LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 346
"Brother Zhongda, I don’t understand what you are saying."
"Please also ask Brother Zhongda to make it clear."
Yang Xiu stood with his hands behind his hands and looked at Sima Yi with puzzled eyes.
"Liu Bei dominates the Nine Provinces, and his troops are indeed several times larger than ours."
"But Brother Yang must not die. Liu Bei has just conquered Yecheng less than two months ago, and the counties in Youji and Hebei have not yet been completely settled."
"Liaodong Gongsundu took advantage of the chaos to invade the counties of Beiping on the right. The Xianbei and Wuwan people in the north of the Great Wall also took advantage of the situation to invade the border counties."
"In order to pacify Youji and expel the three forces of Gongsundu, Wuwan and Xianbei, Liu Bei left at least 100,000 troops in Hebei."
"This also means that if Liu Bei wants to take advantage of the situation to attack Guanzhong and Bingzhou, he will not be able to mobilize as many troops as Brother Yang is worried about."
"Moreover, Liu Bei had hundreds of thousands of troops fighting against our country last year, and the treasury's food and fodder had already been exhausted. If he wanted to raise an army that would overwhelm the country and attack our country again, he would have to wait at least until after the autumn harvest."
"The lack of food and grass also restricted Liu Bei's large-scale use of troops against us."
"So I estimate that even if Liu Bei takes advantage of the opportunity to attack, he will only be able to mobilize around 100,000 to 150,000 troops at most."
"And if Your Majesty leads the army to attack Zhang Lu, at least 60,000 to 70,000 horses will be left to guard Jingxing Pass, Tongguan and Wuguan."
"Although the number of troops is small, with the advantage of the geographical advantage, it is enough to withstand the disadvantage of the army and hold on until His Majesty returns from the expedition to Shu."
"Therefore, I think this is an excellent opportunity for Your Majesty to conquer Shu!"
Sima Yi made another eloquent analysis, clearly analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of the two countries.
Cao Cao's brows relaxed, and the worries in his eyes gradually dissipated.
After Yang Xiu was speechless for a moment, he said again:
"Even if, as Brother Zhongda said, Liu Bei's country has exhausted all its grain and grass, it will have to wait until after the Autumn Period before large-scale troops can be deployed."
"But brother Zhongda, don’t forget, our food and grass have been exhausted."
"Your Majesty's attack on Shu will require at least 60,000 troops. Where will our food and grass come from?"
"Don’t we, like Liu Bei, have to wait until the autumn grain comes?"
Yang Xiu's question shocked Cao Cao, and his expression suddenly changed.
Food and grass!
This is a vital issue, but he almost ignored it.
Liu Bei is sitting in the rich land of Kyushu, but he is still restricted by food and grass. Not to mention him. Among the three states he currently controls, Bingzhou and Liangzhou are not grain-producing areas. They have an abundant supply of elite soldiers and horses, and the grain and grass they produce are at most self-sufficient.
Although the land in Guanzhong is fertile, after Dong Zhuo and other Western The Liang princes were in chaos and destruction, and have not yet recovered.
The surplus grain produced in Guanzhong alone is obviously not enough to support his army to take Yizhou.
Cao Cao's eyes turned to Sima Yi to see what countermeasures he could come up with.
Although Sima Yi was far-sighted, But this section was also ignored. Yang Xiu stopped him by asking this question, and he looked embarrassed for a moment.
"Although we don't have enough food and grass, Zhang Lu has prepared it for us."
Jia Xu, who never took the initiative to speak out, suddenly spoke.
Everyone's eyes were focused on the poisonous warrior in the corner.
A strange look flashed in Cao Cao's eyes, obviously he was surprised by this Xiliang man The counselor actually took the initiative to speak when he didn't ask.
Obviously he didn't know Jia Xu well enough.
Throughout his life, Jia Xu followed two words: self-preservation.
Since he surrendered to Cao Cao, he has always acted in a low-key manner and never took the initiative to speak. , I just don’t want to show off my cleverness and make others jealous.
Anyway, you, Cao Cao, are getting stronger and stronger as you fight, so I will just lie back and fish, and live the rest of my life in wealth.
But now the situation is different.
Cao Cao lost Henan and Hebei in succession, and was defeated by Cao Cao. If Cao Cao is killed and Liu Bei seizes the world, he will definitely not be spared.
After all, he is a poisonous person who is guilty of insurrection.
It was he who incited the West with one sentence. The Liang princes returned to Chang'an, killed Wang Yun and other Dong Han ministers, and turned the Han emperor into a puppet of the Xiliang people again.
Could Liu Bei, the new emperor of the Han Dynasty, be magnanimous and let him go, a troubled man?
So ? Jia Xu had no choice. He had reached the point where he had to stand up, take the initiative to make suggestions for Cao Cao, and help Cao Cao reverse the situation.
To protect Cao Cao and Wei, he was to protect himself.
"Wenhe, what do you mean by this?"
Cao Cao failed to understand what Jia Xu meant.
Jia Xu stroked his beard with one hand and pointed southward with the other:
"Although Zhang Lu was weak, he governed Hanzhong with filial piety with five measures of rice, so that Hanzhong did not suffer from war for more than ten years, and the people were prosperous and prosperous."
"I heard that in the granary in Nanzheng and in the official warehouses in various counties in Hanzhong, grain and grass were piled up like mountains, and the new rice was overwhelming the old rice, and it was almost overflowing."
"The grain and grass accumulated by Zhang Lu are more than enough for my army of 100,000, not only for his Hanzhong army."
"If your Majesty can quickly defeat Zhang Lu and capture Hanzhong, all the food he has garrisoned will be used by our great Wei Dynasty."
"With the mountains of food and grass in Hanzhong, wouldn't our army have enough confidence to continue southward to destroy Liu Zhang and capture Shu without the need for local food supplies?"
Jia Xu took his time and revealed his true intention.
The palace was filled with joy.
Everyone suddenly understood.
Even Yang Xiu was speechless at this moment and had no words to refute.
Cao Cao was filled with ecstasy in his eyes and laughed. road:
"Wenhe, Wenhe, you are using war to support war 990." (To read exciting novels, go to Feilu Novel Network!)
"Okay, okay, what a strategy to support war through war"
"Unexpectedly, Zhang Lu actually prepared some food and grass for me to cut down in Shu. Fortunately, you reminded me, otherwise I would have almost forgotten!"
Jia Xu smiled lightly, his face neither happy nor sad, still calm as usual.
Cao Cao looked at Jia Xu, then looked at Sima Yi, a happy smile appeared on his face
"Although Sima Zhongda's schemes were repeatedly discovered by Deng Mu, there is still no denying his peerless resourcefulness."
"If I hadn't retreated to Guanzhong, I would have almost forgotten about Jia Xu, a poisonous man. This man's resourcefulness seems to be even higher than that of Sima Yi."
"With these two people working together to help me, even if I lose those traitors like Xun Yu and Guo Jia, what will it be like!"
The more Cao Cao thought about it, the more pleased he became. He shouted to his ministers and asked:
"I am determined to follow Pi'er's plan and lead an army of 60,000 to the south across the Qinling Mountains."
"First destroy Zhang Lu, then Liu Zhang, and take all of Yizhou"
"Who of you has any objections!"
No one dared to ask again.
Yang Xiu lowered his head silently, looking a little downcast.
Cao Cao had no worries anymore, and immediately passed the order, leaving Cao Pi to supervise the country, Xia Houyuan, Xu Huang, Cao Zhen, Ma Chao and others to guard Tongguan and Jingxing Pass. Wuguan to guard against the invasion of the Han army.
Cao Cao personally led 60,000 troops and horses, marched southward, and headed straight for Hanzhong.[]