Shi Bao recognized the situation, in addition to ordering his subordinates to speed up the digging of tunnels and increase efforts to clear out deserters. It no longer takes the initiative to launch a large-scale offensive against Yixian and Anguo Ercheng. The western front of the Jin Empire was temporarily quiet.

At this time, the middle line (Jingzhou) and the eastern line (Yangzhou) of the Jin State were already in full swing.

According to the order of Emperor Sun Hao of Wu, on April 10, 268 AD, the Jingzhou Army and the Yangzhou Army of Wu sent troops to the Northern Expedition at the same time. The commander of Yangzhou's side is the veteran Ding Feng. On the other hand, Jingzhou is a relatively young Lu Kang.

For no other reason, Shi Ji fell ill and couldn't get out of bed. had to change generals on the spot, and General Lu Kang took over the baton of the Jingzhou Army of Eastern Wu.

Then, as soon as the commander on Soochow's side changed, his tactical style immediately became amazing.

According to Sun Hao's order, on April 10, Lu Kang sent troops from Xiling. He led 40,000 Wu troops to the north at a very high speed, and went down to the mountain on the third day and the mountain capital on the tenth day. On April 23, Lu Kangbing came to Zhuyang County in Nanxiang County. Just a little bit almost locked Chen Qian in the undulating Daba Mountain.

In the past, the Northern Expedition of Eastern Wu, at least the first line of Jingzhou, was aimed at conquering Xiangyang. As a result, Lu Kang didn't even look at the Xiang** Ben in his eyes, and went directly around the city to grab Zhuyang. Fortunately, after receiving Sima Yan's order, Chen Qian recklessly led more than 17,000 Chinese troops to the west, and entered Zhuyang City only two hours earlier than Lu Kang.

This place in Zhuyang is the junction of the north side of the Jianghan Plain and Daba Mountain, if Lu Kang takes this place before Chen Qian, Chen Qian will be finished: the three counties of Shangyong, this era is so poor that it can't support an army as big as Chen Qian. As soon as Zhuyang is lost, Chen Qian will lose his grain. Then there was no shortage of food behind him, Zhang Hu, Zhang Xiong and others, and the result was doomed to the annihilation of the entire army.

"Hey, alas, it's just a little bit off. Governor, what should we do now? ”

"Hehehe, it's a pity that I didn't take Zhuyang and lock up Chen Xiuyuan. But from another perspective, not winning Zhuyang is not necessarily a bad thing. ”

"What do you mean?"

"Shi Ze (Wu Yan), how much grain and grass did our army bring with us in this emergency attack?"

"The food and grass with the army is only enough for one month. It took us 13 days to go north this time. Although it was beneficial to conquer the two county towns halfway, the grain and grass in the army were only 20 days old. ”

"Twenty days, well, that's enough."

"Yes, this food is enough to support our army to return south."

"Returning south? Why should I go south? The order was given, and the whole army immediately marched south, and after being sure that the enemy's scouts understood the movements of our army, they immediately turned to the west bank of the Han River, and then built a raft to cross the Han River. The target is Caiyang in the east of the Han River. ”

"Huh?!"

Lu Kang's order, don't say that the young Wu Yan doesn't understand, even Lu Shu, Lu Mu and others in this army who are old in the battle formation can't understand it: The purpose of our light army going north is to take Zhuyang and lock Chen Qian in Daba Mountain. Now that this strategic goal has failed, what we need to do next is not to honestly withdraw our troops to the south, not to mention returning to Xiling, at least to the south of Xiangyang, connect to the grain route of our army, and then carry out a traditional attack under the city of Xiangyang?

The generals of Eastern Wu didn't understand, but Chen Qian, who had just entered Zhuyang City and didn't wipe off the cold sweat, must have understood very well if he knew Lu Kang's plan.

"Huh~~~ Lu Youjie, this erector, almost locked the old man in Daba Mountain, it's okay, it's okay."

As the son of the former Cao Wei Situ Chen Jiao, Chen Qian fought against Shu Han and Eastern Wu on the Yongliang front line and the Yangzhou Jingzhou front line in the Cao Wei era, and basically won more than defeated. He also served as a magistrate in many places along the way, and he had a good record in any place. In short, this is a general who is both civil and military.

He is one year older than Jiang Wei, and he is also sixty-seven years old this year. But the so-called Jiang Gui's nature is old and spicy. So he immediately began to give orders after calming down a little.

"Herald! Scouts were immediately dispatched to keep an eye on the movements of Lu Youjie's army. Be sure to report every half a day! ”

"Whoa!"

"The order ordered Wang Xuanchong (Wang Hun) of Xiangyang to lead 20,000 defenders of Xiangyang out of the city and march to the northwest, so that it is best to enter Shandu County before the Lu Kang army, even if he can't catch up, he must block the road to Lu Kang's south. Explain to him that he would only need his 20,000 men to block Lu Kang for three days. If Ben didn't arrive three days later, even if he let Lu Kang go, it would be fine. But if he didn't last for three days, Ben would definitely ask Jieyue to behead him! ”

"Whoa!"

"The order was ordered, ordering Xinye's Uncle Yang to immediately lead the Xinye garrison of 10,000 people to quickly go south, and count the day he received the order, he would enter Deng County within five days. If you can't do it, military law will do it! ”

"Whoa!"

"Again! Belch...... It was not an order, Hongxian (Chen Zhi, Chen Qian's grandson), to send a letter to the king of Runan in Nanyang, saying that it was rare for General Wu to be stupid, and the fighters of the Jingzhou army that completely annihilated the enemy had appeared. Due to the fleeting nature of the fighter, Ben General crossed the King of Runan and directly gave orders to Uncle Yang and Wang Xuanchong. Yue, please be more considerate. And greet the king of Runan, the fighter plane is rare, please lead him to lead the 5,000 people of Nanyang to immediately go south and join the general! ”

"Whoa!"

"Well, this is a very important matter, you will use the letter to print it and go there yourself."

"Yes, grandfather."

So far, Chen Qian's strategy has been fully demonstrated: taking the three county towns of Zhuyang, Shandu, and Dengxian as the fulcrum. More than 52,000 people of the Jingzhou Legion of the entire Jin State were heavily stationed at three fulcrums. This forms a narrow triangle. Then completely surrounded the 40,000 people of Lu Kang in this triangle. At that time, the Jin army had a strong city to rely on, and the grain route was also very smooth. Soochow, on the other hand, lost its grain routes. If such a situation arises, what will be the situation of the war, do you need to say?

Unlike the individual combat effectiveness of the Shu Han army, which was always stronger than that of the Wei and Jin Yongliang field army, the army of Eastern Wu was of course very powerful in water warfare, but in addition to the elite such as no difficulty and trouble, the combat effectiveness of other field troops on land was not as good as that of the Jingyang field army of the Wei and Jin dynasties. In battles where the soldiers on both sides were roughly equal, if the Wu army did not have the support (such as the city wall) and fought in the wilderness, the Eastern Wu was generally defeated.

Therefore, Chen Qian dared to use 47,000 people to surround the other party's 40,000 people (the Jin army and Sima Liang's 5,000 directly subordinate troops and 5,000 sailors were not included, and the Eastern Wu still had 10,000 sailors to be included). And if Lu Kang was really stupid and stupid to go south, of course he would crash into the encirclement arranged by Chen Qian.

Fortunately, the commander of this army is called Lu Kang.

He didn't almost close the frustration of the other party's main general, but became more excited. The mood of the chief general was so obvious that it profoundly infected the whole army.

On 23 April, Lu Kang's army turned and headed south. At the same time, the envoys sent by Chen Qian to Xiangyang also quickly moved south.

On the 24th, Wang Hun, who received the order, immediately led 20,000 Xiangyang troops to the west, and on the 26th, Wang Hun entered the mountain capital.

On the 24th, Chen Qian's army began to move south. On the 25th, Yanghu's army also quickly moved south.

On the 28th, the Jin army's three-way army met under the mountain capital......

"You mean, you haven't seen any trace of Wu Gou?"

"Yes, general, after the last general entered the mountain capital on the 26th, I was afraid that it would be too late, and immediately sent a large number of scouts to the south to inquire after entering the city. Along the way, the township chief and pavilion chief all said that they did not see Wu Gou's brigade passing by. ”

"General, the last general came from Xinye, and I haven't seen Wu Gou's army."

"Huh? Strange, can't this Wu dog fly? ”

"Report ~~~ General! Generals, report urgently! Wu Jun, sneak attack Cai Yang! ”

"Huh?! How so? What the hell is going on, you tell me in detail! ”

"Whoa! The general, after moving south on the 23rd, turned eastward on the 24th, crossed fifteen miles north of Deng County on the 25th, crossed the Han River on the 26th, and then took Caiyang on the east bank of the Han River. ”

"Hey~~~! This Lu Young's Day is really bold! Well, however, this trick did come beautifully, and the general's encirclement was broken through by him at once. ”

"General, now is not the time to praise the enemy. Wu Dog is running eastward, and my Jiangxia County in Dajin is in danger! ”

"Well, Ben doesn't think so. That Lu Youjie does not look like a mediocre general. He won't be stupid and return to Wu from Jiangxia County! ”

As mentioned earlier, Jiangxia County in Eastern Wu and Jiangxia County in Wei and Jin Dynasty appear to have a long line of junction on the map, but the contention between the two countries for Jingzhou never began between the two Jiangxia counties. The main reason is that between the two Jiangxia counties is the Dabie Mountain, which is difficult to cross with a large-scale army and grain and grass baggage. Therefore, Chen Qian said: It is extremely difficult for Lu Kang to cross the Dabie Mountain and return to Jiangxia County of Wu through Jiangxia County of the Jin State.

"Then what does the general think Lu Youjie means by retreating to the east bank of the Han River?"

"It's not clear exactly what he thinks. But I would like to ask you to pay attention to one point: the naval army of Soochow in Jingzhou is far stronger than ours. As long as its navy enters the Han River, the Lu Young Festival can be said to come and go freely on both sides of the Han River. So, Ben will mean ......"

"Report ~~~~! General, the order of the king of Runan! ”

Hiss~~~ No, what is this beautiful prince mixing at this time?