Linxiang is the county of Changsha County, and Liushui (Liuyang River) is a river originating in the Luoxiao Mountains, from west to west, flowing into Xiangshui in Linxiang. After Wei Ba captured Guiyang, the area south of Liushui was also included in the scope of Guiyang County, and Jin Dongliu was responsible for defense. Later, in order to win the support of the Wu army and Li Yan's troops to Nanyang, Wei Ba made some concessions and withdrew Jin Dongliu's troops to Linhao, effectively relinquishing control of four or five counties including southern Hunan.

Of course, Sun Quan was afraid of irritating Wei Ba, so he didn't dare to officially take over these counties, and this area became a buffer zone. Everyone tacitly did not send troops to station, and when collecting levies, they would also collect the fields of the tun, and the well water would not interfere with the river water.

But now the situation is different, the negotiations between the two sides have reached a stalemate from the beginning, both are increasing troops to the border, and a big war is about to break out. This buffer zone has become the most sensitive place, but war has not yet been declared, so whether it is Jin Dongliu or Sun Deng, although they are eyeing each other, they have not sent troops to station.

Wei Wu took three thousand guards to ride, like the wind to Linxiang, in the south of Liushui to pursue the Wu army, in fact, the battle line to Sun Deng's eyes, the original restraint of the situation suddenly became tense, Jin Dongliu received the order, led 10,000 troops to Xiangnan, put out the battle of Jiashi, and at the same time sent people to retake Jianning, Liling and other counties, before the Wu army could react, they regained control of this area, turning the buffer zone into a forward position.

After receiving this news, Sun Deng was very nervous. Obviously, this was Wei Ba's reaction to Sun Quan's conscription in Changsha, and the reaction was unexpectedly fierce. The 20,000-strong army led by Zhuge Ke is still on the way. Wei Ba has already pushed the striker to Liushui. This is very different from Sun Quan's expectations, judging from this situation, Wei Ba is not a bluff, he is really ready for war.

Sun Deng immediately summoned Wei Xing and asked him what he meant.

Wei Xing was ordered by Wei Ba to negotiate with Li Feng, but he was not an official envoy, he was only a representative of Wei Ba. The negotiations collapsed after two days of talks, and the entire envoy group had nothing to do—at least in terms of performance—and Wei Xing was of course fine, hanging out in Linyuan every day. Received an invitation from Sun Deng. He dragged on for a long time. only to come to Yiyang with a sway.

Sun Deng's cultivation skills are good, although he is anxious, he still politely inquired about Wei Xing's recent situation and said a few polite words. This brings us back to the point. What does it mean for Jin Dongliu's troops to force into Shonan. The negotiations are not over yet. Why didn't you declare war?

Wei Xing's head shook like a rattle. Prince, you misunderstood, we informed you earlier that there will be a large-scale capital test after the autumn harvest. Jin Dongliu's troops stationed in southern Hunan were also part of the capital test. As for the three generals Wei Wu clearing the field south of Liushui, it was also to prepare for the capital test. Rest assured, we will not set foot in your borders before the first day of October. Now all the operations are for the upcoming test, and there is no other meaning.

General Sun Deng was skeptical, but Zhang Cheng unceremoniously pointed out that south of Liushui is the territory of Wu, and you have crossed the border, which is tantamount to provoking a war.

Wei Xing put away his smile, glanced at Zhang Cheng with gloomy eyes, and sneered. You are mistaken, this land has long belonged to our Shu Han, and it has long been under the rule of General Zhennan. For a period of time, it has been you who have invaded our territory, and the reason why we have not cared about it is because we are allies, although we have not yet declared war, but you refuse to negotiate, and you have increased your troops in Changsha, and your ambitions are obvious, do we still want to treat you as allies? It is also a matter of course to reclaim our land, so what are you surprised about? You said it was yours, what evidence do you have, did you occupy it with troops, or did my general say that it was given to you?

Zhang Cheng understood. Wei Ba knew about Zhuge Ke's increase in troops in Changsha, he was going to show it to the monarchs and ministers of Wu State, did he want to fight? Then fight and see who wins and who loses.

In the face of an arrogant opponent like Wei Ba, it didn't make sense, so Sun Deng had to send Wei Xing away, and then send someone to contact Zhuge Ke. You see that before you arrived in Changsha, Wei Ba began to increase his troops, if you arrived in Changsha, wouldn't Wei Ba want to go to war directly? Otherwise, you don't want to come to Changsha, at least don't go to the front line, even if you stay in Dongting Lake. There, there will be no direct conflict with Wei Ba, and if there is a real war, you can support in time.

Zhuge Ke received Sun Deng's paperwork and laughed. Are you scared when Wei Ba increases his troops? The more afraid you are, the more arrogant he becomes, and if he increases his troops, you should also increase his troops, so that he will not dare to act rashly. You let me stay in Dongting Lake, but I am afraid that once Wei Ba attacks, I will not have time to rush to Linxiang. Prince, you still sit in Yiyang, it is said that Wuling Taishou Deng Yang is a famous man, and the general who commands the army is a barbarian, and the number of troops will not exceed 10,000, you should be able to deal with it, Linxiang's affairs, you can leave it to me.

After Zhuge Ke issued the official document, he left the fastest baggage battalion, and the overseers rushed forward, marching for three days and two nights, and arrived in Linxiang City. When he entered Linxiang City, Sun Deng's order was delivered to him. In the face of Sun Deng's order for him to be cautious, Zhuge Ke smiled indifferently and wrote a long letter, once again advising Sun Deng to be firm in his determination, not to be weak, and to dare to fight and be confident in victory just like the king faced Cao Cao's 800,000 army back then. Only in this way will it be possible to win dignity and victory.

As Sun Deng's former staff, Zhuge Ke's letter was written a little arrogantly, he was actually teaching Sun Deng a lesson, and for Sun Deng, who valued respect and humility, this letter was almost a crime. He was so angry that he didn't even reply to the letter. Zhang Cheng has always been dissatisfied with Zhuge Ke, and when he saw this letter, he was even more annoyed, he directly wrote a letter to Zhuge Ke, accusing him of playing with fire, once it really caused a war, he would be fully responsible.

Zhuge Ke wrote back to Zhang Cheng and said, the three armies can win the commander, but the horseman can not win the ambition, and the heart is in turmoil before fighting, is this the performance that a general who commands the army should be? The king entrusted the crown prince to you and Changsha to you, you are this performance? If you want to hold Changsha, you need to cooperate closely, and if you lose Changsha, not only will I be responsible, but you will also be unable to get out, in case the position of the prince is not guaranteed, you will be the culprit.

Zhang Cheng was so angry that he was smoking, but he had to admit that Zhuge Ke was right, if they want to survive this difficulty, they must cooperate sincerely, otherwise no one can afford this responsibility, and no one can escape.

In desperation, Zhang Cheng had to cheer up and prepare for battle. At the same time, he wrote a letter to those important ministers, hoping that they could come forward to persuade Sun Quan not to risk his determination to bet with Wei Ba, once the war really started, the chances of Wu winning were extremely small.

The messenger galloped back and forth between Changsha and Wuchang, and the situation was on the verge of breaking out.

Sun Quan fell into great anxiety, and his acceptance of Zhuge Ke's suggestion did not mean that he was not nervous, and it did not mean that he believed that Wei Ba could really be frightened by him. He added 20,000 troops to Changsha, but Wei Ba was also increasing his troops, and the number was far more than 20,000. In mid-August, the autumn harvest in the area under Wei Ba was all over, and the strong men from all over the country pushed the grain, rushing to the front line in an endless stream, and by the middle of September, 70,000 Shu Han troops had gathered around Changsha County, as well as countless ordnance, and the camp stretched for several miles, just looking at it, it made people's scalps numb.

This is only the strength of the three counties of Jingzhou, and the seven counties of Jiaozhou have not moved. It was precisely because of this situation that Sun Quan did not collapse Zuihou, because so far, Wei Ba's performance has not been out of the scope of the capital test, which is in line with the characteristics of Zhuge Ke's bravado. If the troops of the counties of Jiaozhou also appeared in Jingzhou, the situation would be completely different.

Despite this, 70,000 against 40,000, the other party has caused a lot of trouble for Wu Guo, and the young famous general Wei Ba, who has defeated Lu Xun head-on, Sun Quan still feels uneasy. In order to prevent the outbreak of war after the outbreak of reinforcements, he had to mobilize 20,000 men from the Yangzhou Army to be stationed in Chaisang in case of emergency.

20,000 people is almost the limit of what he can mobilize, and no more is possible. The Wei army was entrenched in Qingzhou and Yanzhou, ready to counterattack at any time, and he had to leave a certain number of troops to defend it, so as not to be taken advantage of by the Wei army. Compared with Changsha, he is not worried about Jiangxia, with Lu Xun and Bu Qi, two generals, it is not so easy for Meng Da to capture Jiangxia.

The biggest opponent is Wei Ba. This can be seen from the strength of each part, Meng Da only has 20,000 people, but Wei Ba is 70,000, and the deterrent power is not at the same level at all.

Of course, Meng Da should not be underestimated. When Wei Ba made a big move in the south of the Yangtze River, making Sun Quan nervous, Meng Da was also rearming in Nanyang. He formed three thousand cavalry from the three thousand horses he had looted, and with the previous cavalry, he now had five thousand cavalry. These 5,000 cavalry are still too far away from fighting against the Wei army, which is good at cavalry warfare, but when used to deal with the Wu army, which also has little experience in cavalry warfare, these 5,000 cavalry is a big threat. Neither Lu Xun nor Bu Qi dared to be careless, for fear that the five thousand cavalry would suddenly appear behind him.

Sun Quan had already bought seven or eight thousand war horses, but these war horses were scattered among the generals, not concentrated in the hands of one person. Lu Xun was the most powerful, and he got two thousand horses, Bu Qi only got one thousand three hundred horses, and most of the others were hundreds, or even only one hundred and ten. No matter which one it is, it can't compete with Meng Da.

Although Meng Da did not have an obvious advantage like Wei Ba, he also firmly restrained Lu Xun and Bu Qi. Especially Buqi, he wanted to cover Jiangxia and hold the Jiangling area, and he didn't dare to leave the station at all to support Changsha.

Li Yan'an sat in Chengdu, just let the two thugs show their muscles, and forced Sun Quan to the point of going all out. If war really breaks out, Li Yan will lead the garrison of Chengdu down the east of the Yangtze River to capture Wuchang and the whole of Jingzhou, which is not impossible at all. At least, it was enough to make Sun Quan tremble.

Sun Quan is like a bow, it has been pulled to the limit, and even a little more pressure may make him collapse.

However, it's not just Sun Quan who is nervous

(To be continued......)