The conversation was divided into two parts. After Li Su returned to Chang'an, generals such as Zhang Fei and Ma Chao continued to chase the death of the north in the Nanyang Basin.

More than 100,000 Han troops flocked to Nanyang. In addition to Wancheng, which still had tens of thousands of people, it might take a month to capture them. Other areas were sweeping across the border like locusts.

The morale of Yuan Shu's army has fallen to a certain extent and is unable to defend the enemy at all. What's more important is that Yuan Shu himself left Luoyang since the fifth day of the April 1st and began to gradually shrink his troops to the eastern two Huai areas. Yuan Shu's army himself wanted to preserve the vitality of the direct line and refused to fight to the death. The cannon fodder left behind is easy to surrender, so it will naturally be destroyed.

Since ancient times, warlords have been in such a state of unstoppable momentum. The positions of certain "bamboo joints" in major border towns have been broken, and the mentality of both sides has changed. One of them knows that some of their territories will definitely not be able to defend, and there will be a large span of retreat and strategic transfer.

In addition, Zhao Yun, Gao Shun and others, left by Zhang Fei and Ma Chao and Li Su, had a total force of more than 100,000, and they could completely surround Wancheng while circumventing Wancheng.

On April 26, Zhang, Zhao and Ma occupied all areas of Nanyang County except Wancheng. Zhao Yun continued to besiege Wancheng, while Zhang Fei rushed from Ye County, an important town on the Jing-Yu border at the junction of Nanyang and Yingchuan County to Kunyang and Dingling on the Yingchuan side.

That's right, it was Kunyang, which was fought against the Kunyang Battle of Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu and Wang Mang's army nearly two hundred years ago. Zhang Fei occupied this place. On the one hand, he "crossed the boundary" and fought to the territory that Cao Cao promised to Yuan Shao when Yuan Shao was pre-dividing the sphere of influence. Cao Cao signed the Honggou with Yuan Shao as the boundary, but agreed to give Yingchuan and Runan to Yuan Shao. On the other hand, it also made Yuan Shao's military bones stuck in his throat and faced the loss of strategic locations.

However, this kind of "contract" must have no binding force on Liu Bei. Therefore, Liu Bei's breakthrough forced Yuan Shao to speed up the offensive rhythm and could no longer play the "only hit the tail, not stop the head or stop the waist" tactic of driving away the land.

In order to prevent more territory from falling into Liu Bei's hands, Yuan Shao could only grab the territory with all his might and did not care about the death. Yuan Shu's army was completely surrounded by troops north of the Nanyang-Yingchuan encirclement line, and could only fight for forced landings.

The reason why the location around Kunyang is important is that Yuan Shao is valued because Ye County and Kunyang are the dividing lines between the Yangtze River-Han River Basin and the Yingchuan-Huanghuai River Basin.

As we all know, since the "Nanyang Basin" is a basin, there must be mountains around it. The mountain bordering Yingchuan and Runan in the northwest of Nanyang, called Tongbai Mountain, is the remnant connecting the Qinling Mountains to the north and the Dabie Mountains to the southeast.

Ye County in Nanyang, Bowang is on the west side of Tongbai Mountain. Bowang is located along the coast of the Qingshui River. It can enter the Han River and then enter the Yangtze River from the Qingshui River.

Kunyang on the other side of Yingchuan, Dingling is on the east side of Tongbai Mountain, and the county is on the bank of Lishui. Finally, Ru and Ying can be injected into the Huanghuai through the Honggou artificial canal.

Therefore, this place is a key point in the disconnection of the Yangtze River water system and the Yellow River water system in central China. The water transportation logistics of both sides was cut off after they arrived here and they had to be transferred to land.

If the enemy retreats and takes away all the ships, it is impossible for the attacking side to overturn the ships behind them to transport them to a new river to continue to use. This requires starting a new stove in the enemy-occupied area to ensure logistics, and it is easy to be dragged down and fall into a protracted stalemate.

Therefore, the natural boundary between Yuzhou and Jingzhou is set here, which is the natural dividing line between the Yangtze River and the Yellow River water system in central China.

In the 21st century, in the later 21st century, a forty-kilometer artificial canal was dug in Fangcheng County, Henan Province to realize the "South-to-North Water Diversion Project", opened up the Qingshui River and the Lishui River, and transferred the water in the middle of the Han River to the north. But there was no construction capability in ancient times, so for thousands of years since then, this was the natural dividing line between the north and the south of central China.

It is precisely because of this that Liu Xiu and Wang Mang were going to fight to the death here. After Liu Xiu's victory, he quickly advanced Wang Mang and disappeared.

In history, when Liu Bei first surrendered to Liu Biao, he wanted to take advantage of the stalemate of Cao Cao and Yuan Shang to attack Xuchang from Xinye, so that he would fight with Cao's army in Bowangpo and Ye County. Although the Northern Expedition failed in the end, he set up an ambush when he retreated and defeated Xiahou Dun and Yu Jin.

(Note: There is no need to say much about the difference between Romance and Zhi. Bowangpo was fought by Liu Bei himself, and Zhuge Liang has not come out yet. Here we emphasize one point that everyone does not pay much attention to, that is, this battle was not attacked by Cao Cao, but Liu Bei himself wanted to take advantage of Yuan and Cao's stalemate to the Northern Expedition.

That's why he fought Ye County and then pretended to be defeated and returned to Bowang to defeat Xiahou. Before the war, Nanyang area was already Cao Cao, and Zhang Xiu returned to Cao when he surrendered. Liu Bei's Northern Expedition broke through the entire Nanyang County, but failed to enter Yingchuan County. Otherwise, if the sneak attack on Xuchang was successful, he would be the same as Liu Xiu's battle in Kunyang)

After knowing how important this place is, Zhang Fei captured Kunyang and Dingling, which would naturally attract a large number of Yuan Shao's troops to face each other, and would no longer allow Zhang Fei to go further from this direction.

Zhang Fei also had to be wary of Yuan Shao's troops tearing apart the current face of "unity to fight against Yuan Shu" and taking them back to Ye County, Kunyang and other places. He also had to transfer a large amount of troops and energy into the defense, and it was difficult to supervise the battle personally for the time being.

Both Liu Bei and Yuan Shao had wasted at least 30,000 to 50,000 people's vitality, and were tensely confronting each other on the front line of Kunyang and crazily built border fortifications.

Seeing that the division of spoils to attack the tyrants was about to end, both sides were as if Mi Lu had begun to consider the subsequent Cold War layout until the end.

Fortunately, Liu Bei's camp was not only Zhang Fei and his famous generals in the Nanyang Basin. After Zhang Fei was blocked in Kunyang, he immediately dispatched Ma Chao to continue to expand southeast along the Tongbai Mountain-Dabie Mountain line, occupying a part of Jiangxia County that is located west of the Dabie Mountains and north of the Yangtze River.

These lands are theoretically subordinates of Liu Biao, the prefect of Jiangxia, Huang Zu. Liu Bei's previous coercive recognition of Liu Biao was obviously unable to affect Huang Zu, because Huang Zu and Liu Biao in this life were originally semi-independent states of vassality.

In addition, Sun Jian did not die at Liu Biao but was killed by the Lu family. Liu Biao and Sun Ce never made enemies, and Huang Zu did not have to unite with Liu Biao to take Sun Ce. All this has led to Huang Zu basically obeying Liu Biao nominally over the years.

Ma Chao used Liu Biao's name to enclose land, which naturally attracted Huang Zu's warning and resistance, and he temporarily set off troops in Xiakou. Ma Chao did not prepare for the navy for the time being, and there were lakes and swamps around Xiakou, so the two sides did not fight, but only looked at each other through the Han River.

Liu Bei's camp occupied the west side of the intersection of the Han River and the Yangtze River, which is Hanyang among the three towns of Wuhan in later generations. Huang Zu had begun to seek a delegation to Sun Ce for warmth and help, occupying the other two sides of the Han River mouth, which was equivalent to Wuchang and Hankou in later generations.

In addition, at the same time, another accident occurred in Liu Biao's southern territory - Zhuge Xuan, the prefect of Yuzhang, represented by Liu Biao, happened to die of illness this year.

(Note: "The Three Kingdoms. Biography of Zhuge Liang" does not describe the method of Zhuge Xuan's death, but it can be confirmed that Zhuge Xuan died in 197, and then Zhuge Liang cultivated the fields himself. Some surrounding materials say that Zhuge Xuan died in a civil war and was killed. I do not accept it here, and it is judged that he died naturally due to illness in 197.)

For Sun Ce’s camp, although they had a good relationship with Liu Bei, they were hesitant about whether to recognize Liu Bei as the emperor or Liu He as the emperor in the future. But at the last moment, the Sun family’s fear of "losing the Yangtze River" prevailed.

They were afraid that the vital points of Xiakou would be lost, and that all Liu Bei's strength along the Han River and the Yangtze River could be poured down. Even if they admitted that Liu Bei was the emperor, they might be further eroded and annexed by Liu Bei. It would be better to put their lives in their hands.

So Sun Ce gave Huang Zu a great benefit and was willing to recommend Huang Zu to be moved to the prefect of Yuzhang and surrender to the commander of Sun Ce, the governor of Yangzhou. At the same time, Sun Ce sent troops to help him defend Xiakou and preserve two-thirds of the remaining Jiangxia County area.

Huang Zu heard that as long as he handed over Xiakou City, he could retreat to Yuzhang County, which was relatively second-line, to be the local emperor. Yuzhang County was equivalent to the entire Jiangxi in later generations. Luoxiao Mountain was isolated from Jingchu in the west, and Wuyi Mountain was isolated from Wuhui in the east. Sun Ce could help him fight against other princes. As long as he occasionally gave out some troops, horses, money and food, Huang Zu accepted this condition.

However, when Sun Ce made this decision, he was still a little worried and couldn't help discussing with Zhou Yu:

"Our army has always had a good relationship with the King of Hanzhong, but there has been no progress in its relationship with Yuan Shao and King of Yan. Today, it is about to face the choice of the two emperors of the East and West to recognize, and would it be inappropriate to abandon friends and connect with Mo?"

Zhou Yu persuaded: "Brother, this is a bad word. Now I heard that Liu Bei and Yuan Shao were governed on the northern line across Shaanxi. The Yellow River is above the Shaanxi Gorge, and the Shaanxi Gorge is below the Shaanxi Gorge. Then the navy, ships, and logistics that Liu Bei was in the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River cannot be used to attack Yuan Shao.

Liu Bei had to seize Luoyang, or start a new job in Dongyuan, Hedong, and rebuild a ship before he could fight downstream along the Yellow River Basin. Otherwise, the logistics losses of land transportation would be twenty times that of water transportation. Even if Liu Bei had a slightly stronger national strength than Yuan Shao, he would not be able to withstand such large consumption.

Let’s look at the center line again. Liu Bei is currently in the Han River, the territory of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and the potential for war that has gathered in manpower and material resources. Is there any way to find a catharsis to project on the battlefield where he competes for the world with Yuan Shao?

Since ancient times, there were only three north-south communication routes (the northern expedition of Guanzhong in Shu did not count). The westernmost point was from Xiangyang, Xinye, Bowang, Yexian, Kunyang, and Han River supplies were transported by land to Ruying and into the Huanghuai.

Although this road requires an eighty-mile land transfer across Tongbai Mountain, it has the least loss between Jing and Yu. But the problem is that you have to grab enough ships on Kunyang and Dingling side to take this road.

I heard that when Yuan Shu's army was captured, they transported all the ships from the occupied areas of Ruying, burned or deliberately gave them to Yuan Shao. Liu Bei would not have to spend another one or two years to build a ship? Yuan Shao's army had already blocked Kunyang with tens of thousands of troops and would never let Liu Bei's army go deeper into Ruying, so Liu Bei could only stalemate in Kunyang.

Xiangyang, the west road connecting the Huanghuai River and Han River, is not open to the east, and the rest is only the east, either from Lujiang-Hefei, through Ruxushui, Chaohu, and into the Huai River. Or from Jingkou to cross the Yangtze River to Guangling, and through the ancient Wu Kingdom, the Hangou Canal connecting the Jianghuai River. Of course, in recent years, the princes of the East China Sea have developed sea ships, and in the future, they may be able to directly exit the Yangtze River estuary and go to the sea.

Ruxushui and Hangou are both in our Wuhui. What if Liu Bei could not build enough ships to fight Yuan Shao within one or two years because of Hedong and Kunyang, he felt that he was idle and was idle, so he pointed his finger at us?

If we surrender to Liu Bei and regard him as the king, then he said that he would use the waterway to attack the northern expedition, and dispatch troops to cross our Lujiang River, travel to Ruxu River and Hefei, and attack Shouchun, which is currently besieged by Cao Cao, should we agree or not?

Since this is the case, it would be better to block Xiakou to death and send an envoy to explain to Liu Bei: We only want to protect ourselves and will not take the initiative to attack him. Even if we admit that Liu He is the emperor, we will not work hard for Yuan Shao.

As long as Liu Bei fights with Yuan Shao first, we will never stab you in the back. In order to stabilize us, Liu Bei will definitely turn a blind eye to the three enemies at the same time, and will first accept the peace with us."

Zhou Yu's words were definitely what the group of wise generals in the world who understand the navy and logistics the most. He analyzed all the main paths of attacking China's geography from ancient times, explaining which roads were not allowed to follow the previous logistics technology.

After listening, Sun Ce completely realized that only by choosing this way could he not be eaten by Liu Bei and try his best to ensure his safety.

After all, when all the ships in Dingling in Kunyang were withdrawn, if Liu Bei was transported from Bowang, Ye County to the northeast, he would be transported by car at the back. Not to mention how far away he was, even if he was transported to Xuchang, the cost would be greater than that.

"From Bowang, Xinye follows the Qingshui River to Xiangyang, then the Han River to Xiakou, then the Yangtze River to Ruxu River, then from Ruxu Water Chaohu Lake to Shouchun, and then from Shouchun to go up the Huai River"

If you don’t believe it, you can draw a picture on Baidu map. The straight line distance from Bowang to Xuchang is 280 miles, which is considered to be a pure straight line by land.

Bowang reaches 240 miles to Xiangyang, 680 miles to Xiakou, 1020 miles to Ruxukou, 470 miles to Shouchun, and 600 miles to Xuchang. The whole journey is 3010 miles, and the freight is nearly half cheaper than the previous road!

In the late Han Dynasty, the cost of traveling fifty miles by land was equivalent to traveling a thousand miles by water, twenty times more than no more.

Liu Bei really wanted to save money on the cost of fighting against Yuan, and would rather go through three thousand miles of water than three hundred miles of land. Of course, unless you have the ability to get the enemy because of food, then just pretend that the above account has not been settled.

Wherever you fight, the enemy will leave the grain in the house for you to eat, so that you don’t have to transport the grain by yourself, but you have to rely on the enemy to be kind and dare not defend against scorched earth.

Of course, Zhou Yu has a problem with this calculation. The main reason is that he has lived in the southeast for a long time and does not know what role the "water dual-purpose caravan" plays in Liu Bei's territory now.

If Liu Bei uses enough chariots, he can first save the loading and unloading workers from unloading and loading vehicles in Bowang and Kunyang.

In addition, it can actually avoid the problem of "all ships in the Ruying River Basin were taken away by Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao's solid walls and cleared fields, and they must be rebuilt." Because the ships cannot be driven over the mountains, but the chariots can be driven over the mountains for a short distance. If they can be used to attack the Eastern Empire by turning over the Tongbai Mountain in the western part of China, can they be used to attack the Eastern Empire?

Similarly, if the shipbuilding in Guan Yu in Hedong is too slow, if there is an urgent need, you can also ask for some caravans. You can directly drive through Sanmenxia by land on Hedong, and then put it down the Yellow River, which avoids the problem of "Liu Bei's camp has no ships in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, and there is no ship in the world that can pass through Sanmenxia."

However, Li Su's caravan is still a little smaller and is not suitable for sailing in a large river with abundant water in the lower reaches of the Yellow River, and it is easy to capsize.
Chapter completed!