Wei Ni

Chapter 73
Things always have pros and cons.

For example, the country of Shu has strong mountains and rivers to rely on, but every time it wants to go out of Shu, it is always difficult to transfer on the mountain roads; while Jiangdong, which relies on the great river as a natural danger, relies heavily on waterways for military use.

This situation also caused Wei and Wu to see each other repeatedly on a part of the Huainan battlefield.

It is the southern end of Lujiang County, a long and narrow valley separated by the Dabie Mountains and the Dajiang River from Shu County to Xunyang County.

This narrow and long valley is centered on Wancheng, with hills and lakes everywhere, and it is very inconvenient to march on a large scale. For example, in the previous Battle of Shiting, Man Chong Shangshu Caoxiu must be defeated, this area is "back to the lake and beside the river" , It is easy to advance but difficult to retreat."

But the strategic significance is quite significant.

For the State of Wei, taking control of this place would allow them to station horses along the river, build fields and accumulate valleys, build a port in Penglize to train the navy, and overlook Yuzhang County, which can cut off Jiangdong from Jingnan. This is another route to attack Jiangdong.

For example, during the period of Emperor Wu Cao Cao, when Xiahou Dun led the 26th Army to guard Huainan, the soldiers and horses of the headquarters were stationed in the nest between Shu County and Wancheng; there was also the former general Zhang Liao who was also dispatched by Emperor Wu Cao Cao after he was powerful in Xiaoyaojin Come to stay in the nest.

As far as Jiangdong is concerned, this place is one of the barriers that completely rule the river's natural danger.

Because Peng Lize and Panyang Lake in the heart of Jiangdong are originally one, but they belong to the north and south of the river and have different names.

Therefore, whether it was Li Shu who rebelled against the county first, or Wancheng was taken by the Wei State, Sun Quan would use his troops to regain it again.

Now after the Battle of Shiting, this area naturally belongs to Jiangdong.

The geographical advantages of Wei and Wu countries also reversed accordingly. If Wu soldiers dared to leave Shu County, they would also face the problem of "easy to leave and difficult to retreat".

In addition, in order to guard against the soldiers and horses coming from Shu County, the State of Wei specially established Anfeng and Yiyang counties at the northern foot of the Dabie Mountains, as the front line for soldiers and horses from Yuzhou to rush to Yuwu.

The remnants of Yanshan gave Xia Houhui an irresistible temptation, that is, they could lead the Wei army to travel through the Dabie Mountains and attack Wancheng without anyone noticing it!

Yes, it is Wancheng, not Shu County.

Because in the Spring and Autumn Period, Tongguo (Tongxiang County), which was enfeoffed here, fell along the remaining veins of the eastern foot of the Dabie Mountains. Naturally, there was a road of Yan County-Tongxiang County-Shu County long ago.

After Jiangdong reoccupied this valley, he would naturally send soldiers to garrison Tongxiang to deter the Wei army from the north.

The road referred to by the survivors of Yanshan Mountain is to follow the Yanshui River from Yanxian County into the Dabie Mountains, go round and round to the source of the Wanshui River, and then follow the Wanshui River to the south and directly arrive at the Wancheng City built near the water.

This route cannot be called a road.

Because there are many times along the way to cross mountains and ridges, cross water and swamps, at least draft animals and carts are impassable.

But there is no danger.

Because the adherents of Yanshan have to go there every quarter.

To be precise, it is the mountain people who come and go on this trail every season.

Today's Yanshan adherents are divided into two parts.

Needless to say, the first thing is that in the early years when Yuan Shu separatized Huainan, he levied and extorted violently, which made it difficult for Li Shu to survive, so he had to escape to Mount Yan and became a survivor.

Others are mountain people who have lived in the mountains for generations.

They are the real adherents, they don't accept Wanghua, and the local word of mouth is called "Yan Shanman".

It's just that their number is very small, so far there are no more than a thousand households, and they have never gone out to kill Lishu or plunder supplies, so the government has never paid attention to them.

Li Shu, who lived in the Wancheng area at the southern foot of the Dabie Mountains, was quite familiar with them.

Because they would come out every season with furs, medicinal materials, and other rare mountain goods, looking for Li Shu in the towns outside the city to exchange salt, ironware and other daily necessities.

Over the past few decades, these two groups of survivors have gradually become acquainted with each other through marriage leave, farming and hunting exchanges, and even formed a relationship of mutual assistance and coexistence.

Now, in order for the survivors to be protected by Xia Houhui, the mountain people are also willing to help the little effort of leading the Wei army.

Anyway, ever since they coexisted with the survivors of the Yanshan Mountain, daily necessities such as salt and ironware have been exchanged with villagers such as Jiang Ban through the relationship of the survivors of the Yanshan Mountain!There is no need to worry. They led the way and Wei Jun's surprise attack on Wancheng was not good. Jiangdong belatedly blocked the road and cut off their way to exchange supplies.

And their patronage is also conditional.

If the Wei army succeeds in a surprise attack and occupies the valley centered on Wancheng, then the price of daily supplies such as salt and ironware will be lowered to make their lives a little better.

This request is very humble.

He was so humble that Xia Houhui didn't even bother to listen.

This is nothing more than a little effort, he doesn't need to consider other people's opinions, and regardless of whether he can take Wancheng or not, he has already made up his mind to write a book and ask Uncle Sun to arrange a smarter family-born son to come to Huainan to do business with Yan Shanman full-time.

Exchanging rare mountain goods for salt and iron wares is definitely a lucrative business!

How could he, who was almost insanely poor, give money to others without seeing it?

But he has not responded to Jiang Ban for a long time.

Because he can meet the requirements of the Yanshan barbarians, but it is difficult to meet the rewards requested by the Yanshan survivors.

They, who had been attacked by Wen Qin, finally understood that it was difficult to continue to hide in the mountains for self-sufficiency. They were willing to go out of the mountains and be registered as citizens by the government. What they asked for was enough land to support their small families.

There is nothing difficult about this.

Now the heartland of the Central Plains of the Wei State has not yet recovered to the population before the chaos of the world, and there are many idle acres in the states and counties. When encountering such a good thing for the country to add households, the government will naturally not be stingy in dividing the acres.

However, they were worried that they would be bullied by nobles from aristocratic families or small government officials after they were registered, so they selected twenty brave and skilled fighters to serve as Xia Houhui's retinue, hoping to gain protection through this relationship.

treatment~
A hundred stones per person is fine.

The hundred stone salary is equivalent to the head of the pavilion, which is commonly known as the food salary of the fighting food official.

Considering the risk of the general's followers needing to risk their lives on the battlefield, their demands are not excessive.

Xia Houhui didn't think it was too much.

It's just that he really has no money now!

He let Uncle Sun use the income from Wubao in Yangqu, Gyeonggi to support his children; moreover, Gou Quan and Zhang Li also needed to support them when they recruited followers, and his daily necessities consumed his salary; According to the request of the survivors of Mount Yan, another gap of two thousand stones has to be added. Where can he get money to fill the hole~
Serving in the army, if you want to get money other than salary, you must either make military exploits and wait for rewards, or do illegal things recorded in military laws and regulations, and follow Cao Hong as a "military hero".

But those who achieve great things must first cherish the feathers!

With great ambitions, how could he imitate Cao Hong and ruin his reputation by using power for personal gain!

Alas, sure enough.

Law-abiding people are often poor in their pockets.
Apart from not being able to bear the fact that the survivors of Yanshan were willing to serve as retinues, considering the military struggle, he did not dare to give Jiang Ban a definite answer.

It's not that they think it's difficult to attack Wancheng successfully.

In the impression of Jiangdong today, the Huainan front of Wei State is powerless to conquer. As long as Wei Jun acts secretly, it is not difficult to capture the valley centered on Wancheng.

And there is no need to worry about Jiangdong sending troops to rescue.

For example, when Sun Quan personally attacked Wancheng, Zhang Liao, who was guarding Hefei, immediately led his troops to rescue him after hearing the news, but before they arrived at Lu Meng and Gan Ning, he broke through Wancheng and captured the defender Zhu Guang.

It is no coincidence.

When Cao Xiu was guarding Huainan, his military exploits when he was promoted from the Great General Zhengdong to the Great Sima was to lead his troops to break through Wancheng and behead the defender Shende; and in this battle, Jiangdong also sent troops as soon as he heard the news Rescue, but did not change the ending of the rescue.

What made Xia Houhui unable to give an answer was that with his mere position as a general, he was unable to make decisions on a war such as a surprise attack on Wancheng; let alone his headquarters with only [-] soldiers that had not yet been formed. capable of being executed alone.

As for Wei Guo's current military strength in Huainan, even after capturing the valley at the southern foot of the Dabie Mountains, it will be difficult to defend against Jiangdong's counterattack~
Very good solution.

First, the garrison troops from Yiyang and Anfeng counties can be transferred to garrison.

Gein, after the Wei State acquired the valleys around Wancheng, Jiangdong would not risk the danger of being cut off from the rear and invade Yiyang and Anfeng counties, and even dare not invade Lu'an from Chaohu Lake!

The other is that the Wei State does not have enough troops to garrison, so it will break the city and take the people back~
Returning the captives can add new households to the country, and razing this valley to white ground will destroy one of the bridgeheads on the north bank of the Jiangjiang River. With so many benefits, why not do it?

Therefore, Xia Houhui asked Jiang Ban to go back to appease the survivors of Yanshan Mountain on the grounds that the matter was too big for him to make decisions arbitrarily, and asked them to wait for a while until Man Chong and Emperor Cao Rui made a decision before discussing the details.

Yes, he wants to report.

As soon as Jiang Ban left, he galloped back to the city and came to General Zhengdong's office to ask for an audience.

First met Li Changshi and told the ins and outs of the matter, and then followed Li Changshi to see Man Chong.

Needless to say the reason.

It was he who felt that with the help of Li Changshi, Man Chong would be more inclined to go to war.

After all, Huainan, the governor of Manchu, has been pursuing a strategy of passive defense and luring the enemy deep.

And even if he privately reported this matter to the emperor Cao Rui, based on the fact that the emperor seldom interfered with the decisions of the governors of other towns and Man Chong's weight in the emperor's heart, if Man Chong felt that he could not mobilize troops, the emperor would never force Man Chong to mobilize troops of.

"General, this is the case."

After being allowed to enter by Man Chong, Xia Houhui, who explained in detail the willingness of the survivors of Yanshan Mountain to return to Wanghua and the willingness of the people of Yanshan Mountain to lead the way, said, "And the last general has asked Jiang Gongjun not to spread this matter. No one else will know."

He didn't say anything about the benefits of attacking Wancheng.

Because of the general strategy of being full of favors, there is no need for him to waste any more words.

He also didn't mention the fact that he was too cash-strapped to meet the extra requirements of the survivors of Yanshan Mountain.

After all, so what?
Man Chong's family, who has been clean and dedicated to public affairs and has lost his fortune, has no money left, so he will give him money!
"Um"

Man Chong, who listened patiently, nodded slightly in response.

After pondering for a while, he waved his hand to Xia Houhui again, "I know, this matter needs to be discussed, so let's go back and get busy with the new army arrangement first. If the remnants of the survivors of Yanshan come to ask, you can ask me There is no decision yet, just drag it on.”

"only."

Xia Houhui was noncommittal about Man Chong, but instead of arguing with reason, he bowed respectfully and resigned.

Because he knew that Man Chong would definitely discuss it with the emperor Cao Rui; just as Man Chong also knew that he, who was also in charge of the matter, would definitely report this matter to the emperor in private.

And Li Changshi will definitely help persuade us to mobilize troops~
It's just that what he didn't know was that before Li Changshi could open his mouth, he was blocked by Man Chong's words, "I'm going to study this matter with the emperor myself, so I won't bother Changshi."

The implication is to let Li Changshimo join in.

Therefore, Li Changshi, who originally wanted to persuade a few words, had no choice but to bow and retreat.

That's because Man Chong already has a decision in mind.

Although he is promoting passive defense tactics, this is because of the small number of troops, and it does not mean that he has no intention of attacking Jiangdong.He has long been planning how to teach Jiangdong a lesson, which comes frequently.

But his focus was not on Wancheng, but on Hengjiangpu behind the Ruxu Mountains.

In recent years, Wu Sunquan, the thief Wu, successively moved soldiers and tenants from Jiangdong to Jiangbei to garrison fields, and Hengjiangpu was one of the garrison points.

Therefore, Manchong made preparations, and when the rice was ripe, these thieves Wu soldiers and tenants went out of the city to harvest in the wild, and their defenses were lax, they sent troops to attack, broke the camp and burned the grain and captured the people.The reason why he has not acted is because he feels that there are too few farmers sent from Jiangdong to the north bank, and it is not yet time to attack.

Now, after learning that Wancheng could be attacked, he gave up his thoughts on Hengjiangpu.

Military struggle is for profit.

The valley at the southern foot of the Dabie Mountains, centered on Wancheng, has a territory similar to that of Lujiang County in the Wei Dynasty. Whether it is strategic significance, destructible farmland, or migratable Li Shu, it cannot be compared with a Hengjiangpu farmland point.

Furthermore, the timing is a bit coincidental now~
Just ten days after the beginning of spring, the emperor Cao Rui wrote him a letter, asking if Wen Qin, the prefect of Lujiang, was transferred from Huainan, would it affect his deployment of Yuwu.

Yes, the emperor plans to transfer Wenqin to Luoyang, the capital.

The reason is that after Wang Ling was slandered by Wen Qin last year, he also impeached Wen Qin, not to be outdone.

On the grounds that Wenqin was greedy and brutal, often bullied low-level soldiers, and liked to falsely report his military exploits, he claimed that he was not suitable to serve as a border general, and asked the court to punish him.

This is not revenge.

Wen Qin was violent and had a bad reputation in the Huainan Army.

For example, in the past, in the name of fighting against bandits, he went deep into the mountain to burn, kill and loot the survivors, which aroused the dissatisfaction of many officials and people——

In Huainan, there are many families like Jiang Ban whose father and grandfather avoided disasters in the mountains in the early years, and then returned to the mountains to serve the people.They belonged to the same township party as the Yishan survivors, and there was no shortage of the same clan or relatives, so they naturally resented Wenqin for this.

Man Chong also doesn't like Wen Qin.

Not to mention that after Wen Qin left Huainan, there was a flaw in the deployment that allowed him to resist the thief Wu.

Therefore, Wen Qin's resignation is already a certainty.

And combined with the matter of Xia Houhui's submission just now
Wen Qin's transfer was to appease the emotions of the survivors of Yanshan, and it could also delay the plan to attack Wancheng until a suitable time, such as when the new army led by Governor Xia Houhui was worthy of a battle.

Well, Man Chong is very sure that Emperor Cao Rui will decide to attack Wancheng.

It is also expected that the emperor will secretly instruct him to use the two thousand new troops led by Governor Xia Houhui as the main force of the sneak attack.

The reason is simple.

Only the benefits of defeating the thief Wu, promoting Wei's military power, and returning the captives will prevent the emperor Cao Rui from missing a good opportunity.

After all, since the emperor succeeded to the throne, he has not made any achievements in war.

On the contrary, he lost his teacher and lost his soil.

And a deeper consideration is the effect of this new army on the emperor's prestige, promoting the reform of the scholars, and recruiting soldiers from the civilian villages!

(End of this chapter)