Linxiang is the capital of Changsha County. Liushui (Liuyang River) is a river originating from the Luoxiao Mountains. It goes from west to west and injects Xiangshui into Linxiang. After Wei Ba seized Guiyang, this area south of Liushui was also included in the scope of Guiyang County, with Jin Dongliu responsible for the defense. Later, in order to win the support of the Wu army to Li Yan to send troops to Nanyang, Wei Ba made some concessions and withdrew Jin Dongliu's troops to Linyan, and actually gave up control over four or five counties including southern Hunan.

Of course, Sun Quan was afraid of stimulating Wei Ba, so he did not dare to formally accept these counties. This area became a buffer zone. Everyone tacitly did not send troops in. When collecting taxes, he would collect the fields of the land that would not interfere with the river.

But the situation is different now. The negotiations between the two sides have reached a deadlock from the beginning, both of which are adding troops to the border, and a war is about to begin. This buffer zone has become the most sensitive place, but there has been no war yet, so whether it is Jin Dongliu or Sun Deng, although they are eyeing each other, they have not sent troops to garrison.

Wei Wu brought three thousand personal guards to Linxiang like the wind, chasing the Wu army south of Liushui, and actually pushed the front line to Sun Deng's sight. The situation that was originally restrained suddenly became nervous. Jin Dongliu received the order and led an army of 10,000 to southern Hunan, and took the initiative to start a war. At the same time, he sent people to retake Jianning, Liling and other counties. Before the Wu army could react, they re-controlled the area and turned the buffer zone into a frontier position.

Upon receiving this news, Sun Deng was very nervous. It was obvious that this was Wei Ba's reaction to Sun Quan's conscription in Changsha, and the reaction was unexpectedly fierce. The 20,000 army led by Zhuge Ke was still on the way, and Wei Ba had already pushed the vanguard to Liushui. This was very different from Sun Quan's expectations. Judging from this situation, Wei Ba was not bluffing, he was really ready to start a war.

Sun Deng immediately summoned Wei Xing and asked him what this meant.

Wei Xing was ordered by Wei Ba to negotiate with Li Feng, but he was not a formal messenger, he was just a representative of Wei Ba. The negotiations collapsed after two days, and the entire messenger group was doing nothing - at least in terms of performance - Wei Xing was of course fine, and he was wandering around Linyuan every day. After receiving Sun Deng's invitation, he delayed for a long time before he came to Yiyang with a wave.

Sun Dengyang's surname is good at kung fu. Although he was anxious, he still asked Wei Xing's recent situation politely, and then he turned to the topic. What does Jin Dongliu's troops mean when they enter Xiangnan? The negotiations have not yet ended, why are you fighting without declaring it?

Wei Xing's head was shaking like a rattle. Prince, you misunderstood. We have notified you before that a large-scale capital test will be conducted after the autumn harvest. Jin Dongliu's troops will enter southern Hunan, which is also part of the capital test. As for the third general Wei Wu clearing the field south of Liushui, it is also for the preparation of the capital test. Don't worry, before the first day of October, we will never enter your borders. Now all operations are for the upcoming capital test, and there is no other meaning.

Sun Deng was skeptical, but Zhang Cheng pointed out without hesitation that the territory of Wu is south of Liushui, and you have crossed the border, which is equivalent to provoking a war.

Wei Xing closed his smile, glanced at Zhang Cheng with a gloomy look, and sneered. You are wrong. This land belongs to us, Shu Han, and has long been under the rule of our general Zhennan. For this period of time, you have been invading our territory. The reason why you have not cared about it is because we are allies. Although we have not declared war yet, you refuse to negotiate and increase your troops in Changsha. Your ambition is obvious. Do we still think you are allies? It is natural to take back our land. What are you surprised? You said it is yours, may I ask if you have any evidence, was it occupied by you with troops, or did my general say to give it to you?

Zhang Cheng understood. Wei Ba knew that Zhuge Ke had increased his troops in Changsha. He wanted to show the king and minister of Wu. Should he fight? Then fight and see who wins and who loses.

Faced with a arrogant opponent like Wei Ba, it was unreasonable to reason, so Sun Deng had to send Wei Xing away and then send someone to contact Zhuge Ke. You see, before you arrived in Changsha, Wei Ba began to increase troops. If you arrived in Changsha, wouldn’t Wei Ba have to go directly to war? Otherwise, you should not come to Changsha, at least not to go to the front line, even if you stay in Dongting Lake. There, there will be no direct conflict with Wei Ba. If there is really a war, you can support it in time.

Zhuge Ke received Sun Deng's documents and was ridiculous. Are you scared when Wei Ba's increase his troops? The more you are afraid, the more arrogant he is. If he increases his troops, you should also increase his troops, so that he can't dare to act rashly. If you let me stay in Dongting Lake, I am afraid that once Wei Ba launches an attack, I will not be able to arrive in Linxiang at all. Prince, you should sit in Yiyang. It is said that the prefect of Wuling Deng Yang is a famous scholar, and the general who commands the army is a barbarian, and his troops will not exceed 10,000. You should be able to deal with it. Leave it to me about Linxiang.

After Zhuge Ke issued the official document, he left the fastest baggage battalion. The governor rushed forward and marched for three days and two nights to Linxiang City. When he entered Linxiang City, Sun Deng's order was delivered to him. Facing Sun Deng's orders, Zhuge Ke smiled indifferently and wrote a long letter, once again advising Sun Deng to be firm in his determination, not to be weak, and dare to fight and be full of confidence in victory like the king faced Cao Cao's 800,000 troops back then. Only in this way can he win dignity and victory.

As Sun Deng's former aide, Zhuge Ke's letter was written a bit arrogant. He was actually teaching Sun Deng a lesson. For Sun Deng, who values ​​respect for respect, this letter was almost inappropriate. He was very angry and did not even reply to the letter. Zhang Cheng was always dissatisfied with Zhuge Ke, and he was even more annoyed when he saw this letter. He directly wrote a letter to Zhuge Ke, accusing him of playing with fire. If it really triggers war and loses power and is humiliated, he will bear all the responsibility.

Zhuge Ke wrote back to Zhang Cheng, saying that the three armies can seize the commander, but every man cannot seize the ambition. He is confused before fighting. Is this the performance of the generals who command troops and fight? The king entrusts the prince to you and entrusts Changsha to you. This is the manifestation of you? If we want to defend Changsha, we need to cooperate closely. If we lose Changsha, it is not only my fault, but you will also find it difficult to escape. If the position of the prince is not guaranteed, you will be the culprit.

Zhang Cheng was so angry that he was filled with smoke from his orifices, but he had to admit that Zhuge Ke was right. If he wanted to overcome this difficulty, they must cooperate sincerely, otherwise no one could bear the responsibility and no one could escape.

In desperation, Zhang Cheng had to cheer up and prepare for the battle. At the same time, he wrote a letter to the important officials, hoping that they could come forward to persuade Sun Quan not to take the risk of betting on Wei Ba’s determination. Once the war really starts, Wu’s chances of winning are very small.

The messenger ran between Changsha and Wuchang, and the situation was about to break out.

Sun Quan was in great anxiety. He accepted Zhuge Ke's suggestion, which did not mean that he was not nervous, nor did he believe that Wei Ba could really be scared by him. He added 20,000 troops to Changsha, but Wei Ba was also adding more troops, and the number was far more than 20,000. In mid-August, the autumn harvest in the areas under Wei Ba was over, and the strong men from all over the country pushed the food and rushed to the front line in a steady stream. By mid-September, 70,000 Shu Han troops had gathered around Changsha County, and countless armed forces. The camp was continuous for several miles. Just a glance made people feel numb.

This is just the forces of the three counties of Jingzhou, and there is no movement in the seven counties of Jiaozhou. It is precisely when Sun Quan saw this situation that he did not collapse in the end, because so far, Wei Ba's performance has not yet left the scope of the capital test, which is in line with the characteristics of the bluff that Zhuge Ke mentioned. If the forces of the counties of Jiaozhou also appeared in Jingzhou, the situation would be completely different.

Despite this, 70,000 to 40,000, and the other party had caused a lot of trouble for the Wu Kingdom. Sun Quan still felt uneasy when he defeated Lu Xun's young general Wei Ba, who had defeated Lu Xun head-on. In order to prevent the war from breaking out, he had to mobilize 20,000 people from the Yangzhou Army stationed in Chaisang in case of an accident.

These 20,000 people are almost the limit he can mobilize, and it is impossible to have one more. The Wei army is entrenched in Qingzhou and Yanzhou, ready to counterattack at any time. He had to leave a certain amount of troops to defend so that the Wei army would take advantage of the situation. Compared with Changsha, he was not worried about Jiang Xia. With two generals Lu Xun and Bu Zhi, it was not so easy for Meng Da to capture Jiang Xia.

The biggest opponent is Wei Ba. It can be seen from the forces of each part that Meng Da only has 20,000 people, while Wei Ba has 70,000 people, and the deterrence is not at the same level.

Of course, Meng Da should not be underestimated. When Wei Ba made great wars in Jiangnan, which made Sun Quan nervous, Meng Da also prepared for war in Nanyang. He used the robbed 3,000 horses to form 3,000 cavalry, and with the previous cavalry, he now had 5,000 cavalry. These 5,000 cavalry were still far from fighting against the Wei army, which was skilled in cavalry warfare, but these 5,000 cavalry were a big threat to deal with the Wu army, which also had no cavalry experience. Neither Lu Xun nor Bu Zhi dared to be careless, for fear that these 5,000 cavalry would suddenly appear behind him.

Sun Quan had bought seven or eight thousand war horses, but these war horses were scattered into the hands of each general, not concentrated in the hands of one person. Lu Xun was the strongest, and got two thousand, but Bu Zhi only got one thousand three hundred, and most of the others were hundreds, or even only a hundred. No matter which one, they could not compete with Meng Da.

Although Meng Da did not have obvious advantages like Wei Ba, he also firmly restrained Lu Xun and Bu Zhi. Especially Bu Zhi, he wanted to cover Jiangxia and defend Jiangling area, and did not dare to leave the base and support Changsha.

Li Yan'an sat in Chengdu, just letting the two thugs illuminate their muscles, and forced Sun Quan to the point of doing his best. If a war really broke out, Li Yan led the Chengdu garrison to the east along the Yangtze River to capture Wuchang and take the entire Jingzhou, which is not possible at all. At least, this is enough to make Sun Quan frightened.

Sun Quan was like a bow, and had been pulled to the limit. Even if he added a little more pressure, he might collapse.

However, it is not just Sun Quan who is nervous.
Chapter completed!