Chapter 192: The Great Han Emperor's Uncle, the Left General, the Marquis of Xiangyang! The little emperor has found a backer? Have I raised you in vain?

Ye County.

Cao Cao was frowning, his face ashen, staring at the city in front of him that had stood for two months.

There were more than a hundred ladders on the city wall, and his Cao army soldiers were crawling all over the wall like ants.

The offensive was fierce.

As expected, half an hour later, the soldiers who had climbed all over the city wall retreated like a tide and were defeated in panic.

Cao Cao seemed to be accustomed to this routine and just sighed softly.

There is a kind of helplessness hidden in the sigh.

He was indeed helpless.

Three thousand people! There are only more than three thousand Jingzhou soldiers in the city.

His army of 50,000, with a strength more than ten times his own, besieged the city for nearly two months, suffering the casualties of thousands of soldiers!

However, Ye County was like a rock, still standing firm and could not be shaken by him at all.

Cao Cao couldn’t remember how many times he had failed in his siege today.

"This Huo Jun is truly a genius at defending the city!"

"Such a genius could actually be obtained by Liu Bei. Jingzhou is really a place of crouching tigers and hidden dragons..."

Cao Cao shook his head and sighed, his words revealing helplessness and a hint of envy.

"Jingzhou is indeed a land of outstanding people and hidden dragons and crouching tigers. Apart from Xiao Jinglue, there are countless talented people."

"People like Wei Yan, Gan Ning, and Huang Zhong are all talented generals."

"It is precisely because Liu Bei has all these rare talents from Jingxiang that he can now march to Jiangdong and force Sun Ce to surrender to Yuan Shu and acknowledge him as his father."

Guo Jia, who was standing beside him, also sighed with emotion.

When mentioning Sun Ce, a look of contempt flashed across Cao Cao's face.

"The son of Sun Wentai actually acknowledged the traitor Yuan Shu as his father just to deal with Liu Bei. How shameless!"

"I had intended to marry my daughter to this boy in order to win him over. But now it seems that he is worthy of being the son-in-law of our Cao family?"

Cao Cao snorted coldly, his words and expression showing no disdain for Sun Ce.

Guo Jia smiled and said:

"Sun Ce had been living under Yuan Shu's wing and had repeatedly claimed that he regarded Yuan Shu as his father. Now that Liu Bei had cornered him, it was not surprising that he went to Yuan Shu to recognize him as his father and seek help."

He changed the subject and said:
"However, Yuan Shu's march south to rescue Sun Ce did resolve the crisis in Jiangdong and pin down Liu Bei."

"Liu Bei may not be able to take Jiangdong if he fights one against two. Even if he can, he will have to delay the two thieves Yuan and Sun for a long time."

"Jia thinks we still have enough time to attack Ye County."

"No matter how good Huo Jun is at defending the city, there are only 3,000 soldiers in Ye County. I think he can only hold out for a month or two at most."

Guo Jia's analysis made Cao Cao feel much better, and his gloomy face finally showed some sunshine.

Then he whipped his whip and said:

"Send the order down, tell the soldiers to return to the camp to rest, have a good meal, and then attack Ye County at night."

"In any case, we must capture Ye County as soon as possible to avoid any more trouble. I always feel that Yuan and Sun are not Liu Bei's opponents..."

The word "hand" has not yet come out.

A messenger came galloping and dismounted from his horse.

"Report to the Minister of Works, General Xiahou of Xudu has urgent news!"

The messenger presented the silk book with both hands.

Cao Cao's heart trembled slightly, and an ominous premonition came over him.

Xiahou Dun was guarding Xu Du, but suddenly an urgent message was sent. Could something happen in Xu Du?
Cao Cao took the secret letter without thinking and quickly opened it to read it carefully.

He took a deep breath and his eyes gradually widened.

"How could this be the case? Yuan Shu was so vulnerable, and Liu Bei was so strong..."

Cao Cao muttered to himself with a trembling voice, his eyes filled with the word "unbelievable".

Guo Jia became nervous and asked anxiously:
"Sikong, what happened to Yuan Shu? Has he been defeated by Liu Bei?"

Cao Cao let out a long breath and sighed:

"Yuan Shu was not only defeated by Liu Bei, you can see for yourself."

Cao Cao looked helpless and handed the urgent report from Xiahou Dun to Guo Jia.

Guo Jia hurriedly took it and looked at it with suspicion.

Then, like Cao Cao, he took a deep breath, his face filled with surprise.

The secret report stated that Liu Bei had defeated Yuan Shu at Ruxukou, captured him alive and executed him, and sent his head to Xudu as a present to the emperor.

The emperor was overjoyed and praised Liu Bei as the most loyal minister of the Han Dynasty.

The young emperor made an exception and issued an edict without seeking Cao Cao's permission, declaring Liu Bei the uncle of the Han emperor. He also appointed Liu Bei as the left general, the governor of Jingzhou, and promoted him to the title of Marquis of Xiangyang.

"Yuan Shu is so vulnerable?"

"He had Lu Bu, the best general in the world, but he still lost to Liu Bei and even lost his life?"

"This this……"

Guo Jia's face was filled with shock and confusion, and he didn't know how to comment.

How could he not know how capable Yuan Shu was?

With Cao Cao's strength, it would be no problem for him to deal with Yuan Shu.

With Liu Bei's current strength, defeating Yuan Shu is not a miracle.

But what made Guo Jia unbelievable was that Yuan Shu was defeated so quickly and even lost his life!
This was completely beyond his understanding.

"Liu Bei has already become powerful, and Sun Ce will not live long. Jiangdong will definitely be taken by him..."

Cao Cao looked towards the south and sighed helplessly. Guo Jia lowered his head again and examined Xiahou Dun's secret report, frowning.

"Yuan Shu usurped the throne and proclaimed himself emperor. He is a traitor who usurped the Han Dynasty. He should be executed by the Minister of Works!"

"Now Liu Bei has killed Yuan Shu and presented his head to the emperor. This is clearly to let the world know that he is the great hero who killed Yuan Shu and suppressed the rebellion."

"He wants the world to know that he, Liu Bei, is the true loyal minister of the Han Dynasty!"

Guo Jia's tone gradually became serious, and he raised his head and looked at Cao Cao.

Cao Cao stroked Xiran and snorted coldly:

"How could I not know Liu Bei's wishful thinking?"

"But what I didn't expect was that our emperor rewarded Liu Bei on his own without consulting me."

"It seems that this kid feels that he has found his family as a backer, and his wings are strong enough!"

Guo Jia's thoughts raced, and he immediately understood the hidden meaning in Cao Cao's words.

The emperor was called the emperor in name only, but in reality he was just a figurehead. All military and political power was in the hands of Cao Cao. Normally, all kinds of imperial edicts had to be approved by Cao Cao before they could be issued.

Now he dared to issue an edict to reward Liu Bei without asking Cao Cao. How could he have the courage to ignore Cao Cao?

There is no other reason, it’s just because Liu Bei’s surname is Liu.

A member of the royal family Liu, who dominated Jingzhou, has now killed the traitor Yuan Shu. He is about to swallow up Jiangdong and own half of Jiangnan, seeming to be able to compete with Cao Cao and Yuan Shao.

For the emperor, with such a powerful uncle backing him up, how could he not stand up straight?
What's more, Liu Bei had the great achievement of suppressing the rebellion and killing Yuan Shikai.

The emperor naturally had enough confidence to arbitrarily reward his uncle with heavy rewards without Cao Cao's approval.

"It seems that the emperor has a deep grudge against Sikong. Now that Liu Bei, a royal relative, has come to help, I'm afraid it will become increasingly difficult to control him in the future."

"Sikong, it seems we have to strengthen the protection of the emperor and not let him easily come into contact with foreign ministers like Liu Bei."

Guo Jia's tone was meaningful, and there was a hint of coldness in his eyes.

Cao Cao agreed with this, but his gaze turned to Ye County in front of him, with a look of unwillingness mixed with a bit of helplessness.

"We can't fight any more in Ye County. Let's pass down the order to withdraw our camp and return to the capital."

Cao Cao waved his hands weakly.

Liu Bei is now the hero who killed Yuan Shikai, the uncle of the Han emperor appointed by the emperor, and a loyal minister who supports the Han Dynasty in the hearts of the people of the world.

You are in charge of the Han court, but you are still leading your army to attack the city of a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty. Is this decent of you?
Guo Jia's eyes rolled, but with a different meaning:

"Sikong, we may not lose something in one place but gain something in another..."

Cao Cao's eyes lit up and he looked at Guo Jia anxiously.

Guo Jia raised his hand and pointed to the southeast:
"Although we cannot attack Ye County anymore, once Yuan Shu is dead, Huainan will be leaderless and people will be in chaos."

"Why don't you turn your troops around and go straight to Shouchun, and take Huainan in one fell swoop?"

Cao Cao suddenly realized, the gloom on his face disappeared, and he couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Good, good, good, what a great loss in one place, but a gain in another!"

"Liu Bei killed Yuan Shu and gained the false reputation of a loyal minister. I will take advantage of the situation to seize Huainan and gain the real benefits."

"Very good, very good!"

"Pass the order down, the army will return and go straight to Huainan."

Cao Cao finally felt a little more balanced and immediately ordered to stop the attack on Ye County and led his troops back that night.

The siege of Ye County was thus lifted.

...

In the city of Jinling, the whole people were in panic.

Two days ago, Liu Bei's vanguard navy came from upstream and landed outside the west gate of Jinling.

Tens of thousands of Liu's infantry and cavalry arrived continuously and began to set up camp outside the city of Jinling.

The news of Yuan Shu's execution had already spread throughout the city, and Liu Bei's prestige was greatly enhanced.

Now that the army is at the gates of the city, the war in Nanjing is about to break out. The people of Nanjing, shrouded in the shadow of war, are naturally in a panic.

The inner hall of the county government.

Sun Ce's face was gloomy and solemn, and his eyes swept among the counselors and generals, searching for hope of turning the tide.

Be it Zhang Zhao or Lu Su, they all lowered their heads silently and remained silent.

The situation has reached this point, and they have run out of ideas and no one can come up with a plan to turn the situation around.

"The big-eared bandits are approaching us, and Jiangdong is in imminent danger. If anyone has a good plan to turn the situation around, please stop hiding it and tell us quickly!"

Sun Ce asked the crowd for the third time.

Still no one spoke, everyone lowered their heads even lower, and sighs echoed faintly.

Even Cheng Pu, who had previously clamored to fight Liu Bei to the death, remained silent at this time.

"boom!"

Sun Ce slammed the table and said angrily:

"You all claim to be resourceful and talented, but at the critical moment, why are you all silent?"

"I, Sun Ce, have raised you for so many years. Have I raised you in vain?"

Sun Ce was also forced by the situation. He completely lost the magnanimity of the original hero and even said such hurtful words as "I have raised you in vain".

Everyone felt a surge of anxiety and swallowed their saliva, feeling uncomfortable.

Seeing that no one said anything, Sun Ce became angry and was about to curse again.

At this time.

A young man with blue eyes and purple beard suddenly came out and said with a folded hand:

"I have a plan. It may be our only chance to turn the situation around!"

(End of this chapter)