Chapter 433 The War of the Central Plains
Sun Ce's words were well founded. Although Zhang Xian, Huan Jie and others were very disappointed, they had nothing to say.
Next, Zhang Xian, Huan Jie and others began to discuss. Sun Ce stopped speaking and just listened to their discussion.
After a long discussion, Zhang Xian still could not give up Baqiu City. In addition, among the officials, except for a few who supported Sun Ce, most of the important officials believed that Baqiu could not be given up.
After some discussion, Zhang Xian finally made a decision.
With Zhang Cheng as the commander-in-chief, District Xiong as the deputy commander-in-chief, and Wen Chun as the army commander, the three of them led 4,000 county soldiers to reinforce Baqiu, and combined with the Baqiu garrison, a total of 6,000 people, including 2,000 young men, stood firm and waited for reinforcements.
At the same time, the Changsha Army formed with Sun Jian's remaining troops as the core was divided into two thousand troops, equipped with one thousand naval troops, and stationed in Yiyang County by Colonel Chu Fang.
Another thousand county soldiers were sent to garrison Wangcheng.
In this way, Changsha can still retain 20,000 elites, plus more than 10,000 young men, who can barely exert Changsha's city defense.
At the same time, all these troops are gathered in Changsha, and they can also follow the Xiang River to reinforce Baqiu, Wangcheng, and Yiyang at any time, and can serve as strategic reserves.
Zhang Xian, Huan Jie and others were quite satisfied with this plan and thought it gave Sun Ce face, so they followed Sun Ce's suggestions and made changes.
But Sun Ce was very angry and felt that Zhang Xian and his gang had no military knowledge at all.
What I and the other party emphasized was to gather forces and not defend non-key areas, but the other party seemed to be taking care of their own face, but in fact they dispersed their forces even more.
In Sun Ce's view, it would be better if the opponent directly refused to divide the troops in Yiyang and stationed heavy troops in Baqiu instead of dividing the troops in Baqiu and Yiyang now.
With the current layout, Baqiu only has 8,000 people, including 2,000 young men. Not only cannot Baqiu's city defenses be maximized, but 6,000 troops have been invested, which almost accounts for the total area of Jingnan. One-fifth of the force.
In addition, the troops were divided into Yiyang, but there were only 3,000 land and water troops. At most, they could only harass the opponent's logistics, and had no effect on threatening the opponent's retreat.
In this way, it would be better to put these three thousand people in Luo County.
After holding a combat meeting, Sun Ce felt very angry. After leaving the state capital, he immediately went back to record all the situations, and then ordered his cronies to hurry up and send them to Yangzhou.
Zhang Xian responded quickly, and the princes in other directions also responded in their own way.
After Liu Zhang received the news, he did not divert his attention.
This is not because Liu Zhang is stupid, on the contrary, Liu Zhang has a very strategic vision. He knows very well that there is no Yizhou without Hanzhong. Hanzhong is the gateway to Yizhou, and it is also a place that is easy to defend but difficult to attack.
The most important thing is that the land in Hanzhong is enough to support the army of Hanzhong.
If Hanzhong can be captured, the population, land and output of Hanzhong alone will be enough to support an army of 50,000 to 80,000 people. And with such an army stationed in Guanzhong, as long as there are no internal problems, even if there are millions of people in the direction of Guanzhong, They went south to attack Hanzhong, but in the end they would be trapped and die in the Qinling Mountains.
And what's to the east?
Even if he captured Yiling and Yidao and rushed out of the Three Gorges, he would still face Liu Biao's main force on a large plain. The outcome was still unknown, and even if Liu Biao was defeated, he could still rely on the defense of the fort to mobilize. Back strength delays time.
Therefore, Liu Zhang only sent an army of 3,000 men to garrison Baidi, to prevent Liu Biao from going south to quell the rebellion, but to attack Xichuan for real.
This probability is actually almost zero, so Liu Zhang just responded normally and only sent 3,000 people.
As for taking the opportunity to gather heavy troops out of the Three Gorges and attack Jingzhou, Liu Zhang refused without even thinking.
He didn't want to take advantage of Zhang Xian's fire.
In Jiaozhou in the south, at this time, Shi Xie was temporarily in charge of the government affairs of Jiaozhou as the governor of Jiaozhi, waiting for the appointment of the governor of Jiaozhou or the pastor of Jiaozhou. The people of Jiaozhou have almost no ambitions. As long as you don't raise troops, impose excessive taxes, or seize local authority, the powerful nobles in Jiaozhou are actually quite cooperative and willing to share a piece of your pie. I just ask you not to bother, and everyone will get rich together.
They had an extremely detached attitude towards the war in the north. They were not worried that after Zhang Xian's defeat, Liu Biao would continue to go south and seize Jiaozhou, nor were they worried that after Zhang Xian's victory, he would expand towards Jiaozhou.
The four parties who are most concerned about the battle between Liu Biao and Zhang Xian are undoubtedly the generals in Guanzhong, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and Liu Feng.
Among them, the generals in Guanzhong are too weak and divided.
The people who pay the most attention to Jingzhou are undoubtedly Zhang Ji and Zhang Xiu's uncle and nephew, but they only have 10,000 people in total, and they are really unable to shake the foundation of Liu Biao's rule.
Zhang Ji had hesitated to send troops, but sending troops now would affect Jingzhou's spring plowing, and Zhang Ji's biggest source of financial food was the grain grabbing activities that went out of Wuguan and into Nanyang during the autumn harvest every year.
If it affects the spring plowing in Nanyang, wouldn't it mean destroying one's own job?
Therefore, after much hesitation, Zhang Ji decided to give up. Even if he wanted to go south, he would have to wait until the autumn harvest in September or October.
Cao Cao was sending troops to Guanzhong at this time, with Li Jue and Guo Si as the main attack directions.
These two guys now still have more than 30,000 troops, but they fell out again and were still attacking each other before Cao Cao sent troops.
When they saw Cao Cao leaving Tongguan, Li Jue and Guo Si were so frightened that they hurriedly negotiated peace and wanted to join forces to fight against Cao Cao. They also sent a letter to recruit Zhang Ji to join forces north.
Zhang Ji is also hesitating now, not to mention the affairs of Jingzhou.
After receiving the news, Cao Cao was also in a dilemma.
This time Huan Jie was causing trouble in Jingnan and persuaded Zhang Xian to raise troops. Cao Cao not only knew about it, but also gave Huan Jie official assistance.
The reason is very simple. Naturally, Cao Cao wanted to attack Liu Biao.
Liu Biao and Yuan Shao were old acquaintances and old allies.
Liu Biao's ability to gain a foothold in Jingzhou back then had a lot to do with Yuan Shao's support. Later, the relationship between Liu Biao and Yuan Shu was bad, so naturally his relationship with Yuan Shao became better and better.
In Cao Cao's eyes, it was okay for him and Yuan Shao to remain allies. Once they broke up, Liu Biao would 99% choose to side with Yuan Shao.
In this case, he might as well strike first and seize Nanyang County, and also cover Luozhong and Yingchuan.
However, Cao Cao originally estimated that with Liu Biao's character, he might not be able to raise troops so quickly.
Cao Cao simply rushed early and dealt with Li Jue and Guo Si in Guanzhong first. When Guanzhong was pacified, he happened to take the Wuguan Road and descend to Nanyang, catching Liu Biao off guard.
If we can take the whole north of Xiangyang, that would be great. At the worst, we have to take the part north of Nanyang.
If Cao Cao was smiling and ready to act, then Yuan Shao was extremely angry and yelled at Zhang Xian, accusing him of being disloyal and unjust.
He sent people to Jingzhou before, and the news they brought back made him very satisfied.
Liu Biao was not only willing to deepen the alliance with him, but also stated that as long as he raised troops to go south, the Jingzhou army would move from south to north, copying Cao's army's retreat.
If Liu Bei dares to join the war, Liu Biao will attack Yangzhou along the Yangtze River, contain the main force of Liu Bei's army, and buy time for Yuan Shao to defeat Cao Cao. With Liu Biao being so righteous, how could Yuan Shao still be a little bit dissatisfied?
At this time, Zhang Xian suddenly jumped out and raised troops to resist Liu Biao in Jingnan. Yuan Shao wished he could crush Zhang Xian to pieces on the spot.
Bad news came one after another. At the beginning of the year, Yuan Shao sent envoys to Yixian again, hoping to persuade Gongsun Zan to make peace with him, so that both sides would stop fighting.
The price offered by Yuan Shao was to recognize Gongsun Zan's power in Yi County. As long as Gongsun Zan did not leave Yi County, Yuan Shao would never use troops against him. At the same time, all taxes and land in Yi County belong to Gongsun Zan, and there is no need to hand over any of it to Yuan Shao and the court.
Yuan Shao thought he was sincere, and he was determined to fulfill the contract sincerely as long as Gongsun Zan was willing to negotiate a peace and did not collapse because of the peace negotiation.
After all, wouldn't it be better to take out your hand and go south first, and deal with Cao Cao first?
Compared with Cao Cao, Gongsun Zan can only be regarded as suffering from scabies, but Cao Cao is a serious problem.
After discussing with the ministers, they decided to follow the original plan and launch troops against Gongsun Zan.
Liu Biao's place was really far away, and it was separated from the territories of Cao Cao and Liu Bei. No matter how powerful Yuan Shao's troops are, they are still beyond his reach. He could only hope that Liu Biao would win as soon as possible when he went south to suppress the rebellion, and then return to the north.
When Liu Bei learned that Zhang Xian had raised his troops and Liu Biao went south to put down the rebellion, he was also greatly amazed.
Unexpectedly, my grown-up boy guessed it right again.
Speaking of which, the outcome of this war is likely to be what my dear brother said.
Therefore, Liu Bei compiled a letter and sent it to Yangzhou to inquire about the progress of Liu Feng's plan. At the same time, he said that if he needed anything, he could send a message to him directly.
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Liu Feng was very happy after receiving the letter.
It would be great if Liu Bei would make such a change, and Liu Feng really wanted to allocate another batch of grain from the north.
There are still more than 2.6 million grains in the treasury. Calculated at 300,000 shi of grain per month, it is enough to last for eight months. By then, it will be this year's autumn harvest, so new grains will naturally be put into the treasury.
However, food is the lifeblood of an army, so the more sufficient preparations are made, the better, and additional expenses must also be taken into account.
Our goal is to completely annihilate Liu Biao's southward army. In this case, we must be prepared to feed tens of thousands of prisoners. Moreover, solving the Kuai-Vietnam Army is not the ultimate goal, it is just the goal of the campaign.
The real ultimate goal is to swallow up Jingzhou. After destroying the Kuaiyue Army, the army will continue to move north to attack Xiangyang, Jiangling, and Xiling, and the south will also cooperate to suppress Jingnan.
Therefore, the more reinforcements and food, the better. Liu Feng was not as polite as Liu Bei.
After exchanging letters, Liu Feng and Liu Bei finally reached an agreement.
First, Liu Bei allocated 500,000 shi of grain from Xuzhou to Liu Feng and temporarily stored it in Liyang City in the north of the Yangtze River.
This is the port in the north of the Yangtze River, and it is also an important place where the Sun Army has been stationed for many years. There are many grain depots in the city, complete facilities, and a port that can accommodate a large number of ships. It can be regarded as one of the best advance bases.
Secondly, Chen Deng's 20,000 men were at Liu Feng's command and could join the Jingzhou battlefield at any time according to Liu Feng's orders.
In the end, Liu Feng poured cold water on Liu Bei.
In Liu Feng's view, the war has just begun, and the Liu Jiajun is far from ready to intervene at this time.
The right time to send troops will not be until at least three or four months later.
Although Kuai Yue's army marched south along the Han River in a mighty manner, the actual march was not very fast. Let alone reaching Linxiang, it would take at least another month to reach the north bank of the Yangtze River.
Liu Feng was only doing a few idle things at this time.
The first step was to send an order to Zhou Yu, asking him to suspend the sweep of Shanyue and concentrate his troops to start training. In addition, Zhou Yu was allocated three thousand Shanyue soldiers to recruit Shanyue elites for training.
The second step is to ask Pang Tong to return to Jiangling, persuade the Pang family to rebel, and wait for opportunities to win over the Feng, Xi, Ma, Huo and other families.
The third step was to send people to Jingnan to contact the powerful nobles in Lingling, Wuling and Guiyang counties, to test their attitudes towards Liu Bei and Liu Feng and his son, and to find potential partners with whom they could cooperate.
After a year of calm, the land of the Central Plains was once again raging with more intense war.
Yuan Shao sent 300,000 troops to Hebei to attack Gongsun Zan, but Gongsun Zan sent his son Gongsun Xu out of the city overnight to ask for help from Zhang Yan in Black Mountain.
After Zhang Yan received Gongsun Zan's letter, he immediately raised troops and raised a hundred thousand troops from Montenegro to support him.
Suddenly, the war in Hebei was raging. Both sides were fighting to the death, and no one would take a step back.
Cao Cao then mobilized troops from the Central Plains to clear the pass and threaten Chang'an.
Li Jue and Guo Si combined 30,000 troops to defend Chang'an without fighting.
Liu Biao mobilized Jingbei's army to move south, and Liu Zhang sent Pang Xi, Li Si and others for the fourth time to attack Zhang Lu with 20,000 troops.
For a while, only Liu Bei and his son, who had been in constant war in recent years, calmed down, while the war continued everywhere else.
But without anyone knowing, Liu Feng had begun to quietly mobilize his troops. The navy was dispersed and stationed in Liyang, Wuhu, Pengze, Chaisang and other places, waiting for opportunities.
After receiving Sun Ce's letter, Liu Feng also frowned.
Zhang Xian, Huan Jie and their ilk have such poor military capabilities?
And he couldn't listen to Sun Ce's correct opinions. He was really hopelessly stupid. It's no wonder that Jingnan had a good hand, but he only lasted for a year. After Zhang Xian died of illness, Linxiang quickly broke through the city.
In Liu Feng's opinion, since Linxiang City is already in hand, what else can be defended in Baqiu City?
What Jingnan lacks now is troops, not strong cities.
The threat of those eight thousand soldiers and horses placed in Yiyang is far greater than those placed in Baqiu.
Liu Feng thought for a moment, then immediately wrote a letter and sent it to Sun Ce in Linxiang.
As soon as he came, he reminded Sun Ce to take care of himself and leave as soon as possible. He didn't have to stay in Linxiang City. The purpose of letting Sun Ce stay was to use Sun Ce's ability to help Zhang Xian and the others, preferably to consume more of the Jingbei Army.
But now that the military capabilities of Zhang Xian, Huan Jie and others have been exposed, Sun Ce's continued stay in Linxiang has lost its greatest significance.
In this case, it is better to let Sun Ce leave and preserve himself.
Secondly, it reminded Sun Ce that although Kuai Yue took the high road, he was very resourceful and well versed in the art of war. He should be careful that he used himself as bait to secretly launch a surprise attack on Baqiu and Linxiang.
(End of chapter)