Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 355

A wise man will always have a loss, and a fool will always have a gain.

Strictly speaking, Shen Chen is just a grand strategic planner, and the specific details are indeed far inferior to Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong.

Because at the time of planning, I only thought about how to completely wipe out the Jiangdong Army, and didn't think so far. Later, as the war progressed, I made a temporary arrangement and decided to use the flood to destroy Cao's army.

The result was that Huang Zhong set off at least half a month later than the original plan, and it rained heavily in Jingzhou. Only then did Shen Chen remember that Xiangfan was flooded, and Jiangling probably wasn't much better.

In history, Jiangling was not flooded, but it also rained. For example, when Lu Meng's army robbed the people's bamboo hats and violated the military law, it can be seen that Jiangling was also in the midst of wind and rain at that time, and it was the battle of Xiangfan. months later.

So when the tunnels were dug in Jiangling, and the wind and rain had come, Jiangling City, which was already overwhelmed, was in danger of collapsing.On the contrary, Shen Chen had to worry about the safety of Jiangling City before Huang Zhong came.

As night fell, Jiangling City fell into silence.And just when the south was calm, in Xiangyang in the north, Xiahou Dun and Yu Jin's army finally entered the city of Xiangyang.

At this time, the huge Xiangyang seems to have turned into a ghost town overnight. The streets are empty, with scattered signboards, sundries left behind in a hasty relocation, and clothes blown onto the streets by the wind. Was ransacked in general.

The cold wind in late autumn blows the streets, the bamboo horses hanging on the street corners jingle, the signboards flutter with the wind, and the crackling raindrops continue to fall. From yesterday to today, it has been a whole day.

Xiahoudun, Yu Jin, Zhao Yan and others entered the city. None of the three of them rode a horse. They were wearing coir raincoats and looked around the desolate streets. Behind them were countless troops pouring in, quickly occupying every corner of the city.

Surrounded by their personal guards, the three of them walked to the former Chu Palace. Liu Qi lived in the Chu Palace left by Liu Biao. Later, Liu Qi died of illness and Liu Cong made a mistake. Liu Biao's third son, Liu Xiu, took over the post. The king of Chu lived here.

During Jian'an, Liu Bei captured Xichuan. Under Fazheng's suggestion, the king of Chu and the king of Shu exchanged fiefdoms. Liu Zhang moved to Jingzhou, and Liu Xiu moved to Yizhou, but Liu Zhang did not live here.

When Shen Chen was in Xiangyang, he always lived in the Nanjun Prefect's Mansion. When Fazheng and Zhang Song Jiaxu were in charge of Jingzhou, they lived in their respective mansions, and they also handled official business in the Nanjun Prefect's Mansion, so this place was vacant.

The main reason Liu Bei Group lives here is to respect Liu Biao and Liu Qi. The future owner of this mansion is Liu Qi's posthumous son, who is now living in Jiangzhou, ten-year-old Liu Xun.

But the Cao Wei Group didn't care about these, and swaggered into the Chu Palace, wanting to live in the best house.

After entering Chu Palace, Xiahou Dun glanced around. It was raining heavily recently, and even in daytime it was as dark as night, but now the Chu Palace was lit with lights everywhere, and the guards had already moved in.

"It's unimaginable."

Xiahou Dun unconsciously said with emotion: "Shen Chen would actually make such a stinky move. Even though the king of Wei often used chess to tell me the general trend of the world, he once asked me to learn chess. I probably wouldn't be able to make such a move at my level."

Zhao Yan frowned and said in thought: "Yes, this is really puzzling. Xiangyang City has high walls and thick walls, and it is one of the most fortified cities in the world. How could Shen Chen abandon this city?"

"I didn't believe it when the scouts came to report, but the facts are right in front of my eyes."

On the other side, the Marquis of Le Township, Deng Zhan, pondered: "Could it be that there is fraud in this, that Shen Chen deliberately gave up Xiangyang to lure us, and then took the opportunity to make a surprise attack?"

Xiahou Dun glanced at Deng Zhan with his one eye, and said, "Is there anyone in this world who uses their own fortified city as bait? Will the king of Wei give up Chendu or Yecheng, and then lure the enemy to chase after him?"

Deng Zhan blushed.

In fact, he has a high status, but his combat skills are not very good.

In history, it is known as both civil and military, but Cao Pi was beaten to death in a one-on-one fight with Cao Pi. It can be seen that it is an embroidered pillow.

"Wen Ze, what do you think of this matter?"

Xiahou Dun walked deep into the palace with his hands behind his back, and turned his head to ask Yu Jin.

He knew that Yu Jin blamed himself very much for his defeat at the hands of Zhou Buyi recently, and he was often taciturn.

But it's not a problem to keep silent like this, so I simply asked Yu Jin for his opinion, firstly, I really wanted to hear his thoughts, and secondly, I wanted to open up the conversation.

Sure enough, Yu Jin was also thinking about this question. After pondering for a long time, he suddenly said, "Could it be because of the recent rain that he wants to flood Xiangyang?"

"Not too possible."

Zhao Yan said: "In the tenth year of Jian'an, there was a heavy rain in Jingzhou, which flooded Xiangfan. Liu Biao then ordered to expand the city canal, and built several waterways around the city to connect the moat for flood discharge. It’s hard to refill the city.”

Yu Jin slapped his forehead and said: "It seems to be the case. It was said that the heavy rain that year happened once in a hundred years. That guy Shen Chen relied on that wind and rain to store the flood in Yi County and flooded the east of the river."

"Ah."

Xiahou Dun nodded: "Unless there is a once-in-a-thousand-year flood, Xiangyang will be safe and sound. So, does Shen Chen have other intentions?"

"Whether he has other intentions or not, it is his biggest mistake that Xiangyang belongs to us."

Zhao Yan said with a smile: "Xiangyang is the seat of Jingzhou. The city is more than three feet high. It is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It can be called a strong city in the world. With this city and Fancheng, the king of Wei can at least get Nanyang. There are 40 households in Nanyang. Return to the north."

"That's true."

Xiahou Dun smiled. No matter how you look at it, Cao Jun took the biggest advantage in this operation. With Xiangfan in hand, Nanyang also returned to the north, Liu Bei was weakened, and Cao Cao's power rose to a higher level. Regardless of Sun Quan, they were anyway Win numb.

Everyone came to the hall of King Chu's mansion, and before they entered the door, a messenger rushed over, knelt down on one knee and said to Xiahou Dun in the corridor, "Report!"

"What's the matter?"

Xiahou Dun turned his head with his hands behind his back, and looked at the messenger with one eye.

The messenger replied: "General, Jiangling urgently reports that Shen Chen has assembled the main force to attack Zhijiang. He has already obtained Zhijiang County and is now advancing to Yiling. The envoy of Sun Quan sent a letter, hoping that the general can send troops to help."

"Oh?"

Xiahou Dun looked at Yu Jin, Zhao Yan, Deng Zhan and the others, and burst out laughing: "So that's the case. Then Shen Chen wanted to gather all his troops to attack Yiling and open the way to Yizhou. Sun Quan's soldiers and horses were just mobs. It must have been unbearable by now."

Yu Jin immediately said: "General, why don't you take this opportunity to go south and immediately send troops to attack Sun Quan on both sides, then you can take Shen Chen's head. The king of Wei hates him deeply. Killing Shen Chen will surely eliminate the serious troubles of the king of Wei."

"If it rains and goes south."

Xiahou Dun hesitated a little, and said: "Our army is not well-prepared, not to mention the slippery roads, and not enough rain gear. If we head south rashly."

"But the opportunity must not be missed, the time will never come again, if Shen Chen is spared in this battle, it will become a big trouble in the future."

Zhao Yan also persuaded.

"Well"

Xiahou Dun felt that it made sense, so he said: "Okay, tomorrow I will immediately send people to the rear to collect more rain gear, and go south to help Sun Quan."

In the early morning of the next day, the pouring rain was still pouring down.

Early in the morning and last night, the messenger who went to the rear came again in a hurry to report important matters to Xiahou Dun.

In the middle of this year, Guo Jia, who was still recuperating in Yecheng, heard that Sun Quan had finally made a move, so he dragged his sick body and went south to the front line, and last month to the rear of Xinye.

Xiahou Dun sent people back to Xinye last night to collect raincoats, bamboo hats, bamboo mats and other rain gear from the people in Nanyang, and prepared to go south to Jiangling to rescue Lu Meng.

But Guo Jia asked the messenger to go back overnight, telling Xiahou Dun not to send south aid.

Knowing what Guo Jia meant, Xiahou Dun summoned Yu Jin, Zhao Yan, Deng Zhan and others to inform them of Guo Jia's suggestion.

"What does Ling Jun mean to let Shen Chen go back?"

Zhao Yan was shocked and said, "Isn't this letting the tiger go back to the mountain?"

Xiahou Dun said: "Your Majesty said that even if Shen Chen goes back and Liu Bei loses Jingzhou, he will be furious and attack Sun Quan. We can sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, and wait for the two tigers to fight."

Yu Jin frowned and said, "Let's not talk about whether Liu Bei will be furious and attack Sun Quan. Even if he does, I fear that Sun Quan will not be his opponent."

"What I want is this result."

Xiahou Dun said: "Jiangdong is good at navy, but our navy is not as good as Jiangdong. Your lord said, if Shen Chen is wiped out, Liu Bei's strength will be weakened, and his strength will be greatly reduced. Maybe we will not fight Sun Quan again. We can't help Sun Quan, if Liu Bei Just stick to the river road in Baidi City, and focus on taking Guanzhong. If Sun Quan can't get Yizhou, he will also fight us in Nanyang, Huainan and other places, and we will fall into a situation of fighting on two fronts."

When everyone heard it, they immediately thought about it.

It has to be said that Guo Jia really has insight into people's hearts, and he is a resourceful and resourceful counselor.

He knew that if Shen Chen hadn't died and the strength of the Jingzhou army had been preserved, Liu Bei would definitely find a way to take back Jingzhou and fight Sun Quan to death.

But once Shen Chen died, Liu Bei's power would be greatly weakened, and it would be difficult to take advantage of Sun Quan on the river, so he would most likely choose to endure and shake hands with Sun Quan to make peace.

At that time, Liu Bei will take Guanzhong wholeheartedly, while Sun Quan will attack Nanyang and Huainan. Cao Wei will fight on both sides, which will be extremely unfavorable to Cao Cao.

That's how it is historically.

After Guan Yu's death, although Liu Bei went crazy and launched the Battle of Yiling in order to avenge his brother, Zhuge Liang continued the strategic policy of uniting Wu against Wei after his death, and finally put Wei in a situation of fighting on both sides for the next few decades. , the situation was once very bad.

The current situation is very similar to this.

Although Guo Jia doesn't know the history, he has already realized this. The only miscalculation is that Liu Bei is a forbearing hero like Cao Cao. Whether it is Shen Chen's death or Guan Yu's death, he will choose to send troops for revenge, or will he fight with Sun Quan? Have a fight.

But no matter what the outcome is after a fight, at least the two sides will unite to fight against Cao Wei.Because only two weak people unite can they compete against Cao Cao who owns the whole north.

Therefore, Guo Jia understood that Shen Chen could not die.He needed Shen Chen to bring the Jingzhou army back to Yizhou so that Liu Bei could launch a war against Sun Quan.

This is the difference between those who seek the country and those who only have small profits in front of them like Sun Quan.

It's no wonder that later generations have a very low evaluation of Sun Quan. Some people are fans of Liu Bei, some are fans of Cao Cao, and some are even fans of Sun Jian and Sun Ce, but few people are fans of Sun Quan.

The reason is that his structure is really pitifully low, he only cares about petty profits, but he doesn't have great talents.

Knowing Guo Jia's analysis, everyone thought about it for a while, Zhao Yan took the lead and said: "Your Ling is right, if we really push Shen Chen to a dead end and Liu Bei's strength is greatly reduced, we may only guard Jiang Dao and focus on it. It's over."

"Ah."

Yu Jin also nodded and said, "Yes, Jiang Dao has been easy to defend and difficult to attack since ancient times. Liu Bei only needs to send elite soldiers to guard it, and Sun Quan will not be able to take Yizhou. If they stop making peace, they will have to seek the north, which is really not good for us."

"That's it, we will never send troops and let them bite dogs."

Xiahou Dun made a decision: "Anyway, there are reasons. It's not that we don't want to save our allies. But in this heavy rain, we don't have enough rain gear to move forward."

Everyone looked at each other and laughed loudly.

The friendly army is in trouble, and it does not move like a mountain.

Although this is a joke, the current strategy is correct.

If you really follow this strategy, it will indeed cause internal strife between Sun Quan and Liu Bei in the future.

But there is a prerequisite for this strategy, Shen Chen has really reached a desperate situation.

So, is he desperate?
In the early morning of August 24th, Jian'an 29th year, it had been raining heavily for three or four days, and the water level of the Yangtze River was also skyrocketing.

There was no fog on the river this morning, but the torrential rain was torrential, and the waves of the vast Yangtze River were rolling.

Lu Meng was standing on the Jiangling city gate with a haggard face in a coir raincoat and a bamboo hat. Looking to the north, he saw the camp of Shen Chen's army. At this time, countless dense black shadows came out of the camp gate in the rain.

This kind of heavy rain is not suitable for fighting at all. Even wearing rain gear, armor and coir raincoats to absorb water, I am afraid that the road will not be able to go very far.

But for some reason, Shen Chen went out anyway, and the tens of thousands of troops marched towards Jiangling despite the rain.

"Hurry up."

The originally sparse soldiers on the Jiangling city tower began to crowd upwards.

After discovering the enemy's movement in the morning, Lu Meng, who originally judged that the enemy would not send troops, could only let the soldiers come out of the barracks immediately, put on rain gear and go up the tower to prepare for battle.

In fact, there was another bad news this morning, that is, as the river surged, the inner river in the city also spread due to the influx of water from the water gate, and poured into the city.

A part of the ground in the east city sank during the heavy rain last night, and a hole was exposed. The originally solid rammed earth was washed by the rain and turned into muddy mud, and a large amount of water came out of the hole.

That was the tunnel Shen Chen dug before. He originally planned to sneak attack Jiangling, but he postponed the start of the plan, and changed it to do it when the heavy rain came, causing the tunnel to be flooded with water and collapse.

The only good news for both Lu Meng and Shen Chen is that currently only one tunnel has collapsed, while the other tunnels and the city wall seem to be relatively stable.

Therefore, Lu Meng didn't have to worry about the city wall collapsing and Shen Chen came in, and Shen Chen didn't have to worry about the city wall collapsing and scaring Lu Meng away.

The two have their own thoughts, so naturally they don't know that they are calculating each other.

Just after lunch time in the morning, when the torrential rain was still pouring down, Shen Chen's army marched towards Jiangling in the south without formation and braved the rain.

The ground was slippery. Many soldiers stepped on puddles with one foot deep and one foot shallow. Water got into their shoes, and many people even fell down.

But everyone didn't say anything, just kept moving forward.

Because Shen Chen told everyone half an hour ago that the reinforcements from Yizhou have arrived, and they will arrive at Jiangling today, and they will destroy Lu Meng today.

Therefore, even though everyone knew that rainy weather was not suitable for fighting, the soldiers marched towards Jiangling without any complaints.

At this time, Shen Chen, like the soldiers, was advancing on foot.

The night before yesterday, an envoy sent by Zhuge Liang broke through Sun Jiao's blockade, traveled overland from Laikou, which is the mountainous area north of Yichang City in later generations, to Maicheng, and informed Shen Chen that Huang Zhong had set off.

Although heavy rain is not very beneficial for ships, Guan Yu also defeated Cao Jun by boat in heavy rain in history, which shows that it is not completely impossible to sail in wind and rain.

It's just that it's dangerous. After all, the Yangtze River is more windy and turbulent, and even the big ships of later generations are in danger of capsizing, not to mention ancient wooden ships.

But greater risk means higher returns. The biggest benefit of this battle is the elimination of Jiangdong and Cao Jun's large number of viable forces. When the Liu Bei Group wiped out Jiangdong, Sun Quan could not resist and Cao Cao could not support.

So even if there is a risk, you have to bite the bullet.

Just like now, Shen Chen was wearing a coir raincoat that weighed several kilograms, and the big raindrops hit the bamboo hat, making that kind of crackling sound, and he could still feel the heavy impact of the raindrops, making it difficult to lift his head.

The rainwater flowed down the bamboo hat, onto Shen Chen's cheeks, and then dripped into his chin. He looked around, and saw that the soldiers were all hurrying on their way.

Although there is no formation, at least no one is left behind, and no one runs away. Everyone is preparing for today's battle.

While this made him feel a little relieved, he was still very nervous.

After all, it was time for the decisive battle, so I was afraid that if they rushed outside Jiangling City, they would use the tunnel outside the city to enter according to the original plan, and the tunnel would collapse.Or, like at Waterloo, if Huang Zhong came late, that would be bad.

Plans can never keep up with changes.

No one knows whether their plan will go smoothly. Sometimes manpower can't win the sky after all.

Shen Chen raised his head and glanced at the sky, the rain was pouring down, and the ground was turbulent.

Outside the city of Jiangling, the water from the Yangtze River and Peng Lize was spreading into the city, and the water level had already risen by more than ten feet. If Huang Zhong came, he would only need to drive his warship outside the south city and enter the moat through the Yangtze River waterway. boarded the boat into the city.

Their role in the periphery is to stop Lu Meng's rout.Today they must eliminate Lu Meng, and then go back to deal with Sun Jiao, go down the river to take Sun Quan, and finally go north along the Han River to destroy Cao Jun.

This is a difficult task.

Shen Chen struggled to move his steps. After more than half an hour, the army finally arrived outside Jiangling City, less than a hundred steps away from the city.

This distance is within the range of arrows and bows, but such heavy rain makes bows and arrows useless.

The tense Jiangdong army is densely packed on the top of the city.

No one spoke.

Originally, the distance between the two parties could be heard.

But in the face of extremely noisy natural sounds, even thousands of people shouting may be heard indistinctly, and they have no idea what the other party is shouting at all.

So there was silence on both sides.

It seemed that there was only pouring rain and the sound of rolling thunder in the world.

"Boom!"

After the two sides confronted each other for about half an hour.

Suddenly, a loud noise erupted between heaven and earth.

Immediately afterwards, a monstrous wave came from the Yangtze River in the south.

There seemed to be an explosion-like sound in Jiangling City, which was earth-shattering.

All the Jiangdong troops were so frightened that they were at a loss and turned their heads one after another, because the voice came from inside the city.

Then, under the dim light, they vaguely saw the direction of the south city, there was a wave pouring in, and the ground in the city was continuously rising.

The few tunnels Shen Chen dug before finally couldn't bear it, and they all collapsed.

And after the huge wave raged, a corner of Nancheng was exposed, which made everyone, including Lu Meng, feel a bit cold.

In the southeast of Jiangling City, near the corner of Peng Lize and the Yangtze River, the foundation has collapsed, and the small half of the city wall has completely collapsed, and the water from the Yangtze River is pouring into it.

The walls are gone!

(End of this chapter)