Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 240 Disaster on Xiao Qiang
The impact of the coalition's defeat of Cao Cao was fermenting, spreading from Jingzhou to Wuyue.Presumably, it will not be long before it spreads throughout Bashu, Central Plains and Northwest China.

In the battle of Changbanpo, Cao Cao received support from Manchuria, and Zhao Yun led his cavalry to retreat south to Jiangling.When Cao Cao entered Xiangfan, he consciously broke out of the prison.

Cao Cao led an army of 1 to 3000 people to march south. In the end, only [-] to [-] soldiers were left in Xiangfan, [-]% of them were gone, and only [-]% of the soldiers and horses were left to escape with him.

In addition to a large number of casualties, many of Cao Cao's generals were captured and killed.

For example, the generals Cheng Yu, Le Jin, Lou Gui, Cao Chun, and Lu Zhao died in the battle; the prime minister's subordinates Cai Hao, Zhang Yun, Xi Shuo, Huang Jian, etc. died in the battle; the governor of Jingzhou Li Li, the governor of Linjiang Qi Ji, and the governor of Jiangxia Han Xi and others died in the military disaster; dozens of civil servants and military generals, including Huan Jie in chief, Fu Xun in the army, Du Kui in sacrifice, General Shen Mi, and Yin Shu, surrendered to the Second Liu Dynasty.

More than [-] soldiers from the north and south fled to Jianghan, and hundreds of civil and military officials died or surrendered. Even Cao Cao, who was sitting in the Central Plains, was heartbroken.

After paying a far more painful price than in Chibi and surviving in the wilderness, with three generals chasing and intercepting him, Cao Cao suffered a recurrence of his headache when he returned to Xiangyang and had to stay in bed to recuperate.

Cao Cao was half lying on the bed, his head wrapped in a hot towel, and he looked good.After a few days of rest, Cao Cao's health gradually improved and his face became flushed.

While Cao Cao was resting, suddenly there was a noise outside the hall, and the attendants hurried into the hall.

"Prime Minister, it's not good!"

Cao Cao, whose head was swollen, saw that his attendants were so frightened and scolded him, "Why are you so panicked?"

The attendant wiped the sweat from his forehead and said: "To inform the Prime Minister, Huo Jun led the navy upstream. Now the soldiers of the vanguard navy have arrived outside the city."

"what?"

Cao Cao, who was lying on the couch, was shocked. He sat up suddenly and said in disbelief: "Huo Jun defeated our army for the first time, how dare he raise his troops to attack me?"

Cao Cao was ashamed and annoyed. He stood up and ordered: "Come here, let Gongming stick to Fancheng and don't go out to fight easily. I want to go to Beicheng Water Wall to see how Huo Jun's troops are doing?"

The attendant glanced at the kerchief on Cao Cao's head and said worriedly: "The prime minister has regained his strength. I wonder if he can go to the city to watch the enemy?"

"what!"

Cao Cao touched his head and found that his headache was gone.It must have been that I was shocked by the news of Huo Jun's advance, and a lot of sweat broke out from the left and right sides of my temples, which temporarily cured the old headwind.

"How can you not sit back and watch the enemy?"

Cao Cao was full of energy. He pulled off the turban on his head, threw it to the ground, and said in a deep voice: "The illness of Gu's head has been cured. Let the civil and military personnel of the army follow Gu to the city."

"promise!"

In the north city, Cao Cao stood in armor, squinting his eyes to watch the movements of Huo Jun's navy on the Han River.However, they saw that the navy did not look like an invading army at all, with hundreds of mighty boats floating on the river.From a high position, the soldiers from Jiangzuo landed on Yuliangzhou in the Han River and built a water fortress.

"This~"

Everyone who was frightened by Huo Jun's fire looked timid when they saw the navy commanded by Huo Jun.

Yang Xiu swallowed and said: "Prime Minister, Huo Jun has raised tens of thousands of troops and seems to have the intention of taking Xiangfan. What should we do now?"

Cao Cao frowned as he looked at the Jiangdong Navy on the Han River blocking the two cities of Xiangfan.He originally thought that after Huo Jun defeated him, he would join forces with Liu Bei to attack Jiangling. He never thought that Huo Jun would be so bold and lead his army directly north to attack the second city of Xiangfan.

Seeing the fear on the left and right, Cao Cao laughed while stroking the city wall and said: "The city of Xiangyang is strong and rare in the world. Five thousand soldiers and horses can defend tens of thousands of soldiers. Today, there are [-] soldiers and horses in the second city of Xiangfan. Huo Jun's tent How many soldiers and horses are there, how can we easily break the city?"

With that said, Cao Cao said confidently: "The main force of the Jiangbei Seventh Army is still there, with more than [-] soldiers. Huo Jun'an dares to go ashore to fight the army. I expect that Huo Jun is just using his navy to harass Jianghan, so don't worry, gentlemen!"

Hearing what Cao Cao said, the civil servants and counselors felt at ease.

"As the prime minister said, Xiangfan has many soldiers and horses, and the city is strong and difficult to conquer. But I don't know why Huo Jun led his troops up the river?" Yang Xiu asked doubtfully.

Cao Cao hesitated a little and said: "Gai is trying to capture Jiangling for Jiangzuo. Jiangzuo defeated our army at the beginning, but there are still few soldiers and horses. Perhaps he is worried that Xiangfan's soldiers and horses will go south, so he sends troops to Xiangyang as a containment."

Huo Jun's move can be said to be both a conspiracy and a surprise move. Everyone knew that after the Battle of Chrysostom, Huo Jun and Liu Bei would take advantage of the situation to attack Jiangling.Therefore, Cao Cao stayed in Xiangfan. In addition to recuperating, he was preparing to mobilize surrounding troops and horses in an attempt to go south to help Cao Ren.

Cao Cao had already made arrangements. Even if Jiangling could not hold it, with Cao Ren's perseverance, he wanted his generals to move hundreds of thousands of people between Xiangyang and Jiangling to Yewan, Xuluo and other places. Hundreds of miles of no man's land.

Even if Er Liu can get Jiangling by then, it will lack the civilian population and will be of little use except as a military bridgehead.So I went to Jiangling and wanted to spy on Xiangfan. However, due to the hundreds of miles of no-man's land, food and grass had to be deployed from Jingnan, thousands of miles away. It was also difficult to launch an army for the Northern Expedition. These hundreds of miles of no-man's land would become Cao Cao's The area where Liu and Liu competed.

Huo Jun's move broke Cao Cao's plan. Huo Jun raised tens of thousands of troops to station in Xiangyang, using the navy to distract Cao Cao.Cao Cao was hiding in the city and it was indeed difficult to fight, but Huo Jun floated on the Han River and took the initiative. How could Cao Cao dare to send troops south to support Cao Ren?
Man Chong, who was transferred to General Fenwei and was about to lead his troops south to Dangyang, said: "Prime Minister, Huo Jun has brought his troops. Do you still need to go south to Dangyang?"

"No need!"

Cao Cao waved his hand and said: "Bo Ning will lead his troops and horses to temporarily station in the city and defend Xiangyang City." "No!"

"Prime Minister, now our army has been defeated by Chrysostom, and Jiangling is in panic. If we don't send sergeants south, I'm afraid General Zixiao won't be able to hold on for long!" Cao Hong walked to Cao Cao's side and said, "It's better to send seven soldiers and horses upstream from the Han River. , crossed the Han River, and headed south to support Jiangling."

The Han River is not a natural danger of the Yangtze River. In addition to being wide in the Xiangfan area, the Han River begins to narrow from Xiangfan upwards.Some shallow bends in the upper reaches of the Han River can be easily crossed by soldiers on the north bank, but the boats cannot stop them all.

Historically, Guan Yu flooded seven armies and besieged Fancheng.In fact, there are prerequisites, that is, Liu Bei captured the three eastern counties and covered Guan Yu in the Xiangfan battle on the upper reaches of the Han River.Otherwise, when Guan Yu besieged Fancheng, the troops from the three eastern counties could threaten Guan Yu's [-] troops from the flanks, and they would cooperate with Lu Chang in Xiangyang City, which would make Guan Yu very uncomfortable.

When Cao Cao went south to Xiangfan, the Shen brothers had surrendered to Cao Cao, and the upper reaches of the Han River were not controlled by Huo Jun, but by Cao Cao.

"No!"

Cao Cao shook his head and objected, saying: "The soldiers and horses of the Seventh Army must not be moved lightly. Rong Gu thinks deeply."

After a pause, Cao Cao ordered: "Zi Lian, you are in charge of the defense of Xiangyang City. Whenever Huo Jun raises his troops to attack, he will be defeated."

"promise!"

……

Yuliangzhou, also known as Chatouzhou.Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, there has been Yuliangzhou on the Han River in the northeast of Xiangyang.Pang Degong once lived in seclusion on this continent, and Liu Biao liked to come here for hunting when he was still alive.

However, with the death of Liu Biao, the peace of Jingxiang in the past also disappeared.When the water rose this spring, Huo Jun led [-] soldiers and horses to Yuliangzhou, built forts and water forts.

In the big tent, Huo Jun marked the generals of Cao's army on the map.

Jiang Ji organized the military situation of all parties for Huo Jun and said: "North of the Han River, Zhang Liao garrisoned Caiyang, Zhang He garrisoned Anchang, Yujinzhen garrisoned Suixian County, Xu Huang garrisoned Fancheng, Li Dian garrisoned Xinye, Zhu Ling garrisoned Dengxian, and Feng Kai garrisoned Huyang. Jiangxia Seven The main force of the army is still there, with five or six thousand soldiers and horses under each tent, about [-] people."

Then, Jiang Ji pointed to Xiangyang and said: "On the south bank of the Han River, Cao Cao is still in Xiangyang City. There are about 2 soldiers and horses in the city. In terms of the [-] people in our army, Xiangyang is so dangerous, and Cao Cao lives there. In the city, I’m afraid we won’t be able to go ashore to fight.”

Huo Jun entered the Han River by boat and took advantage of the navy to station troops on Yuliangzhou.If he leads the infantry to Xiangfan, he may be taught a lesson by Zhang Liao, Zhang He, Yu Jin, Zhu Ling and other generals.

Huo Jun looked at the distribution of Cao's army on the map and said: "The city of Xiangyang is unusually steep and dangerous, and Cao Cao lives in the city, so it cannot be attempted. Let the sergeants station troops on Yuliangzhou to contain Cao's army in Xiangfan. If Cao's army dares to send troops south, he will send troops. Hit it."

Jiang Ji pondered for a while and then said: "The governor stayed in Xiangfan to contain the armies, and the two princes surrounded and captured the cities of Jiangling. However, Cao Cao lives in Xiangfan, and has seven armies of soldiers and horses in hand, so he is watching with Ji, fearing that it will be difficult to rush down to Jiangling. Today Ji has a plan, maybe let Cao Cao lead his army back to Xuchang north, and let the two Dukes quickly descend to the cities in Jiangling."

Huo Jun's eyes fell on Jiang Ji and said, "Zitong, please give me some advice!"

Jiang Ji stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Does the Governor know that trouble has caused Xiao Qiang?"

"Ok?"

Huo Jun looked thoughtful and asked, "Is the disaster Zitong refers to happening in Xuchang?"

"Exactly!"

Jiang Ji sorted out his thoughts and said: "Cao Cao coerced the emperor to order the princes to do illegal things. In the past, when Cao Cao had great military power, he would go up to the emperor to order all the officials, but only Cao Cao obeyed, and no one dared to disobey. However, Cao Cao raised all the people of China When I came to Linjianghan, I fought with the governor at Chrysostom and was defeated thousands of miles away. Not even one of the ten soldiers under my command was left."

"So if the monarchs and ministers of Xuchang were to know about Cao Cao's tragic defeat and that Cao Cao was trapped in Xiangyang City by the governor, what would happen to the Xuchang court in the eyes of the governor?"

Jiang Ji said in a low voice: "The Han Dynasty has been in the Han Dynasty for four hundred years. Although it is lonely and weak, there are still people who are loyal to the Han Dynasty. Cao Cao's reputation is so great that people dare not disobey him. Now that Cao Cao has been defeated and left Jianghan, the loyal people of the Han Dynasty will be ready to move. .”

Huo Jun nodded thoughtfully. The Emperor of Xuchang, Liu Xie, had never been a peaceful person.

In addition to the belt edict, Liu Xie also threatened Cao Cao verbally.For example, when Liu Xie first arrived in Xuchang, he had no real power and was like a puppet.Therefore, Liu Xie and Yilang Zhao Yan planned the national affairs.But Cao Cao found out and killed Zhao Yan to intimidate Liu Xie.

However, Liu Xie was not afraid and ordered Cao Cao to come to see him. There were tigers on the left and right holding swords, threatening Cao Cao and saying: "If you can help each other, you will be kind; if you don't, I am lucky to be gracious to you."These semi-threatening words, accompanied by Huben guards holding swords on the left and right, scared Cao Cao to the point of sweating profusely, and he never saw Liu Xie again.

According to Jiang Ji, Liu Xie knew that Cao Cao was defeated and in despair, so he would not miss this opportunity.There is a high probability that trouble will occur in Xuchang, and Cao Cao will not dare to stay in Xiangyang at that time...

"Can!"

Huo Jun said approvingly: "Zitong is a talented person, Jun is very impressed by him."

After saying that, Huo Jun said with a smile: "Since I have your suggestions, I will allocate manpower to spread this news to Nanyang and Xuchang. I will sit back and watch the changes in Xuchang in Yuliangzhou."

"promise!"

(End of this chapter)