Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 332 Jiangdong is prosperous, here in one fell swoop

In March of the 24th year of Jian'an and April of 219 AD, Sun Quan of Jiangdong received a letter from Liu Bei.

The letter said that he was fighting Cao Cao in Longyou, and Cao Cao's main force had been restrained by him in Xiliang. He hoped that Sun Quan could take advantage of this opportunity to decisively send troops to Hefei, occupy Huainan, and threaten Cao Cao's center.

Of course, Liu Bei and Sun Quan hadn't turned against each other at this time. The superficial relationship between the two parties was an ally, and Liu Bei also married Sun Shangxiang.

Since only the high-level people knew about the plans of the two parties, even Zhang Zhao and the others only learned about this matter at the end of last year, so outsiders don't even know that they have already been intriguing, secretly plotting against each other.

So at least on the surface, Sun Quan thought that his disguise had deceived Liu Bei, and when he saw this letter from Liu Bei, he immediately became happy.

"Liu Bei also has a day of begging for loneliness."

Ruxukou, in Sun Quan's mansion, he looked at the letter, looked around and smiled triumphantly at everyone: "He begged Gu to send troops to Hefei to relieve the siege of Xiliang."

Sternly smiled and said: "Cao Cao also sent a letter a few days ago, saying that he has trapped Liu Bei's main force in Xieyuguan, Guanzhong, Rongqiu Mountain, Lucheng, Xiliang, and even Nanyang's army is confronting Shen Chen at Taiting. Completely empty, let us send troops."

"Hahahahaha."

Sun Quan laughed heartily and said: "In today's world, Cao Cao and Liu Bei are fighting each other. The world says that Gu is the weakest and will be occupied by them in the future. But now Cao and Liu want to rely on Gu. Whoever helps alone will be destroyed. They There is also today!"

Kan Ze said: "Now that Cao Cao and Liu Bei are going to win over Marquis Wu, this is a good time for Marquis Wu to make contributions. Maybe after this battle, Marquis Wu will be able to rule the roost in the south."

"That's right, Jingzhou is empty, and Marquis Wu can take advantage of the situation."

"Huainan is fine too. If Huainan can be controlled, Marquis Wu will be even stronger."

"But forget about Huainan, let's talk about it later, it's important to take Jingzhou first."

"That's right, Marquis Wu, don't pay attention to Liu Bei's words, and wait patiently. When the food, grass, soldiers and horses are almost transported, you can start attacking."

Zhuge Jin, Gu Yong, Sun Shao, Kan Ze, and Yan Jian expressed their opinions one after another.

Zhang Zhao is not here, he is sitting in the rear.

Only Lu Xun said nothing, sitting cross-legged on the end seat, smiling and saying nothing.

Sun Quan saw that he was strange, so he asked curiously: "Bo Yan, everyone expresses their opinions, why are you silent?"

Lu Xun got up and cupped his hands and said, "Reporting to Marquis Wu, I think we should put on a show."

"Oh?"

Sun Quan stretched out his hand and said, "Explain in detail."

Lu Xun explained: "Our every move is in the eyes of Huang She and Zhao Yun. If we don't act, they may be suspicious."

"Well"

Sun Quan thought about it, and he remembered that it was Lu Su who suggested that he should send troops to Hefei at Liu Bei's request.

The purpose of doing this is of course to show obedience to Liu Bei in order to confuse him.

But the more important thing is that Cao Cao's Huainan was indeed very empty at that time. There were only 7000 people in Hefei, and Cao Cao was in Koulueguan Zhongxiliang at that time.

It's a pity that the result of that expedition...

Thinking of this, Sun Quan hesitated and said, "Hefei city is so high and thick, I'm afraid it won't be easy to capture."

Lu Xun said with a smile: "It's not to attack Hefei, but under the guise of attacking Hefei, we will attack Xunyang from the north of the river by land and water, cooperate with the navy to seize Xiling, and then go straight to Jiangxia!"

"Ah."

Sun Quan nodded slightly, this is a good idea.

Because Sun Quan's forces retreated to Jiangdong in an all-round way, they had no control over Huainan at all, so they could only send troops from the water.

If the attack on Hefei is used as an excuse to go out of Ruxushui and enter Chaohu Lake, and attack Xunyang from the land south of Chaohu Lake.

Lu Xun continued: "There are still three issues before us. One is Shen Chenjun."

"Although Shen Chen's army confronted Cao Hong at Taiting, last year he burned a lot of Cao Hong's food and grass, and then came to Chendu, causing a lot of power and blowing the morale of Cao's army."

"At this time, the two have not fought yet, they just confronted each other for more than [-] miles. If Jingzhou is attacked, Shen Chen will definitely stay with some soldiers and horses to help. His soldiers are all elite soldiers. If he rushes to help Xiakou, we will deal with Jiangxia. It will be difficult for the navy."

After Lu Xun finished speaking, Zhuge Jin also nodded and said, "That's the reason. If you can communicate with Cao Hong, hoping that he can take the initiative to attack and entangle Shen Chen's main force, that would be great."

Sun Quan said: "Then Gu will handle this matter. Gu will write a letter in his own hand and tell Cao Hong that Cao Cao asked Gu to help send troops. I hope he can cooperate."

"Wu Hou Yingming."

Lu Xun patted Sun Quan's ass for a while, and then continued: "The second problem is that the food, grass and supplies have not been completely transported. We transported the grain from the mountains. Although it is concealed, it is slow after all, and the soldiers and horses have not been completely transported. If the training is good, it is estimated that at least June and July will be reluctant to send troops."

Sun Quan stroked his beard and frowned. This is indeed a serious problem.

Because of their own interests, the aristocratic family was afraid that after being annexed by Liu Bei, the Jiangdong gentry would be liquidated. Liu Bei forced them to hand over their population and land, so they could only choose to be tied to a warship with Sun Quan, so they contributed.

But no matter what, since they want to attack from Jingnan and Yuzhang, they have to prepare a lot of food and grass, and the private soldiers handed over by the aristocratic families have to be assigned and retrained.

Even though they had been operating secretly a few years ago, they were afraid that Liu Bei had a relationship in Jiangdong at that time, so they didn't dare to be blatant, so they could only use the excuse of crusade against Shanyue to secretly transport grain from the southeastern hills to Nanchang for storage.

However, it was not easy to store grain in ancient times. To build a granary, it must be protected from moisture and ventilated, and the grain must be taken out to dry frequently. It is difficult to store it for one or two years, let alone three or four years.

Therefore, there has not been enough food and grass in Guiyang, and it is supplemented by plundering Jiaozhou at ordinary times, but when a big battle is about to be fought, a large number of soldiers and horses are dispatched, and there are so many civilians and auxiliary soldiers, which will affect dozens of troops and population Tens of millions of stones are needed, and the food and grass needed are tens of millions of stones. How can it be so easy to gather them all?

After thinking for a while, Sun Quan asked, "If I send people to wipe out the mountains in that area, kill them all, and plunder their food and grass, is that enough?"

"Probably enough."

Lu Xun replied.

"Ah."

Sun Quan nodded: "Then let He Qi and Zhu Ran go there."

"only."

Lu Xun responded.

The Shanyue Rebellion was not completely eliminated until Soochow destroyed the country.

Over the years, although Sun Quan has repeatedly attacked, constantly attacking Shanyue and plundering their population and supplies to supplement Jiangdong's losses over the years.

However, the southeast hills stretched for hundreds of thousands of square kilometers, and Sun Quan sent troops many times, only attacking the peripheral area near Jiangdong.

In deeper places, such as the large area around Huangshan City, Anhui Province in later generations, there are still many mountains inhabiting it.

They are actually Han people who hid in the mountains due to the war, but because they did not pay taxes, refused to accept corvee, and refused to be conscripted as soldiers, they became the targets of the government's attack, also known as black households.

Sun Quan's attitude towards them was to kill, rob, and plunder, forcing them to become obedient citizens under his rule.

Now the front line of Guiyang is dispatching troops and generals. According to Sun Quan's intention, at least 5 troops are needed to send troops to Xiling, and to take Jingnan, block Yidao and Yiling, and then cooperate with the eastern army to attack Jiangxia, then Guiyang will also At least [-] to [-] people are needed.

If it was Sun Quan in history, he would naturally have these troops.Because before and after the Battle of Chibi, his total strength had exceeded 8. When Xiangjiang confronted, he brought 5 troops to confront Liu Bei's [-] troops.

In the subsequent battles of Hefei, more than 20 troops were dispatched each time. Even in the last battle against Hefei, Wu Guotai Fu Zhuge Ke brought [-] troops and surrounded Hefei tightly.

Therefore, counting the troops left behind and deployed in Jingzhou, at least before backstabbing allies, Sun Quan's total strength should be between 25 and 40, which is still very powerful.

But now?

In the battle of Yi County, it was flooded.

In the battle of Hongkou, it was burned by fire.

The battle of Hefei did not cause much loss, but Sun Quan must have had a hard time.

After several disastrous defeats, Sun Quan's total force suffered heavy losses.

As a last resort, he had no choice but to compromise with the Jiangdong gentry, and this time it was half-threatening and half-compromising to let those aristocratic families bleed.

When Lin Lin always came down, he only gathered more than 20 troops. Counting the troops left behind, he could dispatch only 5 or [-] troops, which was very reluctant.

And this is under the circumstances of the bloodletting of the family.

If the aristocratic family does not cooperate this time, it is estimated that Sun Quan's total army strength will be more than 30, and the number of troops that can be dispatched is probably less than [-]. In confrontation with Liu Bei and Cao Cao, under the condition that there are still troops left behind, each person will dispatch two troops. Compared with the [-] army, it is as shabby as it is.

After all, they can mobilize so many troops, which means that counting the troops left behind, the total strength may have exceeded 40, and Cao Cao may have exceeded 60 or [-]. Compared with them, it is naturally far inferior.

That's why Sun Quan urgently needs to concentrate his forces, mainly in Ruxukou, Chaisang, Guiyang and other places. As long as Jingnan and Jiangxia Xiling can be captured quickly, there will be no worries about replenishing the army.

Lu Xun finally said: "The last problem is also the most difficult one to solve. To fight a war, we need to see the right timing, but we are advancing on both sides. How can Guiyang's army attack at the same time as us? Even if the time is agreed, if the timing is wrong Alright, or if the heavens are not beautiful, wouldn’t all previous efforts be in vain?”

"This"

As soon as this question came out, Sun Quan was stumped at once.

Zhuge Jin and the others around him also looked troubled.

They used to only think about two routes to advance, but they forgot the issue of overall planning for a while.

At that time, the means of communication were extremely backward, and beacon fire was already the most advanced means of transmitting messages at that time.

But that method is not concealed. If the enemy sees it, they will definitely become suspicious.

And how far would it take to build the Beacon Tower from Chaisang all the way to Guiyang County?

So the means of communication is indeed a big problem.

Everyone is frowning.

Only Sun Quan noticed that Lu Xun's face was normal, and asked, "Does Boyan have a plan?"

Lu Xun cupped his hands with a smile and said, "I am going to report to Marquis Wu."

"Oh?"

Sun Quan hurriedly said, "Tell me quickly."

Lu Xun said: "When I was in Wu County, I saw a Shanyue man who raised pigeons."

"Pigeon?"

Everyone wondered, this thing was indeed widely used at that time, and many people in the court and the people were keen to keep it, but what does it have to do with the transmission of letters?
Lu Xun explained: "The Shanyue people were migrated here, but his family still stayed in the mountains. I have seen him release the pigeons in his hand, and finally found his former residence and brought back some pieces of cloth. .”

"You mean, this pigeon has the ability to go home?"

Sun Quan asked.

Lu Xun nodded: "Exactly. It is rumored that Zhang Qian and Ban Chao used pigeons to convey messages when they were in the Western Regions, and tied ropes to the pigeons' feet. The color of the ropes represented a moral. Although I don't know if the rumors are true or not, But now paper is more portable, if you tie a note, wouldn’t it be possible to pass military orders?”

At the end of the Qin Dynasty and the beginning of the Han Dynasty, because Liu Bang believed that pigeons were auspicious, he raised many pigeons in the palace.

Just as the saying goes, it works from top to bottom. Because of Liu Bang's liking, officials and common people also raised pigeons one after another, which led to the popularity of raising pigeons among the people.

A large number of Western Han pottery pigeons and bronze pigeons were unearthed in later generations, as well as some document records, which prove that pigeons gradually became a kind of domestic animal in the folk at this time.

However, the carrier pigeon was not clearly recorded in the history books until the Tang Dynasty. After the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, it widely appeared in the history books of the Northern Song Dynasty, Liao Dynasty, Xixia Dynasty, Jin Dynasty, Southern Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty, etc., and it was really used in wars.

But this does not mean that the people of the Han Dynasty did not know that pigeons had the ability to navigate.

It's just that bamboo slips were used for writing at that time instead of paper, and pigeons could not carry bamboo slips, so it is reasonable for carrier pigeons to appear only after paper became popular among the people in the Tang Dynasty.

But now it's different.

Because the perfect recipe for paper has been around for over 20 years.

Shen Chen asked craftsmen to try and make mistakes in Nanyang, and finally found the best paper formula using bamboo as raw material.

This naturally changed with the advent of new paper.

When Lu Xun saw the Shanyue people using pigeons last time, he had an idea, thinking that if a lightweight piece of paper was tied to the pigeon's feet to pass the letter, wouldn't it be possible to deliver the message in a very short time?
So after thinking of this question, he immediately ran an experiment. He didn't expect that the Shanyue people could really let the pigeons bring the letter back to the tribe in the southeast hills.

Now they are facing the problem of communication.

Wouldn't the appearance of pigeons solve this problem?

When Sun Quan heard Lu Xun's words, he hurriedly asked, "Is this possible?"

Lu Xun nodded seriously: "It's possible, Xun has already tried it."

"Hahahahaha."

Sun Quan was overjoyed and said happily, "Even the heavens are helping the orphan, and Boyan alone is better than a hundred thousand troops."

Lu Xun humbly lowered his head and smiled, cupping his hands and said, "This is the destiny of Marquis Wu!"

"Hahaha."

Sun Quan laughed and said, "Then leave this matter to Boyan."

"only."

Lu Xun bowed again.

All three problems have been solved, Jiangdong is prosperous, all in one fell swoop!
(End of this chapter)