Chapter 496: Marching in Nanyang

Afterwards, Liu Bei sent Guan Yu to lead the troops to clean up the city of Xudu, and the first target was naturally Cao Cao's mansion. However, Cao Cao's family got the news in advance. With the help of two female masters of the "Ghost" organization, Cao Pi's brothers and others escaped from Xudu, while Cao Cao's wives were imprisoned and their property was confiscated.

When Guan Yu led his troops to confiscate the home of the general of Cao Cao, Qin Yilu was stationed in Nanyang. The soldiers pulled out a young woman with a disheveled head. Seeing her graceful figure, Guan Yu asked someone to wipe her face clean with a wet wipe. After all the dust was removed, he showed a beautiful face with a shy face. His fair skin showed a faint pinkness, his phoenix eyes were shy, and his charm was very charming. Guan Yu was fascinated by it.

Guan Yu, who was not married yet, said nothing and asked the young woman's surname. He hurriedly took Du back to his residence. He entered the house that night and became the minister under her skirt. Du was a weak woman. Facing Guan Yu, who was tall and powerful, in order to survive, he had to flatter him and cried secretly.

After the great changes in Xudu were spread, the surrounding situation suddenly lost control. In Yuzhou, Yanzhou and Guanzhong areas under Cao Cao's rule, most of them used the banner of opposing Liu Bei and clearing the ruling of the emperor, and continued to express their loyalty to Cao Cao, and still regarded Cao Cao as the first Han minister. Only a few counties and counties turned to the rudder and surrendered to Liu Bei's subordinates.

Yuan Shao, who was the general of the dynasty and governor Ji Qingyou and the four prefectures, was finally determined to control the emperor under his strong persuasion by Tian Feng, Ju Su and others, and sent general Yan Liang and Wen Chou to command 100,000 troops to cross the Yellow River from Guan and take Xu Du. At this time, Yu Jin, the general of Cao Cao who was originally stationed in Liyang, was worried about Cao Cao's safety, so he led Li Yang's troops to march towards Xu Du, wanting to meet with Cao Cao. So Yan Liang and Wen Chou easily took Li Yang City and then came to Guandu.

Cao Cao only got the news when the army arrived in Nanyang. It was like a thunderbolt on a sunny day. This bad news immediately knocked Cao Cao to the point of being stunned. It took a long time to come back to his senses. Then, Cao Cao vomited several large pieces of congested black blood clots from his mouth, looking sad and angry, and pointed at Xu Du's direction and cursed: "Old man Dong Cheng, a big-eared thief, I am incompatible with you!"

Cao Cao, who woke up, quickly summoned his subordinates to discuss and decided to immediately summon troops loyal to him from all over the world and ask them to gather all around Xudu. The troops next to Cao Cao had about 20,000 people, so he immediately set off lightly and marched day and night, trying to take back Xudu in one fell swoop while Liu Bei was not yet firm in his foothold.

At this moment, Xiangyang, Jiangling, Nanyang, and the Eastern Front are no longer within Cao Cao's consideration. In his vision, only Xu Du! Xu Du! Xu Du! Only by regaining Xu Du as soon as possible can the great cause continue. Otherwise, he would have to shrink a corner and let others bully him.

At this time, Zhou Yu had already stationed in Xiangyang and was about to continue to move north to capture Nanyang, thereby controlling all the complete Jingzhou in his hands. Zhou Yu was shocked when he heard this news and thought to himself: "I didn't expect that the bloody edict in history would come true, and Liu Bei's speed was really fast and he was ruthless enough. Now that he succeeded in one fell swoop, the next situation would be really confusing."

Zhou Yu quickly summoned Jia Xu, Liu Ye, Lu Fan, Zhao Yun, Zang Ba, Lu Su and others to discuss, and everyone felt very sudden about the sudden huge changes.

Liu Ye said: "Lord, this is a good opportunity given by God. The mantis stalks the cicada and the oriole is behind him. He just took advantage of the opportunity when Cao Cao was anxious to take back Xu Du and fight with Liu Bei. Our army also followed Cao's army and went deep into the Central Plains to welcome the emperor back to Moling, and then command the world!"

Everyone applauded when they heard this. Jia Xu calmly analyzed: "Cao Cao's strength is no better than before. The only one who has the strength to compete with his lord is Yuan Shao. I think he will definitely not stand by this time. If he sends a few generals to command heavy troops across the Yellow River, it will be much faster than our army starting from Xiangyang. Moreover, our army has experienced the Battle of Red Cliff, and the soldiers are relatively exhausted and the military funds need to be supplemented. If the army goes deeper and the food is insufficient, it is afraid there will be great trouble."

After hearing this, Zhou Yu nodded and said, "Mr. Wenhe's words are reasonable. Dong Cheng and Liu Bei's coup seem to be an opportunity, but in fact it is dangerous, especially for our army. However, the current situation is not very clear, and all kinds of changes may occur, so our army should not miss the opportunity."

"The lord means..." Zhao Yun asked hesitantly.

"According to the established plan, we will take Nanyang first and unify Jingzhou. Then we will station in Ye County and observe the changes in Xudu. Once a fighter appears, we will take Xudu directly!" Zhou Yu said decisively.

Jia Xu narrowed his eyes and added: "The military strategy is obvious. In every battle, the battle is in line with the right combination and the odd victory is achieved. The lord can order the three generals Zhang Liao, Xu Huang and Cheng Pu to lead the troops to continue to go north, attack cities and plunder the land, and create momentum, so that Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Yuan Shao all think that our army wants to capture Xudu from the east. In addition, we can mobilize the prepared military farming army and increase troops to Guangling, which puts huge pressure on Zhang Fei's troops in Xuzhou, and strive to make a concerted effort. While Liu Bei's center of gravity is still in Xudu, we can also take Xuzhou into his hands!"

Lu Su agreed: "Mr. Wenhe is really a master. If our army takes Xuzhou into his hands, from the middle reaches of the Yangtze River to the lower reaches, not only the south bank of the Yangtze River, but also the land on the north bank of the Yangtze River is also under the rule of our army. Especially in Huainan and Huainan, the hinterland of the Central Plains in the north, it is actually a key place for military strategists. Even if we cannot enter Xudu this time, when our army's center of gravity moves north and rests, it will be easy to compete for the Central Plains!"

Zhou Yu smiled and said, "Zijing has a good analysis! If you have help, why worry about the failure of great cause! According to Mr. Wenhe's wishes, he mobilized 60,000 troops from the three generals Chen Wu, Deng Li and Sun Yang to Guangling, plus Zhou Tai's Feilong Army, Guan Hai's Qingzhou Camp, and Sun Ben's Guangling Camp, a total of 100,000 troops. He transferred the Jiujiang Prefect Chen Gong to lead the army and march northward, and strived to defeat Zhang Fei and seize Xuzhou!"

In October of the fourth year of Jian'an in the second year of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao gathered all his troops, totaling more than 50,000 people, and bet on all his might and besieged Xudu. Liu Bei received strong support from Liu Xie, Dong Cheng and others, and accommodated many scattered troops near Xudu. He also successfully incorporated Liu Pi, the Yellow Turban Army of Runan, and his troops were greatly increased. His troops in Xudu also had 50,000 or 60,000. Although the soldiers were not as trained as Cao Cao, they blocked Cao Cao's attack with the city walls of Xudu.
Chapter completed!