Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 970 Preemptive Strike
Zhuge Liang didn't understand why Yuan Xi was so prejudiced against Jiangdong that his strategic direction for fighting for the world changed to this point.

Because in his opinion, Jiang Dong may not be able to win over to his own camp, but only at this moment did Zhuge Liang understand that in Yuan Xi's heart, there was no such option at all!

This is actually very different from Zhuge Liang's plan, because among the princes of the world, Liu Biao, Liu Zhang and Shi Xie of Jiaozhou have actually withdrawn from the ranks of fighting for the world, and now it has gradually evolved into the three-party dominance of Yuan Xi, Cao Cao and Sun Quan. situation.

These three parties have their own unique advantages in terms of size and foundation, and they are not easily defeated. And now Yuan Xi's combined forces are actually slightly weaker than Cao Cao. In this case, shouldn't they be more united? Koto?

Thinking of this, Zhuge Liang solemnly said to Yuan Xi: "My lord, is it because of his own likes and dislikes towards Jiangdong, or is it for other reasons?"

Yuan Xi thought for a while and said, "Other reasons."

Zhuge Liang somewhat understood that most of the so-called other reasons were stargazing.

Zhuge Liang has never been able to understand Yuan Xi's dreamlike stargazing. This is completely different from what Zhuge Liang realized, but it does not prevent Zhuge Liang from understanding Yuan Xi's motives and thoughts. He should have seen something about Jiangdong during his stargazing. Only the reliable side would say this, right?

In this way, Zhuge Liang will have to adjust his future plans accordingly. As a military strategist, although Zhuge Liang respects Yuan Xi's wishes, he cannot regard them as a guideline and must prepare for the worst. After all, no one can predict the stargazing. Is it necessarily correct? As a military advisor, it is your responsibility to consider all possibilities.

After thinking about this, Zhuge Liang said in a deep voice: "Liang understands, then Liang will make plans with Jiangdong as his primary enemy."

Yuan Xi looked around, put his mouth to Zhuge Liang's ear, and whispered a few words.

"The people he relies on are mostly Youzhou cavalry and heavy infantry, which cannot be used in Jiangdong!"

A group of Jiangdong officials couldn't help but panic when they saw Sun Quan behaving in such a panic. After all, Yuan Xi had become so famous in recent years, especially after he had just captured Jinyang and was said to have killed hundreds of thousands of Huns. This was even more so. Everyone in Jiangdong was secretly frightened. If he used this method on Jiangdong, would his family be able to survive?
At this moment, some people began to feel secretly shaken and had some unstable thoughts.

Zhuge Liang's expression changed several times, "Is there such a thing?"

"Can my lord see more details?"

"I estimate that Jiangdong will perform a few scenes after getting the news that I am going south. Let's see their performance first."

"This person is extremely vindictive. I said it was too early to break up with him. Now what if he attacks us with all his strength?"

"Then we might as well use the trick and throw out the bait to see if Jiangdong takes the bait. If it is true as the envoy said, it should make him suffer a big loss."

Yuan Xi said without hesitation: "Treachery."

Zhuge Liang was startled for a moment, then smiled and said: "Since it is so clear, it will be easier to handle."

"Is he preparing to go to war with us?"

At this time Zhou Yu stood up and said sternly: "My lord, please don't panic, the ferocious tiger is not scary!"

Sure enough, after Sun Quan learned the news, he urgently summoned his ministers to discuss countermeasures. He could not hide the panic on his face and said to everyone: "The fierce tiger just captured Bingzhou, but it immediately raised troops to go south. Now it is reported that it has entered." Huai River should be heading to Shouchun."

The news of Yuan Xi's fleet going south was learned by the Jiangdong spies in Haixi City, who rushed to Jiangdong to report the news. This was actually expected by Yuan Xi. After all, it was impossible to completely mobilize such a large fleet of tens of thousands of people. If he can't hide it, what he is waiting for now is Jiang Dong's decision.

"The number of soldiers he leads is estimated to be at least tens of thousands. Are they going to attack Wancheng?"

"However, this may not happen, and we still have to prepare other possible responses."

"We can't compete with them in infantry combat, but Jiangdong's naval generals are gathered together and their soldiers are powerful. Who dares to say that they can defeat us on the water?"

"My lord, why do you think it is untrustworthy?"

"What's more, since we have the title of emperor, if the fierce tiger dares to attack us, we will have the title of rebel!"

Yuan Xi smiled and said: "We have to rely on military advisors."

"If this matter is true, we can use the situation in Jingzhou to make some foreshadowing."

"We uphold our righteousness and occupy the river to stop the enemy. Why should they be afraid of the fierce tiger?"

"If he dares to cross the Yangtze River Thunder Pond, Yu will lead his troops to fight and destroy him with all his strength!"

After hearing this, Sun Quan's face brightened slightly and he said with a smile: "Gong Jin really knows what I mean. I am now personally granted the title of Duke of Wu by the Han court. He is a fierce tiger and a small third-level general. He is attacking me with no name and only surrender." The whole world is criticizing!”

After hearing this, Jiangdong officials praised him one after another, but what many people were thinking in their hearts was, would people like Jihu really care about this?

Zhang Zhao came out at this time and said: "Although the fierce tiger may not send troops across the river, it is very likely that it will intervene in the fight for Jingzhou." "As long as he captures the city on the north bank of the Yangtze River, the food road from Jiangdong to attack Jiangxia will be destroyed." If it is cut off, the generals who are still fighting with Huang Zu in Jiangxia will be unable to advance or retreat. "

"If Fierce Tiger and Huang Zu attack from behind, I'm afraid it will be difficult for them to retreat."

Everyone believed that what Zhang Zhao said was very likely to happen, and it might even be the real purpose of the evil tiger to go to Shouchun!
Sun Quan's face became solemn, he looked at Zhang Zhao and said, "Can Chang Shi respond?"

Zhang Zhao laughed dryly and said, "I don't know much about military affairs, so I'd better ask Governor Zhou to give me advice."

Sun Quan looked at Zhou Yu, but a trace of hesitation flashed in his heart. He knew that Zhou Yu was very capable, and was from Jianghuai, and was not very close to the local nobles in Jiangdong. Logically speaking, Sun Quan should reuse Zhou Yu to suppress the local nobles in Jiangdong.

But Zhou Yu had a problem, that is, he and Zhang Zhao were from the same hometown.

Zhang Zhao was originally supported by Sun Ce to suppress the Jiangdong gentry. After Sun Ce's death, Sun Quan came to power and continued Sun Ce's approach. He treated Zhang Zhao with great courtesy. In domestic affairs, Zhang Zhao and his faction had far more say than other Jiangdong officials.

Under such circumstances, if Zhou Yu is still reused in the army, it will easily lead to a situation where Jianghuai scholars are dominant.

For the Jiangdong nobles, it didn't matter that the civil servants were mostly vacuous and some were weak. However, if the powerful generals with private soldiers were suppressed, it was related to whether they could protect themselves. Therefore, Jiangdong was more sensitive to the issue of generals than civilian officials.

In this context, Zhou Yu's position as the left governor, especially after the defeat of Chaohu, was not high among Jiangdong generals. There were many people in front of him. Cheng Puhan took the official position of Lu Fan and others. The marquis positions were all before Zhou Yu's.

Compared with when Sun Ce was alive, this status is still somewhat lower than when Sun Ce was alive. At first, Zhou Yu was Sun Ce's most trusted deputy, but now he is a false governor with the rank of general, and has been suppressed by Cheng Pu and others. .

This is obviously the reason for the defeat of Chaohu, but there are also factors that Sun Quan deliberately did, so Zhou Yu's current status is actually a bit embarrassing.

Sun Quan hesitated for a long time, then turned to Cheng Pu and others and said, "I want to hear your thoughts."

"Do you have the confidence to defeat the fierce tiger?"

The Jiangdong generals looked at each other and spoke one after another.

Zhou Yu listened, but sighed in his heart. In his opinion, the Jiangdong generals talked nonsense and did not put forward any useful plans at all.

At the beginning, Zhou Yu didn't understand Sun Quan's attitude, but now he understands it a little better. Thinking of Sun Quan's attitude towards Sun Ce's orphaned children, Zhou Yu gradually realized some not-so-good things.

Zhou Yu discovered that Sun Quan seemed to be a little resistant to the deceased Sun Ce, who seemed to be absent?
This shouldn't be the case. Sun Ce supported Sun Quan's succession despite all objections. Logically speaking, Sun Quan should be grateful to Sun Ce, right?
Zhou Yu couldn't understand, but now he could only do his best and work conscientiously. Seeing that the generals couldn't make up their minds, he went out and said: "My lord, I have something to say."

"In the previous battles in which Lu Ziming captured Jiangxia, he beat Huang Zu so hard that he couldn't hold his head up. Now most of Jiangxia has fallen into the hands of the lord."

"This kind of opportunity comes only once in a lifetime. If the fierce tiger intervenes, something will definitely happen. Therefore, it is advisable to increase the number of troops at this time, completely seize Jiangxia as quickly as possible, and take advantage of the opportunity to go north to attack Xiangyang!"

"Once Xiangyang is captured, Jiangdong can divide Jingzhou equally with Cao Cao. This is the most important step to conquer the world!"

"As for the Yangtze River waterway, it doesn't matter if it is cut off by fierce tigers. At worst, we can rely on Yuzhang County in the south to supply soldiers with food and grass by land."

"And once this opportunity is lost, it will be even more difficult for Jiangdong to plot against Jingzhou again in the future under the watchful eye of the fierce tiger!"

What Zhou Yu said was very reasonable, and everyone agreed in their hearts. Lu Su came out and said, "I agree with Gong Jin's idea."

"At the same time, Xiaguan has always believed that if the lord wants to conquer the world, he must need a guest general who is good at land warfare,"

"And among all the people in the world, the one who best meets the conditions is none other than Liu Bei."

"If Jiangdong can attack Xiangyang, Liu Bei will be cornered. He has a grudge against Cao Cao, so he will never join Cao Cao, so he can only be used by the Lord!"

"On the other hand, if you win over Liu Bei, your lord will be even more powerful. Even if you can't take over the world for the time being, as long as you keep Jingzhou, you will have the capital to fight for the world. Then you can just sit back and watch the fierce tiger and Cao Cao fight!"

Sun Quan listened and said with a smile: "Zijing's words are exactly what I want!"

Zhou Yu opened his mouth, but did not say anything. In terms of attitude towards Liu Bei, he was the most at odds with Lu Su. In Zhou Yu's view, Liu Bei was the most dangerous person in the world, and there was no way Jiangdong would let him. He is loyal and loyal, so he must try his best to kill him and never let him stay!
But at this time, he couldn't openly refute Lu Su. After all, everything now was based on conquering Jiangxia and occupying Jingzhou.

In the next few days, while the officials in Jiangdong were still discussing, bad news came from Jiangxia. During the battle between Lu Meng's army and Huang Zu, Ling Cao advanced alone and was shot to death by Huang Zu's general Gan Ning!

When Sun Quan heard the news, he became furious and mobilized tens of thousands of naval troops, led by Cheng Pu, to Jiangxia.

(End of this chapter)