This salvo exercise of 100 ships on the river was an idea that Fang Shao came up with temporarily, in order to show Lu Su the strength of the Jingzhou Army before leaving, and to use military exercises to warn Lu Su.

The scene of a salvo of 100 cannons on the river can't help but remind Lu Su of the thrilling scene of the original battle of Dongting Lake.

It seemed that in an instant, Lu Su returned to the moment when the stone rain was flying, he watched the stone bullets coming from the sky, and the huge ships that he was proud of were pierced and destroyed one by one, but he couldn't do anything about it.

In that battle, even Lu Su himself almost died under the divine cannon, and now seeing this terrifying weapon again, how could he not make his heart tremble.

However, as the commander of one side, how could he easily show fear in front of the opponent, so after Lu Su's face only flashed a little fear, he quickly regained his calmness.

"Hehe, Yun Chang, this divine power cannon of yours is really amazing, but I don't know how it was made, if you share it with me Dongwu, then we will use it to attack Hefei Jiancheng, it must be easy."

Lu Su not only regained his composure, but also thought of a way to set up the production process of the Shenwei cannon.

How could Guan Yu follow his way, he stroked his hair and smiled, and said: "This divine cannon, it was made by Zhongzheng, Zijing, you want to know how to make it, I'm afraid you have to ask Zhongzheng." ”

Guan Yu threw the burden to Fang Shao, Lu Su turned his head, looked at Fang Shao with a look of admiration, and said, "Zhongzheng, I didn't expect you to have such ability, it really impresses me." But I don't know how to make this divine cannon, can I teach it? ”

Such a military secret, how could Fang Shao be stupid enough to tell him, he laughed, and said: "Well, Shao actually got it from an old craftsman in Shu, as for the pattern made here, it is actually still in Shu, Zijing rest assured, when I return to Shu another day, I will find a way to ask Zijing for me." ”

Lu Su only asked with the mentality of giving it a try, and now that he saw them shirking like this, he had no choice but to give up.

Looking at the slowly sinking fighting ships on the river, Lu Su secretly thought in his heart: "They are demonstrating to me, but this trip from Fankou, Guanxiakou to Lukou line of defense, is indeed more solid than when I occupied Dongwu before, and now there are heavy troops stationed in Lukou, and there are capable people like Xu Yuanzhi in charge, even if Wu Hou raises troops again, I am afraid that there will be no good fruit to eat, not to mention that Guan Yu has a sharp weapon like Shenwei cannon, which is like a tiger with wings......

After being demonstrated, Lu Su smiled and said: "Yun Chang's military prestige is considered to have seen it, with you guarding Jingzhou, I don't dare to peep south, in this way, I will have no worries about the western front of Eastern Wu, and I can go to capture Huaisi." ”

Lu Su's words were regarded as an expression, Guan Yu was satisfied, so he raised his glass again, and said proudly: "It's really nice to be able to form an alliance with someone like Zijing who understands the overall situation." It's not early, let's drink this cup, so that we can send our son to wait for the east. ”

Lu Su also raised his glass and said proudly: "Okay, just drink this cup, I wish my two families a good together, and destroy the Cao thief together!" ”

Therefore, all the people present toasted together, and this farewell banquet ended in a harmonious atmosphere.

first sent Lu Su and his entourage away, and then Sun Shangxiang was sent away, and the festive atmosphere in Lukou City ended. Three days later, after much deliberation, everyone dispersed and went their separate ways according to the plan they had planned to prepare for the Northern Expedition.

The primary target of this Northern Expedition was naturally the former Jingzhou Governor's Office, Xiangyang.

If Jiangling is related to the safety of Jingzhou, and Xiakou is related to the safety of Nanjun, then Xiangyang is not only related to the safety of Jingzhou as a whole, but also to the overall situation of the whole world.

This Xiangyang is located in the south of the Nanyang Basin, through the Han River and the Yangtze River, connecting Wuhui in the east and Bashu in the west. From the Nanyang Basin, you can go out of the Central Plains in the north, enter Guanzhong in the west, and contact Longxi through Hanzhong, and Xiangyang, as the southern gate of the Nanyang Basin, its strategic significance is self-evident.

Now that Xiangyang is based on Cao Ying, it is equivalent to the upper reaches of the Han River being obtained by Cao Ying, and the hinterland of Jingzhou such as Nanjun and Jiangxia are all exposed to Cao Ying's troops. If Xiangyang can be captured, it can rely on the Hanshui as the defense line in the northern part of Jingzhou, and with the advantage of the naval army, the pressure on Jingzhou from the north will be greatly reduced, and it will also win a broader strategic depth for Jiangling, Xiakou and other places.

In fact, even if there is no impact of the situation in Hanzhong, the capture of Xiangyang and Jingzhou is also a necessary condition to meet the main force in "Longzhong Pair" to go out of Guanlong and attack Wanluo, so in any case, it is imperative to capture Xiangyang.

However, for a war to be launched, prior preparation is indispensable, and in terms of troops, the nearly 20,000 horses and horses guarding against Soochow at Lukou and Xiakou cannot be used. The rest of the soldiers and horses left behind in Jiangling, Gong'an and the four southern counties added up to more than 20,000 people, so the limit of the troops that Guan Yu could use in this northern expedition was less than 40,000 at most.

Although this number is very inferior to the astronomical figures of 800,000 and 700,000 in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", in fact, this is already a large army that can be described as "huge".

The so-called soldiers and horses have not moved, grain and grass go first, and the army of 40,000 people is assembled at this time, Jiang Wan, who is responsible for supervising the transfer of grain and grass, has begun to transfer grain and grass from various granaries in Jingzhou in an orderly manner.

In the past few years after Zhuge Liang entered Shu, Jiang Wan has been presiding over the political affairs of grain and punishment as the actual highest civil official in Jingzhou.

The displaced people in the Quartet were appeased, the barren fields in the counties were reclaimed, and at Fang Shao's suggestion, Jiang Wan also built a large number of tuntian fields in the area of Dongting Lake, which not only effectively solved the supply of military rations, but also enabled Jingzhou to hoard surplus grain that could be used for several years. And Jiang Wan's governance achievements provided sufficient material support for this Northern Expedition.

Guan Yu wanted to launch a dignified Northern Expedition, not a surprise war like Lü Meng's attack on Jingzhou in history, and to launch such a war, it was inevitable to go through large-scale troop mobilization and grain and grass transportation, although all this was carried out in a low-key manner, but Cao Wei, who went deep into Jingzhou, quickly sent the relevant information to Wancheng.

Before Cao Ying's expedition to Hanzhong, he had made advance arrangements for the threat from Guan Yu, leaving the general Cao Ren to sit in Wancheng, the administrative office of Nanyang County, to deal with the threat from the three eastern counties on the one hand, and to provide rapid support when Xiangyang was attacked.

When a secret report came to Wancheng like snowflakes, a series of information made Cao Ren judge that Guan Yu was preparing to take advantage of Wei Gong's expedition to the west to attack Xiangyang.

If Xiangyang falls, the land of Xuluo in the Central Plains will be directly exposed to the threat of Guan Yu's army, and the important surname of Xiangyang, how can Cao Ren not know. So, Cao Ren made a quick decision, left 10,000 soldiers and horses to guard Wancheng, and led 20,000 elite stars to Jingzhou in the starry night.

Five days later, Cao Ren finally arrived in Jingzhou before Guan Yu's army could be deployed, and he would face the problem of how to deploy the 20,000 horses.

Xiangyang has been operating for more than ten years in the era of Liu Biao, and the city has been repaired and thickened several times, which can be described as a strong city in the world, and the grain accumulated in the city is enough to support several years, and the city guard Lu Chang is a trustworthy veteran, plus there are 5,000 elite soldiers in the city, if he enters the army in Xiangyang, even if Guan Yu comes to 100,000 soldiers, it is difficult to shake.

But the key problem is that Xiangyang is located on the south bank of the Han River, and Guan Yu has the advantage of the navy, so he can easily cut off the Han River, isolate Xiangyang from the south of the Han River, and cut off its connection with the north, so that Xiangyang is equivalent to falling into an isolated and helpless situation. Guan Yu can cut off the Han River, lead the army to attack the city defense is weaker, the force is less Fancheng, if Fancheng is breached, Guan Yu will have a foothold, as a stronghold, calmly block the reinforcements from Nanyang, then Xiangyang will be in a desperate situation.

Therefore, after weighing up, Cao Ren decided to personally lead more than 17,000 people to hold on to Fancheng, which was across the water from Xiangyang on the north bank of the Han River, and only added 3,000 troops to Xiangyang.

The advantage of this deployment is that it can ensure that Fancheng is foolproof, and Xiangyang can rely on its fortified city, and can also defend itself, so deployed, then Xiangyang Jiancheng will become a solid shield, and Fancheng's superior forces will become a sharp sword that can attack Guan Yu at any time.

If Guan Yu only fights Xiangyang, then the reinforcements from the north can be stationed in Fancheng at any time to reinforce, just wait until Guan Yu is exhausted under Xiangyang City, and the Fancheng army will win as soon as it comes out; If Guan Yu bypasses Xiangyang to attack Fancheng, then Xiangyang's Cao army can continue to attack Guan Yu's rear wing and grain routes, and Fancheng has superior forces to ensure that Fancheng is impregnable.

Of course, Guan Yu has a third way to choose, that is, to divide troops to surround Xiangyang, and then attack Fancheng with the main force, so although it seems safe, but it will inevitably require a large number of troops, and Cao Ren according to the intelligence, Guan Yu can mobilize only thirty or forty thousand people, and his own defense in Xiangfan is as many as more than 25,000 people, only double the strength of the army to besiege two fortified cities at the same time, the way of war does not make sense, with Cao Ren's self-confidence, of course, I don't believe that Guan Yu has such ability.

Jingzhou Water Army, Guan Yu's flagship.

In the cabin, a pre-battle military meeting was being held, and the information on Cao Renjun's defense had been accurately placed on everyone's desks.

Guan Yu looked around at everyone and said, "Everyone, Cao Ren will place the main force in Fancheng, and the deputy general Lu Chang will guard Xiangyang, what kind of attack method should our army have, and what do you think?" ”

Ma Liang said first: "Xiangyang is a strong city in the world, our army is difficult to conquer for a while, if we divide the troops to besiege and not attack, and the general personally led the main force to concentrate on attacking Fancheng, Fancheng, Xiangyang was cut off in the south of the Han River, naturally without a fight. ”

What Ma Liang said was the plan of Guan Yu when he attacked Xiangyang in history, and everyone present seemed to have no objection to this plan.

At this time, Fang Shao stood up and said in a loud voice: "I think that our army should respond to the siege of Fancheng but not attack, and concentrate the main force to attack Xiangyang first." ”

(To be continued)