Chapter 443: Choice in Jingbei
But before he could reach a conclusion after discussing with Xiangyang's ministers, Huang Zu's documents asking for help were sent to Xiangyang City one after another and placed on his desk.
After Liu Biao read the document, his hands were trembling.
The Yangzhou army actually broke through two cities in one day and marched to Xisai in half a day. The frontline of the army was already pointing at Xiakou.
At this time, Liu Biao did not know that Xiakou City had been surrounded by Zhou Yu, and Huang Zu had fled to Shaxian a few days ago.
At this time, Liu Biao became nervous. While passing Huang Zu's request for help to the ministers for viewing, he thought hard about how to deal with it.
As soon as this document was circulated, everyone was shocked.
"Ming Gong, send reinforcements immediately!"
Han Song stood up directly, walked to Liu Biao and said: "Xiakou is the key point where the Han River enters the Yangtze River. Once it is owned by Liu Yangzhou, it will be much more difficult for the Xiangyang Navy to enter the Yangtze River."
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"What De Gao said is true."
Liu He stood up and agreed: "Counter Huang is a veteran general. He will not be so frightened except in times of crisis. Moreover, Xiakou is still in my hands. At this time, the reinforcements only need to rush out of Xiakou and enter the Yangtze River to join forces with Commander Huang. Soldiers, so that they can have enough strength to wait for the decisive battle on the river."
"But now there are only more than 30,000 people in Xiangyang City, and most of them are naval troops. If we want reinforcements, how much should we do?"
Liu Biao also knew that to rescue Huang Zu, the question was never whether to rescue him, but how to rescue him.
It was Han Song who still replied: "We must do our best to rescue them. There are now 20,000 naval troops in Xiangyang City. We will also mobilize 5,000 infantrymen to board the ships, and all of them will go south to reinforce Huangfutai."
Liu Biao was startled when he heard this, and someone in the hall also exclaimed: "No, if this happens, there will only be five thousand people left in Xiangyang. Xiangyang is a big city, how can five thousand people defend it? Ming Gong, tens of thousands No. ”
Liu Biao went to see the person who was speaking. This person was Fu Xun and Fu Gongti.
This person is from Niyang County, Beidi County, and is a descendant of Fu Jiezi, the Marquis of Yiyang in the Western Han Dynasty. His family is quite prestigious in Beidi County and is a famous family.
Fu Xun was tall and well-educated. When he was young, he served as an official for the Three Dukes and became a minister. This was a very high honor and showed the rich heritage of the Fu family.
But now he had to take refuge south, living in Xiangyang and being used by Liu Biao.
Fu Xun later urged Liu Cong to surrender to Cao after Liu Biao died of illness. He made great achievements in Cao Wei, but he was most famous for being good at recognizing people.
The three most legendary people he met in his life were the first one who commented on Pei Qian as "his clean and honest conduct is famous all over the world", the second one who commented on Wei Xi as "rebellion is a matter of time", and the third one who commented on Pang Tong as " "Half hero", all of them are in one word, which shows the viciousness of his vision.
What Fu Xun said at this time was exactly what Liu Biao was worried about.
Liu Biao also strongly agreed with Fu Xun's words. Xiangyang was a large city with a population of no less than 100,000, of which more than 30% were refugees from the north.
Because these people lost their land, they could only make a living by doing odd jobs in Xiangyang City, which was not stable. With five thousand people, it would be dangerous to even control Xiangyang. If something unexpected happened, then his foundation in Jingzhou would be in danger.
Seeing the strange look on Liu Biao's face, Han Song also understood that what Fu Xun said was not wrong, but in Han Song's view, the top priority was to solve the problem in Xiakou, and there were actually many solutions in Xiangyang City.
You can either let the powerful nobles come up with troops to counteract the attack, or you can recruit troops from the wealthy population of Xiangyang to expand the army.
However, Han Song also understood that these two strategies were still a bit slow and contained risks.
Just when Liu Biao was hesitant, a man stood up, bowed his hands and said to Liu Biao: "Ming Gong, someone has a plan that may solve this problem."
Liu Biao turned around and looked over his shoulder, and said with great joy: "You Lin, if you have any clever ideas, please teach me quickly."
It turned out that the person who spoke was Pang Ji.
Pang Ji didn't hesitate and immediately said: "Ming Gong, based on Ji's opinion, Huangfutai must be rescued, Xiakou City must be rescued, and Xiangyang City must be safe. These three points are the foundation of everything."
Liu Biao nodded repeatedly, his eyes shining brightly. If these three conditions could be satisfied at the same time, in his opinion, it would be a brilliant plan.
Pang Ji did not show off, and said directly: "In this case, we should be careful and considerate. From Ji's perspective, the reinforcement troops going south can only be more, but not less. However, Xiangyang is not well-guarded. Why doesn't Ming Gong consider the surroundings?"
Liu Biao, Han Song and others' eyes flashed, and they somewhat understood what Pang Ji meant.
"There are still more than ten thousand strong soldiers in Nanyang, and there are three or four thousand sharp soldiers in Zhangling. In Ji's opinion, it would be better to dispatch troops and horses from these two places to return to Xiangyang. At the same time, Duke Ming will open the treasury, reward the three armies, and recruit new soldiers."
Pang Ji's suggestion was indeed good, and it was obviously to help Han Songzhiyan, but it aroused doubts from the Nanyang Gang.
"Nanyang is Xiangyang's barrier, how can we abandon it so easily?"
Liu He stood up and bowed to Pang Ji: "If there is Nanyang, there will be Xiangyang. Without Nanyang, Xiangyang will be in danger. It is now the end of June. In previous years, it is not far away when Zhang Ji invades the border in Guanzhong. Nanyang soldiers have been mobilized before. Ma, if we are transferred again at this time, can Nanyang be safe?”
Reinforcing Huang Zu is the overall situation, and there is nothing wrong with it. However, Liu He, Han Song, Deng Xian and others cannot accept the sacrifice of Nanyang to reinforce Huang Zu.
Half of the more than 20,000 Nanyang defenders had been mobilized, and the Nanyang faction was dissatisfied at that time. I only agreed because there were still 30,000 soldiers and horses in Xiangyang who could reinforce Nanyang at any time.
But now we have to draw troops from Nanyang, and this is before Zhang Ji invades the country. Liu He, Han Song, Deng Yi, Song Zhong and others are all from Nanyang. How can they not worry about the safety of their hometown?
Pang Ji stood up and threw his hands back, with a look of helplessness on his face and said: "How about we wait until Xiangyang City recruits new soldiers and then add Nanyang?"
Liu Biao was listening to the conversation between Pang Ji and Liu He. The expression on his face changed, and he was obviously thinking about it.
After a moment, Liu Biao's eyes turned to Han Song. He was not only the leader of the Nanyang Gang, but also the leader of Jingzhou.
Han Song’s opinions cannot be ignored.
"De Gao, what do you think?"
Hearing Liu Biao's question, Han Song sighed in his heart, stood up and cupped his hands and said: "You Lin's views are indeed true knowledge and insights."
Han Song's words immediately caused an uproar. Even the people from the Nanyang Gang did not expect Han Song to "reverse."
Fortunately, he quickly continued talking.
"It's just that the southern sun covers Xiangyang, and the flesh of the mouth is strong, but the flesh of the mouth is thin and weakens Xiangyang."
Han Song immediately changed the subject: "Ming Gong, in Song's humble opinion, we can send troops and horses from Nanyang and Zhangling back to Xiangyang, and temporarily fill them with the tribes of the wealthy families in Xiangyang City, waiting for the newly recruited soldiers to meet the urgent need. Really? ”
Han Song's suggestion was quite smart. He saw that Liu Biao had already made some moves, and he also saw that the powerful noble families in Jiangxia, Nanjun, and even Xiangyang supported sending troops to support Huang Zu.
The powerful local nobles in Xiangyang were not really so selfless. They were not worried about Huang Zu, but the conscripting army far away under Linxiang City.
There are a large number of Xiangyang children in this army. If Huang Zu cannot support it, the retreat of the conquest army will be cut off by Liu Feng. By that time, it would be considered a great success if the expeditionary army could escape back to Jiangling, and the worst possible outcome would be that the entire army would be completely wiped out.
Therefore, their best choice was to strongly support Huang Zu and help the expeditionary army retreat to Jingbei.
Han Song saw this and understood that even if he tried his best, he could not stop Liu Biao's decision.
Since you can't stop it, then support him and try your best to recover your own losses while supporting the other party.
This is what Han Song thinks.
After listening to Han Song's suggestion, Liu Biao fell into deep thought.
What Han Song said actually makes sense.
After the Jingzhou army in Nanyang and Zhangling shrank, Xiangyang had 20,000 troops, and it was safe to protect itself. The Nanyang front is mainly defensive, and it is indeed a good move to fill it with Xiangyang's wealthy tribes to suppress and appease.
Liu Biao immediately made a decision: "What Biejia said can be said to be the wisdom of many people, and it is very consistent with my opinion."
"I have made up my mind."
Liu Biao stretched out his hand to suppress the other people in the hall who wanted to speak, and said decisively: "With Zhang Yun as general, the commander-in-chief has 25,000 land and sea troops, and we will rush south to Xiakou to assist Huang Zu. We will also summon 8,000 Nanyang defenders. Zhang Ling's garrison of 2,000 men was transferred back to Xiangyang."
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"Every family in Xiangyang gathered five thousand troops and rushed to Rangcheng to garrison. If Zhang Ji comes to invade, they can wait for help."
Liu Biao made arrangements one by one: "De Gao, starting from tomorrow, we will recruit new soldiers from all the counties in Jingzhou. The number of soldiers is tentatively set at 20,000..., no, 30,000."
"Here!"
Han Song stood up and responded.
Liu Biao's eyes passed over everyone, and then he bowed and said: "Gentlemen, our Jingzhou is in danger right now. Please spare no effort to help our state survive this disaster safely."
Everyone stood up and returned the greeting: "We are all ministers of the Ming Dynasty. How dare we fail to do our best."
After the meeting was dismissed, Liu He and others naturally gathered around Han Song.
Liu He asked worriedly: "De Gao, Nanyang is so empty, what should we do if Zhang Ji comes to invade?"
Deng Yi also agreed: "Although the Ming government wants to expand its army, recruiting troops is so troublesome. Now that Jingnan has undergone tremendous changes and Jiangxia has fallen into war again, only Nanjun and my surrounding Xiangyang have soldiers recruited. Not to mention that it is summer sowing, even after the autumn harvest. , it may not be possible The number of 30,000 people raised is just a lie. Besides, even if we can recruit a full number of soldiers, how can we deal with the tiger and wolf army in Guanzhong? I think Ming Gong has given up on my hometown of Nanyang.
Han Song slowly shook his head: "No, at least Ming Gong has now mobilized the Xiangyang tribes to go to Rangcheng County to set up defenses. The Xiliang people are not good at attacking cities. As long as they hold on to the city without losing it, they will not be able to last long after plundering the place. Sooner or later It’s time to retreat.”
Liu He and Deng Yi's eyes were full of disappointment, but they also knew that what Han Song said was true, and that was the only plan for now.
Liu Biao left Zhang Yun alone.
Zhang Yun is Liu Biao's nephew. Zhang Yun's mother is Liu Biao's sister, and his father died young, so Zhang Yun has followed Liu Biao since he was a child.
Zhang Yun was relatively loyal to Liu Biao, but his relationship with Liu Biao's son and nephew was not harmonious. Especially the relationship between Liu Biao's eldest son Liu Qi and Zhang Yun was originally reluctant, but since they came to Jingzhou, it has taken a sharp turn, and now they are even more disgusted with each other.
The reasons are very complicated, but there are two main points. The first point is that Liu Qi can't stand Zhang Yun's corruption, and the second point is that Zhang Yun and the Cai family are very close.
Liu Pan and Liu Hu were both close to Liu Qi, so their relationship with Zhang Yun was also very bad, not even as good as Cai Mao.
It was for this reason that Liu Biao did not let Zhang Yun serve as the navy commander, but kept him by his side. They were also worried that Zhang Yun would conflict with Liu Pan and Liu Hu, which would affect the Southern Expedition.
Kuai's Vietnamese expedition almost took away most of the elite soldiers and generals in the Jingbei army, and the remaining strong generals were all under the command of Huang Zu of Jiangxia.
Nowadays, Liu Biao doesn't have many generals who are good at fighting.
Therefore, it became the best choice to let Zhang Yun's army go south to reinforce Huang Zu. But the problem was that Zhang Yun was very close to Cai Hao, but his relationship with Huang Zu was not good.
Therefore, Liu Biao had to give his nephew a good beating before Zhang Yun set off.
"Zi Yue, you are going south to aid Xia this time. Do you know what to do?"
Zhang Yun was shocked when he heard this.
Zhang Yun is different from Cai Mao. Cai Mao in the novel is actually quite stigmatized, but he still has great merits. But Zhang Yun is different. Although he is a little clever, he is extremely selfish, greedy and extravagant. He is really not a good person.
It's just that although Zhang Yun was greedy for money and was greedy for money but he was not stupid, so he naturally understood the meaning of Liu Biao's words.
Zhang Yun was silent for a moment and held back a sentence: "My nephew naturally listens to his uncle."
In fact, Liu Biao was well aware of Zhang Yun's greed for money, but he didn't think there was anything wrong with it. If he wasn't greedy for money, would he be thinking about the position under his butt when he was in love with power?
Therefore, Liu Biao ignored Liu Qi's advice. On the contrary, he comforted Liu Qi and told him to get along well with Zhang Yun.
But at this moment, Liu Biao's face darkened: "I have known for a long time that you and Huang Chengde are not on good terms. However, when we go south, Huang Chengde is the commander-in-chief of the entire army. When you join forces with him, you should use military power to communicate. Can you Understand?”
Huang Zu, also named Chengde.
Zhang Yun felt a little dissatisfied. He didn't expect that in the eyes of his uncle, he was not even as good as an outsider.
Fortunately, he was still clear-headed and understood Huang Zu's position in Liu Biao's heart. He nodded and said, "Uncle, don't worry, my nephew understands."
Although Zhang Yun expressed his stance, Liu Biao's instructions were not over yet.
"This time when you go south, in addition to 20,000 naval troops, there are also 5,000 infantry."
Liu Biao carefully warned: "If you have the opportunity, your priority is to join forces with Huang Chengde. If it is not possible, you can divide 5,000 infantry to reinforce Xiakou. If it is still impossible, you can reinforce Xiling. Do you understand?"
Five thousand soldiers, plus the ordnance and supplies accompanying the army, are obviously a considerable burden.
If the Yangzhou navy blocks Xiakou and the fleet of ships rushes out, they will bear the brunt of the speed, so this part of the army must be unloaded in advance. Liu Biao was worried that Zhang Yun didn't know how to respond, so he broke down the details and handed them over to him, and also arranged the tasks for this part of the army after they landed ashore.
Zhang Yun suddenly understood and nodded quickly: "Uncle, don't worry, Yun will keep it in mind and will never make any mistakes."
(End of chapter)