Summer of the 22nd year of Han Jian'an [217].

Early April.

It is the time of early summer, and the places south of the Yangtze River are slowly emerging from the cold spring.

The moisture gradually began to increase.

The warm current begins to intensify, followed by a rise in temperature.

The rising sun in the sky shines down on me, making it seem quite warm.

Nowadays, Guan Yu, who has reached the rank of former general and holds a false sword, also holds a swearing-in ceremony on the northern outskirts of Jiangling City.

After a vigorous pre-war mobilization was held, and all the soldiers under his command were full of high morale, various instructions were issued.

Order the main forces to advance along the water and land, and go north to attack Xiangfan.

The main force of the Jingzhou Army marched in unison along the official road.

The momentum is also doubling day by day.

Under such a strong offensive, it was impossible to hide Cao Ren, the commander-in-chief of Cao's army who was stationed on the front line in Xiangfan.

He also received the military information that the Jingzhou Army had invaded as soon as he found out the truth at the scout station.

And when I heard that the general of Jingzhou, Guan Yu, actually brought the main force to attack.

In an instant.

He did not dare to hesitate at all, and even with a look of eagerness on his face, he sent someone to summon all his subordinates to discuss the military situation.

Regarding the fierce battle with Guan Yu.

He knew in his heart that he could not be careless in the slightest.

If not, there is bound to be a high probability of failure.

This is probably because it has been more than two years since Cao Ren was ordered to travel to Xiangyang and other places to defend against Guan Yu's army.

Although the two sides have never had a formal full-scale confrontation.

But there are still many local conflicts.

Under the successive game calculations, Cao Ren couldn't help but show deep fear on his face.

I knew that Guan Yu was by no means an easy enemy to deal with.

There can be no slacking off at all.

After summoning his subordinates Chen Jiao, Niu Jin and others to gather together.

He also told everyone straight to the point that the Jingzhou Army had used its main force to invade from the north.

As soon as this news came out, the mood in the military mansion immediately became somewhat solemn.

There was a hint of embarrassment unconsciously on his face.

Everyone was dispatched to Xiangfan to defend the front line.

They also had successive battles with the Jingzhou Army on the border.

It can be said that he was extremely impressed by the combat prowess of Guan Yu's soldiers.

The generals in each department were thinking in their own minds, and would rather transfer them to the Jianghuai front line than face him directly.

Indeed, the combat power of the Jingzhou Army cannot be underestimated.

After giving a general account of the military information that was discovered.

Cao Ren then quickly issued defensive instructions without much hesitation.

"This time Guan Yu spent so much effort to mobilize the main force to invade our territory. His strategic goal must be to take advantage of the prime minister and most of his troops to confront the Sun family in Jiangdong in Ruxu, in order to conquer the important land of Xiangfan."

"Xiangyang is surrounded by Mianshui River on three sides: west, north, and south. It seems to be impregnable and unbreakable!"

"But I heard that Guan Yu has been stationed in the south of the Yangtze River for many years and has trained a well-trained navy, and this happens to be the weakness of our army."

"If we remain on the defensive, when the Jingzhou army approaches the city, they will inevitably block the Mian River with water warships to cut off the connection between the south and north banks of Xiangyang and Fan."

"The situation in this battle will not be conducive to our army!"

When the words came to this point, Cao Ren looked calm and composed, and slowly spoke about the situation he was about to encounter.

"Then I wonder if General Cao has any good strategies to defend against the enemy?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the elder Chen Jiao, who was slightly older on one side, probably in his fifties, with some graying hair, raised his hands and asked.

"My intention is to take the initiative with my troops to attack in order to defeat the enemy in the wild and protect the peace of the two places."

The words were spat out loudly.

There was also an extremely firm tone in Cao Ren's words.

Obviously he had already thought about it for a long time, so he responded without any hesitation.

After the generals on both sides of the military mansion heard that they were actually planning to take the initiative, their expressions showed some surprise.

"General Cao, is it too risky to take the initiative?"

"After all, if the Jingzhou Army's main force comes out frequently, it will be too powerful. It may be difficult for our army to compete with the strength of our army alone?"

"That's right. What's more, there are also thieves from the Shangyong side, so we have to be on guard against them."

A few words in a row.

The worries of the generals are not without reason.

If Cao doesn't send reinforcements now.

If it were true, Cao Ren's headquarters would face off against Guan Yu's Jingzhou Army.

That force does not hold an advantage, and is even at a disadvantage.

After all, in addition to focusing on protecting Xiang and Fan, the two key areas attacked by the enemy, he also had to take care of the safety of almost the entire Nanyang County.

Since the plan to seize Shangyong two years ago was discovered by Zhao Tong and failed.

Cao's defensive pressure on Jingxiang's front line was stretched thin.

The former county seat of Nanyang County and the later abandoned Wancheng County were quite close to Shangyong and other counties. The most difficult thing to do was that the Wudang Mountains and other mountains lay across them, forming the boundary between the two sides.

Although there is a mountain barrier between the two places.

But the geographical location of Wancheng is too important.

Directly to the north is Luoyang and other places, and to the northeast is Xudu and other hinterlands of the Central Plains.

If we don't take strict precautions and the enemy is bold enough to plan a surprise attack across Wudang Mountain, the situation will be passive.

As the generals and commanders were talking to each other.

Although it makes the subsequent battle situation more and more complicated.

But now that the battle plan has been decided, Cao Ren has no intention of changing it.

As if he had been pondering for a long time, his eyes drifted around, looking around at the civil and military people, scanning them one by one, and then with a serious look on his face, he analyzed:

"How could I not know what you just said?"

"Without the reinforcements sent by the Prime Minister, the military strength under his command alone would definitely not be comparable to the overwhelming force of Guan Yu's army."

"But it is precisely because of this that our army must take the initiative to engage in battle and keep the enemy at bay. Otherwise, if we really sit back and watch the powerful enemy troops approach the city, then our army will have to be passively beaten."

"Then they will be completely at a disadvantage and lose the initiative in the battle."

As soon as these words were said, everyone listened, and their expressions vaguely understood why they wanted to take the initiative.

This is to take advantage of the fact that the enemy's main force has not yet gathered together, and defeat one of them first to build up momentum.

The so-called "defense as offense" is nothing more than this!

But everyone only saw one of them and did not yet understand the true purpose of Cao Ren's plan.

He paused for a moment, his tone gradually calmed down a bit, and he said in a slightly calmer tone: "This time I take the initiative to attack, I would like to personally bring the main forces of each department south to attack the Jingzhou Army."

"The Dangyang Changban area has flat terrain and criss-crossing roads, making it extremely suitable for foot and cavalry combat."

"Although our navy is at a disadvantage, when it comes to infantry, knight corps or land warfare, Sun and Liu are simply incomparable!"

All these words came together.

Cao Ren's face couldn't help but look confident again.

Even though Guan Yu is famous abroad.

For many years, the commanding officers and soldiers were active on the Jingzhou battlefield.

This gave all our generals a headache.

But he led his infantry and cavalry to engage the enemy on land.

Cao Ren, however, showed no fear of Guan Yu.

You must know that he is a talented general from the north.
To be continued...