "Brother Zifu, you are the deputy general, or... you should speak."

Chen Lie smiled bitterly and took a step forward: "Soldiers, regarding the dispatch of troops..."

After saying only half of this, his expression became extremely conflicted, and he couldn't bring himself to say the following words.

"General Chen, tell me, when should we send out our troops?"

The soldiers looked at him expectantly, which made it even more difficult for Chen Lie to speak.

"Sending troops... this..."

The more he said this, the more anxious the soldiers became: "General, please tell me."

Being urged and forced by everyone, Chen Lie knew that it was difficult to avoid this hurdle. He could only sigh, bite his lip, and plan to pass down Zhang Yong's military order.

Just then, another burst of hurried horse hoof sounds came.

"Zi Fu, look, another scout sent to Shangcai City to gather information has returned."

A general pointed at the person who came and shouted directly.

"Could it be... Could it be that the city has been lost?" Another general's face turned pale in an instant.

Thinking of this, Chen Lie and other generals could no longer hold back and all took the initiative to run towards the scout.

"How is it? How is Shangcai County?"

Seeing that the scout was panting and didn't speak, everyone became more anxious: "Oh, I'm so anxious, why don't you say something?"

"Hey, stop arguing." Chen Lie shouted, and everyone quieted down.

Chen Lie took out a water bag and handed it to the scout. The scout almost snatched it away and drank more than ten mouthfuls in a row.

"Ha..." After drinking it, he let out a very satisfied cry.

"Okay, now that we've had enough to drink, tell me what's going on in Shangcai County?"

The scout wiped his mouth, his face almost filled with joy of surviving a disaster: "Cai Mao... Cai Mao has withdrawn his troops..."

"Ah?" Everyone was stunned.

After a while, someone asked, "Cao's army had already entered the city gate, why did they suddenly withdraw?"

"Yes, yes, do they have some other conspiracy?"

The scout kept shaking his head: "No, no, it was that Cao thief who suddenly sent someone to pass on the message, saying that Ancheng was in danger, and General Gao Shun's attack was very fierce, so he ordered Cai Mao to lead troops to rescue immediately."

"Ah, that's right." Chen Lie clapped his hands, very happy: "General Gao has always been as famous as our General Zhang. He defeated Cao's plan of luring the enemy and ambushing the enemy, and besieged Ancheng. Cao's enemies were already short of food and grass, so how could they resist General Gao's offensive? Since Cai Mao sent troops to rescue, the defenders of Shangcai will have a chance to catch their breath."

"Great! General Gao has done a great job of encircling the enemy." A general waved his hand and said, "Let's go and report this good news to General Zhang."

The generals rushed in again and came to the commander's tent.

"What's wrong? Didn't I tell you that without my order, no one is allowed to send troops, and no one is allowed to urge me. What are you doing here?"

Zhang Yong shouted angrily.

"General, great news!" Chen Lie stepped forward to congratulate.

"Great joy?" Zhang Yong wondered, "Why should I be happy? Are you going to be a father again? The war is urgent now. Let alone becoming a father, even if you are going to be a grandfather, it is not a great joy."

"Hey, I haven't been home to see my wife for more than half a year, how could there be such a happy event? If there is such a thing, it would probably be a disaster. The happy event I'm talking about is Shangcai County."

Chen Lie's words made Zhang Yong stand up instantly, staring at him intently.

"What happened to Shangcai County?"

"The Cao thief Ancheng was under fierce attack from General Gao Shun and could no longer hold out. Cao thief urgently ordered Cai Mao to lead 50,000 troops to rush to the rescue. The danger of Shangcai County has now been resolved."

Zhang Yong was a little confused at first, and then suddenly became ecstatic.

"Okay, haha, okay, big brother really never bullied me."

The generals were puzzled: "What does this have to do with Your Majesty?"

"Haha, you don't need to ask any more questions. In short, now is the time for our army to win."

The generals asked excitedly: "General, are you saying... that we can send troops now?"

"That's right!" Zhang Yong took the tiger talisman from the table and said, "Pass my order. At the first quarter of the Yin hour, light a fire and cook. At the last quarter of the Yin hour, send troops to Shangcai City to wipe out the remaining Cao troops."

"Yes, sir!" All the soldiers were ecstatic.

All the soldiers were so anxious when they heard the urgent war reports coming from Shangcai County. However, Zhang Yong had not made any move, which made these tens of thousands of soldiers impatient. They were full of anger and desire to fight, and they didn't know where to vent. Some of them almost couldn't hold it back and wanted to go to the labor camp to practice with the more than 10,000 prisoners.

Now that the order to dispatch troops had been issued, the entire military camp was in an uproar. The soldiers cheered and jumped for joy, and went forward to make preparations.

The more than 10,000 Cao army prisoners in the prison camp looked at the excitement outside and listened to the cheers outside. For a moment, they didn't know whether they were envious, jealous, or some other emotion. In short, they were filled with mixed feelings.

In Ancheng, Cao Cao was sitting in his main seat with a gloomy face.

"My lord, Cai Mao has led his troops to the outside of the city, but Gao Shun has ordered his men to block him, so he is temporarily unable to enter the city. However, it is precisely because of this that Gao Shun has not come to attack the city today. I wonder if our army should go out of the city to welcome him?"

Xizhong reported.

Cao Cao opened his eyes slightly, which were originally closed: "In your opinion, does Cai Mao really have rebellious intentions?"

Xi Zhong thought for a moment and said, "In our army, Yanzhou and Yuzhou have always been one, but Jingzhou is originally the land of Chu barbarians, not the Central Plains, and has always been despised by the soldiers of Yanzhou and Yuzhou. Moreover, Cai Mao betrayed his master and surrendered, which is a despicable thing. Over the years, the lord has promoted Huang Zhong, Wei Yan and others just to appease the people of Jingzhou. But if this heart is difficult to appease, then... then the lord should think twice."

Cao Cao just said "hmm" but didn't say anything.

Seeing this, Cheng Yu stood up and said, "In my humble opinion, Cai Mao and the generals of Jingzhou may not have any intention of rebellion. It's just that among our army, the civil and military officials from Yanzhou and Yuzhou account for the majority, and now Yanzhou has been lost, and most of Yuzhou has also been lost. The people of these two states are temporarily staying in Jingzhou. In the eyes of the generals and soldiers of Jingzhou, it is inevitable that they have the intention of occupying the magpie's nest. They are a little dissatisfied in their hearts, which is reasonable, but they don't necessarily have the heart or courage to rebel against the lord."

His words made Cao Cao's eyes widen again: "Hmm... Zhongde, what you said makes sense. What about Fengxiao? What do you think?"

Guo Jia was silent for a while, then he said: "In fact, my lord, you already have the answer in your mind, right? Otherwise, my lord could have directly summoned Cai Mao alone, or sent someone to arrest him and punish him. Why did you need to send him here under the pretext of reinforcements?"

Cao Cao's eyes suddenly opened and he stared at Guo Jia. Then he suddenly laughed: "Hahahaha... Only Fengxiao knows my heart best."

After laughing a few times, Cao Cao's face calmed down again. "I have long seen through the hearts of the soldiers in Jingzhou. Cai Mao and other wealthy families are worried that if Jingzhou is occupied by Liu He, they will also end up in disgrace, and Liu Yan of Yizhou is already exhausted. Therefore, apart from me, they have no other choice and will naturally not be disloyal. People like Pang Degong, Sima Hui, Huang Chengyan, etc. have always regarded themselves as celebrities, and they talk about loyalty to the emperor and love for the people all day long. They can be said to be heroes who cherish each other for Liu He. I have sent people to visit them many times, but they are unmoved."

"Therefore, if I want to occupy Jingzhou, I must use the wealthy families. Cai Mao and others are very clear about this. Liu Biao also occupied Jingzhou with this. It's a pity that they are wrong about one thing."

"Which point?" everyone asked curiously.

Cao Cao smiled coldly: "I, Cao Cao, am not Liu Biao. I will not let these local wealthy families do whatever they want and allow them to grow so powerful that they can threaten their masters with their servants."

Cheng Yu seemed to understand: "So, my lord, you know very well that Cai Mao and others have no intention of rebelling. They are just eager for merit and want to make the Jingzhou troops the most powerful force in our army, so that my lord will respect and fear them, and thus preserve their family's wealth and glory for a long time?"

"That's right." Cao Cao said, "This time Pang Degong went to see Cai Mao late at night. Although the spies I sent to Cai Mao could not get close to the general's tent and did not hear the content of their conversation, there was collusion between the wealthy families such as Cai and the famous scholars such as Huang, Sima, and Pang. I once visited Pang Degong in person, but he only gave me a cup of tea and he did not talk to me in detail. Why would he take the initiative to meet Cai Mao, and choose to do it in the middle of the night? If you say there is nothing strange, humph, Cao will never believe it."

"I see. If they join forces, their power in Jingzhou will become stronger and more stable. We are foreigners, so this is not good news for our army and the lord. Therefore, the lord knew that Cai Mao had no intention of rebelling, but he deliberately used this reason to transfer him here and entrusted the military power to Wen Pin, so as to divide them one by one."

Xi Zhong and Cheng Yu had both figured things out at this point.

Cao Cao let out a long breath, then suddenly stood up and looked out the door with a determined gaze.

"Let's go, gather 10,000 soldiers and horses. I will lead them myself, fight outside the city, and bring Cai Mao into the city."

Everyone's eyes lit up. These people were all first-class strategists and they immediately understood Cao Cao's intention.

"My lord, you are really good at using both kindness and force."

In Gao Shun's camp, Gao Shun was drinking tea with Xun You at this moment, which seemed a little out of place on the battlefield.

Although Gao Shun sat steadily in front of the tea table, his brows were furrowed, and he kept looking outside from time to time, which made Xun You laugh.

"Bo Ping, tea tasting requires a calm mind. Your restless mind is a waste of the latest exquisite tea produced by Zhen's Tea House."

Gao Shun's expression remained unchanged. He picked up the teacup and drank it all in one gulp: "It's boring and not tasty."

"You, you, what can I say about you?" Xun You looked helpless.

"Okay, stop looking. I'm afraid that Cai Mao has already been escorted back by Cao Cao himself. You and I don't need to worry about him anymore."

Gao Shun looked at him puzzledly: "How did you know Cao Cao would come to greet you personally?"

Xun You smiled mysteriously: "Well, you should accompany me to finish the tea first. If I am happy, I may tell you. Who knows."

Gao Shun's expression froze for a moment, and then he smiled helplessly, "Okay, drink."

(End of this chapter)