Although I learned from history books that Guan Yu and Pan Jun were not on good terms, it was only after I saw it with my own eyes that I realized how discordant this was.
Really, if the two of them didn't fight, it would be considered Guan Yu's magnanimity, and if Pan Jun didn't speak ill of Guan Yu afterwards, it would be considered Pan Jun's virtue.
Pan Jun also called Guan Yu a "reckless man" in front of his face. Zhang Xi would not dare to do so anyway.
After finally appeasing Guan Yu, Pan Jun left the table angrily.
When the military discussion reached this point, it basically ended at nothing.
The next day, Guan Yu, as the general overseeing the affairs of Jingzhou, issued a war preparation order in the army, requiring Liao Hua and Ma Liang to cooperate and prepare supplies of food and fodder. Zhang Xi and Xu Shu hurried to Guan Yu's mansion to ask for the reason.
Using anger to raise an army is a taboo for military strategists.
Besides, your second master is already guarding one side, so why can't you stand the excitement? Is it possible that you want to raise troops now to attack Xiangyang? !
Then the second master said, you guys underestimate me for imprisoning someone.
The second master was not angry, although he still hated Pan Jun scolding him and gritted his teeth when talking about Pan Jun, but the second master admitted that there was a certain truth in what Pan Jun said.
It is not easy to hoard food and grass, and indeed it should not be consumed carelessly.
But after all, Pan Jun was a scholar with limited experience in leading troops, and he lacked sufficient understanding of Cao Cao.
Cao Cao can be said to be the most powerful military leader in this era. As for the bluffs said by Pan Jun and Wang Ji, Cao Cao may not be moved at all.
Therefore, Xiangyang must be fought, and it must be fought until Cao Cao feels pain, otherwise it will be impossible to attract Cao Cao's army to Xiangyang.
The second master believed that his decision was right, and he listened to the advice that should be heard. He would not completely mobilize the garrison of Wuling and Lingling, but would also leave enough garrison troops in the public security, relying only on the navy and part of the army. Go north and attack Xiangyang.
However, considering the shortage of food and grass mentioned by Pan Jun, the Second Master ordered the army to arrange food and grass supplies in advance. He could even use some means to purchase food and grass from Jiangdong, Runan and other places to make up for the shortage of food and grass as soon as possible.
As for whether this would expose the strategic purpose, Jingzhou's attack on Xiangyang was originally a feint attack. Wouldn't it be a good thing if it could attract the attention of Cao Cao's group in advance and cause Cao Cao to gather troops in Nanyang and other places? !
Besides, Guan Yu has been placing spies in Nanyang, Runan and other places for so many years, buying off local wealthy families, and spending so much money and food. Isn't it time that they needed their help now?
Zhang Xi and Xu Shu finally felt relieved after listening to Guan Yu's story.
The second master does not use anger to raise troops, but arranges things according to his own ideas in a rhythmic and orderly manner. This is fine.
By the way, Zhang Xi and Xu Shu also stayed to discuss the arrangements north of Xiangyang with the second master to see if they could use these spies to do something with the local wealthy families.
As for Pan Jun, after staying in Jiangling for three days, he heard that Guan Yu had begun preparations for war. He sighed and decided to return to Lingling.
Zhang Xi and Xu Shu, on the other hand, visited the post house in the middle of the night, chatted with Pan Jun for a long time, and left before dawn the next day.
Therefore, when Pan Jun left Jiangling, no one saw him off, and Pan Jun also left Jiangling with a look of anger and dissatisfaction.
According to rumors, when Pan Jun left Jiangling, he was quite dissatisfied with Guan Yu, calling him a "lone husband". He also complained about Xu Shu and Zhang Xi, saying that they came from poor families and had no foresight. This news was quickly passed. After a detailed work, it spread to the ears of some caring people.
Then nothing will happen.
Jingzhou was still fully preparing for war, taking advantage of the low price of food after autumn to purchase grain from everywhere. Guan Yu even ordered Fei Yi to get a batch of grain from Sun Quan through paper transactions. Naturally, Sun Quan also knew that Guan Yu was there Preparing for war.
Although Jiangdong was worried about Guan Yu's preparations for war, because Sun Qian went to Jiangdong as an envoy and brought Liu Bei's personal letter, he knew that Guan Yu was going to Cao Cao in the north, so he didn't care too much.
On the contrary, what Sun Quan pays more attention to now is the things mentioned in Liu Bei's letter.
Liu Bei will attack Hanzhong sooner or later. This is not a secret. Anyone with some military knowledge knows that it is only a matter of time.
Without Hanzhong to defend the north, Yizhou cannot be defended just by relying on those passes.
So Liu Bei wrote a letter saying that he was going to attack Hanzhong, and Sun Quan believed it immediately.
What really puzzled Sun Quan was Liu Bei's invitation to send troops to Hefei.
It would be beneficial for Sun Quan to send troops to Hefei, occupy Huainan, and spy on Qingxu.
But what Sun Quan was worried about was that Liu Bei was just using him to send troops to Huainan to attract Cao Cao's attention, and then Liu Bei would take advantage of the opportunity to attack Hanzhong.
In this way, Liu Bei can capture Hanzhong, but his invasion of Huainan this time may return without success.
Furthermore, within the current Jiangdong Group, except for the veterans of the Huaisi Group, there is really not much interest in returning to Huainan.
There is no benefit at all.
So Sun Quan also hesitated, and privately recalled Lu Meng from Lukou, and also called Zhang Zhao and Zhou Yu, and the four of them quietly held a meeting.
As soon as Sun Quan mentioned his concerns, the trio of subordinates began to think,
Zhou Yu, the oldest and highest-ranking military leader, must have expressed his opinion on this matter first.
Zhou Yu also did his part and said, "Although Liu Bei said he was not well-intentioned and wanted to use the troops from Jiangdong to divide Cao's army, what he said was not necessarily unreasonable! If Cao's army and Liu Bei fight for Hanzhong, their forces will definitely be concentrated in Guanzhong and Wanluo area , Huainan must be short of troops. The last time my lord attacked Hefei, it was only because Cao Cao had timely reinforcements that my lord had to retreat. This time, if Cao Cao and Liu Bei are in Hanzhong and Wanluo is in a stalemate, it will indeed be a good opportunity for me to capture Hefei."
Sun Quan understood it as soon as he heard it.
Since I am worried that Liu Bei is taking advantage of me, I should wait until Liu Bei and Cao Cao officially start fighting in Hanzhong and Cao Cao personally leads the troops to rescue Hanzhong before sending troops. In this way, the person who gets the advantage of the fisherman will become himself, right? !
Another one, the last time he attacked Hefei, it was true that Cao Cao's reinforcements came too quickly, but this time, Cao Cao's troops had to go to Jingbei and Hanzhong. How could they have time to come to Huainan? If Cao Cao was really capable of fighting on three fronts, he could still win. If so, then Sun Quan should give up as soon as possible and completely surrender to Cao Cao.
Zhou Yu's words immediately made Sun Quan full of confidence, and he once again had the idea of entering Hefei.
At this time, some people couldn't sit still.
Originally, after Zhou Yu finished speaking, it was Zhang Zhao, the veteran in charge of government affairs and logistics, who should have spoken. After all, his position was there. But Lu Meng quit.
Zhou Yu's strategy was completely opposite to his.
Although Zhou Yu didn't say it explicitly, it was obvious that he was inclined to maintain the alliance between Sun and Liu, but Lu Meng was not.
And in Lu Meng's view, Zhou Yu's strategy had a fatal flaw.
Therefore, Lu Meng saw that Sun Quan was a little moved, and regardless of his order and status, he hurriedly said, "My lord, no!"
After saying this, Zhang Zhao frowned and looked at Lu Meng with disgust. After all, is Lu Meng a former soldier? Does he not understand any rules or etiquette? !
But now Lu Meng had no time to worry about Zhang Zhao's mood, and hurriedly said to Sun Quan, "This is just Liu Bei's plan to divert the water eastward. My lord crossed the river to attack Huainan, and the transportation of grain and grass is inconvenient. This is one of the reasons. The land of Huainan, There are many defenders, and there are soldiers from Qingxu as reinforcements. They cannot move out for a short period of time. This is the second reason. Even if the lord occupies Huainan and marches into Qingxu, although he can succeed for a while, the land of Qingxu is mostly plains and there is no danger. To defend, Cao's army is accustomed to using cavalry. We and others in Jiangdong are not good at land warfare, and we have no place to hold, and we cannot defend it if we get it. These are the three reasons."
As soon as Lu Meng came up, he explained his views on sending troops to Huainan and marching into Qingxu.
To put it simply, you may not be able to defeat it, and even if you defeat it, you won't be able to defend it because the land combat capabilities of Jiangdong soldiers are so poor.
Just these words made not only Zhou Yu frown, but also Zhang Zhao.
Is this a reason? !
But Lu Meng didn't pay attention to the two of them. He looked at Sun Quan who was thoughtful and continued, "This time Liu Bei attacks Hanzhong, Guan Yu will definitely respond with troops from Jingzhou. If so, Jingzhou will be empty. Why don't we take advantage of the opportunity to attack Jingzhou and make the whole country empty?" According to the Yangtze River, in this way, with the land of the two states, we can retreat to protect the foundation of Jiangdong, and advance to attack from two directions, pinching the Central Plains. In this way, great things can be accomplished. I hope my lord will observe clearly."
In fact, this is not the first time Lu Meng has said these words to Sun Quan. However, in the past, Lu Meng did not have enough status and could only tell Sun Quan in private. Now Lu Meng finally has the opportunity to tell his strategic plan in front of Zhou Yu and Zhang Zhao. .
To be honest, this is not a new strategy. At least in the eyes of Zhou Yu and Zhang Zhao, it is just a castrated version of Lu Su's strategic plan of dividing the world into two.
But considering that Lu Meng climbed up from the bottom of the army step by step, and he didn't know a single character at first, it is not easy to come up with such a practical strategic plan now.
If it were discussed in normal times, Zhou Yu might even praise Lu Meng a few words.
But this was a time to discuss important matters. Zhou Yu felt that it was simply embarrassing to bring out such a thing.
When you attacked Jingzhou, did you think Guan Yu and Zhang Xi were easy to bully, or did you think Liu Bei was dead? !
Okay, even if you really succeed in the sneak attack on Jingzhou, will you take the entire Yangtze River? !
The upper reaches of the Yangtze River are all in Liu Bei's hands. At that time, Lu Su's policy was only safe after asking for Yizhou. But now that Yizhou is in Liu Bei's hands, are you still planning to attack Yizhou? !
You have already attacked Jingzhou, do you still expect Liu Bei to swallow his anger and continue to form an alliance with you? ! Wouldn't they raise troops from Yizhou and come down the river to attack you? !
The current is unstoppable. What will you do to defend yourself when the time comes? !
Okay, even if you are on guard, Liu Bei is not the only one in the world. Cao Cao takes advantage of the opportunity to attack Huainan or Nanjun. What are you going to do? !
Once Liu Bei and Cao Cao join forces to carve up Jiangdong, what are you going to do? !
Why did you only see the three melons and two dates in front of you and not think about the serious consequences of the sneak attack on Jingzhou? !
In the past, Zhou Yu thought that Lu Meng had made great progress. After reading Tao Lue, he had the demeanor of a commander-in-chief. Now it seems that he is still the reckless man who only focuses on the present and does not look at the future.
Lu Su proposed a strategy to divide the world into two, but when he saw the changes in the current situation, he immediately changed his mind and insisted on an alliance between Sun and Liu to fight against Cao Cao. That is the real strategist.
Now this Lu Meng was half-full of jealousy, and he was embarrassing himself in front of him. Zhou Yu really didn't know what to say.
If it weren't for the fact that Lu Meng was a confidant trained by Sun Quan, Zhou Yu would have wanted to spit him back.
(End of chapter)
