Fang Shao rushed back to Jiangling on Guan Yu's orders, and in just a few days, the most experienced blacksmiths and carpenters from nearby prefectures and counties such as Nanjun, Jiangxia, and Changsha gathered in Jiangling City to make heavy Shenwei cannons in the starry night.

According to Fang Shao's assumption, the improved Shenwei cannon should be able to fire at least more than 200 catties of stone bullets, and the range should also be more than 150 steps.

What kind of concept is this, it is equivalent to launching the big shark O'Neill from this door in the football field to the opposite door. With such a large potential energy, even a city wall made of reinforced concrete will be unbearable.

Of course, firing such a heavy stone projectile at such a distance also requires a high degree of toughness and hardness of the materials used in the manufacture of trebuchets. Fortunately, in ancient times, the environmental damage was not more serious than now, and Jingzhou, which has experienced several wars, is most lacking in people, and the least is trees.

All of a sudden, the manufacturing camp outside Gangneung City was brightly lit every day, and the tinkling bells rang non-stop all night. Pieces of fine timber were brought to the camp from all directions, and the craftsmen worked according to the patterns given by Fang Shao, working at a speed that produced one heavy cannon every three days.

At the same time, Zhao Yun under Xiangyang City was not idle, according to Fang Shao's advice and Guan Yu's order, Zhao Yun did not rush to attack the city, but every day a hundred Shenwei cannons tirelessly arrived under Xiangyang City, from time to time, at random points of a wild bombardment, even if the bombardment could not break the city, it could not make the defenders in the city comfortable.

As a result, Lu Chang and his thousands of defenders were in a state of mental tension almost all the time. I just wanted to eat at noon, and I had a wild bang. I was sleepy in the middle of the night, and I just fell asleep when I had another terrible blow. Under the terrifying and irregular blows of the Shenwei cannon, although the city is still stubborn, and the casualties of the soldiers are not many, this cruel spiritual oppression makes the defenders' will more and more depressed.

Therefore, Lu Chang had to repeatedly send people to steal out of the encirclement and ask Cao Ren on the north bank for help. Cao Ren was also anxious, and in a month's time, he had organized several large-scale attacks, although he had also broken through the camp of Zhou Cang's headquarters in the southeast of Fancheng and grabbed a ferry. But helplessly, although he faced less than 5,000 Guan Yu's naval army, the weakness of the water war made Cao Ren's several river crossing operations fail.

The unfavorable battle situation in Xiangyang reached Cao Ying, who was far away in Hanzhong, and at this moment, the prince of Wei was not having a good time.

His army of more than 100,000 troops, although the momentum was huge, was blocked in the 500-mile-long valley road of the Qinling Mountains, and for three months, countless strong attacks, it was never possible to break through Liu Bei's several large camps at the mouth of the valley.

Cao Ying felt aggrieved in his heart, thinking that if this was in Xuzhou or in the Central Plains, Lao Tzu's tiger and leopard would overturn your big-eared thief by riding back and forth. Now the tragedy is that the scheming and tactics of the gods and horses have become floating clouds, and the strategists under them are like clouds, famous generals like rain, and hundreds of thousands of the most elite soldiers in the world, facing the enemy camp in the valley where tens of thousands of people are guarded, but there is no way at all.

Within three months, nearly 10,000 men had been filled in the valley, but the army had not been able to advance an inch.

What's even worse is that because of the suffering of transporting grain from the mountains and roads, a large number of people recruited from Guanzhong began to flee in hundreds. The weakening of transportation capacity has really affected the food supply of the front-line army, and in the last month, because of the lack of food, Cao Ying has been forced to order a one-third reduction in the food supply every day.

Of course, the soldiers had nothing to fight and would not starve to death if they ate less, but this sent a signal to the soldiers that there was a lack of food in the army. The soldiers will be worried that if they have lost one-third today, they will not halve it tomorrow, and they may have to drink cold water to plug their teeth the day after tomorrow, so this morale will naturally drop rapidly.

At this time, Xiangyang's emergency document came, which was tantamount to adding insult to injury for Cao Ying.

"Prime Minister, now Liu Bei can't hold on, I lack food, and it's difficult to hold on for a long time. And Xiangyang is already in an emergency, and it is not a way for the army to stalemate here, so it is better to withdraw the troops and relieve the siege of Xiangyang before making plans. ”

The person who spoke was Liu Ye, and his words also expressed the thoughts of most civil and military people.

Cao Ying stared solemnly at the brazier in the tent, but was silent.

In fact, he doesn't know the current unfavorable situation, but for so many years, when he faced Liu Bei, he didn't kill this big-eared thief like a lost dog.

However, now that the ambition is bound to come, and the disgraced face returns in vain, people in the world will inevitably say: 'Liu Bei is no longer the Liu Bei of the past, look, even the dignified Duke Wei is no longer the opponent of others.'" ’

The most important thing is that this will be a great blow to the morale of the army and civilians under his rule, and for those who are inclined to Liu Bei and ready to move, it must be a great encouragement, and the military defeat will inevitably cause political turmoil, which is what Cao Ying really cares about. And this is also the reason why after Liu Bei became the king of Hanzhong, he hurriedly launched an attack on Hanzhong without adequate preparation.

Among the ministers, there was a pair of deep eyes that were quietly watching the silent Duke Wei. Those eyes are as deep as wolves, as if they can easily perceive people's minds, but they are as calm as an icy lake, and the white frost color locks their hearts, making it impossible to see what kind of undercurrents are hidden under the frozen lake.

After a long time, the man said slowly: "Liu Bei has established himself as the king, and in the Central Plains, those small people who surrender to the prime minister in the open but flatter Liu Bei secretly must all be ready to move." If the prime minister is forced to withdraw like this, if Liu Bei follows the troops out of Qinchuan again, those young people will definitely take advantage of the situation to incite chaos, and in this way, the harm will be even worse. ”

is only a few words, but it is very different from everyone's opinions, and it is right to Cao Ying's thoughts.

Cao Ying's expression moved slightly, raised his head, swept away the voice, and then found the person who spoke in the crowd.

The man's face was white, and he looked to be in his early thirties, but his hair was already more than half silver, and he looked different from ordinary people at first glance.

Seeing Cao Ying looking this way, the man hurriedly lowered his head slightly, not so much because he didn't dare to face Cao Ying's gaze, but because he didn't want Cao Ying to see his eyes clearly, because he also knew that what was coming was the same pair of eyes that could peep into people's hearts.

Cao Ying stared at him for a long time, and a slight smile suddenly appeared on his face, "It turned out to be Sima Zhongda, well, there is some truth in your words." ”

His person is Sima Yi.

The Sima clan is an extremely ancient clan, and as early as the Xia Shang period, they were nobles. In the Han Dynasty, his ancestor Sima Ang broke the Qin Dynasty and was sealed in Hanoi, and his descendants took it as their home. By the time of Emperor An of the Han Dynasty, he was born to conquer the western general Jun, and he was born Yuzhang was too guarded, and Yingchuan was too guarded, and Jun gave birth to Jingzhao Yin Sima Fang, and this Sima Fang was Sima Yi's father.

If you talk about the prominence of the family background and the long history, even if it is the Yuan family, which was known as the 'Fourth World and Three Dukes', it is not as good as this Sima family.

At this time, Liu Ye said: "Zhong Da's words are inherently true, but Fang Jinxiangyang is in danger, if it is lost, then Wanluo will be directly exposed to Guan Yu's soldiers, and the resulting disaster is not light." ”

Cao Ying pondered for a while, and suddenly asked, "Where is the Miaocai Department now?" ”

Cao Zhen said: "Back to the prime minister, Miaocai's 20,000 soldiers and horses have now arrived in Qishan and are preparing to go south through Wudu." ”

Cao Ying stood up, walked to the hanging map, carefully studied it, and then, his expression was much firmer, as if he had made a decision.

"Lonely's expedition to Hanzhong is of great significance, how can you easily withdraw the army, just wait for the Miaocai army and horses to arrive, and attack Hanzhong on both sides, see how Liu Bei responds. As for Xiangyang, Xiangyang is a strong city in the world, and Zixiao's talent is also well known, although Guan Yu's soldiers are sharp, it is expected that it will not be able to become any climate for a while, so you might as well wait and see. ”

…… When the war in Hanzhong in the east was in a stalemate, and the victory or defeat of Xiangyang in the middle was unpredictable, the distant Dongfang Jianye was hurriedly stepping into the majestic gate of the Wuhou Military Mansion.

"Zijing, you're finally here, and I'm waiting for you to make a decision."

In the meeting hall, Sun Quan greeted him with a cordial smile, without the majesty and momentum of being the master, and his words and demeanor were like welcoming an old friend who had been absent for a long time.

Lu Su didn't dare to call himself an old friend, so he hurriedly said: "The lord will entrust the affairs of the west to Su, and before Su leaves, he must take some time to deploy it in case of accidents." I came a few days late, so I made the lord wait for a long time. ”

Sun Quan entered with Lu Su's hand and said with a smile: "Zijing is conscientious, and you are in charge of the overall situation in the west, so you can sit back and relax." ”

The lords and ministers sat down separately, and Lu Su asked straight to the point: "Lord, the previous secret music of Su must have been received by the lord, but I don't know how the soldiers and horses of the Northern Expedition are prepared?" ”

Sun Quan smiled, did not answer directly, and asked: "This is not in a hurry, Zijing, I heard that you were in danger and went to Lukou to marry in person, I don't know if there is such a thing?" ”

Lu Su said lightly: "It's not a risk, Guan Yunchang attaches great importance to reputation, and he won't do anything about Su at all, Su just took advantage of the name of marriage to take a good look at the deployment along Xiakou and Lukou." ”

"What is the result of that inspection?" Sun Quan then asked.

"Four words - impregnable." Lu Su replied very simply.

"Oh." Sun Quan replied casually, seemingly a little disappointed.

Lu Su immediately said: "So Su Cai secretly played the lord, and asked the lord to secretly transfer troops and horses to prepare for the north attack on Hefei." Now the situation, Cao Ying was held back by the soldiers and horses of Hanzhong and Xiangyang, the main force of the Central Plains is difficult to adjust, and the soldiers of Hefei are only 7,000, this is a God-given opportunity, if the lord is still hesitant to take it at this time, then I will have no chance to turn over. ”

(To be continued)