Xiangyang City, the gateway of Jingchu, has always been a waterway transportation fortress that soldiers must fight, and the city is high and well defended.

At the beginning, Liu Biao Dingzhou ruled Xiangyang City, and regarded Dong Zhuo as the biggest imaginary enemy.

If Xiangyang is lost, then Jiangling and Jiangxia are in danger, and Jiangling and Jiangxia are in danger; then the risk of the Yangtze River is not enough; The Yangtze River natural danger is no longer a natural risk, and after the door is opened, a large area of land in the south of the Yangtze River will be in the pocket of Dong Zhuo's regime.

Only by defending Xiangyang City can Jingzhou be protected; Even if you retreat to the south of the Yangtze River and rely on the advantage of the navy to protect yourself according to the natural danger of the Yangtze River, it is still a short-term advantage; Therefore, Liu Biao deployed troops in Fancheng and Xiangyang, and sent the most trusted Wen Ping to defend the city, not only because this is the state rule, but also to guard against Dong Zhuo.

If the Niu Fu army enters Jingzhou, there are three roads to choose from.

The easternmost is the pass between Tongbai Mountain and Dabie Mountain, the famous pass has the "Yiyang Three Passes" of later generations, the most famous is Wusheng Pass, the disadvantage is that the logistics line is elongated, and it is easy to be cut off by the princes of Yuzhou, as Yuan Shu gave up this route, Niu Fu also did not dare to choose to march from this route

The middle line is from Suixian County to the south, along the Zhuanshui to Jiangxia County, this road is the famous "Suizao Corridor". The disadvantage of this line is that Xiangyang City must be occupied, otherwise, the entire rear will be completely exposed in front of Xiangyang, how can there be an invincible gift?

On the western route, it is difficult to go down along the Han River, and the place that must be passed is still Xiangyang City.

When the north conquered Xiangyang, the whole situation changed, the Tangbai River water system is now complete, the combat resources of the entire north have a concentration that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the transportation is downstream from the water, and a larger-scale war can be launched from here; The rear is stable, and there are more offensive options, you can take the Zao Corridor or the Han River; The south must be divided into troops to defend it, which consumes more resources; In the battle in this area, whoever has Xiangyang has the advantage.

When Liu Biao received that Huang Zu had killed Sun Jian and forced back the Yangzhou soldiers, he received another shocking news that Dong Zhuo had sent an army south from Wancheng in Nanyang, aiming at Jingzhou.

Liu Biao wanted to flee to Jiangnan, but he fled without fighting, and he was unwilling, which also affected his conduct; Cai Mao, Kuai Yue and others are in Xiangyang, and they want to stick to Xiangyang and protect Jingzhou.

Therefore, after a brief consultation, Cai Mao immediately issued an order according to the content agreed with Liu Biao, and the two officers and soldiers of Nanjun and the 20,000 officers and soldiers who supported Jiangxia hurriedly marched to Xiangyang; Zhang Yun immediately led the fleet back to Xiangyang City.

Liu Pan led a naval army and 20,000 infantry to garrison Xiakou; Su Fei led the officers and soldiers under his jurisdiction to return to Xiling City to garrison; Huang Jie continued to monitor movements in Yangzhou in Chaisang.

Cai Mao was transferred back to Zhang Yun to strengthen his strength and stick to Xiangyang; Transferring Liu Pan to sit in Xiakou, Liu Biao hopes to facilitate the escape to Jiangnan, Liu Biao and Cai Mao have differences in their hearts, but the enemy is current, and the two tacitly know it.

Kuai Yue suggested to Liu Biao that Huang Zu return Sun Jian's body, and exempt him from the war compensation of 200,000 stone of grain signed with Yangzhou, reconcile with Yuan Shu of Yangzhou, and hope to join forces against Dong Zhuo; At the same time, he sent people to Yangzhou Jiangdong to seek Liu Xuan's support, otherwise, Xiangyang would be lost, and Jiangdong would be harmed by Dong Zhuo.

Liu Biao adopted these suggestions one by one and asked them to be implemented immediately.

After the adjustment, Xiangyang and Fancheng will reach 80,000 infantry, as well as more than 20,000 sailors; There were 30,000 defenders in Xiling City, Jiangxia County; Xiakou can support the two places at any time, and is responsible for receiving manpower and materials from several counties in the south of the Yangtze River, providing a steady stream of support for the above two places.

Liu Biao, Cai Mao and others firmly believe that even if Dong Zhuo sends 200,000 troops, he will not want to make a cheap profit in a short time.

Some people suggested that they seek support from Liangzhou Mu Zhou Fei, but Liu Biao and the others were all from the Shi clan, and they were not on good terms with Gao Shun's forces, and they had different ideas and did not conspire with each other, and they were more worried about luring wolves into the house.

During his tenure, relying on local advantages, he also formed a small water army, which traveled between Baishui and Hanshui, promoting the trade flow between Nanyang and other counties in Jingzhou, and he himself obtained huge profits; It's just that this small water army is not worth mentioning compared to the powerful Jingzhou water army.

Niu Fu arrived and transferred 10,000 infantry from Yang Quan, and the remaining officers and soldiers of Yang Quan were responsible for guarding Wancheng, protecting the back road, and being responsible for logistics and transportation; Yang Quan's acceptance of such an arrangement, he had lived in Nanyang for a long time, and knew that Xiangyang and Fancheng were extremely difficult to conquer, as long as he was not sent to attack the second city, he would be satisfied.

Niu Fu knew that the stakes were very high, so he strengthened the military discipline of officers and soldiers, strictly ordered looting, and beheaded those who violated the order.

Now the discipline of Liangzhou has been greatly strengthened, and the previous few raids were all ordered, planned raids, and the harvest was no less than that of private looting, and there was no danger, so Niu Fu's order did not encounter many obstacles.

Niu Fu is now strong and strong, with 60,000 cavalry alone, 70,000 infantry, as well as Yang Quan's army and many people, full of confidence, and he didn't pay attention to the Jingzhou soldiers at all.

Mid-July; Arriving at the north bank of the Han River, Niu Fu immediately asked the officers and soldiers to surround Fancheng, but Fancheng was close to the Han River and could not cut off its communication with the outside world on the water.

Subsequently, the officers and soldiers were ordered to cross the river from the Han River upstream and besiege Xiangyang City.

The 30,000 officers and soldiers under the jurisdiction of Changfeng were mainly infantry, and the cavalry was only 5,000, and Niu Fu ordered him to be responsible for besieging Fancheng; Cheng Lian's 20,000 officers and soldiers, half of each infantry and cavalry, and 10,000 infantry transferred from Nanyang Taishou Yang were also assigned to Cheng Lian's command and were responsible for encircling Xiangyang City.

Jingzhou's naval army is strong, sailing back and forth on the Han River, unimpeded, and strategic materials and personnel continue to enter; Although many measures were taken, they had no effect, which made Niu Fu anxious.

Moreover, the defenders of Fancheng and Xiangyang can support each other through water transportation, and it is pointless to attack one of them.

Niu Fu had to order Cheng Lian and Chang Feng to besiege the two cities without attacking, if they dare to go out of the city to fight, they will be eliminated outside the city, with the strength of the Liangzhou iron cavalry, Niu Fu is not afraid of the Jingzhou infantry, they have never been in actual combat, far worse than the combat effectiveness of the Yuzhou princes.

After consideration, he decided to make a dangerous move, first take Jiangxia County and Nanjun, occupy the two richest counties in Jingzhou, and use local advantages to form a naval army, so that Xiangyang and Fancheng will become isolated cities, which will be self-defeating.

So, Niu Fu wrote a letter to apply for Zhang Ji to be the Jiangxia Taishou and Guo Yan to apply for the Nanjun Taishou, hoping that the two could occupy the two counties and cut off the peripheral support for Xiangyang City, and be able to reach the place to eat and reduce the purpose of logistics consumption.

Dong Zhuo and Li Ru both felt good about Niu Fu's strategy, Niu Fu improved very quickly, and now he actually knew that he could use his political advantage and take advantage of the name of righteousness, and in this way, he could give priority to obtaining a large amount of materials from Jiangxia County and Nan County, saving their few money and food, which was extremely beneficial to the war.

It's just that they understand in their hearts that this so-called righteousness is only effective for the Hanmen, the common people, and ordinary officers and soldiers, but it has no effect on those scholars; Through the matter of the Yuan family, Dong Zhuo no longer trusts the scholars, and those scholars hate Dong Zhuo even more, and there is no possibility of cooperation.

Therefore, Li Ru suggested that Dong Zhuo pass Niu Fu's application, and suggested that the imperial court declare Liu Biao a traitor, if so, Yuan Shu could be rehabilitated, hoping to unite with Yuan Shu to deal with Liu Biao, at least let Yuan Shu remain neutral.

Dong Zhuo has long been accustomed to this kind of impermanence, playing politics, black-hearted, and has no lower limit of morality, all because of interests, so he successfully adopted Li Ru's suggestion.

Li Ru was not at ease about this, if he wanted to occupy the two counties and besiege Xiangyang and Fancheng, the troops were seriously insufficient, and he could not crush the enemy with superior forces, and secondly, there was no naval army, and it would be extremely passive to fight in the south, and it was imperative to build a naval army.

It's just that building a naval army is not a day's work, and people in the north are not accustomed to water, so it is even more difficult to form an army; It would be much more convenient to occupy Jiangxia County and Nanjun County, not only to recruit a large number of sailors who were familiar with water, but also to recruit a large number of shipbuilders.

For this reason, Li Ru also suggested that Dong Zhuo transfer 5,000 cavalry from Duan Xuan from Zhonglang, strengthen it to the lieutenant Wang Fang, and transfer 3,500 infantry from the Beijing army, together with the officers and soldiers under Wang Fang's jurisdiction, to gather enough 60,000 troops to support Niu Fu, and to take Jingzhou in one go.

Taking Jiangxia County and Nanjun can provide a large amount of taxes and facilitate the formation of a naval army, which is extremely beneficial to the future, and Dong Zhuo immediately agreed.