Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 425: Showing weakness by pretending to surrender

In order to believe in his sincerity in surrender, Meng Da wrote five letters to Cao Ren in a row.

On Cao Ren's side, Shen Yi, who had just settled down and led the remaining troops to surrender, received a letter from Meng Da about surrender, which was a bit caught off guard. However, Cao Ren was caught off guard, and it was Cao Ren's surprise.

Meng Da cried out his identity in the letter. He and Zhang Song were good friends and together they welcomed Liu Bei to Shu. Unexpectedly, Zhang Song was brutally killed by Liu Bei because of his mistake. After Zhang Song was killed, he was often suspected by outsiders because of his close relationship with Zhang Song.

Now he works for Liu Bei, assists Liu Feng, and defeats Shen Yi. However, Liu Feng had an arrogant temperament and took away his encouragement and even bullied him with words.

Meng Da said in the letter that Cao Cao was wise and mighty, and could be compared with the great ancestor Liu Bang. Although Liu Bei was kind to others, his rewards and punishments were unclear.

When Liu Qi died of illness, Huo Jun welcomed him into Jingchu. However, Liu Bei was suspicious of Huo Jun because of the King of Huainan's affairs and his great achievements in shaking the master, so he kept him in Wuhan and treated him as a false official.

The events of Zhang Song, Huo Jun and Meng Da mostly illustrate that Liu Bei was a trustworthy person, but because of his improper position, he was often afraid of these meritorious ministers.

Now he, Mengda, is unwilling to serve Liu Bei. Now he wants to send troops to sacrifice his mausoleum and Cao Cao, and later to serve as a vanguard to the three eastern counties.

With his sincere and emotional narration, Meng Da directly informed Cao Ren of the military deployment of the Southern Han Dynasty in order to win Cao Ren's trust.

In the Nanjun Dudu District, Guan Yu and Lu Meng had 30,000 soldiers; in Jiangxia County, Wenpin had 10,000 soldiers; in the Hanzhong Dudu District, Lu Xun and Yang Ang had 20,000 soldiers; in the Jiangzhou Dudu District, Zhang Fei, Wu Lan, Fukuang and other generals had 30,000 soldiers.

At present, Liu Bei's focus is on integrating internal forces and intends to regain the four counties of Jiaoling and the three counties of Shangyong. His current strength in the three eastern counties is only over 10,000 men. If Cao Ren raises Jing and Xiang's troops to advance eastward and he leads his troops to rebel, he can easily capture the three Shangyong counties and gain more than 100,000 troops to open up territory and expand his territory to advance.

Even after taking the three eastern counties, we can send troops from Guanzhong and Longyou to attack Hanzhong from three sides, or we can send troops to Hanzhong.

On the couch, Cao Ren kept flipping through Meng Da's three letters in his hand, feeling hesitant in his heart.

"Zi Yuan, what do you think of Meng Da's request to surrender?" Cao Ren asked.

Hu Xiu frowned and thought, and said: "Mengda's words in the letter are sincere and meaningful, and there should be no deception. Moreover, the letter contains the military deployment of the water thieves, so it should not be a fake surrender."

Hu Xiu, whose courtesy name is Ziyuan. He served as the governor of Jingzhou for a long time. He was merciless and violent, and governed the people too harshly. It was hard to say that he won the hearts of the people of Jingzhou and Xiangzhou. However, everything has advantages and disadvantages. With his support, Cao Ren built the Xiangfan city wall deeply so that Guan Yu would not dare to commit any minor offenses.

"Commander, Liu Bei can win people's hearts under his rule. Meng Dayan said that he wanted to offer the city but turned against him. I'm afraid it's a lie."

Shen Yi, who had recently surrendered, actively advised Cao Ren and said: "Yi is a mediocre person. He is well aware of the terrain of Fangling and the narrow roads. It is inconvenient to enter and exit. If the bandits pretend to surrender and set up an ambush in the area, three If the division falls, Jingxiang will be in danger!"

Cao Ren glanced at Shen Yi but didn't say much.

Meng Da is not trustworthy, and Shen Yi is also not trustworthy. Who knows if Shen Yi is a soldier sent by Liu Bei to pretend to surrender? After all, his brother and family are all in the Southern Han Dynasty, and it is unbelievable to lead his troops to escape alone.

Suspicion was doubtful. As Shen Yi was a local leader in Dongsan County, Cao Ren had no choice but to ask him to participate in this military meeting because he didn't know much about the specific situation in Dongsan County.

"Jun Li, do you have any advice?" Cao Ren asked.

Zhu Zhi stroked his gray beard and said: "In the report of the expedition to the south, Mengda surrendered all his counties and asked the general to send troops to move in, thinking that he wanted to capture the three counties. This matter is not trivial. It is true that Mengda surrendered, but the troops of Jingxiang were mobilized to advance westward. , it still needs His Majesty’s consent before it can be implemented.”

"For the sake of governance, General Zhengnan might as well send Meng Da's letter to Yecheng, and attach the general's opinion. In order to avoid acting rashly and falling into the enemy's treacherous plan."

After Sun Wu was destroyed, not only Sun Quan was sent to Xiangyang, but also loyal Sun generals like Zhu Zhi were sent to Xiangyang. After Cao Cao surrendered to Liu Cong and Xiangyang, he not only reused Sun Quan, but also appointed and promoted Zhu Zhi, Cheng Pu and other Sun family's old officials to conquer Jiangdong.

Since serving Cao Cao, Zhu Zhi was promoted by Cao Cao to the post of Xiangyang Prefect due to his military performance and familiarity with water warfare, and was placed under Cao Ren's command.

Today, Jingzhou under Cao Cao's administration includes the four counties of Xiangyang, Zhangling, Nanxiang, and Nanyang. Its governors are Zhu Zhi, Lu Chang, Fu Fang, and Dongligun respectively.

Cao Ren read Meng Da's letter and said: "As Jun Li said, even if Meng Da intends to surrender, now because Guan Yu's army is in the south, we cannot easily mobilize troops. Xiangfan is the fundamental place. Without Xiangfan to defend the border, it will be Chang'an and the Central Plains may be plundered by water thieves. Now we need to submit the letter to Your Majesty and then use troops based on the situation."

To be honest, Cao Ren had been in charge of Xiangfan for ten years. Apart from building cities and fortifications, he had almost no use for them, so he was mostly eager to make achievements. The successive surrenders of Jin Shen Yi and Meng Da made him more interested in taking action. He was even willing to believe Meng Da's plan to send troops to the three eastern counties.

Zhu Zhi had a calm temper and said: "Today's letter is sent to Yecheng. It will take a lot of time to travel. The governor may write to Mengda with detailed words of comfort. At the same time, in order to prevent Mengda from pretending to surrender, we should order scouts to investigate. The movements of Liu and Meng."

"good!"

Cao Ren nodded slightly and said, "General Laoshen will send his astute people deep into the three counties of Fangling to see if Mengda intends to surrender."

"Promise!" Not to mention that Cao Ren sent the letter to Yecheng and sent people to the three eastern counties to investigate Mengda's movements.

At present, Guan Yu, Lu Meng and other generals in Nanjun are discussing the details of the use of troops.

Guan Yu stared at the map and sighed sadly: "Meng Da has sent a letter to pretend to surrender to Cao Ren, but the sergeants stationed by Cao Ren in Xiangfan did not move, fearing that Zidu's fake surrender plan would be discovered by him. If the fake surrender plan fails, he may have been planning for months. , will be in vain.”

Ever since Liu Bei agreed with his strategy for the Northern Expedition to Xiangyang, Guan Yu did not dare to make any mistakes and always worked hard to ensure the success of his strategy.

Now the strategy of false surrender has been decided, the march route has been arranged, and the resources needed for the Northern Expedition have been allocated. But since the plan of false surrender, Guan Yu was worried. After all, whether he could fall into the trap depends on the enemy, not on himself.

Lu Meng seemed to sense Guan Yu's worry and comforted him by saying: "Your Majesty, although Cao Ren is the general who conquered the south, he is in charge of Jingxiang's troops. But without Cao Cao's order, how could Cao Ren dare to send troops?"

"It is expected that Cao Ren has submitted a letter to Yecheng by now. The scouts will need time to travel. It is difficult to know in a short time whether Cao Ren is willing to send his troops to the west and attack Shangyong and Fangling counties according to Mengda's strategy."

Guan Yu stroked his long beard with his hand and thought: "Ziming, I have 30,000 sergeants in Jiangling now, and I am supervising all the soldiers. Is it possible that Cao Ren is afraid of our military strength in Jiangling and dare not march westward to Fangling at will?" ?”

Lu Meng pondered for a while and said: "What the governor said is not true. There are 30,000 soldiers in Jiangling. Even though Cao Ren deeply believed in Meng Da's intention to surrender, he did not dare to lighten the troops in Xiangfan. In Meng's opinion, the king Why not use the strategy of arrogance against the enemy to allow Cao Ren to march westward with peace of mind?"

"Where does the plan for an arrogant enemy come from?" Guan Yu asked.

"Cao Ren relied on his bravery and aggressiveness, not on strategy. He was able to defend Xiangfan, thanks to Cao Cao's weapons, and cannot be compared with the princes. When the princes were in Jiangling, many Cao Ren were afraid and did not dare to send troops to invade. Afraid of defeat.”

Lü Meng pointed at the map and said: "The king is nearly sixty years old now, and he had a lot of bad health in the past. Why don't you take a boat east to Wuhan in the name of illness and return to the capital to recuperate? And cut some parts. The sergeants stationed troops to allow Cao Ren to march westward with peace of mind."

"The prince has the courage of a bear and a tiger. He always lives in front of others in battles and never leaves Jiangling without relatives. Now he is recuperating and leaving his post to return to the capital to rest. Cao Ren will definitely believe it, so he will despise Jiangling and would rather lead his army into Fangling lightly."

"When Cao Ren marched westward, the princes took boats and marched up the river day and night. They could arrive in two or three days. Meng was the vanguard and led his army across the mountains to wait for the princes. At that time, the soldiers and horses fought against Cao Ren and defeated his army. , defeat his army, advance to Nanxiang, plunder the entire territory of the Han River, go down the river, merge land and water, and then take Xiangyang directly."

Lu Meng didn't say it in detail. In his eyes, Guan Yu was stubborn and conceited. With his character, he probably couldn't do anything like showing weakness to Cao Ren. Now he suggested that Guan Yu recuperate and show weakness, which was probably out of the blue.

As for why Guan Yu agreed now?

Because Guan Yu had been trying to lure Cao Ren into fighting for a long time, the sunk cost was too high. If Meng Da's plan to induce surrender fails and Cao Ren holds on without fighting, it will be almost impossible to capture Xiangfan in this life.

Sure enough, after being silent for a long time, Guan Yu said: "In the name of recuperating, it is probably a good idea to leave Jiangling and reduce the garrison."

As he spoke, Guan Yu walked up and down with his hands behind his back and said, "Ziming, can I contact the Nanyang righteous men today?"

"Have!"

Lu Meng pondered for a while and said: "Nanyang guard Hou Yin has a grudge against Hu Xiu. Now he admires the name of the king and is willing to be rewarded by the king. When the king besieges Xiangyang, Hou Yin is willing to start an uprising in Wancheng as a response."

Guan Yu shook his head and said: "Wancheng is too far away. I'm afraid I won't be able to respond to Hou Yin's rebellion. Unless we can quickly descend to Xiangfan, cross Xinye and go straight to Wancheng. Is there anyone in Xiangfan who is willing to surrender? ?”

Lu Meng looked helpless and said: "Cao Ren and Zhu Zhi are good at raising soldiers and can win the hearts of the army. Most of the families of the soldiers under their command are in the Central Plains. It is difficult to say that their generals have rebelled and turned into rebellion. Moreover, communication is often inconvenient, such as Nawan City Hou Yin, after only contacting him two or three times, asked the princes to raise trouble around Xiangfan."

"That's fine!"

Guan Yu thought for a long time and said: "The current situation has not been resolved, Cao's thieves are powerful, and there are few people who are willing to surrender. If the situation in Xiangfan is clear, there should be many people who are willing to surrender."

"Exactly!" Lu Meng agreed.

Guan Yu looked at the map of Xiangfan, sighed, and made up his mind, saying: "Ziming's plan is definitely feasible. After I return to the capital due to illness, I will declare you to the king as the prefect of Nanjun. You will be responsible for the military affairs of Jiangling. Don't let me down." "

Lu Meng looked serious and said: "Now you can rest assured, Meng will definitely deploy the military well. At that time, Cao Ren will raise his troops to Fangling, and then you can march westward and take over the army."

"good!"

ps: Guan Yu taught Lu Meng to read the Spring and Autumn Annals, which was purely a prank. If anyone doesn't like it, I'm sorry.

(End of this chapter)