Cao Wu got enough information from You Song, and after leaving Fuchuan County, the whole army prepared to continue southward, leaving only the steady Yu Jin with 3,000 men to guard Fuchuan to ensure that the subsequent food routes were smooth.
As soon as he got there, Cao Aba, who was the best at cooking in Beifu, caught up with him.
Seeing that she was alone, Cao Wu asked, "Where is Jiang Gongyan? Didn't he come with you?"
They had previously communicated that Jiang Wan had agreed to be conscripted into Cao Yuan's six-hundred-stone position by the Beifu. Ordinarily, given Jiang Wan's humble background, it would be impossible for him to leave after suddenly gaining such a high position.
Ah Ba knew Cao Wu's concerns and said with a smile: "Mr. Jiang heard that I told Beifu that Beifu was planning to establish a presence in Jiaozhou, so he led his people southward in advance. Mr. Jiang asked me to apologize to the general and wait for him to make political achievements in Jiaozhou. See you again!"
Cao Wu just felt relieved, and at the same time thought that he was worthy of being the Four Prime Ministers of Shu in his previous life, as famous as Dong Yun and Fei Yi. After Zhuge Liang's death, he stabilized the pillars of Shu. As soon as he entered Beifu, he began to consider Beifu's plan.
At this time, Jiang Wan was only twenty, but his character was already outstanding.
Zhuge Liang and Lu Xun, who were riding with Cao Wu, also had something strange in their eyes after hearing this. They felt that Cao Wu had a good eye for people and that a little-known person could also play a role.
Going south, the army needs to pass through the two counties of Linhe and Fengyang before reaching Guangxin. Now he has 20,000 people heading south in a mighty manner. Although Man Chong has not been seen, he still escorts Man Chong to Zhouzhou. in the name of taking office.
When they were in the mountains before, the army could still hide, but now they could no longer hide along the river. Cao Wusui told the army to stop hiding and speed up southward.
Unexpectedly, Cao Wu received news from Jiang Wan the next day.
The restaurant and restaurant run by Ah Ba is a small business in Beifu, but it has a wide network of contacts. Jiang Wan led people to open a restaurant in the south. There was no war in Cangwu, and the restaurant opened very smoothly. In just a few days, Jiang Wan found out The important news was delivered through the channels agreed with Ah Ba.
Cao Wu opened the letter and glanced at it, his brows furrowed and then relaxed.
He handed the letter to Diao Chan and the other three. They read it and frowned.
There were only three pieces of news. One was that someone who claimed to be Jiaozhou Mu had indeed entered Cangwu County to govern Guangxin City, but he had disappeared since then.
The second is that a large ship once approached the Cangwu boundary and then left. According to the fishermen, someone robbed their ship, which is suspected to be related to the arrival of the large ship.
The third is that an army secretly moved along the coastline from east to west, without entering Cangwu, and went straight to the four counties controlled by Shi Xie, because the people who saw this army were all fishermen and did not have the ability to identify the number of troops. ability, so I don’t know how many people left.
"It seems that Jiangdong has really taken action. The situation is actually so complicated."
Lu Xun sighed.
He had known that Jiangdong intended to hand over the state, but he did not expect that Jiangdong had already extended his hand while stabilizing the northern and western defense lines.
Zhuge Liang echoed: "Our army only has more than 20,000 people at full strength. If 10,000 people come from Jiangdong, the situation will be uncertain."
In fact, everyone knows that with the current situation in the north, the focus of the attack is on Jiangdong itself, and now is the spring planting period. It is impossible for the north to send a large army to cross the sparsely populated southern counties to reach Jiaozhou and maintain the current 20,000 people. Providing food and grass is already very difficult.
But Jiangdong was different. Sun Quan's original focus was in the south, and it was easier to transport troops and food.
Originally, Cao Wu was thinking of entering Jiaozhou directly during this gap period, but now it seems that Jiangdong is not idle either.
"It doesn't matter. According to the intelligence, Jiangdong's army marched along the coastline in order to hide their traces. However, this is Jiaozhou. There are many fishermen on the beach and they have many spies. In fact, he didn't hide anything. So, why did they suddenly go west?"
Cao Wu analyzed.
As soon as he said it, Zhuge Liang understood what he meant.
"It's because the news about our march in Wuling was exposed, so we went west!"
"right!"
Cao Wuyang raised the letter in his hand: "Jiangdong Army probably observed Guangxin's defense and felt that it could not capture Guangxin before we showed up, so it simply changed its target and went to the four counties controlled by Shixie!"
"But if we can't capture even one county, how can we attack four counties?"
Diao Chan blurted out.
"Then I don't know. Maybe there is cooperation inside and outside, maybe Shi Xie is interested in Jiangdong. In short, Jiangdong's army must think it is easier to attack the four counties, so they will leave first."
After Cao Wu finished speaking, he said to Lu Xun: "If Sun Quan of Jiangdong wants to appoint a commander-in-chief, who else will he choose besides Zhou Yu?"
Lu Xun thought for a while and said: "Apart from Governor Zhou, there is only Governor Cheng. It is unlikely that anyone else will be the commander of a certain army."
Cao Wu nodded: "Cheng Pu will not be as cautious in using troops as Zhou Yu. Facing Guangxin, why should we try before making a decision? But judging from the intelligence, Jiangdong Army was hiding in the dark before and did not make any effort. Then, the leader must be Zhou Yu."
Although the intelligence did not mention who came from Jiangdong, Cao Wu had an intuition that Sun Quan would most likely send Zhou Yu. Cao Wu planted a seed of suspicion in Sun Quan's heart, but Zhou Yu's ability lies here. It will still be used after all.
As soon as Zhou Yu's name came out, the atmosphere in the carriage was depressing. In the Battle of Chibi, when Zhou Yu was about to be defeated, he suddenly counterattacked, dug up the river embankment, and almost wiped out Cao Cao's army. Everyone has experienced that kind of cruelty and timing. Yes, if Cao Wu and Zhuge Liang had not stayed calm in times of danger, Jingzhou would have been lost. This is not the current situation in the world.
"Kong Ming!"
Cao Wu suddenly called Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang looked up and saw Cao Wu's eyes full of fighting intent.
"The outcome of the battle at Chibi is hard to determine. Today in Jiaozhou, how about we fight Zhou Yu again!"
Zhuge Liang's eyes immediately lit up and he said solemnly: "I will definitely live up to my master's trust!"
Two days later, the army arrived at Linhe County. The county magistrate Wang Ji abandoned the city and left. Linhe County was captured without blood again.
More than 20,000 people rested here for half a day. Li Dian led 1,500 people to garrison Linhe, and the rest went south again.
Originally, Guiyang fierce general Chen Ying and others also wanted to find a job, but Cao Wu was obviously more confident about the five good generals. In his previous life, Li Dian died early and failed to become the five good generals, but his ability was not inferior to them, and he was good at stationing in the rear.
One day later, when they arrived at Fengyang County, the magistrate of Fengyang County still abandoned the city and left. Cao Wu asked the school captain Guanqiu Jian to lead 1,500 people to guard here and continue southward.
In the past few days, he has sent people to Guangxin to deliver letters every day, telling Wu Ju that he is here to ask for it. But so far, Wu Ju has not sent a reply. But judging from the behavior of the county magistrates along the way, it is impossible for Wu Ju to Not knowing the arrival of the army.
In the past few days, Jiang Wan's secret messages had also continued uninterrupted. Most of them were less important messages, but only one caught Cao Wu's attention.
The message was very simple. Except for the necessary defenders in Guangxin City, Cangwu County had never found out where the army was. Jiang Wan even bribed many noble people to ask, but there was no answer.
When he got the news, Zhuge Liang also secretly went south. Lu Xun, who stayed with Cao Wu, smiled and said: "It seems to be as we guessed."
Cao Wu raised the curtains of his car, and the city wall of Guangxin was already in sight.
He said: "Yes, Wu Ju should take action."
