When Guo Jia's flying pigeon passed to Cai Ji, the Qi-Wu coalition army was preparing for the westward crossing of the Han River. It is not easy to organize tens of thousands of troops to cross the river. Although the Autumn Dynasty has retreated, the lower reaches of the Han River are deep and wide, and the war horses cannot directly wade across the river. In order to improve the efficiency of the army crossing the river, Cai Ji ordered people to build two pontoon bridges on the river to facilitate the crossing of the river by cars and horses.

Sun Ce and Zhou Yu learned that the Qi army was going to erect a pontoon bridge on the Han River, and they both led their own soldiers to the riverside to watch the excitement. I saw that the Qi army first connected two, three, or four boats on both sides of the Han River into a section of pontoon units, and then connected the tail to the middle of the river, and assembled a bridge. The material used to connect the ships is locally sourced bamboo. At first, the Qi army only fixed the pontoon bridge on both sides, but later because of the strong wind in the middle of the river, in order to stabilize the pontoon bridge, the Qi army tied three or four pounds of mountain stones with iron chains as anchors to fix the hull. In some places where the water is turbulent, the Qi army used several layers of large wooden rows to tie into rafts instead of boats, so as to reduce the surface of the water and reduce the water pressure of the bridge.

At first, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu just observed with a curious and relaxed attitude, and when they saw that the Qi army building the bridge was performing their duties, it didn't take long for the prototype of the pontoon bridge to be built, and the expressions on their faces couldn't help but become more and more solemn, and more and more strict. After a long time, Sun Ce finally couldn't help but whisper to Zhou Yu beside him and asked, "Gong Jin, can Dajiang build this bridge?" ”

The "Great River" that Sun Ce refers to refers to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River in later generations. As the largest river in China, the Yangtze River has always been a natural hazard used by southern forces to protect itself. Cai Ji's practice of erecting pontoon bridges in Hanshui made Sun Ce worry that one day the Qi army would draw a scoop according to the gourd, and also erect several pontoon bridges on the Yangtze River. However, in the face of Sun Ce's doubts, Zhou Yu stared at the almost formed pontoon bridge on the river. Bian Wuzi shook his head and said, "The width of the river is more than four hundred zhang, several times that of the Han River. And the wind and waves on the river are high, and it is difficult to stabilize the bridge with only floating boats. ”

"What if the building and the ship are connected by iron cables and laid with wooden planks?" Sun Ce asked unwillingly.

Zhou Yu turned his head and smiled at Sun Ce, "Bo Fu, do you still remember Chibi?" ”

Sun Ce was reminded by Zhou Yu like this, and immediately came back to his senses, and then laughed loudly, "If it weren't for Gong Jin's reminder." Lonely and almost blind. However, although Sun Ce said that he was relaxed, in his heart, he was quite jealous of Qi Jun's ability to build bridges and pave roads. I heard him sigh and say, "I have heard that Cai Anzhen has a true knowledge of Moxue." It can be made into a clever tool, and it is indeed worthy of its reputation when I see it today. ”

Zhou Yu raised his hand and said, "Bo Fu doesn't know, the pontoon bridge is not Cai Anzhen's original thing. The last years of the new mang. The puppet emperor Gongsun Shu was to prevent the Han army from entering Shu. A pontoon bridge was erected between Jingmen and Huya to block the river, and it was called Huya pontoon bridge. The bridge was later burned down by Wuyin Hou Cen Peng, and Gongsun Shu was also defeated and killed. Therefore, the pontoon bridge is by no means a weapon of water warfare. However, the division of labor of the Qi army is clear and orderly, which shows that the Cai family has a good way of governing the army. ”

"Gong Jin has a point." Sun Ce nodded approvingly. In fact, even if there is no reminder from Zhou Yu, Sun Cetong's contact with the Qi army in recent days has somewhat seen Cai Ji's way of governing the army. In his opinion, a person who can train tens of thousands of soldiers and horses to be disciplined and advance and retreat well will not be a layman in military affairs at least.

And just when Sun Ce and Zhou Yu were evaluating Qi Jun word by word. From a distance, I saw Cai Ji in military uniform, surrounded by a group of civil and military personnel, walking towards them to fight horses. Sun Ce immediately stepped forward with Zhou Yu and laughed loudly. "Qihou Lianzhou is a bridge, and it is admirable!"

"The carving insect skill makes Wu Hou laugh." Cai Ji returned the salute. This is not that Cai Ji is pretending to be modest, but compared with many famous military pontoon bridges in later generations, the two pontoon bridges in front of him seem a little simple in terms of scale and function. If he had heard Zhou Yu's remark that the Yangtze River was too wide to build a pontoon bridge, Cai Ji would probably smile harmlessly at humans. Because Zhao Kuangyin, the later Song Taizu, once used three days to build a flat pontoon bridge more than 1,000 meters long in the quarry rock section of the Yangtze River.

According to the current construction progress, the Qi army, under the command of Xiao Bai, the owner of the former Tu Dun Banner, can most of them erect two pontoon bridges before dark. So after greeting Sun and Tuesday, Cai Ji immediately said confidently, "The pontoon bridge can be completed before it sets, and Gu will cross the river tonight, and I ask Wu Hou to prepare early." ”

Sun Ce and Zhou Yu were shocked when they heard that Cai Ji was going to cross the river overnight, and at the same time, they finally figured out the true intention of the Qi army to build a pontoon bridge. Considering that the female prince in front of him had always done things in a disciplined manner, Sun Ce immediately looked like Ling Tan and asked, "The Marquis of Qi is in a hurry to cross the river, but Liu Bei attacks Cao?" ”

"It's not Liu Bei attacking Cao, but the situation has changed." Cai Ji said as he took out the information sent by Guo Jia from his arms and handed it to Sun Ce.

Sun Ce took the brocade silk and glanced at it quickly, and then his sword eyebrows raised and he sneered, "Ma Chao knocks on the pass, please seal?" Just Hu also wants to divide the princes! ”

The reason why Sun Ce underestimated Ma Chao so much. One is because the two have never played each other. Sun Ce, who was only one year older than Ma Chao, was already a famous prince in Eastern Wu, and Ma Chao only began to emerge in Liangzhou after his father entered Beijing as an official. Second, Sun Ce's father, Sun Jian, was the only heroic man who fought head-to-head with Dong Zhuo's army several times and won a great victory among the Kwantung heroes who fought against Dong Zhuo in his early years. On the other hand, Ma Chao's father, Ma Teng, was not named a guard captain by Cao Cao until the year before last. It is no wonder that Sun Ce will have a sense of psychological superiority over the rising Ma Chao.

However, Cai Ji, who is familiar with history books, knows that Ma Chao is neither a loyal minister and a filial son in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", nor a friend of justice in various dramas, nor is he a simple-minded cheating man in the mouths of some later generations. On the contrary, in Cai Ji's eyes, Ma Chao is a brave, resourceful and thoughtful hero. Anyone who underestimates Ma Mengqi will pay the price for their underestimating enemies. In history, Cao Cao did not realize Ma Chao's greatness until he experienced the Battle of Tongguan and Weinan, and exclaimed that "the horse does not die, and I have no place to be buried".

Judging from Ma Chao's actions of knocking on the gate and begging for seals, whether Jin Ma Chao in the current plane has "the courage of faith and cloth", at least his political ambitions are not deviating from those contained in the history books. It must be known that Ma Chao's father, Ma Teng, at most, pursued the feudal marquis and worshipped, and would be a happy "soil emperor" on his own territory. But Ma Chao himself was not willing to do this. This hero, who is often shown as the "Five Tiger Generals" in later novels and operas, has always had the ambition of unifying Liangzhou and entering Guanzhong. In a sense, Ma Chao and Sun Ce have many similarities. It's a pity that Ma Chao was not as lucky as Sun Ce, and he never met Zhou Yu who belonged to him in his life.

Of course, Cai Ji will not let Ma Chao stir up the situation and weaken the political achievements of the four families. Therefore, she even warned Sun Ce, "Ma Mengqi has the courage of faith and cloth, and he is even strong and unkind." Don't take it lightly. ”

Not to mention, Cai Ji's reminder really attracted the attention of Sun Ce and Zhou Yu. It must be known that along the way, Cai Ji often has two beautiful men in his spare time. Influenced by the Han Dynasty's inspection system, the Han Dynasty people were particularly keen on this kind of activity to evaluate the characters. For example, in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the Yuedan Commentary, presided over by Xu Shao brothers, a native of Runan County, was famous for its evaluation, praise and criticism of contemporary characters or poems, characters and paintings. No matter who it is, once it is evaluated, it is worth a hundred times and is worldly. Thought it was a beautiful talk. Among them, the most famous evaluation of the Yuedan review is Xu Shao's comment that Cao Cao is "a capable minister who rules the world and a traitor in troubled times." "Although Cai Ji is not as good at recognizing people as Brother Xu Shao. But her soul comes from later generations, and she is familiar with the experiences of many characters in the late Han Dynasty, and even the conclusion of the coffin. After several times of dismissing the characters, Cai Ji knew a wide range of people and judged people, which really amazed Sun Ce and Zhou Yu.

Therefore, in the eyes of Sun Ce and Zhou Yu. Since Cai Ji said that Ma Chao is comparable to Han Xin and Lu Bu. Then this person is by no means an idle person. As a person who practices martial arts, Sun Ce will inevitably have a competitive heart when he encounters characters who can compete with Han Xin and Lu Bu. Especially Sun Ce had won a great victory in Chibi with the assistance of Zhou Yu before, and it was inevitable that he would use Cao Jun as a reference to compete with Ma Chao, who was thousands of miles away. But seeing that he asked Cai Ji with great interest, "According to Qi Hou's opinion, Cao Jun is not Ma Chao's enemy?" ”

Sun Ce really asked Cai Ji when he said this. Ma Chao certainly has the ability to have ideas, but Liangzhou, where Hu and Han live together, has a lot of forces that pull him back. It's really hard to judge whether you're going to win or lose. So at this time, Cai Ji had to respond thoughtfully, "The outcome of the battle for Ma Cao is still unknown. However, scarcity is expensive. There are many long dreams at night, and it is advisable to rescue Cao Gong as soon as possible. Please seal the escort to the north. ”

Zhou Yu, who was on the side of Cai Ji, also echoed his head, "Bo Fu, Qi Hou is reasonable. ”

Seeing that Zhou Yu also agreed with Cai Ji's statement, Sun Ce naturally didn't have any more words, and directly clapped the decision, "In this case, I will cross the river tonight!" ”

The news of the Qi-Wu coalition army crossing the Han River at night soon reached the Cao camp in Nagasaka. At this time, Cao Ren did not know about Ma Chao's knocking on the pass to ask for sealing, thinking that Cai Ji did not hesitate to risk crossing the river overnight in order to save Cao Cao. Cao Ren, who was deeply moved, immediately put aside all kinds of prejudices and wariness against Cai Ji before, and instead sent his cronies to meet the Qi-Wu coalition army heading south.

However, Zhuge Liang, who is also in the camp of Nagasaka, is not as naïve as Cao Ren at all. Knowing that Cai Ji and Sun Ce crossed the Han River at night regardless of the risk, Zhuge Liang immediately rushed to Ma Liang beside him and asserted, "The Cai and Sun families crossing the Han River at night must have changed!" ”

When Ma Liang heard that Xu Du had changed, his expression suddenly changed, and he quickly blurted out and asked, "Sir, what happened to Xu Du?" ”

"I don't know yet." Zhuge Liang first shook his head helplessly. For Zhuge Liang, the biggest difficulty he is facing at present is not the overwhelming army of Cai and Sun, but the environment in Jingnan. There is a way to know oneself and know that the other is invincible in a hundred battles, and the strategists are based on a large amount of intelligence analysis. But Zhuge Liang knows very little about the situation in the Central Plains at the moment, and it can even be said that his eyes are black. However, Zhuge Liang still looked for a pitiful clue and calmly analyzed, "However, the Cai and Sun families are in a hurry to go south, and most of them are related to the separation. ”

Ma Liang knows that the matter of dividing the feud is related to the future hegemony of his lord. Although he hadn't fully figured out the situation at this moment, he still cautiously continued to ask Zhuge Liang, "Sir, what should I do now?" ”

"Or can I ask Kong Shaofu for news?" Chen Zhi, who was sitting on the side, couldn't help but interject. In the past, Chen Zhi visited Kong Rong's mansion with Liu Bei many times in Xu Du, and he had the impression that the lord had a close personal relationship with Kong Shaofu. At this time, the one who can help them the most in Cao Ying is Kong Rong.

"Xu Du is thousands of miles away from Nanjun, and communication is inconvenient, and Cao Ying is very wary of Kong Shaofu, I am afraid that it will be difficult to make a gain." Zhuge Liang shook his head and vetoed Chen Zhi's suggestion.

Chen Zhi, who touched the nail, was not angry with Zhuge Liang, but looked at Zhuge Liang with eager eyes with Ma Liang, waiting for the wise young military advisor in front of him to come up with a countermeasure. I saw Zhuge Liang bow his head and meditate for a moment, and slowly spit out a word, "Drag." ”

"Drag?" Chen Zhi and Ma Liang looked at each other, obviously not understanding what Zhuge Liang was going to do.

At this time, Zhuge Liang seemed to have cleared his mind, and in order to let his colleagues understand his intentions, Zhuge Liang explained, "The Cai and Sun families are anxious to go south, they are eager to save Cao, and they are anxious to save Cao, and they are anxious to go to Beijing to ask for sealing." Yu and the others only need to drag the Cai and Sun families to force them to tell the truth. ”

Chen Zhi and Ma Liang listened to Zhuge Liang's analysis, and suddenly had a bottom in their hearts, so they hugged their fists and said, "But it is up to the military advisor to decide." ”

The word "drag" is easy to say, but it is not so easy to implement. In order to deal with the upcoming Qi-Wu coalition army, Zhuge Liang sent Chen to secretly inquire about the news, and personally led Ma Liang to visit Kong Rong and Sima Lang one by one. It's a pity that Kong Rong has no idea about the situation in the Central Plains as Zhuge Liang judged before. As for Sima Lang, he completely had a sloppy fight with Zhuge Liang. To make matters worse, Cai Ji and Sun Ce had extremely limited time left for Zhuge Liang.

At the beginning of December of the eighth year of Jian'an, after a long journey of more than two months, Cai Ji and Sun Ce finally led tens of thousands of Qi-Wu coalition troops to arrive at the bank of the Zhangshui River in the northeast of Dangyang. It is true that Liu generals Mi Fang and Wei Yan, who were stationed in the city of Zhangxiang on the west bank of the river, had successfully ambushed Cao's Zhu Gai Department here before. However, this time in the face of the strong Qi-Wu coalition army, the cautious Mi Fang still hung up the anti-battle card on the closed city gate with great interest, and let the coalition army camp along Zhangshui. When he saw the Qi army building high walls and towers, Wei Yan, who had always been bold, gave up the idea of sneaking up on the camp.

At the same time, Cao Ren, who was stationed in Nagasaka, was ecstatic. In his opinion, no matter what selfish intentions Cai Ji and Sun Ce have, at least their appearance can help Cao Cao solve his difficulties. And once Cao Cao returns, Cao Ying will have the backbone. So on the second day after getting the news, Cao Ren led a group of Cao Ying's civil and military forces to beat gongs and drums and rushed to Zhangshui to meet Cai Ji and Sun Ce. In the Cao army team with a banner of display, Zhuge Liang with a scarf and crane is particularly eye-catching. However, Zhuge Liang didn't care about the hostile gaze around him, because he wanted to see with his own eyes what kind of person the woman who had nearly destroyed his years of hard work was. (To be continued......)