Jiangdong, Chaisang Daying.

Sun Ce looked at the map of Jingxiang in front of him, he took Jiangxia once, but unfortunately because of Lu Bu, he finally lost Jiangxia, over the years, Sun has always been a little wavering about taking Jingzhou or Jianghuai.

Going to Jianghuai meant that Jiangdong had to give up the advantage of the naval army and confront the Cao army, which was good at fighting on the plains, in the wilderness of Yima Pingchuan; And taking Jiangdong, to a large extent, is equivalent to giving up the Central Plains, especially in the current situation of Chen Cao's all-out war, giving Sun Ce only one chance to choose.

And take Jingzhou, it is relatively easy, and Jingzhou is surrounded by Han water, more vertical and horizontal waterways, and there are mountains and rivers to defend, if you can take Nanyang together, only with Jingzhou and Yangzhou, Sun Ce will have the ability to defend against the Central Plains, even if you can't get Nanyang, as long as the two counties of Jiangxia and Nanjun succeed, it will be stronger for Sun Ce than in a corner of Jiangdong.

According to the strategy proposed by Zhou Yu and Lu Su to Sun Ce, first take Jingzhou, enter Bashu in the west, and then unite with the Xiliang Qiang people and many righteous people who were dissatisfied with Chen Mo's atrocities to annex Guanzhong, which is the most suitable strategy for Jiangdong.

In terms of national strength, although Sun Ce supported Liu Ji and established the Jiangdong Imperial Court, but tied Jiangdong and Jingzhou together, they are not the opponents of either Chen Mo and Cao Cao today, and now the two tigers are competing, if they can go down to Jingzhou before Chen Mo and Cao Cao decide the winner, then they will occupy the geographical advantage first, and then they can see the dispute between Chen and Cao, if both sides are defeated, then take advantage of the situation to attack Nanyang, if Chen Mo is strong, then take the first step to capture Bashu, but the Central Plains, can not be moved lightly.

Sun Ce had attacked Guangling, Huainan and other places several times before, and it could be said that Chen Deng was powerful before, but after Chen Deng's death, even if Sun Ce accidentally captured some places, he would soon be recaptured.

It's not that Sun Ce is incompetent, but that the strength of the Jiangdong Army in land warfare really can't be compared with the Cao Army, and even the generals of the Jiangdong Army are more adapted to the style of water warfare.

This disadvantage is not too obvious in a place like Jianghuai, where the waterways are crisscrossed, but the further north you go, the greater this disadvantage becomes, and now Jiangdong has no time and conditions to form a special land army, let alone cavalry.

And the only one who can give full play to the advantages of the Jiangdong army in water warfare is Jingzhou, so this time, Zhou Yu and Lu Su suggested that Sun Ce agree to Cao Cao's alliance.

The difference is that Cao Cao asked Sun Ce to directly wave his troops to Nanyang and cooperate with the attack after capturing Jiangxia, but Sun Ce's side, Zhou Yu and Lu Su's view was that they should not care about the war in the Central Plains and annex Jingzhou first before talking about anything else, but giving up the attack on the land of Jianghuai would also allow Cao Cao to fight Chen Mo with all his might.

Everyone does not interfere with each other, and as for who will benefit in the end, it is up to each to rely on the means.

As for taking Jingzhou, Sun Ce still has some confidence, Huang Zu is dead, this time to send troops, Jingzhou is estimated to have Cai Mao as the commander of the army, and it will be won.

"Gong Jin, this time to cross the river, I plan to cross Jiangxia directly and attack Jiangling first!" Sun Ce clicked on the map, suddenly raised his head, looked at Zhou Yu and said, "What does Gong Jin think?" ”

"Is it too risky?" Zhou Yu looked at the map and frowned.

The advantage of water warfare is that you can ignore the terrain, as long as you are near the water, you can kill directly, and the supply is more convenient and faster than on land, but you can not fight wherever you want.

Sun Ce's purpose is very clear, this Jiangling is an important town in Nanjun, although there is no definite news, but this must be the place where the Jingzhou army hoards weapons, grain and grass, if it can capture Jiangling in a war, it is equivalent to detaining the death hole of the Jingzhou army.

But there are several ferries along the way, not to mention the solidity of the Jiangling city, whether it can go down in a battle, just take Jiangxia alone, the Jiangdong Navy is mighty and upstream, to attack Jiangling, Jiangxia's Jingzhou army can easily block the retreat of the Jiangdong Navy and cut off supplies, so if the sailors who go to attack Jiangling cannot break through Jiangling in the first time, they can only be trapped to death.

"No, with that Cai Mao as a person, he must be a stubborn defender, how dare he come to the river to fight me?" When Sun Ce heard this, he smiled.

Zhou Yu suddenly said: "Bo Fu said bluntly, why bother around these bends? ”

The ultimate goal is still Jiangxia, but in a different way, from the previous strong attack, to attract Cai Mao to lead the water army out, when the time came, it was originally a counterattack, and it was suddenly replaced by a direct attack on the Jingzhou water army, with Sun Ce's attainments in water warfare, unless there is a miracle, Cai Mao will be defeated.

"I have calculated, on the first day of November, there is an east wind, and when the time comes, I will borrow the wind to the west, and when the east wind stops, I will go down the river and catch him off guard!" Sun Ce said with a smile.

Although the northwest wind is mostly in this winter, there will be an occasional east wind blowing, Sun Ce has been preparing for a long time in Chaisang, and most of the local farmers know the approximate time of the east wind.

Zhou Yu looked at the map, nodded and said: "I will secretly lead a group of men and horses, and when you are fighting with the Jingzhou naval army, I will take the opportunity to seize Xiakou and cut off its way back!" ”

"Good!" Sun Ce hammered a punch in Zhou Yu's chest: "Those who know me, Gong Jin also!" ”

The plan has been decided, and the next thing is to wait for the east wind to rise.

It's just that on the day of Jiazi Day, Sun Ce has already brought all the warships to the ferry and is ready to travel, but on the Yangtze River, it is a rare sunny day, with a clear sky, not to mention the wind, and there is not a single cloud.

"My lord, I haven't seen the wind!" Zhou Tai came to Sun Ce's side a little anxiously, frowned, and said, "Why don't we wait and go directly?" ”

"Not how." Sun Ce leisurely leaned on the side of the boat and looked at the river view: "I didn't discuss with Cai Mao when to send troops, even later, it won't be in the way." ”

This strategy is to take the east wind as the signal, take the wind and go, and turn back when the wind stops, Zhou Yu's side is also according to the changes in the east wind, without the east wind, this plan will be difficult to implement, anyway, these days, Sun Ce is not in a hurry.

"Whoa!" When Zhou Tai heard this, he didn't ask any more questions, bowed and bowed, and turned to leave.

Time passed little by little, until the evening, Sun Ce sat cross-legged on the board of the boat, with a flag planted in front of him, drooping the flag, occasionally fluttering, but this little wind was not enough.

The soldiers around were also a little sluggish, and their morale was still high in the morning, but after a day on the river, their morale had already withered.

"Lord, are you still waiting?" Jiang Qin flipped over from another boat, ran to Sun Ce's side, and bowed down to ask.

Sun Ce picked up the flag, waved it, and said a little helplessly: "Let's take a look tomorrow and collect the troops." ”

"Whoa!" Jiang Qin agreed, got up and prepared to withdraw his troops, but just as he turned around, a cold wind blew in his face, which made Jiang Qin pause.

"Slow!" Sun Ce suddenly stopped Jiang Qin, looking at the flag fluttering in the wind in his hand, a flash of excitement flashed in his eyes.

"Lord ......" Jiang Qin turned around, looked at the flag in Sun Ce's hand, and smiled, after waiting for a day, the wind finally came.

"Command the officers of the three armies, light the torch for me!" Sun Ce couldn't help laughing.

"Whoa!"

For a time, one by one, the sails were raised, and the soldiers also came to the spirit, quickly pulled out the anchor, and the fleet set sail from Chaisang under the command of Sun Ce, and went up the river with the east wind.

When Jiangdong's fleet passed by Xiakou, such a large fleet was lit with torches, how could they not notice it, and hurriedly reported it to Cai Mao.

"The Jiangdong Army is coming?" Cai Mao heard that the Jiangdong Navy was coming, so he quickly changed color, got up and asked.

Could this Sun Lang be trying to attack at night?

"Never." The general bowed down and said: "The Jiangdong fleet did not stop here, but went upstream, and it seems that it is not here to attack Xiakou. ”

"Isn't it Xia Kou?" Cai Mao frowned, thinking of the ferries and cities along the river, his face suddenly changed: "It's not good, then Sun Lang must be going to Jiangling, immediately order someone to set off a beacon fire, notify the water village along the river to prepare for war, and don't let that Sun Lang succeed!" ”

Jiangling is an important place in Nanjun and even the entire Jingzhou, stockpiling a large amount of grain and grass, weapons, and battle armor, if Jiangling is lost, half of Nanjun and even Jiangxia will be abolished.

"Whoa!" The general agreed, turned around and went to give the order.

Cai Mao paced in the tent, this Sun Ce was really bold, he dared to take Jiangling directly, but Jiangling is not so easy to take, as long as there is a defense, Jiangdong wants to capture Jiangling but thinks too much.

Well?

Cai Mao's footsteps suddenly stopped, pinched his beard under his chin and thought, suddenly raised his head, looked outside the camp and shouted, "Someone! ”

"General!" A guard came in and saluted Cai Mao.

"Pass my military order, dispatch all the ships in Xiakou, tie the five ships across the river and tie them up with ropes for me, and the rest of the warships will follow behind the warships to cut off the retreat of the Jiangdong army!" Cai Mao said with a smile, in this battle, he wants to destroy the elite of Jiangdong, Sun Ce is brave, but he is just a reckless man, like this, the back road is broken, no matter who goes to Jiangling, there will be no return, after this battle, see if Sun Lang still dares to fight the idea of Jingzhou!

"Whoa!" The guards received the order, and immediately turned around to pass the order, and Cai Mao also used his own building ship, this battle was a must-win battle in his opinion, just taking this opportunity to make a name for himself, and let others know that it was not only he Liu Bei who could win the battle in Jingzhou.

Cai Mao's speed was very fast, and Xiakou's abnormal movements were soon discovered by the sentinels arranged by Zhou Yu nearby, and they immediately went to report to Zhou Yu.

"After this battle, the Jingzhou Navy will no longer be able to be the enemy of our Jiangdong, and Jiangxia will be at your fingertips!" Zhou Yu looked at Lu Su and the generals beside him and said with a smile.

"Gong Jin, when will I send troops?" Cheng Pu looked at Zhou Yu, although he was not convinced by Zhou Yu, but since Sun Ce let Zhou Yu preside over the overall situation, he couldn't help but listen.

"When the east wind stops, send troops immediately." Zhou Yu smiled and said: "Generals, go and prepare, I not only want Xiakou in this battle, but also the whole Jiangxia!" ”

"Whoa!"