Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 51 Three Steps

Following the wind, the boat arrived at Xiangyang in only five or six days.

Huo Jun boarded the deck and saw the bright "General Zuo" flag. The handsome middle-aged man Zhao Yun had been waiting outside the car for a long time.

Seeing this, Huo Jun knew that Liu Bei should be sitting in the carriage.

Huo Jun adjusted his clothes slightly and got off the boat.Today, Huo Jun does not wear his iconic Zhongjia, but wears a purple and brocade scholar's uniform, with a yellow gauze jacket and a brocade pouch tied around his waist.

"Huo Shenjun!"

Zhao Yun glanced at Huo Jun who stood out from the crowd, stepped forward to greet him, and whispered: "My lord is already waiting in the chariot to join the army."

Huo Jun looked at the car again and saw that Liu Bei could no longer bear it and opened the car curtain to check what was going on outside.

"it is good!"

Huo Jun walked to the car and got on.Inside the car, Liu Bei had already made room for himself and placed some small desserts on the table.

"It's been very hard going all the way north to Zhongmiao." Liu Bei asked Huo Jun to sit down, poured him a cup of tea, and said with a smile: "The heat is getting stronger, drink tea to cool down!"

"Thank you, Mr. Ming!"

Huo Jun took the tea cup and asked: "Jun has been away from Xiangyang for five months. I wonder how the conquest of Jiangdong is progressing?"

Liu Bei sighed and said: "Cai Mao is hateful. He was appointed by Liu Jingzhou to dispatch troops and supplies for the Eastern Expedition army. First, he excused himself because of the cold weather. When the dispatch was completed, he thought he could send troops; later, he encountered the Jiangling Ordnance and Baggage Second Storehouse. There was a fire and all the military supplies were destroyed. Fortunately, under the supervision of Liu Jingzhou, another batch of military supplies was mobilized."

"I thought I could send troops last month, but unexpectedly Xiahou Dun's army arrived in Xiping. Cai Mao, Kuai Yue and others persuaded Liu Jingzhou to reduce the number of troops in the Jiangdong expedition because of the danger of Xiangyang. Kuai Yue then asked the eldest son to lead an army of five thousand We don’t need too many soldiers and horses.”

From Liu Bei's tone, Huo Jun heard a hint of helplessness.It was not easy for this hero who was galloping across the Central Plains to stay under someone else's roof and to quarrel with Cai Mao, Kuai Yue and others.

However, following Liu Bei's narration, Huo Jun also generally understood the current issue, that is, how many troops Liu Biao was willing to send to conquer Jiangdong.

"How many troops do you want to lead, the eldest son?" Huo Jun asked.

"Twenty thousand soldiers!" Liu Bei replied.

Huo Jun felt the slow movement of the chariot and said: "The north is uncertain. Unless the two Yuan dynasties are eliminated, Cao Cao will not dare to send his troops south. This summer, Hou Dun's troops are no more than suspicious troops. Five or six thousand troops and horses are too few, and [-] troops and horses are too few." many!"

Huo Jun still knew a little about Liu Biao's family background.Before pacifying Jingnan, Liu Biao only had [-] to [-] troops and horses. After pacifying Jingzhou, Liu Biao completely controlled the entire territory of Jingzhou. He almost doubled the number of troops and horses, with [-] to [-] troops, dominating Jianghan. .

Among these 4 to 5 troops, there are more than [-] people defending Jiangdong, more than [-] people fighting in Jiaozhou, and more than [-] people guarding the west.Therefore, after deducting the nearly [-] troops, Liu Biao actually only had [-] to [-] troops.

In other words, if Liu Qi takes away 3 troops, Liu Biao will only have [-] troops left. Excluding the sergeants guarding the area, there will not be many troops to defend Nanyang. In reality, it is indeed stretched.

Liu Bei frowned slightly and said: "The number of soldiers and horses in Jiangdong ranges from [-] to [-], and as many as [-] to [-]. If there are not many soldiers and horses, how can Jiangdong be conquered?"

Huo Jun took a sip of tea and asked meaningfully: "Let's not talk about whether Liu Biao can send an army of [-]. Let's just talk about the eldest son really commanding an army of [-] to [-] to send troops to Jiangdong. Jun dares to ask Ming Gong, how can he claim to be himself? Take Jiangdong. How can Duke Ming convince the public?"

Liu Bei fell silent, and he seemed to understand what Huo Jun meant.

In the words of later generations, Liu Bei and Liu Qi's strategy of going to Jiangdong was like the two later generations who opened an entrepreneurial company. There were even small shareholders such as Huang Zu, Liu Pan, and Huo Jun. Their entry was actually equivalent to taking shares.

In the early stage of investment, Liu Qi benefited from his father Liu Biao, who brought in the largest amount of capital.Liu Bei's five thousand soldiers and horses can only be regarded as part of his capital. The more important capital lies in Liu Bei's personal technology.

Judging from the discourse on starting a company in later generations, Liu Qi used money to inject capital to occupy a large share, Liu Bei used technology and money to invest in shares, and Huo Jun used strategic planning to occupy a small share.

During this process, if Liu Qi brought too many soldiers and horses, it would be equivalent to investing too much money, which would dilute Liu Bei's shares.In the end, Liu Bei may become a small shareholder like Huang Zu and Liu Pan.

After a long while, Liu Bei bowed his hand to Huo Jun and asked: "In Zhongmiao's opinion, how many troops and horses is suitable for the eldest son?" Liu Bei's words are quite interesting. Liu Qi can neither bring too many troops nor too many horses. Too little.Too much affects Liu Bei's role, and too little affects the process of attacking Jiangdong.

After pondering for a while, Huo Jun analyzed and said: "According to Jun's opinion, there are only [-] soldiers and horses in Jiangdong. There are few elites and many ordinary ones. They belong to various generals and have different officers. The military formation is strict, but it cannot be sustained for a long time. It is not right. A powerful force. Jun Pi thought that entering Jiangdong with [-] troops would be enough to establish a base in Jiangdong."

As he spoke, Huo Jun took out the map of Jiangdong from his sleeves and analyzed it: "Ming Gong, although Jiangdong is large, it is separated by mountains and rivers, so Yuzhang and Wu counties are separated. When the army enters Jiangdong, it is necessary to establish a base in Yuzhang and occupy Yuzhang, In the two counties of Luling, Duke Ming can ask Guan, Zhang, and Zhao to recruit troops on the spot at that time to strengthen their momentum and strengthen their muscles and bones."

The Jiangdong territory is actually divided into two plains, one is the Taihu Lake (ancient Lize) plain with Wujun as the core, and the other is the Poyang Lake (ancient Penglize) plain with Yuzhang as the core.These two plains are separated by the Huangshan (Guyi Mountain) mountain range, cutting the two plains apart.

"When the opportunity for war arrives, the army will march eastward, taking Danyang first, and then attacking Wu County. If Wu County is defeated, Jiangdong will be safe. Although Kuaiji is large and difficult to capture, it is enough to send a general to attack it. Jiangdong will be pacified, and Ming Gong will be able to conquer it. By doing so, we can establish a foundation in Jiangdong."

Huo Jun planned a three-step strategy based on the geographical conditions of Jiangdong. Because of the closed nature of the Poyang Lake Plain, he could first capture Yuzhang and Luling counties, and rely on the Yishan Mountains in the east to fight the Jiangdong Army. This was the first step. Belongs to the foundation stage;

Secondly, after Yuzhang and Luling are captured, troops are sent to attack Danyang County as the middle zone. This is the second step and belongs to the stage of taking the initiative in the war. Finally, the dominant coalition forces capture Sun's basic territory. Wu Jun, this is the third step, which belongs to the decisive battle stage.

During this process, Liu Bei and Liu Qi needed to expand their armies to defeat Sun Quan. This was Liu Bei's opportunity.If Liu Bei has outstanding abilities, he can take the lead in the coalition at this stage; if Liu Bei cannot seize this opportunity, it can only be said that Huo Jun made a mistake.

Listening to Huo Jun's analysis, Liu Bei suddenly became enlightened.

At this moment, Liu Bei was about to let out all the anger he had held in Xiangyang. He was still worried about how to solve the problem of the number of troops to send, but he did not expect that Huo Jun had already planned it for him.

Not only did he solve the strategic planning problem of Xia Jiangdong, he also told himself how to strengthen himself in the process, and purely customized a set of strategic planning templates for himself.

Liu Bei bowed again and said, "Zhongmiao has the talent to help the world. What he said today has opened Bei's eyes and ears. Zhongmiao has placed great trust in Bei. Bei should live up to his wishes and share the honor and disgrace."

Huo Jun was not idle during those few months in Jiangxia. In addition to training troops and making friends with Gan Ningshang, he was actually thinking about Jiangdong's strategic plan.

"Ming Gong is very polite!"

Huo Jun helped Liu Bei up and said: "Jun only makes suggestions, Ming Gong still needs to do it himself."

Liu Bei sat at the banquet and said with emotion: "Bei has wasted many years. If he had met Zhongmiao earlier, why would he be here? The plan to go to Jiangdong now is like a bright light in front, urging people to forge ahead, so be prepared to move forward. Even if you die, There are no regrets.”

"My lord, be careful what you say!" Huo Jun advised.

Liu Bei smiled and shook his hand and said: "I was so happy that I made a mistake. If Bei succeeds, he will definitely live up to Zhong Miao!"

Huo Jun thought of Gan Ning who was in Jiangxia, and said: "Jun was looking for a naval warfare general in Jiangxia, named Gan Ning, Gan Xingba. Unfortunately, he was not reused by Huang Zu, and he was depressed and unhappy in his tent. Today If we go east to Jiangdong and get help from this person, we will get twice the result with half the effort."

"Jun wants to recommend Liu Jingzhou to be transferred to the eldest son, and Ming Gong can make friends with him. If Liu Jingzhou is not willing to re-employ him, Ming Gong can personally come forward to see if he can be used for his own purposes. Of course, he should be in harmony with Huang Taishou. For the sake of superiority, he is narrow-minded and difficult to live with.”

Huo Jun was not in Jiangxia to introduce Liu Bei to Gan Ning, mainly because there were still outsiders present and he could not easily reveal secrets.Of course, there is also the reason that Liu Bei does not belong to the Jingzhou official system.

By transferring Gan Ning to Liu Qi's account through Liu Biao, Huang Zu would not become angry because after all, his military exploits needed Liu Biao's recognition.But if Liu Bei steps in to get Gan Ning over, with Huang Zu's magnanimity, he is afraid that even Liu Bei will be disgusted with him.

Liu Bei held Huo Jun's hand and said: "The people recommended by Zhongmiao will be put into important use. If the hegemony comes to Bei's account, Bei will be appointed as Zhonglang General and entrusted with important tasks."

Then, Huo Jun told Liu Bei something about Gan Ning.

……

PS: Due to the recent update, I don’t have any manuscripts on hand, so I can’t determine the specific update time.The first update will be around 2:00, the second update around 6:30, and the third update around 10:30.

It's still three shifts today!

(End of this chapter)