A gentle hill south of Xinye City is densely covered with jungle, and dense forests stretch for dozens of miles. On the edge of the forest are large farmland and a straight and wide official road. The water flows southward close to the official road.

As a large number of Xinye people fled with Liu Bei, the Xinye official road was deserted and it was rare to see people in the village.

At this time, a sound of horse hooves came from the distance of the official road. Soon, three Jiangxia cavalry appeared on the official road. These were three scouts, who were ordered by Gan Ning to investigate the movements of the Xinye Cao army.

"Damn it, after walking dozens of miles, I couldn't see any ghost shadow. Where did everyone die?" a soldier cursed.

Another soldier looked at both sides and said with some concern: "Captain of the Tun, let's leave the official road! It is less than twenty miles from Xinye City, and it is easy to be discovered by Cao's patrols."

The leader of the three was a village chief, surnamed Yang, from Runan, and a veteran with a wealth of experience. He also looked around for a while and pointed to a forest on the east side, "It's already noon, go to the woods for lunch!"

The three of them turned their horses and ran towards the woods. Unexpectedly, they had just approached the woods and suddenly rushed out of the woods a cavalry patrol of Cao's army, about fifty people, quickly surrounded the three of them.

The three Jiangxia cavalry were shocked and turned their heads and fled, but it was too late. More than a dozen Cao army cavalry seized their retreat. The three scouts were surrounded and fifty military crossbows pointed at them together.

The head of the village quickly raised his hand and shouted to his two subordinates: "Don't resist, leave your weapons and surrender!"

The three of them dropped their swords and spears, and Cao's army stepped forward one after another, grabbed the three of them off their horses and tied them up. Fifty patrol cavalry then turned their horses and rushed to Xinye City with three Jiangxia scouts.

．

．

．

．

．

．

In the room, Cao Ren, Cao Hong and Mao Jie were discussing the deployment of the army. At this time, a soldier reported outside the door, "Report to the general, and arrested three scouts of Jiangxia Army on the patrol."

Mao Jie smiled, "If the scout is caught by the enemy, it will be a troublesome thing. The general might as well ask these scouts, and they may gain something."

Cao Ren nodded and ordered, "Bring them up!"

After a moment, the three scouts were tied up and brought into the room. Cao Hong shouted loudly: "How dare you come to investigate my military situation? Are you impatient to live?"

The three scouts knelt down and kowtowed, begging for mercy, and said to the head of the Shoutun: "We were just ordered to investigate, and we couldn't help but be arrested. Since we were caught, we only beg the general to beg us for mercy and spare our lives!"

Cao Ren waved his hand, stopped Cao Hong's anger and said coldly to the three of them: "I'll ask you a few questions and answer honestly. I'll wait for you. I'll dare to deceive you at all. I'll take your heads to sacrifice the flag!"

"The villain dares not!"

Cao Ren nodded and stared at the three of them and asked, "Have Wenpin surrendered to your lord Liu Jing?"

The two soldiers were speechless and couldn't answer. The governor hesitated and said, "Report to the general, whether General Wen surrendered? This is the above matter. We do not know, but on the day of Liu Biao's death, General Wen did lead people to Fancheng to meet the prefect. This is what I saw with my own eyes."

Cao Ren and Mao Jie looked at each other. This person was quite honest, consistent with the information they had. He did not speak nonsense. Cao Ren pointed to the two soldiers and ordered them to the left, "Take them to the other account to interrogate them, and then give a statement later!"

The two soldiers were taken down, and only the treasury leader was left in the big tent. Cao Ren then asked him: "Look at how you don't look like a soldier, what's your name? Who is your man, and any position?"

"The villain is named Yang Zheng, from Ancheng County, Runan. He was once a commander of the Yellow Turban Army. Later, the Yellow Turban Army was defeated. The villain fled to Jiangxia and signed up for the army. Because the villain had experience, he was assigned to be a scout, and later he slowly got into the scout headquarters."

Cao Ren looked at his eyes and saw fear in his eyes, and asked again: "Is it true that we found that there are troops leaving in Fancheng? How many troops are there in Fancheng now, and who will lead them?"

"There are indeed troops leaving, about half of them. There are about five or six thousand people in Fancheng, all of whom follow General Gan's orders."

"Is Liu Jing gone?" Cao Hong asked viciously beside him.

The scout station chief was so scared that he said tremblingly: "I heard that he didn't leave, he was in the military yamen, but a brother saw his war horse on the boat again. He didn't know whether he left or not."

At this time, Mao Jie asked, "Then tell me the details and how the troops were withdrawn. You can say as much as you know."

The scout station chief lowered his head and pondered for a moment, "I remember it should be the early morning of the second day after Liu Biao passed away. At that time, the military yamen was under high alert. The senior officials above discussed all night. All the officers above the military marquis went there. Before dawn, our Yajiang suddenly ran back and shouted, asking everyone to get up and prepare to set off. He was very excited and patted my shoulder and said, "We will not be angry with Xiangyang anymore in the future. Everyone asked what was going on. Yajiang refused to say it, but it was said that it was a secret now. There will be major news in Jiangxia a few days later. Other villains are not very clear. 70% of our camp left, and I was left."

All those who should ask were asked. Cao Ren waved his hand and ordered someone to take Jiangxia scout down and detain him. At this time, the confessions of the other two were also sent. Cao Ren checked for a moment and there was no big gap. Then he said to Mao Jie: "It seems that Liu Jing deliberately released the wind and said that he had not left. In fact, he had already left. What does the chief clerk think?"

Mao Jie thought about it, and he pondered for a moment and said, "If I was not wrong, their so-called big thing is that Liu Jing wants to proclaim himself as the governor of Jingzhou. No need to look at Xiangyang's face anymore. Liu Jing summoned officers above General Ya to discuss it overnight, which must be for this matter. In fact, it can be seen from Liu Bei that Liu Qi will also be the governor of Jingzhou, so that three governors of Jingzhou will appear in Jingzhou."

"Where is Wenpin?"

Cao Hong next to him said anxiously: "Which side does he belong to? Why don't he withdraw?"

"Wenpin should be loyal to Liu Jing. I think it was Wenpin's allegiance that made Liu Jing determined to be independent. Otherwise, if the reputation is not right and the words are not right, how can Wenpin, who has always been very loyal to him?"

Cao Ren stood up and walked quickly to the wall. There was a huge map hanging on the wall. At this time, the Liu Bei army stationed in Deng County had been erased. There was indeed no garrison there, only the Jiangxia army in Fancheng and the Wenpin army in Dengsaicheng were left.

Cao Ren's eyes were focused on the Wenpin army. Dengsai was not like Fancheng. It was just a small castle that could only accommodate one thousand people at most. The remaining nine thousand troops were stationed in camps, suitable for cavalry raids. He knocked heavily on Dengsai City on the map.

At this time, Mao Jie slowly walked up and smiled and said, "The military strategy is that the truth is the way to use troops. Why don't the general make a fuss about truth?"

Cao Ren's hand stopped. He carefully savored the profound meaning of Mao Jie's words, and his eyes moved to Fancheng again, unable to help but think.

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

After entering May, the weather gradually became hotter and the rain increased. After a heavy rain poured down the sky and the earth for more than half an hour, it finally stopped at dusk.

The sun did not come out, the sky was still gloomy, with drizzle flying, and the branches were covered with crystal droplets of water. The grass was filled with water in the east and the west. The official road was filled with muddy and difficult roads.

After the rain, Dunsey City seemed to have become particularly clean and clear. Although it was already hazy dusk, the dark walls were still clearly visible for miles away.

Dengsai City is a castle that monitors the river surface. It is about four miles in circumference and can be stationed with 1,000 troops. It is less than fifty steps away from the Han River. Standing at the top of the city, you can see the river.

There is a small dock outside the south city, but there is no warship on the dock, including the entire river, and there is no ship.

To the north of the city wall is a large camp covering an area of ​​hundreds of acres. There are high camps around them. There are trenches dug outside the camp and more than 100,000 spears inserted. There are a circle of large chariots in the camp. Inside is a neat camp tent. From the front, the edge of the camp tent is in a straight line.

At this time, more than 10,000 soldiers were gathering in the open space for dinner, chatting and laughing, and the sky was noisy. At the end of Dengsai, Wen Pin held the hilt of the knife in his hand and looked vigilantly at the distance.

On the right is the shimmering Bishui River surface. The river water is about to flow into the Han River. The river surface is particularly wide. On the left is a large endless forest. In the drizzle, the narrow and long forest extends to the distant north.

"General!"

The leader Bo Deng Lin whispered: "I think the Cao army may go south along the water. After all, they have more than 200 ferries, and they are likely to use the ferry to land and attack in the middle of the night."

Wen Pin knew very well that Cao Jun would definitely come from the water surface, and his eyes turned to Bishui again. At this time, the twilight was even more vast, and the river was moving northward, so it was no longer so clear.

"Are you all ready?" Wen Pin asked back.

General Yao Meng replied: "Report to the general, you are ready!"

"Okay! As planned, go out after dark."

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

In Fancheng, a group of soldiers were lined up neatly on the empty streets. This army of 5,000 people was mainly composed of the crossbow army, led by Gan Ning.

Gan Ning was wearing armor and helmet, riding on a strong white horse. He looked up at the sky and smiled at Xu Shu and said, "Does Changshi think it will rain in the next few days?"

Xu Shu also smiled and said, "It is necessary for strategists to know the wind and distinguish the weather. I guess it will be difficult to get clear in the next few days, but there will be no more heavy rain like the afternoon. It should be similar to now, and maybe it will be better."

"That's the best!"

Gan Ning smiled heartily and said, "I'm leaving, and Fancheng will be handed over to the Chief Secretary."

"The general has a good journey, and he will soon send good news!"

The gate of Fancheng slowly opened, and Gan Ning led five thousand crossbow troops to leave Fancheng under the cover of night and ran northwest.

．

．

．

．

．

．

．

The night covers the Han River. Looking from the north bank, your eyes can only go deeper a hundred steps, and then to the south, there is only endless darkness.

But in the endless darkness, a fleet of more than a hundred large ships of thousands of stones was coming from the east, quietly anchoring in the center of the Han River.

On the first large ship, Liu Jing was wearing iron armor, a golden helmet, and a Wenhou halberd in his hand. He stood at the bow of the ship like a god, staring at the north shore of the Han River with deep eyes.

He knew that tonight would be a crucial battle. After this battle, Cao's army would be completely quiet, so that he could have time to prepare for the battle calmly and wait for the real war to come.

"Prince, there is a fire on Fort Dunsey!" a soldier shouted at the castle on the north shore.

Liu Jing also saw it, which was the signal of discovering the enemy. Everything was as expected by them. The captured scout grew into the most important bait, which eventually led to the Cao army sending troops.

Liu Jing immediately ordered, "The fleet enters the water competition!"
Chapter completed!