Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 137 Autumn and Winter Truce
September, autumn.

At night, the Huangshan Mountains are much colder than the plain areas.

Among the tents made of grass and trees, the injured soldiers lay together on the Datong bunk, wailing in pain.The doctors were either bandaging the soldiers' wounds and applying herbs carried with the army; or they were feeding the soldiers some decoction to drink to relieve their pain.

Listening to the endless moans, Liu Bei put on his outer robe and comforted the injured soldiers.

"Lord!"

When the injured sergeants saw Liu Bei coming, they all wanted to struggle to get up.

Liu Bei pressed down his hands and said with a smile: "You guys are injured, no need to be polite, just take good care of your injuries."

"Thank you, Lord!" the sergeants replied gratefully.

Visiting injured soldiers after the war was a habit Liu Bei had developed for many years.He is also a person who has climbed up from the bottom and knows what ordinary soldiers think.If you want your sergeants to work for you, you must show the utmost care.A general treats his subordinates as brothers and sisters, and his subordinates will repay him with their lives.

Liu Bei has never been a master of painting cakes. The reason why Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are so persistent is not because of his extraordinary charm, but because he treats people with sincerity and regards Guan Yu and Zhang Fei as family members and confidants.

Liu Bei patted the shoulder of the young soldier beside him and said with a gentle expression: "How are you?"

The young soldier blushed and said, "My left hand was chopped with a knife. It's not serious. I will be able to serve our lord soon."

When Liu Bei saw that the quilt covering his soldiers was thin, he couldn't help but put his hand into it to feel the temperature. He only felt warmth coming from it.Then he touched the soldier's legs and found that his body was curled up.

"what happened?"

Liu Bei frowned and said angrily: "Why is the injured sergeant's quilt so thin? Is there no thick quilt?"

The military commander who was following Liu Bei took a step forward, with a troubled expression on his face, and said, "Your Majesty, I have urged the logistics many times, but they all said that the winter clothes and bedding have not been delivered yet. It is not because of my intention."

"Have the winter clothes and bedding not been delivered yet?" Liu Bei's expression was not good. He turned to look at Sun Qian and said, "Gongyou, didn't I ask you to urge Yuan Zhi and Cheng Ming?"

Sun Qian stepped out, shook his head and said: "For your information, my lord, Yuan Zhi and Cheng Ming wrote to Jingzhou to ask for winter military supplies. However, Cai Mao replied and said that unfortunately, the bedding of the army was leaked and the warehouse was burned. Now we have strictly investigated the officials one by one. Accountability, let our army prepare for winter military supplies first."

"Now Yuanzhi and Chengming have urgently deployed women from Yuzhang and Poyang counties to prepare winter bedding and cotton clothes. It may take a few days."

Liu Bei suppressed his anger, pulled Sun Qian outside the tent, and whispered: "Why didn't Gongyou tell me earlier?"

Sun Qian sighed and said: "The war is about to begin. We are afraid of shaking the morale of the army, so we dare not report to the lord. I wanted to wait until the lord asks about the results of the battle before informing the lord. Unexpectedly~"

"Hey!"

Liu Bei held the hilt of his sword tightly and said in a cold voice: "The traitor Cai Mao has repeatedly used the excuse of running away from home, causing a shortage of military supplies for our army. He also used assassination methods to harm someone in Tanxi. If there is an opportunity in the future, I will kill him. To vent the hatred in my heart.”

Now that Sun Quan was victorious, Liu Bei wanted to take advantage of the victory to pursue him, go deep into Wu Commandery, completely destroy Sun Quan, and capture Jiangdong.Unexpectedly, Cai Mao was holding him back again, dragging away winter military clothing and refusing to give it to him.Faced with a long supply line, without cotton-padded clothes and bedding, and going deep into Wu County in winter, the army would not be able to fight at all, and there might be non-combat attrition.

Liu Bei glanced at the tent behind him and ordered: "We have won this battle. Our army has captured a lot of Jiangdong Army's baggage. We will send bedding to the wounded soldiers as soon as possible to avoid the cold. And let people light more braziers in the tent to drive away the cold."

"No!" After Liu Bei comforted the wounded soldiers, he returned to the main tent to handle military affairs.

"Lord, our army won a great victory in this battle and beheaded more than [-] people, captured more than [-] Jiangdong soldiers, killed three enemy generals including Zhou Tai, Dong Xi, and Cheng Zi, and captured more than [-] war horses. There are more than [-] armors, thousands of bows and crossbows, and countless grain, grass and baggage..."

Zhuge Liang handed over the prisoners of war and battle damage information and said: "Our army has about 700 dead soldiers and about 200 lightly or seriously wounded soldiers..."

Zhuge Liang's writings are quite detailed, ranging from the specific capture of prisoners to the number of military supplies seized, allowing Liu Bei to understand it at a glance.

Liu Bei sat on the couch, put Wen Shu down, and said unwillingly: "Sun Quan's troops were defeated and fled. Many of his strong soldiers were killed or wounded. If he could take advantage of the victory and pursue the attack, he would surely be able to invade Wu County. It's a pity that Cai Mao borrowed it again. In the name of water, there is a shortage of our army's winter supplies."

Zhuge Liang pondered for a while and said: "My lord, Liang thinks that even if our army has winter supplies, we cannot easily advance."

"Oh!"

Liu Bei looked up at Zhuge Liang and asked curiously: "Why did Kong Ming say this?"

Zhuge Liang put down the feather fan in his hand and said: "My lord, Liu Jingzhou's condition has worsened in recent months and it is difficult to govern. Both inside and outside Xiangyang are controlled by Cai Mao and Kuai Yue. In the past, my lord was able to go south, but Cai Mao and Kuai Yue planned it. At this critical moment, I am afraid that my lord and eldest son will ruin their plan."

"Now Cai Mao and Kuai Yue have succeeded in cutting off news from inside and outside Liu Jingzhou. This autumn and winter, they can use the water to cut off our army's winter supplies. Next spring and summer, they may use the lack of food as an excuse to not provide soldiers, horses, money and food to our army. What will our army do then?"

Zhuge Liang pointed at Yishan Mountain with his feather fan and said: "The six counties of Yishan Mountain have not yet been captured. Jinqi has ten thousand households in Wuliao Mountain, Maogan has ten thousand households in Anle Mountain, and Chen Pu, Zushan and others have led [-] households in garrison. Linli Mountain. Thanks to the Lord's gift of food, thousands of households from the barbarians across the mountain have returned home."

"In view of Liang, why don't the lord and the eldest son withdraw their troops and return to the army, pacify the six counties of Yishan, subjugate fifty thousand clan commanders and Shanyue with military power, organize the people into households, send troops to collect taxes, educate the barbarians, and implement virtuous government In the two counties of Poyang and Yuzhang, we called a truce and gathered money and food for fighting next year. Even if Cai Mao and Kuai Yue cut off the army's military supplies and supplies, we and other counties can make their own preparations."

Zhuge Liang's behavioral preference is to fight slowly and slowly, and he does not like excessive conquests, abuse of military power, and harm to the people.

In Zhuge Liang's view, there was no problem in the early days for Liu Bei to use Jingzhou's power to go to Jiangdong. But now that Liu Biao is ill, Cai Mao and Kuai Yue have gradually taken over the power inside and outside Xiangyang.Liu Bei could no longer rely too much on Jingzhou as before. Instead, he needed to build his own administrative system and provide soldiers, horses, money, food, and troops through the counties and villages in the occupied areas.

Sun Qian also felt the same and said: "What your lord's military advisor said is not unreasonable. At that time, our army went down to the east of the Yangtze River like a baby, relying on others to breathe. Now that we are strong, we have conquered the counties of Danyang. If we rely on others to breathe again, we will be captured by the throat. , our army will be controlled by others."

Liu Bei sighed and said, "How could Bei not know what Kong Ming and Gongyou said? Bei was just worried about Cao Cao's footsteps. Bei learned from Zhongmiao that Cao Cao had conquered Hebei and the two Yuans fled north. If you don't seize the time, Bei would be worried. Jiangdong has not been conquered, but Cao Cao has led his troops southward."

Zhuge Liang straightened his back and said loudly: "Liang has some knowledge of the situation in Hebei. Although Cao Cao took Hebei, the senior officials in Bingzhou are still there. The two Yuans fled to Youzhou in the north, and there was Wuhuan outside the Great Wall for reinforcements; the Gongsun family in Liaodong also relied on Far dissatisfied. With a bright view, Cao Cao should take Bingzhou in the west and destroy Wuhuan and Yuan in the north. If the two Yuans escape to Liaodong, Cao Cao will send troops to Liaodong, wipe out Liaodong, and take the heads of the two Yuan before he dares to go south."

"The north is vast. Although Cao Cao has strong soldiers and horses, it can take as little as three years or as long as five years to wipe out the heroes. Today, the Sun family only has two counties in Wuhui. Waiting for the lord to repair civil affairs, and next year, he will send his troops to the east. , one year is enough to destroy the Sun family. By then, we will practice martial arts, repair ships, and train troops, and we can wait for Cao Cao to go south!"

Liu Bei was silent, seeming to be thinking about something.

Seeing this, Bu Zhi cupped his hands and said: "My lord, my Bu clan moved out from Shanyin. Zhi got a letter from the clan, saying that Sun Quan's Pingdong captain He Qi led an army to conquer the Kuaiji Mountains and returned from the barbarians, with about ten thousand soldiers and horses. A large number of people. Moreover, Wu County is the place where the Sun family raised troops and where the clan members gathered. Sun Quan has obtained these ten thousand people, and taking advantage of the terrain and the people's sentiments, he should be able to fight against our army."

Hearing this, Liu Bei's expression moved slightly, he pursed his lips, and said: "In that case, let's call it a truce and order the generals to advance into the six counties of Yishan and prepare to recruit Shanyue and Zongshuai here. Next spring, send troops to Wu County to wipe out Sun Quan. "

"My lord is wise!"

(End of this chapter)