Guan Yu pursued Cao Jun for more than ten miles, then returned to protect Liu Bei and others to Hanjin, where a boat had been prepared in advance. Guan Yu asked Liu Bei, Mrs. Gan, and Adou to sit in the boat. Suddenly, he did not find his second sister-in-law, Mrs. Mi, so Guan Yu asked: "Why is the second sister-in-law missing?"
Liu Bei sighed and told Guan Yu about Dangyang's situation. After hearing this, Guan Yu sighed and said: "Back then, when we were hunting in Xutian, if the eldest brother had followed my advice and killed Cao Cao, there wouldn't have been so many people in the future. thing."
Liu Bei said: "At that time, I was also throwing a tantrum, and if we failed, it would definitely not end well."
While the two were discussing, they suddenly saw war drums beating loudly on the south bank of the river. There were as many warships as ants on them, sailing in with the wind. Liu Bei instinctively felt very scared, thinking that the enemy was coming. When the ships approached, he only saw I saw a man in white robes and silver armor shouting loudly at the bow of the boat, "Uncle, you're fine!" The nephew was late and offended. "
Liu Bei saw from a distance that the person coming was Liu Qi. After Liu Qi got off the ship, he bowed to Liu Bei and said, "I heard that my uncle was trapped by Cao Cao, so I came here to greet him."
Liu Bei was very happy. He gathered his troops and horses together, and then got on the warship. The two of them talked about the past few days in the ship. The warships spread out in the south of Jiangxi and roared in the wind. Liu Qi was shocked. He said: "I brought out all the soldiers and horses from Jiangxia. Now there are warships intercepting them. It's either Cao Cao's army or Jiangdong's army. What should we do?"
Liu Bei walked out of the dock and looked from a distance. He saw a man wearing a silk scarf and a Taoist uniform sitting on the bow of the boat. It was Kong Ming, and the person standing behind him was Sun Qian.
Liu Bei quickly asked to board Kong Ming's ship and asked why. Kong Ming said: "After I arrive in Jiangxia, I will first send Guan Yu to the landing place of Hanjin to meet you. Cao Cao will definitely come to catch up while I am idle. My lord will definitely not come from Jiangling, and will definitely arrive at Hanjin first, so please sir Come to respond first, I will go to Xiakou, mobilize all the troops there, and come here to help."
Liu Bei was very happy and gathered his troops together to discuss a strategy to defeat Cao Cao.
Kong Ming said: "Xiakou is a place with a strong city and some money and food. It can be defended for a long time. Please go to Xiakou to garrison troops. You can return to Jiangxia first to reorganize the warships and pack the weapons. The two sides will be at odds with each other." , can withstand Cao Cao’s army, if we return to Jiangxia together, then the power will be smaller."
Liu Qi said: "What the military advisor said is correct, but what I mean is to ask my uncle to visit Jiangxia first. After reorganizing the army and horses, it is not too late to return to Xiakou."
Liu Bei said: "What my nephew said makes sense." So he left Guan Yu behind and guarded Xiakou with five thousand troops. Liu Bei took Kong Ming and Liu Qi to Jiangxia.
Cao Cao was afraid that Guan Yu's sudden appearance meant that Kong Ming had ambushing troops again, so he did not dare to pursue him. He was also afraid that Liu Bei would capture Jiangling first by water, so he gathered his troops overnight and headed towards Jiangling.
Deng Yi and Liu Xian, who were in charge of Jingzhou, had long known that Xiangyang had taken refuge with Cao Cao and knew that they could not withstand Cao Cao's offensive, so they led the troops and people of Jingzhou to surrender.
After Cao Cao entered the city, he appeased the people, released Han Song, and granted him the title of Da Honglu. The other officials in Jingzhou had their own rewards.
Cao Cao discussed with everyone in Jiangling: "Now that Liu Bei has gone to Jiangxia, I'm afraid he will form an alliance with Soochow, which would be bad. What strategy should be used to break it?"
Xun You said: "Now our army is very powerful. We can send envoys to Jiangdong and ask Sun Quan to hunt in Jiangxia. We can discuss how to capture Liu Bei together, divide the land in Jingzhou, and then form an alliance. Sun Quan will definitely be very surprised and confused." , come and surrender to us, and the matter will be settled."
Cao Cao followed this suggestion. On the one hand, he sent an envoy to Soochow, and on the other hand, he counted the horse, infantry, and water troops, totaling 830,000. He announced to the outside world that he had a million troops, advancing by land and water, with boats and cavalry traveling in parallel, down the river, and westward. Jing, Xia, and Qi, Huang, and Saizha are connected to the east for more than 300 miles.
In Jiangdong, Sun Quan was stationed at Chaisang. He was very concerned about the battle in Jingzhou. He knew that Cao's army had arrived at Xiangyang and Liu Cong had surrendered. Now he was rushing towards Jiangling overnight. It seemed that he was bound to win, so he gathered his counselors to discuss resistance. Methods.
Lu Su said: "Jingzhou is adjacent to us. The country is dangerous and the people are rich. If it is occupied, it will become the capital of the emperor. Now that Liu Biao has passed away and Liu Bei has been defeated, I request to be ordered to go to Jiangxia to mourn and persuade Liu Bei to provide compensation to the people." Generals, let's work together to defeat Cao Cao. If Liu Bei agrees, then the big thing can be settled."
Sun Quan was very happy, so he obeyed his words and immediately sent Lu Su to Jiangxia with gifts to prepare for the funeral.
When Liu Bei arrived in Jiangxia, he immediately held a military meeting and discussed the response strategy with Kong Ming and Liu Qi.
Kong Ming said: "Cao Cao's power is huge and we cannot resist it. How about we go to Sun Quan of the Eastern Wu Dynasty as a support and let them fight between the north and the south while we reap the benefits?"
Liu Bei said: "There are many people in Jiangdong, and they must have long-range strategies. How can they accommodate us?"
Kong Ming smiled and said: "Now that Cao Cao has taken millions of people and occupied Jianghan, isn't Jiangdong anxious? Won't he send people to us to find out the truth? If they send people over, I will borrow the wind and the sailboat to reach Jiangdong. , with his sharp tongue, we persuaded the northern and southern armies to annex each other. If the south wins, then we will jointly kill Cao Cao and obtain the land of Jingzhou. If the north wins, we will take this opportunity to take over large areas of land in the south of the Yangtze River."
After hearing this, Liu Bei admired Kong Ming very much and said: "This strategy is very good, but how to get Jiangdong to send people over?"
While the two were discussing, someone suddenly reported that Sun Quan of the Eastern Wu Dynasty had sent Lu Su to pay his respects, and that the ship had already docked.
Kong Ming clapped his hands and shouted, "The matter can be settled!" Then he asked Liu Qi, "When Sun Ce died before, did anyone in Xiangyang go to mourn?"
He replied: "Jiang Dong and my family have a grudge against the murder of our father. How come they allow us to go to the funeral?"
Kong Ming smiled slightly and said: "Then Lu Su came here this time not to mourn, but to inquire about the military situation."
So he said to Liu Bei: "If Lu Su comes to ask about Cao Jun's situation, my lord just pretends that he doesn't know very well. If he still asks again, just say that I know." So the plan was settled and people were sent. Welcoming Lu Su.
Lu Su entered the Jiangxia city to mourn and received the gifts. Liu Qi took him to meet Liu Bei.
After the ceremony, he was invited to drink in the back hall. Lu Su said: "I have heard about Uncle Liu's reputation for a long time. I didn't have a chance to visit him. I am lucky enough to meet him today. I am really happy. During this time, I heard that Uncle Liu was fighting against Cao Cao. Knowing the strength and weakness of Cao Cao’s army, I dare to ask how many Cao Cao’s troops are?”
