Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 242 Drag the word formula, the general trend of the world

At the beginning of May in the 13th year of Jian'an, the situation in Jingzhou changed again.

In the direction of Nanyang, Gan Ning retreated to defend Huangmen Pavilion, Cai Mao ordered Wenpin to attack, and he himself led the main force south to Jiangling.

Although Wenpin surrendered to Xiangyang, he actually didn't want to fight a civil war, not to mention that he and Ganning Shenchen also fought side by side in Yingchuan, so basically they didn't work hard.

He led an army of [-] troops to station in Pingshi and Yiqiu area, just confronting Gan Ning. Everyone knew what Wenpin was thinking, but there was nothing he could do in Xiangyang, after all, Wenpin also had reasons.

As a general appointed by Liu Biao to be stationed in Nanyang to guard against Cao Cao in the north, Wenpin's status is second only to Cai Mao, Huang Zu and Zhang Yun. Therefore, as long as he said on the surface that he must guard against Cao Cao, Cai Mao and Zhang Yun actually took him for nothing. Method.

But Cai Mao and Kuai Yue didn't, and were annoyed at Wenpin's perfunctory way of doing things. As long as Nanyang was still in his hands and Zhang Yun's main force was still in Xiangyang, a mere Huangmen Pavilion would not be able to cause any trouble.

The most important thing now is Jingnan.

So after Wenpin went south and surrounded Huangmenting, Cai Mao immediately led his troops to Jiangling.

At this moment, in Jiangling City, Cai Hao held Liu Bei's letter in his hand, sneered, and said to Hu Zheng beside him: "Liu Bei still wants to mediate, the late emperor sent him to Xichuan, but he has been stationed in Zigui, don't I know What does he mean?"

"Liu Bei has been writing letters since the beginning of this year, hoping that Xiangyang will allocate food and grass. Situ originally wanted to send him away as soon as possible without telling the truth about the death of the late emperor, so he allocated a lot of food and grass to go there."

Hu Zheng said: "I didn't expect him to stay there. When he came to Xiangyang to visit the late emperor, he had a good relationship with the eldest son. I'm afraid he is acting like this now."

In fact, Liu Bei has not yet turned against Xiangyang. Cai Mao and Kuai Yue have always attached great importance to this force. Since the death of Liu Biao at the beginning of the year, they have tried their best to urge Liu Bei to enter Sichuan as soon as possible, including using Liu Biao's imperial edict and allocating food and grass to let Liu Bei No excuse to stay.

But Liu Bei has been reluctant to leave. Now it is a critical period for Liu Cong and Liu Qi to compete. Although Liu Bei's military strength is not large, only more than 4 people, his combat effectiveness should not be underestimated. Therefore, Cai Mao and Kuai Yue are also worried. endlessly.

And the most important thing is that Liu Bei has been reconciling as a middleman. He neither turned against Liu Cong, nor did he expressly intend to support Liu Qi, which made it difficult for them to turn against Liu Bei.

So the current situation is very embarrassing.

Liu Bei will stay in Zigui and will not leave. Liu Qi still has 4 to 2 people in Jiangxia, and Liu Pan has more than [-] people in Jingnan. If they unite at this time, then Liu Qi's soldiers and horses will not be much worse than Liu Cong. For Xiangyang Say, never a good thing.

"What can we do then?"

Cai Mao said in a deep voice: "Could it be possible to tear your face off with Liu Bei?"

Hu Zheng smiled bitterly: "But he has been in Zigui, we can't stop attacking Jingnan and Jiangxia, what if he surprises us from the side?"

"This"

Cai Mao's expression changed for a moment. The current situation is that Jingnan is occupied by Liu Pan, Jiangxia has Liu Qi, and Liu Bei is in Zigui.

Zigui is in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and they belong to the lower reaches of Jiangling. If they go south to attack Jingnan or go down the river to attack Jiangxia, Zigui may attack Jiangling at any time, threatening the safety of Xiangyang.

So at least for now, the situation is actually not good for them.Although there are more than [-] soldiers and horses in the sky, due to terrain problems, it is difficult for them to fight no matter which side they attack.

"Uncle."

At this moment, Cai Mao's nephew Cai Du stepped forward and said, "My nephew has an idea, I don't know what my uncle thinks about it."

"Oh?"

Cai Mao looked at Cai Du and said hastily, "Say it quickly."

Cai Du thought for a while and said, "Liu Bei seems to be mediating on the surface, but I guess he wants to help the eldest prince, but this is Jingzhou's internal affairs after all, and there is no excuse to intervene, so we are waiting for the opportunity, so why don't we stand still? , have been spent with him?"

"Consume it?"

Cai Mao asked puzzledly, "What does my nephew mean?"

Cai Du said: "Uncle's concern is that Jingnan, Jiangxia, and Zigui will attack you. But this situation will only happen when we take the initiative to attack Jingnan. Because most of Jingzhou's soldiers and horses are in our hands. .”

"Ah."

Cai Hao nodded slightly in agreement and said, "That's right, if I don't go south, Liu Qi and Liu Pan will dare to attack us if I don't go south. How can Liu Qi and Liu Pan dare to take the initiative to attack us? But what does it have to do with Liu Bei? Are you trying to exhaust him?"

Cai Du smiled and said: "Over the years, the late emperor allocated an unknown amount of food and grass to Liu Bei, and also gave him several counties in southern Jing, and all the food and grass belonged to them. I don't think it will be exhausted within two or three years. food and grass. But we and Liu Bei can afford it, but Liu Zhang can’t afford it.”

"Liu Zhang?"

Cai Mao just felt confused, what does this have to do with Liu Zhang.

Cai Du continued: "At that time, the late emperor was ambitious and wanted to take Yizhou in the west and Yangzhou in the east, but the late emperor was too impatient and kept urging a decisive battle, so that his uncle and Huang Zugong failed. Liu Bei, a hero of the clan, is also missing. It is a foundation. Now that Xichuan and Zhang Lu are coming to Chengdu after defeating their uncle, Liu Zhang is in danger. Once Liu Zhang is destroyed, Yizhou will belong to Zhang Lu. How can Liu Bei not be in a hurry?"

"You mean Liu Bei wants Yizhou?"

Cai Mao stroked his beard.

Cai Du said: "Exactly, Bashu is a land given by heaven, Liu Bei must have thought about it, and he has a close relationship with the eldest prince, so naturally he hopes that the Lord of Jingzhou is someone with whom he has a deep friendship, so Liu Bei must want to help the eldest prince inherit The throne of Jingzhou, and then Yizhou in the west, thus echoing with the eldest prince. If Liu Zhang is destroyed and Zhang Lu wins it, there will be no place for Liu Bei in the world, and he will definitely go to Xichuan first."

"Is there good news for the state now?"

Cai Mao turned to look at Hu Zheng.

Hu Zheng rummaged through the official documents on the table for a while, and after a while, he found a roll of bamboo slips and said, "The latest news is about two months ago. Zhang Lubing divided into two groups, all the way from Jiameng Pass to the south. Take Fu County, and go northward along Jianshui to attack Niudao."

"what?"

Cai Mao was very surprised: "This Liu Zhang is too inexperienced. It has only been four months since I retreated from Berkshire, and I was beaten to the gate of Chengdu so quickly? Doesn't that mean that Chengdu has fallen?"

"probably not."

Cai Du analyzed: "Uncle, think about it. After Zhang Lu went south from Bajun, there was almost no danger to defend from Jianshui and along the Guanghan line. Wouldn't it be faster for him to send troops outside? Therefore, he shrank his troops to Chengdu to divide the east. It is a wise move to keep Zhang Lu's army out of Chengdu."

Fendongling is the Longquan Mountains to the east of Chengdu in later generations. This mountain range is like a natural moat that encloses the Chengdu Plain and separates it from the outside world.

Therefore, Liu Zhang chose to shrink his troops to Chengdu because he used the Longquan Mountains as the center of defense.

This is obviously much better than dividing troops to garrison each city outside.

After all, once Yizhou is broken into the Sichuan Basin, there is almost no danger to defend, and the cities are very scattered. If the troops are scattered, they will be defeated one by one. If he takes the initiative to attack from time to time and chooses passive defense, Liu Zhang's choice is actually right.

Cai Du continued: "These days we have not paid attention to Yizhou because of the matter with the eldest prince, but Liu Bei will definitely send people to check the news all the time. He is still sitting in Zigui safely, which means that at least Zhang Lu has not yet threatened Liu Zhang, after all, it has only been half a year since the end of last year, and Zhang Lu did not eliminate Liu Zhang so quickly."

"Well."

Cai Mao nodded and said, "Zimu's words are very reasonable."

Hu Zheng also said: "Then should we immediately send people to Xichuan to investigate the situation? If Liu Zhang changes, Liu Bei will immediately enter Yizhou. Without Liu Qi's foreign aid, we can take back Jingnan first, and then attack Jiangxia. Sun Quan can't wait for Huang If the ancestor dies, he will not help him, and the Taiwei will be able to recover Jingzhou for His Majesty."

"Actually, we don't have to bother."

Cai Du said: "If there is a change in Xichuan, Liu Bei will immediately send troops to go. With so many Yizhou soldiers under his command, I am afraid that he has long been eager to leave, so what we have to do is to garrison Jiangling. , Jingling and other places, just keep an eye on Prince Chang and Liu Pan, and slowly wait for the time to come."

"it is good."

Cai Mao laughed loudly and said, "I have a unicorn in my family, why should the Cai family be unhappy?"

"They are all supported by my uncle."

Cai Du smiled slightly, he is actually a very smart descendant of the Cai family, otherwise Cai Mao would not have cultivated him like this in the past two years.

It's just that the world doesn't know that Cai Du is Cai Zan's son, and Deng Hong is his brother-in-law.

.

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In May, Cai Mao stationed troops in Jiangling and Jingling, but did not move.

First, he was building the Yangtze River Navy. Since the First World War in Badong, the Yangtze River Navy has been considered half disabled. Although the Jiangxia Navy is also half disabled, their actual combat experience is much better than that of the Yangtze River Navy, so the Yangtze River Navy is already very difficult. Compete with the Jiangxia navy.

Secondly, he also needs to wait for the right time. Liu Bei is staying in Zigui now, and he may be allied with Liu Qi at any time. This has to be guarded against, so the two sides have been so exhausted.

Anyway, Nanyang, the Jingzhou grain production base, is still in Xiangyang's hands. Even if there are only Nanjun and Nanyang counties, Liu Cong's background is actually stronger.

You must know that the population that flowed into Jingzhou from the north at that time was basically in Nanyang and Nanjun. Jiangxia had a population of only over 20 at that time, and it was very difficult for Jiangxia Navy to be self-sufficient.

In history, because Cao Cao went south, Liu Biao focused most of his energy on the north and had no time to support Huang Zu. As a result, Huang Zu was extremely poor, and his army was destitute.

So consuming it is not a bad thing for Cai Mao and the others.

After Liu Pan occupied Changsha County, he immediately stationed in Luo County, which is later in Miluo City and Xiangyin County, Hunan Province.At that time, the area of ​​Dongting Lake here was called Qingcao Lake.

Dongting Lake in the Han Dynasty was different from dozens of large and small lakes that were cut into East Dongting Lake, South Dongting Lake, Muping Lake, Southeast Lake, Wanzi Lake and Qili Lake in later generations.

At that time, Dongting Lake had an area of ​​more than 6000 square kilometers, which was about twice or more than half that of later generations, and the water area was very large.

At that time, there was no land reclamation around the lake. In history, it was expanded once during the Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. By the Tang and Song Dynasties, it was already known as Dongting Lake for [-] miles. Therefore, it can be said that this lake divided the entire Jingnan Jingbei separated.

Liu Pan was stationed here to guard the port from Dongting Lake to Xiangjiang River, so that if Cai Mao took the initiative to go south to attack Changsha County, he had to take a boat, and naturally he had to pass through this place.

The two sides faced a stalemate across Dongting Lake. Although neither of them saw the other party's soldiers and horses, there were scout ships on the vast Dongting Lake to inquire for news all the time.

Jiangxia is still standing still. After the lack of food and grass from Xiangyang, Jiangxia has actually fallen into a food and grass crisis. However, although Jingzhou’s food and grass are mainly supplied by the Nanyang Basin, Jingnan is also thriving at this time. After that, Liu Pan can deliver grain and grass to Jiangxia.

Huang Zu then dispatched the Jiangxia Navy to cruise along the Yangtze River from Dongting Lake to Xiling to protect the safety of grain roads.In this way, Liu Pan and Liu Qi became one, and the two sides' soldiers and horses, one south and one east, together with Liu Bei's army, restrained Cai Mao in the middle.

Time passed quietly in this confrontation between the two sides. Jingzhou seemed to have become peaceful overnight. No one was fighting, and there was no place to fight. Everything seemed to happen, and it seemed like nothing happened.

Only among the aristocratic families, there are countless letters exchanged secretly, which declares that the undercurrent is surging.

And just when Jingzhou briefly stopped troops, Zhang Lu in Yizhou was attacking Niuhuang and Fucheng. Fucheng had few soldiers and was eventually defeated by Zhang Lu. Retreat to Mianzhu, Luocheng and other places and continue to hold on.

Pang Xi garrisoned Niutang, which is the city of Jianyang in later generations. It is located on the right bank of the Tuojiang River, surrounded by numerous hills, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Zhang Lu was unable to attack for a long time.

Liu Zhang and Zhang Lu were in a stalemate, while Cao Cao in the north was relatively smooth.

He designed and defeated Yuan Shang before, and was about to pursue the victory. As a result, when he surrounded Yecheng, Yuan Tan took advantage of the vacancy and occupied most of the territory of Jizhou. When Yuan Shang was beaten and fled north, except for Wei County, The rest of the places are basically occupied by Yuan Tan.

This made Cao Cao very angry, and sent troops to beat Yuan Tan. When Yuan Tan was about to be wiped out, he had to retreat back to Chenliu because of his head attack, so that most of the land in Jizhou was acquired by Yuan Tan.

At the beginning of this year, Cao Cao sent troops to the north again, and started a war with Yuan Tan around Wei County. Yuan Tan defended Yecheng to the death.

The originally prosperous Wei County has become barren in just half a year, and there is no human habitation for a hundred miles.

In history, Cao Cao flooded the city of Ye, and this time he also planned to do so. But at this time, Tian Feng was the one defending the city. He saw through this strategy, and suddenly attacked when Cao Bing was digging the canal. Instead, Cao Cao was defeated. Therefore, Cao Cao Has been unable to conquer.

But in August of the 13th year of Jian'an, after more than half a year of attacking Yecheng, Yuan Tan outside the city was defeated by Cao Cao first, which made Yecheng suddenly isolated and helpless, and food and grass could not enter.

At that time, Tian Feng's strategy was that Yuan Tan led the army to set up camp outside the city, and he would stick to the city, and the two sides would be able to defeat Cao Cao's attack by fighting against each other.

However, Yuan Tan's strength was not good, and he was defeated by Cao Cao in a face-to-face battle when his military strength was similar to that of Cao Cao, which made Yecheng's situation suddenly very embarrassing.

(End of this chapter)