In the end, Le Jin and Cao Xiu failed to capture or kill Zhou Tai, and he fled back to the sheep and horse wall. Although Zhou Tai was brave, he was not reckless, and when he saw that Cao Jun had already prepared, he actually attacked from two directions, and quickly gathered his foot soldiers, and after breaking himself, he slowly retreated. Le Jin and Cao Xiu kept chasing close to the moat, but they were shot by random arrows behind the sheep and horse walls, so they had to sigh and return in vain.

After all, Zhou Tai fought for his life in front of the battle that day, that was to cover Sun Quan's escape, and now there is no need for this, he wants to fight hard and not retreat, and he was created twelve, which is by no means loyal and brave, but he is unscrupulous and even sick.

Let's say that Cao Jun collected the team and returned to the camp, and the strategists discussed, since Zhou Yu sent Zhou Tai out to fight back, it means that the main force is still in the city and has not been transferred to Jiangxia, is the letter of surrender offered by Ma Liang really true? Cao Cao twisted his beard, shook his head and smiled: "No, I am a great threat, and the enemy can't break it bravely, and I will leave in battle, which proves that Zhou Yu has moved the main force eastward, which confuses my ears." ”

Everyone stared at each other, and said in their hearts that you didn't say that, why did the caliber turn so fast? Yang Xiu, Wang Cang and the others couldn't help but set their eyes on those first-class strategists—Xun You, Jia Xu, and Cheng Yu—and said in their hearts, you can either refute what the prime minister said, or explain a few more words from the prime minister's standpoint, so that we can understand the truth.

In fact, there is no reason for this, as the so-called "use of the skill, keep one mind", under the premise of lacking sufficiently detailed and accurate intelligence, the judgment of the enemy's movements often depends on the experience of the commander-in-chief, and even intuition and inspiration. Xun You and the others still had doubts in their hearts, but they did not have full confidence that they could overturn or echo what Cao Cao said. Then I had to keep silent for the time being. Yang Xiu, those young people can express their opinions casually. Medium is meritorious. Even if it is wrong, it is because of lack of experience, Cao Cao will not sin because of his words; Xun You's generation is different, if the words are wrong, to say that it is a big blow to his own prestige, but it is laughed at by the juniors, and if he says it in a big way, it may directly affect Cao Cao's decision-making. ruined the favorable situation, so - as Hongfu said in the past: "A hundred words are better than a silence." ”

Now is the time to be silent.

Cao Cao looked left and right, couldn't hear any opposition, couldn't help but spread his hands, and said Let's just decide it for the time being, Zhou Yu sent Ma Liang to surrender, trying to lure me to attack Jiangxia, and set a trap there. If so, how should we respond? He set a trap. I didn't dare to go, did I continue to fight under the fortified city of Jiangling. Can't do it?

Even if Zhou Yu really dispatched more than 20,000 troops to reinforce Jiangxia, as long as he defended the law, we would not be able to break through the Jiangling city defense in a short time. Perhaps his so-called trap is to force me to storm Gangneung, in a vain attempt to break the city before he can rush back—if so, the damage will be great, and I will not do it.

Huang Jian said that I am willing to write to Jiangxia again to persuade my father to surrender - he refused to surrender in the past because he was grateful for Liu Biao's old kindness, and now Liu Biao has been put under house arrest by Zhou Yu. If my father is willing to surrender, this game will naturally be broken.

Xiahou Jian yì continued to launch a chariot to attack Jiangling City, forcing Zhou Yu to return to help, and after he returned, it would not be too late for us to attack Xiling.

Cao Cao had no good plan for a while, so he had to send Huang Jie to write a letter to Huang Zu on the one hand, and arrange for Xiahou to attack the next day, and Li Dian supplemented him - not only to cause strong pressure on the city, but also to strive to reduce the loss of soldiers and horses, how to attack this city, you go down and plan carefully.

It was also getting late, so the meeting was dismissed, and every man returned to his tent. Cao Cao took off his armor and sat cross-legged on the sleeping seat with the quilt, thinking about it, he just couldn't figure out what kind of trap Zhou Yu would set in Jiangxia, was it just relying on Ma Liang's deception? Do I want to follow the previous agreement, go to Jiangxia in person, and destroy his plan in person? Or is it safe not to attack Xiling for the time being?

Thinking about it, I was a little confused, and I was about to lie down and sleep, when I suddenly heard a noisy voice outside the tent. Cao Cao wrapped himself in a quilt and asked, and listened to Xu Chuyu's report: "General Gao sent a sergeant to report the military situation." Cao Cao said that I had already laid down, so I didn't get up, and said through the tent door. Immediately, I heard the sergeant's voice: "There is a fire flickering on the Zhangshui River, and it seems that the Southern Army wants to attack my rear road - ask for reinforcements." ”

The so-called "Zhangshui" is not Zhangshui near Yecheng, but a tributary of the Yangtze River, also known as Nanzhang, which originates in the Jingshan Mountains and flows into the Yangtze River west of Jiangling. The Nanzhang water is very narrow, and quite shallow, unlike the Yangtze River, it is not possible to travel in a big boat, but it is easy to wade. Cao's army was more than 100,000 people, camped for 30 miles, and the westernmost facing Zhangshui near the south was the camp of Cao Ren's generals and General Pi. Therefore, Gao Qian found that there was a fire flickering on the water, and suspected that the southern army sneaked out of the city at night, or tried in vain to steal the camp and rob the village, or tried in vain to insert behind the Cao army and cut off its food route.

But Cao Cao couldn't help laughing out loud when he heard the report: "How clumsy! "He ordered Gao Qian to guard the camp tightly to prevent a sneak attack, and he was not allowed to fight at will, and he would not send reinforcements over. The sergeant took the order, Xu Chu couldn't help but open the tent curtain, entered the big tent and asked Cao Cao for advice-he was Cao Cao's confidant, and he was not afraid to see the lord's clothes untidy-"Why is the prime minister not afraid that he sneaks out of me?" ”

Cao Cao patiently explained to Xu Zhongkang: "If you want to disturb me, why do you want to cross Nanzhang? "Can't you finish quietly passing from the west bank of Nanzhangshui? Although the road is a little more difficult to walk, it is better than running to the east coast to be discovered by our army-"If you want to attack my camp, why raise fire?" "How can there be a reason to hold a torch high and swagger to rob the camp?

"He wants to go east, so he goes out of the west, so I think Jiangxia is defenseless, and it is easy to ......take it" This is clearly a plan to attack the east and the west, Zhou Yu wants to fight my ambush on the eastern front, so he pretends to launch a counterattack from the western front - "If you send troops to help, you will be in a mess, but you will be tired, and I will not take it." "In the middle of the night, if you send troops over to reinforce you, you will be in the air, and the soldiers will be tired in vain, but it will be in Zhou Yu's arms. I won't be fooled!

Xu Yu bowed down when he heard this: "The prime minister is clever, and Zhou Yuyan can confuse him." Then he bowed and withdrew.

Xu Chu went out, Cao Cao couldn't help sneering to himself, but suddenly a cold wind hit his face from the crack in the tent door, blowing him a shiver. Quickly tuck the corners of the quilt with both hands. Tightly wrapped. So he instructed Xu Chu. Hurry up and keep the door of the tent tightly closed for me, so that the wind doesn't blow in. Xu Chu took the order, and Cao Cao casually asked, "What kind of wind is it?" "What's the wind blowing right now? Xu Chu replied: "The south wind is suddenly rising. ”

Cao Cao frowned slightly: "I don't want to be in the harsh winter, there is still a south wind in the local ......" When he said this, he suddenly paused, and after pondering deeply, he couldn't help but change his complexion, and hurriedly ordered: "The quick faction will reinforce Gao Qian." Don't get the enemy close! ”

Alas? Xu Chuxin said that the prime minister is not quite right recently, why is it that an idea is always changing after a while? Just said that if the defenders launched a counterattack, then the book offered by Ma Liang was true, Jiang Xia was unprepared, and in a blink of an eye, he said that this counterattack was not powerful, so Jiang Xia would still have a trap there. Just said that there was no need for reinforcements to move high, just let him strictly guard the camp, but in a blink of an eye, he ordered reinforcements? Could it be that the prime minister is old and confused?

I am going to ask for an order again. I asked if I had heard it wrong, and I saw the curtain lifted. Cao Cao ran out wrapped in a quilt and barefoot. Xu Chu was shocked, and hurriedly stepped forward to help the prime minister block the wind, and saw Cao Cao locking his eyebrows, looking up at the sky, his face was cloudy and uncertain, and he said to himself: "The south wind rises suddenly, if the enemy attacks ...... with fire."

Xu Chu said Prime Minister, you think too much: "Wind and rain, thunder and lightning, the phenomenon of the sky, how can mortals predict it?" The southern army wanted to attack with fire, but it was not here. "This south wind has just risen, even if they want to play fire attack, they have to have time to prepare. Cao Cao said coldly: "There are many strange people in the world, how can it be expected!" "Ordered again, hurry up and send troops to reinforce Gao Qian.

Before the words fell, Xu Chu didn't have time to give the order, when he suddenly saw a red light due west, straight into the sky, and then a bright spot suddenly rose in the direction of Jiangling, as if there were countless southern troops holding torches rushing over!

Cao Cao's intuition was right, Ma Liang was indeed sent by Zhou Yu to offer a letter of fraud, but Zhou Gongjin did not think that Cao Cao could be deceived by this. On the one hand, he asked Wen Ping to lead a guerrilla army south to Changsha to stabilize the situation, and strive to pull out Huang Zhong and other troops to aid Jiangling in the north, and on the other hand, he raised his own concerns.

Zhou Yu said that now Jiangling City is firmly defended, Cao Cao may be difficult to capture, and if he persists for a long time, the enemy's food and straw will not continue, so he will inevitably retreat, and take advantage of the gap to attack, which can ensure victory. The problem is that what we have to defend now is not a city in Jiangling, Xiling is a weak point, Cao Cao must attack, I am afraid that Huang Zu will not be able to defend it. Once Cao Cao conquers Xiling, pushes the eastern front to the Yangtze River, and then builds a fortress along the river, even if the army retreats, we will not be able to recover the lost territory. Cao Cao won Jingzhou in the north, gathered people's hearts, accumulated grass and grain, and built boats, and then attacked again in a few years, I am afraid that we will die in no time!

There is also a layer of worry that Zhou Yu did not say it, that is, most of the hometowns of Jingzhou generals are in Jiangbei, once Cao Cao occupies the Jiangbei region for a long time, with his family as a threat, it is estimated that these people will all have to follow in the footsteps of Kuai Yue, and they will surrender to Cao, at that time, I am afraid that there is no need to move troops, and the entire Jingzhou will be finished!

Guan Yu mentioned yì and said that there were not many surrender factions in Jingzhou? It is better to use their names to contact Cao Cao, offer a plan to surrender, and strive to contain Cao Cao's main force under Jiangling City. Zhou Yu nodded: "What General Guan said is reasonable...... but then shook his head again: "Cao thief is suspicious, I'm afraid this plan may not be able to hide it." ”

While praising Guan Yu, he lowered his head and thought about it, thinking about it, Zhou Yu couldn't help laughing: "The old thief is suspicious, and I am suspicious." So he forged Kuai Yue's letter and sent Ma Liang to Cao Ying to deceive him, but the letter not only did not seek to contain Cao Cao, but instead encouraged Cao Cao to fight Xiling. Immediately, Zhou Yu spread the news in the city, saying that he planned to personally lead his troops and horses to reinforce Jiangxia.

Because Zhou Gongjin knew that many people in Jingzhou in the city had the intention of surrendering, although he put Cai Mao, Kuai Yue and others under house arrest, it was impossible to plug all the loopholes, and the news would leak out sooner or later. Then Cao Cao compares the two, and naturally doubts what Ma Liang said - the messenger sent by Cai Mao is indeed true, and Zhou Yu deliberately let him go.

If I had changed to an opponent, I might have ignored it and continued to fight Jiangxia—that's what I had planned, anyway. But Cao Cao was suspicious, and the more Zhou Yu instigated him to fight, the more he didn't dare to move, but tried again and again to strive for the truth. So Cao Cao first sent Cao Ren to pretend to go east, and then attacked Jiangling City, and Zhou Yu guessed it - the old thief is also a plan!

Then his next plan is naturally to fight back and attack with fire! (To be continued......)