As Jia Xu said, Jingzhou is rich but Wu has only been in the hands for two years, and since Liu Biao's death, Jingbei has been in war for a long time, and there is not much grain in stock, and the supply of Sun Ce's army is almost all dependent on the Jiangdong counties, and the daily grain and grass required by the army are continuously transported from the southeast.

However, there is a problem with the supply line being stretched too long, and the consumption on the way to grain is too large. The people and soldiers who transport grain can't be robots, they also have to eat, even if Dongwu is very fast by water, when the grain is transported to Xiangyang, it will have to consume thirty percent.

In later generations, Sun Quan claimed to be the emperor in Wuchang, but later because of the need for supplies from the southeast counties, the people of Jiangdong were impatient, and they were forced to move the capital back to Jianye. Xiangyang is farther than Wuchang, the Wu army has been fighting here for almost half a year, and it is also very tired, if it can be said that it can defeat the Wei army, but now there is no chance to win.

"Your Majesty, Cao Zhen's Wei army has gone west." Lu Meng brought back a not-so-good news.

Sun Ce was stunned for a second, and then asked, "Go west!" Are you saying that Cao Zhen's department gave up Zhuyang? ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, Cao Zhen abandoned the walled city and walked west on the third day when the pontoon bridge was washed away, and went to Fangling!" Lu Meng replied

Fangling is in the west of Xiangyang, and is named after "thousands of miles of vertical and horizontal, mountains and forests, its solid high tomb, and if there are houses". It can be seen that this is a hilly land, the terrain is dangerous, and Shangyong, Xicheng is different, Fangling is really in the hands of the central Wei State.

"It seems that Cao Zhen has grain and grass in Fangling, otherwise he would never have retreated to Fangling, so it would be difficult for our army to defeat the Wei army." Qiao Ren sighed.

If the Wei army comes to attack, it will inevitably abandon the city defense and dangerous places, and then his numerical advantage will be smoothed out by the Wu army's tactics. However, if the Wei army is stubborn, the 200,000 army will spread out, and it will be difficult for the Wu army to attack the city and pull out the village. And it's easy to lose sight of one or the other.

Sun Ce nodded and said: "Dare to make a choice, and if you choose this, Cao is really a general." I heard that we don't have much food left? ”

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Qiao Ren, as a lieutenant, was in charge of the grain and grass of all the armies of the Wu State, and of course he was also aware of the grain stocks in the warehouses of the Wu State. "It's only enough for the army for March."

"March? There will be no results in this battle within three months, and it is impossible for Cangyu to use it to the bottom, and if it is not retained, it seems that I will have to withdraw again. "Although Sun Ce is warlike, he is not reckless, and he knows that there is still food and grass left in the granary for emergencies, otherwise what if there is a famine?" Do we want to negotiate peace with Wei? ”

"The minister thinks it's okay to strike their own troops." Lu Fan rarely said a word, and then the chief inspector said: "Intelligence shows that there has been a locust plague in Wei Zhiji Prefecture. And Han Zhima Chao has entered Yongzhou, and now he has brought 40,000 or 50,000 troops to stir up a muddy water. As long as we withdraw from the army, Wei knows that if we withdraw from the army, we will retreat ourselves. ”

"But what if the Wei army doesn't retreat and advances?" Zhang Zhao asked Lu Fan's partner, "I'm afraid this is too risky!" ”

"Zhang Gong, I don't know when this heavy rain will fall? Our army still has Xiangyang City, and there is already a lot of moldy grain and grass, not to mention that Cao Zhen's Wei army has always stored grain and grass in the camp, and according to a certain estimate, most of them are moldy. Coupled with heavy rains and sudden climate changes. The epidemic was rampant in the Wei army, and many wounded soldiers were infected with wounds, and now Cao Zhenbu and Cao Xiu are unable to fight again. Lu Fan stretched out his hand to catch a little rain outside the hall, held it in his hand and said to Zhang Zhao.

"It's more than that. Zhang Gong! Qiao Ren also came to help, "As long as Hanshui is in the hands of our army, it will be difficult for the Cao army to pose a threat to Xiangyang, but our army can consider inviting the Han army to carve up the three counties of Shangyong." ”

The three counties of Shangyong are sandwiched between Xiangyang and Hanzhong. Across the Han River and the Nanxiang County of the Wei State, the Han River is soaring when the rainy season arrives. Even if it doesn't rain, the buildings and boats of Dongwu can cross the Hanshui River, and the connection between the three counties of Shangyong and the central Wei State is all cut off. And Meng Da is a person who has no position, maybe it is not impossible to surrender because of the bad situation.

In this life, Guan Yu is not dead, and Meng Da has no reputation for not saving him, although Liu Feng died in Shangyong, but in Qiao Ren's opinion, Liu Feng has no status in Liu Bei's heart, but it is just a spare tire, and its status in the Shu Han regime is not as good as the spare tire in Sun Shao's spare tire. It's a good thing, Sun Shao also sealed a fictitious prince, isn't it.

"Captain, we've missed our chance." Lu Meng shook his head and said: "Not to mention that Cao Zhen's army is retreating to Fangling, even Zhao Yun in Hanzhong has gone out of the Kei Valley with Zhuge Liang, how can there be troops to take the three eastern counties with us?" ”

"That's the same?" Qiao Ren nodded, feeling that Lu Meng was right, now was indeed not a good opportunity to take the three eastern counties. "However, the three eastern counties are located to the west of Xiangyang, and they are surrounded by Nanyang County on the north bank in a clamping situation, which is not good for our army!"

"Don't worry, this captain! There are not many soldiers and horses in the three eastern counties, there are only a little more than 10,000 people, all of them are the old department of Mengda, and Cao Zhen's army is exhausted, Zhang Liao is endangered, Xu Huang is seriously injured, Cao Pi cannot leave this Cao Wei main force in these three counties, as long as we retreat, the Hanshui water level will definitely retreat to Nanyang. At that time, there will only be Meng Da in the three eastern counties, and although there is more than enough to attack, it is insufficient. Moreover, although Meng Da surrendered to Wei, he was forced by the situation, not sincerely, but turned the three eastern counties into his independent kingdom, which has a bit of a meaning of waiting for the price to sell, and it is impossible for our army to surrender him. “

"Makes sense!" Qiao Ren heard that it was a great awakening and reasonable, Meng Da was a rebel in his later generations and was finally beheaded by Sima Yi, and among the three forces, Xiangyang of Wu was the closest to the three eastern counties, and Meng Da might choose to surrender to Wu.

"Your Majesty, Xiangyang Taishou Zhu Ran and Annan General Sun Huan ask to see you."

"Xuan!"

Heavy rain hit, Sun Ce's army could not still be stationed outside the city, it would be tragic if it was really flooded, so since Zhuyang retreated, the Wu army entered Xiangyang City, and the navy army was also anchored in Xiangyang Port, which was much better than Cao Zhen's Wei army, although Zhuyang was also a county town, but it was very small, and it was almost tattered by the Wu Wei army.

Just imagine living in the rain in the wilderness for more than half a month, and sleeping in a tent at night, how uncomfortable it is!

"Ministers Zhu Ran and Sun Huan, please meet Your Majesty." The two bowed their hands.

"Sit!"

"Whoa!"

When the two of them sat down, Sun Ce asked strangely, "What's the matter with the two of you?" "It's no wonder that Zhu Ran, as the Taishou of Xiangyang, has to settle so many troops, and he has to care for the people, also engage in flood control, and civil affairs are very busy, how can he have time to visit Sun Ce.

"Back to Your Majesty, there is an epidemic in Xiangyang City, and the ministers are afraid, so I have come to show Your Majesty."

"Plague?"

At this time, Qiao Ren couldn't sit still, he was the most familiar with the epidemic among the people present, and he himself had it, looking at the heavy rain outside the house, Qiao Ren had a realization in his heart. The two armies fought on the front line of Xiangyang for nearly half a year, with countless casualties, and not every body was cremated or buried in the ground.

In particular, when Lu Xun attacked the pontoon bridge, many Wei soldiers fell into the water, and some soldiers in the Wei army died of their deaths. And it was not only the Wei army that had typhoid fever epidemics, but also the Wu army, but it was not so obvious.

"The house leak happened to rain overnight!" Qiao Ren couldn't help but sigh, and then began to ask, "How many people are infected, is it serious?" ”

"Back to Taiwei, there are only more than 500 people infected so far, and the symptoms are just fever. All the sick have been moved to separate military tents by me, and all the utensils have been boiled in boiling water, and the soldiers have all drunk the boiled water and have not eaten raw food. ”

Zhu Ran also came from Huainan, knowing the tragic situation of the Hefei epidemic in the past, Huang Ce, who had a promising future, died of the plague, otherwise he would be at least a general of the four towns now. Moreover, Zhu Ran also learned a lot of methods to prevent the spread of epidemic diseases in Hefei, and they were all used in Xiangyang.

"Yes, well done!" Sure enough, after listening to it, Qiao Ren couldn't help but praise. "Your Majesty, you have to let all the soldiers stay in their tents as much as possible and don't move around, and you can't be in Xiangyang, my brother begs Your Majesty to move to Jiangling or Jiangxia."

Since there is an epidemic in Xiangyang City, it is not safe for Sun Ce to stay.

"The minister seconded the proposal!" Not only Qiao Ren thought so, but several important ministers also thought so.

And Sun Ce also knew the seriousness of the matter, and besides, Fang Cai was still discussing the matter of withdrawing from the army, so Sun Ce wanted to retreat. "Okay, I will go to Jiangling first, and Xiangyang will hand over the affairs to Ziyan as soon as it is over, and then retire from the army when the epidemic is over!" (To be continued......)