Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 204 Huo Geyan’s Current Situation
Cao Cao sharpened his sword in the Central Plains and trained his navy in the Xuanwu Pond.The Jiangdong Naval Exercise, which has been busy all winter, has just come to an end.Except for some of the navy soldiers who were ordered to garrison, all the soldiers from all departments returned home to farm due to spring plowing.

This is the particularity of the military system in the Qin and Han Dynasties. Even the military system of the world is not exempt from customs. Except during wars, they all operate according to the system of "training the army when they are free and returning home and farming when they are busy". After all, in ancient times, professional soldiers could It's not easy to afford it.

After the naval drill, Huo Jun was ordered to rush to Wuxian to meet Liu Qi.Going down the river, Huo Jun rested for a day at Jingkou and met Zhuge Liang.

"Kong Ming has been waiting for a long time!"

Huo Jun wiped his face with a handkerchief and walked out, then handed the wiped handkerchief to the hand of the maid.

"nothing!"

Zhuge Liang put down the tea cup and said with a smile: "The tea made by Zhongmiao is quite bitter when you first drink it, but after you taste it carefully, it tastes sweet. After all the bitterness, it is sweet, and it can refresh the mind. Liang loves it very much."

Huo Jun sat on the couch, took out a small can of tea from the wooden box on the table, placed it in front of Zhuge Liang, and said with a smile: "This tea comes from the Dabie Mountains and is very different. I, the Huo clan, grow it. I call it Huoshan Huangya." .”

Zhuge Liang picked up the lacquer box and opened the lid. He felt that the aroma of tea was fragrant, very fresh and refreshing.

Closing the lacquer box, Zhuge Liang smiled and said, "Zhong Miao's kindness, I would like to express my gratitude to you."

Among Jiangdong's senior executives, Huo Jun is the one who knows how to enjoy things best, not in a luxurious way, but in a very refined quality of life.

Huo Jun took a sip of tea and asked, "How has Kong Ming been in Danyang recently?"

Zhuge Liang shook his feather fan lightly and said: "Raise money, food and equipment for the army, and send five thousand more troops to Xiakou for the lord's dispatch."

"Alas?"

Huo Jun asked curiously: "Could it be that there have been changes in Jingzhou?"

Zhuge Liang shook his head and said: "My lord is worried about Jiangxia's lack of troops. He may be worried that when he leads his troops to Xiangyang, Man Chong and Li Tong will go south to attack the three passes of Yiyang, break the city and enter, and use the Weixiakou wall. "

As he spoke, Zhuge Liang frowned and said: "Cao Cao has settled down in Hebei and is now in control of China. However, General Chariot and Cavalry is seriously ill and has not yet had an heir. The people of Wu and Chu are restless. Cai Mao and Kuai Yue have evil intentions and want to Support Liu Cong to succeed to the throne. In view of the current situation, the only way to avoid the collapse of Wu and Chu is to let the eldest son take the throne."

After Cao Cao captured Wuhuan, the nerves in Jingyang and Yang were tense, and they were very worried about Cao Cao sending his troops south.In fact, after the last experience, it would be okay for Cao Cao to raise his troops and go south. The point is that Liu Biao has not made it clear who he will choose as his heir.As for the struggle between Liu Cong and Liu Qi, everyone in Jingyang and Yangzhou seemed to know about it.

There is a strong enemy outside, the master died of illness, and no successor has been established.It is not difficult to see the problems that Wu Chu has.Under such circumstances, it is completely normal for people in Jingzhou to be panicked.

Shaking his feather fan, Zhuge Liang expressed his feelings and said: "Given the current situation, Liang is very worried about the sudden death of General Chariot and Cavalry. Cai Mao and Kuai Yue already have a grudge against the envoy and the eldest son, and this grudge is difficult to resolve. The eldest son succeeded him. In order to protect themselves, they may surrender to Cao Cao."

"Cao Cao led his troops from the north to go south to Wu and Chu, and took advantage of the chaos to seize Jingzhou. He obtained Xiangfan soldiers and horses, and used his reputation to pacify the four counties in Jingnan. The only one our army relied on was Jiangzuo'er. We used Jiangzuo's land to resist Cao's army for dozens of Ten thousand, maybe the only thing I can rely on is the big river boat!"

Huo Jun put down the tea cup and said: "Cai Mao and Kuai Yue have a long-standing grudge against us, and they prevented the eldest son from entering Xiangyang to ask for an audience with the cavalry general. The current situation will not be resolved unless the Xiangyang Cai family, Kuai family, and the civil servants and cronies of Xiangyang are completely eliminated. Only by eradicating it can we have a chance to reverse this situation.”

Zhuge Liang stopped his feather fan, frowned and said, "Then we are going to send troops?"

"Cai Mao was in charge of the troops and horses of Nanjun, and Jiangling was his old seat; when he entered Xiangyang, Nanyang and the surrounding troops and horses were again controlled by him. If you want to punish the Cai and Kuai tribes, you can only raise your troops to fight and capture Xiangyang. The city of Xiangyang has always been strong. Ten thousand soldiers and horses are enough to withstand an army of fifty thousand. Moreover, Xiangyang is very close to Xuchang. It can take half a month to reach Xiangfan by foot and horse."

Zhuge Liang shook his feather fan and analyzed himself: "Unless we capture Xiangfan quickly, we will raise troops to besiege him. If Cao's troops move south, they will be blocked internally and externally, and the army will undoubtedly be defeated. And if I were Cao Cao and saw our army moving troops towards Xiangyang, I would definitely send troops." Go to Xiakou and Chaohu. With the number of Cao's soldiers and the small number of our troops, how can we defeat them?"

Jiangzuo has too few troops and Cao's army has too many troops. This is a fatal problem at the moment.As Zhuge Liang said, if they cannot capture Xiangfan quickly and are blocked outside the city by Xiangfan, waiting for Cao Cao's army to arrive, the army besieging Xiangyang will be defeated.

Not to mention how dangerous Xiangfan is and how many troops and horses are needed to attack.Just talking about Jiangbei, the Jiangxia defense line requires a lot of troops to be stationed, and it has to withstand the huge pressure of Cao's army moving south.Huo Jun dipped his fingers into the tea, drew a simple Yangtze River defense line on the desk, and said: "We, Jiangzuo sergeants, have about 5000 soldiers. Now the envoy will command 5000 people stationed in Jiangxia. Jun will lead 8000 people." The human navy stationed troops in the north of the Yangtze River, with 5000 Danyang sergeants including the elderly and weak, [-] soldiers and horses in Yuzhang and Luling, and [-] in Wujun and Kuaiji."

The overall military strength of Jiangzuo is about [-], including soldiers and horses from Jian'an County and Changxi Zhang.However, considering the situation, Jian'an County, which is entrenched in Shanyue, cannot be mobilized, and Changtun's troops in Jiangdu cannot be moved lightly.The troops and horses in these two places must not be moved. In fact, the number of available troops in Jiangzuo is more than [-].

Then, Huo Jun explained the dismantling: "The river is vast, thousands of miles long. If Cao Cao's army of 5000 goes to Jianghuai, our army will have to defend Ruxukou with [-]. If Cao Cao's army goes to Jingzhou, our army will leave more than [-] We can defend Jiangzuo, and if we go to Jiangxia with [-] people, Jiangzuo can use more than [-] soldiers and horses."

The situation is very realistic. Liu Qi and Liu Bei dare not launch a large-scale war. Once they mobilize their troops, Cao Cao may march south from Jianghuai.Today's historical route has undergone a great deflection. The route Cao Cao can choose to use his troops is not only Jingzhou, but also Jiangdong.That is to say, Cao Cao was observing the trend of the situation in the south and choosing the route of march.

After thinking about it carefully, Zhuge Liang said: "According to what Zhongmiao said, the only way to go to Xiangfan at the moment is to use the eldest son's reputation to consolidate the troops in Jingzhou. But if there are any governors in Jingzhou who are disobedient, or the city of Xiangfan cannot hold on, Then Cao Cao's troops came to the river."

He didn't want to rely on Jiangdong to resist Cao Cao on his own, so he had to quickly capture Xiangfan and use Liu Qi's inheritance rights to integrate Jingzhou's troops.During this process, the county guards from all over Jingzhou must cooperate with Liu Qi very much. Xiangyang City can withstand the fierce attack of Cao Jun. At that time, the entire defense line of Xiakou and Jiangbei was attacked by Cao Jun, and it must also hold on.

"Difficult!"

"Very difficult!"

Listening to Zhuge Liang's emotion, Huo Jun was also speechless.Wanting to take Xiangfan, this is the problem Jiangdong faces. The difficulty is beyond Huo Jun's control. It all depends on other people's faces and fate.

"What does Zhongmiao mean?" Zhuge Liang asked.

Huo Jun picked up the cooled tea, drank it in one gulp, and said: "When I was at the imperial court in Xiangyang, I watched Cai Mao and Kuai Yue. I also watched Cao Cao and his tents, and even watched the destiny of the emperor. I may be looking for opportunities when I live in Xiakou. Attack Xiangyang."

"But Jun should not bet on destiny. He should be on the left side of the river and build up his troops. Watch the situation between Wu and Chu, lead his troops into the army, lead our boats and boats, and defeat the enemy on the river."

Zhuge Liang nodded and said: "Let the envoy give it a try. If Xiangyang is not available, immediately retreat to Jiangxia, and we will raise troops to help Xiakou. Use the great river and natural chasms to eliminate the strength of Cao's army's infantry and cavalry. Even if we cannot defeat the enemy, we will still be able to defeat him." Cao Cao can be ordered to retreat."

After a pause, Zhuge Liang seemed to remember something, took up the jar behind him, and said with a smile: "What Zhong Miao asked for, Liang ordered people to bring it from Jiangdu!"

"oil?"

"Correct!"

Zhuge Liang opened the lid of the altar and said, "It's exactly what Zhongmiao said. It doesn't melt with water and looks like pure lacquer. It burns like hemp, but the smoke is very thick."

Changba's location in Buqiu (now Shaobo, Yangzhou), the capital of Jiangdu, would become a famous oil producing area in northern Jiangsu in the future.When Changba was building a new city, the people dug down wells and unexpectedly dug out a small amount of oil.People didn't know this thing, so they accidentally touched it with fire, and it actually ignited a fire. It became an anecdote from then on.

This matter was known to Zhuge Liang, and he realized how extraordinary this thing was, so he shared the matter with Huo Jun.After Huo Jun learned about it, he asked Zhuge Liang to collect it for him.

Huo Jun used a wooden spoon to scoop up some crude oil. He saw that it was viscous and a dark brown liquid. He smelled the strong smell and said with a smile: "Thank you Kong Ming for your help. This is of great use."

Zhuge Liang shook his feather fan lightly and said, "Liang ordered people to collect more than twenty altars. Are you not satisfied?"

"That's enough!" Huo Jun closed the wine jar and said, "Please Kongming send someone to Wankou Village."

"Can!"

　One more chapter tonight

　　
　
(End of this chapter)