When he heard Mi Zhu shouting three words of disaster, Liu Bei's heart suddenly sank, and his first reaction was that something had happened in Changsha.

Cao Cao collected Jingzhou without losing a single army, and what he got was not only a huge territory, but also more than 100,000 soldiers and horses on land and water in Jingxiang, among which the sailors were the most fierce.

Cai Mao and Zhang Yun had long had bad intentions, and it was possible to attack from behind when they were fighting with Xiahou Yuan.

Although Zhuge Liang expected it, because of the water flow problem in the upstream and downstream, he guessed that Cai Mao would not dare to rush into the army, otherwise Huang Zu of Jiangxia would take advantage of the water flow from behind to fight a big defeat.

At the other end of Anhui, didn't the sailors of Jiangdong just use the advantage of the water flow to press Gan Ning to the ground and rub it.

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that Xiahou Yuan gave him a combat order.

But even so, Liu Bei didn't panic.

After all, it is a water master, Huang Zu must have lost a lot of his people, even if the soldiers are in the city, don't forget that there is also Huang Hansheng in Changsha.

In addition to the 2,000 soldiers and horses patrolling the city, there is indeed no military strength, but with the prestige of the sons Liu Qi and Huang Hansheng, there is still a way to quickly recruit some people from the people to defend the city.

What's more, the navy army is not good at attacking cities at all, so there is no need to panic.

"Zizhong, what's going on, don't be in a hurry, speak slowly." Liu Bei's face was calm.

Mi Zhu almost fell off his horse, it can be seen that the gallop did not break him this way, he was out of breath, "My lord, General Guan has returned to Changsha"

"That's a good thing, how can you say it's a disaster?" Zhang Fei frowned.

Liu Bei looked at Zhuge Liang a little nervously at this time, only to see that the latter also asked with an uneasy face: "But how many soldiers and horses have been damaged?" ”

This question is too critical.

It can be said that it directly determines the final victory of this battle and the future direction of Liu Jun.

Xu was bumpy and breathless, Mi Zhu couldn't say it several times, and finally raised three fingers tremblingly.

Three?

Liu Bei breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Is it okay to lose three thousand?" ”

This result is certainly a bit regrettable, after all, he is only responsible for containment, and he doesn't need to go to war, but he lost 3,000 soldiers and horses, in the end, it shouldn't be.

Yun Chang, let's be careless, Yan Liangwen is not so easy to deal with.

Mi Zhu shook his head bitterly.

The heart that had just fallen was suspended again, Liu Bei's tone trembled a little, and he said tentatively: "Could it be that he lost seven thousand and only brought back thirteen thousand?" ”

This is a very tricky matter, after all, it doesn't mean that if Xiahou Yuan's troops are wiped out, Jiangling City will be able to be included in the territory by itself, and you still have to guard against Cao Cao's revenge, Nanjun is really too important, it is the lifeblood of the entire Jingzhou, and Cao Cao will not be indifferent.

He can lose Lingling and Wuling, but he must not lose Nanjun.

Liu Bei looked at Zhuge Liang with a solemn expression, the latter sighed lightly, shook his head and said, "Yun Chang must not listen to the dissuasion and advance too aggressively, and there are only thirteen thousand soldiers and horses left.

Fortunately, there are four or five thousand sergeants in the hands of the lord, and together they can gather enough to gather eighteen thousand people, but it is a little more difficult, but it is not so much that there is nothing to be done. ”

"I can only work hard and plan a lot." Liu Bei also nodded sadly.

After the two communicated, they found that Mi Zhu's face was sad, obviously he could speak, but he couldn't bear to say the answer.

"Could this be that the second brother folded 13,000 troops?" Zhang Fei blurted out.

Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang gasped.

13,000 is folded, that's not a joke, only 7,000 soldiers and horses were brought back, that is to say, plus the soldiers and horses of the headquarters can be worth 12,000.

It's true that Jiangling is a fortified city, but you have too few soldiers and horses to withstand the onslaught of Cao's army.

The only way to do that is to get Shamoko on board.

But this guy lives in the Wuxi Barbarian tribe all the year round, and he is not used to the rules in the city, so he is afraid that he will have to think of a break.

Just when Zhuge Liang was making his final plans, Liu Bei found that Mi Zhu was about to cry, and suddenly felt a chill spread from the depths of his back and spread throughout his body, "Zizhong, don't tell me that Yun Chang only brought back three thousand soldiers and horses." ”

Zhong, don't make this joke with me, it's not funny.

"Counting the lightly and seriously wounded soldiers, a total of three thousand one hundred and forty-seven people were brought back."

The sound fell, and the scene was quiet.

With the naked eye, it can be seen that Liu Bei's face is like earth, Zhuge Liang's face is full of disbelief, and Zhang Fei's eyes are bigger than copper bells.

"Impossible! My second brother is invincible in the world, how can he bring 20,000 troops who are only responsible for containment, but only 3,000 soldiers and horses are left! ”

"Yan Liangwen and Chou, how can they be the opponents of the second brother, impossible!"

The brothers have a lot of confidence in Guan Yu.

Mi Zhu choked up and said: "Lord, it's true, General Guan claims to have no face to face the lord, and is waiting for you to go back in Changsha to punish the crime." ”

After receiving an affirmative answer, Liu Bei staggered back, and if it weren't for Zhang Fei's support, he would have fallen.

Yun Chang, let's not take such a game, 20,000 people, that's an army of 20,000, let you contain it, not let you go to the main attack!

If sadness can be embodied, then Liu Bei's heart will be like Rupert's tears that have been hit hard in the tail, completely shattered into slag.

A quarter of an hour ago, he was still dreaming of taking Nanjun and recovering the whole of Jingzhou, and from then on he looked down on the whole of Jingzhou.

At the same time, it is also necessary to find a way to completely bring Huang Zu under his command, because using Jiangling City to attack Sichuan will inevitably be unable to avoid the use of water army.

Although Yizhou is now in the hands of Cao Cao, it is much more ruthless than Liu Zhang, but it is not a big problem, because a life-and-death battle will inevitably be set off between Lu Lin and Cao Cao in the Central Plains.

At that time, I will take the opportunity to attack Jingzhou or Yizhou, who will save it.

He even saw that the borders of Yizhou and Jingzhou were connected, and in the blink of an eye, he became the world's premier overlord.

When the future is shining, you actually told me that only 3,000 of the 20,000 army will be beaten, and the light and serious wounded must be added.

Zhuge Liang didn't comfort Liu Bei, because his sadness was no weaker than Liu Bei.

For Liu Bei, his sadness is the shattering of his dreams on a macro scale, a heartache that suddenly came to an abrupt end when he made great strides forward on the smooth road of life.

But Zhuge Liang, he is a person who is accustomed to calculation, and after hearing this bad news, he naturally calculated the account in his heart.

Under his own painstaking management, he got the land of the three counties of southern Xiangnan, and constantly exerted his network advantages, and finally prepared an army of 50,000, which was tormented in the three counties where the strength was relatively strong.

Right now?

If you give it another three years, I'm afraid it's going to be difficult.

What has been the hard work of these years is to break Xiahou with 30,000 people to take Nanjun, let Guan Yu have 20,000 people to defend the city, and realize the grand strategic policy of seizing Jingzhou.

You Guan Yunchang is amazing, in the case of our frontal battlefield bloody battle, it will be more than 24,000, and the person you are responsible for containing the people who can't get out of the village has actually folded 17,000?

In this battle, Zhuge Liang can be said to have been thinking hard day and night, and every detail has been calculated, and to this day, it can be regarded as being on his own chessboard, including Lin Mo's pass.

Even, even Guan Yu's character was calculated, so he would give him three tips before setting out on the expedition.

The tactics in those three tips are all Zhuge Liang's careful inventory of An Feng's actual situation and speculation about possible situations, it can be said that even if Guan Yu really folds his head for a while, as long as he follows the instructions on the bag, there will be no big problems.

However, he really didn't expect that this situation would still arise after thousands of instructions and three tips.

Guan Yu's 20,000 troops are the lifeblood of Liu Bei's expansion, and now it is gone, no matter how scheming Ren Zhuge Liang is, it is difficult for a clever woman to cook without rice.

Liu Bei's eyes were hazy with tears, and he cried again.

Unlike before, this time I was really sad and crying.

"Strategist, this. Isn't there still hundreds of thousands of grain and grass in the camp, and if you take Wuling again, there will always be some grain in stock, and immediately recruit some young and viable people? Zhang Fei stood in front of Liu Bei and didn't know how to comfort him, so he could only look at Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Liang shook his head slowly, "When the news of Xiahou Yuan's defeat and capture reached Cao Cao, he would take action immediately, we don't have time." ”

Recruit?

Can recruits fight?

"Kong Ming."

Liu Bei forcibly suppressed the sorrow in his heart, and asked with a slight sob: "How should I deal with myself now?" ”

Zhuge Liang's feather fan waved as if it was equipped with a motor, pacing back and forth.

Thinking about it is thinking, but there is no good way to do it.

I don't know how long it took before he sighed: "Lord, for today's plan, I can only take advantage of the news of Xiahou Yuan's defeat and capture, the three armies of Cao's army are shaken, and they quickly take Wuling County.

After all, for Cao Cao, as long as Nanjun was in hand, his great enemy was still Lu Lin, not the lord. ”

I understand, that is to say, Nanjun should not think about it anymore.

Liu Bei closed his eyes in pain.

Zhang Fei raised his eyebrows and asked, "Wouldn't it be that more than 20,000 people fought and only won the two counties of Wuling and Lingling?" ”

Don't blame Zhang Fei for this reaction.

In the land of Jingxiang, the richest is Jiangxia, the heaviest is Nanjun, and the most barren are Wuling and Lingling.

Whether it is population, taxes, or land, these two counties together are not even comparable to one Guiyang, and it is for Nanjun to spend such a big price.

"It would be nice to take these two counties." You still want Nangun, are you thinking about fart eating?

"Kong Ming, you're bothered." After Liu Bei finished speaking, he walked to the depths of the stockade alone, and under the sunset, only a lonely and distressing back was left for everyone.

After coming out of Changfeng City, Lin Mo led three thousand cavalry all the way to the west.

Originally, I thought that although I was a fast horse, I counted the time, and the soldiers and horses in Jiangdong would have time to retreat to Lujiang.

But Tanma's report said that Sun Ce was leading people to carry grain and grass in various county towns and left, which was to take away all the grain stocks in all county towns and leave an empty shell for Lin Mo.

"Childe, now that Sun Ce is in Yangcheng, according to their direction, the next one must be Boxian, and then return along the Lujiang Trail, such a route can avoid exposing the army to the wilderness and being sporadically killed by the cavalry."

I haven't seen him for a few days, it seems that Xu Sheng has made great progress after Gao Shun and Xu Shu, and he has begun to put forward his own opinions, and his judgment is very accurate.

Yu Jian on the side said: "Wen Xiang is right, there are only eighty miles to go to Bo County, and the last general suggested that you should rush overnight today, and you can arrive in Bo County before dawn, so that Sun Ce's army can kill them by surprise!" ”

Even Zhao Yun frowned and agreed: "I agree, Yunwen, I have walked the Lujiang Trail, where the mountains are not dangerous, but the road is rugged, and the war horses cannot gallop, fighting in such an environment, our cavalry may not even be able to defeat the foot soldiers of Jiangdong." ”

A war horse with a horseshoe does reduce the risk of the horse losing its front hooves, but that kind of road, with rocks and rocks, is extremely difficult for people to walk, and the war horse is too easy to get stuck in the hoof.

It can be seen that this route was carefully selected by Sun Ce and Zhou Yu, otherwise they would not have exposed the troops to the cavalry's field of vision so boldly.

"Four or five miles south of Bo County, you will enter the Lujiang Trail, once you enter, the cavalry will not be able to chase and kill.

From this point of view, rushing to Boxian in advance is the only way to intercept and kill the soldiers and horses in Jiangdong. ”

Lin Mo looked at the sheepskin drawings in front of him and said with a smile: "But, thinking about it the other way, if I were Zhou Yu, I would also feel that Bo County should be the only place where Lu Jun might appear." ”

As soon as they said this, the three of them were stunned and looked up, Xu Sheng's mouth was fast, and he said in surprise: "What Gongzi means is that this so-called transfer of grain and grass from various counties is actually Jiangdong's strategy to lure the enemy, and he has set up an ambush in Boxian County?" ”

"I don't know."

Lin Mo shook his head very calmly, "However, Zhou Yu is also a calculating person, he should know the time it takes for our cavalry to rush from Changfeng to Bo County.

What's more, how much grain, grass and treasury money can there be in these counties, is it worth risking their lives? ”

In everyone's minds, Lin Mo is a man who can play with the world, and regards Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Sun Ce and others as playthings in the palm of his hand.

Therefore, what he said naturally made this group of generals feel that it was not speculation, but fact.

Yu Ban showed a look of fear on his face, and said contemplatively: "What Master Hou said is extremely true, if we rush all the way to Bo County, we can arrive around the hour, but it will be sleepy and tired, and we need to take a little rest."

If there were still soldiers and horses from Jiangdong in the city, the consequences would be unimaginable. ”

Lin Mo's prophetic skills had long since failed, but he knew what kind of characters he was facing, and he could always deduce what might happen from what he knew about them before.

For example, Zhuge Liang's stability, Xun You, Guo Jia's Qi, Pang Tong, Xu Shu's Zheng, of course, also include the poison of the old Yin goods.

The other party is Zhou Yu, although he is only good at water warfare, but his strategy and art of war are not weak.

He should know that even if there is a confrontation between the two sides of the Lujiang River, whether it is the iron cavalry that glooms the infantry or the overall number of the army, they will not be opponents.

What's more, they may not dare to stay in the city, because they are here, and with the advantage of troops, the chance of winning is so big that this group of families dare not be the grass on the wall.

Once they launched an alliance and wanted to sell Sun Ce, it wouldn't be too difficult.

Therefore, even if Jiangdong wants to hold his pace, the first problem to be solved is cavalry.

When the army is pressing, it is not easy to lure out the cavalry, and the best time is precisely when they retreat.

With such an idea, it is not difficult to judge that Boxian is actually a bait.

"It is impossible for Zhou Yu to take all the Jiangdong soldiers and horses to act, there should be some of them who have indeed retreated to Lujiang, right?" Lin Mo asked casually.

Zhao Yun nodded and said, "Tanma said that it was only three or four thousand people." ”

Lin Mo sneered, "Three or four thousand people, this bait is big enough, and it can indeed attract us over." ”

Then, he looked at Xu Sheng and said with a smile: "Wen Xiang, I have heard you talk about some of your own opinions along the way, it seems that you have made great progress in Xiao Guan's days, I want to ask you, if you are Sun Ce, in case I don't fall for it, how can I escape from the pursuit of the cavalry?" ”

Ahh

Xu Sheng was stunned for a moment, and said with a sneer: "It's not a big benefit, it's just a little bit of learning, if it's me, I can avoid the pursuit of the cavalry by borrowing the deep grass and trees, and borrowing the rocky paths." ”

Seeing that he had finished speaking, Zhao Yuncai added: "If you can't find these terrains for a while, then you can only rely on thistles." ”

"Yes, yes, yes."

Xu Sheng hurriedly promised, "Hiding from pursuit in the wilderness, thistle terrestris is the best." ”

Tribulus terrestris was first used during the Warring States period.

However, it is not often used on the battlefield.

It is not difficult to manufacture, but in the era of high precision, even if the armor rate is forty percent, how can there be so many resources to make thistle.

This thing looks small, but if you want to target the war horse, not only is it not one for one, but it has to be sprinkled all over a large area, and it is purely covered with firepower to make up for the disadvantages of being too small.

"In the previous battle with Yan Liangwen Chou, they didn't use it, it was because of the terrain, but Jiangdong has no war horses, and if they dare to attack brazenly, they must have brought a large number of thistles to target the cavalry."

Listening to Lin Mo's eloquent words, the three of them came to their senses like seeing the moon and the moon, and they were even more convinced that Boxian was completely a trap in Jiangdong.

He even thought about it, in case we didn't get hit, he still had a back hand to deal with, that is, the thistle terrestris that the cavalry was most afraid of.

Of course, the effect of using it in the wilderness will not be too good, and after all, the time to save their lives and let them escape into the Lujiang Trail can still be saved.

It seems that this Zhou Yu is really good.

"Then, Yunwen, are we going to Bo County?" Zhao Yun was also a little unsure.

"Of course we have to go, everyone has set up the stage, if we don't go, who will watch them act?" Lin Mo raised his eyebrows and smiled.

Xu Sheng and Yu Ban didn't understand how to break the game, and they laughed when they saw Lin Mo smiling so happily.

"However, before that, we need to send someone to send a letter to Anhui County first."

"To whom?" Zhao Yun asked.

"Didn't Ziyang pull a kiss for me, then Qiao Gong can be regarded as my father-in-law, so I can't show my heart to him." This concubine is different from the wife, Lu Bu is the father-in-law, and this Qiao Gong can only be called the father-in-law, which is weird.

"Gong Qiao?"

Zhao Yun looked at Yu Ban and Xu Sheng in confusion, of course he didn't believe that Lin Mo would have a long relationship with his children on the eve of the war, but it was really incomprehensible what this Qiao Gong could help, so he said: "This is easy to do, I'll go get a simple pen." ”

After a while, bamboo slips and brushes were brought, and Xu Sheng directly arched his back as a desk case for Lin Mo to write.

The sergeant on the side was already on standby, put the bamboo slips in with a bamboo tube and tied them to himself, and rode a war horse towards Lin Mo and headed south.

Lin Mo breathed a long sigh of relief, this is also good, take this opportunity to let this in-law show his face, in the Huainan Gang, Qiao Gong's weight is not much lighter than him Liu Ye.

Give him some credit, and in retrospect, even if the Huainan Gang is as friendly as Jiangdong is before, it is of course an exaggeration to not die, but Sun Ce will definitely not trust them anymore, so as not to find trouble for himself in the future.

Happy New Day.

(End of chapter)