Chapter 306: Cao's army is powerful and invincible [Subscribe]

Yizhou.

The situation in neighboring Jingzhou was turbulent, with war coming from all directions, and the emperor also received some news.

He was quite excited and felt it was a good opportunity.

He sent people to inform Liu Zhang to come and see him every day.

Liu Zhang was nearly middle-aged and a little fat, so he came to the emperor's residence.

"Your Majesty." Liu Zhang saluted respectfully.

"I heard from the Queen's family that Jingzhou is in turmoil and all parties are raising troops.

The Cao family is in the north, and Jiangdong has already raised troops to attack Jingzhou. And there are civil strife in Guiyang, Changsha and other counties in Jingzhou?" the emperor asked.

Liu Zhang: "Your Majesty is well-informed and what you say is correct."

Emperor: "In this case, if I personally come forward and issue an order to all parties, do you think it is possible to make them temporarily stop fighting, promote the unity of all parties, and turn to attack Cao?"

Liu Zhang did not answer but asked: "Jiangdong was originally attacking Jingzhou, why would they join forces with them and turn around to attack Cao?"

Kong Rong stood beside the emperor and retorted:

"Jiangdong attacked Jingzhou in order to strengthen itself. Cao thief usurped power and his momentum is great, and his army is also strong. Under his pressure, if we do not unite, can Jiangdong resist alone?

Can Jingzhou resist on its own?

Only by uniting together can we resist Cao."

"Resisting Cao now is a matter of life and death. There is no other way. Otherwise, we will be defeated one by one. Your Majesty has sent Fu's confidants to lobby all parties and explain the pros and cons.

If the opportunity arises, would the governor be willing to send troops to join the war in the east?"

Liu Zhang pondered for a long time, then nodded slowly: "If there is a good opportunity, we will send troops to fight against Cao."

The emperor and Kong Rong were even more delighted.

If this alliance can be achieved, it will be a good opportunity to defeat Cao's army.

----

It was cloudy in the morning.

When Cao's army received the order, each camp took immediate action and made preparations before departure.

While others were preparing, Cao Cao contacted Ling Jin on the other side.

Ling Jin and Li Wufang surveyed the location where the three Taoists sank into the Yellow River, and then entered the water along the same location.

They were several feet underwater when they discovered a concave cliff cave.

Outside the cave, there was an old bronze turtle lying there to suppress the water.

The cave was filled with river water.

Enter the cliff cave and walk upwards, you will slowly leave the water and enter the mountain, then you will encounter a cliff.

There is a plank road on the cliff, extending downwards.

Ling Jin and Li Wufang led the team down the plank road, each step was dangerous.

It is extremely dark in the mountain, and the cliffs underground are unfathomable.

The group walked down the cliff for dozens of feet but still saw no end.

Calculating the location, we found that we were back under the Yellow River.

While Cao Cao was checking, the group had finally reached the end of the plank road.

We came to a natural cave that was located at an unknown depth underground.

Ling Jin and others continued to move forward, and the situation suddenly became dangerous.

Ling Jin sent a message to Cao Cao through the communication bead: There is a ghost under the Yellow River!
Below the Yellow River.

Ling Jin and Li Wufang, along with Hu Yu, Xu Huan and Li Feixiong, crouched in a dark corner of a cave.

Li Feixiong's teeth were chattering and trembling up and down.

The others held their breath, hid carefully, and looked ahead.

The tunnel they were in was a corner of a large underground cave.

The weirdness came from the wall of the tunnel opposite them.

The wall was like a jade disk, emitting a faint halo.

On the jade disk, human-shaped shadows appeared one after another, densely packed.

These shadows lined up and passed across the jade disk, moving in one direction.

Under the gaze of Ling Jin and others, they could see that they were wearing armor and holding sharp weapons. They seemed to be an ancient army, holding spears and marching into the distance.

There has been a legend since ancient times that the Yellow River is used by ghost soldiers to pass through.

Over the years, the banks of the Yellow River have been a battleground for military strategists and wars have occurred frequently.

Or there may be a great flood, and countless people will die in the river.

It has been said since ancient times that a group of ghost soldiers lurks in the Yellow River.

The villagers and common people on both sides of the river have seen more than once the Yin soldiers marching against the flow of the river. There are tens of thousands of them, and the evil energy is overwhelming.

Ling Jin and others felt their scalps tingling when they saw the scene before them.

Suddenly there was a slight sound coming from the jade disk, and a piece of bronze spear actually stuck out from the wall and fell to the ground.

Li Feixiong had been to the tomb many times, but he was not very courageous. He said in horror: "The ghost soldiers in the wall are real and can come out."

Ling Jin probed his finger under Li Feixiong's neck.

He could no longer make a sound, but his eyes were even more terrified.

Including Ling Jin and Li Wufang, their pupils also shrank.

After a piece of bronze spear fell out of the wall, one of the ghost soldiers walking in line stopped.

He was like a silhouette on the wall, as thin as a piece of paper, but he slowly stretched out his hand from inside the wall and reached out to grab the bronze spear that had fallen outside.

At this moment, everyone could clearly see the ghost soldier's outstretched hand.

The hand was still dripping water, as if it had been soaked in water for a long time, but it was not rotten. It was blue-gray in color, and the nails were terrifyingly long.

He slowly picked up the bronze spear on the ground and put it back into the jade disk.

The bronze spear returned to the wall and turned back into a shadow, joining the ranks of the ghost soldiers and moving slowly forward.

“This is Yin Yang Dao…”

Li Wufang and Ling Jin looked at each other and whispered:
“It is recorded in the ancestor’s secret scroll that the Yin soldiers can only appear where heaven and earth meet and Yin and Yang meet.

Who dares to build a tomb in such a place and suppress the yin and yang after death? "

Ling Jin reported his experience of entering the Yellow River Tomb to Cao Cao, and soon received a reply:
"If you can enter, then enter. If you can't, then wait for those three Taoists to come out and rob them."

"I've sent someone over. You wait for him to arrive and try again together. If it doesn't work, just quit." Ling Jin agreed.

But he felt that he could go a little deeper to see the changes. If it was really dangerous, it would not be too late to retreat.

The group became more cautious and went deeper into the Yellow River.

----

Cao Cao is preparing his troops.

Huang Zhong, Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao, Taishi Ci and others all spent the winter in Daye Lake.

There was nothing to do at the time, and knowing that Cao Cao was going out, several generals, who had been sitting still for a long time, came to ask for permission to go with him.

"That's fine. There's something exciting going on in Jingzhou. Let's go!"

Boss Cao waved his hand, and the troops roared and rode off.

Gan Ning had worked under Huang Zu in Jingzhou and was most familiar with the situation there.

He also set out for Jingzhou.

As Cao Cao set out, he issued military orders, commanded the army and made deployments.

South of Yuzhou, bordering Jiangdong, Zhang He and Li Dian were commanding troops there. Upon hearing the news, they ordered Cao's army to prepare to cross the river and move south.

The people in Jiangdong thought that Cao Cao was going to raise an army to attack their heartland, so they withdrew their defense line and moved their troops backward to deal with any changes in Cao's army.

Considering that Sun Ce was seriously injured, in late November, the Jiangdong troops withdrew from Jiangxia County in Jingzhou.

Cao Cao's order directly pointed to Jiangdong, which must be rescued. It immediately changed the situation and eased the crisis in Jingzhou.

Cao Cao set out from Daye Lake and headed southwest towards Nanyang County and Xiangyang.

It is worth mentioning that the generals traveling with him included Ma Chao and Pang De.

Cao Cao transferred them from Yecheng to join the army.

Pang De is not as famous as Guan, Zhang, Zhao, Ma, Huang and others.

But his actual combat capability was very strong, at the level of the Ten Generals of the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period.

Both the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the history books recorded that he and Guan Yu fought fiercely in Baihe, with no clear winner, and the Shu army was afraid of him.

He is a brave man, as brave as any famous general.

When Cao's powerful generals came out together, the situation in Xiangyang also changed.

Cai Mao's eldest sister and second sister married Huang Chengyan and Liu Biao as second wives respectively.

Huang Chengyan is Zhuge Liang's father-in-law.

Zhuge Liang was a young man known for his talent, and Huang Chengyan valued his talent. They were engaged only last year, but they are not officially married yet.

So Zhuge Liang and Liu Biao can be considered distant relatives.

Zhuge Liang lived in Jingzhou for a while and had some contact with Liu.

Liu Biao's eldest son, Liu Qi, particularly valued Zhuge Liang's talents.

Because of his own situation, he felt that if his younger brother was in power, he would not have a good end.

So he became hesitant and uneasy, and went to Zhuge many times to ask for advice on how to protect himself.

Zhuge Liang was less than eighteen years old at the time, and he often used his youth as an excuse to decline and was unwilling to say more.

On this day, Liu Qi learned that Zhuge Liang had come to his house. When Zhuge Liang went up to the library to check classics, he had someone take away the ladder to the attic.

Liu Qi trapped Zhuge Liang in the attic and said:

“Now, the two of us cannot reach the sky above or the earth below. The words that come out of your mouth only enter my ears and will never be spread outside.

Please, Kong Ming, show me a way forward, otherwise I am afraid I will not have much time left."

Zhuge Liang was silent for a long time before saying:

"Did you know that during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the crown prince of Jin, Shensheng, was executed in his own country, while his brother Chong'er lived in exile abroad and was safe and sound?"

Liu Qi immediately understood that Zhuge Liang was instructing him to stay away from right and wrong, not fight for power, and leave Xiangyang.

After Zhuge Liang left Liu's house, he looked back and walked back to his residence.

There was already a messenger waiting at his house. Zhuge Liang said, "Go tell your host that Liu Qi will be going to Jiangxia soon."

The messenger was Liu Bei's man. After paying his respects to Zhuge Liang, he left Xiangyang and headed south to find Liu Bei to deliver the message.

The next day.

Liu Qi then went to Liu Biao to ask for orders, expressing his willingness to guard Jiangxia County, where the Jiangdong troops had just retreated, and to protect the safety of Jingzhou to the death.

When Liu Biao was dying, he looked at his eldest son for a long time and nodded slowly.

Liu Qi left Xiangyang overnight and headed southeast for Jiangxia.

Two days later, Cao Cao arrived in Nanyang County.

Cao Ren, who was stationed here with his troops, came to greet him cheerfully: "Greetings, King Wei."

"Zixiao has been stationed here for two years and has conquered several counties. You have worked hard and made great contributions." Cao Cao encouraged him.

Several of his cousins ​​and brothers who used to play together have now become talented people and are helping him to guard the area, which is not easy.

On the same night that Cao Cao arrived in Nanyang, Liu Biao passed away suddenly.

At this time in Jingzhou, the people Liu Cong trusted most included Cai Mao, Kuai Yue, Han Song, Wang Can, Fu Xun, and more than ten other civil and military officials.

When his father died, he mourned for several days and received condolences from all over.

Then Liu Cong gathered all the ministers and asked:
"If I defend Jingzhou with all of you and maintain my father's legacy, will I have the opportunity to observe the changes in the world?"

He wanted to take another look.

The reason was that Liu Cong had just received the news sent by the emperor, and he was somewhat unwilling to give up such a huge foundation and the status of a local leader to someone else.

If we can form an alliance as the emperor said, we may be able to save Jingzhou.

However, Cai Mao, Fu Xun and others looked at each other and spoke one after another:

"There is a general pattern for success and failure, and there is a fixed pattern for strength and weakness."

"Cao's army already has 500,000 armored men, including the world-famous cavalry from Youzhou and Liangzhou, and the bows and crossbows from Jizhou.

In the early years, Cao Mengde personally subdued the Qingzhou Army and Bingzhou veterans, all of whom were elite soldiers who had fought in hundreds of battles."

"In a few years, Cao's army has swept across the north and south. If we surrender now, we may still make a difference. If we send troops, we will be defeated and it will be too late to regret."

"We have four enemies outside Jingzhou and the rebellion inside has not been quelled. We have no chance of winning if we want to resist Cao's army."

Liu Cong said dejectedly: "The legacy my father left me is about to be handed over to someone else."

Although he was reluctant, he had made the decision.

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(End of this chapter)