[Three Kingdoms] Carnival

Chapter 140

One military order, two secret letters, distributed to the two sons.

Cao Pi, who had led his army to Jinkou, east of Xiakou, opened the secret letter at this time according to what Guo Jia told him before the expedition.Every word, Cao Pizai carefully read it back and forth several times, sighed and swallowed a few times, and then murmured:

"How can father be partial to this."

Sima Yi just got off his horse and was about to direct the troops to camp when he heard Cao Pi's voice and stepped forward and asked, "What was written in the letter?"

Cao Pi threw the wooden slips directly into Sima Yi's arms, then walked away without saying a word, taking over from Sima Yi to settle the army.

Sima Yi couldn't help slandering Cao Pi for his increasingly moody recent days.But after he unfolded the bamboo slips and read the words on the slips clearly, he suddenly understood where Cao Pi's energy came from.

There are only a few words on the Jane, but for Cao Pi, it is too cold.On the bamboo slips, which were obviously written by Cao Cao, it was written that because Cao Zhi was still young and worried that he was inexperienced in military operations, 1 of the 5000 people transferred to Cao Pi were allocated to Cao Zhi.

When Cao Pi and Cao Zhi led their troops to leave the camp, due to time constraints, they each selected only 5000 elite soldiers to garrison at the ferry, and the remaining 5000 people prepared food, grass and luggage in the camp before coming to support.At that time, no one felt that something was wrong. It was not until now when they saw this brief book that they realized that the reason for the deployment in batches was to directly send the [-] people to Cao Zhi.And Cao Pi, when he knew the truth, had already lost the opportunity to refute.

When Sima Yi thought carefully about the implication of Jian Wen, Cao Pi had already given orders to set up the camp, and returned to Sima Yi's side: "Since my father prefers Zijian, he simply said in the camp that he would only allocate 5000 people to me. Just give Zijian 5000 people. Why bother..."

Why bother to act fair in front of the generals, as if treating Cao Pi and Cao Zhi equally.

Cao Pi didn't say what happened next, but Sima Yi had already read it from Cao Pi's expression.This young man, who has been hit repeatedly since the army went south, now has a dark complexion that is even a little scary, but it makes people feel distressed.Comparing your heart to your heart, anyone who encounters such a eccentric father will be as angry as Cao Pi, but because he is his most respected and beloved father, he can't say a word more cruel, and he can only hold all the grievances in his stomach .

But Sima Yi was an exception.Speaking of his father's eccentricity, the one he met was much more irritating than Cao Cao, and now he is alive and well.So at this time, he expended his energy to comfort Cao Pi with clichés. In Sima Yi's view, the idea that the gain was not worth the loss, only stayed in his mind for a few seconds, and then he put it behind him.Now, he is thinking more about another thing:

"Zihuan, based on what you know about your father, if you think about it carefully, would the lord really transfer five thousand soldiers just because he was worried about the safety of the fourth son?"

Cao Pi smiled wryly and shook his head: "Based on Pi's understanding of his father, his father would never do this in the past. But now... Pi doesn't understand his father."

"The two crossings on the north bank of Xiakou are strategically important places. No matter which one is captured by Jiangdong, it will endanger Xiakou's army. It is safe to garrison with 1 people, but it is too risky to garrison with 5000 people. Even if the lord If you are biased, will you put the army in danger because of this bias?"

Cao Pi was stunned suddenly.After Sima Yi said this, he suddenly understood:

"Pi is bait."

The three-day agreement has come, Cao Jun and Jiangdong Army each led their troops to face each other across the river, sailing for thousands of miles, with flags covering the sky, and the sound of war drums beating the sky and the earth.

Jiangdong is powerful and decisive to strike first.The warship rushed to the corner of the current and slammed Cao Jun with its hard and sharp bow. When Cao Jun hurriedly turned the bow of the ship to avoid the impact, the soldiers on the boat immediately threw rope hooks to hook the enemy ship.At this time, the building boat has also advanced slowly, and the soldiers on the boat, holding hooks, spears and axes, jumped onto the enemy warship and charged into the fight.

However, facing the onslaught of Jiangdong Army, Cao Jun did not choose to back down.This time, Cao Jun seemed to have completely forgotten about the battle damage. He used head-to-head to defeat the strong, and as long as he could sink one ship in Jiangdong, he would not hesitate to pay for five ships.Such an almost crazy way of fighting actually made Jiangdong hesitate for the first time.

Killing [-] enemies and losing [-] to oneself is by no means a stupid tactic when the number of one's own side is far greater than that of the enemy.

This battle lasted from early morning to dusk, the two armies were exhausted and still tied for victory, so they had to withdraw their troops.The setting sun was sprinkled on the blood-red river, and the corpses of soldiers were mixed among the wreckage of the battleship, which was about to sink into the rolling river in the night.

The Jiangdong Army, which has been fighting and winning many battles in the past few days, has finally fallen into a downturn because of today's battle.After counting the losses in today's battle, all the generals gathered in the camp.A few candles in the camp swayed with the wind, making everyone look even more gloomy.

"Judging from today's offensive, he has absolutely no intention of pretending to attack and retreat. However, if Cao Jun fights our army regardless of losses like today, in the long run, both Cao Jun and our army may be difficult to sustain. And the most likely to be at a disadvantage first is ours. military."

"Why is it our army?" As soon as Lu Su finished speaking, Lu Meng asked in confusion, "In terms of battle losses, Cao Jun's casualties are at least three times more than Cao Jun's. Besides, our army's soldiers are better at water warfare than Cao Jun's. If the fight goes on like this, Cao Jun should be the first to be unable to hold on."

Lu Su sighed and explained for Lu Meng and many generals in the battalion who were still eager to fight: "Jiangdong can rely on only Yang and Jiaozhou, while Cao Cao is rich in the Central Plains, and most of Jingzhou's land is also in his hands. In terms of the national strength of the two sides, Jiangdong is really hard to come by. The reason why our army was able to take the initiative before is because under the onslaught, the gap in national power will be temporarily replaced by the gap in combat capability, so only a quick battle can force Cao Cao to panic He chose to retreat because of the losses in the battle. But if Cao Cao made up his mind now that he must capture Xiakou, even if the gain outweighs the loss, then with the strength of our army, we may not be able to fight."

A small country is not inferior, and power is small but not afraid of the strong. It is betting on the side of a big country with greater strength. It is not like a small country that has the determination to kill the net, so it can use the small to threaten the big.But now, the big country doesn't care about Xudu and Longxi, and would rather win in Xiakou than the gain is worth the loss, then the advantage of the small country will disappear in an instant.

What worried Lu Su even more was Zhang Zhao and others who stayed in Wudi.These people can't say that they have different ideas, but when weighing their interests, they often put the preservation of the people of the Jiangdong family first.During the Battle of Chibi, these people advocated peace with Cao Cao. Although they were silent because of Jiangdong's victory, their momentum rose again when Santai Lake was breached.If the current situation in Xiakou is reported back to Wu, those people will definitely write letters frequently to persuade Sun Quan to negotiate peace with Cao Cao.These people represent the attitude of the big clan in Jiangdong, and Sun Quan has no choice but to be scruples if he doesn't want to.

Thinking of this, Lu Su couldn't help raising his eyes to look at Sun Quan, and Sun Quan just happened to look over.Their eyes met, and both of them couldn't help but secretly sighed because of the same worry in each other's eyes.

"Brother, what do you think?"

Sun Ce smiled brightly and said, "Ask your commander-in-chief for advice. Ce just obeys your general's order."

There was a trace of helplessness in Sun Quan's eyes, and he looked at Zhou Yu who had not spoken since just now: "

Gong Jin, in your opinion, what should our army do next? "

"My lord, what Zijing just said is true, but according to Yu's opinion, it is not difficult to defeat Cao Jun."

"Gongjin already has a plan?"

Zhou Yu took a sip of his tea, and then calmed down and said, "Exactly. But Yu please don't ask Yu what's the plan for now, my lord."

Hearing Zhou Yu's words, Sun Quan joked with him based on Sun Ce's words before: "Brother, look, the lonely governor is starting to fight with the lonely." After speaking, he looked serious, "This summer All the troops will continue to be commanded by Gong Jin. Gong Jin, I don’t ask you, but I believe in you, you will definitely win this battle for Jiangdong!”

Under Sun Quan's serious but somewhat obscure eyes, Zhou Yu got up slowly, walked to the center of the crowd, bowed with a bow:

"Thank you, my lord, for your trust. In this battle, Yu is determined to be Jiangdong, equaling half of the country."

"You have something to hide from me."

The golden bird flies westward, and at sunset, the red clouds spread along the stratus clouds, seeping into the endless blue of the sky.The warm light shone down on the river, and even the wind seemed to be infected with its warmth, becoming warm and gentle.Hearing the voice behind him, the rosy man looked back, and it turned out to be the person he expected.

"There are too many details in the army that have not been removed. In order to be safe, Yu has to hide it."

"If it's just for the sake of not leaking the military sentiment, just tell Zhongmou privately, there is no need to say those things." At this time, Sun Ce had walked to Zhou Yu's side,

"Why do you deliberately make Zhong Mou afraid of you?"

The warm wind blew up the sleeves of his clothes and the hair hanging from the sideburns, making it difficult for Sun Ce to see the jade-like face clearly, and he could only hear his gentle voice: "Bo Fu, there is one thing that Yu has never asked you. But Today, Yu must ask clearly

You, have you ever thought about competing with the lord? "

Sun Ce was taken aback for a moment, then laughed loudly: "Gongjin thinks that Ce looks like he is going to fight with Zhongmou now? And, to be honest, compared to burying his head in a pile of official documents all day, he is more likely to be held back by the courtiers of the aristocratic family day and night." I am tired, but Ce still prefers the battlefield of joy and enmity." Having said this, he paused, and pointed to the Yangtze River, where the other side could not be seen,

"Ce has spent the first half of his life in the south. He has never seen all the beautiful scenery in the north that Guo Fengxiao and Ce flaunted. So, Ce now What I want is to fight side by side with Gongjin and you, ride horses all over the world, fight all the way to the north, and travel all over the thousands of miles of mountains and rivers. As for other troublesome things, I can only work hard."

Zhou Yu was originally full of thoughts, but after hearing Sun Ce's last words, he still couldn't help laughing out loud.He really likes the light in Sun Ce's pupils that has never been dimmed by the world. No matter how time passes by and people have different emotions, he still looks like a high-spirited young man.

He is brighter than the sun.

At some point, Zhou Yu stretched his eyebrows unknowingly. As for the sorrow hidden between his brows, he also paid his full attention to the rolling river and disappeared without a trace.

"Bo Fu, tomorrow's battle with Cao Jun, the bet is on you."

"The extremely demanding schemes that you supervised by Zhou Dadu, who else can do it except Ce." Before Zhou Yu glared over, Sun Ce immediately put away his joking look and became serious.

"What does Gongjin plan to ask Ce to do?"

"Tomorrow, Yu will lead an army to attack Cao Jun's water village, and will attract all Cao Jun's troops to Xiakou at any cost. And Bofu, under the cover of the army, you will secretly lead 5000 people to attack any crossing on the east and west sides of Jiangxia. After breaking through the crossing, we captured Cao Jun's horses and attacked Cao Jun's camp by land."

"Cao Jun has almost used all his strength to block Gong Jin's navy. If he is suddenly attacked from behind, he must urgently dispatch soldiers to rescue the land. The timing of this chaotic victory is enough for you. gone."

"So, when you attack, focus on disturbing the camp, and you don't need to gain anything." After exhorting, Zhou Yu continued, "However, Yu has not yet decided which ferry to attack. According to the news sent back by the spies, it is Cao Cao's two sons, Cao Pi and Cao Zhi, each led 5000 people to garrison two ferry crossings. No matter which one it is, you will not be easy to fight with only [-] people."

"Then it seems that this decision can be made by Ce." As he said, Sun Ce took out a silk from his sleeve and handed it to Zhou Yu, "The contents of this silk are the information that the spies retrieved from the ferry on the west bank, and it said that they were stationed with Cao Zhi. There are only 5000 troops there."

Zhou Yu read the words on the silk at a glance.The above content is just as Sun Ce said, 5000 of the [-] people who were supposed to be stationed with Cao Zhi were transferred to Cao Pi who was stationed on the east bank.If what is said on the silk is true, the answer is self-evident which ferry to take.

The four eyes met, what will happen tomorrow, they have already tacitly understood.

"Ce almost forgot the original purpose of coming here when Gong Jin pulled him away and brought up the matter." Sun Ce said, "Gong Jin, you really don't want to say anything about what you're keeping from Ce?"

Zhou Yu's lips moved slightly, hesitating for a moment, and finally met in silence.

When Sun Ce asked the question, he had already expected that Zhou Yu would not answer him, and knew even more that after Zhou Yu made up his mind, even he could not change it.

But there are some things, he thought, that he still needs to tell Zhou Yu.

"Back when Guo Fengxiao and Ce talked about the northern scenery, Ce was disdainful. In some years, there will be heavy snow in the south, and willows can be seen at any river dam. As for the Mobei desert, it is nothing more than a piece of sand after all. But these are obviously boring things, but Guo Fengxiao can speak with gusto and eyes. It was not until Jian'an 13 years, when Ce returned to Shucheng, that he suddenly realized that what Guo Fengxiao said was never about scenery, but about people. Whether this world is a piece of beautiful mountains and rivers or miserable wind and rain, all depends on the difference between people's hearts.

Gongjin, if you don't tell me, Ce won't ask.But the Northern Territory, don't let Ce go alone. "

At some point, Sun Ce had suppressed all his smiles, and his expression looked so serious. In Zhou Yu's memory, the last time Sun Ce showed such an expression was in front of Sun Jian's grave. He watched Sun Ce kneeling there, mixed with blood and tears. , With the same serious expression, he vowed to avenge his father word by word.

The Golden Crow in the distance has come to an end, and it is only enough to keep Sun Ce alone in the warm and soft light.The boundary between light and shadow falls exactly between Zhou Yu and Sun Ce, separating distinct day and night within close proximity.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration flashed through Zhou Yu's mind.

"Bo Fu,"

"Ok?"

"Tomorrow's battle, you attack Dongdukou."

"There is news from the camp that Zhou Yu has personally led the army to attack." Cao Pi handed the document he just sent to Sima Yi, "But the secret slip we deliberately put in a conspicuous place has not been tampered with until now. Zhongda, if Jiangdong doesn't know that there are only 5000 people in Pi, then the trick to lure the enemy will be useless."

Sima Yi also frowned, feeling strange in his heart.As far as he knew, the octopuses of Jiangdong's buried in Cao Jun's army had already been found out one by one. The reason why they didn't remove them all was to use their tactics to lure the enemy into the game at this time.But why the secret letter written for Jiangdong Xizuo has not been turned over...

"Zihuan, just in case, we still need to order the whole army to prepare for war. In addition, the men and horses to send letters to Xiakou must be prepared in advance. Once Jiangdong comes to attack, let him go back immediately to ask for help."

"Don't worry, Zhongda, the person who asked for help, Pi, has already been prepared, equipped with the fastest horse in the army. Pi immediately ordered the whole army to be on high alert, ready to meet the enemy at any time."

During the five days when he came to this ferry, Cao Pi tried his best to personally experience all the big and small things in the army.Cao Pi has followed his father in the military camp since he was a child, and has experienced everything from ordinary soldiers to commanding generals, so he has almost achieved excellence in every detail arrangement and is foolproof.Sima Yi knew that Cao Pi held a sigh of relief in his heart, and wanted to make Cao Cao realize through this battle that his eldest son had grown up to be good enough and would not be inferior to anyone else.

As the battle in Xiakou intensified, more than a dozen vehicles quietly left the army under the cover of the sound of fighting, and headed for the east ferry of Xiakou at full speed.When he was tens of meters away from the shore, Sun Ce ordered to shoot arrows to the shore.At the same time, one man and one horse galloped away from where Sun Ce could not see, and the army that followed him soon would turn this ferry into an excellent place to bury bones.

"Report! Sun Ce has led about 5000 troops to the river bank. Among them, there are nearly [-] cavalry, nearly [-] archers, and the rest are infantry."

"Okay. Tell the soldiers in front that the main battle with the enemy is to deal with the enemy and don't fight hard. When the army arrives, they will all be wiped out."

When the soldiers were ordered to retreat, Cao Pi who was riding on the horse looked at Sima Yi who was beside him, and said with a smile, "It seems that this time Pi can finally defeat Zijian."

"Yi feels a little uneasy." Sima Yi was not in a good mood like Cao Pi at the moment.Although everything was expected except for Mi Jian and Sun Ce personally leading the troops to attack the camp, he still instinctively felt that he had missed some key issues.This innate feeling has saved him from danger many times, so he can't ignore it.

The sound of fighting came slowly from far and near, and another soldier came to report on horseback.

"Report to the general that Sun Ce has broken through the first line of defense, and our army has nearly a thousand casualties."

"How about enemy casualties?"

"The casualties of the cavalry were less than a hundred horses, and the casualties of the infantry cannot be counted, but they were all less than our army."

Hearing the huge difference in damage between the two sides, Cao Pi felt a little annoyed, and waved the soldiers away.

"Zhongda, it's better for Pi to lead the rest of the army to fight now."

"Wait a little longer." Sima Yi shook his head, disapproving of Cao Pi's proposal, "Shorthanded combat, you are no match for Sun Ce. We have already arranged a few lines of defense tightly enough, what we need now is not to fight fiercely with him , as long as he can be held back before reinforcements arrive, that's enough."

Cao Pi was also aware of this truth, so even though he was a little unhappy about the sentence "You are not Sun Ce's opponent", he still said "hmm", grabbed the reins and reined in the horse.

"Zihuan," Sima Yi frowned and asked again, "How long would it normally take for the rescue soldiers to arrive from Xiakou?"

"If marching at full speed, it will take about an hour."

"However, according to the fierceness of Sun Ce's current offensive, these lines of defense at the ferry will last another hour at most. Earlier we speculated that this was used as bait to lure the enemy to take the bait. The army is stationed near the ferry, but we have to wait for the enemy to come up, and then let us send a letter for help now? If we take a step too late, will it not be a waste of success?

No, absolutely not.It is absolutely impossible for Guo Jiabu's game to have such an obvious flaw. "

Sima Yi's frown became deeper and deeper, almost becoming a Sichuan character.He has been with Guo Jia since he was a child, and he should be better at guessing Guo Jia's thoughts than anyone else.At this moment, he is trying to recall every clue of Guo Jia's previous layout, trying to reorganize his current chaotic thoughts, but the more he thinks about it, the more he is swallowed by the uneasiness that gradually surges in his heart. The situation seems to be changing. Gradually out of his control, but he is still deep in the fog, not knowing what to do.

The fighting in front of them was getting closer and closer.I saw Sun Ce riding in front, and his soldiers rushed directly into the enemy's formation.In front of him was the enemy army defending in layers, and the connection with his own soldiers was also cut off by the enemy army. Under such a predicament, Sun Ce laughed heartily excitedly, and before he was hesitant for a moment, he had already killed the enemy army ahead.Obviously, the number of Cao Jun was several times that of him, but he suppressed him everywhere. Where the sword pointed, there were only corpses everywhere.At this moment, the soldiers following Sun Ce's attacking camp had broken through the siege and followed up, but after a while, Sun Ce pulled the second line of defense out of the way, and then they were divided and surrounded, and wiped out in an instant.

The enemy has reached a hundred meters away.

Cao Pi's expression became even more difficult to look at.Everyone in the world said that Sun Ce was brave and difficult to fight for the front, but they never thought that for the guy in front of him, the rumors said that he was too modest.According to Sun Ce's style of play, it would take at most a stick of incense time to break through the camp.

Sima Yi's palms were also covered with cold sweat.It's not that he doesn't understand the urgency of the situation, but he still firmly believes that Guo Jia will never make mistakes.

If he were Guo Jia, when he was in a stalemate with Jiangdong, he would send 5000 people on the surface, but secretly only 5000 people were stationed at the ferry, and he deliberately left a secret letter that would be sniffed out by the enemy. Instead of using these 5000 people as bait, then these [-] people will be

Abandoned son.

"Son!"

The shout suddenly sounded like the sound of heaven.Cao Pi remembered that this was the voice of the person who went to the camp to ask for help.He turned his head happily, but he didn't see the thousands of troops that he had been looking forward to for a long time.

"Where are the reinforcements?!"

"My lord, my lord said that all the troops in the battalion are responding to Zhou Yu's attack, and no one can send support. Reinforcements... will not come."

"what?!"

Sun Ce has already attacked.

Frost hit, unstoppable, Cao Pi was suddenly pushed aside, and the sharp sword struck Sima Yi's arm, instantly staining his clothes red.

Sima Yi only had time to yell out one word:

"escape!"

Cao Pi rode his horse and galloped almost instinctively.The wind blew across the cheeks, and the pain made people want to cry.

Cao Mengde, his father, was the person he admired the most since childhood.He firmly believes that there is no one in this world who can be called a hero except his father.So he always tried his best to figure out his father's mind, wanted to do everything well as his father hoped, and become a hero like his father.

Then, Zijian gained the reputation of being unrestrained and self-sufficient, but he became a hypocritical villain.

But what could he do?Since the death of his eldest brother, no one has ever taught him what to do and how to do it when he suddenly became the eldest son.There is only fog in front of his eyes, and he can't find another way except to imitate his father.

But even with such step-by-step and even funny and embarrassing speculations, he still couldn't understand his father.He didn't understand why he couldn't get his father's praise even though he tried his best, why his father chose Zijian who in his eyes couldn't be a leader, why he even wanted to... let him die in order to pave the way for Zijian.

Why, father.

He bit his lower lip tightly, suppressing the sob in his throat.

Is Pi really...disappointing you that much?

The image of Sima Yi standing in front of him and yelling at him to leave flashed in his mind.

Sima Zhongda, you can't imagine that a shrewd person like you would make a wrong bet sometimes.You can't become Lu Buwei, and Pi is not Ying Zichu. They are two orphans who have been abandoned by their respective fathers long ago, but they are still entangled together, using each other, trying their best to make those who look down on us regret... How naive. !How absurd!

You must regret it.

But, why do you still push Pi away?

Since you already know that Pi is regarded as an abandoned son by his father, and since there is no profit to be made, why do you stand in front of Pi.All the noise in the world is for profit, you profit-seeking businessman, don't you know that you have already lost everything with Pi?

Sima Yi, what were you thinking at that moment?

You let Pi escape, but life is in a cage. In this vast world, where can Pi escape?

The galloping horse neighed, and when Cao Pi came back to his senses, the horse had already been restrained by himself.

He watched in a daze as he turned the horse's head around, and in a daze he heard himself shout loudly, leading the remaining soldiers back to the battlefield.

"Cao Zihuan, what are you doing back here?!"

Sima Yi's crown had been knocked off long ago, his hair was disheveled, and bloodstains were all over his clothes.It's no wonder that with Sima Yi's martial arts skills, how could he be Sun Ce's opponent.

And he will not be Sun Ce's opponent.

If it was the father, in such a situation where he must lose, he would definitely abandon these people and run away without hesitation.Even if it was a beloved general, a highly valued counselor, and his father's own flesh and blood.

The picture of Wancheng in the dream overlapped with the reality. He looked at Sima Yi who was in a state of embarrassment, and also seemed to be looking at his elder brother covered in blood.

He did not dare to disobey in the same way as his father. Is it because he never dared to ask himself, if he was the one who was on the horse in Wancheng back then, how would he choose?

He has been running away.That's why he tried his best to be a father and to satisfy everyone except him.Because only in this way can he shift the responsibility for all the consequences to others and avoid asking himself

Cao Zihuan, at this moment, what are you thinking and what will you do?

Even if it is a game that must be lost, even if you will be imprisoned, even if you run counter to your father...

He protected Sima Yi behind him without saying anything, and Qing Feng pointed straight ahead.

"Sun Bofu, you have committed rebellion and killed my soldiers. If Pi doesn't wash his sword with the blood of you traitors today, he will be the son of the Cao family in vain!"

Zhongda and Pi don't want to run away.