Yuan Shu fidgeted, walking back and forth like a sleepy beast. Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info his steps are very big, although the hall is not small, but he still two or three steps to the end, and then he has to turn around and walk again, walk two steps and hit the wall quickly, at first he can pay attention to some, and then he is not careful, and finally hit the wall with a "bang", so painful that his nose is sore, and he almost shed tears.

Yuan Shu was even more anxious, kicked on the wall, and yelled with a white face: "Tear down this wall for me." ”

Sun Ce and Ma Chao, who were standing aside with a knife, looked at each other and were at a loss. He didn't go to the spacious courtyard under this hall, but turned around in the hall, hit the wall himself, and blamed the wall for being wrong, which is too unreasonable, right?

"What do you see? Let you two boys tear down the wall. Yuan Shu was annoyed and angry, and kicked again, kicking the gable so that the gable trembled, and the ash on the roof beam fell, choking him to sneeze. Ha-yawn! Yuan Shu rubbed his nose: "It's really his mother's bad luck, even the ashes bully me!" ”

Sun Ce and Ma Chao couldn't help but laugh, but when they saw Yuan Shu's face, they immediately closed their mouths again and straightened their faces. Yuan Shu looked at this and then at that, and suddenly laughed, and waved his hand a little boringly: "Fetch some water, let me wash it." ”

"Ugh." Sun Ce responded, rushed out in front of Ma Chao, and after a while, brought a basin of water. Yuan Shu washed his face indiscriminately, sat in the hall for a while, and suddenly asked: "You say, now that Liu Xiu is attacking Xiling, what should we do?" ”

"Of course I went to the rescue." Ma Chao replied: "If there is no rescue, Liu Xiu's 20,000 troops will besiege Xiling, and Xiling will be lost." ”

Yuan Shu didn't speak, and turned his head to look at Sun Ce, who was silent: "Bo Fu, what do you see?" ”

"I ...... See? Sun Ce was stunned for a moment, and smiled embarrassedly: "I don't understand this, everything is up to the general." ”

"Come less, I just asked, and I didn't say that I would definitely listen to you." Yuan Shu waved his hand. Impatiently said, "Tell me about it." ”

"I don't think Xiling can be saved." Sun Ce said slowly.

Ma Chao glanced at him: "Why can't you save it?" ”

"yes, why can't it be saved?" Yuan Shu also asked curiously.

"My father and I spent some time in Xiling and know the terrain of Xiling." Sun Ce walked to the map and found Xiling's location on the map. The terrain around Xiling was repeated: "There are two directions to Xiling, and the most convenient way is to enter from the west, the road is flat, and it is most suitable for cavalry." There is also a road to the south, from the Yangtze River into the swamp, change to a small boat, you can go straight to Xiling City. But now that the Jingzhou Water Division and the Yizhou Water Division are in Liu Xiu's hands, he will definitely send people to guard the river. As for the road to the west, ......" Sun Ce shrugged: "Our cavalry is limited in number, it is impossible for Liu Xiu to be the opponent at all, and if we go, we will be sent to death." Yuan Shu blinked and didn't speak again. As Sun Ce said, whether it is by land or water, he is not as strong as Liu Xiu. It seems that Xiling City is bound to lose, relying only on Li Feng and their more than 3,000 people. It's really hard to say how many days I can guard Xiling.

This is the first time I've confronted Liu Xian, should I just give up? Yuan Shu was very unwilling. Last time, Fu Xie led 10,000 Chinese troops out of Wuguan, and he drove him out of Nanyang at once. This time Liu Xiu went out of Yizhou, if it wasn't for Sun Jian's risk of raiding Changsha County, he would have almost been completely driven out of Jingzhou by Liu Xiu.

Am I really not Liu Xiu's opponent? Yuan Shu scratched his head, very frustrated.

"Then according to what you say, we can only retreat step by step and watch Liu Xiu take Xiling?"

"I don't think I can keep Jiangdong, not in Xiling, but in Yuzhang." Sun Ce lowered his head and looked at his toes, after a while. He raised his head again and met Yuan Shu's gaze: "General, Yuzhang is where the shipyard is located, once the warship is lost, Dajiang will not be owned by the general." And to protect Yuzhang, you must hold Changsha. ”

"And!" Ma Chao was disdainful: "It turns out that you still want to save your father." ”

Sun Ce heard this. immediately blushed, and shouted: "My father and son were born and died for the general, and they were never selfless, and the vertical son dared to slander my father and son, don't you dare to kill you?" As he spoke, he pulled out the knife and unsheathed it, and was about to make a move with Ma Chao.

Ma Chao was startled, and then jumped up and scolded: "Wu Xia Zhuzi, are you afraid of me?" I don't know who killed whom. ”

"Then let's try it!" Sun Ce scolded, and he was about to rush up. Ma Chao was also furious, pulled out his sword from the sheath, and greeted him.

When Yuan Shu saw it, he was so angry that he kicked the case over, and scolded: "You two little verticals, do you still have me in your eyes?" Drawing a knife and slashing around in front of me? ”

Sun Ce and Ma Chao remembered that Yuan Shu was still beside them, so they hurriedly put away the knife and bowed down to ask for guilt. Yuan Shu laughed angrily and pointed at the two stunned youths: "You guys......"

At this moment, Changshi Yan Xiang walked in, and when he saw this frame, he was taken aback: "General, what is this?" ”

Yuan Shu snorted and told him what had just happened. Yan Xiang listened, and his eyes rolled: "General, I think Sun Ce is reasonable." ”

"Reasonable?" Yuan Shu was stunned for a moment, and he couldn't care about getting angry with those two boys anymore: "You also said to give up Xiling and go to Changsha?" ”

"It's not about giving up Xiling." Yan Xiang shook his head and said, "We can't save Xiling at all." Since there is no way to save it, then we can't sit idly by and watch Liu Xiu take Xiling, we should seize this opportunity to strengthen Yuzhang's defense and respond to Changsha. ”

"You elaborate, elaborate." Yuan Shu was overjoyed and hurriedly invited Yan Xiang to the map. Yan Xiang drew a circle on the map: "Changsha is the front line of Yuzhang, if you hold Changsha, Yuzhang will be in danger, even if Liu Xiu takes Jiangxia, he will not dare to go east easily." And to hold Changsha, we can't pin all our hopes on Sun Jian. After Liu Xiu conquered Xiling, the next step must be to return to Changsha to recover. He went south from Jiangxia County, cut off Sun Jian's retreat, and cooperated with the three counties of Wuling, Guiyang, and Lingling, and it was inevitable to surround Changsha. ”

"But it's not that easy to overcome, is it?"

"Yes, but for a year and a half, Liu Xiu can afford to drag it out." Yan Xiang smiled bitterly: "General, it's only April, and Sun Jian is only relying on the savings in the city. Liu Xiu conquered Xiling, at most one to two months, before the autumn harvest, he must have besieged Changsha, can the rice in Changsha be left for Sun Jian to harvest at that time? Liu Xiu eats rice from Changsha and surrounds Linxiang City, he can afford it, what is there to worry about? Think about it, why did he only bring 20,000 people from Yizhou? With the Guanzhong army, the total number is only 30,000, and the strongest Liangzhou Iron Cavalry basically didn't bring it. Jingzhou is rich in sugarcane, and there are 500,000 households in Nanyang alone, which can supply 100,000 soldiers, and the seven counties of Jingzhou can supply these 40,000 or 50,000 soldiers, so there is no pressure at all. ”

"You mean...... He was going to fight us slowly from the beginning? ”

Yan Xiang nodded. He was originally in Runan to cooperate with Qiao Rui, Ji Ling and others to attack Yanzhou, but when he heard the news that Sun Jian's lone army had entered Changsha, he rushed back.

Yuan Shu slapped his forehead and suddenly realized, no wonder he said that he had always felt that something was wrong. He sent Sun Jian into Changsha, originally thinking that he had a plan, but he didn't expect that it was in Liu Xiu's arms.

"The news from the palace said that Liu Xiu asked the Son of Heaven to let his father Liu Yuanqi return to China." Yan Xiang said the news he had just gotten, "The Son of Heaven is very dissatisfied with this, but he has no choice but to drag it for the time being, saying that Jingzhou is not peaceful, and it is not appropriate for the king of Chu to return to the country, so it is better to wait until Jingzhou is pacified." This shows that Liu Xiu's anti-will has sprouted, and the court is already wary of him, but he still needs to fight now, so he has to be perfunctory with him. ”

"Haha......" Yuan Shu laughed: "He also has today?" So, if he loses the battle, then the little emperor will fall into the ground? ”

"Yes, but Liu Xiu took advantage of the situation, and it was not easy to defeat him all at once." Yan Xiang said: "I discussed it with Yuan Gong and decided to take two steps. The first step is to drag him in Jingzhou and attract his attention to Changsha as much as possible. In this way, the pressure on Jiujiang and Lujiang was greatly reduced, and Yuan Gong could spare his energy to intensify the attack on Yanzhou. In the second step, when Liu Xiu's sharpness had been lost, Yuan Gong and the general of the Che cavalry conquered Yanzhou, and after opening up the contact, they marched to Luoyang and forced Liu Xiu to return to help. ”

Yuan Shu nodded again and again, thought about it, and was a little dissatisfied: "I have become another department to contain Liu Xiu?" ”

Yan Xiang smiled bitterly: "This plan was decided by Yuan Gong, not the idea of the general of the chariot cavalry, now the situation is urgent, whether it is the general of the chariot or the general, you should listen to the unified command of the Duke of Yuan." ”

Hearing that it was Yuan Kui's opinion, Yuan Shu didn't say anything. Regardless of whether he is Yuan Kui's biological or not, anyway, he is now Yuan Kui's heir, and Yuan Kui's credit is his credit.

"We will now send troops to Yuzhang, prepare to receive Changsha, if possible, collect the southern half of Jiangxia, and force Liu Xiu to divide troops to rescue, even if Liu Xiu conquers Xiling, we can also confront him across the river."

Yuan Shu nodded again and again, discussed the details with Yan Xiang at the moment, and immediately ordered the general Zhang Xun to lead an army of 5,000 to the south, unite with Yuzhang Taishou Fengqi, levy and send Yuzhang county soldiers, march into Yichun and Luling, deploy the Yuzhang defense line, unite Sun Jian's troops who have been in Changsha, and prepare for a long-term confrontation.

Yuan Shu's movements immediately alarmed the scouts sent by Liu Xiu, and at the same time alarmed Gan Ning in Dongting Lake, who was preparing for battle while reporting the news to Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu was preparing for the attack on Xiling, and the baggage battalion, under the command of Huang Chengyan, was seizing the time to build siege equipment. Before the advent of artillery, siege was a thankless task, and unless it was absolutely necessary, it was likely to turn into a war of attrition unless the difference in strength was very obvious and it could be captured in a short period of time.

Liu Xiu now has an army of 30,000, and there are only more than 3,000 defenders in the city, the gap is obvious, and he can fight, but the pre-war preparations must be very sufficient to minimize the casualties. Usually the casualties of the two sides of the siege are four to one, Liu Xiu doesn't want to lose more than 10,000 people under the small Xiling City, he still has a lot of battles to fight.

It takes time to prepare siege equipment, and when he received Gan Ning's news, Liu Xiu hadn't started to attack yet, and when he saw Yuan Shu's move, he frowned, "Whose idea do you think this is?" ”

Xun You crossed his hands in front of his abdomen and pondered for a moment: "It should be Yan Xiang's idea." ”