After everything was ready, in the first month of spring in the sixteenth year of Yanxing, as the spring breeze got warmer, the river floods came at the right time. The freezing flood started from the east of the river, and then countless rows of ice collided and collapsed in the area from Hongnong to Luoyang. The sound was like a galloping horse, and it suddenly poured down to the lower reaches of Puyang. The ice and water covered both sides of the bank for more than two miles, excluding the ships that came ashore. In addition, all other riverside boats were swept away, and there was no sign of stopping for several days.
General Liu Bei took advantage of this opportunity and led a large-scale eastward expedition with 100,000 men. He left Hulao Pass and crossed Xingyang, entered Yanzhou from Suanzao, and then expanded in the areas of Baima and Lihu, and then surrounded Puyang; while General Guan Yu led his troops from Heqiaodu After crossing the big river, we crossed the Qinshui River and reached Shanyang to contain the Eastern Army with a partial division.
Puyang has been an important town for the Eastern Army for many years. Its status is similar to Pingcheng in the Western Dynasty. Although it is not the military and political capital of the country, it is the defense hub of the front line and has formed a complete defense system. In addition to the inner city and outer walls, the Easterners also built three Wu forts around Puyang to protect the outside. But the most important one was the Gudujin built for support fifteen miles northwest of the north bank. Once the cold floods were over, the Eastern Army would A large number of reinforcements can be sent across the river.
Time was running out, so Liu Bei seized the time and sent Zhang Fei to launch a fierce attack on Wubao. At the same time, he ordered Yuan Tan to build fences and fortresses around Puyang City and dig ditches to divert water from the river, preparing to trap the city. At the same time, Qianzhao was ordered to lead 5,000 soldiers to station on the other side of Gudujin and monitor the movements of the Eastern Army on the other side at all times.
With all the weapons and equipment in place, the Western offensive advanced very smoothly. In just five days, Zhang Fei had cleared all the outskirts of Puyang City and moved all the people to around Dingtao. Ten days later, Yuan Tan also built a twenty-mile fence around the city, completely blocking Puyang. Except for the fact that the Eastern Army in the city was able to send soldiers to ask for help at the beginning of the siege, all other attempts to harass the city were repelled by the Westerners.
By this time, Ling Xun had gradually subsided, but the Western Army could be said to have made complete preparations for the siege. If Hebei did not send people to rescue, Puyang would be completely in the possession of the Western Army. Therefore, Liu Bei cheered up, sent multiple scouts to the north bank, and contacted Guan Yu in Hanoi, always preparing to attack the Eastern Army.
After waiting for nearly a month, Ling Xun had completely calmed down before he knew it. Except for resisting Guan Yu in Hanoi, the Dongren had no intention of aiding Puyang at all. No matter in Jizhou or Qingzhou, there are no signs of large-scale troop deployment. This greatly disappointed everyone in the Ba Mansion. Xun You analyzed and said: "It seems that the battle of Pingcheng really frightened the Eastern thieves. If our army does not attack Puyang and shows a bit of fatigue, Cao Man is afraid that he will not make any more moves." "
So the Western Army surrounded them instead of fighting, and instead spread the news to the counties of Dongping, using Liu Bei's reputation of putting down the rebellion in Dongping in the past to recruit the people of the counties. Dongping Kingdom suffered a lot from the Eastern Dynasty's corvee service. When they heard about the arrival of the Western Army, they immediately returned home. Except for the city of Shouzhang, all the six counties of Dongping surrendered.
It was already early March. After Dongping County was captured, Yanzhou's Eastern Army was immediately divided into northern and southern parts. In addition to Puyang City, which was trapped in the north and was defended by Chewei, the two counties of Rencheng and Shanyang in the south, which were defended by Li Tong and Chewei, also became a protrusion deep into the enemy's territory. Although there was a stipulation in the Eastern Army that abandoning the city would be considered a crime, after the two generals contacted each other, they still took the risk and made a decision. They would rather investigate the crime afterwards and lead thousands of their men to open the door and flee eastward before being encircled, escaping into the territory of Lu one after another. At this point, it can be said that the Western Army effortlessly conquered the three counties of Yanzhou.
However, just as the war in the Western Army was getting better, Liu Bei received an unexpected message. Zhang Ji, the governor of Yuzhou, came to report that there was quite a strange movement on the river during the rising spring tide. There were rumors that Yangzhou Mu Sunce gathered a large number of people on boats and buildings in Chaisang, which seemed to be a sign of a new attack to the west. Liu Biao, the king of Chu, felt that it was difficult to defeat the Wu army, so he sent a message to Zhang Ji, hoping to pass it on to Liu Bei so that the court could mediate.
Liu Bei suddenly felt embarrassed.
In recent years, Sun Ce and Liu Biao have been at war across the board. Because Jiangxia is easy to defend and difficult to attack, they have fought back and forth in Yuzhang and Nanhai. The specific situation is known to both the court and the central government. Liu Biao has been very enlightened in recent years, which has resulted in many officers and few generals in the palace, good at planning but timid in fighting. And Sun Ce inherited his father's style, and also recruited Junyan from Jiangbei. It can be said that civil servants are like clouds, and generals are like rain. The two sides have been fighting for many years, and their military strength is about the same. Liu Biao is naturally at the disadvantage. Although it was not a quick defeat, it still resulted in the loss of troops and generals, allowing Sun Ce to capture Cangwu and Gaoliang.
Although the imperial court cared about Liu Biao's efforts to contain Liu Fan's aid in the seventh year of Yanxing, it did not intend to interfere too much in the affairs of the south. After all, the imperial court's main enemy was the Hebei Puppet Dynasty, so in the past few years, apart from solidarity, there had been no substantial assistance. But the current changes have given Liu Bei a new problem: if Liu Biao loses to Sun Ce and lets him swallow up Jingzhou, then everything south of the Han River will not be owned by the state. After Bafu conquers Hebei, he wants to march south again. I'm afraid it won't be achieved overnight.
However, if they go south to mediate, they will inevitably bring a large army to support them. This will not only give the Eastern Dynasty another chance to breathe, but may also disappoint the soldiers of the three armies who are winning. Liu Bei repeatedly weighed the pros and cons and summoned his officials to discuss countermeasures.
Fu Qianjian, an officer of Yanzhou Biejia, said: "Liu Biao must be rescued, but the Eastern Campaign cannot be neglected. Just mobilize another separate army. In this Eastern Campaign, there are still two armies of Xifu and Nanfu in the country that have not moved. It is better to fight with them." Longshou discussed and asked him to send the Nanfu army to Runan and mediate. With the relationship between the two and the prestige of Longshou, Sun Bofu would not dare to act rashly."
After hearing this, Wei Duan, who was in charge of the administration of the Bafu, asked: "But what if the Nanfu army is transferred away and Liu Fan takes the opportunity to leap north to the Qinling Mountains and approach Guanzhong?"
Fu Qian replied fluently: "There has been nothing happening with the Western Qiang recently. We can order the Xifu army to guard Chencang and Wudu. Taking advantage of the advantageous location of the Shu Road, it is enough to defend them." Fu Qian, the adopted son of Chen Chong, was also known for his quick wit in the army. He replied at this time It was only a few words, but they hit the mark, so Liu Bei nodded frequently. He immediately ordered Jian Yong to write a letter to Chen Chong and forwarded Zhang Ji's report to Chang'an.
By the time Chen Chong received the letter, it was already early April. He had no objection to Fu Qian's judgment. On the one hand, he wrote to Liu Biao, advising him to hold on in the Xiling area. On the other hand, he urgently recruited 20,000 Nanfu sergeants and tried to make the trip within a month. At the same time, he wrote another letter and sent Zhuge Liang to Jiangdong. , reprimanded him to stop the army with the righteousness of his family and country.
However, the army had just assembled and Zhuge Liang had just arrived at Nanshui. The situation in Hannan had undergone earth-shaking changes.
After receiving the letter from the court, Liu Biao immediately moved out of Xiangyang and led his navy down the Han River. Unexpectedly, when he arrived at Jingling in Jiangxia, he actually received urgent news from both the east and west fronts at the same time: not only was Sun Ce sending troops to attack Qichun from the west, but also to the west, the king of Shu Liu Fan was marching his navy eastwards and had already left Badong. Within a few days, they were approaching Zigui city.
Even though there was no specific information, the timing of the attack by the two armies was so cleverly coordinated that it was obvious that there had been a conspiracy. At this time, although Liu Biao said he had more than 100,000 troops, most of them were still scattered among the counties in Jingnan, and only less than 40,000 troops could be directly mobilized. It can be said that the situation in Jingbei has deteriorated unprecedentedly.
Liu Biao had no choice but to adopt the advice of his brother-in-law, Captain Cai Mao of Changshui, and first hold on to the big cities along the river, such as Xiangyang, Jiangling, and Yiling, while gathering all the troops in southern Jingnan while waiting for reinforcements from the DPRK. After the reinforcements from North Korea and China arrive, the two enemies will be driven out.
But there has been a saying in the art of war since ancient times: Those who are on the battlefield first and wait for the enemy will be lost, and those who are behind the battlefield and rush to fight will be tired. Liu Biao missed a step first, and then his arrangements fell behind him everywhere. He led Huang Zu to resist Sun Ce in Xiling, his second son Liu Cong led 20,000 troops to defend Jiangling, Liu Pan and 10,000 troops rushed to Yiling, and he led the remaining troops and Han Song and Kuai Yue back to Xiangyang, and Liu Hu and Han Xi went to Jingnan for recruitment. tribesmen. Unexpectedly, Liu Fan ignored the river cities such as Zigui, Yiling, and Yidao. With 40,000 naval troops as the vanguard, he rushed day and night and arrived at Jiangling City three days earlier than Liu Cong.
Then Liu Fan surrounded Jiangling, and all the villages along the way were forcibly relocated, and then spread rumors to Jiangling: "Liu He, the governor of Nanjun, is a Brazilian master. Although he has moved eastward for many years, he has not forgotten his hometown. The success of the Shu army is due to his contribution." Jiangling. The guard general Wu Chen believed it was true and took Liu He seriously to show his determination to defend. Unexpectedly, this move caused a riot in the city. That night, someone privately lowered the city and threw it into the Shu army camp.
When Liu Cong arrived with his troops, he saw a forest of Shu flags under Jiangling City. He immediately turned pale and said to his deputy general Wen Pin Taixi: "How come the Shu people come so fast?" Then he hesitated and couldn't decide, not knowing whether to advance or retreat. Liu Fan seized the opportunity and ordered Zhang Liao and Gan Ning to lead their troops to counterattack. The three armies used their lives and defeated the Chu people in just one attack. Seeing that their reinforcements were in disarray and running with no way out, Jiangling's defenders suddenly despaired. Kaicheng surrendered that day, allowing Liu Fan to successfully enter the famous capital of Yingchu.
Immediately after Jiangling came down, the 60,000 Shu troops that followed gradually spread out on both sides of the river. The cities of Yidao and Yiling all fell in the face of the wind, and the Jingnan counties even more surrendered like clouds. However, in just one month, Liu Fan destroyed Liu Biao's miserable management of nearly twenty years. This is probably the effect of turning a boulder on a mountain of thousands of feet.
In the east, due to the disparity in military strength between the two sides, Sun Ce successfully broke through Xiling and beheaded Huang Zu. Then he floated a huge boat into the Han River and joined forces with Liu Fan at Jingling. After the two sides joined forces, they traveled north together with 80,000 naval divisions. Among them, there are fifty large and small boats, three hundred stern boats, eight hundred walking boats, and countless other large and small boats.
Since King Shizong built the building ships, although there have been many naval forces in Jingchu, they have never been on such a scale. In addition, Xiangyang is located on the south bank of the Han River. Once it is surrounded by the Wu and Shu navy, it will be unstoppable. Even though Kuai Liang persuaded Liu Biao to continue to defend Xiangyang on the grounds that the city had enough troops and food supplies, Liu Biao was old and no longer as majestic as he had been when he rode to the post twenty years ago. He finally ordered the people to withdraw from Xiangyang and go north to Fancheng.
When Chen Chong led the Nanfu army to the northern suburbs of Wancheng, it was Dingyou in May. At this time, Liu Bei had captured Puyang and the entire army was planning to move to Shouzhang to rest and regroup. To the south of the Han River, the Wu-Shu navy defeated Cai Mao's troops. Xiangyang ordered Lai Gong to fear the power of his troops and finally Kaicheng surrendered.
