Liu Bei, who was in Fancheng, waited left and right for the reinforcements sent by Xiangyang, this day was already September of the thirteenth year of Jian'an, the hot summer had passed, and the autumn breeze was gradually cooling, but Liu Bei's heart was still hot, a kind of anxious heat.

It was nearly noon, just when Liu Bei just wanted to break up for dinner, his own soldiers came to report that Liu Cong had sent a civil official from Xiangyang to pass on important matters to Liu Bei.

After being hung for more than 20 days, Liu Cong finally reacted, which made Liu Bei feel shocked and rekindled some expectations for his uncompetitive nephew, so he urgently ordered the future to be introduced.

After a short time, the civil official lowered his head and entered the room, bowed in front of Liu Bei, and said tremblingly: "Song Zhong greets the envoy." ”

Liu Bei's courtesy corporal and kindness are famous, and when ordinary people see him, they will have a sense of intimacy, but this Song Zhong is so trembling and very frightened, which makes Liu Bei wonder.

However, Liu Bei's face still had his characteristic smile on his face, and he said very politely: "Song Zhi, please hurry up." But Liu Jingzhou is ready to send troops to fight Cao, so he ordered you to come and contact me? ”

"That...... In fact......" Song Zhong's fear became heavier, and he couldn't even speak clearly.

Liu Bei smiled faintly: "Song Cheng doesn't have to be restricted, he has something to say, but it doesn't hurt to speak." ”

That Song Zhong took a deep breath, tried his best to calm his mind, raised his head slightly, and said tremblingly with an expression that he was about to die: "The lord has decided to submit to Prime Minister Cao, and the special order is to come and pass the word." ”

"What!"

Liu Bei's expression changed immediately, he roared angrily, and rose up. And the people present do not change color.

That Song Zhong was startled, just got up, his legs were weak and he lay down again, his face was close to the ground and he didn't dare to look up, and said in a panic: "Let the king calm his anger, the lord said, Prime Minister Cao Cheng has promised to use it regardless of the previous suspicions, and if the king is willing, he can return to Prime Minister Cao Cheng with the lord." ”

"Ignorant dogs, ignorant dogs!" Liu Bei was furious, kicked over the case, rushed to Song Zhong in a few steps, the long sword was unsheathed angrily, and he was about to take Song Zhong's head to vent his anger.

Everyone present changed color slightly, knowing that the blood splash was in front of them on the spot.

However, the sword that hung high was slowly put down.

At this time, Liu Bei, who was middle-aged, was no longer the young man with strong blood when he was whipped and supervised the post. Killing such a messenger with his own hands was not the right thing for a person of his own status.

The sword was returned to the sheath, Liu Bei waved his hand and sighed: "That's it, even if I cut you, it will be difficult to solve the hatred in my heart, I still feel ashamed to kill you when I am leaving, you get out." ”

Song Zhongru walked out of the ghost gate, the whole person almost collapsed, heard Liu Bei's words, as if he was amnesty, kowtowed three times in a row, and fled in despair.

Liu Bei stood at that time, without saying a word, everyone knew that the Lord was just, and they were very knowledgeable and didn't dare to squeak.

After a long time, Liu Bei exhaled slightly, flicked his sleeves, and said in a deep voice: "Pass my order, and the whole army will immediately set off to retreat south." ”

The news of the southern retreat soon spread throughout the city, and many people did not believe that this boiling 'rumor' would come true, and the whole Fancheng suddenly exploded, and many people did not want to leave this rare comfort zone, but unfortunately, they could not call the shots.

As a member of the military division's family, the Zhuge family received the news of the retreat to the south as soon as possible, fortunately, they were prepared very early, so that they would not be too panicked when the matter came, all they had to do was to put the soft that had been prepared into the carriage and rush to the dock on the north bank of the Han River.

When many people were still hurriedly packing their luggage, Fang Shao had already escorted the Zhuge family out of Fancheng from the south gate. Along the way, what I saw was the panicked soldiers and civilians, and I heard the crying of children, and everyone was not in a good mood.

"Fang Shao, why did General Zuo order to go to Jiangling, why didn't he go directly to Jiangxia to join the eldest prince Liu Qi?" Zhuge Rong, who was in the same car, asked in confusion.

"Jiangling is the seat of the southern county, west of Bashu, south of the Yangtze River, north of the Han River, east and Jiangxia. Earlier, Liu Biao hoarded a large amount of grain and grass there, and also stationed a considerable number of naval troops, which was a strategic location. It is estimated that the lord wants to seize Jiangling before Cao Ying, so that not only will his strength increase greatly, but he will also be able to form a horn with Jiangxia, and then rely on the benefits of the Jianghan water network, maybe he can reverse the unfavorable situation, and it is not impossible to repel Cao Ying. ”

Fang Shaoyang freely analyzed the advantages of Liu Bei's strategy, but he was quite unimpressed in his heart: "Although the strategy is good, it's just that Cao Ying is not an ordinary person, what you can think of, he can also think of it, he will not let you get Jiangling easily." ”

According to Fang Shao's intentions, either the whole army would take the waterway, and the light army would go south and quickly seize Jiangling, or he would directly abandon this plan and go straight to Jiangxia to join Liu Qi, so as to minimize the losses and risks.

But with his current status, it is obvious that he cannot influence the decision of the top management of Liu Bei's group, Liu Bei, for the sake of safety, still follows the plan in history, and the troops are divided into two routes, one is Guan Yu to lead the naval army, and the other is to personally command the infantry army, and the two roads go to Jiangling together.

This plan is certainly safe, and Fancheng is only five hundred miles away from the Jiangling dry road, according to normal circumstances, this distance is enough for them to seize Jiangling before Cao Ying. But it's a pity that the high-level people ignored Cao Ying's emphasis on Liu Bei's surname, and of course, there were all kinds of dramatic surnames encountered in the land route south.

Of course, Fang Shao couldn't tell Zhuge Rong these words, all he could do now was to escort her safely on the boat, and then, protect himself in this great retreat.

According to the plan, these ships will give priority to transporting the families of civil and military officials, and the extra space will be used to transport some people who are willing to retreat south together, and the rest of the people can only follow Liu Bei and walk to Jiangling on one foot.

After getting out of the car, Fang Shao glanced back at Fancheng, only to see that more and more people were coming from the direction of Fancheng, and there was a tendency to increase. The first choice of these people is to run to the dock, hoping to be lucky enough to catch a boat and escape south by water, and compared to the increasingly crowded flow of people, a few dozen boats are obviously not enough.

He frowned slightly, and said, "There are more and more people, we can't stay on the shore longer, old lady, madam, miss, hurry up and get on the boat." ”

Several people supported each other and hurriedly got on the boat, Fang Shao commanded a few capable subordinates to carry some of the little luggage onto the boat, and after settling everything, he got off the boat himself.

Zhuge Rong was startled, hurriedly rushed to the boat, and shouted to him: "Fang Shao, the boat is about to leave, what are you going to do down!" ”

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