Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 429 The letter is in the net

The road from Nanjun to Fangling County is dangerous, especially the road from Xiangfan to Fangling.

Enter Fangling from the west of Xiangyang, go up against the Han River to Gucheng, choose the Zhushui River and go west to reach Fangling. Therefore, from the topography point of view, in addition to the steep road to build water valleys, the roads along the Han River are flat, which is conducive to marching.

However, the road from Nan County to Fengling County is far more than this. The Ju and Zhang rivers originate from Daba Mountain. No matter which waterway you take, you must reach the source, then abandon the river valley and cross the mountains to Fengling County.

Comparing the two roads, the road distance from Nanjun to Fengling is half the distance of the Zhushui Valley Road.

Therefore, not long after Meng Da's tenth letter was sent, Zhao Lei, who was the vanguard, led his sergeants to set off from Jujiangling and march along the main road to Jushui. Lu Meng was in charge of the public security, keeping a close eye on the movements of Cao Ren's troops to prevent any mistakes in the layout.

Nanjun, police.

Lu Meng walked slowly on the city tower, sometimes looking at the ferry outside the city, sometimes standing still and thinking, as if waiting for something.

As time passed, Liao Hua walked quickly upstairs along the city ladder with Lu Meng's waiting eyes.

Seeing Liao Hua's figure, Lu Meng went up to meet him and asked: "Yuan Jian, what's the situation in Xiangfan now? Is Cao Ren planning to send troops to march westward?"

Liao Hua, whose courtesy name is Yuanjian. He was from Zhonglu in Xiangyang and a wealthy family in Nanjun. Before and after the Battle of Chrysostom in the past, Liao Hua led his people to go south and return to Liu.

Since Guan Yu took charge of Nanjun, he valued the advantages of Nanjun's scholars who knew more about geography, and promoted many scholars into the military government. Therefore, Liao Hua was valued by Guan Yu and promoted to General Zuo because of his steady temperament and ability to be both civil and military.

Nowadays, Liao Hua is in the army. Because he is related to a wealthy family in Xiangyang, Lu Meng specially puts Liao Hua in charge of the intelligence work in Xiangfan.

Liao Hua panted slightly and said: "General, according to the scouts' report, Cao Ren has stationed troops thirty miles west of Fancheng. Although he is mobilizing troops and taking notes, he has not seen any movement towards the west."

After saying that, Liao Hua said worriedly: "It's September now, and the appointment date will be approaching soon. Cao Ren is holding back. Could it be that he has doubts?"

"Now that the army is out, how can Cao Ren believe it?"

Lu Meng paced slightly and asked: "Yuan Jian, how many troops and horses are left in the second city of Xiangfan now, and who is in charge?"

Liao Hua thought for a while and said: "There are five thousand soldiers in Xiangyang and three thousand soldiers in Fancheng. Lu Chang, the prefect of Zhangling, will guard Xiangyang, and Zhu Zhi, the prefect of Xiangyang, will guard Fancheng. Cao Ren's army is about 16,000 to 7,000 people, and Jingxiang is already available. soldiers."

Although Jingzhou in Cao Cao's hands has four counties, it is actually a complete Nanyang County, plus the surrounding cities of Xiangfan. It has a small population and household registration, and naturally has few state and county soldiers. Most of them are foreign troops from the Central Plains, with a total of 30,000.

Thirty thousand people should not only garrison Sui County, but also divide their troops to guard Xiangfan. Under this situation, Cao Ren raised nearly 20,000 troops, which was the limit of Jingxiang's troops.

Of course, the number of soldiers and horses used by Cao Ren was basically within the estimates of Guan and Lu. After all, although the Han River flows through it, the roads in the three eastern counties are rugged and there will be too many troops and horses, so supplies will not be able to keep up.

In addition to supplies, the troops entered the three eastern counties and cooperated with Mengdali to hide the movements of the army. If too many troops are used, it will arouse vigilance on the Southern Han side.

The soldiers and horses deployed by the Southern Han Dynasty to fight, except for the troops and horses of the three counties, were actually only the elite troops of Nanjun, more than 10,000 people. If the number of farmers is included, the strength of each side is between 30,000 and 40,000.

"There are nearly 20,000 people, but Cao Ren has stopped moving forward. It is not suspected that Mencius is pretending to surrender. He must have other arrangements." Lu Meng said.

"What does the general mean?" Liao Hua asked.

Lu Meng frowned and thought, and said: "The reason why Cao Ren didn't enter was because he was concerned about the terrain of Fangling. Fangling is a place for military strategists, and it is easy to enter and difficult to get out. Cao Ren is relying on bravery and lack of strategy. This should not be the case. It should be due to Cao Cao's arrangement. ."

After saying that, Lu Meng put his hand on the hilt of his sword and said: "If something goes wrong, Cao Cao is suspicious of whether Meng Da is faking his surrender, so he ordered Cao Ren to wait for the soldiers and horses heading south from the Central Plains, and not allow him to go deep into the army alone."

Liao Hua asked in confusion: "How did the general expect that after Cao Ren, there would be troops to support him?"

Lu Meng smiled and explained: "Cao Ren goes deep into the army alone. If he is ambushed, his troops will be destroyed. If there are no soldiers stationed in the north of Han Dynasty, they will fall into the hands of our army. If Yuan Jian doesn't believe it, he can wait for his son to write a letter."

It is speculated that Cao Cao will send follow-up troops to support and prevent Cao Ren from going deep alone. This is the basic operation of a general. After all, bets are bets, and you can't lose the bet, not even Jingzhou.

Liao Hua looked worried and said: "If according to what the general said, Cao Ren waited for the follow-up troops to go south, and then marched west to Fangling. Since there is support from the rear army, wouldn't it be difficult for our army to ambush and defeat the enemy?"

"Not urgent!"

Lu Meng put his hand on the city wall and said with a smile: "Ask Zidu to write another letter, saying that the king knows that he has a grudge with the young master Feng, and wants to replace him with Yang Ang as the prefect of Fangling. The situation is urgent. Please call Cao Ren. Lead the troops westward quickly without any delay."

"With such words, Cao Ren will definitely raise his troops and advance quickly, and he will fall into our army!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the attendant came over holding Meng Da's letter and said: "General, the prefect of Fangling has an urgent letter. There should be important things in the letter to report!"

Lu Meng opened the letter and read its contents. Seeing that the content of the letter was exactly what he expected, Lu Meng laughed a few times and handed it to Liao Hua.

Lu Meng excitedly patted the city wall and said with a smile: "As expected, Cao Ren wants to ask Zidu to postpone the event."

"General's calculations!" Liao Hua looked at the contents of the letter and said with admiration.

Lu Meng strode away and said in a deep voice: "Yuan Jian, send someone to deliver the letter to Mencius immediately. After that, you will stay at the police station. If there is any change in Xiangfan, report the news to me immediately. Now, I will catch up with you. The army rushes to Fangling."

After Meng Da sent the tenth letter to Cao Ren, Guan Yu secretly set out from Wuhan and rushed to Nanjun, then caught up with the army and commanded the army to fight against Cao Ren.

Seeing Lu Meng about to leave, Liao Hua caught up and asked, "General, what about after defeating Cao Ren?"

"Surround Xiangyang and destroy Fancheng!"

Not to mention that Lü Meng and Guan Yu met up and went retrograde along the Jushui Mountain Road to Fangling.

Lü Meng's letter arrived at Fangling earlier than the army under the rapid whipping of the scouts.

After Meng Da received the letter, he did not dare to waste time. He immediately wrote a letter and asked his nephew Deng Xian to deliver it to Cao Ren.

Just when the sergeant of the Southern Han Dynasty set off ahead of schedule due to the dangerous road, Cao Ren received Meng Da's eleventh letter.

Han River, Wei Jun Yingzhai in Jingzhou.

In the big tent, Cao Ren read the contents of the letter, his face changed, and he frowned and worried.

Seeing Cao Ren's expression, Hu Xiu asked, "Is it possible that Mencius has changed?"

Cao Ren stood up from his chair and said sadly: "According to Mencius' letter, the uprising cannot be postponed. He needs to start the uprising urgently now."

"Why?"

Cao Ren handed the letter to everyone to read and said: "As I worried before, Liu Bei learned about the conflict between Liu and Meng and wanted to transfer Meng Da away and appointed Yang Ang as the governor of Fangling. Now if Meng Da doesn't do anything, , then we can only follow the king's order. If this is the case, our army's half-year plan may be in vain."

"Then what should we do?"

The burly Niu Jin, with a troubled expression on his face, asked: "Your Majesty has told the general to march westward, not to go deep alone, but to let Yan Xing go to the rear. Now Yan Xingchu is setting out from Xuchang. If he waits for his troops to arrive, he may have lost the chance to capture the mausoleum." Good opportunity.”

After saying that, Niu Jin suggested: "The general will be outside, and the emperor's order will be ignored. Now I am afraid that it is too late for me to communicate with your majesty. Why not lead the army to the west to echo Meng Da. Let someone send a message Go with Yan Xing and let him come later."

Cao Ren was pacing in the camp. He was very interested in Niu Jin's proposal. But due to Cao Cao's decree not to allow his troops to go deep alone, he didn't dare to violate it.

"Prince Hu, do you have any advice?" Cao Ren asked.

Hu Xiu stroked his beard and groaned, saying: "Meng Zidu has been in contact with the general for half a year. If he is transferred to another place to take up his post, it will be difficult for him to move to three counties and nine counties!"

"However, according to your Majesty's instructions, your Majesty is worried that Mengda is pretending to surrender. He is also worried that the terrain of the mausoleum is unique and is not suitable for the use of troops."

"From a practical perspective, the issue now is whether the general suspects that Meng Da is deceitful?"

"Is Mengda cheating?"

Hearing this, Cao Ren was in trouble and didn't know how to choose.

The reason why Cao Cao arranged it like this was that he, Jia Xu and other senior officials were far away from Xiangyang and were suspicious of Meng Da's fraud, so he arranged it like this just in case.

Now that Meng Da cannot postpone the incident, Cao Ren needs to make a choice: whether he is willing to give up the secret line he has worked so hard for so long, or whether he chooses to believe that Meng Da really surrenders.

Fu Fang was reluctant to give up and said: "General, the general will be away, and military orders will not be obeyed. If Meng Da is transferred, more than 100,000 people in three counties and nine counties will be difficult to retrieve from now on."

Gritting his teeth, Cao Ren said: "Mengda is a villain. He first rebelled against Liu Zhang and then betrayed Liu Bei. He blamed Liu Bei a lot for Zhang Song's death, and now he is bullied by Liu Feng, seizing his bosses and losing his beautiful concubines. If he cannot do all the above things, Believe, what can you believe?"

"We will be outside, and your orders will not be accepted. Please send people to your Majesty immediately, and inform Yan Xing's troops to go south as soon as possible. After the incident is completed, if Your Majesty wants to blame, Ren will bear it."

After such a long period of correspondence, Meng Da used his sweet words to win Cao Ren's trust.

It can be seen from Cao Ren's words that he had no doubts about Mengda's surrender. After all, he had doubts about Meng Da in the early days, but as things developed, he began to believe in Meng Da. Otherwise, he would not have taken the initiative to ask for the army to march westward.

The sunk cost was so huge that it was difficult for Cao Ren to give up!

(End of this chapter)