The night before the expedition, Ji Shu and Zhou Yu sat quietly opposite each other in a small study room. As the lights flickered, Qiao Wei walked into the room with a lunch box and gently placed several side dishes on the table.
These are the side dishes that Ji Shu and Zhou Yu love to eat. It can be seen that they put a lot of thought into them, Ji Shu said hurriedly.
"Sister-in-law, there's no need to be busy. My second brother and I will leave after having a few words."
"Come and sit at home, why are you so polite?"
Qiao pursed her lips and smiled softly, then quickly packed the lunch box and said again.
"I'm going back to my room to rest first. If I don't have enough wine, just ask the servant to get it."
She and Zhou Yu looked at each other lovingly, turned around and left the room, leaving Ji Shu and Zhou Yu speechless for a long time.
Zhou Yu raised his chopsticks and took a few bites of the side dishes, then motioned to Ji Shu to move his chopsticks.
"Zi Yuan, do you have any instructions for coming to me so late?"
What do you want to instruct?
Ji Shu didn't know what to give him. In the final analysis, he didn't think he was better than Zhou Yu. But Zhou Yu's task was too heavy, which made Ji Shu very uneasy, so he came to Zhou Mansion.
The two brothers knew each other well, and Zhou Yu always knew Ji Shu's caution and meticulousness. Seeing him like this, I didn't know what he was thinking, so Zhou Yu sighed longly and said.
"It seems that you really value Zhuge Liang as your opponent. Do you think I am not sure of winning against him?"
To be honest, Zhou Yu never really fought against Zhuge Liang.
Zhuge Liang first showed up in the Battle of Jiangxia. If it weren't for the outstanding performance of many generals such as Taishi Ci and Gan Ning, Ji Shu would have fallen there.
Jiangxia's defeat prevented Zhuge Liang, a newcomer, from receiving enough attention. Sun Ce's adoption of Ji Shu's strategy further shook Zhuge Liang's position, causing him to completely withdraw from Liu Biao's decision-making circle.
After defecting to Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang immediately became a high-ranking official in Xu Han, on par with Xu Shu. If Liu Bei betrayed the alliance without Zhuge Liang and Xu Shu's advice, Zhou Yu would not believe it. In the battle to evacuate Xuzhou, Sun Ce handed over the leadership to Pang Tong, who was more familiar with Zhuge Liang and Xu Shu. Therefore, Zhou Yu did not actually understand Zhuge Liang, who now dominated Xuzhou's military power.
But one thing is certain. Wherever Zhuge Liang appeared, the Chu army experienced difficult battles on the frontal battlefield. The princes of Jiangdong and Liu Biao of Jingzhou, who had the superior military strength, had never caused Sun Ce to suffer such a big loss, but Zhuge Liang did it with Xuzhou soldiers and horses that were weaker than the Chu army.
"Second brother, after much deliberation, there is only one thing I hope you will remember."
Ji Shu didn't talk much tonight, but he was very serious.
"When you use your strategies, it's best to have Zhuge Liang prepared to see through all your strategies."
Zhou Yu closed his eyes, nodded slightly, and remembered Ji Shu's words deeply in his mind. After a while, he smiled, raised his glass and said beautifully.
"Come, let us brothers have a few drinks before we go off to battle."
The serious atmosphere suddenly became warm, and the two of them chatted and laughed while eating wine and food.
Under Zhou Yu's command, the battle along the Yangtze River soon began.
The first port to fall was the port east of Guangling City. The defenders of three to four hundred people could only flee in panic in front of thousands of Chu troops. After the Chu army captured the port, they burned all the nearby ships, both those of the Han army and those of the common people.
After that, the Chu army's warships advanced all the way west. The Xu Han navy was vulnerable to the Chu navy, and the ports along the coast of Xuzhou were also lost one after another.
For half a month, the coast of Xuzhou was on fire. The Chu army seemed to destroy all the ships along the coast of Xuzhou and completely control the coastal waters.
"How's the search going?"
In response to Zhou Yu's question, the generals looked bitter. After a moment of pause, Zhao Yun stood up and answered with a frown.
"Reporting to the military advisor, we have not found any signs of enemy troops moving in large numbers."
Zhou Yu looked at the sand table with confusion in his eyes.
Could it be that all the main force of the Han army was transferred to Xiaopei for a decisive battle with Sun Ce?
No, it shouldn't be like this. There should be at least one main force left on this battlefield to deal with him.
Where is he hiding? Did he want to give me a fatal blow? Is the enemy general Xu Shu or Zhuge Liang?
"What's the news from eldest brother and third brother?"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Yun immediately answered Zhou Yu's question.
"The Lord is setting up a defense line in Shouchun. The three army divisions have just led their troops out of Pengcheng. The Han army is behaving strangely and no new information has been received yet."
Zhou Yu squinted his eyes and fell into deep thought. In this case, he set up a suspicious formation and lured the snake out of the hole.
"Zhu Zhi obeys the order!"
"Juji is here!"
"You lead five thousand elite naval forces and continue to advance westward. The momentum must be loud and show the might of our army to the Han army. If there is a Han navy navy coming to fight, annihilate it quickly. If not, completely destroy the Xuzhou coast. All ships in the harbor!”
Zhu Zhi raised his head and asked Zhou Yu.
"What if the Han army avoids the navy under my command and attacks the hinterland of Jiangdong?"
"Then block the Yangtze River and cut off the Han army's supply line. At the same time, order the people along the east coast of the Yangtze River to flee to Jianye City, strengthen the walls and clear the fields, and starve the Han army to death in Jiangdong."
As soon as this statement came out, all the generals were shocked. Jiang Dong would be seriously injured if he did this.
Only Zhu Zhi looked at Zhou Yu with appreciative eyes and cupped his fists.
"Zhu Zhi takes the order!"
Zhou Yu nodded and looked at Huang Zhong again.
"Huang Zhong obeys orders!"
"Huang Zhong is here!"
"You lead five thousand troops to attack Guangling City, but I want you not to attack Guangling City within six days. At the same time, you must keep in close contact with General Zhu Zhi. If the Han army attacks Jiangdong, you will withdraw immediately and cooperate with General Zhu Zhi. Destroy the enemy."
"Huang Zhong takes the order!"
Finally, Zhou Yu looked at the others and said.
"Gan Ning and Zhao Yun sent detective horses to expand the search area, and led the main force to ambush the enemy troops rushing to rescue Guangling with me."
"Gan Ning takes the order!" "Zhao Yun takes the order!"
However, after five days of waiting, no reinforcements came from the Han army. Guangling City, surrounded by the Chu army, seemed to have become an isolated island abandoned by the Han army.
The scouts still found no trace of the large number of Han troops, but Zhou Yu asserted this while looking at the map.
"It seems that the person I am fighting with is Zhuge Liang of Xu Han, and the main force of Xuzhou is also hidden in front of us."
Gan Ning leaned against a big tree behind Zhou Yu, sighing and speaking listlessly.
"Gong Jin, we didn't even see a single enemy soldier. How can you be so sure?"
Gan Ning's laxity was obvious. Zhou Yu looked at Zhao Yun on the other side. Even Zhao Yun, who had always been serious, was a little lackluster.
It's no wonder that because of Xu Han's betrayal, the Chu army experienced the most disastrous defeat in history. This hatred has already penetrated deeply into the hearts of every Chu army soldier.
Who doesn’t want to go to the battlefield this time to kill the enemy and take revenge?
But friendly forces were attacking the city from the side, but they sat here for several days without even a shadow of the Han army being seen. They feel frustrated that they have nowhere to vent their anger.
Zhou Yu smiled and said.
"First, half of the ports along the coast of Xuzhou have been disabled by me, and he has not responded at all. This is clearly showing the enemy's weakness and luring our troops to go ashore for a decisive battle. From this, I can conclude that the main force in front of us must be Xuzhou's main force , he wants to swallow us whole and then march to Jiangdong."
"Secondly, Xu Shu is bold in his tactics. If Xu Shu were here, he would have seized the flaw I left to attack Jiangdong and use attack to attack. But this commander prefers to defend instead of attack. He will not come to help Guangling. Guangling City saw through my plan of siege and reinforcements, and took advantage of the situation to throw Guangling City out as a bait, allowing me to swallow this bait so that I could confidently and boldly advance deeper into Xuzhou. From this, I inferred that the enemy’s commander-in-chief was Zhuge Liang.”
Gan Ning and Zhao Yun suddenly became interested, and they approached each other one after another and asked.
"Gong Jin, now that you have an idea, should we really take action now? I don't believe that my lord has handed over General Zhu Zhi's elite navy, my Jinfan Army, and Zilong's white horse followers to you, just for the sake of Send reinforcements here and harass Xuzhou's port."
"That's right! Military Advisor, the soldiers have long been impatient to sit here and are eager to fight. I would like to ask the Military Advisor to inform me of the next target."
However, Zhou Yu, who was confident just now, became a little hesitant at this moment. He frowned and uttered two words.
"Langxie."
