Chapter 113 Zhang Liang and Bole merge? Is there a master behind Huang Zu? Lao Liu, let's seize the time to capture Jiangling!

Within the big tent.

Everyone changed color and there was an uproar in an instant.

Be it Guo Jia or Xun You, they all raised their heads and looked at Cao Cao in surprise.

Cao Ren's face turned pale with rage, and for a moment he looked as if he had seen a ghost.

Cao Cao suppressed his shock and carefully examined the secret report again, fearing that he had missed even a single word.

The events of the Battle of Han River are described in great detail.

The spies were able to obtain public information and wrote it down in detail.

After a long time.

Cao Cao let out a long breath and sighed:

"There are so many extraordinary people in Jingzhou. This Xiao Fang is not only a genius, but also a reincarnation of Bole."

"Liu Bei has such a rare talent as his assistant. Sooner or later, he will become a great threat to me!"

Hearing Cao Cao's sigh, everyone's eyes became more suspicious and they were all confused.

It was unexpected that Liu Bei won the naval battle, so how was it related to Xiao Fang?
How come in Cao Cao's mouth, Xiao Fang became the living Bole?
Cao Cao then circulated the information to everyone.

Cao Ren rushed to grab it, and Guo Jia, Xun You and other counselors and generals all stood up and stepped forward to take a look.

"The generals under Liu Bei are all from the north. They can fight on land, but how can they beat Cai Mao in a naval battle?"

"And that Xiao Fang, even if he is cunning and treacherous, how can his wisdom be used in a naval battle?"

"This doesn't make sense. There must be something fishy going on..."

Cao Ren muttered to himself, his eyes full of doubt, and he couldn't wait to read the secret report.

As he watched, he stopped mumbling and began to gasp. The questioning expression on his face gradually turned into surprise.

"Xiao Fang recommended the pirate Gan Ning to Liu Bei as the naval commander. Gan Ning led 4,000 naval troops, defeated the Jiangling navy, and captured Cai Mao alive..."

The reason was clearly stated in the intelligence.

This time, Xiao Fang used strategy to help Liu Bei win the naval battle.

He used his ability to identify people to dig out a great naval general for Liu Bei, who defeated the Jiangling navy in one fell swoop!
This is why Cao Cao felt that Xiao Fang was the reincarnation of Bole.

"Who is this Gan Ning?"

"How could he defeat Cai Mao so easily in a naval battle? How come I have never heard of such a person who can fight on water? Is there such a person in Jingzhou?"

Cao Ren blurted out his surprise and turned to look at Guo Jia.

Guo Jia took the silk book in his hand, examined it carefully for a while, and couldn't help but sigh:
"What Sikong said is correct. This Xiao Fang is indeed a talented person."

"There are many talented people from humble backgrounds in Jingzhou, but none of them are used by Liu Biao. I think Gan Ning is one of them."

"Xiao Fang was able to recognize this man as a skilled naval commander among the common people and recommended him to Liu Bei for important positions. His ability to identify people is truly extraordinary..."

Guo Jia pointed out the secret.

These words also explain why Cao Cao was so fearful.

It is not surprising for a strategist to be very smart. After all, he has many smart people like Guo Jia and Xun Yu under his command.

The key point is that in addition to his extraordinary foresight, Xiao Fang also has a keen eye for identifying people.

It is a bit scary that he can easily dig out a talented general for Liu Bei from the countryside.

It should be understood that the battle for the world is about who has more and better talents, otherwise he would not have promoted the so-called meritocracy.

Liu Bei had Xiao Fang, who, with his keen eyes for identifying people, could continuously dig out unpolished jade and gold from the sand.

In the future, Liu Bei will have his own territory, and he will have many talented people under his command, as well as many wise counselors and brave generals. What a terrifying opponent he will be?
"Sikong, we must immediately attack Liu Bei and never let him grow stronger!"

"Now he has taken Xiangyang. If we don't take action, and he swallows up the entire Jingzhou, the consequences will be disastrous!"

Cao Ren also realized the seriousness of the situation and immediately volunteered to fight.

Cao Cao's eyes gradually showed murderous intent, and he looked to Guo Jia for advice.

"Liu Bei has already captured Xiangyang. His strength is no longer what it used to be. Liu Biao is now powerless to resist and can only retreat to Jiangling to put up a desperate fight."

"Sikong is now sending troops south, Liu Bei has enough spare strength to lead his troops north to confront Sikong head-on."

"Does Sikong have the confidence to defeat Liu Bei quickly and avoid a confrontation with Liu Bei, delaying the decisive battle with Yuan Shao in the future?"

However, Guo Jia remained calm and responded to Cao Cao's inquiry with a rhetorical question.

Cao Cao's heart was shocked, and the murderous intent in his eyes faded three points instantly.

"If you are stuck in the quagmire of Nanyang, but cannot pacify Xuhuai and eliminate Lu Bu and Yuan Shu, when Yuan Shao pacifies Hebei and marches south, Sikong will be surrounded by enemies. How can he fight with all his strength?"

Guo Jia's words were as cold as ice, which made Cao Cao shudder and his mind suddenly became clear.

His number one enemy has always been Yuan Shao.

Whether it is attacking Liu Bei now or dealing with Lu Bu and Yuan Shu, it is all preparation for the future decisive battle with Yuan Shao.

Any strategy that affects the decisive battle with Yuan Shao is a wrong strategy.

After weighing the pros and cons for a long time, Cao Cao sighed:

"Feng Xiao's words make sense. If we insist on biting Liu Bei's hard bone now, not only will we not be able to bite it, but we may even break our teeth."

"In that case, let's pick a soft bone to chew first."

"Zixiao, didn't you suggest that we march east to attack Lu Bu? Then let's deal with the three-surnamed slave first and eliminate the threat from the east."

Cao Ren remained silent.

After going around in circles for a long time, Cao Cao decided to attack Lu Bu as he requested.

However, since he could not attack Liu Bei, he had no choice but to attack Lu Bu.

This is completely different from his original intention.

"Of course we must attack Lu Bu, but will Sikong really let Liu Bei swallow up Jingzhou?"

At this time, Cao Ren had some objections.

"Don't worry, General Zixiao. If we don't take care of Liu Bei, someone else will."

Guo Jia suddenly smiled mysteriously, raised his hand and pointed south:
"That little tyrant Sun Ce has stationed his troops in Chaisang. He clearly intends to take advantage of the situation and take over Jingzhou."

"Now that Liu Bei has captured Xiangyang, I expect that little tyrant will lose his patience and will attack Xiakou with all his might."

"That little tyrant went out to seize Jingzhou. General Zixiao thought that Liu Bei could easily take Jingzhou alone?"

Cao Ren suddenly realized, and his eyes, which were originally full of worries, suddenly lit up with brilliance.

"Feng Xiao's words make sense. I actually forgot about Sun Ce!"

"This boy is as good at using troops as his father Sun Jian, and is far superior to Liu Biao. With him in the game, Liu Bei has met a real formidable enemy. How can he easily take over Jingzhou alone?"

Cao Cao's gloomy face turned sunny at this moment, and the corners of his mouth slightly raised: "It's hard to compete with a lion. I have to be wary of my son Sun Jian, let alone Liu Bei."

"Okay, okay, let Liu Bei and Sun Ce fight in Jingzhou."

"After I have dealt with Lu Bu and Yuan Shu and defeated Yuan Shao, I will come back and deal with these two!"

...

Downstream of Xiakou City.

On the flagship, Sun Ce clenched his fists and looked upstream with an angry look on his face.

He saw three iron chains across the surface of the river upstream, blocking his navy's way to the west.

These three iron chains were made by Huang Zu to prevent him from advancing to Xiakou.

In order to break the iron chain across the river, he had to send out several teams of men and horses, drive their boats closer, and try to cut the chain in half.

But they all failed without exception.

The warships of the Jiangxia army anchored upstream and the archers in the dry camps on both sides of the river could fire indiscriminately at the warships approaching the iron locks from three sides, suppressing them to the point that they could not even raise their heads.

After several life-threatening attempts and the loss of hundreds of soldiers, they were all defeated.

At this moment, General Ling Cao's attack was defeated again.

"This thief Huang Zu is so smart that he came up with this plan to block the river with iron chains!"

Sun Ce pounded the ship's wall with his fists, gnashing his teeth, his eyes filled with surprise and anger.

Zhou Yu beside him frowned and shook his head:

"Huang Zu is just a name, it is impossible for him to come up with such a bizarre method. There must be a man of extraordinary ideas to give him advice?"

A man of extraordinary ideas?

Sun Ce's eyes flashed with suspicion and he looked back at Zhou Yu:

"Huang Zu has such a powerful figure under his command, who can come up with such a brilliant plan?"

Zhou Yu thought for a while, but shook his head again:

"We have already discovered Huang Zu's true strengths and weaknesses. No one under his command could have come up with such a method."

"Even if Kuai Yue were here, he wouldn't be able to do this!"

Sun Ce looked back at the iron lock formation again, with even more suspicion in his eyes.

"My lord, Gongjin, why don't we use fire to melt the iron locks."

"Or we can move westward along both banks, break through the enemy's dry camp, and break the iron chain."

The old general Huang Gai, who had been in deep thought for a long time, suddenly spoke up.

"What General Gongfu said, I have actually thought about it a long time ago."

Zhou Yu raised his hand and pointed at the iron lock formation, and said:

"Since ancient times, fire attacks have been carried out with the help of either favorable winds or favorable currents."

"We are at the lower reaches of this iron chain formation, how can we use fire attack?"

"If we are not careful, won't we end up burning ourselves?"

Then Zhou Yu pointed to both banks and said:

"Huang Zu chose the place to set up the iron lock. There is Yunshan on the north bank and Xisaishan on the south bank. Both have mountainous terrain to rely on."

"He set up camp here and installed iron chains to take advantage of the mountain to block our army's attack from land."

"I have to say, Huang Zu is a thief who makes great use of the terrain."

All the suggestions were rejected.

Huang Gai frowned, and confusion welled up in his eyes:

"Although our predecessor Wen Tai was killed by Huang Zu's stray arrows, this thief's talents, wisdom and strategies were all mediocre."

"How come after so many years, this thief has become so powerful overnight?"

"How strange, how strange~~"

Huang Gai was amazed and couldn't figure it out.

Sun Ce sighed deeply, a look of helplessness flashing across his face:
"It seems that we have indeed underestimated the thief Huang Zu, but now that things have come to this, our army has no choice but to advance."

"No matter what means you use, no matter how much you pay, you must break this iron chain formation for me!"

"I will kill Huang Zu and take Xiakou. I will never let Liu Bei take Jingzhou alone!"

...

Xiangyang City, the provincial capital.

A banquet is going on.

Guo Youzhi, Xi Zhen, Yang Yi, Feng Xi...

Those present were all talents from Xiangyang recommended by Xiao Fang to Liu Bei.

"Without Jinglue, how could we have such a grand gathering of talented people today..."

Liu Bei was filled with emotion.

Looking back at the time when he was the governor of Xuzhou, all the talented people in the world avoided him, and under his command, no one was better than Guan Yu and Zhang Fei in military affairs, and no one was better than Sun Jian in literature.

Looking at the grand scene of counselors and generals like clouds and rain before him, he couldn't help but feel a sense of unreality as if in a dream.

"Report - urgent news from Jiangxia!"

The personal guards held up the battle report and entered the hall excitedly.

"Sun Ce led tens of thousands of troops to invade Jiangxia!"

"Huang Zu has set up iron chains across the river at the Xisai Mountain line, successfully blocking Sun Ce's westward advance!"

This piece of news immediately caused a lot of discussion in your mother's house.

Liu Bei's eyes lit up, and he quickly took the secret report, examining it carefully without waiting.

Then he burst into laughter and looked at Xiao Fang with admiration:
"Jinglue, the Iron Chain Across the River strategy you gave Huang Zu really helped him stop that little tyrant!"

Everyone was surprised and looked at Xiao Fang.

What was the iron chain across the river, what was the strategy given to Huang Zu, everyone was confused and had no idea what was going on.

Xiao Fang smiled faintly and pointed his wine glass to the south:
"The little tyrant was blocked by the iron chain formation, and Zhou Yu couldn't think of a way to break it even after a while."

"My lord, let's hurry up and march south to capture Jiangling!"

(End of this chapter)