On the pier, a dozen soldiers under Deng Shuang were disarmed, their hands raised high, behind their heads, and they knelt in a row on the ground.

Zhou Mo held the bloody dagger and paced back and forth in front of them.

The soldiers understood that Zhou Mo was making a decision about their life and death.

So one after another they spared their lives, and the cries kept coming and going.

"Do you want to survive?" Zhou Mo asked.

"Want. Want to live."

"I don't want to die."

"General, spare your life."

Zhou Mo said: "Okay, since you all want to live, I will show you a Yangguan Avenue. I allow you to leave by boat. But listen carefully, if you really want to live, you can go upstream and go to Yufu. But if you

If you want to die, then go downstream and return to Zigui."

"It's up to you to choose where to go. I won't stop you."

Deng Shuang's soldiers were stunned and silent for a while.

Everyone knows that once they are released to Zigui and report the matter to Liao Hua, Zhou Mo has ten heads, but they are not enough to chop them off.

If you go to Yufu and return to Shuzhong, things will be complicated. With Zhou Mo's family's energy, things may turn around.

Is this young general still too young? He thinks that if he kills Deng Shuang, people will fear him like a tiger? With a light threat, people will bow and obey his orders?

"General, if we want to live, we will definitely not go back to Zigui. Don't worry!" A soldier from Deng Shuang promised, patting his chest.

"Yes, we will definitely not return to Zigui. We want to live, not die." Other soldiers also agreed.

Zhou Mo urged: "Then don't make any noise and get on the boat quickly."

"Thank you, General, for your great kindness."

The soldiers hurriedly boarded the boat, but did not take away Deng Shuang's body.

The boat soon reached the center of the river, spread its sails, and sailed quickly upstream.

However, not long after, the ship actually lowered its sails, quickly turned its bow, increased its power, and sped away in the direction of Zigui downstream.

Zhou Mo shook his head and sighed: "You will not live if you do it yourself."

He couldn't tell for a moment whether he was more kind or cold.

Maybe it's the latter.

……

In a simple barracks.

There is a long table with a map and two oil lamps on it.

Zhou Mo, Lao Mu and several corps commanders gathered in a circle to discuss the next move.

The episode of killing Deng Shuang just now made everyone feel solemn.

Everyone can see that Zhou Mo was trying to prevent a fight between the two sides, which would result in many casualties, so he risked his life to capture the thief and capture the king. After a fatal blow, he successfully made the opponent give up resistance.

In addition, the previous village chief successfully predicted that Zigui would return to Huangqi.

Therefore, everyone has more trust and respect for the village chief.

There is no longer any doubt about the news he said that the Shu army on the front line will be defeated in a day or two.

It can be said that Zhou Mo has successfully united all his subordinates around his strategic policy of covering Liu Bei's retreat.

Zhou Mo said: "My lord, taking the Jiangbei Mountain Road to retreat, must pass through Shimen Mountain. We will meet you here. I think you have no objection to this. However, there is another headache that needs to be solved."

Zhou Mo used a finger diagram: "Once Lu Yi wins at Xiaoting, he will definitely use the powerful advantage of the Soochow navy to block the passes of the river."

"If Lu Xun takes over the river, on the one hand, he can cut off the retreat route of our army back to Shu. At the same time, it will force our Zhenbei general, Huang Quan, to be unable to rescue him. In addition, there is a more important point. Lu Xun will definitely send a team of vanguard speedboats up the river.

Go straight up, land at a ferry on the north bank of the gorge, and intercept our retreating troops from the north of the Yangtze River from behind."

"If so, my lord is in danger."

"Everyone, where do you think the Mainland Congress will land?"

Lao Mu pointed to Guandu Port on the map and said: "It must be our place, Guandu Port."

"Why?"

Lao Mu said: "Look, there are only two ferries in the north of the Yangtze River suitable for landing and outflanking. One is our Guandu Port, and the other is the Wuxian Port upstream. It is midsummer now, and the river is rising sharply. Although the Soochow Navy is powerful, it is against the current.

If you want to hurry up, the helmsman and tracker must be very exhausted. By the time they reach Guandu Port, they have sailed continuously for nearly three hundred miles, and people are exhausted early. There are still more than two hundred miles to the next stop of Wu County, and it is usually more than 200 miles.

With the sergeant’s physical strength, this is simply an impossible task.”

Zhou Mo said: "That's right."

During the era of Liu Zhang and his son, Lao Mu was one of the Ganning Jinfan thieves. He was rampant on the rivers from Jiangzhou in Bajun to the Three Gorges, and he had rich experience on the water.

Therefore, everyone agreed with Lao Mu’s suggestion.

The first corps leader asked: "Then if the Wu army forces a landing at Guandu Port, how can we resist? We only have dozens of old and weak people."

Lao Mu said: "If the Wu army wants to force a landing, our current strength will definitely not be enough."

Zhou Mo said: "We cannot confront them head-on. Our only advantage is to know in advance that they will come. Can we make a trick to make the Wu army think that we have a large army ambushing here, so as to scare them away? Do you think it is feasible?"

Lao Mu thought for a long time and said: "It's difficult. The Wu army has just won a great victory and its morale is very high. It's not like a frightened bird. It will retreat after a few scares. Besides, there are only a few dozen of us, how can we pretend to be thousands of people?"

The momentum of an army and thousands of horses?"

Everyone was talking to each other, but they didn't come up with any better solution. It was already late at night, so everyone took a rest for the time being and prepared to discuss it again the next day.

After leaving the barracks, Zhou Mo walked onto the pier alone, facing the river wind, and continued to think about strategies to defeat the enemy. At this time, the southeast wind had risen, and the forest swayed and rustled with the wind, while on the mountains far and near, the cries of apes could be heard one after another.

.

Zhou Mo suddenly slapped his thigh, thinking about it, and laughed loudly: "Yes." Then he took three steps at a time and then two steps at a time, and hurriedly went to find Lao Mu.

……

The next morning, Jiangdong, Lu Xun Camp.

The fire at Xiaoting that had been burning for a whole day had gradually been extinguished. Battle reports from various generals of the Wu army were sent to Lu Xun one after another.

As expected, each battalion made great gains, capturing countless prisoners, rations, and supplies, and beheaded Feng Xi, Zhang Nan, Shamoko and other Shu generals, as well as numerous lieutenants, commanders, and garrison generals.

But I still haven’t seen Liu Bei.

Lu Yi sat in the central military tent with a solemn expression. Without Liu Bei's whereabouts, even such a huge victory did not seem to make him feel excited.

"Liu Bei fought for half his life and lost more than he won, but he always managed to escape unscathed. At this point, no one in the world can match him."

"It's a pity that this time, he was not so lucky."

After a long time, Lu Yi's eyes flashed with excitement, and he immediately began to issue the next military order:

"I ordered Zhu Ran, Han Dang's troops to take Zhuoxiang, Pan Zhang, and Xu Sheng's troops to take Zigui."

"Ming Xian Yu Dan, Song Qian's troops blocked all the passes and ferries along the river."

"Order Li Yi and Liu Abe to immediately detour north and go deep into the Shu region along the Jiangbei Mountain Road. The light troops will pursue them at full speed. If they encounter scattered Shu troops, they can let them go. There is only one target - Liu Bei!"

"Order Sun Huan to lead his navy to stand by at the mouth of the Xiling Gorge. Once our army captures Zigui, they will go up the river as quickly as possible and go deep into the hinterland of the Wu Gorge, waiting for an opportunity to find a ferry to land by force. They will detour to the north of the river to set up an ambush. If they encounter any scattered

Shu army deserters can be let go, and there is only one target - Liu Bei!"

Although each battalion did not send back any reports about Liu Bei on the battlefield, Lu Yi relied on his excellent strategic vision to quickly determine Liu Bei's general escape route.

That is to say, first retreat to Zhuoxiang through the mountain road, then return to Zigui, and then flee westward along the Jiangbei Mountain Road and return to Yufu.

Lu Xun's strategy was to first cut off the Shu army's retreat, divide and encircle it, eat the most Shu army, and eradicate Liu Bei's wings.

If you go deep alone, use light troops to advance quickly, attack from both sides on Liu Bei's only way to escape, and capture Liu Bei.

The selection of generals was also carefully considered.

Li Yi, who was on the land route, was once a general under Liu Zhang. Although his ability in commanding an army was average, he was the only general in the Wu army who was familiar with the local terrain.

Sun Huan of Waterway is young and fierce. He is also a descendant of the Sun family and is very good at navy.

Sun Huan had been pinned down by Liu Bei in the Yidao for several months and had a hard time holding on. He had long been suffocating and hated Liu Bei with gnashing of teeth. It was most appropriate to send him to pursue him by water.

The deputy general asked: "Master Governor, how should we deal with Huang Quan in the north of the Yangtze River? All the generals who can fight have been sent out. The central army is empty. Huang Quan has nearly ten thousand troops under his command. What should we do if we attack at this time?

Is it good?"

Lu Yi laughed and said: "Huang Quan is cautious by nature. If he hears of his master's defeat, the road back to Shu will be cut off, his advance and retreat will be lost, and the army will be panicked. How can he dare to attack me? I predict that Huang Quan will just wait and see, waiting for death."
Chapter completed!