Chapter 747 Liu Bei's Opportunity
The wind in Yanzhou changed, bringing a salty breath and the smell of blood.
When Liu Bei met Cao Cao, it was like enemies meeting each other, and they were extremely jealous of each other.
The most traumatic experience so far for Liu Bei was the sudden attack on his army by Cao Cao.
The two broke up completely after that incident, and after they each established their own kingdom, neither of them sent any letters to each other.
Liu Bei rode forward and said loudly, "Cao thief, I'm afraid you didn't expect that I would be able to lead the army to appear in front of you so soon.
I will repay you for the past hatred today!"
Cao Cao smiled nonchalantly and said, "All is fair in war. It is you, Liu Xuande, who is too stupid. I used a little trick and you lost your troops. You can't blame me.
Now that you have deployed the strategy of besieging Wei to save Zhao, have you ever thought that I would split my troops into two groups to meet you?
Now I will let you know how big the gap in strength is between you and me!"
The Wei soldiers all shouted in unison, their voices like thunder. There were not many cavalry in the army, but their swords and spears were like a forest, and their armor was bright, lined up in rows, like covering the sky and the sun.
In Liu Bei's military camp, Liu Bei looked a little ugly.
Luo Qi coughed lightly and said, “Your Majesty, Cao Cao today is completely different from when he conquered Yuan Shao.
He seized the most fertile land in Wei County, and Hedong and Henei completely turned to him, and Cao Cao took over the Sanhe area.
If he dares to go against the will of the world, he can even move the capital to Luoyang!"
When Liu Bei heard this, he felt like his teeth were about to break.
That’s Luoyang!
In the more than 1,300 years of history since the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, Luoyang was the capital of the world for nearly a thousand years. It was the crown of the Later Han Dynasty!
If it was occupied by Cao Cao, a traitor, wouldn't it be...
Liu Ye frowned and said, "Your Majesty, although Cao the thief has led a major force, our army has elite soldiers and brave generals.
The four generals Guan, Zhang, Zhao and Taishi are all top-notch generals who are braver than ten thousand men.
Not afraid of Cao's army!
Especially since Cao's army is fighting on two fronts, as long as our army can hold Cao's army here, he will surely lose sight of one front while focusing on the other.
The current rule of Cao Ze relies entirely on a powerful army.
He found excuses to kill ministers and scholars who were close to the Han Dynasty, but he could not stop people from talking nonsense.
There were many people in the court who opposed him, and he could not kill them all.
Once he is dragged here, these problems, both internal and external, will explode and destroy everything he has.”
Everyone nodded in approval.
Military power supports everything, but in some cases it is not so crucial.
A powerful country that can fight against the whole world may be wiped out without losing any military force.
A country that seems to be completely safe from destruction may fall into unprecedented humiliation because of the emperor's rash surrender.
War is the continuation of politics, and military objectives are based on political objectives. This is a theory that overrides all military theories.
If discord arises within Cao Wei and it falls into a crazy internal struggle, the combat effectiveness of the Cao Wei army will be greatly weakened, and it may even suffer a crushing defeat in foreign wars.
When the Qin State conquered the Shandong states, it was more of a political victory than a military victory, as almost all of those powerful opponents were eliminated by non-military means.
Then what happened in Zhao State was reported to Liu Bei's army.
Suddenly everyone fell silent, even Luo Qi was a little confused.
I never expected the boomerang to hit me so quickly.
Problems arose in Zhao State before those in Wei State, and the political changes did affect Zhao State's military.
What he said was all correct, but it was a pity that it came true for the wrong person.
According to the calculations of Luo Qi and others, after Yecheng was broken, it would be the best time to attack.
Because the Wei army will certainly not miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and will definitely launch a massive attack.
The Wei army will completely leave their homeland, and the pressure on the food supply will instantly increase.
At this time, if Liu Bei attacked the Wei army again, the Wei army would be caught in a dilemma: whether to fight back against Liu Bei or continue to attack Zhao.
Although the Zhao State's Ye City was broken, it could still hold out against the Wei Army for a long time with its strength. The Handan City alone could hold out for a year or two.
King of Zhao Yuan Tan and his ministers have a strong will to resist and will not negotiate with Cao Cao.
Such a long time is enough for the State of Chu to recover completely and then the army can enter the country.
All the plans were perfect. This should have been a decisive blow for Liu Bei to Cao Cao, at least causing Cao Cao to suffer heavy losses and completely prevent him from getting involved in Hebei again.
I never expected this.
The insignificant Queen Mother Liu and the pig-like Yuan Shang were able to completely destroy the plan designed by Luo Qi and others.
Liu Bei's hands were shaking a little. At this moment he even wondered if God was really helping Cao Cao. Why did all the good things happen to Cao Cao?
Cao Cao was able to escape several crises safely due to unexpected events.
This overwhelming luck made Liu Bei extremely angry. Why was it so difficult to defeat Cao Cao just once?
Liu Bei took a few deep breaths, trying to calm his agitated mood. He took three deep breaths in a row, but failed. He shouted angrily, "You are a thief who rebelled against the lord, just like Cao Cao!
If I were the lord of Jizhou, I would kill all the disloyal and unrighteous people in Jizhou. It is really hateful.
My Lords, what should we do now?
This Cao Jun..."
This time, Cao's army was really no match for them.
There was a flash of unwillingness in Luo Qi's eyes, and he coughed heavily twice. This battle was the one he was preparing to fight to conquer southern Hebei for Liu Bei.
He wanted to push the power of Chu forward before he died, but now it has ended up like this, how could he be willing to accept it?
But what can I do if I am unwilling?
Luo Qi is a steady person and rarely does risky things.
His first reaction was to retreat, but he didn't expect Liu Bei to grit his teeth and say, "Zi Qi, is it possible for our army to fight Cao Cao?"
Luo Qi and everyone else heard that Liu Bei didn't want to leave!
He had suffered too many losses at the hands of Cao Cao, and he really wanted to fight back.
No one found anything strange about Liu Bei's choice.
This is Liu Bei's character. Even though he is now a prince, he is still full of the spirit of a knight-errant.
Among all the kings in the world, only Cao Cao has the appearance of a king.
But if you want to stay, of course you can't!
Guan Yu narrowed his eyes slightly, then suddenly opened them and said, "Your Majesty, I am willing to be the vanguard. In Cao Cao's camp, only Dian Wei and Xu Chu have some courage. The rest are all traitors. I am willing to charge into the battle and take their heads back."
Zhang Fei screamed, "My lord, I will do the same. I will poke dozens of holes in them. Even Xu Chu will be stabbed to death."
Zhao Yun did not speak, but stood with his hands behind his back, looking as if he were sinking into the abyss. Taishi Ci said excitedly: "I have a bow in my hand. I will kill anyone the king wants to kill!"
The four most important generals of the Chu State all expressed their attitudes.
Luo Qi and Liu Ye looked at each other and both felt a headache. These generals didn't care about anything else as long as there was a war to fight.
As they were thinking about how to persuade Liu Bei, they heard Liu Bei sigh and say, "Alas.
I know what you generals wish.
But today I have acted on my own will. I know I should not fight head-on with the powerful Cao Cao now. Let’s prepare to retreat.
Another move short of victory.
Never do that next time!"
Liu Bei, who had just wanted to fight Cao Cao to the death, unexpectedly changed his attitude in a short period of time, which made Luo Qi and Liu Ye a little curious.
The reason is actually quite simple.
Liu Bei was indeed unwilling in his heart, after all, he and Cao Cao had such a deep hatred.
But to be honest, Liu Bei was very cruel to himself and he was very tolerant.
Therefore, there was no reason in his heart to support him in fighting a decisive battle with Cao Cao.
Those who agreed with him to fight Cao Cao were all military generals. The two major think tanks of the Chu State both looked embarrassed. Liu Bei naturally knew what to do.
Liu Bei decided to retreat, but Luo Qi frowned and said softly: "If Cao Cao gets the land of Zhao just like this, after a few years, he will gain a firm foothold and our Chu State will be in danger of destruction.
Although the State of Zhao was established only a short time ago, the Yuan family had ruled for two generations since Yuan Shao entered Hebei, and the people were loyal to them, which was not something that Cao Cao could shake in a short period of time.
If Cao Cao accepts Zhao's surrender this time, there will still be a large number of remnant Zhao forces in Hebei. This is the inevitable outcome of accepting the surrender.
Now Cao Cao has just entered Zhao State, and the relations there are complicated. It will take him a long time to take control of the former territory of Zhao State.
This is our chance.
My king, Cao Cao’s next attack on our army should not be too strong, because he cannot have such a big appetite as to swallow up Jizhou Central and Southern and Qingxu two states at the same time.
That way he would just die of starvation.
I believe that although Zhao can no longer assist our army in forcing Cao Cao to fight on two fronts, the plan cannot be abandoned.
He still wanted to sever the relationship between Wei and Han, and still wanted to find a powerful enemy for Wei, so that Wei would be unable to cope with the situation, and even make Cao Cao bleed continuously, and eventually bring him down. "
Powerful enemy?
Liu Bei guessed several people.
Luo Qi said slowly: "Sizhou is too chaotic, the princes are constantly fighting each other, especially in the Central Plains.
The State of Wu is too strong. If they get Cao Cao's Ru'nan and other places, the threat to our core of Xuzhou will be greater than Cao Cao. The two states of Qing and Xu help each other. If one state is lost, the other state will be difficult to defend.
Moreover, the State of Wu has ambitions towards the Kingdom of Shu and is determined to build an iron-clad southern defense line. It is lucky that it does not covet the Huai and Si rivers of the State of Chu and will definitely not form an alliance with the State of Chu.
Lu Bu, he was once an ally of Zhao, but no one knows what his attitude will be now.
The key lies in whether Lu Qiling followed Yuan Tan to surrender to Cao Cao. If Lu Qiling was not there, Lu Bu's attitude would be quite ambiguous.
The only powerful people in the world who can help us are Lu Bu and the State of Yan."
Yan State?
Although everyone knew that Luo Qi would definitely say this name, they were still shocked when he actually said it.
You should know that the king of Yan State was the one who directly called himself the emperor, and he was the only one who established a dynasty outside the Han Dynasty.
Isn't it too ridiculous to let Liu Bei, a relative of the Han Dynasty, form an alliance with the State of Yan?
This is a huge political disaster.
There are some things that cannot be done, and some words that cannot be said. Even if everyone knows it, you still have to pretend that you don’t know it.
But everyone knew that Luo Qi would never make such an obvious mistake.
As expected, Luo Qi immediately said: "However, it is absolutely forbidden to form an alliance with Yan State. We can only use Yan State to create a conflict with Cao Cao.
The Yan State was powerful, but it was short of food and grass, which prevented it from moving south. It could only watch as the Wei State, which was far more threatening than the Zhao State, appeared to its south. Even the Bohai County was under the attack of Cao Cao.
I do not believe that Yan State does not want to attack.
Now our army is no longer willing to fight Cao Cao to death. I think we can sell some food and supplies to Yan State through private merchants so that Yan State can recover quickly.
The State of Yan was established through military force, and it would take at most half a year, and it is unknown how soon it would take. The State of Yan would definitely have a war with Cao Cao. By that time, even if it could not win, Cao Cao's rule over Jizhou would be greatly delayed.
This is the best news for us!"
Drive out the wolf and devour the tiger!
A classic strategy of using one's own strength to defeat another, taking advantage of conflicts of interest and the political situation to force both sides into a state of war.
This was a great gift that Luo Qi had just thought of for Cao Cao in a hurry.
It was not known whether Cao Cao liked it or not, but Liu Bei liked it very much. He even laughed out loud. The gloomy mood caused by the missed opportunity disappeared completely.
"Just do as Ziqi said. Ziyang, you and Ziqi should work out the most perfect plan. We must make sure that Cao Cao cannot truly control Jizhou within a few years."
If we cannot truly control Jizhou, the taxes collected will be less, and the soldiers and resources that can be mobilized will be reduced.
It is impossible to completely stop Cao Cao, this is the best outcome that can be achieved.
As for what to do next?
Liu Bei turned his attention to Luoqi again. Since he was able to come up with this plan just now, he must have already had plans for the future.
A rough outline of a plan did appear in Luo Qi's mind, but it was a bit strange and involved a lot of people. He was not sure whether Liu Bei could accept it, and he was not sure whether the ministers of Chu could accept it.
So he whispered, "Your Majesty, I do have some ideas, but it is not convenient to talk about them here now. I will discuss them with you after the meeting."
oh?
Now Liu Bei became even more curious.
What kind of strategy is this that can make Luo Qi so secretive?
Liu Bei's curiosity was instantly aroused, and he immediately said to everyone: "My lords, immediately prepare the troops and horses, prepare to evacuate Yanzhou, and defend the passage to Qingzhou to welcome Cao Cao's attack."
Everyone responded "Yes" in unison, and then walked out of the tent. Luo Qi began to slowly tell him his thoughts. The expression on Liu Bei's face was wonderful, a little shocked, and a little emotional.
————
The emperor often taught the prince, "A person's success is determined by both human effort and destiny. I fought bravely in the first half of my life, but sometimes I was defeated for no fault of mine. Whenever this happened, I would feel depressed and unable to control myself.
Little did I know that heaven's will would change, and I would eventually favor the person I loved and didn't abandon. Fortune was on my side, and that's how I got this foundation.
Remember, victory and defeat are common, and you should not let them make you lose your temper. The way to survival lies in them." - "Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Chronicle of Xuan Lie"
(End of this chapter)
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