The wind was gentle and the sun was shining brightly. Liu Qi, Huang Zhong, Gan Ning and his party left Xiangyang and headed straight for Jiangling.
Although the area of Jingzhou is not as large as that of Yangzhou, it occupies the two provinces of Hunan and Hubei in later generations, plus Nanyang, Henan. It seems to be only one land, but in fact the territory is not smaller than the entire Central Plains.
On the whole, Jingzhou is divided into three major plates due to the Han River and the Yangtze River: the Nanyang Basin, the Jianghan Plain and the Xiangjiang Plain, which are basically independent of each other.
In this era, water and land were separated, transportation was inconvenient, soldiers and horses could not reach directly, and effective control could not be formed. This was the main reason why Liu Biao only had high authority in Nanjun, but could not control the two important areas in the north and south of Nanyang and Jingnan.
As an important town in Nanjun, Jiangling, like Jiangxia, guards the dangers of the Yangtze River. It borders Chibi to the east, Yizhou to the west, and Dongting Lake to the south. Its geographical location is particularly important compared to Jiangxia.
The prefect of Jiangling was originally from the Cai Mao tribe. After the family liquidation, Liu Qi appointed Du Ji as the prefect of Jiangling, Yu Jin as the Sima, and Xi Zhen as the chief registrar. They all replaced new officials and took charge of Jiangling thoroughly.
In order to enter Tuxichuan, Zhou Yu fought with Cao Ren and Liu Bei here, hoping to open the way for Soochow to advance westward and capture the entire Yangtze River defense line.
In the later period, Soochow used iron cables to block the Xiling Gorge in an attempt to stop the Yizhou soldiers and horses. However, when they met the famous general Wang Jun, the navy went all the way east to Jianye and was unstoppable.
The advantage of occupying the upper reaches of the Yangtze River is very obvious. Now Zhou Yu is training his navy in Poyang Lake, and Liu Qi has set up the Jingzhou navy base in Dongting Lake in order to deter Jiangdong and prepare for Xichuan.
Guan Yu guarded Jiangxia with infantry as the main force. The naval force was only strengthened on the basis of Huang Zu's troops. It was enough to control the waters of Xiakou!
Jingzhou's real naval force will be fully formed in Dongting Lake, and its commander will be Jinfanjun Gan Ning, the man who is the strongest in naval warfare!
After a day's rest, everyone set off from Wulin Water Village to Changsha, where the Jingzhou Navy headquarters was located. After selection and reorganization, 8,000 elite soldiers were selected from the 20,000 Navy troops and went to Dongting to rebuild the water village.
Hundreds of warships sailed out of the port and passed through the wide river. The cool breeze blew and the flags fluttered, which made people's hearts beat.
Gan Ning stood on the bow of the boat with his sword in hand, looking at the rolling waves with deep eyes. After more than ten years of wandering, he finally waited for the Ming Dynasty to show his ambition.
"Xingba, you will become the freest person on the sea!"
Gan Ning looked back and saw that it was Liu Qi, and laughed loudly: "The sea? That's still beyond the mountains and rivers. If someone can help the general capture the entire Sanjiang defense line, as far as the Yangtze River, let me gallop, that's enough!"
"Hey, this situation is still too small!" Liu Qi shook his head slightly.
Holding the side of the boat, pointing to the mouth of Dongting Lake in the distance, he slowly said: "Dongting and the Yangtze River are just places where fish and shrimps play. Xingba is a generation of dragons. He should swim in the sea, from the South China Sea to the East China Sea, with vast blue waves and fairy mountains. The island is where good men roam!"
"The sea..." Gan Ning's eyes gleamed slightly, not expecting that Liu Qi was not joking, and said with emotion: "To be honest, although I, Gan Xingba, walk on the water as easily as I can on the ground, I can hunt tigers in the mountains and capture dragons in the sea, but I have never I’m ashamed to have been to the sea!”
Liu Qi smiled and said: "In less than ten years, you and I will be galloping on the sea and appreciate its magnificent scenery!"
"Hahaha, how magnificent!" Gan Ning looked up to the sky and laughed, opened his arms and shouted: "The sea, Gan is coming!"
At this moment, Gan Ning suddenly felt that Zhou Yu's training of 100,000 sailors in Chaisang was just mediocre.
Even Jiangdong Shulang's eyes were only on the Yangtze River, but Liu Qi had already set his sights on the sea. How ambitious is this?
When I was thinking about the sea, suddenly a sentry ship came flying in. In a blink of an eye, it was under the big ship, turned twice in the water, and stopped steadily.
A naval supporter reported: "Liu Biejia wants to see the general!"
"Please get the two of them on the boat quickly!" Liu Qi did not expect that Liu Xian would personally drive the boat to chase him. Xu Shu was also brought with him. He didn't know what happened.
This command ship has two floors and is much higher than the small boat. A rope was thrown to set up a ladder. The defenders were in a hurry before they brought Liu Xian onto the board of the ship. Seeing that he was pale and his beard and hair were disheveled, they were obviously chasing him all the way. .
There was a bump in the water just now, and Liu Xian was dizzy and couldn't get up from the boat. Xu Shu looked calm, and he was indeed a man who had traveled all over the world.
Without waiting for Liu Qi to ask questions, Xu Shu reported: "Liu Biejia received a letter yesterday. His nephew and his party were robbed by Dongting Lake water thieves, so he chased them all night and asked the general to save them."
"There are water thieves in Dongting Lake?" Liu Qi frowned and said, "How come you have never heard from Changsha and Wuling counties?"
Xu Shu said: "These water thieves gather on the islands in the lake. Most of them make a living by fishing. They occasionally go out to rob. They are similar to powerful bandits. They have been around for a long time, and the government is powerless."
"Humph, with me, Gan Xingba, who dares to be arrogant?" Gan Ning folded his arms and sneered: "My navy has just arrived in Dongting, and I am worried that I have nowhere to train, so I just used this thief to sacrifice the flag. "
Liu Qi nodded and said with a smile: "Any water thieves who meet Xingba will be just a master of their own trade. It seems that this group of thieves has been entrenched for a long time and may have a lot of savings. They can recruit civilians to use as military resources. If they are not heinous, they will be incorporated into the army." He can also be the main force of the navy."
"General, no...don't underestimate these water thieves!" Liu Xian drank water and rested for a while, then stood up and said: "This thieves has been entrenched in Dongting for decades. They are the remnants of the Changsha thieves Qu Xing. They are powerful and have tens of thousands under their command. the crowd."
Xu Shu said: "This must be because after Ou Xing was defeated by Sun Jian, the remaining thieves fled into the Dongting, roaring and gathering, and gradually became a climate."
Liu Qi was surprised. He didn't expect there to be such a large force in Dongting Lake. He then smiled and said, "Isn't this a navy gifted to me by God?"
Gan Ning also smiled and said: "Don't worry, the more water thieves there are, the better. Gan was worried about the insufficient strength of the navy, so he recruited them to surrender, and the Jingzhou navy began to take shape."
Liu Xian sighed: "General, you don't know. This Dongting water thief is not comparable to ordinary thieves. He is known as the Dongting Double Jiao. The eldest, Naohai Jiao, is highly skilled in martial arts. The second, the two-headed Jiao, is quite resourceful. I heard that he is not only good at training troops, but can also modify warships." , can come and go freely on the water, once the official ship enters, it will be destroyed by it, and it must not be underestimated."
"There is such a talent?" Liu Qi frowned slightly. People who can transform warships are not ordinary thieves.
If this group of thieves can really build a new type of ship, they must have many craftsmen. Others only see the harm, but Liu Qi takes a fancy to these talents, who are the core of building a naval army.
Gan Ning said in confusion: "Biejia came all night to ask for help, but now he emphasizes that the thieves are powerful. Isn't it because he wants to boost others' ambition and destroy his own prestige? Aren't you afraid that you won't be able to save your nephew and his party?"
Instead, Liu Xian stroked his beard and smiled, and said: "I know that the general is rebuilding the navy in Dongting, and there will be a battle with these thieves. I came here in person, firstly to ask for help, and secondly to remind the general not to underestimate the enemy's carelessness, so as not to damage the army and defeat the general. I My nephew has been smart and alert since he was a child, so he must have a way to protect himself."
Liu Qi saw that Liu Xian was not worried about his nephew. Instead, he was a little curious: "I wonder how old your nephew is and what his name is?"
Liu Xian's face showed a look of pride: "My surname is Zhou Buyi, and I have just passed the year when my hair is tied up."
