September, autumn.

At night, the mountainous area of Huangshan is much colder than the plain area.

In the tent made of grass and trees, the wounded soldiers lay on the same bunk, wailing in pain. Physicians may be bandaging the wounds of the soldiers and applying herbs brought with them; Or they fed the soldiers with a decoction to relieve their pain.

Listening to the endless moanings, Liu Bei put on his robe and comforted the wounded soldiers.

"Lord!"

When the wounded sergeants saw Liu Bei coming, they all wanted to struggle to get up.

Liu Bei pressed down with his hands and said with a smile: "If the sons are injured, there is no need to be polite, just take care of the injuries." ”

"Thank you, lord!" The sergeants replied gratefully.

Visiting wounded sergeants after the war was a habit that Liu Bei had developed for many years. He is also a character who has climbed up from the bottom, and knows very well what ordinary soldiers think. If you want a sergeant to work for you, you should have to care. The general regards his subordinates as siblings, and his subordinates will repay them with their lives.

Liu Bei has never been a master of painting cakes, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei can not leave him so unabstainably, not because of how explosive his charm is, but because he treats people with sincerity and regards Guan and Zhang as family members and confidants.

Liu Bei patted the shoulder of the young soldier beside him, and said with a gentle expression: "How is your body?" ”

The young soldier blushed and said, "The left hand has been slashed, and it is not a big problem, and it will not be long before I can serve the lord." ”

Liu Bei saw that the quilt covered by the soldier was thin, and he couldn't help but reach in to feel the temperature, only to feel the warmth. Then he touched the soldier's leg again, and found that his body was curled up.

"What's going on?"

Liu Bei frowned, and said with anger: "Why is the wounded sergeant's sheet so thin, and there is no thick bedding?" ”

The military waiting who followed Liu Bei took a step, his face was embarrassed, and he said: "Lord Qiqi, I have urged the logistics many times, but I have said that the winter clothes and bedding have not been delivered, and it is not intentional. ”

"Haven't the winter clothes and bedding been delivered yet?" Liu Bei's face was not good-looking, he turned his head to look at Sun Qian, and said, "Gongyou, didn't you ask you to urge Yuan Zhi and Chengming?" ”

Sun Qian stepped out, shook his head and said: "Lord Qi, Yuan Zhi and Chengming wrote to Jingzhou to ask for winter military supplies, but Cai Mao replied that the army's bedding was unfortunately drained and the warehouse was burned. ”

"Today, Yuanzhi and Chengming have urgently deployed women from Yuzhang and Poyang counties to prepare winter bedding and cotton clothes, which may be a few days slower."

Liu Bei endured his anger, pulled Sun Qian outside the tent, and said in a low voice: "Why didn't Gongyou say it earlier? ”

Sun Qian sighed and said, "The big war is imminent, and we are afraid of shaking the morale of the army, so we dare not tell the lord." I wanted to wait for the lord to inquire about the results of the battle, and then inform the lord. Unexpectedly~"

"Hey!"

Liu Bei clenched the hilt of his sword and said in a cold voice: "Cai Mao is a traitor, and he has repeatedly used the excuse of walking water, resulting in a shortage of military supplies for our army; He also carried out the method of assassination and harmed a certain person in Tanxi. In the future, if there is an opportunity, I will kill him to vent the hatred in my heart. ”

Now that he has won Sun Quan, Liu Bei originally wanted to take advantage of the victory to pursue, go deep into Wu County, completely destroy Sun Quan, and take Jiangdong. I never thought that Cai Mao was pulling her hind legs again, dragging the winter military clothes and refusing to give them. Faced with a long supply line, no cotton clothes and no bedding, and penetrating deep into Wu County in winter, the army could not fight at all, and perhaps there would be non-combat attrition.

Liu Bei glanced at the tent behind him and ordered: "This battle is won, our army has captured a lot of Jiangdong Army's baggage, and the bedding will be sent to the wounded soldiers as soon as possible to avoid the cold." And let people make braziers in the tent more often to ward off the cold. ”

"No!"

After Liu Bei comforted the wounded soldiers, he returned to the big tent to deal with military affairs.

"My lord, in this battle, our army won a great victory and beheaded more than 2,600 people, captured more than 4,000 Jiangdong soldiers, killed three generals including the enemy generals Zhou Tai, Dong Xi, and Cheng Shi, and captured more than 100 war horses, more than 400 armor collars, 1,000 bows and crossbows, and the grain, grass, and baggage are innumerable......"

Zhuge Liang handed over the prisoners of war and battle damage and said: "Our army has more than 700 soldiers killed in battle, and about 1,200 soldiers have been lightly and seriously injured......

Zhuge Liang's text is quite detailed, from the specific beheading of prisoners to the number of captured military supplies, so that Liu Bei can see it at a glance.

Liu Bei sat on the couch, put Wen Shu down, and said unwillingly: "Sun Quan's troops were defeated and left, and many of the strong soldiers under his command were killed and wounded. It's a pity that Cai Mao borrowed water as a pretext to lack our army's winter baggage. ”

Zhuge Liang pondered for a while and said, "Lord, Liang thinks that even if our army has winter baggage, it should not be easy to enter. ”

"Oh!"

Liu Bei looked up at Zhuge Liang and said curiously, "Why did Kong Ming say this?" ”

Zhuge Liang put down the feather fan in his hand and said: "Lord Qiqi, Liu Jingzhou's condition has worsened in recent months, and it is difficult to govern, and Xiangyang is controlled by Cai Mao and Kuai Yue both inside and outside. The former lord was able to go south, but Cai Mao and Kuai Yue planned to a critical juncture, lest the lord and the eldest son sabotage their plan. ”

"Today, Cai Mao and Kuai Yue have succeeded in isolating Liu Jingzhou's internal and external messages. This autumn and winter, we can go to the water in the name of cutting off our army's winter baggage. In the spring and summer of next year, I am afraid that we will not provide our army with money and food for soldiers and horses on the grounds of lack of food, so what should our army do at that time? ”

Zhuge Liang pointed to Yishan with a feather fan again, and said: "And the six counties of Yishan have not yet been captured, Jin Qi has 10,000 households in Wuliao Mountain, Mao Gan holds 10,000 households in Tun'an Le Mountain, and Chen Servant, Zushan and others lead 20,000 households to guard Lin Lishan. The lord gave him the grace of grain, and thousands of people returned to the heart of the barbarians in the mountains. ”

"In Liang's opinion, why don't the lord and the eldest son collect troops and return to the division, appease the six counties of Yishan, subdue 50,000 clan marshals and Shanyue with military might, organize households and people, send troops to pay, and educate the barbarians; He also applied virtue to Poyang and Yuzhang counties, suspended the war, and gathered money and food for next year's battle. At that time, even if Cai Mao and Kuai Yue broke the army's military supplies, our counties and counties can also prepare themselves. ”

Zhuge Liang's behavioral preference is to fight steadily and slowly, and he does not like excessive conquest, abuse of military power, and harm the people.

In Zhuge Liang's view, Liu Bei borrowed the power of Jingzhou to go to Jiangdong, and there was no problem in the early days, but now Liu Biao is sick on the bed, and Cai Mao and Kuai Yue gradually grasp the power inside and outside Xiangyang. Liu Bei could no longer rely on Jingzhou excessively as before, but needed to build his own administrative system and provide soldiers, horses, money, food and troops through the counties and townships in the occupied areas.

Sun Qian also felt the same way, and said: "What the main army division said is not unreasonable, at that time, our army went down to Jiangdong like a baby, looking up to people and snorting. Now that we have become stronger, and we have attacked the counties of Danyang, if we rely on people to breathe again, we will be caught by the throat at that time, and our army will be controlled by others. ”

Liu Bei sighed and said, "How can Kong Ming and Gongyou not know what they said, they are just worried about Cao Cao's footsteps. Bei learned from Zhong Miao that Cao Cao had conquered Hebei, and Eryuan fled north. If you don't hurry up and worry about Jiangdong, Cao Cao has already led his troops south. ”

Zhuge Liang straightened his waist and said loudly: "The situation in Hebei, Liang knows a little. Although Cao Cao took Hebei, the high-ranking cadres of the state were still there, and the second Yuan fled north to Youzhou, and there was Wuhuan outside the Saiwai as a help; The Gongsun clan of Liaodong was far from convinced. In order to look at it brightly, Cao Cao took the state in the west and destroyed Wuhuan and Yuan in the north. If the second Yuan fled to Liaodong, Cao Cao waved his troops to Liaodong, wiped out Liaodong, and took the head of the second Yuan, before he dared to go south. ”

"The north is vast, although Cao Cao is strong in soldiers and horses, but it is three years at least and five years at the longest, and he can't sweep away the heroes. Today, there are only two counties of Wuhui left in the Sun family, and the civil affairs will be repaired in the lord, and the more until next year, the army will be waved to the east, and one year will be enough to destroy the Sun family. At that time, the internal martial arts, ship repair and military training, can wait for Cao Cao to go south! ”

Liu Bei was silent, as if he was thinking about something.

Seeing this, Bu Qi arched his hand and said: "My lord, my Bu clan people migrated out of Shanyin, and the people of the Qiu tribe wrote a letter to Yan Sun Quan's account under Pingdong Captain He Qi led the army to conquer Huiji Mountain and returned to the barbarians, with about 10,000 soldiers and horses. And Wu County is the place where the Sun clan raised troops, the place where the clansmen gathered, Sun Quan got these 10,000 people, and took advantage of the terrain and people's feelings, when he could fight against our army. ”

Hearing this, Liu Bei's expression moved slightly, pursed his lips, and said: "Since this is the case, we will make a truce here, and order the generals to enter the six counties of Yishan, and prepare to incorporate Shanyue and Zongshuai here." In the spring of next year, troops will be sent to Wu County to exterminate Sun Quan. ”

"The lord is wise!"

(End of chapter)