Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 385: Difficulty in Expedition to the North

At the time of feeding, the Han army sent out elite soldiers and raised troops to attack Huaiyin City from all sides.

The north gate was broken, and the three gates were stormed by the Han army. Zhu Guang knew that the situation was about to end, so he and Weihe, who joined the army, gave up resistance and led more than 10,000 soldiers and civilians to surrender.

At sunrise, the city of Huaiyin was cleared, and all the captured Cao soldiers were moved outside the city to prevent any remnants from taking the opportunity to cause trouble.

In the simple official residence, Huo Jun and the generals in the army gathered together.

"Commander, our army captured more than 2,500 bandits and more than 7,000 peasant men and women in this battle. What should we do now?" Gao Xiang asked: "How should we march now?"

Huo Jun wandered around the main table, flipping through Zhu Guang's documents and classics at random, trying to see if there was any precious information.

Looking at the map of Huaiyin in Zhu Guang's hand, Huo Jun said: "Huaiyin is located to the south of the Huai River, blocking the entrance and exit of the Hangou ditch, and shielding the east of Huai Yin; to the north of Huaiyin, is the mouth of the river where the Si River flows into the Huai River, called Sikou, which controls the entrance and exit of the Si River; To the west of Huaiyin, it is adjacent to Zhongli and five or six hundred miles away from Shouchun."

"So from this point of view, Huaiyin is a place with dangerous terrain and important waterway transportation, and its weight is comparable to Shouchun. Therefore, from a certain point of view, the captured soldiers of Cao Cao can be moved south to Guangling, marry the widows, and settle down on the spot; the captured soldiers Thousands of farmers, men and women, were resettled in abandoned counties.”

"As for the march, there is no rush for now!"

After capturing Huaiyin, Huo Jun's first thing was not to discuss the future use of troops, but to emphasize the importance of Huaiyin to the Jianghuai generals and raise the importance of Huaiyin to the same level as Shouchun.

In terms of the importance of terrain, Huaiyin is not much worse than Shouchun. With Huaiyin, we can see Xiapi and Pengcheng in the north; with Shouchun, we can see the Central Plains. But in terms of politics, military, and economy, Huaiyin is far less important than Shouchun.

After all, Xuzhou was in decline. It was massacred by Cao Cao, Lu Bu and Liu Bei came to fight, and Huo Jun went north to plunder the people. So far, there are not many people left. And if there are many people, there will definitely be more than just these people guarding Huaiyin.

There are not many people in the Sishui Basin today, and it is difficult to support and supply Huaiyin City across hundreds of miles. Therefore, Cao Cao only sent troops to initially build Huaiyin, and his real support was in Xiapi City.

Looking at the importance of Huaiyin and Shouchun, if you occupy Huaiyin, you can watch Qingzhou and Xuzhou. If Huaiyin is unstable, the southern government will not be stable even if it takes Xuzhou.

The southern regime wanted to cross the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers and occupy the vast Central Plains. It is necessary to rely on fulcrums and hubs to leverage the Central Plains. Compared with Huaibei where the Four Rivers flow into the Huai River. The only two rivers that can connect the Huai River and the Yangtze River are Chaohu and Hangou.

The cities that maintain the protection of two rivers, looking from south to north, are Hefei and Shouchun on the Chaofei Canal, and Sheyang and Huaiyin on the Hangou. Therefore, when Huaiyin is stabilized, it can be said that Hangou is safe, and the Northern Expedition to Qingxu can be carried out without any worries.

Historically, the Battle of Qingkou, which was comparable to Chibi in the Three Kingdoms among the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, actually took place in Huaiyin. Sikou of the Han Dynasty was Qingkou of the Liang Dynasty.

Xu Sheng understood Huo Jun's meaning and said: "The governor's intention is to move the deployment of Sheyang City to Huaiyin. From now on, Huaiyin City will be used as a barrier to Huaidong, so as to greatly develop Huaidong."

"Exactly!"

Huo Jun nodded slightly and said: "Huaiyin was abandoned in the past because of lack of military strength, and the main force was in Bashu. In desperation, we retreated to Sheyang and plotted against the Huai River. Now the army is going on a northern expedition to fight against the Huai River. Huai Yin must be restored. Without Huai Yin, then Without Huaidong; without Huaidong, it will be difficult to expedition to the north."

The task of the Northern Expedition was far more arduous than anyone imagined. The once prosperous land of Jianghuai turned into a deserted place. As he went north, except for the two counties governed by Liu Ji, there were no ordinary people for hundreds of miles.

It is extremely difficult to carry out the Northern Expedition across the no-man's land of the Yangtze River and Huaihe River. If we want to make a northern expedition to Qingxu, we can only make progress slowly and slowly restore the vitality of the Jianghuai River. Production was resumed in the two to three hundred miles north of the Yangtze River, and production will be resumed in the Huaihe River Basin next.

Fortunately, although Jianghuai is sparsely populated, the land is fertile. If people can live there, Jianghuai will gradually become inhabited in a few years.

After a pause, Huo Jun ordered: "From now on, the soldiers from Sheyang will be moved to Huaiyin. From now on, they will be stationed in Wenxiang. I will divide five thousand troops with you. We must guard Huaiyin and control the water transportation in Hangou."

"Huaiyin is adjacent to a large swamp and thousands of miles of fertile fields. If it is managed properly and the army and the people are strong, there is no need to mobilize transportation from the left side of the Yangtze River. Such a city cannot be filled unless Wen Xiang is in charge." Huo Jun reminded: "Huaiyin is a small city and it is difficult to gather large troops. We can start from Zhu. Just do what we did in the past and choose a place to build a new city.”

Huaiyin was Huai'an in the future. Although there was no Hongze Lake in Huaiyin during the Han Dynasty, the prototype of Hongze Lake was already there, with large and small lakes distributed around the city. If Xu Sheng governs well, it will not be difficult for Huaiyin City to revive.

Xu Sheng cheered up and said, "Sheng will live up to the governor's expectations."

"Captain, Zhu Guang is outside the house now. Do you want him to come in and ask questions?" Ding Feng said.

"it is good!"

Huo Jun invited everyone to sit down together and let Zhu Guang enter the room.

"Zhu Guang has met the prince!" Zhu Guang lowered his head, seeming to be ashamed.

Huo Jun sat on the banquet and said with a smile: "In Hefei, Jun sent a letter to persuade the general to surrender. Unexpectedly, the general ran away overnight. Now that we have defeated Huaiyin, we will finally capture the general!"

Zhu Guang turned his head and sighed, saying: "After repeated defeats at the hands of the princes, Guang has nothing to say. He only hates Huaiyin because of the few soldiers, but it is difficult to stop the princes from attacking in the east and attacking in the west."

Huo Jun didn't want to refute Zhu Guangzhi's words. Although there was a strategy component to this battle, Huaiyin was conquered because he had more soldiers and bullied fewer soldiers.

Huo Jun asked the attendant to carry the chair and asked, "I wonder if the general knows whether Xiapi and Shouchun are real or not?"

Zhu Guang hesitated a little and said: "Guang has heard a little bit. Although Guang has surrendered to your army now, it is difficult for Guang to serve the king and wave his arms at his colleagues."

"rest assured!"

Seeing that Zhu Guang had a bottom line, Huo Jun smiled and said: "If the general knows everything, I can tell the outside world that the general died in the battle and let the general move to Wuhan." "Thank you, sir!"

After thinking for a long time, Zhu Guang said: "In Xiapi, Zang Ba and Sun Guan are in charge, with nearly 20,000 soldiers and horses. The city of Xiapi is strong, and the water of the king of the past Wei Dynasty was broken. However, Xiapi County has long been in ruins due to years of war. , the household registration is less than 10,000 households, and between Huaiyin and Xiapi, hundreds of miles away, there are only two to three thousand households."

"According to Guang's knowledge, King Wei ordered the two men to fortify the walls and clear the fields, and gather the people into the city. It was expected that there was not much food, grass, and people along the way. If the prince wants to take Pi, he should prepare more food, otherwise many people will retreat due to lack of food."

"Going from Xia Pi to the north, there are many people living in Taishan, Langya and other counties, but there are also a lot of garrison troops and horses. Now that the general has captured Pi, the soldiers and horses of Qingyan and Qingzhou will come to help from the east and west. If you want to advance, take Pi. , be careful.”

Cao Cao massacred the people of Xuzhou, but the counties in Xubei area escaped. They were not poisoned by Cao Cao, and the population of the people was larger than that in Xunan area.

"How about Shouchun's defense?" Huo Jun asked.

Zhu Guang pondered for a while and said: "Shouchun has 20,000 soldiers and horses, and Xiahou Dun and Wen Hui are in charge. Shouchun has Yuzhou as reinforcements. I heard from the letter that King Wei will lead an army of 100,000 to march south. The north of Shouchun City is near Bagong Mountain. It is bordered by Feishui River in the east and Huai River River in the west. Although it is humid during heavy rains, it is difficult to be flooded."

"Ok?"

Ding Feng was slightly puzzled and said: "Since Shouchun has four rivers surrounding the city, how can it be said that it is difficult to defeat Shouchun with water?"

Jiang Ji stroked his beard and explained: "Although Shouchun is surrounded by Ying, Huai, and Fei rivers, it is flooded all year round, and it is surrounded by rivers on all sides. However, when building the city, drainage was mostly emphasized, with a city protection embankment outside and a drainage gate inside. . Unless there is a big flood in a hundred years, there will be no floods in Shouchun."

As he spoke, Jiang Ji looked solemn and said: "Captain, Shouchun City is more than three feet high. The city is tall and surrounded by water on all sides. I'm afraid it will be difficult for the king to take Shouchun."

The fact that Shouchun can become an ancient city through the ages is not just a boast, but actually built.

Xiangfan relied on the two cities of the Han River to form a mother city and became a dangerous city in the world; Shouchun relied on a unique city structure to use fertilized water as a moat, which was easy to defend but difficult to attack, and contained the north and south.

Historically, Chai Rong raised his troops to conquer the Southern Tang Dynasty, and the Shouzhou City he besieged was Shouchun City. After being unable to conquer the enemy for a long time, Chai Rong had no choice but to send troops to capture the Jianghuai prefectures. They trapped Shouzhou City until they ran out of ammunition and food, and finally left the city and surrendered.

After all, if a city is not afraid of flooding, there are really not many methods available. Even if Wu Mingche diverted fertilizer and water to flood Shouchun, it only made the city of Shouchun bitter and damp and prone to diseases. To truly defeat Shouchun, Wu Mingche would have to seize the opportunity of the enemy's stasis and personally lead his troops to attack the city.

Huo Jun said calmly: "The king has raised his troops to Shouchun. With Xiaozhi, Zijing and Shiyuan there, we should have a strategy to deal with the enemy. As a partial army, our army can stabilize the king's flanks."

That's what he said, but Huo Jun also had a headache. The regimes of both sides were stabilized by the south and the north, leaving only the chaos of the Southern and Northern Dynasties. But there has never been a successful example.

During the Liu and Song Dynasties, except for Liu Yu who fought from Qingxu to Guanzhong. His son's Yuanjia Northern Expedition was far larger in vertical territory than the Southern Han Dynasty today. The three Yuanjia Northern Expeditions were ultimately a complete failure.

Touching his moustache, Huo Jun said: "Now that the Huaihe River has been opened, I will send someone to send the boat to the king and convey the current battle report of our army. Please order the king to let our army go north or west to Shouchun to join the king. ."

"promise!"

"Captain, are our troops resting in Huaiyin at this moment?" Gao Xiang asked.

"Relax?"

Huo Jun shook his head and said: "Although Huaiyin is broken, it is not a time for rest. Now we should take the two cities of Xuyi and Zhongli to block the waters of Guoshui. Stop the enemy from trying to go south from Guoshui, attack the king from the east, or attack the king from the west. Attack our army from a flank."

There are four rivers in the Central Plains: Huaiyin blocks the Si River, Shouchun blocks the Ying River, and Zhongli blocks the Wo River. Now that we have captured Huaiyin, we naturally need to capture Zhongli and build a defense line along the Huai River.

"Where is Gao Xiang?"

"The general is here!" Gao Xiang said in command.

"You lead your troops to capture Zhongli. It is expected that the king's 70,000-strong army will support you, so Zhongli City can be easily conquered. After conquering Zhongli City, reinforce the city defense on the spot." Huo Jun ordered.

"Captain!"

Jiang Ji interrupted: "The Whirlpool passes through Yuzhou and enters the Huai River from Qiaojun. Why don't the governor ask General Gao to garrison Zhongli and order people to go up the Whirlpool to investigate military intelligence and battle reports."

"Qiaojun?"

Huo Jun reacted suddenly, knocked on the table, and said with a smile: "Fenglu can follow Zitong's advice, station troops in Zhongli, and send people to investigate Qiaojun."

Qiaojun is not a big county, it is just the hometown of Cao Cao. Qiao County is five to six hundred miles away from the Huai River. It cannot be detected by ordinary exploration. It is just to see if there is any opportunity.

"Zitong, we are also sending people into Sishui today to explore the Sishui basin." Huo Jun ordered.

"promise!"

(End of this chapter)