Chapter 435 Bo Fu offers advice
As a result, the Suizhou Passage was completely inferior to the Xiangyang Passage in terms of military status.
But this does not mean that the Suizhou Passage is worthless.
There is river irrigation here, and there are many counties and cities such as Suixian, Tangxiang, Pinglin, Nanxin, Yundu, etc., all the way connecting the Dongjiang-Han Plain, it is a famous granary.
Once Yangzhou occupies Xiakou, it can unscrupulously annex the entire eastern Jianghan Plain, while Xiangyang can only sit back and watch Yangzhou expand to the east without any ability to counterattack.
Unless they retake Xiakou or attack with heavy troops, bypass Nanyang County by land, travel hundreds of miles more, and rescue Suixian County from the north, they can only watch themselves slowly lose blood.
But this is only treating the symptoms rather than the root cause. Yangzhou has waterways, so it is entirely possible to avoid fighting by virtue of its logistical advantages, thereby consuming Xiangyang's reinforcements.
To make matters worse, the waterway connection between Xiangyang and Jiangling will also be cut off. The Yangzhou army can first annex the entire Dongjiang-Han Plain, then go upstream along the Yangtze River, attack Jiangling City in Nanjun first, and cut off Xiangyang's wings.
In the end, Xiangyang was left with only a narrow strip of the Han River system, waiting for the opponent to advance north along the Han River.
This is why the governor of Jiangxia County is obviously in Xiling City, but Huang Zu did not stay in Xiling, but built a new city in Xiakou and defended it.
For this reason, Huang Zu was definitely not an incompetent person, at least he still had some strength in terms of strategic vision.
Liu Biao regarded Xiakou as the bottom line, but in fact it was more of a reminder than a punishment.
Because once Xiakou is lost, Huang Zu will most likely not survive.
In the original time and space, Huang Zu defeated Sun Ce and Sun Quan so many times, but he always managed to escape. Only during the final decisive battle of Mianshui, when Xiakou City fell, Huang Zu was killed by Sun Quan.
This shows the importance of Xiakou.
As long as Xiakou can be defended, Huang Zu will be fine.
Naturally, Kuai Yue could see the fishiness in it, but he was actually satisfied that Liu Biao could make such a statement.
As long as Xiakou is still in Huang Zu's hands, Kuai Yue's retreat will be very safe, and logistical supplies can also be supplemented from Nanjun Jiangling. Even if it doesn't work, you can safely retreat across the Yangtze River.
At that time, whether it is to take some risks and retreat to Xiangyang along the Han River, or to retreat to Jiangling for safety reasons, both options are available.
"I am sending an order to Xiakou, asking Governor Huang not to move lightly. He only needs to guard the gate and block the river defense. Governor Huang will have a great contribution in this battle."
Kuai Yue thought about it again and again and felt that Liu Feng could only newly occupy the land of Yangzhou, and his navy could not compare with Jiangxia's navy.
The only flaw was that Huang Zu couldn't bear it anymore and took the initiative to fight and was ambushed. Therefore, in order to prevent Huang Zu from going to war, Kuai Yue did not hesitate to lure him with meritorious deeds, which shows that he was still a little worried about Huang Zu.
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But in Linxiang City, after Zhang Xian woke up, Huan Jie immediately repaid him for what he had done.
Zhang Xian lost his temper at this time. Zhang Cheng, the general of his clan, was defeated and died in a battle. His confidant Xiong Shang was captured. Only Ou Xiong escaped.
Thinking of Sun Ce's original advice, Zhang Xian felt regretful and bitter.
"What Bo Xu did was very good."
Zhang Xian tried to get up with difficulty, but Zhang Yi on the side quickly stepped forward to help him.
"Sun Jian's son is indeed worthy of his reputation. I only regret that I didn't listen to his good advice before."
Zhang Xian immediately expressed his stance: "Since Bo Fu is still willing to stay and help me, Bo Xu can rely on his talents to protect the situation."
"I sincerely obey the wishes of Duke Ming."
Before Huan Jie retreated, he persuaded Zhang Xian to get more rest.
As soon as he left the mansion, Sun Ce came up to him: "Brother, how is your health in Mingfu?"
Huan Jie smiled and replied: "After taking the decoction, I can now stand up."
Zhang Xian's illness this time was considered Xiaofengxie, which was almost a prologue for later generations. It was a prelude to a stroke, and he had to stay in bed to recuperate, so he temporarily entrusted the military power of the county to Huan Jie.
After returning to Huanjie's mansion, he smiled and thanked Sun Ce sincerely: "Ming Gong is very happy to hear your suggestions. I hope Bo Fu can make more suggestions."
As early as ten days ago, Sun Ce had already concluded that Baqiu's enemies would definitely capture Yiyang and Luo County.
Huan Jie had also followed his advice, abandoned these two places, and withdrew his troops to Wangcheng, preparing to rendezvous and finally withdraw to Linxiang City.
Things developed as Sun Ce had inferred. Baqiu's Jingbei army rested for eight days after breaking the city, and then sent two groups of troops, each with 2,000 men, to capture Luoxian and Yiyang respectively.
Seeing the Jingbei Army approaching step by step, Huan Jie couldn't help but ask Sun Ce: "Bo Fu, is it time to withdraw the Wangcheng army to Linxiang?"
Now there are 4,000 soldiers and horses in Wangcheng, 3,000 of which were withdrawn from Yiyang. These soldiers and horses are all county soldiers. They have been trained for a long time and have good combat power. Naturally, they cannot be wasted in vain.
Unexpectedly, Sun Ce, who had previously tried his best to persuade Huan Jie to withdraw his troops, would change his attitude.
"Brother, I think there is no need to withdraw our troops for the time being."
Huan Jie was greatly surprised and asked puzzledly: "Didn't Bo Fu advocate the withdrawal of troops before? Why did he change his mind now?"
Sun Ce said proudly: "We withdrew our troops earlier because Yiyang and Luo County could no longer be defended. If we did not withdraw our troops, our troops would be wasted and taken advantage of by the enemy."
"I changed my mind now because Baqiu's enemies moved."
Sun Ce invited Huan Jie to the map: "Brother, please look at the map. I had previously advocated the withdrawal of troops. In fact, I was worried that the enemies of Baqiu would drive directly to Wangcheng and cut off the connection between Linxiang and Yiyang. But now the enemies of Baqiu actually took Luo County first. He Yiyang did not dare to move to Wangcheng, which shows that he is guilty."
Huan Jie nodded slowly, agreeing with Sun Ce's judgment, but he was confused and asked: "Bo Fu, what do you mean by this?"
Sun Ce laughed, as if his sharp edge was revealed: "Baqiu's enemy general is both greedy and cowardly. If he dares to drive to Wangcheng ten days ago, he is brave and courageous. If the enemy is immobile, he is cautious and steady. But he just chose to do it. He didn't dare to go directly to Wangcheng, but he couldn't help but divide his troops into Yiyang and Luoxian at the moment, which shows his indecisiveness and greed for merit. "
At this point, Sun Ce paused and looked at Huan Jie. In the face of the other party's surprised eyes, Sun Cesen said coldly: "The thief can be defeated!"
Huan Jie was inexplicably shocked, his heart was beating fast, and he opened his mouth for a long time before uttering the same sentence.
"Bo Fu, what do you mean?"
"Brother Shi, please give me three thousand elites, and I will defeat the thieves in Wangcheng."
Sun Ce said confidently: "If you are lucky, you can win a big victory. Even if you are not lucky, you will definitely gain something."
Huan Jie was shocked and said: "Do you really mean what Bo Fu said?"
When Ba Qiu lost, he lost so miserably. He was caught off guard and didn't even have time to block the news.
Therefore, the morale in Linxiang City is quite low, and the people are also fearful. This has been one of Huanjie's worries during the past ten days. If Sun Ce can really win a battle in Wangcheng, no matter how big it is, if he can behead dozens of people and capture more than a dozen people alive, it will definitely improve his side's sluggish situation.
"Ce'an dares to talk nonsense in front of Brother Shi!?"
Sun Ce cupped his hands and said, "I just ask my brother to let me personally select the elites. Within three days, I will secretly go to Wangcheng. If the Jingbei army doesn't come, it will be fine. If you dare to come, there will be a message back!"
"Okay! Okay!"
Huan Jie was greatly inspired and stepped forward to hold Sun Ce's hand and said, "In that case, I'll ask Bo Fu."
Immediately, Huanjie appointed Sun Ce as the commander-in-chief, selected three thousand elite soldiers, and went out day and night to rush to Wangcheng and take over the military power of Wangcheng.
After receiving the authorization, Sun Ce immediately began to select elite people. The people he selected were all the tribe who followed his father northward.
At the same time, Sun Ce also sent people to Wangcheng, so that the Wangcheng defenders began to withdraw with great fanfare.
Three days later, most of Wangcheng's troops had withdrawn, and Sun Ce had selected 3,000 elite troops. With the help of Huan Jie, he opened up his arsenal and used more than 300 sets of armor alone, as well as 40 war horses. The rest of the horses lurked during the day and went out at night, rushing to Wangcheng.
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When Sun Ce was selecting the elite, a fierce quarrel broke out in Baqiu City.
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The two parties involved in the quarrel were Huang Zhong and Wenpin on the one hand, and Cai Zan, Cai Mao's two younger brothers on the other, named Maogui, Cai Yan, and Wengui.
The focus of the dispute between the two sides was Wangcheng.
After Cai Mao successfully attacked Baqiu before, he did not continue to attack Wangcheng as requested by Kuai Yue. Instead, he stood firm in Baqiu and observed the situation.
Later, it was discovered that Luoxian County was empty, and the defenders of Yiyang and Wangcheng were panicked. After the city gates were closed, Cai Mao believed Kuai Yue's words and felt regretful.
Therefore, Cai Mao convened the generals to discuss matters, hoping to capture Luoxian and Yiyang first to eliminate the threat on the flanks.
At this time, the city of Luoxian County was empty, almost fat on the chopping board, but Yiyang had thousands of soldiers and horses, and the city gates were tightly closed, which showed that it took a lot of effort.
Cai Zan and Cai Yan naturally wanted to get the fat piece of Luo County, and threw the bones to Huang Zhong and Wenpin.
Although Huang Zhong and Wenpin were also Liu Biao's confidants, they could only swallow their anger in front of Cai Mao and the Cai family. Moreover, the two of them were not afraid of the Yiyang defenders at all. What they were most worried about was that they would not get any credit.
Therefore, the two parties agreed that Luo County would be taken by Cai Zan and Cai Yan, while Yiyang would be taken by Wenpin and Huang Zhong.
As compensation, when the army attacks Wangcheng, Wenpin and Huang Zhong will be the vanguard.
Everyone had already discussed it, but the bad thing happened to Sun Ce.
Sun Ce first withdrew his troops from Yiyang, turning Yiyang into an empty city, which was easily recovered by Wenpin and Huang Zhong.
At this time, news came back from the front line that the defenders of Wangcheng had also begun to withdraw their troops. Now Wangcheng may have become an empty city.
Now Cai Zan and Cai Yan were not satisfied.
Originally Wangcheng was left to Wenpin and Huang Zhong as compensation for the bones, but now the defenders of Yiyang and Wangcheng have all fled, and these two bones have turned into big fat meat in the blink of an eye.
How could Cai Zan and Cai Yan endure this?
The two immediately went to find Cai Hao, trying to persuade Cai Hao to change the arrangement and leave Wangcheng to them.
"Brother, this is not fair!"
As soon as he entered the big tent, Cai Yan shouted loudly: "The thousands of Jingnan troops in Yiyang withdrew, and they gave those two ruffians a great service in vain."
Luo County is not defended at all. Although it is a credit, it is certainly not as good as Yiyang, which is defended by thousands of soldiers and horses.
Although the Jingnan Army in Yiyang has now retreated, Huang Zhong and Wenpin can be said to have been repelled by themselves. Cai Mao and the others really can't deny it.
In this way, the credit of Wenpin and Huang Zhong would be higher than that of the Cai brothers. No wonder Cai Yan was so angry.
"You chose Luoxian County, and now it's unfair."
Cai Mao looked at his two younger brothers coldly: "Do you think I, the governor, am talking nonsense?"
Cai Zan and Cai Yan were both shocked and hurriedly knelt down in the tunnel and said: "Brother, calm down, we don't dare."
Cai Hao is the elder brother, and since he was a child, he has been the most talented and the most popular among the elders. Therefore, Cai Zan, Cai Yan and their peers in the clan respect and fear Cai Hao.
Now seeing him getting angry, the two of them naturally fell to their knees immediately.
Seeing Cai Zan and Cai Yan honestly begging for mercy, Cai Hao's cold face turned warm: "The general's orders have already been issued, and now it's unfair, what can I do?"
In fact, Cai Mao was angry and regretful at this time. What he regretted was not listening to Kuai Yue's words. Otherwise, Wangcheng should have been captured by now, and he could also take advantage of the situation to hold back the thousands of elites in Yiyang, and his military exploits would surely reach a higher level.
When the Cai brothers came to complain at this time, they actually hit his gun.
Cai Zan was smarter than Cai Yan, and he heard some profound meaning in Cai Hao's words, so he ventured to test: "Brother, your previous general order was to completely annihilate the Yiyang defenders. Now that the Yiyang defenders have successfully evacuated, isn't this right? Does it also mean that Huang Zhong and Wenpin failed to do their best? You deprived them of the right to continue attacking Wangcheng, which is considered to be a reason."
Cai Hao raised his eyebrows and felt that what Cai Zan said made sense.
When Cai Yan saw it, he hurriedly said: "Brother, I think what the second brother said is reasonable. Huang Zhong and Wenpin were obviously negligent and allowed the Jingnan Army in Yiyang to escape. You didn't punish them, you just deprived them of it." The power of follow-up actions is already an act of mercy outside the law.”
Cai Maoxian glanced at Cai Yan, and after thinking for a moment: "Are you sure you can win Wangcheng?"
When Cai Zan and Cai Yan heard this, they immediately became excited: "Brother, don't worry, Wangcheng's soldiers and horses have been evacuated. Now it's just an empty city. Is it possible that the two of us can't take down an empty city?"
Cai Mao nodded. Even if he didn't trust his two younger brothers, he still trusted Kuai Yue's judgment. Since Kuai Yue has determined that Jingnan's army will not be able to counterattack, then he has nothing to worry about.
"Okay, in that case, I'll follow you."
Cai Mao immediately ordered Cai Zan and Cai Yan to lead a total of 4,000 troops to attack Wangcheng.
Originally, Cai Zan and Cai Yan thought it would be enough to bring 2,000 people from Luo County, but Cai Mao was worried about Linxiang's reaction and asked them to bring all the troops.
In this way, there are 4,000 people defending Wangcheng. Even if Linxiang counterattacks with the main force, it may not be able to break the city in a short time. Cai Mao, Huang Zhong and Wenpin can go to Wangcheng along the Xiang River to rescue them at any time.
Cai Zan and Cai Yan naturally obeyed the order and immediately organized their troops and prepared to go to Luo County.
(End of chapter)