In the sixth year of Jian'an, in 202 AD, the two major forces of Zhang Lang and Liu Biao, located in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, began to enter a tense state of war with the escalation of friction on the border of Yuzhang.

In the autumn of the fifth year of Jian'an, the 3,000 soldiers led by Huang Xu suddenly pressed the critical point of the Luling defense line in Changsha under the pretext of chasing key criminals, and after a brief negotiation, in the name of Liu Fang's shelter of fugitives, suddenly attacked the defense line of Jinpu Town. By the time Liu Jun's reinforcements came up, Huang Xu had already disappeared without a trace, leaving only a pile of ruins.

Liu Fang thought that this matter was over like this, but the next night Huang Xu attacked with a lot of men and horses, making Jinpu Town restless, and almost burned the defensive village. At this time, Liu Fangshou was very angry, and after getting the instructions of his superiors, he also began to frequently send troops to disturb the Yuzhang defense line. In this way, you come and go, who looks at who is unhappy, and the incident slowly begins to escalate.

Subsequently, there seemed to be signs that Jiangdong had begun to increase troops in Yuzhang, which seemed to imply that Zhang Lang was about to start the invasion of Changsha. This can make Liu Biao depressed, originally under the instigation of Kuai Yue, Kuai Liang and Cai Mao, secretly brewed to recapture Jiangxia, but Zhang Lang suddenly made trouble, and the Changsha was noisy, and the grass and trees were all soldiers. Now let Liu Biao reinforce Changsha or recapture Jiangxia, it has become a dilemma.

At the same time, nearly 10,000 water thieves lurking in Poyang Lake suddenly seemed to disappear without a trace, although the Lu brothers had the intention to contribute, but Poyang Lake was so wide, and the manpower was slightly insufficient, for a time like a stone sinking into the sea, there was no wind at all. Later, Hua Xin arrived and ordered to go to the counties and villages, calling on all the people to report to the government as soon as possible if they found something wrong, and the matter could only wait in such anxiety.

In the spring of the sixth year of Jian'an, Zhang Lang gathered 50,000 troops and drove to Chaisang, and all military resources were supplemented and began to operate non-stop. And soldiers were dispatched from Shouchun, Huxuwu, and Huiji, and drove to southern Anhui one after another. It is these reasons that Liu Biao has to believe that Zhang Lang is really ready to start.

At the end of the spring of the same year, after Liu Biao got the news, he quickly reacted, and abandoned the original preparations for secretly attacking Jiangxia, making Cai Mao the commander, Zhang Yun as the deputy, Kuai Yue as the staff officer, Wang Cang as the Sima in the army, Wen Ping, Su Fei, Cai Zhong, Cai He, etc. as generals, 100,000 water and land armies, entered Tun Chuyang, transferred Huang Zu as the vanguard, led 10,000 troops to settle in Hanyang, and looked across the river from Xiakou. Among them, Huang Zu's son Huang Shot, led 5,000 generals to hold the Wulin defense line; And also ordered Zhonglang to take Wang Wei with 20,000 soldiers to Baling, on the one hand, to prepare to support Changsha, and on the other hand, to peep at another important strategic stronghold in Jiangxia, Chibi, at any time.

Liu Biao's three-way army and horses, the momentum is huge, supporting each other, and Nanjun is the rear base camp, entering the three-way attack, across the river to attack; Retreat can also hold the Hanyang defense line, and the overall defense line organization is layered on top of each other, and there is no leakage. This also shows that after hesitating for a while, Liu Biao finally began to face Zhang Lang, a strong enemy.

On the other hand, Zhang Lang in this regard, although he successfully transferred Liu Biao's army and let his army move to Chuyang, making the goal clear, but the Jingzhou naval army is extremely prestigious in the Central Plains, and there is an obvious gap in terms of strength, not counting the soldiers that Liu Biao can continue to support. Judging from the form alone, the Jiangdong Front seems to have fallen into many difficulties.

Chaisang.

"My lord, everything is in your calculations now. The first step has basically completed the goal, but the next thing we will be will be a fierce battle, and the lord does not know what to do? Although Tian Feng's expression was suspicious, in his eyes, he still believed in Zhang Lang very much, and believed that under his leadership, he would once again defeat the powerful enemy in front of him.

Zhang Lang pondered bitterly: "Liu Biao is not like all our previous opponents, his strength has been formed, and his foundation in Jingzhou has been quite stable, Wen has the Kuai Yue brothers, Wu has Cai Mao, Zhang Yun and other water war masters, and Jingzhou's army of two or three hundred thousand is always ready to fight." At this point alone, it can be said that it is the most powerful legion of the enemy we have encountered so far. ”

Tian Feng said with concern: "Yes, although we have tried our best to draw soldiers from all over the country, but Zilong is going south, and Xuzhou has the urgency of the Japanese invaders, which greatly disperses our most elite combat troops, although we can rely on the danger of Xiakou, but in the long run, it is still very unfavorable to us." ”

Zhang Lang said calmly: "This battle must be fought. It's just that it feels a little rushed in time, but it's also something that can't be helped. But then again, now that we're here, we can't back down. At one point, we must adhere to the principle, that is, we must not fight a protracted war with Liu Biao, because once we hold each other, our army will definitely be defeated. ”

Tian Feng also nodded in agreement: "The words of the lord are extremely true. From the point of view of his subordinates, it is obviously very detrimental to our army to fight head-on. Why don't you use Xiakou as bait, give full play to our mobile and flexible combat expertise, and lead Cai Mao's nose to fight this battle? ”

Zhang Lang patted Tian Feng on the shoulder with a smile and said: "Fu Hao's words are extremely true, although our soldiers are not superior, but Liu Biao's appointment of Cai Mao as the commander this time is to add a point for us that can be used more." ”

Tian Feng realized something, and said with deep feelings: "One general is incompetent, and the three armies are exhausted." ”

Zhang Lang dragged his chin with his hand, his fingers kept tapping his cheeks gently, his eyes were very deep, and he couldn't see what Zhang Lang was thinking from the outside. After thinking for a while, his footsteps naturally returned to the edge of the table.

On the desk was a large map with dense towns and strongholds, mountains, rivers and mountains, and red and blue flags marking the two armies. Guo Jia on the side was looking at the map and pondering, while Tai Shici was walking back and forth with some anxiety.

At this time, Guo Jia's forehead wrinkled, and his face became more and more solemn. Because Guo Jia has been engaged in politics abroad for several years, he has taken care of a lot of affairs on behalf of Zhang Lang, although he is not too old to stand, but his face is full of wind and frost, and he is more mature and stable in his free and uninhibited surname, which makes people feel very trustworthy.

Zhang Lang found out about this and couldn't help asking, "Fengxiao, what's wrong?" ”

Guo Jia didn't lift it up, and he kept calculating something in his heart, and after a long while, he said heavily: "It seems that Liu Biao really didn't hesitate to spend a lot of money this time, and he also wanted to recapture the important town of Xiakou." ”

Tian Feng didn't think about it and said: "Of course, in the middle and lower basins of the Yangtze River, Xiakou has played a pivotal role. Whoever occupies this place will have the initiative. Xiakou is the gateway of the southern army to the west and extend Jingxiang; And Jingzhou goes east, and Xiakou is also the most important springboard. No matter who occupies Xiakou, in terms of overall strategy, he has a great initiative and the right to maneuver. ”

Zhang Lang said: "Since ancient times, guarding Jiangling can open Shu Road, guarding Xiangyang can aid Sichuan and Shaanxi, guarding Xiakou and Jiujiang can cover the whole of Wu, and combining Shu, Han, Wu and Chu into one, then the southeast guard is also solid." If you look at it locally, the land of Jiangxia has played a pivotal role in Jing and Yang. ”

Everyone nodded in unison, agreeing with what Zhang Lang said.

Zhang Lang half-jokingly said: "In that case, we still have a certain active advantage." ”

Tian Feng said: "Cai Mao's soldiers are pressing the border, like a tiger, their edge is right, and they are also known as 150,000 troops, and their momentum is booming, and they are not stuck in Hanyang, there is no other movement for a while, obviously because they are afraid of Xiakou's defensive surname, and they dare not easily send troops across the river." If the first battle requires the soldiers to fight a tough battle, and there is no certainty of victory, the impact on morale is obvious. ”

Zhang Lang was suddenly inspired and asked, "Since they still care about Xia Kou, then we have the possibility of taking the initiative to attack?" ”

Guo Jia raised up at this time, the light of wisdom in his eyes flashed, he shook his head, and said very disagreeingly: "It's not right." ”

Zhang Lang said strangely: "Why is Fengxiao so resolute? ”

Guo Jia pointed to the map and said, "My lord, please come and see." ”

Zhang Lang walked up, and the people on the side also surrounded him.

Guo Jia pointed to the map and said: "Aside from the lack of strength of our army, in Hanyang, Huang Zu garrisoned 20,000 naval troops, which were distributed in Bunan, Huaixi, Naozhen and other places. Moreover, they blockaded the river quite tightly, and the control area was quite extensive, and no matter which defense point we attacked, if we did not do it well, it would be in the form of being besieged. ”

Zhang Lang nodded unconsciously after hearing this.

Guo Jia continued: "Also, Huang Zu specially sent his eldest son Huang Jie to guard Wulin, obviously because he was afraid that we would be treacherous like before and break through from the weak side. The land of Wulin, facing the river in the south, and the mountain in the north, there are only two roads in the east and west, and the road section is difficult to travel, the front is connected to Hanyang, and there is Chuyang in the back, so the stationing here shows that Liu Biao paid more attention to the auxiliary defense of our army's flank attack in the past. In the event of an army, the army of Ulin can go around the river to block the retreat of our army. Therefore, it is obviously inopportune to send troops now and use Hanyang as a breakthrough. ”

Although Guo Jia gave a negative, Zhang Lang seemed to smell something from it, and said with some expectation: "What about changing places?" Like Baling? Or what about Changsha? ”

Guo Jia said with a smile: "That's even more impossible, Baling is backed by Dongting, north of the Yangtze River, south of Changsha, from a strategic point of view, this place is the rush of war, connecting Chuyang and Changsha's important base, just a little bit of brains, will understand the important surname of this position, and Liu Biao sent Wang Wei to guard, it is the importance of seeing this place." Just imagine, with such an important base, will he let you fight so easily? As for Changsha, hehe, don't talk about it, our army is not much in the first place, and sending troops to Changsha will not only disperse the troops now, but also difficult to ensure protection on the route, and it is easy to form a situation in which a lone army will go deep. ”

Zhang Lang couldn't help but be a little deflated and said: "This doesn't work, that doesn't work, how can I do it?" ”

Guo Jia said calmly: "Don't be anxious now, in such a static posture, Liu Biao's defense line is indeed invulnerable, but once it is mobilized, I don't know what will happen?" ”

Zhang Lang said depressedly: "Then what are we going to do now?" ”

Guo Jia said mysteriously: "Don't do anything." ”

Zhang Lang was stunned, everyone almost didn't understand what Guo Jia meant, and Tai Shici was even more puzzled: "Can you be passive like this?" This is not the style of the lord. ”

Guo Jia said: "Fu Hao knows this matter best, let him talk about it." ”

Everyone's eyes suddenly focused on Tian Feng.

Tian Feng scolded with a smile: "Why did you push it to a certain again." ”

Guo Jia learned from Zhang Lang's old moves, shrugged his shoulders and said, "You are indeed the most clear. ”

Tian Feng didn't say much, his confident eyes made him calmly say: "Actually, it's nothing, it's just that for the way of generals, you should understand astronomy and geography." ”

Zhang Lang said unhappily: "Fu Hao, tell you about things, why are you such a stinky fart, hurry up." ”

Tian Feng said with a smile: "My subordinates recently watched astronomy at night, and found that the nebulae are uncertain, and the stars are dim, which must be abnormal, and the association says that it is late spring, and early summer is coming, which is the festival of plum rain in the south of the Yangtze River, so the subordinates decided that it will not take long, the weather will change, and then the heavy rain will be heavy, the road will be muddy, and the sea water will be high, and there will be a big flood in the river." All this is very unfavorable to military operations. If no one in Liu Jun could calculate this, we would have defeated them in the rainy season for half a decade or even a decade without us sending troops. ”

Zhang Lang laughed when he heard it, Tian Feng's astrology is extremely prestigious in Zhang Lang's army, and when he says this, it is almost equivalent to concluding that there is such a thing, so everyone's hearts are relieved.

Zhang Lang said excitedly: "If this is the case, in addition to informing Xiakou Shou to prepare for flood control, our army can rest in Chaisang for ten years first, so that this rainy season will first polish Liu Jun's sharpness." Then it was the right time for us to send our troops. ”

Guo Jia said with a smile: "That's right, the disaster of heaven and earth, how can manpower be able to resist, and when the time comes, after this disaster, Liu Biaojun's defense line will inevitably be loosened, which is a good choice for us to surprise our troops." ”

Tai Shi Ci asked, "Then in this ten years, we should always make some moves." ”

Zhang Lang smiled: "Ziyi, give you some time to rest, you don't feel used to it?" ”

Tai Shici's previous passionate eyes have long since become restrained with the passage of time, only occasionally flowing, flashing with unswerving light, indicating that he is still as vigorous and resolute as in previous years, but it has become deeper and more courageous, he is a little embarrassed and said: "Indeed, the lord is in such a hurry to recruit his subordinates, and he is already ready for a tough battle, but he suddenly heard that he was going to rest for about ten years, and this nerves that had just tightened were suddenly relaxed, and it was really a bit empty." ”

Zhang Lang patted him on the shoulder and said: "Heaven is impermanent, the wind and clouds are changing, although the form is like this, we must not be a little careless, and we must always be ready for battle." ”

(To be continued)