At the end of February, in the city of Gangneung, as the Wu offensive gradually intensified, the pressure felt by the defenders became heavier.

The successive siege battles not only exhausted the defenders, but also the generals were a little anxious.

In the Jiedu Envoy's Mansion, the generals of Jingnan took advantage of the fact that the Wu army's offensive retreated slightly, and gathered together for a simple discussion.

"Jie Shuai, although it is not yet known how many troops the Wu army has invested in the siege of the city, but the total strength of the Wu army is far more than our army, so they mostly use the method of taking turns when attacking the city, while our army needs to rely on a small number of troops to be vigilant at all times, so these days, the soldiers are very tired. Marshal, I wonder when reinforcements will come? Jingnan General Ni Kefu asked worriedly.

"Yes, Marshal, when will the reinforcements come?" Other generals also asked.

This is not to say that the defenders in the city will not be able to hold out so quickly, but if they can't clearly know the time when the reinforcements will arrive, the generals will have no bottom in their hearts.

Although Gao Jichang's strength is weak, he also has 30,000 troops in his hands, plus some strong men temporarily recruited, and his troops are actually sufficient to defend the city.

However, these defenders can't all be engaged in battle at once, after all, no one knows how long this city attack and defense battle will last, if all the troops are used up too early, then if the siege cannot be lifted in a short time, Gangneung is not dangerous?

Therefore, now the defenders of Jingnan are only 20,000 troops in battle, plus some conscripted strong men who are responsible for transporting arrows, sasswood, etc., and the remaining 10,000 troops are left as reserves.

Fortunately, the focus of the battle between the two sides is now on the six acropolis outside the city.

The size of the Acropolis was relatively small, and it could be defended with one or two thousand troops, while the Wu army, although it had an advantage in strength, could not give full play to its advantage because of the small place, so the defenders were worry-free for the time being.

However, if there are no reinforcements after a long time, not only the soldiers below, but also the generals will feel uneasy.

At this time, in the face of the generals' inquiries, Gao Jichang couldn't help muttering in his heart: "You ask me, who do I ask?" ”

However, on his face, his expression was full of confidence and replied: "Generals, please rest assured, General Yan and His Royal Highness King Jia have already replied to Ben Shuai, and they are now ready to go on the expedition, and I believe that there will be news of the arrival of reinforcements in a few days." ”

He looked at the generals with a smile, and the smile on his face looked extremely confident.

Many generals were infected by his smile and believed a lot in his words.

However, there are still many people who still have doubts, of course, these people are smart people, even if they have doubts in their hearts, but they have not spoken out.

"Marshal, since the reinforcements are about to arrive, then our army should simply put the reserve army into it, so as to relieve the pressure and let the defenders and soldiers get rest." Another general, Bao Tang, proposed.

Gao Jichang's face darkened, and he hurriedly replied: "This is not in a hurry, now is not the time to put into the reserve army, you must know that the enemy army has a large number of troops, and it is led by King Wu himself, if our army reinforcements arrive but cannot immediately relieve the siege, then the role of the reserve army will be revealed." So at the moment you still can't use the reserves! ”

Bao Tang and the others nodded after hearing this: "The last general understands, it's still the marshal who thinks long-term!" ”

At this time, Ni Kefu stood up and said: "Jie Shuai, at the end of these two days, I will patrol everywhere with Jie Shuai, I don't know if Jie Shuai has found that although the siege of the Wu army is fierce, in general, it is far from the limit." ”

"It stands to reason that reinforcements from our army are coming, and at this time the Wu army should step up the siege of the city. But in reality, they don't seem to be in much of a hurry. Therefore, the last general felt that maybe King Wu's plan was to fight for a long time, let the reinforcements of our army arrive, and then ......"

He didn't finish his speculation, but he made it clear.

Liang Zhen nodded after listening to this: "If it is according to what General Ni said, then King Wu's ambition is a little big, this time maybe he not only wants to capture Jiangling, but also he should also want to capture Xiangzhou!" ”

"What? He still wants to capture Xiangzhou? They haven't taken down this Jiangling yet, are they thinking about Xiangzhou? The generals were a little unconvinced.

Gao Jichang attaches great importance to Liang Zhen's words, after all, after so many years, Liang Zhen has completely gained his trust.

He asked with a solemn expression: "If it is according to what the predecessors said, then it means that King Wu not only wants to capture Jiangling this time, but also wants to defeat General Kou Yanqing in one fell swoop." And to eliminate Kou Yanqing, the best way is to concentrate forces against the Liang army before the Liang army and the Shu army converge. Do the seniors think this idea of Ben Shuai is right? ”

He was originally an extremely smart person, otherwise he would not have been reused by Zhu Wen, and finally became a feudal town from a slave; So after Liang Zhen mentioned it, he thought of something specific.

Liang Zhen nodded and said, "The old man doesn't know much about military affairs, but logically speaking, it should be like this!" ”

Gao Jichang said again: "Then is Ben Shuai going to send someone to remind Kou Yanqing?" ”

Although he was unhappy that Kou Yanqing had not sent troops to help, but now Jingnan needs to rely on Kou Yanqing to survive after all, if Kou Yanqing is really eliminated by the Wu army, then Jingnan will not be able to survive alone.

"What is the section commander going to say to Kou Yanqing? Tell him directly, let him not come, is King Wu here waiting to eliminate him? ”

Gao Jichang was stunned for a moment, and then smiled bitterly: "Of course it is impossible to say that!" ”

Not to mention that Kou Yanqing has an arrogant personality and is a little unruly, if he says this directly, he will not only offend Kou Yanqing, but also will not work at all; What's more, if Kou Yanqing really doesn't come, it will be Gao Jichang himself who will be unlucky at that time, so he will naturally not do it.

So Gao Jichang pondered for a moment and said, "At least send someone to remind him, so that he can't be too careless." ”

For this idea, Liang Zhen naturally agreed.

Remind me that Kou Yanqing has also fulfilled his duties, but if Kou Yanqing is still not vigilant and is eliminated by the Wu army, it can only be said that Jingnan is exhausted, even if the Liang and Shu families join forces to support it, they still can't keep safe.

In that case, Gao Jichang had no other way to go except to obediently surrender to the Wu State.

Just when the generals were discussing the military discussion, a guard ran in in a panic and said: "Commander, generals, the enemy army is attacking the city again?" ”

"Why is the next offensive launched so quickly? The offensive strength of the Wu army has been strengthened again! ”

"It seems that King Wu personally led the troops, and it really greatly boosted the morale of the Wu army!"

While sighing, the generals said goodbye to Gao Jichang and left, preparing to return to the defense area they were responsible for to command the operation.

Soon, there were only a few people left in the conference hall, such as Gao Jichang and Liang Zhen.

The generals left, and the rest of the people were basically Gao Jichang's henchmen, so he naturally spoke a lot more casually.

"Senior, you said that Ben Shuai sent someone to ask King Wu to surrender at this time, will he agree?"

"What? Please drop at this time? Liang Zhen was stunned by Gao Jichang's sudden proposal, but then he came to his senses and said, "Is the festival commander saying that he is delaying time in the name of demotion and surrender?" I'm afraid it's not that easy. ”

Gao Jichang is a scoundrel except for Ming, and his cunning is similar to that of Zhu Wen and Wang Jian.

The difference is that Zhu Wen and Wang Jian still needed to play some rogue tricks when they were weak, but now that they are strong, they have done less of the things that damaged their face.

Of course, it's not that it's not done at all, it's just that it's done less than before.

And Gao Jichang's strength is still very weak now, so sometimes he has to use some rogue methods.

For example, in history, he relied on the land of Gangneung, but he was able to maneuver between many powerful forces around him, because he was a scoundrel enough, among the surrounding forces, surrendered this today, surrendered that tomorrow, and never said anything about faith.

At this time, it is just a matter of delaying the time by negotiating the surrender, which naturally does not have any psychological burden for Gao Jichang.

However, Liang Zhen said to him: "Marshal, the key issue now is when the reinforcements will arrive. If the festival marshal delayed time by discussing the surrender, what would Kou Yanqing and Wang Zongshou think after hearing it? Will they think that the commander secretly colluded with the state of Wu to deliberately lead the Liang army south and then ambush it? At that time, I was afraid that Kou Yanqing would not dare to go south. ”

Gao Jichang nodded again and again after hearing this: "What you said is right, it was indeed Ben Shuai who was not thoughtful just now!" ”

Liang Zhen continued: "If the commander wants Kou Yanqing and Wang Zongshou to go south as soon as possible, the best way is to exaggerate the battle situation, let's just say that the Wu army is attacking fiercely, and the two acropolis outside the city have been captured by the Wu army, and the rest are also in danger. If you say this, maybe Kou Yanqing and Wang Zongshou will go south immediately! ”

Gao Jichang nodded, but he was still a little worried in his heart.

……

Outside Jiangling City, Yang Wu didn't know that Liang Zhen had seen his strategy for using troops, but even if he knew, he would not change his strategy, because the Liang army had to go south, and if the Wu army sent troops to the north at that time, the news would inevitably not be hidden from the Liang army.

At this time, the specific siege battle Yang Wu had already been handed over to Qin Pei and Wang Maozhang to command, and he didn't ask.

At this time, the question that made him pay attention to was when the Liang army would go south, after all, it was already March, and it would not be long before the rainy season would begin, and the continuous rain would inevitably affect the battle.

Of course, after learning that the Liang army and the Shu army had joined forces, Yang Wu already knew that attacking Jiangling was not as easy as he originally thought.

Therefore, he was already prepared for a protracted battle in his heart, and even mentally prepared for the disadvantage of the war.