Chapter 224: Xun Yu’s plan, Cao Cao’s strategy to capture Jingxiang?
Yanzhou, Dongjun.

Cao Cao, who had already fortified his city and waited for Ye Feng's thundering attack, did not receive the news of the army approaching. Instead, he received three consecutive letters of request for help from Liu Bei, who came south to Yuzhou from Ye Feng.

It has been raining for several days.

In the governor's mansion, in the garden, inside the pavilion.

Cao Cao, Xun Yu, Xun You, and Cao Ren sat around.

Cao Cao placed Liu Bei's request for help on the stone table. After the three of them had read it, he spoke: "Ye Feng chose to attack Yuzhou alone. Liu Bei has not yet stabilized his formation and is unable to resist. He has come to ask for help."

"What do you think we should do?"

The wind was blowing and the drizzle was falling, and the pavilion was filled with silence.

After a long while, Xun Yu spoke first: "Ye Feng is like a tiger in the mountains, suppressing all the princes in the world with one force. If you want to fight against Ye Feng, you must gather the strength of all the heroes in the world, otherwise you will be unstoppable."

"Therefore, our relationship with Liu Bei is like the lips and the teeth. In addition, Cao Gong has proposed that all the princes in the world jointly attack Liu Bei. We have no choice but to send troops at this time."

"But sending troops is risky. There is nothing but flat land between Yanzhou and Yuzhou, and the distance is thousands of miles. If Ye Feng plots against our reinforcements, we will be in greater danger than Liu Bei."

Cao Cao sighed softly: "Yes, I see that too."

"But if we don't move, will the other princes come to rescue us?"

"Although there are many princes in the world, I am afraid that they will be defeated one by one by Ye Feng. At that time, the Han Dynasty will really perish."

Xun You frowned: "Ye Feng's conspiracy is really powerful. He wants to use this to disintegrate our plan to unite the princes of the world."

"No matter what choice we make, there will be losses."

"My Lord, this depends on your decision."

Cao Ren pondered for a while, then said softly, "How about we split our troops into two groups, one for the abandoned troops and the other for the reinforcements, to reduce the losses?"

Cao Cao shook his head: "We have retreated to the defense, fortified our walls and cleared the fields. All our troops are in three or four cities. How can we hide this from Ye Feng?"

"He even knew about the secret and important things we sent to the princes. How could our strategy of repairing the plank road in the open and marching through Chencang in secret succeed?"

"If this is true, it is tantamount to covering one's ears and stealing the bell, and will only cause Ye Feng to ridicule."

"Ugh!!"

"If sacrificing me can help the Han Dynasty to revive, I, Cao Cao, will die with no regrets."

“But I’m afraid.”

At this point, Xun Yu's eyes lit up: "My Lord, we still have a way."

"Is there another way?"

Cao Cao was stunned and looked at Xun Yu.

Xun You and Cao Ren also had anticipation in their eyes.

Xun Yu picked up the liquor on the stone table, drank three cups in big gulps, and said decisively: "A brave man cuts off his arm!"

"A heroic act of self-sacrifice?"

"What do you mean?"

"Give up Yanzhou, Qingzhou!"

"Hiss."

Cao Cao, Xun You, and Cao Ren all gasped, their eyes filled with disbelief.

"Wen Ruo, what do you mean? Are you going to give it to Ye Feng? Let him become even more powerful?"

"Now he has occupied several states in the north, plus Yanzhou and Qingzhou. Who can be his enemy?"

Xun Yu said sternly: "Our army will support Yuzhou. Regardless of success or failure, can Yanzhou and Qingzhou be defended?"

Cao Cao and the other two were stunned, and there was a hint of bitterness in their eyes.

Xun Yu continued, "If we send more people to support us, the defenseless Yanzhou and Qingzhou will surely fall into Ye Feng's hands. If we send fewer people to support us, once Yuzhou is taken, we will be trapped on three sides, and even our only way to retreat south will be cut off." "When we first came to Yanzhou, Qingzhou thought that Ye Feng could not gain a foothold in Luoyang. We waited for him to concentrate his forces to fight Dong Zhuo to the death, and then we could reorganize our forces and attack Ye Feng from both sides."

"But this strategy has completely failed since Dong Zhuo was killed and the Xiliang Army was incorporated by Ye Feng, so we can only find another way."

"Looking for another way?"

Cao Cao was silent for a long time: "Is there any other way for him to go?"

Xun Yu's eyes sparkled: "Yes."

"Liu Biao's Jingzhou!"

"Jingzhou?"

Xun Yu said: "First, Jingxiang is rich and full of talented people, but its lord Liu Biao is a weak and conservative person. He can't stand in troubled times. We fully support Liu Bei. If we can defeat Ye Feng, Yanzhou and Qingzhou will be safe. We can also take Luoyang. If the situation is not right, we can go south and use the natural barrier of the Yangtze River to block Ye Feng's invincible cavalry and wait for the right time."

"Secondly, Liu Biao relied on the Cai family and the Kuai family in Jingxiang when he entered Jingxiang."

"The head of the Cai family, Cai Mao, was a classmate of Cao Gong and was his mother. Our Xun family and the Kuai family are also friends. If we can convince these two families to help, Jingxiang will be easily within our grasp."

Cao Cao, who was originally dejected, had a gleam of excitement in his eyes. After careful consideration, he slowly nodded: "This plan is feasible."

"Even for Liu Biao, he is a descendant of the Han Dynasty after all."

Xun Yu waved his hand and said, "Just spare his life and give him wealth and honor. We can't let the fate of the Han Dynasty be placed in the hands of a conservative like him."

Cao Cao's eyes flashed with determination, and he looked in the direction of Jingxiang: "Gongda (Xun You's name) can rush to Jingxiang first to make arrangements in advance, but we still have to focus on dealing with Ye Feng."

"It would be best if we could defeat Ye Feng."

Xun Yu, Xun You, and Cao Ren all nodded and would not refute.
A few days later, Jingzhou, Xiangyang.

In the study of the governor's mansion.

Liu Biao looked at Liu Bei's letter for help, pondered for a long time, and looked at Cai Mao and Kuai Yue on the side: "Ye Feng is marching south in a big way, Liu Bei can't stand the request for help, what should we do?"

"To save or not to save?"

Cai Mao frowned and said, "Save him. If we offend Ye Feng, we can't help but worry about him given his record of winning every battle."

"But if we don't save him, who knows if Ye Feng will continue to move south after taking over Yuzhou?"

"If he is ambitious and wants to unify the nine provinces, he will be on the opposite side sooner or later."

Liu Biao sighed: "This is what our state is worried about."

"Ye Feng's actions may seem loyal, but loyalty can be treacherous. Now that the emperor has died at the hands of the traitor Dong, the world is without a master. How can Ye Feng not covet the throne?"

"Differentiate, what do you think?"

Kuai Yue paced back and forth and said calmly: "From the moment your majesty was killed, the world has been in chaos."

"In troubled times, heroes emerge from all directions. Anyone with a gun is a king. Whoever has the most power and the most territory has the most say."

"The reason why no one claims to be a king or emperor right now is simply because they are afraid of the might of Ye Feng, the fierce tiger."

"And Ye Feng already has the ambition to conquer the world."

"Yuzhou is definitely not Ye Feng's end point, but his starting point."

"So the Lord must act."

The last bit of luck in Liu Biao's heart disappeared, he sighed secretly, and his eyes became more determined: "Take action?"

But when he thought of Ye Feng's record, a hint of worry flashed across his eyes: "What can we do?"

Kuai Yue's eyes flashed with a gleam of light: "I have two strategies that can help you achieve success in this troubled time."

"Oh?"

"Come and tell me."

(End of this chapter)