Cao Ying soon ordered that Xiahou Yuan, the general of Zhengxi, should be the governor, Cao Zhi would be the supervisor of the army, and the thirteenth army of Zhang He, Zhu Heng, and Yin Gai would be supervised, and more than 30,000 people would guard Hanzhong, and Cao Xiu, the general of Li Feng, would lead more than 10,000 people to garrison Jiameng Pass and confront Zhang Fei. Cao Hong, the general of the capital protection, led the Hanzhong Taishou to mobilize grain, grass and baggage for the army. At the same time, Cao Ying ordered the Pingkou general Xu Huang to lead the generals Xu Shang and Lü Jian down from the Han River, directly attacked Xiangyang and Fancheng, and copied Guan Yu's back road to relieve the pressure on Wancheng. He himself returned to Guanzhong with his people, and went out of Hangu Pass, recruiting people from various counties all the way to Luoyang.

The war on the Western Front entered a stalemate stage, Cao Ying left, Liu Bei breathed a sigh of relief, but he was not completely relieved, Cao's army had entered the heart of Bashu, Xiahou Yuan still maintained considerable pressure, after the war, Yizhou's financial resources had been exhausted, and it was impossible to organize a counteroffensive in a short time. What made Liu Bei even more angry was that Fa Zheng was terminally ill and bedridden, and one leg had already entered the ghost gate.

What can make Liu Bei a little comforted is only Guan Yu's big victory in Nanyang, captured in the first battle, broke Fancheng in the second battle, and captured Cao Ren alive, which is tantamount to a shot in the arm for the morale of Yizhou, which has fallen into a trough. Liu Bei, who had his hands free, sent his righteous son Liu Feng, who had just made war exploits, to lead 5,000 people to Nanyang to help Guan Yu.

Soon, Liu Bei received another piece of good news, Qianwei Taishou, Xingye General Li Yan led 5,000 county soldiers, and broke the thieves Ma Gao, Qin Sheng and others in Zizhong County, and the chaotic Qianwei County has been restored to peace. Liu Bei was overjoyed, and named Li Yan as the general of the Auxiliary Han Dynasty, and led the county as before.

In addition to the good news, there is also a lot of bad news. Zhuge Liang reported urgently, because it cost a lot of copper money to buy grain from Jiangdong, and now there is not enough copper money circulating in Yizhou, market prices are soaring, and people's livelihood is difficult. Liu Bei didn't say a word, and agreed to Liu Ba's suggestion. Liu Ba's method has already seen results last time, but this time it is just a repetition of the old trick.

In contrast, Sun Quan's son is the best now. He is not short of food, and he has earned a lot of money from Yizhou, Guan Yu's Northern Expedition, his western front has no threat, although Xiahoudun in the north has put a lot of pressure on him, but his pressure is limited to the north of the river, with the help of the Aurora Sailors, the Jiangdong Sailors finally regained their advantages, and Zangba's Qingxu Sailors can only hold the gate tightly. He just sent more than 10,000 people from Sun Shao and Sun Jiao, so that he could sit and watch the Cao and Liu families fight in peace.

He really tasted the benefits of having money, if he didn't have Jiaozhou's thirty years of reserves, how could he be so stable, not only earning Liu Bei's money, but also being a big favor? He thought about it, and when Sun Shao finished the war, he would let him go to sea to do business, so that he would not have to worry about Sun Shao's strength growth causing trouble for him, and he could bring more wealth, and at the same time let him go to Liaodong to buy horses.

Just when Sun Quan was satisfied, Lü Meng sent good news that Xiahoudun in Jiangbei had retreated, and Qingxu Sailor had withdrawn to Chaohu. Lü Meng believed that this was Sun Shao and Guan Yu's attack on Wancheng, threatening Xu County and Luoyang, and Xiahou Dun needed to withdraw to Yuzhou to protect the left flank of Xu County, in order to support Sun Shao and Guan Yu, he suggested that he immediately attack Hefei and Shouchun, take Jiujiang and Lujiang counties, and bring all the large areas south of Huaishui into Jiangdong's sphere of influence. In this way, Sun Quan can not only occupy Yangzhou completely, but also gain a foothold between the Yangtze River and Huai, and the Yangtze River defense line will be more stable. Although there are few people between Jianghuai and Huai, the ground is familiar, and it is very suitable for tuntian, which will further enhance the strength of Jiangdong. After occupying Jianghuai, they can further plot against the areas around Yuzhou and Xuzhou.

Sun Quan was overjoyed, and he ordered Lü Meng and Jiang Qin to prepare for an attack on Hefei. In view of the lessons learned in Hefei last time, he decided to eliminate the Qingxu Sailor stationed in Chaohu Lake first, relieve his worries, and then fight steadily.

Just when Sun Quan and Liu Bei were full of confidence and relieved, Guan Yu encountered a major problem.

After seizing Xiangyang and Fancheng, after he received the defeated army of Yu Ban, Cao Ren and Lü Chang, the number of prisoners reached 30,000, which was close to the number of his army, and the consumption of food also increased sharply. Although Jiang Dong has been giving him subsidies, these subsidies are not free, they need to be bought with money, and he has no money now, and it is a problem to keep the original amount, not to mention that he wants Sun Quan to provide more.

In this case, it was suggested that some of the captives should be killed, especially the wounded, and that killing them would save not only a part of the food, but also valuable medicinal herbs, and many of them would have become disabled and could no longer become soldiers or farmers in the future, and it would be useless to keep them, so it was better to kill them.

Guan Yu categorically refused, he was not allowed to kill any prisoners, in order to solve the food crisis, he asked Liu Bei for support, hoping that Liu Bei would buy another batch of grain from Jiangdong, and rushed to Wancheng urgently to find Sun Shao to help solve this problem, he hoped to use Sun Shao's power to buy relatively cheap grain from Jiangdong to alleviate his crisis.

However, this is not the most nervous for him, the news that made him most nervous was delivered to him when he was about to arrive in Wancheng - Xu Huang set off from Hanzhong with more than 10,000 people, went down the river, and has now arrived in Fancheng, Guan Yu in order to ensure that there are enough troops, he only left more than 5,000 people in Xiangyang and Fancheng, in the face of Xu Huang's attack, Sun Jiao had no choice but to take the initiative to attack and take his sailor to meet him. Although Xu Huang went downstream, he used civilian boats, no warships, and in the face of the Jiangdong Naval Division, Xu Huang did not do too much entanglement, he abandoned the boat and landed on the shore, and conquered Fancheng before Sun Jiao made an effective response.

Now that there is food, Sun Jiao can't transport it, Xu Huang turned the tide of the battle as soon as he made a move, and Sun Shao and Guan Yu's tens of thousands of troops are facing a huge crisis. Sun Jiao was anxious, but he didn't have enough troops, so he could only defend Xiangyang on the one hand, and send a fast horse to send a message to Guan Yu, asking him to return to the army immediately and recapture Fancheng.

Guan Yu was unwilling, others had already arrived outside Wancheng, how could they just go back? But it won't work if he doesn't go back, if he doesn't have food, he won't be able to support it for long. At this time, Yin Guan suggested that Sun Shao should go back immediately, Xu Huang is a famous general, Sun Jiao is not injured or not, I am afraid that he is not Xu Huang's opponent, only when Sun Shao goes back, it is possible to stop Xu Huang and reopen the lifeline.

Guan Yu deeply sympathizes, he has a very good relationship with Xu Huang, and he knows Xu Huang's ability, except for himself, probably only Sun Shao can be Xu Huang's opponent. So he hurriedly rushed to Wancheng to discuss with Sun Shao. However, when he arrived in Wancheng, he didn't see Sun Shao, it was Cui Qian who was in charge of the affairs of the camp, Zhou Xun was his deputy, but Sun Shao himself was missing. Guan Yu was taken aback, at the moment, there were more than 30,000 people in the army outside Wancheng plus the righteous army, but the main general Sun Shao was gone?

Cui Qian was very polite: "General Sun went to Xiangcheng with the Destroying Battalion yesterday. ”

"Xiangcheng?" Guan Yu immediately understood what Sun Shao meant. Xiangcheng is Cao Ying's Diannong Zhonglang General in Yuzhou, now the autumn harvest has just been completed, there must be a large amount of grain stock, once Xiangcheng is taken, then the food crisis can be alleviated, not only can save the hard work of transporting grain, but also because of the grain to the enemy, so that Cao Jun fell into a passive situation of lack of food.

It's a good way, but isn't it too little to bring only the Destroyer Battalion? Even if Xiangyang's Tuntian soldiers are not strong in combat, how can Cao Ying sit back and watch Xiangcheng fall? When the time comes, even if the Destroying Battalion can be used as ten, it will not be an opponent.

"General Sun left a message, please General Guan as soon as he arrives, he will rush to Xiangcheng, and at the same time bring more people, Xiangcheng can have a lot of food." Cui Qian said with a smile. He was very satisfied with Sun Shao's arrangement, Guan Yu in order to solve the food problem, he definitely couldn't stay in Wancheng for long, so Wancheng's credit was his Cui Qian. There were only four or five thousand people in Wancheng, and there were nearly thirty thousand troops outside the city, although those rebels were not strong in combat, but the momentum was very scary. It is not difficult to take Wancheng, it is equivalent to the credit given to him for nothing.

Guan Yu is not a fool, he knows Sun Shao's little abacus, but compared to conquering Xu County, he really has no interest in Wancheng. After a short stay, he immediately rushed to Xiangcheng with a large army and a large number of rebels to join Sun Shao - although the rebels could not fight, it was more than enough to be a citizen.

Ten miles outside Xiangcheng, in a small village called Yangren Ju on the west bank of Rushui, Sun Shao was holding a rice straw that still exuded a fresh smell in his mouth, and looked at Sun Wolf who walked in in a hurry. Sun Wolf was originally a common man of Lu Hun, Cao Ying attacked Hanzhong, Sun Wolf and others were conscripted to serve in Guanzhong, Guanzhong was too far away, and the war was fierce, he was afraid that he would never return, so he simply entangled some people to kill Lu Hun's master book and broke through Lu Hun County. Lu Hun Chang Zhang Gu broke out with a few remnants of the defeated generals, he threw himself south to Guan Yu, Guan Yu gave him a seal of the righteous captain, and then gave him 200 people, and asked him to go back to Lu Hun to recruit men. After Sun Shao arrived in Wancheng, he brought more than 3,000 people to vote, and he was a very powerful one of the rebels. This time, Sun Shao wanted to attack Xiangcheng, and he took a hundred and ten brothers and volunteered to be a guide.

As his name suggests, the werewolf is tall, thin, with a long face, two fierce eyes, and always unconsciously gritting his teeth when he speaks, as if he wants to bite the person opposite to death.

"General, Yan Kuang has been busy with the autumn harvest in the past few days, and his precautions are very lax, my brother has gone in a few times, and they haven't found out."

"That's good." Sun Shao smiled, spit out the rice straw in his mouth with a "phew", and reached out and patted Sun Wolf's shoulder hard: "Brother Wolf, if you can succeed this time, you will be the first to work." If you hadn't led the way, I wouldn't have the ability to hide on Yan Kuang's side of the couch. ”

Sun Wolf gritted his teeth and turned his head to look at Zhou Yi, who had a calm face: "This is the credit of Zhou Duwei, he is very proficient in use, and my Sun Wolf is ashamed of himself." ”

Sun Shao smiled, turned his gaze to Zhou Yi, Zhou Yi arched his hand, and said calmly: "Yan Kuang has a total of more than 7,000 Tuntian soldiers, most of them are harvesting outside, and there are only 2,000 people guarding Xiangcheng. As long as you can touch the city, it should not be a problem to occupy Xiangcheng. ”

"How is Yan Kuang?"

"He seemed to be complaining." Zhou Yi smiled quietly: "I often drink." ”

Sun Shao glanced at Zhou Yi in puzzlement, and said in his heart, the person you arranged is so powerful, even Yan Kuang likes to drink? But that's fine, the more careless Yan Kuang is, the greater his chance.

"The surrounding tuntian fields have been harvested?"

"Not yet, but it's more than half done. It is estimated that in two more days, it will basically be over. ”

Sun Shao nodded: "Then start tomorrow morning." ”

"Whoa." Zhou Yi responded for a day and went to prepare.

Sun Shao turned his head and said to Chen Hai, Ding Feng and the others: "Let the brothers have a good meal, then sleep well, and go to Xiangcheng for breakfast tomorrow morning." ”

Chen Hai and Ding Feng laughed and turned around.

"Shuwu, are you afraid?" Sun Shao looked at Sun Huan, who was motionless. Sun Huan smiled: "What is there to be afraid of, Fancheng has been taken, all the way to Wancheng, we have not encountered any resistance, and it should not be a problem to take Xiangcheng." He paused, pondered for a moment and asked, "It's just, after taking Xiangcheng, will we still advance?" ”

Sun Shao glanced at him, folded off a new rice straw and bit it in his mouth: "What do you say?" ”

"I don't think I can go any further."

"Why?"

"Further forward is Xu County, where the Son of Heaven is located, and there is a large camp of Prime Minister Changshi outside the city, and the defense is much stronger than Xiangcheng. Moreover, there are many Tuntian soldiers outside Xiangcheng City, and it is impossible for us people to completely control it, and it is inevitable that the news will leak, and it is almost unrealistic to want to sneak attack again. And ......"

Sun Shao looked at the hesitant Sun Huan and smiled: "If you have anything to say, you can say it, and you are not happy." ”

Sun Huan laughed embarrassedly, and then said: "If we attack Xu County, in case there is any damage in the day, how can we afford this crime?" If the Son of Heaven is safe and sound, I am afraid that it may not be a good thing. ”

Sun Shao nodded, he had also thought about this issue. The Son of Heaven is now a double-edged sword, of course it is useful to take it over, but there are also many problems, whether it is Liu Bei or Sun Quan, they all want to be the boss themselves, take the Son of Heaven over, and at the same time take advantage of morality, but also put a tight spell on themselves, just like the current Cao Ying, how to deal with it when the time comes, it may be a big trouble, there are too many relationships involved, and it is far from being something he can call the shots.

"Let's talk about taking Xiangcheng." Sun Shao waved his hand and put the issue aside for the time being. He had to wait for Guan Yu to come and discuss it with Guan Yu before making a decision.

…… Dian Nong Zhonglang looked at the young man standing in front of him with an impatient expression. This little official named Deng Ai couldn't speak well, but he talked a lot, and he had to speak to him three times in the past two days. He said that there was an abnormal situation on the west bank of Rushui, and asked him to send someone to check it out, just in case. What is there to see on the west bank of Rushui? Although it was not within the scope of his tuntian, patrols often passed by there, and there had been no unusual news in the past two days, how could something happen?

"Deng Ai, you mean that there may be rebels coming to attack?"

Deng Ai nodded, although he was a little nervous, he was very sure of his judgment. "Will ...... Generals, Guan Yu, Sun ...... Sun Shao marched into Wancheng, and there were 30,000 or 40,000 people in the army, and he only relied on the ...... Transporting grain by water cannot meet their needs. Guan Yuben...... There was already a shortage of food, but now there are tens of thousands of more soldiers, and the shortage of food will be even more serious...... And how much can it support? Therefore, Xiangcheng, which has sufficient food reserves, must be the target of their attack, and the general is asked to guard against it. He stammered a little, so he spoke slowly, every word seemed to be carefully considered before he spoke, and he held a bamboo slip in both hands: "This...... This is the statistics of the subordinates in the past two days, and the consumption from the West Bank has been eliminated...... The news is thirty percent less than usual. ”

Yan Kuang took the bamboo slip and glanced at it, and laughed, he felt that Deng Ai was talking nonsense, how could there be a large army there, if there was a large army, so many patrolling soldiers would not be able to find out? If it's a small team, what if you come? Will he be able to take Xiangcheng? But if he doesn't agree, then this little stutter will definitely haunt him. He thought for a moment, nodded and said, "In this way, you can take something to see, and if there are indeed rebels, report it to me immediately." After speaking, he waved his hand and let Deng Ai go out.

Deng Ai wanted to speak and stopped, he knew that he was humble and light-hearted, and Yan Kuang could already give him face. He sighed to himself, bowed in thanks, and turned to go out the door. Outside the door stood a handsome young man of his age, none other than his good friend Shi Bao.

"Shizai, how's it going?" Shi Bud asked with concern.

"General Yan gave me something and let me go...... Check it out. Deng Ai flashed the talisman in his hand.

"Only ten words?" Shi Bud was a little nervous, "If you really encounter an ambush, wouldn't there be no return?" ”

Deng Ai smiled bitterly, "It's no longer enough to give anything...... Not bad. As he walked, he said, "I...... I also wish I was too ...... Too nervous, look ...... Misread. ”

Shi Bao nodded, to be honest, he also felt that Deng Ai was thinking too much. Although Sun Shao and Guan Yu surrounded Wancheng, Wancheng is still more than 1,300 miles away from here, how can there be a hidden army that goes deeper than 1,000 miles? Whether it's Sun Shao or Guan Yu, there aren't so many cavalry. If a large army comes, it is impossible to hide its whereabouts, and if it is a small group of people, what role can it play except to disturb? Now most of the tuntian fields have been harvested, and when the city gate is closed, Xiangcheng will be foolproof.

However, as Deng Ai's good friend, he didn't hit Deng Ai, he felt that it was better to let the facts speak to Deng Ai. The two led a Shituntian soldier, went out of Xiangcheng, crossed Rushui, and went all the way to the west. When those ten people heard that they were going to inquire about the military with this little stammer, they were all a little unhappy. These days I was busy harvesting, and I was half tired to death, so I finally went back to the city to rest for two days, and then went out on patrol again, so I complained constantly along the way. Deng Ai didn't say a word, and led them to the villages where he felt he was most likely to ambush people.

After the fall, they came to the Yangren Gathering. When the hungry and thirsty soldiers saw that there was a village, they rushed forward without waiting for Deng Ai to give the order to rest. After a day of running, I can finally find a family to eat some hot food, drink some hot water, and then sleep peacefully. As for Deng Ai, they didn't pay attention to it from beginning to end, what use can a little official who settles accounts do?

Deng Ai had no choice but to follow in dejectedly. At the end of the day, he was not so sure of his judgment, maybe the missing third was just a very normal accident. After walking a few steps, Deng Ai suddenly felt something strange, he stopped, pulled out the knife at his waist and looked around, and suddenly felt a cold air rushing to the back of his head along his spine, making him feel cold all over his body.

"Quick...... Stop it! Deng Ai shouted.

"What's wrong?" Shi Bao, who was a little staggering, looked at the nervous Deng Ai casually: "What's the problem?" ”

"No...... Can't enter, the village ...... There was an ambush. Deng Ai shouted as he rushed up to grab the chief, pointed to the empty village and said, "There is an ambush. ”

"What's the ambush?" Shi Chang impatiently shook off Deng Ai's hand.

"In the village...... No one. Deng Ai's face turned red urgently, and his eyes widened: "Alone...... Nor did it. ”

Shi Chang had also fought before, and when he heard Deng Ai say this, he also felt strange. It is the autumn harvest season, and the farmers usually have to be busy until dark to get home, which should be the time to be lively, but this village is quiet, not only can you not see the farmers going home, but you can't even see the children playing, not even the dogs.

"Withdraw!" Without saying a word, Shi Chang immediately drew his knife and gave a loud order to retreat. Although the Tuntian soldiers were reluctant, they did not dare to disobey the order of the chief, so they all tightened their weapons, formed a loose small formation around the chief, and quickly withdrew to the outside of the village.

It's a pity that everything was too late, "whoosh" a few sounds, a few jumped down from the big tree next to the road into the village, shook the long knife in his hand, and looked at them with a smile, and then, a few more people came out of the grass next to him, and surrounded the twelve people in the middle.

"Boy, although the words are not good, the vigilant surname is quite high." Chen Hai put his hands behind his back and slowly forced Deng Ai over, and glanced contemptuously at the ten Tuntian soldiers with sweat on their foreheads: "Put down your arms and surrender, you can't be our opponents." ”

Deng Ai glanced at Chen Hai and the soldiers behind him who looked loose and unformed, and knew that Chen Hai was right. These cold-faced soldiers were not only wearing iron armor, but they were also standing in a very clever position, blocking all their possible paths, leaving no chance at all. More importantly, he could see from the sophisticated equipment and fierce bodies of these people that these people were the elite of the elite, far from being comparable to their Tuntian soldiers.

"You ...... Who is it? Although Deng Ai was nervous, he was not flustered.

"They are my personal guard battalion, named Breaker." Sun Shao strode out, looked at Deng Ai and Shi Bao, and smiled: "You are a patrol from Xiangcheng?" ”

(To be continued)