I will be the master of Xuande

Chapter 801 Zhuge's Plan
Zhou Yu’s death was a heavy loss to Cao’s army, but it did not cause much disturbance to the entire situation in Jiangdong.

It’s because Cao Cao now has no time to worry about Zhou Yu’s failure. He is now facing an unprecedented dilemma in his life!
After Zhuge Liang and Taishi Ci penetrated deep into Cao's hinterland, they united with five local aristocratic families and obtained their financial support. After ensuring military supplies, they immediately launched an attack on Cao Cao's hinterland fortress.

Zhuge Liang and his men landed near the East China Sea. They had entered the territory of Wu County. Their next goal was to either go south to seize Kuaiji County, or go west to seize Danyang County, or directly seize Wu County in the heart of Wu County as a base.

Zhuge Liang was a talented person of his time. He had very clear combat concepts and strategic thinking.

That is to take Wujun as a base, and then quickly remove the beacon towers along the coast near Wujun.

Zhuge Liang's reasons for doing so were very clear. First of all, Danyang County was too far away. The families he had contacted were all wealthy and powerful in Wu County. Once his 10,000 soldiers entered the hinterland of Danyang County, the support from the rear would most likely be cut off due to Cao Cao's interference. At that time, not only would he not be able to become a surprise force, but he would be easily trapped to death by Cao Cao.

Although Kuaiji County was far away from Cao Cao's center and relatively safe, it had a large uncivilized population and many undeveloped areas. Moreover, most of Cao's army's financial taxes did not come from Kuaiji County. It made little sense for Zhuge Liang to go to such a wild place in the south.

Therefore, stirring up trouble in Wujun is in the best interests of Taishi Ci and Zhuge Liang at the moment.

Soon, with the support of intelligence provided by the five powerful families, Taishi Ci removed the beacon towers near the port near Wu County at lightning speed, and then gathered all his strength and launched an attack on Wu County in one go.

The person in charge of guarding Wu County was Cao Cao's confidant Cheng Yu, and his subordinates included Song Qian, Jia Hua and others.

Cheng Yu had 3,000 soldiers under his command, which was more than enough to guard Wu County, but the prerequisite was that the northern army failed to land smoothly from the sea.

Taishi Ci's 10,000-man army suddenly launched an attack on Wu County, and even the experienced and prudent Cheng Yu was caught off guard.

Wu County had become quite strong under Cao Cao's construction over the years, but Taishi Ci's 10,000 troops had been trained for many years and could be said to be a veteran army. When they launched an attack suddenly, the entire Wu County's defense was instantly broken through with ease.

Song Qian and Jia Hua, two lieutenants, led their troops out of the city to fight Taishi Ci. Although they were both brave warriors from Jiangdong, how could they be a match for Taishi Ci? They were shot down by Taishi Ci with one arrow each, and died in an instant, leaving them no chance to fight back.

After seeing this situation, Cheng Yu, who was standing on the top of the city wall, hurried down the city wall, wanting to organize troops and arrange defenses in the county office, while burning the arsenal and granaries in the city.

But Zhuge Liang had known about Cheng Yu for a long time. He knew that this man was from Dongjun, had already shown his talent during the Yellow Turban period, and was cruel and decisive in his actions, unlike an ordinary person. Therefore, he had long been on guard against Cheng Yu doing something extreme.

The moment Cheng Yu left the city, he was captured alive by the men arranged by Zhuge Liang.

Afterwards, Zhuge Liang and Taishi Ci successfully occupied various important places in Wu County.

After occupying Wu County, Taishi Ci intended to immediately march north to attack Jianye, and join forces with Liu Bei on the front line to attack Cao Cao from both sides, and annihilate Cao Cao in one fell swoop.

But after careful consideration, Zhuge Liang discussed the matter with Taishi Ci.

"General Ziyi, in your opinion, why are we crossing the sea and going deep into the heart of Jiangdong this time?"

Taishi Ci said: "The purpose is, of course, to harass Cao Cao from behind, so that he can't take care of the rear, disrupt his rear, and conquer Jiangnan in one fell swoop!"

"That's right, the general just said that disrupting the rear is our priority."

"To deal with Cao Cao, the military battle is inferior, and the psychological battle is superior. If we go north to Jianye now, although we can help Liu Xuzhou divide Cao's army, but in this case, we can't be considered as hidden pawns!"

"Only if we act in Jiangnan will Cao Cao's heart be disturbed, or the morale of the entire Cao army will be disturbed. At this time, if our 10,000 soldiers do not show up, it will be the greatest support for Liu Xuzhou."

Taishi Ci was a famous general after all, and he immediately came to his senses after hearing what Zhuge Liang said.

"Sir, what you said is very true. According to your opinion, what should we do as a matter of urgency?"

Zhuge Liang smiled and said, "This is easy. Now that Wu County has been conquered by us, Cheng Yu has been captured alive. We should spread the news widely and summon the powerful people in Wu County to show sincerity and appease their hearts."

After that, Zhuge Liang walked to the map and continued to say to Taishi Ci: "Originally, I considered cutting off Cao Cao's food supply, but I heard that Cao Cao built warehouses near Jianye and stored a lot of food and fodder. Even if we cut off the food supply to Wujun, it would not have an impact on Cao Cao for the time being. So, we can only start from other places to disturb his mind."

After hearing Zhuge Liang's words, Taishi Ci agreed very much. He asked anxiously, "Excuse me, sir, where is this place beside? How should we act?"

Zhuge Liang used his right hand to gently stroke the white feather fan in his left hand and said, "From Jianye to Wuxian, the land route is smooth. People in the south are good at water. Jianye and Wuxian can be said to be two important towns in the south of the Yangtze River. The trade exchanges in the south of the Yangtze River and the main distribution points to various counties are all in these two places. It can be said that Wuxian and Jianye, for the south of the Yangtze River, seem to be two places, but they are actually one."

"Now, one of the two major cities has fallen into our hands. Wu County is located in the southeast of Jianye, and the commercial and resource-rich cities that Jianye relies on are almost all around the coast east of Wu County and the vicinity of Kuaiji County. As long as we control the waterways to the south of Wu County, the local nobles and aristocrats in Jianye will be in chaos!" "Xuzhou in the north has now cut off its trade with them. If we control their local trade waterways in the south, how much pressure will it bring to the nobles and aristocrats around Jianye in the south? Can the general estimate it? How much pressure will Cao Cao be under? Can the general think about it? This is more effective than deploying 100,000 troops to attack Jianye!"

Taishi Ci showed admiration on his face and bowed to Zhuge Liang in respect.

"Sir, you are indeed a great man of the time!"

“No wonder Liu Xuzhou asked you to accompany Ci to Jiangnan!”

"With you here, why worry about the instability of Jiangnan!"

……

……

Therefore, Taishi Ci, in accordance with Zhuge Liang's instructions, deployed soldiers in Taihu Lake, Huishan, Yangxian County, Piling and other places, cut off water routes, implemented bans, strictly prohibited trade between the north and the south, and did not allow the exchange of materials between the north and the south.

All of a sudden, a huge wave was set off in the entire Wu County.

The wealthy and powerful in Jiangnan were terrified, and Cao Cao in Jianye was also panicked.

Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang cut off Jianye's trade with the south and north respectively. This did not have any significant impact on their own military strength, but the key issue was that it had too much impact on the local gentry and wealthy.

Once the local gentry and wealthy families in Jianye feel the tremendous pressure of survival, no one can say what they will do. If they betray him... Cao Cao has no doubt about it.

These people are all opportunists who will do anything for the survival of their family.

In extreme cases, they will undoubtedly abandon their own, no doubt about it.

Although Zhuge Liang and Taishi Ci did not send troops, what they did was like a stab in the heart to Cao Cao.

Originally, during this period, Cao Cao and Liu Bei were fighting back and forth. The two sides attacked each other on the Yangtze River and used all kinds of clever strategies, which was quite exciting.

Who would have thought that Zhuge Liang's move would directly extinguish Cao Cao's determination to fight Liu Bei to the death.

He did not dare to let his troops stay on the Yangtze River for too long, and immediately withdrew his troops to Jianye and no longer took the initiative to attack easily.

The reason why Cao Cao did this was not because he was afraid of Liu Bei, but because Zhuge Liang cut off trade between the north and the south, causing the local powerful people in Jianye to restless. Once any of them had second thoughts, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Therefore, they had to move the front line to the rear, defend Jianye, leave more troops behind, and closely monitor these families.

But even so, to be honest, the soldiers of the three armies are still worried.

Apart from anything else, news from Jingzhou, Zhou Yu, and Cheng Yu came one after another.

Yuan Shao died, Zhou Yu died, Cheng Yu was captured alive...

None of the battles were favorable to Cao's army.

Let me ask, even if Cao Cao has great power, how can he restore the fighting spirit and determination of the soldiers of the three armies?

Not to mention the ordinary soldiers of Cao's army, most of Cao's army generals no longer had the intention to continue fighting with the Northern Army.

An idea began to emerge in many people's minds...that is surrender!

Only by surrendering can they save their lives!

(End of this chapter)