The army marched straight south and soon arrived in Jiangyang.

Travel another seventy miles south from Jiangyang and you will reach Jiangzhou.

The army marched day and night, and the soldiers were already exhausted.

Seeing that Jiangzhou was within reach, Cao Cao ordered his troops to rest in Jiangyang City and then attack Jiangzhou directly.

The army had just set up camp when the bad news arrived.

Yan Yan, the old general of the Qin Dynasty, fled to Jiangyang City with his remaining troops.

This means that Jiangzhou City has been lost.

When the news spread, the Qin army inside and outside Jiangyang City was shocked and terrified.

Night falls.

Within the county government.

Cao Cao’s face turned pale, his fists clenched, and he stared at Yan Yan, who was kneeling in front of the hall, with anger and disappointment.

Yan Yan knelt on the ground with his forehead touching the ground, not daring to look up.

“His Majesty!”

“I am risking my life to defeat Xiao Fang.”

“But the peasant was so cunning that I fell into his trap and was forced to abandon the city.”

Yan Yan knelt on the ground and defended himself with a trembling voice.

His argument made Cao Cao furious.

“You still have the nerve to excuse yourself?”

“I ordered you to hold Jiangzhou firmly without fighting, because I know that Xiao Fang is full of tricks.”

“You were so self-righteous that you disobeyed orders and went into battle, causing heavy losses to the southern army and the loss of the important town of Jiangzhou!”

“You deserve to die, and you still dare to quibble?”

Cao Cao suddenly jumped up and pointed at Yan Yan and cursed him.

Yan Yan was scolded so hard that he dared not say a word and could only accept the criticism.

After cursing for a long time, Cao Cao got tired and sat down, breathing heavily.

“Your Majesty, please calm down.”

“Now that things have come to this, there is no point in blaming General Yan.”

“Our priority now is to recapture Jiangzhou and defeat that country bumpkin.”

Huang Quan said.

Cao Cao’s anger finally subsided and he looked at Zhang Song.

Zhang Song lowered his head and said nothing.

Cao Cao wanted to scold Zhang Song.

If Zhang Song had not tried his best to ensure that Yan Yan would guard Jiangzhou, how could he have entrusted the entire southern line to Yan Yan?

How could the situation on the southern front have come to this point?

At this time, he was extremely disappointed with Zhang Song.

Cao Cao sighed.

At this point, the Qin State was depleted of talent, and there were few counselors and generals left.

So what if I scold Zhang Song so hard that he is completely defeated?

Can he still be killed?
Looking around him, the only counselors left were Zhang Song and Huang Quan.

Kill one less, one less.

“I also want to repel Xiao Fang and take back Jiangzhou.”

“But I only have more than 20,000 soldiers.”

“That country bumpkin has an army of 100,000!”

“How do you think we can fight them off?”

There was despair in Cao Cao’s words.

Zhang Song was at a loss.

Huang Quan bowed and said:

“Your Majesty, I have a plan. If it works, maybe we can force Xiao Fang to retreat.”

“At the very least, it will make them afraid to continue heading north.”

Once these words were spoken, they were like a bright light, illuminating the way forward.

Everyone in the hall, including Zhang Song, was cheered up.

Everyone looked at Huang Quan.

“Do you have any good ideas? Tell me quickly.”

Cao Cao asked.

“There are still hundreds of thousands of southern barbarians in Nanzhong County.”

“The Southern Barbarian Lord Meng Huo is the leader of the Southern Barbarians and has surrendered to our Great Qin.”

“Your Majesty, you can make Meng Huo the King of Nanzhong and assign Nanzhong to Meng Huo. As a reward, you can let Meng Huo lead the barbarian army north.”

“Meng Huo has the ambition to dominate the south, and will certainly follow orders and head north.”

“If the barbarian army goes north, Xiao Fangru will march towards Chengdu and will be attacked by both the barbarian army and our army.”

“When the time comes, we will unite with the Barbarian Army and annihilate Xiao Fang’s army!”

“If the Han army on the southern front is annihilated, Liu Bei will be terrified, and the Han army on the northern front will surely retreat without a fight.”

“In this way, the danger of our Great Qin will be resolved.”

Huang Quan offered a plan.

Cao Cao frowned and said:
“Nanzhong is equivalent to half of Yizhou. Isn’t that a bit too much?”

The generals also nodded.

Huang Quan said: “South China may seem vast, but it is actually a barren land.”

“In exchange for that desolate land, Meng Huo will serve your majesty. This is a good deal.”

“What’s more, after the Han army retreats, Your Majesty can find an opportunity to eliminate Meng Huo and recapture Nanzhong. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?”

Cao Cao stroked his thin beard and said nothing.

His eyes turned to Zhang Song.

Zhang Song breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly saluted and said:
“Your Majesty, I believe this is our only good strategy to turn the tide!”

These words dispelled Cao Cao’s concerns.

Cao Cao waved his hand and said:

“Send an order to quickly dispatch an angel to Nanzhong to confer the title of King of Nanzhong on Meng Huo and order him to send troops to help in the war immediately!”

Jiangzhou.

The Han army had finished recuperating.

Xiao Fangzheng was about to give the order to march his army north to capture Jiangyang City directly.

Jiangyang City connects to Chengdu in the north and the seven counties of Nanzhong in the south, and is a strategic throat.

By capturing this city, Cao Cao’s retreat route can be cut off.

Just as they were about to set off, a scout arrived and brought back the latest intelligence:
Cao Cao has led an army of 20,000 to Jiangyang and met up with Yan Yan.

The two armies joined together, numbering 100,000 men.

Xiao Fang smiled.

Cao Cao would eventually go south to fight him in person.

Unfortunately, Jiangzhou City has been broken.

“Cao thief, you finally came.”

“It’s a pity that he’s late.”

Lu Xun sneered.

The faces of the men were full of sarcasm.

“Prime Minister Xiao, Cao’s bandits only have 20,000 troops, they are vulnerable to attack.”

“We will wipe him out in one fell swoop in Jiangyang.”

“Once Cao Cao dies, the Qin State will perish!”

Deng Ai shouted.

Xiao Fang smiled and said:

“Everyone, don’t be arrogant.”

“After all, Cao Cao still has 20,000 soldiers and horses, and he still has many counselors and generals under his command.”

“Besides, he has external aid at his disposal. It may not be easy for us to destroy him.”

Xiao Fang said.

The generals looked suspicious.

Deng Ai asked:

“Half of Cao’s troops are at Jiange Pass, and the other half are at Jiangyang City.”

“Which army is the one the Prime Minister is referring to?”

The generals looked at Xiao Fang curiously.

“The one I’m referring to is naturally the Southern Barbarian Meng Huo.”

Xiao pointed to the south:
“The barbarian king Meng Huo commands tens of thousands of barbarian troops and still has fighting power.”

“If my guess is correct, Cao Cao will make Meng Huo a king and give Nanzhong as bait to lure Meng Huo north to Jiangyang.”

“This way, Cao Cao will have the hope of attacking our army from both north and south and defeating it.”

Xiao Fang pointed out the mystery.

The generals suddenly realized.

Just then, the scout came running in.

“Your Excellency, Prime Minister, I am reporting this to the south.”

“Cao Cao has sent an envoy to Nanzhong to appoint Meng Huo, the leader of the Nanman, as the King of Nanzhong and give Nanzhong to Meng Huo!”

There was an uproar in the hall.

The generals looked at Xiao Fang in amazement.

He guessed it right again.

Deng Ai exclaimed:
“The Prime Minister is truly a god.”

Xiao Fang, however, remained calm and composed.

Obviously, everything Cao Cao did was within his expectations.

“Meng Huo has tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, but their fighting capacity is low, so there is no need to worry about them.”

“It’s just that he is in Jiangyangnan, and Cao Cao is in Jiangyang City.”

“If our army attacks Jiangyang, we will face a pincer attack.”

“This is Meng Huo’s threat.”

Lu Xun pointed out the crux of the problem.

For a moment, the generals stopped challenging each other excitedly.

Everyone could see that Meng Huo’s dispatch of troops had changed the situation on the southern front.

Lu Xun said:
“The Prime Minister once taught me that the key to commanding an army is to be able to adapt to changing circumstances.”

“The situation in the south has changed, and we should change accordingly.”

Xiao Fang nodded slightly, showing approval, waved his hand, and signaled Lu Xun to continue. (End of this chapter)