Chapter 308: If there is no guide, let's create one! If you want to get your backbone back, you have to betray Yuan Shao!

"Use Cao Cao's method?"

Liu Bei's eyes were blank, and he hadn't yet understood the hidden meaning of Xiao Fang's words.

Pang Tong's eyes flashed, and he blurted out:
"Prime Minister Xiao's intention is to imitate Cao Cao's surprise attack on Wuchao and launch a surprise attack on Yuan Shao's grain storage at Guling?"

After hearing this, Liu Bei suddenly realized.

Yuan Shao's method of supplying food and fodder was very different from his.

Because there were few cities between Xiang County and Shouchun, and the banks of the Ying River were empty, the Chu army's food and fodder were loaded on ships from Shouchun and transported to the front line via Yangquan and the Ying River.

The Wei army was different.

The area north of Xiang County is a densely populated area, including Nandun, Ruyang, Xihua, Changping... There are as many as seven or eight cities within a hundred miles.

Therefore, the Wei army's food and fodder, whether transported from Xuchang or requisitioned from nearby counties, were all gathered from all directions at the nearby Guling Ferry, and then loaded onto ships and transported south along the Yingshui River to the Xiangcheng camp.

In other words, Guling, like Wuchao back then, stored most of Yuan Shao’s food and fodder, and was a place of life and death.

If the surprise attack on Guling is successful, the food and grass that Yuan Shao depends on for survival will be burned in one fell swoop. It would be strange if the morale of the Wei army does not collapse!
"I understand!"

"Since Yuan Shao was able to rob our food supplies, we will fight back and rob and burn his food supplies!"

"I heard that Guling Ferry has nearly one million bushels of grain stored. If all of this grain is burned, then even if Yuan Shao is wealthy and powerful, he will not be able to raise enough grain for an army of 160,000 in a short period of time."

"If food and grass are scarce, Yuan Shao will be defeated without a fight even if he has a million-strong army!"

Liu Bei slammed the table and stood up, finally realizing Xiao Fang's profound meaning from Pang Tong's reminder.

Xiao Fang nodded slightly and said with a smile:
"Your Majesty is right. This is exactly what I meant."

Liu Bei was overjoyed. He jumped up, walked a few steps to the map, stared at it carefully, and weighed Xiao Fang's strategy in his mind.

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Xiao's plan is indeed a winning strategy that will win the battle quickly and achieve the goal in one fell swoop!"

"I think this plan is feasible. I am willing to lead the army to bypass the Wei army's defense line, attack Guling for the king, and burn the 1 million bushels of grain and grass of the Yuan bandits!"

Huang Zhong jumped up and volunteered to fight.

As soon as Huang Zhong asked for battle, all the generals jumped up and vied with each other to ask for battle.

"Your Majesty, the Prime Minister's plan is indeed a winning strategy that will achieve success in one fell swoop, but I have some ideas that I don't know if I should express them or not."

Pang Tong suddenly spoke, his eyes and tone seemed to indicate objection.

Liu Bei waved his hand slightly, indicating to Pang Tong that it was okay to speak.

"The reason why Yuan Shao was able to rob our food supplies is that he has an absolute advantage in cavalry. He can take advantage of his mobility and launch a surprise attack before our scouts and ears can warn us."

"Secondly, there are few people living south of Xiang County, and there are few cities. Our military outposts are not well-informed, which makes it easy for the Wei cavalry to attack unexpectedly."

"But Guling is different. From Xiang County to Guling, it is a densely populated area with cities everywhere. The Wei army's outposts and spies must be everywhere."

"Under this circumstance, unless our army has confidential information about the Wei army's sentry deployment, if we want to sneak out of the sixty miles and attack Guling behind enemy lines without anyone noticing, I think there is a high possibility that our whereabouts will be exposed."

"Once Yuan Shao notices our army's movements, the defenders of Guling will be alerted and prepare for defense in advance."

"Will our raiding army return empty-handed?"

Pang Tong pointed at the map and expressed all the concerns in his mind one by one.

Liu Bei frowned slightly, and the joy in his eyes was gradually replaced by calmness.

"Jinglue, Shiyuan's reminder is not without reason."

"I remember that during the Battle of Guandu, you said that Cao Cao would never be able to successfully launch a surprise attack on Wuchao without the secrets of Yuan Shao's outpost defenses."

"In the current situation, we seem to be facing the same difficulties as Cao Cao. If there is no Wei army deployed between Guling and Xiangxian, if we rashly launch a surprise attack, I am afraid we will repeat the mistakes of Cao Cao in the Battle of Guandu."

The boomerang appears to be back.

At that time, Cao Cao did not have Xu You as a guide to provide him with the secrets of Yuan Shao's defenses, which led to the failure of his surprise attack on Wuchao.

Today, Old Liu seems to be facing the same dilemma as Cao Cao did back then.

We are missing a guide!

But this is not a problem. If there is no guide, just create one.

Xiao Fang sat back down, picked up the tea bowl and took a sip, then smiled and said:

"This is also simple. We just need to get the secrets of the Wei army's deployment. Then we can hide it from the Wei army's sentries and launch a surprise attack on Guling."

Liu Bei and Pang Tong were both stunned.

Pang Tong was the first to come to his senses and asked back:
"But such a secret can only be known by trusted ministers like Ju Su and Guo Tu in the Wei camp."

"How did we get such secrets from them?"

Xiao Fang slowly put down the bowl of tea, but said disapprovingly:
"Ju Shou is upright and honest, so it is impossible for him to disclose such a secret to us, but this Guo Tu may not be the same."

Pang Tong was speechless and his eyes became more and more confused.

Old Liu began to lose his temper and urged:
"Jinglue, if you have any good ideas, please stop hiding them and tell us quickly."

Seeing that Old Liu was so anxious, Xiao Fangsui didn't want to prepare any more and cleared his throat.

"Don't forget, my king. Yuan Tan is still in our hands."

"Guo Tu, Xin Pi and other Ruying factions have lost their backbone in the pseudo-Wei because Yuan Tan was captured by me. I am afraid that they are being suppressed by Yuan Shang and his Hebei faction. Their days will definitely be difficult, and they may even lose power."

"For Guo Tu and others, the only thing they want is to welcome Yuan Tan back."

"Yuan Shao has not yet appointed a crown prince. As long as Yuan Tan returns, there is still hope for him to be crowned the heir. Guo Tu and the Ruying faction will then have hope."

"Isn't Xun Chen still in Shouchun, waiting to take Yuan Tan back? Your Majesty, order him to go back and tell Guo Tu and others that we will release Yuan Tan in exchange for their secrets of the Wei army's deployment north of Xiangcheng." "When we get this secret, we will be able to see all the Wei army's deployments north of Xiangcheng and south of Guling. Are you still worried that we can't bypass Yuan Shao's eyes and ears, launch a surprise attack on Guling, and burn all of Yuan Shao's 1 million hu of grain in one fire?"

Xiao Fang's overall plan was thus fully revealed.

Be it Liu Bei or Pang Tong, they only realized it at this moment.

"We used Gao Gan to defeat the Wei cavalry at Chengfu, and now we are using Yuan Tan to launch a surprise attack on Guling."

“I didn’t expect that these two big fish could have such a miraculous effect in the hands of the Prime Minister.”

"The Prime Minister's foresight and adaptability are beyond the reach of the general..."

Pang Tong was amazed and bowed to Xiao Fang.

This Fengchu obviously also agreed with Xiao Fang's strategy.

Liu Bei was also inspired and praised:
"I didn't expect that keeping Yuan Tan alive would have such a use besides allowing the two sons of the Yuan family to fight for the throne and continue the internal struggle!"

"Okay, okay, Jing Lue's plan is brilliant and it is indeed a winning strategy!"

Inside the big tent, the generals were greatly encouraged.

Only Zhang Liao remained calm and said,
"Your Majesty, Prime Minister, if Guo Tu hands over the secrets of Wei's military deployment, he can certainly get Yuan Tan back, but it is tantamount to betraying Yuan Shao and disregarding the life and death of Wei's 160,000-man army!"

"As an important official of Yuan Shao, could Guo Tu really do such a shameless act of putting personal interests above public interests?"

Xiao Fang smiled.

Zhang Liao still doesn't understand Guo Tu and his gang.

In their eyes, the great cause of the Yuan family and the life and death of the Wei army were not as valuable as the power and status of the Ruying scholars.

Otherwise, after Yuan Shao's death, when Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang were fighting for the throne and were defeated, Guo Tu and others would not have instigated Yuan Tan to surrender to Cao Cao and lead Cao's army into Hebei.

Even with Yuan Tan as his guide, it would take Cao Cao another seven years to take over Hebei.

If Yuan Tan had not surrendered to Cao, given the strength of the Yuan family, it would have been an unknown whether Cao Cao could have captured Hebei during his lifetime.

Back then, Guo Tu was able to disregard the Yuan family's cause for his own selfish interests and persuade Yuan Tan to surrender to Cao Cao.

So what's the big deal if Guo Tu betrayed Yuan Shao and handed over Wei army secrets in order to rescue Yuan Tan today?

"Among all the advisers under Yuan Shao, apart from Ju Shou and Tian Feng, who were able to put the overall situation first, which of the rest were not blinded by profit and selfishness and forgot the public interest?"

"It's not their fault. Yuan Shao himself was too selfish and played political games, allowing his two sons to fight for the throne and condoning his subordinates to fight overtly and covertly."

"As the saying goes, what goes up goes down. It's no wonder that Guo Tu and others put their own interests above the public interest and ignored the foundation of the Yuan family for their own selfish interests."

Xiao Fang looked at me sarcastically and gave his conclusion.

Zhang Liao seemed to be thinking about something.

Liu Bei no longer had any worries and said happily:
"Okay, let's follow Jinglue's plan and quickly pass on my order to send Xun Chen and Yuan Tan from Shouchun to the Xiangcheng frontline immediately!"

...

Six days later.

Wei army camp, a certain military tent.

After paying his respects to Yuan Shao, Xun Chen came to Guo Tu's tent in a low-key manner.

"Youruo, I have tried my best to stop the king from sending troops south. Who would have thought that the big-eared thief would dare to take the initiative to invade our Wei? Coupled with the instigation of Feng Ji and others, the king was furious and sent troops to fight the big-eared thief."

"The two armies are fighting to the death. How could the big-eared thief let the eldest son go?"

"I'm afraid that the eldest son is in great danger. If anything happens to him, I'm afraid that all of us Ruying scholars will die without a burial place in the future!"

Guo Tu complained about his grievances and drank a glass of wine.

Xun Chen glanced around and confirmed that there were no ears or eyes nearby, then he lowered his voice and said:
"Gong Ze, there are no outsiders here now, so I won't hide it from you."

"When I met the king just now, I didn't tell the truth. In fact, Liu Bei offered the condition of releasing the eldest son."

"But this condition is not for the king, but for you and me."

Guo Tu was halfway through drinking when he suddenly became alert and said in surprise:
"Is the big-eared thief really willing to release the eldest son? What conditions did he offer? Why did he offer this condition to us?"

Guo Tu was pleasantly surprised, but a look of deep suspicion flashed across his eyes.

Xun Chen silently took out a list from his arms and handed it to Guo Tu.

Guo Tu took it suspiciously and looked at it, then he was stunned.

The strength of each camp in the Wei camp, the number of remaining cavalry, the number of troops left in Xuchang, the deployment of guard posts north of Xiangcheng, and Yuan Shao's physical condition...

This densely packed list covers almost all of the Wei army’s military secrets!
"You Ruo, what is this?"

Guo Tu looked up at Xun Chen and didn't react for a moment.

Xun Chen took a deep breath and said in a deep voice:

"Liu Bei said that if we want to get the eldest son back, we must give Liu Bei all the secrets on this list, word for word!"

Guo Tu was horrified and exclaimed:

"The big-eared thief actually wants me to betray the King of Wei and give him all the secrets of my army in exchange for the eldest son?"

Xun Chen sighed helplessly and nodded silently.

Guo Tu took deep breaths, looked down at the list in his hand, and gradually fell into silence.

(End of this chapter)