Three Kingdoms: I, Liu Feng, do not want to die

Chapter 33: Fate is hard to defy, the soldiers of Jingzhou have become arrogant

The map in Liu Feng's hand showed that the distance from Fangling to Fancheng was about the same as the distance from Fangling to Maicheng, both about three hundred miles.

Although there is a waterway from Fangling to Fancheng that can be used to transport food and supplies by boat, and the marching speed would be faster than taking the mountain road, it would still take at least seven or eight days from preparing food to sending troops and then marching to Fancheng.

It is now mid-September.

By the time Liu Feng prepared food and led his troops to Fancheng, it would be the end of September at the earliest.

According to Liao Hua's description, Lu Xun had already become the governor of Lukou and had written to Guan Yu, which meant that Jiangdong was already making preparations for the war.

Liu Feng guessed that Sun Quan's warships might have already entered the land through Ruxukou.

On Cao Cao's side, Xu Huang, Zhao Yan and other troops in Wancheng were also rushing to Fancheng to rescue Cao Ren, and Cao Cao's follow-up reinforcements were on the way.

Infer based on this time point.

When Liu Feng arrived in Fancheng, he had to immediately fight with Xu Huang, Zhao Yan and others, and could no longer concentrate on dealing with Jiangdong.

The map in Liu Feng's hand also showed that the land distance from Fancheng to Jiangling was more than 600 miles.

Even without considering the deviation of the actual marching distance, the map distance of more than 600 miles would still take more than ten days even if the march was at twice the speed.

Given Guan Yu's character, he would not believe everything he heard. He would not withdraw his troops just because he heard the rumor that Jiangdong was going to launch a surprise attack on Jiangling.

After all this, it was considered fast for Guan Yu to return to the army within a month.

The most important thing is: if Liu Feng really went to Fancheng, he would have to obey Guan Yu's orders in everything he did, and he would not be able to decide on his own.

In other words.

Liu Feng did not go to Fancheng to help, but went to Fancheng to wait for death.

If Liu Feng entered Fancheng with these 5,000 soldiers, his fate would be the same as Guan Yu's who was defeated in Maicheng.

After weighing the pros and cons for a moment, Liu Feng slowly spoke: "Master Liao, I admire the former general's ambition to capture Xiangyang and Fancheng and Wancheng in one fell swoop."

"However, the people in Fangling, Shangyong and Xicheng, which are thousands of miles away, are still undecided. If we rashly send troops, we may lose the three counties."

"General, since you have captured Yu Jin and his 30,000-strong army, why don't you take them back to Jiangling to rest while you can?"

"Once I have calmed the people of the three counties, I will march with the former general in two directions. We will surely be able to capture Xiangfan in one fell swoop and take Wanluo in the north."

Liao Hua smiled and said, "General Liu, you are worrying too much. When we captured Yu Jin and his men alive, the Nanxiang governor Fu Fang was also among them."

"The former general has ordered Lieutenant General Guo Mu to temporarily lead the Nanxiang governor to take over Nanxiang City. There is no need to worry about the northern part of the three counties."

"We only need to make a concerted effort to capture Fancheng and Xiangyang and achieve great success. General Liu, please do not hesitate and send troops quickly."

Seeing Liu Feng remained silent, Liao Hua's smile gradually froze: "Although the former general is not the governor of Jingzhou, he now has the authority to control the civil and military officials of Jingzhou with the sword and axe bestowed by the king."

"General Liu, are you unwilling to obey the former general's orders?"

Liu Feng said slowly: "Master Liao, the three counties of Fangling, Shangyong and Xicheng do not belong to Jingzhou."

When Liao Hua saw that Liu Feng still refused to send troops after he had given Guan Yu the power to control the imperial corps, he became furious:
"Although the three counties do not belong to Jingzhou, General Meng sent troops from Zigui to seize the three counties in order to cooperate with the former general to capture Xiangfan."

"Since General Liu is unwilling to send troops, please tell me where General Meng is, and I will go find General Meng to send troops."

"Zigui also belongs to Jingzhou. I believe General Meng will not refuse like General Liu did." Liu Feng shook his head slightly: "General Meng is not in Shangyong now, but has gone to Zigui to supervise the transportation of grain and grass. Now the troops of Fangling, Shangyong and Xicheng counties all obey my orders."

Liao Hua's face changed drastically, and he could no longer suppress his anger: "General Liu, are you trying to sacrifice public office for personal gain?"

"I know you have a private grudge against the former general, but the former general's attack on Xiangfan is for national affairs. How can you obstruct it again and again?"

Liu Feng tapped the table lightly, saying calmly, "Master Liao, don't be angry. The people of the three counties are still undecided. This is a fact, and I didn't mean to obstruct it."

"Although the former general has captured Yu Jin and his men, Cao Cao's reinforcements are coming in front of us, and Sun Quan is eyeing us covetously at Lukou behind us. The situation is unclear, so we must not be careless."

"I think Sun Quan is narrow-minded. He can't stand seeing the former general achieve great success alone, and he is obsessed with Jingzhou. He should learn from the previous experience of Lü Meng's surprise attack on Changsha, Guiyang and Lingling."

"Nanxiang Governor Fu Fang is arrogant and extravagant, and he is unpopular. Now that he has been defeated and captured, the people of Nanxiang will applaud, but this does not mean that they will abandon Cao Cao."

"Besides, Nanxiang is connected to Wuguan Pass. Cao Cao's army in Guanzhong can easily take back Nanxiang if they leave Wuguan Pass and go down the river. The northern part of the three counties is still in danger."

"Have you not heard of the words in the Book of Han: 'Those who rely on the size of their country and the number of their people in order to show off their power to the enemy are called arrogant soldiers, and arrogant soldiers will be destroyed.'"

"Please ask Liao Zhubu to return to Fancheng and give the former general some kind words of advice: the Northern Expedition is not a one-time undertaking, so don't be impatient, and don't withdraw troops from Nanjun to Fancheng to give Sun Quan in Jiangdong an opportunity to take advantage of it. If you lose Jiangling, it will be too late to regret it."

Liao Hua couldn't help but sneer: "If we give Sun Quan an opportunity to take advantage of it, will he be able to take Jiangling City?"

"Jiangling City is well fortified, and the city is still guarded by Governor Mi. Although Governor Mi has some personal grudges against the former general, he has been with the king for a long time, and he will not abandon the city and flee like Liao Li did."

"Given Sun Quan a year, can he capture Jiangling City?"

Although what Liu Feng said made sense, Liao Hua did not understand Liu Feng's kind words and thought that Liu Feng was just looking for excuses to shirk responsibility.

This cannot be blamed on Liao Hua’s lack of experience.

In Liao Hua’s opinion:
When Zhou Yu was in power, he mobilized the forces of Jiangdong to attack Jiangling and borrowed Zhang Fei from Liu Bei. Liu Bei then asked Guan Yu to cooperate with Zhou Yu to cut off the northern route.

Even so, it took Zhou Yu a year to capture Jiangling.

At that time, Jiangdong also had the morale bonus from Cao Cao's defeat at Red Cliff.

And now.

Sun Quan led an army of 100,000 on many expeditions but could not even capture Hefei.

When fighting Changsha, Guiyang and Lingling, Lu Su led 10,000 troops to station in Baqiu to resist Guan Yu, and Sun Quan commanded the troops in Lukou. Moreover, Changsha Prefect Liao Li abandoned the city and fled.

Even so, Lu Meng, with his 20,000 soldiers, was unable to capture the three counties in a short period of time.

Sun Quan even sent a letter to Lu Meng, asking him to abandon the attack on Lingling and return to support Lu Su, because at that time Liu Bei had already led his troops from Xichuan to Gong'an City.

This is just Lingling guarded by Hao Pu.

Although Hao Pu eventually fell into the trap and chose to surrender without knowing that Liu Bei had arrived in Gong'an or Guan Yu had arrived in Yiyang, Liao Hua also believed in his heart that Jiangdong's ability to attack was not strong.

What's more, the person in Lukou now is still a little-known Lu Xun.

Seeing Liao Hua's mysterious confidence, Liu Feng sighed secretly and asked, "Brother Tanzhi, have you advised the former general to withdraw his troops?"

Liao Hua didn't know why Liu Feng mentioned Guan Ping, and frowned: "Although the major general has advised, it is just the major general's cautious words. General Liu, tell me the truth, are you going to send this soldier or not?"

(End of this chapter)