Since staying in Jingzhou, Xu Shu has rarely had a moment of making decisions alone.

When the first emperor entered Sichuan, the remaining lord of Jingzhou was Guan Yu, and the chief strategist was Kong Ming. Later, Kong Ming, Shiyuan and others entered Sichuan one after another, and Xu Shu officially assisted Guan Yu to guard Jingzhou.

In the middle, Zhang Yuanchang's kid came to help for a while, and he was the Taishou of Nanjun for a while.

It was only in the past ten years that Xu Shu, as Guan Yu's chief strategist, really began to take charge of himself.

However, due to Guan Yu's lonely personality, Xu Shu rarely needs to make decisions on his own, and what he has to do most of the time is just to give advice to Guan Yu, and try to persuade Guan Yu not to be stupid when Guan Yu's brain is hot.

But now, it's time to make your own decisions. Xu Shu was faintly uneasy.

Theoretically speaking, the person with the highest official position in Wancheng today should be Zhang Fei, the general of the cavalry, and after Guan Yu fell ill, it should also be Zhang Fei who stood up to preside over military affairs and decide the next combat strategy.

But Zhang Fei.

"What did Xu Junshi say, I will do it!"

This is the answer given by Zhang Fei, although it is in line with the character of the three generals as always, but invisibly, it also increases the pressure on Xu Shu.

This is no longer the time when Xinye, Liu Beijun, whose total strength does not exceed 5,000 people, this is to command a full 110,000 troops, and what to decide is a major matter related to the safety of Jingzhou and the Northern Expedition to Luoyang.

What's even worse is that in the current army, with Guan Yu falling ill and in a coma, there is no one who can discuss with Xu Shu.

Zhang Fei knew that his strategy was insufficient, and he became the shopkeeper, Wang Ji and Deng Ai, who were the most suitable for discussion, led the troops to Kunyang, Guan Ping, Wu Yi's level was not enough, Wang Ping was only good at commanding the Wudang Fei Army, Guan Xing could talk to him about literature, and the battle was a pure reckless As for Liao Hua, don't mention it first, managing logistics and leading troops to fight are okay, but it's just okay.

Xu Shu can only rely on himself to decide, so Xu Shu has been desperately reminding himself that he must deal with it calmly.

Xu Shu has always had a clear understanding of his own ability.

He is not as versatile as Kong Ming, nor is he as outstanding as Shi Yuan. I haven't had much contact, but I've heard rumors, this person often has whimsical ideas and is good at strategic layout.

These people are either better than themselves in all aspects, or they are stronger than themselves in some way. It's not that Xu Shu lacks self-confidence, it's just that Xu Shu knows that he just knows a little bit about everything, but he is nothing more than a top ordinary strategist.

Therefore, Xu Shu believes that when he is making strategic decisions, he should try not to destroy the original plan, and make up for the original strategy is the best choice for him now.

So, what is the strategy formulated by Kong Ming for this Northern Expedition?!

It is still the old-fashioned Donghe Sun Quan, and the Northern Expedition to Cao Wei, which is the basic strategy.

Specific to the actual operation stage, it is to use Jiangxia County, as well as acquiesce in the occupation of Lingling and Wuling two counties, a total of three counties, in exchange for Dongwu to attack Runan in the north, so that the Jingzhou army can draw enough troops and horses to go north to conquer Wancheng, open up the passage into the Central Plains, and then send troops to Luoyang.

This strategy, in fact, has been realized in the first half of the most critical period so far, and now there is only one goal left.

As long as Luoyang is conquered and the great goal of reviving the Han dynasty has been achieved, more than half of it has been achieved, and the rest is a matter of time.

At this critical moment, although the sudden instability of Soochow was unexpected, it was also very reasonable.

After all, with Sun Shiwan's reputation, who can fully believe that he is not a demon?!

Therefore, if the established Northern Expedition strategy is followed, at this time, Xu Shu should ignore the threat posed by Eastern Wu, take an army of 110,000 to attack Kunyang, conquer Yingchuan, and then directly march to Luoyang.

After all, when the strategy was formulated, Kong Ming and Yuan Chang did not consider the possibility of Dongwu turning their faces halfway, and had already made arrangements and responses in advance.

Now Xiangyang has the veteran Wen Ping leading 10,000 people to defend it, Zhang Wei assists, and there is the Xiangfan defense system in hand, even if Dongwu has a naval army to help in the war, it may not be so easy to conquer Xiangyang in a short time.

In terms of Jiangling, with Wuling Li Qiu and Lingling Pan Jun leading the troops to retreat north, some of the troops were stationed in Jiangling, and now the public security and Jiangling combined have 10,000 people stationed, plus the response of Yidu County, the theoretical problem is not big.

Thinking about it according to this strategic arrangement, Xu Shu should have chosen to continue the Northern Expedition instead of leading the troops back to help.

But. The military report Xu Shu received made Xu Shu feel that things were a little weird.

Xiangyang's Wenpin, Jiangling's Shibao actually sent the news of the Eastern Wu Navy at the same time, and Xu Shu carefully calculated the time of occurrence, it seems that it is still very close.

Zhou Yu is in Jiangxia, with a total of 10,000 sailors and 10,000 infantry, how did he appear at the same time, Gong'an and Yicheng, two places hundreds of miles apart? !

Divide your forces?! What threat can that be!!

A famous general like Zhou Yu can do such a stupid thing?!

A bluff plan, you want to use this means to stimulate the Jingzhou army to return to the army to rescue?!

I don't rule out this possibility, but the problem is that this ploy is too crude and conspicuous, and anyone with a little brain can see through it at a glance.

That's Zhou Yu, a famous general recognized in the world, a genius commander who was able to defeat Cao Cao's more than 100,000 troops in a water battle with more than 20,000 people. His strategy can't be so shoddy, right?!

Therefore, it is difficult for Xu Shu not to think that Zhou Yu has other back-ups, and this bluff is just a means to confuse himself and allow him to continue the Northern Expedition and lengthen the route of reinforcement.

Once Xu Shu led his troops to conquer Yingchuan and march into Henan, it would be impossible to return to Xiangyang or even Jiangling in a short period of time.

At that time, once Dongwu attacked Jingzhou again, it could only rely on Xiangyang and Jiangling to resist.

If Zhou Yu only relied on the 20,000 people who occupied Jiangxia, Xu Shu wouldn't have to worry too much, but the problem is, it is impossible for the entire Eastern Wu to have only so many soldiers, right?!

Indeed, according to intelligence, the Eastern Wu side is also fighting with Cao Xiu in Runan, and has invested a lot of troops, a full 70,000 or 80,000 people, plus the 20,000 people in Zhou Yu's hands, it has already gathered 100,000.

But the problem is that although Sun Quan has the nickname of Sun 100,000, it does not mean that Sun Quan only has 100,000 soldiers and horses in his hands.

The Han Dynasty occupies the four states of Jingyi and Yongliang, and can make up more than 200,000 troops, and Sun Quan now occupies the four states of Qingxu and Yangjiao, so it is impossible to only have these troops that he sees now.

Gathering another 50,000 soldiers is not too difficult for Sun Quan.

Moreover, nominally, Dongwu and Dahan are not allied, Jiangxia County, which was also "occupied" by Zhou Yu's troops, that is to say, if Dongwu chooses to attack Jingzhou again this time, there is no moral pressure, and it is a normal army to attack.

What other concerns can Sun Quan have for Sun Quan?!

As for Zhou Yu's private guarantee before the war. The strategy between countries is pinned on the personal reputation of a general, and whoever takes it seriously is really stupid.

Sun Quan really wants to go out and launch an attack regardless of Zhou Yu's reputation, what can Zhou Yu say when he is a courtier? !

The more Xu Shu thought about it, the more he felt that the possibility of a sneak attack on the Eastern Wu side was very high, and the time of launch should be after the main force of the Jingzhou Army continued the Northern Expedition and captured Yingchuan County.

So. What should I do to deal with it?!

The Northern Expedition is already halfway through, and strictly speaking, after occupying Wancheng, the biggest strategic purpose of this Northern Expedition has been completed.

But in this Northern Expedition, Yongzhou paid such a big price, almost destroyed most of Zuo Feng Yi and half of Right Fufeng County, and finally fought a situation where Cao Wei Sili's troops were seriously insufficient. If his side stops and returns to the army after defeating Wancheng, next time he wants to send troops from Wancheng to attack Luoyang, he will not have such a good opportunity.

The good situation of the Northern Expedition, Xu Shu didn't want to give up, but Jingzhou couldn't afford not to defend it.

Based on this judgment, Xu Shu made his own choice - ordered Liao Hua and Guan Xing, the two generals, each to lead 10,000 Jingzhou soldiers back to aid Xiangyang and Jiangling, obey the command of Wen Ping and Shi Bao, and consolidate the defense.

He led the remaining 50,000 men to continue to press forward to Kunyang County, reinforce Deng Ai and Wang Ji, and strive to break the frontal Wei army as soon as possible and capture Yingchuan, and then consider whether to continue to march or return to Jingzhou according to the actual situation.

This strategy is a bit of a both-way approach. On the battlefield, it is also taboo to make uncertain choices.

Xu Shu knew this, but now Xu Shu still has the confidence to do so, because he still has enough troops at hand, and he has transferred back 20,000 soldiers, and 90,000 soldiers, which is enough to form a frontal suppression of the Wei army of about 50,000.

Can. But when Xu Shu and Zhang Fei had just led the army to Bowang, they suddenly received an urgent report from Jiangling Shibao.

Eastern Wu sent troops from Jiangxia and Changsha to attack Jingzhou.

In Changsha, Sun Quan took Zhu Ran as the main commander, led 30,000 naval troops, 20,000 infantry, a total of 50,000 people, and attacked the public security.

In Jiangxia, Zhou Yu personally led 20,000 sailors and armies against the Han River and went straight to Xiangyang.

Jingzhou is in an all-round emergency.

As soon as the news came, not to mention Xu Shu, even Zhang Fei was taken aback.

It's not that I'm surprised by the sneak attack of Soochow, but that Soochow can still send so many soldiers to fight.

Xiangyang is okay, although Zhou Yu is a famous general in the world, but there are not many soldiers, and the Wen Ping who guards Xiangyang is Zhou Yu's old opponent, and his personality is old and serious, so he should not be easily succeeded by Zhou Yu.

But Gangneung side. There are a total of 10,000 defenders, and although Taishou Shibao shows a certain level of military strategy, he still appears as a civilian official on weekdays.

In the face of the siege of 50,000 people, it is really hard to say whether it can be held until the moment when Liao Hua leads the troops back to help.

And even if Liaohua's reinforcements are in place, Jiangling only has a total of 20,000 soldiers and horses, and the pressure is still very great to prevent the attack of 50,000 Eastern Wu troops.

In this case, even Zhang Fei began to think about whether to return to the army directly and rescue Jingzhou.

After all, Jingzhou is the foundation of this group of Jingzhou troops, and the Northern Han Army brought by Zhang Fei also needs Jingzhou to provide grain and grass support at this time. If Jingzhou is lost, the back roads of all the armies will be cut off.

However, in such a situation, Xu Shu gritted his teeth and suggested that Zhang Fei continue to attack Kunyang.

It's not to compete with Dongwu to see who will capture the city first, but in the military report sent by Shi Bao, one thing is mentioned.

Chen Zhijun, who was supposed to be stationed in Yufu as a back-up strategy, suddenly had 3,000 people down the river and appeared near the public security.

And the leading general of these 3,000 people is the Han servant, Pang Tong Pang Shiyuan.

This is where Xu Shu's confidence lies in daring to continue the Northern Expedition.

(End of chapter)