Gao Shun left with doubts, and Lan Tian sat alone at the table, pressing paper and picking up a pen, looking at the flying snowflakes outside the window, and his thoughts were drawn into the world of the divine eagle.
A long text requires a brief description, so Lan Tian closed his eyes and recalled the plot. It took him a while before he started writing.
Having just condensed the content of a chapter, Gao Yuan's voice sounded outside the door: "Sir, are you free now? General Guan invites you to come to the side hall to discuss matters."
"I'll go right away." Lan Tian responded loudly.
Guan Yu should be discussing a strategy to retreat from the enemy. Several major military advisors are not on the front line now. As a substitute, Lan Tian naturally has to keep up at this time. As for Wen Chao Gong, he can do it at any time.
He and Gao Yuan arrived at the side hall of the Prefect's Mansion. Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Gan Ning and others had already arrived.
"Come on Ziyu." Guan Yu stood beside the sand table in the palace and waved to Lantian.
After chasing Pan Zhang to solve his worries, Guan Yu's thoughts shifted to defeating Cao. During this time, someone set up a sand table in the Fancheng area, with blue and green wooden blocks representing military strength placed on the sand table.
Looking at the terrain of the entire Nanyang and Nanxiang areas on the sand table, it is too flat compared to Yizhou and Jingnan. The Central Plains to the north is Cao Cao's home court, which means that future battles in the Central Plains will compete for hard power, such as Dingjun Mountain. There's not much terrain like that available.
Lan Tian walked slowly to the sand table, and Guan Ping, Gan Ning, and Meng Da all clasped their fists and saluted.
"Cao Cao has such a large formation. It seems that he is very determined to protect Fancheng." Lan Tian sighed while looking at the sand table.
Guan Yu ordered Guan Ping: "Ping'er, tell your uncle the details of the military information we have now. It is estimated that the war will start after the snow stops."
"Wei." Guan Ping nodded and clasped his fists, then pointed at Fancheng on the sand table and said: "When we retreated to the south bank of the Han River, Cao Cao sent reinforcements led by Yin Shu and Zhu Gai to Fancheng. In addition, Cao Ren and Xu Huang already had troops in Fancheng. , Fancheng now has a total strength of about 30,000 troops. Xu Shang and Lu Jian's subsequent troops of more than 10,000 troops were stationed in Deng County. Zhang Liao's 20,000 troops came from the Huainan battlefield and advanced from Jiaxian County where they were originally stationed to Xinye. Cao Cao was pacifying Xu After the counties in the southern part of the capital rebelled, they gathered 50,000 people to garrison in Wancheng."
"A hundred thousand people in total should not be underestimated." Lan Tian frowned.
"I have fought against both sides a lot. Cao Cao's 100,000 soldiers are much more powerful than Sun Quan's 100,000 soldiers..." Gan Ning added.
Zhang Fei talked to him and shouted: "Never mind one hundred and eighty thousand, fighting with less people is not enough. Cao Cao's one hundred thousand this time is enough for me."
Guan Yu glanced at Zhang Fei and wondered how old he was to still be so unstable. He frowned and continued.
"All the troops that Jingzhou can draw are already on the front line, which gave Jiangdong the opportunity for a full-scale sneak attack. Now with the reinforcements from Ziyu and Zidu, as well as the thousands of surrendered troops from Hu Xiu and Fu Fang, our total military strength now totals Fifty thousand, there is still a big gap with Cao Cao's military strength.
Fortunately, several counties in Runan rebelled and contained the rebellion, and the Han River blocked Cao's army. Otherwise, I would not have been able to divide my troops to pursue Pan Zhang and capture Lu Meng. It is estimated that Cao Cao will go south after the heavy snowfall. What does Ziyu think? "
In a decisive battle on the plains, it depends on the quality of the individual soldiers, the sophisticated equipment, and the command and dispatch ability of the commanders. Now that the strength of the two sides is twice as different, Lantian has no certainty of victory, unless there is help from the plague in Chibi. But it is easy to defend the strong Xiangyang.
"The Battle of Xiangfan lasted from summer to winter. Both sides continued to increase their troops and the Han River blocked the road. I actually think that it is unlikely to start a war in a short time, because the weather will quickly turn cold after the snow melts, and there is no need to prepare winter clothes. In a large-scale battle, how many soldiers will freeze to death in the wilderness?" Lan Tian raised his own question.
Zhang Fei was shocked when he heard this, and quickly echoed: "Ah, yes, yes, let's not talk about anything else. Pang Lingming's troops were lightly equipped and did not prepare winter clothes at all. The main reason is that Jiaozhou is not cold at all..."
"So Cao Cao is also preparing winter clothes to keep out the cold? This year's weather has gotten colder earlier than in previous years..." Guan Yu frowned.
"Wancheng is very close to Xudu and Luoyang. Cao Jun can mobilize supplies faster than us. Ziyu, you have to ask the workshops in Guangzhou to speed up production." Zhang Fei was very anxious.
Lan Tian's expression was relaxed and he smiled leisurely: "The warehouse in the Craftsman District of Guangzhou City has tens of thousands of sets of combat-ready winter clothes in reserve. I have asked General Li to transport them this morning. I believe they will arrive in Xiangyang in ten months."
After hearing this, Zhang Fei patted Lan Tian's shoulder, and a naive smile appeared on his face: "Well, Lan Ziyu, I'm sorry you thought of stocking up on winter clothes in such a hot place in Guangzhou, but you can make mistakes. ..”
"Third brother, how can you talk nonsense? Ziyu clearly planned for a rainy day, so I have no worries." Guan Yu stroked his beard and praised.
"I'm just joking, second brother, you're too serious..." Zhang Fei patted Guan Yu's shoulder again. I'm afraid only Liu Bei and Zhang Fei could do this kind of intimacy.
Lantian continued his analysis: "The snowfall has weakened today, and I expect it will clear up tomorrow. I will take advantage of the transportation period to make more preparations, sharpen swords and spears, repair warships, and chariots in preparation for the war. Although Wancheng is far away from Luoyang and Xudu It's close, but the military supplies also need to be provided by the Central Plains clans. After Xun Yu's death, the Henan clans had a rift with Cao Cao. I don't know if they will fully support this time, so they may not be ready as quickly as we are."
Guan Yu nodded in affirmation: "It would be great if this is the case. It will catch Cao Cao off guard."
Lan Tian smiled slightly and said: "In fact, after successfully capturing Xiangyang, the initiative in the war is in our hands. Fancheng and Xiangyang are across the river. If there are no navy warships to suppress the formation, Cao's army will be allowed to cross the river to attack the city. Their Logistics and food routes cannot be preserved, and we have the final say when to attack."
"No wonder Cao Ren and Xu Huang didn't pursue us when we retreated to the south bank..." Guan Ping said to himself.
Guan Yu replied: "Man Chong and Zhao Yan are both wise men, how can they take risks at will? Besides, we retreated and crossed the Han River, and Cao Ren just got a breather."
"Why don't we finalize the combat deployment now? It's a good time to practice in our free time, so that the soldiers in each battalion can stay warm." Zhang Fei suggested.
Lan Tian frowned and shook his head, "There is no problem in training troops to keep warm, but the war situation is changing rapidly. It is useless to decide the combat deployment too early. Let's combine the intelligence before starting the war."
"Oh..." Zhang Fei responded.
Lan Tian turned around and told Guan Yu: "Although Governor Su went to Jiangxia to garrison, the gap between us and the Jiangdong navy is still big. We should send more ships to Xiakou and Xiangyang. Once Sun Quan's movements are discovered, we will report them in time. Otherwise, the soldiers will not be able to fight against Cao Cao with peace of mind." ."
Guan Yu first nodded in affirmation, and then told Gan Ning in front of Lan Tian: "Xingba, you have heard it. Do what Ziyu said immediately. Send more patrol boats to various places. Our water supply route can no longer be cut off. ."
"Wei." Gan Ning stood up straight with his fists clasped.
