Chapter 320: Surprise attack on Gaoqiantun
Does the waiting officer have any soldiers?
Yes, and there are many more.
The year after Sun Ce defeated Wang Lang, he sent troops south. With the power of one county, the governor gathered tens of thousands of people and even defeated Han Yan, the southern captain appointed by Sun Ce himself.
This was also the reason why He Qi came to the fore.
It's just that Wang Lang's order to mobilize troops may not work. Even if it works, it may take a month or two for the waiting reinforcements to reach the Guling line, unless there are enough ships to go north by sea.
The Sun family is considered a local snake in Jiangdong. Although they have offended most of the powerful nobles, they have also made some close friends.
Sun Ce also received a lot of information about Wang Lang's movements.
Therefore, he knew very well that Wang Lang had tried his best to stop him. At the same time, Sun Ce was also worried that the waiting officer would obey Wang Lang's order and send reinforcements northward.
From the court's perspective, Sun Ce is a thief and Wang Lang is an official.
With every extra day of delay, Wang Lang's power will become stronger, because Kuaiji is really too big. Even if you don't count the waiting officers, just the ten county magistrates north of Yongning (Wenzhou) can still tap a lot of potential. Come on, it just takes time.
So, Sun Ce really can’t afford to delay.
Just as Sun Ce was patiently preparing to organize the sixth wave of cross-river offensive, an unexpected person came to Qiantang and asked to see Sun Ce.
The visitor is Sun Jing, also known as Youtai, a native of Fuchun, Wu County (now Fuyang, Zhejiang Province), the younger brother of Sun Jian, the governor of Changsha in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, and the uncle of Sun Ce, Sun Quan and other brothers and sisters.
Sun Jing and Sun Jian have been very close since childhood. When Sun Jian launched an army, Sun Jing used her personal appeal to gather five to six hundred soldiers from the village clan clan for Sun Jian.
But later, when Sun Jian was rewarded for his meritorious service and was transferred to the post of governor of Changsha, Sun Jing did not choose to follow his brother to the post, but returned to his hometown of Fuchun.
Until Sun Ce went south this time, drinking in Ma Qiantang, but was trapped in Guling, he sent people to invite Sun Jing several times.
As a result, Sun Jing has not left for a long time. It was not until Sun Ce was very anxious that he brought his family to Qiantang to meet Sun Ce.
Sun Jing has lived in Fuchun for decades and is known as a local snake. Sun Ce actually has a vague request from Sun Jing, hoping that the other party can help him come up with a way to break the situation.
Sun Jing came this time and brought her three older sons with her.
Among them, the eldest son Sun Hao, the second son Sun Yu, and the third son Sun Jiao.
Sun Jing was forty-two years old at this time, but his sons were about the same age as Sun Jian's eldest son Sun Ce. The eldest son Sun Hao was already twenty-five years old this year, two years older than Sun Ce.
The second son, Sun Yu, is twenty-one years old, two years younger than Sun Ce.
The third son, Sun Jiao, is sixteen years old, the same age as Sun Quan.
In later generations, Sun Quan was very guarded against his elder brother Sun Ce and his cousins Sun Bi and Sun Fu, but he failed to guard against Sun Jing, especially the first one. Sun Hao stood up and wanted to compete with Sun Quan for his position. Among the powerful officials in Soochow in later generations, nearly half were Sun Hao's grandsons.
After Sun Quan's death, Sun Jing's lineage could be said to be the main force in the fighting in the Soochow court.
But at this time, neither Sun Ce nor Sun Jing knew anything about these things.
On the contrary, Sun Ce was overjoyed by the arrival of Sun Jing and his three cousins.
"Uncle!"
Hearing that Sun Jing was coming, Sun Ce went five miles out of Qiantang and greeted her at the five-mile pavilion outside the city.
Sun Jing is quite low-key. Although she is an elder and has strength, she is very humble in her respect for Sun Ce. She is not at all arrogant like she did not show up when she was invited twice before.
Seeing this, Sun Ce was secretly happy.
Sun Jing is the only remaining elder in the first generation of the Sun family. With Sun Jing supporting her, Sun Ben and Sun Fu can only bow their heads and surrender.
"Bo Fu."
Sun Jing was in the prime of life at this time, with a tall and tall body, quite like Sun Jian, and he also valued righteousness over wealth, and was valued by his hometown, and was respected by everyone. Attached.
Sun Ce walked up to Sun Jing, bowed respectfully, and was then helped up by Sun Jing.
"Bo Fu, in the past half month, you have sent people to Fuchun twice to summon my uncle, but he did not come."
Sun Jing asked with a smile: "Do you have any thoughts in your heart? Resentment?"
Sun Ce immediately replied: "My nephew has no complaints."
Sun Ce did not say that he did not dare to have any complaints, but said that he had no complaints. There is still a difference between the two. of.
Not daring to have resentment obviously implies that there is grievance, but I just don't dare to have it.
But being without resentment means that you really have no resentment.
Sun Ce’s words were indeed true and he was not trying to trick Sun Jing.
Because when Sun Jian launched his army, Sun Jing stayed in his hometown and did not follow him. The two brothers made it clear that one of them would fight for the future, while the other would retreat to defend his hometown.
Besides, Sun Ce had many brothers in his generation. Sun Qiang had two sons, Sun Bi and Sun Fu, who died early. Sun Jian had five sons, and Sun Jing also had five sons.
Sun Xiang's relationship is separated by one level. Sun Xiang's father, Sun Ru's great-grandfather, and Sun Jian and Sun Jing's great-grandfather are brothers. Therefore, Sun Xiang is actually three rooms apart, but he still hasn't released the fifth server. Brothers belonging to the same clan.
There are twelve people in Sun Ce's generation, and if Sun Xiang is included, the number is as high as thirteen. However, the direct elder of the previous generation is only Sun Jing. What's more, Sun Jing is still an elder who stays at the ancestral hall, and Sun Ce really doesn't dare to complain.
Sun Jing laughed, and Sun Hao and others following behind him also smiled.
"Uncle didn't come the first two times because he couldn't help you when he came before."
Sun Ce's eyes lit up when Sun Jing said this.
Sun Ce is also a smart person, but he is too proud, and sometimes he is blinded by his pride.
But he didn't dare to show any arrogance in front of Sun Jing, so naturally he immediately heard the meaning behind Sun Jing's words.
So Sun Ce immediately bowed down and said sincerely: "Ce was trapped in Guling and could not cross Qiantang. He had been stationed in the north of the Yangtze River for half a month. I beg my uncle to enlighten my nephew to relieve the difficulties of the army. , wipe out Wang Lang and return to Wu County. "
Sun Jing was very pleased with Sun Ce's respect, while Sun Hao and others behind him could not help but show a little pride.
These expressions fell into the eyes of many generals behind Sun Ce, and many of them couldn't help but frown.
Although Sun Jing behaved very appropriately, his sons did not look like peaceful masters.
However, these generals are all veterans of many battles. Naturally, they understand that the most critical thing now is to capture Guling and break through the Qiantang River.
We will talk about other things later when we can tolerate them.
Sun Jing was not aware of the behavior of her sons behind her, so she helped Sun Ce by herself and gave instructions face to face: "I will try to send people across the river to find out some information, which may be useful to you."
Sun Ce was immediately overjoyed and quickly asked for advice.
Sun Jing did not hide anything, and directly told the situation: "Wang Lang has deployed more than ten thousand troops on the line of Guling, with the main force stationed in Guling City, and the navy has set up camp along the river. You have been unable to cross the river several times. It is precisely because of the combination of water and land. Without taking Guling, it is not enough to capture the water stronghold. Wang Lang's defenders can rely on Guling's strong city to find fighters to attack the water stronghold and drive you down the river."
"Exactly!"
Sun Ce complained: "If we directly besiege Guling, the navy in the water village will harass my logistics supplies. If we attack the water village first, the opponent will reinforce me from Guling and flank me. Behind. Even if the water stronghold is taken, the navy will still escape from the Qiantang River and it will be difficult to solve it. "
Sun Jing continued to ask: "Did you know that Guling City is small and the water stronghold is along the river, so Wang Lang. Where are the supplies of food, grass, and weapons?”
“My nephew really doesn’t know.”
Sun Ce was surprised, and then asked happily: "Does uncle know?!"
It's not that Sun Ce has never inquired about this information, but his people can't get into Kuaiji at all. Even if they sneak in by chance, They will also be captured alive by the other party because of their accent.
Therefore, although he has always wanted to attack Wang Lang's logistics, he has never had reliable intelligence support. He can neither find the storage point for the opponent's grain and grass supplies, nor can he find a feasible route to bypass the Guling defense line for a surprise attack. .
Sun Jing smiled and nodded: "Wang Lang's grain, grass and military supplies are being stored in Gaoqian Tun."
The place Gaoqian Tun belongs to Gaoqian Pavilion.
Gaoqian Pavilion is not a scenic spot, but the most basic institution in the Qin and Han Dynasties - a pavilion.
Liu Bang was born as a pavilion chief.
Gaoqian Pavilion was also famous in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The "Book of the Later Han Dynasty·Cai Yong Biography" records the story of Cai Yong's visit to Gaoqian Pavilion in Kuaiji.
In Gaoqian Pavilion, there is a village with flat terrain and located in the middle of the avenue. It is an excellent place to store supplies.
Therefore, Wang Lang, Yu Fan and Zhou Xin unanimously decided to use Gaoqiantun as a logistics supply base, from which all kinds of grain, grass and ordnance would be continuously transported to the frontline Guling defense line. "Gaoqiantun..."
Sun Ce recited it silently several times, and then looked at Sun Jing with bright eyes: "Uncle, does he have a way to defeat the enemy?"
Sun Jing spit out four words: "Cha Du The ancient road."
"Before I came, I had already sent people to walk this road again. Although it is a bit difficult, it is still feasible."
Sun Jing continued: "The water is dry in winter at this time. , you can sneak across Qiantang and attack Gaoqiantun from the side."
After listening to Sun Jing's words, Sun Ce was overjoyed and extremely grateful to Sun Jing: "My uncle's kindness will never be forgotten by my nephew!"
"You and my uncle and nephew are blood relatives, so what kind of kindness can we have?"
Sun Jing said with a smile: "When I came this time, I brought with me the young people from the village and the tribe Zhongqu. There were two thousand people in total, led by Hao'er and Jiao'er. They were also the important ones before. I have walked the ancient Chadu Road and am familiar with the terrain, so I can lead the way for you."
The three men behind Sun Jing, Sun Hao, all saluted Sun Ce.
********
After receiving Sun Jing's advice, Sun Ce immediately held an emergency meeting.
In the end, it was decided that Sun Hao would lead the Fuchun troops as the vanguard, Sun Ce would personally lead 14,000 elite troops to follow closely, and the remaining 6,000 troops would be stationed in Yuhang and Qiantang respectively. and Linjiang Camp outside Qiantang City.
In order to confuse the Kuaiji army on the other side of the Qiantang River, Sun Ce deliberately claimed that the water source was polluted and needed containers to purify the water, so he searched for hundreds of bottles with large bellies and small mouths to purify the water.
At dusk when the sun was setting in the west, Sun Ce filled the bottles with fuel and placed them in various places in the camp. Then he used ropes as lamps and lit them.
In this way, the Guling line on the other side of the Qiantang River will see the bright lights in Sun Cejun's camp, and they will not be confused about Sun Cejun's movements.
After successfully confusing Wang Lang's army, Sun Ce rushed forward and marched at night.
Most of Sun Ce's troops are from Jiangdong. They grew up in Jiangdong and have been able to eat fish and shrimp for a long time. Dried fish and fish oil are the best magic weapons for treating night blindness.
Therefore, the probability of night blindness in Sun Ce's troops is quite low. Even Northerners like Cheng Pu and Han Dang have solved the problem of night blindness because they have meat to eat and have stayed in Jiangdong for many years.
The night attack by Sun Ce's troops went very smoothly, especially with Brother Sun Hao leading the way. Not only did they not make any omissions, they also spent a lot of effort to open up and consolidate the road, allowing Sun Ce's main force behind to move more smoothly. easy.
When they arrived at the bank of the Qiantang River, Sun Jing had already sent people to collect dozens of fishing boats and dozens of bamboo rafts.
Although the river water was drying up at this time, the weather was still extremely cold after all. If your clothes got wet, you would not be able to fight in the future.
Seeing that Sun Jing's family was so well prepared, Sun Ce and others' confidence increased greatly.
It only took most of the night for Sun Ce's entire army to cross the Qiantang River.
Just after crossing the river, Sun Jiao in front came back.
Sun Ce was surprised, but his expression remained unchanged.
"Brother, there is an almost abandoned camp ahead."
Sun Jiao looked anxious. After seeing Sun Ce, he loudly reported: "There are still two hundred Kuaiji troops in this camp, and they have all been taken by my eldest brother. "Down."
As soon as he heard that the situation had changed, Sun Ce suppressed the panic in his heart and asked carefully.
It turned out that a new camp had been erected on the path ahead, which blocked the road. If there were two to three thousand people stationed there, it would be blocked and Sun Ce's entire army could not move.
However, there were only about 200 Kuaiji troops in the camp at this time, and they were unsuspecting, so they were easily captured by Sun Hao in a surprise attack.
Sun Ce and Sun Hao rushed forward. When he arrived, Sun Hao had already asked the prisoners for the results.
"General, Hao has inquired clearly. Wang Lang got advice from someone and actually established a stronghold here more than half a year ago, with 3,000 people stationed there. However, the battle situation on the front line in Guling was tight later, and there was a delay here. There was no enemy situation, so Wang Lang transferred the troops here two days ago."
Sun Hao reported back: "These two hundred people were left here to warn, but they stayed here. After so long, he has become careless, so he is easily broken by me."
Hearing this, Sun Ce let out a sigh of relief.
Then he remembered something again and asked Sun Hao: "Do you know who directed Wang Lang?"
"I couldn't ask."
Sun Hao shook his head: "The prisoners here don't know either."
Sun Ce nodded, but fortunately it was not in the way.
Immediately, Sun Ce ordered the entire army to rest in the stronghold for three hours, and to cook all the rations in the stronghold to give Sun's soldiers a full meal.
Sun Cejun rested in the camp until dawn. After eating some dry food, he immediately set off and pounced towards Gaoqian Tun.
There are a thousand Kuaiji soldiers stationed here in Gaoqiantun. It is not so much to guard against Sun Jun's attack, but rather to guard against petty theft by nearby people and young people in the countryside.
When Sun Cejun arrived at Gaoqiantun, it happened to be lunch time.
The soldiers in Gaoqiantun did not expect an enemy attack at all and were queuing up to eat.
Senior Sun Ce came all the way, walked dozens of miles, and even crossed the Qiantang River. How could he manage the little food in the camp before? Until now, he still relies on dry food to support himself.
At this moment, he smelled the fragrance of rice wafting in the air. Sun Ce shouted the slogan at the right time, captured Gaoqiantun, and ate lunch in the open, making the whole army howl in excitement.
How could these thousands of people in Gaoqian Tun be Sun Ce's army's opponent, let alone being caught off guard? The battle lasted only an hour, and the entire Gaoqian Tun was captured by Sun Ce's army.
More than 200 of the thousand Kuaiji troops left behind were killed, and the remaining 700 or so surrendered immediately.
After taking Gaoqiantun, Sun Ce immediately ordered the entire army to seize the time to rest and regroup.
The mountains of food, ordnance, and armor piled up in Gaoqian Tun are undoubtedly the best supplement. It gives Sun Ce a base to advance, and he doesn't need to worry about logistical pressure at all.
Next, Sun Ce's army can wait for work and prepare to meet Wang Lang's army who has withdrawn from the Guling line.
Sun Ce's army attacked Wang Lang's military strongholds such as Gaoqiantun in broad daylight. It was naturally impossible to hide the news.
Soon, Gaoqiantun fell and Sun Ce's army successfully crossed the river. News of the successful sneak attack reached the ears of Wang Lang who was in charge of Shanyin County.
"What? Gaoqiantun was lost?"
When Wang Lang heard the news, it was like a bolt from the blue.
Had it not been for the news coming back from multiple parties, he would not have been able to accept the news as true.
"How could Gaoqian Tun be lost? Could it be that Guling..."
Wang Lang's first thought was whether Guling had been breached by Sun Ce, and then Sun Ce's army took advantage of the opportunity to cover it up. Gaoqiantun was captured.
If this is really the case, then the entire Kuaiji County will be hopeless.
Fortunately, the situation was not so desperate. When we learned that Sun Cejun crossed the river from the ancient Chadu Road, he made a sneak attack on Gaoqiantun.
Wang Lang had no choice but to order Zhou Xin, who was on the front line, to quickly return to the army and recapture Gaoqiantun.
Now, on the Guling front line, Zhou Xin is the main general and Yu Fan is the deputy general. The two of them work together to guard the Guling defense line.
After Zhou Xin received the order, he had no time to summon Yu Fan to come for discussion, so he directly led his headquarters and the powerful tribes and county troops under his command, totaling 12,000 people, to move toward Gaoqian. He rushed over, trying to take advantage of Sun Ce's unsteady footing to repel him and recapture Gaoqian Tun.
At this time, in addition to the five hundred county soldiers in Shanyin City, there were only two thousand Kuaiji troops on the front line in Guling.
Kuiji's fate almost entirely rests in Zhou Xin's hands.
If he can defeat Sun Ce and recapture Gaoqiantun, then the situation can still be maintained. Even if Guling is broken through by Sun Ce, there is always room for change.
But if Zhou Xin loses, then the first half of Kuaiji will no longer have the strength to resist, and Wang Lang will have only one way to escape.
Zhou Xin drove his subordinates towards Gaoqian Tun.
By the time Zhou Xin arrived, it was already two o'clock in the afternoon and the sun was almost setting in the west.
Zhou Xin's troops had just arrived, and before they had time to form their formation, they could only hear the loud beating of drums in Gaoqian Tun.
The next moment, the gate of the Gaoqian camp opened, and Sun Ce's army marched out from several camp gates, relying on Gaoqian camp and began to form an array.
Zhou Xin was secretly shocked and regretted that he had gotten too close. But now, he could no longer retreat the entire army, but immediately ordered the entire army to form an array.
For a moment, the two armies set up their positions in the dusk sky, preparing to compete.
(End of this chapter)