The chaos in Changsha soon reached the ears of Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin, who were in the public security, and after consulting with the newly surrendered Cai Mao, they realized that this was a golden opportunity to capture Changsha. At this time, Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin held nearly 45,000 people, including light and serious wounded and prisoners, although the wounded and prisoners accounted for the vast majority, the wounded soldiers had not yet recovered, and the Jingzhou army had just been reorganized, and the combat power was far inferior to the past, but the Changsha soldiers were not more than 10,000, and with the strength in the hands of the two, it was not difficult to take advantage of the civil strife in Changsha to capture it. However, Zhou Tai knew very well that since they captured Gong'an, Cao Yin, Zhao Fan and Liu Du had formed an offensive and defensive alliance in order to prevent their invasion, and the main force of the three counties, totaling 30,000 troops, was stationed in Linyuan at this time to resist their attacks. Once he led his troops to capture Changsha County, it was easy for Cao Yin and others to realize that this was the prelude to Yizhou's capture of Jingnan, and in order to keep their territory, they were likely to take advantage of the army to attack Changsha, and the public security garrison was empty and led their troops to attack. Once they are captured by the police, not only will they be cut off from returning, but the soldiers who remain in the public security to recuperate from their wounds are likely to be slaughtered. Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin didn't dare to take this risk, and the newly descended Cai Mao didn't dare to make this proposal, otherwise if anyone thought that he had bad intentions, then it would be easy to imagine that his end would be bad......

However, Zhou Tai couldn't bear to miss the opportunity, and hurriedly contacted Yu Ban and Wu Yi in Jiangling City. Yu Ban immediately made a decision, with Wu Yi leading a thousand soldiers and thousands of lightly wounded soldiers in the city to stay in Jiangling, he led 10,000 (all the prisoners of Yiling and Zigui were transferred to Jiangling, and half of the garrisons of the two cities were also transferred to Jiangling) The army composed of Yizhou troops and prisoners crossed the river overnight by naval warships, and of course he would not forget to send a letter to Liu Zhang, explaining the reason why he was beheaded first and then playing, and at the same time asking Liu Zhang for his guilt.

After Yu Ban and Zhou Tai discussed in person, Zhou Tai mobilized 10,000 boats and naval soldiers from the public security navy and Yu Ban to form a coalition army, galloping to Dongting Lake, considering that Cai Mao had a very high prestige in the Jingzhou army, perhaps taking him with him would receive unexpected results, so Cai Mao also went with him. However, Cai Mao's younger brother was left behind in the public security to assist Jiang Qin in guarding against Cao Yin and others. Cai Mao knew that he and his younger brother were actually "protons", and as long as one of them made a move that did not benefit the state army and caused Yizhou to suffer losses, then the other person would suffer on his behalf. Cai Mao was not angry, because he understood that this was human nature, after all, he was defeated and surrendered, the time was still short, and he had not yet gained the full trust of the Yizhou side, and the vast majority of the soldiers who went to attack Changsha or stayed behind in the public security were former Jingzhou troops, and if he wanted to do something with his prestige, the result would be disastrous.

Before Yu Ban left, he specially told Jiang Qin to select one to twenty thousand soldiers in good spirits from the remaining troops and move in the direction of Zuotang.

Yu Ban thought that if Cao Yin and the others wanted to hold their own territory, then they would have to integrate the entire Jingnan into one, and only if the entire Jingnan walked in unison, there would be no loopholes in the defense, and it would be possible to block the attack of the Yizhou army. And outside the alliance, even hostile relations of Changsha has always been a big flaw in their offensive and defensive alliance, although after their encroachment, nearly half of Changsha's land has become their territory, but the territory in the hands of Su Dai is still wedged into their hinterland like a wooden wedge, and can send troops to attack their hinterland at any time (of course, the premise is that the other half of Changsha must have that strength to attack), it can be said that only by taking Changsha, Their defense system is complete. Therefore, they must be looking forward to turning Changsha into their territory all the time, but unfortunately they have never had the opportunity. Now the news of the civil strife in Changsha Cao Yin and others must also know, they must not be willing to miss this golden opportunity, the most important thing is that they are worried that Yizhou will also take advantage of the chaos to send troops, if Yizhou captures Changsha, there will be a large number of troops stationed in Changsha, so that their territory can be completely exposed to the edge of the Yizhou army, with their overstretched strength, it is impossible to defend against the attack of the Yizhou army on such a broad front. Therefore, Yu Ban thought that after Cao Yin got the news, he would definitely make the decision to send troops, and Jiang Qin led his troops to move to Zuotang, which would give Cao Yin and others the illusion that the Yizhou army had sounded the clarion call to recover Jingnan, and they could only use the main force to guard against the Yizhou army, which would make their plan to capture Changsha stillborn, and Jiang Qin's bluff would also cover the movements of Yu Ban and Zhou Tai to a large extent.

Jiang Qin listened to Yu Ban's analysis, and after Yu Ban and Zhou Tai left, he immediately selected more than 17,000 soldiers with good bodies and strong physiques, changed them into bright clothes and armor, wiped dazzling weapons, beat gongs and drums, and did not have the slightest intention of concealment, just like that, in broad daylight, slowly advancing in the direction of Zuotang.

Cao Yin soon got the news that there was an elite Yizhou army with a number of about 20,000 people was advancing towards Zuotang, and the intention was unknown, and he couldn't help but be shocked, he and Liu Du and Zhao Fan always believed that Liu Zhang's whale swallowed half of Jingzhou, and he must have great casualties, especially when they learned that the decisive battle of the Yizhou and Jingshui armies was tragic and the huge casualties on both sides, it would take at least three months to half a year to digest the vested territory, reorganize and surrender the army, treat the wounded, and the rear had the strength to fight again, but now it seems that the Yizhou army does not seem to have such intentions......

Cao Yin immediately ordered someone to invite Zhao Fan and Liu Du (these days, in order to guard against Liu Zhang, they all led their elites to Wuling, they didn't dare not go in person, although there was a certain risk in this way, the risk came from Liu Zhang, and there were also from their friends - Cao Yin, maybe Cao Yin's danger was even greater than Liu Zhang!) And there is only one reason why they take the risk - they don't trust Cao Yin! The alliance of the three parties is just that they feel the threat of Liu Zhang, and none of them have the strength to resist independently, so they can only huddle together to keep warm. It is precisely because the alliance is coerced by external forces that they naturally do not dare to hand over their troops to Cao Yin, they can be sure that as long as they do not sit in charge in person, Cao Yin will definitely find a way to annex their own troops, or let them become cannon fodder, so they have to go in person).

Zhao Fan and Liu Du lived in the Taishou Mansion and soon arrived under the guidance of the servants.

"Brother Cao, I am so anxious to come here, I don't know what it is?" Liu Du was impatient and asked before he sat down.

After Cao Yin waited for the two of them to sit down, he said: "Brother Zhao, Brother Liu, something is wrong, I just got the news that Liu Zhang sent 20,000 troops to Zuotang!" ”

"What?" Zhao Fan and Liu Du were shocked, and they couldn't help but shoot the case.

"I've ordered someone to confirm it again and again, and it's true!" Cao Yin said.

Liu Du scolded angrily: "Liu Zhang, this kid is crazy? How long has he been in Xiangyang, and isn't he afraid of exhausting his soldiers to death with such a force? How many soldiers and horses does he have? How many soldiers and horses do you have to use to defend half of Jingzhou? If he is so greedy, is he not afraid of dying? ”

Zhao Fan said: "I'm afraid our decision to send troops to Changsha has to be postponed!" ”

"What?" Liu Du exclaimed: "No, now that Su Dai has been killed and Changsha is in chaos, it is the perfect time for us to take it in one fell swoop, haven't we all discussed it?" Why hold off? "Two days ago, Cao Yin and others learned the news of the civil strife in Changsha, the three of them were not fools, immediately realized that this was a good opportunity to occupy Changsha, and after a short discussion, they all agreed to form a coalition army to capture Changsha, but the reason why the soldiers and horses are still preparing to this day is because of how to divide the interests after taking Changsha, there was a Mao Dun between the three people, and they have been discussing until today, and only then did they make a decision approved by all three parties, after this problem is solved, it will be easy to send troops, but the army is not a short time to go, In particular, the troops of the three are not subordinate to each other, and there are more problems to be solved, just like this, until now, the army of the three is still preparing, and this may be the so-called "brother fighting for geese", and the opportunity was missed in vain.

Zhao Fan said: "Brother Liu, I don't want to do this, but there is no way to do it." You, I and Brother Cao, a total of 30,000 soldiers and horses have been gathered in Linyuan, if we divide our troops to capture Changsha, Linyuan's troops will become very empty, so what can we resist if Liu Zhang sent 20,000 troops? ”

Liu Du couldn't help but be stunned when he heard this.

Cao Yin said again: "In my opinion, I'm afraid that Liu Zhang also got the news of the civil strife in Changsha, and he did this because he didn't want us to send troops to seize Changsha......"

"Impossible, Liu Zhang is thousands of miles away at this time, it is impossible to get the news and react so quickly!" Liu Du shouted.

"It's really unlikely, then it should be the decision made by the public security Zhou Tai and Jiang Ling Yu Ban privately. I have to say that these two people are not small, and their eyes are also very vicious! Zhao Fan said.

Liu Du said: "Will there be fraud in this?" You and I both know how tragic the battle outside the Gong'an Harbor was, how could they recover their strength so quickly and come to attack Wuling? ”

Cao Yin said helplessly: "Even if there is fraud in it, we are helpless, this is the reason for the strength!" When the disparity in strength reaches a certain level, the role of stratagem is minimal. Just like now, knowing that the other party is cheating, but we can't do anything about it, this is a trick! I even suspect that Liu Zhang's army is already on its way to Changsha! ”

Zhao Fan said: "Probably not, we haven't received news that a large army has crossed the border!" ”

Cao Yin said: "Have you forgotten the Yizhou Navy that just defeated the Jingzhou Water Army?" No matter how heavy their casualties are, there is no problem in transporting troops by boat, right? As long as the soldiers are transported to Luo County, they will arrive in Linxiang in less than a day, and with the current situation in the city, I am afraid that no one will be able to stop them! ”

Liu Du said: "In that case, then shouldn't we just sit back and watch Liu Zhang stretch out his hand to Jingnan?" Once he is allowed to gain a firm foothold in Jingnan, I am afraid we will not be far from death! ”

Zhao Fan said: "Can we let the Tang defenders probe the reality of the enemy's army?" ”

Cao Yin said: "Impossible, there are only 3,000 defenders in the Tang Dynasty, which is not in the same order of magnitude at all, if you rush to battle, it is very likely that the Tang Dynasty will be handed over to Liu Zhang!" ”

Liu Du said: "Since we can't go to Changsha, just turn to Zuo Tang, and we will meet Liu Zhang for a while!" ”

Cao Yin said: "It's useless to go, the other party will definitely not fight with us, their purpose is just to contain us in Wuling and prevent us from annexing Changsha." As long as our army presses the mirror, the enemy will inevitably retreat back to public security and defend the city! ”

"So it's a foregone conclusion that Changsha will fall into the hands of Liu Zhang?" Liu Du said unwillingly.

Cao Yin sighed: "I'm afraid so! ”

"That'...... That...... No, I'm going to rush back to Lingling immediately,......" Liu Du shouted.

Cao Yin's heart was on fire, and he shouted: "Do you think it will be useful to go back to Lingling?" Can you use your 10,000 soldiers and horses to stop Liu Zhang's 100,000 army? ”

"That'...... What to do? Liu Du said.

Cao Yin said: "We can only accept the fact that Changsha was captured by Liu Zhang, and now what we have to do is to step up conscription and strengthen everyone's strength." Although Liu Zhang's capture of Changsha threatens our hinterland, why is Changsha not under our siege on three sides? As long as our forces are stronger, we can attack from three sides, capture Changsha in one fell swoop, and drive Liu Zhang back to Jiangbei! ”

Liu Du and Zhao Fan nodded thoughtfully, alas, this is a typical rudder bird thinking, will Liu Zhang give them time to let them develop and grow?