On August 15 of the twelfth year of Jian'an, Hanoi was annexed by Yuan Xi, and all the eight dangerous passes in Luoyang were also pocketed by Yuan Xi.

Two days before this, Liu Biao died of illness, a full year earlier than in history, and before his death, he went to the imperial court and set up his eldest son Liu Qi as the pastor of Jingzhou, assisted by his son Liu Pan.

and appointed Liu Bei as the Taishou of Jiangxia County, and his second son Liu Cong as the Taishou of Nanjun, but only seven days later, Cao Cao crossed the Han sailors to the city of Xiangyang.

Without Liu Biao's prestige, how could Cai Mao be willing to be Liu Qi's courtier, and secretly said that he moved the two Kuai Yue brothers and sacrificed Xiangyang to surrender to Cao Cao.

The Kuai family, like the Cai family, are both from Xiangyang, the Cai family is in Caizhou, Xiangyang, and the Kuai family is from Zhonglu in Xiangyang, and the core interests of the two families are in Xiangyang, so they naturally do not want the interests of Xiangyang to be damaged.

The best thing to do is for Cao Cao to give them treatment, and they sacrifice Xiangyang, or even the whole of Jingzhou.

Liu Qi and Liu Cong brothers still knew nothing, immersed in Liu Biao's funeral, Jingzhou chief secretary Yi has always been good friends with Liu Bei, and when he noticed that the situation was wrong, he secretly looked for Liu Bei and asked him to leave Xiangyang immediately to go to Jiangxia to take up his post.

Liu Bei was taken aback and said: "This matter must be told to the eldest prince, if you leave quietly for self-protection, what face will you see your brother under Jiuquan in the future." ”

Yi Yuan persuaded with a wry smile: "Duke Ming has an excuse to leave and will not arouse the suspicion of Cai Kuai's family, but the eldest prince is the lord of Jingzhou, how to leave?" ”

Liu Bei stood up and paced back and forth, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and others all looked at him anxiously, now Liu Biao is in mourning, everyone is in Xiangyang, but the soldiers are staying in their respective stations, and most of Xiangyang City is under Cai Mao.

If you really want to kill it, it is difficult to ensure that there is no mistake, even Guan Yu, the ten thousand enemies, dare not guarantee that they can protect everyone.

Finally Liu Bei stopped, waved his hand vigorously and said: "I'd rather be burdened by people, I can't bear people, Liu Jingsheng entrusted me with a county, how can I not save his heirs, death will die together, and the eldest husband will never leave a reputation for eternity!" ”

Yi Ji was both helpless and admired, and bowed to the head and said: "Ming Gong is benevolent, unparalleled in the world, and he is willing to survive with Ming Gong." ”

Seeing that Liu Bei had made a decision, Sun Qian immediately got up and said: "Don't be good, don't be good, go to find Liu Pangongzi, who is quite prestigious in Jingzhou, and may be able to find a way out." ”

Liu Bei was overjoyed when he heard it, and he was right, Sun Gan was the first to come to Jingzhou, and Liu Bei was defeated and wanted to go south to join Liu Biao, but he didn't know his intentions, it was Sun Gan who came to contact Liu Biao at the first station.

The reason is very simple, Sun Qian is a disciple of the great Confucian Zheng Xuan, Liu Biao does not look at other people's face, but also wants to give Zheng Xuan face.

Sure enough, Liu Biao was very good to Sun Gan, and even Liu Biao's children and nephews had a good relationship with Sun Gan, and he would not attract attention when he went to see Liu Pan.

Soon Liu Bei's side quietly moved, Chen Zhi and Zhao Yun went around to find out where the defense was weak, and Yi Zhi also quietly contacted his henchmen and prepared to start an incident.

At this time, Liu Pan's role was revealed, as Liu Biao's nephew, Liu Pan was famous for his courage and ability.

Soon after Liu Biao entered Jingzhou, Liu Pan came to Jingzhou to seek refuge with his uncle, and the two brothers were originally arranged to confront Jiangdong in Changsha.

Sun Ce had a headache for him back then, and it wasn't until Tai Shici was in charge and dealt with Liu Pan that he didn't attack Jiangdong again.

Lao Huang Zhong is the general under him, plus his younger brother Liu Hu, who is also a masterpiece for a while, and has a high prestige in the four counties of Jingnan.

After a long secret talk with Sun Gan, Liu Pan immediately let his younger brother Liu Hu out of the city, nominally saying that he would guard Liu Biao's cemetery first and wait for his burial.

In fact, as soon as Liu Hu left the city, he summoned the soldiers of the headquarters and contacted the Jingzhou general Wenpin.

Wenpin is a native of Jingzhou, although his power is not as good as Cai Kuai's two families, but Wenpin's prestige in the Jingzhou army is unmatched.

Known as the first general in Jingzhou, he not only has high prestige in the infantry army, but also has many of his supporters in the Cai family's water army.

On the day of Liu Biao's burial, Liu Pan escorted Liu Qi's brothers out of the city with his cronies, and as soon as the funeral was completed, Liu Pan immediately ascended to the top and shouted.

When the scene was in chaos, Cai Mao saw that the matter was lost, and commanded the army to besiege in a panic.

At this moment, Wen Ping led his men and horses to kill, and scolded Cai Mao and Kuai Yue for selling their lords for glory, and many soldiers quietly retreated and made a way.

Let Liu Pan retreat to Nanjun with Liu Qi and others without danger, and send his younger brother Liu Hu south to integrate the four counties of Jingnan, Liu Bei is also here to separate from everyone and go straight to Jiangxia County to preside over affairs.

Jiangling City in Nanjun was originally the location of the Jingzhou Thorn Mansion, and after Liu Biao entered Jingzhou, because he relied on the Cai family and the Kuai family, and in order to resist the pressure from the north, he moved the governance office to Xiangyang City.

Therefore, the city defense of Gangneung City is not inferior to Xiangyang City in this era, but it is not as steep as Xiangyang in terms of terrain.

Xiangyang is a natural strategic location due to the high mountains on the left and right, surrounded by water on both sides, while Jiangling has only one Yangtze River and surrounding hills, and the rest is an endless plain.

But after all, it is the seat of state governance for four hundred years of the Han Dynasty, and it is also the capital of Chu in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and all the facilities are very complete.

At the beginning of September of the twelfth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao captured most of Nanjun and began to attack Jiangxia County instead, and did not continue to attack Liu Qi, apparently temporarily giving up the battle for Jingnan.

Of course, this was the plan he had originally planned, and now there was only part of the area east of Gangneung City left in Nanjun, so he didn't want to attack such a Xiongcheng.

At this time in Jiangxia County, Liu Bei understood that the key to life and death had arrived, unlike his previous confrontations with Cao Cao, this time he would be defeated again, and Cao Cao would never show mercy again.

Liu Bei, who was desperate, went to Jiangdong to negotiate with Sun Quan, and the two sides reconfirmed the offensive and defensive alliance, and then Zhou Yu led the Jiangdong army into Liu Bei's defense area and took over the commander-in-chief to confront Cao Cao.

It was not only Sun Quan who understood the survival and death, but also Liu Pan, and immediately suggested that Liu Qi reinforce Liu Bei, and the three parties jointly fought against Cao Cao, starting a Xiakou War that was no less than the Battle of Chibi in advance.

Xiakou is located at the confluence of the Han River and the Yangtze River, that is, one of the Wuhan areas in the later generations, Cao Jun went straight down to Xiakou from the Han River, and did not dare to go south without conquering this city.

Guxiakou is not Hankou, Hankou is also called Xiakou, that is after Sun Quan occupied Jiangxia County, after the Huanghu Mountain opposite Xiakou, that is, a military town built on Snake Mountain, also named Xiakou.

Liu Qi was also a master who died young, and after coming to Jiangling, he lingered on the sickbed, entrusting all military and political affairs to his cousin Liu Pan, which saved the constraints.

As for Liu Cong, he didn't dare and wouldn't fight with Liu Pan at all, after losing Nanjun, he, the Taishou of Nanjun, was a lonely man, not to mention that the person who supported him in Jingzhou was originally Cai Mao Zhang Yun.

Liu Pan sent both land and water armies, the promoted navy army was led by Wen Ping to Xiakou for reinforcements, and the infantry army was led by Huang Zhong and went straight to Jingling to support Liu Bei's checkpoint on the land road.