Shu Chen

Chapter 561

Leaving Jingzhou from Yizhou, the mouth of Xiling Gorge above Yiling (Nanjin Pass in later generations, called Xiakou in the Three Kingdoms period) is the gateway of Jingzhou.The Dajiang waterway between this gorge and Yong'an (Kuimen), the gate of Yizhou, is still guarded by Wu County and Zigui County, which is also an outpost of the gate of Jingzhou.

But no matter how the Wu army is deployed in these two counties, it cannot resist the Han army's departure from Bashu.

The Han army located in the upper reaches of the river went out of Bashu, but it was "easy to advance and difficult to retreat" downstream, while the Wu army was "difficult to advance and easy to retreat" upstream.

In summer and autumn, when the river surges and the flow speeds up, no matter how elite the Wu army's navy is, they dare not enter the Wu Gorge.For example, the Han army only needs to throw the dried sharp wood into the river, so that the warships of the state of Wu can never return.

The battle of Yiling in the past also proved that Wu Jun's attempt to intercept Wu County and Zigui County was a waste of effort.

Therefore, Lu Xun, who was given full authority to oversee the war in Jingzhou, learned the previous lesson, and also gave in and stationed troops at Xiakou, and then moved his troops to Yiling to sit in command after the Han army invaded.

As for Wu County and Zigui County~~
Leave some soldiers and horses and some supporting warships as a precaution.

But the accident still happened.

Wu County, which is adjacent to Kuimen, has not yet found the Han army, but Zigui County behind Wu County was first attacked by the Han army.

In other words, this is also the biggest reason why the prime minister changed his previous style of using troops and let Hu Jidu Liu Lin and Jiang Shu's two troops attack Fangling City.

In Gein's prime minister's plan, whether Fangling City can be captured is not important, but after Hu Ji and others arrive in Fangling County, they must succeed in attacking Zigui County in a straight line south from here!
This road was the marching route chosen by Meng Da when he served as Yidu prefect and stationed in Zigui, and was sent by the late emperor Liu Bei to assist Liu Feng in capturing the three eastern counties: forcibly crossing Wushan and Dabashan (Shennongjia).

This is the road opened up by the Ba people.

Long before King Wu defeated Zhou, the three eastern counties belonged to the Yong State, while the area around Wushan belonged to the Ba State.

These two ancient countries both participated in King Wu's war against Zhou, and they had been fighting with each other constantly, thus opening up the passage from Zigui to Fangling County. 【Note 1】

Today, Jiangdong is not prepared for this road.

It's not surprising when you think about it.

The Three Eastern Counties and Zigui County are both in the hands of Jiangdong, so why guard against a rough and difficult road that is invincible?
Therefore, it is not surprising that Liu Lin and Jiang Shu, who captured Fangling County, went south and broke through Zigui County.

Zigui County was destroyed, and Wu County, which was sandwiched by the Han army, could not be defended.

This allowed Zheng Pu, Guan Xing and others, who had been ready to go, to go straight down to the mouth of Xiling Gorge without hindrance.Moreover, the soldiers advanced quickly, and Bu Zhi, who was the governor of Xiling, had just received the news that Zigui had fallen.

But for Bu Zhi, it doesn't matter if he gets the news sooner or later.

The defense of Xiakou has always been very strict. No matter how elite the Han army is, it cannot be breached before Lu Xun's troops come to Yiling.

However, in order to buy this time for Zheng Pu and other ministries, the prime minister spent a lot of time to make the soldiers rush for nearly a thousand miles. How could it be a useless effort?

The Han army did not attack the gorge!
After Zheng Pu and Guan Xing went downstream to the mouth of the gorge, they abandoned the boat and climbed up to the north bank with ropes and other things before the Wu army had time to attack the fleet, and fled into the wild Daba Mountain.

This move stunned Bu Zhi, who was ordering the soldiers to fight.

Although the Han army is good at crossing mountains and ridges, marching and fighting requires a continuous supply of food, fodder and supplies from the rear. How can they get supplies when they enter Daba Mountain?
And it is impossible to attack Linju County from Daba Mountain, or turn to Jingshan to attack Bian County and northward to attack Xiangyang!
Not to mention that these places have long been dilapidated due to decades of war, Jiang Dong also fortified the walls and cleared the fields after taking over, and is ready to face the battle!
How could they hoard food, fodder and supplies for the Han army to plunder?
He couldn't understand it in his heart.

But after he passed the general information to Jiangling City, Lu Xun directly changed the marching route.

Originally, Lu Xun, who was also fighting hard, rushed to Yiling with [-] soldiers in front, and the generals and generals who supervised the army and transported food and fodder behind.

But as soon as he heard the messenger's report, he immediately ordered the whole army to go north to compile the county.

They also sent messengers to Wuchang Palace, and asked Sun Quan, who was sitting in the rear, to let the navy immediately transfer the food and supplies to Xiangyang City.

Yes, at this time he had roughly guessed the intention of the Han army.

The Han army did not plan to compete with Wu on both sides of the river, but intended to capture the three eastern counties and Xiangyang City.

In fact it is.

When the Prime Minister formulated the plan to conquer Wu last year, he had no intention of entering Jingnan or attacking Jiangling City.

Without him, the odds are slim.

The first reason is that it is natural to repeat the mistakes of the Yiling battle.

In the previous battle of Yiling, the first emperor Liu Bei and Lu Xun's soldiers and horses were roughly equal, but due to geographical factors, the first emperor also sent Huang Quan's warlords to deploy defenses on the north bank to protect the gorge and ensure the return of the army.

It's just good luck tricking people.

At that time, the first emperor's soldiers and horses were defeated first, which made Huang Quan's troops cut off their way back.

This is also the biggest reason that prompted the first emperor to utter the phrase "If you live up to Huang Quan, you should live up to your own authority".

Now, Zheng Pu and Guan Xing came out from Kuimen, and their strength was inferior to that of Jiangdong; even if they broke through the Buzhi Department and captured the gorge, they still couldn't have enough troops to protect their way back when they continued downstream to Yiling.

Furthermore, Jingnan today is not what it was then.

During the Battle of Yiling, there were many counties in Jingnan who yearned for the kindness of the late emperor and raised troops to respond.

For example, the first emperor sent Ma Liang to Wuling County to recruit Wuxi barbarians as another army to attack Jingnan.

But now Jingnan has belonged to Jiangdong for many years, and has spontaneously launched many rebellions, and has long since lost the strength to respond to the Han army.

Another reason is the elite Jiangdong Navy.

The Great Han has been devoted to the Northern Expedition for these years, and has little spare energy to build a navy and build warships, and is unable to compete with Jiangdong on the great river.

In the end, it is the primary and secondary points of strategy.

Returning to the old capital and restoring Guanzhong is the top priority of the big man!
The attack on Wu this time was not only to calm the anger of the government and the opposition, but also for the purpose of resuming the Han and Wei wars in Guanzhong in the future, so as not to join Jiangdong in the first place and severely injure it first.

And occupying the three eastern counties, Wei Guo will have to guard Ziwu Valley, Wuguan and Nanyang Wancheng with heavy troops in the future!
It can be regarded as forcing him to divide his troops.

In this way, it is easy to understand that Zheng Pu and Guan Xing drove their troops into Daba Mountain.

It is nothing more than to seize the county first, occupy the terminus of the Bashan North Road from Jingzhou from the East Three Counties, and curb the reinforcements from Jiangdong rushing to the East Three Counties, so that the Prime Minister's Department can successfully capture Shangyong City.

And Zheng Pu and others entered Daba Mountain and then transferred to Jingshan, how to supply food and fodder and ensure that they occupy the county before the Wu army~~
Lu Xun had the answer in his heart.

It's Jingman.
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[Note 1: At the end of the Three Kingdoms period (AD 260), the State of Wu set up guards in Xingshan County on this road. 】

(End of this chapter)