But recently he found that Sun Quan has become much more difficult to deal with. He was seen through several battles and even lost a Cities. This was something that had never happened before.
"General, our previous offensive was too hasty. Now we might as well slow down a little and make a detailed plan before attacking."
"Sun Thief's strength should not be underestimated. The generals under his command are also quite brave in battle and should be treated with caution."
Taishi Ci on the side heard this and made suggestions.
After entering Xu Province, the battle with Sun Quan has been smooth sailing and continuous victory. He obviously felt that the pace was a bit too fast, which could easily reveal flaws.
"There's no need to hurry."
Zhang Liao shook his head and pointed to another battle report on the table, "Fengxian That guy has already captured Yan Province and Binglin Guandu, much faster than us."
"If he takes down Yu Province but I haven't taken down Xu Province, then I will definitely be ridiculed by him, and I won't be able to raise my head in front of him in the future."
Although he had also heard that the reason why Lü Bu was able to quickly occupy Yan Province was because Cao Army had no resistance, but no matter what, Lü Bu was indeed faster than him in attacking the city.
He has only regained half of Xu Province.
Suppressing these thoughts, Zhang Liao asked Taishi Ci: "Ziyi, Sun Thief, what's going on over there in the past few days?"
Taishi Ci thought for a while and replied, "There is not much movement, but according to the report from Scouts on the front line, they are evacuating their troops to the rear."
"Huh?"
Zhang Liao raised his eyebrows and asked in slight surprise, "Evacuate to the rear? Are you sure Scouts's information is correct?"
Right now, he and Sun Quan each occupy half of the territory and Xu Province is facing off. Sun Quan is withdrawing its troops at this time. Does it mean that he doesn't want to fight him and wants to retreat to Jiangdong?
Or do you have any other plans?
Taishi Ci said, "The information is accurate. Sun Quan is indeed retreating, but the specific reason is unknown. Scouts is still under investigation."
Zhang Liao immediately fell into deep thought after hearing this.
But at this moment, Qu Yi hurriedly ran into Camp Tent and said to Zhang Liao, "General, Scouts sent back an urgent report that drastic changes have occurred in Sun Quan's rear!"
"Cao Cao led an army of 30,000 people across the Yangtze River and settled in Jiangdong. Now they have captured several counties in Jiangdong!"
Zhang Liao, Taishi Ci changed their expressions upon hearing this.
"Let me see!"
After Zhang Liao reacted, he snatched the information from Qu Yi's hand, and then looked at it carefully, the color of Shock's eyes became more and more intense.
He finally understood why Sun Quan suddenly withdrew his troops. It turned out that it was because Cao Cao had taken over his home base in the rear area, and he was rushing back to regain the lost ground!
But what surprised him even more was Cao Cao's actions. The army did not fight on the front line or defend its own territory, but ran to take over Sun Quan's territory.
"That's it..."
After Zhang Liao read the information several times, he raised his head with a solemn expression and said in a deep voice, "We were all deceived by Cao Cao, so that he could build the plank road openly and secretly infiltrate the warehouse!"
He had to admire Cao Cao's methods.
Shameless, but wise!
Taishi Ci asked, "General, what should we do now? Sun Quan's back road is cut off by Cao Cao, should we attack immediately?"
"No!"
Zhang Liao shook his head firmly and rejected Taishi Ci's suggestion, "There is no benefit in attacking now. You were right before, we should slow down the offensive."
"Let Sun Thief and Cao Thief be dog-eat-dog. Once they consume each other's strength, it won't be too late for us to reap the benefits."
Enemies who are forced into a desperate situation generally have two extremes: either they collapse directly, or they fight back on the verge of death, and they are extremely vicious.
Sun Quan's current strength cannot be underestimated. With his escape route cut off and facing his enemy in the front, he has been forced into a desperate situation.
If he launches an attack at this time and continues to increase pressure on Sun Quan, even if he can defeat him in the end, he will suffer great losses.
It's better to watch Sun Quan and Cao Cao fight with each other first.
After making the decision, Zhang Liao turned around and returned to Table. He quickly wrote a memorial and handed it to Qu Yi, saying, "Eight-Hundred-Li Express, quickly send someone to send the news back to Ye City!"
"No!"
Qu Yi responded with cupped fists, turned around and left.
Ji Province, Ye City.
Xuan Room.
Liu Xie threw aside the last completed memorial, stretched heavily, and relaxed his exhausted body.
"Finally done."
He has become busy again recently, because Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang both rushed to the front line, and the only people left who can share the government affairs for him are Jia Xu and Guo Jia.
Jia Xu likes fishing and is serious about work, but he mainly focuses on Buddhism and is not very good at internal affairs;
Guo Jia is quite diligent, but due to his frail body, Liu Xie dare not let him get too tired.
So he can only shoulder this burden himself.
But it is said that it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it is difficult to go from luxury to frugality.
After experiencing the relief of being a hands-off emperor, he was a little uncomfortable now that he was busy again.
This made Liu Xie firm in his determination to form Grand Secretariat.
If these tasks are not shared with the ministers and all are supported by the emperor, then what is the use of these ministers?
Seeing Liu Xie's tired look, Jia Xu stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the Green Plum grown at my home is ripe and it's the season for eating."
"The weather is very nice today, why not have a drink?"
When it came to drinking, Guo Jia's Adam's apple moved up and down, and he said, "What Wenhe said is absolutely true. Your Majesty has been too tired recently. It's time to take a good rest and pay attention to your body!"
Liu Xie heard this and joked, "Are you concerned about my health? You are obviously greedy for wine."
"Your Majesty forgive me." Guo Jia said with a bitter look on his face, "Because Your Majesty asked me to stop drinking, I have not known the taste of alcohol for several months. These days are really difficult."
He has now quit Five-Stone Powder.
I haven't had any wine for a long time.
Although my health is indeed much better than before, I just feel that life is meaningless and I can't smell the smell of alcohol at all.
"Then I'll let you make an exception today."
Liu Xie smiled and asked Jia Xu to send someone to pick some Green Plum at home, and then chatted with the two about the battle situation over Yan Province.
"Kongming has defeated Battle Formation of the Cao Army. Zilong and Duke Wen have also defeated Great General, two members of Cao Cao's subordinates respectively. It is a remarkable achievement."
"I will reward them heavily when they come back."
Liu Xie was in a very good mood at this time. The news came back yesterday, which caused an uproar on Imperial Court.
Zhuge Liang gave him a big face this time, proving his ability with his strength and blocking the mouths of those on Imperial Court.
In addition, the memorial given to him by Zhuge Liang also said that he would take down Guandu in one go and defeat Cao Army.
"With Kongming's talent and General Zilong's courage, it is easy to break the formation. But in the final analysis, it is Your Majesty's good vision that discovered such a great talent."
Jia Xu delivers a dragon fart without leaving any trace.
Liu Xie laughed and scolded, "You old guy, you are saying these things all day long. Could it be that you have done enough good things as a good minister and want to become a slanderous minister?"
Jia Xu said seriously, "I don't know what a virtuous minister or a slanderous minister is. I am just a minister who is loyal to Your Majesty."
Faced with such a textbook standard answer, Guo Jia on the side could only admire him. In terms of emotional intelligence and pleasing Son of Heaven, he could not catch up with Jia Xu even if he was a flatterer.
"Okay, now that you are old, don't talk nonsense to me."
Liu Xie stopped smiling and started talking to the two about business, saying, "Kongming and Sima Yi speculate that Cao Thief's main army is going to steal Sun Quan's territory."
"What do you think of this inference?"
In the memorial submitted by Zhuge Liang, he elaborated on the point of view that he and Sima Yi had speculated, and then let him make a decision.
He had been thinking about this matter all night yesterday and had no idea, so he now discussed it with Jia Xu and Guo Jia.
"There is a strong possibility."
Guo Jia touched his chin, thought for a moment and said, "If Cao Thief's main force is still there, he won't give up Yan Province so easily."
"Besides, Kongming is right. If Cao Thief and Blue-Eyed Thief join forces, they will not be Royal Army's opponent. Defeat will be a matter of time."
"So instead of joining forces to fight against Imperial Court, it is better to concentrate all the troops, population and materials on Jiangdong and rely on the natural security of the Yangtze River to resist."
Smart people all have the same idea. After reading the memorial of Zhuge Liang, both Guo Jia and Jia Xu agreed with their inferences.
Liu Xie nodded slightly after listening.
A trace of emotion flashed in his eyes.
As expected of Cao Cao, when it comes to insidiousness, cunning, and selfishness, few people in the world can match him.
His strategy actually fooled everyone.
By making Betrayal an ally, from now on the name of the rat will fall on Cao Cao.
"Your Majesty, no matter what Cao Cao's plan is, I believe that capturing Guandu is the first priority. We must not sit back and watch Cao Cao move the people and materials from the two states."
"Otherwise, even if we capture Yan Province and Yu Province, we won't gain much."
Jia Xu said, his expression a little serious.
Liu Xie nodded and said, "Don't worry, with Kongming and Sima Yi here, Guandu won't be able to stop them for long."
"Besides, I have an idea."
Guo Jia, Jia Xu sat up straight after hearing this.
He looked like he was all ears.
Liu Xie didn't show off, and said bluntly, "Cao Cao Betrayal little blue-eyed child, the alliance between the two parties has broken down and they have turned against each other. I want to add fuel to their fire."
"I plan to give Imperial Edict to Blue-Eyed Thief next. As long as he can help Imperial Court to destroy Cao Cao, I will forgive all his sins."
"What do you think?"
The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Originally, if he issued a pardon order, Sun Quan would probably sneer at it, but now the situation is different.
Once Cao Cao successfully steals Jiangdong, Sun Quan will be cut off from the escape route and will be in a dilemma. At this time, his pardon is extremely precious.