At the beginning of June of the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an, Jiangdong was in the mouth of the water.

When it was raining heavily in Nanyang, Jianye was raining lightly, and the drizzle was mixed with a slight breeze, which brought a little coolness in this June season.

Sun Quan sat cross-legged under the porch in the backyard of his mansion, the willows fluttering in the courtyard, and he looked at the letter in his hand and was silent.

Lu Xun beside him knelt respectfully on the side, still holding a cup of tea in his hand, and seeing Sun Quan's silent face, he opened his mouth and said, "Wu Hou, what does Zhao Yun's reply say?" ”

"He said that it was raining in Xiling these days, and it was inconvenient to march, and he hoped that we could delay it for a few more days and wait until the rain stopped."

Sun Quan put down the letter in his hand and shook his head.

Since the beginning of the year, he has been preparing for the attack on Jingzhou, and now a large amount of grain and grass has been transported to Chaisang and Guiyang, the materials, equipment and baggage have also been prepared, and the training of personnel has been basically completed.

Next, Sun Quan hoped to weaken the guards of Xiling and Jiangxia, so he wrote to Zhao Yun and Huang Jie, asking them to attack Hefei together.

In April, Sun Quan received letters from Liu Bei and Cao Cao, in which Liu Bei hoped that he would attack Hefei to relieve his pressure on the Western Front, and Cao Cao hoped that he would attack Jingzhou and divide the south equally with him.

Between Huainan and the entire Jingzhou, Sun Quan naturally chose the latter without hesitation, so he hoped that Cao Hong's side could hold back Shen Chen's main force.

But in the past few days, the war report came, Cao Hong was almost suppressed and beaten by Shen Chen in the past two months, and Taiting was attacked by the Nanyang army and almost fell. This made Sun Quan a little worried, whether Cao Jun could withstand the pressure, if Cao Hong was defeated, wouldn't he be embarrassed?

"Where's the yellow shot?"

Lu Xun asked again.

Sun Quan said: "Huang Jie said that he could send troops, but he said that he would go north from Anhuikou, garrison troops in the nest, and go straight to Hefei together after we send troops." ”

"Hmm."

Lu Xun thought for a while, nodded and said, "This is normal, it seems that it is time to send troops." ”

Sun Quan said: "Zhao Yun did not send troops, I am afraid that he will be prepared." ”

Lu Xun said with a smile: "No, it would be strange if he sent troops, there are more than 10,000 people in Xiling, and there are only 5,000 in Xunyang City, so I am a little hesitant." Huang Jie has tens of thousands of sailors, and it is not raining heavily now, and the river is not rising, it is reasonable to follow us to send troops, otherwise Liu Bei is so tight on the Western Front, it is impossible not to tell Huang Jie and Zhao Yun. ”

Sun Quan pondered for a moment, then got up and said, "Then send troops?" ”

"Troops!"

Lu Xun nodded seriously.

Sun Quan said to the guards on the left and right: "Send an order to Lü Meng, once the Yellow Shot's ship passes through Chaisang and enters the nest from Anhuikou, he will immediately release the carrier pigeons, and the two roads will go to Nanjun." ”

"Yui!"

The attendant took the order and departed.

On the fifth day of the sixth month, Su Fei and Chen Sheng, the commanders of the Jiangxia Naval Army, led 8,000 men and a fleet of 5 or 600 ships.

When Sun Quan heard the news, he immediately began to act, and he used the Northern Expedition to Hefei as an excuse to advance his troops to Shu County.

Then the army suddenly moved south and surrounded the nest.

The reason why they had to wait until the navy entered the city before they moved was because if the river intercepted them, they were not sure that they would destroy the fleet of the Jiangxia navy.

Once any of them escape, they can quickly warn Xunyang and Xiakou, so that Huang Jie and Zhao Yun are alert.

Moreover, the naval army has strong combat effectiveness on the ship, but when it enters the city on land, its combat effectiveness is obviously much worse, so it is the best way to lure the enemy to the land.

Sun Quan's sudden attack obviously caught Su Fei and Chen Sheng off guard, and Juchao was quickly surrounded, and they could only defend themselves in the city.

On the seventh day of the sixth month, Zhang Liao and Xue Yi of Hefei also learned the news and led an army of 5,000 people to help.

The two sides fought for a long time, and Sun Quan thought that his first task should be to quickly move the three counties of Nanjun, Jiangxia and Xiling south, and should not delay time here, so he left 10,000 people to cooperate with Zhang Liao's army to besiege Su Fei, and led 50,000 people straight to Xiling.

On the same day, Gyeyang-gun. When Sun Jiao, the commander of Guiyang, received the news that Sun Quan had ordered his troops to be sent, the fleet immediately went north along the water and captured Ling County in Hengyang County, which was later known as Hengyang City.

At that time, the defenders of Jingnan were almost completely evacuated, and Changsha County, Lingling County, Wuling County, Yuanling County and Hengyang County were almost undefended.

Sun Jiao's 30,000 soldiers and horses easily captured Hengyang, and then immediately went north to take Changsha.

By the 10th of June, almost all of the Chong'an, Yinshan, Rongling, Liling, Xiangnan, Xiangxi (north of Hengshan County), Xiangxiang and other places along the Xiangshui River had surrendered, and only Linxiang still had one or two thousand county soldiers, but they only resisted for only an hour before Kaicheng surrendered.

In the next few days, the entire Jingnan Sun Quan almost passed the word, and the various families in Jingnan rushed to tell each other, and celebrated each other, not only sending a large number of clansmen to join, but also providing grain, grass and materials to Sun Quan's army to help Sun Jiao occupy Jingnan.

In just seven or eight days, Jingnan completely fell into the hands of Sun Quan, and the number of soldiers also increased to more than 40,000.

Only those officials, county magistrates, and county guards who abandoned the city and fled knew that those families were dissatisfied with the hidden family and hidden property because they were deprived of hidden property by Liu Bei's policy.

They have only produced more than 10,000 horses, which is considered good.

If there were still a large number of hidden slaves in the past, I am afraid that each family could produce hundreds or even thousands of people, and the Jingnan family was in groups, especially the millions of people in Lingling County, and it was not difficult to get tens of thousands of troops.

But now with the support of the family, the people at the bottom can't organize quickly, and the officials under Liu Bei in Jingnan can't resist and can only evacuate.

On 12 June, Sun Jiao's fleet crossed Dongting Lake and headed straight for Jiangling.

And four days ago, on June 8, just when Sun Quan was surrounding Juchao and Sun Jiao was quickly seizing Jingnan, Lü Meng, who was stationed in Chaisang, finally began to act.

At the beginning of the morning eclipse, there is still a surging mist on the surface of the Yangtze River, and there is a light rain in the sky, which is a real light rain, standing outside the house and looking up at the sky, a few raindrops are like fluffy sprinkles on the face, and I don't feel the kind of rain at all.

But the sky was dark, not that dark, but that gray. The clouds in the sky are also gray, and they are leaden gray. Only the east is full of daylight, but there is no sun to be seen.

Lu Meng walked out of the Chaisang barracks, and behind him were groups of soldiers, and countless boats on the Chaisang dock were lined up neatly, swaying in the wind and rain.

In the westernmost part of the fleet, in the harbor of the inner lake, there are still a large number of ships parked densely, these ships are completely different from those warships, although some are large and some are small, but there are no military facilities, they are ordinary merchant ships, the name is Yuanlu.

Outside the city of Chaisang due to the rain a few days ago and become muddy and wet, the yellow mud soil is getting more and more wet and slippery, from the wharf to the Yangtze River from afar, you can vaguely see the north of the Jiangxinzhou and the rippling waves of Peng Lize.

Quan Cong raised his head and looked at the sky, and said to Lu Meng: "The governor still has to be careful, it has been raining heavily in Wu County these days, and I am afraid that Yuzhang and Jiangxia will also be pouring rain." ”

"Hmm."

Lu Meng nodded calmly and said: "In this battle, you will attack Xunyang with Wu Hou, and you must also fight quickly, as long as I break the Xiakou Wharf, you must come to the aid quickly." ”

"Don't worry."

Quan Cong nodded: "This is the battle of the rise and fall of Jiangdong, and it is also the battle of my father's revenge." When Yixian released water in the early morning and flooded the army, my father also drowned, and from today on, I will ask him to pay for his blood debt. ”

"Let's go!"

Lu Meng waved his hand, and the soldiers behind him poured out of the barracks like a tide, heading towards the dock.

Soon tens of thousands of people poured into the docks, lined up in order. Under the command of generals at all levels, they did not wear battle armor, but wore ordinary clothes, disguised as merchants, and boarded ships one after another.

After everyone boarded the boat, with a melodious horn sound, hundreds of deer left the port and poured into the Yangtze River in batches in order.

Nowadays, the boats in Jiangdong have been modified, and after obtaining Shen Chen's paddle ship technology, wheel oars are installed on both sides of the boat.

The soldiers did not do nothing in the cabin, but turned the axles to drive the ship with their feet.

At this time, it is the time of summer and autumn, and the southeast wind blows in Yangzhou, and it is the southeast wind that pushes the clouds of the East China Sea to the Jingzhou area, so with the blessing of the sails, their speed is very fast, and they sail all the way to the west.

There were not no beacon towers along the banks of the Yangtze River in Xiling County, but Lü Meng crossed the river in white clothes, disguised himself as a merchant and scattered over, and successfully deceived the guards stationed at the beacon tower.

A large number of beacon towers were quietly uprooted by him, and by the evening of June 10, Lü Meng's fleet had already arrived at Xiakou.

When night falls, the junction of the Yangtze River and the river in Xiakou is probably the area of the South Lake in the southeast of the urban area of Wuhan City in the later generations, and under the hills in the distance, there is a towering city, and there are countless boats in the lake wharf in the north of the city.

】

Historically, Xiakou was established by Sun Quan when he got Jingzhou, and there was no city before because most of Wuhan City was blowing bubbles at the bottom of the Yangtze River and Yunmengze Lake.

It is only in recent years that large numbers of land have surfaced.

Therefore, when Huang Zu guarded Jiangxia before, he did not defend against Sun Ce and Sun Quan's attack in the vicinity of Wuhan City in later generations, but defended in a city called Shaxian in the west of Wuchang District of Wuhan City in later generations.

But now after Wuhan City has exposed a small half from the bottom of the lake, Shen Chen asked Huang Jie to build a city and a wharf in Xiakou, and the main force of the Jiangxia Naval Division is basically stationed here.

At this moment, the sky is dark, Xiakou as the confluence of the Yangtze River and the Han River, connecting the trade ports of Nanyang, Nanjun, Jiangxia and Zhangling counties, and the grain, grass and goods of Jingbei will also be transported to Yizhou, and Yizhou will send salt and Shu brocade, so it has become an important trade distribution center of Jingyi and Yangzhou.

Yangzhou was able to participate in trade because Sun Quan and Liu Bei were allies. In his early years, Zhou Lin himself was also a merchant who often transported goods to Jiangdong for sale, which was very much on the Yangtze River, so Xiakou became more and more prosperous, and even in wartime, there were many merchants gathered here.

The most common thing on the harbor of the lake was the merchant ships, and Lü Meng's fleet arrived at the Xiakou port in the evening, and the flag planted on his ship represented the merchant ships of a certain family in Jiangdong, which often traveled to and from the three states of Jingyiyang, and the soldiers on the docks on the shore had already accepted their bribes and recognized this fleet.

Today's stationed at the dock was a general named Xu Fan under the Yellow Shooter, and due to the recent rain in many areas of Jingzhou and Yangzhou, trade and trade had stagnated slightly, and he suddenly saw a fleet coming from Jiangdong, which made him a little puzzled.

However, when Xu Fan saw the flag on the fleet, he was relieved.

Because there is a big "Shen" word on it.

That's Wu Jun Shen.

Jiangdong family is strong and strong, there are hundreds of families, Wujun Shen family to "family wealth and breeding, wealth and thousands of gold" is famous, to the end of the Han Dynasty, Shen is already Jiangdong wealthy family, after the Eastern Jin Dynasty, there were descendants of Shen police for Xie An to join the army, there are Shen He for Huan Chong to participate, the author of the "Book of Song" Shen Yue, also from this family.

At this time, the Shen family of Wu County was not the Wu Xing Shen family of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the ancestor was the Jiyin Taishou Shen Jing in the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and Shen Rong, the son of Shen Jing, served as Guangluxun, and later moved to Riyu Township, Wucheng County, Huiji County, and then Wucheng County was divided into Wu County, so it was called Wu County Shen.

And where is that Shen Rong's ancestral home?

That's right.

In Runan Gushi.

Two or three hundred years ago with Shen Chen, it was probably the same ancestor.

With the relationship that these eight poles can't beat, plus the Shen family can be a person, and dots along the way, the business of the Shen family of Wu County has gone all the way to Yizhou.

Therefore, when Xu Fan saw that it was the Shen family's fleet, he didn't take it to heart.

Who doesn't know that Wu Jun Shen's business is the biggest?

Not to mention that it rains in many places in Jingzhou and Yangzhou these days, even if it is hailing in the sky, their fleet is probably still correct.

The fleet quickly approached the dock, and Xu Fan just watched from outside the dock barracks and did not move.

According to the past practice, someone will take the initiative to send money anyway.

Really.

After a while, the steward of the Shen family came over with a few people, said some kind words, handed over gifts, and then begged the soldiers in the Xu Fan military camp to help carry the goods.

On weekdays, there are a large number of laborers at Xiakou Wharf, but it happens that the rainy season has come recently, the trade season, and it is approaching dark, the laborers have long since they left to work, and the city is about to close, so it is normal for there to be few people on the wharf.

In the past, soldiers would not go to rob laborers, this is a hard and fast rule above, once the soldiers have military salaries, they can support their families. Second, they are afraid that the soldiers will be arrogant and deprive those laborers of their livelihoods.

But this time the laborers were not there, so Xu Fan thought that it would be good for his brothers to earn some extra money, so he agreed, so he brought hundreds of guards on the dock to prepare to help.

The dense ships sailed into the dock, Xu Fan walked over and said to the steward: "Let your people move the things to the shore first, and then I will let the brothers transport them to the warehouse." ”

Outside the Dongcheng City of Xiakou, there is a warehouse further east of the Su City outside the Dongcheng of Luoyang, where merchants temporarily place goods and rent warehouses there.

The steward replied with a smile on his face, and then whistled.

Immediately after that, at least hundreds of people came out of the cabins of the ships on the dock, with no goods in their hands, but with weapons.

Xu Fan's face suddenly changed greatly.

A sharp knife stabbed him in the chest.

In the last eyes of his life, he only reflected the entourage around the steward who was smiling just now, but at this moment he showed a cruel smile.