The victory in the Battle of Dongting may be something to be celebrated for Li Sheng's side, but it is insignificant for Liu Biao and Sun Quan, the two sides who are really fighting. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 Although Zhou Yu, who commanded the naval army, heard that Jiang Qin and Lu Meng were both injured in this battle, and knew that the naval army on the other side of Changsha was a little strange, he only frowned slightly and did not fully take it to heart. After all, compared to the small defeat on the Changsha side, the most important thing is to conquer Jiangxia City at the moment. The Jiangdong Army surrounded all parts of Jiangxia tightly, and used the attack of the chuang crossbow on the battleship to destroy the east wall of Jiangxia City, so it can be said that it is only a matter of time before Jiangxia is captured.

"Alas...... What can I do? In the besieged city, Huang Zu sighed for a long time. Facing the siege pressure of the Jiangdong Army all day long, he seemed to be ten years old in an instant, and his beard was gray.

He's alone. During the siege of the city a few days ago, he and his son and nephew were killed in battle as the defenders of the city wall. Although this is the most common fate of a military general, for an old man, this blow is a big blow. This made his heart deeply tugged at the despair of the coming death, and he was trapped in fear and could not extricate himself.

After holding for a few more days, in the face of the Jiangdong Army's tidal offensive, Huang Zu really couldn't stand it. He didn't have the courage to die with the city, and he only had the idea of breaking through. He gathered a group of his closest cronies and arranged a plan to break out of the siege "from the west gate tonight". He decided to abandon Jiangxia and find a way to return to Xiangyang. Although he was old, he clearly had no idea of dying.

At half a decade in the evening, the west gate was silent, and the Eastern Wu army had withdrawn. As a force with insufficient troops, the Jiangdong Army had no way to surround Jiangxia City at all. They chose the method of focusing on attacking, focusing on attacking ASEAN, which was supported by ships and ships, containing the south gate and the north gate, and leaving the west gate alone. Huang Zu is not a fool, he naturally knows that Zhou Yu must have arranged an ambush outside the West Gate, but the current matter has been so bad that he has admitted it even if he drinks doves to quench his thirst, not to mention that he still has a certain hope in his heart for this matter: "Jiangdong has few soldiers, and it is impossible to ambush too many people in the west." I took out more than 20,000 of my men and mixed them in, no matter how much the other party rushes and kills, I should have a certain possibility of escaping. ”

With this fluke thought, Huang Zu came out of the West Gate. He hid in the middle of the ranks, with a vanguard of more than 7,000 men in front and a rear of more than 10,000 in the back. Because he was afraid of alarming the enemy, Huang Zu did not let his men light torches, and being cautious was what he said, and what he was doing right now.

Everything went smoothly. Huang Zujun, who went out of the West Gate, did not attract the attention of Jiangdong Army, and everything was normal after traveling for nearly ten miles. This seemed to be something that could be relieved a little bit for Huang Zu. After all, this place is already a little far from the city, and it is so dark, there should be no more enemies.

But this is how he expected: just when he thought everything was fine, he only heard a drum sound, and a group of soldiers and horses rushed from the left, as if they had known that Huang Zu was in the middle of the army, and rushed straight to the middle of the line.

The fire suddenly lit up in the darkness, and a brilliant light illuminated the eyes of those who had been in the darkness all along. They couldn't see how many people were rushing towards them. Listening to the dull sound of horses' hooves, I roughly understood that it was the enemy's cavalry attacking.

Because Sun Quan is located in Jiangdong, he does not have many war horses, and they are basically scattered and used as reconnaissance cavalry, and the formed combat cavalry is only a commando cavalry led by Zhou Tai. This assault cavalry was the elite of the Jiangdong Army, although the number was only about 2,000, but it was equipped with the best leather armor of the Jiangdong Army, the smallest hand crossbow and the sharpest Wu sword. These are all famous weapons in the world, especially Wu Jian, whose reputation has been famous all over the world since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

Using such elite troops against a group of people who have no intention of fighting and only want to flee will result in nothing but a massacre. For a while, shouts and wails rose from all directions. The fleeing Huang Zu army was broken up by a single assault by Zhou Tai's turked cavalry. Everyone only thinks about themselves, only thinks about running for their lives.

As a general, Huang Zu naturally has many guards around him. These people were all very loyal to Huang Zu, and even under such a rout, they never left Huang Zu. Although they knew that this was a mantis arm blocking the car, they still adhered to their principles and surrounded Huang Zu to protect him.

In the case of everyone scattering, there is still such a group of people gathered here, which undoubtedly attracted the attention of the Jiangdong Army.

"These people here are guarding the group, it won't be Jiangxia's general Huang Zu." Zhou Taisen looked here, looked at it coldly for a while, and finally spit out a thunderous word "kill" in his mouth. He believed in his own self-consciousness, and he also believed in the strength of the group of people under him.

"The reason why the cavalry of the Jiangdong Army is not famous is not because of the quality of the cavalry itself, but because of the number of cavalry." Zhou Tai has always been convinced of this.

However, there is no way to do this, with the existing sphere of influence in Jiangdong, there is no strength and no need to form a large-scale cavalry corps. After all, Jiangdong's strength is built on water, and only a strong naval army can guarantee Jiangdong's safety. Under this directing idea, the cavalry of the Jiangdong Army is actually sailors on horseback, and although the weapons and armor they are equipped with are much better than those of other armies of the Jiangdong Army, they are generally configured according to the specifications of the Jiangdong Navy - strong crossbows, light armor, and short soldiers This is the configuration of the Jiangdong cavalry, and under such a configuration, the general of the Jiangdong cavalry seems to have no problem led by Zhou Tailai, who was born as a water thief.

Although Tai Shici, the arrow general who took refuge in the Jiangdong Army from Jiangbei, seemed to be more suitable to lead the cavalry than Zhou Tai, the cavalry in Jiangdong was too different from the cavalry in other parts of the world, and Tai Shici was not from the south.

"It's a shame." Zhou Tai complained for his comrades, but there was nothing he could do. Although he also thinks that it is an injustice to Tai Shici, the biggest forces in Jiangdong at the moment are still those big families. What about Ren, a foreign surname born as a water thief? Zhou Tai shook heavily, and finally didn't want to, he completely focused his energy on the current battle situation.

In all fairness, the people in this part of Huang Zujun's army who have not dispersed are still very strong in combat effectiveness, and they are very desperate. His side had just passed from the side, and a few more people from the other side came to protect his soldiers, using his body to resist the full speed of his war horse, which was completely a way of fighting with the enemy.

"It's really terrible. It seems that the person who is surrounded by these people is really Huang Zu, the main general of Jiangxia. Hehe, I've really caught a big fish. The essence in Zhou Tai's eyes flashed, and the big knife in his hand was raised high. The enemy's commander was right in front of him, and all he had was excitement. He seemed to see countless military exploits waving at him. Everything is very simple, as long as you gently swing the knife.

The horse was raised, the people leaned forward, and the black war horse carried Zhou Tai's god-like body and floated in front of the soldiers guarding Huang Zu like a floating cloud, spilling out a sword light. The blue sword shadow disappeared like lightning, and in the blow just now, Zhou Tai, who rushed into the enemy formation, swung out thirty swords, and thirty people fell on the ground. All of them were fatal stabs to the throat, and Zhou Tai's knife technique was fast, gorgeous, and concise.

He didn't let his soldiers come forward to help, because now he was only facing Huang Zu, an enemy general who was trembling all over his body and didn't know what expression he had on his face. At the moment, although the place and time are not quite right, it can be regarded as a match. In order to give the opposite person a fairness, and also out of confidence in his own skills, Zhou Tai just jumped on the horse and pointed at Huang Zu on the opposite side with a distant wave.

"Let's fight." He said coldly, and an astonishing momentum emanated from his body and frantically surged towards Huang Zu opposite.

"Okay......" Huang Zu replied weakly, reaching out and pulling out the ring head knife on the right span. His face also became serious with the grasp of the blade in his hand, and the same not weak momentum emanated from his body, although it was not as good as Zhou Tai, but it was enough to surprise others: at this moment, the people on the side of Jiangdong Army never thought that such a person who was weak just now would become so powerful in an instant.

There was no one standing in the three-zhang square area, and under the double pressure of the momentum of both sides, the onlookers involuntarily retreated to the side. Even though they couldn't see the situation very clearly, even if they were far away, even with the torches, what else could they do? They are not generals, but they cannot resist this heavy oppression.

"Very good......" A smile tugged at the corner of Zhou Tai's mouth, which was disdain and excitement. He could see that Huang Zu's kung fu was far inferior to his own, but at the moment it was really "good without fish and shrimp", for a person who was eager to fight, he was suffocated - he had not had the opportunity to fight for several years, which made his hands really itchy and unbearable.

"It's coming......!" Zhou Taigao shouted, the big knife in his hand hung down, and the horse moved forward, the sharp blade flashed a little spark in the place where it slid, and the scattered sand was constantly broken by it. Zhou Tai is a serious person, and once he is in the groove, he attacks with all his might. As for the idea of "deliberately shaking a few tricks to make the battle between the two last longer because he saw an opponent who could fight with him", it never appeared in his heart. "One hit kills", for him, if he can do this, he will definitely do it.

Three or two times approached Huang Zu, and Zhou Tai's knife slammed upward. A bright blue sword light mixed with a misty piece of sand flew towards Huang Zu. For a while, the position of the two of them turned out to be a misty piece. This is one of Zhou Tai's special skills, and because he kicks up sand while attacking, it often causes great damage to the enemy's sight. Although it is obvious that it is a bit of a scoundrel, it generally receives good results in battle. Like, right now.

Huang Zu couldn't have imagined that Zhou Tai, the number one general in Jiangdong, would be so shameless in his moves, and he was caught off guard. The eyes were fascinated by the sand, and it was uncomfortably tight for a while. He rode his horse back a few steps in succession, and the ring knife in his hand danced desperately. He couldn't see it, his heart was already panicked, and the knife in his hand was waving, trying to resist Zhou Tai's attack, regardless of whether it was boring or not.

"Suffer death......! It's just a pointless move on your part. Zhou Tai snorted coldly, and the knife momentum in his hand changed again and again, connecting the swings one by one, completely enveloping Huang Zu in it, making him lose his last hearing in the sound of Huo Huo's knife wind.

was confused, his eyes were no longer visible, and his ears were also covered by a thunderous wind, and Huang Zu, who couldn't tell where the enemy was, danced the knife in his hand even more quickly. He knew he wouldn't be able to get past today, but he still didn't want to give up. He was flustered, even in front of the coffin, he still wanted to be lucky.

"I really don't know whether to live or die." Zhou Tai seemed to be mocking, and as if he was sighing, the knife in his hand was suddenly retracted, and then turned into a bright flying rainbow and wiped it towards Huang Zu's neck. As a first-class general, his moves are very fast. Before the sound of the knife wind that resounded in Huang Zu's ears on this side went up, the sword light over there had already broken through the sword momentum that Huang Zu was wielding, and it was directly handed to Huang Zu.

There was no more movement, Zhou Tai just wiped it slightly, and the hot blood suddenly spurted out. Zhou Tai smiled faintly, ignored the horse, and let Huang Zu's body fall to the ground abruptly. At the moment, he had his own soldiers, and he took Huang Zu's head down for him.

Zhou Tai lifted Huang Zu's still dripping head with one hand, pierced it on the blade and raised it high, shouting loudly: "Huang Zu is dead!" Huang Zu is dead! ”

"Huang Zu is dead, Huang Zu is dead!" As Zhou Tai shouted, the soldiers around him also shouted. The sound that shook the darkness was like a thunderstorm that shook the heavens and the earth, and it was deeply imprinted in everyone's hearts. As a result, the morale of the Jiangdong army was more sufficient, and the morale of the Huang Zujun army was even more inflated because of this, and they were defeated faster and dispersed even more. For a time, even a team like the cavalry led by Zhou Tai could not annihilate the scattered enemy forces one by one. They did their best all night, and it was not until dawn that they returned to their respective barracks, counted the exploits of their respective armies, and also ordered someone to pickle Huang Zu's head, and the clipper Pegasus sent this most important trophy to Sun Quan, the master of Jiangdong.

And so the battle ended. From February of the thirteenth year of Jian'an, the Jiangxia Raid to March of the thirteenth year of Jian'an, it ended with the victory of the Jiangdong Army and the defeat and death of Huang Zubing. The Jiangdong Army thus occupied Jiangxia City. But they did not stay in Jiangxia forever, due to the constraints of the Jiangdong forces themselves. The Jiangdong Army carried out the kind of wanton plundering policy against Jiangxia. Within a month of the occupation of Jiangxia, the Jiangdong Army used all its shipping forces on the Yangtze River to move everything in Jiangxia City to ships, including all weapons, grain, and grass, as well as a large number of people. There is a shortage of people in Jiangdong, which is one of the things that gives them the most headaches.

Jiangxia was swept away. The Jiangdong Army was like a locust in transit, digging out most of the county towns and villages in Jiangxia. Except for the northern mountainous areas, they really didn't have much ability to take care of it, and they almost emptied the entire Jiangxia. In the places they passed, they did not leave even a grain of rice for Liu Biao, everything was loaded into ships for them, and only a city territory with no people and nothing was left for the original lord of Jingzhou.

Half a month after the Jiangdong Army left, Cai Mao, who had always been afraid of the Jiangdong Army, carefully sent people to inquire about the Jiangdong Army, which had no news for a long time, and only then did he understand what the Jiangdong Army was doing in Jiangxia and understood the fact that the Jiangdong Army had withdrawn.

"Finally gone? It's okay, it's okay. Cai Mao and Zhang Yun patted their chests and rejoiced, and hurriedly sent someone to pass the news to their lord. Although the destruction of Jiangxia, the death of Huang Zu, and the plundering of Jiangxia by the Jiangdong Army caused great damage to Jingzhou, due to the withdrawal of the Jiangdong Army, Cai Mao and Zhang Yun actually spread this matter as a good news. In their opinion, no matter how the Jiangdong army tosses, as long as they don't occupy the land in Jingzhou, it will be fine. Liu Biao is already old, and he is about to die, they are waiting for Prime Minister Cao Cheng's soldiers to arrive, so that they can send this Jingzhou. As the local clans of Jingzhou, they don't care who is in charge of Jingzhou, as long as the people in charge of Jingzhou have some respect for the power of their families. Of course, it would be better if the people who ruled Jingzhou were recognized by their own side - like Cao Cao in the north.

Most of the families in Jingzhou recognized Cao Cao, a powerful man in the north, to succeed Liu Biao as the lord of Jingzhou. Although everyone has never said this matter openly, it is already a tacit matter between each other secretly. Everyone had a tacit understanding to hide, and only hid one Liu Biao. Because most of them know that Liu Biao is already terminally ill and does not have many days to live, and the current defeat of Jiangxia is likely to make his condition worse.

"Did you send the documents to the north as well?" Now that the Jiangdong Army has left, Cai Mao, who is in charge of the defense of Jiangling, naturally returned to Xiangyang, and as soon as he returned to his mansion, he hurriedly found his confidant and asked with concern. As a second minister who has already connected with Cao Cao, he not only has to keep the entire Jingzhou for Cao Cao before he arrives, but also report all the situations in Jingzhou. This is also one of the conditions that Cao Cao put forward when they contacted Cao Cao through Han Song.

"Please rest assured, master, I have done everything properly." The henchman replied in a whisper. As Cai Mao's confidant, he naturally knew what kind of nature his master ordered this matter. "Betraying the Lord and being a thief should not be done regularly", such a thing should naturally be cautious and cautious. The henchman is not a fool, so he naturally understands this very well.

"How's the Lord's side?" Cai Mao asked with concern. The so-called "lord" refers to Liu Biao. Although he had come to regard Cao Cao as his new lord, he would not be able to change it for a while, although he was not addressing Liu Biao as the lord with the same respect as he used to.

"Nothing big has changed. It's just that Liu Bei from Xinye came to Xiangyang some time ago to meet with Lord Liu Biao and talk about what he talked about. We don't know very well, Lord Liu Biao even sent Mrs. Cai away, and we talked for a long time. Then Liu Biao met with the eldest prince in the garden and went to the star platform. We also don't know what they talked to each other. only understands one thing, that is, after Liu Bei left, the eldest prince proposed to Lord Liu Biao to go to Jiangxia to guard. The henchman briefly recounted the situation in the past few days.

"Liu Qi left Xiangyang? That's not bad either. There is nothing important in that place in Jiangxia, and throwing him naked outside will save us from being annoyed by watching here. After all, he is the eldest son of the lord, and he still has a certain appeal no matter what, and it is a trouble to stay here after all. Cai Mao didn't care about the news. He only values how much of Xiangyang he has sold to Cao Cao at the moment. All of this is a credit to him for the future. "Send more people to pay attention to the affairs of the lord's side, and show me the mansion in Xiangyang. There is a legend that Prime Minister Cao Cheng will go south in a few years. Before the arrival of Prime Minister Cao Cheng, there can be no sloppiness here. He commanded softly.

"Understood!" The henchman nodded slightly, and then dispersed.

******

At this moment, in the north, in the city of Xuchang, which was the temporary capital of the Han Dynasty, Cao Cao, as the de facto ruler of the entire Han Dynasty, was discussing with his circle about one thing he had always wanted to do: the southern expedition.

"How's the training of the Xuanwu Pool's sailors?" Cao Cao asked loudly, his eyes facing Yu Ban, who was sitting on the side of the general. He is a master of military training on Cao Cao's side, and the Qingzhou soldiers that Cao Cao is able to fight the world are trained by him. At this moment, Cao Cao wanted to march south and needed a large number of sailors, so naturally he completely explained this matter to him. Although Cao Cao also knew, Yu Ban didn't understand water warfare.

"It's almost there, and the soldiers are used to standing on the boat." For Cao Cao's question, Yu Ban gave a clear answer. Of course, this is also the reason why he does not understand water warfare. In his opinion, there is no difference between water warfare and land warfare, and the key lies in how to adapt the soldiers to the swaying of the warship. In this regard, he had no other way but to let the trained soldiers stay on the ship of the Xuanwu Pond regardless of food and lodging, so that they could gradually adapt to the rippling environment.

"Well, that's good." Cao Cao nodded with satisfaction, turned his head and said to the ministers who were doing it: "Liu Bei is rampant, Dongwu is not a minister, this is my henchman's trouble, and I must get rid of it urgently." Now that I have pacified the north, the Central Plains has been stabilized, and the voices of those who are worried are Liu Bei and Sun Quan. Since Wen Ze's naval army has been properly trained, I should take advantage of this favorable situation to move south to sweep Jiangnan. This is the most important decisive battle for us to pacify the world, and if it succeeds, the affairs of the world can be decided. I should rebuild the PTZ and share peace with you. ”

Seeing that Cao Cao had finally made up his mind, although some of the people felt that this was still too eager, but looking at Cao Cao's slightly pale face, they understood: "The prime minister is already old, and he can't wait." In this regard, they did not dare to say those words of opposition, but bowed to Cao Cao's feet one by one: "The prime minister is heroic, I can't wait, this is the prime minister's tail, and help the prime minister succeed." ”

"Huh." Cao Cao smiled happily. Although he had always said that he was a person who did not like to be flattered by others, his heart still couldn't help but flutter when he saw that there were nearly 100 people in this huge hall bowing to him at the same time and saying words of praise to him. At this moment, he felt that he was great, a true wise and martial artist. He thought about all the things he had done since the foundation was founded, and the smile on his face deepened. "Originally, I still did better than you." Cao Cao said softly. No one knew that at this time, he was still talking about the name of a vanquished. In fact, it is no wonder, after all, the strength of this world family is still very strong. Cao Cao didn't think of himself as a member of the family, but being able to do better than the family was something that made him proud of it.

Cao Cao smiled, his eyes swept around, his eyes as keen as an eagle swept over the respectful faces, he was a little happy and a little stunned. He rejoiced, rejoiced in what he had accomplished today, and he was amazed, at the feeling of loneliness and loneliness that was above him. He chose the path of a hegemon, and the hegemon said that the lonely person is often destined to be lonely.

"Alas!" Cao Cao sighed gloomily. Although he was used to this kind of loneliness, the sudden thought of a trace of loneliness still made his heart chill. His eyes wandered, and he inadvertently saw an empty seat to his right, but the loneliness in his heart deepened.

That was the position of his former number one adviser Guo Jia and Guo Fengxiao. Cao Cao valued Guo Jia very much, and although he did not put any name in the imperial court, he placed his place on his right hand. He promoted him to the rank of not being in the same ranks as the ministers, which undoubtedly illustrates Cao Cao's special treatment of Guo Jia. The so-called "like a fish in water", Cao Cao's feelings for Guo Jia are almost like this. It's a pity that Guo Jia's health is not good and he died a little early. This made Cao Cao very sad. He regarded Guo Jia as a confidant, and after the death of this confidant, none of Cao Cao's ministers could match him to the same level as Guo Jia - this made Cao Cao truly feel lonely.

Without a confidant, no one listened to him talk about his troubles. If there was Guo Jia who could share so much for him before, then now he has to bear all the heavy burden. This is too heavy, Cao Cao felt a little breathless, thinking that he is not young now, and he knows the destiny of heaven at fifty, and he will naturally unify the world and start to be anxious. He had a son, and he left a unified world as a gift for him, which was also his expectation as a father.

Although there are still some things to explain in the imperial court, and the puppet emperor needs to be consulted, it is always just a formality. The real power of the central court in the world is in the hands of Cao Cao, which is already a fact that everyone knows. As long as Cao Cao, the prime minister's mansion, decides on the matter, it is basically impossible to pass it with the emperor. This is true even for something as big as the Southern Expedition.

Soon Cao Cao made a decision: raise 250,000 soldiers, order Cao Ren and Cao Hong to be the first team, Zhang Liao and Zhang Jaw to be the second team, Xiahou Yuan and Xiahou Xi to be the third team, Yu Ban and Li Dian to be the fourth team, and Cao Cao to lead the rest of the troops to be the fifth team, each team can command 50,000 troops and horses. He also made Xu Yu the general of Zhichong, and Cao Chun as the general of Dangkou, commanding 5,000 tiger and leopard cavalry elite soldiers as the vanguard, and was scheduled to rise on the morning of July in the thirteenth year of Jian'an three months later.

"It's a good day." That's what Cao Cao's scholars said. As for what was good, they said a lot of reasons in a mess, but Cao Cao didn't understand it, but he could only nod yes. On the one hand, he made his generals and ministers ready to go on the expedition, and on the other hand, he asked his third son Cao Zhi and the famous literati Chen Lin to write a few texts on the crusade against Jiangnan. In Cao Cao's view, he has mastered the central court, that is, shun, and the object of his crusade is the local forces, that is, rebellion. This southern expedition is undoubtedly a just war to fight against rebellion with obedience and the Mandate of Heaven to defeat the subordinate, and the momentum of its propaganda must undoubtedly be done vigorously. Cao Cao understands his third son's literary brilliance very well, and he knows even more clearly how sharp Chen Lin's pen is. He wanted to use this power to sweep away all the damn discussions in front of him like a knife, in order to make his southern expedition smoother. Cao Cao was very familiar with the means other than warfare.