Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 381 The Battle of Wu Wu Begins

On May 25th in the [-]th year of Jian'an, at the end of the morning, Liu Bei's main ship stopped outside Xiakou City.

From a strategic point of view, the strategic significance of Xiakou is actually higher than that of Jiangling.

Because Jiangling only guarded the road from Jingzhou to Yizhou, while Xiakou was located in the triangular area of ​​Yizhou, Jingzhou, Yangzhou and Nanyang in the north.

From Xiakou, you can go to Xiangyang and Nanyang in the north, Jiangdong in the east, Jiangling and Yizhou in the west, and Jingnan and Jiaozhou in the south.

The convenient transportation is also the reason why this area can develop an international first-tier metropolis like Wuhan in later generations.

As preparations for the war against Wu, Shen Chen designated Xiakou as the rear logistics base.

The main reason is that it can transport supplies from Nanyang and Xiangyang from the Han River in the north, and transport supplies from Yizhou and Jingnan in the west from the Yangtze River, and the Yangtze River in the east is the attack point.

In addition, when Liu Bei and Sun Quan maintained a superficial ally relationship, Xiakou was the commercial center of the three prefectures of Jing, Yi and Yang, and built many warehouses.

Therefore, whether it is defense or offense, it can be used as a transit area in this war to escort the frontline attack.

After Liu Bei's fleet entered Xiakou Wharf, many small boats were rowed out from the wharf, and the ropes thrown from the boats were brought to the shore, and then the trackers began to pull the boats to the shore.

Soon hundreds of ships were dragged into the port, and Liu Bei, Guan Yu and several other courtiers slowly got off the ship.

Governor Shen Chen of Nanzhou, General Zhao Yun of Zhengdong, General Huang She of Zhendong, General Gan Ning of Zhengbei, Guo Mu of Xiling Prefect, and Deng Fu, the new prefect of Jiangxia, were already waiting.

Liu Bei only brought 2 horses this time, and the senior generals only brought Guan Yu, Ma Chao, Wei Yan, Pound, and more than a dozen school lieutenants.

The top strategists didn't bring any of them.

Now Liu Bei Group's lineup of generals and advisers is still very luxurious. Needless to say, there are five tiger generals who are superior in generals. There are also Gan Ning, Wei Yan, Pound, Guan Ping, Sha Moke and others in the first line. The rest will not be counted. its number.

In terms of counselors, Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, Fazheng, Jia Xu, and Xu Shu are all at the top level.The second-line counselors also included Ma Liang, Huang Quan, Liu Ba and so on.

Among them is even a Shen Chen who is both civil and military.

Although Shen Chen has rarely been on the battlefield now, his force value is only a little weaker than that of the five tigers, which is between the super first-line and the first-line.

Not to mention the strategy, the earliest proposer of the strategy of dividing the world.

Therefore, Liu Bei Group can be said to be full of talents.

However, just like the situation facing Cao Wei, now that the territory is large, there are many places to govern, defend, and guard.

Zhang Fei is currently guarding Xiliang, and Huang Zhong is in Hanzhong.

Zhuge Liang is in Jiangzhou to handle the affairs of the two states, Pang Tong is in Shu County to manage the entire Chengdu Plain, Xu Shu is assisting Huang Zhong in Hanzhong, Fazheng is not in good health this year and is recuperating in Jiangzhou, and Jia Xu is too old to travel around.

So Liu Bei didn't bring many people.

However, as the saying goes, people are good but not many, these generals alone are enough to hold the scene, not to mention there are so many civil servants and generals in Jingzhou, it is enough to deal with mere Jiangdong.

After everyone disembarked, Shen Chen came up with all the soldiers from Jingzhou, bowed his hands and saluted, and said, "Meet Your Majesty!"

"Meet the king!"

Everyone saluted and shouted in unison, which was quite powerful.

Liu Bei, with gray hair and beard, looked at his son-in-law with satisfaction, stepped forward to support him, looked him up and down with a smile, and said, "Xiaoqing, you are getting stronger again, how are you doing?"

Asking about daily life is a way for Han people to say hello, which is similar to how the later generations are doing recently.

Shen Chen said with a smile: "Your Majesty misses you, and your daily life is very good."

"Hahahahaha."

Liu Bei patted Shen Chen on the shoulder and said to Guan Yu who was behind him: "Yun Chang, do you still remember? Xiaoqing was very thin back then, but now that he is so strong, we are so old that we are almost skinny."

Guan Yu also had white hair on his head, squinted his eyes and stroked his beard, saying: "Time does not forgive people, the future is the world of their young people."

"Uncle Yun defeated Cao's army. The sword is not old. Uncle Yun is needed for this attack on Jiangdong."

Shen Chen replied with a smile, and then said: "Your Majesty, let's go into the city."

"Okay, let's go to town."

Liu Bei nodded.

At the moment, under the leadership of the crowd, they entered Xiakou City.

Entering the county government mansion, Shen Chen suggested that Liu Bei and the others came from Jiangzhou after traveling for several days, so they should rest first and inspect military affairs tomorrow.

But Liu Bei insisted on seeing Shen Chen's tactical plan for this battle, and wanted to hear his overall layout for defeating Wu.

Because none of Liu Bei's five great counselors was brought with him, he only brought Dong He, the general in charge of the army, Ma Liang, the servant, and Yang Yi, the minister.

Moreover, they often live in Yizhou, and they don't know much about the situation in Jiangdong.

Therefore, Liu Bei entrusted Shen Chen with full authority to take charge of the strategic and tactical planning for this time, and they all listened to Shen Chen's arrangements, so the entire strategic and tactical arrangement of this war was entirely on Shen Chen's shoulders.

They naturally wanted to listen to Shen Chen's plan.

Shen Chen couldn't hold him back, so he had no choice but to bring them to the main hall to explain his tactics this time.

In the hall, Liu Bei was also sitting at the bottom, and Shen Chen had the main seat removed, and a wooden board was erected on the main seat, on which he hung the map of Jiangdong that he had drawn.

All the soldiers below are seated.

Standing above, Shen Chen pointed to the map and said, "I don't need to say much about the strategic mission of this battle. Eliminate Sun Quan, occupy Yangzhou, and if necessary, drive the forces of Cao Wei from Huainan, and use the Huai River To achieve our goal of dividing the world into two."

"Ah."

Liu Bei nodded slightly. This was the strategy that Shen Chen and Zhuge Liang had set up more than ten years ago.

Shen Chen continued: "In terms of tactical missions, I think the troops should be divided into two groups, and the main waterway along the way will go down from the great river. If you are close, you can break Ruxukou first, and if you are far away, you can besiege the defenders of Ruxukou first. Bypass Ruxuwu, cross the river from Liyang, and go straight to Jianye, but I don't recommend doing so."

"It's a big river that's hard to cross. Is there still a problem with transporting food?"

Ma Liang asked.

Shen Chen glanced at him approvingly: "Yes, the river stretches from north to south for several miles and is as wide as the sea. The army lacks large ships and cannot cross the river. Besides, we have to travel a long distance from Jingzhou. The best way is to transport food and grass by boat. It’s really not easy to transport food by land.”

In the battle between Jin and Dongwu, the main force of the Jin State first destroyed the strength of Jingzhou in Dongwu, and then went south by boat to take Jianye.On the contrary, Huainan was so close, but only Wang Hun and Sima Ni were sent, because it was a matter of crossing the river and transporting grain.

Guan Yu stroked his beard and said: "This battle is to break Ruxukou from Jiangbei first. Wenyuan is now stationed in Hefei. Do we need to arrange troops to guard against Cao Jun?"

"Cao Pi couldn't take care of himself, how could he have the guts to rescue Jiangdong."

Shen Chen laughed and said: "I heard that after Cao Cao's death, many soldiers in the army mutinied and dispersed. Cao Pi was devastated just to deal with the civil strife and suppress the rebellion. Hefei Zhangliao Department probably just watched the show and ignored it."

In history, as soon as Cao Cao died, Qingzhou soldiers rebelled.

It doesn't have that much impact now, because most of the rebellious Qingzhou soldiers are now his captives, and they are currently being detained in Jiangxia Farmland.

But even if only a few soldiers mutinied in the rear, it would be a very headache for Wei Guo, who was seriously injured.

Unless Cao Pi was crazy, he probably wouldn't be so bold to send troops.

And even if he dared to send troops, he would not be afraid. Nanyang has so many soldiers and horses, and he is not a vegetarian. If he dared to send troops to Huainan, Zhou Buyi would dare to send troops to Henan.

Dong He, the general in charge of the army, said, "Captain, I have a question."

"You said."

"Why not transport the soldiers to the south bank of the river first, and attack from the south bank?"

"Good question."

Shen Chen pointed to the map with a smile and said: "The terrain of Jiangdong belongs to the northern plain, and the south is full of hills and mountains. You can take Jianye directly by land."

Everyone saw a few points marked on the map, because the map only roughly shows the positions of the enemy and us, and only some hills are drawn in the southeast hills, so Dong He has no idea about the terrain here.

In fact, in the Han Dynasty, the Yangtze River in this area was still very wide, almost connected to the southeast hills. The west and north of the mountains were the mighty Yangtze River, and there were no roads on the south bank.

The only place that can be attacked from land is Tongguan Township, which is probably located to the east of the urban area of ​​Tongling City in later generations, that is, the area of ​​Tongguan District.

Dong He asked: "Since there is a road, why not use this place as an attack point?"

Shen Chen explained: "It's not that I want to fight Sun Quan at Ruxukou, but Yanzai Township is followed by Zheqi City and Chungu City, and the river is flooded here and there are swamps all over the place. It is not easy for infantry to attack, and it is inconvenient to transport food and grass. , and there are important towns such as Wuhu, Yuhu, and Danyang in the rear, and it is as difficult as going to the sky to attack from here."

The urban area of ​​Tongling City was also connected to the Yangtze River in the Han Dynasty. The Tianjing Lake, South Lake, Tongling West Lake and other places in the urban area were natural lakes formed after the Yangtze River rushed out of the embankment and the water slowly receded.

And Yanzai Township is the Fanchang District of Wuhu City in later generations. It was established in the Qin Dynasty. There are large mountains in the west and large mountains in the east. There is only a road to Wuhu in the north.

But Jiangdong's key defense is also arranged here.

Because there is a mountain in the west of Fanchang District in later generations called Zheqi Ridge. This Zheqi Ridge was the place where the Zheqi City was built in the Han Dynasty. place.

So it wasn't that Shen Chen insisted on fighting the battle of Ruxukou, but that this place was indeed Jiangdong's last line of defense, and it was also a pass that Sun Quan must stick to.

Ruxukou restrained the enemy's attack on the north bank of the river, and Zheqi City restrained the enemy's attack on the south bank of the river.

In terms of terrain, unless the Liu Bei Group can fly over, even if it has occupied the entire north bank of the Yangtze River like the Western Jin Dynasty, it will have to rely on the navy to break through to kill Jianye.

Liu Bei understood this, frowned and said: "According to Xiaoqing's intention, don't we want to fight tough battles with Sun Quan in Ruxukou and Zheqi City? I remember that when Huang Zu sent troops to Jiangdong, it was here that Sun Quan stopped him Yes."

"Yes."

Shen Chen nodded: "Sun Quan occupies a favorable location, this place is indeed an insurmountable hurdle."

"If the terrain is not easy to break through, can you disintegrate the enemy from within?"

Ma Liang asked: "I heard that after Sun Quan's disastrous defeat in Jingzhou, people in Jiangdong were impetuous and turbulent, and the army probably didn't have the will to fight."

Shen Chen smiled and said: "Ji Chang's question is on point. Yes, in this battle, I believe that attacking the city is the bottom line and attacking the heart is the top priority. If you want to eliminate Jiangdong as soon as possible in a short time, you must start from the inside of the enemy."

Liu Bei hurriedly said, "Has Xiaoqing any countermeasures?"

"some."

Shen Chen nodded, and nodded at Nanchang under the map and said: "Sun Quan's main force is now dominated by the troops of the family. It has become a tough nut to crack, but we have an advantage in the south."

He drew a circle in the southeastern hilly area: "Shanyue people have had a long-standing grievance with the Sun family. The Sun family wanted to enslave Shanyue and force them to pay exorbitant taxes. The Shanyue people rose up and rebelled. But we are strict gentry and treat the people well. The heads of Jiangdong and Guizhou have all their hearts towards us."

"For at least the past six months, the leaders of the Shanyue tribe in the southeast of the Yangtze River have submitted countless letters to us. There are also many officials and generals from poor families who plan to vote for us. There are even more than a dozen aristocratic families who are willing to submit to us. meaning."

"So from Jingnan to Yuzhang Nanchang, and then from Nanchang to Yuhan, Geyang, Shangrao, Dingyang, Xin'an, Wushang, Zhuji and other places, the mountains and mountains along the way are always looking ahead. Although the journey is thousands of miles away, the people's hearts aspire I don’t know how many soldiers and horses will join us, and there is no need to worry about food and grass.”

"At that time, we only need to send a general to attack Qiantang thousands of miles away. Qiantang's defenses are insufficient, and the people's hearts have long since belonged to Jiangdong. Take Jianye and cooperate with the front-line army both inside and outside, so why worry about the injustice in the east of the river and the failure of the master's great cause?"

At the end, Shen Chen already had a smile on his face, and looked at everyone in the audience with a smile.

The world is in constant turmoil, and there are three pillars in history.Between Wei, Shu and Wu, they jointly outlined a magnificent heroic epic.

But now the situation has changed drastically, Jiangdong is about to be destroyed, and Soochow is about to disappear completely in the long river of history.

Mr. Qian Mu, a famous historian in later generations, once analyzed that the Liu Bei Group of the Three Kingdoms treated the common people kindly, fought with the gentry all the year round, and did not have sex with the aristocratic family, so it became the first target to be eliminated.

However, the Cao Wei Group and the aristocratic family were inseparable, sometimes suppressing and sometimes wooing, so it became the second regime to be eliminated.

Only the Sun Wu Group has been bound to the aristocratic family all the time, received the full support of the aristocratic family, coupled with the favorable location and harmonious people, could it persist for so long, and finally perish.

This shows how powerful the family was at that time.The Jiangdong gentry almost controlled a large amount of property, population, and land to be able to contribute troops to the Sun family. They have always been the main force resisting the Liu Bei Group and the Cao Wei Group.

But now that Sun Quan has suffered several disastrous defeats, even the background of the Jiangdong gentry is almost exhausted, the population is exhausted, and the people of Jiangdong are angry.

At this time, the Liu Bei Group, which is kind to the people at the bottom, came to attack Sun Wu, and the people in Jiangdong naturally rushed to tell each other. Everyone was looking forward to the return of Master Wang. Wherever he went, the people would definitely welcome him wholeheartedly. , It can be said to occupy the harmony of people.

The ancients said that the sky is not as good as the right place, and the right place is not as good as the harmony of people.

Jiangdong Group's manpower is almost exhausted, but Liu Bei's manpower has already begun, so this battle is naturally logical!
(End of this chapter)