"General Guan focuses on the overall situation, and he really has the demeanor of a general, and he is worthy of being the first general under the command of the lord."

Xu Shu nodded in affirmation, and then reminded: "This matter must not be postponed, otherwise the news of Jiang Qin's return to Shun will come out, and he will not be able to earn Xiangyang." ”

"Don't worry, Yuanzhi, I'll fix the book right away and send someone to Fancheng overnight." After Guan Yu answered, he added: "There is Lao Yuanzhi who organized the evacuation of the people, but now the waterway is blocked by Cai Mao, I don't know where to evacuate the people?" If you move directly to Guanzhong through Wuguan, you need to send troops to protect and respond to such a long distance, but the soldiers of Wancheng are already insufficient."

Xu Shu frowned and replied: "If Cao Cao goes south to Jingzhou, the entire Nanyang County should not be safe, and tens of thousands of people have three places to go, Guanzhong, Hanzhong or south of Hanshui;

Hanzhong is farther than Guanzhong can be ruled out, whether Xiangyang can be captured at this time is not yet known, the most secure should be directly moved to Guanzhong, Yun Chang only needs to send a battalion of men and horses, escort along the way to maintain order;

I recommend moving to Nanxiang first, which is close to Wancheng and Wuguan, and is a good place to move in and out. ”

"Good, good." Guan Yu applauded and said: "Wancheng and West Eduo are migrants from Runan, I will ask Gong Du to escort them to Nanxiang first, and then we will talk about whether to advance or retreat." ”

"General Gong is very suitable, Yun Chang has already thought about it, then I will deploy it at night, so that I can set off tomorrow morning."

Xu Shu said goodbye and left, Guan Yu suddenly stopped behind him, took off the green brocade robe on his body and handed it over, and said with a concerned face:

"In the late autumn night, fog and frost fall, I Guan Yuanzhi is thinly dressed today, and I am afraid that I will be infected by the wind and cold, so I will temporarily put on this brocade robe to keep out the cold."

"I practice swords in the morning and evening to strengthen my body, how can I help the fog and frost? Besides, these fogs in Wancheng are far from Fancheng."

Xu Shu shook his head as he walked, and at the end of the words, a flash of inspiration flashed in his mind, and he said in his heart, is it using the weather to fight?

Guan Yu's cloak was not sent out, I saw Xu Shu stop at the door for a moment, and then disappeared into the cold twilight, but Guan Yu didn't have time to delve into Xu Shu's heart, he needed to hurry up and repair the book and deploy, otherwise the herald would not arrive in Fancheng in time, and Gan Ning might lead the navy to attack Cai Mao, which would lose the opportunity to capture Xiangyang.

The heralds set out overnight, walking around the field with torches in hand, looking down from above as if the stars were moving.

The firelight flowed at night, and was detected by Cao Jun on the east bank of the river, but he did not respond to it.

Cao Ren used the encroachment strategy, he first cut off the wings and branches of Wancheng, and then built a bridge to cross the river in the dry season, guessing that Guan Yu's warship would run aground at that time, or wait for the defenders of Wancheng to collapse in their hearts, and then cross the river for a decisive battle.

The next morning, Cao Ren was awakened in his sleep.

was about to get angry at the waiter, but saw Xu Huang standing in front of the door.

Cao Ren secretly thought that there must be something important, so he lifted the quilt and turned over to stay, and took advantage of the interval between the waiters to change clothes to ask questions.

"It's just dawning, Gongming got up so early, you are standing in front of the room at this time, could it be that Guan Yu called?"

"General Rongyu, it is not General Guan who takes the initiative to attack, but after dawn, scouts from all over the country have come to report, they say that the people of Xi'e and Wancheng are helping the old and young to go out of the west of the city, so they came to ask the general."

As soon as Xu Huang's words fell, Cao Ren just turned to face him, waiting for the chamberlain to tie his belt.

Hearing this, Cao Ren grabbed the waiter, said, 'I'll come by myself', and then stepped forward while tidying up, and asked Xu Huang: "Gongming, what did you say?" Are the people of Xi'e and Wancheng fleeing? Could it be that Guan Yu is playing some tricks? ”

"In the last general's shallow view, General Guan is arrogant and arrogant, and he doesn't like to use strange soldiers, if the people flee is a plan, it must be Xu Shu's strategy."

After Xu Huang finished expressing his opinion, he looked up and secretly observed Cao Ren, only to see that the other party showed disdain.

"Xu Shu? There are some small skills of carving insects, but in the face of absolute strength, these little tricks are useless, and the few counties that he took with a trick finally returned to us, and he also took a few more counties of Guan Yu, how can they have any rescue measures? I think he has exhausted his skills, and those counselors have exalted him too much."

"Ugh"

Xu Huang was inconvenient to refute, but only reminded in a low voice: "We have not had a short confrontation on both sides of the river, and we have never seen General Guan move like this, or Xu Shu acted like this, will he plan to give up Nanyang?" ”

"Give up?"

Cao Ren shook his head with a pout, with his understanding of Guan Yu's personality, he said in his heart that this man was so proud, how could he give up easily?

"The initiative is in our hands, the people of Xi'e and Wancheng fled when they fled, they may want to save grain and grass, but leave the people to act as miscellaneous soldiers, it is very difficult to rely on soldiers to defend alone, and the hundreds of warships parked in Shuishui, I heard that Guan Yu worked hard in Fancheng to supervise the construction, he may not be willing to give up, so just watch the warships in the river."

"Then if General Guan really retreats to Guanzhong."

Xu Huang's meaning had already been reached, so he didn't finish his words.

"Isn't that right? We took Jingzhou for the prime minister, and then went west to Yizhou and east to Yangzhou, at that time Liu Bei curled up in the northwest like a cage, how could it last long? ”

"This"

"Let's go, follow me to Huashui to have a look, Guan Yu abandoned the prime minister and returned to Liu Bei, I'm afraid he will regret it at this time."

"Yui."

Cao Ren and Xu Huang walked out of the main tent together, and saw that Zhang Xiu also hurried to report, so the three of them went to Shuishui to investigate.

The people of Xi'e and Wancheng fled, but the warships in the water were not abnormal, and the patrols did not stop at all.

In line with the idea that the enemy will not move and we will not move, Cao Ren only strengthened the surveillance of Guan Yu for the rest of the day, and was not in a hurry to take any military action, but sent Ma Yan, Zhang Yi and other generals to cross Bishui to the south to occupy Huyang and Pingshi counties controlled by Liu Qi, so as to move the way for Li Tong to transfer troops and grain from Runan.

Cao Ren felt that Liu Bei stayed in Nanyang, and there was a high probability that he would escape back to Guanzhong through Wuguan, as long as Guan Yu's army was trapped in the water, the rest of the foot soldiers would be fish and meat on the case.

On the other hand, before Cao Ren set out on the expedition, Cao Cao had instructed him to surround the point and send reinforcements.

used Guan Yu as bait to lure out Liu Bei's reinforcements.

Compared with attacking Tongguan, Wuguan and other dangerous passes, completing the consumption of Liu Bei's army in the Nanyang Plain is more cost-effective for Cao Cao to recapture the land of Guanzhong, so Cao Ren is not in a hurry after arriving in Nanyang.

Guan Yu transferred the main force to Wancheng, the previous siege of Xiangyang had been lifted, and Cao Ren had no need to take a detour to capture Fancheng, which would not guarantee his own grain route.

Cao Cao attacked the Wuchao granary, and finally turned defeat into victory in Guandu, knowing the importance of protecting the grain road.

It's a pity that it was Cao Ren's contempt for Fancheng that made Xiangyang, the seat of Jingzhou's governance, an enemy.

Cai Mao heard the news and went to Cao Ying to ask for help, Cao Ren saw his lost soul, and hurriedly said with relief: "General Deju, don't worry, maybe it's a rumor that Xu Shu has let people go?" Xiangyang's terrain is dangerous, the city is strong, can Fancheng be able to do things with those soldiers and horses? I don't believe it. ”

"I also hope it's fake, but my brother came to report it, how can this matter be fake? It was Sun Quan who betrayed the prime minister, and his generals met Kuai Yidu, and were accidentally won by the other party to open the city gate, and as a result, Guan Ping led his troops across the river with the help of the fog, and captured Xiangyang in one go."

(End of chapter)