Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 665: Attack and Defense
When Cao Rui summoned the civil and military officials of the three states to formulate a strategy, Huo Jun, who was about to send troops, was not idle. After ensuring sufficient logistics and supplies with Gu Yong, he crossed the river to Jiangdu to train the troops.

In addition to the tens of thousands of troops deployed on the border, the 150,000 troops of the Northern Expedition also had more than 100,000 troops who rushed from Yang, Jiang, and Wuhan and set up camp around Jiangdu. Their camps stretched for nearly a hundred miles, with water forts and land camps, flags connected, boats shuttling back and forth, and the momentum was huge!

Huo Jun went to Jiangdu to train his troops, mainly to unify the military orders, familiarize himself with the generals at all levels in the army, and understand the strengths and weaknesses of the army of more than 100,000, so that he could use the troops to march north after the spring.

Needless to say, the Central Imperial Army was formed by the elite troops drawn from all over the country by the Southern Han Dynasty because they fought at the border all year round. Their soldiers were well-trained, and their armor and equipment were top-notch. The Southern Han Dynasty also focused on cavalry, and the ratio of infantry to cavalry was relatively high.

The Yangzhou soldiers often crossed the river to fight, so although they were not as strong as the Huai soldiers and the imperial guards, their troops were relatively weak. The weakest troops were the Jiangzhou County soldiers, who rarely participated in large-scale battles and were mostly responsible for transporting supplies, so their combat effectiveness was the weakest.

However, there are also strong soldiers among the weak soldiers. Among the soldiers of the counties in Jiangzhou, the soldiers of Poyang County are the most brave. The reason why the soldiers of Poyang County are brave is related to the county governor Zhou Cang and the geographical environment of Poyang County.

Poyang County is bordered by mountains to the east and Poyang Lake to the west. Because of the mountains and rivers, there are a large number of mountain bandits and water bandits entrenched in it, robbing and looting passing caravans. If they encounter an army encirclement and suppression, they retreat to the mountains and rivers, which is a headache for the central government.

When Liu Bei was on a winter tour in his later years, he met the county magistrate Zhou Cang in Chaisang. He was deeply surprised by his conversation with him, so he boldly appointed Zhou Cang to govern Poyang County and command the county troops.

After Zhou Cang came to power, he recruited mountain bandits and river bandits while training the county soldiers. After understanding the bandits' lairs, Zhou Cang used the recruited bandits as guides and sent troops to suppress them. The territory was peaceful and nearly 10,000 bandits surrendered.

Liu Bei was very happy and appointed Zhou Cang as a general and Marquis of Duxiang, in charge of the defense of Poyang, Linchuan and Jian'an counties, and stationed him in Shangrao area. After years of conquests, Zhou Cang had 8,000 soldiers under his command, which was considered elite.

As for why Zhou Cang was put in charge of the defense of the three southern counties of Jiangzhou, it was mainly related to the territory under the jurisdiction of Jiangzhou. The essence of the establishment of Jiangzhou was to weaken Jingzhou and Yangzhou so that Liu Bei could control Wu and Chu with Wuhan. Therefore, Jiangzhou not only governed the counties around Poyang Lake, but also included Jian'an County (Fujian) under its rule.

The defense area of ​​the three counties that Zhou Cang was in charge of was roughly in the two provinces of Jiangxi and Fujian in later generations!
In the late Han Dynasty, Jiangxi and Fujian provinces were home to many barbarians because of their numerous mountains. In order to control these barbarians, troops were stationed there as a deterrent. And because Huang She governed Jian'an County for many years, the central government also needed to send troops to deter them.

Twenty years ago, Huang She exchanged Jiangxia for Jian'an County. Liu Bei appreciated Huang She's kindness and kept him as the governor. Huang She was quite alive. He was over sixty years old and in good health. Because his family had taken root in Jian'an, he was unwilling to leave Jian'an County.

Upon learning that Southern Han would launch a large-scale northern expedition, Huang She was very tactful and asked his son Huang Qian to lead 3,000 elite troops north, hoping that his son would inherit his position as the prefect of Jian'an (①).

Now Huo Jun has arrived at the Jiangzhou military camp, accompanied by officers such as Zhou Cang and Huang Qian.

"Not bad!"

On the high platform, Huo Jun saw that the Jiangzhou soldiers had been able to understand the army's command flags and arranged themselves in an orderly battle formation. He was very satisfied and said: "After many days of training, the soldiers all understand the orders and each unit advances and retreats in an orderly manner. This army can be used!"

"Don't dare!"

Zhou Cang took the lead and bowed, saying: "Jiangzhou's troops are still insufficient. Cang should practice more battle formations with the captains and let the soldiers practice martial arts diligently!"

Huo Jun put his hand on his belt and said with a smile: "The troops of Jiangzhou may not be as good as the strong army against Wei, but they are far better than the weak army against Wei."

After years of fighting, Cao Wei's elite troops suffered heavy losses. Most of the nearly 300,000 troops Cao Rui squeezed out were weak soldiers and new recruits. The combat effectiveness of Jiangzhou's troops may not be strong, but if they were to deal with Cao Wei's miscellaneous troops, they would be more than enough.

While Huo Jun was speaking, an attendant came up and said, "Reporting to the Grand Marshal, the latest military information from Xuzhou has been delivered. It is extremely urgent!"

"it is good!"

Huo Jun pointed at the troops below the stage and said, "Yuan Fu is leading the troops in training, and Zi Yu is here with me."

"promise!"

Zhou Cang was not from the same clan as Zhou Yu, but was from Yangxian County, Wu Prefecture. His experience was similar to that of Pang Tong and Huang Quan, as he first entered government service, showed his military talent during training, and then changed from a civil official to a military commander.

A few years before Liu Bei's death, Zhou Cang had been appreciated by Liu Bei for his outstanding abilities. Similar to Huang Quan's model, Liu Bei planned to train Zhou Cang and entrust him with important positions. Unfortunately, Liu Bei died of illness halfway through the training.

Huo Jun and Liu Bei had the same judgment that Zhou Cang had the potential to become a commander-in-chief. In order to train Zhou Cang, Huo Jun promoted him to General Zhaoyi and divided the command of Jiangzhou troops with Taishi Heng.

The distance between Jiangzhou camp and Jiangdu was more than thirty miles. Huo Jun rode his horse and rushed to the commander's mansion.

"Da Sima!"

Seeing Huo Jun coming in a hurry, the officials on both sides did not dare to block his way and gave way to him and saluted.

After entering the hall, Huo Jun handed the cloak draped over his shoulders to his attendants and asked, "What is the latest military situation in Xuzhou?"

"Captain!"

Jiang Ji handed the scarf to Huo Jun and said, "According to the scouts, Sun Quan ordered Hu Zhi and Sun Li to abandon the Donghai and Langya counties and withdraw the troops of the two counties to Muling Pass. Sun Quan led the army and civilians to repair the old fortifications of the Qi Great Wall, and the Qingzhou army stationed at Daxian Mountain."

While Huo Jun was browsing the cloth, Jiang Ji continued, "In the Qi and Lu regions today, Lü Qian has reinforced Pengcheng and stored soldiers and food in the inner city; Sun Quan has withdrawn his forces and retreated to Muling. From what I've seen from the Wei army, they are planning to defend Daxian in the east and Pengcheng in the west."

Huo Jun walked up to the map and asked, "Where are Wang Ling's troops?"

Jiang Ji pointed at Hulu with a stick and said, "Yanzhou's troops are stationed in Hulu, which is only more than 200 miles away from Pengcheng and more than 200 miles away from Nanwuyang. Judging from the selection of the troops, they must be prepared for our army to suddenly attack Yanzhou from Mount Tai." Huo Jun stared at the map and asked, "Now that Sun Quan has changed the old arrangement, I wonder what you think?"

Jiang Ji hesitated for a moment and said, "Commander-in-chief, Sun Quan abandoned more than ten counties in Langya and Donghai for no reason. He must have seen through our army's plan to surround Kaiyang and attack the other armies!"

The plan of besieging Kaiyang to force the Wei army to fight in the field had been mentioned repeatedly in previous military meetings. After all, Huo Jun had a large number of troops under his command and was not afraid of fighting in the field with the Wei army. On the contrary, in order to achieve results as soon as possible, the Han army was eager for the Wei army to take the initiative in the field battle.

"Now that the Wei army has voluntarily abandoned more than ten counties in Langya and Donghai, our army can gain tens of thousands of civilians without fighting and expand our territory by thousands of miles. Isn't it a pleasure?"

Ding Feng laughed and said carelessly: "In my opinion, Sun Quan must have known the commander-in-chief's strategy of besieging the city and attacking the reinforcements, so he took the initiative to evacuate the two cities and gathered heavy troops to defend Daxian in order to repel our northern expedition army."

Ding Feng had followed Huo Jun in battles for more than 20 years, and through his familiarity with the art of war, Ding Feng had gradually come to understand it. Now, Ding Feng could see through what Sun Quan was doing at a glance.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple!"

Huo Jun looked at the long and narrow valleys of the Yi and Shu rivers on the map, frowned and said, "Although Sun Quan is not good at commanding troops, he has long-term plans. Now that he has abandoned two prefectures and more than ten counties, how could he only defend Muling without foresight? Even if Sun Quan has no foresight, how could Cao Rui not have long-term plans?"

Although Huo Jun had previously despised Sun Quan's military ability, it did not mean that Huo Jun ignored Sun Quan or looked down on him. As mentioned before, Sun Quan must have had great visions to be the Emperor of Wu, so Huo Jun did not believe that the Emperor of Wu's means were limited to defending Muling Pass.

Zhou Cang thought for a moment and said, "My Lord, you are worried that this is Sun Quan's plan to lure the enemy deeper into our territory!"

“Maybe!”

Huo Jun put his hands behind his back and said, "The specific arrangements are unknown now, so it's hard to judge Sun Quan's intentions!"

Jiang Ji stroked his beard and thought, and said, "The road from Xia Pi to Muling Pass is seven or eight hundred miles long. I am afraid that Sun Quan intends to defend the pass and send light troops to take the small road to rob our army's food supply."

"What's Shiyuan's opinion?" Huo Jun asked.

Pang Tong frowned for a long time and said, "I agree with what Zitong said. The Wei army is stationed here and they should watch our army's advance and then use their troops. If our army goes straight to Muling, the Yanzhou troops will definitely take the opportunity to move, and vice versa!"

"As for the actions of the Yanzhou troops?"

Pang Tong pondered for a moment and said, "If we follow the Sishui River and take Xiapi directly, we can cut off our army's retreat. Or we can join forces with Man Chong to cut off the Sishui River and trap our army in Huaibei."

Listening to everyone's analysis, Ding Feng was a little confused and said, "Commander-in-chief, can we take the more than ten counties in Langya and Donghai first? If not, should we turn our troops to Pengcheng?"

"The walls of Pengcheng are high and strong. If you want to take Pengcheng now, you can use the Si River to flood the city!"

Jiang Ji pointed to Pengcheng on the map and said, "The Si River may be able to break through the outer city, but it may be difficult to take the inner city. Once autumn comes, the Si River will dry up and the army will have no choice but to withdraw."

"How about entering Langya and breaking through Muling Pass directly?" Ding Feng asked.

Jiang Ji smiled and said, "Sun Quan has gathered the troops from Qingzhou to defend Muling Pass. I'm afraid it will be difficult for our army to break through!"

"The Chief Secretary is deceiving me!"

Ding Feng looked unhappy and said, "According to the Chief Secretary, Pengcheng and Muling are both difficult for our army to conquer. Are you trying to stop the fighting?"

"Ha ha!"

Jiang Ji and Pang Tong looked at each other and laughed, saying, "Sun Tzu said, 'Know yourself and know your enemy, and you can fight a hundred battles without danger. Before the battle, we should fully understand the advantages and disadvantages of both sides, and when the enemy shows that we are weak, we can send troops to attack!"

As he spoke, Jiang Ji looked at Huo Jun, who was pacing in thought, and asked, "How does the commander-in-chief intend to use his troops?"

Huo Jun walked about three or four steps, then stopped, looked up at Langya on the map, and said, "Sun Quan gave me Langya and Donghai counties. How can our army just ignore it?"

Huo Jun looked at everyone and said in a deep voice: "Let's follow the old plan. The army will march to Xiapi, then take Langya and Donghai, and advance to Muling Pass!"

Ding Feng couldn't understand and asked, "Why did the governor-general advance to Langya and Donghai again if he suspected Sun Quan was cheating?"

Huo Jun smiled lightly and said, "The key to defending is to show the enemy that you are insufficient, and the key to attacking is to show the enemy that you have more than enough. If you show the enemy that you are insufficient, the enemy will surely attack, because the enemy does not know what to attack; if you show the enemy that you have more than enough, the enemy will surely defend itself, because the enemy does not know what to defend."

After a pause, Huo Jun concluded: "So, if we want to defeat the enemy, we should show them our weaknesses."

① Fujian Families: "During the Southern Han Dynasty, the people of Fujian migrated to the south. The first eight families to enter Fujian were Lin, Huang, Chen, Zheng, Zhan, Qiu, He, and Hu. ... The Huang family is a descendant of the Huang family in Jiangxia, and a descendant of Huang She, the governor of Jian'an in the early Southern Han Dynasty."

(End of this chapter)