At the same time that Hu Che'er led the army to rush to Yangzhai City to fight Zhang Xiu, the envoy sent by Yang Xiu to Chen County was rushing to Yangzhai City with Liu Chong, the king of Chen, and Liu Chong's army as fast as possible.

At the same time, Henan Yin Zhang Hong also received Yang Xiu's distress signal, but Henan's troops were not many, only thousands of soldiers and horses, but at this time, Zhang Hong did not hesitate too much, and immediately sent Wei Xu to lead three thousand soldiers and horses to Yang Zhai City to support, on the other hand, Zhang Hong sent two messengers, respectively to Yongzhou Assassin Shi Zhong Xuan, and Zhou Assassin Shi Gaoshun for help, praying for rapid reinforcement support.

Pulling a hair and moving the whole body, Liu Biao's undeclared battle was like a boulder falling into a calm lake, which immediately stirred up a series of ripples, and the ripples became bigger and bigger, gradually spreading around.

On the one hand, Liu Chong, the king of Chen, led a large army to support Yangzhai City, and on the other hand, he sent an envoy to Pengcheng to ask Zhang Yan for help.

Zhang Yan, who was far away in Pengcheng, didn't know that Liu Biao sent Zhang Xiu to attack Yang Zhaicheng, he was still immersed in the busyness after the reform, all decisions were decided by the cabinet, and as the prime minister, he was busier than anyone else. On the other hand, in the army, after the reform, it did arouse the dissatisfaction of some officers and men, but in his opinion, these emotions were within the normal range.

However, in order to calm the dissatisfaction of these soldiers, it really took a lot of effort.

Just when Zhang Yan was busy, Shangshu Guoyuan of the Ministry of War hurriedly walked into the cabinet, and as soon as he entered the cabinet, he told Zhang Yan: "His Royal Highness King Yan, King Chen and Liu Pet are in a hurry!" ”

As soon as the words fell, Guo Yuan presented the urgent report of Chen Wang Liu Chong to Zhang Yan. Zhang Yan opened the emergency report. After a quick glance. His brows furrowed, and his face showed incomparable anger, and he said sharply: "Damn Liu Biao! ”

"His Royal Highness King Yan, what's wrong?" Guo Yuan hurriedly asked.

Zhang Yan said: "Liu Biao rebelled, and sent Nanyang Taishou Zhang Xiu as the vanguard, leading an army of 30,000 to attack Yingchuan. With only 5,000 troops, Liu Chong, the king of Chen, had rushed to Yingchuan to support and prayed for the imperial court to send a large army to quell the rebellion. ”

Guo Yuan said: "The matter is so urgent, please ask His Royal Highness King Yan to immediately dispatch troops to quell the rebellion." ”

Before Zhang Yan could speak, Tian Feng, the left attendant of the military department, hurriedly walked in, also holding an urgent letter in his hand, and said aloud as soon as he entered the door: "His Royal Highness King Yan, Che Cavalry General Zhang Liao is in a hurry." ”

Zhang Yan's face was already gloomy, and when he heard Zhang Liao's urgent report. It was even more gloomy, and he immediately said, "It's difficult." Lujiang was also attacked? ”

While talking to himself, he came to Tian Feng in person, took the urgent report easily, opened it, and read it in a hurry, which made him feel a little relieved.

Zhang Liao wrote in the letter that the scouts he sent to find out that Jiangxia was guarding Liu Qi, mobilized troops, and gathered in the area of Xiazhi County, which seemed to have made some huge moves. On the other hand, Zhou Yu in Chaisang was also ready to move, sending boats to cruise on the river every day, sometimes even close to Zhang Liao's naval camp, as if he was provoking.

Zhang Yan closed Zhang Liao's letter and fell into a deep thought, Jiang Xia's soldiers and horses and Zhou Yu's impatience seemed to indicate a sign to him. Now that Zhang Xiu has launched an attack, Liu Biao is very likely to let Jiangxia's navy attack Lujiang, if it is only Liu Biao's attack, with Zhang Liao in Lujiang, he is fully capable of resisting.

However, if Zhou Yu also got involved and sent a naval army to attack Lujiang with Liu Biao, then Zhang Liao would become quite difficult.

After a while, Zhang Yan asked the right attendant of the military department to call him over, and he discussed how to defend with Shang Shu Guoyuan of the military department, Tian Feng, the left attendant of the military department, and Lang Fuzhi, the right attendant of the military department.

After some analysis, Lang Tianfeng, the left attendant of the military department, gave a suggestion, let the hussar general Zhao Yun lead the soldiers and horses of Jinling County, and Chen Bing was near Nanchang, to put pressure on Sun Quan, so that Zhou Yu would not dare to rush into the army. If it was just Liu Form's attack, Zhang Liao was fully capable of resisting it, and there was no need to worry.

Therefore, Zhang Yan took Tian Feng's suggestion and immediately issued an order for Zhao Yun to lead a large army to Yixian to put pressure on Sun Quan, and if Zhou Yu dared to act, Zhao Yun would immediately lead the army to attack Nanchang.

On the other hand, Zhang Yan urgently ordered the brother of the Wei general Xu Chu, the general Xu Ding, to lead an army of 10,000 troops stationed in Puyang to rush to Yingchuan for support, and transferred the general Hao Zhao stationed in Hanoi to lead his troops and horses to Yingchuan to support.

In addition, Zhang Yan also asked Qingzhou to assassinate Shi Lu Dai, lead the troops and horses to Yuzhou to station, and transferred Chen Ying to lead the army from Shaopo to Yuzhou.

In Zhang Yan's view, since Liu Biao dared to start a war, he must have exhausted the troops of Jingzhou, Zhang Xiu was just a beginning, and there may be more troops galloping into his range of strength later, and Yuzhou, which has relatively weak troops, is likely to become the focus of Liu Biao's army's attack.

Therefore, Zhang Yan must take precautions and defend in advance, so as not to be caught off guard when the time comes.

At the same time, Zhang Yan announced Liu Biao's evil deeds to the world, regarded Liu Biao as a chaotic minister and thief, and appealed to the people of the world to punish him.

But for Liu Biao's attack, although Zhang Yan was a little angry, he was not too worried, because Zhang Yan had already placed a pivotal chess piece inside Liu Biao, and this chess piece would also become the key to his pacification of Jingzhou in the future.

……

Hu Che'er led the army, hurried slowly, and finally arrived at Yangzhai City in the evening of the next day, where he met Zhang Xiu at Juntai.

Zhang Xiu and Hu Che'er joined forces, preparing to let the soldiers rest for a night first, and tomorrow they will launch a fierce attack on Yangzhai City.

At the same time, the army gathered in Xiangyang, also under the personal leadership of Liu Biao, embarked on the journey of the expedition, Cai Zhong led 5,000 soldiers and horses first, and Liu Biao led Cai Mao, Zhang Yun, Cai He, Wang Wei, Kuai Liang and others to Yuzhou. And Liu Biao also gave an order to Liu Qi to lead Jiangxia's naval army to attack Lujiang.

In Jiangxia City, Liu Qi, accompanied by the military advisor Sima Yi, came to the naval army camp by the river in Xiazhi County, hundreds of large and small warships, all lined up in the center of the river, each boat was full of soldiers of the navy, a total of 30,000 troops.

In the naval camp, Liu Qi, Sima Yi, Han Song, Wen Ping, Li Tong, Liu Xian, Deng Xi and others all arrived, only to hear Liu Qi say: "Now that the army has been assembled, Zhang Xiu has already started the battle, and now it is our turn to attack, we must give Zhang Yan's army a hard blow!" Now, let the army go! ”

"Wait!" Sima Yi suddenly stood up and stopped, "Eldest Prince, now is not the time to send troops. ”

Liu Qihu looked at Sima Yi suspiciously, and asked, "Zhongda, my father has already sent troops from Xiangyang, if we don't send troops yet, won't we have to delay the fighter?" ”

Sima Yi said: "The eldest prince, our army is ready, take a boat down the river, you can reach Xunyang in half a day, there is no need to attack in such a hurry." The task given to the eldest prince by Liu Jingzhou was to contain Lujiang's forces, not to engage Lujiang's army. And now, we have released the word that we are going to attack Lujiang, and I believe that the defenders of Lujiang must have also received this news, and they will definitely not dare to move casually. It can be said that our goal has been achieved, and it no longer matters whether we send troops or not. ”

"No troops?" Liu Qi asked curiously.

Sima Yi didn't answer and asked: "The eldest prince should have heard the story of the sandpiper and the clam competing for the profit of the fisherman, right?" ”

Liu Qi nodded.

Sima Yi continued: "Since the eldest prince has heard it, then he should understand a truth, now in this water, there is more than one army stationed in this water, in addition to our army and Zhang Yan's army, there is also an army that should not be ignored. ”

After Liu Qi heard Sima Yi's words, his eyes suddenly lit up, and a person immediately appeared in his mind, and he immediately asked, "You mean...... Zhou Yu? ”

"That's right. Don't forget, eldest prince, before the lord set out on the expedition, he sent an envoy to Jiangdong to invite Sun Quan to attack Zhang Yan together. But when the envoy went to Chaisang, he was intercepted by Zhou Yu, and there was no news after that, neither saying yes nor no. Koto's attitude made me feel very uneasy. And our army has an enmity with the Sun family, if our army goes to attack Zhang Yan's army, and Zhou Yu leads the army to attack Jiangxia, then our army will fall into a state of being attacked by the enemy, and when the time comes, let alone attack Zhang Yan, even it will be difficult to protect itself. Sima Yi said.

After listening to Sima Yi's words, everyone present felt that what Sima Yi said was very right, Zhou Yu had to be guarded, and if he wanted to defend, he must not leave Jiangxia, otherwise, Zhou Yu would be given an opportunity.

Liu Qi said: "Zhongda, what you said is very right, I was almost confused." So what to do next, I'll listen to you. ”

Sima Yi said: "Actually, the eldest prince doesn't have to do anything, just display the soldiers and horses in Jiangxin every day, and make a gesture of going to the battle, so that outsiders can't figure out when we will go on the expedition to deter the enemy." ”

Liu Qi nodded and said, "Just do what Zhongda said." ”

For the next few days, Liu Qi did what Sima Yi said, and the enemy scouts who infiltrated the riverside in Xiazhi County were also confused by Sima Yi, and they couldn't figure out when they were going to go on the expedition.

These scouts, both sent by Zhang Liao and Zhou Yu, made them nervous, and they didn't dare to miss a clue. (To be continued......)