Can I get to the other side?.

Chapter 453: Lu Bu is furious! Rush to help Chang'an!

Jingzhou, Jiangxia.

After the fall of Xiangyang City, the morale of the Han army was high and they advanced rapidly throughout Jingzhou, successively recovering the two large counties of Xiangyang and Nanyang. The war went extremely smoothly.

Cao's army was defeated one after another, and was forced to withdraw its front line and temporarily avoid the sharp attack under the powerful offensive of the Han army.

Although Liu Xie did not interfere in military affairs during this period, he also played the role of a mascot, that is, to appease the people and boost morale.

He traveled with the army, and every time he conquered a city he would go into the city in person to comfort the people. He would also go into the military camp to visit the soldiers, etc.

Although these are very simple means of winning people's hearts, they are still quite effective when used by the emperor.

In a sense, his actions accelerated the progress of the war and made it easier to capture cities.

Of course, it is more tiring.

Liu Xie strode into the military tent, took off his armor and handed it to Zhao Yun who was standing beside him. His clothes underneath were already soaked with sweat.

"Jiangxia... the Wuhan of later times, was it already so hot during the Three Kingdoms period?"

Liu Xie wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a long sigh.

As an emperor, he must maintain the demeanor of an emperor, so he has to wear armor even when inspecting the army.

However, walking around the military camp in such hot weather wearing heavy armor was undoubtedly a torture, and he had to pay attention to his manners at all times.

This gave him the illusion of returning to the time when he followed Ju Su to learn the emperor's etiquette and practiced in heavy court robes.

But times have passed and the person is gone.

He is no longer the puppet he once was.

Just as Liu Xie was sitting on a stool, staring at the tea bowl in his hand in a daze, he heard footsteps, so he looked up.

Zhuge Liang walked into the military tent, bowed and saluted, saying, "Your Majesty."

Liu Xie came back to his senses, put down the tea bowl in his hand, and said with a smile: "Kong Ming, there is no need to be polite. What's the matter?"

Zhuge Liang said, "Your Majesty, Censor Guo sent me a letter saying that it would be difficult to conquer Jiangdong after a long siege, so we want to change the strategy of strong attack and turn to surrender."

Zhuge Liang said this as he presented a memorial.

Liu Xie was surprised when he heard this: "How could Jiangdong, a mere province, be unable to be conquered even by General Feng Xiao and General Huang?"

He was well aware of Guo Jia's arrogance. Generally speaking, if they could solve a problem by themselves, they would not ask him for help. The fact that he was willing to write a letter to explain the situation over there was indeed difficult.

Thinking of this, Liu Xie felt a little curious, so he reached out to take the memorial, opened it and started reading it, and soon a look of enlightenment appeared on his face.

In his memorial, Guo Jia said that some Jiangdong noble families had contacted each other privately, saying that they were forced to assist Cao Cao, but in fact they all loyal to the court; as long as the emperor was willing to pardon their crimes, they would turn against the court and assist the court's army in defeating Cao's army stationed in Jiangdong.

However, Guo Jia had no right to decide whether to recruit or not these aristocratic families who openly opposed the imperial court, so he had to submit a memorial for instructions.

Guo Jia also said in the letter that his idea was to persuade the enemy to surrender, which would not only add some support but also allow him to take over Jiangdong without bloodshed.

"Pardon..."

Liu Xie closed the memorial, thought for a while, then looked at Zhuge Liang and asked, "Kong Ming, do you think I should issue an order to pardon them?"

He was a little undecided. Although pardoning these aristocratic families could indeed reduce losses and speed up the end of the war, it would be too easy to let them go.

Zhuge Liang had already read the memorial and had a plan in mind. Hearing this, he said directly: "Your Majesty, Jiangdong is located along the Yangtze River and is easy to defend but difficult to attack."

"If we attack Jiangdong by force, it will take a lot of time. We have to wait until the army captures Jiangxia City before sending the navy down the Yangtze River."

"But this will certainly greatly delay the progress of the war, and the plan to encircle Cao thief from three sides will fail."

"Although the Jiangdong family is evil, for the sake of the overall situation, Your Majesty might as well pardon their crimes first, and it won't be too late to slowly deal with them after dealing with Cao thief."

"Once the Jiangdong noble families surrender, the other noble families that support Cao will certainly waver."

Zhuge Liang is not a pure and flawless white lotus.

He is as dark as he should be.

Considering that the Jiangdong noble families first supported Sun Quan in his fight against the imperial court, and then supported Cao Cao in his fight against the imperial court, it would not be an exaggeration to kill all of them.

But there are many ways to liquidate, and there is no need to rush. We can wait until the overall situation stabilizes and then liquidate those families through other means.

Hearing Zhuge Liang's words, Liu Xie no longer hesitated and ordered: "Write a reply to Feng Xiao for me. I will give him the right to surrender and let him do whatever he wants. I only want Jiangdong."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Zhuge Liang bowed and agreed.

Liu Xie added: "The Cao army that invaded Yizhou has been defeated. It won't take long to conquer Jiangdong. I wonder how long it will take us to conquer Jiangxia City?"

Jiangxia is a very important city.

It is the hub of the Yangtze River.

If we capture the important city of Jiangxia, it will be easy for the army to cross the Yangtze River. At that time, we can go straight east to Jiangdong and go straight south to Changsha.

However, Cao's army was obviously aware of the importance of Jiangxia, so they deployed heavy troops in Jiangxia County. It was not easy to capture Jiangxia.

However, under the fierce offensive of the Han army, Cao's army retreated again and again, and now the remaining Cao's army is holding out in Jiangxia City.

Zhuge Liang said: "Cao's army is now trapped in Jiangxia City. We have cut off their food and grass. We will be able to capture the city in less than two months."

Liu Xie was very satisfied with this answer.

Zhuge Liang's military talent was truly remarkable. This time he asked Zhuge Liang to be his military advisor, and the journey was smooth sailing.

Coupled with the two brave men, Lu Bu and Zhao Yun, we have the current favorable situation.

"It looks like we can defeat Cao Cao before winter comes."

"The world is unified..."

A hint of fiery light flashed in Liu Xie's eyes. The unification of the Han Dynasty was not far away for him, and he was still so young that he had enough time to create a prosperous era of Datong!
After suppressing his excitement, Liu Xie said to Zhuge Liang: "The weather has been hot in recent days, and the soldiers have worked hard. Inform the logistics department to prepare a batch of food and fodder to reward the soldiers of the three armies. In addition..."

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty——!"

A sudden shout interrupted Liu Xie's words.

Yang Xiu hurriedly ran into the tent, his face full of anxiety and panic, and even one of his shoes was missing.

But he had no time to care about these details. After arriving in the tent, he knelt on the ground and said anxiously: "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened!"

"News came from Chang'an that Ma Chao gathered the remnants of his army and joined forces with the Qiang people to launch an army of hundreds of thousands to attack Chang'an City!"

When these words were spoken, everyone in the tent was shocked.

Be it Liu Xie, Zhuge Liang, Lu Bu, Chen Gong and others, they all changed their expressions in shock at the news.

"impossible!"

When Lu Bu realized what was happening, he shook his head and said firmly, "It's impossible for that villain Ma Chao to have so many troops!" "Where did you hear that rumor?!"

He personally led his troops to drive Ma Chao into Qiang territory. Ma Chao's remaining troops numbered only over 10,000, less than 20,000, and were not a force to be reckoned with at all.

After Zhang He's massacre, the Qiang people had lost all their elite troops. How could they possibly gather an army of 100,000?

Liu Xie was the calmest. He frowned and asked in a deep voice, "Dezu, please tell me slowly. What is going on?"

"Who brought back this news?"

Like Lu Bu, he didn't believe that the news was true. Where did Ma Chao find so many soldiers and horses?
Yang Xiu turned pale and said, "Your Majesty, this news was sent by the Minister of the Central Secretariat."

"Ma Chao gathered all the Qiang tribes and sent slaves from all tribes into the army, totaling more than 100,000. Together with the remaining elite troops from each tribe, we will attack Chang'an together!"

"Chang'an...is in danger!"

When he heard the news, he felt dizzy. He couldn't imagine what kind of crazy things Ma Chao and the Qiang people would do if they captured Chang'an!

His father and relatives are now in Chang'an City!

After Yang Xiu finished speaking, everyone present realized that this news was not false, but true!

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“Ma Chao——!!!”

Lu Bu's eyes widened with anger, and he smashed the table in front of him with one palm. He stood up with a fierce look and asked Liu Xie for orders: "Your Majesty, please give an order! I will lead the troops to rush to Chang'an and kill this thief with my own hands!"

"If this fails, I will bring my head to you!"

Lu Bu's words seemed to come out from between his teeth.

He hated himself for not killing this scourge during the Battle of Chang'an, giving him the opportunity to make a comeback!

"Fengxian, calm down!"

Chen Gong held Lu Bu aside.

However, Lu Bu shook off his arm and said angrily: "Calm down? How can I calm down! My daughter and granddaughter are in Chang'an now!"

Chen Gong was speechless for a moment.

Yang Xiu said, "Lord Wen, before Ma Chao's army arrived, the Minister of the Central Secretariat had already sent someone to escort the princess out of Chang'an City, and she is now heading to Xiangyang."

"But Lady Lu did not accompany them."

Lu Bu was stunned when he heard this.

Liu Xie subconsciously asked, "Why was only the princess sent out? Didn't the civil and military officials and the people of Chang'an City evacuate?"

It took Ma Chao and the Qiang people a long time to reach Chang'an after they started their rebellion outside the Great Wall. During this period, the officials and civilians in Chang'an had plenty of time to evacuate.

Yang Xiu said with a complicated expression: "The letter from the Minister of the Central Secretariat said that Chang'an is the capital of the Han Dynasty, and your Majesty is now fighting Cao Cao, so your Majesty's back must not be exposed to the thief."

"He will lead the garrison troops and all the officials and civilians to fight against the enemy and defend Chang'an until the arrival of reinforcements from Your Majesty."

He didn't know whether to admire or curse Jia Xu's decision.

How could they possibly defend Chang'an with such a small force?
After listening to this, Liu Xie fell into silence.

Jia Xu has always been well versed in the art of self-preservation, but now, facing an enemy force dozens of times larger than his own, he actually chooses to defend Chang'an to the death.

He knew without thinking how much pressure Jia Xu would face from officials in the court and how much courage it would take for him to make this decision.

But not everyone wants to live and die with Chang'an.

Inside the tent, everyone's eyes were focused on Liu Xie. No one spoke, just waiting for his orders.

Now we are in the process of attacking Cao. If we choose to withdraw our troops and send them back for reinforcements, it will definitely give Cao's army a chance to catch their breath.

So how do we choose?

In the midst of silence, Zhuge Liang stood up again and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, please rest assured to rush to Chang'an to help. I will be in charge of the battle in Jingzhou."

"I will definitely be able to defeat Cao's army and capture Jiangxia City within two months!"

The war in Jingzhou cannot be relaxed, and Chang'an cannot be captured by the enemy either. Neither side can be let go!
Therefore, the best way is to send a part of the troops to provide support, so that the Jingzhou front can bear greater pressure, and this is also the only way.

Because this southern expedition took too much energy and almost all the elite troops were mobilized. If we cannot achieve complete success in one battle, it will take a long time before we can march south again.

"it is good."

Liu Xie thought about it again and again, and finally chose Zhuge Liang's suggestion, and then said to Zhao Yun: "General Zilong, you go and select 30,000 elite soldiers to follow me to Chang'an to rescue."

Hearing this, Lu Bu could not help but ask: "Your Majesty, why don't you let me lead the troops? Moreover, 30,000 troops are too few. Ma Chao has an army of more than 100,000!"

Thirty thousand versus one hundred thousand, even he has to think twice.

Although Zhao Yun's strength is not much inferior to his, he is still unable to win a battle with such a huge gap in strength. Even if Zhang Liao were to replace him, he might not be able to do so.

Liu Xie shook his head and said, "The battle in Jingzhou is important. Fengxian, as a general, you must not act rashly. Let Zilong follow me to Chang'an to provide assistance."

"Most of the soldiers and horses led by Ma Chao were Qiang slaves, and there were very few elite soldiers. Thirty thousand elite soldiers were enough to lift the siege of Chang'an."

Although Lu Bu was unwilling in his heart, he also knew the overall situation.

So he gritted his teeth and stepped back.

Liu Xie looked at Zhuge Liang again and said in a deep voice: "Kong Ming, I will divide my troops and leave Jingzhou to you."

"I know this burden is heavy, but... I hope you can shoulder it."

Zhuge Liang said solemnly: "Don't worry, Your Majesty!"

Liu Xie stood up, patted him on the shoulder, then strode out of the tent with exceptionally firm steps.

Zhao Yun followed closely, but Lu Bu suddenly stepped forward and stopped him.

The world's most valiant general, who was unrivaled in the battlefield, had red eyes at this moment. He tightly grasped Zhao Yun's hand and said, "Brother Zilong, I leave it to you."

"You must kill that thief Ma Chao for me!"

He understood why only his granddaughter was sent out while Lu Lingqi stayed in Chang'an. As a father, how could he not know his daughter's character?

It was Lu Lingqi who was unwilling to leave and chose to stay in Chang'an City!
This move made him both happy and sad.

He was relieved that this was his, Lu Bu's daughter, but he was sad that he didn't know whether Chang'an could hold out until the army arrived to help.

If it weren't for the overall situation, he would definitely follow the emperor to rush to Chang'an, kill Ma Chao, and rescue his daughter!
Looking at Lü Bu's red eyes, Zhao Yun deeply felt the weight of this trust. He held Lü Bu's hand and said solemnly, "Don't worry, Lord Wen. I guarantee with my life that I will protect your majesty and kill Ma Chao with my own hands!"

After saying this, Zhao Yun turned and left the tent.

……

On that very day, Liu Xie assembled an army of 30,000, and took with him Yang Xiu, Chen Gong, Zhao Yun, and Gao Shun, and rushed to Chang'an to provide assistance.

(End of this chapter)