Chaos of the Three Kingdoms Summons

Chapter 2332 Wu Qi's heavy troops attacked Jingyang, Bai Qi's heavy troops stationed at Chibi

At the same time, news of the Battle of Dabie Mountains spread to Jingzhou and Yangjiao areas at the fastest speed.

After receiving this news, the two military commanders Bai Qi and Wu Qi reacted in unison.

The Jingzhou area where Bai Qi was located was right next to the Jianghuai area, so he received the news the fastest.

Therefore, he immediately stationed the available troops in the Chibi area with Zhang Liao as the vanguard.

Of course, in Bai Qi’s mind, his strategic conception could never have anything to do with the word “Chibi”. It should probably be called the “Chaisang Landing Plan”!

The so-called "Chaisang Landing Plan" means going straight down the river and forcing the enemy's naval coalition to leave the water or retreat to Chaisang by "driving ducks ashore". It does not seek a decisive battle on the water, avoids the main force of the enemy navy, and goes straight to Chaisang. It lands on the beach near Chaisang, breaks through Zhu Yuanzhang's base camp, and then joins forces with the remaining troops. In this way, the enemy's naval coalition cruising on the Yangtze River will be like a mouse in a bellows, and it is only a matter of time before it is eliminated.

With the Jianghuai region about to disappear, Chaisang will be the gateway to the four Jiangdong counties. After Chaisang, there will be no special natural barriers to defend.

Therefore, this is also an important defensive area for the enemy.

Attacking here can resolve this war most effectively and quickly. If we capture this place, the four counties of Jiangdong will basically be in our pocket.

Of course, the prerequisite for all this is to break through Wu Zixu's obstruction.

At the same time, Bai Qi stationed a large number of troops at Chibi, as if he was going to move south to Chaisang. This also forced Wu Zixu's troops to not move rashly, preventing the other side from having the possibility of intervening in the Jianghuai battlefield.

Zhu Di was on his last legs in the Jianghuai battlefield, and Bai Qi also wanted to cut off his opponent's last legs and keep him in the Jianghuai region. Therefore, he had to avoid some risks as much as possible.

If Wu Zixu really dared to mobilize a large force and go up the rivers in the Jianghuai region, then Bai Qi at that time would have to mobilize the entire army, with the assistance of Qi Jiguang, to capture Chaisang with all his might and set the location of the decisive battle between the two sides on land.

This also gave Wu Zixu a dilemma: it was wrong for him to save Zhu Di, and it was also wrong not to save him.

Although Wu Qi received the news a few days later than Bai Qi, it was not too late.

Before, after he completely took over Jiaozhou, he was not in a hurry to carry out the next plan. Firstly, he wanted to stabilize the chaotic environment in Jiaozhou.

Especially the Shanyue who took advantage of the situation to cause chaos, Wu Qi needed to sort them out.

Initially, although the Shanyue were lured by the Jin army and used to destroy Jiaozhou's rear, after these people tasted the sweetness, it was impossible for Wu Qi to make them give up the benefits they had gained without using some cruel means.

Secondly, it is to allow the soldiers who have been fighting for a long time to get some time to rest.

Soldiers will also get tired if they keep fighting. After all, they are not robots, but mortals.

This kind of rest allows soldiers to free themselves from the tense combat state, relax their bodies and minds, restore their physical strength, and also prepare for the next mission.

During the rest period, the troops usually carry out some necessary maintenance and supplies to ensure sufficient equipment and supplies, while also adjusting the soldiers' thoughts and psychological states.

Rest and recuperation is not only for restoring physical strength, but more importantly for improving the combat effectiveness of the entire army.

Third, it was to wait for the Jianghuai region, waiting for the opportunity to attack from both the north and the south. Although Shouchun was still struggling in the Jianghuai region, it was only a matter of time before the war in the Jianghuai region was completely over. It was time for him to start the next battle.

In fact, after Wu Qi took over the entire Jiaozhou, he rested for a while.

However, this does not mean that Jiaozhou has completely ceased fighting.

At least, Yang Su's troops were still fighting against Zhu Yuanzhang.

However, Yang Su fought for more than half a year, but the front line did not advance at all, and was firmly blocked outside Jingnan by Zhu Yuanzhang.

But Wu Qi didn't care about him. If he couldn't conquer him, then so be it. At least, Yang Su successfully tied up part of Zhu Yuanzhang's troops. Even Zhu Yuanzhang himself was stationed in Jingnan at this time.

This will open up opportunities for him in Yangzhou.

When Wu Qi rested before, it was not really just for rest. In order to sort out Jiaozhou, he needed to sort out those Shanyue people. Another purpose for doing this was to prepare for the current battle of Yangzhou.

The Shanyue people were mainly distributed in Jiaozhou and the southern part of Yangzhou, and there were many mountainous and forested terrains here. While Wu Qi was clearing out these Shanyue people, he naturally obtained a large number of Shanyue captives, which was equivalent to him obtaining a large number of guides.

During Zhu Yuanzhang's heyday, he had an army of 500,000.

However, not counting the temporary troops formed later, such as the troops of aristocratic families in Yangzhou, or the so-called universal military force in the Jianghuai region, after several major battles in Jiaozhou and Jingbei, Zhu Yuanzhang had actually lost more than half of his troops, nearly 270,000 soldiers.

Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang’s loss of so many soldiers and horses does not mean that all of them died in the battle. It also includes those who were captured.

It sounds like Zhu Yuanzhang still has nearly half of his troops, 230,000, which is still a terrifying number.

However, don't forget that among these 230,000 miles, we also have to exclude the naval forces with the most complete organization.

And if this navy was removed, how many infantry and cavalry would Zhu Yuanzhang have left?
Zhu Yuanzhang used almost all of these troops in the Jingnan area, defending against Bai Qi in the north and Yang Su in the south.

After the loss of Jiaozhou, Zhu Yuanzhang gritted his teeth and only transferred 20,000 troops from Jingnan to reinforce this place.

Adding the original 50,000 troops in Yangzhou, there were barely 70,000 troops in Yangzhou.

However, the combat effectiveness of the original 50,000 soldiers in Yangzhou could not be guaranteed. Among the 50,000 soldiers, 20,000 of them were regular Yangzhou soldiers, but they were Yangzhou soldiers that had been ravaged by Chen Qianzhi.

As for the remaining 30,000, they are the soldiers from the aristocratic families of Yangzhou.

Of the 100,000 soldiers from the Shijia clan, the 30,000 that were sent to Jiaozhou are now dead.

Of the 40,000 who went to the Jianghuai region, half of them have already died. The remaining half will not last many days and will also die.

These thirty thousand are the last ones.

(End of this chapter)