Chapter 496: Deal with it Calmly
In the middle reaches of the Wei River, the newly built Sanya warships could barely sail.

With the help of the side sail, the boat sails slowly downstream from west to east.

On both sides of the stern rudder are iron chains as thick as arms, and the two iron chains are dragging the dredging plow and digging the riverbed with difficulty.

It brought up a lot of silt, making the already turbid Wei River even more turbid and black.

The black bear stood at the stern of the boat, holding the railing with his hand and looking quietly at the river upstream.

Under the river surface were more than 800 puppets travelling with the boat.

These puppets, which cannot drown and have unlimited endurance, are very suitable for dredging.

It moves with the boats, stirring up the silt in the riverbed and using the water power to drain the silt downstream.

From time to time, a puppet would be washed away by the rapid current at the bottom of the river. After leaving the range of existence, it would turn into a card and return, and then be thrown into the water by the black bear again.

The people traveling on the same ship simply thought that the warship was towing a plow with great effect. After the novelty wore off, the turned-up silt caused a rotten and fishy smell to fill the river surface, so many people returned to the cabins to work.

Fa Zheng felt uneasy as he did not see Tai Shi Wen Gong today, which made him feel a little uncomfortable.

Tai Shi Wengong had long been accustomed to the other party's silent companionship. When the other party suddenly disappeared, he might have gone to carry out some secret and important mission.

But his secretary who was accompanying him didn't notice anything. There were no difficult people or things that needed to be dealt with recently. Or was it that Tai Shi Wengong was responsible for another set of intelligence investigation and execution personnel?
But that's true. With Taishi Wengong's influence in the army and his numerous willing-to-die officers, he could naturally build an intelligence system covering all the armies and locations.

Some tricky and secretive things might not have broken out yet, but Tai Shi Wengong was sent to the door in the middle of the night to clear them up.

Fa Zheng was secretly alert and prepared to use his work convenience to take a look at the recent accidental deaths of officials, or related information on deaths from illness, disappearances, and escapes.

But it is also possible that they are just going to wipe out the forces lurking and infiltrating from abroad. The elite officers and soldiers can come over the mountains and across the rivers, and ordinary checkpoints cannot stop or close them.

Thinking of Tai Shi Wengong's calmness, patience, bravery and prestige, Fa Zheng felt that he had underestimated this man in the past.

While he was thinking silently, a guard beside him pointed to the south bank in the distance and said, "Sir, send the cavalry!"

Fa Zheng looked in the direction of the sound and saw three knights traveling together, galloping towards them along the road.

The warships had their own small boats on both sides to transfer the urgent couriers, and soon the urgent couriers from Jingzhou were delivered to Fa Zheng.

Under the gaze of several people, Fa Zheng cut open the mud seal, took out the official document and opened it. It was two pieces of wood folded in half, with the main text inside.

He glanced at it and said, "Sure enough, Pei Wenxing is still impatient."

Yang Xiu took a quick look and said, "It's not Wenxing's fault. The people of Jing and I are on good terms. If Wenxing makes any move, the people of Jing will surely exaggerate and report it to Jiangnan. Fortunately, Wenxing has a plan and is not in a state of panic."

Before building the new city of Jiangling, Pei Qian transported the large amount of war supplies stored in Jiangling to Xiangyang, Dangyang and Yicheng.

Even if Jiangling was lost, Pei Qian could retreat to Dangyang, which controlled the Jingyu Road. At worst, he could retreat to Yicheng and join Liu Pan and Huang Zhong.

Pei Qian will not live and die with Jiangling City.

Fa Zheng exchanged a few words here, then came to the stern with an urgent military letter: "Your Majesty, Jingzhou has an urgent report. Lu Yi has mobilized all his troops to attack Jiangling, and Pei Wenxing has retreated to Dangyang."

"As expected."

Black Bear picked up the military book and read it. It only had about 200 words, but the words between the lines revealed that everything was under control.

"Dangyang is a small city, and it's hard to defend it for long."

Black Bear made a judgment and said to Fa Zheng: "Order Nanxiang and Nanyang to prepare for war. Zhou Yu will station in Xinye. Taishi Ci will station in Fancheng. The Nanxiang troops will station in Zhuyang. Let Liu Fubo defend Xiangyang without moving. Send a separate order to Wen Pin and Huang Zhong, allowing them to look for opportunities to fight on their own. If the opportunities are not good, they can retreat to Xiangyang."

Fa Zheng remembered it in his heart, raised his head and looked at the black bear's profile: "Your Majesty, if you retreat without fighting, I'm afraid it will disrupt the morale of the army."

"My army will not be in disarray. Those who are in disarray are definitely not my soldiers."

Black Bear's face was expressionless. "Lu Boyan has been patiently accumulating a punch for so long, it is bound to be a heavy and swift punch. If he dares to throw this punch, there is no need for me to block it. After all, it is not us who chose the war, but the people of Jingzhou. Since we have to fight to the death, let's fight in the most brutal way."

Fa Zheng still hesitated: "I am worried that if we do not resist, the internal traitors of Jing people will stir up public opinion and lead Lu Boyan to launch a swift offensive, and the troops on the front line may collapse."

"My bottom line is Xiangyang. If they lose my bottom line, I will go and get it myself." Black Bear raised his hand and patted the flying catkins on Fa Zheng's collar, and said with a smile: "Wen Pin and Huang Zhong want to be my generals. They should show me the results that can convince me and Xing Ba. Just watch them fight. If they don't hurt the people of Jingzhou, they won't remember. Let the people of Yizhou see how many people will die in the war."

"Here."

Fa Zheng bowed, took two steps back, turned around and quickly went to the cabin to find Wei Kang.

The black bear turned his head to look at the distant southern sky, secretly estimating in his heart that only a battle line that had been tested by actual warfare would be a stable battle line.

After the war breaks out in Jingzhou and the front line is stabilized and the rebels who should jump out have done so, only then can he feel at ease to fight the Xianbei in the east.

The big plan cannot be messed up, so this little change is completely acceptable.

Xiangyang is the bottom line. No matter whether it is Liu Qi or Pei Qian, Wen Pin, or Huang Zhong, if they want to secure the official title in the new dynasty, they have to fight hard at this moment.

Don't resist Lu Yi's charged attack, just expose Xiangyang to Lu Yi and see if he wants to take it.

Regardless of the overall situation, the attitude of the people of Jingzhou, or the pseudo-dynasty in the southeast, they would force Lu Yi to attack Xiangyang.

If they evacuate directly without resistance, Lu Yi's troops will take over smoothly, so they are naturally a civilized army.

When the offensive battles and sieges break out, the people of Jingzhou will truly see what an army in troubled times is like.

Xiangyang is destined to be a bloody grinding mill.

Black Bear thought that since he had already agreed to Pei Qian's application to build a city, he would not intervene too much in the Jingzhou battlefield.

Zhou Yu, Taishi Ci, Duan Wei in Hanbei, and the Nanxiang soldiers stationed at Danshuikou, had only one goal, which was to protect the navigation of the Han River and prevent Lu Yi from besieging Xiangyang.

If Liu Qi, Wen Pin and Pei Qian are unable to defend Xiangyang under such circumstances, then they should die.

The mess in Jingzhou is perfect for Gan Ning to clean up.

Gan Ning must have been happy to go to Jingzhou to abuse his power, as there are few things in life that one can be proud of.

This opportunity should be given to Gan Ning. As for myself, I can just blend into Gan Ning's army and remotely command Lu Bu to participate in the battle.

However, based on the strategies of Lu Yi and Lu Su, they will inevitably attack Nanyang via the Jiangxia land route. Can Taishi Ci and Zhou Yu firmly defend Fancheng and Xinye?
While he was thinking, Fa Zheng brought a stack of drafts in a folder.

Black Bear took it and flipped through it: "Well, military orders should be written clearly like this. Give Wei Kang a pot of wine."

Giving wine is both encouragement and a joke; drinking is not allowed while on duty.

If I show more care to Wei Kang, Wei Duan, the people of Liangzhou and Guanzhong will also be happy.

Wei Kang now represents the future of these people.

As he spoke, Black Bear picked up a pen and signed his names. Only after seeing his signature would the military officer who kept the seal allow Wei Kang to use it.

Fa Zheng said nothing, turned around and walked quickly to pass on the message, and then came to the stern to see Black Bear and said, "Your Majesty, I think we should strictly prevent the bandit army from harassing and destroying the Nanxiang wharf and the arsenal."

"That makes sense. If you send someone to Nanxiang, use the name of the secretary's desk."

Black Bear agreed without hesitation and said, "Just in case, transfer the White Tiger Battalion to help defend Nanxiang County."

Normally, an infantry battalion has more than 700 soldiers, excluding logistics, auxiliary troops and miscellaneous chores, there are 500 combat soldiers, including 200 or 300 heavy armored soldiers.

However, logistics and auxiliary troops will also be equipped with simple protective gear, as well as knives, spears and bows and crossbows.

Logistics is just the focus of their work, which does not mean that they have no combat effectiveness.

The White Tiger Camp was a large camp, and the Ba people were very enthusiastic in joining. After careful consideration, the camp was assigned a force of 1,300 people.

After carrying dry food, the White Tiger Camp can launch a mountain expedition with shields.

Fa Zheng felt relieved after hearing this. No matter how many troops Lu Yi sent, his side already took the matter very seriously by moving the White Tiger Camp south.

(End of this chapter)