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Puqi is the northernmost county in Changsha County. It is close to the Yangtze River and comes from the west along the south bank of the Yangtze River. Most of them are hilly and mountainous areas with few people, making it difficult for the army to carry out the army.

But after passing Puqi, the terrain became flat. Although there were also low hills, it did not affect the marching. There was an official road from Puqi to the east, which could go directly to Chaisang.

It is precisely for this reason that Cao Cao's main force may go to Wulin, cross the south bank of the river from Puqi, and the Jiangxia army also strictly guarded against Puqi County.

At present, the Jiangxia Army has deployed 5,000 troops in Puqi. It was the Changsha garrison led by Huang Zhong. Because of the importance of Puqi, they were transferred from Changsha County to Puqi, led by General Huo Jun.

Most of the people in Puqi County were evacuated to Xiajun County, inside and outside the south, and five thousand troops were stationed in the county town.

This army has always been led by Huang Zhong and was built by Huang Zhong to be very elite and powerful. It is one of the four major brigades of the Jiangxia Army. Although it was not yet familiar with Commander Huo Jun, the soldiers were not rejected and still strictly abide by the military orders issued by Huo Jun.

In the afternoon, Huo Jun patrolled the city as usual. He had sent more than a dozen scouts into Yunmengze on the other side of the Yangtze River to investigate military information. Although he had received news that most of the Cao army had gone to Wulin, he still did not dare to take it lightly.

At this time, a small boat came on the Yangtze River. A scout he sent back. Huo Jun was immediately excited and said to his left and right: "Bring the scout to see me."

.........

After a moment, the scout was brought to Huo Jun. He knelt down on one knee and saluted: "See General."

"How can I get it?"

"Whitei found more than fifty cargo ships sailing towards Wulin with food. When he came back, he found a large army of Cao's army, about 20,000 people, and was stationed on the other side."

This news surprised Huo Jun. Cao's army indeed wanted to cross the river from Puqi. He had only 5,000 troops and no warships. When he was thinking about how to intercept Cao's army, soldiers rushed to report, "General Huang led his army to come."

Huo Jun was immediately overjoyed. At the latest, he received an emergency order from Liu Jing. Huang Zhong was the main general in the Puqi front line, and he was the deputy general. With Huang Zhong's lofty status in the Jingzhou military, Huo Jun would certainly not be jealous of Huang Zhong as his boss, and Huang Zhong would inevitably lead troops to come, which would greatly reduce his pressure.

He quickly ordered the scout, "I'll ask you for details later."

Huo Jun hurried out of the city and went to welcome Huang Zhong's arrival.

During the emergency discussion a few days ago, Jia Xu and Xu Shu both agreed that the Cao army might advance by land and water, and that the main force was in Chibi, and the possibility of land was high, but it was very likely that the land was placed in Puqi and attacked Chaisang with light equipment, making it difficult for Jiangxiawei to take care of.

Liu Jing immediately ordered Huang Zhong to lead 5,000 troops to Puqi, and together with the 5,000 troops stationed in Puqi, a total of 10,000 people were responsible for the security of Puqi.

Soon, the five thousand troops led by Huang Zhong appeared on the official road not far from the south of the city. The flags were waving and the team was clearly armored. Huang Zhong took the lead, holding a big sword in his hand. Although he was half-haired, he was still majestic. He saw Huo Jun coming towards him at first glance, and with a wave of his hand, the team stopped moving forward.

Huo Jun urged him to come forward, bowed and smiled, "The arrival of the old general is really raining in time."

Huang Zhong was stunned and immediately asked in surprise: "Is there an enemy situation?"

Huo Jun nodded, "I just got the information, please ask the old general to come to the city for a detailed discussion."

"General Huo please"

Huang Zhong led his army into Puqi City. He ordered his generals to set up camp, and he followed Huo Jun to the military yamen. The two of them simply handled the transfer of military power and began to discuss the enemy's situation. Chief Scout again reported to Huang Zhong about their discovery in Yunmengze, and discovered Cao's army's grain transport fleet and nearly 20,000 soldiers.

As Jia Xu expected, Cao's army's actions in Puqi were not the main force, but should have been to raid Chaisang. Huang Zhong had already understood Liu Jing's combat intentions before setting off, not to resist the invasion of Cao's army, but to wipe out Cao Cao's army in Jiangxia.

Huang Zhong pondered for a moment and said, "General Huo, how do you think Cao's army will cross the river?"

Huo Jun thought for a while and said, "The scouts had investigated the water conditions on the other side. Although the Yunmeng Water Lake is still ten miles away from the Yangtze River, there is a narrow pond between the Yangtze River and the Yunmeng Water Lake. The pond is only a few steps away from the Yangtze River. If Cao's army dug the pond and the Yunmeng Water Lake, their ships can reach a few steps away from the Yangtze River. I believe that these few steps are easy to solve for 20,000 troops. Therefore, the Beizhi believes that they will not wait for the Jiangling Navy to come before crossing the river, and it is very likely that they will cross the river tonight."

"So, I'm here at the right time," Huang Zhong laughed.

"So I said the old general was raining in time. Now our 10,000 troops can be deployed by the river and annihilated Cao's army when crossing the river."

Huang Zhong shook his head, "Deployment on the riverside can only annihilate thousands of soldiers at most, and my goal is to completely annihilate Cao's army, so I am ready to withdraw."

Huo Jun was stunned, "The old general means not to fight in Puqi."

Huang Zhong walked to the map and knocked heavily on the large open space between Puqi County and Yangxin County with his fist. "Although this area has official roads, the terrain is complex and the forest is dense. We can lure the enemy into deep and use the advantages of familiar terrain to ambush Cao's army."

Seeing that Huo Jun was still a little hesitant, Huang Zhong smiled and said, "The terrain is the help of soldiers; it is expected that the enemy will win, plan for danger, distance and distance, and the general's way. I know everything about every grass and stone west of Yangxin County. I know but the enemy doesn't know, how can we not win?"

Huo Jun finally nodded, stood up and fisted and said, "I understand, I am willing to obey the old general's order."

...........

At night, thousands of Cao's army finally dug up the passage between Yunmengze and a pond, so that the ship could only reach the Yangtze River directly, only a few steps away from the Yangtze River. At a high place, Cao's army's chief general Zhu Ling looked at the big ships and sailed towards the Yangtze River. He turned around and asked, "Is the wooden track ready?"

"Report to the general, it's ready."

Zhu Ling nodded, "You can transport the boat."

A slope was dug out when the pond was shored. Thousands of Cao soldiers pulled hard, shouting slogans, and slowly pulled a five-stone cargo ship to the shore. On the shore, there was a two-meter-long log every few steps. The big ship slowly moved forward as the log rolled, and outside the step was the Yangtze River.

At this time, a large ship had already arrived at the riverside. Amid the shouts of everyone, the large ship gradually slid into the river from the slope, splashing a splash of water, which immediately caused a cheer. The first large ship was put into the Yangtze River.

At this time, a small boat came from the other side, and Zhu Ling greeted him and asked, "What is the situation of the Jiangxia army on the other side?"

"Report to the general, Puqi City on the other side is an empty city, with only Yu Ming and the weak. I heard from them that the enemy's chief general Huo Jun had evacuated in the afternoon."

At this time, Ma Yan, the deputy general next to him, whispered: "Maybe this is the Jiangxia army's plan to lure troops."

Zhu Ling glanced at him and said coldly: "Even a plan to lure troops cannot change the Prime Minister's plan."

He asked again, "There are Jiangxia troops on the shore."

"There are no enemy troops within a few miles of the shore."

Zhu Ling immediately ordered: "Tell me my order and prepare to cross the river."

At the first update, under the leadership of General Zhu Ling, 20,000 Cao troops, led by the general Zhu Ling, began to cross the Yangtze River with the cover of night. Dozens of cargo ships were loaded with Cao soldiers slashing the waves and sailing towards the opposite shore. On the ship, the river breeze blew on the face. The Cao soldiers looked silently at the dark opposite shore. They didn't know how God would arrange their destiny.

However, what made the Cao army soldiers breathe a sigh of relief was that they did not encounter any obstacles from the enemy on the south bank and successfully boarded the pier of Puqi County. The thousand-leader Cao army occupied Puqi County and began to build fortifications to cover the crossing of the large army behind them.

It was not until noon the next day that the 20,000 Cao troops finally completed all the crossings of the river and began to assemble on the south bank. The Cao army accepted the task of breaking into the hinterland of Jiangxia and attacking the rear of Jiangxia troops.

Because they were unable to carry food and supplies, every Cao army soldier had to carry food. They were fully armed, and each soldier carried a bucket of rice, plus armor, weapons, kettle and blankets. Each of them carried more than 50 kilograms of weight. Although they were exhausted, no one dared to complain. Half an hour later, 20,000 Cao army lined up to the southeast direction.

.........

The reason why Cao Cao stayed in Jiangling for two months was that in addition to training the navy, another important reason was to avoid the midsummer season. Although the summer in the north was equally hot, the climate was dry, and the scorching sun was not easy to get sick.

However, the summer in the south is hot and humid, and mosquitoes are growing, which is very different from the one in the north. Especially for hundreds of thousands of troops, one person gets sick and is easily contagious, so Cao Cao waited in Jiangling for two months, and the army did not start to set off after autumn.

At this time, there was no longer the heat in midsummer, but the temperature difference between morning and evening was very large, especially in Yunmengze, which was still stuffy at noon, but at night, it became full of coldness. If the body was a little weak, it would be difficult to withstand the double torment of this temperature difference.

Entering Yunmengze from Huarong County, it takes six days to march to reach Wulin, Chibi. There was no problem in the first four days. Although the soldiers were tired of the march, they were still smooth. However, on the fifth night, something that Cao Cao was most worried about happened.

At night, Cao Cao was studying maps alone in the Central Army's tent. The skilled craftsmen in his army carved a lifelike map of Jiangxia for him with a wooden board, and marked the lakes, Yangtze River, cities, forests, fields, mountains, etc. with different colors. It looked clear at a glance. Although it was not that accurate, it was roughly not bad.

His eyes fell on Chibi Town. When his snare sent information, large military camps began to appear in Chibi Town. In other words, the Jiangxia army had realized that he would cross the river in Chibi.

This did not surprise Cao Cao. After all, if Liu Jing could not guess his combat intention, he was really not worthy of being his opponent, let alone Jia Xu was next to Liu Jing.

Cao Cao had experienced countless disadvantages after fighting. Although Jiangxia and Jiangdong naval forces were far stronger than him, it did not mean that he had no chance.

He knew that in just over twenty days, after the white dew, the wind direction would turn into northwest wind, which would be very beneficial to his crossing the river. As long as his army could step onto the land of Jiangxia, he would be 60% sure to win this battle.

Maybe he would pay a heavy price, but only Jiang Xia army, who could wipe out Liu Jing, would be worth it even if the price was paid. Cao Cao had regarded Liu Jing as his biggest enemy and replaced Liu Bei.

Just as Cao Cao was thinking, a guard rushed to the tent and whispered to the report: "Prime Minister, General Zhang Liao has an urgent matter."

Zhang Liao is the main general on duty tonight. What is the important thing for him? Did he discover the enemy situation? Cao Cao immediately ordered: "Let him come in."

After a moment, Zhang Liao hurried into the tent and knelt down on one knee to report, "Report to the Prime Minister, there are more than a dozen soldiers in the Western Camp who fell ill. They are... soldiers from the same tent."

It is normal for a soldier to get sick, but Zhang Liao's last words surprised Cao Cao. The soldiers in the same camp fell ill, and the problem became serious. Cao Cao said anxiously: "Where are you? Take me there quickly."

Zhang Liao led Cao Cao to Xiying soon. Near a tent on the side, several soldiers were already martial law, and more than a dozen soldiers in the tents around were quarantined.

Before Cao Cao approached a soldier's tent, he smelled a pungent smell of lime. Several military doctors were busy disinfecting it with lime water.

"What's going on?" Cao Cao asked, covering his nose.

A military doctor stepped forward and said, "Reporting to the Prime Minister, it may be that drinking unclean water in the water sap caused the epidemic and spread it to each other. All fifteen soldiers in one camp fell ill and died, and the others probably couldn't live long."

The thing Cao Cao was most worried about finally happened. Once an epidemic broke out, he had a similar experience. Six or seven out of ten soldiers in a military camp would die. There was no cure for this epidemic. The only way was to isolate and burn it.
Chapter completed!