Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1008 Great opportunity
When Shouchun received the news, Yuan Xi's subordinates from top to bottom became nervous. After all, there were thousands of warships, and the combined size of the Cao-Sun coalition forces was nearly 100,000 people!

However, for Yuan Xi, the most stressful thing now is not this road, but the road west of Shouchun, from Xudu to Dabie Mountain.

Because Cao Cao personally led his army from Xudu southward to Ruyin!
Ruyin is located to the north of the Huai River. As long as it crosses the Huai River, it can attack Shouchun. Yuan Xi thought that just as he expected, how could Cao Cao sit back and watch such a crucial battle and give up the victory of attacking Shouchun? To Sun Quan?
As a result, the pressure from the direction of Yuzhou suddenly increased. The several waves of offensives Yuan Xi asked Tian Feng Jushou and others to launch against Cao's forces in Jizhou, Qingzhou and other directions turned out to be completely ineffective.

Jushu sent troops in Youzhou to attack Zhongshan County and Julu County in Jizhou that Cao Cao had previously occupied. Tian Feng attacked Dongjun and Taishan County in Yanzhou in Qingzhou. They both achieved good results and forced Cao Cao's army to retreat. This was what Yuan had done before. Xi's established plan was to have Cao Cao divide his troops to rescue him, thereby alleviating Shouchun's pressure.

Now it seems that Cao Cao only made the minimum defense and gave up these trivial corners without any hesitation. He chose to concentrate his main force and attack the most critical focus of the battle, Jianghuai. In comparison, Yuan Xi's strategies seem a little ridiculous.

Thinking of this, Yuan Xi couldn't help but smile to himself. He was facing the most outstanding military strategist today. How could he be so easily fooled?

Yuan Xi was certain that when Cao Cao took action at this time, he must have calculated his next response. Unless he could use his strength to stabilize Cao Cao, or there were variables that everyone in the Cao camp had not expected, it would be difficult for him to reverse Cao Cao. It's a dangerous situation along the way.

Not to mention Cao Cao, Shouchun also had tens of thousands of Cao Sun's naval coalition forces!

Moreover, Cao Cao's time calculation was very accurate. His arrival time in Shouchun should be twenty days later, and the Chaohu Water Battle would only break out in five days at most.

Counting the time of the battle, Jiangdong's army would still have to capture Hefei, which would take a month anyway. Cao Cao's army would be able to surround Shouchun before the naval army, and seize the most important city in the Jianghuai region, allowing Jiangdong Zhulan to All in vain.

In Yuan Xi's official residence, all the subordinate officials were sitting together with extremely solemn expressions. Many of the officials in Shouchun were Yuan Shu's old subordinates, including civil servants like Liu Ye and Liu Fu, military generals like Qin Yi and Chen Ji, and people like Liu Ji who had previously defected to Yuan Xi. These people were not bad in ability, but now they all looked embarrassed.

Without him, Shouchun is facing too much pressure now. Hundreds of thousands of troops are pressing down on the border. However, the situation is much worse than when Yuan Xi conquered Shouchun last time. After all, it was the civil strife in Shouchun that time, and Yuan Xi favored Liu Bei. The coalition forces only numbered in the tens of thousands, but now the number of enemy troops was several times greater!
Yuan Xi saw the panic on everyone's faces and said, "I will go into battle personally this time."

As soon as these words came out, the expressions on everyone's faces suddenly changed, from panic to shame. Liu Ji quickly worshiped: "It is because of our incompetence that our lord has been allowed to go to the battlefield in person many times. I am really ashamed!"

Everyone also followed suit, and Yuan Xi waved his hands and said: "It's not your fault. Those who are capable work hard. Since I can increase the chance of winning by going to battle, there is no reason to stay in the rear."

"Don't worry, everyone. I have fought many more dangerous battles than this one. This time the opponent just has more people, but they are not united. A battle cannot be won by just having more people."

After everyone heard this, they felt a little relieved, and Liu Ye said: "Why does the Lord say that his hearts are not aligned? Is there a conflict between Cao and Sun?"

Yuan Xi said: "Of course there is, so I sent Liu Fu to Hefei to defend the city because someone wanted to take advantage of Chaohu before the Battle of Chaohu."

After everyone heard this, their hearts became excited again. Liu Ye hurriedly asked: "Who is it?"

Yuan Xi shook his head, "This is not what you have to think about now. All I ask of you is to defend Shouchun when I go to Chaohu to supervise the war."

"Of course, if I die in the battle at Chaohu, you can leave the city and surrender to save your family."

After hearing this, everyone was shocked and turned pale. They all knelt down and cried in pain: "We don't dare! We are willing to die loyally to our lord!"

Yuan Xi knew that he and his subordinates were acting to some extent, but what he did really left the subordinates unable to say anything. As the lord, he personally went into battle, and the subordinates did not express their opinions, so that meant that there was really something wrong. Problem.

He stood up and said: "You all perform your duties. No matter how many enemies come, I will fight them back!"

Everyone accepted the order with a bang, and then went to the city to perform their duties. After they left, Yuan Xicai left Guo Jia and Zhuge Liang behind for discussion.

Just now, he and his subordinates only gave them confidence and did not talk about substantive issues. Guo Jia was here to talk about business. The reason why Lu Xun was not there was that he had already taken the lead and went to Chaohu and Ganning to set up defenses.

Yuan Xi said to Guo Jia: "I will take Kong Ming to Hefei tomorrow, and Mr. Lai will be in the city."

"Compared to the Youzhou clan, these officials in Shouchun have a softer style and are easily swayed. Only Mr. can suppress them and ensure the stability of the rear."

Guo Jia nodded and then smiled, "For Chaohu, Shouchun is the rear, but for Cao's army who is about to arrive, it is the front."

Yuan Xi said: "So I will finish the Battle of Chaohu as quickly as possible and then rush back to Shouchun."

Guo Jia sighed: "I'm afraid there will be more than just the Battle of Chaohu, right?"

"I heard that Sun Quan of Wu Commandery personally led his troops across the river to the Liyang area on the north bank?"

Zhuge Liang said: "Yes, this is the news that came yesterday. Naturally, he cannot stay in Liyang and watch. Calculating the time it took for the news to be delivered, I am afraid that he has already set off by land for several days."

"He should only have one direction, which is Shouchun. I'm afraid that in ten days, he will be able to reach Hefei, south of Shouchun."

Guo Jia smiled and said: "If my lord and his subordinates knew that not only Cao Cao but also Sun Quan had personally led the army, I don't know what they would think."

"My lord's current situation seems to be that he is the enemy of the whole world."

Yuan Xi laughed and said: "The debts are too heavy to bear, sir, aren't you timid?" Guo Jia laughed and said: "Master, there is no need to provoke me, I have exhausted all my abilities."

"Everything that should be planned before the war has been planned, and the only thing left is to see the truth on the battlefield. I am not very capable at this point, and it depends on Boyan and Kong Ming."

He turned to Zhuge Liang, "You have only been in office for two years, and now you are facing a war like this that has not been seen in a century. What do you think?"

After Zhuge Liang heard this, he thought for a while and said, "It's nothing special."

"I have probably seen more wars in the past two years than many people have in more than ten years, and I understand a truth from it."

"At this time, the more you fear death, the easier it is to fail. Only by rushing forward can you find a way out."

Yuan Xi and Guo Jia both laughed after hearing this. Yuan Xi felt proud and said, "Okay!"

"Let us kill the enemy to pieces together and go our own way!"

Guo Jia stopped laughing and said to Yuan Xi: "Although I have confidence in my lord, sometimes confidence does not mean victory."

"In fact, I personally think that the two routes of Chaohu and Hefei are not the biggest problem. After all, the Jiangdong Army's infantry combat level is there. Whether it is calculated mentally or not, the chance of winning is still not small."

"The most troublesome thing is undoubtedly Cao Cao's side. Although my lord has claimed to be undefeated in the past few years, he has been fighting back and forth with Cao Cao and has not taken much advantage of his opponent."

"Now he has taken a look at the weakness of the lord's troops and launched a surprise attack with great precision. Now there are not many back-ups that the lord can deal with."

"My lord, don't you have a trump card yet?"

When Yuan Xi saw Zhuge Liang looking at him, he just spread his hands and replied: "Sir, if you want me to tell the truth, I can only say that it is really gone."

"I'm not a god. I can't summon extra troops. What's more, Cao Cao came prepared this time and fought with all his strength. If I can't stop him, I can only give up Shouchun and even Jianghuai."

Zhuge Liang said: "Sticking to Shouchun, as long as the supplies can keep up, their consumption will be ten times that of ours. When winter comes, they will naturally have no choice but to retreat."

Yuan Xi sighed: "That's what I say, but Cao Cao has many clever plans and cannot be judged by common sense."

Zhuge Liang said: "Then divide your troops and attack their food roads to make them run out of food faster."

Yuan Xi replied: "The strategy is a good one, but Cao Cao must have thought of it, so he sent two armies in advance to block the road to the west of Shouchun. Our cavalry could not get around it, so we could only watch. How could we attack the grain?" road."

"unless….."

Zhuge Liang said solemnly: "Unless something happens in Cao Cao's rear."

"That's right," Yuan Xi said, "This is the only possibility for us to make a comeback, but now the initiative is not in my hands."

"Would it be you who would give up such a great opportunity and do such a thankless thing?"

Guo Jia and Zhuge Liang both knew in their hearts who Yuan Xi was talking about, and couldn't help but be speechless. Would that person really do this?

Xiangyang.

Pang Tong took the urgent report and came to see Liu Bei excitedly. When he met, he said: "Congratulations, my lord, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

Liu Bei took the urgent report from Pang Tong and read the news. He first showed joy on his face, then straightened his face, handed it to Guan Yu beside him, and said, "Second brother, let's take a look."

Guan Yu took the letter and saw that it said that Cao Cao had mobilized all the troops in Xudu, gathered nearly 40,000 to 50,000 people, and marched south to Ruyin. He was obviously going to attack Jianghuai!
Zhang Fei poked his head behind Guan Yu, read the contents of the letter, and laughed suddenly: "I said Zhang Xiu was the only one who attacked Xiangyang recently. It turns out that everyone ran away, it was just a show!"

He then turned to Liu Bei and said, "Brother, do you think that if there are no more Cao troops around Xiangyang, can we take the opportunity to counterattack and retake Nanjun?"

Liu Bei heard this and said to Pang Tong: "What do the military advisors think?"

After hearing this, Pang Tong quickly said: "Attacking Nanyang is also a strategy, but it is true that we did not take advantage of such a great opportunity."

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Cao Cao's troops are empty. If he can seize the key place, he will be much better than Nanyang!"

"Master, do you still remember the three strategies of upper, middle and lower?"

(End of this chapter)