Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 740 Astrological Changes

Yuan Xi knew that his strategy involved many links and was very likely to fail. However, after discussing it with Guo Jia, he believed that the only way to make the extremely cautious Cao Cao paralyzed was to rely on a sneak attack that was almost gambling.

Cao Cao personally led the army to attack Nanyang, otherwise he would be on guard against hostile forces from all sides, but his focus should also be on Liu Bei of Xinye and Liu Biao of Nanjun.

As for the north, Cao Cao should be much less wary. After all, in his opinion, the forces hostile to him are far away from Nanyang, and even if he knew that Cao Cao wanted to capture Nanyang, he would have no time to react.

Previously, when Yuan Xi went south from Wei Commandery, he did so in secret. At the same time, he asked Zhao Yun to leave the Black Mountain Pass with great fanfare, just to make Cao Cao think that the focus of his attack was Huaicheng.

Coupled with the twists and turns of the marriage between the Yang family and the Ma family in Hongnong, as well as Gao Gan's southward attack on Hedong, these news should have reached Cao Cao's ears. From Cao Cao's perspective, Yuan Xi should focus his attack on Sili Huai. City area.

In anyone's opinion, this intention is quite normal and has a clear purpose. After all, once Sili is lost, Ma Teng and Han Sui's Liangzhou will be separated and unable to support Yanzhou, while Yuan's Youzhou will merge with Heishan. and Sili can join together and launch an offensive against Cao Cao's hinterland in several directions at the same time.

Therefore, as soon as the news of Gao Gan's march south to Hedong reached Xu County, Cao Cao immediately led his troops south to Nanyang, intending to recruit Zhang Xiu in the shortest possible time, defeat Liu Bei, and prepare the logistics for his future battle with the Yuan family.

Yuan Xi naturally knew the importance of Nanyang based on the knowledge of later generations. Although the order of Cao Cao's capture was different, his purpose and behavioral logic did not change, so he would most likely choose to make a time difference and capture Nanyang first before going to support Guandu.

And Yuan Xi was fighting for this time difference. No one expected that he dared to lead his troops to attack for hundreds of miles, and even defeated Yuan Shu in the process!

Guo Jia believed that attacking Luoyang and defeating Yuan Shu would not necessarily scare the enemy, but might actually paralyze Cao Ying.

Because according to common sense, no one will attack other targets while rushing to the enemy's rear. This action is too contrary to common sense. It may be considered that the attack on Luoyang is to surround Huaicheng and block the direction of Xu County. preparations for reinforcements.

Although this approach involved gambling, it turned out that Yuan Xi and Guo Jia won the bet. They defeated Yuan Shu and immediately went south. At the same time, they sent soldiers to lead some of Yuan Shu's troops northward to confuse him.

Within three or four days during this period, Yuan Xi led his troops into the dense forest to hide their traces. Their route was surveyed in advance by spies from Yuan Xi's previous intelligence network, so they successfully went south to the vicinity of Wancheng.

According to the reports from the spies sent, there were no signs of large-scale troop deployment or alert nearby or in Wancheng, indicating that Cao Cao did not expect Yuan Xi's surprise attack on Chen Cang. What's more fortunate, Cao Cao seemed to be outside the city. In the camp!

Yuan Xi was happy and at the same time, he let the entire army rest for half a day, and once night fell, they launched an all-out assault on Cao Cao's camp!

He was both excited and anxious. During this period, he specifically trained his soldiers on night raids. Although it was extremely difficult, he still achieved very obvious results in the battle of Luoyang. Yuan Shu's army was defeated.

Now his shortcoming is that the surrendered troops led by the newly surrendered Zhang Xun are obviously not as good as Zhang Liao and Xu Huang's troops, so Yuan Xi can only let Zhang Xun and himself stay in the central army to avoid causing chaos.

As night fell, Yuan Xi walked out of the camp and gave an order. Zhang Liao and Xu Huang were in front, Yuan Xi and Zhang Xun were behind, and the three armies rushed towards Wancheng!

Within Wancheng, Cao Ang welcomed Jia Xu in and led him to his seat.

Cao Ang saluted and said, "Sir, why did you come here late at night?"

Jia Xu was not polite and said bluntly: "I always feel that something is not right."

After hearing this, Cao Ang looked solemn, bowed his hands and said, "Please give me some advice, sir."

Jia Xu stroked his beard and said: "Actually, I don't have any definite evidence, but from just one point, I find it extremely paradoxical."

"Just now General Zhang sent back news that Liu Bei was unable to hold on, his attack on Xinye was blocked, and he was on his way back."

After hearing this, Cao Ang nodded and said: "I have also learned that Liu Bei is alert, but after all, he has been defeated by his father several times, so it is natural for him to be wary."

Jia Xu said: "No, that's the problem."

"The news I learned was that when Liu Bei left the city and headed north to confront the general, he suddenly returned."

"Since he has the courage to go north, he must be prepared to confront the general head-on. Why retreat without fighting?"

Cao Ang hesitated and said: "I speculate based on the intelligence that he should have guessed that my father had an ambush and cut off his escape?"

Jia Xu nodded and said, "That's true. This is the most reasonable explanation."

"But this cannot explain why he dared to go north and take the initiative to attack since he was defeated by Duke Cao."

"Liu Bei has been defeated and fought repeatedly. He is indeed quite tenacious. However, with his current strength, attacking Wancheng, where Duke Cao is stationed, is undoubtedly a drop of a feather to shake the tree. How dare he?"

"Unless he has another purpose!"

Cao Ang was horrified when he heard this, and lost his voice: "Sir, are you saying that Liu Bei has something to rely on when he sends troops?"

Jia Xu nodded heavily, "Yes, either he has the confidence to capture Wancheng, or he is trying to trick the enemy, but no matter which possibility, there is another purpose behind him, and he has other forces' intentions. Unruly!"

"This may be Liu Biao of Jingzhou, it may be Taishi Ci of Shouchun, or it may even be the Yang family of Hongnong. No matter which force suddenly enters the situation, it may cause a lot of trouble to Duke Cao!"

After hearing this, Cao Ang stood up suddenly, bowed and said, "If it hadn't been for Mr.'s words that woke up the dreamer, I would have been kept in the dark and not known that the danger was coming!"

"I will lead the troops out immediately and report this matter to my father!"

"All matters in the city will be left to sir!"

Jia Xu said goodbye to Cao Ang and left the mansion. He saw Cao Ang leading his troops out of the city. Cao's soldiers followed him on the road, while the people hid behind the windows and looked outside anxiously.

For Wancheng, which has experienced several wars, they are already familiar with the roads and instinctively feel that something is going to happen in the city!

Jia Xu got on the carriage and narrowed his eyes. He said everything that needed to be said, but he only speculated. After all, it didn't look like Wancheng could be defeated.

Not to mention Cao Cao outside the city, Zhang Xiu and Cao Chun Yujin will arrive tomorrow. How can the city not be able to defend it for even one or two nights?

But for some reason, Jia Xu always felt an ominous premonition. He calculated that he should not have missed all the forces. The most threatening one was Lu Xun Taishi Ci from the direction of Shouchun, but Jiangdong was said to be attacking Jiujiang. , can Taishi Ci abandon Jiujiang and run to Nanyang to fight Cao Cao?

He shook his head. He was afraid that his worries were unfounded. It seemed that at this age, he would always be a little suspicious. After all, he still wanted to live for a few more decades.

In the small courtyard in the city, Zhuge Liang looked at the soldiers hurried away and said to Huang Yueying: "It's not quite right."

"Just now I was observing the sky at night, and saw the purple myrtle, the greedy wolf, and the greedy wolf slanting over Wancheng. Seven kills of the broken army were divided into three triangles, and the three palaces of Tianliang, the giant gate of the sky, were dimmed."

Huang Yueying asked: "Whose horoscope is this?"

Zhuge Liang said solemnly: "Zhang Xiu can't afford it. The person with the highest merit in Wancheng is naturally Cao Cao."

"His natal astrology has been shaken, and the light is coming from the north. He is very aggressive in killing the army. I am afraid that there will be a disaster tonight."

Huang Yueying asked curiously: "Who dares to attack Cao Cao at this time? Could it be Liu Bei from Xinye?"

"That's not right. He is in the south. How can it be from the back?"

"Did he come around?"

Zhuge Liang shook his head and said: "It doesn't look like that. Cao Jun and Zhang Xiu were going to fight in the new field. It is unlikely that Liu Bei would have the spare strength to divide his troops."

"It's really weird."

"But I did see a glimmer of life in the stars."

After hearing this, Huang Yueying was surprised and said: "Why, does your husband think that we were in a dead end before?"

Zhuge Liang nodded and said: "Yes, trapped in Wancheng, there is no way out, but now that the stars are shaking, there is a crack in this dilemma!"

"But if we just wait and see what happens, this gap will close soon. So now I have to find the key destiny star to change my destiny against the will of heaven!"

Huang Yueying asked subconsciously: "Who is it?"

Zhuge Liang stood up and walked out, "Of course it's Jia Xu and Jia Wenhe."

At this time, in the camp outside the city and inside Cao Cao's tent, Cao Cao collapsed on Zou exhausted after a violent shaking.

After a while, he panted heavily and sat up from the bed. He stood up violently and felt dizzy. Cao Cao managed to steady himself, and it took a while before he calmed down.

Cao Cao thought that he had indeed become a little indulgent in the past few days. This woman Zou was really happy. It was completely different from his previous attempts to please his concubines. There was also a trace of resistance in the cooperation. This kind of charm of refusing to welcome was even more Cao Cao couldn't stop.

He saw Mr. Zou burying his head under the quilt and smiled. He was about to say a few words and then continue fighting when he heard Dian Wei say from outside the tent: "My lord, the eldest son wants to see you."

Cao Cao felt a little angry. He was so angry that he was bothering him so late!

But he didn't ignore the overall situation. He knew that Cao Ang must have something important to come to him, so he said: "Let him in."

When Cao Ang hurried in, he saw Cao Cao sitting on the couch. Although the woman's body behind him was covered with a quilt, there were a few happy moments. He quickly lowered his head and said, "I have seen my father."

Cao Cao said coldly: "If you have anything to say, please tell me."

After hearing this, Cao Ang quickly said what Jia Xu said. After hearing this, Cao Cao thought about it, and then his face suddenly changed, "Did you bring all the soldiers out?"

Cao Ang didn't know why, so he nodded and said, "I'm afraid that my father is in danger, so I led troops to protect him around him. Is there any problem?"

Cao Cao said angrily: "Which city did you hand over to Jia Xu?"

"What if he has a rebellious attitude?"

Cao Ang was stunned and lost his voice: "It shouldn't be possible, right?"

Cao Cao's expression was gloomy and uncertain, which would be fine at ordinary times, but now he felt a little guilty.

A few days ago, Cao Cao was fascinated by the Zou family, and he accepted the Zou family in a daze. However, thinking about it afterwards, Cao Cao was not sure whether Zhang Xiu would fall out with him after learning about this!

Suddenly, there was chaos all around the camp, arrows roared through the air, and at the same time, there were continuous shouts.

"General Zhang has an order. Anyone who gets the head of Cao Cao will be rewarded with ten thousand gold!"

Cao Cao suddenly stood up and said in panic: "Zhang Xiu has indeed rebelled!"

(End of this chapter)