Soldiers come to the world

Just when Cao Cao was shocked by the bad news in Hebei, Liu Jing was playing chess with Jia Xu in the big tent, with a focused and calm expression.

"Sir, what do you think of this chess move?" Although chess was being played in front of him, Liu Jing was referring to the chess from Hebei.

Jia Xu squinted his eyes and smiled, stroked his beard and praised: "It's a wonderful chess game, it can be called a stroke of genius."

Liu Jing smiled lightly, and asked again: "How does it compare to Zhang Ji's move?"

"Zhang Ji's move of chess is a rare game, with ingenious conception, and setting up a game step by step. Although it is rare, it is a bit lacking in atmosphere, but Yuan's move is a vertical and horizontal game, making a big move, freezing the country. This move will change the pattern of the world. The state shepherd may have another opportunity to seek change."

Liu Jing nodded, "I have already played the chess game, but what should I do when I am planning a change? I would like to ask sir."

If it was said that Jia Xu was worried that Liu Jing would not last long, so he still had some reservations, but now he is full of confidence in Liu Jing, and the little worries in his heart disappeared immediately.

He pondered for a moment, then asked with a smile: "Zhou Mu thinks that if our army wins in Chibi, among all the princes in the world, who will be the strongest?"

"Cao Cao still dominates the family."

"Does Zhou Mu want to compete with him?"

Liu Jing shook his head, "The gap in strength is too great, and the time is far from coming."

"Then, regarding the Yuan family in Hebei and the Liu family in Jingzhou, who does Zhou Mu think is more important to Prime Minister Cao?"

"Of course it's me." Liu Jing laughed.

Jia Xu lightly stroked his long beard again and said, "But I think the Yuan family is more important to Prime Minister Cao."

Liu Jing was taken aback, but he understood after a little thought, "Sir, you mean Hebei is important."

Jia Xu nodded, "That's true. Hebei is very important to Prime Minister Cao. Although Zhou Mu is his strong enemy, even though he can't wait to destroy Jingzhou with the whole country, he still has to attack Hebei first. So at this time, The state shepherd needs to restrain himself and give Prime Minister Cao a step."

"Sir, do you mean to tell me not to fight Nanyang?"

"I'm just suggesting that whether to fight Nanyang or not in the end is up to Zhou Mu himself to decide."

Liu Jing understood what Jia Xu meant, and he hoped that he could give Cao Cao some leeway. Of course, it was understandable for Jia Xu to have such thoughts, after all, Cao Cao was his former master.

But capturing Nanyang is his established strategy, and he cannot give up his principles. Besides, if he does not put pressure on Cao Cao in the south, Li Fu and the others may not be able to persist.

Liu Jing thought for a moment, then smiled slightly: "Actually, I just want to find food and supplies for Wancheng. Nanyang is not urgent for me."

He was just giving Jia Xu a face. Seizing Nanyang and establishing a peripheral defense line is his established strategy. The strategy will not change, but the tactics can be changed. It doesn't matter if it is a day earlier or a day later.

Of course Jia Xu also understood what he meant. After all, Liu Jing still wanted to take Nanyang.

But Jia Xu can also understand that Nanyang is the strategic barrier of Xiangyang, which originally belonged to Jingzhou, so it is reasonable for Liu Jing to seize it.

"Hehe! If Zhou Mu only wants supplies, he can just take down Fancheng. Cao Jun's front line has already reached Chibi, so the food and supplies from Wancheng should have been transferred to Fancheng."

Liu Jing smiled, then changed the subject and asked, "Sir, do you still suggest that I use Hanzhong as a springboard to go north to Guanzhong?"

Jia Xu knew that Liu Jing had already made up his mind, and the chess game had already been laid out when negotiating with Sun Quan. Now that Liu Jing asked him again, he felt a little bitter in his heart.

"Does the pastor need to ask me about this again?"

Liu Jing also smiled and said, "Although I don't need to ask any more, hearing Mr.'s answer also makes me feel more confident."

"It doesn't really matter where you go."

Jia Xu sighed slightly and said: "The way of heaven has its own laws, and 'doing nothing' means following the way of heaven and nature. I don't think Zhou Mu should worry too much about this. After this battle is over, God will naturally make arrangements. As the saying goes, when the water arrives, It came naturally."

. . . . . . . . .

In the early morning of the next day, there was the sound of rumbling war drums on the river, and hundreds of warships with five hundred stones appeared on the river in the distance.when!when! The ear-piercing sound of bells spread throughout Jiang Xia's camp and Shuizhai.

Lieutenant Gan Ning immediately dispatched [-] thousand-stone warships out of the water village to intercept them. The warships lined up on the water surface. Behind the warships, there were hundreds of small boats waiting for an opportunity.

At this time, Liu Jing and dozens of generals also rushed to the water stronghold, and watched the battle on the river from the bow of the boat. Many generals were surprised. How could Cao Jun, who had been silent for several months, suddenly launch an active attack?

But Liu Jing knew that it must be that Cao Cao got the news from Hebei. Cao Cao couldn't bear the anxiety in his heart and was eager to end the battle in Jingzhou. Now he wanted to fight, but he didn't want to fight him.

"Let General Gan come to see me!"

After a while, Gan Ning rushed over, bowed and saluted, "See Zhou Mu!"

Liu Jing pointed to the warship of Cao Jun in the distance, "I want to know the situation of Cao Jun."

"Reporting to Zhou Mu, Cao Jun dispatched about a hundred warships. This should be a tentative attack, not a formal attack."

Liu Jing turned back and asked Jia Xu, "Sir, how do you think this battle should be fought?"

Jia Xu thought for a while and said, "If I'm not mistaken, Prime Minister Cao is very contradictory right now, and he is vacillating between retreating and attacking, so he sent a navy to test the attack. If the battle is okay, then prepare for a decisive battle. , if this water army loses miserably, then he should consider retreating."

All the generals nodded, Jia Xu's analysis gave them a sense of seeing the sun behind the clouds, Gan Ning said again: "Mr. Jia, you mean to let us lose this battle?"

Jia Xu stroked his beard and shook his head, "If the opponent is Cao Ren, it's okay to pretend to be defeated, but we are facing Prime Minister Cao, who has experienced many battles, and there are resourceful staff officers like Cheng Yu, Chen Qun, and Liu Ye, so we If you lose, you will be seen through by the opponent, but it is not enough to win a big victory, the key is to grasp this speed."

Liu Jing also interjected: "Mr. Jia is right. We can't lose this battle, but we can't win a big victory either. We can end in a miserable victory."

"As ordered!"

Gan Ning already understood Liu Jing's intention, he saluted, turned around and walked away quickly.

The war drums of the Jiangxia Army also sounded rumblingly, and the drums on the river were loud, and hundreds of warships surrounded Cao Jun's warships from all directions. At this time, the northwest wind on the river was strong and the waves were rolling. Outside the water village, the main force of the real battle is a hundred small boats rowed by manpower.

On the river outside Jiangxia Water Village, more than [-] warships battled one after another. The scene was tragic. Ships collided with each other and were sunk continuously.

On the north bank of the Yangtze River, Cao Cao led hundreds of generals and advisors anxiously waiting for the news from the south bank. Deserters appeared.

Deserters are the taboo of the army, which means that the morale of the army has begun to be turbulent, especially his army has 10 soldiers from Hebei, and the impact of the crisis in Hebei is even more serious. Either withdraw the troops and return north.

It's just that Cao Cao was never willing to withdraw his troops. For this southern expedition, he spent nearly half of his national power. If he got nothing, how could he explain to the people of the world?

He can only find a way to defeat the enemy through the results of this trial operation.

More than an hour has passed, but the sent warships still haven't returned. Everyone is a little worried. Could it be that all the hundred warships have been wiped out by Jiang Xia's army?

At this moment, someone pointed at the river and shouted: "I'm back!"

Everyone was excited and walked towards the bow of the ship, only to see dozens of small black spots appearing on the river in the distance, getting closer and closer, it was indeed their warship, but it was definitely not a triumphant return.

"Damn it, you lost again?" Xu Chu cursed behind him in a low voice.

Many generals were disappointed. It seemed that they had never won a battle with Jiang Xia's army. Although they were a little numb, this defeat still severely stimulated their hearts, and many of them cursed in a low voice.

At this time, Cheng Yu slowly walked up to Cao Cao and said with a smile, "There are more than forty warships back. It doesn't seem too bad."

Cao Cao said coldly: "I care more about their results!"

After a while, Zhang Nan, the leading general of the expedition, was brought before Cao Cao. He knelt down and pleaded guilty: "The lowly position was unfavorable in the battle. I lost 55 warships and more than a thousand soldiers. I was defeated and returned. Please punish the prime minister!"

Cao Cao said lightly: "I want to know how much Jiang Xia's army lost?"

"Reporting to the Prime Minister, our soldiers fought bravely, and Jiang Xia's army also suffered heavy losses. They also dispatched the same hundred warships, and lost about thirty of them."

"What kind of warship did Jiang Xia's army dispatch? Has the Qianshi ship been dispatched?" Cheng Yu asked next to him.

"Reporting to Duke Cheng, Jiang Xia's army dispatched thirty thousand-stone warships, but they did not fight. They were just lined up in front of the Shuizhai gate. They were unable to participate in the battle because of the headwind, and we were also fighting with a hundred five-hundred-stone warships. Although they won in the end, it was a disastrous victory, I am not boastful, they also killed or injured 600 people."

"Although this battle was defeated, I don't remember your faults. Go to the main tent of the Chinese army and tell me about the process of this battle in detail."

"Thank you, Prime Minister, for your kindness!"

Zhang Nan saluted and retreated, Cao Cao pondered for a moment, and said to Cheng Yu and the counselors, "Go to the account to discuss!"

In the big tent of the Chinese army, the soldiers carried out a red cliff battle plate made of clay. The battle plate was three long and two feet wide. Although the model is rough, it looks very intuitive.

This is the predecessor of the sand table, which was used in military affairs during the Qin and Han Dynasties. People gathered around the sand table, and Zhang Nan told Cao Cao and the generals on the sand table about the battle that took place outside the water village of Jiangxia Army in the morning.

Cao Cao listened very attentively, and when Zhang Nan finished speaking, Cao Cao said slowly: "We lost 55 warships and more than 600 people, while Jiang Xia's army lost 5 warships and 8 people. As a result, we have more than [-] troops. Even if we lose [-] people when crossing the river, there are still [-] to [-] people, enough to wipe out Jiangxia. Time is running out. I hope to end this delay within three days. months of war."

There was silence in the big tent, and everyone was chewing on Cao Cao's decision. As the supreme commander of the military, since he said the attack, the general direction has been set, and the rest is for the advisers to perfect the details.

In fact, this is also the case. The person with the highest power decides the general direction. This is his power, and no one dares to compete with him for this power.

Even core counselors like Xun Yu, Cheng Yu, and even Guo Jia can't make a decision. They can only analyze their interests and let the highest authority decide the direction. But once the direction is determined, the role of the counselors is to perfect the details under the general direction .

Cao Cao wavered between withdrawing troops and crossing the river, but Zhang Nan's tentative battle gave him a glimmer of hope. He was not afraid of losses. What he wanted was to successfully cross the river and completely wipe out Jiang Xia and Liu Jing, so that he could turn around and go north. , to wipe out the remnants of the Yuan family in Hebei.

Cao Cao looked at the counselors. He had finished speaking, and now it was time for the counselors to complete the details. His gaze finally fell on Cheng Yu. Cheng Yu was very quiet today, which meant that he already had a plan.

"Zhongde, tell me!"