Chapter 309: Land Discussion Alliance
After learning about the feedback from Liu Yan and Sun Ce, Liu Bei and other Central Plains princes could not help but sigh.
Sure enough, it was not easy to pull these two people onto our chariot.
One of them was determined to defend Yizhou, while the other was a man who would not do anything unless there was profit.
But as long as we can talk, it's a good thing, and the conditions they propose may not be unacceptable.
There is nothing wrong with Sun Ce's request. If they were in his position, they would not work for others for free. It's just that the price ratio is worth discussing.
Although they are the initiating party, the fight against Tian Ze is a matter of the overall situation and they are not the only ones in urgent need.
Both sides were aware of each other's thoughts. Both Liu Bei and Sun Ce absolutely agreed to the alliance and would not part ways unless it was excessive, so a long verbal battle ensued.
Liu Yan's reaction was also within the expectations of Liu Bei and others.
This guy is the same as Liu Biao in the past. He can be described in four words: a guard dog.
They had already expected that they would agree to form an alliance. Moreover, with Liu Yan's ability, if he really wanted to help, they were worried that he would make things worse. It would be good enough if he could defend Yizhou and not cause more trouble.
Their alliance with Liu Yan was only to prepare for Tian Ze's attack on Yizhou later.
"I really didn't expect that Liu Yan would agree to this." Cao Cao said with a little surprise when he got the news.
Although the conditions proposed by Liu Yan seemed quite ridiculous to Cao Cao, he took that step after all. He no longer hid in Yizhou and deceived himself, but really began to pay attention to the situation in the world.
This alone is enough to defeat many of the former princes.
“According to our understanding, this matter was accomplished mostly because his son Liu Fan strongly urged it, and at the beginning he even wanted to truly form an alliance with us and advance and retreat together.” Xi Zhicai said.
"Oh?" Cao Cao became even more interested after hearing this.
"How about Liu Fan?"
"Based on his performance, this boy has a strong and resolute character. He was able to escape from a den of wolves like Chang'an. His ability is indeed quite impressive. Not only is he smart and decisive, but his courage and vision are even better than his father's."
"A dog father and a tiger son!" Cao Cao shook his head.
"It would be better if the person cooperating with us was Liu Fan instead of Liu Yan."
The speaker has no intention, the listener has the heart.
Xi Zhicai's eyes flickered when he heard this.
Although all the princes in the world are rivals, the weaker the better. However, in the current situation, the stronger these princes are, the more likely they are to reverse the situation controlled by Tian Ze.
Xi Zhicai regretted very much about the previous incident between Li Jue and Guo Si.
If he had known this would be the case, he should not have sat idly by and watched the internal struggle between Li Jue and Guo Si.
If Tian Ze had intervened a little and eliminated any one of them, he would not have been able to take down Si Li so easily.
The situation is quite similar now.
Compared with Liu Yan, the mediocre teammate, Liu Fan, the young tiger, is more in line with the interests of Cao Cao and others.
It can both resist Tian Ze and prevent Liu Bei from becoming too powerful.
With this thought buried in his heart, Xi Zhicai said in a deep voice: "My lord, if the five princes can unite and join forces, we may really have a chance to defeat Tian Ze."
"If we launch another 'Princes' Request for Land' campaign and capture Jizhou in one fell swoop, the current crisis can be resolved."
Xi Zhicai set his sights on Jizhou because Jizhou was the most suitable breakthrough point.
Unlike the Central Plains, it has no natural barriers to defend, and the difficulty of attacking it is much lower than that of Bingzhou and Sili. Moreover, it is a rich land. Once occupied, their strength will be greatly improved. As for the Yellow River, it has never been a natural barrier and cannot be compared with the Yangtze River.
The reason why Cao Yuan and Tian Ze divided the river and did not dare to cross the river to block the attack was not because the navy was weak, but because Tian Ze had too many troops stationed in Jizhou, making it difficult for them to break through.
The obstacle of the Yellow River is still acceptable when there is a huge disparity in strength between the enemy and us. However, once the advantage in military strength is eliminated or even reversed, they can cross the Yellow River and capture Jizhou.
"My lord, Zhicai is right. But the key lies in how to restrain Tian Chengshou's troops to the greatest extent." Mao Jie said in a deep voice.
"We, the five princes, have united together. Let's put Liu Yan aside. Even if he is holding back the northern part of Yizhou, being able to tie up Tian Chengshou's 50,000 troops is the limit."
"The other four princes have a combined army of one million, enough to compete with Tian Chengshou, but the troops they can deploy may only be between 600,000 and 800,000."
"If we attack rashly, I'm afraid it will be difficult to completely defeat the armies of Guan Yu, Zhang Liao, Zhang He, and Xu Huang under Tian Chengshou."
"It's better to look for an opportunity, an opportunity when Ichida Chengshou is a little empty inside."
"for example……"
"When Tian Chengshou attacked Xiliang." Cao Cao said without hesitation.
Mao Jie nodded: "Although Gongsun Zan and Tian Ze have a close relationship, given his temper, he will not just give in. The two sides will definitely have a fight."
"In this way, we will be able to contain Tian Chengshou's 100,000 troops. If Liu Yan then makes a move to march out of Chang'an, he can at least contain tens of thousands of Sili's troops."
"Although Tian Chengshou has a large number of troops under his command, his territory is also very large. Especially in the north, there are threats from foreign races, and we must also guard against the powerful families causing trouble, so we must leave a large number of troops behind."
"And Tian Chengshou is very cautious. Judging from his character and previous arrangements, Xu Rong's troops in Youzhou will not be transferred."
"The navy under his command can just contain the troops of Jiangdong near Qingzhou and Donglai."
"According to this calculation, we may have a greater military advantage."
Cao Cao and others had carefully reviewed and reflected on the previous series of defeats.
Whether it was the Battle of Hebei or the Battle of Luoyang, their biggest problem was that their military strength was indeed too stretched.
Even against Tianze's offensive forces, it was difficult to gain an absolute advantage. Adding Tianze's garrison forces, there was no possibility of a head-on breakthrough at all.
As a result, they had no choice but to take a radical approach, hoping to gain a greater advantage with a smaller force, so as to retain enough troops to attack Tianze's garrison and avoid a war of attrition.
But once their clever plan was foiled, they would be finished.
It just so happens that the counselors under Tian Ze are all difficult characters to deal with.
With such a huge disparity in strength between the two sides, even if the opponent's strategists are a little bit weaker, finding any tiny flaw in them could lead to a complete loss.
Not to mention, Tian Ze had top strategists such as Guo Jia and Xun You under his command.
Even though he was restricted by Tian Ze's strategic direction and could not act as he wished, it was still easy to see through their strategies and counter them.
Guo Jia’s previous stroke of genius was the most typical example.
A sudden counterattack forced them to lose everything.
They figured out the tactics of Tian Ze's army, and Tian Ze's advisers also figured out their tactics.
As long as they can withstand their first three attacks and fight steadily, Tian Zejun will never lose.
Unless they have sufficient advantage in military strength.
(End of this chapter)
