Chapter 37: The tough guy who tortured Boss Cao to death, Lao Liu, you deserve it!

Everyone's eyes were focused on Xiao Fang again.

"Military Advisor, you just defeated Zhang Xiu, and now you can defeat Wancheng. I am a little dazzled by all the brilliant plans in your mind."

"Tell me quickly, what ingenious plan can we use to quickly capture Wancheng?"

Zhang Fei praised loudly and pricked up his ears.

Xiao Fang changed the subject and said:

"There is no rush to capture Wancheng. My lord, you need to do two things first."

"Two things? Which two?"

Liu Bei made a guess with his eyes and motioned Xiao Fang to continue.

Xiao Fang raised his hand and pointed to the south, saying slowly:
"The Lord defeated Zhang Xiu and surrounded Wancheng, shattering Liu Biao's plan to reap the benefits."

"I think Liu Biao is afraid that our lord will take Wancheng, so he will probably be impatient and want to send troops north to interfere."

"My lord, you should immediately send troops south to seize the cities of Yuyang and Nieyang occupied by the Xiliang army, and block the Jingzhou army's way north to Wancheng."

"At the same time, you can send an envoy to the south to meet Liu Biao and tell him that you can take Wancheng by yourself, so there is no need for Liu Biao to mobilize troops to help."

"Liu Biao has always been indecisive. Seeing that the road to the north was blocked, and hearing what the lord said, he was probably embarrassed to confront the lord and fight him out of face."

"Without Liu Biao's intervention, we can have no worries and focus on capturing Wancheng."

After listening to Xiao Fang's analysis, Liu Bei agreed with it deeply.

So he immediately ordered Xu Sheng and Liu Pi to lead 2,000 soldiers and horses to march south immediately to seize Yuyang and other counties.

At the same time, he ordered Sun Qian to go south again to Xinye to meet Liu Biao.

"Military Advisor, what is the second thing?"

After Liu Bei made the arrangements, he couldn't wait to ask again.

"The second thing is that before you capture Wancheng, you should try every possible means to recruit Zhang Xiu to surrender and make him serve you!"

There was an uproar in the tent.

Even Liu Bei's eyes flashed with surprise. He didn't expect that Xiao Fang's second thing would be to persuade Zhang Xiu to surrender.

"If you only want to seize half of Jiangnan, infantry and navy are enough."

"But if you want to go north to compete with Yuan and Cao for the Central Plains and rebuild the Han Dynasty, you must have a cavalry that can fight."

"It is said that it is easy to get a thousand soldiers, but it is difficult to get a good general. If you want to form a cavalry corps, you must first have a good cavalry general!"

"Zhang Xiu is a fierce cavalry general gifted to you by God!"

Xiao pointed in the direction of Wancheng and revealed the secret.

As a person who has experienced it, how could he not know how important cavalry is.

Why was Cao Cao able to catch up with Liu Bei at Changbanpo?

They simply relied on the speed of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry to bully Liu Bei, who was composed entirely of infantry and brought with him a hundred thousand civilians with their families. Two legs could not outrun four legs.

Why was Zhang Liao able to gain experience with Sun Quan in Hefei, why was he able to defeat 100,000 troops with only 800 men, and why was he given the name Sun Shiwan by Sun Quan?

He just relies on the fact that he is a cavalryman.

If Zhang Liao only led 800 infantrymen, would he dare to take the initiative to attack the 100,000 Wu troops?
Isn't that just giving away one's life? Zhang Liao is not stupid.

The situation was very good when Zhuge Liang first went out to Qishan, so why did he fail?
Ma Su's failure to defend Jieting was a superficial reason. The deeper reason was that Zhang He came too quickly, and 50,000 cavalrymen rushed into Longxi like the wind, disrupting Zhuge Liang's rhythm.

Cavalry is the mechanized force of this era.

Especially in Jingzhou, a southern place with a shortage of horses, it would be a dimensionality reduction attack on Liu Biao's Jingzhou army.

With so many benefits, Xiao Fang naturally wanted to encourage Lao Liu to form a cavalry unit in a timely manner.

In the previous battle of Fanchengfu, a batch of war horses were seized, and in the battle of Biyang, the Western Liang army was defeated and another batch of war horses were seized.

The number of war horses is enough to organize a cavalry unit of six or seven hundred people. What is lacking is a good general who is proficient in cavalry warfare.

Zhang Xiu was born in Xiliang, so it goes without saying that cavalry warfare was his basic skill.

The key is that Zhang Xiu is more powerful than ordinary cavalry generals.

As strong as Cao Cao was, he could fight back and forth, and even beat Cao Cao to death at one point, sacrificing his eldest son Cao Ang and his favorite general Dian Wei. If Zhang Xiu had not been fooled by Jia Xu and had a magical brain circuit that killed Cao Cao's son and surrendered to Cao Cao again, it would have been a little uncertain whether Cao Cao could have swallowed Zhang Xiu before pacifying Hebei.

Such a cavalry general who can defeat Boss Cao is now trapped in Wancheng. How could Xiao Fang not want to help Lao Liu capture him?

"The military advisor is indeed prepared for a rainy day and has a long-term vision."

"If I could have a cavalry corps, it would be of great help in improving the combat effectiveness of our army."

"This Zhang Wenjin is a veteran general from Xiliang, and is adept at commanding cavalry. If I can use him, he will be even more powerful!"

As the lord, Liu Bei had his own vision and immediately realized the importance of what Xiao Fang said.

Everyone was whispering and nodding, agreeing with what Xiao Fang said.

"Ahem, let me say a few words."

Zhang Fei stood up and looked at Xiao Fang with a smile:
"I am from Youzhou, so I naturally know how powerful cavalry is. I fully agree with what Military Advisor Jinglue said."

"But..."

Zhang Fei changed the subject and asked:

"I have a small question. Zhang Xiu is Zhang Ji's nephew. When Zhang Ji dies in the future, he might be the one to inherit the Zhang family army."

"He will be a local lord in the future. Will he be willing to bow down to my brother and submit to him?"

Although Zhang Fei looks rough, he is actually very careful and thoughtful, and he thought of this before everyone else.

His reminder made Liu Bei's heart tremble and his brows furrowed.

"Jinglue, Yide is absolutely right. Although Zhang Xiu is a good general, he may not be willing to yield to the people's support."

Xiao Fang smiled secretly.

In this world, no one knows Zhang Xiu better than him.

Among the many heroes in the chaotic late Han Dynasty, this man was an example of someone who had no ambition.

With Zhang Ji dead and food supplies gone, he simply surrendered to Liu Biao.

When Cao Cao's army came to attack, Jia Xu brainwashed him and he happily surrendered to Cao Cao.

Although there were some twists and turns in the middle, after he surrendered to Cao Cao twice, he was truly willing to go through fire and water for Cao Cao, and his contribution in the war to pacify Hebei was the greatest among all the generals.

How could it be impossible for such a man who had no ambition and only wanted to have a stable job with his own troops in troubled times to submit to Lao Liu?

"Zhang Ji may still have some ambitions, but Zhang Xiuquan has no ambitions."

"My lord, please believe me. As long as we use the right means, Zhang Xiu may surrender to you."

Xiao Fang's tone was firm, and his eyes were filled with unquestionable confidence.

Zhang Fei was suddenly speechless.

Everyone has witnessed Xiao Fang's extraordinary foresight and how accurate his judgment of people and things is.

Since Xiao Fang was so sure, even if Zhang Fei still had doubts, he would not question him in public.

Liu Bei had some idea in his mind, so he asked:
"If that's the case, then in your opinion, how should we persuade Zhang Xiu to surrender?"

Old Liu's question stumped him a little.

He was confident in his judgment that there was a possibility that Zhang Xiu would surrender to Liu Bang.

But I have no idea how to persuade them to surrender.

"How to persuade them to surrender? Let me think about it..."

Xiao Fang twirled his chin with his fingertips, his thoughts racing.

At this time.

Zhuge Liang, who had been listening, had his eyes light up and said cautiously:
"My lord, brother-in-law, when I entered the camp just now, General Yide was escorting prisoners into the camp."

"One of the prisoners, who was lying on a stretcher, was dressed as a general officer and was seriously injured."

"The other prisoners took great care of this man. I seemed to hear them say that he was Zhang Quan, the son of Zhang Xiu."

"Liang thinks that if we want to persuade Zhang Xiu to surrender, can we start with Zhang Quan?"

(End of this chapter)