In October of the thirteenth year of Jian'an, Yecheng was finally conquered.

Yuan Tan fled to the Bohai Sea.

And it was at this time that Cai Mao got the news of Liu Bei's departure.

Tens of thousands of troops were already stationed in Gangneung at this moment.

Not only Jiangling, but also Xiaoling, Huarong and other places, a large number of Xiangyang soldiers and horses are stationed.

The fleet of the Yangtze River Naval Division sailed day and night in Yunmengze and the Yangtze River area, and the Jiangxia Naval Division was not to be outdone, cruising in the north of Dongting Lake and the Chibi area.

The places where they were located had become land in later generations, such as Jianli City and Shishou City in Hubei, but they were still lakes at that time.

Therefore, in addition to the Hongkou area, which is land, the north to Yunmengze and the south to Dongting Lake are all the places where they confront.

No one on either side started a dispute, and even when the Jiangxia Navy Division provoked, the Yangtze River Navy Division would deliberately retreat, giving up the north and south of Hongkou, that is, the Dongting Lake and Honghu Lake area in the later generations, and retreating to Xiaoling and Huarong counties.

But in October, when Cai Mao heard that Liu Bei had officially entered Sichuan, he had already passed through the White Emperor City, and he was heading to Linjiang. He immediately made many preparations, and Jiangling's side suddenly became active.

Jinxiang, located in the east of Jiangling City, is Yunmengze in the east, hundreds of square kilometers to the southeast of Jiangling in the Han Dynasty, all of which are Yunmengze's area, and the water area is very large.

At this moment, countless ships were densely docked on the docks of Jinxiang, and the ships were all locked with iron cables.

Yunmengze could not be simply regarded as a lake at that time, even if Yunmengze had begun to shrink greatly during the Qin and Han dynasties, there were still tens of thousands of square kilometers of area, larger than five Dongting lakes.

So if you look at this large lake from the shore of the river, you will feel like you are looking at the ocean, rolling waves and waves.

Such a large area of the lake, vast and immense, with great wind and waves. Naturally, the ships could not be scattered and fixed on the dock, so they could only choose to connect the ships with iron locks or wooden boats, so as to prevent the ships from being blown away by the wind and waves.

This method is Cao Cao's "iron cable boat" during the Battle of Chibi, and it is not a strategy offered by Pang Tong to Cao Cao, but from the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Chu, Wu, Yue and other southern regions of the common way of stopping ships, no matter who stopped the ship at that time.

Therefore, to a certain extent, Cao Cao's defeat in the Battle of Chibi was not lost in the way of "iron cable boats", but in the belief in Huang Gai's fraudulent surrender, so that the fraudulent landing fleet covered with fish paste and grease easily approached the Wulin Wharf where he parked his ship.

Under normal circumstances, of course, the fleet of warships should not come close to it when it is stopped at night. Especially in such a period of war, there has been control on the Yangtze River, and merchant ships from all over the country are not allowed to come and go, so as to prevent people from being inquired about.

However, at this moment, there are a large number of ships coming in and out of Jinxiang Wharf, some coming and going from the Yangtze River port in the south, and some walking from Yunmengze Lake in the east, and a large number of small and medium-sized ships entering and leaving the wharf port every day.

In the distance, there was a group of sergeants in the city of Gangneung City who came out of the city, stepped on the ground of the rammed earth and made a sound of slapsticks, the wharf stretched for more than ten miles, thousands of ships seemed to see no end at a glance, there were a lot of people coming and going on the river bank, and after the team of sergeants entered the wharf, they stood in line on the wharf.

In charge of stationing in Jinxiang today is Zhonglang General Li Ying, who was originally Zhang Yun's subordinate, but later due to the excessive losses of Cai Mao's generals in the Battle of Badong, several middle and high-ranking generals were transferred from Zhang Yun, including Huo Jun.

Huo Jun's elder brother Huo Du once shined in the Battle of Yingchuan when Liu Biao attacked Cao Cao, but he died of illness within two years, and his younger brother Huo Jun inherited his subordinates and is now a lieutenant under Cai Mao's tent.

"Call in four hundred ships? It's not like a reconnaissance mission. ”

Li Ying looked at this warrant, it was indeed the handprint of the Taiwei currently stationed in Jiangling, yes, there was a seal on it.

Wang Jie, who led the team this time, and Li Ying are also old acquaintances, both of them are old generals who followed Zhang Yun's account at the beginning, and said with some complaint at this time: "Go and die." ”

Li Ying saw the resentment of her colleagues, and quipped: "Why, Taiwei asked you to go to Qingcao Lake and fight hard with Jiangxia Sailors?" ”

"That's not it, but it's about the same, send me south to be Tang."

Wang Jie shrugged.

"To be Tang? Tian Mai's station. ”

Li Ying glanced at Wang Jie with a little sympathy, and said, "Didn't you ask the Tai Lieutenant?" ”

Wang Jie spread his hands and said, "What's the use? It was the captain who asked me to persuade me to surrender. ”

"Liu Pan saved Tian Mai's life, I'm afraid he won't surrender, and your sister"

Li Ying hesitated for a moment.

Wang Jie smiled bitterly: "Let's take one step at a time." ”

While the two of them were talking, the people on the dock had already begun to unlock the ship, preparing to let Wang Jie's army board the ship.

Not far from where they were chatting, there were several tables on the side of the dockyard official house, behind which more than a dozen officials were checking the accounts.

For example, there are now 50,000 or 60,000 troops stationed in Jiangling, plus the surrounding Xiaoling and Huarong, and the soldiers, ships, grain, grass, and ordnance that come and go every day must be counted.

Therefore, there are a lot of assistants like them, up to hundreds of people, and every day they have to register any goods and personnel entering and leaving the wharf.

Among them, a military chief bookkeeper who was about thirty years old was kneeling on the seat, holding the account book in his hand all the time, as if he was looking at the account book seriously, but his ears were listening to the conversation between Wang Jie and Li Ying.

After a while, the boats on the dock finally departed.

There are a total of 400 large and small ships, including three building ships, more than 30 ships and fighting ships, more than 100 boats, more than 100 boats, and more than 200 scouts, yachts, flying boats, and red horses.

Seeing the ship coming out, Wang Jie and Li Ying said hello, then returned to the team to give orders, and thousands of troops began to board the ship and prepare to set off.

After noon, another army slowly came from Gangneung City.

This time, when Li Ying saw this general, he put on a different face, because this person was his sworn enemy in the army, Han Hu was also on an errand under Zhang Yun at the beginning, and the relationship between the two was not very good, and it is still the same.

Neither of them wanted to deal with each other, so Han Hu slapped the military order in his hand on Li Ying's table, and waited for the auxiliaries and people on the dock to adjust the boat.

Li Ying snorted coldly and didn't speak, and the master book next to him naturally couldn't hear what Han Hu was doing.

Soon more than 300 ships departed from the Jinxiang wharf.

Two days later.

October 18, 13th year of Jian'an, Changsha County, Luo County.

The rolling Yangtze River is vast, Zhuge Liang sits cross-legged at the foot of Qipan Mountain in the northwest direction of Luo County, which is not Miluo City in later generations, but in the area of Qu Yuan Management Area in the northwest of Miluo City.

This area belonged to the Luo Ziguo in the Spring and Autumn Period, including Miluo City, Yueyang County, and Xiangyin County in later generations, and Luo County in the Han Dynasty was located here.

Luo County is between the Xiangjiang River and Mishui, and the opposite bank of the Xiangjiang River in the northwest is a large land in later generations, but it is a vast lake at this time.

Several flying boats came against the water, and finally slowly stopped on the pavilion pier at the foot of the mountain.

Zhuge Liang got up to greet him.

The cabin of the flying boat opened, and out came a resolute, strong and powerful young man, he saw Zhuge Liang, and immediately smiled and said, "Brother." ”

"Xiaoqing."

Zhuge Liang was wearing a cyan robe, a white coat on the outside, a Jinxian crown on his head, and a pair of gold silk cloud silk silk silk shoes on the soles of his feet.

Because it was October, the south was gradually getting colder, but he didn't hold a feather fan in his hand, but put his hands behind his back, and the whole person was like a fairy, looking at Shen Chen with a smile.

Shen Chen walked over with a smile and looked up and down: "My brother is a little thinner, compared to the busy affairs in the army, he always has no time to eat." ”

"I can live and live, but Xiaoqing is getting stronger and stronger."

Zhuge Liang didn't respond positively, but not responding was basically a tacit acquiescence, now he and Guan Yu are in charge of the army, Guan Yu is in charge of the army, and he has to take care of all the affairs of the army, and sometimes he is busy and doesn't eat on time.

Shen Chen walked side by side with him, looked at the rolling and flowing water on the east bank, and suddenly said with a feeling: "This is the Mishui River?" I just don't know where Qu Tan is where Jia Changsha is mourning? ”

"That's it."

Zhuge Liang pointed to the left bank of Mishui a mile away and said: "Qu Juntoujiang is here. ”

Shen Chen looked in the direction he pointed, and saw that the left bank of the Mishui River was lush with aquatic grasses, dense basil weeds were taller than people, the water was turbulent, and the cold wind in mid-October was blowing, like a howling sound like a ghost crying wolf.

Four hundred and eighty-six years ago, Qu Yuan threw himself into the river here.

There are no relics left by the riverside, except for the later Chu people who spontaneously built a mausoleum by the river in order to commemorate Qu Yuan, and nothing remains.

Even the well-dressed mausoleum is now only left with ruins, there are still people to commemorate it in the Western Han Dynasty, Jia Yi, Sima Qian and other celebrities have come to mourn and sacrifice him, but in the war at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, and then to the current troubled times, the living are difficult to protect themselves, who cares about the dead?

Looking at such a desolate Miluo Yuan, Shen Chen said with some emotion for a while: "The country is broken by mountains and rivers, and the city is deep in spring and grass. When I feel the tears, I hate the birds. I really don't know what kind of grief and indignation he had when the news of the destruction of the state of Chu reached Qu Jun's ears at that time, jumping into this cold river and martyrdom? ”

Zhuge Liang couldn't help but whisper: "Taifu Jia submitted a letter to hang Qu Jun, and Taishi Gong went to Luocheng to worship the righteous rule when he was twenty years old. Presumably at that time, they could also feel the sadness and pain of Qu Jun when he encountered the ruin of the country. ”

"I don't think they feel it."

Shen Chen shook his head: "There is no empathy in this world, when Jia Yi and Sima Qian were here, the national strength of the Great Han Dynasty was thriving, and what they felt was just the same nostalgia as Qu Yuan." ”

Zhuge Liang thought for a while and said, "This is also true. ”

Shen Chen pointed to the north and said, "When the real country is ruined, isn't it exactly what we can feel right now?" The rise and fall of the country is the responsibility of the husband, and my brother and I have to work hard. ”

"Encouragement."

Zhuge Liang nodded.

The two of them also walked to the riverside pavilion.

As the former land of Luo Ziguo, Luo County is a large plain area alluvial from the Xiangjiang River and Miluo River, full of rice fields and countryside.

It's just that there is no one living on the riverbank for fear of flooding away the village and pastoral, but there is still a wharf.

There are pavilions at the wharf, and the nearest village from here also has two or three miles, from the chessboard to the wharf at the foot of the mountain, there are countless sentry posts and beacon towers, and there are a large number of military fortresses in the northwest near the confluence of the Xiangjiang River and Mishui, overlooking the Dongting Lake.

Now Liu Pan garrisoned in Luo County, because the area of Yunmengze in the Han Dynasty was very large, including the northeast of Yiyang City, Hunan in later generations, the west of Xiangyin County, and the west, north, and east of Yuanjiang City.

Therefore, if Cai Mao's army wants to go south, it must take the Xiangjiang River by waterway, otherwise it will have to cross the Wuling Mountain Range and the Xuefeng Mountain Range, so this place is the only way.

Liu Pan's army was stationed here, apparently with the strategic intention of holding the main road.

Zhuge Liang and Shen Chen entered the pavilion and sat opposite each other, this time, they wanted to conduct a comprehensive strategic review, so as to prepare for tactical arrangement.

In fact, the general strategic guidelines and tactics have been implemented for a long time, but the war is also changing from moment to moment, and others will also adopt different strategies, so they must also keep communicating all the time to facilitate response.

"Cai Mao must take Jingnan first, and then Jiangxia, and my brother is consistent with me in this regard."

Shen Chen took out a map of Jingzhou, this map was drawn by himself, although it could not be compared with the satellite map, but it was much clearer than the popular map at that time, he pointed to the location of Jiangxia County above and said: "Cai Mao is afraid that after capturing Jiangxia, he will face the threat of Jiangdong, and he will inevitably break through Jingnan first and then take Jiangxia." ”

"Not bad."

Zhuge Liang nodded slightly: "The situation of Jiangdong and the second son is actually the same, it is like a three-legged stand, Jiangdong and the second son are strong and the eldest son of Jiangxia is poor, but no one dares to take the initiative to attack Jiangxia, once Jiangxia is destroyed, the eldest son will definitely flee to Jingnan, and when the second son borders Jiangdong, the two sides will be on the same page." ”

This is where Sun Quan and Liu Cong are embarrassed by each other, everyone stands on three legs, and originally Liu Cong and Sun Quan do not violate the river water. But once Liu Qi is beaten away or eliminated, then Sun Quan wants to get Jiang Xia into his hands even if he dies, and Liu Cong will never give up.

In this way, even if Liu Cong defeated Liu Qi, then he would have to deploy at least 30,000 to 40,000 troops in Jiangxia to defend against the invasion of Jiangdong, and how many troops would he have to recover Jingnan at that time?

Therefore, the smartest way for Xiangyang to do so should be to ignore Jiangxia first, concentrate firepower and immediately attack Jingnan in the south, and recover Jingnan first.

And there is also an advantage to taking Jingnan first.

That will make Liu Qi obviously very passive.

He came to save Jingnan, Jiangxia was empty, and Jiangdong might take advantage of the weakness.

If you don't come to the rescue, then Jing Nan will definitely not be able to resist.

So Liu Qi will be in a dilemma.

It's just that what Cai Mao doesn't know is that they have formed an alliance with Jiangdong, at least Sun Quan has promised not to take advantage of this time to call.

"Cai Mao takes Jing Nan, so what will he choose?"

Shen Chen pointed to Zuo Tang, Han Shou, and Linyuan and said: "The waterway from Xiangshui to the south was blocked by Liu Pan, and it is very likely that he will divide his troops into two routes, both land and water, one way to take Linyuan first, take Yiyang to attack Changsha, and the other way to confront us on Qingcao Lake." ”

Linyuan County in the Han Dynasty was the seat of Wuling County in Jingnan, and it also had a name in later generations, called Changde.

In fact, if you look at it from the map of later generations, it will make people think that Changde should not belong to Hunan, because it is also on the Jianghan Plain, a city on the south bank of the plain in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, and is not surrounded by mountains like Hunan.

But if you look at Changde in the Han Dynasty, it is easy to understand why it belongs to Hunan.

Because the entire northeast of Changde City at that time belonged to the Yunmengze area, including Huarong County in Yueyang, Hunan, Nanxian County in Yiyang, Hunan and Anxiang County in Changde, this large area was a lake in the Han Dynasty, and it did not surface until the Tang and Song dynasties.

That is to say, from the north of the Yuanjiang River to the vast plain as large as the Yangtze River in later generations, there are probably several cities and counties such as Huarong County, Anxiang County, Nanxian County, Shishou City, Jianli City, etc., and they are still blowing bubbles at the bottom of Yunmengze Lake.

Therefore, in the geography of the Han Dynasty, Changde should obviously be located in Hunan.

This is also the main reason why Changde is obviously geographically located in the north, closer to Hubei, but has been belonging to the four counties of Jingnan since the Qin and Han dynasties.

It is also the magnificent Yunmengze that causes Jingnan and Jingbei to be separated from here.

If Cai Mao's army wanted to go south, it had to take the waterway.

However, more than half of his Yangtze River Naval Division was lost, and although the remaining 20,000 or so Yangtze River Naval Division had the ability to fight on the water, the rest of the army was an army from Nanyang, and it was obvious that he would be at a disadvantage in the battle with the Jiangxia Naval Division if he completely took the water route.

Therefore, Shen Chen believed that in addition to the water division, he was likely to divide his troops into two routes, one was the Yangtze River water division to contain the Jiangxia water division and Liu Pan's army blocking the Xiangjiang River in Luo County, and the other road was to go south from Xiaoling.

Although the northeast direction of Changde is still a piece of Zeguo at this time, the north direction, probably the northwest of Anxiang County in later generations, Li County, Jinshi Beef Noodles Najin City, Linli County and other places, is already a piece of land, this area is called Tang, and the north is Xiaoling, that is, Gong'an County in later generations.

From Jiangling to the south across the Yangtze River, go to Xiaoling, as Tang, you can directly take Hanshou County and Linyuan County, and then from Linyuan along the foot of the Xuefeng Mountains, go to Hanshou County and Yuanjiang City in later generations, you can kill Yiyang County, and finally you can capture Changsha from Yiyang.

Historically, Liu Bei garrisoned the army in Xiaoling after the Battle of Chibi, and then renamed Xiaoling as Gong'an, which means "left public security camp to set up a village", which means that he took this route to the south and seized the four counties of Jingnan as the foundation.

Zhuge Liang listened to Shen Chen's analysis, nodded slightly, and said: "Xiaoqing is right, I also think the same, if you want to take Jingnan, you must take Hanshou, Linyuan, and Yiyang." ”

"Now we don't have many soldiers and horses in the three counties of Tang, Hanshou, and Linyuan, I'm afraid it will be difficult to resist Cai Mao's army."

"Luo County also needs soldiers and horses to be garrisoned, does Xiaoqing have any way to crack it?"

"What does my brother think?"

Shen Chen looked at Zhuge Liang with a smile, he couldn't let him figure out a way to do anything, he didn't believe that Zhuge Liang didn't have a move.

Zhuge Liang glanced at him and said: "I have been to see several times in the area of Linyuan and Hanshou in the past few months, these two cities are north of Yuanshui, I am afraid it is not possible to defend according to the river, and even as long as the enemy surrounds the three gates of the east, west and north, Linyuan will be easily breached, so it must be retreated." ”

"Hmm."

Shen Chen nodded: "I knew that my brother had an idea." ”

Zhuge Liang pointed to a place on the map and said: "This place is called Yaoshan, and the north of the mountain is Qingcao Lake, which is the only way to go from Linyuan to Yiyang." ”

Yaoshan is a mountain range in the southwest of Yuanjiang City in later generations, Yuanjiang City at that time was still blowing bubbles at the bottom of the lake, and only an area near the Xuefeng Mountain Range was exposed on the water, so the communication between Linyuan and Yiyang Changsha in the Han Dynasty had to rely on the lakeside road formed between this big mountain and Yunmengze.

However, because the mountains around Yuanjiang City are not rugged mountains, and they are not as exaggerated and difficult to travel as Bashu in Sichuan, it is still a broad road, and there are even many small roads in the mountains and forests, and there is still no problem with the march.

Shen Chen hadn't been to these places, so he naturally didn't know what the geographical environment was over there, but since Zhuge Liang felt that he could, he said, "Okay, then listen to my brother's arrangement and set up an ambush here!" ”

"There's no hurry."

Zhuge Liang waved his hand and said: "Now we are just conducting tactical simulations, so we still have to take a look at it in practice." ”

After being with Shen Chen for a long time, he also learned what tactical simulation and sand table deduction are.

However, at this time, a scout suddenly came outside in a hurry, entered the pavilion and knelt down on one knee to Zhuge Liang and said: "Report, military division, make a detailed report, three days ago, Cai Mao sent a school of men and horses to attack Zuo Tang, and also sent another school of people and horses to report to the military division immediately." ”

Hearing this, Shen Chen looked at Zhuge Liang and said, "Cai Mao is in a hurry, it seems that we have to be in a hurry." ”

(End of chapter)