After Sun Qian left, Cheng Pu reminded: "Since Liu Qi has captured Jiangling, Cao Ren will come to Xiangyang after being defeated. Gong Jin will make preparations early. Should he divide his troops to intercept?"
Zhou Yu sneered: "I'm afraid Cao Ren won't come, so I want him to help me capture Xiangyang."
Everyone was confused after hearing this, wondering why Cao Ren would help you capture Xiangyang. Could it be that he was confused because of the Jiangling incident? Only Lu Su smiled and said nothing.
"Does Zijing know about my plan?" Zhou Yu asked.
"The governor wants to use Cao Ren to lure Yue Jin out and favor the defenders?" Lu Su replied.
Zhou Yu laughed heartily: "He who knows me is Zijing."
Lu Su still had a heavy expression on his face, "Le Jin, Manchu is not a pampered person, he may not be willing to sacrifice the city to save him..."
Zhou Yu explained: "Zijing didn't know something. Cao Cao fled back to Xudu and appointed Cao Ren as the governor of Jingzhou. If Leman and the two of them don't save him, they will be hated by the clan members. There will no longer be a place for two people in the north. This is for me. It’s a yang conspiracy.”
"The governor is wise." Lu Meng took the lead in boasting, and the generals immediately agreed.
Zhou Yu nodded: "There are currently 20,000 defenders in Xiangyang City. I want to mobilize 30,000 troops to surround Cao Ren. The remaining 20,000 troops will be handed over to Duke Cheng to command the siege. Zhang Yide is an enemy of ten thousand people. You must make good use of it." .”
Cheng Pu smiled bitterly: "Zhang Fei said that he can charge, trap, kill generals, and capture flags, but he is not good at ascending first. Why not transfer the governor to besiege Cao Ren?"
"It is because Zhang Fei is brave and invincible that I dare not let him besiege Cao Ren. Now Cao Ren alive is more useful than dead Cao Ren." Zhou Yu waved his hand.
"I understand." Cheng Pu nodded.
"Ziming, Gongji, you will follow me to besiege Cao Ren. Since Gan Ning has surrendered to Liu Qi, forget about Yiling for now, and wait until you return to Jiangdong to report to the lord before you plan on it." Zhou Yu gave special instructions to the two of them.
"Wei." Lu Meng (Ling Tong) responded with cupped fists.
A few days later, Cao Ren led his troops to Xiangyang, and Zhou Yu waited two miles west of the city for the fish to enter the net.
In order to undermine the morale of the defenders, Zhou Yu has been implementing a three-sided siege strategy for Xiangyang, so external intelligence can enter and exit through the west gate.
"Bo Ning, General Zixiao is coming back soon. Zhou Yu is showing off to us in the west of the city. His move is really insidious..." Le Jin sighed from the top of the West City Tower.
"Looking at Zhou Yu's formation, it seems that there are 30,000 people. The strength is ten times that of General Zixiao. It seems that we must send troops to rescue him..." Man Chong also shook his head.
"I will take 10,000 troops out to meet them later. You must guard Xiangyang and prevent the other party from taking advantage of the chaos to seize the city." Le Jin ordered.
Man Chong suggested: "The rats in Jiangdong are all weak and weak. Wen Qian should take more of them out. Five thousand people are enough for me."
Le Jin waved his hand and said: "General Zixiao has to save, and Xiangyang has to defend. In short, I will go all out."
"I didn't expect that the Prime Minister, with hundreds of thousands of people, would now be on the defensive side..." Man Chong sighed.
Le Jin frowned and reminded deliberately, "I didn't hear it just now. What did Boning say just now?"
Man Chong knew that he had made a mistake and immediately smiled and said: "I told Wen Qian to be careful..."
Le Jin nodded lightly and said nothing. When Cao Ren's cavalry appeared, Zhou Yu immediately took advantage of the numerical advantage and launched an encirclement on the plain.
Unfortunately, Zhou Yu had mostly infantry, and thousands of cavalry could not stop Cao Ren from going east. At this time, Le Jin opened the west gate to meet him, and the two armies started a fierce battle on the plain west of Xiangyang.
At the same time, Cheng Pu led his troops to storm the city, causing a commotion around Xiangyang.
Elite cavalry costs a lot of money. Whether it is Gongsun Zan's white-horse righteous followers or Cao Chun's tiger and leopard cavalry, they are all made of real gold and silver.
The three thousand elite cavalry following Cao Ren's retreat were the tiger and leopard cavalry he had raised since the Dongping period, and their combat effectiveness was second only to Cao Chun's tiger and leopard cavalry. Therefore, Zhou Yu seemed to have more troops, but in fact he was completely unable to resist them.
Zhou Yu was also very happy to see these horses. Such good horses could not be bought in Jiangdong, so at the beginning of the battle, he ordered not to hurt the horses, but the result was completely different from what he imagined.
Seeing that Le Jin came to support, the encirclement could no longer be completed, so Zhou Yu had no choice but to order arrows to be fired at the horses.
Countless fine horses whined and fell to the ground. Cao Ren's eyes were on fire, but he could only watch the cavalry fall one by one.
After Le Jin joined the battlefield, Cao Ren's pressure was finally relieved.
The final battle was extremely brutal, with the losses on both sides reaching over 50%.
Finally, in the evening, he was torn apart by Cao Ren, and Le Jin led the remaining army to escort him into Xiangyang City.
Tens of thousands of people fought for a day outside the city, but Cheng Pu still failed to capture the city. Zhou Yu then sent people to Jiangxia and Xinye for help, and also sent people to Jiangdong to seek the transportation of grain and grass. The battle for Xiangyang immediately entered a stalemate stage.
In February of the 14th year of Jian'an, Liu Qi took his wife, concubines, and family to Jiangling, and later Pang Tong returned with Gan Ning.
Pang Tong and Gan Ning did not visit Liu Qi, but instead went to Lantian to return their orders.
"Ziyu, you deceived me so hard..." Pang Tong's already ugly face became even more strange at this time, but his eyes when looking at Lan Tian were so hot.
Lan Tian had goosebumps all over his body and looked at Pang Tong in confusion. Gan Ning next to him explained: "The lord and the military advisor have told Pang Gongcao..."
"Oh...that's it..." Lan Tian suddenly realized.
Pang Tong held up his hands and said, "Ziyu and I already have a common master. I hope you can give me more advice in the future..."
"My lord also worships Mr. Fengchu as his deputy military advisor." Gan Ning added.
Lan Tian raised his hand and returned the greeting: "A good bird chooses a tree to roost in. Congratulations to Mr. Feng Chu for meeting the Master of the Ming Dynasty. How dare I teach you such a talented man..."
Pang Tong said with a smile: "Ziyu is as humble as Kong Ming said. You have deceived all the heroes in the world with this trick. My lord is really a blessed person. I will work with you in Jiangling in the future."
"I have never had any great ambitions. With Mr. Fengchu here in Jiangling, I will go back to Lingling..." Lan Tian said.
Pang Tong nodded and said: "Ziyu is the governor of Lingling after all, so he should go and take charge of the overall situation early. I heard that Liu Zichu was active in Jingnan, and the nobles in various counties admired his name..."
"Liu Ba? I'm afraid he doesn't have the ability." Lan Tian sneered.
After years of development in Lingling and Guiyang counties, the people are now happy and the people's strength has recovered very quickly. In addition, there are no big gentry to hinder them, and various policies have been promoted very smoothly.
After the news of Cao Cao's defeat in Jingzhou spread, even with Su Qin's eloquence, Liu Ba could not persuade the people of Jingnan to surrender to Cao.
Lan Tian then introduced Pang Tong to Liu Qi, "My eldest son, Mr. Feng Chu is a genius in the world. With him assisting you in Jiangling, I can return to Lingling with peace of mind."
"Feng Chu's name is resounding throughout Jingxiang. In fact, we have met each other when we were in Xiangyang. Since Ziyu recommends you today, I will promote you to work in Jingzhou." Liu Qi said.
"Thank you, Mr. Fu." Pang Tong thanked him with his hands.
After a few pleasantries, Liu Qi signaled that he wanted to talk to Lan Tian alone, and Pang Tong left knowingly.
"The war in Xiangyang has not ended, and Ziyu is heading south to Lingling at this time. I really can't feel at ease." Liu Qi was worried.
Lan Tian smiled and said: "The eldest son now has Feng Chu in literature and Huang Hansheng in military affairs, so he can sit back and relax..."
Liu Qi nodded, "Cousin, right now, Huang Hansheng is so powerful and he doesn't even know that he didn't know. I heard that he captured Jiangling with a trick?"
Chapter completed!