Chapter 467: A Good Place to Return to the Soul

After Cao Cao's army set out, Guan Yu was the one who felt the pressure most directly.

Within one day, urgent military information was sent to Duyang, Wuyin and Biyang, three places bordering Jingzhou and Yuzhou, from north to south, and the content was basically the same:

The army passed through the border and the isolated city was trapped.

In Bowang County Government, Xu Shu stood and looked at the sand table map carefully.

While marking the movements of Cao's army on the sand table according to the military information, he smiled at Guan Yu, who was fully dressed and armored:

"Cao's thief is fighting to the death, and he is coming."

In the past year or so, he has defeated Cao Cao in the battle and almost captured him alive, which can be called a joy.

But the surprise is that Kong Ming sent him several mathematics classics annotated by him and Liu Ba, as well as a long letter on the application of mathematics.

With the guarantee of future generations and the recommendation of Kong Ming, Xu Shu naturally had no reason not to believe in mathematics.

After studying hard for half a year, Xu Shu found that he could coordinate the military affairs of Jingzhou more conveniently. He could calculate the income and expenditure of the land tax without leaving home by relying on mathematics.

If it can be used to measure oneself, it can be used to measure the enemy.

When Guan Yu lived in Bowang County to support the three cities of Duyang, Wuyin and Biyang, Xu Shu obtained the vague situation of the military farming under Cao Cao's rule from the surrendered soldiers of Cao's army obtained in the Jingxiang War and the people who fled south due to the war.

Assisted by the data records of the land in various states and counties in the world obtained in Chang'an after the lord entered Guanzhong.

Then he got the oral account of Shi Guangyuan, who was still a farming official before returning to the south, and Xu Shu finally pieced together the number of fields, people and taxes under Cao Cao's rule, and calculated the approximate number of grain and grass that Cao Cao could allocate.

This number is certainly not accurate, but at least the range of deviation is not very large, which is enough to make Guan Yu confident about this battle.

Xu Shu had clearly listed how many armies these grains and grass would be enough for and for how long.

Therefore, Guan Yu could not help but laugh in agreement:

"Now I know what is meant by the number of temple calculations. Yuan Zhi is in control of the situation, and this battle has become a state of knowing oneself and the enemy. How can we not win more?"

Xu Shu also laughed:

"Why is Yunchang so modest? A few numbers are useless without Yunchang's courage in battle."

The laughter of the commander and the military advisor spread far in Bowang County, and everyone who heard it admired:

He can still remain calm when the army is approaching, worthy of being General Guan!

However, laughing aside, the method of dealing with it still needs to be taken out.

Guan Yu walked forward slowly and looked at the sand table carefully.

The most eye-catching thing in the whole Jingbei is the Yushui River, which originates from Funiu Mountain and flows southward to finally merge into the Han River in Xiangfan, dividing Jingbei into two parts, east and west.

There are also fertile lands of Tuanshui and Danshui to the west of Yushui River, which can be regarded as the fertile land of Jingbei. Wancheng, Anzhong, Yuyang, Rangxian, Guanjun, etc. are scattered here.

The lack of river branches to the east of Yushui River is not conducive to farming, so there are only two counties, Bowang and Jiyang, located on the east side of Yushui River, but the advantage is that this open and waterless plain has become a place where cavalry can gallop freely.

Guan Yu can already foresee that the cavalry of both sides will inevitably fight here to determine the final outcome of this battle.

"The Cao army that passed Duyang must come to take Bowang."

Guan Yu, holding the helmet, pointed at the sand table, because Bowang and Duyang are only a hundred miles apart, and if Bowang is taken, Xi'e can be taken, and then Wancheng can be attacked, which is a relationship of lips and teeth.

Xu Shu also pointed at the sand table and said:

"Wuyin and Biyang are only more than 80 miles apart. The Cao army in the two places will most likely merge, so we can attack Jiyang and attack Wancheng from both sides."

"But in my opinion, it is more likely to abandon Jiyang and attack Xiangfan in the south, so as to cut off Jingzhou in the middle and cut off our army's retreat."

Just after saying this, Xu Shu pointed his finger down at Jiangxia with a relaxed expression:

"But if the Cao army does this, I'm afraid they will treat Zilong as mud."

Guan Yu nodded in approval, and at this time, Hou Yin came in to report:

"The three armies are ready, just waiting for the general's order!"

Guan Yu carefully put on his helmet after hearing this, and then picked up the shiny crescent-shaped sword next to him, nodded to Xu Shu next to him, and stepped forward with a dragon-like and tiger-like step.

"Pass on my military order, march out and defeat the bandits!"

Xu Shu followed briskly, and after leaving the county government, they mounted their horses. When they left the city, they saw a fully prepared army ready to march.

The bravery of the strong soldiers soared to the sky, and the fierceness of the elite cavalry rushed towards them. Even though this was not the first time he had seen this scene, Xu Shu was still intoxicated by it and could not help but whispered:

"With such good soldiers, Yunchang will surely win!"

Guan Yu urged his blood-red warhorse forward, pointing his cold crescent blade to the sky, and his voice shook the four fields:

"The Han will win!"

Long spears rose up like a forest, and the thunderous shouts of millions of people broke out:

"Win!"

And long before Huang Zhong saw Cao's army marching, Zhao Yun, who was stationed in Jiangxia, had quietly left here and led his troops north.

This was already in Zhao Yun's plan, because there were many reasons to leave Jiangxia.

For example, Gan Gui used the power of the navy of Jingzhou to settle the Yangtze River and no one dared to resist, and Jiangxia all followed the master and no one dared to disobey.

For example, Shamoke managed his people in an orderly manner, and after settling Jingnan, he even had the spare capacity to support the Shanyue in Jiangdong.

Of course, according to Shamoke, it was mainly to repay Ma Liang who was now giving advice to the Shanyue.

What Zhao Yun didn't expect was that Gan Ning also led 800 old subordinates again and insisted on staying with him to go north together.

The reason for taking the position was also convincing, saying that the current grudge between Sun and Liu was all due to Cao Cao, and that Gan Ning was not working for Lord Xuande, but just had a score to settle with Cao's army.

Seeing that Gan Ning and his 800 old subordinates were quite good at riding, Zhao Yun simply acquiesced.

All the people in the group could ride a horse and travel a hundred miles a day, and they could pass through Sui County and Anchang and be considered safe and sound. Zhao Yun had already planned to go straight to Bowang to listen to General Guan's orders.

As a result, when they arrived at Huyang at dusk, they saw that the people in this county were scrambling to flee south, and Zhao Yun's heart skipped a beat.

To the east of Huyang is Pingshi County, and to the east of Pingshi is Biyang.

The personal soldiers who went to inquire about the news soon brought back complete news.

The Cao army came from the direction of Biyang and directly occupied Pingshi County and seized the land and property of the people. Tomorrow, they would most likely attack in the direction of Xiangyang.

"How many people?" This was the news that Gan Ning was concerned about.

"Nearly 30,000 people." This is the rough estimate made by the personal soldiers based on what they saw from asking many civilians.

Hearing this, Gan Ning smiled a little bloodthirsty and said:

"General Zhao, are you interested in doing something big?"

Under the illumination of the torch, Zhao Yun saw for the first time a wild and unrestrained smile on Gan Ning's bandit-like face.

"Tell me."

For some reason, Zhao Yun felt his heart beat faster.

Gan Ning stood up and pointed to the east and said:

"Take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness, set fire to the camp, and trample the camp with thousands of cavalry. Do you dare to go with us?"

Why not? He is the brave Zhao Zilong praised by later generations!