Although Yang Rui did not have the intention to control the Emperor, but with such an advantage in his hands, Xu You suggested that he might as well make use of it.
After the meeting to suppress Liu Biao, Yang Rui asked Chen Lin to draft several drafts. In fact, it was the first draft of the imperial edict for the young Emperor Liu Xie. However, Yang Rui only asked Chen Lin to state it in the form of a suggestion and did not overstep his boundaries.
At the same time, Yang Rui also provided sufficient reasons for the young Emperor Liu Xie. That was that Liu Biao had seized Yu Province for no reason and was a great challenge to the prestige of the Han Dynasty.
As the saying goes, if you want to condemn someone, you can easily find a pretext. At this moment, the little Emperor Liu Xie was within Yang Rui's sphere of influence. Furthermore, he had to rely on Yang Rui for a living. Basically, whatever Yang Rui said, he could only follow.
Although Yang Rui did not have the desire to control the Emperor, there was not much time left for him to integrate the forces of the three kingdoms. Thus, several imperial edicts were sent to Liu Zhang, Liu Dan, and Zhang Lu.
However, Yang Rui did not have much hope for this. The situation of the three kingdoms had developed to this point. Most of the vassals had already recognized the situation and were in the position of not listening to the edict. Yang Rui made the young Emperor issue an imperial edict to a large extent to leave a reason for future investigation.
As for the Gangdong Sun Jian, Yang Rui directly sent an envoy to ask him to send troops to deal with Liu Biao. This was a true ally. It must be known that Sun Jian and Liu Biao had a deep hatred. Now that Yang Rui was preparing to send troops to suppress Liu Biao, even if he did not say anything, Liu Biao would take the initiative to send troops to help.
"Flying units, listen to my orders. Continue to throw aerial bombs at the checkpoint ahead. The rest of the people will cook and rest for two hours."
A few days later, the young Emperor Liu Xie had already sent out the imperial edict to the vassals. Yang Rui's troops had also launched a free-style attack on Liu Biao's forces from several directions.
After several discussions on how to attack Liu Biao, Yang Rui and a group of civil and military officials finally decided on a multi-sided attack plan. Regardless of whether it was Yang Rui's own troops or the troops of other warlords, all of them would choose their own attack routes and methods. They would encircle Jingzhou, which was already at the center of several sides.
For example, Yang Rui's troops could advance from Si Li Province, You Province, and Xu Province. Their first target could also be Nanyang Province, Yu Province, Jiangxia Province and so on.
However, Yang Rui's attack also had a few main objectives. The first objective was to seize all of Yu Province.
Previously, when Yang Rui went north to Ji Province to seek revenge on Yuan Shu, Liu Biao's three armies and horses had seized almost two-thirds of Yu Province's territory. Only Yan Province and Xu Province were left in the hands of Yuan Shu's remnant troops and were in imminent danger.
The generals who controlled the last two enclaves of Yu Province were mainly Ji Ling, Zhang Xun, Chen Ji, Lei Bao and the others who were released by Yang Rui to support Yuan Shu. There were only tens of thousands of troops left and they had already asked Yang Rui for help many times.
Yang Rui's purpose was clearly to seize the land of Yu Province. Going to support them was a very good excuse, and also the best opportunity to clean up the mixed situation of the various forces in Yu Province.
The second objective of Yang Rui's crusade against Liu Biao was to seize most of Jingzhou's Jiangbei.
Jingzhou was not only a rich place but also a place where talents gathered. Furthermore, Liu Biao had been in Jingzhou for a long time and was thus a huge cake. The most important thing was that Yang Rui wanted to eliminate Liu Biao's influence in the Three Kingdoms region.
Jingzhou was one of the few prefectures in Jiangbei, and Nanyang Prefecture was the first to bear the brunt. It was the prefecture that Yang Rui's subordinates, Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu, once occupied, so it was not difficult to take it.
Even Liu Biao did not put much effort into this place. Regardless of history or romance, Nanyang Prefecture was only used as a barrier by Liu Biao.
As for Jiangxia Prefecture, it was also not difficult for Yang Rui to seize it. When Yang Rui went to Xu Province, he was already connected to Jiangxia Prefecture. Furthermore, Yang Rui's troops had passed through Jiangxia Prefecture. His navy had even approached Xiangyang City in Nanjun.
The most difficult place to attack would be Jingzhou's South County. This was where Liu Biao had been planning for a long time. It was also the place where the nobles of Jingzhou gathered. Among them, Xiangyang City was one of the strongest cities in the Three Kingdoms Civilization. It had been so for several dynasties.
Thus, Nanjun was destined to be the final battle between Yang Rui and Liu Biao. At the same time, this was also decided by the direction and route of Yang Rui's troops. Yang Rui's crusade against Jingzhou was a large arc that covered Nanyang Prefecture, Yuzhou, and Jiangxia Prefecture. His final target was Nanjun.
It seemed that all sides were advancing in an orderly manner. In fact, Yang Rui's main forces were attacking the key points of Jingzhou, including the checkpoints and cities.
What was worth mentioning was that due to the clear situation in Jizhou and Sili Prefecture, Yang Rui was able to move most of the navy to the Yangtze River basin. He only left the navy and Fang Lan in the north to patrol the Yellow River. Taishi Ci and Gan Ning were all involved in the attack on Jingzhou.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! "
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! "
“.....”
Aerial bombs fell like raindrops. It was Dian Wei's army that was attacking the checkpoints with flying units. As this army set off from Sili Prefecture and was heading straight for Nanyang Prefecture, Yang Rui equipped them with a third of the flying units so that they could take down Nanyang Prefecture as soon as possible.
Originally, Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu were the most suitable to attack from Nanyang Prefecture. However, the two of them were old friends with Yang Rui. It was not that Yang Rui did not trust the two of them. Instead, he did his best to avoid any awkwardness and mobilized them to the east. They would attack Yuzhou from the north of Xuzhou.
The few generals that were sent by Yang Rui to Nanyang Prefecture were still Guo Jia, Gao Shun, and Dian Wei. At the same time, they were also people that had experienced many battles.
In this expedition, while Yang Rui used a large number of navy, he also reduced the number of cavalry. This was because there were many rivers and wetlands in Jingzhou, which were not suitable for cavalry to fight. For example, Zhao Yun and his cavalry were left in Jizhou to deal with the remaining battles in the north.
However, Zhang Liao and Yu Jin were still brought along by Yang Rui. This was because in historical records, Zhang Liao and Yu Jin had participated in the Battle of Jingzhou and achieved great achievements.
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