Zhuge Liang led the troops outside, and Li Qi gave him sufficient authority to command the troops.

But there were some things that Zhuge Liang still couldn't decide on his own, such as whether to help Liu Bei capture Xiangyang.

Firstly, Xiangyang is an important town in Jingzhou, and Li Qi has been coveting it for a long time; secondly, Liu Bei also has a heroic figure. If he helps him expand his sphere of influence, will he shoot himself in the foot? Moreover, Xiangyang is an important road to the north to the Central Plains.

Passage, if Li Qi wants to march into the Central Plains, he must take Xiangyang.

No matter from any aspect, Zhuge Liang believed that it would be much better for him to capture Xiangyang than for Liu Bei to capture Xiangyang. However, Li Qi and Liu Bei seem to have always been on good terms. Maybe Li Qi intends to help Liu Bei capture Xiangyang?

Zhuge Liang put Liu Bei's letters and his thoughts into written form and sent them back to Chengdu for Li Qi to make a decision.

It's just that the messenger took a long time to come and go. Even if Li Qi made any decision, by the time Zhuge Liang got a reply, the situation would have changed dramatically.

So as soon as the messenger left Zigui, Zhuge Liang moved his front to Linju.

Linju is located in the east of Zigui, further to the northeast is Yicheng, and to the southeast is Dangyang.

Zhuge Liang had two considerations in moving his troops to Linju: first, when he received Li Qi's letter, he could do things directly, saving the time of the large army marching; second, it gave Liu Bei an illusion and made Liu Bei feel that he was leading the army.

To advance eastward was to agree to his request, allowing him to attack Xiangyang.

If Liu Bei attacks Xiangyang, no matter who wins or loses between him and Cao Ren, Zhuge Liang will always benefit.

Although Zhuge Liang still did not launch an attack on either side, the signal that he led his army to move east gave Cao Cao many different interpretations.

Cao Cao believed that Zhuge Liang's move was either to cooperate with Liu Bei in attacking Xiangyang, or because he knew that his side could not attack Jiangling for a long time, so he planned to intercept him in the middle, or it could be both reasons.

However, no matter what Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang planned, Cao Cao decided to find a way to defend Xiangyang first.

Cao Cao sent an order to Cao Ren to hold on to Xiangyang and not leave the city without authorization, and he would immediately return to reinforce the army.

Huang Zhong had been guarding Jiangling for nearly a month. When he saw Cao's army retreating, he wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to pursue him: not to annihilate Cao's army, but to capture Dangyang and expand the results. The most important thing was to move Jiangling's defense center to the north.

Move hundreds of miles.

Fa Zhengdao said: "Now is not the time to capture Dangyang. We will wait until Zhuge's military advisor captures Yicheng before Han Sheng can capture Dangyang."

Huang Zhong asked: "How do you know that Zhuge Military Advisor will capture Yicheng? Instead of directly attacking Xiangyang with Liu Bei's army?"

Fazheng smiled and said: "Who will own the Xiangyang that we conquered together? Isn't this going to cause a dispute and cause discord between the two families?"

Huang Zhong: "This..."

Fa Zhengdao: "Let Cao Cao return to Xiangyang first, and then Zhuge's military advisor will definitely attack Yicheng. As for Xiangyang, we will wait for the opportunity."

Huang Zhong was puzzled, do you think Zhuge Liang is your clone? Whatever you want is whatever you want.

How did he know that Fazheng and Zhuge Liang were able to communicate with each other through eye contact when they first met.

But Zhuge Liang learned that Cao Cao had returned to the north and was afraid that his strength would be too strong. If Cao Cao's military power was to assist Cao Ren in defending Xiangyang, even if he and Liu Bei joined forces, they would not be able to attack it. So he had to find a way to weaken Cao Cao's power on the way.

.

Zhuge Liang divided his troops into two groups. He and Zhao Yun formed a group and marched towards Yicheng. He also sent Gan Ning to lead an army to the north of Yicheng to set up a trap and ambush.

When Cao Cao's troops arrived at Yicheng, Zhuge Liang still stood still. It was not until Cao Cao's army left Yicheng and continued to march toward Xiangyang that Zhuge Liang ordered Zhao Yun to attack Yicheng.

Cao Cao didn't understand clearly for a while. If Zhuge Liang had attacked Yicheng earlier, wouldn't he have cut off his way back north? There's no point in attacking now, right?

Xun You thought for a while and sighed: "Zhuge Liang is really good at getting by. Whether he attacks Xiangyang or intercepts us in Yicheng, he will have a tough battle with us. He has fewer soldiers and horses, so even if he can win, he will definitely suffer losses.

It will also be very big. Therefore, after we return to the north, we will seize Yicheng, Dangyang and other places to expand their territory in Jingzhou. At the same time, let us and Liu Bei consume each other so that he can reap the benefits of the fishermen."

Cao Cao said: "In that case, let's save Xiangyang first. Try to defeat Liu Bei's troops at the minimum cost. As long as our strength is still there, Zhuge Liang will not dare to act rashly."

So, Cao Cao continued to march towards Xiangyang.

When they arrived at the outskirts of Yi County, they suddenly saw a series of crossbows firing at Cao Jun.

Although Cao Cao did not expect that Zhuge Liang would ambush a company of crossbows here, he had already heard about the power of the Yizhou soldiers' crossbows, so he had already set up a shield guard to guard against the Yizhou soldiers' crossbow attacks.

Therefore, not long after Cao Cao's army was alerted by Lien Nu, a group of soldiers armed with solid shields surrounded Cao Cao. Neither Cao Cao nor the counselors were in danger.

Gan Ning did not intend to shoot Cao Cao here. His purpose was to weaken Cao's army.

Since Cao Cao was on guard, Gan Ning commanded the two wings to move toward the rear, specifically shooting at the soldiers in the rear of Cao Cao's army. All of a sudden, the troops were on their backs, and the formation was about to move. Those who trampled each other suffered numerous casualties.

Xu Chu was furious and rushed out of the formation with his sword, intending to fight Gan Ning to the death.

Gan Ning ordered a series of crossbows to stop Xu Chu's attack, and then retreated to the river bank without any hesitation. He took the prepared warship and sailed along the river in the direction of the ancient country of U. Xu Chu could not catch up.

When Cao Cao saw that Gan Ning had retreated and many soldiers had been killed or injured, he ordered his troops to rest and recuperate temporarily so that the injured could be treated in time.

Cao Jun also took advantage of the repair time to bury pots and make rice on the spot. However, when the smoke rose, drums and trumpets sounded from behind, and Zhao Yun led another group of Yizhou soldiers to attack.

Cao Cao was so stricken that he couldn't even let anyone have a good meal.

Cao Xiu led his troops to attack Zhao Yun. Zhao Yun did not fight with him. Instead, he led his cavalry to break through the blockade and went straight into Cao's camp. He threw down bundles of greased firewood and shouted: "Set fire! Set fire."

!”

Some firewood was thrown into the stove that Cao Jun had just lit, and sparks suddenly appeared everywhere, and smoke billowed.

Cao Cao was already frightened by the fire and had no time to think about eating, so he hurriedly directed the army to evacuate to the north.

As long as there is no fire, Cao's army is not afraid of Zhao Yun's surprise attack due to its large numbers.

When Zhao Yun saw Cao's army retreating in panic, he did not pursue it and led his cavalry to break out of the encirclement and return to Yicheng.

However, Cao Cao's army did not know what kind of medicine Zhuge Liang was selling in his gourd. The two attacks did cause Cao Cao to lose a lot of soldiers and horses, but it was not a serious injury. He did not know if there was an ambush ahead.

Just as I was thinking about this, I suddenly heard another burst of screams from people and horses in front of me. If you like traveling through the Three Kingdoms, starting from Fallen Grass Becomes a Bandit, please collect it: (https://www.wuxiayue.com) Traveling through the Three Kingdoms, starting from Falling Grass Becomes Bandit, search and read the novel website
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