After receiving military orders from Yang Ling, Cai Mao and Zhang Yun led the navy near Jingzhou and headed south along the Han River.
The place where they were stationed was called Hanjin, which was a ferry on the Han River.
From here, you can take a boat to Jiangxia County in the east.
Although the Sun-Liu coalition took the water route, due to the detour, Yang Ling arrived at Hanjin before they arrived.
Upon hearing the news of Yang Ling's arrival, Cai Mao and Zhang Yun did not dare to neglect. They immediately disembarked and came to the shore to greet Yang Ling in person.
"I've seen the general!"
The two of them bowed and saluted Yang Ling.
"No need to be polite."
Yang Ling got off his horse and waved his hand.
Seeing that he and the other soldiers were all dusty, Cai Mao couldn't help but said curiously,
"What happened to make the general come in such a hurry?"
"General Degui doesn't know something. Liu Bei, Liu Qi and Jiangdong have joined forces. Now their 50,000 navy troops are heading here from Xiakou."
Wenpin on the side explained.
"What? Fifty thousand navy troops?!"
Cai Mao was immediately surprised.
The most elite navy in Jingzhou was either in the hands of Huang Quan or taken away by Guan Yu.
Now he and Zhang Yun only have less than 10,000 naval troops in their hands.
Most of them were old, weak, sick, and disabled, and the warships they were equipped with were either in disrepair or were small boats.
Not to mention going to war with Jiangdong, which is famous for its naval forces, I am afraid that if it goes against Guan Yu and Huang Quan, it will only lead to defeat!
"General Degui, there is no need to be nervous. It is precisely because you are not an opponent of the coalition that the general will come in person."
Wenpin smiled.
"If the general comes forward, the general will feel relieved!"
When Cai Mao heard this, he was also relieved.
"Without further delay, from now on, I would also like to ask the two generals to enter a state of alert immediately."
Yang Ling ordered in a deep voice.
"Here!"
Cai Hao and Zhang Yun responded with cupped hands.
Yang Ling led people to conduct on-the-spot exploration near Hanjin, and finally determined the location to fight the coalition forces.
The river here is winding and winding, the river channel is narrow, and there are dense forests on both sides for hiding.
It is most suitable for ambushing the coalition forces.
When Yang Ling set out from Xudu, the craftsman's workshop delivered a total of thirty fierce fire oil tanks.
In addition to this, he also brought with him a hundred pieces of artillery.
Yang Ling placed twenty heavy fire oil tanks and fifty artillery pieces on Cai Mao's and Zhang Yun's warships.
The remaining ordnance was all deployed on both sides of the Han River.
When everything was ready, Cao Jun quietly waited for the arrival of the Sun and Liu coalition forces.
…
On the southern part of the Han River, endless coalition warships are slowly moving upstream.
The command flagship where Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang are located is the top-notch warship in Jiangdong.
Although it is not as towering as Sun Quan's Feiyun, it is still a giant.
Zhou Yu stood on the deck, glanced at the sky, estimated the speed of the ship, and frowned slightly.
He turned around and walked towards the cabin.
"Your brother and I are close friends. If Kong Ming doesn't mind, we can also become friends."
"Mr. Zijing is serious. I am really lucky to be friends with you."
In the cabin, Lu Su and Zhuge Liang were laughing and talking.
After hearing the content of the conversation between the two, Zhou Yu looked a little unhappy and said calmly,
"Mr. Kong Ming, if we keep this pace, we will be able to fight Cao Jun in a year and a month."
"Why not call back the spies on both sides of the strait and speed up the march?"
After passing through Xiakou and entering the Han River, Zhuge Liang insisted on sending two teams of spies to search along both sides of the Han River to avoid an ambush by Cao Jun.
However, both sides of the Han River are mostly deserted and the roads are rugged and difficult to navigate.
The spies' search was extremely time-consuming.
As a result, the movement speed of the coalition navy will naturally slow down greatly!
"Yang Ling has always been scheming, and this move is just for safety reasons."
Zhuge Liang explained calmly.
"No matter how smart he is, he can only have a navy of 10,000 men like Cai Hao and Zhang Yun."
"We have fifty thousand navy, do we still need to be afraid of him?"
"In my opinion, you were scared out of your wits by Yang Ling, right?"
Zhou Yu sneered.
Seeing his arrogant attitude, Zhuge Liang frowned slightly, then relaxed his brows and smiled lightly,
"Be careful of the ship that sails ten thousand years."
"Mr. Kong Ming is too cautious."
Zhou Yu paused and said in a deep voice,
"Come here, give me the order to have the spies on both sides of the Taiwan Strait withdraw and speed up the march!"
"Captain, think twice. Yang Ling is a cunning and cunning person. If he is not careful, he may fall into a place of eternal destruction."
Zhuge Liang sighed and tried to persuade him.
But Zhou Yu couldn't listen to his words at all, and just said disdainfully,
"Since I am the commander-in-chief of the Navy this time, you should obey my military orders. If there is any guilt, I will bear it alone!"
Seeing the dispute between the two, Lu Su on the side quickly stood up and smoothed things over,
"What Kong Ming said does make sense, but Gong Jin also wants to defeat Cao Jun as soon as possible."
"It would be better to withdraw all the spies from both sides of the strait first, and then send out several Mengchong ships to investigate the situation first. How about that?"
The Mengchong boat is narrow and long in shape and can sail very fast.
If we follow Lu Su's suggestion, we can not only inquire about the situation ahead, but also speed up our march.
Zhou Yu had a close friendship with Lu Su. After hearing his words, his expression softened and he looked at Zhuge Liang,
"I wonder what Mr. Kong Ming thinks?"
Mengchong warships can explore the river, and the situation on the shore can easily be ignored.
Lu Su proposed this compromise method just to avoid further quarrels.
If Zhuge Liang does not agree, he will probably quarrel with Zhou Yu.
After some thought, Zhuge Liang could only nod his head and said,
"Then follow Mr. Zijing's suggestion."
"That's very good."
Lu Su was relieved.
Zhou Yu said nothing more and sent someone to convey the order to Huang Gai and other Jiangdong generals.
Not long after, as the spies from both sides of the strait were withdrawn onto the ship, several Mengchong warships moved upstream at extremely fast speeds.
The speed of the entire coalition fleet has also accelerated a lot!
I don't know how long it took, but suddenly there was a sound of footsteps outside the cabin, followed by a burly general walking in.
He is Jiangdong general Huang Gai.
"I've met the governors, Mr. Zijing and Kong Ming!"
"Debunk the general, but have you discovered anything?"
Zhou Yu asked.
"Reporting to the Governor, the soldiers sent have just returned and reported that dozens of warships were spotted on the river ahead."
"From their flags, we can tell that they are Cai Mao and Zhang Yun's navy."
"These warships are docked on the river and seem to be preparing to fight us."
Huang Gai said respectfully.
After hearing this, Zhou Yu's spirit was lifted and he laughed and said,
"Cai Hao and Zhang Yun are really ignorant."
"You knew we were coming and you didn't duck down quickly. How dare you take the initiative to fight?"
