Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 685 A strong man breaks his wrist
In July, Wei Village in Weixi.

Inside the big tent, Sun Quan had a worried look on his face. He paced back and forth in front of the map, looking very anxious.

Seeing Rui Xuan enter the tent, Sun Quan stopped and asked anxiously, "Have any military provisions been delivered to the army?"

Rui Xuan shook his head and said, "According to the report from Gaomi's garrison, the lower reaches of the Wei River have been occupied by the Han army, and now most of the grain transported from Linzi has been seized by Huo Fan. If we want to solve the problem of food and soldiers, we must take the opportunity to drive out the Han army in Zhencheng."

Hearing this, Sun Quan looked disappointed and sighed, "Xiahou Ba is incompetent. His army was defeated by Huo Fan, which led to the fall of the eastern counties of Qi. Later, the troops were stationed in Gaomi, but they were unable to stop the bandits from robbing food. I was stationed upstream, but my soldiers were restrained by Huo Jun. I have the will but not the power!"

Rui Xuan said: "Sir, if we cannot ensure that the food supply route is unobstructed, our army will die if they stay in the cities for a long time. I hope you can make a decision as soon as possible!"

"How to ensure the smooth flow of grain?" Sun Quan asked.

Rui Xuan hesitated for a moment and said, "According to the current strategy, we need to send soldiers south to besiege Zhencheng, or advance to Yidong."

Rui Xuan was originally a general of the Sun family, but later surrendered to Liu Bei. Because his brother Rui Liang died of illness, Rui Xuan was afraid that Liu Bei would seize his troops, so he responded to Sun Quan's call to surrender and crossed the river to join Cao Wei.

After entering Wei, Rui Xuan had already been granted an official title and a noble title because of his status as a surrendered person. And because he controlled the army, Sun Quan and Rui Xuan had been friends for many years, and even arranged a marriage relationship for their children.

Sun Quan spread his hands and said, "I previously divided 10,000 troops to fight Xiahou Ba, but he was defeated at Jieting. I also sent Xiahou Hui to lead 5,000 troops to the north to help him defend Gaomi. Now Huo Jun is stationed in the east. When he sees that I have sent troops to reinforce him, he will definitely divide his troops to the north to help his son."

When Xiahou Ba was defeated at Jieting, Sun Quan had already sent Xiahou Hui to lead troops to help him. Without the reinforcements sent by Sun Quan, Gaomi would have been impossible to defend. Sun Quan had invested 15,000 soldiers in Qidong, plus the 5,000 lost at Dai Ling, a total of 20,000 soldiers.

Although Sun Quan still had troops at hand, he did not dare to send more troops northward because Huo Jun was watching closely. If he acted according to Rui Xuan's words, Huo Jun would not sit and wait for death, but would take action.

If he did the same as Sun Quan, he could send more troops to the battlefield in the east of Qi; or he could lead his troops across the Wei River to put pressure on Sun Quan. If he did the former, and if he defeated Huo Fan again, Sun Quan would be completely passive; if he did the latter, Sun Quan might not be able to stop Huo Jun.

The situation is critical now. Whether for the battlefields of Zhucheng or for Sun Quan himself, Sun Quan is unwilling to send out troops easily!

Seeing Sun Quan's unwillingness to mobilize troops, Rui Xuan didn't know what to say!
Sun Quan paced a few times and asked, "Where is Military Advisor Liu now?"

"Still in the tent!" Rui Xuan said.

Sun Quan was angry at his lack of fighting spirit and said, "There is a great war ahead, how can you give up on yourself because of such a small matter!"

"Someone, ask Advisor Liu to come out of the tent!"

"What if he doesn't come out?" asked the attendant.

"If Military Advisor Liu does not come out, he will say that the war is critical and General Sun has no strategy, and he will be defeated by Huo Jun soon!" Sun Quan said.

"promise!"

Before Huo Jun rushed to take Zhucheng, Liu Ye urged Sun Quan to defend the south. But unexpectedly, as the situation developed, Xiahou Ba was defeated by the Han army, Qidong was broken through by Huo Fan, and Zhucheng trapped the Wei army instead.

Liu Ye saw that his strategies had many mistakes, and even none of them were successful. He felt ashamed of his poor strategy. Out of guilt towards Sun Quan, Liu Ye closed his tent and did not go out.

Liu Ye closed his tent out of shame, and Sun Quan had no choice but to take care of the military affairs himself. The current situation was beyond Sun Quan's control, so he had to ask Liu Ye for advice. After all, with his military level, it was undoubtedly best to ask Liu Ye for advice.

When Sun Quan was worried about the situation, Liu Ye finally arrived after his attendants' repeated invitations.

Seeing the worried Sun Quan, Liu Ye bowed and apologized, saying: "I'm sorry that I was incompetent and failed to help you see through Huo Jun's conspiracy."

Sun Quan hurriedly helped Liu Ye up and consoled him, saying, "What fault did Zi Yang have? What has Xiahou Ba's defeat had to do with you? The failure in the battle for Qidong was not due to a failure in strategy, but rather to the incompetence of the generals."

Although Liu Ye could not see through Huo Jun's strategy, he judged that Qidong could not afford to lose, so he sent Xiahou Ba to lead 10,000 people to fight. But who could have expected that Huo Fan would not only defeat Xiahou Ba, but also invade Qidong's territory.

Today Sun Quan is in a passive situation, not because of a strategic mistake, but because of a tactical failure, and more importantly, because of the weakness of Cao Wei's soldiers and generals.

Since the Northern Wei Dynasty and the Southern Han Dynasty began to compete, the Wei Dynasty suffered more defeats than victories. After years of military defeats, the military strength of the Northern Wei Dynasty was constantly weakened. In particular, Cao Pi's southern expedition was a landmark battle. In that battle, most of Cao Wei's elite troops were killed, and many middle-level officers surrendered to the Han Dynasty. In addition, a lot of baggage, weapons, and horses were lost.

Although Cao Wei had increased its numbers by capturing able-bodied men and recruiting powerful troops, the quality of its troops had declined severely due to the loss of soldiers and generals. If the Han army and the Wei army were to fight in the field, the Wei army would not only not be able to guarantee victory over the Han army, but would have to worry about being defeated by the Han army.

Liu Ye said with a humble expression, "I have a rough understanding of the current situation. Huo Jun leads his army in the south, watching with eager eyes; Huo Fan occupies the east of Qi, harassing the grain route. So in my opinion, the general has three feasible strategies: the best, the middle and the worst!"

Sun Quan was greatly encouraged and asked, "Please tell me more, Ziyang!"

Liu Ye sorted out his thoughts and said, "The best strategy is for the general to abandon all the cities and flee to Qi County, relying on the power of Hebei, and firmly defend the two cities of Linzi and Guangxian. The Han army has come a long way from home. If they cannot quickly occupy Qingzhou, Huo Jun will retreat next year!" "The middle strategy is for the general to send troops to attack Huo Fan from afar, draw in the grain from the west of Qi, and defend all the cities to suppress Huo Jun. When the snow falls on the mountains in winter, it will be difficult to circulate the soldiers and grain, and perhaps Huo Jun can be forced to retreat."

"The worst plan is for the general to send out all his troops and join forces with Sun Li. The two armies will fight Huo Jun together to see if they can defeat him. At this time, the general can use his chariots to form a battle formation to avoid mistakes in his military operations."

Hearing this, Sun Quan's face straightened slightly, and he paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, thinking.

Although Liu Ye's three strategies did not teach him how to defeat the enemy, they did point out the situation he was facing. At the moment, the Wei army was facing a food shortage, and the situation became more and more unfavorable. He could either make a decisive move and abandon the cities; or he could deal with the Han army that was robbing food and continue to confront Huo Jun; or he could fight hard and send troops to fight Huo Jun in the field.

"The worst option is to leave the camp and fight Huo Jun!"

Sun Quan paced and chanted, saying, "Middle strategy, divide the troops and send them north. The main camp will be empty. If Huo Jun leads his troops across the river, I am afraid we will be defeated by the Han army."

"As for abandoning the cities and running away?"

Sun Quan hesitated and said, "In the past, we gave up Langya and Donghai counties to lure Huo Jun to lead his troops deep into our territory. Now we give up Zhucheng and Muling. If we lose them again, I am afraid that Qi will no longer be our territory!"

Sun Quan had hoped that Muling and Zhucheng could stop Huo Jun, so he persuaded Cao Rui to allow him to give up nearly a thousand miles of territory in Langya and Donghai.

If Sun Quan gave up Muling and other cities and led the Han army into Qingqi, Cao Rui would probably be furious, not to mention whether he could repel the enemy as he wished.

Liu Ye sighed slightly and said, "Huo Jun has always had the ambition to drink from the Yellow River. Now he has led his elite troops to the north, and his son Fan has swept through the east of Qi. The morale of the enemy army is high, and the victorious army cannot be easily stopped. It will be difficult for the general to lead a motley army to repel Huo Jun!"

"The ancients said: 'When a viper stings your hand, a brave man cuts off his wrist.' The harm in the east of Qi is far worse than that of a viper. We cannot stay in the cities for long. Huo Jun's troops should avoid the sharp edge. Now we return to Linzi and divide the enemy's troops. When the enemy is divided, we will be one. We will hold Linzi firmly and lead Wang Ling's troops into Qi. We should be able to repel the enemy!"

Liu Ye's idea was simple, since he couldn't defeat Huo Jun, he might as well trade space for time and use space to disperse Huo Jun's troops.

For example, when Huo Jun sent out troops from the Yangtze River and the Huai River, he had an army of more than 100,000; when he reached Xia Pi, he had an army of 100,000; when he recaptured Kaiyang, he still had 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers; when he stationed his troops in Ju County, he had 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers; when he reached Zhucheng in the north, he had only 30,000 soldiers.

If Huo Jun continued to advance into Qingqi and extended the front to the hinterland, the number of soldiers available to Huo Jun would certainly be less than that of Sun Quan. At that time, Sun Quan was guarding Linzi and controlling the fertile land of Qi, so he would surely be able to hold out against Huo Jun for a long time.

Huo Jun came from Jianghuai to Qingqi. If he failed to capture Linzi, he would not be able to control Qi. Once the war dragged on for a long time, Huo Jun led his troops back to the country, and Sun Quan would be able to recapture Qi.

Sun Quan paced back and forth in the tent, thinking deeply about Liu Ye's proposal of "cutting off one's own arm", and said, "How shall I report this to Your Majesty?"

Liu Ye shook his head and said, "When a general is away from home, he may not obey the king's orders. Zhucheng is more than 2,000 miles away from Luoyang. If we report back and forth, we may lose the opportunity to fight. The general needs to make the decision right now, not your majesty!"

"Your Majesty may be angry when he hears about what the general and Ye have done, but if Huo Jun can be forced to retreat, Your Majesty will let bygones be bygones!" Liu Ye said.

"A brave man cuts off his arm!"

Sun Quan held his wrist with his left hand and could not help but say: "Abandoning all the cities and going to Linzi, gathering all the troops of Qingqi and retreating to Qi County, only a man of great courage can do it!"

"If you don't make a decision when you should, you will suffer the consequences!" Liu Ye advised again.

Sun Quan clenched his wrists and asked, "My army abandoned the cities and fled, and Huo Jun led his troops to pursue them. How should I respond?"

"Car formation!"

Liu Ye emphasized again: "General, you can use chariots to face the enemy!"

After a pause, Liu Ye analyzed and said, "In the past, Li Ling led 5,000 infantrymen in a chariot formation and marched across the Xiongnu for hundreds of miles. Although he was captured because he had no help, he killed and wounded many people. At the beginning, Huo Jun used a chariot formation with his back to the water and defeated our army."

"So, judging from the above two points, if you want to avoid the pursuit of the Han army, you should let the old and weak soldiers go first, and order the strong and powerful soldiers to march in the chariot formation. At that time, the cavalry will be outside, and the infantry will be inside. When the enemy is chasing, you can first fight them with the chariot formation, and then break them with the cavalry, which will be enough to repel the pursuit of the Han army!"

As mentioned before, chariots gradually withdrew from the stage since the Warring States Period. However, due to Wei Qing's innovation of chariot tactics, the three armies of infantry, cavalry and chariots were integrated, and chariots appeared in the form of chariot formations. Especially when weak soldiers fight against strong soldiers, the weak soldiers use chariots as barriers and can defeat the strong soldiers.

The Wei army often took the initiative on the battlefield because it had a large number of cavalry, so there was no need to engage the enemy in chariot battles. However, as the quality of the troops declined, Sun Quan had no confidence in defeating Huo Jun, so it was better to use chariot formations to deal with the Southern Han. Even if it could not defeat Huo Jun, the chariot formation method might be able to force the Han army to retreat.

Seeing that Liu Ye had thought it through, Sun Quan gritted his teeth and said, "In that case, let's do as Zi Yang said and cut off our own arm. Abandon all the cities and retreat to Linzi, and select soldiers to practice chariot formations."

"promise!"

ps: I don't know what's going on, I've been feeling unwell lately. I'll update once today, and three more tomorrow, to wrap up the story!
(End of this chapter)