Chapter 573

Sun Ce saved himself from the red-eye disease.

"Right, I will rely on the Yangtze River in Jiangxia and let Liu Bei suffer a big loss!"

Zhou Yu nodded.

"My lord, as long as we defeat Liu Bei in a water battle, and with Cao Cao's threat in the north, he won't even be able to stay in Jingzhou!"

"When the time comes, it will be a great opportunity for our army to collect Jingzhou. At worst, we can take the four Jingnan commanderies, Jiangxia Commandery, and part of Nanjun, and fight with Cao Cao for Xiangyang!"

Sun Ce smiled.

"Gongjin, when the time comes, you will be the Grand Governor of Jingzhou, and you and I, brothers, will plot the great cause together!"

"Yes!"

"Report~!"

A scout came to report.

"My lord, Liu Bei's subordinate, Prefect of Hanzhong Zhuge Liang, used a water attack strategy near Xinye, greatly defeating the Xia Hou brothers, and the Cao army's vanguard was defeated in one battle!"

Sun Ce and Zhou Yu's expressions changed drastically. After reading the intelligence, they were speechless for a long time.

"This Liu Bei's vision is truly excellent. Zhuge Liang, a village fellow, was repeatedly entrusted with heavy responsibilities by him, and Zhuge Liang is also full of tricks!"

Zhou Yu cupped his hands.

"My lord, Cao Cao is likely to be blocked on the Xinye line. Our army needs to deploy early and first strive for the support of the four Jingnan commanderies!"

"Good, quickly contact the four Jingnan commanderies and send someone to deliver a letter of challenge to Liu Bei. I will invite him to a decisive battle in Jiangxia!"

"My lord is wise!"

Xiangyang city,

Liu Bei also knew about Zhuge Liang's great victory over the Xia Hou brothers.

Jingzhou's civil and military officials were instantly spirited.

Over these years, Liu Biao had also fought Cao Cao several times, and all were defeats!

Although the scale was not large, it could be considered a bitter master. Liu Bei came and it was different; everyone could stand straight and do things!

Guo Jia cupped his hands.

"My lord, Cao Cao's troops this time only have less than seventy thousand left. With Zhuge Liang confronting them, and with Gao Shun, Ju Yi, Pang De, and others helping, there won't be too much of a problem."

Liu Bei nodded. Zhuge's caution is not a bad thing. It might be a bit difficult to let him use surprise troops to overturn Cao Cao, but blocking Cao Cao and letting himself defeat Sun Ce with peace of mind is completely fine.

Liu Bei looked around.

"Ma Chao, Zhang Nan, you two go to Xinye to help Kongming."

"Yes!"

Liu Bei looked at Ma Chao.

"Mengqi, you are Cao Cao's bitter master. His beard has grown long again this time!"

Everyone laughed loudly.

Jingzhou's civil and military officials only then remembered Cao Cao cutting his beard and throwing away his robe after being defeated by Ma Chao!

Their mood relaxed instantly!

Ma Chao suddenly felt he had a lot of face.

A day later,

Huang Zhong arrived in Xiangyang with twenty thousand troops.

Liu Bei's hands were instantly generous.

He began to deploy troops and generals.

"De Gui, you are proficient in water warfare. After Sun Ce defeated Huang Zu, he didn't cross the river. He should want to find our army for a decisive battle on the Yangtze River."

"I appoint you as the main commander of this water battle and confront Sun Ce on the Yangtze River!"

Cai Mao's eyes lit up. He was still reused, and in the field he was most proficient in!

Liu Bei used Cai Mao, firstly, because Cai Mao had been a Jingzhou military advisor for many years, so he had prestige, and most of the Jingzhou navy recognized him.

Secondly, Zhou Yu used a counter-espionage strategy to calculate Cai Mao, but actually he was still wary of his water warfare ability.

"De Gui, you lead forty thousand Jingzhou navy, and I will send Gan Ning, Lu Xun, and Xu Sheng to lead fifteen thousand troops to help you."

"Thank you, my lord, for your trust!"

Cai Mao also felt the pressure. Sun Ce on the opposite side was not bad, and he might not necessarily be able to defeat him.

Liu Bei added,

"De Gui, for this operation, you don't need to defeat Sun Ce; you just need to drag him down."

Everyone was a bit puzzled and looked over one after another.

Liu Bei pointed at the map.

"Everyone, there are still sixty or seventy thousand troops in Jingnan. I have already ordered Wei Yan and Yan Yan to lead troops out of Yizhou. Once I gather the Jingnan troops and head to Jiangxia by land, Sun Ce's plan to rely on the Yangtze River as a natural barrier will fail!"

Everyone's eyes lit up. Lord Xuande was indeed cunning. Sun Ce's idea of wanting to defeat them by relying on the navy was directly broken!

Yi Ji cupped his hands.

"My lord, the prefects of the four Jingnan commanderies all have contacts with Sun Ce and Cao Cao, and may not necessarily pledge allegiance sincerely."

Liu Bei nodded.

"De Gui, so I have to rely on you to drag Sun Ce's main force down more."

Cai Mao cupped his hands.

"My lord, rest assured, your subordinate will definitely complete the task!"

Just dragging Sun Ce down, Cai Mao still had confidence.

Two days later,

Cai Mao led fifty-five thousand navy troops along the Han River to Jiangxia to resist Sun Ce!

Liu Bei ordered Zhang Ren to lead twenty thousand troops to guard Xiangyang city,

and he himself led over fifteen thousand troops, bringing Huang Zhong, Taishi Ci, Zhang Fei, and others along the land route to Jiangling, Nanjun.

As for Sun Ce's letter of challenge, naturally let Cai Mao take it over and reply to Sun Ce that he truly had no time, so let Cai Mao play with you!