"How sure are you, Ziyu, of this plan devised by Kong Ming?" Tao Shang asked Zhuge Jin.
Brothers Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang are both great talents, and they all have one characteristic, that is, they are relatively steady in their work, and they never make noises with red lips and white teeth. They are extremely down-to-earth in their work. This is what potters appreciate most about the Zhuge family.
Zhuge Jin was indeed a very calm person. He meditated quietly for a long time, seeming to be carefully calculating the chances of success.
Finally, he humbly said to Tao Shang: "We should be 70% sure."
The figures were very cautious, neither ambiguous nor bragging about 10%. The potter was very satisfied with the figures he gave.
"What do you need Tao to do?"
Zhuge Jin hurriedly said: "There are two things. One is that the Prime Minister needs to allocate troops and horses and change the deployment of the three armies. The other is that the Prime Minister needs to help me analyze whether there are any omissions in my words of surrender."
The pottery merchant thought about it seriously and said, "I really do have some ideas and suggestions. We might as well discuss it."
"Prime Minister, please speak."
…
The day after Zhuge Jindao arrived at Xiangyang City, the Jinling Army's 60,000 troops began to divide their troops.
Ten thousand horses returned to Fancheng, and the remaining fifty thousand horses, led by the Jinling generals, began to march towards the cities around Nanyang County.
These include Xi'e, Nanxiang, Caiyang, Wuyin and other places...
The Jinling Army surrounding Xiangyang City disappeared without a trace.
The actions of the Jinling Army were quickly communicated to Xiangyang City.
The generals in Xiangyang hurriedly went to Pang Tong and asked to go to war.
Wei Yan said to Pang Tong: "Situ, Tao Shang divided his troops and captured more than ten counties around Xiangyang. It seems that they have captured the important towns around Xiangyang and used encirclement tactics to force the city. Now that the enemy troops are scattered, it is a great opportunity for us to send troops to attack them!
The last general asks Situ for permission to allow us to go to war!"
Pang Tong looked at Wei Yan quietly, then at the impatient generals of the Jinling Army, and said: "Generals, lead your troops and horses, and start preparing the weapons and equipment to defend the city. Just reinforce the city defense. No need to say more."
When the Xiangyang generals heard this, they immediately became anxious.
However, Captain Han Qi stood up and said: "Situ, the enemy troops are now scattered and have uneven fighting strength. It is a good time to defeat them one by one. If you miss this opportunity, the Jinling Army will turn around and capture many counties in Xiangyang City.
If Xiangyang is surrounded, then this battle will not be easy to fight."
"It doesn't matter." Pang Tong said lightly: "Xiangyang is the gateway to Jingzhou. Most of the capital and arsenal are in Xiangyang. The harvests from surrounding counties are basically gathered in Xiangyang. The pottery merchants wipe out all the surrounding counties.
, it is also difficult to enter the hinterland of Jingzhou, no problem."
Zhang Fei said to Pang Tong: "No matter what, we have lost a lot of cities, and the pottery merchants have been advantaged in vain!"
Pang Tong said calmly: "I can get it back in the future, so it doesn't matter."
Guan Yu stood up and said to Pang Tong: "Situ's words, could it be that he wanted to let Tao Jun gain a foothold on the south bank of the Han River and ignore it?"
Pang Tong squinted his eyes: "The first priority right now is to defend Xiangyang and buy time for Jiangling. Everything else can be postponed for the time being."
Guan Yu snorted and said: "How is this behavior any different from a coward?"
Pang Tong said calmly: "General Guan, I remember that Pang seemed to have told you to stay away and reflect on your past mistakes. If you don't stay in the house, why did you come out?"
When Guan Yu heard this, he became angry.
"Guan is a dignified general of the armed forces, how can he be grounded?"
Pang Tongtong raised his eyebrows: "The military orders and laws are here, how can you not stop it?"
If the generals nearby had not stopped him, Guan Yu would have transformed into Xiang Yu, the overlord of Chu, and killed Pang Tong, the Song Yi in his eyes, with one sword.
"Pang has made up his mind and will never go to war. You must follow military orders without making mistakes. Anyone who disobeys orders will be punished according to military law."
…
Cai Mao is not in Xiangyang City now. He was squeezed out by Liu Bei and others and was sent to Zhangling County as the county guard.
Zhangling County and Nanyang County were integrated. Later Liu Biao, Fu Wan and others supported Liu Qiong as emperor. In order to weaken Cai Mao's power, Zhangling County was specially cut off from Nanyang County and garrisoned by Cai Hao. It was called reuse, but in fact it was weakened.
.
Although the Cai family was powerful in Jingzhou, through Liu Biao's careful polishing over the past few years, coupled with the consecutive battles of Liu Bei, Pang Tong, Fu Wan and others after his death, the Cai family was suppressed unexpectedly.
Cai Mao also took office in Zhangling County in frustration, also to avoid trouble.
In terms of geographical location, Zhangling County is closer to the Central Plains than Xiangyang and Fancheng, but it is more focused on the direction of Wancheng.
The pottery merchant led an army to attack Fancheng, and Zhangling County was naturally very nervous. They were afraid that the pottery merchant would not be able to conquer Xiangyang, so the army turned around and reached Zhangling.
During this period of time, Cai Mao didn't sleep well at all because he was frightened.
Until this day, he was sitting in the hall in a daze with dark circles under his eyes, but his younger brother Cai He ran over to him and said: "Brother, we have a guest."
"Guest?" Cai Hao blinked in confusion, looked at Cai He, and said, "What guest?"
Cai He said: "It's Duke Huang who is visiting."
"Huang Gong?" Cai Hao couldn't react for a while: "Which Huang Gong?"
"Huang Chengyan, Mr. Huang."
"Oh! Brother-in-law is here!" Cai Hao suddenly patted his forehead and said: "Look at my memory, please come in quickly... Oh, no, I will go out to greet you personally."
Cai Mao got up in a hurry and went to the gate of the mansion in person, only to see Huang Chengyan and a young scribe standing there waiting for him.
"Brother-in-law, how did you get here?" Cai Hao strode forward, held Cai Hao's hand, and said with a smile.
Huang Chengyan also had a smile on his face: "Since you took office and arrived in Zhangling, my brother has never visited you. Now that the war is in chaos, you are the head of a county and have great responsibilities. Your sister is worried about you, so Mr. Zhuo took the time to visit you.
one time."
Hearing this, Cai Mao said dissatisfied: "My sister is also true. She knows that the war is in turmoil, but she allows you, brother-in-law, to wander around as you please. If something happens to this, wouldn't you regret it so much?"
Having said this, Cai Mao turned to look at Zhuge Jin and said, "Who is this gentleman?"
Huang Chengyan pointed towards the door of the mansion and said, "Bogui, can we go in and talk?"
"Oh, yes, yes, you see what I have done... let's go! Talk inside!"
…
Cai Mao took the lead and led Huang Chengyan and two others to the main hall.
After the guests and hosts sat down, Cai Hao immediately smiled and said: "My brother-in-law has always been aloof and aloof. He has always been a solitary person and rarely hangs out with others. Since this gentleman can have his brother-in-law walking with him, he must be an ordinary person."
, you should be a wise man, but you don’t know your surname?”
Zhuge Jin stood up and said: "I am Zhuge Jin, who came from Jinling and is now serving as Taichang Qing in the court."
"Pfft~~!"
As soon as Zhuge Jin introduced himself to his family, the tea in Cai Mao's mouth sprayed out.