Due to the proximity, within a few days Sun Quan received a letter and ultimatum sent by Cao Cao to the Son of Heaven and the future people, and after reading these letters, Sun Quan immediately summoned his ministers to discuss countermeasures.

Zhang Zhao said first: "Lao Chen, Gan Ning and others went to Xudu as envoys a few days ago, and what they saw with their own eyes the future people and the things they carried were really powerful. Thinking that the unparalleled Changshan Zhao Zilong competed with him, whether he fought with weapons or with his bare hands, he lost both battles; And the future people also helped the Wei army to train new tactics, so that the Wei army's combat strength increased greatly, the old minister thought that if they joined forces, I was afraid that the Eastern Wu would be in danger, so the old minister implored the king to submit to the court as soon as possible, if the battle was defeated, what would be good. ”

After hearing Zhang Zhao's words, Gan Ning and the others also stepped forward and said: "Yes, the future person we saw with our own eyes in Xudu was really brave, and I also heard that the Jiangxia County Guard said that the vehicle he was riding in was powerful; If he joins forces with Cao thieves to attack, I am afraid that my Eastern Wu will not be able to resist, and the last general will also think that it is better to return to the imperial court as soon as possible, and if I am defeated, I am afraid that I will be humiliated by defeat. ”

For a while, Sun Quan's hall was silent, and after a while, he heard someone whispering about this issue, but most of them were very pessimistic, and they all felt that it was better to return to the court as soon as possible, so as not to be humiliated after the defeat in the future.

At this time, Lu Meng stepped forward and said, "Your lord! Since the uprising of the former lord Sun Ce to the current reign of the king, the power of Dongwu has gradually expanded, and now it has stabilized the rich land of Jiangdong; He also teamed up with Liu Bei of Xishu to severely damage the Wei army in Chibi, which greatly damaged its vitality, and only then did it have today's three-legged pattern. Now under the governance of the king, the people live and work in peace and contentment, the grain has been harvested year after year, and the treasury is more abundant. In addition, I Dongwu is strong in soldiers and horses, strong soldiers and horses, and the Yangtze River is dangerous to defend, so why are you afraid that Cao thieves will join forces with future people to attack? ”

"What the Governor said is reasonable!" Lu Su said loudly, and then he stepped forward and continued: "The Wei army joins forces with the future people to attack, although it seems to be powerful, but my Eastern Wu also has a countermeasure, if the king uses the following methods, he can retreat from the enemy." Sun Quan got up and couldn't wait to ask, "Brother Zijing, please speak, what is the best way to deal with it?" ”。

Lu Su continued: "First, the king first repaired a letter to Cao Cao, saying that Eastern Wu was discussing the issue of surrender, and asked the king of Wei to postpone the dispatch of troops in order to delay time;

Second, because there is no danger to defend in Jiangbei, the king can take the initiative to evacuate the land he occupies in Jiangbei, shrink his forces to defend in Jiangnan, and bring all the large ships back to Jiangnan, and all the small and medium-sized ships will be damaged, so that the Wei army will not be allowed to cross the river, and the shipowner will be compensated to prevent losing the hearts of the people.

Third, the king personally repaired a book, and sent it to Liu Bei in Xishu as soon as possible. At the moment, Sun and Liu Xu once again joined forces to resist the attack of the Wei army, and Liu Bei must know the principle of 'lips and teeth', as long as he divides his troops to defend with me in the Yangtze River, and then divides his troops to attack Hanzhong to attack the Wei army, Cao Cao is attacked on both sides, if the enemy and our coalition army are in a stalemate here, the time is too long, and the Cao Wei coalition army will lose its fighting spirit, and it will naturally retreat.

In addition, in order to prevent the enemy from crossing the river from Tong'an County (now Anqing, Anhui) to take our capital, the king must immediately leave here and go to the old capital Wuchang, in case the enemy breaks through the Yangtze River, we can move west and join the Shu army to fight against the Cao Wei coalition army, so as to prevent being trapped and have no way to retreat. ”

After listening to Lu Su's strategy, Sun Quan was very happy and immediately said: "Brother Zijing is reasonable, as long as Liu Bei is willing to join forces with me to fight against Wei again, and then divide his troops to attack Hanzhong, I think that Cao Wei's alliance will definitely return in vain." However, with the help of the future people, the car they are riding in is extremely powerful, and we still need to have a way to deal with it. ”

Hearing Sun Quan talk about the magic car of the future people, everyone present fell silent again, and everyone had no countermeasures, but Lu Su stepped forward again and said: "King, the old minister has a plan to retreat from the enemy, but he can ensure the safety of my Dongwu, and he will report to the king separately later." ”

After hearing that Lu Su had a plan to retreat from the enemy, Sun Quan always breathed a sigh of relief and said: "With all the Aiqing to help, I hope God will bless Dongwu to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop." ”

As soon as the meeting ended, Sun Quan immediately personally repaired the book to Liu Bei and Cao Cao respectively, and gave it to Liu Bei and Cao Cao overnight, and then he planned to return to the old capital Wuchang.

Then he ordered the officers and soldiers of Eastern Wu stationed in Jiangbei to immediately withdraw to the south of the Yangtze River, take away all the large ships that could be carried away, and destroy all other small and medium-sized ships. For a time, the entire area occupied by Dongwu in Jiangbei was boiling, and the people who wanted to evacuate carried their belongings and other belongings one after another, and the roads were full of people with their families, and for a time people were crying and screaming, and there was a miasma of black smoke everywhere.

The news soon reached the ears of Xu Du Cao Cao, he felt that something was wrong, Dongwu wanted to take the initiative to give up the land of Jiangbei, shrink his forces in Jiangnan and then fight me again. Because I only received a letter from Sun Quan himself yesterday, and he also said that he was discussing the surrender with his subordinates, it seems that they want to delay time, so we can't wait any longer, and we must send troops immediately.

He immediately sent people to summon all the generals to the Provisional General's Mansion set up by Xu Dufu himself to hold a pre-war meeting, and Li Yong also attended the meeting as a specially invited general.

First of all, Cheng Yu reported on the situation in Eastern Wu and Western Shu that he was currently in control. Then Cao Cao said: "According to the Malay report, Sun Quan wants to join forces with Liu Bei to contend with me on the Yangtze River again, and has now abandoned the land north of the Yangtze River, and the boats that can be used have been destroyed. However, the general had already sent people to Zhang Liao's place yesterday to gallop to Zhang Liao in the starry night, so that he could quickly report the number of warships he had, and immediately send troops to attack Wu, and take advantage of the fact that his alliance had not yet been formed, quickly break through the Yangtze River, so as to defeat the Eastern Wu forces in one fell swoop. ”

All the people present applauded and welcomed, and everyone shouted in unison: "Prime Minister is wise!" The prime minister is wise! ”

Cao Cao waved his hand to stop, and then he said: "Now that Sun and Liu want to join forces again, it seems that they are prepared, and we need to be cautious and not careless; In addition, the route to the south to attack Wu needs to be cautious, what is the good strategy for the generals?

At this time, Li Yong stood up and clasped his fists with both hands and said: "General Yu, I think that our army should attack it to the south and cross the river to occupy Jiangxia County (now Wuchang, Hubei). This is the junction of Sun and Liu. I also passed this road when I came down, and the terrain was well known. If this place is captured, the contact between the combined forces of Sun and Liu will be interrupted, so that they will not be able to care about each other, and then divide and rule; If it is attacked from Tong'an County (now Anqing, Anhui) in the southeast, then Sun Quan may flee westward, and then join forces with Liu Bei to contend with us in one place, which will increase the difficulty of our army's attack. ”

"That's a great idea! Attack it from here! Who else has a different advice? Cao Cao asked loudly.

Everyone also agreed that the offensive route from here was better, and unanimously agreed on the plan. Just when everyone was talking, I heard someone outside the house shouting: "General Zhang Liao Express!" Then he saw a messenger rushing into the general's palace with a letter and shouting all the way.

Cao Cao immediately took the letter and read it, laughed and said, "God help me!" General Zhang Liao really lived up to the high expectations of the general, returned to Hefei immediately after receiving the order, and personally led his subordinates to occupy part of the cities of Dongwu in Jiangbei first, and captured more than 30 large ships and more than 100 small and medium-sized boats, which are now parked in Tong'an County, waiting for my army to cross the river in the south. Everyone present applauded again, and the thunderous applause lasted for a long time.

At this time, Cao Cao read out the order: "Order Cao Ren to be the general of the southern hussars, Xu Chu to be the left general, Cao Hong to be the right general, and lead 100,000 elite soldiers to start tomorrow;

made Zhang He a former general, led 10,000 elite soldiers trained by the future people and carried relevant materials, and cooperated with the future people to form the vanguard of the Cao Wei coalition army; Xu Huang was ordered to be the rear general, responsible for the transportation ...... of grain and grass. ”

The generals who received the order all came to Cao Cao and knelt down on one leg to accept the order, and replied one after another: "The last general listens to the order!" Never live up to the general's expectations and ensure the completion of the task! ”

On the ninth day of the second lunar month in 216 A.D. (9 o'clock in the morning), a drum music sounded in the military camp on the outskirts of Xudu, and under the personal send-off of Cao Cao, the prime minister and general of the expedition, Cao Ren led the 100,000 troops to conquer the south and marched south.

Li Yong's "Crossing Number" walked at the front of the team as the vanguard, and the 10,000 Wei troops trained by him followed closely on horseback under the leadership of Zhang He and others.

Along the way, there are also many people who come to the road to see off the army, the 100,000 army is walking forward mightily, and the army walking on the winding road is also endless, and the scene is also very grand and spectacular.

There were only four people in the "Crossing", and Liu Dawei was left by Li Yong to assist Zhang Tao in protecting the safety of the Son of Heaven in the palace, and also used it as his own eyeliner to monitor Cao Cao to prevent him from any unusual behavior.

Now is also the season of warm and cold, today's weather is also very good, everyone does not have to wear heavy cotton clothes, most of the soldiers only wear half-thick clothes and armor, so it is still relatively neat to act. The army hurried all the way south in this way, and from time to time the song of the march sounded from the ranks.

Li Yong They were the advance troops, and everyone marched on horseback, so their march speed was relatively fast, and they came to the outskirts of Yicheng (now Zhumadian, Henan) that night and set up camp.

Early the next morning, the army set out again and continued its advance southward. Because Soochow took the initiative to abandon the city in Jiangbei, Li Yong and his team did not encounter resistance all the way, and the army walked very smoothly, and that night they came to the other side of the Yangtze River in Jiangxia County, but the city of Yueyue (now Hanyang) set up camp and prepared to stay and wait for the large army behind.

On the other side of the Yangtze River was the enemy, Li Yong attached great importance to the safety of the camp that night, and immediately discussed countermeasures with Zhang He and others.

Zhang He immediately sent people to set up a fence to surround the camp, and dispatched 800 elite soldiers to guard the work. Zhang He asked them to focus on protecting the safety of the "Crossing" vehicle and the forward commander's tent. In order to protect himself from being attacked by the enemy, he also secretly set up secret whistles and passwords.

After all this work was arranged, Li Yong felt that he was still not at ease, so he asked Zhang He to send someone to transport the steel bars that had been removed from the palace wall brought with him, and then used these iron bars to surround the Shuai tent and the "Crossing" vehicle, set up a temporary power grid, and prepared to turn on the power supply at one o'clock in the morning, and strictly ordered no one to approach or touch the iron bar without permission. After doing all the work well, Li Yong returned to the "Crossing" car to rest with confidence.

This is exactly what it is: the ultimatum was sent to Sun Quan to fight Cao again

Lu Su bravely offered good strategies and made up his mind to guard the natural risks