Entering July, Liu Cong can be said to be living like a year, in addition to urging the military and civilians to build city walls and fortifications on the spot, he paid close attention to Cao Cao's movements every day. Jin Yiwei and other intelligence officers reported back to Xiangyang from the north almost every day.

Liu Cong remembered that in history, Cao Cao began to train the navy in the spring of the thirteenth year of Jian'an, preparing to march south to Liu Biao, and did not set off until July. After half a year, the preparation should be said to be very sufficient. But in July, Liu Biao died of illness in August, and after a month, Cao's army had not yet arrived in Jingzhou, and in September, Cao's army drove to Xinye, and there was no major war in between. The speed at which Cao's army marched was suspicious.

Marching slowly, there could be three reasons. One is that Cao Cao deliberately, anyway, his own troops are extremely strong, and it is easier to cause internal shock and chaos among the enemy if he moves slowly; Second, the number of Cao troops is too large, the consumption is too large, and it is indeed impossible to walk fast; Third, the morale of Cao's army was not strong, and the soldiers were reluctant to march south.

Later, when Cao Jun rode lightly to chase Liu Bei, he traveled 300 miles a day, which was the fastest speed. Liu Bei traveled with the people, traveling more than ten miles a day, which is the slowest speed. As a rough estimate, the normal marching speed should be about 100 to 200 miles per day. From Xuchang to Xiangyang, no matter how you go, you will arrive within a month. The low morale of Cao's army was the main reason.

And there may be several reasons for low morale. The unwillingness to fight and die for no reason is one thing, and the second is to worry about the weather and soil in the south. If we read the works of Jia Yi and Wang Cang, we can understand the fear of the people of the Central Plains in the Han Dynasty about the weather and soil in the south.

In addition to the Battle of Chibi, several northern expeditions to the south during the Three Kingdoms period encountered this problem. Cao Cao, Cao Pi and other generations of southern expeditions were all in vain. The reason for the low morale was later expected by Zhuge Liang, Zhou Yu and other resourceful people. It can be said that in the Battle of Chibi, Cao Jun had congenital diseases from his mother's womb.

Liu Cong was also convinced of this reason, and when discussing countermeasures with Zhuge Liang in the past few days, he talked about the morale of the Cao army. The two have always believed that as long as the first battle is not defeated and the Cao army is consumed, the morale of the Cao army will definitely decline further, and no matter how powerful Cao Cao is, he may not be able to return to the sky.

However, Liu Cong did not intend to pin his hopes of victory in the battle on the morale of Cao's army, after all, it was a fact that Cao Cao successfully occupied the Central Plains and recovered Hebei, and the soldiers had a psychological advantage.

On the third day of the seventh month, Liu Cong once again led the generals to inspect the defensive preparations of Lifancheng and the terrain north of Fancheng. When he returned to Fancheng, Liu Cong immediately convened the largest military conference before the war. Grandfather Huang, Zhang Yun, Huo Jun, Wang Wei and others were all invited to participate.

"According to the intelligence, Cao's army has been prepared and will set off soon. Cao Cao gathered the men and horses of the four northern states, and his strength increased greatly, I estimate that there are more than 100,000 soldiers, plus the people who transported grain and grass may exceed 200,000, or even more! ”

As soon as Liu Cong's words came out, most of the people present gasped.

It is not surprising that in the era of cold weapons, the numerical advantage was difficult to surpass. Seeing the expressions of the generals, Liu Cong secretly congratulated himself that he had started early. If this meeting is held in Xiangyang, wait until Cao Cao's army sets out, claiming to be 800,000, if Cai Mao and Kuai Yue are present. I'm afraid that many people will immediately jump out and ask for a quick submission.

However, these people, except for Zhang Yun, the others were either picked up by Liu Cong, or they had worked with Liu Cong for many years and knew what Liu Cong had done. Although there was a trace of worry in their hearts, they would never say anything if they surrendered, and they didn't even have such thoughts.

Glancing at the generals, Liu Cong continued: "Although Cao's army is powerful, our advantages are also obvious, and we are waiting for work. We are good at water warfare, and Xiangyang City has a natural barrier on the Han River. So as long as we are well prepared, Cao Jun will definitely not be able to help us. But we can't sit still in Xiangyang City, where there are hundreds of thousands of people with our savings for many years.

My idea is that we can't let the enemy cross the Han River, and now that we have 20,000 sailors, we should be able to control the Han River. So I'm going to focus my defense on Fancheng and the Han River, and when Cao's army arrives, I'll take Fancheng myself. Liu Pan, Wen Ping, Wei Yan, and Jiang Wan were stationed in Fancheng with me. Gan Ning, Huo Jun, and Wang Wei led the army to hold the Han River, and Gan Ning supervised the naval army. Huang Zu, Zhuge Liang, and Pan Rui led the army to hold on to Xiangyang in case there was a change! ”

"Lord, Liang is willing to guard Fancheng for the lord!" Since Zhuge Liang followed Liu Cong, his main task was to take care of the affairs of Nanjun for Liu Cong, and in his spare time was to develop some siege equipment and combat equipment for soldiers. In the past, Liu Cong couldn't fight many battles, big and small, and Zhuge Liang didn't participate in it, until the Jiangxia rescue battle, Zhuge Liang was not the pioneer and main commander. Now that he heard that Liu Cong wanted to guard Fancheng in person, he took the initiative to ask for help.

"Yes, my lord, Huang Zu is not talented, and I am willing to guard Fancheng for my lord. Please sit in Xiangyang and dispatch the command! "Since the Battle of Jiangxia, Huang Zu has always wanted to find an opportunity to wash away the humiliation of the day in order to repay Liu Cong's kindness.

"Yes, please sit in Xiangyang and dispatch, we will definitely defend Fancheng and the Han River, and never go to the Cao army to cross the Han River." Wen Ping, Gan Ning and others were also a little worried when they saw Liu Cong's division of labor. After all, Liu Cong is the lord of a state, and it is not good to be too close to the front line.

Liu Cong knew the thoughts of the generals, but how could he retreat at this time: "The country is in trouble, and the Son of Heaven should guard the country!" What's more, Cong is just a state pastor, and Cao Cao must also be a pro-Zheng, he has now proclaimed himself prime minister, Cong is just a general of Pingnan, how can he shrink his head. Needless to say, the division of labor is no longer necessary. It makes sense to keep Uncle Huang and Mr. Kong Ming guarding Xiangyang.

Uncle Huang has confronted Sun Quanjun in Jiangxia for many years, and the terrain of Xiangyang is the same as that of Shaxian, both facing the river. Mr. Kong Ming has been taking care of government affairs for Cong. The so-called soldiers and horses have not moved, and the grain and grass go first! Mr. stayed in Xiangyang, Cao Jun failed to cross the river, and Mr.'s main task was to ensure logistics.

If Cao's army is lucky enough to break through the defense of Fancheng, we will quickly withdraw from the Han River to Xiangyang. Therefore, the task of Xingba and others seems to be easy, but it is actually related to the overall situation, don't be careless! ”

Liu Cong first shouted the slogan of Zhu Di's Son of Heaven guarding the country, and then analyzed the specialties of the generals in detail. Especially Huang Zu and Zhuge Liang, Liu Cong is right, although Huang Zu is good at water warfare, his land combat record is average. Although Zhuge Liang is good at government affairs, he lacks practical experience. Staying in Xiangyang is actually the best choice.

Seeing that Liu Cong had a plan, the generals no longer insisted. There is only one person who is more anxious, and that is Zhang Yun. In Liu Biao's era, he was very favored. The reason is very simple, he is Liu Biao's nephew, and it is normal for his uncle to spoil his nephew.

Now that Liu Cong is in power, as soon as he comes to power, he will punish Kuai Yue and transfer Cai Mao, who is not with him, to Jiangxia. My cousin is idle.

In terms of relationship, Liu Pan, Zhuge Liang and others are all cousins of Liu Cong. But when it comes to intimacy, Liu Pan and Zhuge Liang and others have followed Liu Cong since he was appointed as the Taishou of Nanjun. In terms of ability, Zhang Yun also knows that he is not as good as Wen Ping, Huang Zu, Gan Ning Wei Yan and others. But I didn't expect that most of the participants today received the defensive task, so they were idlers and got up immediately.

"Lord, although Yun is not talented, but the enemy is current, Yun doesn't want to be idle at home!"

"Cousin, although you are brave and good at fighting, the elite soldiers of Xiangyang's subordinates back then have now been taken to Jiangxia by Cai Taishou. Now you are not familiar with the soldiers in Fancheng and Xiangyang City......"

"Then I wish to obey the order before the tent!" Once a son of heaven and a courtier, of course Zhang Yun understands. Even his father-in-law Liu Cong can be dispensed with, let alone a cousin, thinking of gaining Liu Cong's trust, he must perform in battle.

"My cousin is a general, and I can't give in to be a pawn, even if my cousin is willing. Everyone will also laugh at me, Liu Cong is ignorant and not virtuous......"

"This ......" Zhang Yun was speechless for a while, for the general, Liu Cong didn't give the task, and for the soldier Liu Cong didn't let him, could it be that Liu Cong completely gave up on himself, so why let himself come to the meeting today?

"Cousin, it's not completely idle, now there is an important matter that needs manpower, I wonder if my cousin is interested?"

"Yes, yes!" Zhang Yun didn't ask anything, he didn't have the qualifications to pick a task in front of Wen Ping, Zhuge Liang and others, so he agreed again and again.

"I will give you 1,000 sailors and 5,000 people, and you can double the moat of Fancheng and the river connecting with the Han River within a month?"