Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 304 The importance of eyes and ears
Xia Pi, Huai Ling.

Huailing County, named after the Huai River Highlands, is located on the south bank of the Huai River.During the Han Dynasty, it was mostly a wealthy place.However, due to Yuan Shu's chaos in the Jianghuai River, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Lu Bu, Chen family and other forces took turns to appear, and it has long been withered and sparsely populated.

Huailing is about two to three hundred miles away from Hefei, and about two hundred miles away from Moling and Jiangdu.Since Huo Jun's Northern Expedition to Hefei, Yu Shao has sent scouts deep into the Huaihe River Basin to explore the enemy's situation.

The land is vast but sparsely populated, there are no roosters crowing for hundreds of miles, there are many weeds, and the tranquility of the water is a reflection of this place.

On the high hill, the Southern Army scouts were resting on the ground, five or six people were playing Cuju in the open space, and three or four people were on the hilltop looking around.

"What a long man, look at that!"

Suddenly, the Southern Army scout saw a large plume of smoke rising in the distance. He pushed the commander who was chatting and laughing with his subordinates and shouted: "The enemy is coming from the direction of Xuzhou."

The sparse population in Jianghuai has both advantages and disadvantages for the scouts.Help them hide better without worrying about being discovered. Whenever there is a large smoke rising, they will know that there are enemies moving south, and they can quickly detect it.

Chief Shi Jing's face changed greatly and he said: "Looking at the smoke from the enemy's cooking stoves, there must be many enemies coming, maybe thousands or even ten thousand. You stay here and Li Er will follow me to investigate."

"promise!"

Shi Jing and his subordinate Li Er walked down the hill, mounted their horses and went towards the direction of the rising smoke.Because Jianghuai was sparsely populated and the shrubs and grass trees were extremely lush, the two of them walked along the forest path and did not dare to take the main road.When approaching the enemy camp, the two dismounted and walked, fearing that they would be discovered by Cao Jun's scouts.

Three or four miles away, Shi Jingmao was observing the Cao army coming from Huaibei in the bushes.But they saw Cao's army camped by the river. The sergeants carried buckets to draw water from the river, and the auxiliary soldiers held axes and cut firewood around them.

"Sir, the enemy general's surname is Wu. Judging from the number of camps, there are about ten thousand men and horses." Li Er, a short man, emerged from the bushes and said, "It should be Wu Dun, the governor of Donghai, and his brother Wu." Jing, there are no Sun Guan and Zang Ba."

"Come on!"

Shi Jing glanced at the camp a few more times and said: "The enemy invaders should be supporting Hefei and should report to the governor quickly."

"promise!"

Scouts need to be alert, have outstanding ears and eyes, be bold and careful, and be able to recognize and calculate.When marching and fighting, there are no scouts, and the army has no eyes and ears.How can a dull soldier be qualified as the eyes and ears of an army?

In ancient military camps, a normal tent was one foot six feet long and could accommodate ten people.If an army of ten thousand people is divided into a battalion of ten, there will be a thousand battalions.

However, how can it be faster to plan a thousand tents?
In fact, there are often flags in military camps. Using flags and tents, the number of enemy troops can often be counted relatively quickly.Of course, the number of people can also be calculated from the stoves left behind after the enemy troops retreated.

Although marching and fighting may seem futile, it can actually be regarded as a science.

When brothers Wu Dun and Wu Jing led their sergeants to camp on the spot, Shi Jing ordered his scouts who were good at running to send news of Xuzhou soldiers to the Hefei camp.

Those who are good at running are also indispensable for scouts. The military situation is like fire and cannot be neglected.Huailing was two to three hundred miles from Hefei, and the scouts traveled all the way through the starry night to deliver the message. The information was delivered to Hefei in less than two days.

A journey of two to three hundred miles is nothing to those who are good at walking.Those who are good at traveling in the Three Kingdoms can be recorded in history.Sima Yi and Yu Fan took the lead. Cao Rui died of illness, and Sima Yi walked more than 400 miles a day; Sun Ceping leveled Jiangdong, and Yu Fan walked [-] miles a day.

Hefei, the southern army's main tent.

After hearing the battle report of the reinforcements, He Qi frowned and said: "Didn't the governor send Mi Danyang to lead his army north to Yuzhou to harass the Xuzhou seaside? How dare Wu Dun of Xuzhou lead his army to come for reinforcements now? Could it be that Mi Danyang was defeated by Zang Ba, or maybe Can’t you contain it?”

Huo Jun paced in the tent and said: "Zifang's troops only have ten thousand people who are old and weak, and those who can attack the seaside are only a few thousand. The situation in Hefei is urgent now, and it is not impossible for Xuzhou to divide ten thousand troops to come to the rescue."

Jiang Ji stroked his beard and said in agreement: "Cao Cao chose Xiahou Dun to go out to Zhenjiang and Huaihe, not because of Xiahou Dun's military strategy, but because of his reputation. Generals such as Zang Ba, Sun Guan, and Wu Dun did not dare to disobey Xiahou Dun's orders."

With that said, Jiang Ji looked at Huo Jun and said, "If thousands of thieves arrive to help, will the governor need to change his strategy?"

He Qi looked worried and said: "Captain, Xiahou Dun has more than [-] soldiers, and there are six or seven thousand soldiers in Hefei City. If we add Xuzhou's reinforcements of [-] soldiers, our army will be stronger. By then, we will have more troops. Both internally and externally, we are afraid that our army will be unable to stop them."

After a pause, He Qi suggested: "Now it is better to shrink our troops and build long fortresses to wait for the invaders to arrive. When the rainy season is approaching, the enemy will rescue Hefei, and I will use the long fortresses to occupy the enemy. When the fertile water floods the city, Zhang Liao will not be able to get out. I will gather my troops to fight the enemy. The enemy will retreat and Hefei will be destroyed soon."

"Zhang Liao is an extraordinary general. I will defend the enemy with a long base. The outside is solid but hollow. Zhang Liao will definitely mobilize his elite troops to fight." Gao Xiang objected: "Captain, it is better to retreat to Chaohu, wait and see the situation, and then advance. Or ask for reinforcements from Jiangzuo. , gather heavy troops to fight Xiahou."

Huo Jun stopped and said: "My lord is dividing his troops to capture Shu. Wu and Chu have no reinforcements. Apart from fighting, our army can only retreat. With the current situation, the rainy season in the Jianghuai River is approaching, how can we easily retreat?"

As he spoke, Huo Jun increased his voice and said emphatically: "Although the rebel army is better than our army in terms of soldiers and horses, their forces are divided between Hefei, Chengde and Huailing. Therefore, this is the time for our army to use troops!"

"The essence of siege and reinforcements is not to defeat a small army with a large number of troops, but to use mobile troops to meet the enemy's various units. Sun Tzu said: 'Those who are good at fighting are those who lead people without killing them.' Fill the city with water and attract the enemy to help. That's it. !" The arrival of reinforcements from Xuzhou did not disrupt Huo Jun's plan. In a sense, Huo Jun could even predict that there would be reinforcements in Xuzhou.After all, Huo Jun was always doubtful about Mi Fang's abilities.

In this battle, Xuzhou did not send reinforcements, so Mi Fang made great achievements.However, if some soldiers were sent over, it would be Mi Fang's contribution to containing the enemy, so Huo Jun made two preparations.

If Xuzhou has no reinforcements, Huo Jun will fight Xiahou Dun's army heading south and lure Zhang Liao out of the city.However, now that Xiahou Dun's army arrived first and Xuzhou's reinforcements arrived later, Huo Jun could still implement the previous strategy, with only slight changes.

The core reason why siege and reinforcement is not used repeatedly is that it mobilizes the enemy's forces.Our side can understand the enemy's advance arrangements through intelligence and make targeted arrangements.

Therefore, to besiege a city and fight for reinforcements, the quality requirements for one's own troops are high, and the requirements for the ability to run and march cannot be low.Moreover, the ability of scouts to collect intelligence exceeds that of other armies.If the scouts fail to collect intelligence, or if the transmission speed is too slow, their success may be in vain.

Huo Jun put his hand on the hilt of his sword and said in a deep voice: "Generals, listen to your orders!"

"exist!"

When the generals heard the sound, they stood up and waited for their orders.

"Where is the scorpion army?"

"The end is here!"

Ding Feng, Yu Shao and Gao Xin attended the ceremony to receive the order.

Huo Jun took out his military order and ordered: "Brother Wu Dun has led ten thousand people to help and wants to join Xiahou Dun in Chengde. The three of you lead an army of scorpions, wearing armor and holding weapons, to go to the northeast for five days to collect food, and march more than a hundred miles day by day. OK, we will fight the enemy. We can only win this battle, not lose!"

"promise!"

Yu Shao stepped forward to give military orders.

Huo Jun patted Yu Shao on the shoulder and warned: "I know that you have always been cautious, so I will hand over the Zhihu Army to you. The current situation is urgent and Wu Dun and Xiahou Dun cannot be allowed to join together. This battle should show the majesty of our Zhihu Army. .After the victory, immediately return to Hefei."

"promise!"

Yu Shao solemnly took the military order and saluted Huo Jun.

"Where are Huo Du, Gao Xiang, He Qi, and Jiang Ji?" Huo Jun called.

"The end is here!"

"Huo Du is the chief general, Gao Xiang and He Qi are the deputy generals, and Jiang Ji is the military advisor. He leads [-] troops and horses to the north to confront Xiahou Dun's army without fighting." Huo Jun said.

"What about the governor?" Huo Du asked.

"I stayed in the camp and stationed at the river weir with the two generals Han Sheng and Zilong."

General Huo Jun handed the order to Huo Du and said: "This time, lead the troops to the north. Don't fight the enemy and just stick to the road."

"promise!"

Huo Du hesitated for a moment and said, "The governor only has ten thousand people left to guard the weir, but caution is paramount."

Huo Jun nodded slightly, looked at Huang Zhong and Zhao Yun, and ordered: "After the army leaves, move the camp to the river weir. The old general led his troops to guard the river weir, and the elite men under Zilong's tent were hidden in the camp. move."

Huang Zhong hesitated a little and said: "Captain, the sergeants under Zhong Zhang are many old and weak, and there are many armored soldiers in Hefei City. If Zhang Liao leads his warriors out of the city, the sergeants under Zhong Zhang may not be able to stop him, and it will be difficult to protect the safety of the Commander."

Huo Jun's expression remained unchanged and he said, "Just follow the military orders."

Then, Huo Jun put his hand on the hilt of the sword and said in a deep voice: "We will defeat Hefei in this battle. I hope you will encourage me."

"No!" the generals responded with their hands raised.

ps: My mother-in-law’s birthday is tonight, so the update will be late.

(End of this chapter)