Zhang He watched Yang Xi leave, and all the generals in the tent did not dare to move.

Once he makes a move, no matter whether Yang Xi is dead or alive, he has only one ending.

An hour later, Zhang He and his generals announced that they would relinquish command of the army.

Among the more than a dozen generals, except for Zhang He himself, only two were willing to stay in Chenhe District.

Yang Xi knew that the rest of them would still return to Cao Ying or go directly to their hometown, and they would have no face to join the army again.

As for the more than 30,000 military horses, Yang Xi asked Lai Pi, the governor of Nanjun, to be in charge of registering and making the register, anyway, the policy of the Chenhe Chamber of Commerce is here, and he is willing to go and stay in accordance with the process. Cao Jun soldiers, most of them are poor people, Chenhe Chamber of Commerce pays for food and shelter and wages, the treatment is better than Cao Ying, I don't know how many times better, and now Chenhe District is the holy land of the world, and its reputation is outside, and it is extremely rare to want to return to Cao Ying. Even if you want to go back to your hometown, you also want to make some money in Chenhe District and return to your hometown.

Of the more than 30,000 military horses, only more than 1,000 chose to leave, which was expected by Yang Xi.

Zhang He smacked his tongue secretly, this Yang Xi generously let him go, but most of the result was left, this is a reputation and a benefit, but this trick is extremely wonderful.

Yang Xi ordered Pang to lead an army of 60,000 to garrison Xiangyang, and Mao Luan to lead 60,000 to garrison Xiyang, Dawu and other places to defend Jiangxia. As for the more than 30,000 military horses in Guishun, all of them were arranged by Lai Pi, the governor of Nanjun, to build roads and bridges in various places.

There is a place in Yicheng, which is rich in phosphate rock, and later generations surveyed, its content reached more than 900 million tons, Yang Xi directly ordered Lai Pi to invite mining experts from Chenhe University, and simply divided 10,000 people into the construction of phosphate rock base.

Phosphate rock is a necessary thing for phosphate fertilizer, with this rich mine, the agricultural fertilizer in Chenhe District, I am afraid there is no need to worry at all.

As for Lü Meng, together with Yang Xi, he led an army of 80,000 to the south and returned to Jingnan, preparing to deal with Liu Bei, who had just returned to Zi.

However, he said that Liu Bei had won Kou Feng and returned to Shun, and was ready to go out of Zigui and take a boat out of the Yangtze River to take Jingnan, but Kong Ming said: "The lord sent troops at this time, I'm afraid the time has not come." ”

"Why?" Liu Bei felt that the time was ripe and sent troops by himself, although there were not many, but Yang Xi was attacked on three sides, and it was definitely uncomfortable.

Zhuge Liang said: "The lord took Zigui, did not get the expected effect, originally thought that he would get 30,000 soldiers and horses, and 80,000 troops would go east, but he could decide on the four counties of Dingjing South in one fell swoop, but he didn't want to mutiny." And there are 120,000 people in the northern mountains and forests of Zigui, and they may go south at any time to regain Zigui, which is a variable. There is no news of the war between Cao Cao and Sun Quan, in case one side loses, Yang Xi frees up his hand to deal with the lord, and the lord is in a dilemma at that time. Yang Xi's attack is not 350,000 horses, but 100,000 and 200,000 elite soldiers at every turn, and the quality of equipment is the best in the world, how can our army resist. ”

Zhuge Liang has always been cautious, it's not that he doesn't want to go east, considering that if the situation changes, with Liu Bei's more than 40,000 people, there are problems with self-protection. And Zhuge Liang looked at the equipment configuration of Kou Feng's soldiers, which was a world of difference from the Shu army, and suddenly had a lot of ideas.

But Liu Bei doesn't think so, he is fifty years old at the moment, and if he doesn't get up, he will really get old.

"If Yizhou wants to slowly accumulate resources, at least five or ten years, with Yang Xi's development situation at this time, it can be imagined that the population is only 50 or 60 million, and even if the population of Yizhou is doubled, it will be 4 or 5 million, which is tantamount to hitting a stone with an egg at that time. It is this opportunity that no matter how difficult it is, Bei should also forge ahead. ”

Liu Bei's speech was inspiring, and the morale of the generals was infected by it, and they were all ready to move, and Kong Ming actually didn't really dissuade him, but he just felt that things were not very safe.

So Liu Bei left Zhao Yun to lead the army to guard Zigui in case the rebellious army returned, and sorted out 35,000 soldiers and horses, Zhang Fei, Li Yan, Kou Feng and others jointly sent troops to Xiling Gorge and came to Jingzhou.

Xiling Gorge is now sorted out by Yang Xi's army, Liu Bei grabbed the dock boat, and went down the river, but it took only two hours.

Liu Bei took Yiling first, Yang Xi didn't expect Liu Bei to defeat Kou Feng at all, and Yiling, Zhijiang, Jiangling and other counties north of the Yangtze River did not garrison any soldiers and horses.

By the time Yang Xi took Xiangyang, Liu Bei had already occupied these three counties.

Originally, Liu Bei meant that after taking the three counties, he would use this as a base to recruit troops and buy horses, block Yang Xi's southward road, and at the same time send troops to the north to attack Cao Cao from the north and south.

But Zhuge Liang said: "If the lord and Cao Cao attack Yang Xi together, Yang Xi is defeated, and Cao Cao goes south, then the lord will only make a wedding dress for Cao Cao in this battle, and he will not be able to fight for it." ”

Liu Bei listened to Kong Ming's words and suddenly felt reasonable, so he prepared to wave his army to the east to take Huarong and cross the river to the south to take Xiaoling.

But at this time, Liu Bei inserted a detailed biography in Xiangyang, saying that Yang Xibing took Xiangyang without blood, and killed Cao Hong without spending soldiers, and incorporated Zhang He, so as to win Nanjun.

This time, Liu Bei was bombarded in the clouds, like falling into an ice cellar.

It was only two days after the report of his capture of Zigui was released, and the news of Cao Cao's defeat had already been transmitted.

According to the estimation of the time limit of the news, a day and night have passed at this time, and if Yang Xi marches quickly, he is afraid that in two more days, he will be able to start a war with him.

Liu Bei hurriedly asked Kong Ming, what could he do, Kong Ming said: "Yang Xi easily defeated Cao Gong and incorporated Zhang He, even if he left 100,000 troops to guard Xiangyang, there were also 100,000 soldiers and horses going south, and it was extremely difficult to defeat him head-on. It is better to retreat to Zigui, and take the risk of the Yangtze River waterway, and the warships and sky-bombing cannons are in the narrow part of the canyon to resist them from taking the opportunity to enter Shuzhong in the west. ”

Zhuge Liang still has a hidden word, that is, Cao Cao is a contemporary soldier, Zhang He, Cao Hong, and Xiahoudun are not easy to match, they were easily broken by Yang Xi, and their use of soldiers is really ghostly, the lord has to compete with him, how difficult it is, it is better to follow my previous plan, develop the family carefully, and wait for the next opportunity.

Liu Bei couldn't struggle, but Zhang Fei jumped out with a bandage on his back, wanting to raise troops to snipe Yang Xi.

Liu Bei glanced at Zhang Fei, and suddenly lost his confidence. Zhang Fei is injured, with Yang Xi's bravery, who can fight!

After thinking about it, there was no way, and on the same day, Liu Bei ordered the army to retreat and return to defend Zigui.

However, he said that Cheng Zhi, who fled north into the mountains two days ago, temporarily led 15,000 soldiers and horses, and did not know where to go.

Deputy battalion commander Luo Sui said: "Battalion commander, although this place is only forty or fifty kilometers away from Nanjun in the east, it is all high mountains that no one has walked on, and it will take several days to go out." Now the brothers don't bring dry food, even if they boil leaves to eat, I'm afraid they won't be able to endure it for so long. What if the enemy pursues you? ”

Hu You, the commander of the fifth battalion, and Lu Xiao, the commander of the sixth battalion, were two college classmates, and they naturally spoke casually, Hu You said: "Cheng Zhi, if we send someone to probe the situation in Zigui County, Liu Bei will definitely go to Jingzhou in the east, and when he leaves, we will go to retrieve Zigui and cut off Liu Bei's back road." ”

Cheng Zhi thought about it and said, "No! Liu Bei will definitely leave the general to defend the town, we don't have a bombardment cannon now, and it is too difficult to capture the city. You see, our current location, in the north of Zigui Shaping Reservoir, this location, but we have surveyed the place, the name of this reservoir, or Gongzi personally taken, this area of Zigui County must be familiar with someone, we can not stay for a long time. Further east, there are lofty mountains, and even more so to the north. If we can go out of the way to the east, and then arrange some men to establish a secret stronghold for a long time, can we clear a road in the lofty mountains and mountains, and when Gongzi defeats Cao Cao and returns to the army, we can take this road, secretly send troops and horses, and take Zigui. Isn't that a big deal? ”

"But how to solve the food problem?" Hu You also raised the most realistic problem at present.

Cheng said: "This is not a problem, in our military training program, there is a field survival, and everyone has learned it." But it is too difficult for 15,000 people to survive in the wild, where is there so much game for us to catch. It is better to divide our five battalions into five parts. Luo Sui, you go to lead the second battalion, Hu You, your deputy battalion commander, go to lead the fourth battalion. We are divided into five ways to probe, no need to rush to go, we can survey and record all the conditions along the way, and when we arrive in Nanjun, we will gather in Dangyang. ”

"Good!"

So Cheng Zhi, as the acting head of the regiment, ordered all battalions to go east to meet the challenge of survival.

In order to set an example, Cheng Zhi took the initiative to walk another seven or eight kilometers north along the stream infused by the Shaping Reservoir before starting to travel eastward.

No one expected, nor did Yang Xi expect that Cheng Zhi's decision not only found a passage for the Chenhe Chamber of Commerce, but also provided first-hand information for Yang Xi to build a highway in the future.

The soldiers and horses of the five roads walked for seven or eight days before they walked out of the mountains, which is not only an experience, but also a transformation.

(End of chapter)