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

Thanks to the recapture of Jiangxia, the Wei army not only had to withstand the direct pressure from Liu Bei, but also faced the flank threat from Zhang Fei. If Zhang Fei could break through Zhangling and enter the Nanyang Basin, Cao Pi would definitely not be able to sleep at night.

Cao Pi was aware of this, so as soon as he received the news of Jiangxia's fall, he ordered Xu Huang to rebuild Zhangling County and turn it into an impregnable fortress. It would not be easy for Zhang Fei to attack from there.

However, it's not too difficult. Don't forget that Zhangling is backed by Dahong Mountain. If we can break through Dahong Mountain and coordinate with Zhang Fei from afar, we still have a great chance of taking Zhangling. This is one of the main reasons why Guan Xing formed the Wudang Flying Army.

The Wudang Flying Army was an elite force drawn from the Southern Barbarian Army. The Southern Barbarian Army lived in the Hengduan Mountains and was best at crossing mountains and valleys. Their combat skills were unparalleled. It should be noted that most of the elite soldiers in later armies came from Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan.

Although the current Wudang Flying Army is not as good as the kings of soldiers in later generations, it is still enough to create some surprises for the Wei army.

Zhuge Liang pondered, "I trust your judgment. In that case, let Jiang Wei lead the Wudang Flying Army to harass Dahong Mountain. But is it necessary to go to Qinling?"

Guan Xing replied, "Let's go after all. First of all, if the entire Wudang Flying Army rushes to Dahong Mountain, there will be too many people and too many targets. Too many people will make it difficult to carry out our mission. Secondly, although we don't expect to take Wuguan by sending troops into the Qinling Mountains to harass it, we can still create the illusion for the Wei army that Wuguan is under threat and that the Wei army's defenses are leaking from all sides, thereby undermining their confidence in winning."

Zhuge Liang pondered and said, "That makes sense. Let's do it your way."

It was already dawn. The two, who hadn't slept all night, got up to see Liu Bei and presented him with the defense plan they had devised overnight. Liu Bei couldn't find any flaws and decisively said, "Let's do it the way the Prime Minister wishes!"

I must say, having Zhuge Liang around makes things so much easier; you hardly have to use your brain.

Zhuge Liang then went to deploy the army to build a defense, while Guan Xing convened a meeting with Jiang Wei, Zhang Yi, E Huan, Liu Laosan, and other generals of the Wudang Flying Army.

Once everyone had arrived, Guan Xing was the first to ask, "Boyue, you've been training with the Wudang Flying Army for over two months now. How does it feel?"

Jiang Wei excitedly bowed and said, "Marquis Shence, rest assured, the Wudang Flying Army is absolutely capable of serving."

This was Jiang Wei's first time serving as the commander-in-chief since joining the army, and he was leading the Wudang Flying Army, which was carefully selected from the Nanman army. Naturally, Jiang Wei took it very seriously and went to the Ministry of War to request weapons and equipment for the Wudang Flying Army after taking command of the army.

After the equipment was fully equipped, training began, and they even went to the Wuling Mountains for a training exercise. After two months, the Wudang Flying Army had already achieved initial results.

Guan Xing laughed and said, "Since that's the case, let's take him out for a spin. What does the Prime Minister mean..."

After explaining Zhuge Liang's arrangements, Guan Xing continued, "Boyue, after you and General E Huan enter Dahong Mountain, you will obey the command of the Three Generals, harass the Wei army, and cooperate with the Three Generals to capture Zhangling."

Jiang Wei clasped his hands in a fist and bowed, saying, "This subordinate understands!"

Guan Xing continued, "Zhang Yi, your mission is to enter the Qinling Mountains to harass Wuguan and Yaoguan, creating the illusion that our army is going to seize Wuguan Road, cut off the connection between Guanzhong and Nanyang, and plot against Guanzhong. This will throw the Wei army into disarray. But remember, just harass them. Don't underestimate the enemy or advance rashly. I hope you will come back the same way you went."

There is a shortcut from Nanyang to Guanzhong, which is the Wuguan Road. The Wuguan Road starts from Wuguan in the east and ends at Yaoguan in the west, with a total length of more than 600 li. This is the road that Emperor Gaozu of Han took when he entered Guanzhong.

Zhang Yi bowed with great excitement and said, "Lord Shence, rest assured, this humble general will certainly not fail in his mission."

Zhang Yi was truly excited. He had led the troops from Yizhou to assemble here, and he originally thought he would be trapped in the military camp and obediently follow orders. Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived in Jiangling, Guan Xing transferred him to the Wudang Flying Army as a deputy general. Now he was being asked to lead his troops to act independently. This was a great opportunity for him.

After all, which general wouldn't want to lead an army and act alone?

Although military orders are absolute, generals prefer to issue orders themselves rather than obey them.

Seeing their high morale, Guan Xing stopped arguing and waved his hand, saying, "Go and prepare. We'll depart in two days."

There's no need to rush now; we should wait until we're fully prepared before taking any action.

While the Han army was busy making deployments, the Wei army was naturally not idle either.

Fancheng County Government Office...

Cao Ren looked at the generals who, like him, had not slept all night and said, "The deployment is complete. Now it's up to you all. I won't say any more morale-boosting nonsense. I'll just state a fact: after Liu Bei ascended the throne, he built many schools in various prefectures and counties. Guan Xing also served as an instructor in the army and trained many students. Now Liu Bei is not lacking in talent."

"What does it mean to have no shortage of talent? It means that after his Northern Expedition succeeds, he will have enough manpower to take over the counties and prefectures of the Central Plains. He will not need us or our sons and nephews to serve the Han Dynasty. In other words, if Liu Bei returns, your sons, nephews and even your clansmen will be stripped of their current official positions and your titles will be revoked. We will all go from being dukes and marquises to being commoners or even ordinary people. It is easy to become a commoner, but it will take many generations of effort to become a duke or marquis again. So do you understand what I mean?"

The reason Cao Wei is still able to hold on is because Liu Bei refuses to compromise with the gentry. If Liu Bei were willing to compromise, the gentry in the Central Plains would probably have surrendered by now.

Cao Ren understood the foundation of Cao Wei's state, so he didn't waste words and went straight to the generals' weaknesses, saying, "Whether you contribute to this battle or not is up to you."

Upon hearing this, the generals' expressions changed. Although most of them came from humble backgrounds, they had already been ennobled and naturally did not want Liu Bei to strip them of their titles. As for the excellent case of Tian Yu and Wen Pin, forget about it. They had all heard the story of buying a horse bone for a thousand pieces of gold. The first bone was worth a thousand pieces of gold, but the second bone was worthless.

The generals from aristocratic families were even more terrified. They had gone to great lengths to force Cao Pi to pass the Nine-Rank System, and now Liu Bei not only wanted to abolish it but also to promote some ridiculous imperial examination system. Wasn't this digging up the ancestral graves of the aristocratic families?

Therefore, driven by their shared interests, the generals shouted in unison, "General, rest assured, we will resist the Han army to the death and never let them cross the Han River."

Afterwards, the generals bowed and took their leave. Cao Ren, dressed in a long robe, sat weakly in a chair and rubbed his temples. His illness had not yet healed, and his poor body could no longer support the heavy iron armor. He could only command while wearing his robe.

With the active efforts of both sides, two days passed quickly.

That morning, Jiang Wei and E Huan led 5,000 Wudang Flying Army soldiers away from the camp to find Zhang Cheng.

After Liu Bei ascended the throne, Zhang Cheng was appointed as the General of the Warships, responsible for training the navy in Dongting Lake.

Unlike Zhou Xun's naval fleet, Zhang Cheng's navy was responsible for protecting the Yangtze River and operated in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River. Therefore, his ships were much smaller than those of Zhou Xun's navy.

Now that the two armies are at war, Zhang Cheng's navy has naturally been drawn into the battlefield. Jiang Wei plans to hide in Zhang Cheng's warships and sneak into Jiangxia.

Jiang Wei and Zhang Cheng met at Lankou, southeast of Xiangyang. They boarded a warship and sailed down the Han River, passing through Hankou and entering the Yangtze River. They landed in Zhu County and headed straight for Xiling. Jiang Wei planned to meet with Shen Yi in Xiling first to get information, and then go to Sui County to report to Zhang Fei.

Zhu Huan, the only naval commander of the Wei army, was still defending Ruxukou downstream. There were no Wei warships in the middle and upper reaches, so Zhang Cheng was able to travel unimpeded. After dropping Jiang Wei off at Zhu County on time, he continued eastward, preparing to go downstream to help Lu Xun destroy Zhu Huan's navy and completely drive the Wei army out of the Yangtze River.

After landing, Jiang Wei did not go to Xiling as originally planned. Shen Yi, who had received the news, took the initiative to come to find him. The two met halfway and exchanged information. Jiang Wei then turned around and went to Sui County.