On the second day of the first month of the twenty-fifth year of Jian'an (220 AD), Feng Xi and Zhang Nan's two generals led 3,000 sailors to carry 100,000 stones of grain and grass arrived first.

On the third day of the first month, Chen Shi led 5,000 tigers to the right army.

On the fourth day of the first month, Wu Yi's younger brother, the leader Wu Ban and Zhao Rong's two generals, led 5,000 tigers to the left army.

On the fifth day of the first month, Yizhou was engaged in governance, and Huang Quan, the protector of the army, led 10,000 Yizhou county soldiers.

Every time he sends reinforcements, the morale of the people in Zigui City will rise by one point.

On the sixth day of the first lunar month, when Fa Zheng and Ma Liang, under the escort of the escort Chen Zhi and the 5,000 Hubu Chinese army, arrived with 30,000 mules and horsemen, escorting 150,000 stones, grain, grass and many supplies, the morale of the Han army was incomparably high.

At this time, the small Zigui city and other armies gathered, and the flags covered the sky and the sun; The soldiers are all gearing up and vowing to make great contributions.

Jiang Wei had a rough glance, counting the 3,000 white soldiers led by Liu Bei and Zhang Fei before, 900 Yulin cavalry, 1,500 tiger cavalry, plus the original 3,000 Shangyong soldiers in the city, 2,000 Fangling soldiers, and more than 200 Yulin cavalry under his command, and more than 1,000 barbarian soldiers, there are now 35,000 foot soldiers, 2,500 horse troops, and 3,000 naval troops.

It was the first time he had seen such an army in such a grand state.

It has only been more than a month since he reported to Shuzhong, and the imperial court has already pulled up 40,000 soldiers and 30,000 servants, advancing by land and water, and going to Zigui together, and follow-up reinforcements and materials are also coming.

Less than half a year after the Battle of Hanzhong ended, the 30,000 border troops of Hanzhong to guard against Cao Wei in the north were removed, and these can be regarded as almost all the family resources of the Shu Han court.

On the surface, this is because Liu Bei's attention to Guan Yu and Jingzhou is so high that it cannot be overstated; But in addition, Jiang Wei also saw Zhuge Liang's silent efforts behind the scenes.

It only took more than a month for this humerus man to mobilize all these family funds. Jiang Wei secretly thought, in terms of this mobilization and scheduling ability alone, it can be called jaw-dropping, but I am afraid that no one in the world can match it.

Now that Liu Bei is on a crusade with all his family backgrounds, it is no wonder that the three great gods of Zhuge Liang, Zhao Yun, and Huang Zhong are needed to guard the heartland of Shu.

******

On the day of Fazheng's arrival, Liu Bei immediately convened the generals in the main tent and held the first military strategy meeting.

Jiang Wei was also invited to attend because he had made great contributions and was the commander of Yulinwei.

Looking around, Liu Bei sat on the main seat, and Guan Yu and Zhang Fei followed; Fa Zheng is the chief of the ministers, from him down, Huang Quan, Ma Liang, Xiang Lang, Guan Ping, Wu Ban, Chen Zhi, Zhang Bao, Guan Xing, Liao Hua, Fu Wei, Feng Xi, Zhang Nan, Chen Shi, Zhao Lei, Wang Fu, Xiang Zhong and other Jingyi two states of the ministers and good generals stand left and right, this moment is really full of talents, gathered together.

Jiang Wei couldn't help but say: "I heard that Sun Quan, the lord of Wu, has arrived in Jiangling, so that there are famous and brave generals such as Sun Quan, Lu Meng, Lu Xun, Gan Ning, and Han Dang in the opposing formation, this is really a luxurious lineup of the national war!" ”

With emotion, Liu Bei took the lead in speaking:

"Now that the three armies have gathered, they are determined to crusade against Soochow from now on. If you have any countermeasures, please feel free to speak. ”

Huang Quan took the lead and said: "Lord Qi, the new southern county of the Wu army is at a time when morale is high, and our army is going downstream, which can be described as easy to advance and difficult to retreat. For the sake of insurance, the minister invited him to be a pioneer to explore the truth of the Wu army, and also asked the lord to sit in Zigui to wait for the report. ”

Jiang Wei knew that this Huang Quan was also a wise person, and he also had a share in Hanzhong back then, and his suggestion was also pertinent when he didn't know the details of the enemy's army.

Liu Bei shook his head and said, "Gongheng is kind, and he has taken it alone." It's just that it is not easy to transfer grain and grass from Yizhou to Jingzhou, and it is impossible for the army to consume grain and grass here in vain. ”

Huang Quan admonished again: "The minister heard again that Cao Cao had invaded the land of Jiangbei in the name of flanking the monarch. In the past few days, the Wei army has gathered its forces and only left a battalion in Dangyang, but the minister thought that this might be Cao Cao's fisherman's plan......"

At this time, Zhang Fei shouted: "What if it's Cao Thief's plan?" invaded Jingzhou, he also had a share, and it was just right to come, and he was given a good meal together! ”

The three generals interrupted, and Huang Quan couldn't answer for a while, so he had to pause.

Fa Zheng, as the mastermind, had a lot of face in front of Zhang Fei, and at this time he said: "Gongheng is very worried, Cao Cao's wolf ambition must be guarded against." ”

He walked to the map and continued: "Before the former general's Northern Expedition, the Wei State Navy was completely destroyed, and he was unable to cross the river, so the minister thought that the decisive battle with Eastern Wu should be in the south of the Yangtze River!" ”

As he spoke, he stretched out his fingers, taking Zigui as the starting point, sliding all the way down along the Yangtze River, passing through Yiling and Yaoting, and finally stopping at Yidao City.

"There are high mountains and dangers all the way from Zigui to Yaoting, if you want to fight a decisive battle, south of the Yangtze River, there is only Yidao City (now Yidu)!"

Everyone followed Fa Zheng's hope, and saw that the south bank of the Yangtze River was densely covered with mountains and forests, and only when they reached the Yidao area, because the Yangtze River turned sharply here, and it hit a flat plain.

This place is indeed the only place south of the Yangtze River, within a radius of 200 miles, where tens of thousands of troops can be placed in formation.

The topographic map of Jingxiang on the wall was drawn by Zhuge Liang back then, and the hydrological annotations of mountains and rivers are complete, which is not much better than the Yongliang topographic map presented by Jiang Wei that day.

Everyone looked at the map, and the words that confirmed the law in their minds couldn't help but nod.

After a while, Fa Zheng said again: "But Cao Cao must not be unguarded, and the minister thinks that he should send a member of Lao Chen to hold a heavy general, and lead a group of men and horses to be stationed in Jiangbei to monitor the movements of the Wei army, so as to ensure that our army can attack and retreat; In addition, he could send an envoy to the mediocre and order the deputy general and Mencius to make a feint attack on Xiangyang to slow down Cao Cao's momentum. ”

"This is the old man's strategy for the country!"

Liu Bei couldn't help but nod his head in goodness.

Jiangbei's road is a partial division, which is both important and not very important, and the first thing is steady. He looked around at everyone, and when he swept to Zhang Fei, Zhang Fei hurriedly said: "I don't go, I'm going to Yidao City to kill Sun Quan'er!" ”

When Liu Bei heard this, he smiled and said, "Naturally, I won't send the third brother there, just rest assured." ”

His gaze was fixed on Huang Quan's face again, and he said slowly: "Speaking of Lao Chen's seriousness, in Yu Gu's heart, Gongheng doesn't think secondly. Along the way, there is also a lot of trouble for the public balance. ”

Huang Quan bowed down and hugged his fists and said, "The minister receives the order." ”

Liu Bei immediately crowned Huang Quan as the general of Zhenbei, and Zhao Rong, the former governor of the Chinese army, as the deputy general, led 5,000 Yizhou soldiers down the river, and set up camp in Yiling, Jiangbei, to guard against the Wu and Wei armies on the north bank.

He also ordered Wu Ban and Feng Xi's second generals to serve as the generals of the navy to attack the Wu army that was stationed in the area of the gorge, so as to clear the obstacles along the way for Huang Quan's troops to go south.

In addition, Liu Bei sent more than ten messengers to disperse and go straight to the three counties of Shangyong with secret orders. It's just that he also knows that the only way to Shangyong, Dangyang County, is currently in the hands of Wei State, and it is still a big question whether these more than ten messengers can arrive smoothly.

However, the armies of Liu Feng and Meng Da are even more partial divisions, which is better than nothing.

After Fa Zheng's advice, Liu Bei decided, and in a moment, the Han army had a careful arrangement for the Jiangbei front, as long as it was operated properly, it could avoid the situation of being attacked by the enemy on its back.

Guan Yu and other Jingzhou generals learned Fazheng's strategic vision for the first time, and they were all good for a while.

As a result, the attention of the generals in the tent returned to the decisive battle.

At this time, Ma Liang suggested: "Lord Yu, fifty miles south of Yiling in Wuling County, there is a big mountain called Sheshan, at the foot of Sheshan, Chenxi, Xiongxi, Luxi, Langxi and other water flows vertically and horizontally, the barbarians rely on this, call themselves Wuxi barbarians, gather more than 10,000 troops, the barbarian chieftain is called Shamoke, his people are extremely brave, known as the martial name. ”

"However, our country has allowed its autonomy and does not pay taxes, so it has always been friendly with our country. The minister thought that the lord could send an envoy to lure Shamoke to come to help in the battle with a golden gold reward, so that our army could add a boost. ”

Liu Bei was overjoyed when he heard this, and asked: "This plan is great!" ”

After a pause, he asked again: "According to Ji Chang's opinion, who can be the messenger?" ”

Ma Liang glanced around, and said in his heart: "Except for the Jingzhou scholars who are born and raised here, the rest are either military generals or Sichuan people, in order to ensure that they can successfully persuade Shamoke, they have to make a trip by themselves." ”