Three Kingdoms, I'm really not a general!

Chapter 219 Cao Cao is Sick
It is actually easy to understand why Liu Bei did not agree to Fa Zheng's surprise attack plan.

Ziwu Valley is a good road leading to Chang'an, but it has many problems.

The route from Ziwu Valley to Chang'an was secretive and direct, but also extremely dangerous and difficult.

As we all know, Ziwu Valley is a mountain road with a total length of 330 kilometers, of which more than 200 miles are mountain roads.

The Shu army had to complete this route within ten days, marching more than thirty miles a day, which was very strenuous for the infantry.

Moreover, there are many passes and fortresses along the Ziwu Valley, such as Ziwu Pass, Yaoling Pass, Raofeng Pass, etc. If the Shu army encounters enemy obstruction or ambush, it will easily fall into trouble.

Not only is the mountain road difficult to travel on, there is also the problem of food and fodder.

Fa Zheng proposed to carry 5,000 tons of grain, that is, each soldier should carry one stone of grain.

Generally speaking, in the army, one stone of grain could feed a soldier for twenty days, but this amount of grain was not enough to support the Shu army's battle in Chang'an.

On the one hand, the Shu army would consume a lot of physical strength and food during the march, and might have eaten up all the food before reaching Chang'an. On the other hand, the Shu army faced a heavy defense of Wei in Chang'an, and might need to conduct a long-term siege or siege without sufficient food reserves.

Not to mention that although Chang'an is the rear base with few troops, it is still difficult to occupy Chang'an easily.

Coupled with the influence of many uncertain factors such as weather, terrain, and enemy forces, the march might be slowed down or even stagnant. It could be said to be a life-or-death situation, and Liu Bei really couldn't let Xing Daorong take this risk.

When Fa Zheng mentioned it, Liu Bei refused without even thinking about it.

Seeing Liu Bei's determination, Fa Zheng could no longer raise the issue and had to think of new ways to deal with the battle of Guanzhong.

And just as he said, if there had not been changes in Cao Wei, even if they could have fought hard to capture a city, it would have been difficult to hold on to it against Cao Cao's army.

The two sides could only fight in Guanzhong until one side could no longer hold on.

Fa Zheng was still a little anxious about going to war. If he had experienced the Battle of Guandu, he would not be so anxious.

However, we know that in a war, there are many factors that lead to victory or failure. Liu Bei is not completely unable to fight here, and Jieting has not been lost, so there is no need to use such a risky strategy.

Five thousand elite soldiers are not cheap. They can be thrown away easily.
These veteran elite soldiers are each worth five, and five thousand of them, roughly speaking, can be counted as twenty-five thousand ordinary soldiers.

Although they had to wait for a change in Cao Wei, Liu Bei and Fa Zheng had no idea when the change would happen.
But I didn't expect that this change would come so suddenly.
But Cao Cao was at the base camp in Mei County. When he heard that Yu Jin had retreated from Long County and was defeated by Xing Daorong again, he suddenly felt very angry.

It’s not that Cao Cao has never experienced failure.

He experienced many failures. From facing Dong Zhuo to the Battle of Red Cliffs, Cao Cao was not an invincible general.

But every time he can stand up again and face new opponents.

It’s just that Cao Cao has been feeling a little overwhelmed lately.

Cao Cao was already fifty-seven years old and had always suffered from pain, but the attacks were not too frequent.

This time, when he heard that Xing Daorong was defeated Yu Jin, he felt as if an evil spirit entered his brain, making his head hurt.

Cao Cao was in so much pain that he couldn't stand and just lay down.

This scared all the soldiers.

Cao Cao can't fall down now!
If he falls, won’t the entire battle in Guanzhong be in danger?
Fortunately, Cheng Yu was also an experienced man. On the one hand, he asked the doctor to cure Cao Cao's headache, and on the other hand, he stabilized the army, made sure the news did not leak out, did not take the initiative to attack, and focused on defense first.

However, Cao Cao seemed to be seriously ill this time, and the doctors accompanying the army were really helpless.

If this continued, Cheng Yu was afraid that the King of Wei would really have problems in the army, so he had to let Cao Cao go to Chang'an first.

Stabilize the condition first.
Although Cheng Yu had immediately blocked the news and secretly sent Cao Cao back to Chang'an, there is no such thing as a wall that is impenetrable. Moreover, the commander of this army has disappeared, so it is definitely possible to conceal it for a while, but not forever.

Since there was no sign of Cao Cao and no news from him, all kinds of news began to spread.

then
The news Liu Bei heard began to become confusing, and some even spread more and more outrageous news, saying that Cao Cao was already dead.

When Xing Daorong heard the news, he was still recuperating in Longcheng with Zhou Tai and Ma Yunlu.

Something's wrong with Cao Cao?

It shouldn’t be!

Lao Cao still has seven or eight years left, why is it that this time it’s impossible?
Xing Daorong immediately thought that this was Cao Cao’s trick!

He wanted to fake his own death to get himself to attack, but he turned out to be so good and launched a counterattack!

He had used this thing in the past, so if Cao Cao used it again, it would be like showing off one's skills in front of an expert!

However, he was still worried that Liu Bei would be fooled, so he immediately sent someone to persuade Liu Bei not to take the initiative to attack.

It was this cautious look that made Bao Long very speechless.

But he said: "General, I think Cao Cao is in trouble. This is completely reasonable. It is not a trick of Cao's soldiers to confuse the enemy at all!"

Just by opening his mouth, Xing Daorong was speechless.

He interrupted hurriedly, "This is a strategy to lure the enemy, not a strategy to confuse the enemy."

Bao Long was embarrassed for a moment, but he quickly reacted and said, "Well, who cares what his plan is, my point is that Cao Cao is no longer good enough!"

Xing Daorong shook his head and said, "It has only been a few months since Cao Cao led his army out. He is still in his prime. How can he collapse so easily?"

Bao Long laughed out loud when he heard this: "That's not clear!"

"Cao Cao must have been unable to bear being killed by us!"

These overly arrogant words made Xing Daorong feel helpless.

But he said: "Cao Cao was able to be crowned king and conquered most of the country. How can he fall so easily? In short, it is better to be careful."

Having said that, I remembered that Bao Long was considered to have a "unique vision" last time, and I can't always look at people with the same old eyes.

Then he said, "However, what you said does make some sense. We can go and find out what Cao Cao's situation is."

Bao Long nodded and said, "That's right! General, you always think too much about others. There are not so many smart people in this world!"

"Besides, that's the King of Wei, not just a general!"

"If something happens to the King of Wei, it will not only affect the army and horses here, but also the situation in the court!"

"So I think if he didn't really have a problem, how could he spread such a rumor? It's definitely not okay."

Don't say it!

There is really nothing wrong with Bao Long's analysis.

Xing Daorong indeed overlooked Cao Cao's current identity as the "King of Wei". Such rumors would not only affect the army, but also the court!
(End of this chapter)