In the middle of November of the thirteenth year of Jian'an, the midwinter sun hung in the sky like this, but it didn't seem to bring even a little warmth to the earth, and the miserable white light sprinkled down, only giving people a cold to the bone.

The north wind was still blowing, and countless ships outside Gangneung City were swaying back and forth in the wind and waves, and the earthy yellow river waves were rolling, rolling and surging mud and sand.

A few days ago, Cai Mao's main army was destroyed in Yiyang, and Zhang Yun retreated to Yicheng with a rolling belt, and since then Jingnan has returned to peace, and at the same time, almost all of the south of Nanjun is owned by Liu Bei, and Liu Cong is currently only half of Nanjun, as well as the nominal Nanyang.

Today, Liu Bei's army is all arranged in the area of Jiangling, Dangyang, and Jingling in the south of Nanjun, so that he can take Dangyang directly to Yicheng by land, and he can go north from Jingling from Hanshui to Xiangyang by land.

Therefore, at this time, in the mansion of the county government in Jiangling City, in addition to the generals who led the army, Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, Xu Shu, and Shen Chen sat in a row and discussed things.

"Unifying Jingxiang should be fought quickly and not slowly, Cai Maoxin is destroyed, Xiangyang is panicked, and going north at this time is our best opportunity."

Shen Chen thought that now was the time to go north to take Xiangyang, so he suggested that Liu Bei send troops immediately.

Liu Bei was surprised: "Xiaoqing often said that once Cai Mao is destroyed, Jiangdong will inevitably come over to attack and disturb, shouldn't we arrange troops and horses along the river to guard against Sun Quan at this time?" ”

"Jiangdong rats, why do you need the army to guard against it?"

Shen Chen said with a smile: "What's more, if the imperial uncle is suspicious and does not advance at this time, Sun Quan's troops will enter Jiangxia, and it is possible to unite with Liu Cong by land to be our enemy, so the imperial uncle must lead the army north, lure Sun Quan into the hinterland, and annihilate him in one fell swoop!" ”

Xu Shu thought slightly: "Xiaoqing wants to lure the enemy into a deep strategy, but the Jiangdong Sailor is really powerful, and now the Jiangxia Sailor is only 30,000 horses, if there is no imperial uncle's response, I'm afraid."

"It doesn't matter."

Shen Chen shook his head and said, "I will place the station in Baqiu, even if I can't defeat Jiangdong, at least I can delay their footsteps, Uncle Huang can go to Xiangyang." ”

"Place the place where the defense of Koto is guarded in Baqiu?"

Knowing Shen Chen's next military advice, Xu Shu was a little surprised and said: "This place is not an important place, it is better to garrison Baqiu, it is better to be in Jiangling, it is the season of the north wind, at least even if there is a war on the water, it is also a good wind." ”

Zhuge Liang was also a little puzzled, but he knew that Shen Chen would never be untargeted, so instead of questioning, he asked: "Xiaoqing, is there any wonder about stationing in Baqiu?" ”

Shen Chen said with a smile: "There are three benefits, one is to hold the Jingnan passage and prevent Jiangdong from attacking Jingnan while we are seizing Nanjun. The second is that Baqiu is located at the entrance of Jingnan, and if Jiangdong chooses to make a detour from Yunmengze to attack Jiangling, it can be attacked from the north and south. Three. We'll see when the time comes. ”

"Hmm."

Zhuge Liang nodded slightly: "Since Xiaoqing thinks it is feasible, then it will be placed like this." ”

"Xiaoqing is right."

Liu Bei looked at the three of them and said in a deep voice: "We must fight quickly in this battle, go north to attack Xiangyang as soon as possible, as long as we quickly defeat Liu Cong and let Jingzhou settle down, we don't have to worry about Jiangdong's attack." ”

Shen Chen said: "Please also ask Uncle Huang to go north as soon as possible, so as not to cause changes later." ”

"Hmm."

Liu Bei nodded.

At that moment, everyone discussed some details, and Shen Chen took a boat back to Baqiu that day.

At this time, Baqiu has not yet cast the city, and it will not have a city wall until the fifteenth year of Jian'an, Sun Quan will build a city here, so Baqiu at this time is actually a village pavilion.

Jiangxia Navy built a wharf in the south of the big lake, the fleet docked in the lake, this lake is the south lake of Yueyang City in the later generations, called Yong Lake in the Tang Dynasty, this lake is still part of Dongting Lake in the Han Dynasty, and is connected to the Yangtze River.

The north and east sides of Baqiu are mountains, which is a natural strategic place, and after Yunmengze completely disappears, it will become the only Yangtze River estuary, holding the east, west, north and south traffic exchanges.

Although the geographical location of Baqiu was not significant due to the existence of Yunmengze in the Han Dynasty, its importance was gradually reflected with the emergence of large areas of land in Yunmengze such as Hongkou and Nan'an.

Therefore, Shen Chen asked the soldiers to build a camp in Baqiu, and built a large number of defensive facilities on the lakes and mountains in the north, which had the intention of constructing a fortress.

On November 13, Shen Chen returned to Baqiu, and when Huang Zu learned of his return, he immediately convened a military meeting.

Under the command of Zhang Hu, Chen Sheng, Su Fei, Deng Long, Zhang Shuo, Zhang Nan, Qu Kang and other generals, plus some chief bookkeepers, Changshi, Cao Shi and other officials, more than twenty or thirty people of all sizes gathered together.

In the camp, Huang Zu sat on the main seat, and Shen Chen sat cross-legged under his right hand, at present, the oldest person under Liu Qi's command is Huang Zu, Shen Chen's qualifications are not as good, but his military merits are too great, so he has become the second person in Jiangxia's sailors.

The attitude towards Shen Chen and Huang Zu is actually a little jealous and some other complicated emotions, the fear is that Shen Chen's prestige is rising day by day, overpowering him as the main general, if he wants to take away the military power of his Jiangxia water division, it can be said that it is very easy.

But in other aspects, Shen Chen couldn't tolerate Huang Zu's suppression, first, Shen Chen was young, and the future was unlimited, and suppressing him was to add blockage to his descendants. Second, Huang Jie has a good relationship with Liu Qi and Shen Chen, and there is no need to ruin the friendship of the heirs for the sake of the current jealousy. Thirdly, Shen Chen saved his life, and he couldn't take revenge.

Therefore, Huang Zu could only suppress this jealousy in his heart, and even asked Shen Chen's opinion on everything before giving an order. Including this time, he gave up the old nest of Shaxian Xiakou, which he had operated for many years, and retreated the main force of the army to Baqiu, and he also followed Shen Chen's advice.

However, Huang Zu didn't know that Shen Chen planned to stay here, and the purpose of this meeting was also to inquire about the next plans, according to Huang Zu's thoughts, they had two choices next, one was to go north to follow Liu Bei to fight Xiangyang, and the other was to return to Shaxian to guard against Jiangdong's attack.

Therefore, at today's meeting, Huang Zu sat on the main seat, first looked around, and then said: "Everyone, now that Cai Mao has been destroyed, and Xiangyang Zhang Yunkui is left to resist stubbornly, I want to lead the army into Xiangyang with the eldest prince, what do you think?" ”

"No!"

Shen Chen immediately stopped: "Now that the eldest prince is in poor health, he can't travel by boat, let alone by land?" The eldest prince should still be allowed to recuperate. ”

Huang Zu said in a deep voice: "Xiaoqing, now that Liu Bei has gone north to attack Xiangyang, if he gets Xiangyang, do you know the consequences?" ”

"I know what Yuanyang Gong is worried about."

Shen Chen said with a smile: "However, Xuande Gong established the world with benevolence and righteousness, once he takes the foundation of the same sect, he will lose his trust in the world, so Xuande Gong will not be like this, I expect that if he wins Xiangyang, he will definitely go to Baqiu in person and welcome the eldest prince back." ”

"Xiaoqing!"

Huang Zu's tone suddenly became much heavier, and he reprimanded: "How can you rely on the faith of others for major national affairs? When Jin Huigong was able to succeed to the throne with the help of the Qin State, the cities and land promised to the Qin State were unwilling to be realized, and the people of the world only sought their own benefits. ”

Shen Chen pondered.

From his own point of view, Liu Bei will never seize Liu Qi's foundation now because of the reserve foundation of Youzhou, just like in history, he obviously had the opportunity to capture Xiangyang, but he did not attack Liu Cong in the end.

But from other people's perspectives, now Liu Bei's soldiers are strong and strong, and he helped Liu Qi to reinstate, if Liu Qi can't go to Xiangyang as soon as possible to seize the opportunity, then Liu Bei will preemptively occupy Nanyang and Nanjun, the two richest and most populous counties in Jingzhou, then it will be a disaster for Liu Qi.

To some extent, this is equivalent to the national interest being stronger than the individual's interest. Liu Bei occupied Xiangyang and took the opportunity to seize Jingzhou in the interests of his side. Therefore, it is also very reasonable for Huang Zu to have concerns in this regard, which is the result of different perspectives and positions.

However, Shen Chen pondered for a moment, and finally shook his head and said: "At this critical moment, the eldest prince can only hand over all his trust to Duke Xuande, otherwise if it is according to the will of Duke Yuanyang at this time, I am afraid that Jingzhou will be destroyed." ”

"What do you mean?"

Huang Zu was a little dissatisfied, did he want Liu Qi to lead his troops north to recover Xiangyang, and would he let Jingzhou be defeated?

Shen Chen analyzed: "The intention of Duke Yuanyang is that he wants Duke Xuande to leave Jingzhou and go to Bashu?" Then the eldest prince led the army north, surrounded Xiangyang, and recaptured Jingzhou! ”

"Not bad."

Huang Zu admitted: "Liu Bei's help to the eldest prince will never be forgotten, Jingzhou has a lot of grain and grass, and when the time comes, give him more to help him go to Xichuan to capture Bashu." ”

"But did Duke Yuanyang ever think that Sun Quan would not give up."

Shen Chen pointed to the east and said: "Jiangdong Sailor is strong, now there are only 30,000 Jiangxia Sailors in the entire Jingzhou who can compete with it, Yuanyang Duke led the army north, Jiangxia and Jingnan became empty overnight, Jiangdong went up the river, took Changsha in the south, and Liu Cong took Jiangling in the north, our soldiers and horses are stretched, does Yuanyang Duke think he can handle it?" ”

Now Liu Bei and Huang Zu Liu Pan combined with a total army of only 100,000 people, although there are more than 30,000 Cai Mao's captive army, but these captives may not be immediately converted into combat effectiveness, their own morale is low, and they need to re-send generals to establish loyalty and organizational structure.

So once Liu Bei really withdrew his troops and left immediately as Huang Zu said, then their situation would become very embarrassing. Now Liu Qi's army mainly comes from Huang Zu and Liu Pan, and the two have a combined army of about 40,000 or 50,000 soldiers.

And there are tens of thousands of horses on Liu Cong's side, and Xiangyang is surrounded by water, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it is difficult to capture in a short time.

If Jiangdong suddenly launched an attack when Huangzu Liu Pan attacked Xiangyang, the whole situation was likely to evolve into a situation in history where Guan Yu had just flooded the Seventh Army and captured Xiangfan, and Sun Quan had backstabbed and captured Jiangling in the rear.

Therefore, the prerequisite for Liu Qi to recapture Jingzhou, or the only solution, is that Liu Bei must not be allowed to leave, and they need Liu Bei to share the pressure.

"This"

Hearing Shen Chen's words, Huang Zu was stunned for a moment, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Then let Liu Bei help guard Jiangxia, and we will attack Xiangyang." Or if we attack Xiangyang together, it will be much better than letting Liu Bei's army go north. ”

"Nope."

Shen Chen shook his head: "General Zuo doesn't have a navy, how can he defend Jiangxia?" If they go north together, Jiangxia Jingnan is equivalent to giving up to Jiangdong, once the Jiangdong Navy Division blocks the Yangtze River, I am afraid that General Zuo will not be able to go to Xichuan even if he wants to, and the Duke of Yuanyang will not only harm the eldest prince, but also trap General Zuo in danger! ”

"Shen Xiaoqing!"

Huang Zu was furious and said: "You have to talk nonsense, when am I going to kill the eldest prince and General Zuo." ”

Shen Chen admonished: "Duke Yuanyang has also been fighting with the Jiangdong Sailor for many years, and he naturally knows the strength of the Jiangdong Sailor, at this time, the recovery of Jingzhou is imminent, Jiangdong is not a kind-hearted person who watched us defeat Cai Mao, they are also waiting for the opportunity, once the Jiangxia Sailor is not blocked on the river, the river will become the place where they gallop, this is the lifeblood of Jingzhou." ”

Since ancient times, the Yangtze River has always been an important strategic point in the south of the Cold Weapon Age, and it can be said that whoever controls the Yangtze River will control the entire south. Therefore, the princes in the south often have a powerful naval army, such as the Jiangxia naval army and the Yangtze River naval army owned by Liu Biao in the late Han Dynasty, and the Jiangdong naval division owned by Jiangdong.

Liu Bei has no naval army, even if Liu Bei is very obedient, according to Huang Zu's tactics, let him stay to guard against Jiangdong, the Yangtze River that is several miles wide and Yunmengze, which is tens of thousands of square kilometers, will almost become the back garden of the Jiangdong Naval Division, and the Jingzhou back line will be beaten into a sieve.

Therefore, the only way to deal with magic is to deal with magic, and the fleet to deal with the fleet, although there are only 30,000 people left in the Jiangxia Navy, if they stick to one place, they can still seriously threaten the Jiangdong Navy, and they will not be allowed to easily plunder on the Yangtze River.

Therefore, letting the Jiangxia sailors stay to deal with Sun Quan, and Liu Bei going north to help Liu Qi capture Xiangyang, is actually the best choice.

Huang Zu was silent for a long time when he heard Shen Chen's words, because he knew that what Shen Chen said was the truth.

So in the end, he let out a long sigh, still a little worried, and said, "Xiaoqing's words are indeed reasonable. But if Liu Bei captures Xiangyang, what if he keeps it for himself? ”

Shen Chen said with a smile: "General Zuo is benevolent and righteous, and it is a move to win the hearts of the people that he helped the eldest prince to restore the throne, and if he goes to Xichuan in the future, the eldest prince will definitely have to help, otherwise he will be ungrateful." If General Zuo takes Jingzhou for himself, he will destroy the city wall and lose his reputation. ”

"Hmm"

Huang Zu hesitated for a long time, and finally said, "Maybe it's only like this, then let's leave for Shaxian tomorrow." ”

"Sha Xian?"

Shen Chen shook his head and said, "We're not going anywhere, it's in Baqiu." ”

"Right in Baqiu?"

Huang Zu was shocked: "Baqiu is not guarding the main road of the Great River, what is the purpose of stationing here?" ”

Shen Chen said with a smile: "Although Baqiu is not guarding the main road of the Great River, it is located between Jingnan and Jingbei, although the Jiangdong Naval Division can enter Nanjun from Yunmengze, but if they go north to fight General Zuo, isn't this something that Yuanyang Gong is happy to see?" ”

"What if they come to attack us, or stop at Jiangxia and don't advance?"

Huang Zu asked again.

Shen Chen replied: "When we come to attack us, we will confront it, and when General Zuo destroys Liu Cong, then Sun Quan will be attacked from the north and south." If they stop in Jiangxia and don't advance, then the army will be on land and water, General Zuo will attack Jiangxia by land, and we will attack by water, Sun Quan will be undefeated? ”

"This"

Huang Zu hesitated and asked him to abandon Sha Xian, who had been in business for many years, and run to Baqiu in the south, which in itself was something that made him feel very uneasy.

What's more, Baqiu does not have a city yet, and the terrain is not particularly dangerous, far less stable than Shaxian.

He shook his head and said, "No, still can't be in Baqiu." ”

"It's in Baqiu!"

At this moment, another voice was ordered at the door.

When everyone looked, they saw Liu Qi standing at the door with a slightly pale face, and someone helped him into the hall.

"Meet the eldest prince."

Everyone hurriedly stood up and bowed.

After Liu Qi walked in, he looked around and said in a deep voice: "My life was saved by Xiaoqing, and the life of Yuanyang Gong was also saved by Xiaoqing, I believe him!" ”

"But."

Huang Zu wanted to say something.

Liu Qi said: "Xiaoqing's garrison Baqiu has his own reasons, and I hope that Yuanyang Gong will stop it." ”

"Yui."

Huang Zu had no choice but to compromise.

Liu Qi said loudly again: "This battle Jiangdong will inevitably attack, I will appoint Shen Chen as the governor, and he will command the battle, do you have any objections?" ”

The generals looked at each other, and Su Fei took the lead and said, "The last general has no objection." ”

"The last general has no objections."

"No objections."

"My minister has no objection."

The corners of Huang Zu's mouth twitched slightly, the more he was afraid of something, the more he came.

In the end, his military power was also taken away.

I wish you all the best and good health in the new year. Because of the snake's dizziness and snot flying, the snake can't be added, I'm really sorry, and when the body is better, I guarantee that it will explode every day.

(End of chapter)