Cao Jun has retreated, there is no doubt about it.

Xu Huang, who was stationed in the Suizhou area, Zhang He's department, the army had already been drawn. And after Zhuge Liang received Guan Yu's order, he made two preparations.

The first is to send out all the naval troops, and the second is that Zhuge Liang handed over the affairs of Anlu to Jiang Wan, the chief historian, to be responsible, and then the 8,000 soldiers and horses in the city were divided into two.

Leaving Chen Lan, Lei Xu defended the city, and he led 4,000 elite soldiers to cross the river and camp in Liyang, Jiangxia.

Jiangxia is divided into two by the Yangtze River, and the southern part of the bank is currently occupied by Zhou Yu. The north shore is divided into two by the Han River from north to south.

Anlu is a piece in the northeast, and several counties such as Liyang are Jiangxia located in the northwest and are closely connected with Nanjun.

In order to compete with Zhou Yu for Nanjun, Zhuge Liang personally rolled up his sleeves.

The 18,000 or so sailors of Huang Zhong, Wang Wei, and Ding Feng were stationed near the junction of Jiangxia and Nanjun, and set up a water village, echoing Zhuge Liang's Liyang City.

That is to say, at present, in the east of Jiangling City, there is Zhuge Liang's naval army, with more than 20,000 infantry troops.

The western location of Nanjun has 16,700 people from the three armies of Ma Liang, Zhang Bao, Mi Wei, and Zhao Tong.

And Li Zhengze led 5,500 elite soldiers to chase Xiahou Yuan.

In other words, Zhou Yu could only compete with the Guan family for Nanjun, but it was difficult for the Guan family to compete with the Guan family for strategic places such as Xiangyang and Fancheng.

And if Cao Cao goes back to the north, Guan Yu will also lead the Xinye elite soldiers to the south, which will put pressure on Jiangdong in three aspects.

Of course, Jiangdong has a lot of troops, 40,000 naval infantry troops in Jiangling City, 10,000 naval troops in Youjiangkou, and Sun Quan has arrived in Jiangxia, leading 50,000 troops, a total of hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers, half a catty and eight taels on both sides, and the tip of the needle is against Maimang.

After Zhuge Liang arrived in Liyang, the first thing he did was not to march into the army, but to defend. He first ordered the chief bookkeeper Ge Yun to send people to recruit the surrounding counties, regardless of Jiangxia or Nanjun, all of them sent people to lobby, hoping that they would join the Guan family.

In this regard, Zhuge Liang and Ma Liang's ideas are surprisingly consistent. Because the officials on the Guan family's side are basically all from Jingzhou, they have an advantage.

And when the Guan family was surrounded by troops, Zhou Yu did not dare to divide his troops to attack the county seat, lest he be broken one by one.

Zhou Yu won the running race and was the first to enter Gangneung City.

But in the second stage, it was Guan Jia who won. On the north bank of the Yangtze River, many county commanders and cities on the Jianghan Plain expressed their willingness to join the Guan family.

As a result, the situation became that Zhou Yu occupied Jiangling, but all around him were the forces of the Guan family, the city.

But at the same time, Sun Quan marched from Jiangxia to Youjiangkou, and the strength of Youjiangkou had reached 60,000, plus the strength of Jiangling City, Jiangdong's 100,000 elite soldiers had been assembled.

It is very likely that the two sides will miss their guns and shoot a shot.

Not to mention how Jiangling City is, let's say that Li Zheng led his troops to pursue Xiahou Yuan.

Xiahou Yuan, Li Guang, and Xu Lan, the three generals, led the elite of 20,000 or 30,000 Cao troops, and plundered the people to Xiangyang to join Cao Cao.

Xiahou Yuan went first, but he walked very slowly. First, Cao Jun has a lot of baggage carts, not to mention anything else, since he took away the people, he won't not give a tent at night, right?

There are countless heavy trucks and more than 100,000 people. These people are more or less resistant, both old and weak, and naturally walk very slowly.

In the afternoon, close to evening, night was approaching. Xiahou Yuan led his troops to the Dangyang area.

"Hurry up, hurry up."

100,000 people, plus many heavy wagons, travel only twenty or thirty miles a day, even if the Cao soldiers are eyeing each other, if they encounter a person who walks slowly, they will have to whip or kick it, but they can't go fast or can't go fast.

And the people also have tempers, a whip, a kick, and then they burst out of resentment, can not resist, but can walk more slowly.

All in all, no matter how Cao Jun urges, this group of more than 100,000 people will not be able to go fast.

This huge team is not without rules, the three generals of the Cao army, Xiahou Yuan's 10,000 horses are broken, and Li Guang and Xu Lan's men and horses are walking in front, guarding and guarding the people.

Rear.

Under the banner of "Xiahou", Xiahou Yuan walked on horseback, full of personal soldiers on the left and right, he looked up at the sky, and his heart was not happy.

It must be known that Xiahou Yuan's march speed is extremely fast, claiming to be five hundred in three days and one thousand miles in six days. often caught off guard and attacked unprepared, but the infantry army was used as cavalry.

And now it's too difficult to walk twenty or thirty miles a day.

"I'm not leaving. If we go any further, there will be no effort to set up camp, and without a camp, the people will flee. Set up camp at once. ”

Xiahou Yuan ordered.

"No." The soldiers answered the promise and immediately gave the order. After that, Li Guang and Xu Lan's subordinates continued to take care of the people, while Xiahou Yuan led 10,000 horses from his headquarters to choose a vacant land and set up camp.

Generally, if the army is marching and fighting, if there are many men and horses, it is necessary to use joint ventures. But Xiahou Yuan's camp is very interesting, the overall square is square, but it presents a "Hui" character. Latest

There is a high wall inside, and many crossbowmen stand on the wall, guarding the inner camp, which is the place where hundreds of thousands of people gather. There is no need to take into account the movement of troops, it is very crowded and dense.

Xiahou Yuan once sent someone to tell the people that if anyone dared to make a noise and turmoil, the archers would not hesitate to kill them all, so the people did not move.

On the periphery, Xiahou Yuan divided the soldiers and horses into four parts, each garrisoning one side.

This basically formed a moving city, and every city with an army garrison was laid out in this way, with the army guarding a wall, including the people.

By the time we set up camp, it was almost dark. Xiahou Yuan still ordered the soldiers to shout, and the order to kill everyone if they dared to disturb was announced again.

Promote fear, carry out intimidation.

Then instead of starving the people to death, they sent some soldiers to bring hot meals, and everyone's rations were very small, and there was only white rice.

But you don't have to starve.

Xiahou Yuan personally guarded the southern camp gate. Xiahou Yuan led the troops to fight, and he was still very hands-on. He led his troops to inspect the camp gate, and even when he saw that the antlers in front of the camp gate were slightly damaged, he asked his soldiers to light torches and repair the antlers.

The main body of the antlers is a wooden structure, and the wood is sharpened, the pointed part is outward, and the sharp iron tools are attached to the ground, which is very strong.

After Xiahou Yuan personally repaired the antlers, he handed over the tools to his own soldiers, and planned to go back to the barracks. At this moment, several fast horses came from the south.

The soldiers around Xiahou Yuan were immediately on guard, and then they came to ride and shouted: "The brothers in the city don't want to release arrows, we are exploring horses." ”

And Xiahou Yuan also saw that there were not many people coming from the other party, so he waved his hand to let his soldiers let down their guard. Soon after, a group of eleven cavalrymen came to Xiahou Yuan, turned over and dismounted, and reported: "General." Zhou Yu won the city. ”

"Hmph, Jiangdong rats." Xiahou Yuan snorted coldly, although the city was burned by himself and given up, it still made him very unhappy.

"What about the Ma Liang Department of Zigui?" Xiahou Yuan immediately asked.

"No movement yet." The cavalry shook his head and said.

Xiahou Yuan arranged many spies in the south to listen to the situation. However, it would take several days for Ma Liang to lead his troops to Gangneung City, and it was impossible for the spies to go too far.

The Jianghan Plain is very large, and Li Zheng is extremely cautious in using his troops, and he can cover up a little by taking a remote route, so the spies that Xiahou Yuan did not have did not hear the news of Li Zheng's department.

And even if it's a spy, there are working hours. In the evening, the horses also had to return to the barracks to rest.

After Xiahou Yuan heard the news, he let the team go down to rest. Xiahou Yuan himself also returned to the camp to rest. Take a shower and change your clothes, then go to bed.

Before going to bed, Xiahou Yuan was still extremely uneasy, and repeatedly explained: "Order the soldiers to light torches to illuminate the surroundings, and be careful to guard the camp." ”

................

Xiahou Yuan was equipped with many spies in the south, and they moved with the army, and wherever the army went, the spies were all over the place, and they always followed the army within twenty miles.

Li Zheng was not only extremely cautious in his march, but also walked in an extremely remote place, and he was also twenty or thirty miles away from Xiahou Yuan's army.

Cao Jun's spies, of course, couldn't hear Li Zheng's movements.

The Jingshan Mountain Range starts from Hanshui in the north and goes straight to the vicinity of Zigui in the south. It is a longitudinal north-south mountain range. Li Zheng was walking near the mountains.

In order to prevent Cao Jun's spies from hearing the news, Li Zheng hung from a distance, and he didn't know where Cao Jun was camped.

But through the traces of the wheels, and then calculating the distance, it can be roughly calculated that Xiahou Yuan has walked near Dangyang.

Further north, it is possible that Cao Cao's army will respond. It can't be delayed any longer. Li Zheng decided to move troops tonight, and after deciding, Li Zheng ordered the whole army to sleep.

In the middle of the night, Li Zheng was woken up by his own soldiers, and while ordering the soldiers to assemble and eat dry food to replenish their strength, he put on armor and ate some dry food to satisfy his hunger.

After the soldiers gathered in the east of the camp, Li Zheng turned over his horse and came to the soldiers with his own soldiers. Guan Yangwu treats me Li Zheng well, and I Li Zheng treats you well. Today, I want you to risk your lives and fight against Cao's army. Those who dare to do it will follow me, and those who have no courage will stay, and I will not be harsh, let you go home. Now go. ”

After Li Zheng said a few words, he didn't say a word, called a driver, raised his horsewhip, and rode his horse to the east to be the sun.

Of the more than 5,500 soldiers who followed, none of them were left behind, and all of them followed Li Zheng without saying a word.

Tonight is a good night, the moon is bright, so there is no need to light torches, but it is much more hidden.

This time it was not a temptation, but a strong attack.

The bet is that the people in Cao's military camp will mutiny. If Xiahou Yuan only had a large army, then Li Zheng would not dare, but now Li Zheng would dare.

And this is also the first time that after Cao Cao's 200,000 horse infantry army went south, the forces of the Guan family fought head-on with Cao's army.

And it's the attacking side.

Ma Liang and Li Zheng's courage is definitely big enough.