I heard Guan Yu, who was gathered by the river talking for a long time, narrating a lot of words.

The generals just gradually came to their senses...

Why would the always decisive monarch be so hesitant to launch a complete offensive against Xiang and Fan?

As he said, Xiangfan's strategic position is very important for both our own side and the Cao family.

The usual small-scale confrontations may be just local wars.

But now the battle line has advanced to Xiangfan City. If Cao Ren is still unable to resist, the situation will not change well in the future.

If the war begins, there is a high probability that it will not just be a battle in the Jingzhou War Zone.

As Cao's main forces continue to come in for reinforcements, a tug-of-war will inevitably form.

Due to the appearance of Zhao Tong and the reminder in the letter, Guan Yu was already wary of the Sun family in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Otherwise, he would not have built beacons along the river and sent patrol ships on the river to patrol and monitor day and night.

Even in this life, under Pang Tong's suggestion, a city was built on the west bank of Xiakou Camp.

It can be said that Guan Yu in this life was far more wary of the Sun family in Jiangdong downstream than in the original history.

However, the generals also thought that this was the essential reason why Guan Yu had not made up his mind to launch a strong attack on Xiangfan.

But only he himself knows the truest reason, and he didn't tell it in full just now.

Guan Yu's Danfeng eyes looked around, taking in all the different expressions on the faces of the generals, so he murmured secretly in his heart:

"It's late August now. The autumn rain is gradually fading away. The good opportunity to attack Xiangfan has passed!"

When Liu Bei joined Liu Biao in his early years, he was assigned to the front line of Xinye and Fancheng to guard against the northern gate of Jingzhou.

Due to the experience of living on this land for seven or eight years, Guan Yu has long been silent about the local climate change.

This time he vowed to fight for the Northern Expedition in early July.

Apart from the stalemate between Cao and Sun in the Huainan war, another important reason why Jiangdong was unable to covet Jingzhou was that it was waiting for the weather to change.

Starting from August, the rainy season will begin around Xiangfan.

During this period, heavy rains will become frequent, and in severe cases, they may even destroy the dams and cause the Han River to burst its banks and flood the surrounding areas.

Once the Mianshui River bursts its banks, not only the surrounding manors but also the fields will become a vast expanse of water.

Fancheng, a low-lying city on the north bank, will not be spared!

If we use ordinary means to attack by force, it will be extremely difficult to break through given the strength of Fan City.

In this situation, only by relying on the power of nature to destroy the city defense can we defeat it with one blow.

Xiangfan, Xiangfan, wherever there is Xiang, there is Fan. These two cities are located on the north and south banks of Mian River respectively. As long as one city can be defeated, it will be impossible to defend the other city for a long time!

Considering Xiangyang's favorable geographical location and city defense, an all-out siege would not be worth the gain.

Guan Yu, who knew how to use troops, knew this very well.

Then the point he planned to attack Xiangfan from the beginning was to defeat Fan.

As long as Fancheng can be broken, Cao's army's only important town connected to Xiangyang on the south bank will be eliminated.

At that time, the Jingzhou Army can gather the water infantry army and launch a siege on Xiangyang without any worries.

Even if they don't attack by force, if Fancheng is lost, Xiangyang will be alone on the south bank. Cao's army will be powerless even if they want to support it.

Probably because of the danger of Mianshui River, Cao Jun was beyond his reach and was intimidated.

The navy under Guan Yu was enough to block the waters of Mianshui and prevent Cao's army from crossing the river to rescue.

The Battle of Xiangfan in original history was like this,

After the Seventh Army was flooded, although Cao Cao sent out successive reinforcements, it was actually just to rescue Fancheng and save the life of the clan general Cao Ren!

As for Xiangyang south of Hanshui River, we basically gave up.

This can be seen from the fact that after Xu Huang led his troops to wait for work and repelled Guan Yu's infantry on the north bank, the Jingzhou army still firmly controlled the Mianshui waters and fought against them.

If it were not for the betrayal of the Jiangdong Sun family, they would have captured the land behind Jingzhou.

The final outcome was probably that the Cao family rescued Cao Ren, kept the territory on the north bank, mainly Fancheng, and gave up the south bank, mainly Xiangyang, which ended when Guan Yu attacked it.

…

"The rainy season is almost over. Is there not enough rainfall this year?"

"It's a pity that this Northern Expedition has led to a series of victories. It's a time when the morale of our soldiers is high. God is not kind to us."

"Otherwise, Fancheng could be destroyed overnight!"

The imaginary rain broke down the dam, causing the surrounding areas to be ravaged by floods. Guan Yu inevitably showed a look of regret in his eyes and muttered to himself.

"It seems that this time is not a good opportunity to capture Xiangfan. We can only continue to wait for good news,"

His face gradually shifted to the direction of the surging river, his eyes drifted quietly towards the river, and he was thinking in his heart.

Already thinking of retreating!

However, even if the rainy season is not as fierce as expected and there is no good opportunity to attack Xiangfan, Guan Yu cannot retreat rashly this time.

What the generals said is correct. Now all the troops in the army are united and have strong fighting spirit.

If we retreat without fighting, it will inevitably affect the enthusiasm of the soldiers.

Then the next time we send troops to the Northern Expedition, mobilization will be even more difficult.

"We have to find a way to have both sides,"

At this time, Guan Yu Danfengyan was still standing at the bottom of the river, thinking to himself.

…

As the Jingzhou Army gradually advanced to Xiangfan City,

On the other side, Prime Minister Cao Cao, who led his own expedition, also returned to Xudu with his troops after negotiating peace with the Sun family.

This year, I am sixty-three, and I have already reached my sixtieth year.

During this expedition, he felt inexplicably low on energy and extremely tired.

While the Prime Minister's Mansion was dealing with the squeezed government affairs, Cao Cao sighed unconsciously, "Oh, it looks like he is really old!"

After that, he got up without any reason, walked to the door and looked in the south direction from a distance, stopped for a while, and then sighed: "All the heroes in the world have been wiped out, only in this corner of the south of the Yangtze River, there is still Sun, Liu this

Two thieves are entrenched."

"I wonder if I can personally conquer the world and complete the great cause of unifying China in this lifetime?"

Every time he thought about this, there seemed to be an inexplicable pain in his heart.

Along with the pain, there is also a little bit of regret,

Even, it was full of deep regret.

"I regret not listening to Jia Wenhe's words!"

Cao Cao's old, wrinkled face had expressions of regret.

At that time, he personally led the Northern Army to march south. Before the army reached Xiangyang City, he heard about the death of Jingzhou Shepherd Liu Biao. His son Liu Cong succeeded his father with the support of Kuai Yue and Cai Mao and took the position of Lord of Jingzhou.

Then he offered himself a surrender.

When Liu Bei, who was stationed in Xinye, heard about this, he was immediately frightened out of his wits!

He immediately had no choice but to flee south with his troops in a hurry.

At that moment, his power almost reached its peak,

Carrying the majestic military power that swept across the north, he led the invincible elite of the Northern Army southward and recaptured the entire Jingxiang land without a single blow.

What kind of great honor is this?

At the same time, his ambitions were also expanding rapidly.

When he forcefully believed that he would conquer Jiangdong and unify China, he was as stubborn as Yuan Shao before the Battle of Guandu.

The counselor Jia Xu specifically stated that the land of Jingzhou had just been recovered but his army had not yet regained the hearts of the people in the prefectures and counties. This was not an opportunity to advance eastward and destroy Wu.

It is recommended that we should rest and recuperate, stabilize the counties in Jingzhou, cultivate the fields to support the people, wait for the opportunity, and take it slow!

It's a pity that Cao Cao refused to listen to good advice and insisted on marching eastward with his army in pursuit of the great cause of unifying the world.

In the end, the dream was burned to pieces by a fire in Chibi.

After this battle,

Our own elite troops suffered heavy losses and their vitality was severely weakened.

As a result, Jingzhou's defensive power was greatly weakened.

Facing the Sun-Liu-Chu alliance at that time, the relationship was very close and they shared the same enemy's offensive.

Even though he appointed Cao Ren, the most proud general of the clan under his command, to stick to the important place of Jiangling.

After a year of fierce fighting, the decline still cannot be restored.

Four counties, Jiangling and other places fell one after another.
To be continued...