Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1006 Foresight
Sima Yi didn't know what Cao Cao's intention was in letting him join the army directly. Logically speaking, it was unlikely that Cao Cao wanted to harm his own son, but he heard that Cao Cao was moody. Who knew what he was thinking?
Isn't it retaliation for pretending to be ill?
But in any case, Sima Yi had no other choice but to serve as Xin Pi's chief secretary and came to the Jianghuai battlefield holding his nose. He made up his mind to protect himself as the top priority. When it's over, go back quickly.

Although Sima Yi had read some military books, he thought that he was only half-experienced in battle. He was afraid that the strategies he came up with were far less clever than those of Fang's counselors. It might be a good thing not to participate in the discussions.

However, after he came to Wankou and followed Xinpi to meet Jiangdong generals headed by Zhou Yu several times, he always had a vague feeling that something was not right.

Sima Yi didn't know whether it was an illusion caused by his lack of skill or a paranoid imagination. He always felt that the fierce tiger's response to the northern attack on Chaohu was not normal, and Jiangdong's actions were also abnormal.

Based on the rumors of the ferocious tiger, when faced with the overwhelming army, his combat style should be to take the initiative to weaken the enemy. How could he wait silently until now and watch Cao Jun and Jiangdong join forces to attack?

When thousands of warships and 100,000 men seize Chaohu and attack Shouchun from the north, what can the fierce tiger do to stop them?
Sima Yi still hasn't figured this out, and what he can't figure out even more is Jiang Dong's actions.

Jiangdong doesn't seem to be in a hurry at all. Now the two sides have almost completely reconciled. The Yangtze River waterway is blocked by ships. It stands to reason that it is time to send troops to attack. Why does Zhou Yu seem to be waiting for something? Does Jiangdong still have reinforcements?

The key is that the Ruxushui channel is already full. Even if we double the reinforcements, can we still spread it on the Chaohu battlefield?
Sima Yi knew that when he was on the battlefield for the first time, there must be some joints that he had not figured out. This meant that his strategy did not reach the level of Jihu and Zhou Yu, so he did not ask Xinpi, but to see how Xinpi responded.

At the beginning, Sima Yi saw that Xin Pi met with Zhou Yu every day. He had a calm demeanor, could respond reasonably to Jiang Dong's requirements, and would not easily express his position on things he couldn't do. Not only was he a little admired, Xin Pi was indeed a capable person!
But as time passed, Sima Yi gradually discovered that Xinpi seemed to be different from what he thought. His response might simply be because Xinpi didn't understand water fighting.

Especially the conversation between Xinpi and Zhou Yu just now made Sima Yi even more convinced that Xinpi seemed to have something missing in his mind, and he was still seriously considering Zhou Yu's unreasonable request that was obviously looking for trouble!

Sima Yi was extremely confused. Was Xin Pi just pretending, or did he really not see what Zhou Yu was thinking?
But Sima Yi was also thinking about whether it was possible that he was too young and did not understand the tacit understanding and thoughts between these counselors, and that he was the one who was wrong?
Amidst this constant self-doubt, Sima Yi heard Xin Pi come to ask him, and his first reaction was that the other party was testing his own depth. Thinking of this, Sima Yi's face became solemn, and he quickly considered his words. After thinking for a while, he replied: "My subordinates think that Jiang Dong has other thoughts."

Xin Pi heard this and said, "Oh?"

"What do you think? Tell me."

Sima Yi hurriedly said: "The strength of Jiangdong's navy is much higher than ours."

"From the number of warships to the navy generals, they are far beyond the Han River navy."

"Now Zhou Yu doesn't fight for dominance, but asks us for everything. It doesn't look like a battlefield commander acting arbitrarily."

"So Yi feels that Jiang Dong may be delaying, or is he planning something behind his back?"

Xinpi stroked his beard and said, "That being said, if we delay this, it will be even more detrimental to them."

"They consume a lot of food and supplies, and they are the ones who want to seize the Jianghuai River. What we have conquered here is just a few enclaves. In this case, let them go first."

Hearing this, Sima Yi said: "But if they occupy all the territory, won't our sending troops this time return without success?"

Xinpi said: "Jiangdong may not be able to eat it."

"There's a fierce tiger on the other side."

Sima Yi became curious, "Is the fierce tiger really as powerful as the legend says?"

"He only has tens of thousands of soldiers and horses in Jianghuai. How can he stop hundreds of thousands of us?"

"Jiangdong Zhou Yu and those guys are all experts in water warfare. Can Fierce Tiger really make a comeback?"

Xinpi shook his head and said, "I don't know."

Sima Yi was stunned, you didn’t know and you were just guessing?
Xinpi said: "Actually, I am not very qualified as a supervisor. I have never even served as a naval officer. I still haven't understood Ming Gong's intention of sending me to be a supervisor."

"Of course I can't see clearly what Jiangdong Zhou Yu and those people are thinking, so I can only make mistakes. I don't seek merit, but no fault, that's all."

Sima Yi breathed a sigh of relief. After all, isn't this similar to what he had in mind, just waiting for the war to end?
Xinpi sighed: "But I also have my own abilities."

"Although I don't understand water warfare, and I don't know how powerful Jiangdong's navy is, I am a little more alert than others on this battlefield."

Sima Yi subconsciously asked: "What is it?"

Xin Pi said word for word: "I understand the horror of the ferocious tiger better than anyone else."

Sima Yi was stunned, "Didn't Jiangdong Zhou Yu also fight with Xiu Hu in Chaohu and lose? Doesn't he also know Xiu Hu?

Xinpi shook his head and said, "No, he is different."

"I think he is unwilling to accept it, and he actually wants to get it back."

"This is actually very dangerous. A competitive spirit can easily deceive people." Sima Yi thought to himself: What do you want in a war if you don't win?
Xinpi seemed to see Sima Yi's doubts and explained: "When encountering a fierce tiger, don't think about winning first."

"Save your life first."

"Those who face fierce tigers head-on and think about winning before the fight is over will prove to be overthinking in the end."

Sima Yi thought to himself, didn't you also put Ming Gong in it?

You're saying it nicely, but you've actually lost the willpower to defeat the fierce tiger, right?
Xin Pi seemed to see something, and finally said: "You have never seen the power of Fierce Tiger. His power is that when you lose, you often lose inexplicably and you can't find the reason."

"I experienced this feeling of powerlessness when I was working under Yuan Qingzhou."

"So I would rather give Jiangdong a hundred thousand arrows than lead the charge."

Sima Yi thought to himself that this is interesting. A fierce tiger can hit a person like Xin Pi like this. What happened?
In Shouchun City, Lu Xun took the intelligence and said to Yuan Xi: "Jiangdong is still sending more troops to Wankou."

"But the other side has not sent troops for a long time, which is good news for us."

Yuan Xi sighed: "It's not just good, it's simply great."

"If he had sent troops half a month ago, I'm afraid I would have abandoned Shouchun."

"But if they send troops now, I still won't have time to mobilize them."

"If this is the case, I will have to pay a considerable price to block it at the southern entrance of Chaohu Lake. How long it can be blocked is unknown."

"So if they don't stop now, it's playing into my hands."

"But it is unrealistic to keep waiting like this and expect that the other side will never send troops."

"The key now is that there has been no news from Bingzhou, which is slower than I expected. But even if they find black oil in the adjacent Qianghu territory, I don't know if they can collect enough amount, or even if they can Its fate is still unknown.”

With the naval strength of Yuan Xi's army in Jianghuai, it is naturally impossible for him to confront the Cao and Sun armies head-on unless a decisive change occurs.

What Yuan Xi is waiting for now is this variable, which is the news from Shangjun in Liangzhou on the west side of Bingzhou.

He went to conquer Bingzhou not on a whim, or just to stabilize the border areas, but also for a series of other important reasons.

One very important point is that it is recorded in the "Geography of the Han Dynasty" that in Shangjun of the Western Han Dynasty, "Gao Nu has water, which can be burned."

This is not the only place in Liangzhou. There are records of the so-called stone lacquer in Jiuquan County, Liangzhou. According to Zhang Hua's "Natural History", "The spring water from the Nanshan Mountain in Yanshou County, Jiuquan is as big as a river, and the ground is a ditch. The water is as fat as When the meat juice is taken out of the container, it will turn yellow at first and then turn black like gelatin, but then it will be very bright and no different from gelatin."

Yes, this is oil.

This is almost the only record of oil production that appeared naturally on the ground without underground mining before the Yuan Dynasty.

Most of the development of oil relies on the modern chemical industry, which is naturally unavailable in this era, but Yuan Xi does not care about that. What he wants is only the flammable function of oil.

It can float on water, can be burned in large quantities, and lasts a long time. This is enough.

The efficiency of fire attacks in this era is actually quite low. Whether it is tung oil or sesame oil, the production cost is high, and the output is not high. In comparison, oil that can be collected directly from the ground is naturally much more cost-effective.

But the only bad thing is that the place where it is produced is in Liangzhou, which is now controlled by the Qiang and Hu border people.

A large part of the reason why Yuan Xi conquered Bingzhou was to open up the trade route to Shangjun and Jiuquan County in Liangzhou. There may not even be a need for trade. The locals should not be able to use the oil. As long as the caravans get there, they can find ways to bring it back.

All this layout was planned several years ago, and its ultimate goal is to take advantage of the information gap to severely deceive Jiangdong.

That's why Yuan Xicai left empty troops in Jianghuai and used himself as bait to lure Jiangdong into the river. But unexpectedly, Cao Cao actually got involved and sent a considerable number of fleets to destroy Yuan Xi together with Jiangdong.

Cao Cao's actions were so fast that Jiangdong also advanced the general attack. This made Yuan Xi, who had not yet waited for news from Bingzhou, a little anxious. After he captured Bingzhou, he sent people to Shangjun to look for oil, and he came to Shouchun. This was already a few months ago,
According to Yuan Xi's estimation, even if a considerable amount of oil can be collected in Shangjun, if it can be transported to Shouchun as quickly as possible, it can only go far from Hetaoping to the sea via the Yellow River, and then go west to Shouchun at the outlet of Huai River. This will take at least several months.

And now that the enemy troops at Wankou are heading north at any time, Yuan Xi cannot put all his hope in this. If he has to, he can only fight head-on.

(End of this chapter)