Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 988 Digging up the inheritance
The escalation of the war in Jingzhou began to intensify as Cao's navy launched a large-scale attack on Xiangyang.

Cao Cao's army gathered all the fleets on the Han River and launched a day and night fierce attack on Xiangyang on the south bank. At the same time, he tried to cross the Han River and outflank Xiangyang's rear.

However, the subsequent development of the situation was beyond Cao Jun's expectations. Even though the land and water armies were led by Cao Ren and Xia Houyuan, with Xin Pi as the supervisor, they realized within a few days that Liu Bei's army was no longer what it used to be.

Liu Bei defended the city, Guan Yu led the navy to support the lower reaches of the Han River, and Zhang Fei led the army to block Cao's army on the south bank of the Han River that wanted to cross the river. The three parties cooperated and actually blocked all Cao's offensive. Guan Yu even used water to cloth the two armies. , penetrated the two camps of Cao's army on the north bank of the Han River.

At this time, Xia Houyuan, who was in charge of the Chinese army, realized that the situation was not good. The three of Liu, Guan, and Zhang cooperated tacitly, not only because they had been fighting together, but the timely mobilization of Liu Bei's troops and horses was also a very important factor.

But this relies on a very high level of ability to mobilize and plan troops, which the previous Liu Beijun did not have!

After being reminded by Cao Ren, Xia Houyuan realized that Liu Bei had probably found an extremely powerful counselor. As a result, the overall level of Liu Bei's army had reached a very high level, at least better than the combination of Xin Pi and himself, so it took a long time. Unable to attack!

In desperation, he had to ask Xu Du for help and asked Cao Cao to personally conquer.

Xia Houyuan wrote the letter in front of Xin Pi. When Xin Pi saw it, he felt extremely aggrieved.

He is also ranked high among Yuan Shao's counselors, otherwise he would not have become Yuan Tan's right-hand man. Even if he came to Cao Ying, he would be among the top three in marching and formation, otherwise Cao Cao would not send him to do this. Supervise the army.

"How to deal with it now?"

This made Cheng Pu feel very aggrieved, and he said aloud: "The master sent us here, and the result was like this. How can we explain to the master?"

"But this will definitely affect the master's plan to recapture Chaohu and seize all Jianghuai. Even our navy was originally going to participate in it, but if we are blocked by Guan Yu, I'm afraid it will be difficult to do anything in the future."

"So this time I plan to lead a thousand troops across the river to cut off Guan Yu's retreat and force him to retreat."

"The section of the Han River from Xiangyang to Xiakou is only over 200 miles long. The rest is owned by us and Cao Cao, but Guan Yu just relied on this short section of water to move so far!"

Cheng Pu was even more surprised when he heard this, but he knew that Lu Meng was full of clever tricks, so he said: "Ziming seems to be confident. How sure is he?"

Lu Meng said: "There are two ways at the moment. One is to mobilize the navy from Wankou to come for reinforcements. If it is not enough, we can only ask the Chinese army for help."

But now Cao Jun's mobilization was clearly guessed by the opponent. It was obvious that the opponent was much better than him, and his skills were inferior.

At this time, Cheng Pu looked ugly, slapped his palm on the table, and said angrily: "This Guan Yu is so courageous!"

The Jiangdong Army had originally retreated its main force to Chaisang. The troops left behind at Xiakou were not as strong as before. They were caught off guard and were beaten into a panic. Fires broke out everywhere at the Xiakou ferry. Half of the warships left behind were either destroyed or captured. Otherwise, they were not along the river. Cheng Pulumeng, who was on patrol, rushed to help. Maybe Xiakou had been lost.

"How many soldiers do you want?"

Looking at the heavy losses of Jiangdong's army, the two of them almost vomited blood. Previously, Jiangdong thought that Liu Bei's army had to deal with Cao's offensive, so it was impossible to divide his troops to attack Xiakou, so he mobilized warships to prepare for Yuan Xi's Chaohu, but no one could Unexpectedly, Guan Yu came back at this time!

Just when Cao Jun thought that Guan Yu had stopped and went back to rest, a shocking news came. Guan Yu did not return to the south bank, but went straight down the Han River and once again raided Xiakou where Jiangdong Army was stationed.

Guan Yu was not willing to fight, so he immediately led his troops to retreat to the Han River, and then left safely by boat. Cao Jun pursued to no avail, and had no choice but to retreat to Fancheng to defend. They had to wait for Guan Yu to attack again, and then there was a calm period for several days.

You can blame him for being angry. Guan Yu has already raided Xiakou twice, and Jiangdong's army suffered heavy losses as a result. The key is that the opponent comes and leaves whenever he wants. How can Cheng Pu still have the face?
Lu Meng looked solemn and said: "Guan Yu is really not someone to be underestimated. Forgive Meng, but we have no chance of winning in a head-on battle."

When Cheng Pu heard this, his face became even more ugly, but he couldn't refute. Previously, he looked down on Guan Yu and felt that his navy was definitely inferior to his. However, after fighting against Guan Yu's navy, he discovered that the opponent's formation was well-organized and his advance and retreat were appropriate. No less than himself who has been fighting for many years, and even suppressed half of himself at one time.

Lu Meng listened and said slowly: "If you want to deal with Guan Yu, the number of troops is not decisive."

But he was afraid of what he was afraid of. Guan Yu fought more and more fiercely along the way. He unexpectedly made a sudden attack on the north bank of the Han River between Fancheng and Xinye. He wanted to penetrate behind Fancheng and cut off Cao's army's food route.
If this intention had succeeded, Cao's army would have been in chaos. Fortunately, Zhang Xiu on the flank led his troops in a desperate fight. After paying the price of heavy casualties among his soldiers and serious injuries to Zhang Xiu, he managed to hold off Guan Yu and hold out until reinforcements arrived.

He paused for a moment, as if he had made up his mind, "My lord is kind to Meng, and Meng will definitely not let my lord's plan be hindered, so the second way is that the general only needs to guard Xiakou, and then Meng will do it alone." Solve this hidden danger!”

"If you're lucky, you might be able to get Jingzhou Nanjun!"

Cheng Pu heard this and said in disbelief: "Ziming leads the army alone to deal with Guan Yu? Isn't it too much?"

Lu Meng said: "At least five points."

Cheng Pu heard this and said with great joy: "Then I will guard the rear and wait for the good news from Ziming!"

Lu Meng had a smile on his face, but he was unsure in his heart. He did not tell the truth because he was not sure that things would develop as expected, but now he was forced to have no choice but to take a gamble.

Anyway, if you lose the bet, you can get out of it. If you win the bet, you will make a lot of money. The key to everything lies in the leverage in your hand, whether it can be used against the person in Baqiu Jiangling City.

In Shouchun City, Yuan Xi and Lu Su were talking absentmindedly while thinking about the recent military situation.

Jiangdong was clearly on the verge of taking action, and Lu Su on the other side seemed to have guessed it, looking listless, because such a large-scale mobilization would be a big loss, unless the territory and cities could be conquered, otherwise there was little chance of returning empty-handed. This made Lu Su's current negotiations meaningless. If Yuan Xi had not blocked most of the news, Lu Su would not have known how bad the situation had deteriorated, and he might have asked to leave long ago.

But Yuan Xi had already made up his mind that he would not let Lu Su go this time.

Although this approach seems unethical, Yuan Xi can find many reasons for it.

The reason why he did this was to dig up the inheritance of counselors in Jiangdong for future generations.

The line of succession of Jiangdong's masterminds is very clear, including Zhou Yu, Lu Su, Lu Meng, Lu Xun, and Bu Zhi.

Now Lu Xun's step has been cut off by Yuan Xi, Zhou Yu was injured in the Battle of Chaohu, and it is said that the injury has never recovered, Lu Su is dragged here by himself, and only Lu Meng is left.

Yuan Xi naturally took advantage of future generations. Except for Zhou Yu, the other three people had not yet shown their extraordinary talents, and they were not taken seriously in Jiangdong, so Yuan Xi could easily succeed.

Of course, if Sun Quan knew that the people he let go were all his subordinates who would be extremely important to him in future generations, he might have regretted it.

Yuan Xi saw Lu Su sitting across from him honestly and answering him sternly, and thought to himself that this was really bullying an honest person. Lu Su had a loyal character and was not really suitable for intrigues. In comparison, he was more suitable to be an auxiliary minister. It can only be said that Sun Quan has not yet grown up to the point of knowing people.

However, Yuan Xi was not prepared to give Sun Quan such an opportunity. It was in Yuan Xi's best interests to kill and cripple him before he grew up.

He stood up and said, "That's all for today. Sir, do you want to stay for dinner?"

Lu Su knew that Yuan Xi had issued an order to expel the guests, so he quickly stood up and said humbly: "Su will not disturb the envoy anymore, and leave here."

He looked at Yuan Xi's relaxed look and thought that he had nothing to do every day. He probably just wanted to sit on the mountain and watch the fight between tigers, right?

This should be a good thing for him. The longer he delays it, the better it will be for Jiangdong, so he can just stay here shamelessly.

After sending Lu Su away, Yuan Xi summoned Zhuge Liang and Lu Xun and asked: "How is the plan now?"

Lu Xun spoke up: "The Huaishui fleet has been scattered everywhere and can be assembled to enter Chao Lake at any time."

"There is still a fleet in Xuzhou, ready for deployment at any time."

Zhuge Liang immediately said: "Heishan, Jizhou, Qingzhou and other places have been mobilized here. The elite troops deployed previously rushed to Xuzhou and are now arriving with the Xuzhou fleet."

"Now in Hefei on the north bank of Chaohu Lake, Liu Ye has been sent to lead people to defend the city. They are just waiting for Jiangdong to attack."

"But there are still two hidden dangers. First, there is only Jiangdong's army, but the upper reaches of the Han River are already occupied by Cao's army, which can threaten Shouchun at any time. If Cao's army from Jiangdong cooperates, I'm afraid it will be very difficult for us to fight here."

"However, General Guan's recent battles against Hanshui have reduced a lot of pressure on our side."

Zhuge Liang also praised: "General Guan is versatile in both civil and military affairs. This is a real surprise to us. What he did is already beyond our expectations."

Yuan Xi thought for a while and said to Lu Xun: "Let the people in the prosecutor's office pay close attention to the situation with Guan Yu and report to him at any time if there is any change."

Lu Xun agreed and said: "Second, we are simply fighting against Jiangdong. Normally we should be able to ensure that Jianghuai is not lost, but it is still a bit hard."

"Because this is the turn of summer and autumn, the east wind is blowing on the river, and the wind direction is unfavorable to our side."

"Chaohu runs north to south, which is fair to both sides. But if we go south and take the initiative to attack, we will be fighting against the wind."

"Even the Jiangdong Army doesn't care much about the wind direction. They have already deployed their fleets in the east-west direction of the Yangtze River Estuary. As long as we go out, they will attack from both sides."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi nodded and said: "It's not impossible to do this. Let me talk about it later."

"I heard that they invited us to go to Wankou to negotiate peace?"

Lu Xun said: "Yes, this obviously has no good intentions."

"If we send someone, will the other party do what we did to Lu Su, or even do it under the guise of exchanging people?"

Yuan Xi shook his head and said: "Lu Su is not taken seriously in Jiangdong now. There should be other reasons."

"I'm curious about what they want to do. I heard that Zhou Yu came to talk in person?"

(End of this chapter)