Chapter 489: Conferring the Title of King of Wei, Ready for Battle

"Hahaha, you know me, Zi Xiuye, since there is no way to uproot them, then let them stay. As long as they can't play their role, it doesn't make any difference whether they are there or not."

Cao Cao laughed loudly and said that he and Sun Jian had the same idea. They both wanted to train their two sons in the direction of one civilized and one military, one in front and one in back, so he was now very satisfied with Cao Ang's performance.

"Father, what do you mean, we just need to give them no chance to deliver the message?"

"No chance to deliver the message?"

Xia Houyuan said thoughtfully after hearing this.

"Is this why my lord has not called us together until now to announce that he will attack Jingzhou?"

Everyone present was a smart person, and they guessed Cao Cao's plan in just a few words.

"Okay, okay."

Cao Cao smiled and waved his hand to interrupt the conversation between everyone, and then said seriously.

"Tomorrow, we have only one day to capture Nanyang County at all costs, and most of you have to block the support from Liu Bei's men."

"My lord, we are trying to stop Liu Bei again. The last few times we stopped Liu Bei, we all ended in failure. Moreover, none of us can stop Liu Bei's Guan Yu."

Xiahou Dun's face was solemn. He always felt that something was wrong. The previous battles with Liu Bei ended with heavy losses for them. Only once, they used the deceived Six-Jead Bodhisattva and the monk soldiers from the Landa Mountain in the Western Regions as cannon fodder to barely occupy the territory. It gained some advantages, but ultimately failed.

Not only the generals in Jiangdong suffered a lot under Gu Rubing, but also the generals under Cao Cao.

Cao Cao just smiled slightly at this.

"As for Guan Yu, just don't worry. Dian Wei is already waiting for Guan Yu in Yanzhou. You only need to stop the others and don't need to worry about Guan Yu."

"What about Zhang Fei?"

At the bottom of the first-class military general, a young military general who had just been promoted to the first-class military general suddenly asked.

Everyone present also remembered that Zhang Fei had also been promoted to a legendary general. Guan Yu was blocked by Dian Wei, but what about Zhang Fei?

Having said this, a smile appeared on Cao Cao's lips.

"Hahaha, don't forget, we are not fighting alone. I can guarantee you that you will not face anyone from Guan Yu or Zhang Fei. They all have their own opponents. What you really have to worry about is Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao, Zhang He and Tai Shici."

Cao Cao's expression became cold again.

"Wen Lie, Zi Dan, take Nanyang in one day!"

Among the first-class generals' seats, two young generals stood up. They were Cao Xiu and Cao Zhen. They cupped their fists and raised their hands to Cao Cao.

"I obey, my lord! We will capture Nanyang in one day. If not, we will deal with you according to military law!"

"Everyone else will extend the front line here tomorrow and hold Liu Bei's army firmly outside Jingzhou. No one can cross Jingzhou!"

"The last general takes command!"

Everyone in the tent stood up and saluted Cao Cao, their voices shaking the sky.

"Okay, everyone, cherish this last good night's sleep. In the next few days, you may not have the chance to sleep well."

As everyone left the tent, Cao Cao also sat down again. Then he slapped the Kanyu map in front of him, grinning and showing two rows of white teeth.

"Liu Bei, Liu Bei, I want to see how you can turn defeat into victory this time!"

The next morning, in the court hall, Liu Xie personally announced the canonization of Cheng Yu as the shepherd of Jingzhou, and then announced another piece of news that could be called earth-shattering.

Liu Xie sat high on the dragon throne. In the court today, Cao Cao's family was no longer the dominant one, and Cao Cao was no longer sitting below him to listen to politics. It seemed that this was the first time he had presided over a morning court like this since he took the throne.

Looking around in the court hall, not all of them were under Cao Cao's command. Liu Xie couldn't help but think, it would be great if this could continue like this.

Since he agreed to Cao Cao's request, Cao Cao's control over him has become much looser. Not only did he send him a lot of New Year's things, but he also rarely sent him some gold and silver, and allowed his old men to The eunuch could go out of the palace to buy some other things.

This also gave Liu Xie a lot of opportunities to contact some humerus ministers who were still loyal to the Han Dynasty and the Liu family. Without exception, these humerus ministers were all civil servants. There were no military generals, even some school officials There is no one at the bottom among generals like Wei, and all the troops in Xudu are firmly in Cao Cao's hands.

But now, Cao Cao's generals are gone, and almost all the army has been taken away, leaving only some imperial guards in the palace. Cao Cao himself no longer has a capital. It can be said that this is the first time in Liu Xie's history that he has been away from home. Freedom is so close.

Therefore, when Liu Xie was sitting on the dragon throne, a bold idea suddenly came to his mind.

Then he executed it.

"Cao Aiqing devoted himself to the Han Dynasty and died, but he was just a prime minister. If other countries knew about it, they would think that I was afraid of Prime Minister Cao's great achievements. Since the emperor's uncles have been canonized as Lie Wang, Prime Minister Cao Naturally, it’s time to be crowned king.”

Liu Xie's words caused an uproar among the civil and military officials. They didn't even care about Liu Xie sitting on the dragon throne, and began to whisper to each other. After Liu Xie coughed a few times, the court finally became quiet.

"Since none of you have any objection, let's do this. Prime Minister Cao will be appointed as the King of One Word and One Shoulder, and given the title of Wei. The position of Prime Minister will be removed, and Wang Situ will succeed Cao as Prime Minister!"

Liu Xie did not inform anyone in advance of this move, and even Wang Yun, who was appointed as the new Prime Minister, was not aware of it in advance. Until Liu Xie issued the appointment, Wang Yun was still confused. At this time, no matter who succeeded Cao Cao, it would attract Cao Cao's malice.

But Liu Xie did not intend to give Wang Yun a chance to refuse, but stood up directly.

"Okay, since all the ministers have nothing to do, let's withdraw from the court!"

Cao Cao in the north of Nanyang County did not know all this. As soon as Chen Shi arrived, without waiting for Cao Cao's order, hundreds of thousands of troops under his command immediately moved.

Cao Xiu and Cao Zhen led 50,000 infantry and marched towards a military town in the northernmost part of Nanyang County. This military town was also the only military town in the entire Nanyang County with troops guarding it except the county town.

In other words, only the county town and the military town were guarded by troops in the entire Nanyang County. Taking down these two cities meant taking down the entire Nanyang County.

For Cao Xiu and Cao Zhen, and their 50,000 infantry, this was not a problem, as Nanyang County did not have many troops to begin with.

At the same time, in Jiangxia County, Sun Jian's troops also began to advance forward. Sun Quan led an army and rushed straight to the north of Yuzhang County, ready to support or attack at any time.

In Yuzhang County, Lujiang County, Jiangxia County and Changsha County, it was not only Sun Quan himself who was roaming, but also the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry led by Cao Zhang, who had the same purpose as Sun Quan, and they were all responsible for cutting off the output of troops between the counties and their mutual support.

Gan Ning, Zhou Yu, Huang Gai, Zhou Tai, Han Dang, Jiang Qin, Chen Wu, Dong Xi, Xu Sheng, Pan Zhang, Ding Feng, these eleven people are all the famous generals under Sun Jian's command. Gan Ning, Zhou Yu, and Huang Gai are all famous generals, and the other eight are all top-notch generals. All of them have full experience points and only need some famous general points to be promoted to the top first-class generals.

They have not been able to accumulate full famous general points, and the bigger reason is because of Gu Rubing. The failures in the battles with Gu Rubing's subordinates have caused many of them to lose famous general points instead of increasing them. If there were no other Japanese pirates and foreign races, they would probably not even have so many first-class generals now, let alone three famous generals.

Among these eight people, Cheng Pu and Zhou Tai are only a few points away from being famous generals. A victory in a big battle will be enough for them to be promoted to famous generals. At that time, Sun Jian's subordinates will usher in another huge improvement.

These eleven people, led by three generals, Zhou Yu, Gan Ning and Huang Gai, headed for the capital of Jiangxia County from the north, middle and south. The eight first-class generals led a large number of troops, which served as the left and right wings and vanguards of the three armies, and attacked Xiling City with a sweeping offensive.

On the routes of the three famous generals' armies, there was a large military town blocking each of them. Xiling City was close to the eastern border of Jiangxia County, and there were three military towns among them, which could effectively hinder Sun Jian's large-scale attack.

The last time Sun Jian and his men easily attacked Xiling City, it was more because Changsha County in the south was lost, and both sides attacked Jiangxia County together, so they were beaten to Xiling City so quickly.

This time, they only launched an attack in the east. When they attacked the three major military towns, they were shocked to find that the gates of the three military towns were wide open, and there was no sign of garrison inside. Even when they were only a hundred meters away from the gates, there was no response from any troops in the military towns.

Only those civilians who were running wildly in the city, in order to avoid the disaster brought by the war, closed the doors and windows after fleeing back to the military towns. Even the gates of the military towns were not closed.

Zhou Yu looked at the military towns with a puzzled face. This was really unreasonable. If Liu Bei did not send anyone back, then there should be at least some garrisons in the military towns. It is impossible that there are no garrisons at all. If this is Liu Bei's trap, it is even more unreasonable. These three military towns are the key to whether they can hold on.

Relying on the three major military towns, slowing down their offensive, and supporting each other among the four cities, they will still have a chance to win, but now the military town in front of them is actually a military town without any garrison. Could it be that they want to gather all their forces in Xiling City and prepare to fight them head-on?

As soon as this idea came to his mind, Zhou Yu immediately denied it, because for Jiangxia County, they simply did not have the strength to fight head-on. Even if Liu Bei sent a large army to support them, how many could he send? They now have nearly 300,000 troops.

The cavalry, which is recognized as the gold among soldiers, has a full 150,000, plus the 50,000 who followed Sun Quan and the 50,000 who stayed in Wu County. This is all the cavalry that Sun Jian can gather. As for the other cavalry, he can train them, but he can't get more horses.

So he can only turn into infantry or navy. It can be said without hesitation that his water force is the most powerful now, without a doubt.

Together with the tens of thousands of infantrymen who arrived yesterday, the total infantry strength has reached a terrifying 130,000. It can be said that in addition to guarding against sneak attacks on Xuzhou and Lu Xun's 200,000 troops in Wujun, all of Jiangdong's troops are here.

Even if Zhou Yu was unsure, he had no objection to Sun Jian's decision, because he really couldn't think of any way Liu Bei could resist the attack of their 280,000 troops.

"Pass my order, no innocent people are allowed to be harmed. Send a team of elite cavalry to the city to see if there are any ambushed defenders. If there are, don't fight, come out and report first. Even if there is only one person, you must tell me first, I will make the decision. This is a military order. If anyone dares to disobey, he will be executed immediately!"

Zhou Yu gritted his teeth and said, although he didn't know what Liu Bei or Huang Zu was up to, Zhou Yu was still wary of the military town in front of him that didn't seem to have any defensive power. It was not the first time they suffered losses from such a strategy.

Lü Meng, a potential general, no, it should be said that if he hadn't died, he would have been a famous general now. Didn't he die in such a clumsy strategy in Nanchang City? Zhou Yu didn't want to follow in Lü Meng's footsteps.

After about half a quarter of an hour, the cavalry team went back. After all, this city was just a military town. Even if it was a large military town, half a quarter of an hour was enough for them to roughly search the city.

"General, there is no guard of Liu Bei or Huang Zu in the city, and even the county magistrate's office is empty."

The leading cavalry captain came to Zhou Yu and said, Zhou Yu couldn't help but frowned. Could it be that he really thought too much, Huang Zu was really still in Linzi and hadn't returned, and Liu Bei didn't send any reinforcements.

"Okay, pass on my order, go full speed, rush to Xiling City, and attack Xiling City with all your strength, two days! Take Xiling within two days!"

The deputy general on the side was a little confused after hearing Zhou Yu's words. After all, Sun Jian's order was three days, and they all felt that the time was a bit tight for three days, but Zhou Yu directly shortened the time to only two days, which made them very puzzled. Is there still such a rush?

"But, Grand Commander, didn't the Lord say that Jiangxia County could be conquered in three days? How..."

"No buts, on the battlefield, every minute and every second could determine the outcome of a war, let alone a day? The whole army should move forward at the fastest speed!"

The distance from the military town to Xiling City was only a few dozen kilometers. At their full speed, it took them only a little more than half an hour to arrive outside Xiling City.

The scene outside Xiling City completely shocked Zhou Yu. The moment Zhou Yu saw it, he finally understood why there was no soldier in the military town.

Outside Xiling City, the endless Liu army was ready for battle. In front of the army, Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong, Huang Zu, Wei Yan,