The big tent of the Chinese army is finally empty.

Zhang Ji rubbed his somewhat sour eyes and said to Xi Zhicai and Zhang He, "It should be okay now, right?"

Xi Zhicai opened the book he was carrying, looked at it and said, "At present, this is roughly the case, other matters need to be handled after the Jingzhou army arrives in Xiangyang, and the general can rest for a while."

"I'll take a break!" Zhang Ji raised his eyebrows, and said impatiently, "I don't want to rest at all now, I'm in a hurry to get Yuan Shu, you know?" Otherwise, you and Jun Yi will be stationed in Xiangyang, and I will take the first step and go to meet Yuan Shu!"

Zhang He immediately said, "General, no!"

If Zhang Ji leaves, he will be a first-time general to guard Xiangyang, isn't this suspicious?

"General, otherwise, the last general will take the first step to find out the enemy's situation for the army. After dealing with the affairs of Xiangyang, the general led his troops north." Zhang He suggested.

"You can pull it down, I'm in a hurry to fight by myself, but I'm not in a hurry to fight Yuan Shu!" Zhang Ji said sullenly.

Zhang He: ......

Zhang Jisheng said uncontrollably, "Why did Your Majesty give me such an errand? Isn't that embarrassing?"

Xi Zhicai chuckled and said, "I have a small suggestion for my humble position, I wonder if the general is willing to listen to it?"

"Hurry up and say, don't sell these crepe passes." Zhang Ji said irritably.

Xi Zhicai picked up the boiling teapot, poured a steaming cup of tea for Zhang Ji, and said, "The general might as well urge the rear route army to rush to Xiangyang as soon as possible, and then leave General Cao Chun to guard Xiangyang and deal with the next things in Xiangyang. In this way, the general can naturally go north as soon as possible."

"The rear route army is still about three or four days away, and after three days, Cai Mao, Huang Zu and others should have already put their soldiers and horses in order, just right."

Zhang Ji's eyes lit up, "If you had said that earlier, I would definitely have to praise you!"

"However, is it better to keep Cao Chun in Xiangyang or Duan Xuan?"

Xi Zhicai said: "According to the humble position, it is better for General Cao Chun to stay in Xiangyang, he has experience in dealing with these things, if there is a lowly position to help, it should not be a problem to take care of Jingzhou's affairs."

Zhang Ji nodded with great satisfaction, and said to Zhang He: "Then at that time, you and I will take these little miscellaneous people in Jingzhou who can't fight to the north to get Yuan Shu, and let Duan Xuan take Xu Shu, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei to take care of the mess in Jiaozhou that fights all day long. It's perfect!"

Zhang He: ......

The imperial army came, but several elders who had always been respected by the scholars of Jingzhou were completely ignored by Zhang Ji.

I didn't even look at Pang Degong and the others.

After welcoming the imperial army outside the city, Pang Degong and the others followed Liu Bei back to the government office.

"Old decay, congratulations to Liu Yuanjun for his ascension again." Pang Degong smiled kindly and arched his hand at Liu Bei, "When Vientiane is renewed, the world needs a benevolent and virtuous person like Liu Yuanjun. Sending you a thousand miles must be said goodbye in the end, and this congratulatory word should also be a farewell word to the envoy."

Liu Bei and Pang Degong felt a little familiar at first sight, and couldn't help but say regretfully: "Thanks to Pang Gong's auspicious words, it's a pity that the imperial court failed to recruit a few. After returning to Luoyang, you must recommend a few to Your Majesty. Talents like Pang Gong and Mr. Shui Jing should not live in seclusion in the mountains."

Pang Degong waved his hand with a faint chuckle on his face, "The imperial court has its own rules and principles. His Majesty personally issued an edict to conquer Pang Tong, and he should not know a few of us. Your Majesty is determined to forge ahead, and has the intention of making great progress, and the courtiers you use are all young and energetic, and we really don't agree with Your Majesty's reasoning that you use materials to make people."

"It's a shame." Liu Bei shook his head and sighed, "A talented person is not old!"

Sima Hui said with a smile, "As far as Pang Gong and I are concerned, I am afraid that if there is a war, we can only be carried by others, and we may die in the middle of the road. Liu Yuanjun doesn't have to feel sorry for us, everyone in the world has their own destiny, each has its own fate, I don't want to enter the temple at this time, but it is difficult to guarantee that I will not enter in the future."

"But in fact, I live in seclusion among the mountains and rivers, and I am at ease

yes, it's a very good thing."

Liu Bei arched his hand and said, "Mr. Shui Jing is really a master in the world!"

"A master can't talk about it, just a country man." Sima Hui smiled, "I'll take a step forward to leave, and Liu Zhijun will stop!"

"I'll give you one!"

Zhang Ji waited for three days outside Xiangyang City.

When the rear army was still 100 miles away from Xiangyang, he couldn't wait to take Zhang He to pull out. new

The original plan to take Cai Mao and Huang Zu as the pioneers was also thrown aside by him.

Instead, it was temporarily decided to put the Jingzhou soldiers in the rear army, and after Xi Zhicai arranged them, he would send them north.

When Liu Bei tidied up the soldiers and horses around Xiangyang and rushed to the imperial army camp with a mighty army, he suddenly found that the soldiers inside seemed to have changed, and they seemed to be different from before, and the number seemed to be several times more.

"Did I see it wrong, or what's going on, how do I feel as if I'm quietly adding troops?" Liu Bei found Kuai Yue and expressed his doubts.

Kuai Yue gave Liu Bei a positive answer, "Envoy Jun is not mistaken, Zhang Ji has indeed increased his troops again, it should be that the rear army has arrived." But the march of the imperial army is indeed secretive, and we are unaware of such a large-scale troop movement under our noses."

"I noticed!" Huang Zu suddenly interjected and said, "I have walked all the way to the north. The rear army arrived late last night, and it was divided into two routes, one way at Da Hyeon, and all the way to here."

Because the last time he was directly beaten by Sun Jian to the city of Xiangyang, Huang Zu's soldiers and horses have been stationed in the outermost part of Xiangyang.

It can be regarded as the first line of defense in Xiangyang.

And it turns out that Liu Biao's arrangement still has some effect.

The movement of soldiers and horses that no one else noticed, only Huang Zu noticed.

Liu Bei smiled bitterly: "It seems that Zhang Ji still doesn't believe in us very much, he doesn't enter the city, and he divides his troops into two routes, and he is very cautious about his precautions."

"It's right to be on guard, and you shouldn't let your guard down until the last step." Kuai Yue said, "If it were me, I would do the same."

"Let's go, let's go meet General Zhang and ask him to review my Jingzhou elite soldiers!" Liu Bei said, "This should be regarded as the final step."

"Liu Envoy, please!"

After the soldiers reported, Liu Bei led Jingzhou Wenwu to enter the Chinese army tent again.

But when he saw the people inside, Liu Bei was stunned.

The person who was supposed to sit at the top was not there, but it was vacant at the moment, but the people on the left and right sides were almost full.

What's going on?

"Liu Yuanjun!" At the top of the left side, Cao Chun stood up, clasped his fists at Liu Bei and said, "Zhang Ji, the general of the Southern Expedition, has led General Zhang He to take the lead and go north to Nanyang. Ben will be ordered by the lord to temporarily take care of all matters in Jingzhou. The matter in Liu Yuanjun's hands can now be handed over to me, by the way, this general Cao Chun!"

Liu Bei: ???

It's becoming, it's really a little bit fast.

"I've seen General Cao." Liu Bei Zhengse, arched his hand and said, "The soldiers and horses near the left side of Xiangyang have been selected, and after eliminating the old, weak, sick and disabled, as well as only sons, young children, and those under the age of eighteen, there are 32,600 soldiers. At this moment, all the troops are gathered outside the city, and the general can review them at any time."

"Look!" Cao Chun got up and stretched out his hand to Liu Bei, "Give me the roster!"

Liu Bei forgot about it.

But fortunately, the careful Kuai Yue prepared everything earlier, and immediately took out the roster and handed it to Cao Chun.

There is really no harm if there is no comparison, the imperial court army in the camp, and the Jingzhou army outside the camp.

The difference between the two is as great as the difference between the regular army and the militia.

Jingzhou has always been known as 100,000 soldiers with armor, but most of the soldiers are in leather armor, and less than 30% of them really have iron armor.

"Cai Mao, Huang Zu, listen to my drum order to change formation!" Cao Chun walked through the military formation with a serious face and said suddenly.

After speaking, Cai Mao and Huang Zu were not allowed to say anything, and went directly to the battle

Next to the drum, he picked up the drumstick.

Huang Zu and Cai Mao, who have always been careless, almost instinctively resisted this very tough order.

Liu Bei's face darkened, and he said in a deep voice, "What are you doing in a daze? Listen!"

"Do you want to give someone a handle? It's a different day!" Kuai Yue also said.

Cai Mao and Huang Zu hurriedly gave orders to their subordinates and listened to the drum orders.

Cao Chun took the sound of drums as an order and made a few simple formations, that is, defense and offense.

But often after the sound of his drums, the soldiers began to change formations in a daze.

"The old woman climbs the mountain faster than this!" Cao Chun threw down the drumstick and said with a calm face, "The imperial army fights with drums and banners, and if you don't want to enter the battlefield for the first time, you will lose your troops and lose a big defeat. I advise you to train here for two days, at least to keep up with the commands. Two days later, you two will lead your army north!"

"General, in two days, we'll go north?" Huang Zu blurted out.

Cao Chun's face was majestic, and he glanced at Huang Zu with contempt, "Is there a problem? You were supposed to be pulled out today! But at the level of your military training, if you go up, you will be sent to death, and I will deliberately leave you two days. If you don't want these two days, you can do it today."

"Yes! We want!" Kuai Yue shouted for Huang Zu.