Zhuge Liang was shocked. Hearing the noise coming from behind, he looked in disbelief.
How could Zhang Xiujun appear behind him?
Could it be that Wanqiao was lost?
Seeing that Zhuge Liang was still in a daze, Chen Qun reacted the fastest and said, "Master Chen Mu, who was still in a daze, and his master, Chen Mu, reacted the fastest and said: "Master, Zhang Xiu is here, we must pay the money and withdraw the troops as soon as possible."
Chen Mu shook his head: "No, just send someone to tell Xu Chu to come back and protect me. We'll see what Zhang Xiu means later."
"Master, what is this?"
Chen Qun looked surprised. At this point, shouldn't he still order the soldiers to return to defense?
Chen Mu smiled mysteriously: "You'll know later."
Zhuge Liang said in despair: "Master, did you expect that Zhang Xiu's army would appear behind us?"
Chen Mu patted his beloved disciple on the shoulder and said: "Kong Ming, you are still young. You have done well in this battle. There is no need to blame yourself. Jia Xu is a cunning person, and it is not embarrassing to be plotted by him."
Although this sentence did not tell Zhuge Liang whether he expected such a thing to happen, his confident and calm attitude alone said everything.
Zhuge Liang was quite discouraged, but he had an indomitable character after all. After being comforted by Chen Mu, he quickly regained his confidence.
After thinking for a moment, he asked: "Master Shi, there are only two possibilities for Zhang Xiu to appear behind us. One is that something went wrong with General Li Lan and Wanqiao fell. The second is that they used a trick to mislead the troops. I'm afraid the troops will be divided."
There are two routes, one going south to Yuyang, all the way north to Pheasant County, coming from Dongwu Bridge."
Chen Mu smiled and said to him: "To be precise, it must be a trick of suspicion. Li Lan is a smart person. Since the order given to him is to guard the bridge, he will definitely not leave his post without authorization. The only possibility is the second one, Kong Ming, you
Got cheated."
Zhuge Liang smiled bitterly and said: "Soldiers are deceitful. I was indeed taught a good lesson by Mr. Jia Xu, whom I have never met before. Master is so calm, has he already made up for it?"
Chen Mu looked to the north, smiled slightly, and said nothing.
After a while, General Zhang Xiu came over and shouted outside the command post: "My military advisor would like to ask the young master for help. Please pass the message."
"No."
Chen Mu waved to Zhuge Liang, motioning for him to follow him, and then rode Ziying out of the crowd. From a distance, he saw a scribe on horseback standing alone outside the mouth of the valley behind him, about a hundred feet away from Zhang Xiu's army.
.
The two slowly passed by and came closer. Chen Mu looked up and down. The man was about fifty years old, with a slender face and a thin appearance. He was wearing a black silk robe and looked at him with piercing eyes.
"Mr. Wenhe, I have long admired your name."
Chen Mu smiled and cupped his hands.
Jia Xu did not dare to be negligent and immediately returned the greeting: "Xu has met the young master."
"Kong Ming has met Mr.
Zhuge Liang did not have any arrogance towards the gentleman who defeated him and saluted him seriously.
Jia Xu actually didn't understand why Chen Mu wanted to bring a young man over, but that didn't stop him from returning the favor and saying, "A rising star is formidable."
Zhuge Liang didn't know that Jia Xu was just being polite, and thought that he knew that he was in charge. He smiled bitterly and said: "Sir, today's lesson made Kong Ming feel ashamed. But Kong Ming still has something unclear. Please enlighten me, sir."
Jia Xu was confused.
He obviously wanted to prove his strength and hoped to be reused in the future, so he showed off his skills in front of Chen Mu. Why did this junior come out and say that he seemed to have taught him a lesson? What was going on?
He turned to look at Chen Mu, only to find that Chen Mu was looking at him with an unfathomable and mysterious smile. He hesitated for a moment and said hesitantly: "Young Master, this is..."
Chen Mu smiled and said: "Kong Ming is my favorite disciple, so I felt it was necessary to give him some experience in this battle, so I gave him the responsibility of supervising the army. I did not interfere. Therefore, Mr. Wen He is the one who is responsible for this battle."
In the duel with Kong Ming, sir, you plotted against my disciple, but it made me lose face."
Good guy.
In Jia Xu's heart, ten thousand grass and mud horses galloped past.
Previously, I saw that the layout of the imperial army was quite rigorous and the tactical planning was very good. I thought it was Chen Mu who was commanding him personally, so I made up my mind to have a good showdown with him.
When the time comes, he will come to the front of the battle and let him know how powerful he is, and then he will rebel and surrender, and he will be reused by the court from then on.
In the end, he didn't expect that he didn't take any action at all. It was his apprentice who was fighting him.
Not to mention being lowered in seniority all of a sudden, even if you beat someone else's apprentice, there is nothing to be proud of. Because in the eyes of others, you are only qualified to fight with your apprentice, and you don't have any chance to win against others.
Jia Xu felt humiliated for a moment and looked very embarrassed.
But he was a shameless person after all. Although he was unhappy in his heart, he didn't say it out loud. He just said to Zhuge Liang: "I wonder what Kong Ming is unclear about?"
Zhuge Liang said seriously: "According to my calculation, it will take about half an hour for Sir to arrive, and I have sent General Wen Su to delay your pace. Why didn't you tell me half an hour in advance and didn't receive any advice from General Wen?"
What about procrastination?”
Jia Xu thought for a while and said: "The soldiers and horses leaving Nancheng were just suspicious soldiers. They went out at the fourth watch. It was still dark at the time. I asked one person to hold five torches vertically. Each person was arranged at least six positions apart. Four
Thousands of people pretended to be 20,000 and went all the way south. At the same time, I asked General Zhang to use the boats that had been prepared long ago to go out from the west gate to the other side of Jiyang, and use the boats to build a pontoon bridge to cross the river. I myself went north and detoured to Pheasant County."
"That's it, that's it."
After Zhuge Liang was explained by Jia Xu, he suddenly understood.
No wonder Wen Su didn't hold back the enemy. It turned out that what he held back was the suspected soldiers sent out by others.
The main force went directly to the other side of Jiyang River to build a pontoon bridge.
If you just use wooden planks to build a pontoon, the speed will definitely be very slow. But with ready-made boats and tied with iron locks or ropes, the speed will be much faster.
The most important thing is that, as mentioned before, the Feishui River is not a particularly fast river. People in Nanyang City in later generations know that except for the flood season, the Baihe River usually flows very slowly, especially now it is still summer.
Unlike the Yellow River, the upper reaches of the Yellow River are glaciers, so melting snow in spring and summer, coupled with heavy rains in the upper reaches, will cause the Yellow River to experience two major flood seasons from spring to summer.
The Qishui River originates from the Funiu Mountains and does not rely on snow-capped mountains and water, so when the summer is hot, the water level will drop sharply.
The water level is low and the water flow is slow, so the floating bridge can be built quickly.
Jia Xu took advantage of this to conceal the truth and let Zhang Xiu's army arrive early.
After hearing Jia Xu's plan, Chen Mu also admired it very much and said: "Sir's plan is indeed unpredictable and admirable."
Jia Xu hurriedly said: "The Shaofu has no plans left. When I was in Guanzhong, I learned about the wisdom of the Shaofu from Mr. Chenghan. Compared with the Shaofu, Xu is just a trivial trick and nothing."
Chen Mu smiled and said: "Sir, you are too modest. Now I am surrounded by you here. I can't move forward or retreat. I am already a piece of meat on your chopping board. How can you say that I am better than you? But since we are already the turtle in the urn.
, what do you plan to do with us, sir?"
Of course, Jia Xu wanted to surrender now. After all, he had gained face, proved his strength, and had taken Liu Biao's 20,000 troops as a pledge of surrender. Now was definitely a good time to surrender to the imperial court, and he would be reused in the future.
But he couldn't help but think of the frustration he felt just now. After all, he once rebelled against Chang'an and was one of the most resourceful people in the world. However, Chen Mu despised him so much and sent his disciples to compete with him. It was really a bit contemptuous.
For a moment, he had the idea of making a fool of himself, and he said slyly, "The young master's residence fell into my hands today. Naturally, he will follow me to Xiangyang and be a guest in Liu Biao's house."
"oh?"
Chen Mu was surprised and said: "Mr. Wenhe is really so unwise, planning to take refuge with Liu Biao?"
Jia Xu smiled and said: "The imperial army is coming fiercely and wants to capture Nanyang. We have no way to retreat. If we don't go to Liu Biao, who else can we go to?"
Chen Mu sighed and said: "Sir, you know that Liu Biao is not an enlightened master. This man is old and fatuous, and his reputation is empty. In my eyes, he is just a dolphin. You, sir, are a great man in the world, how can you betray him secretly?"
"
"Since Liu Biao cannot take refuge, then who should I take refuge with?"
Jia Xu asked deliberately.
Chen Mu pointed at himself: "Me, us."
"You do have strength."
Jia Xu nodded: "Liu Guan, Zhang Chen and Taoyuan are sworn brothers. Everyone in the world knows about it. Now that Duke Xuande is the emperor, he has gained the new land of Jizhou. The number of soldiers and horses of the imperial court is unknown. It has the intention of sweeping the world, but...
..”
"Just what?"
Chen Mu asked with a smile.
Jia Xu smiled slyly and said: "It's just that since the imperial court is so powerful, why did the young manor fall into my hands here?"
Chen Mu suddenly laughed: "Mr. Wenhe, you don't really think that I saw the students' tactical mistakes without any remedial measures, do you?"
"oh?"
Old God Jia Xu said: "In that case, let Xu have some experience."
Chen Mu glanced at the sky.
It was past the third quarter of sunset in the evening, and it was approaching dusk. The sun was far above the Funiu Mountains, slowly setting.
The gorgeous fire clouds in the distant sky illuminated the whole world, and the whirling dusk crows soared under the clouds. I don’t know when, billowing dust and smoke appeared in the north.
Seeing this scene, Chen Mu chuckled and said, "Sir, if you don't believe it, look behind you."
"Behind me?"
Jia Xu turned around and saw dust flying all over the sky in the distance in the direction of Xiao Chang'anju.
A cavalry horse came to report and shouted loudly: "Sorry, military advisor, a large number of imperial troops are coming from the south. The cavalry at the front is carrying the flag "Zhao". I'm afraid it's Zhao Yun."
Chen Mu smiled and said, "Sir, do you understand?"
Jia Xu said in shock: "The young master transferred Zhao Yun here? Aren't you afraid that Yingchuan will be empty and Cao Cao and Sun Jian will take advantage of the situation to attack Luoyang?"
"Cao Cao and Sun Ce, the son of Sun Jian, are probably attacking Yuan Shu now. How could they dare to attack Luoyang?"
Chen Mu said lightly: "As for Sun Jian, I'm afraid he is already on his way to Luoyang, but instead of leading troops, he is going to Luoyang to serve as a guard."
"Sun Jian went to serve as a guard in the imperial court?"
Jia Xu was shocked by the news. He thought for a moment and said in awe: "The young man has a good plan, but Xu lost."
Chen Mu showed a fox-like smile and said: "The original minister, Zhong Yao, went to Qingzhou to serve as the pastor of Qingzhou. Now the court still lacks a minister. I wonder if Mr. Wenhe is satisfied?"
Jia Xu cupped his hands and said, "It all depends on the young master."
Chen Mu returned the gift with a cupped hand and said with a smile: "From now on, I will have to call Mr. Wen He Jia Shangshu."
Jia Xu also maintained the posture of bowing, shaking his hands up and down: "Don't dare, I don't dare, Xu turned from darkness to light today, all because of the tolerance of the young master. From now on, he will only serve the imperial court."
"Ha ha ha ha."
The two looked at each other, smiled, and put their hands down, just like two foxes looking at each other. The feeling of cherishing each other and colluding with each other arose spontaneously.
Zhuge Liang on the side felt like he was watching an unpredictable drama.
But he was very smart and figured it out in the blink of an eye.
It turned out that Jia Xu had long wanted to surrender to the imperial court.
And his master had expected it early, so he confidently and boldly entrusted this tactical deployment to him.
As for Master.
From the beginning, the overall situation has been taken care of.
Regardless of whether Zhang Xiu surrendered or not, he was already under Master's plan.
In the face of absolute strength, any conspiracy is of no use, because as long as Sun Cao goes to fight for Jiangdong, Zhao Yun will be freed and can immediately march into Nanyang.
After figuring this out, Zhuge Liang suddenly felt that his master always kept him from seeing the depth of his abilities.
The wisest man throughout the ages should be like this!
Just as Zhuge Liang was sighing, the battlefield in the distance had already undergone new changes.
When Wenpin saw Zhang Xiu coming to help, he was overjoyed and thought he was saved. He was about to send someone to contact Zhang Xiu and ask him to send troops to help him immediately.
As long as Zhang Xiu helps withstand the enemy's attack first, he can reorganize his scattered troops and launch a counterattack soon.
However, what he never expected was that just as his army was approaching Zhang Xiu's tribe, thousands of arrows suddenly fired, killing and wounding countless of his troops.
Immediately afterwards, Zhang Xiu's army was dispatched. When encountering the Jingzhou army, they slashed with their swords. They actually rebelled on the battlefield and cut off their retreat!
When Wenpin saw this scene, he was anxious and angry. However, the army was in disarray and could not organize effective resistance at all. He was quickly defeated and was defeated. When the sky completely darkened, he took advantage of the cover of night to break out.
.
However, the Jingzhou army fled all night, and only a few hundred people remained with Wenpin. This time, of the 20,000 troops sent by Liu Biao, nearly 10,000 surrendered on their knees, and two to three thousand were killed, while thousands fled and scattered.
Even Wenpin's deputy general Deng Ji was captured alive by Zhang Xiu on the battlefield and presented as a prisoner to Chen Mu.
Zhang Xiu turned against the enemy and defeated the Jingzhou army.
Chen Mu was overjoyed and appointed him as the military general of the imperial court. The sixteen generals were added to the rank of the seventeenth general, and he was granted the title of marquis. Since then, Nanyang was pacified and completely fell into the hands of the imperial court.
As for Zhang Xiu, Zhao Yun came to help. Chen Mu's army numbered fifty or sixty thousand, chasing Wenpin all the way, heading south in a mighty way, heading straight to Xiangyang.
For a time, the whole Jingzhou was shaken, and the city of Xiangyang was filled with wailing, and countless people fled with their families.