Chapter 261: Who wants to gnaw on the bones of Yizhou when there is a big piece of fat meat in the Central Plains? Liu Bei will be a big trouble for the Yuan family!
Old Liu looked at Xiao Fang in surprise.

If he remembered correctly, the strategy that Xiao Fang planned for him to pacify the world was to compete for the end of the Yangtze River and occupy the three states of Jing, Yang and Yi.

Afterwards, the troops were divided into three groups, and they marched north from Shouchun, Xiangyang, and Hanzhong respectively to wipe out the bandits in the north, and then take over the whole world and restore the Han Dynasty.

The current situation is that Huainan has been recovered, which means that the two states of Jing and Yang have been fully included in the territory.

Xiao Fangjing's strategy to control the Yangtze River has been completed by two-thirds.

Even if we use military force next time, we should target Yizhou.

But now, Xiao Fang wants him to take the initiative to declare an all-out war with the Yuan family, seize Xuzhou, and advance into the Central Plains?
This way of using troops seems to have deviated from the strategy Xiao Fang had previously planned.

"The situation in the world is constantly changing. Our military strategy must also be based on the current situation and we must be able to adapt to the situation. Otherwise, wouldn't it be like trying to find a sword by carving a mark on a boat?"

"The previous strategy of going south first and north later was based on the fact that the Yuan and Cao factions in the north had already been decided, so we can only take Yizhou first, occupy the entire Yangtze River, and then make three northern expeditions."

"The current situation is that the Lord's progress in unifying Jingyang has greatly exceeded Fang's expectations. When the Lord had already taken Huainan, the victory of Yuan and Cao at Guandu had not yet been decided."

"In this way, neither Cao Cao nor Yuan Shao will be able to deal with us with all their strength."

"This will give the lord the opportunity to concentrate all his efforts and seize Xuzhou before the victory or defeat of Yuan and Cao is decided."

"Although Xuzhou has been through many wars and is far less prosperous than Yizhou, taking Xuzhou will help my lord recover the north and unify the country far more than Yizhou!"

Xiao Fang's words gradually made Liu Bei's vision clear, and he couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Xiao Fang then asked someone to bring a map and spread it out in the hall.

"My lord, please see that although Yizhou is known as the Land of Abundance, with thousands of miles of fertile land and a population of millions, its strength on paper can be said to be far superior to Xuzhou."

"But in terms of geographical advantages, Yizhou is far inferior to Xuzhou."

"Occupying Yizhou does have the danger of the Qinling Mountains, and relying on the strong passes and dangerous passes, we can easily resist attacks from the north. However, the Qinling Mountains are a double-edged sword. If we want to fight out of Yizhou, we also have to cross the Qinling Mountains, which is restricted by the inconvenience of transporting food and grass."

"Xuzhou is different. It is considered part of the Central Plains, with convenient water transportation and grain and grass transportation."

"My lord, if you use Xuzhou as your forward base, and rely on Yangzhou as your backup to transport food and military supplies, you can take Qingzhou to the north and Yanzhou to the west, and then seize the Central Plains."

"It's much less difficult than going north from Yizhou to Qinling to capture Guanlong!"

"Since there is an opportunity to easily capture the Central Plains, why bother going through so much trouble to cross mountains and ridges to capture Guanlong?"

Xiao Fang pointed at the map with his feather fan and gave his reasons for adjusting his strategy.

To be honest, "Longzhong Strategy" by brother-in-law Zhuge Liang was actually a strategy he gave to Lao Liu when he had no other choice.

At that time, the north was already owned by Cao Cao, and Sun Quan was entrenched in Jiangdong. Do you, Old Liu, have any other choice except to seize Jingzhou and Yizhou?
Since you can only occupy Jing and Yi states, you can only split your troops into two routes when you march north to recover the Central Plains, one route out of Xiangyang and the other out of Hanzhong.

To put it bluntly, if there is a chance to occupy the Central Plains states such as Jizhou and Yanzhou, who would care about a remote mountain place like Yizhou where no one lives.

Because you, Old Liu, met Zhuge Liang too late, and Cao Cao had eaten all the meat. Do you have any choice except picking up some bone scraps and swallowing them with tears?

It's different now.

His appearance has brought about earth-shaking changes in Lao Liu's historical trajectory.

Before the outcome of the battle between Yuan and Cao was decided, Liu Bei had already captured Jingzhou and Yangzhou, and pushed the battle line to the Huai River, just a line away from the Central Plains.

Wouldn't it be great if he could take advantage of the situation when Yuan and Cao were fighting to the death to seize Xuzhou and then gnaw on the big bone of Central Plains?

Why throw away the watermelon to pick up sesame seeds, and why go to Yizhou to pick up the leftovers?
Liu Bei stared at the map, stroking his thin beard with his hand, and his eyes gradually became clear.

"The Central Plains is a vast land of fertile land, but due to frequent wars and displacement of the people, it may not appear as prosperous as Jingzhou and Yizhou."

"But the Central Plains is the Central Plains. Once the war ends and people have time to recuperate, the population will soon flourish again."

"The best example is that Yuan Shao, with only Jizhou, was able to raise more soldiers and horses than Jingzhou and Yangzhou combined."

"So if we want to pacify the world, the first priority is naturally to take the Central Plains first."

"Since there is really no way to take the Central Plains first, we can only settle for the next best thing and take Guanlong first."

"Now that you have taken over Huainan, you are very close to Xuzhou and the Central Plains. Why shouldn't you seize it first?"

Xiao Fang pointed at the map with his feather fan and gave another explanation.

Liu Bei's eyes finally brightened up as if the clouds had cleared and he completely understood Xiao Fang's meaning.

"The military advisor is right. Only those who control the Central Plains can control the world!"

Liu Bei hit the map with his fist, his tone and eyes were extremely firm.

"If we stay put and wait for the outcome of the battle between Yuan and Cao, no matter who wins or loses, they will be able to free up their hands and suppress us with all their strength."

"By then, we will have missed the golden opportunity to seize Xuzhou and advance into the Central Plains. We will be suppressed along the Huai River and face a standoff with the enemy."

"With the strength of the Central Plains, if the confrontation continues for a long time, we will lose sooner or later."

"That's why we have to seize Xuzhou before the outcome of the battle between Yuan and Cao is decided, so as to get a share of the Central Plains!"

"In this way, no matter who wins the battle of Guandu, we have Xuzhou in our hands, which is equivalent to opening a gap in the Central Plains, and we are qualified to compete with them for the Central Plains!"

"Jinglue, is this what you mean?"

Liu Bei expressed all his understanding, and a blueprint for conquering the Central Plains gradually emerged before his eyes.

Xiao Fang smiled, cupped his hands and exclaimed:
"My lord, you really have a great vision. Yes, this is exactly what Fang meant."

The generals started discussing again, and the overall situation was interrupted in an instant.

Guan Yu stroked his beautiful beard and nodded:

"What the military advisor said is very true. When my brother took over Xuzhou, he did intend to rely on Xuzhou to compete for the Central Plains." "But we were weak at the time. We didn't have a military advisor to give us advice, and we didn't have these brave warriors and generals to fight on the battlefield. Let alone relying on Xuzhou to compete for the Central Plains, even if there was no Lu Bu's sneak attack, I'm afraid Xuzhou would have fallen sooner or later."

"Now my brother has the support of Jingyang Prefecture. If he can recapture Xuzhou and use it as a base to compete for supremacy in the Central Plains, he will surely succeed!"

Guan Yu had already expressed his stance, so how could Zhang Fei be willing to fall behind? He jumped up.

"Brother, just give the order. I must be the vanguard in the attack on Xuzhou!"

"I lost Xuzhou to you, I must take it back for you with my own hands!"

Zhang Fei became even more excited and was eager to send troops back to Xuzhou immediately.

Liu Bei no longer had any worries and immediately decided to march his troops eastward to recapture Xuzhou.

Now that the general direction has been determined, the next step is how to deploy the troops.

"If you accept the position of general, Yuan Shao will be furious. Yuan Tan will surely be arrogant after taking Xuzhou. He will want to further seize Huainan to establish his prestige and help him in his bid for the throne."

"I think the father and son will hit it off. Even if the lord does not send troops to Xuzhou, Yuan Tan may send troops to attack first."

"My opinion is that you should hold your troops still for now, rest the soldiers and calm their hearts as much as possible, and wait for Yuan Tan to make his first move, then we can counter his move and march into Xuzhou!"

Xiao Fang proposed a strategy to capture Xuzhou.

Liu Bei agreed with this and said happily:
"Okay, let's do as the military advisor says. We should take this time to rest our soldiers and wait for Yuan Shao and his son to make the first move!"

...

Xia Pi City, the provincial capital.

A banquet is going on.

Yuan Tan was sitting high up in the throne, with a smug look and a broad smile on his face.

Chen Deng, Zang Ba, Sun Guan...all the "local tyrants" in Xuzhou rarely gather together.

There is no way. Yuan Tan is not Cao Cao, not Lu Bu, nor is he Liu Bei who first took control of Xuzhou.

He is Yuan Shao's eldest son, representing Yuan Shao, the new lord of Xuzhou, and is in charge here.

That’s Yuan Shao!

The combined strength of Cao Cao, Liu Bei and other princes in the world would make them retreat in fear of him.

Therefore, Yuan Tan held a banquet today and invited the nobles and powerful people from all counties and cities in Xuzhou to come together. Naturally, no one in Xuzhou dared not give face to Yuan Tan.

Even Zang Ba, who had commanded an army from the time of Tao Qian to the time of Cao Cao, was afraid of the power of the eldest son of the Yuan family, so he came to pay a visit in person with his brother Sun Guan.

Everyone took turns toasting Yuan Tan, complimenting him in various ways and taking the opportunity to express their loyalty to Yuan Shao.

After a few rounds of drinking, Yuan Tan placed his wine glass on the table.

Everyone knew that Young Master Yuan had something to say, so they immediately fell silent and the hall was filled with silence.

Yuan Tan glanced at everyone, with a hint of innate pride between his brows, and said loudly:

"You must have heard that after Liu Bei, the mat weaver and shoe seller, captured Shouchun, he became so arrogant that he dared to steal my father's position as the general!"

"Father was very angry about this matter and told me to take the situation in Xuzhou into consideration and act accordingly."

"I intend to lead my army to attack Liu Bei to punish him for his disrespect to my father and for his previous crime of attacking my position as prime minister!"

"Whatever you think, feel free to speak up!"

Xu Youxin and other Ruying counselors naturally responded and agreed with it.

As advisers of Yuan Tan's faction, they would naturally be happy to see Yuan Tan defeat Liu Bei, capture Huainan, and accomplish another great feat to increase his reputation.

By then, not only did Yuan Tan's prestige increase greatly, he also became the governor of Qing and Xu states, as well as half of Yanzhou and Huainan's troops, and almost controlled half of the Yuan family's territory.

Under such circumstances, even if Yuan Shao doted on Yuan Shang, he would not dare to depose the eldest son and enthrone the younger one.

"Yuanlong, what do you think?"

Yuan Tan's gaze fell on Chen Deng.

Since he was going to send troops from Xuzhou to attack Liu Bei, he naturally had to test the attitude of Chen Deng, the head of the Chen family.

"Then Cao Cao used the emperor's name to appoint Liu Xuande as the general, clearly intending to provoke Lord Yuan to go to war with Liu Xuande in order to ease the pressure on him in the south."

"Deng believes that you should think carefully to avoid falling into Cao Cao's trap."

Chen Deng tactfully expressed his opposition to the attack on Liu Bei.

Yuan Tan frowned slightly, obviously not satisfied with Chen Deng's answer.

But he couldn't refute it face to face, so he winked at Xu Youxin, suggesting him to speak up.

Xu You and Xin Ping understood, swallowed their saliva, and were about to speak.

A person in the corner suddenly stood up and said sternly:

"My Lord, Liu Bei is so powerful that he is far superior to Cao Cao!"

"I saw it with my own eyes. Even Lu Bu, the strongest general in the world, was no match for him."

"Whether it is Cao's evil plot or not, I think you must destroy Liu Bei immediately, otherwise he will become a great threat to the Yuan family!"

(End of this chapter)