Fang Shao suddenly saw through Lu Meng's plan, at this time, how could he still be in the mood to accompany Sun Shangxiang to go out for a stroll, so he said: "Miss, I suddenly remembered something very important, why don't I go out with you another day." ”

When Sun Shangxiang heard this, his face immediately sank, and he said unhappily: "You obviously agreed, but why do you want to go back." ”

Fang Shao had to coax a child and said: "This is my fault, I promise you, don't say that you will go to Xiangshui another day, but I will go to Guiyang further south." ”

Sun Shangxiang was a little satisfied, and said, "Okay, but if you don't count, I won't be able to spare you." ”

Fang Shao was able to get out of it, and went to see Huang Zhong and the others non-stop, but he thought in his heart that this Sun Shangxiang was too difficult to serve compared to his wife Zhuge Rong, such a woman, it's okay to talk about love, if she really marries home, she really can't stand it.

Thinking about it, he was already rushing back to the big tent of the Chinese army, at this time, the military meeting of Huang Zhong and others had just ended, and several people were about to disperse, Fang Shao strode in, and said in a deep voice: "Everyone, things are not good, we have fallen for Lu Meng's kid's delaying tactics." ”

Everyone's expressions changed, Huang Zhong followed Liu Bei not for a short time, he knew that Fang Shao had a plan, and hurriedly said: "Why did Zhongzheng say this? ”

Fang Shao pointed to the map on the screen and said: "Everyone, please see, the first line of Xiangshui, there is Changsha in the east, but General Zhao Zilong is stationed, Lu Meng can't attack it for a long time, so naturally he doesn't dare to take the dry road to the east to flee to Yuzhang County." There is Huo Jun in Lingling County in the west, this person is good at defending the city, and it is difficult for the Wu people to conquer, besides, even if this county is captured, the Lü Meng army is still surrounded by me on all sides, and sooner or later it will be a dead end. As for the north, not to mention, Baqiu is in our hands, and Lü Meng does not dare to attack. Then, from this point of view, there is only one way for him to escape, and this road is also ignored by us. ”

Fang Shao's analysis was the head, and everyone nodded, among all of them, Meng Da was the first to react, rushed forward, pointed to the map and exclaimed: "What Zhongzheng said, could it be Guiyang County on the side of the guide?" ”

Meng Da really has some insight.

Fang Shao then said: "Yes, after we occupied Baqiu, we preconceived that Xiangshuikou was the only way out for Lu Meng to escape, but we forgot that Guiyang County is connected to Jiaozhou of Eastern Wu, and there are several rivers in the county that run through the north and south, connecting Jiaozhou, and connecting with Xiangshui, if the Wu army sails non-stop in the starry night, it will be able to escape to Jiaozhou in less than ten days, and then we will not let this big fish slip away from our mouths in vain!" ”

Fang Shao's words shocked everyone present, several people jumped up in a hurry, and gathered in front of the map one by one to watch, and after a while, Huang Zhong stumbled and shouted: "Zhongzheng is really right, no wonder that Lu Meng has not moved for so many days, and returned such a clueless letter, it turns out that this is really his plan to delay the army." ”

At this time, Huang Quan said calmly: "The old general doesn't need to be anxious, even if Lu Meng uses a plan to delay the army, but it is expected that it will not be long before he goes south, and we will start to pursue the army at this time, and there may be hope to catch up." As long as you can delay him for three or five days, after his food is exhausted, he can naturally destroy him. ”

Meng Da also said: "Since this is the case, then without further ado, let's immediately set up troops to pursue in Xiangshui." ”

At that moment, a few people discussed stopping, and Huang Zhong, Meng Da and Huang Quan raised 10,000 Yizhou soldiers to pursue Lu Meng, while Fang Shao had to lead 2,000 men and horses to stay in Baqiu, not that Fang Shao didn't want to make this contribution, but with Sun Shangxiang here, Fang Shao really couldn't pull away.

However, another reason why Fang Shao did not go with the army was that he had a hunch that this time he fell for Lu Meng's plan to delay the army, even if he chased him, he was afraid that it would be too late, and he would only run in vain.

The development of things was as Fang Shao expected, when Huang Zhong and other troops rushed to the water village left by the Wu people, they found that the water village was empty, and all that was left were the old, weak, sick and disabled, and they were there every day to bluff with banners. And Lü Meng gave up nearly half of the ships and stayed in the water village to confuse the scouts of the Jingzhou army.

After determining the plan, Huang Zhong and the others set sail in pursuit, but in the end they were still a step late, and seven days later, Lü Meng's army successfully escaped from Guiyang County, preserving the precious elite of the 10,000 naval army for Eastern Wu.

However, the southern front did not go well, did not affect the course of this war, the northern line Guan Yu's Jingzhou army, said after another to the Wu army in Lukou to carry out a fierce attack, after holding on for more than ten days, Lu Su finally could not bear it, so he ordered to abandon Lukou, less than 20,000 remnants of the army to look at the lower Shaxian withdraw.

After Guan Yu's army captured Lukou, he took advantage of the situation to surrender Xiajun and other three counties, and reincorporated Hanchang County into the territory of Changsha County. Changsha County, which has restored its original territory, can now completely become a barrier downstream of Nanjun, and can almost eliminate the threat of Nanjun from the Eastern Wu side, which is of great significance.

In less than a month, Soochow had suffered such a heavy blow on the Jingzhou front line that when the news of the fall of Lukou reached Jianye, the first reinforcements sent by Sun Quan had just arrived in Chaisang.

When the news came back, the government and the opposition in Soochow were shocked.

If Lu Su said that the defeat of the navy and the fall of Baqiu only shocked Sun Quan and his ministers, then the fall of the Lukou fortress made them feel fear from the bottom of their hearts.

No one will forget the Battle of Chibi a few years ago, and why it happened in Chibi, because the place of Lukou is so important. At that time, Zhou Yu was far away from the mainland, and the army went upstream to seize the land mouth, in order to prevent Cao Ying from advancing eastward along the landing water, bypassing the layers of defense lines arranged by Eastern Wu on the Yangtze River, and taking the important town of Chaisang by land.

And now that Guan Yu's army occupies Lukou, it will undoubtedly pose a huge threat to the western defense line of Eastern Wu, and the latest intelligence also proves that Guan Yu of Lukou is about to move, and it seems that he has the ambition to take Chaisang City together.

The time was August of the seventeenth year of Jian'an, and on the day he received the news of the fall of Lukou, Sun Quan summoned all the civil and military ministers in Jianye, including Zhang Zhao, Gu Yong, Han Dang, Huang Gai, etc., to discuss how to deal with the matter together.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you already know the news of the defeat of Baqiu and the fall of Lukou. Lone had high hopes for Lu Zijing, but I didn't expect him to make my Jiangdong lose my troops and land, which really disappointed Lone. Now Guan Yu's troops are ready to move in Lukou, I don't know if you can deal with it? ”

Sun Quan immediately put the responsibility for the defeat on Lu Su, although Lu Su as a commander, this defeat has nothing to do with him, but he forgot that Lu Su also wrote a letter to ask him to make a careful decision on the matter of war with Liu Bei.

However, in such a situation, no one dared to speak for Lu Su, such a huge defeat of course requires someone to bear the responsibility, and Lu Su is obviously the most suitable candidate. Moreover, among the ministers present, there were also many Western Front officials who were born in Jiangbei who were jealous, and Lu Su's defeat at this time more or less fulfilled their wishes.

So, as soon as Sun Quan's words came out, Gu Yong said: "Lord, Lu Zijing lost his troops and lost his land, his responsibility is very heavy, for today's plan, the lord should urgently order General Cheng to take over the post of governor of his left capital, and command the soldiers of the Western Front, only in this way can the hearts of the soldiers be appeased." ”

Han Dang also said: "What Yuan Si said is very true, Zijing suffered this defeat, his reputation will be greatly damaged, if he is re-commandered, he will be disobeyed by the soldiers, and Demou is three generations of old ministers, very prestigious, only he can reorganize the defeated army and restore the morale of our army." ”

The rest of the important ministers from the Wuzhong clan also seconded the proposal.

An important reason why Sun Quan reused Lu Su was because of the good relationship between him and Liu Bei, and now that the two sides have started a war and their own side has suffered a crushing defeat, the most important reason is gone, and Sun Quan certainly has no reason to keep Lu Su.

So, he followed everyone's wishes and pretended to be very regretful and said: "Zijing does have extraordinary vision and strategy, but in the way of commanding the army, it seems that he is indeed incompetent, and it is difficult for him to continue to command the army." At this point, it seems that Lone has no choice but to listen to you. ”

At this time, Huang Gai, who had been silent, stood up and said in a deep voice: "Lord, at this juncture, Gai thinks that the discussion should not be about Zijing's stay or stay, but how to deal with Guan Yu's huge threat. ”

Sun Quan's expression perked up slightly, and he said: "What Gong Fu said is reasonable, but Gu has already sent a support army to the west, according to Gong Fu's opinion, should we send more men and horses?" ”

Huang Gai's expression became more and more cold, and said: "Lord, the current situation is no longer a matter of sending one or two troops and horses, Hanchang County has fallen, Lukou Baqiu has been lost, and Nanjiang Xia County is also in danger, these Jingzhou lands are how much blood my Dongwu soldiers shed to take them, if they are taken away by Guan Yu, the hard work of the three generations of the lord will be ruined." And the upstream screen wall is lost, how can Chaisang defend, Chaisang can't defend, then Jiangdong will face the danger of life and death, and at this time, how can one or two soldiers and horses solve the problem. ”

Sun Quan was also shocked by a series of news of defeat, and at this time, after Huang Gai's generous statement, his expression gradually became solemn, and said: "According to the public opinion, how should Lone deal with it?" ”

Huang Gai said angrily: "According to Gai's opinion, the lord should do his best to fight the country, go to Jingzhou to fight to the death with that Guan Yu, even if he pays a big price, he must recapture the lost land, only in this way can I solve the danger of Jiangdong being upside down!" ”

Raise the army of the country!

Huang Gai's words shocked everyone, you must know that even when Cao Ying's army went south, Sun Quan only gave Zhou Yu 30,000 soldiers and horses, but now Huang Gai wants Sun Quan to raise troops for the country, this is not a joke.

Sun Quan said with a smile: "Is it a bit exaggerated to say that Gong Jin dealt with Cao Ying back then, and it was only 30,000 horses, but now he is dealing with a mere Guan Yu, is it a bit of a big deal to use the army of the country?" ”

Sun Quan's words also represented the opinion of most people, but Huang Gai looked solemn and said coldly: "Did the lord ever think that Cao Ying back then could be such a powerful naval army as Guan Yu?" And I am in Jiangdong now, who has the courage and talent of Gong Jin? Lord, the situation today is ten times more critical than when Cao Ying went south, don't take it lightly! ”

After these few words, Sun Quan fell into deep thought.

(To be continued)