Limited by the poor communication efficiency of this era, Guan Yu started the matter of the North Road, and it has not been able to be transmitted to Jiangling City for the time being.

Zhou Yu is still attacking the city with high intensity, but the progress is not great.

Although the Jiangdong Army worked hard, the Jiangling city wall was solid, and there was no shortage of grain and grass in the city for the time being, and there was no loss in terms of troops.

The Jiangling defenders were deceived by the offensive rhythm of the Jiangdong Army at first, causing a certain amount of chaos, but Cao Ren did not give it in vain, although he was a little flustered, but in the end, under the command of Cao Ren, it gradually stabilized.

Zhou Yu also realized that no matter how high-intensity the attack continued, it would not have much effect, but would increase his own damage, so he adjusted the rhythm of the attack again and slowed down the intensity of the siege.

It is all too common for the siege to go unwell, and the most taboo at this time is that the boss is eager to make contributions, so that even if the city is captured, his own casualties will be large.

Zhou Yu is an excellent commander and knows this, so he will not hesitate to step up the attack when it is time to step up, but when it is time to slow down, he will also slow down the troops.

Of course, slowing down doesn't mean you won't be attacking.

It is still necessary to arrange siege every day, not necessarily requiring the siege of the city wall, but at least to harass and contain it, and not to give the defenders too many opportunities to repair the city defense.

And doing so can also make Cao Ren unable to figure out Zhou Yu's main attack time and main attack direction.

Some time ago, Zhou Yu's offensive frequency was also very low, but suddenly he would increase the pace of attack.

Now Zhou Yu suddenly reduced the frequency of the attack, which made Cao Ren really a little worried, because it was impossible to judge when Zhou Yu's next high-intensity siege would be, so Cao Ren had to be on guard at all times.

It's not scary for a knife to fall, the scariest thing is that the knife is going to fall at any time, but it's when it doesn't fall.

Therefore, Cao Ren did not dare to be careless for a moment, and was still fully vigilant against Zhou Yu's possible attack at any time.

And Zhou Yu was not idle at this time, he convened a military meeting again to brainstorm to see if there were other more efficient siege methods.

At this time, Zhang Xi and Zhang Fei will attend as observers.

But Zhang Xi and Zhang Fei are always guest troops, and the two of them are attending on behalf of Liu Beijun to express the presence of the coalition army, Zhou Yu doesn't ask, and they won't take the initiative to say anything.

After all, the boss is Zhou Yu, and the main attack is also the Jiangdong Army, so this face still has to be given.

Therefore, the two of them did not say a word in the military discussion, and Zhou Yu would not force it.

But after the military discussion, Zhou Yu still left Zhang Xi and asked Zhang Xi if there was a good way to attack the city.

Zhang Fei's ability to command operations, Zhou Yu saw it, and believed that he was an excellent general and commander.

But how to attack the city, this is a matter of strategy, Zhou Yu naturally did not think of asking Zhang Fei, but chose to ask Zhang Xi.

I don't know why, Zhou Yu has always had a good sense of Zhang Xi, and feels that Zhang Xi, like himself, is a talent with both civil and military skills.

In the current Zhou Yu army, there are many generals who can help him share military affairs, but there are no Wenchen generals who can discuss and plan with him.

Sun Quan attacked Hefei on the eastern front, so he transferred Lu Su back to Chaisang to deal with government affairs.

Although Ling Tong has the posture of a civil and military all-rounder, after all, he is young and still needs to be cultivated slowly.

Although Lu Meng has some overall views, he is still a military general, and it is often easy to have limitations when considering things.

Gan Ning was not by Zhou Yu's side at this time, he was guarding Yiling.

The rest of the rest of Chen Wu, Pan Zhang and others have no problem commanding soldiers to fight, but they definitely can't reach it when they offer advice.

Zhou Yu also had no choice but to discuss with Zhang Xi and ask Zhang Xi if he had any efficient siege methods.

Don't say it, Zhang Xi really has an efficient siege method, but let's . Well, it's a bit lacking in morality, so it's better not to use it as much as possible, Zhang Xi still wants to be famous.

For example, the flooding of the Yangtze River and the throwing of dead people and dead cattle into the city are quite immoral and easy to cause large-scale indiscriminate killing.

Besides, Zhang Xi's original intention was not really to help Zhou Yu, the longer Zhou Yu dragged on under Jiangling City, the better, so that Liu Bei could have enough time to capture the four counties of Jingnan.

So, Zhang Xi showed a look of embarrassment in the face of Zhou Yu's inquiry, and then gave Zhou Yu an idea that was not an idea.

"Why don't the general repair a book and ask Cao Ren to go out to fight in the field?!"

When defending the city, Cao Ren's 20,000 defenders fought against Jiangdong's 40,000 siege army, and it was Cao Ren who had the upper hand.

But if you go out of the city to fight, even if Cao Ren still has 600 cavalry, the Jiangdong army also has strong bows and crossbows.

If Cao Ren can be forced out of the city to fight, it will at least be better than attacking the city.

Of course, this is the truth, but the problem is - Cao Ren is stupid?!

I don't need to put my own advantageous defensive methods, I have to fight with you in the field?!

Zhou Yu was noncommittal about Zhang Xi's idea.

You can't say that what Zhang Xi said is unreasonable, Cao Ren is defending the city, and Zhang Xi suggested that Cao Ren fight in the field, which is also a way to divide Cao Ren's forces.

The art of war is cloudy: double is divided.

Zhang Xi's strategy, although the excuse is a little stupid, Cao Ren will not agree, but the idea is still right.

Zhou Yu was also thinking about this question, how to let Cao Ren divide his troops.

I knew that Gan Ning should not have been sent to capture Yiling so quickly, if Yiling was used to encircle and send reinforcements, it would be possible to let Cao Ren divide his troops once, so that Jiangling City might be much easier to fight.

But it's useless to think about it now.

Yiling has already been captured, and it is impossible to let go and give it to Cao Ren.

Jiangling City has also been besieged, and it is impossible to give Cao Ren a chance to go out of the city to build a fortress.

Therefore, we can only find a way to do it under the existing circumstances.

As for Zhang Xi's invitation to Cao Ren to fight, Zhou Yu still did so.

Try it, a letter matter, anyway, it doesn't take much effort, in case Cao Ren is brain-dead and agrees, well, Cao Ren is not brain-dead, so Cao Ren refused.

As for scolding or something, Zhou Yu took turns to send soldiers to do it, but Cao Ren hid in Jiangling City and pretended to be deaf without showing his head, and he didn't have any way to deal with him.

In this way, Zhou Yu stopped under Jiangling City, and another month passed.

It has been almost four months since the troops were dispatched from Jiangnan in November last year to the siege of Jiangling City now, and it is now the spring of the 14th year of Jian'an.

Spring was supposed to be the season for farmers to plough in the spring.

But now, half of Nanjun south of Jiangling is under Zhou Yu's control, but Zhou Yu himself is not sure when he will be able to capture Nanjun, so Jiangdong naturally will not arrange officials to come over to organize spring ploughing.

Although the north of Jiangling is still Cao Cao's territory, because of the war in Jiangling, Cao Ren has no time to arrange spring plowing in various counties.

No one in the entire South County is doing spring ploughing now, and I don't want to make wedding dresses for others in the future.

In troubled times, once there is a war, the agriculture and economy of a place will be destroyed, and it will always be ordinary people who suffer.

Zhou Yu and Cao Ren continued to confront each other under the city of Jiangling, while in Jingnan, Liu Bei had already led a large army, under the banner of Liu Qi, the assassin of Jingzhou, and set off towards the four counties of Jingnan.

I have to say that the name of Liu Qi, the assassin of Jingzhou, is really useful, and three of the four counties in Jingnan, Changsha, Guiyang, and Lingling, did not have any resistance at all, and directly surrendered Kaicheng.

Only Jin Xuan of Wuling County sent troops to resist on the grounds that the Jingzhou Assassin Shi canonized by the imperial court was not Liu Qi.

Jin Xuan's ancestor was Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's Tuogu Heavy Minister Jin Richan, a very legendary figure, from the Xiongnu prince to the Great Han Tuogu Heavy Minister, and he was also a popular figure back then.

But it's a pity that Jin Xuan obviously didn't inherit his ancestor's ability, although he led the army to resist, but he didn't defend the city, but went out of the city to fight Liu Bei.

The result is obvious, although Liu Bei's military command ability is sometimes high and sometimes low, it is not something that Jin Xuan can fight against.

In a confrontation, Jin Xuan was assaulted by Liu Bei and defeated his corporaries, and Jin Xuan himself was captured by Liu Beijun.

In this regard, at the beginning of March, Liu Bei pacified the four counties of Jingnan. Zhuge Liang presided over the three counties of Wuling, Lingling and Changsha, and Zhao Yun led Guiyang Taishou with the general of Yamen, and comprehensively arranged the government affairs of the four counties of Jingnan, the most important of which was to preside over spring ploughing.

Of course, it is said that it is the four counties of Jingnan, but in fact it is not the complete four counties.

Because the four counties of Jingnan themselves border Jiangdong, the Jiangdong side has not attacked or infiltrated this place.

During the Battle of Chibi, Zhou Yu was stationed at Lukou, and in order to ensure the safety of the flanks and rear, he also sent people to Changsha and Wuling counties to attack, so Jiangdong actually occupied some county towns in Changsha and Wuling counties.

Of the actual control of Liu Bei, only Guiyang and Lingling counties are complete, and Changsha County and Wuling County are occupied by Liu Bei and Sun Quan.

But no matter what, Liu Bei has been away for so long, and finally has a place to settle down again.

Therefore, Liu Bei himself also temporarily settled in Lingling County, and while calming people's hearts, he began to recruit talents.

Liu Bei remembered Zhang Xilin's recommendation when he was separated, and after Han Xuan, the Taishou of Changsha, surrendered, he personally went to Huang Zhong's mansion to seek talent, and Huang Zhong was moved by Liu Bei to recruit Liu Bei, and was worshiped by Liu Bei as a Zhonglang general, and officially went out to Liu Bei.

As for Liao Li, Xi Hong, Xi Zhen, Hao Pu and others, they also surrendered to Liu Bei, and for a while, Liu Bei's talent pool began to slowly enrich.

is just one person, which makes Liu Bei a little uncomfortable.

Liu Ba, Liu Zichu.

Liu Ba is a native of Lingling and a famous man in Jingzhou, Liu Biao recruited him many times to be an official, but Liu Ba resigned.

The refusal to conquer in those years was not a bad thing, but it would make people think that you disdained to bow to the powerful, so Liu Ba's fame became louder and louder.

But in fact, Liu Ba is not really high, he just doesn't look down on Liu Biao.

As soon as Cao Cao came, Liu Ba went upside down to offer his courtesy to Cao Cao, and Cao Cao also sent him to the four counties of Jingnan to persuade the four counties of Jingnan to surrender.

But no one thought that Cao Cao would take Jingzhou so easily, and lose it so quickly. A Chibi fire made Cao Cao retreat to Xu Bu, and directly gave up the four counties of Jingnan, just to keep Nanjun and Xiangyang.

And at this time, Liu Bei almost effortlessly collected Liu Baren from the four counties of Jingnan, and before he had time to leave Jingnan, Jingnan had already changed his master again.

Of course, Liu Bei had also heard of Liu Ba's name, so Liu Bei still cherished this talent very much and wanted to recruit him for himself.

But Liu Ba couldn't look down on Liu Bei, and felt that he was the defeated general of Prime Minister Cao Cheng, a person with a vain reputation like Liu Biao, and in Liu Ba's heart, there was always only Prime Minister Cao Cheng, so Liu Ba ran away.

You can run, Liu Bei will not be angry with Liu Ba for this little thing.

But Liu Ba didn't know what to think, so he actually wrote a letter to Zhuge Liang, praising Cao Cao, saying that only Cao Cao could dominate the world, and incidentally belittled the Taishou of Jingnan Prefectures, saying that they were all Liu Bei who surrendered for personal gain.

The implication is that Liu Bei, who continues to hire these people, is not a good bird.

And Zhuge Liang cherished his talents, so he wrote to him to persuade him to surrender, but this goods said that even if he fled to Jiaozhou, he would take a detour north to join Cao Cao.

This makes Liu Bei angry, let's not bring it so hurtful, okay?

(End of chapter)