Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 388 Entering Xiapi

If you want to cut down Xiapi, starting from Xuyi, you need to take a boat to Huaiyin, then go up the Si River, pass Ling County to Xiapi.

Because Xiapi City is adjacent to Sishui River and Yishui River in the south and is adjacent to Suishui River, it has the advantage of water transportation. In times of peace, merchants gathered, fertile fields were spread over thousands of miles, and farmers and merchants flourished. Therefore, since the Qin and Han Dynasties, Xiapi has been an important town in the eastern part of the Central Plains.

When Chen Deng welcomed Liu Bei into Xuzhou, he said that Xuzhou could provide 100,000 cavalry to help Liu Bei conquer the world. Although there is water in it, we can see the richness of Xiapi.

However, since the end of the Han Dynasty, due to Cao Cao's massacre, flooding of Xiapi and other series of operations, the people have been displaced and Xiapi has been in decline. Gai Zangba was the governor of Xuzhou, but he was famous but had no power. This also led to the rise of bandits and bandits hiding in the mountains and rivers.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were four or five counties in the Sishui Basin, but now there is only one county, Ling County. However, the people of Ling County were also moved into the city by the officials because of Zang Ba's policy of strengthening the walls and clearing out the wild.

In mid-to-late March, Huo Jun led 20,000 soldiers to sail upstream, covering hundreds of miles of waterway. The army marched for five days to Xiapi.

Xuzhou, Xiapi City.

On the city wall, both sergeants and civilians, under the supervision of the general, carried the city defense equipment to the warehouse on the city tower. There are all kinds of defensive equipment such as crossbows, rolling stones, and hammers, and the reserves are astonishing. Obviously, under Zang Ba's governance, Xiapi City was well prepared to defend the city.

Behind the female wall, Zang Ba put on his armor and stroked his sword, looking out at the city with a solemn expression.

He fought against Huo Jun several times and was defeated repeatedly. For more than ten years, they conquered Jianghuai from the south and were counterattacked by Huo Jun to Xiapi, which is really disappointing.

Sun Guan looked puzzled and said: "Huo Jun only has 20,000 to 30,000 troops, while my soldiers and civilians in Xiapi have tens of thousands. Now that Huo Jun is going north, how can he defeat me? And the king has stationed troops in the west of Huaihe. He heard that I am in danger in Xiapi. , troops and horses must be sent to rescue, and Huo Jun must retreat. If we advance like this, we will return in vain!"

Zang Ba's expression remained unchanged and he said: "Your Majesty and Liu Bei confronted each other in Shouchun. Huo Jun left Huaidong mostly as partial troops. Now that Huo Jun is heading north, he may take advantage of the emptiness of Qingxu to raise troops to cause rebellion."

"Report!"

The scout carried the command flag on his back and ran quickly to Zang Ba. He raised his hands and said, "General, Huo Jun has led his army to disembark and is now encamped by the Surabaya River. There are many soldiers and horses."

Zang Ba's face straightened slightly and he said, "How many people are there? Can anyone find out clearly?"

The scout said: "Looking at Huo Jun's banners and the number of boats, the number of people must be no less than 20,000, and there are many armored ones. Among the banners are the flags of the 'Zhuhu Army'. They must be elite water thieves."

"More than 20,000 people?"

Sun Guan's expression changed slightly and he said: "Huo Jun raised more than 20,000 troops to go north. Our army has more than 10,000 soldiers and horses in the city. Why not take advantage of the enemy's instability and send out elite troops to attack the water thieves in order to relieve Pi? Surround."

Sun Guan and Zang Ba had a good relationship in their early years, and they were also known as Yingzi. In the early days of Tao Qian's administration, Sun Guan and the Taishan generals conquered the Yellow Turbans. They took the lead, fought bravely and made many achievements. Cao Cao defeated Lu Bu, Sun Guan and Zang Ba surrendered to Cao Cao's service, and Sun Guan was named Prime Minister of Beihai.

When Liu Bei launched his army in Jiangzuo, Sun Guan accompanied his army on many southern expeditions, but few were able to win. As Liu Bei's threat became more severe and many of his soldiers were lost, Sun Guan was promoted by Cao Cao to General Zhenwu and became governor of the East China Sea. Following Cao Cao's order, he stationed himself in the Xuhuai area in order to shield Qingxu.

"Not for babies!"

Zang Ba shook his head and said: "Although our army is slightly weaker than Huo Jun, the army is brave and brave. If they go into battle easily, they may be in danger of defeat. Just stick to the city wall with the view of hegemony, and Huo Jun will march across thousands of miles, providing food and grass." It is difficult to maintain relief for a long time. Even if they use troops to be powerful, they will eventually retreat when their food supplies are exhausted."

The supply line of Huo Jun and Liu Bei does not depend on the starting point of the army to the front line, but on the distance from the food storage area to the front line. For example, although Huo Jun set out from Xuyi, it did not mean that the supplies were from Xuyi to the front line. Huo Jun's grain and grass will be transported from Jiangzuo across Hangou to Huaiyin, and then from Huaiyin northward against the Sishui River to the front line.

Huo Jun currently has two months' worth of military rations on hand. If the food and grass cannot be transported in one and a half months, Huo Jun will probably lead his army to retreat to Huaiyin.

Sun Guan frowned and said: "In the battle of Hefei, Huo Jun built a dam to intercept the fertile water and flood the city. Now Xiapi City is close to Si River, and the rainy season will soon come. If Huo Jun follows the king's old strategy and floods Xiapi with Si River, we will Can the general wait for him?"

"Drain water from Si to Pi?"

Zang Ba looked solemn and said: "If Huo Jun follows the king's old strategy, our army can only take advantage of Huo Jun's digging of the river weir and send out our elite troops to fight against him!"

Sun Guan pondered for a while and said: "It is not a good idea to go out of the city for a decisive battle and destroy the river weir. If Huo Jun has the intention of a water battle, Xuan Gao should order the sergeant to go out of the city to ask for help and let the king send his army eastward for rescue. When the situation is echoed, Huo Jun must be afraid. , Dare not fight lightly, but lead the army to retreat." Zang Ba was also unambiguous, and agreed: "First inform the king of the military situation, and tell Huo Jun to raise troops to go north. If Huo Jun wants to build a dam and divert the Si River to break the city, then he will send another attack to the king. Letter asking for help.”

"good!"

Not to mention that Zang Ba and Sun Guan were discussing strategies to defend against the enemy. Huo Jun, who had just arrived at Xiapi, led his generals to inspect the mountains and rivers.

Xiapi is not a specialized fortress, but a city built due to the gathering of population and its strategic geographical location. Therefore, like most cities, it is located by the river, that is, it is built at the mouth of the Yishui River and Si River, so that the people in the city can easily obtain fresh water resources.

However, success is also in Surabaya, and failure is also in Surabaya. More than a thousand years later, during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, a major earthquake occurred in Tancheng, causing Xiapi to be flooded by the Surabaya River, and the thousand-year-old city was destroyed.

Huo Jun rode his horse around Xiapi City, accompanied by Jiang Ji, Gao Xiang, Ding Feng, Huo Fan and others.

Holding the reins, Huo Jun said: "Our army was ordered by the king to go north to Xiapi, thinking it was a feint army. How can we use our troops now to make Cao Cao think Xiapi is in a hurry and divide his troops to go east?"

Jiang Ji pondered for a while and then said: "Captain, there is Si River in Xiapizhou. We can follow Cao Cao's old strategy and divert Si River to irrigate it. Build large dams to deceive the enemy. If the enemy invades urgently and asks for help, Cao Cao will definitely divide his troops and head east. Under this situation, The king’s destiny can come true!”

"What Zi Tong said is the same as Jun's thought." Huo Jun said: "Building embankments to store water will definitely scare Cao Cao!"

"Captain, Jianghuai is sparsely populated. Why not let the cavalry disperse now to search for the people in Xiapi and move to Huaidong." Gao Xiang suggested.

Huo Jun shook his head and said: "Zang Ba has a strong wall and a clear country. It is expected that there are not many people in Xiapi anymore. If the people want to move south now, they may only go deep into the Suishui River. But the Suishui River is far away from Xiapi. If the cavalry disperses, , Zang Ba leads the elite to fight, fearing that he will be disadvantageous to the army."

The small cavalry in the south were at a disadvantage in battle formations. Sometimes even if they defeated the Wei army, it was difficult to achieve major results due to the lack of cavalry. Letting the cavalry go out and relocate the people is not a wise move at this time.

After hesitating for a while, Huo Jun said: "Gongli sent scouts to explore the Suishui River deeply to understand the cities in the Suishui River and see if they can find an opportunity to break the city and move the people to the Jianghuai River."

"promise!"

Suishui is a tributary of Surabaya, and its injection port is located downstream of Xiapi. Compared with the Sishui River Basin, which has been changed several times, the counties in the Suishui River Basin are relatively intact, such as Suiling (Suining), Xiaxiang (now Suqian), and Qilu counties.

Although the exact number of people in these three counties is not known, according to the information collected by Huo Jun, there are at least several thousand households. If the people from the three counties can be moved southward, the Huaidong household registration can also be enriched.

Huo Fan asked in the crowd: "Captain, if Cao Cao sends reinforcements eastward, how should our army respond?"

Huo Jun glanced at Huo Fan and said with a smile, "Does Shi Zai have any insights?"

Huo Fan served as the captain of the field camp. He worked in the fields in Hefei for many years and implemented the rice-wheat rotation system, which resulted in great harvests. Today, in the hundreds of miles south of Hefei to the Yangtze River, Huo Fan's diligent farming is gradually becoming more and more populated.

As the governor of Jiujiang, Jiang Ji obtained the policy of not collecting taxes for three years from Liu Bei. Under Jiang Ji's governance, hundreds of households who fled south to the south of the Yangtze River returned to Quanjiao and Liyang counties. The current Jiujiang County not only includes Hefei, but also Quanjiao and Liyang counties were resettled under Jiang Ji's management for several years.

Of course, if we want to delve deeper into the population data of Jiujiang, Lujiang, and Guangling counties in Liu Bei's hands, we can only say that excluding the army, there are less than 100,000 civilian households.

Seeing his father's question, Huo Fan was not humble and said: "To inform the governor, our army is marching north to Surabaya, and there is a danger that our army will penetrate deep alone. If Cao Cao orders his soldiers to advance with the army, attack from the east and west, and respond to Zang Ba's internal and external forces, we will There is danger in large numbers of troops. Fan thought that when he sent more scouts to the east and west to explore more, he would not be caught off guard when the enemy invaders suddenly arrived."

"good!"

Huo Jun nodded in appreciation and said: "What Shi Zai said is a prudent move. Now let the scouts deploy control in all directions, hundreds of miles deep. They must ride good horses and retaliate every day. They must not be taken advantage of by the enemy."

When going deep into the enemy's territory, the most dangerous thing is to not know the enemy's direction, and to spread out scouts widely. Even if the enemy invades suddenly, your own army can advance and retreat in a controlled manner without being at a loss.

(End of this chapter)