The battle at Guandu was only a touch point. If Guandu could not be captured by surprise, a direct attack on Guandu would be met with a flanking attack from the directions of Zhongmou and Yangwu. For Cao's army, it was not wise to attack Guandu directly.

Once Cao Cao attacked with all his strength, it would be Chen Mo's main force that would respond, so the real battle would be in the plains. Cao Cao ordered General Zang Ba to lead the Qingzhou soldiers to cooperate with Lu Qian to advance westward and attack the Qinghe area.

If Jizhou is the battlefield, Cao Cao's goal is obviously to cut Chen Mo's territory into two parts, just like when Chen Mo occupied Ye City and cut Yuan Cao in half.

The troops stationed on Chen Mo's side are Wu Yi and Xu Huang. Wu Yi has not moved. He has to station himself in Dongjun to guard against possible attacks from Yanzhou after the river freezes.

Xu Huang led Gao Lan to fight Zang Ba and Lu Qian in the Qinghe area. The war spread to almost the entire Qinghe County. The combined strength of both sides was nearly 70,000, and the Qinghe area became a river of blood.

At the same time, the war started in Nanyang. Cao Ren, the general of the Cao family, personally led his troops and launched a confrontation with Zhang Liao in the Luyang area. However, this was just a diversion, intending to unite Liu Biao and let Liu Biao attack Nanyang. The fight was not as fierce as the battle.

But the war between Chen and Cao has now broken out in full force. A war that affected the entire Central Plains and determined the direction of the world finally broke out in the winter of the seventh year of Han Dynasty.

Jingzhou, Xiangyang.

"Mr. Xuande, the King of Chu is ill and cannot see guests. Please come back, Mr. Xuande." Wang Wei came out of the palace, looked at Liu Bei and others waiting outside the door, clasped his fists and saluted.

"General Wang, have you informed the Central Plains of the outbreak of war?" Liu Bei asked with a frown.

"I have informed you, but it is really inconvenient for King Chu to see guests now. Please forgive me, Mr. Xuande." Wang Wei shook his head and said solemnly.

"Alas~" Liu Bei sighed softly, turned around and left with everyone, and followed Yi Ji to Yi Ji's mansion.

"Brother, how can this happen?" Zhang Fei looked at Liu Bei and frowned. In order to take advantage of this opportunity to send troops to Nanyang, they had been preparing for several months under Zhuge Liang's suggestion. They were just waiting for the Chen-Cao war to break out and take the opportunity to capture Nanyang.

Nanyang thought that Liu Bei would establish himself, and everything was as Zhuge Liang expected. Even the time when the war broke out between the two sides was almost as Zhuge Liang had guessed. Unexpectedly, at this time, Liu Biao fell ill.

What a time!

Liu Bei sighed helplessly after hearing this. According to Zhuge Liang's plan, he would first seize Nanyang, then borrow troops from Liu Biao, and use the power of Jingzhou to seize Guanzhong and completely trap Chen Mo to death in Bingzhou. This was Zhuge Liang's strategy for Liu Bei. If successful,

Regardless of who wins in the end between Chen Mo and Cao Cao, the real winner is Liu Bei.

To this end, Zhuge Liang also made many plans to destroy the city, entering Guanzhong through Wuguan, blocking Hangu Pass, and cutting off the connection between Chen Mo and Guanzhong.

Who knew that this first step would lead to problems. If Liu Biao was unwilling to send troops, Liu Bei's troops of less than 10,000 men could still hold the gate of Jingzhou, but if he wanted to advance into Nanyang, he would not be able to do it without Liu Biao's support.

, Zhang Liao is not given for free, not to mention that although Zhang Liao's generals are not outstanding, they are not too bad, and they are even more comfortable in command. If they don't have enough troops, they want to attack Nanyang in a tricky way.

Totally impossible.

Now that Cao Ren is attacking, Nanyang is at its weakest. According to Zhuge Liang's calculations, as long as Liu Biao can support 50,000 troops, plus Liu Bei's elite soldiers and generals, taking advantage of the situation to capture Nanyang is not a problem at all.

But now it seems that these 50,000 troops and horses may not be borrowed.

It's really frustrating to be frustrated at home in the first step.

"Does Uncle Ji have any advice?" Liu Bei looked at Yi Ji and asked.

"Mr. Xuande doesn't know what happened today. I'm afraid it's not that the King of Chu didn't show up, but someone who was causing trouble!" Yi Ji sighed.

As for who it was, Yi Ji didn't say, and Liu Bei didn't ask.

Apart from Liu Biao, there is only one person who can control the palace at this time and ask Wang Wei to come forward, and that is Mrs. Cai.

"My brother and the King of Chu are both clan members of the Han Dynasty. Now that the King of Chu is seriously ill, why can't we even meet him?" Guan Yu frowned.

"Don't be anxious, Mr. Xuande." Yi Ji sighed after hearing this, looked at Liu Bei and advised him warmly: "The current battle between Chen and Cao has affected the entire Central Plains. I'm afraid this battle will take a long time. Maybe King Chu's condition has improved.

Once things get better and the government is able to be in charge again, it won’t be too late to call for troops at that time.”

Liu Bei nodded after hearing this. He couldn't even get in at this time, so he could only hope that Liu Biao would recover as soon as possible.

After everyone discussed it again, Liu Bei said goodbye to his country of origin, left Xiangyang with Generals Guan and Zhang, crossed the river back to Fancheng, and went directly to see Zhuge Liang.

"Kong Ming, Brother Wang is seriously ill now, but we can't see him. What can we do?" After seeing Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei sighed helplessly.

"My lord, please be silent and worried." Zhuge Liang handed a letter to Liu Bei and said with a smile: "Take a look at this!"

When Liu Bei heard this, he took the bamboo note and looked at it, his brows furrowed even more.

Sun Ce is stationed in Chaisang. Isn't it time to join hands to attack the Central Plains? What does Sun Ce mean by this?

"Why is Mr. Sun so short-sighted!?" Liu Bei put down the bamboo slips and frowned.

"It's not that he is short-sighted." Zhuge Liang shook his head and said: "The best water warfare is in the east of the Yangtze River. With the natural chasm of the Yangtze River here, it is difficult for Cao's army to hurt him. However, the Sun family has crossed the river several times before and returned without success. Because the water army in the east of the river can be used freely.

Jianghuai, but after all, the land north of the Yangtze River is not as crisscrossed by waterways as the east of the Yangtze River, and the land north of the Yangtze River has many plains and few hills and ravines. Even though the Jiangdong army is good at fighting, it lacks cavalry. After landing, it will be difficult to fight against Cao's army and seize it.

Jingzhou, and then using Jingzhou as the base to capture Nanyang and move down to Luoyang is the current strategy of the Sun family."

When Liu Bei heard this, he frowned and said, "The traitors to the country have not been eliminated, but something happened again, alas~"

"My lord, don't worry. As far as my lord is concerned, the attack from Jiangdong is not a bad thing. It may actually be more beneficial to my lord." Zhuge Liang said with a smile.

"How do you say this?" Liu Bei said unexpectedly when he heard this.

"Sun Ce has always had a reputation for bravery. Although he was defeated by Lu Bu, but looking at Jingzhou, if the lord does not come out, the other generals are not his enemies. If Sun Ce comes to attack, Cai Mao will not want the lord to interfere in military affairs. No matter who it is,

If you lead the army, you will be defeated!" Zhuge Liang said firmly.

It's not that there are no good generals in Jingzhou, but that the good generals in Jingzhou don't have military power, and the generals who do have military power are not Sun Ce's opponents. Sun Ce has obviously been planning this battle for a long time. A battle between the two sides gave Liu Bei an opportunity to take advantage of.

"Is Kongming planning to seize military power after his defeat?" Liu Bei said with a smile.

"It's best not to. Cai Mao is very wary of the lord. The lord can contact the eldest son first, and in the name of the eldest son, Cai Mao seizes the military power when he is defeated. But don't go to war. You only need to ask your uncle to accompany the eldest son to guard Jiangxia. The lord will

Just lead your troops to garrison Jiangling." Zhuge Liang said with a smile.

Jiangxia is the only way for the Jiangdong navy to advance westward, while Jiangling is where the entire Jingxiang army stores food and grass. As long as you occupy these two places, it is equivalent to seizing the lifeblood of the army. When the time comes, you can take the opportunity to seize Cai Mao's military power.

, when the time comes, not to mention 50,000, but 100,000 horses and horses will be available.

"At that time, we only need to send one general to guard Jiangling, and then the lord can lead his army northward and take Nanyang directly!"

"Kong Ming!" Zhang Fei suddenly interrupted: "Why not take this opportunity to destroy Sun Ce in one fell swoop?"

When Zhuge Liang heard this, he glanced at Zhang Fei secretly and dared to say, if Sun Ce was so easy to destroy, Liu Biao would have already occupied Jiangdong, why wait until now?

Of course, you can't say this, as it will easily destroy your own prestige.

"Now even if our army is victorious, it will be difficult to take advantage of the situation to annex Jiangdong. The most important thing right now is the Northern Expedition. It is not good to forge a deep hatred with Jiangdong. It is better to stabilize the situation first and make a northern expedition to Nanyang. After capturing Nanyang, we can wait for an opportunity to fight against Sun Yat-sen."

They formed an alliance." Zhuge Liang explained unhurriedly.

"Then Sun Ce is only a junior. I heard that he was almost beaten to death by Lu Bu in Jiangxia. What should these juniors have to fear?" Zhang Fei said disdainfully.

The fact that Sun Ce was almost beaten to death by Lu Bu in Jiangxia is now known to everyone in Jingzhou. Liu Bei and others later did not fight against Sun Ce. However, although Lu Bu was powerful, he was not that powerful.

So instinctively, Zhang Fei felt that Sun Ce was not good enough, and he somewhat despised him.

After Liu Bei thought for a moment, he shook his head and said: "Yide, don't talk nonsense, now we should focus on the overall situation, take Nanyang first, and then talk about other things."

In fact, Zhuge Liang's meaning was very clear. They wanted to take more than Nanyang. Taking this opportunity to gain real power in Jingzhou was Zhuge Liang's real purpose. It was just that it was difficult to say these words clearly, but Liu Bei heard it.

There is hesitation, but now it is really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It is also the most critical step in determining the situation of the world and Liu Bei's future fortune. Liu Bei does not want to miss it.

"Here~"

Seeing that his brother was a little unhappy, Zhang Fei could only nod his head angrily. He felt that since Zhuge Liang came, his brother valued Kong Ming too much, and felt that he was better than Chen Gong. This made Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who were more emotional,

Some people complained about Chen Gong.

"Kong Ming, what should we do now?" Liu Bei looked at Zhuge Liang again and asked.

Seeing Zhang Fei's displeased look, Zhuge Liang felt helpless and said with a smile: "My lord, you just need to continue to train your troops and wait for the opportunity. In Yiliang's humble opinion, the invasion from Jiangdong should not be too far away."
Chapter completed!