Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 371 The Sophistication of People and the Restoration of Jingzhou

When Cao Cao fainted and the news of Zhong Yao's order to withdraw to Chang'an reached Hu County, Zhong Yao knew that he could not retreat immediately.

So he rectified his troops and horses, surrounded Hu County and the surrounding Cao camps, and launched a desperate battle with Liu Bei.

Zhong You tried his best in this battle, but under Guan Yu's onslaught, two camps were breached, Cao Jun's morale fell to the bottom, and he was no match for Liu Bei at all.

The two sides fought for a whole day, but Liu Bei did not withdraw his troops at night, but fought fiercely all night, obviously planning to go all out and eat Zhong Yao.

Facing the menacing enemy, Zhong Yao held on for several days. After paying a heavy price, he finally beat Liu Bei back to the Ganting camp, and then hurriedly arranged to withdraw his troops, preparing to return to Chang'an.

But he didn't know that this was Fazheng's tactic of taking retreat as an advance. Perhaps he should have guessed it, but he had no choice but to do it because of various reasons, even though he knew it might be a tactic.

At the end of October, Zhong Yao chose to withdraw his troops. As expected, he was ambushed by Liu Bei. On the way, the army was intercepted and killed by Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Ma Chao and other troops. Ho Kyung.

If Zhang Yun, Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu, Xia Houshang and others were not quite capable in this battle, they kept alternately covering their retreats, and used bows and terrain to repel the enemy several times, I am afraid that the Cao army in Huxian County would have been wiped out.

As for the other generals, they were not so lucky. Many low-level generals could not control the collapse of the army. They were chased by Zhang Fei and Ma Chao with the mobility of cavalry, and they were defeated and fled along the way. Yudu was almost captured alive, which shows how brutal the battle was.

After driving Cao Jun all the way to Haojing, Liu Bei won a complete victory. He killed more than 4 Cao Jun and captured more than [-] people. There were more than ten Cao Cao generals with names and surnames. Cao Jun fled in embarrassment and successfully retreated to Chang'an.

Half of the enemy's troops were wiped out in the First World War, and it was Cao Cao who Liu Bei had always wanted to defeat. This undoubtedly boosted the morale of the army and the morale was extremely high.

However, there is a limit to this. Liu Bei originally wanted to continue chasing him to the city of Chang'an, but Fazheng persuaded him very rationally, because it was useless to chase him to the city of Chang'an.

Chang'an is not as high as Hu County, the city is five or six feet tall. Although they built a lot of siege equipment for this battle, Chang'an cannot be broken by relying on siege equipment. As long as it is guarded by heavy soldiers, this city is really impenetrable.

What's more, the most important thing is that their logistics pressure is already enormous. It is unrealistic to completely annex the entire Guanzhong area. The best way is to go step by step.

Therefore, Liu Bei could only accept Fazheng's suggestion, retreated and returned to Ganting.

At this time, Xia Houyuan had also withdrawn his troops from Wuguan. Shen Chen chased to Danshui, and then killed outside Wuguan, forcing Liu Kai, Xiahouyuan's general in charge of breaking the rear, to chase all the way to Jingzhao Yinshang County in Guanzhong.

Shang County is actually quite far from Guanzhong, but Shen Chen stopped chasing here and stopped. Instead, he stood on the hillside outside Shang County and watched Xia Houyuan's troops retreat from afar.

Seeing Shen Chen ordering the soldiers to stop their pursuit, General Lu Chang wondered, "General, why don't we continue to pursue? Your Majesty is in Guanzhong now, and it is said that he is attacking Hu County. If you continue to pursue, you will be attacked from both sides." , to kill Xia Houyuan."

Shen Chen smiled and shook his head: "I can't catch up. You may not know how big our logistics pressure is. There has already been a rebellion in the rear of Yizhou. Yong Kai, a wealthy family in the south of Yizhou, took advantage of the dissatisfaction in the south and set off a rebellion. Kong Ming I have personally recruited some county soldiers who stayed behind to put down the rebellion, and if the fight continues, the enemy is still alive, and my backyard is full of fire."

"I see."

Lu Chang sighed, "This is a good opportunity."

"Opportunities are created by people, but sometimes due to some reasons, they have to give up this opportunity, not to mention."

"General, let alone what?"

"It's nothing."

Shen Chen said softly: "Order to withdraw troops."

"only."

Lu Changwen and other generals were ordered to return to the division.

And looking at the figure of Cao Jun receding like a tide in the distance, Shen Chen said something silently in his heart, not to mention knowing the ways of the world.

The killing of Lu Meng and the removal of Sun Jiao in this battle made Sun Quan terrified.Capturing Yu Jin and beheading Xiahou made Cao Cao's liver crack.

The credit is really too great. According to the Western Han Dynasty, at least he must be a king of the opposite sex.

If Xia Houyuan is slaughtered again, even if Liu Bei is a benevolent person and Shen Chen is powerful and will not do anything to him, it will put Liu Bei and Shen Chen in a very embarrassing situation.

So Xia Houyuan couldn't kill him.

Not only could he not be killed, but he had to be driven to Guanzhong for Liu Bei to handle himself.

Because Xia Houyuan has some connections with the Liu Bei Group.

Zhang Fei's wife, Xiahoujuan, is Xiahouyuan's adopted daughter and niece. For Xiahoujuan, Xiahouyuan abandoned her youngest son to support her dead brother and orphan.

Even if the two sides are in hostile camps, it is understandable to die due to fighting in troubled times, but the emotions of Zhang Fei and his wife must also be considered.

What's more, Xia Houjuan's two daughters are both Liu Chan's queens, and his wife is Liu Chan's sister. Speaking of which, Xia Houyuan still has a somewhat oblique relationship with him.

If you don't look at the monk's face, you have to look at the Buddha's face. For the sake of Zhang Fei, Liu Chan, and his wife, Xia Houyuan must be let go no matter what.

Therefore, Shen Chenyi's rear was unstable, food and grass were not enough, and he could not pursue.

The second is to leave the military exploits to Liu Bei's side, and we can't kill them all so that Liu Bei can't be sealed.

The third is to consider Xia Houyuan's special status.

Marching and fighting is not fighting and killing, it is the way of the world.

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At the end of October, Shen Chen's army marched northward, regained the whole territory of Nanyang, threatened Henan, and shook the city of Ye, the capital of Chen.

In the same month, Xia Houyuan withdrew from Wuguan just in time for Zhong Yao to be defeated by Liu Bei. Fortunately, Wuguan belonged to the rear of Chang'an.

Although Cao Cao vomited blood and fell into a coma after hearing the bad news, he still woke up a few days later and let Zhong Yao and Xia Houyuan stay in Chang'an, and returned to Kanto with difficulty to deal with follow-up affairs.

After that, Cao Wei moved the capital again, moved the court of Chendu north to Chaoge County, Hanoi County, and ordered Xu Huang, Zang Ba, and Zhang Liao to guard Henan, guard against Shen Chen, and at the same time suppress the rebellion everywhere, stabilize the situation in the rear, and other measures are the latter. talk.

Here, after Shen Chen drove Cao Jun out of Nanyang, he also ordered Lu Changwen to be stationed in Wancheng, and then ordered Zhou Buyi to be the prefect of Nanyang, and Cai Du to be the governor of Nanyang, and let them handle Nanyang's internal affairs.

Under their governance, the counties in Nanyang quickly regained stability, the magistrates of the counties were re-elected, and the people of Nanzhang were relocated back to Xiangyang, Fancheng and Xinye to organize production.

By the beginning of November, except for Sun Quan's troops who were still besieged in Xiakou in Jingzhou, only a little Jiangdong remnant troops remained in Xiling.

Shen Chen placed tens of thousands of troops in Nanyang, and ordered Huang Zhong to lead 3 people to garrison Shang County so that they could reinforce Guanzhong at any time.He also ordered Wen to employ 5 people from Lu Changshamoke to guard against Henan, while he himself took Zhao Yun's more than [-] troops and rushed south to attack Xiakou.

But when he was still on the road, he heard the news that Sun Quan had broken through.

Gan Ning and Huang She had only 5 people at that time, and Sun Quan also had [-]. There was not much difference between the soldiers and horses of the two sides. They were still stationed in the city, so it was actually relatively difficult for Gan Ning and Huang She to surround Sun Quan.

At the end of October, Cheng Pu took advantage of Huang She's relaxation of vigilance, successfully broke through at night, and escaped by land from the north of the city.

Afterwards, although Huang She rushed to Shaxian immediately and encircled Gan Ning to prevent Cheng Pu and Sun Quan from reuniting, Sun Quan still escaped from the north of Shaxian in embarrassment under the cover of Cheng Pu.

Gan Ning beheaded Cheng Pu in the rebellious army, and then followed with a fleet of ships, chasing and killing Sun Quan. Nearly defeated.

In the chaos, Sun Quan's cousin, Sun Jiao's younger brother, Sun Huan, put on Sun Quan's clothes, and shouted to Sun Quan: "Wu Hou, please take this path, I will take the road to distract the pursuers."

So Sun Quan fled from the trail with dozens of personal guards, Sun Huan led thousands of remnants, was chased by Gan Ning with tens of thousands of people, and was finally beheaded by Gan Ning.

By the time Shen Chen traveled down the Han River and arrived in Zhu County, Xiling County, the war was over. Sun Quan fled back to Chaisang in a small boat, and then returned to Jianye by boat non-stop from Chaisang.

Gan Ning and Huang She came to plead guilty.

At the wharf outside the south city of Zhu County, Shen Chen's fleet sailed from the Yangtze River and slowly docked.

The big ship at the front rode the wind and waves, and then began to slow down. The pier was covered with hay as a buffer, and a large number of wrestlers pulling the ship had long been waiting seriously.

When the boat approached the shore, the wrestlers entered the water, caught the rope thrown from the boat, and dragged the huge boat into the shore.

Soon a wooden ladder stretched out from the deck of the building, and Shen Chen got off the ship surrounded by soldiers.

Gan Ning and Huang She knelt down on one knee and said, "General, the last general is incompetent. He let Sun Quan go. Please punish him."

Shen Chen smiled and went up to help the two of them up and said: "Two generals please hurry up, you have made a lot of contributions in this battle, I am waiting to play the King of Han, and I will ask for credit for you two, what's wrong?"

Huang She was quite ashamed and said: "The general ordered us to besiege Sun Quan. After the general went north to beat Cao's army, he went south to destroy Sun Quan, but he escaped. How can such a big crime be considered meritorious?"

Shen Chen shook his head and said: "My main force in this battle has gone to the north to fight against Cao Jun. You only have 5 people, and Sun Quan has so many people, even more than you. You defeated him and returned. Tens of thousands, more than [-] captured, let him flee back to Jiangdong alone, how can it be in vain?"

Gan Ning said: "But this will not delay the general's plan to destroy Wu? Sun Quan fled back to Jiangdong. If he reorganizes his troops again, he may not be able to destroy Jiangdong."

"It's okay."

Shen Chen waved his hand: "Jiangdong has exhausted its national strength in this battle, a large number of young and strong people have been captured, and Yangzhou's heritage has been wiped out. Now that Sun Quan returns, first, he has to face countless people in Jiangdong who have lost their sons and husbands; Be careful of the rebellion in Shanyue. If you are not careful, you will be destroyed by the rebellion, let alone my army?"

"Forehead"

Gan Ning Huang She breathed a sigh of relief when he heard this.

Because according to Shen Chen's original plan, after they eliminated Lu Meng and Sun Jiao, they no longer needed to care about Sun Quan who was trapped in the city, but immediately went north to eliminate Cao Jun.

Wait until Shen Chen has settled Cao Jun before coming back to deal with Sun Quan.

But I didn't expect Sun Quan to abandon a large number of his subordinates and flee back to Jiangdong alone. Although Gan Ning and Huang She won a complete victory, fleeing Sun Quan and going back undoubtedly ruined Shen Chen's plan, which made them feel ashamed.

But Shen Chen didn't mean to blame them.

I mobilized a large number of main forces to Nanyang. Jiangxia only has 5 people, and Sun Quan also has 5 people, and they are still attacking the city. Normally, there is a long stalemate, or even a small defeat.

But Gan Ning's Huang She not only won a big victory, but also beat Sun Quan to the point of losing his helmet and armor. Less than [-] people fled back to Jiangdong.

After that, Sun Quan was able to organize an army of more than 5 people, which was Shen Chen's loss.

Therefore, Gan Ning and Huang She are not only innocent, but have merit.

The current situation is very clear.

The Sun Quan Group has experienced several disastrous defeats in Yixian and Hongkou, and its national strength has been weakened.

Later, in order to attack Jingzhou, Sun Quan persuaded the major aristocratic families to draw out their background and soldiers, and at the same time recruited a large number of young and strong to form a new army.

In addition to the civilian husbands who served in the rear, more than [-]% of the people in Yangzhou were involved. They either paid exorbitant taxes or contributed their strength. Every household had conscripted soldiers.

As a result, Sun Quan is completely lost in the current World War I, and the people in Jiangdong will probably eat his skin alive. Rebellions are likely to follow in various places, and Yangzhou is full of flames. Whether he can survive the internal rebellion depends on his father and elder brother Sun Ce. There is no blessing, let alone be able to defend against Jingzhou's attack.

On the other hand, the Liu Bei Group won great victories in Nanyang and Guanzhong. Although they also consumed a lot of national power, the background and foundation are still there. After a little rest in March and May, they will be able to attack Soochow and completely wipe out Sun Quan in the spring of next year.

As for whether the Cao Wei Group will assist Sun Quan, if it is before the battle between Nanyang and Guanzhong, it must be worrying.

But now?

Cao Wei retreated back to Guandong except for Chang'an in Guanzhong.The Henan area is also heavily guarded. At the same time, internal rebellions are rampant, and border crossings are full of flames.

After the two major defeats, civil unrest, political turmoil, and this year's colder weather, seeing the decline of the Cao Wei Group, the nomads in the north will definitely not let go of this opportunity and take advantage of the situation to sweep the border.

After this year is over, next year Cao Wei Group itself will be a mud bodhisattva crossing the river and it will be hard to protect itself.

And Cao Cao died next year in history. It is hard to say whether he can survive this year after suffering a big defeat. Once Cao Cao falls, the backbone is gone, and there are so many emergencies, it will be good for Cao Pi to stabilize the situation. Not to mention rushing to aid Yangzhou.

So it doesn't matter if Sun Quan was not captured alive this time.

Because Shen Chen had emptied Jiangdong's national power and beat Cao Wei, who was able to help Jiangdong in the north, to the point where he couldn't take care of himself. Now Liu Bei Group itself needs to adjust in time.

So when Shen Chen returned to Xiangyang, he immediately ordered the officials who had escaped from various places to return to their posts, restore the governance of Jingzhou, and repair the depleted national strength as soon as possible.

(End of this chapter)