Zhou Yu took the battle report sent by Lu Xuan and quickly browsed it. When he read the contents of the letter, his brows rose and he was even more amazed in his heart.
He is worthy of being the king of his own family.
Within a short time of entering Yizhou, Liu Zhang was captured. He had just gone north and started a war with Cao Cao. He killed Cao Ren in Ju County and Xia Houyuan at Yangping Pass.
In terms of speed, his own king ranks first.
After Zhou Yu read the entire content of the letter, he was in high spirits and ordered: "Whoever comes, please inform Li Tong to come and discuss the matter."
The attendant received the order and turned to inform.
Not long after, Li Tong entered the camp, clasped his fists and said, "Grand Governor."
Li Tong was just thirty years old, with a strong body and sharp features. He was a general discovered by Zhou Yu in Yuzhou.
Li Tong is from Jiangxia and was born as a knight. In the early years, he gathered the rangers from Jiangxia County and traveled across Jiangxia and Runan areas, becoming a local force with considerable influence.
Historically, after Cao Cao took the emperor to establish his capital in Xuchang, Li Tong judged the situation and decisively led his troops to defect to Cao Cao. He was appointed by Cao Cao as General Zhenwei Zhonglang and stationed at the border of Runan.
Cao Cao's arrangement is a simple recruitment. If you defect to me, I will give you an official position.
It is equivalent to saying that Li Tong had a number with Cao Cao.
To say how close the relationship between Li Tong and Cao Cao is, of course there is no such thing. They are not considered direct relatives or confidants. Li Tong did not have any influence, and it was not like the historical tiger generals like Xu Chu who defected to Cao Cao and were directly favored by Cao Cao.
However, Li Tong is very determined and discerning.
When Cao Cao attacked Zhang Xiu, Cao Cao did not have enough troops and did not recruit Li Tong. However, Li Tong judged the situation, decisively led troops to rush to the rescue, and took the lead in the battle. For his meritorious service, he was promoted by Cao Cao to General Pi, Marquis of Jiangong, and served as the Captain of Yang'an in Runan County.
General Zhenwei Zhonglang is a miscellaneous general. He is just an arrangement arranged by Cao Cao for Li Tong to defect to him, which is of no value.
However, unlike General Pi and Captain Yang'an, it was Cao Cao who recognized Li Tong for the first time.
From here, Cao Cao began to regard Li Tong as one of his own. After Li Tong was appointed as the Duwei of Yang'an, he managed the local area, stabilized people's hearts, and had considerable political achievements.
During the Battle of Guandu, Liu Biao and Yuan Shao both sent people to lure Li Tong. In the general environment at that time, everyone was optimistic about Yuan Shao but not Cao Cao. However, Li Tong decisively rejected Liu Biao, killed Yuan Shao's envoy, and gave the seal and ribbon sent by Yuan Shao to Cao Cao to express his feelings.
The fighting in Guandu was fierce, Cao Cao was in a desperate situation, and Yuzhou was in rebellion across the board. Liu Bei also personally went to Yuzhou to disrupt the situation, but Li Tong stood firm like a needle in the sea, sweeping away the bandits and calming the situation in Runan.
After the Battle of Guandu, Cao Cao rewarded Li Tong for his merits and further promoted Li Tong to the post of Governor of Runan and Marquis of Duting.
In the fourteenth year of Jian'an, Guan Yu flooded Fancheng and Jingzhou fell into a desperate situation. Cao Ren desperately resisted Guan Yu. At that time, Cao Cao's people were in Hanzhong and all Cao Cao's men were unable to rush to help. Li Tong mobilized his troops to go to Jingzhou to rush to help, but he died of illness on the way.
After Cao Pi succeeded to the throne, he was given the posthumous title of Marquis Gang.
Such a person, if he had not died of illness early, would have become a talisman in the southern part of Wei State.
However, Li Tong died early.
Although Li Tong was born as a knight-errant, he had deep determination, foresight and foresight. From the beginning to the end, he believed in Cao Cao. Even though Cao Cao was constantly in danger, Li Tong never changed.
Especially during the Battle of Guandu, most people in Xudu and the Runan area turned their backs on Cao Cao. Among such a group of people, Li Tong's persistence was particularly valuable.
Zhou Yu admired Li Tong very much. After Li Tong defected, he kept Li Tong with him to train him. Because Li Tong's biggest shortcoming is still not reading much, which is a common problem among most generals in the late Han Dynasty.
Except for people from big families, the military generals are all unskilled in the art of war and are all wild.
Zhou Yu asked: "Wenda, have you read "Sun Bin's Art of War" recently? Have you read half of it?"
Li Tong cheered up in the face of Zhou Yu's inquiry. He is older than Zhou Yu, but he admires Zhou Yu from the bottom of his heart and regards Zhou Yu as his teacher.
If it weren't for Zhou Yu's bit by bit teaching, he wouldn't have been able to read "Sun Tzu's Art of War" first, then "Sun Bin's Art of War", and many other military strategies.
This is his shortcoming.
Li Tong said respectfully: "Reporting to the Commander-in-Chief, I have read the article "Sun Bin's Art of War: Eight Formations". However, there are still many things I don't understand and I have not been able to fully understand this article."
Zhou Yu said solemnly: "When you read, you have to keep reading and you will understand naturally. You first read it over and over again to understand it. Finally, if you don't understand anything, ask again and I will explain it to you."
"As you command!"
Li Tong answered quickly.
Zhou Yu changed the subject and said in a deep voice: "I called you here because I just received news from the king. In the battle at Yizhou, the king killed Cao Cao's generals Xia Houyuan and Cao Ren, and trapped Cao Cao in Nanzheng County, Hanzhong. You Take people with you to spread the news among Xiahou Dun's troops and disturb Xiahou Dun's military morale."
After hearing this, Li Tong first agreed, and then said: "Captain, your Majesty has trapped Cao Cao, and victory is just around the corner. We now have to wait for news from both Taishi Ci and Gao Shun before taking advantage of the situation to attack. But with the king's information, the plan Do you want to make changes?"
After Zhou Yu heard this, he weighed it in his heart.
The news from Lu Xuan essentially replaced some of the intelligence from Tai Shici and Gao Shun because it could disrupt Xiahou Dun's military morale.
"Report!"
At this moment, the soldiers entered again and reported: "The governor, the sentinels of General Taishi Ci and General Gao Shun each arrived at the same time."
"Bring it in quickly!"
Zhou Yu gave an order.
At this moment, Zhou Yu had a smile in his eyes. The long-awaited news has finally arrived. The soldier went to deliver the message. After a while, two sentries came in and each handed over the information.
Zhou Yu took it over to check. After reading the contents of the letter, his smile became even bigger.
Taishi Ci led 30,000 elite troops from Nanyang County to the north, raided Yingchuan County, captured Kunyang, Fucheng and Jiaxian County, and went straight to Yangzhai County, where Yingchuan was governed. Taishi Ci's army has cut off the passage from Yingchuan to Yanzhou in Guanzhong to ensure the safety of Zhou Yu's west.
Gao Shun led 10,000 elite troops to invade the Liang Kingdom, seize the Liang Kingdom's seat of Suiyang, cut off the army of Yujin in Taishan County to the east, and possibly return to aid Xiahou Dun of the Chen Kingdom.
Both sides achieved results.
Both Taishi Ci and Gao Shun were trying to expand their results and further control the situation.
Zhou Yu smiled brightly and said loudly: "I didn't expect that today would be the third day of happiness. Not only is there good news from the king, but Taishi Ci and Gao Shun have also successfully achieved our expected goals."
"Li Tong, beat the drums immediately and mobilize our army to attack Xiahou Dun."
"In this battle, Xiahou Dun will be destroyed."
Zhou Yu gave the order.
