Chapter 190: Prepare for Cao Cao's Arrival There is actually a story about Yuan Shu's tomb. It’s not that Yan Xiang and others didn’t want to give Yuan Shu a better burial. However, Yuan Shu had brought great harm to Runan. Not to mention a good burial, even if there were more tombstones, the graves would probably still be dug up. Therefore, if we want Yuan Shu to rest in peace, we have to keep things simple. I wonder what Yuan Shu, who always lived a luxurious life, would think if he knew about this. Of course, these things were not within Liu Bei's consideration. As soon as Yuan Shu died, a military report came from the direction of Chen County again, saying that Cao Cao had sent troops to Chen State, successively captured Changping and Fule, and was marching towards Chen County. After receiving this news, Liu Bei called Qin Zhen over again and asked: "Our army has already defeated Yuan Shu, but Cao Cao has sent 30,000 soldiers to attack Chen County!" "Should our army go to Chen County first to fight against Cao Cao and stabilize the situation in Chen State?"

When Qin Zhen heard this, he smiled and said to Liu Bei: "May I ask, lord, what results do we intend to achieve when our army marches into Chen County this time?" When Liu Bei heard this, he was stunned for a while, thinking that we are not taking the initiative to attack now, but just passively defending! Cao Cao is marching towards Chen County, so let's march towards Chen County. How can we still expect to achieve victory? However, he also knew that Qin Zhen's words always had deep meanings. After thinking carefully for a while, he said in a deep voice: "In terms of the results of the battle, our army's defeat of Yuan Shu can already be considered a victory." "Our army has come from afar this time, and we don't have much food. Now that spring plowing has arrived, it is not appropriate to mobilize civilian laborers." "Since we are short of food and grass, a prolonged battle will not benefit our army. We should fight quickly and force Cao Cao to retreat!" In fact, Liu Bei doesn’t want to go to war with Cao Cao at all! Because in his opinion, Cao Cao was not Yuan Shu, and it would be meaningless even if he won a small-scale war, as losing would only result in heavy losses of troops and generals. He could not launch a large-scale war, and even if he could, he would launch it against Sun Ce. Fighting Cao now will only benefit Sun Ce and Yuan Shao, which is not good for either of them! This is also the result he wants now, to end this war as soon as possible. But as soon as he said this, Qin Zhen shook his head and smiled: "If you follow what my lord says, our army should not reinforce Chen County!" "Because the Central Plains has been in chaos for years, neither Cao Cao nor our army has the strength to start a war." "The current entanglement is all in the territory of Chen State!" "If we lose Chen, our army will have no northern defense and will face Cao Cao's troops directly!" "The same is true for Cao Cao. He is currently welcoming the emperor to Xuchang and faces the threat of Yuan Shao in the north. He cannot move the capital north." "There are also Liu Biao and Zhang Xiu in the south, so the capital cannot move south!" "So once he loses the State of Chen, Xuchang will be under the attack of our army." "My lord, you want to stop the fighting because our army has gained the upper hand and there is no need to make things difficult for Cao Cao." "But if our army occupies the State of Chen, it will be like a thorn in Cao Cao's side, and he will not have peace for a moment!"

"This is why Cao Cao is forcing his troops to attack now!" "Now he has sent 30,000 troops to attack Chen County. If he sees our army reinforcing this place, he will definitely send more troops from other places to maintain his strategic advantage." "If the reinforcements from the two armies continue to come, it will be endless, which is contrary to our strategic goal!" When Liu Bei heard this, he frowned. After thinking about it carefully, he realized that it was true. He was just thinking about the problem from his own perspective. Now that Qin Zhen reminded him, he realized that Cao Cao might not want to go to war with them now. Because they want to develop, Cao Cao also wants to develop. Their enemy was only Sun Ce, but Cao Cao had to face the double pressure from Yuan Shao and Liu Biao. The reason why Cao Cao sent troops was because the geographical location of Chen State was too important. Once it was occupied by them, Cao Cao would face their threats at all times. It can be said that Cao Cao did not want to go to war, but was forced to go to war. This is like a deadlock. Both sides want a truce, but both sides also want to occupy the State of Chen! But there is only one important Chen County in the State of Chen, and it cannot be divided equally at the moment. It is impossible for Old Liu to give up Chen County for no reason. After all these twists and turns, the final outcome is a bloody fight between the two companies. Thinking of this, Liu Bei's expression became a little tangled: "Then according to the military advisor, what should our army do?" "Are you going to hand over Chen County to us?" But after saying this, Qin Zhen shook his head and said: "Of course not. Human desires are endless. If our army retreats now, Cao Cao will only take advantage of it!" "Therefore, our army must not give up the land of Chen County!" "The only way to solve this problem now is through negotiation!" "But without a fight, Cao Cao may not be willing to negotiate with our army." "So in my opinion, our army needs to make preparations for both scenarios!" As he spoke, he stretched out two fingers and said: "First, Cao Cao has sent out 30,000 troops, and the State of Chen also has 30,000 troops. With Zi Yang in the State of Chen, it will be difficult for Cao Cao to capture Chen County." "If his offensive is blocked, he will need to start the battle from somewhere else." "I have observed the various divisions under Cao Cao's command. Although Chenliu has troops, it must guard against Yuan Shao. Xuchang has troops, but it must guard against Nanyang." "So the only reinforcements Cao Cao could mobilize were Cheng Yu of Liang and Cao Ren of Runan." "As for Cheng Yu's troops, our army has already mobilized Yuan Zhi to block them, so the only person we can worry about is Cao Ren!" "Currently, Cao Ren has 30,000 troops stationed in Pingyu, which is too far from Xuchang and not as important as Chen County." "So I concluded that Cao Cao would definitely send out reinforcements for Cao Ren. So our army's top priority now is not to reinforce Chen County, but to prevent Cao Ren from heading north." "Therefore, our army should launch a surprise attack on Nandun to stop Cao Cao's reinforcements!"

"As long as Nandun is captured by our army, Chen County and Pingyu will be cut off. If Cao Cao wants to increase his troops, he will have to mobilize troops from Xuchang, which will be of no benefit to Cao Cao!" "The troops here and Cheng Yu's troops are blocked. If Cao Cao does not want to start a full-scale war, he has no choice but to negotiate with our army!" "If our army wants to gain an advantage in the negotiations, we need someone with high enough prestige who can speak for our army." "This is the second thing our army needs to do. Send someone north as soon as possible to contact the Zheng army and have them intercept Cao Cao's troops!" "Since the Zheng army now has the support of scholars all over the world, even Cao Cao would not dare to move against it lightly." "With the presence of the Zheng army, Cao Cao will not dare to act rashly." "And this time our army is sending out troops, firstly to destroy Yuan Shu, and secondly to defend Liu Chong against the State of Chen. The righteousness is in our hands." "With Master Zheng's integrity, he will definitely speak for our army!" "At that time, our army can use Chen State as a hostage to negotiate with Cao Cao!" "If he really doesn't want to talk, our army will shrink the defense line, attack Runan, and contact Liu Biao and Zhang Xiu to attack from both sides." "I'm afraid that even though Cao's army is strong, it may not be a match for our two families!" In Qin Zhen's view, negotiating with Cao is the ultimate solution to the problem of the State of Chen. But negotiations cannot be done in vain. Even if they do, they must take the initiative! Now they are sending troops to Nandun. If Cao Cao does not allow Cao Ren to go north, then so be it. But if Cao Cao allows Cao Ren to go north for reinforcement, then he does not mind transferring Guan Yu to the north to first consume Cao Ren's 30,000 troops. Only by hurting Lao Cao can their retreat be truly stable. Liu Bei naturally knew this truth. When he heard Qin Zhen's words, he smiled and said: "Military Advisor, this method is also feasible!" "If we follow this strategy, Cao Mengde will probably have sleepless nights again!" This is also what he admires most about Qin Zhen. No matter when, he will always give the best solution directly. This method of combining both hardness and softness is very much to his liking! There is no point in reinforcing Chen County from both sides. It would be better to take Nandun first and seize the initiative. Anyway, the initiative is in their hands. By negotiating with Cao Cao, they may be able to resolve a war! After making this decision, he no longer hesitated and immediately sent Sun Qian as an envoy to persuade Zheng Xuan to come forward. He led his troops and headed towards Nanton. While they were marching, Cao Cao had already arrived at the city of Chen County. However, after Cao Cao received the news that Liu Chong had been assassinated, he followed Guo Jia's advice and took Changping and Fule first. He originally led the imperial army here. Although the State of Chen was Liu Chong's fiefdom, it did not dare to resist. As soon as Cao Cao's troops arrived, the Changping commander opened the gate and surrendered, welcoming Cao Cao into the city. As a result, Cao Cao gained a place to advance. However, as soon as his troops entered Changping, they received military news from Chen County. It is said that Yuan Shu intended to attack Chen County, but was discovered by Liu Ye, and his army was defeated and returned in defeat. After receiving this news, Cao Cao summoned Xun You and Guo Jia to ask for advice:

"Now Liu Bei has stationed Liu Ye in the State of Chen. Although Liu Chong has been assassinated, Liu Ye is still alive." "I heard that this man killed people when he was thirteen years old. He joined Liu Bei's army last year and killed Zheng Bao to get a promotion." "Now we are stationed in Chen County and have defeated Yuan Shu." "It can be seen that although this boy is young, he is extraordinary." "This man is currently stationed in Chen County. How can our army defeat him?" After hearing this, Xun You and Guo Jia secretly felt that Liu Ye was a difficult person! Because Liu Ye is different from Qin Zhen, they don't know much about Liu Ye. They had no idea what his attitude toward the enemy was or what his fighting style was. In this situation, even though they are all wise men, they can't think of a way to defeat the enemy! After thinking for a while, Xun You said to Cao Cao: "This place is still far from Chen County. Liu Bei hasn't arrived yet. We don't know what the enemy's military situation is!" "It is not in accordance with the principles of military strategy to make a plan right now!" "Although Chen is now under the control of Liu Chong, it is also the land of our Han Dynasty." "Liu Ye was able to defeat Yuan Shu because Yuan Shu brought disaster upon himself and caused chaos in his army." "So the army and the people were united, and Yuan Shu was defeated by him!" "Compared to Yuan Shu, our army is farther away. Perhaps we can go there to persuade them to surrender and explore the enemy situation in the city." "If Chen County is indeed controlled by Liu Ye, we can attack it later." "If anyone in Chen County wants to surrender, our army can also recruit more people to respond, which will be convenient for us to use in the future!" After hearing what he said, Guo Jia nodded to Cao Cao and said: "My Lord, what Gongda said is correct. We have not yet reached Chen County, so there is no final conclusion." "Why not go to Chen County first and then make a plan!" After hearing this, Cao Cao headed towards Chen County. When he reached the foot of the city, he stepped forward and summoned the person in charge of the city to see him. (End of this chapter)