Choose Liu Bei at the start, I am the only one who knows the plot of the Three Kingdoms.

Chapter 488 New Year's Eve, the Eve of War

At the banquet, some people gradually couldn't hold back their drinking and fell asleep on the table, leaned against the chairs, or even on the floor.

Those who were not yet drunk continued to hold their glasses high and drink one glass after another. Gu Rubing went to the toilet and was blown by the wind on the way. Coupled with the release of some energy, he felt like he was revived with full blood. He immediately rolled up his sleeves and rushed to the wine table, continuing to drink with the civil and military officials who had just taken turns to get him drunk.

Everyone was also shocked by Gu Rubing's alcohol tolerance. Although they knew that Gu Rubing could drink, they never thought that he could drink so much. He almost made them all drunk, and he looked like nothing happened, as if he was not affected at all.

On the contrary, after getting drunk, Gu Rubing started to pester everyone, forcing them to drink, fighting against the crowd alone, and seemed to be ready to get everyone drunk.

The banquet lasted until late at night, and only a few people persisted until midnight. At four quarters after midnight, the sound of firecrackers in the street, which had become sparse, became lively again. People in every household who were still awake got up again, either in the house, in the yard, or on the street, and began to kneel and worship, and spread out some of the good things that they usually didn't want to eat on the ground to offer sacrifices to the gods in their hearts.

Not only ordinary people are like this, but even people like Gu Rubing, Cao Cao and Sun Quan, who traveled through time, are still like this, because in this age where the idea of ​​gods is deeply rooted, if anyone dares not to respect gods, they will be greeted with scorn and betrayal from the people.

Therefore, even though they knew that offering sacrifices to the gods was just a waste of time, no one stood up to stop it.

On Gu Rubing's side, the person in charge of the sacrifice was Zhuge Liang, who had slowly woken up. Zhuge Liang had already set up the Seven Star Platform and the altar for sacrifice in the backyard of Prince Lie's Mansion. On the altar, there were various items for sacrifice.

At four quarters past midnight, Zhuge Liang sat in the center of the Seven Star Terrace, clasped his hands and muttered something.

The person in charge of the sacrificial ceremony on Cao Cao's side was his eldest son Cao Ang. Cao Cao's love for Cao Ang was no less than that for Cao Zhang, who was already a famous general. If Cao Zhang was the future commander-in-chief of the three armies in Cao Cao's mind, then Cao Ang was the only candidate to succeed him in Cao Cao's mind.

Cao Ang, wearing long robes and with a slender figure, was standing in front of all the civil and military officials, representing the orthodox Han Dynasty in the sacrificial ceremony. Liu Xie had already changed into warmer clothes made of tiger skin and was sitting on the carriage. His originally pale face had now regained some redness, and he was holding a delicate little heater in his hand. All of this was obtained through his compromise.

The sacrifices in Jiangdong were very different from those of Gu Rubing and Cao Cao. Sun Quan, who had just come of age, took on this important task, which made everyone in Jiangdong understand the meaning of it. In addition, the clan concept in Jiangdong was very deep, so their sacrifices were also carried out very grandly.

This sacrifice will last for an hour, after which they will be considered to have completed the New Year's Eve and welcomed the New Year.

At the junction of Yuzhou, Jingzhou and Yanzhou, Dian Wei and Sun Ce were in the forest, and the two stayed up all night.

After being promoted to legendary generals, they can almost be said to have left the category of human beings. They can go without food and sleep, but can still maintain their prime.

The two men drank almost the entire night. The large jar of wine weighed at least five kilograms, plus a large bag of beef, and they all finished it. Then they didn't sleep a wink all night. They were both worried that Liu Bei would take advantage of the moment when everyone let down their guard and lead his army straight into Jingzhou.

However, the two men waited all night until the sky was bright, but they still did not wait for Liu Bei or the soldiers led by his generals.

Not only did they not wait today, they waited until the 14th day of the first lunar month and still did not see any of Liu Bei's subordinates.

At this time, Liu Zhang led the Yizhou army to station at the border of Nanjun. Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan under Cao Cao led an army of 300,000 to the northern part of Jingzhou, and Sun Jian also led an army of 300,000 to Jiangxia County.

The three armies were approaching at the same time, but until this point, the entire Jingzhou, including Liu Bei, had no reaction at all. This situation made Sun Jian and Cao Cao hesitate, because it was too calm, so calm that it was a little scary.

According to their understanding of Liu Bei, this normal thing is actually a bit abnormal. If Liu Qi, Huang Zu, Huang Zhong and others returned to Jingzhou, but Liu Bei did not let other generals lead troops to reinforce Jingzhou, then it would be understandable and they would not have to be so worried.

But the strange thing is that Liu Qi, Huang Zhong and Huang Zu, the three pillars of Jingzhou, did not return to Jingzhou. This requires careful consideration.

However, the arrow has been on the string and has to be shot. Tomorrow, the imperial edict appointing Cheng Yu as the governor of Jingzhou will be announced by Liu Xie himself at the morning court of the Lantern Festival. At the same time when the imperial edict is issued in Xudu, Cheng Yu, accompanied by Cao Ren, will go straight to Nanjun from the border of Nanyang County. At the same time, the three armies will launch an attack on Jingzhou at the same time.

Their plan had obviously been flawless, but on the eve of the war, Cao Cao and Sun Jian, who were nearly a thousand miles apart, both felt an inexplicable pressure at the same time.

At the border of Jiangxia County, the Jiangdong army was stationed in a camp. In Sun Jian's tent, all the generals who had gathered here early gathered here.

They had been stationed here several days ago. Although they did not say what they were going to do, any discerning person could see that they were going to attack Jingzhou, and it was definitely not a joke. Moreover, since they were stationed here, people were only allowed to enter the entire camp but not leave. Some spies hiding under Sun Jian's command were unable to pass on any messages.

Sun Jian has successfully transferred Sun Quan's special troops, the Tiger Soldiers under the Chariots. In addition to the Tiger Soldiers under the Chariots, Sun Jian has added two new special troops under his command, his own Tiger Cavalry, the Jiefan Army that Sun Jian transferred to, and Gan Ning's Wu Nan Army. The four special troops finally made up for the shortcoming of Sun Jian's lack of a strong force.

Now, these four special forces are all responsible for the entry and exit of people in the camp, and the four special forces will supervise each other. Once someone leaves the camp without permission, they will be killed without mercy. This is how the entire camp is controlled. In the past few days, no one can leave the camp to deliver messages.

Sun Jian thought he had done it perfectly. No matter what happened this time, Liu Bei would not know their deployment. However, Sun Jian, who was sitting in the big tent, was still uneasy.

"My Lord, it's already midnight. If you have anything to say, please tell me now. I'm in a hurry to go to bed."

Gan Ning said with a smile, and Sun Jian gave Gan Ning a helpless look.

"Have a good sleep today. Tomorrow morning at noon, attack Jiangxia County on time. Within three days, capture Jiangxia County City. If you can't take it down, you can pack up and go home to farm."

Sun Jian's voice was cold and it sounded like there was no intention to negotiate.

"My Lord, what is the strategy for this attack?"

Zhou Yu asked, frowning. It was not a big problem to attack Jiangxia County in three days. After all, they had an army of 300,000 this time. However, Jiangxia County was not a lone wolf. There were also Changsha County and Yuzhang County. If these two counties supported Jiangxia County, it would only take one day to arrive. By then, it would not be so easy for them to take Jiangxia County in three days.

"No strategy, just attack!"

Sun Jian finally showed a smile on his face, and Gan Ning slammed the chair after hearing it.

"Hahahaha, this should have been done a long time ago. You still dare to seize Yuzhang. What a piece of shit! My lord, I will lead the attack. It won't take three days! I can take it down in two days!"

"Okay! Xingba, this is what you said, two days!"

Sun Jian slapped his thigh and said happily, but the next moment, he changed the subject.

"However, there will be no assists this time, only main attacks. Whoever can enter Jiangxia County City first will own Jiangxia County!"

Sun Jian stood up after he finished speaking. "I know you are all worried that Liu Bei and his men will support Jiangxia County, and Yuzhang County and Changsha County will not come to support Yuzhang County. In other words, the enemy this time is only Jiangxia County. Everyone! Within three days, no matter the cost, capture Jiangxia!"

"Conquer Jiangxia!"

Gan Ning had a ferocious smile on his face, full of excitement.

Zhou Yu also had a solemn expression on his face, for he needed a victory so badly. Ever since he encountered Zhang Liao, his lifelong enemy, he had been failing. He was promoted to a famous general through failure, and the characteristics he gained were also related to failure. He needed a victory so badly now, a real victory.

Huang Gai, Zhou Tai, Cheng Pu, Han Dang and other Jiangdong generals were also very solemn. After all, the previous battles with Liu Bei always ended in their defeat. This meant that Liu Bei was now like a dark cloud hanging over their heads in Jiangdong. They had to break the cloud to see the light, and the atmosphere in the tent suddenly reached a high point.

Not only Sun Jian was conducting pre-war mobilization, but Cao Cao was too. He gathered his generals in the camp.

Except for Dian Wei, Cao Ren and Xu Chu, all the generals under Cao Cao are here.

"Everyone, I believe you are all very confused about why we are sending troops to attack Jingzhou. Now I can tell you that this time, tomorrow, an imperial edict will be issued to appoint Cheng Yu as the governor of Jingzhou. At the same time, Cheng Yu in Jingzhou will take another imperial edict to Nanjun to take over Jingzhou."

Cao Cao looked around at the generals present.

"Liu Qi, who is under Liu Bei's command, will definitely not hand over Jingzhou just like that. So what should we do?"

"Then fight!"

Although Cao Ang's voice was not loud, it was deep and powerful.

"Hahaha, well said, then let's fight! Everyone, maybe there are no spies for Liu Bei among you, but I can tell you very clearly that even the battalion commanders and sergeants under your command may be Liu Bei's men. That's why I'm only telling you the specific mission today. You can decide for yourself when to tell your men."

"Didn't we clear it out last time?"

Xiahou Dun frowned. The last time he cleaned up the spies in the baggage camp, he had found four spies among them. He originally thought that there should be no more of them, but now it seems that is not the case.

Cao Cao shook his head slightly, his expression solemn.

"Last time, we only cleared out four spies during a cleanup of the baggage camp. Now that I think about it, let alone all of them, there may be Liu Bei's spies even in the baggage camp."

"This……"

All the generals present looked at each other in bewilderment. They had never imagined that Liu Bei's infiltration of them had reached such a terrifying level.

"My Lord, can you tell me in detail how far Liu Bei has infiltrated us?"

Xiahou Yuan asked in a deep voice. He had been in charge of the soldiers' training recently. During the training, he did not feel that anyone was abnormal.

"Among the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry under Ziwen, there is a deputy general named Zhang Meng. Everyone knows this, right?"

"I know. That kid named Zhang Meng was always fierce in every battle and made many military achievements during his time with the Xiongnu. What's wrong? Is the person next to him a spy for Liu Bei?"

Cao Ang frowned. He had always been familiar with those people with great military achievements in the army, including Zhang Meng. This general under Cao Zhang's command had climbed out of the pile of dead bodies with his own abilities, so Cao Ang was very impressed by him.

"Hehe, not the one next to him."

"Is that his subordinate?"

"It's him."

A mocking smile appeared on Cao Cao's lips.

"The enemy's man has already become the first deputy general of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. If he hadn't been found by chance this time, he would probably have become the left and right generals of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry next. It's really a big joke, to let a spy become the left and right generals of our most elite Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. If this gets out, won't people laugh at him?"

"So what should we do? Should we conduct a thorough investigation?"

Yu Jin clenched his fists on the side. He was most concerned about this kind of spy affairs and was burning with anger at the moment.

"A thorough investigation? How do we investigate thoroughly?"

Xiahou Yuan said somewhat helplessly.

"During this period of time alone, we have recruited a total of 400,000 new troops. Add to that the more than 200,000 troops we had previously, and the total is more than 600,000, nearly 700,000. How can we check it?"

"Then we can't let his people hide here forever."

"There is no evidence for this kind of thing. No one knows when they joined Liu Bei's army, and no one knows how they left Liu Bei's army, cleaned themselves up, and then came to us. There is no way to investigate these things."

"Damn Liu Bei, he actually used a traitor!"

The generals in the tent started quarreling because of what Cao Cao said. After all, this matter was a bit too sensitive. Even though they knew that some of their subordinates were not Liu Bei's men, they did not dare to trust them too much.

"Father, since you have said it, there must be a solution."

Cao Ang stared at Cao Cao with sharp eyes. Based on his understanding of his father, he knew that his father was definitely not a person who would act without purpose. Since he dared to talk about this matter in front of everyone, he should at least have a solution or a way to solve it.

(End of this chapter)