Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 593: The opportunity to break the thief arrives
The army set out from Wuhan to reach the Jianghuai River as quickly as possible. The boats and boats kept going day and night. If the wind was strong, they would use sails and if the wind was light, they would paddle.

Traveling thousands of miles along the waterway, the army arrived at Ruxukou in three days. One day later, he arrived at Hefei and met up with Pang Tong and Gao Xiang who had been waiting for a long time.

During the spring rain, the rain is like cow hair, and Chaohu Lake ripples. Dazhai by the river is buzzing with people and smoke is rising from the cooking pots.

In the camp, Hu cakes are steaming hot from the stove, rice is cooked in pots, and chicken, fish, and dog meat are either steamed or put into soup, which makes people want to have a good appetite.

The officers of the Logistics Department distributed the food to various departments of the Forbidden Army according to needs according to the roster. Elite battalions are eligible to receive fine wine, and each tent can receive one bell of wine.

While the soldiers of the army were taking time to rest in Hefei, Huo Jun convened everyone to discuss military affairs.

In the central military tent, Huo Jun was sitting on the couch, and Pang Tong and Huang Quan were sitting on the left and right respectively. Since they had not eaten yet, everyone took the time to discuss the military affairs.

"Greetings to Du~, Da Sima!"

Pang Tong stood up from his chair and addressed himself as "Governor" as usual.

"No need!"

Huo Jun nodded slightly and praised: "If we can win this time, both Wen Xiang and You will have great contributions. In particular, Wen Xiang used Zhongli from the small town to attack Huaibei with a few weak soldiers and occupied 100,000 people."

"promise!"

Under Pang Tong's guidance, he told all about the situation of the Wei army stationed in Jianghuai. The Wei army's troops and horses were dispersed, and the main force of the army was almost in the north and south of the Huai River in the Zhongli area. Cao Pi used Yicheng to dispatch the army from the rear instead of commanding from the front.

"What is the arrangement of the rebel army now?" Huo Jun said.

Looking at the crowd, Huo Jun said with a smile: "Time is running out, and the generals are expected to be hungry. Now we will quickly discuss the military arrangements, and then let the generals eat!"

"good!"

Seeing that Huo Jun had no problem, Pang Tong continued: "Today, most of the Wei army is deployed in Yicheng, Zhongli, and Shaoyangzhou. Yicheng is located in the north of Tushan. It is led by Cao Pi, who leads the civil and military forces. There are 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers and horses. Zhongli is more than a hundred miles away."

Huo Jun pointed to the garrison outside Shouchun and asked, "Did the Wei army cut off the fat water?"

Pang Tong smiled and said: "Captain, after the Lu Chariot and Cavalry defeated Shaoyangzhou, Cao Pi sent Zang Ba to lead his troops across the Huaihe River and joined forces with Cao Xiu to attack Zhongli. However, since the first month, it has rained heavily, making it difficult to break through with all our strength. city, so Zhongli City was temporarily protected."

Pang Tongchun walked to the corner of the tent, pointed at the map hanging in the corner of the tent with a wooden pole, and said: "I have been ordered by the governor to carefully inspect the Wei army's deployment in Jianghuai. There are more than 10,000 soldiers in Shouchun City, stationed in Shouchun and its surrounding areas. The outer city is garrisoned by General Xu Huang."

"Lu Chaqi was afraid that the fifth month would be over and Xu Sheng would not be able to defend Zhongli for a long time. He sent dead soldiers to sneak into the city and promised to send reinforcements to Jianghuai to strengthen his determination to hold on. The same was true for Xiapi City, and Huo You occupied the inner city. There were many casualties among Xiahou Shang's troops, so he surrounded them but refused to attack, hoping to wait until Xiapi's food supplies were gone."

Although Xu Huang survived, the arrow in his abdomen became a hidden problem for him, causing him to gradually fade out of the military and rarely appear in public. This time Cao Pi sent his army to the south. As a veteran general, Xu Huang went into battle. However, due to the recurrence of his old illness, he had to sit in the rear.

"According to the scouts, Xu Huang had an old illness and was unable to join the army in the battle. Cao Pi ordered Xu Huang to return to Shouchun to recuperate, and to stay in Huaixi to prevent our army from attacking!" Pang Tong said.

"Xu Huang?"

Xiapi and Zhongli are two cities. Xiapi is easier and Zhongli is the most difficult. Xu Sheng single-handedly blocked the attacks of more than 100,000 troops with three to four thousand soldiers, causing more than 10,000 casualties in the Wei army, and also killed and injured Cao Ren, which is comparable to the famous defensive battles in history.

After saying that, he put the white whip on the case and asked, "Shi Yuan, how is the war in Jianghuai today?"

"In the Zhongli area, Cao Xiu and Zang Ba led 50,000 to 60,000 troops to station in Huainan, hoping to encircle Zhongli for a long time. In Shaoyangzhou, Jia Kui led 10,000 troops to guard the floating bridge. To the north of the bridge, Cao Hong led 20,000 to 30,000 troops. Everyone thought that they would respond to the soldiers of Shaoyangzhou."

Huo Jun frowned slightly and asked, "Did Xu Huang follow Cao Pi on his southern expedition?"

Huo Jun looked kindly and said with a smile: "I am known as Sima, so I prefer the title of Commander."

During the Battle of Xiangfan, Xu Huang and Guan Yu were talking in front of the battle formation and wounded each other with bows and arrows. Guan Yu was hit by an arrow in the chest and was seriously injured and could not get out of the line of fire, so he died after the battle; Xu Huang was hit by an arrow in the abdomen, but he survived because he handed over the military to Cao Zhen and went to Wancheng to recuperate in time.

The old department received special treatment from the old department, and was called the governor, which was almost the same as the honorific title Huo Jun was given by the old Jianghuai generals.

"Not yet!"

Pang Tong said: "The boat can go out of the Feishui River to Shouchun, and then enter the Huaihe River. There is a water city beside the Feishui River, and hundreds of soldiers and horses are stationed in it for warning purposes."

Huo Jun gradually understood and asked, "Shi Yuan has been stationed in Hefei for a long time. Is there any strategy to defeat the enemy?"

"Slightly small!"

Pang Tong used a wooden pole to draw on the map and said: "Land chariots and troops were stationed downstream, and they counterattacked with boats and boats in an attempt to destroy the Shaoyangzhou Bridge. However, they were repeatedly destroyed by fire ships. It is difficult to destroy the pontoon bridge."

"The commander-in-chief received the military order from the commander-in-chief and carefully inspected the situation on the Huaihe River. He concluded that he could take a boat to the upper reaches of Shaoyang Island, reverse the fire boat strategy, set fire along the river, and burn the pontoon bridge with the land chariots and cavalry, thereby defeating his sergeants."

When the Wei army was marching south across the Yangtze River and Huaihe River, Huo Jun ordered Lu Xun to go to Huaidong to attack the Wei army, leaving Pang Tong to garrison troops in the west of Huaihe. In fact, there was a desire to join forces from east to west and attack the Wei army from both upstream and downstream.

Pang Tong had been observing the Jianghuai War for a long time, and even said that Pang Tong was Huo Jun's back-up man. Therefore, in the past few months, Huo Jun not only communicated with Lu Xun, but also communicated with Pang Tong through letters.

Huo, Lu, and Pang had been having in-depth discussions on how to defeat the Wei army. Lu and Pang both believed that in order to defeat the Wei army, the Shaoyangzhou floating bridge must be destroyed. Of course, not only the Han army knew the importance of the Shaoyangzhou pontoon bridge, but the Wei army also knew it. Under the tight defense of the Wei army, Pang Tong discussed with Huo Jun and believed that it would be difficult to destroy the pontoon bridge from the downstream. Now it is better to start from the upper reaches, follow the current, and destroy the Shaoyangzhou floating bridge from the upper reaches.

As for whether the Wei army would have discovered the Han army upstream, but due to information dissemination problems, it would definitely not be able to keep up with the Han army's boats that were moving full force down the river. Perhaps while the news was still on the way, the Han army's boats had already arrived at the Shaoyangzhou pontoon.

Huo Jun thought for a while and said: "There are two waters in Hefei. One is Luojian water, which flows from Tushan to Huai River; the other is Feishui, which flows from Shouchun to Huai River. Based on the feelings of Huai River, what is the depth of the two waters and whether it can be used for boating? ?”

"I report to the Governor that this spring, the water in Luojian is still shallow and cannot be used for boating. There is water in Shaopi. The fertile water is deeper and can be used for boating." Pang Tong replied: "As for the Huai River, the water has risen several feet, and it can be used for boating." Use force."

The name Hefei comes from the two fertile rivers that meet here. At the end of the Han Dynasty, the two fertile rivers were cut off and it was difficult to communicate with each other. After Huo Jun conquered Hefei, in order to strengthen the navy's advantage, he specifically asked Sima Zhi to dredge the water and fertilizer.

Sima Zhi lived up to Huo Jun's expectations and diverted Yanjian water into Yanghu Lake. Shishui supported Tianjin and connected to Yanghu. The Shishui and Fertilizer water were connected again. Except for water shortages in winter, the small and medium-sized boats stored in Chaohu Lake can pass through the fertilizer water at any time and enter Shaopi and reach the vicinity of Shouchun.

The reason why Huo Jun stood still was that he had to wait until spring to fight. In addition to using the fortified city to kill the morale of the Wei army, it also has a lot to do with the water level.

Huo Jun stared at Zhongli on the map and said: "The boat was led out of the Feishui River, passed through Shouchun, and then entered the Huai River. The boat went down the river. Although the whereabouts along the way may have been known to the Wei army, the boat was like a fast horse and a big boat. Rushing down the river, we should be able to destroy the bridge with the force of thunder and divide the armies north and south of the Huai River."

Listening to Huo and Pang finalizing the plan to destroy the Shaoyangzhou pontoon bridge, Huang Quan asked: "Da Sima, now that we have a way to destroy the bridge, we don't know how to defeat the Wei army in Huainan, or to gain access to Shouchun?"

"Not urgent!"

Huo Jun stroked his moustache and said with a smile: "Leave the task of breaking the bridge to Shi Yuan. Gong Heng can follow me out of Luojianshui, first defeat the Huainan armies, and then attack Shouchun Jiancheng."

Pang Tong sat back on his chair again and asked: "Captain, can you order to contact Boyan now and order him to station in Daorenzhou? When my boat arrives, join me in attacking the Shaoyangzhou pontoon bridge."

"good!"

Huo Jun nodded slightly and said: "Not only should I inform Boyan, but I should also inform Wen Xiang, so that the two armies can cooperate with our army to use force and work together to defeat the Wei army."

With that said, Huo Jun stood up from the couch, stood with his sword in hand, looked around everyone with sharp eyes, and said: "The Wei thieves have been surrounding Zhongli for a long time, and the thieves are tired and weak. This is a good opportunity to defeat the thieves. Listen to your orders!"

"Please give your orders, Da Sima!"

Generals Huang Quan, Pang Tong, Shi Ran, Zhu Huan, Wu Ban, and Guan Pingping all stood up and bowed to Huo Jun.

"Where is Gao Xiang?"

"exist!"

Huo Jun looked at the calendar and said: "On the 22nd, the general led his troops as the vanguard and dredged the Feishui River at night to ensure the smooth flow of the river. Then he returned to Hefei to prevent Xu Huang from leading his troops south to invade Hefei."

"promise!"

Gao Xiang stepped forward and stretched out his hand to receive the military order.

"Where is Pang Tong!"

"exist!"

"On the 23rd, I order you and Taishi Heng, tens of thousands of soldiers, to take a ship out of the Feishui River and enter the Huai River. After entering the Huai River, the whole army rushes forward and rushes to the Shaoyangzhou pontoon bridge at full speed. When they reach the bridge, order The large ship was loaded with fire materials and oil, with the fire ship as the forerunner and the troops as the rear, burning the pontoon bridge and destroying the wooden fences," Huo Jun ordered.

"promise!"

Pang Tong put on his armor and stepped forward to receive the military order.

Huo Jun seemed to have remembered something, took out the brocade bag from his arms, and said, "After Shi Yuan has accomplished his feats, take out the brocade bag. Inside is Boyan and your order. I hope you will obey it."

"promise!"

Pang Tong glanced at the dark black tip bag and could probably guess that it was the arrangement for the subsequent attack on Shouchun.

There is no way, Shouchun is located at the strategic point of water and land. If military orders are not arranged in advance, and the battle of Shouchun is launched after the Zhongli war is over, Cao Wei is afraid that Cao Wei will have already made arrangements, let alone Shouchun.

Then, Huo Jun looked at the remaining generals and ordered: "The rest of them will follow me out of Luojianshui. We will first take Matou City, and then form a defensive formation."

"No!" everyone responded as ordered.

The Huai River water system is complex. Huainan and Huaibei each have large and small rivers that flow into the Huai River. In addition to Hangou and Feishui, the Huainan area also has small tributaries such as Luojian, Chi, and Hao. However, due to the problem of large tributaries, most of the battles that took place in the Jianghuai area mostly revolved around Feishui and Hangou.

Seeing that the arrangement of the army was completed, the generals wanted to withdraw from their tents.

Huo Jun called out to the generals who were about to retreat and said with a smile: "I have ordered people to prepare food and wine. Now you generals can stay and have dinner together!"

"Thank you, Da Sima!"

(End of this chapter)