"Captain! Governor! How are you?"

Zhou Yu, who was immersed in self-remorse, was brought back to reality by Lu Fan's voice beside him.

"Captain, what happened?" Lu Fan breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Zhou Yu finally regained consciousness.

After Zhou Yu figured out the key, he breathed a sigh of relief and slowly sat up. He turned his head and scanned the people around him, and finally set his sights not far away on the man who just informed him about Xiling City.

The attacked scout.

"No." Zhou Yu said two words briefly.

People who can serve as scouts are generally shrewd and capable, and are very good at observing people's actions.

Although Zhou Yu only said two short words, the scout also understood the profound meaning contained in his words.

Zhou Yu was telling him, ‘Don’t talk nonsense’.

"No!" the scout replied to Zhou Yu in a straight tone.

Zhou Yu then looked at the generals surrounding him and said: "Zhou is fine, you all go to the front line to supervise the battle. After all, the battle is urgent... Zi Heng, please follow me to the rear to rest."

Lu Fan naturally understood that Zhou Yu had something to say to him, and immediately agreed.

He personally helped Zhou Yu mount his horse, and the two of them rode towards the rear together.

Zhou Yu had no time to pay attention to the battle ahead at this moment. He stated to Lu Fan the reward the scout had given him.

Lu Fan was not an ordinary person. After hearing that Wei Yan led his troops back to Jiangxia, he had the same idea as Zhou Yu.

"If this is true, does it mean that Liu Qi had already planned to attack Governor Zhou before going to Sili?"

Zhou Yu nodded with a bad face: "Liu Qi has been wary of me for a long time. He has never looked down on me because I am young. Such people... are really terrible."

Lu Fan also realized something at this moment. He raised his hand and wiped the sweat on his forehead: "Captain, Wei Yan has captured Xiling, blocking our return and also cutting off our food route. Xiangyang City is in urgent need of help."

Next, Huang Xu and Zhuge Liang have deep ditches and high fortresses, which can hold them for more than ten days, but our army does not have that much food and grass... Now we can't advance, and there is no way to retreat, and the way back is captured by the Jingzhou army.

The news below may not be hidden from the officers and soldiers of the three armies for long. Once the news spreads, the troops will lose their will to fight and may be defeated in a month!"

Zhou Yu covered his forehead with a headache and said: "This is exactly what I am worried about... What's more, it's not just us now, Bo Fu is also in Changsha. I'm afraid that he will also be in a bitter battle at the moment, and he will be a little careless.

, our lives will be in danger, and we have reached a point of despair."

Lu Fan rubbed his hands back and forth, frowned deeply, and began to think deeply.

After a while, I saw him speaking slowly: "Captain, the current plan is, if we can capture Xiangyang, there may be a way out for us, but if we cannot capture Xiangyang, I'm afraid all the soldiers of the three armies will die without a burial place."

"What Ziheng means is to withdraw the troops?"

Lu Fan shook his head and said: "It's too late to retreat now. Wei Yan has already blocked our return route in the rear. We are now trapped in Jingzhou... Since Huang Xu and Wei Yan dare to set up this trap, then they should

We are not afraid that we will break through the encirclement."

Zhou Yu let out a long sigh.

The first time I sent troops, I unexpectedly found myself in this dilemma.

He originally thought that he could defeat Liu Qi and become famous all over the world, but he never thought that this would happen now.

"I understand what you mean." Zhou Yu said slowly: "We can't advance, we can't retreat. At this point, we can only have a chance of survival by changing our route south."

When Lu Fan heard this, he bowed to Zhou Yu and said: "What the governor said is true. The only plan now is to lead his troops south, run towards Changsha, and meet up with the major general to retreat to Yiyang. Maybe

Only then can we escape from this dangerous situation.”

Zhou Yu raised his head and said: "As of now, this is the only way it can be."

…

After a day's defensive battle, the Xiangyang defenders repelled Zhou Yu's army.

Later, while counting the casualties, Huang Xu secretly sent people out of the city to inquire about Zhou Yu's army.

The next day, the scouts returned to Xiangyang City and reported Zhou Yu's situation to Huang Xu and Zhuge Liang.

According to the reports from the scouts, Zhou Yu has now ordered the soldiers of the three armies to cut down trees in the mountain forests near Xiangyang City and manufacture large quantities of ladders, rams and other siege equipment.

After learning the news, Huang Xusui said to Zhuge Liang: "It seems that Zhou Yu is really anxious this time. He is preparing to conquer Xiangyang City in one go. It seems that Jiangdong Army's next offensive will be quite difficult to deal with."

Zhuge Liang gently shook his white feather fan and shook his head with a smile: "General Huang, from Liang's point of view, we can't wait for Zhou Yu's next siege."

Huang Xu was very surprised by what he said: "Why?"

Zhuge Liang slowly stood up, looked at the sky outside the hall, and said: "Zhou Yu is trying to conceal his actions. If he really wants to attack the city, he will definitely not let us easily discover his actions. On the contrary, if he does not want to attack,

City, he will definitely not let us easily see what he does not want us to see..."

After saying that, Zhuge Liang turned to look at Huang Xu: "It's just one night. Does the general think the information our scouts got out is really credible?"

Huang Xu suddenly slapped his forehead: "If you hadn't explained it to me, I would have been confused! So is Zhou Yu going to evacuate to Jiangxia?"

Zhuge Liang shook his head and said: "Zhou Yu wanted to leave Nanjun because he knew that Wei Yan had returned to Jiangxia. If he turned back the same way and the general led his troops to attack from behind, his army would be defeated... As I expected, he must have wanted to

Go south to Sun Ce's side, where the two armies will join forces and break out to Yiyang together."

Huang Xu slammed the table: "In that case, I will choose a day to attack and contain him. I will never let Zhou Yu succeed!"

Zhuge Liang said: "Don't worry, it's not the time to send troops yet. After all, Zhou Yu's army is still there. If we are pressed, it is not the best idea to fight to the death with our army. In Yi Liang's opinion, the top priority is to send people quickly."

Go to Jiangling and consolidate the city defense. What Zhou Yu is most lacking right now is food. As long as he can prevent him from getting food and grass supplies, he is not afraid of being unable to control him. From Xiangyang to Changsha, the place with the most food stores is Jiangling. As long as Zhou Yu cannot capture Jiangling, then he will not be able to control it.

There is definitely nothing we can do.”

Huang Xu breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this and said: "Don't worry about this. Jiangling is the second most important town in Nanjun. I have already sent people to take over... As for your senior brother Pang, you haven't seen him these days, have you? In fact,

I sent him to Jiangling to assist with the defense."

Zhuge Liang was very relieved to see that Huang Xu had thought of this.

"If this is the case, then Zhou Yu will have no way out now."

…

Sure enough, as Zhuge Liang said, Zhou Yu ostensibly sent people to cut down trees and make siege equipment, but in fact he ordered the soldiers of the three armies to pack their bags and prepare to go south to Jingnan.

By the time the soldiers in Xiangyang City reacted, Zhou Yu's troops and horses were already empty.

They went all the way south and headed straight for Changsha. They passed by Jiangling County and wanted to attack the county town to replenish food.

But what Zhou Yu and Lu Fan didn't expect was that under Pang Tong's arrangement, Jiangling County had already deployed strict defenses.

There are not many soldiers and horses here, but Jiangling is surrounded by water on three sides, and it is the second largest city in Nanjun. It has been repaired by Liu Qi in recent years and is extremely strong.

Historically, Cao Ren was stationed in Jiangling and fought fiercely with Zhou Yu for a year without losing the position, which shows its special and solid geographical location.
Chapter completed!