Zhou Buyi explained the nearby terrain to Sun Yi and Zhuge Liang.

The terrain of Jingzhou is like a huge plate, with mountains on all sides. Lingling is the southernmost end of this basin. With Quanling as the boundary, the south is mainly mountains and plains in the north. Yuechengling among the five ridges, Dupangling is located in Lingling. There is little arable land in the mountainous land, and most of the terrain is scattered, which can accommodate settlements, but cannot support the army for a long time.

Liu Yao thought that he had to gain a foothold in the Lingqu area and had to obtain enough food supplies, otherwise the huge consumption of crossing mountains and ridges would drag him to death. If he could seize Quanling and enter the plains, it would be better. Before he seized Quanling, he had two choices: one was Yingpu in the south of Quanling, north of Dupangling, and the other was Shi'an in the south of Yuecheng.

Liu Yao occupied Shi'an, but did not send troops to Yingpu. He obviously lacked confidence and did not dare to face the Wu army. There was little possibility of attacking Quanling in the short term. Shi'an was a small county and could not support tens of thousands of people, so Liu Yao must have another location, which is likely to be in Xie Mu and Fuchuan, south of Dupangling.

The reason for this judgment is that most of Liu Yao's army was controlled by local Han and barbarians controlled by the Shi family. The Shi family was from Cangwu, and there were two roads from Cangwu north, one was upstream of the Li River to Shi'an, the other was Yingshui to north, and to Xie Mu. There was a large piece of cultivated land between Xie Mu and Fuchuan, which was enough to support tens of thousands of people.

This is likely to be the residence of the Shi family. If Xie Mu and Fuchuan were in trouble, the Shi family could not obtain food supplies and could only retreat. Without the cooperation of the Shi family, Liu Yao's plan to enter the hinterland of Jiangnan would be unable to be implemented, and he could only withdraw Yulin.

Therefore, if troops were sent to attack Xie Mu and Fuchuan, Liu Yao had to fight hard. He had two plans: one was to directly send troops to reinforce Xie Mu and Fuchuan, and the other was to send troops to threaten Quanling and surrounded Wei to rescue Zhao. The former would be troublesome, and the other was that the army gathered together Xie Mu and Fuchuan, and there was a decisive battle. If there was a slight mistake, Liu Yao might be wiped out. Second, the main force was Li Chuan, and Shian would be in danger. If he chose to advance to Quanling, he would take the initiative, fight, defend, advance or retreat.

Xun Chen exclaimed. "At a young age, he has such insight and such a talent. If he can be loved by the king, his future will be limitless. In my opinion, you should not send him to apply for the Military Advisory Office, but send him directly to the king as a servant."

Zhuge Liang was also very inspired. The map he got was Lingling, Guiyang, and Wuling, but there was no map of Cangwu and Yulin. He didn't know much about Xie Mu and Fuchuan, so he had such negligence. Zhou Buyi was a local, so he knew more information and thought more thoroughly. Even if he abandoned this, Zhou Buyi's plan was remarkable, especially at this age.

If this was really his own idea, rather than Liu Xian had planned it and let him show his face and make him famous.

Even if this plan was Liu Xian's, Zhuge Liang did not intend to expose it. In order to stabilize Lingling, he must win over local famous scholars like Liu Xian. Liu Xian did not accept his exclusion before, but now he is willing to send Zhou Buyi to Jianye. This is a gesture, which shows that the people of Lingling have recognized the situation and accepted the identity of the people of Wu.

After thinking for a while, Zhuge Liang understood another intention behind Zhou Buyi's plan: to give Huang Gai a chance to make contributions. Huang Gai was a Quanling native. He followed Sun Jian for many years to fight, but now he is trapped in the quagmire of Jiaozhou and has a difficult career. If he can cooperate with Sun Yi to defeat or even capture Liu Yao, Huang Gai will stand out. Liu Xian and Huang Gai are both literary and military, and with Zhou Buyi's young man appearing next to the King of Wu, the Lingling people have a place in the Wu court and have the opportunity to make their own voice.

Zhuge Liang and Sun Yi discussed it, accepted Zhou Buyi's suggestion, sent people to Cangwu, contacted Huang Gai, who was stationed in Guangxin, the county seat, and fought together. Before that, the previous temptation plan continued to be implemented, but it was necessary to act more like it. If Liu Yao could be lured and killed in battle, it would be of course no harm, and it would be no harm if he failed.

With Liu Xian, Zhou Wuji assisted, Zhuge Liang refined the plan. One of the arrangements was to send troops to Yingpu and attack Jiaozhou, forcing Liu Yao to make a choice. Sun Yi handed over this task to Pan Jun. Pan Jun was from Hanshou in Wuling. Zhuge Liang met when he was in charge of affairs in Wuling and appreciated him more. After Sun Yi entered Jiangnan, he recommended Pan Jun to Sun Yi.

Pan Jun is very young, has a humble official position, and has no reputation, but he is very capable. In recent years, he has worked with Zhuge Liang and is familiar with the way of doing things in Wu. Sending people to take some people to Yingpu will not arouse Liu Yao's alertness.

Pan Jun accepted the order and recommended his cousin Jiang Wan to take over his business. Jiang Wan is from Xiangxiang, Lingling. She went out for study a few years ago. Not long after she came back, she heard that Pan Jun had arrived in Quanling, so she rushed to meet her.

Jiang Wan was in her early twenties, tall, extraordinary in character, and unique in conversation. He had been studying abroad for several years, went to Xiangyang College, and also went to Jianye Taixue. He highly praised the New Policy of Wu Kingdom. Now he is successful in his studies and plans to become an official. He wanted to take the government affairs hall, but when he heard that Sun Yi was in Jiangnan, he knew that the opportunity had come, so he hurried back.

Lingling has not many talents, Jiang Wan took the initiative to come and was recommended by Pan Jun. Of course, Sun Yi was reluctant to ask for it and was hired happily, asking Jiang Wan to be by his side first to assist Zhuge Liang in handling some affairs, and then entrusted with important tasks after familiarizing himself for a while.

Soon, Pan Jun rushed to Yingpu with a thousand soldiers.

As soon as Shi Hui led his troops into Yingpu County, he heard the news that Pan Jun entered Yingpu. He was wary, not that he was worried that his safety, Pan Jun had only one thousand people, and it was okay to defend the county town, and it was unlikely that he would go out of the city to fight in a field. But he felt that Sun Yi was ambitious and might launch an active attack, but not in the direction of Lingqu, but Xie Mu and Fuchuan.

After Guangxin was occupied by Huang Gai, Xie Mu and Fuchuan were his final foundation. Once there was a loss, his foundation would be half missing. Shi Hui did not dare to neglect and immediately sent someone to repay Liu Yao and asked him to prepare a solution.

At the same time, he led his troops into the Yangming Mountains. For safety reasons, he left the main force on the southern foot of Yangming Mountain to prevent Pan Jun from discovering his traces and tracing his retreat. He only sent a small group of elite troops to Quanling from the small path to find an opportunity to ambush Sun Yi. Killing Sun Yi may not solve the fundamental problem, but it can disrupt the deployment of the Wu army and gain some time. If they can enter the hinterland of Lingling, their mission will be completed.

After receiving the urgent report from Shi Hui, Liu Yao was very scratched. If what Shi Hui said was true and Sun Yi had a plan to attack Cangwu, he would have to take the initiative, otherwise this trip would be in vain and would not have any substantial effect. Even if he wanted to retreat, Sun Yi would not give up. He would definitely attack with the trend and threaten Yu Lin and Jiaozhi. The situation would be even more serious by then.

Liu Yao and Xu Shao repeatedly discussed. Xu Shao was not good at military affairs and was helpless. He could not make any valuable suggestions except sighing. Liu Yao repeatedly weighed the pros and consciences and decided to change the plan, asking Shi Hui to prepare for the attack on Yingpu while attacking Sun Yi. If Yingpu can be taken down, Sun Yi's attack on Jiaozhou will naturally be blocked. Shi Hui's strong attack on Yingpu, and Sun Yi is likely to send troops to reinforce. Once Quanling is empty, he will have the opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

When Shi Hui received the reply, he knew that Liu Yao was suspected of killing someone with a knife, but he could not refuse. He immediately made adjustments, and while sending people to defend Xie Shu and Fuchuan to prevent Huang Gai from sneak attacking, he dispatched troops and surrounded Yingpu, and deployed defenses on Yangming Mountain to block reinforcements in the direction of Quanling.

The situation changed, and the plan to lure Liu Yao was over and the Yingpu became the focus. Sun Yi and Zhuge Liang immediately adjusted the plan and prepared for a larger trap. In order to have enough troops to ensure that Liu Yao had no way to escape once he entered the trap, Sun Yi issued a military order to Li Tong, the governor of Jingnan, and ordered him to lead his troops to sneak into Lingling to set up an ambush. When necessary, he planned to give up Quanling City and lure Liu Yao to the plains to encircle and annihilate him.

When the two sides dispatched troops, the war had already begun on Yingpu. Shi Hui led more than 15,000 people to siege Yingpu.

Although Yingpu is a county town, it is the main road to Jiaozhou. Not far from the southwest is Dupangling. Yingpu water goes around from the south of the city to the east of the city, winds down, crosses Yangming Mountain, and reaches Quanling. Below Yingpu, the river is abundant and can be navigated all year round. Boats carrying supplies can directly reach the city of Yingpu, concentrate in Yingpu, and then cross Dupangling by land. Therefore, although Yingpu is not a fortress, the city defense is similar to a fortress, which is much stronger than ordinary county towns.

Shi Hui besieged with more than ten times the force. He wanted to take down Yingpu in one go, but he ran into a bloody head in front of Pan Jun. He lost nearly a thousand people in a few days, but he didn't even touch the city wall. He was so angry that he cursed. It's really weird. Who is this surname Pan? How can he fight?

Shi Hui was dissatisfied with this tone. If even the unknown person could not take down the small city guarded by a thousand people, he would not have the right to speak in front of Liu Yao. He ordered people to build salaries in the north of the city, while preventing Wu's warships from approaching, while preparing to flood the city. Yingpu's terrain was relatively low in order to moor ships, and it was easy to be flooded, but the deep water was smooth and convenient for water discharge, so there would be no such worry.

Seeing that Shi Hui sent people to recruit civil servants outside the city, Pan Jun immediately understood what he meant. He sent people to sneak out of the city, issued a notice, and promoted the new policy of Wu, requiring the people to resist Shi Hui, at least not to help the evil. He specially sent people to warn the big clans with certain strength not to be both sides of the rat. If Yingpu City was broken, it would be of no benefit to you. Even if Shi Hui could succeed for a while, he would not succeed for a lifetime. After all, the world would be in the Great Wu. At that time, the King of Wu held the people of Yingpu to be responsible. You who had families and businesses would be the first to be punished. If the family was raided, they would not be able to escape.

Those big clans were frightened by Pan Jun, and no one dared to cooperate with Shi Hui. Even the civil servants who were forcibly recruited refused to work hard and seized the opportunity and ran away. Seeing that the construction period was delayed again and again, and the yan had not yet built a city, Shi Hui had no choice but to draw 3,000 people from Xie Mu to reinforce and attack Yingpu at all costs.
Chapter completed!