In addition to his final encounter with Wu Zhi and Zhong Yu, Pang Tong basically told Sima Yi all the previous story of Zhuge Liang, but even Pang Tong didn't know what Zhuge Liang would follow up.

Zhuge Liang turned around and lifted the curtain and walked into the cabin. He placed the feather fan flat on the table and looked at Sima Yi:

"Zhongda, if you were me, how would you fight this battle?"

After calmly thinking, Sima Yi analyzed:

"Cao Cao had as many as 80,000 naval troops stationed between Wulin and Puqi, and countless warship ships were numerous. There were also Jingzhou generals such as Cai Mao who were familiar with the terrain of Jiangdong. Although the Eastern Wu was good at naval combat, the gap in military strength this time was too big. The Sun-Liu coalition army had only 50,000 people. No matter what, you are making a big bet with your lord this time..."

The atmosphere instantly became extremely strange because Sima Yi mentioned the most difficult issue to ignore. Pang Tong remained silent after looking at Zhuge Liang in surprise, but Zhuge Liang said to Sima Yi with a smile:

"I'm waiting for you to say it, but..."

Then the three people present laughed at the same time. Sima Yi thought that Zhuge Liang had guessed his thoughts, so he continued: "Cao Cao was hit by you in Chibi before. Even though he did not damage the main force he brought from Hebei, he had already lost the hearts of Jingzhou. Furthermore, although the defeat of Chibi did not hurt Cao Cao's vitality, his invincible record that had been traversing north and south for several years had been completely broken. People will not care whether Cao Cao was defeated or a small defeat in this battle. They only knew that someone could finally defeat him by the arrogant Cao Cao."

From the morale, Sima Yi analyzed that the wind direction at this time was extremely beneficial to the Sun and Liu coalition, and Pang Tong also deeply agreed with this:

"I analyzed this with Kong Ming before, but Cao Cao had heavy troops at this time and had an advantage in the scene. If it was a head-on battle, the Sun and Liu coalition forces were still not sure of victory. This battle would make a comeback if they were defeated, and once Sun Quan and Liu Bei were defeated, it would mean their complete destruction."

Sima Yi thought for a while: "It is true that the Sun and Liu coalition forces have little chance of winning, but just as I said just now, the morale of the Jingzhou navy is sluggish. As long as there is a trace of them that can see Cao Cao's defeat, then let alone 80,000, even a million troops will instantly collapse the dike with an ant hole, causing them to completely collapse."

Zhuge Liang looked at the warship that stretched dozens of miles above the Yangtze River outside the window, and had an idea in his mind:

"It's the middle of winter, and the climate is dry and easy to burn fire. If you use fire to attack..."

At this moment, the northwest wind blowing in from outside was howling and whistling the curtains at the hatch of the ship, which made Zhuge Liang, Sima Yi and Pang Tong immediately realize that the wind direction was extremely unfavorable to the Sun and Liu coalition forces' fire attack, because the warships of the Sun and Liu coalition forces were going up the river. By then, not only would it be difficult to burn Cao's ships, but their ships would fall into the sea of ​​fire.

"It seems that unless the southeast wind blows, the fire attack strategy will be difficult to implement."

Pang Tong's words made Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi realize the facts, and they who are well aware of astronomy and geography know that it is rare to blow warm southeastern winds in the middle of winter. If there is no help from the weather, the victory will be almost slim.

However, Sima Yi firmly believes that God will not let Cao Cao swallow Jiangnan so easily and unify the world:

"Sometimes, although Cao Cao was helped by heaven in a desperate battle with Yuan Shao, he was on the stance of protecting the emperor and defending the Han Dynasty at that time, so he was able to defeat Yuan Shao. Now he is just a thief who uses the power of the emperor to show his ambitions and desires. I believe that God will never help him again this time, and the southeast wind will definitely come."

Sima Yi's words resonated with Pang Tong. He patted Sima Yi on the shoulder and said with a smile:

"That's right, Cao Cao suffered a loss before, and this time he will definitely not attack rashly. We still have time..."

However, Zhuge Liang retained Sima Yi's loyalty and patriotism, and he said to Sima Yi:

"Before the southeast wind comes, Cao Cao's naval warships must be difficult to act alone. In this way, once the fire spreads, it can sweep all the ships on the Yangtze River. Otherwise, with Cao Cao's wisdom, he will definitely evacuate quickly after the fire rises. At that time, even if the fire plan is successful, he will not be able to destroy Cao Cao's Jingzhou Navy at one time."

Sima Yi had already considered this issue, and he said to Zhuge Liang with confidence:

"Don't worry, I've already figured out a plan to make hundreds of warships a huge whole..."

Before leaving, Zhuge Liang said meaningfully to Sima Yi:

"The situation is complicated now, you need to be extra careful when you stay there..."

After returning to Wulin, Sima Yi said to Cao Cao in order to stabilize Cao Cao and prevent him from sending troops easily:

"Prime Minister, I have visited Puqi. There was no naval force stationed by the Sun and Liu coalition forces. It can be seen that the previous victory did not make them blinded. After all, you are holding the most elite Jingzhou navy in the world. Sun Quan was unable to attack rashly when his troops were not superior. At this time, what they should think about is how to defend."

Cao Cao nodded. Even if Sima Yi did not dissuade him at this time, he would not attack Chibi, because Cao Cao had to face many problems at the moment: "Zhongda, thank you for your hard work, but the navy I trained in Xuanwu Pool was not experienced after all. After boarding the boat in Wulin, they were not able to adapt to the bumpy ships on the river. There were already many soldiers who were sick due to disagreement with the local conditions."

Sima Yi heard about this problem from Zhang He after returning to Wulin, which was also within his expectations:

"The soldiers in Hebei are mostly land cavalry. They train in Hebei for a short time, and they are prone to disagree with the local conditions after coming to Jingzhou. These are normal. According to the following, it is not impossible to solve them."

After hearing Sima Yi's words, Cao Cao's frown gradually stretched out:

"Oh? What are the insights of Zhongda?"

Sima Yi replied: "Independent ships shaking on the river surface, and bumps are inevitable. But if they are nailed around the hull with steel rings and iron nails, then they are connected in series with iron cables, and then laid on the iron cables with wooden boards, then all the river surfaces covered by the Prime Minister's ships will be like flat ground, and it is not difficult for the cavalry to come and go freely."

After thinking about it carefully, Cao Cao found that Sima Yi's words made sense. Doing so strengthened the coordination between the warships. At the same time, after defeating the Sun and Liu coalition forces, the cavalry could also land directly and sweep across the Jiangdong area.

When seeking Xu Shu's opinions, Xu Shu fully agreed with Sima Yi's opinions, which made Cao Cao more convinced of this strategy. So he ordered all the blacksmiths in the army to burn steel rings and iron nails around the hull, then connect them with thick chains, and then lay them with wooden boards. After the full implementation was completed, the bumps in the hull really decreased significantly, and the morale of the soldiers was high.

Just when Cao Cao was happy about this, Cai Mao opposed this approach, and he said to Cao Cao:

"Prime Minister, if all warships are connected in this way, it will be difficult for us to deal with it if Liu Bei and Sun Quan attack with fire."

Sima Yi and Xu Shu, who were standing beside Cao Cao, suddenly felt trembling after hearing this. Sima Yi found that he was thinking that there was a huge omission in this plan, that is, Cai Mao, who was familiar with the terrain of the south of the Yangtze River. He must have known that once the southeast wind blows, the Cao army will be in danger of being wiped out, which makes him feel at ease.

After listening to Cai Mao's opinion, Cao Cao laughed and said, "I said to General Cai, you have been in charge of the Jingxiang Navy for many years. Let me ask you, this is the middle of winter, and there will only be northwest winds. Where will the southeast winds come?"

Cai Mao still urged Cao Cao to quickly lift the order to remove the iron chain:

"There are many mountainous lakes in the area of ​​Jiangdong, and it is not impossible to blow the rare inner lake wind. Please think twice."

Speaking of fire attack, Cao Cao remembered it, and he said to Cai Mao:

"General Cai, what you said just now makes sense. If our army attacks with fire, the Sun and Liu coalition forces will definitely fall into the sea of ​​fire. You must know that the northwest wind is blowing at this time. You can order the ships in the army to prepare tincture oil, saltpeter, sulfur and other substances. When the time is ripe, go down the river and completely eliminate the main forces of Sun Quan and Liu Bei!"

Although it was a temporary relief for Sima Yi to hear that Cao Cao did not cancel the iron cable line, Cao Cao had obviously realized the possibility of fire attack, which made Sima Yi feel even more dangerous...

At the same time, Fu Ruoxin, who was far away in Xudu, ran out of the palace crying. She rode a fast horse and rushed out of the south gate of Xudu. She quickly drove away, wishing she could reach Sima Yi in Jingzhou now...

However, just shortly after she left Xudu, the cavalry in armor blocked her way ahead.

Fu Ruoxin reached out and wiped away the tears from her cheeks with her sleeves. She looked at the more than ten imperial guards who belonged directly to Liu Xie in front of her. She yelled at them with a cold eyebrows: "Get out of here!"

Obviously the cavalry had no intention of hurting her, so they could only surrender to Fu Ruoxin:

"We are ordered by the Queen and ask the girl to follow us back to the palace."

"Go back?" Fu Ruoxin sneered, and she pulled out the short sword from her waist and stretched it against her neck:

"You go back and tell the Queen that I will never go back to that cold palace again. If you insist on stopping me, I will die in front of you. Then you will carry my body to your Majesty and the Queen!"

The sky was covered with dark clouds and lightning. Suddenly, the wind blew heavily in the woods, and the branches danced wildly.

The two sides continued to confront each other, and the cavalry led by the leader had no ability to violate the death order given by the queen, so he used a color to his subordinates beside him, pretending to be intimidated by Fu Ruoxin and made way out. When Fu Ruoxin rode a horse slowly passed through them, the cavalry suddenly waved the spear in his hand and stabbed the yellow horse that Fu Ruoxin was riding.

The yellow horse could not bear the severe wail and fell to the ground. Fu Ruoxin also fell off his horse and fell heavily to the ground.

The cavalry captain looked at Fu Ruoxin, who was already confused and said to his subordinates:

"Take her back, the Queen has told her not to cause any damage."

Just as the two cavalry were about to help Fu Ruoxin up, they suddenly shot two feather arrows from the woods and stabbed them accurately on their foreheads. The remaining cavalry entered a state of alert and shouted loudly in the direction where the feather arrows were shot:

"Who! Don't be sneaky!"

"Sneaking? I've been behind you forever..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the cavalry captain suddenly felt a man standing behind his horse at a close distance.

He subconsciously stabbed the man standing on the horse behind him with a spear, but long before he took action, the sword in the man's hand was already on his neck:

"The reaction is a little slow, and the movement is even more so..."

He took the sword back into the sheath, and a long blood-red mark appeared on the cavalry's neck. The spear and the man in his hand fell to the ground almost at the same time. The remaining cavalry had almost no time to react and were shot to death by one after another.

Fu Ruoxin, who was confused, vaguely saw a man in a black cloak walking in the dark night. He looked down at him for a long time. From the light between lightning and thunder, she could only see those sharp and deep eyes...

She stretched out her hands and held the corner of the man's clothes in front of her, begging with tears in her eyes:

"Please...Please take me to Sima Yi's side. If he steps later, he will really die..."

After saying that, Fu Ruoxin completely lost consciousness, and the man in the cloak hugged her in his arms. At this time, the man holding a sharp sword jumped down from the horse's back, looked at Fu Ruoxin who fainted, and looked at the man in the cloak again: "I didn't expect that someone would ignore life and death for him to this extent, so should we do something next?"

The man in the cloak hugged Fu Ruoxin: "Zhong Yu is ready in Jingzhou, I think there should be no problem."

Then he looked at the sword-holding man standing in front of him:

"Cheng Wu, you take her to Jingzhou with me. I think Zhuge Liang is not the kind of person who can act according to the plan..."

Cheng Wu looked at Fu Ruoxin with his eyes closed and couldn't help but look embarrassed, but he seemed to be able to fully understand Fu Ruoxin's mood:

"Well, what about you? Are you going with us?"
Chapter completed!