Chapter 117 On the Eve of the Great War
The river is rushing like a thousand horses, and more than a dozen large ships in the river flow up so that other ships on the river avoid it one after another. These more than ten large ships were specially prepared by Wenpin for Liu Qi and others. Each of the more than ten large ships was comparable to the three big ships that Liu Qi robbed in Jiangdong, so more than 800 people were not crowded at all, and even a little empty.
First, Wei Yan wore armor on a big ship and stood in the bow to look around on guard against thieves at any time. Immediately after the three big ships, there were soldiers standing on strict guard. After the three big ships was Liu Qi's boat. On the ship, Wang Yi and nearly 200 flying tiger guards were guarded extremely tight.
Liu Qi's big ship was followed by the ship escorting Huang Zu. The ship was guarded by Gan Ning with two hundred brocade sails. Huang's grandfather and son could not get out of the cabin at all. There was no need to worry about who came back to rob Huang Zu or Huang Zu's escape. The next two big ships were the weight and horses of Liu Qi and his party. On the last two big ships, soldiers were also heavily guarded. The ten big ships of the party split the river and cut the waves towards Xiangyang.
On Liu Qi's big ship, Qiao and Xiao Qiao were also arranged on this ship, and the three of them did not object to this. It is not very fast to go back to Xiangyang from Jiangxia. It will take at least more than ten days along the way. If you encounter strong windy weather in the middle, you have to rest on the shore, and you will not feel lonely on the road accompanied by Big Qiao and Xiao Qiao. After spending a few days with Liu Qi, Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao also had a certain understanding of Liu Qi's character, so they did not object to doing so.
At this time, Liu Qi, who was half lying on the bow and watching Da Qiao play the piano. Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao not only looked beautiful, but also the two usually kill time by singing and dancing. Therefore, they are also good at singing and dancing and have extraordinary literary talent.
Liu Qi, who was half lying on the couch, drank the wine in the glass while listening to Da Qiao's endless sound of the piano. He looked comfortable and did not feel any tension at the time of Jiangxia.
Xiao Qiao, who was sitting beside him, looked at Liu Qi and smiled and said, "How's it going? How's my sister playing?"
Liu Qi answered vaguely, "It sounds good." In fact, he doesn't know much about these. He just thinks that Big Joe's piano is very good, and he can't say why it sounds good. At this time, Liu Qi had already wandered away with his eyes closed.
Seeing Liu Qi's vague answer, Xiao Qiao was a little unhappy and pouted and said, "My sister's piano sound is so wonderful. In fact, it's a beautiful and can be described."
After saying that, he waited for a long time and didn't see Liu Qi come back. Xiao Qiao picked up his skirt and came to Liu Qi. He looked down and saw that Liu Qi had fallen asleep, and immediately became angry and laughed. No one has ever said that her sister's appearance is not good, but the person in front of her fell asleep in the company of them, which was the first time she saw them. And looking at Liu Qi and Xiaoqiao sleeping like a child, the corners of his mouth were full of smiles.
Da Qiao, who was beside the sound of the piano, raised his head and looked at Xiao Qiao, who was stunned on one side, a little curious. He got up and came over and saw Xiao Qiao staring at Liu Qi. Da Qiao smiled and raised his wrist and patted Xiao Qiao's head gently. Xiao Qiao, who was stunned, suddenly woke up and was about to scream. Big Joe pulled her aside.
Seeing that it was Big Joe, Little Joe was relieved and stared at Big Joe. He took Big Joe's hand and shook it and said, "Sister, why are you doing this?"
Big Joe smiled and pulled Little Joe into the cabin without saying anything.
Different from Liu Qi's comfort and idleness, Xu Shu was very nervous at this time. Since Zhou Yu's defeat last time, Zhou Yu finally put away his contempt and took out his true talent to deal with Xu Shu. In the face of Zhou Yu's attack, Xu Shu also tried his best to crack Zhou Yu's strategy one by one, and neither of them dared to relax at all.
For Zhou Yu, Xu Shu had heard about it for a long time, but when he really fought with him, he felt that Zhou Yu was still above the rumor. It had been five days since Zhou Yu's defeat. Zhou Yu did not capture the two counties of Ai and Xiushui, but Xu Shu did not escape under Zhou Yu.
Now there is the original plan of Zhou Yu and Xu Shu to crack it, which has evolved into a plan for both of them to use and then crack each other. Sometimes even two people make a plan to crack at the same time, and there will naturally be soldiers and horses during this period. The soldiers and horses in Xiushui County have been supplemented three times, and the soldiers and horses in Ai County have also been supplemented twice. Compared with Xu Shu's supplementary soldiers, Zhou Yu is more relaxed. After all, this is in Jiangdong. It is natural to mobilize soldiers and horses at any time, and even the siege equipment can be transferred at any time.
However, Zhou Yu did not mobilized too much siege equipment. Even if people like Xu Shu attacked Jiangdong, Xiushui County with the help of siege equipment, he would suffer heavy losses. Therefore, Zhou Yu and Xu Shu could avoid the head-on confrontation between the two armies.
The endless strategies make both of them nervous and dare not miss anywhere, for fear that a small detail will not be noticed by the other party. Naturally, the two will not use the simple method of fierceness in the confrontation. The two have long learned and applied the application of the art of war. A strategy often implies a lot of the application of the art of war. One thought of the two will make the mobilization of soldiers and horses resurgent.
In the county government of Xiushui County, most of the generals who stayed in Changsha have gathered here. Even Yang Ling from Lianyou County has been transferred. You County was handed over to Han Xuan, the governor of Changsha. The appointment of Han Xuan has already been issued, but Han Xuan still took Xu Shu as the leader and obeyed Liu Qi.
Jiangdong's soldiers and horses seem to have lost their patience in five days. In the past two days, Jiangdong's soldiers and horses have been frequently transferred, and even more than a dozen stone-throwing vehicles that are not usually used have been transported. If such stone-throwing vehicles are mounted outside Xiushui County, it only takes a few deliveries to scatter the defenders in the city and even smash a corner of the wall of Xiushui County. .
Xu Shu already knows a lot about Zhou Yu. If Zhou Yu had no choice but to, Zhou Yu would not forcibly attack the city, but if there was really no way, Zhou Yu would also directly order the army to attack the city. Now Zhou Yu has not reached that point, but there are still signs of forcibly attacking the city, which shows that something must have happened in Jiangdong to force him to do so.
The news from Jiangdong, Xu Shu soon knew that Liu Qi plundered Sun Ce and Zhou Yu's wives and successfully returned to Jingzhou, and almost completely annihilated the army that followed him had caused a sensation in Jiangdong. Xu Shu is also quite impressed by Liu Qi's wit and courage. However, immediately after Xu Shu heard another news, that is, Wuhou Sun Ce was ready to gather 100,000 troops to attack Jingzhou to take this shame.
Hearing this news, Xu Shu already knew why Zhou Yu wanted to attack the city so eagerly. Jiangdong has been hostile to attack Jingzhou for more than ten years. In the past ten years, Jiangdong often attacked Jingzhou but never succeeded. This time, Sun Ce, the Marquis of Wu, gathered almost the whole army of 100,000 troops. Jiangdong can mobilize most of the troops and horses. Such a war is related to the fate of the whole Jiangdong. Zhou Yu has to be anxious.
Looking at the crowd in the hall, Xu Shu looked at Ma Liang and said, "Is there any news in Jiangdong?"
Although Ma Liang was dressed in a Confucian robe at this time, he could not hide his cold murderous spirit. In recent days, Xu Shu and Zhou Yu fought frequently, and he was also transferred from Ai County to Xiushui County twice to assist Xu Shu. Hearing Xu Shu's words, Ma Liang came forward and said, "The news from the scouts has increased the number of stone throwers transported to the Jiangdong battalion to 20, and the soldiers and horses in the Jiangdong battalion have also increased to 40,000."
Xu Shu nodded and said nothing. Since Zhou Yu wants to attack Xiushui County, he will definitely be fully prepared to attack Xiushui County in one fell swoop. Xu Shu looked at Yang Ling beside him and said, "How many soldiers and horses are there in the city now?"
Yang Ling was transferred here by Xu Shu from You County not only led the 500 powerful soldiers with Zhou Cang, but also responded to the soldiers transferred from Ai County and even Jingzhou. Yang Ling, dressed in armor, came forward and said, "Now there are more than 15,000 soldiers and horses in the city, 200 bows and five giant crossbows, and there are 6,000 soldiers and horses, 100 bows and two giant bows and horses in Ai County." As for the others, there is no need to list them one by one, but as long as Xu Shu asks Yang Ling, he will answer immediately.
Xu Shu nodded. The soldiers and horses gathered in Ai County and Xiushui County were already two-thirds of the soldiers and horses in Changsha. At this time, Zhao Lei was still responsible for guarding Ai County. Yesterday, Su Fei just went to Ai County to replace Ma Liang. Zhao Lei's caution made Ma Liang a little superfluous in Ai County than to transfer him here. He has ordered Zhao Lei to stick to the war no matter what, and it is more than enough to resist the sneak attack of Jiangdong with the soldiers and horses of Ai County.
Thinking of the war that may break out at any time, Xu Shu looked at Huang Zhong and Liu Pan and said, "General Huang, General Liu, you two take 5,000 soldiers and horses to guard the city day and night, and send more scouts to pay attention to the movement of the Jiangdong army at any time."
"No." Huang Zhong and Liu Pan came forward to take the order. At this time, Liu Pan was no longer impetuous and calmer, but his body was also much more murderous.
After ordering, Xu Shu said, "This is about the master's future plan. You must not slack off at all. Anyone who violates military discipline will be executed immediately." Although he knew that the people in front of him would not violate the military discipline, Xu Shu said it again just in case.
"No." Several people bowed forward one after another.