Lu Xun knew Sun Quan's character very well and thought that the other party was testing him, so he quickly answered with his fists clasped: "The general's qualifications are very shallow and he is really not able to take on this important task. Please choose someone wiser, my lord..."

"Bo Yan has an astonishing talent. We all see it. How can you retreat from this important task? Besides, Zi Ming also recommended you to be the commander-in-chief of the Second Route Army." Sun Quan said while examining Lu Xun's expression.

Lu Meng patted Lu Xun on the shoulder and persuaded: "My lord, you have said this and you still don't accept the order? A man should make great contributions and be buried in horse leather."

"Uh...Thank you, my lord, for the governor's trust. I will do my best." Lu Xun clasped his fists.

Sun Quan stroked his beard and was very satisfied with Lu Xun's response, "You will now return to Jiangxia as the governor to garrison. You must paralyze Guan Yu. I will immediately prepare troops, money and food, and deploy Luling and Guangzhou to cause rebellion.

When the time comes, we will enter Jingzhou."

"Wei." Lu Xun cupped his fists and accepted the order.

After several people conspired, Sun Quan left Zhou Tai and Xu Sheng to guard Ruxuwu, ordered Lu Fan to return to guard Jianye, and led the main force from Jiangdong to Chaisang to gather and deploy.

After a simple handover between Lu Xun and Lu Meng, he stationed in Jiangxia in the name of the new governor. The first thing he did when he took office was to write a letter to Guan Yu to show his goodwill.

It was August and the autumn water was in full swing.

Guan Yu defeated Wenpin's navy and marched northward. Originally, Liu Bei's task for him was to contain the enemy on the eastern front and coordinate Liu Bei's efforts to defeat Cao Cao and capture Hanzhong. It was not until Liu Bei was granted the title of King of Hanzhong that he uprooted Cao's stronghold on the Han River.

After Liu Bei won the Battle of Hanzhong, Guan Yu continued to march north to attack Xiangyang and Fancheng, because he felt that the opportunity for the Northern Expedition was ripe.

Xiangyang and Fancheng are located at the southern end of the Nanyang Basin, one is to the south of the Han River, and the other is to the north of the Han River, forming a corner.

There are Wudang Mountain in the west, Dahong Mountain and Tongbai Mountain in the east as barriers. The two fortresses control the Han River. They are the only way to go north to the Central Plains and south to the Jianghan Plain. They are important strategic passages and must-haves for military strategists.

Guan Yu led 30,000 elite land and water troops up the river. Facing two cities that were high in the city and easy to defend but difficult to attack, Guan Yu gave up Zhou Yu's previous strategy of attacking Xiangyang. He asked the governor Zhao Lei to lead a small number of troops to monitor Xiangyang.

, he directed his main efforts towards Fancheng to the north, because Cao Ren, the commander-in-chief of Jingzhou, was there, and Guan Yu planned to capture the thieves first and capture the king first.

Guan Yu also placed Jingzhou warships across the Han River, blocking the connection between Xiangyang and Fancheng, leaving Xiangyang trapped to the south of the Han River and becoming an isolated city.

It was very difficult to seize a city by force in the cold weapon era, especially when encountering a large city with a strong city and sufficient food and grass. Guan Yu considered that his own strength was not great, even if he attacked like Zhou Yu, the final outcome was unpredictable.

The Jingzhou Army was powerful on the surface, but its actual offensive intensity was very limited. Guan Yu wanted to break Cao Ren's will and make him voluntarily abandon Fancheng and withdraw.

Wenpin was defeated in the Han River and returned to Fancheng to plead guilty. He emphasized that Guan Yu had all the warships, armor and weapons, and it seemed that he had been preparing for a long time to capture Xiangfan.

Soon after Fancheng was besieged, Xu Huang led an army of ten thousand people to rescue him.

Xu Huang took the lead and fought with the besieging soldiers and horses. After losing 30% of the soldiers and horses, he tore a hole and finally successfully entered the city to join Cao Ren.

Guan Ping knew that Guan Yu intended to release them, so he asked in confusion: "Father, our military strength is three times that of Xu Huang, and we are fully capable of blocking him out. Why do you want to release them into the city?"

Guan Yu stroked his beard and sneered: "Xu Gongming is not an unknown person. If we really try so hard, our losses will be huge, so why not let them go into the city to get together?"

"Fan City is already strong, and it will be even harder to attack after adding more defenders. What are your plans?" Guan Ping was still puzzled.

"Ping'er, you only saw that there were more defenders in Fancheng, but didn't you think that Cao Renping had thousands of mouths in vain? Now that we have surrounded them, having more people in the city will be harmful." Guan Yu said meaningfully.

Guan Ping seemed to understand, but he thought to himself that his father was going to consume the enemy until they ran out of food? This would take a lot of time, but he did not expect that not only would a strong attack be time-consuming, but the attacker's attrition would be much higher than the defender's.

Not long after Xu Huang entered the city, Governor Yu Jin led seven armies to come to the rescue. Guan Yu asked Guan Ping to use the suspicious tactics to form a formation and continue to suppress Fancheng. He personally led the main force to block Yu Jin at the periphery.

Yu Quan's soldiers were cautious and did not dare to fight Guan Yu head-on. They also did not dare to go out to fight with Guan Yu in front of the formation.

After Guan Yu divided his forces, his strength was no longer as good as Yu Jin's. After several days of pulling and marching, Guan Yu, who was familiar with the terrain, led Yu Jin to the west of Fancheng and set up camp not far from the Han River.

Yu Jin had been fighting in the north for a long time and was not familiar with the geographical environment of Jingzhou. He did not consider carefully when setting up camp, and finally chose to camp in the low-lying Hekou River.

Guan Yu was overjoyed after viewing Yu Jin's camp and said to Liao Hua, the chief secretary next to him: "I will definitely capture Yu Jin alive this time."

"Why is the general so sure?" Liao Hua asked puzzledly.

"It has been raining heavily recently and the rivers are swollen. Since Yu Jin is stationed in such a low-lying area, I only need to send the navy to the top to make the dam and then flood it with water. Then all Cao Yu's troops will be nothing more than fish and shrimps." Guan Yu said proudly, stroking his beard.

"The general really has a clever plan, but if the warships north of Xiangyang are diverted, Cao's army in Xiangyang City will definitely notice something unusual. The few soldiers on Governor Zhao's side may not be able to resist. This may also affect the young general." Liao Hua first raised his voice and then the other.

Suppress and point out the contradictions.

Guan Yu said to himself, "So we have to mobilize troops from the rear..."

The two returned to the Chinese army camp, and the guards announced that the new governor of Jiangdong had sent an envoy to see them.

After Guan Yu heard this, he looked confused. Lü Meng complained of illness and returned to Jianye. Now Sun Quan has replaced him as the new governor. Wouldn't Lü Meng also die in mysterious circumstances? He lamented that the position of governor of Jiangdong was not an auspicious position.

Guan Yu entered the tent with doubts, and the envoy from Jiangdong humbly sent Lu Xun's letter.

In the letter, Lu Xun first praised Guan Yu for a while, and then humbly said that he was just a Confucian scholar in his position. He hoped to get Guan Yu's care and let the two sides live in harmony in Jingzhou. His future depended on Guan Yu.

Both Lu Xun and Lu Meng were "humble" towards Guan Yu, but his brilliance was that while being humble, he did not forget to praise and paralyze Guan Yu.

Guan Yu was in a good mood after reading the letter. He asked the envoy: "What achievements did your Governor Lu have? Why haven't I heard of him before?"

"The Grand Governor was originally the county magistrate. Because of his meritorious service in conquering Shanyue, he was able to serve the lord. Unexpectedly, Governor Lu suddenly fell ill. The lord saw that he was a humble man, so he let Governor Lu take over..." the messenger replied in a low voice.

Guan Yu stroked his beard and nodded, "Lu Boyan is indeed humble. Go back and reassure him. As long as he can remember his promise, Guan will never bully the weak."

"Wei." After the envoy clasped his fists and saluted, he added: "The governor knew that the general was determined to win Xiangyang and Fancheng, so he expressed his willingness to persuade the lord to send troops to help..."

"Whatever." Guan Yu waved to see the guest off.
Chapter completed!