After the Autumn Exercise Ceremony, another half month passed peacefully.
Seeing that the autumn harvest season has just passed and the army's new grain has just been put into storage, Zhang Fei and Zhang Xi are wondering whether to continue to increase the amount of training for the sergeants of the battalion... The lord Liu Bei asked all the generals to go to a meeting.
The reason for the meeting... After the autumn harvest, Wancheng Cao Ren was intensifying his troops and might go south.
Fighting in these years and months, there are basically certain rules.
Although we do not rule out unexpected operations under extreme circumstances, most military operations have a certain time pattern.
For example, during spring plowing, people and land cannot be wasted. Most of the time, troops are called off for a truce. After autumn, when there is sufficient food and grass, it is the time to use troops.
Therefore, just after the autumn harvest ended, there was a movement of Cao's army in the direction of Wancheng. Liu Bei immediately stepped up his guard, thinking that Cao Ren might go south, and called a meeting with his generals and counselors to discuss countermeasures.
Originally, only generals and counselors participated in this meeting, and there were only a few generals in Liu Bei's army. They were just Guan Zhang and Zhao. There were only a few counselors, Xu Shu, Mi Zhu, Jian, Yong, Sun, and Qian.
As the second-in-command in Zhang Fei's army, Zhang Xi was originally not qualified to participate in this meeting. His duty should be to arrange the military affairs of the entire battalion while Zhang Fei went to the meeting.
But Liu Bei specifically asked Zhang Fei to bring Zhang Xi with him, and Zhang Xi also attended the meeting.
This meeting was different from a banquet, that is, everyone sat according to their seating arrangements, Liu Bei took out a map and hung it on the wall, and then everyone spoke one by one according to their official positions.
Zhang Xi's position was behind Zhang Fei. He was not at the main table, but just a spectator, so Zhang Xi came with his ears to listen.
There is no need to discuss whether Cao Ren will go south.
Except for Zhang Xi and Xu Shu, everyone sitting here is an old soldier. Even Mi Zhu, Jian Yong and others have experienced several battles.
At this time of year, regardless of whether Cao Ren will actually come, we need to take strict precautions and prepare according to the standards for Cao Ren's coming south.
The key question is, how will Cao Ren come, how many people will come, what is the purpose, and what method will be used to fight the enemy.
The first question is that Xu Shu believed that it was impossible for Cao Ren to lead an army.
After all, the focus of Cao Cao's strategy is still in the north. Before hearing the latest battle report from Xiaozuo about the end of the war in the north, it can only be assumed that Cao Cao is still preparing for the Northern Expedition to Wuhuan.
In this way, Cao Cao's main focus is still in the north. On the south side, even if Cao Ren goes south, it is probably just a tentative attack and it is impossible to dispatch the entire army.
And if it is just a tentative attack, then sending 10,000 troops is already the limit.
But these ten thousand soldiers and horses also need to be taken seriously by Liu Bei.
First of all, Liu Bei only had more than 3,000 troops, which was only one-third of Cao Ren's strength.
Secondly, although Liu Bei obtained Liu Biao's authorization and had the right to command the Fancheng defenders when Cao's soldiers in Wancheng went south, this also depended on whether the Fancheng defenders would buy it, and Liu Bei knew very little about the true combat effectiveness of the Fancheng soldiers. .
Finally, if Cao Ren attacks Fancheng, Liu Bei of Xinye must rescue him. However, if Cao Ren attacks Xinye, the defenders of Fancheng may not send troops to help.
These issues are the focus of today’s discussion.
The geographical location of Fancheng is very special. It is the gateway to the north of Xiangyang, and is also located in the southwest of Xinye and behind Xinye.
Cao Jun actually had two choices when going south from Wancheng. One was to attack Xinye in the southeast, and the other was to go directly to the southwest, bypass Xinye and attack Fancheng directly to threaten Xiangyang.
What Guan Yu meant was to send him or General Zilong to Fancheng now, control the Fancheng garrison in the name of assisting defense, and then try his best to lure Cao Ren into a defensive battle in Fancheng.
After all, city defense warfare can offset the gap in military strength to the greatest extent.
I have to say that Guan Yu's idea is very reasonable, but Liu Bei thought about it for a while and still didn't agree.
Sending troops to take the initiative to attack behind him, but the purpose is to control the Fancheng garrison who is a friendly force. This is already a seizure of power.
If Cao Ren was successfully repelled, there would still be an explanation for this in front of Liu Biao. If Cao Ren was not repelled and Cao Ren occupied Fancheng, Liu Biao would probably fall out with Liu Bei.
Liu Bei is not yet ready to fall out with Liu Biao.
So what Liu Bei meant was to warn the Fancheng garrison and then determine Cao Ren's movements. If Cao Ren attacked Fancheng directly, Liu Bei would harass Cao Ren behind him. If there was a chance, he would find a way to cut off Cao Ren's army's food route and force Cao Ren to retreat. And if Cao Ren leads his army to attack Xinye, then he can retreat while fighting, and retreat to Fancheng to take advantage of the city defense to fight a war of attrition with Cao Ren.
Basically, this method is the safest option with the least loss for Liu Bei.
Xu Shu had no objection to this, so the most important thing now was to pay attention to the movements of Cao Renjun.
Of course, advance battle preparations still need to be made.
For example, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei will now return to the military camp for war mobilization, while Mi Zhu will be responsible for starting to prepare military supplies for the expedition, and so on.
After the meeting, Liu Bei specifically asked Xu Shu and Zhang Xi to stay and discuss the details of the battle with each other.
In fact, once the general plan has been decided, the only thing left is to implement it according to circumstances and discuss the details, which is just to make more complete preparations.
These include the way coach Cao Ren uses troops, which route he may take, and if he takes the corresponding route, how should Liu Beifang respond.
Xu Shu raised the possibility that Cao Ren might attack the east and attack the west.
That was to send troops from Wancheng on the surface, and the army came to Xinye, forcing Liu Bei not to dare to act rashly in Xinye, but he sent a small group of elite troops to raid Fancheng, which was unprepared in the rear.
Once Fancheng is captured, Cao Ren can attack Xinye from both front and rear. With Xinye's city defense facilities, he will really have no choice but to fight Cao Ren on the ground.
In this way, even if you can win, there is no way to minimize the loss.
Could it be that Zhang Xi's surprised... Xu Shu could predict the future? !
Of course Cao Ren did not do this in history, but Cao Ren did this in the novel, and even created an "Eight-Door Golden Lock Formation" in Xinye City.
Then he was cracked by Xu Shu and fled back to Wancheng in despair.
Liu Bei also felt that if Cao Ren did this, he would be very passive, but he still did not believe that Cao Ren could capture Fancheng with a small force in a sneak attack.
As the gateway to Xiangyang, Fancheng itself was a place that Liu Biao worked hard to manage. Now it can basically be said to be a strategic fortress.
This place was so important, and with his warning in advance, Liu Bei didn't think Fancheng Guards General would take it seriously. After all, although losing Fancheng would harm Liu Bei, Fancheng Guardsman himself would also be beheaded by the angry Liu Biao.
Xu Shu was right when he thought about it. No matter how stupid a person is, he will not be in trouble with his own head.
Although some response preparations will be made, the main response direction is for Cao Ren to lead the army to the new field.
Just after September, Liu Bei of Xinye received a detailed report that Cao Ren led an army of 10,000 people and left Wancheng in the east towards Xinye County.
After Liu Bei learned the news, he sent Zhao Yun out to investigate the enemy's situation, and on the other hand began to mobilize. If necessary, he might abandon Xinye and go to Fancheng to continue to face the enemy.
But within a few days, Liu Bei realized something was wrong.
Liu Bei sent the rangers under Zhao Yun's tent to tentatively meet the enemy. He found that Cao Ren's army was not moved at all. He still led the army towards Xinye unhurriedly, neither chasing Zhao Yun's rangers nor speeding up. Xinye seemed not to be afraid of Liu Bei running away at all.
Just when Liu Bei was about to send someone to Xiangyang in the rear to report the news, and wanted Liu Biao to send troops to respond, a scout from the rear came to report that Fancheng had been lost and Cao Jun approached Xinye from the rear.
In fact, Liu Bei made a mistake. Cao Ren did not send 10,000 troops this time, but 15,000.
Among them, five thousand elites, led by Cao Ren himself, went out day and night and raided Fancheng.
Although the Fancheng garrison received Liu Bei's warning, he always thought that Liu Bei would be in front. When Liu Bei in front could no longer withstand it, it would not be too late to prepare himself.
Then he was attacked by Cao Ren at night.
In this era, it is not ordinary people who can carry out night raids. Due to various factors, eight out of ten people in this era have night blindness, which means they cannot see clearly at night.
The soldiers led by Cao Ren can attack at night, which means that the soldiers who come are all soldiers who can fight at night, and these soldiers must be the best among the best.
The Fancheng defenders were obviously not such elites. They had rested as soon as it got dark, but they were attacked at night. It was so dark that they couldn't see where the enemy was... and they blew up the camp on the spot.
Therefore, Cao Ren captured Fancheng with almost no effort, then counted his troops and attacked Xinye.
Cao Ren, who has been with Cao Cao for a long time, knows very well that in the entire Jingzhou, there is only one person who really worries Cao Cao - Liu Bei.
Liu Bei, who was attacked from both sides, did not panic.
Although there are many enemies coming from the north, they are just a cover, and it does not matter what their actual combat effectiveness is.
The key is the elite group in the south led by Cao Ren himself.
As long as Cao Ren's elite troops can be defeated quickly, even if Xinye is a small city, it may not be impossible to defend it.
But, how to defeat Cao Ren quickly?
This is the crux of the matter.
And it was at this time that our Mr. Xu Shu made his debut.
