Chapter 323: Such a big appetite, it must be Xiao Fang's style, I'm afraid! A big victory as a birthday gift!

Guan Ping's words immediately reminded everyone.

Luoyang City is still under the control of Cao Cao at this moment.

When Cao Cao abandoned the Central Plains and retreated to Guanzhong, he did not abandon Luoyang, as it was the eastern capital of the Han Dynasty and could protect Guanzhong. Instead, he left Yu Jin to lead more than 7,000 people to guard it.

However, this kind of defense is, to a large extent, just a symbolic one.

After all, Luoyang is not a place with natural defenses, and Yu Jin only has more than 7,000 soldiers and horses. As long as Yuan Shao is willing, he can just send tens of thousands of soldiers and horses to capture Luoyang.

What surprised Cao Cao was that after taking Xuchang, Yuan Shao became obsessed with pleasure and lost the motivation to continue expanding his territory.

Luoyang had only 7,000 soldiers and horses, which posed no threat to the State of Wei. Yuan Shao was too lazy to send troops to attack it.

Since Yuan Shao did not send troops to attack, Cao Cao was unwilling to give up voluntarily, so he ordered Yu Jin to continue guarding Luoyang.

If the Wei army launched a large-scale attack, they would offer a symbolic resistance and then decisively abandon the city and retreat westward to Chang'an.

"It is precisely because Luoyang is still in Cao Cao's hands that our capture of Luoyang will be more effective in achieving a surprise victory."

"In other words, this strategy can barely be called a plan to destroy Guo by pretending to be someone else."

After hearing Xiao Fang's explanation, the suspicion in Guan Ping's eyes disappeared.

"This plan of destroying Guo by pretending to pass through the enemy's territory is indeed a brilliant plan to break the impasse."

"But Ju Su is very intelligent. I am just worried that if our army suddenly withdraws, it will alert him and make him guess our strategic intentions."

"If our army wants to take Luoyang, it will have to go north along the Yingshui River and enter Luoyang from Yangguan, which will expose our flanks to the enemy's sight."

"If Ju Shou gave advice to Yuan Tan and led his army to attack, wouldn't that cut off our army's retreat?"

Guan Ping's doubts were resolved, and now it was Xu Shu's turn to have concerns again.

Xiao Fang seemed to have anticipated his concerns, and without thinking, he pointed at the map with his feather fan:
"What we are afraid of is that Yuan Tan will not come out of the city. If he dares to lead his army to attack, wouldn't that be exactly what we want?"

"If Yuan Tan wants to cut off my retreat, he will definitely attack Yingyang City. General Yunchang can leave one group of troops and set up an ambush here. If Yuan Tan dares to come, we can ambush and defeat him."

"When I said goodbye to the king, I asked for instructions to have Zhang Xiu lead my cavalry to take a shortcut southward, avoid the Wei army and come to Xuchang to meet General Yunchang."

"General Yunchang can quietly hide these cavalrymen in Xuchang."

"As soon as the main force in the city leaves, Xuchang will be left with a lack of troops. Then our army can take advantage of the opportunity to launch a surprise attack and capture Xuchang in one fell swoop!"

"In this way, we can capture Xuchang and Luoyang at the same time. Isn't this killing two birds with one stone?"

"Once these two cities are captured, the Wei troops in the Central Plains will be terrified and their morale will collapse."

"Yuan Shao would not dare to fight again and could only flee back to Hebei with his remaining troops and defeated generals."

"If this is the case, then the land south of the Yellow River will be easily within our grasp!"

Xiao Fang no longer held back and revealed all the remaining plans.

Be it Guan Yu or Xu Shu, all the worries on everyone's face disappeared at this moment and turned into amazement.

"I didn't expect that the Prime Minister had already considered Yuan Tan's dispatch of troops. This kind of foresight is truly unprecedented in history!"

"Today, I have really learned a lesson!"

Xu Shu was amazed and bowed to Xiao Fang to show his respect.

The strategy was finalized.

Guan Yu put down his wine glass and drank:
"Wei Wenchang, listen to my orders!"

"I order you to lead 5,000 soldiers and horses to retreat south, join Zhang Xiu's cavalry, lie in wait in Xuchang, and act accordingly!"

"The rest of you, follow me and lead our main army to change the route to the northwest and capture Luoyang via Yangguan!"

All the generals stood up and accepted the order with great enthusiasm.

...

Two days later, Xuchang City.

Dusk.

Yuan Tan, Xun Chen, Ju Su, Chunyu Qiong and others stationed on the top of the city wall, looking up at the Chu camp in the south of the city.

Everyone's brows were furrowed, and there was deep suspicion in their eyes.

It was an empty camp.

Just a few days ago, 30,000 Chu troops from Jingzhou set up camp south of Xuchang City, creating a threatening situation.

Yuan Tan, commanding 20,000 Wei troops, was ready to defend the city and deal a heavy blow to Guan Yu.

He even mobilized more than 10,000 civilians in advance, at Ju Su's suggestion, to thicken the walls of Xuchang in order to defend against the bombardment of Hanwei cannons.

What puzzled him was that instead of attacking the city, Guan Yu left the camp empty and 30,000 troops disappeared overnight.

Xun Chen immediately judged that Guan Yu might be cheating, pretending to retreat to lull the enemy into complacency, and then taking the opportunity to launch a night attack.

Yuan Tan did not dare to be careless. He stayed on the top of the city for several days. Twenty thousand soldiers were stationed on the top of the city, sleeping in their armor, ready to meet the night attack of the Chu army at any time.

Unexpectedly, several days had passed and the Chu army had not made any movement.

Guan Yu's unpredictable behavior made Yuan Tan guess all sorts of things and became more and more uneasy.

So, at Ju Su's suggestion, Yuan Tan immediately sent a large number of scouts to investigate the whereabouts of Guan Yu's troops.

The sound of horse hooves could be heard, and finally several scouts came galloping from the northwest.

The returning scout brought back information that greatly confused Yuan Tan:
Guan Yu led an army of tens of thousands and headed northwest along the Yingshui River. They had now passed Yingyang.

"To the northwest? Yingyang?"

"Guan Yu left Xuchang alone and went to attack Yingyang instead. What kind of strategy is this?"

Yuan Tan's eyes were full of suspicion and he looked back at everyone.

Chun Yuqiong rolled his eyes a few times, stroked his white beard and said:
"My Lord, I guess that Guan Yu saw that Xuchang was impregnable and knew that he could not break through it, so he had to give up attacking Xuchang and attack Yingyang instead?"

Yuan Tan seemed to understand something, and the suspicion and uneasiness on his face turned into sarcasm.

So he nodded slightly and sneered:

"Zhong Jian's words make sense. The big-eared thief has led his main force to Suiyang to confront my father. Guan Yu only has 30,000 soldiers and horses. How can he have the confidence to break through Xuchang?"

"He can't chew the hard bone of Xuchang, so he can only pick up the leftovers of Yingyang to satisfy his greed." "Well, as long as Xuchang is not lost, the cities of Yingyang will be given to him."

Yuan Tan raised a hint of sneer at the corner of his mouth and secretly breathed a sigh of relief, as if the sword hanging over his head had finally fallen.

Chunyu Qiong, Xun Chen and others all followed suit with a sneer, and the atmosphere became relaxed.

"not good!"

"Our army is in danger, and Henan will be lost!"

Amidst the relaxed and optimistic atmosphere, Ju Su, who had been silent all this time, suddenly exclaimed.

Everyone was startled and looked at Ju Su in confusion.

"Ju Gongyu, why are you yelling so loudly? Why is Henan in danger?"

Yuan Tan pursed his lips, looking slightly displeased.

Ju Su did not say a word. He quickly snatched the map from his personal guards and spread it out on the top of the city wall.

"My Lord, Guan Yu did not retreat from attacking Xuchang because he knew it was difficult. He just had a bigger appetite!"

Ju Su's face was as solemn as iron. He pointed at the map and said in a trembling voice:
"Look at his route of advance. He must first conquer Yingyang and then take Yangguan. His troops are obviously heading for Luoyang!"

"He wanted to take Luoyang in one fell swoop while Cao Cao was unprepared, then go east through Hulao Pass, advance along the Yellow River to sweep Suanzao, Yanjin, Baima, Puyang and other cities on the south bank of the Yellow River, and then block the Yellow River."

"Our troops are all concentrated in Xuchang and Suiyang. There are few troops along the Yellow River. Guan Yu's army will be crushed once it arrives."

"At that time, Henan and Hebei will be easily cut off by him, and our hundreds of thousands of troops in Henan will become turtles in a jar!"

"Guan Yu doesn't just want to take Xuchang, he wants to take the entire Henan area for Liu Bei in one go, and by the way, annihilate our hundreds of thousands of troops south of the Yellow River!"

By the end of his speech, Ju Su's fingers were trembling and a layer of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

On the city wall, there was an immediate uproar.

Yuan Tan was so frightened that his legs went weak and he almost couldn't stand.

Chunyu Qiong and the others were also horrified, and their faces turned pale as paper in an instant.

Yuan Tan rushed to the map and looked it up and down. Ju Su's words surged in his mind and the horror on his face became more and more intense.

After a long time.

Yuan Tan took a deep breath and said in a trembling voice:

"How could Guan Yu come up with such a vicious plan?"

"His appetite is so huge that he wants to swallow up all of our Henan provinces and hundreds of thousands of our soldiers in one go?"

"This Guan Yu is serious, really..."

Yuan Tan was so shocked that he became incoherent for a moment.

Ju Su took a deep breath and said in a deep voice:

"This plan of using the false route to destroy the State of Guo is a brilliant plan to achieve victory by surprise. I don't think Guan Yu and his advisers could come up with this plan."

"I have a feeling that Xiao Fang did not follow Liu Bei to Suiyang. He is probably in Guan Yu's army!"

"This vicious plot must have been his work."

When they heard that Xiao Fang was in Guan Yu's army, Yuan Tan and Xun Chen all shuddered, and deep fear suddenly appeared on their faces.

"It's very similar. This plan is indeed Xiao Fang's style."

"If this plan was Guan Yu's, this situation is serious."

Xun Chen frowned, and his words did not conceal his fear and dread of Xiao Fang.

Yuan Tan shuddered again and said anxiously:

"What are you waiting for? I will warn my father immediately and ask him to send troops to seize Hulao Pass and snatch Luoyang City from Cao Cao first!"

Ju Su sighed and shook his head:
"The military strength of our army in Suiyang is not as strong as Liu Bei's. If we withdraw troops to seize Luoyang, Suiyang may not be able to withstand the attack of Liu Bei's main force."

"Besides, Guan Yu has already set out. If we go report this to the king now, by the time the king sends out his troops, I'm afraid that Luoyang will have already been conquered by Guan Yu!"

Yuan Tan's heart skipped a beat and he became extremely confused, as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

"What should we do? Should we just sit and wait for Guan Yu to attack Luoyang, cut off the Yellow River, and trap us to death south of the Yellow River?"

Ju Su wanted to say something but stopped.

He seemed to have thought of a way out of the impasse, but he still had some concerns.

Xun Chen, who was originally full of anxiety, suddenly had his eyes brightened and a sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Don't panic, my lord. Since we have seen through Guan Yu's intentions, we can defeat him ourselves. Why do we need to ask the king to divide his forces?"

Xun Chen pointed at the map and said calmly:
"If Guan Yu leads his army to attack Luoyang, his flank and rear will be exposed to us. This is the flaw."

"Guan Yu thought we would just defend Xuchang, but we did the opposite. We quickly sent a troop out of the city and took Yingyang back by surprise."

"Once Yingyang City is captured, the food supply and retreat route of Guan Yu's 30,000-man army will be cut off in one fell swoop."

"Once the food supply is cut off, the 30,000 Chu troops will be in great disarray. How can he have the confidence to attack Luoyang again?"

As soon as this plan came out.

Yuan Tan was instantly overjoyed, and the panic on his face was immediately replaced by ecstasy.

"Friend, this is a brilliant plan!"

"In this way, I can not only defeat Guan Yu's plan to attack Luoyang, but also defeat his 30,000 troops in one fell swoop!"

"Once Guan Yu's army is broken, I will not only be able to defend Xuchang, but also take advantage of the situation to go south and recapture Dingling, Kunyang and other southern counties of Yingchuan!"

"Our army's morale will surely be boosted!"

Yuan Tan's confidence suddenly surged, as if he saw a great achievement beckoning to him, and also saw an opportunity to rebuild his reputation and prove himself to Yuan Shao once again.

So he didn't think about it carefully, and shouted without thinking:
"General Chunyu, Lord Ju, the two of you will lead 5,000 soldiers to defend Xuchang!"

"You Ruo, follow me and lead 15,000 soldiers and horses. We will leave the city tonight and head west. We will take Yingyang by surprise and cut off Guan Yu's food supply!"

"My father's birthday will be in a few days. I want to use a great victory as my birthday gift to my father!"

(End of this chapter)