After arranging Xu Chu and Yu Jin's affairs, Guan Yu could finally calm down and think about the next response plan.
After taking Xiangfan, Guan Yu also realized that he was now more than capable of defending and insufficient of attacking.
Moreover, Cao Cao would obviously not allow himself to capture Xiangfan so easily. He would definitely send a large army to conquer while his footing was still unstable, and he might even lead an army himself to conquer.
Of course, the premise is that Cao Ren can first resolve Hou Yin's rebellion in Wancheng.
Therefore, Guan Yu must make relevant responses.
First of all, he wrote a letter about the current war situation in Jingzhou and sent it to the eldest brother in Hanzhong as quickly as possible.
The second step is to notify Wang Ji and Ma Liang of Nanjun to gather troops from various counties and be ready to support the Xiangfan battlefield at any time.
Guan Yu now has more than 50,000 people in his hands, 20,000 of whom are descended from Xiangyang.
These surrendered soldiers cannot be completely trusted. Once Cao Cao personally leads the army to the south, what Guan Yu can really trust and use is still the more than 30,000 soldiers he brought from Nanjun.
This amount of troops was obviously not enough, so Guan Yu had to mobilize troops from Nanjun.
But once Guan Yu mobilized troops from Nanjun, he remembered again the letters from Lu Meng that Pan Jun had handed over.
On the Jiangdong side, people really can't be completely reassured.
Therefore, Guan Yu was also hesitant.
There are currently more than 30,000 defenders in Nanjun, of which 10,000 are distributed in Lingling and Wuling counties, and more than 20,000 are guarding various parts of Nanjun, including the most important public security and Jiangling.
The number of defenders is actually quite large, enough to deal with any possible reaction from Jiangdong.
It's just that once Guan Yu wants to mobilize troops to support the Xiangfan front, he must mobilize at least 10,000 people. If the number is too small, it will have no meaning at all in the defense of the Xiangfan battlefield.
Guan Yu carefully calculated and found that the soldiers in Wuling and Lingling could not be easily mobilized, and the 5,000 soldiers under Wenpin of the Public Security Bureau had to be maintained. Then they could only mobilize troops from Jiangling and the counties north of Jiangling.
There were originally 15,000 men stationed in Jiangling City, but Guan Yu planned to transfer 5,000 from Jiangling, and then from Linju, Zhijiang, and Dangyang counties in the north of Jiangling, a total of 5,000 men, for a total of 10,000 people to go north.
In this case, there are still 10,000 people in Jiangling City, and there are 5,000 people in the counties southeast of Jiangling City combined. Although it seems very weak, if they are prepared for Jiangdong to launch a surprise attack and delay time to wait for their own reinforcements, it should not be a big problem.
But... because that Zhang Yuanchang always whispered in his ears that Jiangdong could not be trusted, Guan Yu heard it too much, and he started to murmur in his heart, fearing that the crow-mouthed Zhang Yuanchang was really right.
Therefore, Guan Yu decided to postpone the deployment of troops. After the flood receded, he could lead his troops to Fancheng and discuss with Zhang Xi whether he should mobilize troops from Nanjun to go north.
At the same time, Liu Beijun in Hanzhong was now facing a critical moment.
Since Liu Bei realized that he could not quickly capture Yangping Pass and occupy Hanzhong with his existing troops, he immediately issued a recruitment order to Zhuge Liang, who was in Chengdu, and asked Zhuge Liang to quickly organize reinforcements and food from Chengdu to quickly reinforce himself.
After receiving Liu Bei's mobilization order, Zhuge Liang found Yang Hong, the new governor of Shu County, and asked for his opinion.
To be honest, this operation is actually quite confusing.
As Liu Bei's key figure staying behind, Zhuge Liang actually consulted others on whether he needed to support Liu Bei.
But in fact, anyone familiar with the situation in Shu knows why Zhuge Liang asked Yang Hong about this matter.
Yang Hong, also named Jixiu, was a native of Wuyang.
He and Qin Mi can be said to be the key figures of the Yizhou faction currently staying in Chengdu.
Huang Quan, Wu Ban and other military representatives of the Yizhou faction have followed Liu Bei to Hanzhong, and there is no doubt about their position.
However, Yang Hong and Qin Mi, representatives of the aristocratic families in central Shu, still stayed in Chengdu, and their positions were difficult to judge.
Zhuge Liang took Liu Bei's transfer order and asked Yang Hong what to do. In fact, the subtext was - the lord wants Yizhou to fully support him in winning the Battle of Hanzhong. Are you Yizhou native families willing to support him? !
The aristocratic families in Yizhou are not stupid. They know that even if Liu Bei cannot win the Battle of Hanzhong, Cao Cao will not be able to enter Yizhou in a short time. They will eventually cooperate with Liu Bei.
In this case, it might be more beneficial to the Yizhou family to support Liu Bei in winning the Battle of Hanzhong and obtain a barrier to defend Yizhou.
At least they will not be subject to the threat of Cao's army going south from time to time, preventing war from happening in Yizhou itself, and thus affecting the interests of the Yizhou families.
In the battle for Bajun in the past few years, the wealthy families in Bajun suffered considerable losses.
As for whether the lord is Cao Cao or Liu Bei, the Yizhou aristocratic families don't actually care. Anyway, no matter who becomes the lord of Yizhou, he cannot do without the help of the aristocratic family, otherwise he will not be able to establish himself in Yizhou.
Therefore, Yang Hong's answer is: Now that the Battle of Hanzhong has reached a critical moment, men should participate in the battle and women should transport food, and use all possible means of support to support Liu Bei in winning the Battle of Hanzhong.
Of course, "men participating in the war and women transporting grain" are adjectives used by representatives of aristocratic families to express their support for Liu Bei. Whoever takes it seriously is a fool.
Zhuge Liang doesn't need the Yizhou families to really do this. He just needs the Yizhou families not to cause trouble when Liu Bei fights the Battle of Hanzhong and to be willing to provide food and grass support.
After receiving the guarantee from the Yizhou families, Zhuge Liang quickly mobilized supplies and reinforcements, and under the leadership of Wu Yi, a famous general in Shu, went to support Liu Bei.
Liu Bei's side, after receiving support, continued to launch a siege on Yangping Pass.
Xia Houyuan in Yangping Pass also received good news.
Cao Cao led an army of 120,000 troops and stationed in Chang'an. He could march west to Hanzhong at any time to support Xiahou Yuan.
However, at this time, Cao Cao finally received the battle report from the Xiangfan area and learned that Guan Yu flooded seven armies and Yu Jin's entire army was annihilated.
A few days later, Cao Cao met Man Chong who had fled from Fancheng and ran to Chang'an, and learned about the fall of Fancheng.
Cao Cao really didn't dare to continue leading his troops to Hanzhong.
Last month, Cao Cao was still in Luoyang and received a battle report from Yu Jin. He learned that Yu Jin had led troops to rescue Fancheng and was confronting Guan Yu.
Cao Cao's idea is very simple. Fancheng is a fortified city. Man Chong who defends the city has 10,000 people, and Yu Jin brings another 30,000 people. Even though Yu Jin and Man Chong are not Guan Yu's opponents, Guan Yu wants to defeat them. After all, it was too difficult for the two of them to occupy Fancheng.
After all, when Guan Yu sent troops, he could only hold out 30,000 to 40,000 people.
Cao Cao certainly believed that Guan Yu was a famous general in the world, but Cao Cao also believed in Yu Jin's ability to lead troops and the combat effectiveness of his soldiers.
Therefore, after receiving the news that Yu Jin had arrived at the battlefield of Fancheng, Cao Cao led the remaining 120,000 people and set off, preparing to go to Chang'an to sit down and support Xiahou Yuan.
On the way to Chang'an, although Cao Cao also received a "pleasure" document from Yu Jin, expressing the disagreement between Yu Jin and Xu Chu, Cao Cao believed that Yu Jin was a general who understood the general situation, and although Xu Chu had a straightforward personality, he was not that kind of person. Ignorant people.
It is true that the two people may have some minor conflicts, but it does not affect the two people working together to fight Guan Yu.
Cao Cao has never received any complaint documents from Xu Chu, which seems to confirm Cao Cao's guess from the side.
If the relationship between two people is really incompatible, Xu Chu will not write a letter to himself.
Therefore, although Cao Cao was a little worried, he did not take this matter too seriously and continued to lead his troops to Chang'an.
When he was approaching Chang'an, Cao Cao received another letter from Yu Jin. The letter told how Xu Chu had defeated Guan Yu and occupied Guan Yu's camp. At the same time, Yu Jin also told Cao Cao euphemistically that Xu Chu did not obey the general's orders and seized power without authorization. Something about attacking.
Xu Chu still didn't send any letters to Cao Cao.
Cao Cao was completely relieved.
As the commander of the First Army, Yu Jin would definitely be very sensitive about Xu Chu's seizure of power, and it was normal for him to write a letter to complain to him.
However, Yu Jin did not conceal Xu Chu's achievements, but wrote a letter to tell himself. This shows that although there are some differences between Yu Jin and Xu Chu, it does not affect the morale and unity of the army.
Otherwise, Yu Jin would not be able to repay Xu Chu's merits.
Xu Chu still did not write a letter to complain, which means that Yu Jin did not really embarrass Xu Chu in the camp.
Therefore, there is a high probability that the two people have different understandings of military affairs and are somewhat contradictory.
Moreover, what Cao Cao was more concerned about was not whether there was any conflict between the two people, but what Yu Jin said in the letter: Xu Chu repelled Guan Yu and forced Guan Yu to move his camp.
Although Cao Cao still doesn't know the details, judging from this battle report, Yu Jinjun has the upper hand.
This is what makes Cao Cao happiest.
In this case, Guan Yu's attack on Xiangfan is no longer something to be afraid of. Now he can confidently and boldly march west to Hanzhong, where he will have a showdown with the mat weaver and shoe seller.
Cao Cao couldn't just ignore the matter between Yu Jin and Xu Chu, so he personally wrote a letter to Yu Jin to comfort him. At the same time, he also wrote to Xu Chu, asking him not to act arrogant and to obey his coach Yu Jin's arrangements. , stop seizing power and credit.
By repelling Guan Yu and forcing Guan Yu to move his camp, it is enough to grant Xu Chu the title of Marquis. After that, he should settle down and don't bother anymore.
After Cao Cao wrote this letter, he felt much relieved and continued to lead the army to Chang'an. After settling in Chang'an, Cao Cao wrote another letter to Xia Houyuan, telling Xia Houyuan to stand firm and wait for help. In half a month at most, he would be able to He led an army of 120,000 to rescue Xia Houyuan.
Then, the situation took a turn for the worse.
There was a heavy rain in Xiangfan, and Guan Yu flooded seven armies. He defeated Yu Jin's army of more than 30,000 without any losses.
Immediately afterwards, Man Chong lost Fancheng and ran to Chang'an to meet Cao Cao. He described the battle of Xiangfan in detail. Cao Cao was stunned.
Heavy rain that had not been encountered in decades, Guan Yu's army's sharp field combat ability and siege ability all made Cao Cao consider a question - Xu Du, what should I do? !
(End of chapter)
