Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 285
Five days later, Chu's war machine was fully activated. Grain ships crossed the Wujiang River, transporting a steady stream of rice to Jiangbei. Teams of government soldiers put on armor and weapons, and bid farewell to their parents. Wife and children, then gathered together and drove to Shouhu and Quyang in the north of Jiujiang County.

Among the three major camps of the Forbidden Army, the Huben Camp and the Sirius Camp were also mobilized.

However, the Huben Camp and the Tianlang Camp did not follow the government soldiers to gather around Shouhu and Quyang. Instead, with the assistance of the navy, they went up the Wujiang River and headed straight for Jiangling.

At this time, Wu She had already rushed to Jiangling one step ahead.

##########
Today's Linjiang Kingdom governs the four counties of Central Guizhou, Nanjun, Changsha, and Hengshan, with a land area of ​​over a thousand miles and a population of over one million.

However, Wu She did not ask to see Linjiang Wang Gongwei immediately, but brought two carts full of papers, books and liquor to the mansion of General Gongsun Wu of Linjiang Kingdom at night. At the time of the siege, Wu She had been to Linjiang as an envoy, and had a lot of contacts with the ministers of Linjiang, so he knew that Gongsun Wu was a corrupt man.

The land area of ​​Linjiang State is far larger than that of Chu State, but its national strength is much weaker than that of Chu State. Therefore, it is very difficult to directly persuade Linjiang Wang Gongwei to use troops against Liang State, but Wu She knows that Gongwei has a fatal His weakness is the general Gongsun Wu, the rumors in the market are not false, there is indeed a habit of breaking sleeves between Gongwei and Gongsun Wu.

Therefore, if you want to persuade Linjiang Wang Gongwei, you must first buy Gongsun Wu.

I heard that Wu She, a senior official from the state of Chu, was visiting, and Gongsun Wu went to meet him outside the gate. After the ceremony, Gongsun Wu invited Wu She into the living room. Wu She didn't speak, but took out the gift slip from his sleeve and handed it past.

Gongsun Wu took the gift list with a smile, only glanced at it before his eyelids twitched suddenly, and said: "Master, you are, this is too polite, come as you say, why do you still bring such a heavy gift? !” Now that the state of Chu monopolizes the technology of papermaking and brewing high-level liquor, a thousand dollars for transporting paper, a large cart of books, and fifty altars of liquor are really heavy gifts!

Wu Shedao: "The general is a famous general in the world, especially in the battle of Zhuyi more than ten years ago, he fought very beautifully, and he is not inferior to Qi Wang Han Xin. Every time my king talks about it, it is the same for the general. I am very impressed, this time, my king specially asked my subordinates to greet you, General Shang." After finishing speaking, Wu She bowed to Dongfang Yuanyuan again.

When Wu She said this, he felt sick in his heart, comparing Gongsun Wu with Han Xin?I bother!
But there is no way, Wu She is now an envoy, also known as a political strategist, the greatest skill of a political strategist is to talk nonsense, sometimes even if there is a piece of shit in front of you, you have to pinch your nose in order to achieve your goal Said, um, this soot smells so good, it's so fragrant, so fragrant.

Of course Gongsun Wu knew that Wu She was flattering him, but after hearing this, he still felt that it was very useful. He narrowed his eyes when he smiled, and waved his hands again and again: "The doctor can really talk, although this general is a little brave After all these years, I have finally lived up to my king's favor and expanded the territory of Linjiang Kingdom thousands of miles, but compared with King Qi, it is far behind, heh."

Wu She smiled, and immediately followed Gongsun Wu's words and asked: "General, I have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity right now. I wonder if you are interested in expanding the land for King Linjiang again?"

"Oh?" Gongsun Wu said suddenly, "I would like to hear more about it."

Wu She said: "Last year the King of Liang insulted my king, the general should know about it?"

Gongsun Wu repeatedly nodded and said: "I know, Liang Wang Peng Yue is insatiable. He once asked the Chu King for the technology of papermaking, printing and liquor brewing, right?"

"Yes." Wu She nodded, and said again, "Since my king took the throne, why has he ever been insulted like this? Therefore, my king is determined to use troops against Liang Guo to seek justice by force. Before coming to Jiangling, my lord once Went to Pengcheng, Huainan Wang Yingbu has decided to send [-] troops to help us attack Liang Guo."

After this pause, Wu She said again: "General, your country and our Great Chu have always been on good terms. It is not too much to say that we are close to each other. Now that our Great Chu and Liang are about to fight, can your country also send troops from the flanks? What about attacking Liang? If your country is willing to send troops, after defeating Liang, my king would like to reward the Linjiang army with Nanyang County."

Nanyang County was originally under the rule of the Han Dynasty. Ten years ago, the Jiujiang Mutiny rebelled and Zhou Yin returned to the Great Chu. Jin She, Li Zuoche and more than 2 Guanzhong veterans under his command were suppressed by Peng Yue. After Chen Ping intervened, Liu Bangcai was able to Most of Nanyang County was exchanged for Generals Jin and Li and more than 2 Guanzhong veterans. Only a few counties in the north of Nanyang were retained and merged into Sanchuan County.

"Nanyang County?!" Gongsun Wu was greatly moved when he heard the words, but he also hesitated at the same time.

Of course, Gongsun Wu is very happy to seek Nanyang County for Linjiang Kingdom, but he is not a fool. He knows that the risk of this matter is extremely high. The current Liang Kingdom is not the Hengshan Kingdom ten years ago, nor is Liang Wang Pengyue. Hengshan King Wu Rui is comparable, the 20 Liang army is an army of tigers and wolves, and if they start a war with Liang Guo, if they do anything wrong, they will be smashed to pieces!
Gongsun Wu's hesitation was already expected by Wu She, and he threw out another bait immediately, and then said: "Is the general worried about the lack of troops? Before leaving, my king specifically told me that if the general has If necessary, my king can send a general to lead a partial division, pretending to go to Jiangling, and cooperate with the Linjiang army to attack Nanyang."

"Oh?" Gongsun Wu said suddenly, "Master, did the king of Chu really say that?"

There are more than 20 strong men in Linjiang Kingdom, but there are only 5 to [-] soldiers who are trained regularly, and less than [-] people can be summoned in a short period of time. This force is enough to attack Hengshan Kingdom , but if it is used to attack Liang, it will not be enough, but if another [-] Chu troops are added, it will be quite different.

"Of course." Wu She nodded and said, "The strength of this partial division is determined by the general. As long as it does not exceed [-], everything is easy to talk about. As for the supply of food and grass for this partial division..."

Fifty thousand is also the actual number of troops Xiang Zhuang used to expedition to Bashu.

The reason why Xiang Zhuang decided to take [-] elite troops to expedition to Bashu was also after careful consideration.

There are two reasons: First, the Bashu Plain has now surpassed the Guanzhong Plain to become the largest granary of the Han Dynasty. For such an important strategic base, Liu Bang will definitely leave heavy troops to garrison it. If the Chu army has fewer troops, it will be difficult to succeed; second, Jiangdong does not border Bashu, and there is Linjiang Kingdom in the middle. If the Chu army has too many troops, it will inevitably arouse the fear of Linjiang Kingdom, and the King of Linjiang may refuse the Chu army to cross the border.

After weighing again and again, Xiang Zhuang decided to take [-] elite soldiers to expedition to Bashu.

As for why he violated the iron rule of long-distance and close-attack, let Liang Guo not fight but go far away to conquer Bashu, this is also the conclusion of Xiang Zhuang after repeated discussions and comparisons with Xiang Ta, Bi Shu, Bai Lixian and other ministers. conclusion.

First of all, Bashu is the largest granary in the Han Kingdom, while the Chu Kingdom is facing a shortage of food. Before the number of adults in the Chu Kingdom increases significantly, no matter how much wasteland is reclaimed, it will not be able to change the predicament of food shortage. Taking the Bashu Plain in one fell swoop will solve the problem of food shortage.

Because the Bashu Plain not only has thousands of miles of fertile land, but also has enough strong men and women.

Secondly, Bashu is difficult to attack but easy to defend. If the Chu army succeeds in their expedition to Bashu, they only need a small amount of troops to defend Jiameng Pass to block the counterattack of the Han army. If the Chu army can take Hanzhong after capturing Bashu, Bashu will be as stable as a rock, but the Han army in Guanzhong needs to be on guard against surprise attacks by the Chu army.

In this way, the strategic situation between Chu and Han will be completely reversed!

Again, Liang Guo is a tough bone, and it is sandwiched between the two great powers of Han and Qi!

Let’s not talk about whether the current national strength of Chu State can destroy Liang State. Even if Chu State gathers Huainan Army and Linjiang Army and finally destroys Liang State, I am afraid that it will not be able to defend it in the end, because the attack on Liang State from Sanchuan County The land is unobstructed, and the attack on Sanchuan County from the Liang land is separated by the natural danger of the tiger prison, and the strategic situation is seriously unequal.

Back then, when Xiang Yu and Liu Bang fought, Xiang Yu was still unable to enter Sanchuan County even though his military strength, national strength, manpower, material resources, and financial resources were far superior to Liu Bang's, it was for this reason!
What's more, there is still a state of Qi squatting to the east of Liangdi!
Although Han Xin has the ambition to become emperor, Qi State has not canceled the covenant with Han State so far, and Han Xin's respect for Liu Bang has not deteriorated in the slightest. Once Liu Bang invites an invitation, Han Xin is very likely to attack Liang from the east. In this way, even if Xiang Zhuang has the ability to penetrate the heavens and the earth, the Chu army will never be able to resist no matter how brave and skilled they are.

Therefore, attacking Liang Guo seems to be in line with the iron rule of long-distance and short-term attack, but it is actually a bad idea.

Finally, and most importantly, the reason why Xiang Zhuang decided to take the false route to Linjiang and make an expedition to Bashu actually has an ulterior and sinister goal!

"Fifty thousand, then fifty thousand!" As soon as Wu She finished speaking, Gongsun Wu hurriedly said, "As for the food and grass needed by the fifty thousand Chu troops, we will supply them all!" Gongsun Wu's wishful thinking was tinkling. It sounds like, under the premise that the main force of the Liang army is pinned down near Jiujiang, the Linjiang army plus [-] Chu troops is more than enough to take down Nanyang County.

"Okay." Wu She said happily, "General, then it's settled."

##########
In the early morning of the next day, Wu She formally presented the letter of credence to the king of Linjiang in the court hall, and explained his purpose of coming.

Hearing that Chu State and Huainan State were going to start a war with Liang State and invited Linjiang State to help in the war, the civil servants and generals in the court immediately exploded. It is inappropriate to intervene in this battle."

Gongsun Wu frowned and retorted: "Minister of the country, it is a fact that our country has few soldiers, but hasn't the King of Chu already agreed to send [-] troops to help? With [-] Chu troops as a help, plus the main force of the Liang army, it is bound to be defeated by Chu." Army and Huainan Army are pinned down in Jiujiang and Surabaya, and my Linjiang army took advantage of the gap to enter, so why can’t we take down a mere Nanyang County?”

Du Hong sneered coldly, and said, "General, haven't you heard the allusion of 'false way of attacking Guo'?"

(End of this chapter)