The effects of the coalition's defeat of Cao Cao were fermenting, spreading from Jingzhou to Wuyue. Presumably, it will not be long before it will spread throughout Bashu, the Central Plains and the Northwest.

In the battle of Changbanpo, Cao Cao was fully supported by favor, and Zhao Yun led the cavalry south to retreat to Jiangling. and Cao Cao entered Xiangfan, only then did he consciously break free from the cage.

Cao Cao led an army of 12 or 30,000 to the south, and finally returned to Xiangfan's army, only 12,300 people remained, 10 percent went to 90 percent, and only 10 percent of the soldiers and horses escaped with him.

In addition to a large number of casualties, Cao Cao's generals were also captured and killed.

For example, the generals Cheng Yu, Le Jin, Lou Gui, Cao Chun, and Lu Zhao died in battle; Cai Mao, Zhang Yun, Xi Zhu, Huang Jian and other officials of the Prime Minister's Mansion died in battle; Li Li, the assassin of Jingzhou, Qi Ji of Linjiang, and Han Xi of Jiangxia died in the army; More than dozens of civil servants and military generals, such as the main book Huan Rank, Fu Xun, Du Kui, the sacrificial wine, Shen Mi, and Yin Bureau, surrendered to Erliu.

More than 100,000 soldiers from the north and south died in Jianghan, as well as hundreds of civil and military officials, and even Cao Cao, who was sitting in the Central Plains, was so distressed that his heart was like a knife.

At a price far more painful than Chibi, and experiencing wilderness to survive, the three generals chased and intercepted, Cao Cao returned to Xiangyang and relapsed his head disease, and had to lie on the bed to recuperate.

Cao Cao was half-lying on the bed, his head wrapped in a hot towel, and his complexion was acceptable. After a few days of recuperation, Cao Cao's body gradually improved, and his face became flushed.

While Cao Cao was resting, suddenly there was a noise outside the hall, and the attendants hurriedly entered the hall.

"Prime Minister, it's not good!"

Cao Cao, whose head was swollen, saw that the attendant was so frightened, and scolded: "Why are you so flustered? ”

The attendant wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Prime Minister Qi, Huo Jun led the sailor to go upstream, and now the vanguard sailor has arrived outside the city. ”

"What?"

Cao Cao, who was lying on the couch, was shocked, sat up suddenly, and said in disbelief: "Huo Jun has won our army for the first time, how dare he raise troops to attack me?" ”

Cao Cao was ashamed and annoyed, got up and ordered: "Come on, let Gongming stick to the city of Fancheng, and don't fight easily." If you want to go to the water village in Beicheng, how is Huo Jun's troops? ”

The attendant glanced at the towel on Cao Cao's head, and said worriedly: "The prime minister has regained his headwind, I wonder if he can go to the city to watch the enemy?" ”

"Huh!"

Cao Cao touched his head and found that his head was gone. It was about before that he was shocked by the news of Huo Jun's march, and a lot of sweat came out of his temples, which temporarily cured the old head wind.

"How can you not sit back and watch the enemy's situation?"

Cao Cao was refreshed, ripped off the scarf on his head, threw it on the ground, and said in a deep voice: "The lonely head disease has been cured, quickly let the military Chinese Wu go to the city with the solitary one." ”

"No!"

In the northern city, Cao Cao stood in armor, squinting at the movements of Huo Jun's sailor on the Han River. However, he saw that the sailor did not look like an attacking army at all, and hundreds of his boats were floating on the river. Condescendingly, Jiang Zuo's soldiers landed on Yuliangzhou in the Han River and built a water village camp.

"This~"

The people who were frightened by Huo Jun's fire showed a look of timidity when they saw the sailor under Huo Jun's command.

Yang Xiu swallowed his saliva and said, "Prime Minister, Huo Junxing has tens of thousands of soldiers, and he seems to have the idea of taking Xiangfan. What should we do now? ”

Cao Cao looked at the Jiangdong Sailor who blocked the two cities of Xiangfan on the Han River, and his eyebrows furrowed. He originally thought that after Huo Jun defeated him, he would join forces with Liu Bei to attack Jiangling, but he never thought that Huo Jun would be so bold and lead his army north to attack Xiangfan Ercheng.

Seeing that he was afraid, Cao Cao stroked the city wall and laughed, and said: "The city of Xiangyang is strong, rare in the world, and five thousand soldiers and horses are enough to resist tens of thousands of soldiers." Today, there are 20,000 soldiers and horses in the second city of Xiangfan, how many soldiers and horses are under Huo Jun's account, how can he easily break the city? ”

Saying that, Cao Cao said confidently: "And the main force of the Jiangbei Seventh Army is still there, with more than 30,000 soldiers, Huo Junan dares to go ashore to fight the army." I expect that Huo Jun is nothing more than using that sailor to attack Jiang Han, so don't worry! ”

Hearing Cao Cao say this, the left and right Wenchen strategists were still at peace in their hearts.

"As the prime minister said, Xiangfan has many soldiers and horses, and the city is strong, which is difficult to overcome. But I don't know why Huo Jun led his division up the river? Yang Xiu asked suspiciously.

Cao Cao hesitated a little and said: "Gai is to seek Jiangling for Jiangzuo, Jiangzuo defeated our army at the beginning, but the soldiers and horses are still outnumbered. Or they were worried that Xiangfan's soldiers and horses would go south, so they used troops to Xiangyang for the purpose of containment. ”

Huo Jun's move can be said to be both a conspiracy and a strange move, everyone knows that after the Battle of Chrysostom, Huo Jun and Liu Bei will take advantage of the situation to attack Jiangling. Therefore, Cao Cao stayed in Xiangfan, in addition to recuperating from his illness, he was ready to mobilize the surrounding soldiers and horses to try to go south to help Cao Ren.

Cao Cao had already made arrangements, even if Jiangling could not be defended, but with Cao Ren's persistence, he wanted his generals to move hundreds of thousands of people from Xiangyang to Jiangling to Yewan, Xu Luo and other places, and forcibly made a no-man's land of hundreds of miles.

At that time, even if Er Liu can get Jiangling, it will lack a civilian population, and it will be almost useless except to be a military bridgehead. Therefore, when I got to Jiangling, I wanted to spy on Xiangfan, but because of the hundreds of miles of uninhabited land, the grain and grass needed to be deployed by Jingnan, which was thousands of miles away, and it was also difficult to raise troops for the Northern Expedition.

Huo Jun's move broke the plan conceived by Cao Cao, and Huo Jun raised tens of thousands of troops in Xiangyang, using the sailor to lead but not attack. Cao Cao hid in the city, it was indeed difficult to fight, but Huo Jun floated on the Han River and occupied the initiative, how could Cao Cao dare to transfer troops south to support Cao Ren?

Transferred to General Fenwei, who was about to lead his troops south to Dangyang, he said: "Prime Minister, Huo Jun brought troops here, does the last general still need to go south to Dangyang?" ”

"No need!"

Cao Cao waved his hand and said, "Bo Ning and lead his troops and horses to temporarily camp in the city and hold Xiangyang City." ”

"No!"

"Prime Minister, our army was defeated at Chrysostom today, and Jiangling is terrified. If you don't send the sergeant south, I'm afraid that General Zixiao won't be able to hold out for long! Cao Hong walked to Cao Cao's side and said, "It is better to send seven soldiers and horses from the upper reaches of the Han River, cross the Han River, and go south to support Jiangling." ”

The Han River is not a natural hazard of the Yangtze River, and its channel is not only broad in the Xiangfan area, but also begins to narrow from Xiangfan upward. Some of the shallow bends in the upper reaches of the Han River allowed the soldiers on the north bank to easily cross, and the boats could not stop them all.

Historically, Guan Yu flooded the Seventh Army and besieged Fancheng. In fact, there were prerequisites, that is, Liu Bei took the three eastern counties and covered Guan Yu in the upper reaches of the Han River for the Xiangfan operation. Otherwise, when Guan Yu besieged Fancheng, the soldiers and horses of the three eastern counties could threaten Guan Yu's 30,000 soldiers and horses from the flank, and cooperate with Lu Chang in Xiangyang City, which could make Guan Yu very uncomfortable.

By the time Cao Cao went south to Xiangfan, the Shen brothers had already surrendered to Cao Cao, and the upper reaches of the Han River were not under the control of Huo Jun, but by Cao Cao.

"No!"

Cao Cao shook his head and vetoed, and said: "The soldiers and horses of the Seventh Army should not be moved lightly, Rong Gu pondered for a moment or two. ”

After a pause, Cao Cao commanded: "Zilian, the defense of Xiangyang City is in charge of you, and if Huo Jun raises troops ashore to attack, he will be defeated by his troops." ”

"No!"

……

Yuliang Island, also known as Chatou Island. From the Qin and Han dynasties, in the northeast direction of Xiangyang, there was Yuliangzhou above the Han River. Pang Degong once lived in seclusion on this continent, and Liu Biao liked to come here to hunt when he was alive.

However, with the death of Liu Biao, the former tranquility of Jingxiang also disappeared. When the water rose this spring, Huo Jun led 20,000 soldiers and horses to settle in Yuliangzhou, build a barracks, and build a water village.

In the big tent, Huo Jun marked the generals of the Cao army on the map.

Jiang Ji sorted out the military situation of all parties for Huo Jun and said: "In the north of the Han River, Zhang Liaotun soldiers Cai Yang, Zhang Hetun soldiers Anchang, Yu Banzhen Suixian, Xu Huangtun Fancheng, Li Diantun Xinye, Zhu Lingbing Deng County, Feng Kai Shou Huyang. The main force of the Jiangxia Seventh Army is still there, and there are five or six thousand soldiers and horses under the tent, about 40,000 people. ”

Then, Jiang Ji pointed to Xiangyang and said: "On the south bank of the Han River, Cao Cao is still in Xiangyang City, and there are about more than 10,000 soldiers and horses in the city. With 20,000 people under our army's account, with the precipitousness of Xiangyang and Cao Cao living in the city, I am afraid that it will not be possible to go ashore to fight. ”

Huo Jun relied on boats to enter the Han River, and took advantage of the advantages of the sailor to garrison troops in Yuliangzhou. If you lead the foot soldiers to Xiangfan, I am afraid that you will be taught a lesson by Zhang Liao, Zhang He, Yu Ban, Zhu Ling and other generals.

Huo Jun looked at the distribution of Cao's army on the map, and said: "Xiangyang City is extremely steep, and Cao Cao lives in the city, so it is impossible to find it. Let the sergeants garrison Liangzhou and contain the Xiangfan Cao army, and if the Cao army dares to send troops south, it will send troops to attack it. ”

Jiang Ji pondered a little and said: "The governor Yu Xiangfan contained the armies, and the second duke besieged the cities of Jiangling. However, Cao Cao lived in Xiangfan, and there were soldiers and horses of the Seven Armies in hand, so he looked at it with help, and I was afraid that it would be difficult to rush down to Jiangling. Jinji has a plan, or Cao Cao can lead the army north to Xuchang, and let the second duke quickly go down to Jiangling Zhucheng. ”

Huo Jun's eyes fell on Jiang Ji and said, "Zitong, please have a good plan!" ”

Jiang Ji stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Does the governor know that the disaster caused Xiao Wall?" ”

"Huh?"

Huo Jun looked thoughtful and asked, "The disaster that Zitong refers to, but in Xuchang?" ”

"Exactly!"

Jiang Ji sorted out his thoughts and said: "Cao Cao coerced the Son of Heaven to order the princes to pursue lawless things. In the past, when Cao Cao's soldiers were powerful, the Son of Heaven issued orders to the ministers, but Cao Cao obeyed, and he didn't dare to disobey. However, Cao Cao raised the Chinese people to Linjiang Han, and fought with the governor in Jinkou, and was defeated for thousands of miles, and there was not one out of ten sergeants under his tent. ”

"Therefore, if you let the Xuchang monarchs know about Cao Cao's fiasco, and know that Cao Cao was trapped in Xiangyang City by the governor. In the opinion of the governor, how will the Xuchang court be? ”

Jiang Ji said in a low voice: "The Han family has been in the Han family for 400 years, and although it is lonely and weak today, there are still people who are loyal to the Han. Cao Cao's prestige is so great that people dare not disobey. Now that Cao Cao has defeated Jiang Han, those loyal to Han will be ready to move. ”

Huo Jun nodded thoughtfully, that Xuchang Heavenly Son Liu Xie has never been a peaceful person.

In addition to the edict, Liu Xie also verbally threatened Cao Cao. For example, when Liu Xie first arrived in Xuchang, he had no real power, just like a puppet. Therefore, Liu Xie and Zhao Yan conspired with Zhao Yan. But Cao Cao killed Zhao Yan after learning about it, and intimidated Liu Xie.

However, Liu Xie was not afraid, and ordered Cao Cao to meet him, and there were tigers holding knives left and right, threatening Cao Cao and saying: 'If you can complement each other, you will be thick; No, fortunately, we are gracious'. These semi-threatening words, and there were tiger guards with knives on the left and right, which frightened Cao Cao into sweating, and he never saw Liu Xie again.

For example, according to Jiang Ji, Liu Xie knew that Cao Cao's troops were defeated and defeated, and he would not let go of this opportunity. There is a high probability that something will happen in Xuchang, and Cao Cao will not dare to stay in Xiangyang at that time......

"Yes!"

Huo Jun said approvingly: "The child is a generalist, and Jun is very convinced." ”

Saying that, Huo Jun said with a smile: "If you have your advice, then you will deploy manpower and spread this news in Nanyang and Xuchang, and I will be equal to Yuliangzhou sitting and watching the changes in Xuchang." ”

"No!"

(End of chapter)