The Han army got rid of most of the Cao army and retreated to Xinye, and Pang Tong sent the leading captain Xi Zhen to meet him in Xinye City.

Guan Yu ordered Ling Bao, Zhao Lei and other generals to lead most of the soldiers and horses to be stationed outside Xinye City for repair, and Pang Tong had already prepared meals outside the city and set up camps for the soldiers to rest.

Guan Yu, together with Zhang Fei, Xu Shu and other generals, were welcomed into the humble mansion of Xinye City by Pang Tong, and everyone couldn't help but laugh when they saw Pang Tong wearing battle armor and hanging a sword from his waist.

Zhang Fei quipped: "Shi Yuan, how did you, a strategizing figure, learn to be a general in armor!" ”

Pang Tong replied in a deep voice: "Forced by current affairs, I can't help but slack off, a month after the prince led the main force of Jingchu to the north, the Cao army assigned Runan Taishou Manzhong to lead troops and horses to attack Xinye and Fancheng (mentioned in chapter 160), how dare you be careless!" I arranged for Wang Fu to be stationed in Fancheng and Yuan Lin to be stationed in Xiangyang.

Xi Zhen, the captain of the northern part of Lingling, led the recruits from Lingling and Yidu to help, and let him be the captain of the leading army, and I helped to defend Xinye together. There are more than six or seven thousand elite soldiers and horses led by Manzhong, and there are a considerable number of Tuntian soldiers, which is quite popular! ”

After hearing this, everyone asked, "What is the situation of the battle in Jingzhou?" ”

Pang Tong said: "The Xiangfan waterway is vertical and horizontal, there is no water division in the full favor, and there is no siege equipment, it is naturally not easy to plot the city, as long as the purpose is our army's food road."

Our army used the waterway to transport grain and grass quickly and safely, and Xinye and Fancheng were helpless to defend Cao's army with their strong cities! Full favor led the Cao army to cruise in all directions, trying to surround the boats, but unfortunately although it was the middle of winter, the water dropped seriously but it was also more than five zhang (about 12 meters) deep, Cao Jun had no boat, and did not dare to go into the water, there was no gap to take advantage of.

Our ships were widely equipped with arrows, and Cao's army showed its figure, and when it entered the firing range, it fired arrows in unison, forcing them back. Speaking of which, it took a lot of effort to find a place in the northeast of Fancheng where the water flow was gentle due to the restricted terrain and cut down the waterway. ”

Zhang Feiqi said: "No matter how small the water volume of the Han River is, it can't be filled with a few logs, it's really whimsical to be full of pets!" ”

Pang Tong responded: "That's not the case, I didn't make it clear just now, Manzhong is not trying to block it, but wants to create obstacles and hinder the ship." He even tried to fill in the center of the river from the two banks to build a water village, so that our army's grain ships could come within its range.

It is indeed effective, when I first set up the water village, I was negligent and failed to resolutely stop it, but thought that this move was useless except for the consumption of Cao Jun's military strength, and Cao Jun could not afford to set up a water village at all.

After Manzhong really set up a simple water village, the grain ships were attacked by the Cao army, and the soldiers used bows and crossbows to shoot at them, but the Cao army used the wind direction to carry out fire attacks, igniting more than ten grain ships, and the speed and efficiency of transporting grain by water in the next fifteen days were greatly reduced, which was unfavorable to our army and its disadvantage. ”

Xu Shu said: "Manzhong began to set up a village, there was a temptation, and he wanted to force the defenders of Xinye and Fancheng to go out to fight to block the field battle. Shi Yuan didn't stop it! ”

Pang Tong said: "Indeed, Man Chong dared to be so blatantly thinking that he understood the reality of our army, and knew that the defenders of Xinye and Fancheng were limited. Full Favor can see that once our army goes into battle, its advantage of using the large number of troops is enough to defeat our army.

The water village stood up to threaten our army's grain road, and the weight of grain and grass is the lifeblood of the three armies, and it cannot be blocked and ignored. I saw that Man Pet used a good plan, but he showed timidity, and the scout found out that Man Pet had built two small villages with the help of terrain on the main road connecting the water village, each with five hundred people guarded, and there were seven or eight points of thirty or forty people, and a large number of Cao army scouts also appeared under Fancheng and Xinye City.

After seeing this, I immediately sent someone to Fangling Wuban, and asked him to send 1,000 troops and thousands of people, collect horses, bring enough flags, put on armor and secretly detour to Yuyang, and then go south with great fanfare and pretend to be Nanyang reinforcements, and constantly send scouts and military envoys to and from Xinye and Fancheng. Some of these people carried letters, pretending to be Nanyang soldiers and horses urging grain and grass. ”

Zhang Fei said: "Wait for Shiyuan, you said that the full favor was a month after the second brother's Northern Expedition?" Then why bother, I was supposed to be training riding in Yiling at that time, why didn't you transfer me to support? Besides, there are many soldiers and horses under Nanyang City, and it is not difficult to send thousands of people! ”

Pang Tong said: "Nanyang direction Manpet will definitely send spies and scouts, and may even contact Nanyang Xiahou Shang."

I will be startled by the transfer of troops from Nanyang, and when the reinforcements from Nanyang rush back, Manpet will have already withdrawn. Next, if you leave this army or send it back to Nanyang, and leave it to garrison Xinye, you will successfully trap our army and weaken the front-line troops, and the withdrawal of soldiers and horses is an unfavorable signal, and improper disposal will bring a feeling of instability to the soldiers, which will affect morale and military morale.

If the reinforcements return to Nanyang, the full favor will come again, and the soldiers are tired from running around, and they are easy to be taken advantage of by Cao's army, resulting in defeat. Fang Ling is far away from this, and the deployment of troops is relatively hidden, which is equivalent to saying that he has gone around in a circle, and Man Chong may not be able to think that the unexpected reinforcements will deter Man Chong from the momentum, so that he feels that he has miscalculated and retreats quickly, and it will not affect the morale of the front line.

Man Pet intercepted our army scouts and military envoys mistakenly thought that the supply of grain and grass in Nanyang was insufficient, and sent scouts to listen to the news from the north, and when the soldiers and horses of Fangling appeared, Man Pet immediately retreated, and I sent Xi Zhen to lead 500 people to pretend to intercept.

After Man Chong retreated, Fang Ling's soldiers and horses were stationed, giving Man Chong the illusion that he had successfully dragged down the soldiers and horses on the front line of our army, and Man Chong did not dare to go deeper, and only acted on the periphery.

I seized the opportunity to build a fort between Fancheng and Xinye, and my attention shifted to destroying the fort, and I never went deep into the Han River. In this way, the news was successfully blocked, and the cavalry led by the three generals successfully bypassed the surveillance of the full favor and attacked north. ”

Zhang Fei suddenly realized: "It turned out that it was to warn the north in advance so as not to be discovered by the full pet!" ”

Pang Tong said: "It's not all bad for Man Favor to go deeper, borrow Man Pet to explore the way for Cao's army, and give wrong information: 'Jingzhou has insufficient troops, support is difficult, and there are no extra soldiers and horses for the time being. ’

Full of favor and thoughtfulness, he will inevitably contact Cao Ren, Xu Huang and other armies to the north to inform them of Jingzhou's information, but it will slow down their military morale. Even if you don't send people to report the abnormal situation, the Cao Jun of the various departments that besiege the prince knows that there is a full favor here, and if there is no news, there is no situation, so naturally they will not think much about it, and the three generals can play a deterrent role by surprise. Everyone admired Pang Tong's foresight.

Pang Tong then said: "The three generals went north, considering that the army was about to retreat, I sent officials such as Zhizhong and Zhizhi to Jianyang and Yuyang to persuade the people to move south to Jingzhou, but the effect was not great. ”

Xu Shu hurriedly said: "Shiyuan, according to the custom, the fields, houses, and cloth, and the promise of tax exemption for several years, should make some people tempted!" ”

Pang Tong said: "I didn't promise too much, Jingzhou's money and grain are already tight, and it will cost a lot of money to relocate the people, and it is not worth weighing the pros and cons!" ”

Everyone nodded silently, tens of thousands of soldiers were killed in the Northern Expedition, and it cost a huge amount of money and food to compensate their families, and the additional burden of relocating the people was increased.

After a moment of silence, Pang Tong continued to talk about the war: "After the three generals went north, the harassment of Manzhong was already powerless, in addition to the reinforcements of Fangling to strengthen the troops, some naval troops were also formed to cruise the river, in case the Cao army set up a village, and holding each other became the norm. The army of the prince returned, and Lisuo who was full of favor also retreated! ”

Guan Yu nodded and said: "Fortunately, the main direction of attack of the Cao army is the Northern Expedition, and the partial division does not pose a mortal threat to the hinterland of Jingzhou!" ”

Pang Tong added: "The harassment of Cao's army is not a favored one, and news came from Bachufeiguan that Jiangxia Wenpin led a naval army up the Yangtze River to harass Changsha County.

Changsha, Baqiu and other cities can not hold out, Wen Ping saw that the city is difficult to build, and turned to plunder the population, our army is powerless to stop, the specific battle situation and losses are not yet known, Changsha is different from Fancheng, Xinye, the people gathered along the Yangtze River, Deng Ai is afraid that the Tuntian point will be hit together, and the loss may not be small! ”

Xu Shu sighed: "Cao Pi is powerful, and there are many generals who are far superior to us, not only can he concentrate his troops and horses to fight with me head-on, but also divide his troops to attack my foundation, it seems that Cao Pi is not easy to make!" ”

Guan Yu stroked his beard and said: "The Northern Expedition suffered serious losses, nearly 40,000 soldiers, after this battle, Jingzhou will inevitably fluctuate, on the other hand, the loss of Cao's army is far smaller than our army, I am afraid that it will hit at the beginning of spring, and we must quickly find a way to stabilize people's hearts!" ”

When all the generals heard this, they all lowered their heads and pondered, and when they went, the fighting spirit of the three armies was high, and they rose up with majesty, and they were partial to the generals and colonels who wanted to make great achievements.

After three months of fighting, half of the main force of the southern retreat was defeated, the general was seriously injured, and the life and death of the soldiers and horses were unknown after Lu Hun Deng Ai and Guan Ping were broken, but Guan Yu returned safely, but it seemed to be a hasty run south to flee for his life.

Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Xu Shu and others have prominent reputations, and they think very highly of themselves, thinking of the contrast between before and after and the achievements of the Northern Expedition, they can't help but feel heavy, and the rest of the generals are silent when they see the coach like this.

Pang Tong saw the decadent atmosphere, touched his beard and said loudly: "Man Pet easily went deep into the hinterland of Jingxiang and returned in vain, Wen Ping cruised the Yangtze River to plunder the population but it was difficult to seize Baqiu and other important towns where there was a shortage of troops, Cao's army can be said to have hit the soft underbelly, but it was difficult to achieve substantial results, and it was the work of the Northern Expedition that we did not lose an inch of land."

Cao Pi thinks that the chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty has been so far, and all the heroes have risen up and been flattened by the Cao family, and the world has all bowed their heads.

Suppress the king militarily, deter Sun Quan, occupy two of the three parts of the world, and defend the rich land of the Central Plains, and gain geographical advantages.

In the court, after two generations of the Cao family, they eliminated dissidents, and as for the hearts of Cao Pi, he was confident that he was completely in control of the situation, and the loyal ministers of the Han family had long been lost, and those with different aspirations were also uprooted one by one.

Cao Pi was confident that he had completely mastered the situation, and he never expected that the king would dare to go straight to Luoyang when he was in the limelight, which was undoubtedly a heavy setback to Cao Pi's self-confidence and prestige.

Cao thief usurped the Han Central Plains, the people were depressed, and our Han army held high the banner of righteousness, not afraid of life and death, and attacked the strong with the weak, showing that there was still hope for the Han family and the soul of the Han was not extinguished. This move is not only to inspire people, but also to show the world that the king is the legitimate successor of the Han family, exercising power on behalf of the Han family, and our actions are justified.

The victory or defeat of the Northern Expedition was nothing, and the losses were indeed unexpected, but the battlefield battle was normal. The generals returned safely, although Xingba was seriously injured, he was also out of danger, most of the soldiers and horses were withdrawn, and I Pang Tong tried to recruit how many soldiers and horses were lost in the Northern Expedition, and I raised other losses of grain, grass, equipment, etc.

Yun Chang and Yide, you will first reorganize the withdrawn soldiers and horses, and the 20,000 miscellaneous soldiers who were temporarily filled with the army should not be disbanded (referring to the 20,000 pseudo-cavalry among Zhang Fei's 30,000 cavalry), and be incorporated into the army! ”

Zhang Fei said: "It's not that some people are lent to our army by the Shi clan, and the Shi clan will be willing to leave them!" Especially when we hear the news of the defeat, these guys won't help us anymore! ”

Pang Tong said: "Don't worry, I have my own way!" After speaking, he exhaled and said: "Pan Jun's good life is over, it's time for him to have a headache!" ”