After resting for one night, Sun Jian led the troops to challenge early the next morning.

Huang Zu has made up his mind, and he is waiting for help, how can he fight? Sun Jian's bravery is known to the world, and he doesn't want to fight Sun Jian.

Sun Jian had no choice but to launch soldiers to attack the city.

Huang Zu ran Jiangxia County for several years, Xiling County has been built very strong, tall, and the city is well defended, and most of the soldiers are locals, they have no way to retreat, they can only defend to the death.

Sun Jian's soldiers did not have an advantage in numbers, and they were all defeated after several strong attacks, with heavy losses.

Huang Zu led his clan soldiers to patrol around, and where the pressure was greater, he asked the clan soldiers to support; Taishou was with them, and the morale of the soldiers defending the city was high.

It's summer, and the wound is prone to suppuration, and injury means death; Such a large casualty made Sun Jian's soldiers depressed.

Putting aside the naval army, the lone army is deep, and it must be decided quickly, otherwise Liu Biao will be given time to transfer troops, and he will be in danger of being besieged, not only Sun Jian is aware of this problem, but even those officers and soldiers are also aware that if Xiling City cannot be captured for a long time, they will not only have no logistics, but even have the danger of being besieged.

After careful consideration, Sun Jian discussed with the generals and decided to send 5,000 cavalry to raid Anlu City and stop Liu Biao's reinforcements; At the same time, soldiers were sent to loot and replenish military supplies.

What worries Sun Jian even more happened one after another, and the scouts reported that there were a large number of Jingzhou officers and soldiers stationed in Xiakou, and there was a powerful naval army; Qichun City has still not been conquered; The Changsha officers and soldiers, who had been prepared for a long time, were moving northward and dispatched a large number of naval troops.

At this time, Huang Zu in the city, after easily repelling a few Sun Jian's attacks, was not as nervous as at the beginning, and he firmly believed that as long as he held the city, Liu Biao would definitely come to the rescue.

Jiangxia County itself is a strategic town, isolated in the east, is the forefront of resisting Yangzhou, there are nearly 50,000 officers and soldiers, accounting for one-third of Jingzhou's total troops, Huang Zu has a lot of autonomy, it can be seen that Liu Biao attaches great importance to Jiangxia County.

Liu Biao received the letter from Huang Zu who swore to stick to Xiling City, and he was very anxious, and immediately summoned Cai Mao, Kuai Yue and others to come to negotiate countermeasures.

After reading Huang Zu's letter, Kuai Yue said: "Mingjun, Huang Taishou reported that Sun Jian only has less than 40,000 infantry, and there are 20,000 officers and soldiers in Xiling City, plus the young and strong soldiers in the city and soldiers from various families, more than 30,000 people, and Xiling City is high and strong, and the defense is perfect, how can Sun Jian break through?" In addition, Sun Jian's forte is cavalry, the more it is estimated that Sun Jian intends to besiege Xiling City, lure our army to support, and then use cavalry to defeat our reinforcements, gradually consuming our strength, so we can't send troops to support. ”

Liu's face remained unchanged, but in his heart he did not agree with Kuai Yue's point of view, but asked, "What is the opinion of the military advisor?" ”

Cai Mao pondered: "Sun Jian is brave and invincible. ”

Kuai Yue nodded in agreement with Cai Mao's point of view; Liu Biao's face was displeased.

Then, Cai Mao said firmly: "But Sun Jian's lone army went deep, which is a taboo for soldiers, and the Yangzhou naval army is weak, we only need to send a naval army to block his return and compress it to the east of the Han River, isolated, and after a long time, it will be defeated." ”

"Then can you save Jiang Xia or not?" Liu Biao obviously aggravated his tone; The position of Jiangxia County is important, and there can be no loss, and if the Huang family is not saved and allowed to be defeated by Yangzhou, the other clans in Jingzhou will inevitably have resentment towards Liu Biao, which is not conducive to his rule in Jingzhou.

Kuai Yue said cautiously: "Mingjun, the officers and soldiers of Fancheng and Xiangyang must not be moved lightly, and they must beware of the army of Dong Taishi in the north. ”

Fancheng and Xiangyang land across the Han River, is the northern gateway of Jingzhou, Liu Biao and others also saw Dong Zhuo's coveting of Jingzhou, but now Dong Zhuo did not prepare a naval army, if there is no naval army, the two cities can be connected to each other, support each other, it is difficult for the enemy army to conquer the two cities, so Liu Biao estimated that Dong Zhuo has no plans to go south for the time being.

Cai Mao said: "Mingjun, there is an inaccuracy in Huang Taishou's letter, but it is extremely beneficial to us. ”

"Where?" Liu Biao asked eagerly.

Cai Mao said: "Mingjun, according to the report of the navy, only Yi County has been conquered, and Qichun City is still in our hands, and only 10,000 Yangzhou soldiers are confronting it outside the city, and there is no possibility of being conquered." ”

When Liu Biao heard this, he was overjoyed, if this was the case, even if he didn't understand military affairs, he also understood that what Cai Mao said was good, Sun Jian was alone in the depths, and he only needed to cut off his way back, and he would be isolated.

So, Liu Biao asked with a smile: "What is the best strategy for the military advisor?" ”

Cai Mao said: "Mao intends to let Changsha Taishou lead the officers and soldiers of Changsha, and the inside and outside should be combined, first defeat the Yangzhou soldiers besieging Qichun City, and then recover Yi County and cut off Sun Jian's way back; Zhang Yun's navy inspected the Han River, preventing Sun Jian from advancing westward; At the same time, a small group of sailors was sent to inspect rivers such as Zhuanshui and Lishui, and constantly harassed Sun Jian's thieves and soldiers, making them unpeaceful; When he is tired, he will gather officers and soldiers from Nanjun and Changsha County to besiege Sun Jian, which will be the end of his life. ”

It was summer, and several major rivers in Jiangxia County were full, which was extremely unfavorable to Sun Jian, who had no water army, and was easily divided and surrounded, and could not be rescued in time.

Liu Biao was quite satisfied with Cai Mao's strategy, and asked, "An Lu asked for help, what can I do?" ”

Cai Mao said: "Mingjun, Sun Jian only sent a few thousand cavalry to go, the cavalry is not good at foot combat and siege, even if the soldiers of several families in Anlu City can protect Lucheng without losing, not to mention that there are thousands of county soldiers, so Mingjun does not need to worry." ”

Liu Biao asked again: "If Xiling City is lost, what can I do?" ”

Cai Mao said: "Mingjun doesn't have to worry, Xiling City is tall and strong, and there are mostly soldiers, and it is by no means as easy to conquer as Yi County; If the Yangzhou bandits learned that the back road was cut off, they would have no heart to fight, and it would be even more difficult to conquer Xiling City. ”

Kuai Yue asked rhetorically: "If the Yangzhou bandits learn that the back road is cut off, they will fight to the death, take Xiling Jiancheng, and wait for reinforcements, what is the best plan for Cai Junshi?" ”

Cai Mao thought to herself, Sun Jian had a great hatred for Jingzhou, and his family members were all under Yuan Shu's supervision, even if they were surrounded, they would fight to the death, and there was no possibility of surrender; Because of the ferocity of Sun Jian's cavalry, the Jingzhou infantry was by no means an opponent in field battles; Jingzhou's strength lies in the navy, and it must give full play to the strengths of the navy to have the possibility of victory; Originally, he also wanted to seek the support of Liu Miao in Yangzhou, but considering that his naval army was limited, it could not be used to contain the production at all, so he gave up this plan.

So Cai Mao said: "The strength of Yangzhou bandits lies in cavalry, strong mobility, and powerful battles, while we are good at water warfare, and infantry is good at defense, so we must not give up my strengths, and attack the enemy's strengths, this is the way to death; Even if the Yangzhou bandits fight to the death, it will be difficult to easily occupy Xiling City, even if Huang Taishou can't hold on, the big clans in the city will never give up. ”

Liu showed that there was no better way, even if the defenders of Xiangyang and Fancheng were mobilized to support, the outcome was still unpredictable, so it was better to adopt Cai Mao's method, first cut off the rear route of the Yangzhou soldiers, and then take corresponding measures according to the situation.

So he said: "For the time being, everything will be arranged according to what the military advisor said." ”

"Yes, Mingjun!" Cai Mao should immediately go to dispatch troops after he got down.

With the issuance of Cai Mao's order, the officers and soldiers in the south of Jingzhou were busy.

Liu Pan, the Taishou of Changsha County, received an order to relieve the siege of Qichun City, recover Yi County, cut off Sun Jian's return journey, and send a naval army to assist Huang Jian and defeat the Yangzhou naval army.

Zhang Yun, the general of the navy, received an order to send a small army of sailors to inspect the rivers such as Zhuanshui and Lishui while holding on to Xiakou, harassing Sun Jian's army and forcing it not to divide his troops.

Nanjun gathered troops and was ready to support Jiangxia County at any time.

Liu Biao was very satisfied with Cai Mao's arrangement.