The Rebellious Officials and Traitors of the Late Han Dynasty

Chapter 386 Secretly assassinating Chen Cang
In Luoyang, Qin Shou looked at the report in his hand with a thoughtful look on his face.

Cai Mao and Kuai Liang sent letters asking for help. The two men were ready to surrender, which was beyond his expectation. He was planning to wait for the people in the south to kill each other and then take advantage of the situation!
Now, before we even take any action, Cai Mao has sent a letter of surrender and asked to send troops. What kind of trick is this?

"What do you think?" Looking at the four great counselors in front of him, Jia Xu, Xun You, Pang Tong and Sima Yi, they were already the top counselors of this era.

"If you don't take what heaven gives you, you will suffer the consequences; if you don't act when the time comes, you will suffer the consequences. My lord, I think you should take it." Sima Yi said immediately.

The rest of the people also nodded. This was an opportunity given by God. Xiangyang and Nanjun were both important cities in Jingzhou with large populations and prosperous markets. It would be a pity to leave these things to Cao Cao and Liu Bei.

"There is naturally no problem for us to enter Jingzhou, but this means that our main battlefield will also be in Jingzhou. Jingzhou has a dense river network, which is not conducive to the performance of our cavalry, and many soldiers will suffer from acclimatization problems." Qin Shou was a little worried.

Why didn't Cao Cao unify the world? Wasn't it because he lost the Battle of Red Cliff? The enemy also entered Jingzhou first, which caused a series of problems.

"My lord, our offense is not good enough, but our defense is certainly good enough." Xun You chuckled and said, "We just need to defend Nanjun and Xiangyang, and we don't need to expand the victory."

"My lord, in terms of strength, we are far superior to Cao and Liu. Liu Bei only has four counties, and Cao Cao only controls Jiangdong. Their population is far less than ours. We can last for a year or two, but can Cao and Liu do it?" Pang Tong said disdainfully.

Fighting a war depends not only on the bravery of the soldiers, but also on economic strength. Once the three parties are in a stalemate, the first one to give up is Liu Bei, and the second is Cao Cao.

The strength of the three of them is there, and Cao and Liu can't hold on for long.

Xun You and others were prepared to fight a war of attrition, using time to drag Cao and Liu to death. After all, Qin Shou could organize a standing army of 300,000 at any time, but Cao and Liu could not.

Once a war breaks out, a large number of young and strong people will be hired to transport food and grass, which will delay the farming season. It can still be sustained for one or two months or even half a year, but can it be sustained for one or two years? The answer is no.

"My lord, why don't we openly repair the plank road and secretly attack Chencang? On the surface, we will hold a stalemate in Jingzhou, but in reality, we will send troops to capture Bashu. By the time the enemy reacts, they will have no troops left and can only watch us seize Bashu."

Jia Xu said with a smile.

Qin Shou's eyes lit up after hearing this and he looked at Jia Xu deeply. After all, it was Jia Xu who came up with such a novel plan. Not to mention Cao and Liu, even Qin Shou had not thought of this.

"Cao and Liu want to hold us in Jingzhou, but don't we want to hold them in Jingzhou too? Liu Bei wants to defend Jingzhou, but if he can't defend Bashu, it's impossible to defend Jingzhou. Liu Bei has few soldiers, and it's already remarkable that he can hold us in Jingzhou. He simply doesn't have any extra troops to attack Bashu. We can take the opportunity to seize Bashu." Qin Shou nodded repeatedly.

"My lord is wise." Everyone nodded.

"Appoint Huang Zhong as the General of the Southern Expedition, Wen Pin, Ding Feng, and Pang De as deputy generals, and Sima Yi as military advisor. In addition to their own troops, they will be in charge of the troops of Jingzhou."

"Appoint Zhang Liao as the General of the Eastern Expedition, Xu Sheng, Xiahou Lan, Gan Ning, and Gao Lan as deputy generals, and Pang Tong as military advisor. In addition to his own troops, he will command the troops of Xuzhou, Yangzhou, and Qingzhou."

"Appoint Wei Yan as the General of the Western Expedition, Xu Rong, Hao Zhao, and Chen Dao as deputy generals, and Xun You as military advisor. In addition to leading their own troops, they will also command the Yongliang troops and attack Hanzhong."

"Appoint Xu Huang as the General of the Northern Expedition, Yan Rou, Xian Yu Fu, and Tian Yu as deputy generals, and command the troops of You and Bing to guard the grasslands and wait for an opportunity to attack Gongsun Kang." "Appoint Zhong Yao as the Western Route Support Envoy and Food and Grass Transport Envoy, and station him in Chang'an."

"Appoint Gu Yong as the Central Route Support Envoy and Food and Grass Transport Envoy, stationed in Nanyang."

"Appoint Chen Deng as the Eastern Route Support Envoy and Food and Grass Transport Envoy, stationed in Shouchun."

"Let Wei Yan go to Chang'an to see me first."

"Announce the whole world that on February 2, I will personally lead the army to march south to Jingzhou and wipe out the Eastern Wu."

"promise."

Everyone was excited after hearing this and responded one after another.

Orders were issued from Luoyang one after another, and the news of the southern expedition spread throughout the country in an instant. The whole country was shocked, and the south of the Yangtze River was in a state of shock three times a day. Large amounts of food and soldiers began to gather, and civilians transporting food and grass could be easily seen on the official roads, as well as an endless army.

In Xuzhou, Chen Deng looked at the order in his hand, frowned slightly, and said, "Father, the Prime Minister has just captured Hebei not long ago, and the army should rest and recuperate. It seems inappropriate to attack at this time."

Chen Gui glanced at him and said disdainfully: "The Prime Minister is wise and brave. Jia Xu, Xun You, Zhong Yao and others are all wise men. What can you see that they can't see?"

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Chen Deng's face turned slightly red after hearing this. Qin Shou had many talented people around him, and their reputations were all higher than his. The other party must have considered what he knew.

"Father, why do you think the Prime Minister would do this? It is not the right time to rashly march south now!" Chen Deng shook his head.

"How do you know that the Prime Minister is really preparing for a southern expedition? And it's not just a false alarm?" Chen Gui chuckled, "When the Prime Minister said he was going to march south, the whole world was shaken, and so was Jiangnan. Cao and Liu would definitely prepare their troops for war, but look at the time the Prime Minister has set, it's the time for spring ploughing. Our Central Plains is vast and rich in resources, with a large population. Hundreds of thousands of troops can fight and mobilize enough manpower to ensure spring ploughing, but can Cao and Liu do it?"

"And the Prime Minister has already mobilized the people to start transporting food now. Before the heavy snow comes, the food and grass can be safely delivered to the battlefield. Next spring, only a small amount of people will be needed to supply the army."

"Even if the Prime Minister's troops do not attack, they can still deter Cao and Liu. Cao and Liu are also very cautious and use all their strength to resist the Prime Minister's attack."

Chen Gui saw the problem at a glance. He realized that Qin Shou was not planning to take the initiative to attack Cao and Liu, but just wanted to deplete the opponent's strength.

"Jingzhou is now divided into two. Liu Bei occupies southern Jingzhou. Nanjun and Xiangyang cannot resist the Prime Minister's troops. I am afraid that they will be the Prime Minister's main attack direction. I think the final main battlefield will be in Jingzhou." Chen Deng predicted the direction of Qin Shou's attack, but sighed: "It seems that my Xuzhou is a partial army."

"What's wrong with a small force? As long as we can hold Cao Cao back, it will be a great achievement. Moreover, a small force of 100,000 troops may be able to turn into a main attack." Chen Gui said nonchalantly: "The general situation has been determined. Cao and Liu are powerless to turn the tide."

(End of this chapter)