As Yang Zheng worried, the situation of the Poyang Lake Water Division is indeed not very good, the total number of large and small ships is less than 1,200, and the total strength is only more than 16,000, and there is a serious lack of actual combat experience. It's an answer that no one knows.

Judging from the number of ships and the strength of the troops, the situation of the Chaohu Naval Division, the main force of the Xuzhou Naval Division, is much better, with a total strength of more than 30,000 and more than 2,500 large and small vessels, but unfortunately, the Chaohu Naval Division can only arrive at Poyang Lake after the fifth day of December at the earliest, and the Poyang Lake Naval Division can only fight alone at the most critical time. However, the Chaohu Water Division, like the Poyang Lake Water Division, also has the weakness of serious lack of actual combat experience, so even if the two main forces of the Xuzhou Water Division are combined, they are still at a disadvantage in front of the Jingzhou Water Division.

Can't blame Lu Su and Jiang Qin and others for being incompetent, operating in Jiangdong for five or six years, the Xuzhou Navy Division has not been able to overpower the Jingzhou Water Division, it is Deputy Director Tao's strategic decision-making that has made the Xuzhou Navy Division suffer, because Deputy Director Tao's strategic center has always been in the Central Plains Battlefield and the Hebei Battlefield, and the strategic resources controlled by the Xuzhou Army are naturally inclined to the Central Plains Battlefield and the Hebei Battlefield. The largest source of money and grain for the Xuzhou Navy Division is Huainan Second County and Guangling County. In turn, he also transfused a lot of blood to the Yanzhou battlefield and the Yuzhou battlefield, and under such circumstances, it was naturally difficult for the Xuzhou Navy Division to make great progress.

It is not to blame that Deputy Director Tao is short-sighted and does not pay enough attention to the construction of water surface forces, and Deputy Director Tao also has his own difficulties -- Jiangnan in this era is too backward, the population is sparse and the land is barren, even if he goes all out to win it, it will not have much effect, and the money, grain and taxes obtained are difficult to support the Xuzhou army to dominate the Central Plains, so Deputy Director Tao has no choice but to first go north and then south. First take the essence of the Central Plains, and then take your time to come to Jiangnan as a barren cow. Naturally, we cannot concentrate strategic resources on the Jiangdong battlefield now.

In addition, the friendly relationship between the Xuzhou Army and Liu Qi before was also an important reason why the Xuzhou Army did not pay enough attention to the surface forces. The Xuzhou Naval Division no longer has a decent opponent in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. and Liu Qi, who mastered Jiangxia, was in the honeymoon period. For the time being, there is no threat from the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and Deputy Director Tao, who feels that Liu Qi must rely on the support of his own army if he wants to succeed to the throne, is so cunning and suspicious that he is a little careless in the construction of the water division. The investment was far from enough, and the result gave Liu Qi, who suddenly rose and suddenly turned against the Xuzhou army, a chance.

By the way, Liu Qi suddenly decided to turn his face with the Xuzhou Army, and the root of it was also from Deputy Director Tao's foreign strategy of putting the interests first, and when he had the opportunity to help Liu Qi ascend to the throne of Jingzhou, Deputy Director Tao, who was forgetful of his righteousness, in order to quickly withdraw from the battlefield in Nanyang and create civil strife in Jingzhou in the future, first Yin Liu Qi did not force Liu Biao to hand over Liu Cong as a hostage, and Liu Qi, who had been completely damaged by Yang Changshi, was furious and resolutely decided to seize the opportunity to compete with the Xuzhou Army for Jiangdong. Otherwise, Jiangdong of the Xuzhou Army would not be in trouble so soon.

After discovering the huge disparity in the strength of the Poyang Lake Water Master and the Jingzhou Water Master, Yang Zheng, whose personality is almost completely different from his biological father, was not disappointed, but went to understand the situation of Chaisang City Defense, which made Yang Zheng relieved that the situation of the Xuzhou Army on land was much better, and there were more than 12,000 defenders in Chaisang, Liling and Xunyang City on the north bank of the Yangtze River, including 2,000 defenders in Xunyang, 3,000 in Liling, and 7,000 in Chaisang. Coupled with the strength of the naval division that could go ashore to fight, the strength of the Xuzhou Army in defending the city was quite sufficient, which was enough to maneuver with the Jingzhou Army on land.

The most reassuring thing for Yang Zheng is the city defense situation of Chaisang, under the auspices of the bridge Rui, the most proficient defender of the Xuzhou army, the city defense situation of Chaisang is almost flawless, the city is high and deep fortifications are perfect, and the terrain is high and not afraid of flooding, and the city is full of wells and rich groundwater, which does not have to worry about being cut off by the enemy, and can also play a role in preventing the enemy from attacking the city tunnelly, and at the same time, there are enough grain, grass and salt for half a year in Chaisang City, and there is the capital to fight a war of attrition with the Jingzhou army.

Basically understood the situation of the Chaisang water and land army, and carefully checked the detailed scout reports during this time, and roughly grasped the enemy's situation through analysis and reasoning, Yang Zheng, who had already impressed Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin, thought about it for a long time, and then bowed his hand to Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin and said: "Uncle Qiao, General Jiang, the two elders, please forgive me, the little nephew is still the same suggestion, we should avoid the enemy's chief, ask General Jiang to lead the water division to retreat to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River first, and join our Chaohu water division to preserve the surface strength, Then take advantage of our army's land battle advantage and the geographical advantage of the city's defense, and the Jingzhou army will be on land for a long time, waiting for the main force of Lu Dudu to come to help. ”

Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin's expressions were obviously a little disappointed, and then Jiang Qin said: "Virtuous nephew, we also know that we should give priority to preserving the surface forces, but after our Poyang Lake Sailor retreats, there will be two problems. The first is that once the Jingzhou Naval Division blocks the mouth of the lake, our army's naval division, which is still downstream, will be even more disadvantageous on the surface battlefield. The second is that after the retreat of the sailors, what should be done with Xunyang in Jiangbei? What about the Liling in the south of Chaisang? Do you want the Jingzhou army and Yuan Yaojun to break them all. ”

"Two uncles, please rest assured, Xunyang and Liling can be guarded, and if they can't be kept, they can give up." Yang Zheng said confidently: "With the current strength of our army, there is no longer a need to be confined to the problem of gains and losses in one city and one place, and the two small cities of Xunyang and Liling will be given up for the time being, and they will be recaptured in the future." As long as we hold Chaisang, the Jingzhou army will not want to go south to annex Yuzhang and invade our Jiangdong hinterland. ”

"As for the Jingzhou Sailor blocking the mouth of the lake, this is not a problem." Yang Zheng smiled and added: "If Governor Lu leads the Chaohu Water Division to come to the aid in a hurry. There will definitely be some lack of preparation and lack of strength, which is not conducive to the war, since this is the case, then please ask Lu Dudu to prepare for a while, and then join forces with the Poyang Lake Water Division to save Chaisang after two or three months, it should be the southeast wind two months later, when our army sailors come to save Chaisang, the wind direction is unfavorable to the Jingzhou Sailors, Uncle Qiao repaired the iron-like Chaisang City, and the Jingzhou army should also be tired of the old man. I have no intention of fighting again. ”

This suggestion by Yang Zheng. Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin did not think about it carefully, but they gave up the two cities of Xunyang and Liling, used Chaisang City to drag the Jingzhou army, and survived the winter when the wind direction was extremely unfavorable to the Xuzhou sailors. But it was a strategy that Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin had never dared to think of before - to abandon the city without an order. Deputy Director Tao and Lu Su were held accountable. That's a capital offense of head-killing! So after thinking about it for a long time, Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin still shook their heads together, and said with a wry smile: "Virtuous nephew." Your suggestion is reasonable, but it is not a trivial matter to abandon two cities without permission, and we dare not take any risks without the orders of the lord or the governor of Ludu. ”

"You don't have any responsibility at all, so you are only worthy of guarding the pass, and you can't be a general who is in charge alone." Yang Zheng muttered in his heart, and then said: "Uncle Qiao, Uncle Jiang, in Lu Dudu's heart, compared with the two small county towns, it is definitely our Poyang Lake Water Division that is more important, because our water surface strength is weaker than the Jingzhou Army, if we lose the Poyang Lake Water Division, we will not be the opponent of the Jingzhou Army on the water, so the little nephew dares to assert that Lu Dudu will definitely agree with you to give up Xunyang and Liling, and let the Water Division withdraw from Poyang Lake!" ”

"Although the words are reasonable, if Lu Du supervises him, he ......." Qiao Rui still hesitated.

"Uncle Qiao, please rest assured!" Yang Zheng gritted his teeth and said: "The little nephew is willing to make a military order, if the lord and Lu Dudu refuse to agree with the tactics of the little nephew, they must be held accountable for giving up Xunyang and Liling, and the little nephew will bear it, and it has nothing to do with you!" ”

"Virtuous nephew, you are a guest Cao Peng, you are not qualified to take on such a big responsibility, right?" Qiao Rui smiled bitterly and said: "Even if you dare to make this military order, in the future, the lord and Lu Dudu will be investigated, and you and Uncle Jiang will not be implicated......." ”

"It's better than our sailors and defenders being crushed by the enemy, right?!" Yang Zheng's face suddenly changed, he stood up and said loudly: "Uncle Qiao, Uncle Jiang, have you thought about it?" The main force of 80,000 Jingzhou came down the river, and Lu Dudu couldn't come to help quickly, how could our Poyang Lake resist? The Poyang Lake Water Division was defeated by the enemy, and there may be hope for holding Chaisang, but what about the two small cities of Xunyang and Liling? In addition to being broken by the main force of Jingzhou, which has an absolute advantage in troops, what else can it do? ”

"Don't forget, our garrisons in this area of Chaisang are all second-line troops, and their combat effectiveness is far inferior to that of our main force on the northern front! The Jingzhou army is the best of the best, and no matter how bad the combat effectiveness is, it can be on par with our second-line army! In addition to being responsible to the lord and Lu Dudu, are you also responsible for the more than 10,000 sailors and the 5,000 soldiers of Xunyang and Liling?! Do you want to watch thousands of our soldiers sacrifice in vain in order not to be implicated, and they are all broken and brutally slaughtered by the Jingzhou army?! ”

Hearing Yang Zheng's roar, Li Lang's face next to him turned white, for fear that Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin would be annoyed and angry at Yang Zheng, so they hurriedly came up to persuade him, but Yang Zheng pushed Li Lang away and roared again: "Yes!" Even if I make a military order, you will be implicated, and that's true! But I'm not afraid to take responsibility, what are you afraid of? You should have heard that my father used his body to block the fatal knife for the lord under the city of Yecheng! I don't dare to say that my father blocked this knife for the lord, which is equivalent to preserving the glory and wealth of this life for me, and the high-ranking officials are generous! ”

"You also know the situation of my family, what is the wealth of the family? Rich countries dare to boast like this! But for the more than 10,000 sailors and soldiers of Poyang Lake, the 5,000 soldiers of Liling and Xunyang, what a bright future, what rich and rival the country's furniture, I am willing to give up! Why are you afraid to take on such a little bit of responsibility?! Are you stubborn warriors on the battlefield, or are you thick-waisted old ladies who are scheming on the vegetable field?! If you admit that you are no different from a woman, then you are fine, whatever you want, I will go to Xunyang, and I will definitely go to Xunyang, where I will definitely fall, and go there to live and die with two thousand soldiers who defend the city! Let the lord know, let the people of Huainan know that our Yang family has good bamboo shoots, and there is also a son who dares to be a daring son! ”

"Young master, don't say it. Stop it. Li Lang was so anxious that he was sweating profusely, and quickly grabbed Yang Zheng again, and persuaded him repeatedly: "Young master, don't say it, this is the matter of Qiao Taishou and General Jiang, it has nothing to do with you, it has nothing to do with you, don't say it, I beg you to stop saying it!" ”

To Li Lang's surprise, after listening to Yang Zheng's roar. Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin not only showed anger. On the contrary, his face was blue and red for a while, and after a long time, Qiao Rui stood up and said to Jiang Qin: "General Gongyi." Huai Qingxian's nephew was right. We can't just think about whether we're implicated or not. You also have to think about the lives of the soldiers, and you are ready to retreat, if you find that the enemy is sending troops. You will immediately retreat with the sailors, I will gather the soldiers of the three cities to stay in Chaisang to hold on, and give you time to fight back, I am the Yuzhang Taishou of the lord's seal, and I will bear the responsibility alone. Also, take Huai Qingxian's nephew away, and ask the governor to show his merits to the lord. ”

Jiang Qin was silent, and after a long time, he nodded and said, "You give an order, I will immediately ask the sailor to transfer Xunyang's garrison for you, and then I will withdraw." ”

"The little nephew is rude, please punish the two uncles." Yang Zheng hurriedly knelt down to Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin to plead guilty, Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin picked up Yang Zheng together, and even said that he was ashamed with a face full of shame, and Qiao Rui also said: "Virtuous nephew, you are different from your father, I dare to say, your father will be glad that you have such a son." ”

"Uncle Xie praised him, and the little nephew didn't dare to be ashamed." Yang Zheng hurriedly humbled and hurriedly said: "Uncle Qiao, time is in a hurry, and we don't know the time of the Jingzhou army's troops, in addition to arranging the retreat of the water division and the transfer of the defenders as soon as possible, we must also find a way to delay the eastward movement of the Jingzhou army, otherwise once the Jingzhou water division is suddenly killed, our water division has not had time to withdraw from Poyang Lake, or the defenders of the two cities have not had time to transfer back to Chaisang, it will be bad." ”

"That's right, but how to delay?" Qiao Rui was a little embarrassed.

"Uncle, don't worry, my little nephew has already thought about countermeasures a few days ago." Yang Zheng said quickly: "The little nephew has carefully analyzed it for you, Liu Qi led the Jingzhou army to suddenly go east, the purpose is to kill us by surprise, in this case, we can follow the example of Xiangao's strategy to save the country, and create the illusion that our army has been carefully prepared, so that Liu Qi does not dare to advance too lightly, to buy time for the transfer of our army and grain and grass, and also to buy time for the transfer of the people by the way." ”

"String high to save the country? Who is the string height? Jiang Qin and Li Lang, who hadn't read much, asked curiously.

"Xiangao was a merchant in Zheng Guo in the Spring and Autumn Period." Qiao Rui, who was born in a family, said quickly: "Once the Qin State sent troops to attack Zheng Guo, Zheng Guo was not prepared to perish, and the Xian Gao cattle trafficker happened to meet the Qin army, in order to buy time for Zheng Guo, Xian Gao sent people back to China to report the news, while pretending to be the reputation of Zheng Guojun, and sent twelve fat cows to the Qin general saying that it was a labor army, but the Qin general thought that Zheng Guo was already prepared and did not dare to enter the army again, Zheng Guo also took the opportunity to get rid of the Qin traitors hiding in the city, and made strict precautions, forcing the Qin army to retreat! ”

"What a good idea!" Jiang Qinxi said: "Brother Qiao, hurry up and write a letter to Liu Qi, and then send him some gifts and say Lao Jun, so that Liu Qi's kid thinks that we have been prepared, so he doesn't dare to take the risk and enter lightly, maybe he can be scared away directly." ”

"I'm going to write a letter."

Qiao Rui hurriedly went to get the brush, but Yang Zheng sat down next to the bookcase first, and said while lifting the pen: "Uncle Qiao, I'm afraid that your tiger skin alone can't scare Liu Qi away, so I can only use the reputation of Lu Dudu, please give me a handwritten official document of Lu Dudu, or a handwritten letter." ”

"What for?" Qiao Rui asked in surprise.

"Of course, it is to imitate Lu Dudu's handwriting and write a letter to Liu Qi in the honor of Du Dudu." Yang Zheng said without even blinking his eyelids: "Don't worry, if the governor is held accountable, the little nephew will bear it alone." ”

Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin looked at each other again, and once again questioned in their hearts, "Is this kid born by Yang Lao's greed?" ”

………………

For the Qiao Rui team and the Poyang Lake water division, Yang Zheng's forged Lu Su letter is simply a life-saving letter, because of the headwind and water, Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin sent the labor army envoy from Chaisang, just arrived at the river twenty places west of Qichun, and ran into the fleet of the Jingzhou army vanguard Gan Ning's team, Chaisang envoy did not dare to slack off, and quickly met with Gan Ning to present the Lu Su letter, as well as a whole boatload of fine wine and cattle and sheep gifts, as a result, Gan Ning, who had been less than half a day's voyage from Chaisang, was shocked when he saw the letter, Afraid that the two main forces of the Xuzhou Navy Division had already joined forces at Poyang Lake to prepare for the battle, and he would be outnumbered if he was alone in the east, he quickly ordered to stop the march. sent someone to fly to report to Liu Qi.

Like Gan Ning, after seeing Lu Su's handwritten letter to himself, Liu Qi was also taken aback, in order not to lose his sharpness when leaving the division, Liu Qi had to immediately order Gan Ning not to underestimate the enemy, while leading the main force to Qichun to meet Gan Ning's team, while urgently sending a large number of scout boats to the south to reconnoiter the movements of the Xuzhou Naval Division. In this regard, although Kuai Yue, an important minister of Jingzhou who served as Liu Qi's military division, also suspected that the Xuzhou army was playing the ghost trick of the string high teacher, he did not dare to take it lightly. did not instigate Liu Qi to go south at full speed. Just waiting for a scout to hear back.

In this way, Yang Zheng's letter was tantamount to buying more than a day of precious time for the Xuzhou army -- it was easy for Jingzhou scouts to go east to reconnoitre, but it was not easy to go back against the current to report the news. The Xuzhou army also took advantage of this precious time to put the defenders, grain and grass and military supplies of Xunyang and Liling. As much as possible, they were transferred back to the city of Chaisang. The people in the two small cities were also given time to evacuate and be evacuated. After leaving part of the army to help defend the city, the Poyang Lake Naval Division led by Jiang Qin was also able to calmly withdraw from Poyang Lake and retreat downstream at full speed to join the main force of Chaohu. Avoided the doom of being broken by the Jingzhou Sailors.

When the Poyang Lake Water Division withdrew, although Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin both asked Yang Zheng to leave with the Water Division, Yang Zheng did not leave, insisted on staying in Chaisang to help Qiao Rui defend the city, and no one persuaded him, Qiao Rui and Jiang Qin were reluctant, and appreciated Yang Zheng's ambition, so they also agreed to Yang Zheng to stay in Chaisang, but Li Lang was in a hurry, and hurriedly found an opportunity to persuade Yang Zheng: "Young Master, you have earned enough credit, why stay in Chaisang and be surrounded by enemies?" What would you do if something went wrong in the city of Chaisang? ”

"Uncle Li, don't worry." Yang Zheng said confidently: "Liu Qi has no ability to break through Chaisang City, although his army is huge, but there are also countless internal problems, I have a way to deal with him, my father brought out Liu Qi, a student, although he brought an unexpected enemy to the lord, but it also paved a stepping stone for me!" This time, I have to step on Liu Qi's stepping stone to climb up in everything, so that everyone in the world knows that my Yang family not only produces corrupt officials and corrupt officials, but also capable generals! ”

Li Lang couldn't persuade him, so he had to resign himself to accompany Yang Zheng to stay in Chaisang City to be surrounded by enemies, and at the same time, Li Lang couldn't help but sigh a few words in his heart, "Young master, you can not learn anything from the master, but his greed for life and fear of death and the oil on the soles of his feet, you have to learn a little bit, and it will save me a lot." ”

Relying on Yang Zheng's strategy of the high string division, the Poyang Lake Naval Division of the Xuzhou Army finally avoided the enemy's edge by luck, and withdrew from Poyang Lake before encountering the enemy's main force, and moved to the smooth Yangtze River, so that the main force of the Jingzhou Army had almost no chance to break through the Xuzhou Naval Division. And Liu Qi found out that he was fooled, and immediately ordered the whole army to go south, and arrived at the city of Chaisang on the afternoon of November 30, and landed ashore to set up camp to prepare to attack Chaisang City, at the same time, Yuan Yin and Liu Xun, who also found that they were deceived, also went north together, and joined forces with the main force of their ally Jingzhou, with more than 110,000 allied troops, and surrounded the lonely city of Chaisang!

That night, the 110,000 Liu and Yuan coalition troops completely surrounded the city of Chaisang, covered the mountains and rivers with banners, and the fire drums shook the heavens and the earth, and the momentum was unparalleled for a while. Seeing such a majesty, there are more than 15,000 Xuzhou defenders in Rao is Chaisang City, and there is a strong city defense of Chaisang built by Qiao Rui himself, and the defenders are inevitably frightened, and people are panicked, and even Qiao Rui is a little up-and-down, and asked with a smile to Yang Zheng next to him: "Virtuous nephew, how is it?" The enemy is so powerful, do you regret not retreating with your Uncle Jiang in advance? ”

"Uncle rest assured, the little nephew never regrets what he did." Yang Zheng's expression was still extremely calm, and he pointed to the enemy bonfires all over the mountains, and said with a smile: "It's not that the little nephew is arrogant, although the enemy is huge, but in the eyes of the little nephew, it's just a plate of scattered sand!" If my uncle dares to listen to the little nephew's strategy with confidence, he may not have to wait for the main force of Lu Dudu to come to help, and with the strength of my Chaisang, I can make the enemy return in vain! ”

"The virtuous nephew can also rest assured, if you have any ideas in the future, just say it, and the uncle will obey his words." Qiao Rui's answer surprised Yang Zheng very much, and then Qiao Rui also smiled and said: "Virtuous nephew, Lu Dudu just sent us an urgent order with a carrier pigeon, do you know what the order is?" ”

"Little nephew doesn't know." Yang Zheng said a lie.

"It's exactly the same as your enemy's strategy, it's exactly the same!" Qiao Rui smiled and said: "Governor Lu ordered that if it is confirmed that the Jingzhou Naval Division will attack Chaisang, immediately abandon Xunyang and Liling, gather troops to hold Chaisang, and the Poyang Lake Naval Division will go east to join the main force to avoid the enemy's edge!" ”

Yang Zheng smiled modestly, and then said with a smile: "Uncle, the little nephew has a reluctant request, when the enemy is attacking the city, if there is a chance to capture prisoners, please catch a few more for the little nephew." ”

"What are you doing with the captives?" Qiao Rui asked curiously.

"Of course it works." Yang Zheng replied: "My father was very proud after he dialed out Liu Qi, an excellent protégé, and repeated the three points of Liu Qi to me more than once, and I found that my father gave Liu Qi three points to be missing, and one more critical thing was missing, which would be a huge psychological weakness for Liu Qi, so I want to firmly grasp Liu Qi's psychological weakness this time, let him suffer a lot, and also collect a tuition fee for my father." ”

"Oh, what psychological weakness does Liu Qi have?" Qiao Rui asked more curiously.

"Trust!" Yang Zheng replied solemnly: "My father taught Liu Qi how to flatter, form gangs, how to exclude dissidents, how to fight for power and profit, and cheat, but he forgot to teach him how to trust others, how to trust others, and how to make others trust himself, this is Liu Qi's biggest weakness!" (To be continued......)