Chapter 619

Lu Su had great strategic vision; he cupped his hands and said,

"My lord, the noble clans and people of Jiangdong have already determined that you are about to enter Jiangdong. If you abandon Jiangdong at this time to compete for Hebei, it will disappoint the people and the noble clans, and it will cost a great price to have such high support in the future."

Liu Bei nodded; Lu Su was very right,

"Good, Zijing is right; I cannot let down the hope of the many letters of support from the noble clans in my hands."

He stood up tall,

"My mind is made up; take Jiangdong first, then plan for the land of Hebei. Three days from now, our army will march on Wu Jun to completely crush Sun Quan!"

"Yes!"

Liu Bei asked for a plan again,

"Fengxiao, Yuan Shao has just died; Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan will inevitably fight to the death to compete for the position. How should we respond?"

Guo Jia cupped his hands,

"My lord, Yuan Shang holds Jizhou, Yuan Tan occupies Qingzhou, and Yuan Xi guards Youzhou. Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan are competing for the position, so they will have plenty of fighting to do."

"My lord, you can order Guan Yu and Zhao Yun to closely monitor the situation in Jizhou and be ready to take Yecheng at any time."

Liu Bei thought about it; this was all he could do for now. He had to take Jiangdong first, otherwise, he would have to garrison heavy troops later to guard against Sun Quan.

"Good, I will also appoint Zhuge Liang as the Inspector of Jingzhou, letting him be responsible for the mobilization of Jingzhou's troops and act as he sees fit."

Guo Jia cupped his hands,

"My lord is wise!"

Xuxian,

Cao Cao was recently both troubled and secretly happy.

Liu Bei had defeated Sun Quan, whom he had thought highly of, and was about to occupy Jiangdong, putting him in a position of encirclement.

Jingzhou, Sili, and Jiangdong could all be used to send troops against him, which made Cao Cao very worried.

Especially since Liu Bei was occupying Jiangdong, obtaining Jiangdong's generals, and recruiting Danyang elite troops.

Liu Bei's prestige in Xuzhou was very high; it was feared that as soon as Liu Bei led troops into Xuzhou, quite a few people would go to defect!

"What do you all say our army should do now?"

Xun Yu cupped his hands,

"My lord, Liu Bei taking Jiangdong is only a matter of time; our army can only compete with him if we obtain Hebei."

Cheng Yu also seconded,

"Hebei has much grain and many people; if my lord obtains it, your strength will be close to Liu Bei's, and you will also obtain the horse-raising land of Youzhou, connecting Hebei and the Central Plains."

Sima Yi cupped his hands,

"My lord, we must not only take Hebei but take it quickly! Especially Yecheng; if Liu Bei returns from Jiangdong, the difficulty for our army to take Hebei will increase dramatically."

Cao Cao also had this thought,

"Then how should I go to Hebei?"

The opinions of the three were about the same: infiltrate secretly, stir up the conflict between Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan, and then wipe them out in one fell swoop!

Sima Yi added,

"My lord, our army is currently still in an alliance with Yuan Shao, and they have relatively low guard against you; you can send people to lobby the two Yuans, emphasizing Liu Bei's threat, and make them guard against Liu Bei even more!"

Cao Cao laughed,

"Good, I intend to gather the troops of Yanzhou and march south to rescue Sun Quan; what do you all think?"

The three of them looked at each other,

"My lord is wise!"

Hebei was currently in total chaos.

Strategists Shen Pei, Feng Ji, and Xu You supported Yuan Shang in controlling Hebei and occupying Jizhou.

Xin Ping and Guo Tu supported Yuan Shao's eldest son, Yuan Tan, in succeeding to the position and occupying Qingzhou.

The two sides slowly evolved from verbal disputes into full-scale martial conflict.

Seeing that Liu Bei was far away in Jiangdong and that Cao Cao also intended to rescue Sun Quan in Jiangdong, they naturally relaxed their vigilance and began attacking each other.

The flames of war in Jiangdong rose again.

Liu Bei divided his army into three routes; Lu Xun led the naval forces to arrive at Dantu.

Huang Zhong led the army to march into the Qiantang and Yuhang areas of Kuaiji; the noble clans of Kuaiji surrendered at the mere sight of them, and Huang Zhong committed no offenses along the way, marching toward Wu Jun.

Liu Bei personally led forty thousand veterans, thirty thousand Danyang elite troops, and thirty thousand Jiangdong surrendered troops, marching majestically toward Wu Jun in Wu Jun.

The discipline along the way was strict, committing no offenses, and the noble clans and people of Jiangdong supported him one after another.

Sun Quan ultimately did not wait for Liu Bei to return to Chang'an to compete with Cao Cao for Hebei.

"Liu Bei still came for me."

"Gongjin, what should our army do?"

Zhou Yu cupped his hands,

"My lord, only by using the fake surrender trick and the beauty trap can there be a glimmer of hope!"

Sun Quan sighed deeply,

"Fine, I will send Ziyu to make a trip."

Liu Bei had just arrived at Qu'e with his army when he was met by Sun Quan's envoy, Zhuge Jin.

"Xuande, my lord knows he is no match and has sent me to beg for surrender."

Liu Bei seemed somewhat puzzled,

"Sun Quan withdrew all of Zhou Yu's naval forces back to Wu Jun; I thought he wanted to defend to the death, so why is he asking to surrender now?"

Zhuge Jin cupped his hands,

"Xuande, your three-route great army is attacking Wu Jun with a total force of over one hundred and fifty thousand; my lord couldn't even beat your two thousand, so how would he dare to block the chariot like a mantis?"

He paused,

"The noble clans and people of Jiangdong don't want war and are welcoming Xuande along the road; heavy ministers like Zhang Zhao also say we should surrender. My lord has lost the overall trend and only asks for a place to end his remaining days."

Liu Bei waved his hand,

"Sun Quan is only in his early twenties; why say such disheartening words?"

Zhuge Jin added,

"Xuande, the Grand Empress Dowager intends to marry Miss Shangxiang to you, so that the Sun family can have a place in your camp; I ask for your permission."

Liu Bei seemed somewhat surprised,

"Isn't Sun Shangxiang supposed to marry Cao Pi?"

Zhuge Jin sighed,

"My lady admires Xuande and hasn't eaten or drunk for several days; she is determined not to marry Cao Pi and wants to marry the hero in her heart. The Grand Empress Dowager also feels that marrying into your family is the most appropriate, so..."

Liu Bei nodded,

"I have heard that Miss Sun is the number one beauty in Jiangdong, beautiful and wise (has a big temper, loves sword dancing), gentle and virtuous (leads a women's army to charge and crash), and I have also admired her for a long time."

Zhuge Jin was ashamed,

"Xuande, my lady is indeed stubborn in temper and likes to dance with knives and swords, but she admires Xuande and has national beauty."

Liu Bei nodded,

"As the legitimate daughter of Sun Wentai, it should be so."

He asked again,

"What about Zhou Yu? What does he say?"

Zhuge Jin sighed,

"Gongjin had a big argument with my lord, was whipped twenty times by my lord, and has now had his military tally seized and is idling at home."

Zhang Fei hummed, (Wang Nuo's)

"This Zhou Yu is truly ungrateful!"

Liu Bei, however, waved his hand,

"Zhou Gongjin has great talent and is loyal; I admire him very much."

He looked at Zhuge Jin again,

"Ziyu, I have already appointed your younger brother Kongming as the Inspector of Jingzhou; you also have great talent, and after Sun Quan surrenders, I will certainly use you heavily."