At the beginning of October of the twenty-fourth year of Jian'an, in the Longzhong Township Pavilion west of Xiangyang, Wu Dang looked at his own house that was flooded, and his face was not very good-looking.

The Pavilion used to be a plain, hundreds of miles of fertile fields, north of the Han River, south of Atou Mountain, west of Jing Mountain, between the countryside and the longitudinal and horizontal, each village pavilion gathers people to come and go, can be described as a rich paradise.

But at this time, after the flooding of the Han River, it became a mess, the village was washed away, the countryside was covered, and even the originally wide road was submerged in the gravel, and only the accumulated sediment and ruins of the original place told the traces left by the people who once reproduced.

Wu was their hometown, completely gone. In front of nature, human beings have always seemed so small and fragile.

Huo Yang patted him on the shoulder and comforted: "Although the home is gone, the people are still there." Shi Jun was right, if he hadn't had the foresight to move the people of his hometown, maybe our family would have been buried in the flood. ”

Wu Tao also said: "Yes, there are still some remnants of your family, and there is nothing left in my family." The two acres of land I used to plough with my own hands are now flooded into sand. ”

Wu Dangzheng was sad, and he was about to be laughed at by the two of them, Huo Yang and Wu Tao's family was the head of the bottom, and the whole family was a broken house with a few acres of land, even if it was flooded, it was not much of a loss, anyway, it was not worth much.

And according to the class divided by Shijun, his family belongs to rich peasants, and the bare land is about 200 acres. Not to mention the houses, livestock and all kinds of furniture that were difficult to take with them when they migrated.

But of course he wouldn't say that, just shook his head and smiled bitterly: "It's just a little uncomfortable, Longzhong Township is the place where I was born and raised, and it's gone." ”

"Don't worry, when Shijun recovers Jingzhou, the villagers will still come back."

Wu Tao also patted him on the back, pointed to Dongfang and said, "Look, there seem to be a few little cubs over there." ”

Looking in the direction pointed by Wu Tao, I saw that several horses appeared on the slope of the road east of the Wei Pavilion, and the people on the horses were wearing the black military uniforms of the Wei army, looking at them from a distance.

"It's all it!"

A sharp whistle sounded suddenly, and hundreds of cavalry behind the three of them whistled and rushed into the distance.

The Wei soldiers hurriedly turned their horses and fled in the direction of Xiangyang.

Xiangyang is surrounded by water, and it is almost impossible for large-scale scouts to come out, so they can only use small boats to carry a small number of scouts, and Cao Wei scouts only a few people at a time, at most a dozen people.

Because Shen Chen's fleet would cruise the Xiangyang moat at any time, even if there were some ships in the city, Xiahoudun would not dare to use it on a large scale.

Now the entire Han River is Shen Chen's territory, and every steel hammer that falls from the sky has to be surnamed Shen, and the Chinese sturgeon that pops out of the river has to be served to Shen Chen's dining table, not to mention Cao Jun, who is trapped in the city.

Almost no Cao Jun dared to appear on both sides of the river.

Xiahoudun is like a turtle that doesn't even dare to show its head, once it stretches out its claws and head, the kitchen knife outside will chop it down at any time.

So he doesn't know why, and he doesn't know what the situation is.

He only knew one thing - that is, if he did not evacuate Xiangyang by November, the soldiers would starve to death.

The scouts of Cao's army, who traveled to and from Yancheng every day, could only choose to act at night, and they also crossed the mountains and walked along the mountains. During the day, they can basically only go to the outskirts of Longzhong Township.

And every time Huo Yang and Wu were able to chase after the once invincible Cao Jun scouts like rabbits, they ran all over the ground.

It's just that everyone knows that the scouts released during the day are just a disguise, and the real scout messengers act quietly at night, always passing through Yin County, where Fu Fang is located, and then being told by Fu to Shen Chen......

Time passed slowly, and by the beginning of October, Zang Ba's reinforcements had arrived in Nanyang Wancheng from Xuzhou, and a few days later they arrived at the front line to join Xiahou Yuan.

He brought 18,000 people, and after converging with Xiahou Yuan and them, he had an army of almost 90,000, including 40,000 in Xiangyang City, and Cao's army had 130,000.

This undoubtedly gave Xiahou Yuan the confidence to start their actions, on October 6, in the camp tent of the main general in the Fancheng camp in Jiangbei, Shen Chen was looking at the letter sent by the enemy, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but show a smile.

The current situation is that the enemy does not move, and I do not move.

Xiahou Yuan and the others remained silent and did not take the initiative to provoke, and he did not take the initiative to attack Yancheng, both sides occupied the city and built a camp, and they would always suffer if they took the initiative to attack.

After the Battle of Xiangfan Guan Yu flooded the Seventh Army, Xu Huang was stationed in Yancheng, and Guan Yu personally led the troops to the expedition, but was finally repelled by Xu Huang, which shows how difficult it is to attack the camp.

Anyway, it's not Shen Chen who is in a hurry now, it's Xiahoudun who is short of food in the city, Xiahouyuan and Cao Cao who want to save Xiahoudun, Cao Jun wants to save Xiahoudun, so he has to take the initiative to attack, why should he ask for hardship?

"Senior brother, what do you say?"

Seeing Shen Chen smiling at the letter sent by the enemy, Zhou Budo asked curiously.

Shen Chen smiled and handed him the letter in his hand, looked around at everyone and said, "Guo Jia came down to fight and asked me to wait for tomorrow's decisive battle, guess what?" ”

At present, all the generals are distributed in various battalions, and there are only Shen Chen, Zhou Budo, Cai Du, Deng Ai, Liu Wei, Zhou Jian, Zhang Nan, Qu Kang and other deputy generals in the main camp, and even Shan Yi has been sent out now, so there are fewer generals in the camp.

The main objects of his inquiries were also Zhou Budo, Cai Du and Deng Ai.

Deng Ai got up and arched his hand and said, "Xia ...... Xiahoudun was short of food, so he must be preparing to evacuate. Outer part..... Guo Jia came down to write a battle letter, probably to cover Xiahoudun's retreat. ”

"Hmm."

Shen Chen nodded and encouraged: "Shizai's stuttering problem has been much better, if you persist a little longer, you will be able to speak normally in the future." ”

"Thank you..... Xie Shijun. ”

Deng Ai smiled honestly, he cared and enjoyed Shijun's recognition very much.

Shen Chen said again: "Shi Zai is right, it is not safe to withdraw troops at night. There are no big ships in Xiangyang City, so they can only use small boats to transport people to the outside of the West City in batches, and at this moment the four gates of Xiangyang are full of our army scouts, once discovered, the fleet will advance at night, and Xiahoudun will be destroyed by our army in an instant. Therefore, Guo Jia is afraid that he will withdraw his troops during the day. ”

"Guo Jia is very bold."

Zhou Budo said with a smile: "During the day, we were invited to fight in the field, so that even if our army found out that Xiahoudun wanted to evacuate, it would not be able to pass because the main force was dragged on the battlefield." Then let Fu Fang build a walled wall on the bank of the river in Zhuyangyin County, even if we have other troops to attack and harass, Xiahoudun himself can use the walled wall to block it and smoothly withdraw to the north bank, and even say that it is not good to participate in the battle to attack our army from behind. ”

Shen Chen nodded approvingly: "Guo Jia has always been very bold and good at scheming, and it is precisely because of this that he has the same smell as Cao Cao." ”

Historically, this guy was not only a master of psychology, but also a master of scheming.

For example, the thousand-mile rush to kill himself on White Wolf Mountain, although it caused him to travel a long distance and died of illness in the bitter cold outside the Saiwai, and almost wiped out Cao Cao's entire army, but what was the result?

It turned out to be a win.

In a world where heroes are judged by success or failure, winning is the right thing.

It's as if Ma Tan was also famous for his resourcefulness before the street pavilion, and he valued Zhuge Liang, and he also said the famous aphorism of "attacking the city for the bottom, attacking the heart for the top".

But after the Battle of the Street Pavilion, he became synonymous with straw bales, and this is the reality.

Therefore, Guo Jia's life is still very legendary, even if his role gives Cao Cao more psychological comfort than practical significance, but he is also famous for daring to do some tricks and tricks that put him to death and live later.

It's just that this strategy is like a double-edged sword, and the battle of White Wolf Mountain is also Cao Cao and Zhang Liao, and he barely won, but Shen Chen is not the kind of person who is ruined.

Therefore, if you want to engage in this kind of bells and whistles again, then you will underestimate Shen Chen.

Cai Du said: "Since this is the case, then we don't have to pay attention to Guo Jia, now it is the Cao army who is in a hurry, if we want to win steadily, we should continue to stick to the camp, surround Xiangyang, and wait for Xiahoudun to go out of the city to die, or wait for him to run out of food and grass and die." ”

"Well, it's right to win steadily, in that case, we will win."

Shen Chen agreed, but his face did not change.

Zhou Budo noticed this and asked, "Senior brother, don't you think this is bad?" ”

"Good is good..... Just ....."

"Just what?"

"It's just that there's no time to wait for me."

Shen Chen let out a long sigh, his face was embarrassed.

"Why?"

Everyone wondered.

If it continues to drag on, it will only be beneficial to them, do you still want to go out and take the initiative to fight?

Shen Chen said in a deep voice: "You don't know the situation in the rear, I'll tell you about it, now the people of Jingzhou Yizhou can be said to be living in poverty." ”

"So serious?"

Zhou Budo frowned, he really didn't pay attention to these issues.

"This battle can be said to be a competition for the national strength of Cao Cao, Sun Quan, and the lord, with grain and grass, forced labor, and taxes, and the burden on the people is extremely heavy."

Shen Chen said with a sad face: "Jiangdong has probably been dragged down by us now, but Cao Cao's national strength is stronger than ours, and the most important thing is that this battle has destroyed almost the entire Jingzhou, and it will take at least a year or two to recover." ”

"Although Nanyang is occupied by Cao Cao, Cao Cao has not had any extra troops to harm the people, and it is currently unharmed, but the place is obtained by Cao Cao, and we can't levy the people and get grain and grass taxes."

Zhou Budo touched the green beard growing out of his chin, lowered his head and thought: "Jingnan is the same, but it has just been recovered, and there are still many Jingnan families to deal with, maybe there will be chaos in the rear, and there is no way to supplement us." ”

"Jiangxia, Xiling, and Nanjun are again flooded by torrential rains...... The king is still fighting with Cao's army in Guanzhong, he is from afar, and the pressure on the grain and grass in the rear must be very great, it seems that the general is right. ”

Cai Du added: "Now that Jingzhou is almost half destroyed, the pressure of grain and grass is all on the people of Yizhou, and the land of Bashu may indeed be difficult for the people to make a living." ”

"yes."

Shen Chen shook his head and said, "If it weren't for Brother Kong Ming's hard work and strategizing in the rear, I'm afraid we would have lost this battle a long time ago." So it can't be delayed any longer, they want to rescue Xiahoudun as soon as possible, and I also want to eliminate Xiahoudun as soon as possible, so it's better to plan it. ”

Xiahoudun settled in Xiangyang at the end of August, and by the heavy rain in Xiangfan in September, half of the grain and grass were flooded, and half of the grain and grass could only be eaten for two months, but now it is October, which means that by the end of October, he will have no food.

However, this is in the case of the army being full, if you follow the example of Cao Cao's grain officer, who originally used a big bucket to feed the soldiers, replaced it with a small bucket, and did not let the soldiers eat enough, so that it could be supported for a longer period of time.

In that way, by November, not only would it be delayed for a longer time, but Zhang Liao's reinforcements from Yecheng had also arrived, which was actually not good news for Shen Chen.

The current situation in Jingzhou is extremely erosive, and the main reason is the disaster caused by the flood.

On the Jingnan side, Sun Quan only occupied it initially, and then quickly went north, without harming the people. It's the same in Nanyang, because migrating people in ancient times was a huge project.

Historically, it took four years for Cao Cao to migrate the population of Hanzhong, and two years for the people of Huainan to be forcibly relocated, and it was not successful, and a large number of people fled to Jiangdong.

Shen Chen was able to move three or four hundred thousand people in Xiangyang within 20 days because he had enough prestige to persuade the people to leave. At the same time, the migration site is more than 100 miles away in Nanzhang, and the road is not far away.

Nanyang is different, now Nanyang has a population of more than one million, distributed in Nanyang counties, and mostly concentrated in the south of Nanyang, more than 300 kilometers away from the Henan area where Cao Cao wants to migrate.

Now Cao Cao's army is all fighting on the front line, and he wants to coerce and forcibly relocate the population one by one, unless the people take the initiative to leave, or Cao Cao conjures up an army of more than 100,000 people. Otherwise, it's almost impossible to get things done.

Therefore, in fact, Shen Chen used Jingzhou as bait, causing little loss of population in Jingnan and Nanyang, and it did not have much impact, and Cao Cao and Sun Quan could not draw troops to make a move against the people.

The only trouble is this once-in-a-millennium epic natural disaster.

The floods inundated both sides of the Han River and the Yangtze River, displacing many people who had not had time to evacuate and flooding a large number of fields.

However, Nanyang is now occupied by Cao Wei, and Sun Quan's occupied area in Jingnan has just been recovered, and the Shenchen occupied areas such as Nanjun and Jiangxia have been plagued by floods, resulting in huge logistical pressure on him now.

The consumption of grain and grass is very high, and the transfer of people has led to serious forced labor, and there are still many people in the disaster area in the rear who are displaced and waiting to be fed, and the pressure is all on the people of Yizhou.

Therefore, Shen Chen must end this battle as soon as possible, eat all the Cao army or drive it out of Nanyang, and restore stability in Jingzhou as soon as possible.

Knowing their current situation, Zhou Budo could only agree and said: "Senior brother, this is for the sake of the overall situation, and now it seems that we are indeed going to make a quick decision." ”

"Just ......"

Cai Du hesitated: "It's just that I'm thinking about a question." ”

"What's the problem?"

"Since it is more beneficial for our army to hold on, will Guo Jia suspect that we are planning a plan?"

"No!"

Shen Chen said without hesitation: "The situation in Cao Cao's rear is actually not much better than ours, all parts of Henan are now full of wolf smoke, there are countless rebels, and they also have the predicament we are facing, Guo Jia will not guess how serious the burden is on our rear." What's more, my character, he should know that in the face of Cao Jun, it is not my habit to stick to it. ”

Cai Du said: "That's good, in that case, I agree with the general sending troops." ”

"I agree with that."

"I have long wanted to slash Xiahou Yuan and take his white horse."

"General, the last general is willing to be the vanguard!"

All the soldiers stood up one after another, and their fighting spirit was high.

"Good!"

Shen Chen saw that everyone was popular, so he said with relief: "Now that Nanjun, Jiangxia, Xiling and other places have been flooded so that the people are suffering, and it is necessary to quickly recapture Nanyang, so I decided to send troops, let me come to meet Guo Jia for a while, and see how miraculous he is!" Send the order to Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong, and the task of intercepting Xiahoudun will be handed over to them, be sure to bring Xiahoudun back to me! ”

"Yui!"

The soldiers responded with a bang, and their morale soared.