After a full night's rest, Jiang Dongjun made various preparations.
On the fourth day, the coalition forces began a fierce attack on the Han army, and the Tiger Roar Battalion penetrated the Han army's defense line and went straight to Jiangxia City.
This battle lasted for four days, and the 15,000 Han troops finally turned from fighting and retreating to fleeing under the fierce attack of more than 30,000 coalition troops. Sun Ce and Yuan Shu each lost more than 3,000 people, annihilated 9,000 Han troops and captured 3,000 people.
After Sun Ce and Zhou Yu finished talking, Ji Shu also told them about the situation in Jiangxia.
From the time Ji Shu arrived at Dangtu to start the Jiangxia Campaign, in just seven or eight days, Dangtu experienced two battles in which gains and losses were lost, a battle in Xiakou lasted from day to night, and three battles in Jiangxia City lasted from day to night. From seizing the city to defending the city, the Han army entered the city several times.
As he spoke, Ji Shu couldn't help but clenched his fists slightly.
Somewhat unwilling!
In this battle, it was not Ji Shu who defeated Zhuge Liang, but Jiangdong who defeated Jingzhou.
The most critical battle was that Taishi Ci defended Jiangxia City. If not, 40,000 Jiangdong troops would have died without a burial place.
Not willing to give in!
If a general wants to become stronger, he can practice martial arts diligently, but what if a counselor wants to become stronger?
Zhou Yu saw this and patted Ji Shu's shoulder to comfort him.
"I didn't expect that there are such talents in Jingzhou, but we are not prepared enough."
Thinking of Sun Ce's assassination, Zhou Yu frowned slightly, which made him realize the importance of intelligence again.
It seems that it is urgent to establish a complete intelligence network.
But that will be tomorrow, Zhou Yu said, punching Ji Shu on the shoulder.
"But in the end we won!"
Yes, Ji Shu nodded and smiled.
"I must win more happily next time!"
"Ha ha!"
The three of them burst out laughing, looking forward to the next battle.
Chatting and laughing, everyone has arrived at the Jiangxia City Prefect's Mansion.
They sat down respectively and looked at the huge sand table that had just been set up in the center of the hall. Jiangxia County had basically planted the flag of Jiangdong Army, except for one place.
Sun Ce said.
"Okay, now let's discuss the attack on Xiakou Port."
Gan Ning perked up and quickly asked for orders.
"Lord, give me 10,000 elite soldiers. I will definitely capture Xiakou Port this time."
Everyone knows that Gan Ning's last expedition to Xiakou Port failed, so this time he wanted to have a beginning and an end. Seeing this, the other generals who were eager to try just now sat back down, planning to give this opportunity to Gan Ning.
However, Hua Xin had some objections.
"My lord, the remaining 10,000 soldiers of the West Route Army of the Third Army Division have many wounded. They are exhausted from the long battle and are not suitable for fighting. And the 20,000 soldiers of our East Route Army are also exhausted after three days of traveling. Among them, the Tiger Roar Camp We have been traveling and fighting for seven days in a row. It is better to have a truce for a few days and let the soldiers have a good rest. The soldiers and horses in Cai Hao's hands will not be able to make any trouble."
The generals nodded slightly. No one knew better than the generals how miserable and tired the soldiers were, but the military situation was so fierce that we had to be anxious.
However, Hua Xin's words suddenly made them realize that this battle seemed to be coming to an end, and there was no need to be so anxious.
Even Gan Ning couldn't help but be convinced by Hua Xin and nodded in agreement.
Seeing that everyone was in harmony and agreed to let the army rest for a few days, Ji Shu smiled and said.
"Actually, there is no need to go to such trouble. Within a few days, the Han army will retreat on its own."
Abandoning Xiakou Port is equivalent to completely abandoning Jiangxia County, and the door to Jingzhou will be completely opened.
Although the Han army is currently at a disadvantage, is this really possible?
The generals looked over in confusion. Hua Xin and Zhuge Jin couldn't help but look at the sand table and fell into deep thought.
"Currently, 30,000 of our troops are stationed in Jiangxia City. No matter how hard Cai Mao collects the defeated army, the maximum number will only be 10,000."
"Our army is three times the size of the Han army. If we want to defend Xiakou Port, the Han army must increase its troops."
Ji Shu stepped forward, pointed at the sand table and said to everyone.
"It is not difficult to increase troops. The importance of Jiangxia is also worthy of Liu Biao increasing troops to Xiakou Port. But the difficulty lies in the supply of grain and grass!"
"The road from Xinye in the north to Xiakou Port has been exposed in front of our army. I believe that no matter how courageous the Han army is, they would not dare to transport food and grass in front of our 30,000-strong army, right?"
"Otherwise, the only way is by water. Everyone knows that water transportation is slow and very different from land. Once the cargo ship capsizes, it will all be buried at the bottom of the river."
"If he wants to defend Xiakou Port or even counterattack Jiangxia, Liu Biao must gather more than 40,000 troops here. Food and fodder for 40,000 troops! How big of a fleet must be transported by water to keep going back and forth? It is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and it is also easy for us to The army and navy attacked. Just one crossbow hit is enough to destroy a shipload of grain. Even though Jingzhou is rich, I'm afraid it can't bear the same burden."
Seeing that no one had any objections, Ji Shu concluded.
"Our army can rest for a few days and directly take over Xiakou Port after the Han army retreats."
After listening to Ji Shu's analysis, the generals couldn't help laughing.
"It seems that we will get this Xiakou Port for nothing! Haha~~"
Zhou Yu hesitated for a moment and asked a question that he had been thinking about just now.
"Then what if we attack immediately, surround Xiakou Port, and eliminate Cai Mao's remaining 10,000 troops?"
Everyone couldn't help but fell into silence and entanglement for a while.
Yes, destroying the enemy's effective forces will naturally be beneficial to the subsequent war.
When Ji Shugang defeated Cai Mao, he thought about completely annihilating Cai Mao, but at that time he only had 10,000 remaining soldiers, and the soldiers were in extremely bad condition. He was afraid that he would be defeated when he went to attack Xiakou Port, so he put it away. This thought.
The arrival of Sun Ce's army actually made Ji Shu have this idea again, but Hua Xin's words reminded Ji Shu.
Don't just focus on victory. Your own situation is not much better. Letting Sun Ce's 20,000 troops attack Xiakou Port will just end up hurting both sides.
Everyone discussed this for a long time, and finally decided to temporarily stop the troops, rest for a while, treat the wounded soldiers, collect prisoners, consolidate Jiangxia city defense, and formulate a new plan for the family to deal with future problems of the family.
As expected, Cai Mao withdrew after gathering the defeated army on the third day. Gan Ning took Xiakou Port with only a thousand men.
The Battle of Jiangxia is finally over here.
Detailed information about the battle between the two armies also reached the ears of the princes.
The war between Sun Ce and Liu Biao happened unexpectedly and naturally.
Liu Biao dispatched 60,000 troops. Counting Jiangxia's 17,000 defenders, a total of 77,000 troops were invested.
Sun Ce actually used most of Jiangdong's troops and formed an army of 65,000 men to enter the battlefield.
In just half a month, more than 100,000 troops from both sides were strangled in a small place like Jiangxia County. The brutality also attracted the attention of the princes.
In the Battle of Jiangxia, Liu Biao lost a total of 66,000 soldiers, while Sun Ce lost 30,000 soldiers. The most critical thing is that Jiangxia County, which is the eastern barrier of Jingzhou, completely fell into the hands of Sun Ce. Xinye, the gateway to Xiangyang, Jiangling, the hinterland of Jingzhou, and several counties in Jingnan were all exposed to the threat of Sun Ce's military strength.
At this point, the war has reached a turning point.
Before the Battle of Jiangxia, Jingzhou was at least stronger than Jiangdong in terms of military strength.
After the Battle of Jiangxia, Jingzhou only had 54,000 troops left, while Sun Ce still had 50,000 troops. Jingzhou not only lost its military advantage, but also lost the strategic location of Jiangxia, and from then on it became passive and defensive.
