Cao Cao also had his own strategic plan for going south this time.
The first goal is to defeat Liu Biao and Liu Bei and completely occupy Jingzhou.
This goal is progressing fairly smoothly.
On the way south, Liu Biao died of illness and Liu Cong came to power. Under the coercion of the Jingzhou family, Liu Cong chose to surrender without fighting, allowing Cao Cao to occupy most of Jingzhou almost without a fight.
The only pity is that Liu Bei ran away, not only ran away, but also ran away to Jiangxia, formed an alliance with the young master Liu Qi and Jiangdong, and occupied Jiangxia to survive.
Originally, Cao Cao's purpose of going south did not include marching into Jiangdong. Cao Cao also knew that he could not become a big fat man in one go.
But who knew that Jingzhou would be so easy to win? Not only did he not suffer any losses, but he also got the supplement of Jingzhou's 100,000 soldiers and the property of Jingzhou's treasury in vain.
Then Cao Cao swelled and felt that he was destined by fate.
Therefore, Cao Cao wanted to go south and pacify Jiangdong.
However, Cao Cao was not completely confused at this time. He knew that Jiangdong was not easy to fight, so it was best to force the opponent to surrender like Jingzhou, so he wrote a letter to Sun Quan, apparently inviting him to join him in defeating Liu Bei. , but in fact, every word is a show of force.
It turned out that Sun Quan was not Liu Cong, so he didn't say anything and even formed an alliance with Liu Bei to fight against him, the Han Dynasty prime minister.
Then Cao Cao became angry and began to plan to march to Jiangdong.
And if you want to march into Jiangdong, then Jiangxia County in the east of Jingzhou must be captured. Besides, there is also his old rival Liu Bei there. Cao Cao will not let Liu Bei languish on the side and develop. He must take advantage of Liu Bei's failure. Deal with him quickly.
So Cao Cao divided his troops into three groups and marched into Jiangxia.
Zhao Yan, the prefect of Zhangling and the governor's guard on the northern route between Han and Huai, led Zhang He, Li Dian and others from Runan County to attack the northern part of Jiangxia.
The Middle Route Army, led by Xu Huang and assisted by Wenpin, a local general in Jingzhou who was familiar with the terrain, set out from Xiangyang and went south along the Han River to attack Xiakou.
The West Route Army was the main force led by Cao Cao himself. It went down the Yangtze River and met with Xu Huang and others at Xiakou to flank Liu Bei.
But for now, the march of these three armies is not going smoothly.
Most of the elite members of the North Route Army were transferred away by Cao Cao. Now Zhao Yan can only recruit new soldiers to fight in the Jianghuai area. Logistics support also needs to meet Jingzhou's requirements first. Zhao Yan can't even get basic ordnance here. satisfy.
As a result, Cao Cao was already confronting Zhou Yu on the riverside, and Zhao Yan had not officially sent troops yet.
The Middle Route Army has already set off from Xiangyang, but the main force of the Jingzhou navy is on Cao Cao's side. Xiangyang's navy can only serve as a transport team, and the main force of the battle has to rely on the Qingxu Army. But the Qingxu Army is now seriously acclimatized, no Vomiting up means diarrhea, which greatly affects the combat effectiveness. Therefore, the Central Route Army was blocked by the coalition forces led by Guan Yu at Jingling and was unable to advance eastward.
As for the West Route Army, Cao Cao had the most say. He was seized by Zhou Yu at the entrance of the land, lost the favorable terrain, and was disadvantaged in fighting on the river, so he had to retreat to the north bank and use a water fortress to defend against the enemy.
None of the three armies marched smoothly, and judging from the current situation, Cao Cao found that only his own route was more certain. As long as Zhou Yu was defeated, the only thing left to do was to go down the river, attack Xiakou, and then coordinate the middle route. Army and the Northern Route Army.
Once the three armies attack together, it will be just around the corner to pacify Jiangxia, and then march into Jiangdong with this power of victory. Jiangdong without the navy will definitely not be his opponent.
Therefore, after Cao Cao solved the problem of Qingxu's army being unable to fight on the water by connecting boats with iron ropes, he was immediately complacent again and prepared to choose a day for a decisive battle with Zhou Yu's naval army.
As for Zhou Yu, now he really wanted to fight Cao Cao, and in Zhou Yu's opinion, Cao Cao would definitely lose.
Above the river, there is a chain of iron chains. If he waits for the right time to use fire attack, Cao Cao's warship will not be able to escape even if he wants to.
Without a warship, why would Cao Cao go south to Jiangdong and swim across it? !
As for the right time, Zhou Yu was waiting for the southeast wind.
Yes, it was Zhou Yu who was waiting. He was not so anxious that he had no choice but to beg and watch Zhuge Liang show off after vomiting blood.
As a naval general in Jiangdong and the commander-in-chief who led troops to fight against Jingzhou all year round, how could Zhou Yu not know the hydrology and climate on the Yangtze River.
In the Yangtze River in winter, the southeast wind occasionally blows for a few days. Zhou Yu knew very well, otherwise he would not have realized that the time had come to defeat Cao Cao as soon as he saw Cao Cao's iron rope and boat.
Zhuge Liang did not borrow the east wind. This east wind was entirely brought by Zhou Yu himself.
However, before waiting for the southeast wind, Zhou Yu still wanted to make other preparations to ensure the success rate of the fire attack.
In fact, when Cao Cao was using iron ropes to connect boats, the success rate of fire attacks was already very high.
As long as the southeast wind blows, Zhou Yu only needs to command the front troops, use boats to load fire starters and rush into Cao Jun's water stronghold, then the fire will naturally burn.
It’s hard to say whether Cao’s army can be defeated, but once the warships are burned, it at least means that Cao’s army will not be able to go south in a short time, and Jiangdong will be saved.
But Zhou Yu wanted to wait for the southeast wind anyway, and also wanted to reduce the losses of Jiangdong Army and maximize the results of the battle. Wouldn't it be better if he could take this opportunity to defeat Cao Cao's army and even capture Cao Cao? !
Therefore, Zhou Yu was thinking about whether to send someone to Cao Jun's camp to fake a surrender so that the fire-starting troops could penetrate deeper into Cao Jun's water camp. Then it would be easier to set the fire and Cao Jun's losses would be greater.
Just thinking about it, Zhou Yu couldn't make up his mind.
If the fake surrender is done well, of course it can expand the results of the battle, but if it is not done well, it will make Cao Cao see through and take precautions, which will not be conducive to the subsequent fire attack strategy.
And with Cao Cao's suspicion, if he wants to fake surrender, he must use a bitter trick. Let's forget about this.
Anyway, if you can win, if you win Jiangdong, you can keep it. The rest is just a matter of winning more and winning less. Why bother with your own general? !
But Huang Gai disagreed.
Huang Gai also discovered the weakness of Cao Jun's Iron Boat Lianzhou, and secretly met with Zhou Yu to propose a fire attack strategy.
Zhou Yu was surprised by this third-generation veteran's keen ability to grasp combat opportunities, but expressed opposition to Huang Gai's plan to feign surrender.
If you want to feign surrender, you have to use a bitter trick, otherwise it is better to attack directly. Zhou Yu confessed his thoughts to Huang Gai.
Then Huang Gai said, isn't it just a bitter trick? I'll do it! ! !
Zhou Yu was shocked, and then moved beyond measure.
Zhou Yu has always respected veterans such as Huang Gai and Cheng Pu. After all, they are Sun Jian's remaining team members and are loyal to the Sun family. When he accompanied Sun Ce to fight Jiangdong, the two sides also fought side by side.
But Zhou Yu only respected them and didn't think there was anything special about these veterans. Even sometimes, these veterans relied on their elders to show off their talents, which also gave Zhou Yu a headache.
But now, Zhou Yu has seen the loyalty of these veterans, who are so loyal that they can give everything for the Sun family.
You know, it is not that there are no ways to defeat the enemy, and these veterans are willing to risk their lives just to allow Jiangdong to reduce losses and expand the results of defeating the enemy.
The bitter meat scheme itself is very dangerous. Huang Gai is so old. If something bad happens, Zhou Yu will not be able to explain it to Sun Quan.
The fake surrender is even more dangerous. Once discovered by Cao Cao, Huang Gai will definitely die.
Zhou Yu didn't want to agree, but he couldn't stand what Huang Gai said was too distressing.
"I have received great kindness from the Sun family for three generations. Although I can't repay my liver and brain, why should I cherish this body?! Now the thieves are about to break. If I can leave Huang Gai alone to achieve the full success, I will be considered dead. I will also have the face to meet my old master. . I hope the governor will help me achieve this great success, so don’t let me down."
Huang Gai was sacrificing his life to serve his lord, and also to fulfill his own reputation. Zhou Yu had no choice but to agree.
It's just that this is a third-generation veteran. If he really wants to use Huang Gai to use bitter tricks, Huang Gai's reputation has been achieved, but he, Zhou Yu, will not be easy to behave in Jiangdong in the future.
In the Huaisi Group, this group of old people still has great influence. Even if Huang Gai is willing, he can't control whether other people will have other ideas.
Therefore, Zhou Yu hesitated for a moment and planned to persuade this old general who was loyal to his master in a roundabout way.
"Old general, please get up!" Zhou Yu helped Huang Gai up, paused, and then said, "Yu is willing to help the old general achieve great fame. However, it is difficult to travel on the river. If no one informs the thief Cao, I am afraid that the thief Cao will I won’t be gullible either. Let’s discuss this later!”
This is indeed a flaw.
No one helped spread the news. Even if Zhou Yu really used a trick on Huang Gai, and Cao Cao didn't know about it, and it was impossible for him to cross the river to "inspect" himself, people would still have to believe it.
If no one tipped off the information, it wouldn't make much difference whether or not the trick was used.
Huang Gai was also speechless for a moment and could only say goodbye depressedly.
But within two days, Zhou Yu suddenly received a notice saying that the Cai family in Jingzhou sent people to surrender. The people who came were Cai Mao's two younger brothers, Cai Zhong and Cai He.
Good guy, now the tip of the tip is in place. Zhou Yu started to have a headache again.
Just use the bitter meat tactic. I'm really afraid that Huang Gai is good or bad. Don't use the bitter meat tactic. God has arranged it so considerately. Isn't it a pity not to use it? !
Besides, Huang Gai didn’t miss this opportunity.
Therefore, Huang Gai once again visited Zhou Yu's military tent at night and discussed the bitter meat plan with Zhou Yu again.
When things got to this point, Zhou Yu couldn't help the old general even if he didn't want to.
(End of chapter)
