Chapter 444 Jingnan divides the troops
At the same time that Liu Biao received the news, Kuai Yue outside Linxiang City also received an urgent report from Huang Zu.
After reading the memorial, Kuai Yue sighed.
Kuai Yue was not surprised by the crime in Yangzhou, and he also had some predictions about the current situation.
"Come here, please invite the two governors to come to the big tent to discuss matters."
Kuai Yue thought for a moment and ordered Cai Mao and Liu Pan to be discussed.
As for the other generals, it is best not to let them know about these things for the time being.
The siege of Linxiang has been underway for more than half a month. The army has suffered a lot of casualties. The number of casualties alone is as high as 800. Counting the lightly and seriously injured, the number has exceeded 4,000.
This was under the premise that seven or eight thousand young men were used to conquer Jingnan, which shows how fierce the war was.
Things were not going well inside Linxiang City. Kuai Yue estimated that the opponent's casualties would be around 3,000 people. Especially the moat, which had been partially filled in by Kuai Yue's side, could reach directly under the sheep and horse wall.
However, the artillery battle between the two sides was not satisfactory. The side of Linxiang City had the advantage of the height of the city wall, and the range of the catapult cannon was much greater than the distance outside the city. Coupled with Sun Ce's bravery, he repeatedly led his troops to raid outside the city, destroying several waves of catapult positions, which caused a big headache for Kuai Yue.
Most of the trebuchet gun carriages of this era were very close, often only a hundred or ten meters away. Even large trebuchets were no more than 150 meters away.
Therefore, if you want to fight against the stone trebuchets on the city wall, you can only push them to the front of the formation.
In this way, Sun Ce naturally came and went with ease. His rear was directly supported by long-range firepower from the city wall, and he did not have to worry about being tail-attacked.
It's not that Kuai Yue didn't design traps for Sun Ce, but what made him speechless was that these traps were either seen through by Sun Ce or destroyed by his courage, and none of them had satisfactory results.
Not long after, Cai Mao and Liu Pan came one after another and entered the big tent.
Kuai Yue waved his hand to the two people who were saluting: "Degui, Zihuan, sit down."
After Cai Mao and Liu Pan sat down, Kuai Yue asked Kuai Qi to pass the documents in his hands to them for them to read carefully.
You don’t know this by looking at it, and you’re really shocked when you see it.
Cai Mao and Liu Pan were frightened and shocked.
"Grand Governor, if Huang Chengde makes a mistake, our army's retreat will be cut off."
Cai Mao, the commander-in-chief of the navy, was the most sensitive to this and almost jumped up.
"Not bad."
Kuai Yue nodded, looked at Cai Mao and asked, "What can De Gui do?"
Cai Mao lowered his head and thought for a moment, then raised his head again and said: "In Mao's humble opinion, we should divide our troops to rescue Huang Chengde."
Now that the Linxiang War is at its peak, a lot of manpower, material and financial resources have been invested, so naturally we cannot withdraw our troops lightly.
Since we can't retreat, we can only divide our troops.
Cai Hao had a good idea. Originally, the naval force was relatively independent, and it was not of much use in siege warfare.
Then it would be a good idea to divide the troops to rescue Huang Chengde.
But Liu Pan said: "That's inappropriate."
Cai Mao frowned and looked at the other party: "Zihuan, what's wrong with this?"
Liu Pan explained: "Our land and water army are integrated into one body. Only by cooperating with the water and land can we march straight into Linxiang City. It should be noted that Jingnan is not without a navy. If Governor Cai withdraws his entire army, the Jingnan navy will not be able to shake our army under the city." , but it is easy to harass and attack our army’s logistics. What should we do then?”
"This..."
Cai Mao looked at Liu Pan in surprise. Even though the two had different opinions, he had to admit that Liu Pan's words were very reasonable. But Liu Pan was not a wise man in his heart. His military strategy was acceptable and he was quite brave, but he never had any talent in strategy.
Therefore, Cai Mao was really surprised by Liu Pan's well-founded opinions, and couldn't help but wonder if the other party had secretly received advice from an expert.
"Then..., in your opinion, what should we do now?"
Cai Hao immediately turned his defense into offense and asked the other party's opinion, hoping to find out the answer to the question from the other party's answer.
But Cai Mao didn't expect that Liu Pan actually spread his hands and refused directly: "I just think there is something wrong with Cai Cao's idea, but if I come up with a solution, I really can't do it."
Cai Hao was stunned and realized something was wrong, but he couldn't tell what the problem was.
Liu Pan glanced at Cai Mao's shocked face, felt secretly happy, and secretly glanced at Kuai Qi gratefully. As Cai Mao guessed, Liu Pan's words were secretly passed on to him by Kuai Qi.
"What Zihuan said is very reasonable."
At this time, Kuai Yue spoke: "Degui, why don't you dedicate some ships to me and use the main force to go to Sha County to rescue Huang Chengde? What do you think?"
When Cai Mao heard this, he hesitated.
The internal composition of Jingzhou is very similar to that of later joint-stock companies. Although Zhou Bo (chairman) is Liu Biao, Liu Biao's shares are not large, let alone controlling, and he is not even the largest shareholder.
The traditional power of the Cai family, that is, the basic shares, is actually in the navy.
Because of this, the relationship between the Cai family and the Huang family is actually a bit cold. If it weren't for the fact that the Navy was split into the Jiangxia Navy and the Xiangyang Navy, the relationship between the two families would probably be even worse.
Although it was impossible for Cai Mao to say it clearly, he actually regarded the Xiangyang navy as his own private soldier. Even Zhang Yun, who Liu Biao put into the Xiangyang Navy and mixed with sand, was won over and digested by him. Where is the power to check and balance the Cai family in the Xiangyang Navy?
Therefore, the reason why Cai Mao was so hesitant about Kuai Yue's suggestion to divide his troops was not because he wanted to concentrate his efforts on rescuing Huang Zu, but simply because he did not want the other party to encroach on his naval power.
It is for this reason that Kuai Yue used Kuai Qi to instruct Liu Pan and used Liu Pan's words to force Cai Mao.
Sure enough, just as Kuai Yue had guessed, although Cai Mao was unwilling to do so, he did not want to oppose Kuai Yue's reconciliation without reasonable reasons.
After hesitating for a long time, Cai Hao suppressed his reluctance and asked, "According to the Governor's wishes, how many soldiers, horses and ships should the navy leave behind?"
It was obvious that Kuai Yue had already made up his mind, but on the surface he deliberately pretended to make a decision on the spur of the moment. After pondering for a while, he proposed in a deliberative tone: "Ten thousand naval troops and eight hundred large and small battleships must be left behind. There shall be no fewer than eighty large ships above the fleet.”
"This won't work!"
Cai Mao shook his head directly. The navy army in the Eastern Han Dynasty was not a pure navy army. They were all capable of fighting on land, and were closer to the amphibious army in the future. At the same time, part of Jingzhou's army can operate ships and can be replenished at any time.
Just like the saying that northerners control horses and southerners control boats, it is the result of the geography of the south. Therefore, the strength of the Jingzhou navy is not inferior to that of the army.
Among the 70,000 troops marching south this time, the Jingzhou Navy accounted for 40%, 30,000 of them. There are more than 2,000 large and small warships, and there are as many as 200 ships alone.
Kuai Yue asked for 10,000 naval troops and 800 ships including 80 ships. This was equivalent to taking away 40% of Cai Mao's combat power. How could Cai Mao accept this easily?
Seeing Cai Mao rejecting loudly, Kuai Yue asked: "Then how much can you give?",
"Grand Governor, it's not because I don't want to, but it is actually the best idea to join forces with Huang Chengde at this time to repel the Yangzhou navy."
What Cai Hao said cannot be wrong. From a theoretical point of view, it must be right. But from a practical point of view, can Cai Hao definitely win the battle if he leads all the naval forces to join forces?
By leaving part of the navy behind, Kuai Yue would at least be able to advance and retreat. Without the cooperation of the navy, Kuai Yue might not be able to withdraw even if he wanted to. Even if he did, the losses would probably be extremely heavy.
Cai Mao thought for a moment and realized that he couldn't get rid of everything, so he compromised: "At most, we can only leave five thousand naval forces and five hundred ships, of which only twenty are sterns."
"Yes!"
Kuai Yue had already calculated in his heart that the power given by Cai Mao was already above his minimum requirement.
At this time, the military situation was raging. The distance between Huang Zu's Shaxian and Xiakou was only one or two hundred miles of river road, and it only took one day to reach it with favorable winds and rivers.
There is no mistake in every song, one post, one content, one 6 one, one book, one book, take a look!
When the other party compromised, Kuai Yue did not want to waste time on arguing.
"In this case, Degui, go back now, allocate this naval force to me as soon as possible, and then lead the remaining troops to go north as soon as possible to rescue Huang Chengde."
Kuai Yue's words made Cai Maochang relieved. He was also worried that the other party would struggle with its troops and delay the rescue time.
Hearing that Kuai Yue heaved a sigh of relief, Cai Mao immediately stood up and said goodbye: "Captain, please be at ease. Mao will divide his troops immediately today and sail northward later."
The Xiangshui River flows from south to north and flows into the Yangtze River after passing through Dongting Lake. Therefore, when the Jingbei navy came, it went against the current, but it turned into the downstream on its way back.
Kuai Yue's request was met, and naturally there was no objection: "The military situation is like a fire, and De Gui can do whatever he wants."
Cai Mao immediately stood up, left the tent, and went to the army to select troops.
Kuai Yue and Liu Pan stayed in the tent. The latter asked tentatively: "Grand Governor, will the general retire first?"
Kuai Yue shook his head slowly, glanced at Liu Pan, and said softly: "Zihuan, in your opinion, how long will it take to break the city?"
Liu Pan, courtesy name Zihuan.
Hearing Kuai Yue's question, Liu Pan was immediately stunned. After a while, he hesitated and said: "Grand Governor, now the moat has just been filled in, and the sheep and horse wall has not been broken through. Are you too impatient when talking about destroying the city?"
That means the person asking was Kuai Yue, otherwise Liu Pan would have wanted to scold her.
The Jingbei Army suffered 4,000 elite casualties, and countless young civilians were killed and injured in the battle. The passage to the city had just been opened.
Isn’t it ridiculous to talk about ruining the city at this time?
Even asking when we can reach the city is more reliable than this.
But Kuai Yue has always been a wise and scheming figure, and his plans are vicious. When Liu Pan heard this, he suddenly became suspicious.
Glancing at Liu Pan, who felt a little guilty, Kuai Yue shook his head and simply made his words clear: "Are you confident in breaking the city within fifteen days?"
Liu Pan thought seriously, and finally shook his head with an ugly face: "I'm afraid it won't work."
It was very difficult for Liu Pan to speak, and he felt that he might be reprimanded by Kuai Yue.
But to his surprise, Kuai Yue was not displeased at all, and just sighed softly: "In that case, after De Gui goes north, your troops will quietly gather troops and prepare to withdraw."
"Withdraw troops!?"
Liu Pan was so shocked that he stood up directly: "Grand Governor, how can we withdraw our troops? If we withdraw our troops at this time, all the brothers who were killed and injured in the early stage will be dead in vain."
Kuai Yue raised his head and glanced at the other party, with the corner of his mouth slightly raised: "If you withdraw now, you can come back in the future. What's great is that we have lost three to four thousand people. If something goes wrong over Huang Chengde's side, you and I will leave even if we want to." Can’t leave.”
Shaxian is seven or eight hundred miles away from Dongting Lake, but for the navy, it is only a dozen days away. This is because Yangzhou is downstream and needs to go upstream. If the wind and the current are smooth, it will not be a thousand miles in a day. myth.
Kuai Yue was proficient in military strategy and familiar with the art of war, so naturally he would not be ignorant of the principle of leniency when predicting the enemy.
Liu Feng's army didn't need a complete victory. As long as they could repel and defeat Huang Zu and Cai Mao within five days, they could travel to Dongting in ten days and half a month.
When Liu Fengjun's navy ships sail into Dongting Lake, their escape route will be cut off.
Kuai Yue dared to use his own head as a guarantee. At that time, the first to be destroyed would be his Jingnan expeditionary army.
If he withdraws, the fate of the army is in his own hands. If he doesn't withdraw, the life and death of the army will depend entirely on Huang Chengde and Cai Degui.
He, Kuai Yidu, would rather take the army back and wait for an opportunity to go south again, than risk his life under Linxiang City to see other people's faces.
After listening to Kuai Yue's words, Liu Pan also woke up.
As Kuai Yue said, although the casualties are now as high as 4,000, only 800 people were killed. Even including those soldiers who were seriously injured and could not recover, there were more than 3,000 permanent battle losses. After the other soldiers recovered from their injuries, , can still recover. The reason why the permanent battle damage is so high is naturally because the princes do not pay attention to the treatment of wounded soldiers.
In general wars, the ratio of battle deaths, serious injuries, and minor injuries is roughly 1:1:2.
Among Liu Fengjun, the rescue ratio for seriously injured people is about 50%, while the rescue ratio for lightly injured people is as high as 99%. Unless it is tetanus, sepsis, etc., which are terminal diseases of this era, otherwise the lightly injured people will basically not be rescued. Death occurs.
However, in the Jingbei Army, and even in the entire feudal armies in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the recovery rate of seriously wounded soldiers was only half percent. This was not only due to the dirty environment, poor treatment methods, and lack of medicines, but also because the feudal armies often The lightly injured will be rescued first, while the seriously injured will be allowed to die.
This is naturally quite easy to understand. After all, from an input-output perspective, rescuing seriously injured people is undoubtedly a loss-making business.
Of course, this does not mean that the recovery rate of lightly wounded soldiers in the Jingbei Army is very high. In fact, many lightly wounded soldiers will soon become seriously wounded due to wound contamination, infection, inflammation, etc.
The recovery rate of the lightly wounded in the Jingbei Army is only 30 to 50%, which is far from being comparable to that in Liu Feng's army. Therefore, whether it is Kuai Yue or Liu Pan, the Jingbei Army only has 800 killed in battle, but they will say Three or four thousand people were lost in the battle.
This is also the reason why the proportion of veteran soldiers in Liu Feng's army is astonishingly high and its combat power continues to increase.
Liu Pan straightened up, cupped his hands towards Kuai Yue, and asked, "Grand Governor, where should we retreat to?"
(End of chapter)