Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1121 Opportunity
Yuan Xi had also heard rumors about Mi Fang before. It was said that because Mi Tai was a servant of the Mi family before, Mi Fang did not want to work with him for the sake of face, so after arriving in Wa, he went north along the archipelago, and there was almost no news of him afterwards.

It was not until Yuan Xi's caravan set out from the southernmost seaport on the Korean Peninsula and arrived at Wa Kingdom via the Tsushima Island route, and conducted trade and gathered information there, that Yuan Xi learned that Mi Fang had fled to Hokkaido and settled there, and had even established a camp and seaport there.

At first, Yuan Xi thought that Mi Fang felt that Wa was too poor and the locals were too troublesome, so he went north to the Bering Strait to the American continent. After all, when he left, he had mentioned the general direction and route to Mi Fang, so he didn't pay much attention to Mi Fang's news afterwards.

Now, after hearing it again from Zhuge Liang, Yuan Xi learned that Mi Fang was still in Wa Nu Kingdom and had a conflict with Yamatai Kingdom. However, if he had a conflict with the biggest local tyrant, he would probably have a hard time staying there.

He remembered that Mi Zhen was now dispatching the maritime caravan from Korea to Wa in the Yuyang area, and wondered if he should write to her and ask her to remind Mi Fang.

Yuan Xi immediately put this idea behind him. Since Mi Zhen had the caravan route, it was natural that he could not be unaware of what Mi Fang had done. With the enemy at hand, he should not get involved in these unimportant matters.

Thinking of this, he turned to Zhuge Liang and said, "Cao Cao will definitely make a move within this month."

"And if he starts to attack, he will definitely come up with a lot of tricks, and then we will be in a passive position."

"So I agree with the military advisor. It's better to strike first."

"Although we are not fully prepared, so is Cao Cao. Where do you think we should start?"

Zhuge Liang pointed to a place on the map and said, "Here."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi burst out laughing and said, "The military advisor is indeed a commoner. But just as I thought, if we act now, the losses will be much smaller than if we act in two months during the flood season."

"When will the troops be dispatched?"

Zhuge Liang said without hesitation: "The sooner the better."

Yuan Xi laughed, "Okay!"

"I will send a letter to the Qingzhou border right now, asking the previously hidden warships to assemble and head west immediately!"

That night, Yijing City sent someone to send an urgent letter. The messenger went all the way south, passed through the passage between Hejian and Bohai Sea, and arrived in Qingzhou within a few days. Then he found the naval camp of Yuan Xi’s army at the Yellow River wharf in Pingyuan County.

The secret letter was sent to Lu Su on the shore. After he opened and read the long letter which contained specific strategies and understood Yuan Xi's ideas, he immediately stood up and went to find Jiang Qin.

After Jiang Qin finished reading the letter, he asked in a lost voice, "Can we send troops from the day we receive the letter?"

"The war hasn't even broken out yet. Isn't this a bit too hasty?"

Lu Su said: "This is in line with the master's habit of using troops, taking the enemy by surprise and seizing the initiative."

He paused here. Jiang Qin and he both joined Yuan Xi because of Madam Wu, but they still feel weird. After all, the two sides were fighting to the death a year ago, but now Yuan Xi handed them a large fleet, which shows his trust in them. Isn't this a bit too bold?
Lu Su continued, "If we wait a month until Cao's army digs the river, our fleet will be useless and we will be powerless to participate in the battlefield."

"If we launch a surprise attack westwards now, although Cao's army will eventually choose to dig a river, we can compress the digging site as far west as possible, and the damage caused to the downstream will be much smaller, after all, the flood discharge area will be expanded."

"Although this move will cause some losses to the fleet in the early stages, the number of civilians saved may be dozens of times more, which shows that the lord cares about the people."

Jiang Qin was silent. When he first joined Yuan Xi, he was still somewhat reluctant. However, after he and Lu Su came to Qingzhou, he found that Yuan Xi had a very high prestige in the local area.

After the two learned about Yuan Xi's actions in detail, they couldn't help but sigh that the act of dividing the land was unimaginable in Jiangdong. Such a subversive move could only be done by a unified dynasty. For the princes who were conquering the world, it was extremely sensitive and dangerous. If they were not careful, the landlords and the gentry would become alienated. It was a thankless task.

But Yuan Xi managed to accomplish this, which shows that Yuan Xi has vision and courage beyond others. Of course, most importantly, this shows that Yuan Xi's camp has extremely strong execution capabilities.

When Lu Su and Jiang Qin came to Qingzhou to train the navy, they discovered that Yuan Xi's army not only had extremely strict military discipline, but also had very efficient officials. There was also an extremely fast information transmission system behind them, as well as military weapons, armor, and warships that had been improved for generations, all of which were far superior to those of Jiangdong.

After the two men understood each other, they could only smile bitterly. The Jin army crushed the Jiangdong army in all aspects, and it seemed as if the two sides were not from the same dynasty. It would be strange if Jiangdong could win.

Lu Su said, "Gong Yi, no matter what, since the Lord has given us such a high regard and did not allow us to attack Jiangdong, we are facing Cao's army. This battle is a rare opportunity to show our strength."

"Even if it's to repay the favor of not killing me, or for my wife's sake, we must prove that the people of Jianghuai are no worse than others."

After hearing this, Jiang Qin said, "I understand." He was from Shouchun, and Lu Su was from Linhuai. Strictly speaking, both of them were from Yuzhou, with a Jianghuai background rather than a Jiangdong background. This was one of the reasons why Yuan Xi was able to hand over the navy to them.

If we can defeat Cao Cao in this battle, we can take advantage of the situation to annex Yanzhou and Yuzhou, and completely occupy the hinterland from the Central Plains to the Jianghuai region, and then all major events in the world will be settled!
Jiang Qin immediately issued an urgent order, asking the soldiers on standby at the docks in the lower reaches of the Yellow River to assemble in the north. At the same time, according to the request in the secret letter, he sent a letter to Chunyu Qiong who was stationed in Hejian County, requesting his cooperation in sending troops.

Within two days, hundreds of warships had arrived. Jiang Qin and Lu Su did not delay and immediately issued orders, urging the entire army to advance westward at full speed, with the target being the docks along the Yellow River in Yanzhou!
At the same time, Chunyu Qiong also sent troops from Hejian, leading 20,000 soldiers and horses to attack Qinghe County in response to the offensive of Lu Su's fleet.

The two sudden attacks caught Cao Hong, who was stationed in Qinghe County, off guard. Although he tried his best to resist Chunyu Qiong, he was not at an advantage in terms of military strength, and Yuan Xi's navy was too aggressive and controlled the Yellow River, ready to cut off Li Dian's army from behind at any time.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Cao Hong quickly sent a letter to Yecheng for help. At the same time, he was also in a state of distress, because Cao Cao's strategy was to let Zhang Xiu take the initiative to attack Qingzhou, and Li Dian would take the opportunity to advance eastward along the Yellow River, enter Qingzhou and dig the river embankment.

Therefore, many of Cao Hong's subordinates are engineers, and Zhang Xiu has not arrived yet. This is the most vulnerable time, and he is unexpectedly attacked by Yuan Xi's army, which has mastered the intelligence of Cao's army, and puts him in a very passive position.

Cao Hong led his soldiers to retreat westward along the Yellow River. He received a message from a spy saying that the Yellow River navy was dozens of miles behind him and was chasing them at full speed.

Cao Hong knew that he didn't have time to wait for a reply from Yecheng. It would take more than ten days to go back and forth. By the time the letter arrived, Yanzhou might have been lost. He looked at the river bank that had been dug in advance, and after a moment of hesitation, he gave the order. The soldiers immediately dug up the river bank and released the Yellow River water to stop the enemy!

Jiang Qin and Lu Su stood at the bow, anxiously ordering the soldiers to speed up.

As they came along, they found many signs of excavation along the banks of the Yellow River. The two men immediately realized that Cao's army might have already prepared for the surprise attack, but their navy arrived too quickly and dispersed the Cao's army stationed on the embankment, preventing them from digging the river bank in time.

But since there is a dug river bank downstream, there must be one upstream as well. If they go upstream like this, they will sooner or later fall behind the speed of Cao's army. If they allow them to successfully dig the river bank upstream, it may cause considerable damage to the navy's warships.

This initially made Lu Su and Jiang Qin hesitate. After all, if the river bank was dug up and the Yellow River overflowed, the fleet would be stranded at the least, but it would be more likely that the fleet would be washed away and damaged by the flood, and the entire navy would be useless at that time.

Jiang Qin sighed, "Not only will our lives be in jeopardy, but the fleet the Lord has given us will also be destroyed. Even if we escape, how can we explain to the Lord?"

Lu Su thought for a while and said decisively: "My lord, you must have considered this possibility when you gave me the order. Alerting the enemy is only to reduce the loss, not to avoid it completely."

"So what we have to do now is to buy time and move forward one step at a time!"

Jiang Qin listened and nodded, "Zijing is right!"

"From now on, go full speed ahead, using all the power of wind and manpower!"

After hearing the order, the soldiers on the ship went into the cabin one after another to row the oars, and the speed of the fleet increased again.

But sailing against the current was not fast, and the so-called steam engines invented by Yuan Xi's army had been dug up. So even though the two men rowed desperately, they still received news about a hundred miles into Yanzhou that the river embankment a dozen miles ahead had been completely dug up, and the river water was now rushing out.

Jiang Qin listened and made a prompt decision. He ordered from the bow: "While there is still water in the river, don't worry about the damage to the boat, and rush forward with all your strength!"

"We will try to get as many ships as we can. If they are stranded, we will try to get them back. If they can't move, we will drop anchor to deal with the flood!"

As the order was issued, hundreds of ships accelerated again. The soldiers took turns rowing the boats, and the roaring sound of water was heard gradually approaching.

They could not see the scene on the deck. Now in front of the fleet was the raging and raging water of the breached dam, which was rushing in all directions. Due to the difference in height, huge whirlpools were formed near the breach.

Suddenly, the boat in front shook and crashed into the whirlpool. The soldiers rowing the boats felt their arms shaken and the oars were rebounded by the force of the water, causing them to fall to the ground in an instant.

The helmsmen on the deck steered the ships desperately to prevent them from being washed off course. The warships tilted and tilted, trying to maintain the correct direction, but several ships were still knocked sideways, lost control, and collided with the ships behind.

There was a loud bang, wood chips flew everywhere, and ship fragments were scattered everywhere. Some ships were hit with big holes, and river water poured in. Some ships were hit and almost broke in two, blocking the subsequent marching route.

Jiang Qin saw soldiers screaming and flying off the deck, and then being swallowed up by the raging foamy water. He had no time to mourn, but instead issued a series of hurried orders, ordering the damaged ships to sail to the river bank and clear the central channel.

Lu Su also had a solemn expression. It was useless to show mercy at this time. The option with the least loss was to rush through the gap as soon as possible.

Of course, he could guess that the Cao army in front was still digging up the river bank. How far his fleet could push the Cao army would depend on the performance of Chunyu Qiong's infantry, which was the source.

(End of this chapter)