At the end of October, Guan Yu ordered Meng Da to command the troops in Nanxiang to take the lead in attacking and capturing Li County northwest of Nanyang. Guan Yu led the main force to the north of the Qing River and once again captured Chaoyang and Xinye, which he had occupied last year.

Starting from the landing of Chaoyang and Xinye, Guan Yu divided the Jingzhou troops into three groups: left, center and right.

Guan Yu led the left army to the left side of the Qingshui River to attack Rang County and Nieyang; the middle line was Su Fei and Zhou Cang drove the warships on the Qingshui River to open the road; the right side of the Guanping, Pang De took the right side of the Qingshui River to attack Jingyang and Jiyang; Mengda's Nanxiang side division captured Li County, and then walked south to attack Guanjun County, and finally joined Guan Yu to encircle Wancheng.

The troops of Guan Yu seemed to be scattered, but in fact they were a unified whole. The left and right sides of the troops advanced and retreated together with the navy in the middle. When encountering a large Wei army, they could rely on warships in the river to fight.

After Su Fei reinforced the Jingbei battlefield, the navy directly changed from transportation-oriented to a state of war. Large warships were equipped with fixed well railings, which were equipped with strong crossbows and equipment to throw fire meteors. These killing tools had very long ranges and caused great lethality to enemy troops in a certain range on the shore.

The use of warship weapons in land warfare was the first method of fighting summarized by Guan Yu. The main reason was that the city distribution of Nanyang County was distributed. Nanyang was flat and had many waterways, including the county where the capital Wancheng was located, all rely on the construction of the river.

These cities are usually only a few miles away from the river. It is very convenient for Guan Yu to use warships as "mobile turrets" or as camping points at night.

Cao Xiu saw Guan Yu's "mobile war" last year, but this year he was stunned by Guan Yu's "mobile turret". After several warship attacks on the river bank, the Wei soldiers did not dare to approach the river.

If the Wei army held a certain city, Guan Yu would decisively board the ship to fight another city, or directly cut off the reinforcements' food routes, and would not fight a tough battle with Cao Xiu's people at all. Guan Ping's right-wing army would follow the example and continue to fight on the land of Nanyang.

The most important thing is that Guan Yu has confidence in this battle. He is calm and rushing northward slowly, not giving Cao Xiu a chance to find a weakness.

There are reports of attacks in the prefect of Wancheng every day in the prefect's mansion. Cao Xiu, like Cao Zhen who was traveling far away from Hexi, accelerated his hair and beard whitening in two months.

By the end of December, all counties in the southern part of Wancheng were lost, the Nanyang defenders suffered nearly 20,000 losses, while Jingzhou soldiers only suffered more than 3,000 casualties, and the gap between the two armies gradually decreased.

Cao Xiu felt sad and helpless. He arranged 80,000 troops around Wancheng, intending to fight Guan Yu outside Wancheng.

After defeating Guanjun County, Meng Da joined forces with Guan Yu's left army. Several troops fought decisively. After occupying the city, he cleared the treasury and left. He would not leave troops to guard the new city. Guan Yu would concentrate his limited forces to continue the northern expedition.

After pulling out all the cities in the south of Wancheng, the three troops from Jingzhou, the left, middle and right, advanced to Wancheng northward. However, the army reached 50 miles south of Wancheng, and the 30,000 Jingzhou soldiers on the left side of the Qingshui suddenly crossed the river to the other side of the river, and joined forces with Guanping and Pang De's right troops.

Cao Xiu looked at the map on the table and fell into deep thought, while Cao Zhang, who was beside him, looked angry, "Guan Yu is addicted to using warships. When the Qingshui reaches the south of Wancheng, it will change the route eastward, and then go north after fifty miles. Is he trying to fight us against the river?"

"I can't understand it." Zhang He shook his head.

Zhang He originally thought that there were Zhang Fei, Huang Zhong, Ma Chao, Zhao Yun and other generations in Yongliang battlefield. The Wei army there was already miserable enough, but he didn't expect that it would be even more painful when he came to Nanyang. Guan Yu's combat style was simply unimaginable, and he was even more painful than when he was in Yongliang. Every time the Wei army attacked, it seemed like it was hitting soft mud and could not hurt the opponent at all.

"Warship, King Rencheng is right. Guan Yu used the warship to trick us around. He could fight us freely, but we could not counterattack effectively. The disadvantage of the Wei State water war was too fatal." Cao Xiu shook his head.

"Last year, Guan Yu was transporting troops, and the Grand Sima should have lost the sheep to make up for the bribe. The policeman blocked the river in Nanyang, and now he is not so passive." Cao Zhang raised his eyes and said something was blameless.

Cao Xiu laughed in silence: "At that time, General Zixiao, slaughtered Wancheng in front and the emperor moved the people north and behind. You should know that the local people are very resentful. If I blocked the rivers in the territory and slam the fields in summer, how could the people still have a harvest? Even if such an order is issued, no one will execute it, and it may even arouse civil rebellion."

"But those lands are still occupied by Guan Yu in the end? All of them are undecisive in their actions, which leads to the disaster of Wei State today." Cao Zhang's ridicule was not directed at Cao Xiu, but mainly because he was resentful of Cao Pi.

Cao Xiu heard it very harshly. Although Cao Zhang was a king, he was the Grand Sima of Wei and held the military power of the whole country. Even Cao Zhang should be respected.

Cao Zhang's extraordinary behavior was equivalent to slapping himself in front of Zhang He, but Cao Xiu endured it and said in a deep voice: "The King of Rencheng is like a god. In the future, we will fight against Guan Yu, and we will use you as the pioneer general."

"Uh, I didn't mean that." Cao Zhang found that he had made a mistake and quickly lowered his tone to seek ease.

Cao Xiu replied calmly: "Your Majesty sent the King of Rencheng to this point, and he was also worried that Guan Yu was extremely brave and powerful. Only you can check and balance the country, so there is no need to be humble anymore. This Sima will naturally act according to the order."

"Oh, okay." Cao Zhangxin said that Guan Yu was old and might not dare to fight in person. Lan Ji, who fought with Zhang Liao for 300 rounds, was just a young boy bullying the veteran. He believed that he would not lose in his prime.

"General Zhang, I'll order the scout to continue inquiries and closely monitor Guan Yu's movements. If there is any change, it will be rewarded immediately." Cao Xiu ordered in a deep voice.

"only."

After Zhang He said that, he held his fists and left. He thought that you, Cao's family, fought each other and never implicated me, an outsider.

After Guan Yu's left army crossed the river and reached the east bank, the warships continued to advance at a constant speed. It was already dusk outside Wancheng, so they arranged troops to camp on the south bank of the Qingshui River.

Hundreds of warships in the river crossed and arranged into city walls, blocking the cold wind blowing from the north at night. Fires shone under the starry sky, and dozens of miles of camp illuminated the river beach.

Because of the clear water barrier, Jingzhou warships were surrounded by warships, Cao Xiu did not dare to send troops to cross the river and rob the camp. The scouts guarded the north of the Yangtze River all night, drinking the cold wind to monitor the enemy on the south bank.

The next morning, Zhang He rushed into the government office in a panic.

"Da Sima, something is not good." In winter, Zhang He was sweating all over and panting with white mist.

"Can Guan Yu start crossing the river?" Cao Xiu asked with a frown.

Zhang He swallowed his saliva and waved his hand to answer: "Guan Yu did not cross the river, but continued to go east along the clean water. He had no idea what Guan Yu was thinking."

"If you look again, maybe Guan Yu is unwilling to cross the river under our noses. He plans to change places and cross the river smoothly. In short, pay close attention to it and let the soldiers of each battalion be ready for combat."

"only."
Chapter completed!