Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 524 Restoration of East China Sea
Xiapi holds the Wu River on the right and the Yiliu River on the left. The Si River lies in front of it, and the Yi and Long Mountains stand behind it. It is surrounded by mountains and water. It is located on the shore of Huaisi. It has the advantage of water transportation, irrigation, fishing and hunting, and the soil Fertile and strategically located, it is an important transportation hub.

Therefore, the city was built early and can be traced back to the Xia Dynasty. Xi Zhong was granted the title of Marquis and founded the Pi Kingdom. He first lived in Xuedi and then moved to the lower reaches of Si River.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Chu invaded the Jianghuai River, and the State of Pi moved to Xuedi to avoid war. Since the two cities were located on the upper and lower reaches of the Si River, they were named Shangpi and Xiapi respectively.

In the Western Han Dynasty, after Liu Bang brought peace to the world, he granted Han Xin the title of King of Chu and ruled over Xiapi. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, Linhuai County was renamed Xiapi Kingdom.

Since the end of the Han Dynasty, Tao Qian ruled Xuzhou and appointed Zuo Rong as the prime minister of Xia Pi. He specially moved the capital of Xuzhou from Tancheng to Xia Pi.

It has been renovated and constructed by rulers of various generations until the late Han Dynasty. The scale of Xiapi City is not inferior to that of Pengcheng. The outer city is twelve and a half miles in circumference, and the south gate is called the White Gate. The middle city is four miles in diameter and was built by Lu Bu.

Historically, Shi Chong of the Western Jin Dynasty governed Xiapi. He learned from Cao Cao's experience in conquering Pi City, built the inner city of Tuesday Li Xu, and built the small city of Xiapi at a high altitude in the southwest. At this point, the defense of Xiapi City reached its peak.

Now Huo Jun carefully inspected the topography of the mountains and rivers around Xiapi, built embankments on the surface, and tried to flood the city with water. Secretly, he ordered his sergeants to dig tunnels into the city day and night.

After nearly twenty days of civil engineering work, a tunnel more than hundreds of meters long was finally dug out, leading directly to Xiapi City. After a night of fighting, the Han army finally captured Xiapi, the important town of Xuhuai.

After the city is broken, we turn to the aftermath.

Ding Feng entered the hall happily and said with a smile: "Captain, now Xiapi has been captured by our army, and the bandits are scattered in all directions. Why not take advantage of the opportunity to advance eastward, or use troops westward to see if we can capture Tan and Peng again."

During the Yonghe period of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Xiapi State governed 17 counties with about 620,000 people.

The chief secretary Liu Zhong walked into the government office and reported: "Our army broke the city last night. The soldiers were solemn and there was no looting. Zhong checked the number of prisoners killed by each department. A total of more than 800 people were beheaded and more than 2,000 people were captured in the city. There are more than 15,000 men and women, and more than 50,000 dan of food and grass..."

Of course, the most fatal point was that Cao Cao defeated the Si and Yi rivers and flooded Xiapi City, which caused a large number of people to flee. Even though there was peace for more than ten years, it could not be restored to vitality due to Zang Ba's poor governance.

Huo Jun pointed at Ding Feng with a smile, called everyone around him, and said: "The person who is superfluous must be Chengyuan."

Huo Jun called everyone to take their seats and said: "Tancheng is the old administrative seat of Xuzhou. Zang and Lu are currently holding on to it. We cannot move down lightly now. Pengcheng is more difficult and dangerous than Xiapi, so we cannot move down quickly. Autumn has arrived, and the water in Surabaya is falling. As I expected, reinforcements from the thieves will arrive in Xiapi soon, and they can be stopped now!"

Before Huo Jun's Northern Expedition, six of Xiapi's seventeen counties were abolished, leaving 11 remaining counties. Each county had a population of less than 1,000 households. When combined, the household registration was only on the edge of 10,000 households.

The reason for this is attributed to the fact that warlords such as Zuo Rong, Liu Bei, Lu Bu, and Cao Cao took turns to appear, and the people were scattered and fled under the constant battles.

Because the Huaihe River front was incomplete, Huo Jun devoted himself to developing Huaidong and Jiangbei, trying to turn Huaidong and Jiangbei into bases for the Northern Expedition.

Everyone laughed with joy. Jiang Ji's words about taking down Pi before were superfluous. Now Huo Jun sent this words to Ding Feng. It was really a echo of the two.

Liu Zhong put down the hot tea and said: "Captain, Xiapi has been subject to war all year round, and the people have fled in all directions. Not only are there few people in Xiapi now, but there are also not many household registrations in the county under its rule. Although our army has defeated Xiapi, in the future How to defend Xiapi is the key thing."

"Captain!"

"Ha ha!"

Inviting Liu Zhong to take a seat, Huo Jun ordered his attendants to serve tea and sighed: "There are twelve miles around Xiapi City, but there are only more than ten thousand people in the city. It must not be worthy of its name!"

The current record, if excluding the military town of Xiapi, compared with Huo Jun's past records, the rest is just mediocre and not a great victory worth declaring.

Jiang Ji agreed and said, "Commander-in-chief, Shouchun in Huaixi has not been conquered yet. Xiapi is located in Huaibei. Although it is connected to Huaidong by the Sishui River, if the enemy army cuts off the Sikou, it will be difficult for our army to communicate with Xiapi. If Xiapi is isolated and without help, it will be in danger of being lost."

Today, Xiapi is connected to Huaidong by means of Sishui. If Sikou is blocked by the Wei army, Xiapi will easily lose contact with Huaidong. Once contact is lost, Xiapi will easily fall.

"What Masaomi said is certainly true!"

It is not easy to break Xia Pi, and it is even more difficult to defend Xia Pi. If the Huaihe River is regarded as a whole line of defense, the Huaihe River defense line in the Southern Han Dynasty would be incomplete because Shouchun did not attack it.

When Huo Junke went to Xiapi, there were more than 10,000 soldiers and civilians, both men and women, in the city. At its peak, there should be only one in twenty.

Xiapi has a history of thousands of years. Due to its superior geographical location and fertile land, its peak population was more than 200,000. The current population is too low and does not meet the level of a state-level city.

Of course, this does not mean that the acquisition of Shouchun in the Southern Han Dynasty can make up for the geographical deficiencies of Xiapi. The fundamental reason is that the geographical and climatic differences between the north and the south have gradually emerged.

The Northern Expedition in the Southern Dynasties often followed the Wu, Si, Ying and other waterways. The waterways ran north-south, which was very different from the Huai River and the Yangtze River, which ran east-west. Because the Yangtze River and Huaihe River run north-south, the Southern Dynasty could rely on the river water to block the invasion of enemies from the north.

After crossing the Huai River, we traveled to the Henan and Huaibei areas. Because the areas were flat and vast, there was almost no danger. The navy, which the Southern Dynasties were proud of, had no use other than transporting grain and grass in the upper and lower rivers.

On the other hand, the Northern Dynasty could rely on the huge plains of Hebei to mobilize the power of the three states of Henan, Yan, and Qing, and take advantage of the declining water potential to send troops to the south to compete with the Southern Dynasty for control of the Huaibei region.

This is why it is difficult for the Southern Dynasty to occupy the cities in Huaibei and Henan for a long time. Once they withdraw their troops, they will be easily recaptured by the Northern Dynasty. In addition to being too far away from the hinterland of Wu and Chu, the other problem is the lack of natural barriers.

Due to the lack of natural mountains and rivers, it is difficult for Henan to form an independent geographical unit. Once the power weakens or the Northern Dynasty becomes prosperous, the Henan and Huaibei regions will be easily reoccupied by the Northern Dynasty.

A very important reason why the Qinling Mountains, Jianghan and Huaihe River can be used as the dividing line between north and south is that the trend of the three is east-west rather than north-south.

Surabaya, which runs from north to south, almost runs through Henan. The Northern Dynasties could gather heavy troops to encircle it and encircle it with reinforcements. Blocking the mouth of Surabaya and blocking the Southern Dynasty army heading north, it would be difficult for the Southern Dynasty to take full advantage of its navy. This is indeed the case in the overall geographical situation of Henan and Huaibei. Of course, there are always exceptions in the world.

At the beginning of the Northern Expedition, Huo Jun and Jiang Jize considered this point. To the east of Xiapi, the area where the two cities of Quxian and Licheng are located, is bounded by Wulian Mountain to the north, the Yellow Sea to the east, and Shu, Yi, and Si San River, south to Huai River.

Therefore, if we narrow it down, we can barely treat it as an independent geographical unit, but it only requires more garrison troops.

The role of Xiapi City can be seen as a barrier for this area, and the latter can be used as Xiapi's support.

"Why should we guard Xiapi now? I have some ideas."

Huo Jun paced a little and said: "If you want to defend Xia Pi, you should not focus on Sikou. You should gather more troops and people on the seashore, rebuild the cities of Haixi and Qu, and set up a water stronghold on Yuzhou. At that time, the thieves sent troops to take down Pi. , Huaiyin and Qucheng can send troops to rescue them and attack the enemy's flanks to contain them."

After crossing the Huaihe River, most of the mountains and rivers run north-south. Therefore, when deploying defensive troops, we cannot adopt the previous north-south thinking. We must learn to use a strategic vision of separating east and west.

Jiang Ji stroked his beard and said: "According to what the governor said, strong soldiers should be appointed to guard Donghai County. Looking at it this way, I am afraid that Tang Zi will not be able to take on the role of governor of Donghai."

The administrative division of Huaidong is complicated. The three counties of Guangling, Xiapi and Donghai are intertwined. The areas of Yuzhou and Qucheng are under the jurisdiction of Donghai County.

According to Huo Jun's words, the governor of Donghai County will be responsible for running the army and managing the people. The newly attached Tang Zi not only lacks ability, but also lacks relative trust. After all, if this general rebels, the military and civilians in the Xudong area will be owned by Cao Wei.

"The post of Governor of the East China Sea is very important. I wonder who can do it?" Huo Jun asked.

Jiang Ji thought for a while and recommended: "Commander, Huo Zhengnan may be qualified for this position!"

Huo Du was appointed as the general of Zhengnan and the governor of Lujiang.

Hearing this, Huo Jun hesitated. In terms of official positions, his elder brother Huo Du is qualified to serve, but Huo Jun is worried that Huo Du is not capable enough. The restored Donghai County is located on the border between Qing and Xu, and shoulders the responsibility of running the army and calming the people. It has a heavy responsibility.

"General, are you willing?" Huo Jun asked.

"The general will go where he wishes!"

Huo Du did not hesitate and said, "The East China Sea is a gateway. Although I am not talented, I am willing to control it."

"good!"

Huo Jun asked: "General, what will you do first when trying to conquer the East China Sea?"

Huo Du pondered for a long time and replied, "Qucheng and Yuzhou are close to the coast. We should open salt fields and sell them to the north and south to raise soldiers and save money. When we are looking for prosperity, we should divert water and open fields, strive to be self-sufficient in food and grass, and recruit refugees from the wilderness to register them as citizens. This is a civil matter."

"As far as military affairs are concerned, the garrison is in a dangerous position. Send out scouts. If the thieves are few, attack the border. If the thieves arrive here, they should retreat to Qushan City and wait for the governor to send troops to help. When you go down to Pi City, send fierce soldiers to guard it. If you are attacked by enemy troops, you must obey the military commander's orders."

Huo Jun nodded. Huo Du has a calm temperament and has been in the army for many years. He can be said to be a veteran and is not prone to making mistakes. Now that he is in charge of Donghai County, he is considered a suitable candidate for him.

"Captain, I am willing to guard Xiapi City!"

Suddenly, Huo Youzhi stood up from the table, raised his hands and said: "Xiapi is located deep in the north and is easily besieged. No one without a brave general can defend it. The last general is thinking about his strategy, and now he has the courage to lead his troops to take charge!"

"Ok?"

Huo Jun was a little surprised. He originally wanted Ding Feng to guard Xiapi, but he didn't expect his nephew Huo Youzhi to volunteer.

In order to promote his nephew, Huo Jun asked: "Xiapi City is close to the Si and Yi rivers and is easily flooded. How can this general control it?"

Without thinking, Huo Youzhi said: "We should build a small city to defend it. Xiapi is high in the southwest and low in the southeast. We should build a small city in the southwest to match the outer city. If a thief comes to the city, I will first defend the outer city and retreat. If the thief breaks through, I will defend the outer city first and retreat." In the outer city, retreat to the small town."

"The small city builds a high platform and accumulates grain and grass. Even if the flood surges, it can avoid damage. Unless the Surabaya water flows back into Xiapi and floods the city tower, otherwise the small city will not be lost and Xiapi can be saved."

Although Xiapi City is a large city, it can only be used as a fortress due to the war. But for a military fortress, the twelve miles around Xiapi City were too big to be used only for garrisoning troops if there were no civilians living there. Huo Youzhi's suggestion of building a small town on a high platform was exactly what Huo Jun was thinking about.

"it is good!"

Huo Jun was overjoyed and appointed him: "From now on, you will be appointed as the governor of Xiapi City, and you will be responsible for the military orders of the governor's office."

"Thank you, Commander-in-Chief, you will fulfill your mission!" Huo Youzhi replied.

During this Northern Expedition, all the generals made great achievements, and Huo Jun wrote a summary to thank the generals for their merits. Gao Xiang was appointed as the prefect of Lujiang to govern Liu'an; Huo Du was appointed as the prefect of Donghai to govern Yuzhou; Xu Sheng paid homage to the prefect of Pi to govern Zhongli.

While resting and reorganizing his troops in Xiapi, Huo Jun discussed with Jiang Ji and decided to move the headquarters of the Jianghuai Governor's Office from Hefei to Guangling in Huaidong in order to better take care of Huaibei. In addition to Nozhi, Huo Jun also asked the central government to mobilize troops to Jianghuai to strengthen the defense force in Huaibei.

(End of this chapter)