Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 396 Return to Surabaya

Although Sun Guan's death was bizarre, his death caused the sergeants in his tent who were confused by the attack to completely lose their organizational power and could no longer form resistance. Under the sword of the cavalry, the soldiers of various ministries were either dead or surrendered.

After Huo Jun led his cavalry to clear out all the ministries in the city, the Suishui fortress outside the city had also been solved by Huo Fan and Yu Shao. During this period, there were many defeated troops who tried to escape by boat, but were eliminated by the cavalry stationed on the river.

Wearing armor, holding bows, and riding horses, they were equipped with mobility and combat effectiveness. Under the dawn glow, they almost sealed off the surrounding area. Most of the Wei army was defeated and surrendered, abandoning their armor. Even though a small number of sergeants fled to the hinterland of Henan, they were short of food and clothing, and lost their military structure, so they could not affect the overall situation.

By sunrise, Huo Jun had roughly controlled the situation.

On the city tower, Huo Jun faced the morning glow and looked at the Suishui River. On the sparkling river, the ships moored were not only the boats before Huo Jun, but also the ships used by Sun Guan for his march. Not big, but numerous and spectacular.

The sound of footsteps sounded, and Huo Fan came over with his sword in hand and said: "Sir, the Wei army suffered more than 700 casualties. The Wei army suffered more than 3,300 casualties, and the number of those who escaped must be as many as a thousand. However, the escapees were pursued by the cavalry. , scattered among the mountains and fields, it is difficult to form a climate."

"good!"

Huo Jun showed an appreciative look and said: "In this attack, Shi Zai has made many achievements, whether it is civilized or military, he has achieved success. This should live up to my father's expectations."

Although Huo Fan looked happy, he still said modestly: "Fan still has some shortcomings and needs more teaching from adults."

Huo Jun patted Huo Fan on the shoulder and said with a smile: "If jade is not polished, it will not become a tool. Farming has been successful for several years, and we can continue to do great things!"

Knowing that he would be promoted, Huo Fan'an couldn't resist his curiosity and asked, "I don't know what the big deal is?"

Huo Jun blinked and said with a smile, "We'll know later!"

Seeing that Huo Jun didn't say anything, Huo Fan had to endure his temper and said: "Sir, there are too many enemy soldiers captured, but we don't have many soldiers, which may cause defections. And in the future, how will the prisoners be disposed of when traveling eastward?"

Arrangement of captives has always been a problem since ancient times. The captives cannot fight, and if they are allowed to act independently, they will most likely flee. Therefore, soldiers are required to guard them, and the army has to provide food and drink, which is very troublesome.

Because prisoners are too troublesome, this is why prisoners are often killed. Killing prisoners is, firstly, to deter the enemy, and secondly, to reduce trouble.

Of course, Huo Jun doesn't like to kill prisoners. These prisoners are not descendants of alien races. They are members of the same race and share the same culture and language. In these troubled times with a sharp decline in population, captives can be transformed into labor force to enrich the sparsely populated Jianghuai.

Huo Jun pondered for a while and said: "When the army arrives, break up the captured soldiers and divide them into various ministries, which will take care of them. And then march by boat, and the trouble of the captives will be eliminated!"

After a pause, Huo Jun said: "Our army turned back and marched eastward. If Cao Cao knew about it, the plan would be difficult to succeed. Now I am sending an order to the army, asking them to speed up to Fuli and reach Fuli as soon as possible."

"promise!"

After initially stabilizing the situation in Fuli, Huo Jun not only sent people to guard the surrendered soldiers, but also ordered scouts to return the same way and notify most of the infantry on the way to speed up.

When Jiang Ji and Gao Xiang received news that Huo Jun's troops had defeated Fuli, they had already led their infantry for most of the distance. In order not to waste time, Jiang Ji ordered the entire army to save only half a month's food. Except for the armored soldiers, all the tents were abandoned.

In the middle of the night that day, the infantry army, which had been chasing for almost two days, finally arrived at Fuli under the leadership of the generals.

The exhausted infantrymen set up a simple camp by the Suishui River. After a simple meal, they left the soldiers standing vigil and fell to the ground to sleep.

Because they abandoned their tents and marched, most of the sergeants lay on the ground in the open air and fell asleep. The snoring and breathing of the sergeants in the camp could be heard one after another.

"Captain!"

"Shh!"

Under the firelight, a sergeant saw Huo Jun and was about to stand up to say hello. However, Huo Jun signaled him to be quiet so as not to disturb the sergeant who was resting and on his way.

Looking at the bonfires emitting light in the dark night, and the soldiers lying in disarray beside the bonfires to rest, Huo Jun felt distressed.

Pointing to the camp, Huo Jun ordered: "There is no tent to protect us from the cold, and the soldiers are very tired. Please add more bonfires. If the fire is small, add more firewood. Don't let the soldiers catch the cold."

"promise!"

The rank-and-file sergeants can rest, but the senior officers and generals in the army cannot sleep and rest because they have important matters. For example, Huo Jun did not sleep and rest since he rushed to Fuli City. Instead, he sat on the top of the city to avoid any accidents.

Now that the army has arrived at Fuli, Huo Jun has to meet with the generals to discuss the next steps for the march tomorrow.

In the big tent, when the generals saw Huo Jun entering the tent, they all stood up to greet him.

"Captain!"

"Meet the Governor!"

"You guys led your infantry to rush to Fuli, how hard it is!"

Huo Jun pressed his hands down, indicating that everyone did not need to be polite, and said: "After today's military meeting, you can go back to camp to rest and recharge your batteries for tomorrow's march."

"Please give orders, Commander-in-Chief!" Huo Jun looked around at the crowd and said, "Cao Cao will not know the news of our army's evacuation from Jikou in the near future. Therefore, our army should quickly evacuate Fuli tomorrow and follow the Sui River eastward into Surabaya. After entering Surabaya, our army will The boat is heading eastward. Xu Sheng has followed the orders of my letter and led the boat east into the sea and marched towards Yuzhou."

Hearing this, everyone looked happy as they thought that they would be able to return home soon.

"The general marched westward to the Jishui River. He fooled the Wei army into thinking that our army wanted to cross the river from Jishui to join the king."

Gao Xiang smiled brightly and said: "Unexpectedly, Cao Cao has fallen into our army's strategy. Our army turned back to Fuli and defeated Sun Guan. We got the boat and went to Surabaya, then took the east road and reached the seaside to return home."

"The results of the governor's use of troops are unpredictable and cannot be predicted by Xiang."

Yu Shao praised everyone and said: "The governor marched westward and mobilized Xu Huai's troops to march westward. Xuhuai was empty, so the governor led his army back and took advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness to attack Sun Guan. By boat, Cao Cao learned that Fuli When the battle is reported, I'm afraid our army has already arrived in Qu County!"

Although there is no large army of the Southern Han Dynasty stationed in Yuzhou, for the Southern Han Dynasty, which has a strong navy, Yuzhou is an overseas base.

Under the auspices of Huo Jun, the navy went out of Yuzhou twice to raid the Xuzhou seaside. Moreover, the fleet buying horses from Liaodong also docked at Yuzhou Island many times for supplies.

Crossing Surabaya, passing through the sparsely populated Donghai County, and leading the army to Qu County, from Huo Jun's point of view, it can indeed be regarded as a road back to Huainan.

However, when reaching the Sishui Basin, you need to abandon the boat and walk eastward for three to four hundred miles, passing through the sparsely populated Donghai County. For sergeants, it may be a lot harder.

Jiang Ji stroked his beard and said: "It looks like he is traveling west, but in fact he is returning east. The governor's troops are extraordinary. However, I am afraid that the Wei army in Sikou will only pursue each other one after another after learning about it. Therefore, our army should move quickly to avoid being trapped in Donghai County. .”

Huo Jun stroked his mustache and said confidently: "With Wen Xiang's help now, our army will definitely return to Huainan!"

After saying that, Huo Jun stood up and said: "Everyone, listen to the order. All ministries must assemble before dawn tomorrow; at sunrise, the entire army will set off by boat."

"promise!"

Not to mention that Huo Jun and the generals took the time to rest, but Liu Ye, who was stationed at Sikou with Zhao Yan, had doubts about Xu Sheng's use of troops.

Under the oil lamp, Liu Ye's delicate face was thinking about Xu Sheng's strange behavior.

In the past few days, Xu Sheng led his navy to the other side of Sikou every day, seemingly ready to meet Huo Jun's troops at any time. But today Xu Sheng disappeared strangely and led a large number of boats to the west.

To the east of Sikou, what else is there besides the uninhabited Haixi?

To the east of Haixi, there is only Haier!

Thinking about the news coming from Wu and Jian, Liu Ye always felt uneasy in his heart.

"According to what the king said, Huo Jun wanted to join Liu Bei and cross the Huaihe River at the mouths of Jian and Guo. However, Huo Jun wanted to cross the Huaihe River from Jikou, so why did he order Xu Sheng to lead the navy eastward?"

Liu Ye lay on the bed, resting his head on his head, looking at the tent ceiling, thinking deeply about the changes.

"Even if we cross the Huaihe River at the entrances of Jian and Guo, and Liu Bei's army is there to support us, we may not be able to cross the Huai River easily."

Liu Ye thought about the recent military reports coming from various places, and his expression became more and more confused.

"Sun Guan entered the Suishui River to the west and settled in Fu Liyan. Huo Jun left his boat and sailed to the west."

"Leave your boat to sail westward?"

Liu Ye reacted suddenly and said: "If Huo Jun pretends to cross the Huaihe River from Jian and Guo Pass, but actually turns back to Fuli, wouldn't it mean that Sun Guan is in danger?"

"Huo Jun went out from the east, defeated Sun Guan, and regained the boat. At that time, Xu Sheng entered the sea, and the two armies joined together. Could it be that Huo Jun wanted to cross the East China Sea and floated back to the south."

The East China Sea is the place where Huo Jun used to send troops. Chang Xi and his subordinates have many people from the East China Sea.

Today, the East China Sea is empty. If Huo Jun breaks through Sun Guan and travels eastward to the seashore, it will be unobstructed.

If this is true, the king was deceived by Huo Jun and Liu Bei. If Huo Jundong reaches the seaside and returns to Huainan, wouldn't all his plans be in vain?

At this point in the deduction, Liu Ye became increasingly uneasy.

Liu Ye stood up, put on his outer robe, walked out of the tent, and said: "Whoever comes, send more people to patrol the upper reaches of Si River. And order the waiting riders to go to Fuli and contact Sun Donghai."

"promise!"

Looking at the bright starry sky, Liu Ye sighed slightly.

All this is just his speculation based on Xu Sheng's movements. To prove whether Huo Jun is really marching like this, he needs proof of the other party's march. Otherwise, if the army marched eastward and Huo Jun did not march eastward, but crossed the Huaihe River at Jian and Guo, then his sin would be grave.

If his speculation was true, he hoped it would all come in time!

(End of this chapter)