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

Chapter 498 I want them all! Liu Xie no longer endures

Huang Zu was already at the end of his strength at this point. If he could not enter the city, then the only outcome waiting for him would be death, and a death without a complete body.

But the city gates did not open until the surging crowd overwhelmed Huang Zu again, and Huang Zu did not reappear from the crowd.

Without Huang Zu, a first-class general, defending the city wall, countless Jiangdong soldiers swarmed in and broke through the city gate.

The defenders holding on to the western city wall were still holding on to the last bit of pure land, but this last bit of pure land was soon taken by the enemy.

At this time, the other battlefields were still unaware of this matter. They did not know that a Jiangdong army of tens of thousands of people, extremely powerful and fearless, had entered the Jiangxia County City, and began to advance from the west gate towards the other three city gates, preparing to launch a surprise attack from the rear and cooperate with the army outside the city to launch a real attack and defense of Jiangxia County City.

The people in the city were sparsely populated, all hiding in their houses with doors and windows sealed. The cellars of each household were full of people, fearing that this unexpected disaster would affect them.

After entering the city, all these Jiangdong soldiers rushed towards the three main city gates to help the Jiangdong soldiers outside the city open the gates.

Outside the western battlefield, Sun Jian stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes slightly narrowed.

"Now that we have penetrated the interior, we must also put more strength on the exterior."

"What does the lord mean?"

"The person in charge of guarding the southern battlefield is Liu Bei's subordinate, Xu Rong. Since we have already taken the lead in the west, why not take another city!"

"As you command, my lord."

Miao Moqing understood and turned to leave. Only Sun Jian, two hundred tiger soldiers under the chariots, and one hundred poison girls were left. The battlefield was already in chaos and no one cared that Sun Jian was actually here.

If the current battlefield in Jiangxia County is already a mess, then the situation in Nanyang County has already been settled.

Because Cao Xiu and Cao Zhen's 50,000 troops had already passed through Nanyang County, which was a small area with no troops stationed there, they advanced at almost full speed without any pause, and soon reached the border of Nan County.

At the border of Nanjun, Cao Xiu and Cao Zhen saw a scene that surprised them extremely. Countless troops had already lined up and were waiting for them. In addition to the scattered soldiers, at the front, there was a general holding a spear and a general holding a broadsword.

Cao Xiu and Cao Zhen both knew those two men. They had fought against each other on the northern border of Liang Province. They were Pang De, one of Ma Teng's right-hand men. As for the other one, they were more familiar with him. He was Ma Chao, the current governor of Liang Province. However, the two of them should not be here under any circumstances.

At the same time, in the southwest of Nanjun, Zhang He and Taishi Ci had already confronted the 250,000 Yizhou troops led by Liu Zhang.

Neither Cao Cao nor Sun Jian knew how Liu Bei managed to get such a large army through their blockade and reach Jingzhou.

The entire Jingzhou became the main battlefield for the battle between Gu Rubing and Cao Cao and Sun Jian.

There were also four legendary generals who fought on the border of Jingzhou and Yanzhou. The battle between them was extremely fierce and even more tragic than that of other major battlefields.

Zhang Liao, who had never appeared in any battlefield, had crossed the border of Xuzhou at this moment, leading a cavalry of 5,000 men from Jiangling City to Yangzhou, preparing to repeat the old trick and directly attack Yangzhou Wujun.

Gu Rubing and Zhuge Liang, who had disappeared from the sight of Cao Cao and Sun Jian since the Spring Festival, unexpectedly and quietly completed the process of transferring hundreds of thousands of troops from the five northern continents to Jingzhou under heavy control. It is truly amazing.

Cao Cao, who had finished a meeting overnight, was already filled with anger when he heard on the morning of his return to Xu Du that Liu Xie had conferred on him the title of King of Wei. However, when he learned that Liu Bei had arrived in Jingzhou with an army of hundreds of thousands, the last bit of joy in his heart disappeared.

After reading it, Cao Cao casually handed the military letter to Xun Yu who was standing beside him. After Xun Yu took it, he read it carefully and also frowned.

"My lord, if this is really the case, you must immediately order General Xiahou and his men to support Cao Xiu and his men, otherwise all our plans may be ruined, and the names of the generals may also be in danger."

"How do you think Liu Bei managed to get so many people to Jingzhou without leaving any trace?"

Cao Cao answered the question irrelevantly and looked confused. Xun Yu did not hesitate and spoke immediately.

"If Liu Bei wants to transfer his army to Jingzhou from under our heavy control, there is only one way. That is to go from Qingzhou, bypass Liangzhou, go through the pass, and then go all the way south and enter Jingzhou from the west of Yizhou. This way, he can perfectly avoid all our military control."

"Will you go through Liangzhou and outside the Great Wall?"

Cao Cao seemed to be thinking about something and tapped the horsewhip gently in his hand. Xun Yu was like a worm in Cao Cao's stomach, so how could he not know what Cao Cao meant.

"My lord, let's make a bold guess. This time it's not that someone has exposed our plan, but that the other party has noticed some clues, so Liu Bei did this."

Although Cao Cao was asking about Liu Bei's direction, he was actually asking about Xun Yu's traitor status. Xun Yu had followed Cao Cao for a long time and must have known what Cao Cao was thinking.

After listening to Xun Yu's analysis, Cao Cao finally showed a smile on his face.

"Oh? Tell me in detail."

"This time, we only have Sun Ce and General Dian patrolling the border. With their strength, there will definitely be no mistakes. Moreover, one of them is your confidant and extremely loyal, and the other is Sun Jian's son, so it is even more impossible for him to betray Sun Jian. They will definitely not betray him."

Cao Cao nodded slightly, motioning for Xun Yu to continue.

"The lord only sent 50,000 infantry to attack Nanjun, but Liu Bei sent three famous generals. This means that the enemy didn't know our troop deployment, so there is no possibility of a traitor. It should be that one of Liu Bei's advisers noticed it, so Liu Bei was on guard. Liu Bei's men led people to bypass our deployment and were able to reach Jingzhou within a dozen days. The only way was to go through Liangzhou and outside the Great Wall."

Xun Yu's analysis can be said to be perfect. It was exactly the idea that Zhuge Liang gave to Gu Rubing after the New Year's Eve. On the morning of the second day of the first lunar month of the New Year, Liu Bei's subordinates took their soldiers on a detour to Jingzhou. After a long journey of more than ten days, they had just rested for one day when Cao Cao and Sun Jian launched a massive attack.

"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore. Even if Liu Bei puts his army in Jingzhou, it won't change the outcome of Jingzhou becoming a wasteland. Even if we can't occupy Jingzhou, then we can only fight to the death."

Cao Cao laughed loudly towards the sky.

"Liu Bei, Liu Bei, you are doomed to fail this time!"

Xun Yu smiled and nodded, and the group rushed towards Xu Du. They were less than half an hour away from Xu Du.

The closer they got to Xu Du, the more serious the expression on Cao Cao's face became. After all, Liu Xie's move to confer the title of King on Cao Cao was not discussed with Cao Cao in advance. On the surface, this move promoted Cao Cao, but in fact it was pushing Cao Cao away, preventing him from continuing to serve as prime minister in Xu Du, which meant depriving Cao Cao of his right to assist in government.

Cao Cao knew clearly in his heart that this move was a test by Liu Xie of him, and that Liu Xie was risking his life to test his bottom line.

"My lord, this action of His Majesty is really not in line with His Majesty's style. Do you want to check the servants around His Majesty recently? Maybe some of them were planted by Liu Bei." Xun Yu said softly, with a hint of worry in his eyes.

"Humph, Liu Xie, you think you can leave me helpless like this? He really looks down on me, the prime minister who has been with him for so long."

There was disdain in Cao Cao's tone, and a hint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes.

Suddenly, a somewhat funny idea popped into Cao Cao's mind, but it was very suitable for the current situation.

"Wen Ruo, if you are very hungry now, and there is a piece of meat and a piece of dry food in front of you, what would you choose?"

"My Lord, is that meat and dry food compared to the appointment that Your Majesty proposed for my Lord?"

Xun Yu asked, while secretly thinking in his heart what Cao Cao meant by saying this, after all, Cao Cao had never had this kind of question before.

"Wen Ruo, what would you choose?"

"I am a stupid subordinate, please enlighten me, sir."

Xun Yu did not pretend to know the answer, but bowed to Cao Gong and asked sincerely.

"Hahahaha, Wen Ruo, of course I want them all! Meat, dry food, I want them all. King Yi Zi Bing Jian, Prime Minister, I want them all too!"

Cao Cao laughed with his head back, feeling extremely happy. After Xun Yu reacted, he also had a smile on his face.

"Wen Ruo has learned his lesson."

After Cao Cao returned to the capital, Cao Cao's followers who had not dared to go home after the morning court all came to the city gate to welcome Cao Cao. Before, under Cao Cao's protection, they were used to bullying and offended many people. If Cao Cao was really transferred away to become a king because of Liu Xie's imperial decree, then they would have a hard time.

Therefore, when they learned that Cao Cao had returned, all the guests came.

"Prime Minister, are you going to make the appointment?"

"Prime Minister, I am willing to follow you anywhere!"

"Prime Minister, I am loyal to you. No matter where you go, I will follow you till death."

All the retainers immediately began to express their loyalty to Cao Cao, fearing that Cao Cao would not take them with him when he left Xu Du, leaving them in Xu Du to bear his anger.

Looking at this group of useless things, Cao Cao's face was filled with undisguised anger.

"Get out of my sight!"

Cao Cao's angry shout made everyone dare not breathe. They lowered their heads and stood with their hands hanging down, not even daring to look at Cao Cao.

After returning to Xu Du, Cao Cao went straight to the palace without any stop. With Cao Cao came a young general. This general was supposed to follow the army to the border of Jingzhou to resist Liu Bei. However, Xiahou Dun was worried that Cao Cao would be in danger if everyone was not with him. Moreover, the first-class generals and famous generals were all assigned to their own positions and there were no extras. Therefore, the only one left was this young general who had just been promoted to a first-class general.

This is a young general brought up by Xiahou Dun. Although he has just been promoted to a first-class general, many first-class generals who have been immersed in the military for many years are no match for him. In addition, he is young and has a clean background, so he became the best choice and was selected by Xiahou Dun to become the person to protect Cao Cao.

At the gate of the palace, Cao Cao couldn't help laughing as he looked at the three captains of the Imperial Guards gathered in the palace. The three Imperial Guards consisted of a total of 1,500 men led by three captains. The rest of the Imperial Guards and Imperial Guards were all brought to the battlefield by Cao Cao. Of course, those armies were originally controlled by his people.

Only the three in front of him were different. These three people happened not to be his men. Cao Cao didn't care about it at the time. Now it seems that this was all carefully arranged by the young Majesty.

"Prince of Wei, without your Majesty's order, no vassal king or even a king of the same rank may enter the capital, let alone the imperial palace!"

One of them spoke loudly before Cao Cao entered the palace, hoping to use Liu Xie's reputation and the last remaining power of the Han Dynasty to intimidate Cao Cao.

But Cao Cao didn't even take Liu Xie seriously, so how could he care about these things that are now almost destroyed?

"I remember that you guys are not very popular in the Imperial Guards. What's the matter? Are you going to join another wise leader?"

"What do you mean, King Wei? We are the Imperial Guards, originally the army of the Han Dynasty. We are your Majesty's men in life and your ghosts in death. How can we talk about surrendering to you?"

One of the captains raised the spear in his hand, pointed it directly at Cao Cao, and swore at him. The young general next to him could not help but clench his fists.

Cao Cao was not angry and still had a smile on his face.

"I'm curious, what kind of promise did His Majesty give you to make you work so hard and risk your life? Did he promise you that he would give you high positions and generous salaries after he regains power? Or did he promise you that you could become a great general?"

"This is none of the King of Wei's business. If there is no written order, please go back. I hope the King of Wei will understand me. I am just following orders."

Although that man stood up to stop Cao Cao, he did not dare to offend Cao Cao too much. He could only hope that Cao Cao would retreat. Otherwise, no one would know what their ending would be today.

When Cao Cao was not around, several people were determined to rebel against Cao Cao, but now that Cao Cao was truly standing in front of them, they realized how great their fear of Cao Cao was in their hearts.

"What if I must go in today? I haven't received the imperial edict yet. I am still the current prime minister. Which law of the Han Dynasty stipulates that the prime minister needs a handwritten order to enter the palace?"

Cao Cao said sternly, the smile on his face finally disappearing.

At this moment, a slightly childish voice sounded from behind the three captains and the royal guards.

"Prime Minister, I just learned that you have returned to Xudu, so I came to greet you and brought you the imperial edict conferring you the title of King of One Word and One Shoulder."

After hearing this voice, the three captains who were originally intimidated by Cao Cao's aura immediately straightened their backs and made way for him. Liu Xie, supported by an old eunuch, arrived at the gate of the palace.

"Prime Minister, please accept the order."

Liu Xie took out an imperial edict with a smile and handed it to the old eunuch beside him. The old eunuch walked towards Cao Cao with the imperial edict in his hands as if he was ready to die. Cao Cao's expression became increasingly uglier.

(End of this chapter)