At the end of April, Zhang Xi received a letter from Zhuge Liang, informing Liu Bei of his invasion of the four counties in southern Jingnan.
This made Zhang Xi breathe a sigh of relief.
If it reaches this point, Liu Bei can finally feel stable for a while, without having to worry about being suppressed and unable to move in Jiangxia at any time.
By the way, Zhuge Liang also mentioned Liu Ba's matter to Zhang Xi in his letter.
Zhang Xi actually has no interest in Liu Ba. In other words, Zhang Xi doesn't like Liu Ba.
Liu Ba is an outstanding talent, but as a person, he always likes to judge others by himself. He thinks he is noble and the most important thing is that he always puts on the airs of a so-called celebrity, and he dares to look down on our lovely three generals.
Anyway, Zhang Xi just doesn’t like this guy.
And compared to Liu Ba, Zhang Xi actually cares more about another thing.
Regarding the scandal between Zhao Fan's sister-in-law and our General Zilong. But it's really hard to write a letter specifically to ask about this matter, because there is no way to explain how Zhang Xi knew that Zhao Fan had a sister-in-law who was quite beautiful.
If Zhuge Liang misunderstood this, that would be trouble.
So Zhang Xi just replied a letter to Zhuge Liang, briefly talking about the current battle situation in Jiangling City, and then pretended to be concerned about General Zhao Yun's marriage.
General Zhao Yun is already over 40 years old and has been widowed for many years. Now he has finally stabilized. Is it time to introduce him to a partner? !
Well, that's all I mentioned, and nothing else was said.
But after Zhuge Liang received Zhang Xi's reply, he was immediately confused.
Zhuge Liang wrote to Zhang Xi to inform Zhang Xi and Zhang Fei of the situation in the four counties of Jingnan. Now that the four counties of Jingnan have been captured, the two of them in Jiangling can act according to the situation, and there is no need to delay time. Give Zhou Yu an excuse.
In the end, Zhang Xi wrote back a paragraph about the battle in Jiangling City, and ended up caring about Zhao Yun's marriage. What was he trying to do? !
To be honest, Zhang Xi is already twenty-four this year, so this guy should be the one to get married.
Zhuge Liang was a little doubtful. Zhang Xi wrote this letter to him because he wanted him, a local snake in Jingzhou, to help him find a lady from a Jingzhou family to be his wife. He was just too embarrassed to say it out loud, so he took advantage of Zhao Yun's marriage.
Zhuge Liang felt that he should have "understood" Zhang Xi's intentions, so he specially called Kou Feng to understand the situation.
After all, these two always treat each other like brothers, so Kou Feng should know if Zhang Xi has a girl he likes.
Kou Erha was also confused for a while. He had never heard his brother mention this matter.
But Kou Erha recalled it carefully, and he really found some clues.
"Last year when Hanjinkou was in Hanjin, my brother was busy attending to the lord, but before he could wash up, he asked about the female family members in the army who might have someone he liked!" Kou Feng replied.
This Kou Erha, the first half of his sentence is true, but if Zhang Xi knew the second half, he would probably beat him to death.
Zhang Xi was only concerned about whether Xu Shu's family members were separated in the rebellion, not because his beloved was among the female relatives.
But the problem is, when these words heard Zhuge Liang's ears, they naturally changed into another meaning.
At the time of Hanjinkou, Liu Beijun had just experienced the Battle of Changbanpo. It can be said that he was already in a state of embarrassment when he fled to Hanjinkou.
At this time, Zhang Xi didn't ask anything else. He immediately asked about the female relatives in the army. Well, nine times out of ten, as Kou Feng said, the person he wanted was among the female relatives.
But the problem is, Zhuge Liang doesn't know which female family member Zhang Xi is interested in.
There are still many female relatives in Liu Bei's army, but there don't seem to be many girls of marriageable age.
The lord Liu Bei has two daughters who are of marriageable age.
General Guan has an eldest daughter. Although she is only fourteen years old this year, she is engaged first and may get married in a few years.
Third General. Well, this is impossible. The eldest daughter of the Third General is only three years old. It is impossible.
General Zhao. Hiss, could it be General Zhao's daughter? !
Zhao Yun has a daughter who is exactly eighteen years old this year.
Then I thought about Zhang Xi's letter and mentioned nothing about Zhao Yun's continued marriage. Could this be a hint? !
Zhuge Liang felt like he had touched a little bit of the thread.
After sending Kou Feng away, Zhuge Liang went to find his lord Liu Bei with a smile on his face.
On the one hand, he shared the melon with Liu Bei, and on the other hand, he also asked the lord Liu Bei to do a favor and act as a matchmaker. After all, Zhang Xi and Zhao Yun are both heavyweight generals in Liu Bei's army, so Liu Bei must know about this.
As for Zhang Xi, well, Zhang Xi was caught by Zhou Yu again.
This time Zhou Yu went to Zhang Xi, not to ask Zhang Xi to help analyze the war situation, but to launch an attack on the enemy.
Zhou Yu had now received the news about Liu Bei's capture of the four counties in Jingnan, and Zhou Yu was immediately furious.
He fought desperately under Jiangling City, but in the end, Liu Bei silently stole his retreat and occupied the four counties of Jingnan that were supposed to be in Jiangdong's pocket.
It would be unreasonable for Zhou Yu not to break up with Zhang Xi.
But Zhang Xi also has reasons.
Before Liu Bei captured the four counties in Jingnan, they were still nominally subordinate to Cao Cao. It was reasonable for Liu Bei to capture the four counties in Jingnan.
Besides, we are here to clear the way for Governor Zhou to prevent the four Jingnan counties and Nanjun from attacking Governor Zhou. This is also to contribute to Governor Zhou's capture of Nanjun.
As for Liu Beijun's promise to help capture Nanjun, aren't we and General Zhang Fei still here to obey the orders of Governor Zhou? Moreover, General Guan is on the North Road in the north of Nanjun, and haven't there been military reports coming over recently?
Although it did not completely cut off Jiangling's supply line, it also burned down the grain and grass supplies several times, making it difficult for Xiangyang to support Jiangling.
Didn't you see that Cao Ren has become a lot more honest recently, and his cavalry don't dare to go out of the city gate now?
Zhou Yu was so angry when Zhang Xi told him that he didn't want anything he didn't want, and he kept cursing Zhang Xi in his heart for his sharp teeth and sharp mouth.
But Zhou Yu really couldn't do anything against Zhang Xi, nor could he do anything against Liu Bei.
Liu Bei from the four counties of Jingnan has already eaten it, and it is definitely impossible to spit it out again.
And what they said is indeed reasonable and well-founded. It cannot be said that it is wrong for them to send troops to attack Cao Cao.
The two sides are just allies, not subordinates. There is no need to tell you Zhou Gongjin in advance how they will mobilize their troops or where they will capture.
Zhou Yu doesn't want to fall out with Liu Bei yet, because Zhang Xi is right. Guan Yu's Juebei Road has a great influence on Jiangling. Zhou Yu can't fall out with Liu Bei until Jiangling is captured and Nanjun is completely controlled.
As for the capture of Gangneung, let’s talk about that later.
The four counties in Jingnan are indeed very important geographically, as they can connect Jiangdong and Jingzhou, but from an economic point of view, the four counties in Jingnan combined are not as good as one Nanjun.
If Liu Bei is temporarily allowed to occupy the four counties in Jingnan, the strength gap between the two sides will not change immediately. Jiangdong is still strong and Liu Bei is weak.
Therefore, the most important thing for Zhou Yu now is to capture Nanjun.
As for Nanjun, Zhou Yu has been besieging the city for more than three months, and there is still little progress.
But this is really not because Zhou Yu had nothing to do, it was simply because Zhou Yu adjusted his siege strategy.
With Guan Yu's North Road, Cao Ren's supply becomes more and more difficult, so Zhou Yu doesn't have to be so anxious to attack the city by climbing on top of the wall.
Jiangling City is a big city. There are not only Cao Jun in the city, but also many aristocratic families and ordinary people.
For so many people to survive, it is far from enough to rely on the food and grass stored in Jiangling City.
The supplies coming from Xiangyang are getting less and less, which will naturally consume more and more of the original food reserves in Jiangling City.
Of course, it is not a big problem for this food to supply Cao's army in Jiangling City, but if you include the common people, it is not enough.
As Xiangyang's supplies became less and less, the atmosphere in Jiangling City became increasingly weird.
It's not that the people have any complaints. After all, these are troubled times and the people have no say at all.
Mainly because the aristocratic families in Jiangling City began to become uneasy.
Generally speaking, when a large army defends a city and there is not enough food and grass, the first thing that comes to mind is to collect food and grass from the wealthy households in the city. Can these powerful families not be in a hurry? This is all their money and food.
Cao Ren is not Liu Biao, he can really be so ruthless.
Therefore, the aristocratic families in Jiangling City definitely do not want to sit still and wait for death.
There was nothing we could do before. You, Cao Cao, are powerful, with hundreds of thousands of troops pressing down on the border. If Jingzhou surrenders without a fight, no one can defeat you, and no one can take advantage of you.
But now, Cao Cao has fled back to Xudu, leaving only Cao Ren and more than 20,000 soldiers. Zhou Yu in Jiangdong is surrounded by water, and he can't even send supplies from Xiangyang. The family's thoughts began He became more active, and the atmosphere in Jiangling City became increasingly weird.
To be honest, if the siege continues for several more months, Zhou Yu will not need to take any action. It is estimated that the powerful families in Jiangling City will rebel and surrender to Jiangdong.
So now Zhou Yu's siege strategy is to attract Cao Jun out of the city as much as possible or lure Cao Jun onto the tower, and use bows and arrows to kill the enemy. It doesn't have to be killing, just injuring. This can effectively damage the morale of Cao Jun's defenders, and also Consume Cao's army's food.
In this way, Cao Ren persisted for another month, but he couldn't stand it anymore.
The time interval between supply shipments to Xiangyang is getting longer and longer, and Guan Yu is still wreaking havoc in the northern part of Nanjun. Man Chong and Xu Huang jointly encircled and suppressed several times, and each time they were able to temporarily repel Guan Yu, but each time they were unable to cause any real damage to Guan Yu. Sexual destruction.
In a few days, Guan Yu will make a comeback and threaten the supply line again.
Man Chong and Xu Huang were also helpless. Guan Yu basically didn't fight you head-on. Occasionally, he managed to block Guan Yu a few times, but in the end he let Guan Yu lead his troops to kill him.
His side kept losing troops and generals, but Guan Yu's losses were not huge.
Moreover, Guan Yu's supply line was by water. He had a naval force, and Man Chong and Xu Huang were both in the army. They could only watch Guan Yu replenish food, grass, baggage and soldiers, but there was nothing they could do.
Guan Yu's Juebei Road made Cao Ren quite uncomfortable, especially now that the atmosphere in Jiangling City was becoming more and more tense day by day.
Cao Ren had no choice but to shamelessly write a letter to Zhou Yu, and in turn asked Zhou Yu to go out to the city for a field battle.
Zhou Yu originally did not want to agree to Cao Ren's request for field battle.
The situation was different now, and Zhou Yu also realized that as long as he continued the siege, even if he did not attack the city, the people in Jiangling City would inevitably become unstable, and Cao Ren's army would also face a shortage of food.
If the siege lasts for another three or four months, I'm afraid Cao Ren will have to withdraw his troops and return north.
So at this time it was not Zhou Yu who was anxious for a decisive battle, but Cao Ren who was anxious for a decisive battle.
But Zhou Yu considered another problem - the longer he stayed in Nanjun, the more stable Liu Bei's rule over the four Jingnan counties would be. If this continues, Jiangdong's chances of intervening in the four Jingnan counties would become increasingly slim. .
After careful consideration, Zhou Yu decided to agree to Cao Renjun's request and the two sides fought decisively in the wild.
The purpose is not to compete with Cao Ren on whose commanding ability is stronger, but to dampen the spirit of Cao Jun in the field and effectively kill Cao Jun's effective forces. If possible, it would be best to kill Cao Ren.
In that case, Jiangling City would be self-defeating.
(End of chapter)
