Sun Quan looked at the battle report in his hand and was surprised and delighted: "Feng first took Xiangcheng?" ”

"Yes." Sun Shao nodded and looked at Sun Quan carefully: "Supreme, they seem to be overwhelmed, but now that Xu Huang has recaptured Fancheng and cut off the connection between the north and the south, General Hou and Guan Yu are facing the encirclement of several large armies, and the situation is not good." ”

Sun Quan shook his head disapprenously: "Xiahoudun is just a person who guards the success, he is not Guan Yu's opponent. Cao Ying wants to withdraw from Hanzhong, it is impossible to arrive in time, as for Yecheng, I estimate that Cao Pi will not dare to leave lightly. What Guan Yu has to deal with is just Xu Huang's people, as long as Feng first rushes back to Xiangyang, it will be fine. It's just that they have too many fronts now, and their troops are a little insufficient. ”

Sun Shao was silent, what he was worried about was this, according to common sense, Jiangdong should send troops to support at this moment, but Sun Quan himself has not made any progress on the Eastern Front, Sun Shao and Guan Yu, the son-in-law of Weng, have won consecutive battles, what Sun Quan will think at this time, he really can't figure it out, so he can only pretend to be confused and wait for Sun Quan to say it himself.

Sun Quan thought for a moment: "Immediately order Lu Su to reinforce Xiangyang, and at the same time rush six hundred miles, and order Buqi to take Guiyang and enter Changsha." ”

Sun Shao understood, and said loudly: "Supreme Sage." ”

Sun Quan walked to the map and issued several orders in one breath: "Order Lü Meng and Jiang Qin to attack quickly, order Lü Fan to enter Jiangxia, and order ......" Sun Shao did not dare to slack off, and wrote them down one by one. Sun Quan finally said earnestly: "Changxu, this battle is fought, and we can stand with the old thief." ”

Sun Shao nodded again and again and hurriedly walked out. Sun Quan straightened up, looked at the bright sunshine outside the house, and let out a long breath, feeling extremely happy. No one expected that Sun Shao and Guan Yu would go so smoothly, and in less than two months, they not only won Fancheng and Wancheng, but also Nanyang County, but also captured the big granary of Xiangcheng. With this granary, Guan Yu and Sun Shao can completely disturb Cao Ying's life, and more importantly, once they conquer Xu County and win the Son of Heaven, then Cao Ying's biggest reliance will become his nightmare.

Cao Ying, who often calls on the Son of Heaven, is going to become a real thief now, right?

Sun Quan couldn't help but want to laugh when he thought of this possible outcome. In any case, regaining the Son of Heaven from Cao Ying, his and Liu Bei's identities can be whitewashed, and there is no need to gain any fame by currying favor with Cao Ying. He has long been dissatisfied with this chariot general, if he can win the Son of Heaven this time, what can he do? At least it's more valuable than the general of the chariot, right?

Shouldn't the Son of Heaven be brought to Jiangdong? Sun Quan thought for a moment, and then dispelled this idea, it is one thing to ask the Son of Heaven for an official, and it is another thing to truly respect the Son of Heaven. He doesn't want to be the real king of Qin, why put a rope on his head, let the real imperial prince Liu Bei do this kind of thing. This old slippery head has always wanted to call himself king and emperor, if the real Son of Heaven comes to his territory, see what he can do. He will definitely coerce the Son of Heaven to order the princes like Cao Ying, right? It's a pity that he doesn't have the strength of Cao Ying, and whether the edict issued from his hand can work depends on whether this edict is willing to be accepted by others.

Perhaps, this has solved a difficult problem for Cao Ying.

Sun Quan thought about it, and the more he thought about it, the more interesting he felt. He looked forward to the future, and looked forward to the idea of separating the world with Cao Ying and Liu Bei after winning Jianghuai, and he saw the opportunity to sit on an equal footing with Cao Ying and Liu Bei. He was thinking about whether he should properly communicate with Cao Ying, after all, Liu Bei was used to treachery, what if he took the edict of the Son of Heaven and made himself a minister? At this point, it may be time to negotiate.

The general trend of the world is about to change.

"Zhongshan, you pack up and get ready to go to Yecheng." Sun Quan turned around and said to Shen Heng, who was following behind him.

Shen Heng bowed down and accepted the order.

…… Sun Shao successfully persuaded Cao Ren, and the internal troubles finally settled down temporarily, but the external worries remained the same. There are only more than 5,000 people in Xiangyang City, and most of them are old and weak, Guan Yu and Sun Shao were negligent, they didn't expect Cao Ying to send Xu Huang to send troops from Hanzhong and go straight to Xiangyang, in their opinion, Cao Jun has no water division, and he shouldn't make such a dangerous move, but when something happened, Xu Huang used such a dangerous trick to hit Guan Yu's weakness and cut off the grain road. If Sun Shao hadn't captured Xiangcheng, Guan Yu would probably collapse now.

In addition to the more than 5,000 old and weak, there is also the Destroying Battalion that Sun Shaogang brought back, but the current Urging Battalion can't destroy the Front, and can only brag. Riding on horses for two days in a row, 80 percent of the people wore out their thighs, not to mention the war, they walked like a circle of legs, and when they passed through Xiangyang City with their legs crossed one by one, they almost didn't laugh at those who usually didn't dare to look at them squarely.

So Sun Jiao and Elfang were still very nervous, they looked at Sun Shao and were silent. Sun Shao was calm and calm, and said to them indifferently: "You are also tired, rest early." By the way, uncle, how is your injury? ”

Sun Jiao smiled bitterly and shook his head, he stabbed Cao Ren, Cao Ren has not been able to walk until now, but Cao Ren has not cheapened him, a knife cut a big hole in his chest, even two ribs were broken, he had rested for more than a month, the wound had been closed, as soon as Xu Huang came, he went out with illness, and the wound was almost cracked again, and he obviously felt a little unsupportable in the past two days.

"You can rest well." Sun Shao sighed: "If it weren't for Uncle this time, we would have capsized in the gutter." ”

Sun Jiao felt some comfort in his heart, and smiled faintly: "A wise man has a thousand thoughts, and there must be a mistake." Xu Huang has always been famous for his seriousness, but he didn't expect him to dare to use a civilian boat to go into the Han River. It's also that we know too late, and if we catch up sooner, it won't be another big victory. ”

Sun Shao smiled, and said in his heart Although Xu Huang and Yu Ban are both ranked among the five good generals, Yu Ban is known for being strict, while Xu Huang is cautious, these two styles look similar, but in fact, there is a big difference in them.

"Fengxian, how are you going to fight Fancheng?" Elfang, who had been sitting silently, asked.

"Don't fight." Sun Shao shook his head: "Don't fight for the time being." ”

"Don't fight?" Sun Jiao and Elfang looked at each other, and they were a little puzzled: "If we don't fight, the connection between us and General Guan will be cut off, and he will fight alone, will it be ......?"

"No, it won't." Sun Shao shook his head confidently: "Guan Gong's subordinates now have nearly 50,000 people, and there is enough grain and grass, so he has no worries. Even if he loses to Xiahoudun, he can retreat to Wancheng, and there will be no danger for the time being. And although Xu Huang occupies Fancheng, he has no water division and will not attack Xiangyang easily, to be honest, his role in Fancheng is limited. ”

Elfang thought about it and felt that what Sun Shao said was reasonable, since Guan Yu was not worried about food and grass, then Xu Huang's role was limited, and he didn't have a water master, so it was not so easy to cross the Han River to attack Xiangyang. Although Xiangyang has few soldiers, it is covered by Hanshui, and there is not much danger, not to mention that reinforcements will come soon, and it will not be too late to start a war with Xu Huang at that time.

They went to rest with peace of mind, but Sun Shao was not idle, he wrote a letter and asked people to send it to Xu Huang.

At the south gate of Fancheng, Xu Huang slowly paced at the head of the city with his hands behind his back, followed by Sima Yi, the chief secretary of the prime minister, Zhao Yan and the general Yin Bureau. After Guan Yu took Fancheng, Fancheng had lost his original important surname, so he didn't let people rebuild the city, just cleaned it up, the broken city tower was simply demolished, and the city wall that was blistered a little soft can be seen everywhere Traces of collapse can be seen, and the deep hole of the round pit hit by stone bullets and giant crossbows can still be seen on the top of the city wall, dark red blood stains can be seen everywhere, and flies are buzzing and flying.

"Zhongda, can you believe that Sun Shao captured Fancheng in only half an hour?" Xu Huang raised his head, looked at Xiangyang City opposite Hanshui, and said in a calm tone. Sima Yi, who was standing behind him, pursed his lips and laughed: "I think it's a bit exaggerated." If it was a surprise attack and there was no defense, then it was still possible, but Cao Zhengnan had been fighting Guan Yu for so long, how could he be negligent? Besides, Guan Yu has not been able to take Fancheng for so long, and Sun Shao can break the city in half an hour? They are not only allies, but also sons-in-law. ”

"You're saying it's just a lie?" The corners of Xu Huang's mouth twitched, a smile flashed, and he turned around and glanced at Sima Yi. Cao Ying sent him out of Hanzhong, he originally planned to take the mountain road, but it was Sima Yi who suggested using civilian ships to transport troops, which was fast and labor-saving. This method is very good, Xu Huang only took seven or eight days to suddenly appear in Fanchengxi, and Sun Jiao was caught off guard. It should be said that this effect is very ideal, so Xu Huang has a very good impression of Sima Yi, and feels that this scholar has the talent of a soldier.

Of course, he also knew that Sima Yi, as the chief secretary of the Prime Minister's Mansion, came to fight with him, and it was definitely not as simple as a military officer.

"There are too many things like that." Sima Yi smiled, gentle but not flattering, steady and unrestrained, appropriately expressing his respect for a veteran like Xu Huang. He didn't say the rest of the words. Because he felt that this matter was no different from touting each other among the scholars, Guan Yu could do it in order to make a name for Sun Shao, but he felt that Guan Yu was too stupid, and this seemed to have a good effect, but in fact it was counterproductive - Sun Shao was Sun Quan's thorn in the flesh, and the greater his reputation, the easier it was to arouse Sun Quan's suspicion. Sun Shao and Guan Yu did this, in his opinion, as standard martial arts stupidity.

Although his expression was well concealed, the trace of disdain in the corners of his eyes did not escape Xu Huang's attention. Xu Huang turned around silently, silent in thought. Yesterday, the scout came to report that Sun Shao rushed back to Xiangyang with more than 1,000 cavalry, and it seemed that Guan Yu had already known about the loss of Fancheng, but he did not come back, but only sent Sun Shao back to Xiangyang to preside over the war. Xu Huang and Guan Yu have a good relationship, he knows that Guan Yu is arrogant, but he is not a person who does not distinguish between importance and importance, since he sent Sun Shao back, it means that he believes in Sun Shao's ability, then the battle of Fancheng may also be true - although it sounds outrageous.

"Zhongda, do you think Sun Shao will take the initiative to attack Fancheng?" Xu Huang asked casually again.

Sima Yi shook his head: "I don't think so." ”

"Why?"

"There aren't many men in Xiangyang, and the only ones they can have the advantage are the sailors, and now that the water has receded, it's impossible for the warships to reach the front of the city like they did two months ago. If they get off the ship and attack the city, hum, won't they kill themselves? Sima Yi walked to the edge of the city, pointed to the quiet Han Shui not far away, and said, "I estimate that they will use the water master to escort the grain and grass from the water to the north. In addition......" Sima Yi shook his head and denied his opinion: "It shouldn't be, Xiangcheng is nearly a thousand miles away from Wancheng, and there are nearly 10,000 Tuntian soldiers, if they want to succeed in a sneak attack, the chance is too small." ”

Xu Huang nodded, he was also a little worried that Guan Yu would attack Xiangcheng after the food was cut off, and then he thought about it, Wancheng and Xiangcheng are separated by more than a thousand miles, thousands of miles away, it is only possible to attack with cavalry, and Guan Yu and Sun Shao do not have so many cavalry, if they carry out a long-distance rapid march with foot soldiers, probably only Xiahou Yuan in the world will do this.

In this way, Sun Shao should soon storm Fancheng, and strive to reopen the grain route in the shortest possible time to ensure the food supply of Guan Yu's army. He glanced back at Sima Yi: "Step up the repair of the city defenses, don't give them any chance." ”

Sima Yi bowed and saluted. His thoughts are similar to Xu Huang's, since there are not enough sailors to attack Xiangyang, let's wait for Sun Shao to attack, anyway, what is in a hurry is that Sun Shao is not them. The two of them walked east along the city wall, one after the other, and had just walked a short distance. A personal guard walked over quickly with a knife and bowed: "General, Sun Shao has a messenger here." ”

"Sun Shao's messenger?" Xu Huang was a little surprised, he exchanged glances with Sima Yi, and raised his hand to call the messenger over.

Shi Bao stood in front of Xu Huang and presented Sun Shao's handwritten notebook with both hands. Xu Huang glanced at him, took the book but did not open it: "Who are you?" Listening to your accent, how does it look like a northerner? ”

Shi Bao smiled slightly: "The general is clear, Bao was originally from Bohai, and now he is a personal guard by General Sun's side." ”

"Bohai people?" Xu Huang opened the book and asked, "When did you go to Jiangdong?" ”

"Three days ago." Shi Bao smiled faintly, and his handsome face showed a bit of smugness and sarcasm: "Bao Ben is a subordinate of General Dian Nong Zhonglang, three days ago, General Sun broke through Xiangcheng, not too despicable, let me be a personal guard." ”

"What?" Sima Yi was taken aback, rushed up with an arrow, and grabbed Shi Bao's collar: "Sun Shao broke through Xiangcheng?" ”

Shi Bud looked at Sima Yi's hand without saying a word, Sima Yi was stunned for a moment, and then he realized his gaffe, he twitched the corner of his eye and let go of Shi Bao. It is said that his surname is deep, and he is not too impulsive when he encounters anything, but Sun Shao actually took Xiangcheng, which was not only too unexpected, but also made all their plans fail, and he couldn't help but not get angry.

Xu Huang quickly glanced at the book, the corner of his eye twitched twice involuntarily, hesitated, and handed the bookpiece to Sima Yi. Sima Yi didn't think much about it, took it and browsed it, and couldn't help but hold his breath.

Sun Shao said that he had taken Xiangcheng, Guan Yu now had a large amount of food available, there was no need to worry about the back road, he was leading an army of 40,000 to attack Xu County, if nothing else, he should have arrived outside Xu County by now. He also said that there were only four or five thousand people in Xiangyang City, most of them were old and weak, and they could not be Xu Huang's opponents, and he had already sent messengers to Sun Quan and Liu Bei asking for help, and about half a month away, the reinforcements would arrive, and Xu Huang had to hurry up if he wanted to fight. However, he reminded Xu Huang that in addition to nearly 10,000 soldiers in Xiangyang City, there were many high-ranking generals including Cao Ren, Man Chong, Pang De and others, and if Xu Huang wanted to attack Xiangyang, then for the sake of safety, he could only kill Cao Ren and others first, and then fight Xu Huang to the death.

After reading the book, Sima Yi's mood was as complicated as Xu Huang's. Sun Shao is very honest in doing this, and it is really a little shameless. He told Xu Huang very honestly, I am so many people, if you want to come, you will come, but when the time comes, Cao Ren and these people will die because of you, Cao Ying is looking for you to settle accounts, don't blame me. If you don't fight, then my reinforcements will arrive in half a month.

A hard punch, but it hit the air, and then it was disgusted again. This is the feeling that Xu Huang and Sima Yi share now.

Beat? Not to mention whether you can beat Xiangyang, let's just say that you can't afford to lose Cao Ren's life. Don't fight? Why don't you beat them here, just look at Sun Shao across the water? What's more, the grain and grass they bring are limited, Sun Shao has a water master, he will definitely block the Han water, and if he wants to transport grain from Hanzhong, it will be extremely difficult. Xu Huang only brought two months of food, and now there is only one and a half months left for him. Originally, he expected to be able to transport grain from the direction of Xiangcheng, but now that Xiangcheng has changed hands, Guan Yu's crisis has been resolved, and Xu Huang is facing the danger of running out of food.

The unexpected loss of Xiangcheng wasted all Xu Huang's efforts.

"General, we are already alone, and it is not appropriate to stay here any longer." General Ping Nan said cautiously.

Xu Huang glanced at him and didn't say anything. He originally had only more than 2,000 people under his command, but this time Cao Ying asked him to attack Xiangfan, and specially transferred another five or six foreign generals and nearly 10,000 horses to temporarily under his command, and Yin Agency was one of them. Now that the situation has reversed, they have become cowardly, and it is not surprising that they want to leave Fancheng.

Sima Yi shook his head, he also understood the thoughts of Yin Wei and the others, and this was the time when he, the prime minister's main book, came into play. He waved his hand and let Shibud leave. Shi Bao didn't say much, gave a salute, and stood aside to wait for a reply.

"No." Sima Yi waved his hand, interrupted Yin Wei, who was still trying to persuade, and said with a gloomy face: "With us in Fancheng, Sun Shao will not dare to leave Xiangyang lightly, although Guan Yu has food, but his back road was intercepted, it is impossible not to be unscrupulous at all." As for the reinforcements from Jiangdong and Yizhou, not to mention whether they will come, even if they come, it will take at least ten days and a half months, and during this time, we have enough advantages and no danger. ”

Yin Wei and the others looked at each other and nodded, they couldn't take Xu Huang in their eyes, but they couldn't help but listen to Sima Yi, he represented the Prime Minister's Mansion and Cao Ying here.

"Before leaving, the prime minister has ordered General Fubo to move westward, and the deputy prime minister will also lead a large army from Yecheng, although Guan Yu claims to be forty or fifty thousand people, but most of his men and horses are chaotic people, is a rabble, once surrounded, it will be defeated without a fight. Guan Yu's defeat and retreat are inevitable, and we are here, we can block his retreat and cooperate with General Fubo and the deputy prime minister to annihilate him in Nanyang. ”

Xu Huang looked at Sima Yi, who was talking eloquently, and secretly admired it. This young man is eloquent, he used the credit of annihilating Guan Yu to trap all these undetermined generals, and few people can see his selfishness. Yes, although Guan Yu is not in danger now, he will soon face the flanking attack of Cao Pi who came from Yecheng and Xiahoudun who came from Hefei, maybe there are Cao troops from other directions, his defeat is inevitable, even if he takes Xu County, he can't hold it. If they are stubbornly guarding Fancheng, then Guan Yu will not be able to return to the south of Hanshui safely, Xiahoudun is Cao Pi's people, and the biggest hero of this battle is Cao Pi, as for how many of them can survive under the attack of Guan Yu and Sun Shao, it is not a problem for Sima Yi to consider.

Although Xu Huang understood this, he did not object, although his starting point was different from Sima Yi, but his intention to make meritorious service was not different. Wuzi Liang general, Le Jin was the right general before his death, he was the left general before the ban, and the remaining three people were all generals, Zhang Liao is now the general of Zhengdong, which was exchanged for the battle in the twentieth year of Jian'an, Zhang He and he are just a miscellaneous general, he is sixty years old this year, and there are not many opportunities to fight, if he does not seize the opportunity to make a meritorious name, he will probably only be a miscellaneous general for the rest of his life.

"That'...... What are we going to do? Defending the city? General Xu Shang asked unconfidently.

"You can't defend the city." Sima Yi slowed down, turned around and saluted Xu Huang: "General, Yi thinks that Fancheng is ruined and cannot be repaired in a short time, and it is too close to Hanshui, it is better to retreat north, if Sun Shao does not chase, we will threaten Guan Yu's back road, and surround Guan Yu with General Fubo and Deputy Prime Minister, if Sun Shao comes to chase, we can just eat him in turn." He smiled confidently: "When it comes to infantry and cavalry field battles, how can the Jiangdong people be the opponents of the generals." ”

Xu Shang and the others laughed, smiling very proudly. Sima Yi's words can be said to be in their hearts, if you want to fight a water war, they are definitely not the opponents of the Jiangdong people, Fancheng is too close to the Han River, the Jiangdong people come when they say, they will go, they are very passive, but it is different to the north, if Sun Shao chases, he will fight with them in the plains, if they don't chase, they can swagger straight to Wancheng, and Xiahou Dun and Cao Pi get closer.

One advance and one retreat, passive becomes active.

Xu Huang saw the expressions of the generals and knew that they didn't have any opinions, so he nodded and said, "This strategy is very good, what do you think?" ”

Zhao Yan, who had been silent, was the first to agree: "It should be so." ”

Sima Yi glanced at Zhao Yan and nodded gratefully. Zhao Yan is Cao Yan's cronies, don't look at him as just a councilor, but he has supervised the war many times as a supervisor or in a similar capacity, and in the minds of the generals, Zhao Yan has more weight than him.

(To be continued)