The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

In addition to Jiang Wei, Guan Xing also assigned two deputy commanders to the Wudang Flying Army: Zhang Yi, a captain who had recently arrived with the Yizhou reinforcements, and E Huan, the fiercest general in the south.

In addition, an instructor was assigned to the Wudang Flying Army, namely Liu Laosan, who had made meritorious contributions in the battle to annihilate Lu Xun and had the potential to be an instructor. He was put in charge of the political commissar role in the army and responsible for the ideological work of the Wudang Flying Army.

When the appointment was made, E Huan had some objections to the fact that the younger Jiang Wei was his superior, but he was a simple-minded person who was easy to appease; he could be convinced by beating him.

Therefore, Jiang Wei decisively invited E Huan to a duel. Except for the difficulty in foot combat, Jiang Wei completely overwhelmed E Huan in horse combat and archery, easily defeating him.

Subsequently, Guan Xing handed over the Wudang Flying Army to the new leadership team, including Jiang Wei, Zhang Yi, E Huan, and Liu Laosan, and continued to focus his energy on the Southern Allied Army.

Guan Xing repeatedly convened meetings with Yong Kai, Meng Huo, and others. After several discussions, they finally reached a reorganization agreement, appointing Yong Kai as the commander-in-chief, Meng Huo, Zhu Bao, Gao Ding, and King Mulu as deputy commanders, and other leaders as junior officers. The Southern Army was completely reorganized into the Zhennan Army, and given a military flag and designation.

He then petitioned Liu Bei to appoint Yong Kai as General Who Pacifies the South, several other deputy generals as generals with miscellaneous titles, and other leaders as officers or colonels, thus temporarily uniting the loosely organized Southern Allied Army into a cohesive unit.

With this, the reorganization task entrusted to him by Liu Bei was completely completed. What remained was the process of getting them to work together, which would take time.

While Guan Xing was reorganizing the army in the south, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhuge Liang and others were not idle. Instead, they sent people to actively build camps outside Xiangyang and sent the army to Xiangyang in batches.

There are too many troops this time, so it's impossible for them to all rush in and set off at the same time. They will definitely have to be transported in batches.

Time quickly came to the second day of the tenth month. Liu Bei issued an edict, ordering Crown Prince Liu Shan to stay in Jiangling, while Zhang Zhao, the Grand Secretary, would remain in the capital to coordinate the rear. He would also leave 10,000 troops to be led by Jiang Wan, Fei Yi, and Dong Yun to defend the capital. Liu Bei himself would take Guan Yu, Zhuge Liang, and others to the battlefield to command the three armies. Sun Quan would naturally also travel with the army, as Liu Bei could not leave him in the capital.

On the morning of the third day of the tenth month, Liu Bei, dressed in military attire, personally went to the training ground to boost morale, and then the army set off for Xiangyang.

The distance from Jingzhou to Xiangyang is 400 li, and it took the army a full eight days to arrive.

Upon learning of Liu Bei's arrival, Zhao Yun, who was stationed in Xiangyang, and his son-in-law Guan Ping went out of the city to greet him. When they saw Liu Bei from afar, they ran forward and bowed, saying, "Your subject Zhao Yun (Guan Ping) greets Your Majesty."

Liu Bei, still mounted on his horse, asked, "Is the military camp ready?"

Zhao Yun replied, "It is all prepared, and all supplies have arrived. The army can enter with peace of mind."

Liu Bei said, "Then let's arrange accommodations for the soldiers first, and then we can go into the city to discuss military matters."

With a major battle imminent, the morale of the soldiers was of utmost importance, so Liu Bei naturally had to personally oversee the situation to ensure the stability of the army.

The matter was busy until evening before it was finished, and then Liu Bei led everyone to Xiangyang City.

Xiangyang City was rebuilt after Zhao Yun took over, and it was magnificent, grand and imposing, and could be described as indestructible.

Liu Bei led his men on a walk around the city walls, and finally looked north towards Fancheng, where the Wei flag was flying, and asked, "Anguo, what do you think of the new Xiangyang?"

Guan Xing laughed and said, "Of course there is no problem. It's a pity that Fancheng is missing. If we can recapture Fancheng and build a pontoon bridge across the Han River to connect the two cities, then we will truly be able to attack or defend at will."

Xiangyang is in the south and Fancheng is in the north. Although the two cities are separated by the Han River, they share the same defense system. Historically, the Southern Song Dynasty relied on the Xiangyang-Fancheng defense system to withstand decades of fierce attacks from the Mongol cavalry.

Liu Bei patted the wall and laughed, "What's the rush? After this battle, not only Fancheng, but the entire Nanyang and even the entire Central Plains will belong to our Han Dynasty. Let's go back to the governor's mansion."

Upon returning to his residence and settling into the main hall, Liu Bei asked first, "Prime Minister, have you counted how many people we have on this expedition?"

Zhuge Liang replied, "Not counting the grain transport and corvée labor, the total strength of all the troops is 280,000, which is almost 300,000 troops. This includes General Guan Ping's 20,000 cavalry. If corvée labor is included, the total strength is 700,000."

Liu Bei exclaimed, "Seven hundred thousand! I never imagined that I, Liu Xuande, would one day command an army of a million. What about the Wei army?"

Zhao Yun bowed and said, "Your Majesty, according to the scouts' reconnaissance over the past few days, the Wei army that has come to Nanyang numbers as many as 400,000, and with the grain transport and corvée labor, it exceeds one million. This is truly the entire nation's army."

Cao Wei had a million soldiers, while the Han Dynasty had 700,000. This number was even larger than that of the Battle of Red Cliffs. To be more specific, this was definitely the largest battle in terms of scale and number of people fought by the Han Dynasty since the restoration of the Han Dynasty under Emperor Guangwu. The outcome directly determined the ownership of the country.

Liu Bei then asked, "Who will lead the army this time? Cao Ren?"

Apart from Cao Ren, Cao Wei truly had no other capable commanders.

Zhao Yun nodded and said, "Yes, Cao Ren arrived in Fancheng yesterday, and Cao Pi has also arrived in Wancheng to take charge. It is clear that Cao Pi is also determined to win this great battle."

Liu Bei continued, "Since that's the case, let's fight without restraint. But what are your opinions on how we should fight?"

Zhuge Liang said, "A major battle of this magnitude will naturally involve both sides probing each other and waiting for the other to make a mistake. It's impossible to start a decisive battle right away. Therefore, we should set up defenses, prioritize our own safety, and then look for opportunities to fight."

Many major battles in history were fought after a long and drawn-out struggle. For example, the Battle of Changping saw the Qin and Zhao armies hold out in Changping for three whole years, until both sides were on the verge of running out of supplies before the final battle.

For example, Liu Bei's previous battle in Hanzhong also took two or three years to finish off Cao Cao, so it's precisely in such situations that one must not be hasty.

Guan Xing chimed in, "Agreed. I heard Cao Ren is near death. If we can wear him down, we won't need to fight."

"Hahahaha..." Everyone in the hall burst into laughter as soon as these words were spoken.

Although Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and the others laughed heartily, they knew that the idea of ​​wearing Cao Ren down was somewhat wishful thinking. In most cases, their own supplies would run out before Cao Ren even died.

It should be noted that the Han army's supplies were inferior to those of the Wei army. If this dragged on, the Han army would most likely lose in the end.

However, since both armies had just arrived at the front lines, there was no rush. Liu Bei ordered everyone to rest first and discuss the matter again tomorrow.

Everyone else went to rest, but the responsible Zhuge Liang did not. Instead, he pulled Guan Xingqiang into his room, spread out a map of both sides of the Han River, and said, "It is impossible for hundreds of thousands of troops to be crammed into Xiangyang. They must be stationed separately. Let's discuss how to do it most safely."

Forced to work overtime, Guan Xing stared at the map and said, "Prime Minister, you speak, and I'll add to it."

Guan Xing was a little intimidated by this level of battle, so he handed over the initiative to Zhuge Liang.

The reason was simple: he trusted Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Liang did not hesitate and began to arrange his troops according to the map. Guan Xing would occasionally chime in to help him find any omissions or deficiencies.

Throughout his life, Zhuge Liang was extremely cautious. His troop deployment was not only comprehensive but also made full use of his manpower. For example, if a sentry post required ten soldiers to guard it, he would never send only nine, resulting in insufficient manpower, nor would he send eleven, which would be a waste of manpower. This meticulous approach to planning and strategizing made him a master of managing his time.

Fortunately, the forces were sufficient for this battle, so Zhuge Liang did not have to be as meticulous and stingy as he was during the Northern Expeditions in history. With Guan Xing's efforts to fill any gaps, the Han River defense line could be described as impregnable.

The two chatted until dawn, and finally Guan Xing said, "I can't find any flaws in this defensive plan, but it's not ideal to only defend and not attack. I suggest dividing the Wudang Flying Army into two parts. One part, led by Zhang Yi, will enter the Qinling Mountains to harass Wuguan and disrupt the morale of the Wei army. The other part, led by Jiang Wei and E Huan, will enter the Dahong Mountains to assist Uncle in attacking Zhangling. If Uncle can take Zhangling and open up the Sui-Zhang Corridor, we will have completely gained the initiative."