Chapter 43: Are you leaving Yuzhou or not?

  "What's the meaning of this?!" Lü Bu furrowed his brow. The plan to attack Shouchun and then move on to Ru'nan was a strategy devised by Lü Bu and Chen Deng. The two were still enthusiastically discussing how they would develop their campaign after taking Ru'nan, and how they would threaten Cao's capital at Xuchang, when someone poured cold water over their plans.

  "Yes, Lord Wang, Cao Cao is about to engage in a great battle with Yuan Shao at Guandu. If we don't take Ru'nan now and threaten Xuchang, there won't be another opportunity. When the two tigers fight, one must be injured, and that will be the moment for our lord to occupy the Central Plains and plot against Heaven!" Chen Deng's idea was indeed tempting, if Liu Miao didn't know about a fool named Liu Bi, he might have really been fooled by Chen Deng onto the boat. They would cross Shouchun, take Ru'nan, then advance on Xuchang, thereby threatening Cao Cao's rear flank.

  It's a good thing that you can take down Xu Du directly and hold the Han Emperor in your hands. When the time comes, with great righteousness, you can conquer the world.

  But it's not possible, Liu Bei is ahead with his troops. Are you saying that Liu Bei isn't as brave as Lü Bu and that's why he failed? Please note that at the time, Yuan Shao had sent the Peach Garden Three Brothers to help out. The Peach Garden Three Brothers couldn't match up to Lü Bu in a one-on-one duel, but together they could still hold their own against him.

  The three brothers of Taohu still fled to Jiangzhou, and Liu Bi also died in battle in Runan.

  Looking at Lü Bu's expression, Liu Mang knew that if he didn't say something to persuade him, it was unlikely that Boss Lü would easily change his mind. He couldn't tell Lü Bu that there was a fool who had done the same thing before and ended up being killed by Old Cao!

  Just as Liu Mang didn't know what to do, he saw the smiling face of Chen Gong behind Lü Bu and his heart moved. "Old man Chen knows!" Liu Mang was familiar with Chen Gong, so he directly called him old man.

  "How are you speaking?" Lü Bu scolded Liu Mang with a sentence, then asked Chen Gong in doubt "Gongtai?!"

  Chen Gong was about to decline, but Liu Mao spoke up first: "If General Chen wasn't confident in his plan, how could he be smiling so happily?" One sentence shut Chen Gong down.

  "Ah!" Chen Gong's smile still hadn't faded, but this time he was caught off guard by Liu Mang. Everyone else was deep in thought, pondering the problem, but only he was standing there with a foolish grin on his face. There were only two possibilities: either he was an idiot or he already had a plan. Chen Gong was clearly not an idiot, so that left only one possibility - he already had a plan.

  "What's the point of saying it out loud!" Lü Bu also understood that Chen Gong must have had an idea, otherwise he wouldn't be smiling at Liu Mang. Having dealt with Chen Gong for so many years, Lü Bu couldn't possibly not know him.

  "Your Excellency!" Chen Gong sighed and shook his head. He had originally wanted to see what Liu Mang and Liu Han Yang would say, but now he was being kicked the ball by Liu Mang instead.

  Chen Gong did not directly tell Liu Bei that he could not go to Ru Nan, Lü Bu was a vassal, although there were only scattered soldiers and generals left, but also had an awe-inspiring presence. If you directly questioned his idea, it would be disrespectful to him. Even if Lü Bu knew he was wrong, he might still stubbornly refuse to accept it.

  "Did you know why Cao Mengde wants to attack Xuzhou?" Chen Gong asked back.

  "Attack my Xuzhou?!" Lü Bu thought for a moment and glanced at Chen Deng, making him extremely embarrassed. Old Cao's conquest of Xuzhou had a big reason because of the Chen family's betrayal and offering strategy, but Lü Bu didn't say it explicitly, instead saying "Xuzhou has plenty of grain and fodder!"

  "Hehe!" Chen Gong smiled and said nothing.

  Chen Deng picked up Chen Gong's words, "Let's just say it, is because my old father gave a secret letter to Cao Ze, writing out the private grievances of our lord and Liu Bei, and also gave Cao Ze the defensive map of Xuzhou!" Chen Deng was indeed bold, even if Lü Bu took care of his face, but the underground warriors would still have lingering fears, after all, you are a traitor, it's better to just admit your mistakes.

  After listening to Chen Deng's words, Liu Bei finally understood why Lü Bu lost Xuzhou so quickly. A 70,000-strong army, even if they were pigs, could have defended it for half a year, but who knew that all his movements were under Cao's surveillance? Wherever he deployed troops, wherever he went, the grain and fodder were all under Cao's eyes.

  Chen Deng is quite good at selling houses.

  Lü Bu had already forgotten about this matter, but when Chen Deng mentioned it, he couldn't help but glance at him several times.

  "Haha, Yuan Long's words are quite wrong!" Chen Gong deliberately paused to let Chen Deng speak out his mind. Some words were better left unsaid, or they might lead to trouble.

  If it's not said, Lü Bu has reservations and can't reuse Chen Deng. After all, you've betrayed once, who knows if you'll betray again? Chen Deng will also be uneasy! He would guess what Lü Bu is thinking, whether he wants to settle accounts with himself after autumn. At that time, the monarch and minister are not in harmony, it's really ridiculous.

  "What can Master Gong teach me?!" Chen Deng wasn't a fool either, and upon hearing Chen Gong's words, how could he not know what Chen Gong was planning? Also, after speaking the words in his heart out loud, he felt much more at ease. He was telling his lord Lü Bu: I, Chen Deng, have betrayed you before, but I, Chen Deng, have reformed and returned to the right path; I, Chen Deng, have awakened from my mistakes. Whether you want to punish or scold me is entirely up to you.

  "It's just my own opinion, nothing more! Even if the Chen family wasn't involved, there would be another Li or Wu family. And even without these aristocratic families, Cao Mengde wouldn't give up on Xuzhou!" Chen Gong shook his head and said, "Xuzhou, as you said, is a land of great harvests, but don't forget, it's also a place of four battles! Besides being connected to Cao Mengde's Yan state, it's also connected to Qing, Yang, and Yu states. Do you think Yuan Tan of Qing state and Yuan Shu of Yang state really have no interest in Xuzhou? If Cao Mengde gets his hands on Xuzhou, he'll only be distracted!" Chen Gong analyzed.

  "Distracted? As a place of four battles, why did Cao Mengde still take Xuzhou!" Liu Mang is just a military moron.

  "Just because it is a place of four battles, Cao Mengde cannot help but take it!" Chen Gong also didn't mince words "Guandu! Between Yuan Shao in Hebei and Cao Cao in the Central Plains, one of these two must emerge victorious. The winner will control eight states and plot to conquer the world, while the loser will be ruined and destroyed. Neither Yuan Shao nor Cao Cao can afford to lose."

  "Cao Cao is in a precarious position. Yuan Shao, on the other hand, has pacified his rear, and with a stable base, he can continuously supply his army with provisions and soldiers, whereas Cao Cao does not have such a base. To the north, there are people like Guo Si, to the south, there is Yuan Shu, but my lord! Although Guo Si occupies Chang'an, it's just a matter of time before he falls, and Yuan Shu has already alienated everyone by declaring himself emperor, so he's not worth worrying about. The only one left is my lord's Xuzhou."

  "Master, you are a fierce tiger!" Chen Gong seemed to sigh and said, "Cao Mengde has already suffered a loss without a strong backing! It's impossible for there to be a second time!"

  What Chen Gong said was the first time, that is, Cao Cao's first expedition to Xuzhou. At that time, Xuzhou was still under Tao Qian's control. Cao Cao opened it all the way and almost destroyed Tao Qian. It was Lü Bu who directly marched from Puyang and attacked Cao Cao's Yanzhou, taking over Chenliu and more than a dozen cities.

  There's a saying: once bitten by a snake, for ten years one fears the hemp rope. The land of Xu is not a place where others can sleep soundly; it's right at the gate of Yan Province. If Guandu starts fighting and Lü Bu launches another attack on Yan Province, Cao Cao will really be finished.

  He couldn't withstand the war on two fronts, so he took advantage of Yuan Shao's plan to pacify Hebei and eliminated Lü Bu, killing this fierce tiger, only then could Cao Cao have a decisive battle with Yuan Shao at Guandu.

  "It turns out that I was being used as a stumbling block!" Liu Mang finally understood, it wasn't the wealth of Xuzhou that attracted Old Cao, but rather the Lu boss of Xuzhou who had attracted Old Cao.

  Lao Cao's initial idea was to subdue Lü Boss, with Lü Boss and Yuan Shao competing in a high-stakes game. Unfortunately, he was shot by Old Man Chen and almost lost his little chicken. Lao Cao got angry and launched an attack, and Lü Boss ended up in a tragic situation.

  "Lord Guan, you mean...!" Lü Bu seemed to have understood something.

  "Now this Yuzhou is just like the Xuzhou of our lord's previous campaign. Cao Mengde will not allow anyone to threaten his rear when he engages in a decisive battle, so he must concentrate his forces and clear out the rear first!" Chen Gong immediately pointed out the weakness of Yuzhou.

  Lü Bu was also startled by Chen Gong's words and broke out in a cold sweat. If he really went down to Ru Nan, and Cao Cao came to besiege the city, Lü Bu didn't think he would have good luck to escape again.

  Chen Deng was also shocked and lost his color, he was wrapped in hatred of his own thoughts, only thinking about the present, but not thinking about the future.

  "Where are we going now?" Lü Bu asked. They were already on the road to Shouchun, and the northern route had been blocked, leaving only the southern route.

  "Let's go to Jiangxia and then to Xinye!" Chen Gong pointed at a place on the map.

  "No, let's go to Runan instead!" Liu Mang countered once again.

  "Huh?!" Chen Gong narrowed his eyes and said that it was Liu Mao who didn't go to Runan, now he says he's going, what does he really want to do.

  Lü Bu and Chen Deng were also very puzzled.

  "It's really too far to go to Xinye by way of Jiangxia, and we have to take the water route. Does anyone in our army know how to swim?" Liu Mang said this with a hollow heart, he was actually afraid that Lü Bu would say that everyone in the army knew how to swim, which would be disastrous for him. In fact, Liu Mang got seasick and was afraid of boats, so he opposed it when he saw the water route on the map.

  "Water quality?!" Lü Bu's eyebrows furrowed, and the soldiers from Pingzhou and Xuzhou were all northerners, who really didn't know much about water quality.

  "If we go to Jiangxia, Huang Zu will let us pass, but once we're deceived onto the riverbank, we'll be calling out to heaven and earth without response!" Liu Mao said firmly. Liu Mao was really afraid of water, this was caused by almost drowning when he fell into a river as a child.

  Lü Bu did not speak directly but instead looked at Chen Gong.

  Chen Gong thought for a moment and said, "Han Yang is not unreasonable!" Liu Mang's body was indeed the General of Conquering the South, but he was in charge of Jing and Yu states. Logically speaking, Liu Biao of Jingzhou was still under Liu Mang's command, but how could these regional lords give up their power? Once Liu Biao had the intention to kill, he could really exhaust Lü Bu's army on the rivers.

  "But Yu Nan!" Chen Gong hesitated.

  "Don't worry!" Liu Mang calmed down "We can't occupy Runan, but I have a plan!"