Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 103 Mi Zhongyi

The ninth year of Jian'an, the first month of 204 AD.

After Zhou Yu defeated Chaisang, Sun Quan completely gave up the siege of Pengze City and moved his army to Chaisang.Taking advantage of Liu Bei's southward attack on Sun Ben, Sun Quan led his army south to conquer Haihun. When he wanted to break through Haichang, he was blocked by Mi Fang stationed in Jiaoqiu City.

Jiaoqiu City is located south of the Gan River. It is the outpost of Nanchang City and a strategic location on the road.In the past, Hua Xin, the governor of Yuzhang, built this city specifically to resist Sun Ce.Hou Yu succeeded in persuading Hua Xin to surrender, and Jiaoqiu City was wasted.However, in Mi Fang's hands, it became used to resist Sun Quan's army.

Liu Bei and Liu Qi led their armies southward, leaving Pan Jun and Mi Fang behind in Nanchang. Pan Jun was in charge of government and Mi Fang was in charge of the army, with thousands of troops stationed there.After the news of Zhou Yu's destruction of Jiangxia Navy reached Nanchang, the two men took action.Mi Fang led thousands of infantry to Jiaoqiu City to build fortifications.Pan Jun persuaded the powerful people and nobles in the city to send out hundreds of strong men, and sent them to Jiaoqiu City before Sun Quan surrounded them.

Sun Quan led an army to besiege Jiaoqiu City and sent envoys to persuade Mi Fang to surrender. However, Mi Fang slashed him with a sword and threatened to die.Sun Quan had no choice but to build siege equipment and prepare to besiege the city.With the cooperation of Pan Jun and Mi Fang, Jiaoqiu City was defended for half a month.

Half a month later, Shuangliu's army, which defeated Sun Ben and returned for reinforcements, appeared south of the Gan River.Sun Quan and Zhou Yu found out the news, gave up the siege of Jiaoqiu City, and led their troops to withdraw to the north of the Gan River.

After the siege of Jiaoqiu City was lifted, Liu Bei saw Mi Fang in the city.

"Thank you Zifang!"

Liu Bei looked at Mi Fang who looked haggard, couldn't help but hold his hand, and said with concern.

Mi Fang was very excited when she saw Liu Bei and said, "It's not hard work. It's not easy for my lord to have such a foundation after wandering so far. It's really important to keep Fang to garrison in Nanchang. If Fang An Neng doesn't work, he will die if he doesn't work!"

Liu Bei patted Mi Fang on the shoulder and said with emotion: "If you have a son, you are so loyal, how can you be unstable if you have a son?"

Mi Fang calmed down and said: "Sun Quan and Zhou Yu abandoned Pengze City and attacked Chaisang. They defeated Haihun, Yongxiu, Shangliao and other cities. Their troops were strong and Jiaoqiu City was in danger. Fortunately, the Lord's soldiers came to relieve the siege."

"How many soldiers and horses do the enemy have?" Liu Bei asked, "How is the situation at Zhongmiao's headquarters?"

Mi Fang pondered for a moment and then said: "My lord, the enemy has about fifteen thousand soldiers and horses, and the battleships and water strongholds are stationed outside Haichang City."

"Zhongmiao learned that Sun Quan and Zhou Yu were going around to capture Chaisang, and he sent General Zhao to garrison the city of Fanyang and build a water fence outside the city to prevent the enemy from invading. As Zhongmiao expected, Sun Quan sent Zhou Tai to capture the city of Fanyang. After hearing this, Zhao Zilong's troops arrived, so he did not dare to invade and returned to Haichang." Mi Fang said with admiration.

Fanyang City is on the west bank of Pengli Ze, facing Haihun across Pengli Ze, and belongs to the rear area of ​​Pengze City.

According to Zhou Yu's plan, after Jiangdong's army captured Chaisang, they divided their forces to attack the counties and townships on the east and west banks of Penglize, leaving Pengze City on the west bank as an isolated city.

Zhou Yu believed that Pengze could not be captured by force, and the army could use the river to transport supplies, so it was better to besiege Pengze City in another way.That is to say, they captured the surrounding counties and villages, cut off Pengzecheng's foreign aid, and used the navy to isolate traffic.How long could Peng Zecheng hold on despite the shortage of food and soldiers?

Unfortunately, although Zhou Yu's plan was good, it encountered difficulties during its implementation.The rebel duo in history, Mi Fang and Pan Jun, worked together to guard Nanchang and block the Jiangdong army in Jiaoqiu City.

Huo Jun saw through Zhou Yu's plan and noticed Sun Quan and Zhou Yu's intention to attack Chaisang.In order to ensure that his retreat was not cut off, Huo Jun sent Zhao Yun and led hundreds of soldiers to settle in Fanyang City in advance.After the fall of Chaisang, he planned to lead his troops to retreat to Fanyang City to hold on.Sure enough, after capturing Chaisang, Zhou Yu sent Zhou Taifen to capture Fanyang City.However, when Zhou Tai led his navy to arrive at the foot of Shanyang City, he found that Zhao Yun had already arrived.Zhou Tai was afraid of Zhao Yun's bravery and saw that Shanyang was guarded, so he had to return to Haichang to resume his life.

After receiving the news that Chaisang had been defeated, Huo Jun immediately led his sergeants to leave Pengze City and retreat to Fanyang City to hold on.After all, Chaisang has been defeated, and there is not much significance in holding on to Pengze City. It is better to retreat to Fanyang City and contain Jiangdong soldiers and horses from the east bank.

When Liu Bei heard what happened, he couldn't help but sigh and said: "Precisely predicting the enemy, knowing the details and avoiding dangers, and having far-reaching strategies are actually what famous generals do. It's better to be prepared!"

If Huo Jun guarded Pengze City for nearly three months and caused a large number of casualties to Jiangdong Army, it can be said that he is an outstanding general.

Now, without any external intelligence, and based only on the mobilization of Jiangdong Army, we can guess that Zhou Yu may adopt the military deployment of first defeating Chaisang and then seizing Fanyang City. He has also made corresponding arrangements to prevent the slightest change and preserve the sergeants.This operation is enough to show that Huo Jun is not only an outstanding general, but an excellent military commander.

After all, the biggest difference between a general and a commander-in-chief is his grasp of the situation on the battlefield. It is the behavior of a commander-in-chief not to think about victory but to think about defeat first and not to lead the army into a desperate situation.

After Liu Bei exchanged a few words with Mi Fang, he asked, "Now Sun Quan has withdrawn to the north of the Gan River and formed an array. What's the point?"

Xu Shu pondered for a while and said: "My lord, as General Mi said, Sun Quan's army only has [-] troops, while our army has nearly [-] troops. Sun Quan originally wanted to capture Chaisang, and he fought with Sun Bi and Sun Fu Brothers, they attacked our army from the north and the south, but unexpectedly our army defeated Sun Ben and sent his troops northward."

"Now that Sun Quan has few troops and is worried about victory or defeat, he withdrew to the north of the Gan River to form a formation with the intention of delaying time. He tried to use water ships to cut off our army's food routes and secretly communicated with Sun Ben. If Sun Ben raised his troops to attack from the south We and our army will be caught in a flanking attack. Therefore, we must make a quick decision without wasting any time."

Sun Quan's current situation was quite embarrassing. He had expected to cooperate with Sun Bi to attack Liu Bei from the north and the south.Unexpectedly, Liu Bei defeated Sun Bi first, drove the two Sun brothers to Luling, and then sent his troops north to confront him.

Then the cities of Nanchang and Fanyang were not captured, and the army was restricted to the counties of Chaisang and Haihun.Fortunately, the Jingzhou Navy was destroyed. If it had not been destroyed, they would have fallen into a counter-siege.

In other words, Sun Quan's only way is to delay, contact Sun Bi as soon as possible, and let them go north to attack Liu Bei. Only in this way can he solve his embarrassing situation.

What Xu Shu meant was to advise Liu Bei to defeat Sun Quan as soon as possible and not to be trapped in a two-sided attack.

Liu Bei frowned slightly and said: "Although Sun Quan has few soldiers and horses, he still has the advantage of navy. Now we are facing each other across the Gan River. It is really difficult for our army to break through quickly."

Xu Shu stroked his beard and said, "Why don't we call Zhongmiao to join the army and ask him if he has any strategies to defeat the enemy?"

"Yes!" Liu Bei ordered: "Xingba will lead the navy to the east bank to pick up Zhongmiao and cross Daze, and let Zilong temporarily supervise his troops."

"No!" Gan Ning responded with his hands raised.

ps: I'm a bit stuck today, please take a look.

(End of this chapter)