In the early morning, a mist filled the place of Xiangyang. The pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info is as light as green yarn, as calm as cold water, and the place within a radius of dozens of miles becomes suddenly and somewhat unpredictable. It was still early autumn and it was unlikely that such a foggy situation would have occurred, but the heavy rain of the previous days and the sudden sunny turn of the past two days made the impossible possible.

In foggy weather, there is more dew. The people who had once again woken up from the wilderness shook their bodies that were obviously cold, and tightened their clothes, and began their journey to the day. The march was undoubtedly quiet, and after yesterday's events, most of the people lost the mood to talk and laugh. Because of the refusal of Xiangyang and the massacre of Cai Mao, people's hearts were clouded with gray. For the first time, they felt the confusion of the future on the way south. Although they still firmly follow Liu Bei's footsteps.

On a flat ground six miles south of Xiangyang City, Liu Bei's team was stopping here. Facing the bulging hill standing on the flat ground, Liu Bei's face was full of solemnity and sadness. His eyes stared at the more than ten fist-sized red characters on the tablet: "The tomb of General Zhennan of the Late Han Dynasty, Marquis Cheng Wu, Jingzhou Mu Liu Biao Jingsheng" Tears fell from his eyes. Liu Bei is undoubtedly grateful to Liu Biao, and no matter how Liu Biao defended himself later, he only said that Liu Biao helped him at the beginning and took him in when he was in trouble, which is enough to lead Liu Bei to remember.

For Liu Bei, Liu Biao is a good person, even if he defends himself, he is just on guard, and he doesn't take it seriously. Although Liu Bei also sighed "trapped in peace" in the days in Jingzhou, it was just a complaint that he had no foundation, under the rule of Liu Biao, in the past few years in Jingzhou, Liu Bei actually suffered a lot of benefits from this peace. The so-called "deceased" is the greatest, because Liu Biao died, Liu Biao's various precautions against himself can also go with the wind, after forgetting Liu Biao's injustice to himself, Liu Bei remembered that only Liu Biao was good to himself.

Thinking about this "good", thinking about Liu Biao's kinship with his righteous clan, and considering Liu Biao's weight in the name of Jingzhou, Liu Bei felt that he had to worship him no matter what. Although it was impossible to find those delicacies because he was on the run, Liu Bei still squeezed out some limited meat, fruits and vegetables from the food of his army and placed them in front of Liu Biao's tomb. He knelt down. After the three rings, he cried loudly: "Brother Jingsheng, I can't stand you...... At the beginning, you entrusted me with the future affairs of Jingzhou and asked me to assist your eldest son, but you didn't want things to become like this......"

Speaking of voice, Liu Bei's voice may not be as loud as Zhang Fei's. But at this time, his crying was also audible, and when his hoarse cry began, an inexplicable divine power made the people who followed Liu Bei and the people who heard Liu Bei's cry couldn't help but feel sour in their hearts, and tears rippled. While they were crying, they spread the news that Liu Bei visited Liu Biao's mausoleum, and in less than half a day, this matter became clear to everyone - Liu Bei's respect for Liu Biao was well known to the people of Jingzhou. They remembered Liu Biao's goodness, and remembered Liu Bei's benevolence at the moment, so they were naturally even more reluctant to be with the brutal and unkind Cao Cao.

Jingzhou was originally a paradise for those who escaped from the war, from the golden rebellion in the fourth year of Zhongping to the twelve-year expedition to Wuhuan in Jian'an, the war in the north generally did not stop. The frequent wars caused a large number of people to flee, and Jingzhou, which was relatively calm, undoubtedly became the first place they chose to escape the war. Later, Li Sheng's series of policies promoted before Xiyang, then in Changsha and even in the whole of Jingzhou made this kind of spontaneous migration become organized. Although a large number of people from the north were distributed to the four counties of Xiyang, as well as remote places such as Jingnan, a considerable number of them remained in Xiangyang, Xinye and other places, and these people became Liu Bei's most loyal supporters in Xinye, and in Xiangyang, they became the masters of the most prosperous embankment area outside Xiangyang City.

Because they are not natives of Jingzhou, although they have been stable here for several years, their roots have never been deeply rooted. When they heard the news that Cao Cao was going south, they were afraid of Cao Cao's cruelty and severity, and after seeing Liu Bei's benevolent style and understanding Liu Bei's previous kind of benevolent government, they all decided to follow Liu Bei south.

"Let's go, let's go. We are not from Jingzhou in the first place, and it doesn't matter if we leave. It's good to go anywhere anyway, just don't live under the rule of the devil. The people outside the city told each other about it, and silently began to pack their bags.

"Devil" is a name that the people have only recently added to Cao Cao. Since the Han Dynasty deposed Confucianism, not to mention that the imperial court has greatly improved the status of Confucianism, it still pursues the means of external Confucianism and internal law, but it is only said that the status of Confucianism in this people, or the status of scholars, is very high. Whether they are literate or not, most of them understand that Confucius is the most holy teacher and a saint. Cao Cao killed Confucius's descendant Kong Rong, and the reason for killing him was actually such a trivial matter as violating the prohibition of alcohol, which was undoubtedly something that could not be forgiven by the people. As long as anyone with a little brain understands, there is something greasy in this. And Cao Cao, who caused this kind of greasy, is undoubtedly a big disappointment.

Liu Bei, who left Xiangyang, chose the road due south to Dangyang. The fact that he wanted to go to Gangneung was almost certain at the moment. Regarding Liu Bei's decision, Cai Mao, who was just glad that Liu Bei was a fool and did not take the opportunity to occupy Xiangyang, suddenly regretted it and turned his intestines blue. He couldn't have known how important Gangneung was to his side. He also thinks that with Liu Bei's current situation, Jiangling is actually the best choice. But this best choice is undoubtedly more uncomfortable for him than the sky falling. However, he still couldn't, he was just frightened by Liu Beijun's entry into Xiangyang yesterday, and he didn't have the courage to give the order to pursue Liu Bei. He could only let his people guard the city, and then try his best to report Liu Bei's movements to the north desperately. As a person whose face has already been handed over, he already sees himself as Cao Cao's subordinate.

Far behind, Cao Cao knew that Liu Bei was preparing to go to Jiangling, and that was six days after Liu Bei left Xiangyang. After receiving this information from Cai Mao, Cao Cao, who was riding on a horse and was about to drink a sip of thirst-quenching water, was so shocked that his whole body trembled, he couldn't even grasp the water cup in his hand, and let the jade cup worth hundreds of yuan slide down from his hand like this, and fell into the dust with a bang.

"Liu Bei actually plans to go to Jiangling, he actually wants to go to Jiangling? What is this Cai Mao for, why didn't he intercept Liu Bei for me. Cao Cao was so shocked that the expression on his face changed, and the loud questions made people really feel Cao Cao's anxiety and anger from the bottom of his heart.

"This ......" Cao Cao's close attendants were a little unable to answer, and it was best to say to Cao Cao as if he remembered something: "It seems that it is because Liu Bei made Cai Mao and them unresonant in Xiangyang." ”

"Oh? Is this the reason? After Cao Cao vented, his anger subsided slightly, and his expression returned to his original calm and calmness. He looked at the clump of silk he was clutching tightly, and continued to read the information below.

Because Cai Mao had already returned to Cao Cao, the information handed over to Cao Cao introduced Liu Bei's situation in great detail, and even Liu Bei's ten miles a day because he brought a large number of people in the army was clearly written, which made Cao Cao finally smile. "Xuande loves the people? But they don't know that this is an act that harms others and themselves. If he wants to go to Gangneung, he still has nearly 100,000 people with him, does he want to die or what? Cao Cao muttered, and quickly issued an order to Xu Chu and Cao Chun, who were the vanguard: "Let their tigers and leopards ride me to speed up." Be sure to catch up with Liu Bei within three days. ”

"Ah...... Be! His subordinates hurriedly took the order, and quickly sent flying horses to hand over Cao Cao's order to Cao Chun's hands.

At this time, Cao Chun's troops had already arrived in Fancheng, and Cai Mao's Xiangyang was only separated by a river.

Looking coldly at the surging water of the Han River, Cao Chun remembered the death order that Cao Cao brought to him, and couldn't help but sigh: "How easy it is to catch up with Liu Beijun in three days." If they are all on flat ground, then it is easy to say, but at the moment we are still separated from Liu Bei by a river. Liu Bei had already taken away all the sailors of Fancheng and Xiangyang, and did not leave us any boats, so how could we cross the river? ”

"It is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice" Faced with such a practical and objective problem, Cao Chun could only be helpless. The surging water of the Han River is much deeper than the water of the White River outside Xinye Castle, and even if Cao Chun had the heart to take his time, it would be impossible to cross the Han River by building a pontoon bridge like crossing the White River. Now that there is no ferry, he can only look at Jiang Xing like this and sigh: "There is no way." ”

Just when Cao Chun's tiger and leopard riders were stationed in Fancheng depressed and unable to cross the Han River, Cai Mao, who had been looking forward to Cao Cao's army coming south, and other officials of Jingzhou were also enough to reach the Caozi banner that suddenly stood above Fancheng on the opposite bank. Seeing the yellow flag waving in the wind, Cai Mao and Zhang Yun were so moved that they were about to cry. Although Liu Bei has long been gone, and there is no look of looking back, they are still scared by the changes a few days ago. They put all their hopes on the arrival of Cao Cao's army, and at this moment they suddenly saw the flag belonging to Cao Cao appear on the other side of the river, which did not make them ecstatic.

They immediately sent an envoy with a very heavy gift to meet the Cao army generals in Fancheng here.

Cao Chun received this person from the other side with cold eyes. To be honest, as a military general, he really didn't have a good impression of guys like Cai Mao and Zhang Yun opposite: "Selling the master for glory, this is simply worse than Liu Bei's escape." They are still happy now. ”

Cao Chun had a dark face and listened to the noise of the people below with an expressionless face, until the person below said: "...... If the general has any request, we will do our best to cooperate with the general as soon as we hear it, so as to achieve what the general wants. ”

"Oh? Is that so? Facing the flattery of the person from Xiangyang, Cao Chun's eyes narrowed, and he looked directly at the messenger as if he was suddenly angry: "Well, since that's the case, then I'll ask you to mobilize a hundred ferries for me in a day's work." We need to cross the river. ”

"Want a boat to cross the river? Isn't there even a ship on Fancheng's side? The messenger had a stunned look on his face. He carefully recalled the emptiness above the Fancheng dock that he saw when he came, and immediately understood the reason for Cao Chun's request: "It turns out that Liu Bei has swept away all the sailors in Fancheng like they have looted our Xiangyang." It's really enough......" Since Cao Chun encountered such a problem, the envoy immediately breathed a sigh of relief. He was really afraid that the cold-faced guy up there would ask some weird questions to embarrass himself. Now that he heard that it was actually such a request, he couldn't help but be overjoyed and hurriedly agreed--although Xiangyang's navy had been taken away by Liu Bei, it was still possible to gather a fleet with Cao Chun's troops to cross the river with Xiangyang's strength. Originally, the shipbuilding industry in Jingzhou was extremely developed, and in Xiangyang, a metropolis dominated by merchants, many merchants had their own fleets. In the case that the Han Navy and the Navy were all taken away by Liu Bei, it was undoubtedly a natural thing to go to them to borrow a boat.

"With just one order, won't this ship be able to collect it all at once?" The messenger breathed a sigh of relief and finally smiled. He doesn't think it's that hard to solve the problem.

With a little satisfaction, the envoy led Cao Chun's conditions back to Xiangyang City overnight. He reported the matter to Cai Mao, and soon received an order from Cai Mao. Just as the envoy had originally thought, Cai Mao ordered the merchant ships of the merchants in Xiangyang City to be collected.

Because the order did not specify whether it was borrowed or received, nor did it say what the means of doing things were, so under Cai Mao's order, the entire Xiangyang City was stirred up, and countless fierce soldiers with bright swords and guns rushed into the mansions of the mansions in the north embankment area of Xiangyang City, and coerced them to contribute their own survivable merchant ships by force. In the meantime, if there is no allowment, it will be a one-and-two-part ending. Under Cai Mao's death order, the soldiers showed unprecedented ferocity.

Soon, 300 large and small boats were collected all over the river, and together with the boatmen on board, they rushed straight to the other side of the river under the supervision of the Jingzhou soldiers, and it took only two hours to reach the port of Fancheng on the other side. At this moment, the sky is already bright.

Seeing that Cai Mao's side actually did things so quickly, Cao Chun, who had been upset by this incident, finally showed a satisfied smile on his face. His opinion of Cai Mao has changed slightly, and he feels that Cai Mao is not a too incompetent person. After all, Cai Mao is doing herself a big favor at the moment. Because Cao Cao's order was really urgent, Cao Chun hurriedly organized his subordinates to take it and hurry up to transport all the men and horses on his side to the other side after he had the ferry. In order to pursue Liu Beijun, he had already informed his brothers in advance that they must be prepared to eat and sleep on the horse.

It is said that "the south boat and the north horse", for the average northerner, it is definitely not an easy thing to cross the rough Han River by boat, and they are very likely to get seasick in that bumpy. Cai Mao, who wanted to contribute to Cao Cao, naturally understood this, although he didn't have the home remedies around him to treat this damn "seasickness", but in order to alleviate the discomfort of those soldiers after vomiting, he still ordered someone to boil a lot of hot water on the boat to prepare it. This was his kindness, but also his mistake, he didn't know that Cao Chun, the elite of the tiger and leopard riders who had completely adapted to the bumps on the horse and had undergone a period of adaptability training in the Xuanwu Pond, although they were not yet at the level of being able to fight on an undulating warship, but at least they had reached the level of not getting seasick on the ship. After sailing all the way, everyone arrived at the military port in the embankment area of Xiangyang safely.

On this side of Xiangyang City, Cai Mao, Zhang Yun, and several officials, big and small, stood there early and waited, watching the ships on the opposite side. As one merchant ship after another crossed the river and stopped on the shore of the military port, Cai Mao saw several people dressed as generals walking down from the merchant ship. Seeing this, Cai Mao couldn't help but be overjoyed, and hurriedly walked forward with his subordinates and bowed down in front of him: "Cai Mao, the governor of the Navy, has seen General Cao Chun in Xiajingzhou. I have been looking forward to the arrival of the king and division led by the general for a long time, and today I see it like a long drought and a rainy day. Now the city gate has been opened, the city has prepared a banquet, and General Cao Chun is invited not to be despicable, condescend to the nobles and go to the state governor's mansion with him. Cai Mao smiled, and the words she said were full of humility and flattery. Of course he knew the relationship between Cao Chun and Cao Cao, and the purpose of scolding Cao Chun like this at the moment was just so that Cao Chun could help him say good things in front of Cao Cao.

"To the Governor's Mansion? Then you don't have to. Cao Chun rejected Cai Mao's suggestion: "The lord asked me to pursue Liu Bei, but I don't dare to be the slightest bit lazy." Cao Chun chuckled, but his words were very resolute.

"This ......" Cai Mao hesitated for a moment, feeling the sharp eyes that Cao Chun shot on him, he couldn't help but be stunned, and his heart suddenly felt a little numb. When he heard Cao Chun say this, he knew that he definitely couldn't stay in comfort.

"Cao Cao is a meticulous person." He was clear about that. Therefore, he also understands that if he continues to entangle, so that Cao Chun's task cannot be completed, he is afraid that Cao Chun will have nothing to do with Cao Cao's relationship, but his own head will never be able to be saved.

"There's no need to kill yourself because of this." Cai Mao thought about it, and immediately stepped aside and let Cao Chun and them pass.

"Here's what I wish the general to do." Far away, Cai Mao said loudly behind Cao Chun.

"Cheng General Jiyan." Cao Chun's voice came from afar, but he seemed to leave here more quickly.

The night is sinking and the stars are bright, and countless people are lying on the Changban slope in the southwest of Dangyang County for more than ten miles. Liu Bei led the people to leave here, and it was very close to Jiangling. Although it will take about ten days to reach Jiangling at the speed of Liu Bei's side traveling more than ten miles a day, a distance of more than 100 miles appears in front of people as a normal number, but it does not make people feel that there is any distant place.

"Once we get to Gangneung, we can really take a break. Uncle Liu Huang spoke, and he said that we must take Jiangling. "The people tell each other about such things. Seeing that Gangneung seemed to be arriving soon, they were generally relieved and less flustered.

Nagasaki slope is located in a hilly area, its terrain is slightly inclined to the south, countless rivers, streams, lakes, ponds are spread on it, although it is still in the north of the river, but it has a bit of the taste of the land of the south of the Yangtze River network. It is said that in ancient times, it was submerged by the vast Unmengzawa that was almost as wide as the sea. At present, although it is exposed due to the vicissitudes of the sea, there is still a lot of water in the area, and it is a waterlogged land.

Nagasaki Slope is one of these waterlogged areas, and there is a small river on it, which is a tributary of the Han River, but it is not very wide, and there is a wooden bridge about five or six people wide above the river. This bridge is called "Dangyang Bridge". On this night, Liu Beijun was leading the people to stay about five miles west of Dangyang Bridge at this moment. Because the previous newspaper has said: "The front of Cao Cao's army has been led by Cao Chun and is about to be killed in Dangyang, because Liu Bei did not dare to have the slightest neglect, while ordering the personal guard Chen Zhi to lead 500 horsemen to the rear army to protect the position, on the other hand, he ordered Zhang Fei to guard the Chinese army with 5,000 men and horses in the palace army, so that the people around him crossed the bridge overnight.

Despite such preparations, the people's movements were slow after all. At the fourth watch of the night, an earth-shattering shout of killing suddenly sounded in the northwest corner of the station. I saw countless Cao soldiers coming from the darkness there. His black-clothed black family black horse, holding a steel spear as long as two feet, is the elite of Cao Cao's army, the tiger and leopard cavalry army led by Cao Chun all along.

Cao Jun came very violently, although his movements had already been guessed by Liu Bei, but he never thought that once the elite of the elite charged, it would be such a tragic situation. It was just a face-to-face contact, and Chen Zhibu, who Liu Bei had arranged behind the formation, was easily torn open, and a large number of tiger and leopard riders swarmed in, breaking through Chen Zhi's defense line at once, and killing Liu Bei's side. They are all viciously tight, and the so-called cold face is the most appropriate description for them. As a warrior, they are undoubtedly very qualified, because they can destroy all the figures who dare to appear in front of them without expression under the order of their master to "assault". For them, there is only the difference between their own people and the enemy, the so-called own people are those comrades-in-arms they have already known, and the enemy is all but their own people, as for the people, as for those who surrender, this is no different from the enemy for them at all.

Under such circumstances, the massacre began. When the soldiers pointed their weapons at the people, the people had no other way but to scream, but to run, but to accept their fate, they were weak, and they had no power to resist. Perhaps for the simple men of the Tiger and Par Riders, all they did was remove the obstacles that prevented them from fulfilling their orders, but for the people who were pointed at by the spears, they had to pay with their lives in such chaos. Who is right and who is wrong in this massacre? Maybe it's just providence that is trying to get people. It is not the result of revenge, but because of the chaos that caused such a situation, the people who are bent on following Liu Bei to the south have no way to face the "brutal" Cao army. They could only flee in a frenzied and chaotic manner.

Liu Beijun finally reacted. It's just that this kind of reaction is a little thin in the vast dark night under the impact of the chaotic and scattered crowd. Liu Beijun, who had 60,000 or 70,000 troops, had to manage more than 100,000 people, not only to maintain order among the people, but also to explore the way forward and cover his own rear needle, and his troops always seemed insufficient. They are scattered over a radius of more than ten miles, and every point is only more than a thousand people. When Cao Chun's tiger and leopard cavalry broke through Chen Zhi's rear army like a piece of paper, Liu Bei was only able to gather more than 5,000 soldiers and horses in his own army. It was about the same number as Cao Chun, but it was all infantry. Although there was a sharp weapon such as a spear to deal with cavalry, under the urgency of such a time, it was too late to form a dense phalanx, so it collided with Cao Chun's iron cavalry nakedly.

"Ping Pong ......", "Qiang ......", "Ah ......" crashing sounds, puncture sounds, fighting sounds, miserable howls, shouts, all kinds of messy sounds turned into a chaotic movement resounding on the land in the southern suburbs of Dangyang City. When Liu Bei hurriedly brought his own troops and horses to meet Cao Chun's troops, his defeat was already certain. 5,000 cavalry and 5,000 infantry, facing each other on flat ground, there was no obstacle in the middle, and those infantry did not organize the corresponding formation, and the final result was self-evident. What Cao Chunjun told was interspersed among Liu Bei's 5,000 people, but it was only two times back and forth that Liu Bei's team was completely defeated. Most of Liu Bei's men scattered and fled, except for the more than 100 soldiers who were still guarding him tightly, he had no way to command more people.

"Liu Bei, you're done, get off the horse and capture me quickly." Cao Chun, who had already seen the situation clearly, smiled arrogantly. Although there was not much real laughter, it was reassuring to listen to the ears of those tiger and leopard warriors under him. In fact, they went deep into the enemy's formation alone, and looking at the situation that they were not their own people in all directions, it really made them feel palpitations.

"Is the heavens going to kill me?" Liu Bei, who had suffered heavy losses, had a little sadness on his face, and he was also a little hasty, but there was never despair. At this moment, although he suffered a great blow, he still did not give up the last hope. He knew that his team, the rear army he was in, would be defeated quickly, but he didn't panic because he knew that Cao Chun was in front of him, and not elsewhere, undoubtedly giving time to the rest of his subordinates. As long as this time is extended a little longer, his situation will undoubtedly get better and better - whether it is Chen Zhi or Zhang Fei, they will come to the rescue soon, and they will be safe by then.

Thinking of this, Liu Bei seemed calm after a brief glance at the dejected thoughts. He let the more than 100 guards around him run around him, letting them shoot arrows as he ran. This is the art of running and shooting, which was practiced by imitating Li Sheng's personal guards, although because there is no good "teacher", the things practiced can only be regarded as some skins, but at this critical time, in this darkness, it can still make Cao Chunjun, who surrounded him, feel a little scruples. Now it seems that the overall situation has been decided for Cao Chun, and he doesn't want the elite under his command to exchange Liu Bei's one hundred garbage.

So, he wanted to wait.