Soldiers come to the world

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At night, Zhaoguan became quiet, with a few soldiers patrolling back and forth at the top of the city, and the streets less than a hundred paces long were deserted, except for the faint laughter of drinkers from a small tavern.

The inn where Zang Ba lived was quieter. The shopkeeper and two clerks were killed, and the bodies were thrown into the well. The inn was controlled by Zang Ba and seven of his men.

Zhaoguan is very small, the perimeter of the city wall is only about [-] steps, and there are less than [-] defenders. In addition to barracks and warehouses, there are more than a dozen shops in the city, all of which are built close to the city wall, and this hotel is located in the southwest corner. , above the head of the hostel stands a majestic beacon tower. The reason why Zang Ba chose this one among the three hostels was because of the location of the hostel.

He led a few of his men into the backyard and stood close to the city wall. An old camphor tree with lush branches covered them. Zang Ba nodded his hand and ordered in a low voice, "Go!"

The three soldiers quickly climbed up the camphor tree, climbed up the camphor tree, and quickly climbed up the city wall. The beacon tower is on the southwest corner, which is divided into three floors. It is also the place where the soldiers on duty rest, and the fire platform is held on the top floor, which is full of firewood.

Zhaoguan has not been used for several years, and the soldiers have gradually lost their vigilance. Generally, soldiers on duty cannot sleep and have to wait all night, but in fact, only three of the five soldiers on duty are left, and two of them slipped to the tavern , and the other three fell asleep.

Two strong Cao soldiers climbed up the fire-raising platform first with ropes, and locked the entrance with iron chains, so that the soldiers in the dormitory could not climb up the fire-raising platform. They waved, and Zang Ba led other soldiers from the pavilion. They climbed into the dormitory, and after hearing a few muffled screams, the three soldiers were killed in the dormitory.

Zang Ba led his men into Zhaoguan, while his deputy Chen Qi led his army to ambush in the woods two miles away, waiting for the signal to attack. Cao Jun waited until the third watch. At this moment, flames appeared above the city of Zhaoguan. , several soldiers noticed at the same time and shouted, "General, the signal is coming!"

Chen Qi was overjoyed, and immediately ordered a thousand pioneers: "Attack!"

A thousand soldiers of Cao Jun rushed out of the woods and rushed towards Zhaoguan. The patrolling soldiers on the top of the city had been dealt with by Zang Ba.

........

Without the report from Zhaoguan, the beacon towers along the way were useless. Zang Ba led Cao Jun to take a small road, bypassing the beacon towers along the way, and headed straight to Liyang County.

Liyang County is only a small county without many garrisons. The county seat is close to the Yangtze River, but the mine is still ten miles away from the county seat, connected by a Cao River. In normal times, a large number of flat-bottomed boats will transport ore out of the mine every day and stack them on the wharf. In the warehouse above, the ore will be loaded onto the mining ship by the peasants and transported to the distant Jingzhou. At the peak time, there are more than 2000 mining ships on the Yangtze River between Jingzhou and Jiangdong.

In winter, the wind direction turns to the northwest, and mining ships without tread wheels cannot sail against the wind, and the transportation of ore has also stopped. Most of the mining ships have returned to Jingzhou, but some mining ships are moored in Liyang, waiting for the spring .

Zhang Liao got the information from the scouts that there were more than 21 mining ships moored in Liyang, all of which were above [-] stone, and the largest ship was even [-] stone. There were no civilian husbands either. Hundreds of mining boats parked from the wharf all the way to the Caohe River. It was deserted. Except for the boatmen who guarded the boats, everyone else hid in the county seat and spent the [-]st year of Jian'an happily in the county seat.

When [-] Cao's troops arrived in Liyang County, it was already late, and the night shrouded the Yangtze River and the riversides on both sides of the city. Everything was silent outside the city, except for the huge figures of mining ships, moored in all directions on the wharf and in Caohe. .

There were faint lights on several large ships, and the boatmen gathered together to drink and chat, talking excitedly about the sexual affairs between women and various ports. In a lonely foreign land, under the fumigation of alcohol, these things will always be The topic that the boatmen are most interested in, they are completely unaware that the danger has quietly come.

Zang Ba did not do it recklessly. They wanted to capture hundreds of large ships and capture the boatmen who could sail them. Zang Ba stared at the county town and the large ships from a distance. Two routes, you can lead 3000 people to blockade the county town and prevent anyone from escaping, and I will be responsible for capturing the ships."

Chen Qi nodded, waved his hand, and said to the three generals: "Come with me."

Chen Qi led 3000 people to the county seat, and Zang Ba immediately said to the other generals: "We will divide the work, and each person will be responsible for fifty large ships. Everyone must act quickly, try not to kill people, let alone burn down the ships."

The generals deliberated for a while, assigned targets, and led their respective troops to go. Zang Ba led 3000 people straight to the wharf, which is located in the middle of the Yangtze River. It is a medium-sized water village, and about a hundred mine ships are moored in the water village. Most of the boats are tied to the pier with cables, and there are only a few dozen boats parked in the center of the water village.

The soldiers of Cao's army rushed onto the big ship one after another, and Zang Ba led more than a hundred soldiers onto the largest [-] quarry ship. The ship hall was brightly lit, and dozens of boatmen were gathering to gamble, shouting endlessly.

At this time, the gate was kicked open, and countless heavily armed Cao Jun soldiers rushed into the lobby, and the soldiers shouted sharply: "All kneel down, and those who resist will be killed!"

Cao Jun seized the mining ships one after another, but in the dark night, a [-] stone pedal impeller boat quickly left the dock and fled towards the Yangtze River.

.........

At the same time that Zang Ba led his army to seize more than [-] Jingzhou mining ships in Liyang, Yiye Bingzhou also sent General Cheng Yu to Jianye.

At this time, Jianye was also in a strong atmosphere of war. Sun Quan and He Qi of Kuaiji County reached a merger agreement last fall. He Qi was granted the prefect of Kuaiji.

As soon as he reached an agreement with He Qi, Sun Quan couldn't wait to join the Kuaiji Army to launch a north-south attack on Wujun. The two sides broke out in a fierce battle in Yuting Town in the north of Wujun. road army.

However, the Kuaiji army on the southern front was defeated by Lu Xun. Both armies had their own victories and losses. As the Kuaiji army retreated to the south, Lu Xun led the army to the north, forcing Sun Quan to also withdraw his troops.

Although the first battle between the two sides was undecided, Wu County was clearly at a strategic disadvantage. Sun Quan once again reorganized his troops and prepared to attack Wu County after the beginning of spring. At this time, Cheng Yu arrived in Jianye City.

Sun Quan was quite surprised by Cheng Yu's arrival, but he also attached great importance to it. He went out of the city to greet him personally, "Master Cheng Jun came to Jianye, could it be that Duke Wei has also arrived in Yangzhou?" Sun Quan asked with a smile.

Cheng Yu saluted and said with a smile: "What Marquis Wu said is right. Now that Wei Gong is inspecting in Shouchun, he wanted to visit Marquis Wu in person, but he has so many things to do and has no time to get away, so he entrusted me to greet Marquis Wu on his behalf."

"It's a pity that Wei Gong didn't come to Jianye!"

"Duke Wei really wants to come, but the battle in Hefei is imminent and involves a lot of things. Duke Wei really can't get away. Please forgive me, Marquis Wu."

Cheng Yu hinted to Sun Quan that the battle in Hefei was coming soon, and Sun Quan immediately realized that Cheng Yu was coming with a major mission. He didn't exchange too many greetings, and invited Cheng Yu to get on the carriage. Hundreds of guards rode on both sides to guard the carriage and headed towards Jianye City. drive away.

Cheng Yu entered the Wu Palace, sat for a while, and was invited into the meeting hall. At this time, several high-ranking military officials were already seated in the hall, including Zhang Zhao, Zhuge Jin, Yu Fan, Bu Zhi, Cheng Bing, Lu Meng, Huang Gai, etc. ,

Cheng Yu walked into the hall, and everyone got up to greet each other. Cheng Yu and everyone saluted one by one, and then sat down in the east. I want to marry the King of Han, but the swords are on the verge of breaking out in Hefei, is it possible that the alliance between Cao and Liu will be broken again?"

Cheng Yu smiled, "Everything in the world is nothing more than fighting and making peace. Don't you have a deep understanding between Jiangdong and Jingzhou?"

Zhugejin next to him said again: "I heard that Liu Jing has appointed Li Yan as Jingxiang's food supervisor to supervise the delivery of food and grass in Jingzhou to Chaisang, and dispatched troops to Chaisang. It is clear that Liu Jing is about to use troops in the south. I don't know Wei Gong can What do you plan to do?"

Everyone wanted to know this sentence, and all eyes turned to Cheng Yu. At this time, Sun Quan walked in, and everyone stood up to salute. Sun Quan waved his hand and smiled: "Everyone, please sit down. There are distinguished guests here. There is no need to be polite."

Everyone sat down, Zhang Zhao smiled and said, "Just now Zhuge Changshi mentioned that the Han army is actively preparing for war, and asked Cao army what plans they have."

Sun Quan nodded, "This is exactly what I want to know, can Master Cheng enlighten me?"

Cheng Yu said unhurriedly: "The Han army is preparing to launch the Battle of Hefei. Both sides have known this for a long time. The Han army is preparing for the battle, and the Cao army is also preparing for the battle. But what is the purpose of the Han army launching the Hefei Battle? I am afraid that is the key point. It is also my mission to Jiangdong this time."

There was something in Cheng Yu's words, everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, Lu Meng couldn't help asking: "What does Junshi Cheng mean, the purpose of the Han army launching the Battle of Hefei is Jiangdong?"

Cheng Yu nodded affirmatively, "Yes!"

There was an uproar in the lobby, and Cheng Yu's affirmative tone made it hard for everyone to accept. It was clear that the Han army and Cao army were fighting for Hefei, but Jiang Dong had to bear the consequences of the war. , the status is unusual, generally do not talk nonsense, there must be some basis, so that everyone's heart is full of surprise.

Even Sun Quan couldn't sit still anymore, and asked quickly: "I don't quite understand what Cheng Junshi means, can you understand a little more?"

Cheng Yu leaned slightly and said, "Hefei is not only the gateway to the Central Plains, but also a knife hanging over Jiangdong's head. Once the Han army occupies Hefei, the greatest threat is not the Central Plains, but Jiangdong. I think Marquis Wu should be very clear about this."

Of course Sun Quan knew that Hefei has always been an unavoidable heart disease in the east of the Yangtze River. In order to capture Hefei, they used large-scale troops twice. The losses and casualties hit Jiangdong hard and became the root of Jiangdong's division.

Ever since Liu Jing exchanged Yuzhang and Poyang counties for Lujiang County, which has a relatively small population and area, Sun Quan once suspected that Liu Jing's real purpose was to capture Hefei. It was later confirmed that his suspicion was not wrong, and that the Han army had indeed Just for Hefei.

This made Sun Quan feel frightened. Once the Han army captures Hefei, relying on Hefei for logistics and stationing troops at Ruxukou, it will directly threaten Wuhu and Jianye. It is not a worry that Cao Cao's navy is extremely weak, but the Han army's navy is strong, with thousands of ships If warships blockade the Yangtze River, it would be a catastrophe for Jiangdong.

Sun Quan was very aware of Hefei's threat to Jiangdong, his face changed slightly, he restrained the fear in his heart and asked: "What is the basis for Cheng Junshi to do this?"