Sun Quan appointed Lu Su as the Grand Governor, and also named him Fenwu Colonel and Yuzhang Prefect. He ordered him to station troops in Chaisang and be in charge of the western front, and Cheng Pu was the deputy governor to lead the Lujiang Prefect from afar.
Zhou Yu left behind a daughter and two sons. Sun Quan asked his eldest son Sun Deng to marry his daughter, and appointed Zhou Yu's eldest son Zhou Xun as the Cavalry Captain and his second son Zhou Yin as the Xingye Captain to show Sun Quan's great love for Zhou Yu.
After Zhou Yu is buried, Sun Quan, Cheng Pu and others will return to Jianye.
During this period, news about Xinye reached Jiangdong. Cao Cao captured Xinye and restored the Xiangyang grain road, and sent people across the river to attack Jiangling by land.
Before Sun Quan left, Lu Su asked for instructions: "My lord, if Guan Yunchang hadn't come to help, Cheng Gong and others might not have been able to withdraw smoothly. Should we send troops to Jiangling to help the battle?"
Sun Quan asked: "Zijing has seen the defense of Jiangling City. Do you think Liu Xuande can't defend it?"
"Cao Cao does not have enough warships, and Jiangling city defense is strong, Liu Shijun should be able to defend it..." Lu Su analyzed.
"Since Liu Xuande can hold on, why do we need to make unnecessary moves? The matter of Fu Shiren's poisoning can be put aside for the time being. Zijing should not move lightly when he first takes over the military power. The first priority should be to stabilize Jiangdong." Sun Quan instructed.
"Wei." Lu Su understood what Sun Quan meant.
When Cao Cao captured Xinye, there was still news from Hefei that Sun Quan was stationed at Chaohu.
Cao Cao had no intention or strength to go south to Jingzhou, but planned to send his main force back to Runan and then move to Huainan.
At this time, the soldiers and horses brought from Xudu had fought hard and were tired from fighting in the new field. Now they had to switch defenses with the soldiers in Xiangfan City, and they were afraid that Liu Bei's Jingzhou soldiers would take the opportunity to seize the city.
In order to confuse the Sun and Liu families, he asked General Zhang He to use his own banner and use Xia Houjie, a member of the clan, as the supervisor. He used Cheng Yu's method of confusing Sun Quan to cross the river and march south to Jiangling by land with great fanfare.
Cao Cao allocated 5,000 infantry and cavalry to Zhang He to attract the attention of Jingzhou soldiers, but tried to avoid fighting with Liu Bei's army. He had to return to Xiangyang after traveling as far as Dangyang.
The waterway between Xiangyang and Jiangling is the Han River, and the land route is only the narrow corridor between Jingshan and Dahongshan, with Yixian, Yicheng, Bianxian, Dangyang and other counties in between.
After Lantian planned to capture Jiangling, Cao Ren fled north to Xiangyang, and Dangyang subsequently fell into Liu Bei's power.
When rescuing Xinye, Zhang Fei only brought 5,000 infantry and cavalry, and most of them were infantry, so the army was very slow.
When they were less than twenty miles away from Xiangyang, Xinye had been captured by Cao Cao, and Guan Yu and Cheng Pu gradually withdrew their troops towards the Han River.
After Zhang Fei received the message from the scouts, he asked Pang Tong, who was accompanying the army, doubtfully, "Commander, are we going back now? Zhou Yu's 40,000 to 50,000 men can't help but fight. No wonder they can't capture Xiangyang for a year."
Pang Tong had not yet achieved any military merits when he joined Liu Bei's camp, so he volunteered to rescue Xinye this time.
Before the expedition, Pang Tong discussed with Kong Ming and Xu Shu and reached a consensus that Guan Yu's navy would be the main aid to Xinye this time. Zhang Fei's land troops were too few, so he could only contain Zhao Yun like in the Battle of Chibi.
The general idea is to pick up the leaks if they can, and if they can't pick up the leaks, save their strength and return to Jiangling, so they stop and go, and the marching speed is very slow.
"Jiangdong is good at naval forces. If we fight Cao Cao's cavalry on land, there is not much chance of victory. Since there is no chance, we will retreat to Jiangling."
Pang Tong twirled his beard, but he had no idea. After all, it was difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice. Most of these five thousand men were infantry, and they really couldn't face Cao Cao head-on.
"I always feel a little bit at a disadvantage. I wasted so much military rations and didn't get any benefits." Zhang Fei looked depressed.
"General Yide seems to be doing business." Pang Tong laughed.
Zhang Fei spread his hands and said, "Isn't this just a business? We have paid a time cost, and it is not worth it if there is no profit."
Time costs? Pang Tong scratched his head, saying that he didn't understand this new term.
Zhang Fei quickly explained: "I learned this word from Lan Ziyu. When he was teaching people about agriculture, he kept repeating these four words. I heard it too much and wrote it down. Anyway, I didn't get any benefits. Lose money.”
"This is quite interesting. Time is also regarded as capital. Then let's go to Yicheng to get some food and grass? It's a relatively smooth journey anyway, and the time cost will not be wasted." Pang Tong suggested.
"I think that's okay." Zhang Fei thought about how he could replenish the military rations back and forth.
In order not to be exposed when they arrived, they all avoided towns and marched slowly. When passing by the boundary of Yicheng, they always stayed at the foot of Jingshan Mountain in the west.
After the discussion, the whole army quickly went south. When they arrived at Yicheng, Zhang Fei was greatly disappointed.
In the 13th year of Jian'an, Cao Cao fled north and forcibly moved the people around Xiangyang. Zhou Yu besieged Xiangyang for a year, and also took food and captives from Yicheng. This originally prosperous place was now empty of ten houses.
"It's really unlucky. Not only did he not get the food, but he also gave some military rations to the people. This business suffered miserably." Zhang Fei shook his head fiercely.
Pang Tong comforted: "Business cannot be calculated this way. Although we have lost some food and grass, my lord is working hard in Jingzhou and will conquer Xiangfan sooner or later. The three generals will win people's hearts on my lord's behalf. The cost of this time has not been in vain."
"Well, if you don't borrow the food, you will be borrowed..." Zhang Fei was very depressed. He asked his followers to get the top, picked up the whip and beat him hard.
Bang bang bang...
Zhang Fei said plausibly while typing: "Cao Cao, I will slap you for being a weak person... Zhou Yu, I will slap you for being an incompetent person..."
Pang Tong watched in astonishment when suddenly a scout came to report that Cao Jun's general Zhang Hezheng was marching south with 5,000 troops in great fanfare, of which 1,000 were cavalry, and their marching speed was even slower than Zhang Fei's.
Cao Cao's suspicious tactics fooled Sun Quan, but he could not hide it from Pang Tong, who was as famous as Zhuge Liang. He knew what he meant after a little thought.
"Third General, someone has given us a gift, do you think we should accept it or not?" Pang Tong said with a smile.
Zhang Fei stopped his whip, but the top was still spinning freely. He shook his head and said, "This Yicheng is like a ghost town now. Military advisor, you can't ask for everything..."
Pang Tong guessed: "The scouts just came to report that Cao Cao's 5,000 men were heading south along Xiangyang. They probably came to find us. They should have brought a lot of baggage."
"Military advisor, five thousand versus five thousand, will this business lose money?" Zhang Fei looked confused.
"Cao's army has just finished attacking the new field, and the soldiers are now tired. We should be able to make a profit by waiting for work. There are a thousand cavalry among them, and Zhang He doesn't know our location yet." Pang Tong said with a smile.
Zhang Fei's eyes flashed green when he heard about a thousand cavalry. Among the five thousand soldiers and horses coming out of Jiangling, the number of cavalry was only about two hundred.
"This business can be done. Military advisor, please plan carefully. I will accept these horses." Zhang Fei said happily.
Pang Tong smiled slightly: "Zhang He must cross the nearby Yi River to go to Jiangling. We can think of a solution from the bridges on the river."
