On October 20, the thirteenth year of Jian'an, when the eclipse bell rang, the white fog on the surface of Yunmengze Lake in the distance became much thinner.

The early winter weather was very cold, the sun was obscured by clouds, and although it did not rain, the air was full of humidity.

This dampness mixed with the cold north wind will make people feel wet all over their bodies, and there is no water in the corners of their clothes, as if they can also pick up water.

In later generations, there was a saying that the north relied on heating for the winter, and the south relied on righteousness for the winter. Clammy and cold is a magical injury, the white mist is like ice, and it is piercing cold, and it can take away many, many people every winter.

Tian Mai sat on the tower of Zuotang County, he was very stout, powerful and powerful, because he was born in Runan, he followed Yuan Shao in his early years, and was the captain of Yuan Shao, and after the battle of Guandu, he was forced to flee to the south with his family and defected to Liu Biao.

The heroes of the late Han Dynasty were only richer than ordinary people, and their political status was not too high. Especially after changing the court, we have to start from the grassroots level and share weal and woe with the soldiers in order to win the love of the soldiers.

Therefore, at this moment, more than a dozen soldiers gathered around him to bake the fire together, and everyone was shivering with cold, and their hands and feet were eager to reach into the brazier, even if they were burned by the fire, they did not feel anything.

In the era when there were no cotton clothes, dignitaries and dignitaries could wear silk sewing "down jackets" filled with animal feathers to keep out the cold, and they, the low-level soldiers, could only wear wheat straw and reed clothes.

"Wow, this is the weather."

Tian Mai rudely spat on the ground next to him, as a native of Runan, he was accustomed to the comfortable climate of the Central Plains and Henan regions, and he felt very unaccustomed to coming to the south no matter how long he stayed.

An officer on the side rubbed his hands and said: "Every winter, our Jingnan is the most sinful, no amount of clothes are enough, and people can freeze to death when it is cold." ”

"The climate in the north is not bad, but if you wear a few more clothes over there, you can barely resist it, and it is useless to wear any clothes here. What's more, we don't have many clothes, since General Liu supported the eldest prince and fell out with Xiangyang at the beginning of the year, new clothes haven't been issued for almost a year. ”

"What can be done, in the past, the grain and grass and ordnance were sent from Xiangyang, but now although there is no shortage of grain and grass, but the ordnance is very short, this cold winter wax moon, it looks like the end of the year, the weather will be colder by then, if it is like the early years, I have seen Qingcao Lake frozen."

"Okay, let's not say a word."

Tian Mai interrupted the complaints of several officers, although such complaints were common in the army, but they were too much to say, and they would always affect morale.

"It's coming, it's coming."

At this moment, the soldiers, who had been watching in shifts at the head of the city, immediately shouted.

Tian Mai hurriedly got up and ran over, came to the female wall and looked out, and saw that a mile away in the northeast of Zuotang County, on the lake of Yunmengze, hundreds of boats were driving mightily.

"Whistle!"

He immediately gave the order.

"Toot toot!"

The shrill whistle seemed to wake up the whole city.

Before, because it was too cold in the city, except for Tian Mai and other soldiers who stood guard and stood guard, the rest of the people were in the city tower, under the city gate, and in the houses next to the city.

This kind of ghost weather is unless you grit your teeth and run two miles, otherwise people really can't do without the brazier.

But as soon as the whistle sounded, the north gate of Zuotang County woke up in a dead silence, and an unknown number of soldiers came out of the towers, gates, and houses, and poured into the city under the urging of the officers.

The boats outside the city were floating on the lake, and the big ships did not dock, but hundreds of small boats came first, carrying a large number of soldiers to the shore, and then the soldiers began to look for pillars on the shore in an orderly manner, tying the boats one by one and locking them to the shore.

There is no way for a big ship like the building boat to dock, the water on the shore is relatively shallow, and if it runs aground, the ship will be scrapped, so it can only float on the lake, leaving a few hundred soldiers to watch and prevent the boat from being blown away, and there is no need to connect it with iron locks.

After about half an hour, there were already dense soldiers gathered in the north of Tang City, all kinds of whistles and drums were constantly sounding, and a large number of siege equipment and baggage were constantly transported from the ship to the shore.

In the distance, the fleet continued to operate, but there were people in the crowd who crossed out and came in the direction of the city.

Less than eighty steps away, Tian Mai recognized that it was his brother-in-law Wang Jie, Wang Jie was wearing a general's armor, and there were few people around him, so he was very relieved of his brother-in-law, so he walked to the city.

"No arrows!"

Tian Mai gave the order, and soon all the archers at the head of the city stopped.

Wang Jie walked to the bottom of the city, the city is actually not high, only about two and a half zhang, almost five meters, and the distance between the two sides is twenty meters.

He looked at the city, narrowed his eyes and shouted, "Sister-in-law! ”

"Yes."

Tian Mai responded lazily.

The relationship between him and Wang Jie is actually very good, at that time, he was not called brother-in-law, but brother-in-law or brother-in-law, brother-in-law, the two of them are relatives, but now they are their masters, and there is nothing they can do.

"Let's meet our uncle and son-in-law, isn't it too raw to talk in the city, why don't you come down and walk around with me."

Wang Jie said.

Tian Mai responded: "Okay." ”

As he spoke, he turned around and went down to the city, and the guards next to him wanted to follow, but they were also stopped by Tian Mai, so he went out alone.

When Wang Jie saw him come down, he also asked the guards to stand aside and greeted him himself.

"Where's my sister?"

The first thing we say when we meet is to ask about our loved ones.

Tian Mai shrugged and said, "In Linxiang, take care of your two nephews." ”

The two men walked side by side along the base of the wall.

"It's okay to live."

Wang Jie asked.

"Okay."

"How have you been?"

"That's it."

"Tai Lieutenant, but let me fight Tang, what do you think?"

"What can I do?"

Tian Mai said helplessly: "There is going to be a war above, and we are helpless." ”

Wang Jie said in a deep voice: "Why don't you surrender, now the Taiwei has more than 100,000 people, the eldest prince is only 30,000 horses in Jiangxia, and General Liu is only 20,000 in Jingnan, how can he match it?" ”

This is the status quo after Liu Bei's "departure".

The armies controlled by Cai Mao and Zhang Yun included the defenders of Nanyang, the defenders of Xiangyang, and the Yangtze River Naval Division, adding up to 1120,000, almost twice as many as Liu Qi and Liu Pan.

So at least on the bright side, the huge gap between the two sides will give people a feeling that Cai Mao is bound to win.

However, Tian Mai shook his head and said, "Uncle, you know me, General Liu saved my life." And you don't really think that the captain will win. ”

"Isn't it?"

Wang Jie frowned.

Tian Mai said in a deep voice: "Uncle, don't forget, that one has been standing behind the eldest prince, with his ability, have you ever seen him lose a battle?" ”

That one?

Shen Chen?

Wang Jie hesitated for a moment.

The name of Jingzhou's god of soldiers is still worthy of awe.

What's more, he's never been defeated.

With Cai Mao's ability, can he defeat the undefeated god of war?

For a while, Wang Jie also began to waver.

But it was only for a moment, and after a while, he patted Tian Mai's shoulder and said, "I will attack the city tomorrow, you can do it yourself." ”

"Okay."

Tian Mai waved his hand.

The two men staggered past each other and said goodbye to each other.

It's not like the Tao, it's just that you can't help yourself.

If Wang Jie's family was not in Nanyang, why didn't he want to lead the troops to surrender?

After the two uncles and sons-in-law separated, Wang Jie went back to camp.

He felt that this would be a protracted battle, although because of the small number of soldiers in Jingnan, there would definitely not be many defenders in Tang, but he knew that his brother-in-law, and I was afraid that this battle would not work if it was not fought.

It was getting dark.

Just after Wang Jie's army had set up camp outside the city, the gate of Zuotangnan was quietly opened, and a messenger Pegasus arrived to deliver the instructions given above.

"Retirement?"

Tian Mai looked at the contents of the letter, although he couldn't believe it, but his face showed an indescribable joy.

At least this order must be good news for him.

First, there is no need to fight with Wang Jie.

Second, and most importantly, the probability of losing this battle is too great.

The city was defended by only 1,200 soldiers, and the siege was more than 5,000, which was too difficult to defend.

"The general has an order, immediately withdraw to Yaoshan."

The messenger said.

"I see."

Tian Mai nodded, raised his head to look at the night, and said, "Then withdraw the troops tonight." ”

"If the troops are withdrawn tonight, what will happen to the grain, grass and equipment in the city?"

One of his subordinates asked.

"Don't."

Tian Mai waved his hand: "Complete the order as soon as possible." ”

"Yui!"

Sima went to deliver the instructions.

Soon the city quietly took action, taking advantage of the night, to the south in the direction of Hanshou.

And the same thing happened in Hanshou and Linyuan.

Two days later.

In the direction of Linyuan, Han Hu, the general under Cai Mao, led 8,000 people from Xiaoling to the south, and then went straight to Liyang.

Liyang is the area of Li County and Shimen County in Changde City, Hunan Province in later generations, and there was no county at that time, called Liyang Township, and it was only Liyang County that was placed in Taikang in the Western Jin Dynasty for four years.

From this place all the way south is Hanshou County, the location of Hanshou County in the Han Dynasty is different from that of Hanshou County in later generations, it is located on the north bank of Yuanshui, northeast of Changde.

It's just that when Hanhu traveled thousands of miles south from Liyang to Hanshou, it was not the enemy who greeted him, but the wide open city gate.

The entire city was abandoned, the materials in the city were scattered to the people, and the people all fled to the deep mountains and old forests, and Hanshou County seemed to have become an empty city overnight.

"Strange."

Han Hu wondered.

But now that the enemy has withdrawn, it doesn't seem like a bad thing for them.

In addition to Wang Jie and Han Hu, Cai Mao also sent two other generals, Sun Yi and Zhou Bo, to lead a fleet of 10,000 people to Nan'an.

This place is the Huarong County of the later generations, not the Huarong County of the Han Dynasty, located in the east of Zuotang County, the southeast of Xiaoling County, at that time belonged to the large sandbar exposed by Yunmengze Lake.

By the 24th of October, Cai Mao's army had encroached on a large area west of Dongting Lake and began to move closer to Changsha counties in the southeast, including Yiyang, Luoxian, and Linxiang.

On October 25, the thirteenth year of Jian'an, Cai Mao finally sent Han Xi to lead 10,000 people to Qingcao Lake, that is, Dongting Lake, and marched in the direction of Luo County.

On the 26th, he himself led an army of 20,000 to attack Zikou.

Zikou is the port where Zishui flows into Dongting Lake, but in the Han Dynasty, due to the larger water area, the northeast direction of the entire Yiyang City belonged to the Dongting Lake area, so the specific location is actually at the intersection of Zishui and Yuanshui, probably in the area of Guoluping Town in the northeast of Ziyang District, Yiyang City, Hunan Province in later generations.

In this way, all of Cai Mao's layout plans are already very clear, and his tactical layout is still very good, he did not choose to directly go to Luoxian and Liu Pan, who blocked the Xiangjiang River, to fight a tough battle, but chose to take Yiyang and Linxiang directly after a roundabout.

To put it simply, it is to first make a detour to steal your hometown, and then attack from the north and south, go north from your hometown, and cooperate with the fleet on Dongting Lake to attack Liu Pan stationed in Luo County, even if you can't eliminate Liu Pan, at least you can cut off his food and grass.

The best result is naturally to defeat Liu Pan and recover the whole of Jingnan. The worst result is that Liu Pan will take a boat and go to Jiangxia, and then they will be able to attack Jiangxia smoothly with land and water troops.

I have to say that as a non-intellectual responsibility, Cai Mao's intelligence must be worrying, but as a general second only to Huang Zu in Jingzhou, he still has a certain ability to lead troops to fight, especially in water battles, which can make Zhou Yu jealous later, which can be seen that at least it is a second-rate level, and the tactical arrangement has a nose and eyes.

It's just a pity that before the battle, Shen Chen and Zhuge Liang had already deduced his tactical play, and they had already guessed that they would definitely come in from the northwest, so they made arrangements in advance.

By the end of October, before Cai Mao had yet to arrive in Zikou, he sent an order to Han Hu and Wang Jie, asking them to attack Yiyang immediately.

His three armies planned to converge at Yiyang and jointly attack Linxiang, that is, Changsha.

It rained lightly on this day.

"General, this Meishan can be big, when Taihou Meili was occupied by Zhao Tuo, Taihou Meili had to migrate to Yiyang, and this place is Meishan. The north and east are the vast green grass lake, the west and the south are endless mountains, in ancient times, this Meishan and Wuling Mountain were called Kunlun Mountain by the Chu people, the road is indeed not easy to walk. ”

In the middle of the mountains, along the south bank of Yuanshui, Han Hu is standing on a hill overlooking, and the local guide he is looking for is introducing the road: "But the road we are going to take is quite easy to walk, it is the rammed earth avenue between Linyuan and Yiyang, and it is far away from the lake and river, it has rained in the past two days, and the road may be a little muddy, as long as you pass the medicine mountain in front, the road will be better." ”

Han Hu looked in the direction pointed by the guide.

The army has been walking for two days, this place is actually Hanshou County in later generations, located in the south of Yuanshui, this Meishan is the Xuefeng Mountain Range of Yiyang City in later generations.

The road they took was also more interesting, probably the Changde to Yiyang section of the G5513 Changzhang Expressway in the later generations, because Yuanjiang City in the northeast of the Han Dynasty was still blowing bubbles at the bottom of the lake, so this route was already a relatively easy road to take at that time.

The characteristic of this road is that the north and south sides are hills, and the south side belongs to the Xuefeng Mountain Range, which is a lofty mountain, and the towering mountains in the distance seem to reach into the sky, and looking up makes people feel the insignificance of heaven and earth.

The north is hilly, but the Han Dynasty is not a hilly area, but the lake of Dongting Lake, the mountain islands on the lake are ridged, you can see countless small islands like Jiangxinzhou, dense, and then a few hundred years, after the water recedes, it becomes a hilly hill.

Because they walked close to the foot of the mountain, the high mountains on their right were full of miscellaneous forests and overflowing lakes and marshes, and the road was basically at the bottom of the hills and valleys, but because the terrain was higher than the lake next to them, it did not spread.

It was a light rain, the mist was hazy, the ground was full of slippery mud, and immediately after stepping into it, there was a footprint, and the soldiers could only try to pick up and walk on the side, jumping around on the road one by one, some accidentally fell and splashed with mud, some of their shoes were wet, and they quickly lost consciousness from freezing, and some simply put them on and went straight to the middle of the road and flowed through the muddy water.

At least the easy walk in the guide's mouth, compared with the smooth rammed earth avenue in the north, it can't be said to be 108,000 miles worse, that is also the difference between cloud and mud.

Han Hu actually regretted that he had stayed in Linyuan for a few days at this time, and he had already sent someone to reconnoiter the road, so why didn't he just send someone to chop some dry wood to pave the road? But now that he has fallen into this field, he naturally has nothing to say, just asked the guide: "What mountain is the medicine mountain?" ”

The guide pointed to the end of the road, I don't know how many miles away, a mountain shrouded in white fog and said: "That one, that mountain is high, the water of Qingcao Lake has spread to the foot of the mountain, we still have to climb a slope to get there, and the road over there is not easy to walk." But there is no way, if you take other roads, then you have to go over Wuling Mountain and Meishan, take Yixi past, there are all small roads, there are places so narrow that only one person can pass, and these places are the local Wuling and Meishan barbarians, if we Han people go over, we have to fight, but we can't go. ”

The Yixi road in the guide's mouth actually refers to the Majitang Town in the territory of Taojiang County, Yiyang City, which goes south from Changde, and enters the Taojiang County of Yiyang City in the later generations, and the origin of Majitang Town is said to be related to Guan Yu, which connects Dongting Lake in the north and Yiyang City in the east, and has been the traffic artery from Xiangxi to Xiangdong since the Qin and Han dynasties.

It's just that in the Han Dynasty, it was occupied by barbarians, and the road was difficult and dangerous, and even if the army could pass, it would be time-consuming and laborious, and it was far less easy than taking the official road.

Han Hu nodded slightly, turned his horse's head down the hills, and followed the troops as they meandered forward.

After walking for more than ten miles, I finally came to the foot of Yaoshan Mountain, Yaoshan is majestic and tall, and the north of the mountain is flooded by the water of Dongting Lake.

The mountains and forests are dense, the cliffs are steep, and they climb diagonally all the way, and after two or three quarters of an hour, the soldiers are already exhausted and out of breath, and they are miserable.

"General, take a break."

The deputy general complained to Han Hu: "The weather is already wet and cold, starting from Linyuan, the soldiers are in the wind and rain, and everyone has not rested after walking for a long time today, and now they have to climb the mountain, I am afraid that the soldiers and horses are tired." ”

Han Hu frowned, but quickly soothed and said, "Well, then let's take a break." ”

The soldiers were overjoyed when they received the order, and they ran to rest in the lawns on both sides of the road, but now they did not care that the ground was slippery, and found a place for a rock, or a place to lie down under the trees, and everyone was tired.

This kind of march mostly carries dry food, those who eat food, those who drink saliva drink saliva, because the weather is wet and cold, the soldiers are almost in groups of three or five, huddle together to keep warm.

It's just that I'm too tired just now, my body is sweaty, I suddenly rested, and I didn't keep warm, and many people quickly shivered from the cold.

Han Hu didn't notice the state of the soldiers, he still turned his horse's head, looking at the grass lake in the distance from a high place.

After half an hour, he gave the order again to continue the march.

The soldiers began to climb the foothills again, walked for more than an hour, and finally began to descend the mountain, the road under the mountain was indeed much wider, because there was no foothills, a plain could be seen in the distance, in addition to the vast forests and lakes, and even some village pavilions and villages could be seen.

"General, this medicine mountain is taken by the local villagers, everyone is collecting medicine in the mountain, the place we climb is not even halfway up the mountain, the foot of the mountain is only, the mountain is afraid that there must be a thousand feet, after the past, it is a smooth road."

The guide flattered Han Hu.

Han Hu didn't pay attention to him, but looked at the distance of Qingcao Lake, at this time the fog in the early morning had already dissipated, and he could see dozens of kilometers away on the top of the mountain, although his eyesight was not so good, but he could still vaguely see that on the Qingcao Lake more than ten miles away, countless ships were sailing south.

That was Cai Mao's main fleet, Han Hu and Wang Jie must meet them at Zikou before the beginning of today's day according to the agreement, and then attack Yiyang non-stop, and this place Yaoshan is less than fifteen miles away from Yiyang, so they should arrive at the agreed time.

Thinking of this, Han Hu gave an order and shouted: "Order, speed up the pace, you must get to Zikou before dark!" ”

"Yui!"

The adjutant general conveyed the order.

Soon the army of 8,000 men descended one after another.

In the dense forest on the right side of the mountain.

At this moment, countless arrows have been set on the bowstring, aiming at the Han Hu Army, who has been sleeping in the open for two days!