Regarding the Battle of Haixi, everyone thought it would be a battle that decided the ownership of the north and the south, but unexpectedly it ended so hastily. Not only was the Han army disappointed, but even the Wu people were deeply ashamed.
Since Sun Ce's establishment, the Wu people have traveled across the east of the Yangtze River, conquering Jing and Guang, and are almost invincible. Liu Biao once rewarded Huang Zu with a daughter of gold for repelling Sun Ce's attack. The people of Wu were also very proud and compared themselves to Sun Wu's master. Although they had previously fought for hegemony in the Central Plains and immediately retreated to Huainan, after all, Zhou Yu had won the battle of Pengcheng, so they thought they were no weaker than the Han army. The previous attacks on Yuzhou were unsuccessful because of insufficient equipment and difficulty in breaking the city. In the eyes of the Jianghuai generals, the only difference between the two armies was that the Han army had more horses and the Wu army had fewer horses, nothing more.
But who would have expected that when the two armies clashed and tested, the Han army neither defended the city nor used horses, and actually defeated Ling Tong's troops in a short infantry fight. It should be noted that Ling Tong was a promising rising star in the Wu army. He was the first to defeat the bandits in Danyang many times. He also captured a ship by himself during the pacification of Sun Shao's rebellion. Therefore, Sun Quan drew him close and praised him as a famous general. He was the vanguard in this battle, and he also trusted Ling Tong's bravery and hoped that he would win. However, in the end, it ended like this, which can't help but be extremely disappointing.
On the night when the troops retreated, several people asked to see Sun Quan. They rebuked Ling Tong for his ineffective training of troops and his fear of fighting, which led to his defeat. Therefore, they called him a traitor to the country and urged him to kill Ling Tong to establish his authority and boost the morale of the army. Sun Quan sneered at this, summoned Ling Tong in front of everyone, asked him to take off his shirt, and then ordered his servants to count the wounds on his body. But it was horrifying to see that Ling Tong had eight wounds on his body, dripping with blood, but not a single wound on his back. Sun Quan said to everyone: "Since you said that you are afraid of war because of public achievements, I guess I will start a war tomorrow with you as the vanguard. It will not be like this." The visiting ministers suddenly fell silent.
This situation made Sun Quan feel uncomfortable verbally, but he also sighed in his heart. Although the losses are not big at the moment, only more than a thousand people, the most important thing is that they are frustrated. Among the soldiers, even the general Sajian is a little scared, and he is afraid that he will not be able to fight the Han army again. In this case, do we have to watch Liu Ye, Lu Ji and others die in Huaibei?
The next day, he discussed the coming and going with the generals again, and the scene was exactly as he expected. Those who were originally in charge of the retreat, such as General Zhang Zhao of the Fu Army, Chief Bu Bu Zhi and others, immediately brought up the old matter and hoped that the army would immediately return to Shouchun; those who were in charge of the battle, such as Zhennan Zhonglang General Deng Dang, Zuo General Lu Meng and others, also The flags and drums ceased, and there was silence.
Only Lu Su, the governor of Huainan, still advocated fighting again and said to Sun Quan: "My lord, although we suffered a small defeat yesterday, it is not serious. Speaking of it, it is just that our soldiers are tired from afar and miss their hometown, while the enemy is waiting for work, and the location has been advantageous. , this is how we got this result. If we fight another day, we will not lose again, but can we give up our national plans just because of a temporary setback?"
When Bu Zhao heard this, he immediately retorted: "Yesterday it was said to be a small defeat, but the bandit army has not even mobilized its cavalry, and the bravery of the soldiers is the only one I have seen in my life. The difference between the two armies, how can it be described with the word "like"? And just like the governor As he said, the rebels have taken advantage and will not give up easily. What chance do we have to claim victory? It is better to withdraw to Huainan as soon as possible and repair the city to prevent the rebels from taking advantage of the victory to attack again. Then we will have no choice but to withdraw to Jiangdong. "
However, Lu Su was still stubborn and said categorically: "If that's the case, why don't Mr. Bu simply switch sides and surrender his armor and seek officialdom? If you want wealth and honor, you can abandon your land yesterday, you can abandon your colleagues today, and you may not be able to abandon your lord tomorrow." He said this. As soon as he said this, Bu Zhao's face turned pale, and he was so angry that he was shaking all over, and he didn't know what to say in reply.
But Lu Su did not change his expression, and said to Sun Quan as if he were ordinary: "My lord, you must not retreat, but you will abandon your soldiers even if they are defeated at a small defeat. How will the children of Jianghuai regard it? All extraordinary achievements are better than those of extraordinary people. Lord Jiang Zuo A hero, a warrior saint, with a great reputation all over the world, how can he be willing to be a little wife?"
These words made Sun Quan's blood boil with excitement, and he applauded him repeatedly, and his surrounding officials had no words to object. But how to use troops to turn defeat into victory? Sun Quan could only ask Ji Lusu again at this time.
Lu Su said in a deep voice: "Since we cannot relieve Ziyang and Gongji from the siege, we should abandon the navy and lead the infantry to the south of the Zu River to find its location and face it across the water. The Huaibei army is surrounded on all sides and has been This is the Ai army, with a death wish. Seeing our army coming from afar, their morale will be greatly boosted, and they will work hard to hope for death. But when the Han army sees me coming from afar, they will be strict on the outside and neglect the inside. They will definitely be caught off guard by Ziyang and others. , the lord just needs to wait for them to break through, and then lead them with elite troops, and then they can retreat safely. Even if they lose, the world will know that the lord is benevolent and righteous, and will not abandon the army that is destined to die."
When the words came to this point, everyone present felt a chill in their hearts, and secretly said: Lu Su looks like a weak scholar, and his words do not contain any words of courage, but every word contains the spirit of fighting to die, and Gu Zhilie's husband is nothing more than this. No one could put forward better suggestions, so Sun Quan followed Lu Su's plan and arrangement.
On September 11th, the Wu people left all the boatmen in Huaipu, and everyone sailed north along a small river one foot wide. The road along the road is extremely flat. Although it is late autumn, the sea breeze is still constant. The surrounding leaves are rustling with leaves, so that the sky above the head looks very outline, and the migratory birds migrating south have all gone. There are only wandering clouds and endless wind. Fortunately, the sun was still very bright. When the Wu people raised the red flag that symbolized the orthodoxy of the Han Dynasty, the sunlight easily penetrated the Chinese characters in the center of the flag, making it particularly dazzling.
The flag of Wu Jun inherited the tradition of the Eastern Dynasties. Although it was still mainly red, in order to symbolize the virtue of water, a black border was added to the flag. Looking from a distance, it looked like a seal. In order to show the characteristics of the Wu people, many white bird flags, mountain ghost flags, and green dragon flags are also mixed in. When fluttering in the wind, it seems like a group of demons are dancing in the sky.
This time, Wu Jun paid more attention to the strict formation of the army, so the marching speed was very slow, about thirty miles a day. Fortunately, the land route did not have to go far, and Wu Jun could not march more than eighty miles in total. About noon on the third day, they approached Zu Shui. Originally, Sun Quan planned to send scouts to track down the garrison location of the Huaibei Corps, but as soon as they arrived at the south bank of Youshui, they saw the huge and vast military presence of the Han army. The flags spread from west to east on the north bank of Youshui, until they reached the foot of a hill. . And the flag of the Wu army was clearly erected on that hill, which was obviously the place where the Wu army in Huaibei was trapped. But in front of the raging waves of the Han army camp at the foot of the mountain, it was as insignificant as a fallen leaf. Conservative estimates suggest that the number of Han troops here may be close to 200,000.
When the Han army saw Wu Jun coming again, they couldn't help being frightened, and soon scouts went to inform the commander's account. Many Han soldiers were transferred to the north bank of the river to prepare for the Wu army. However, they were just on guard and vigilant, and they obviously had no intention of crossing the river to fight against the Wu army. Probably because the success of the siege was imminent and they didn't want to continue taking risks.
Of course, after the arrival of the main force of the Wu army, not only the Han army was in commotion, but also something strange happened in the besieged Dayin Mountain. Less than two moments after the Wu army arrived, a pile of open fires burned on the top of Dayin Mountain, and then burned out. At the same time, vague sound of trumpets came from the distance, apparently trying to communicate with the army. The generals didn't understand what he meant, but Lu Su stood up and immediately ordered the soldiers to blow the trumpets, intermittently, echoing the sound in Dayin Mountain. After both sides calmed down, Lu Su said to Sun Quan: "I have finished contacting Zi Yang. At midnight tonight, Zi Yang will lead his army to break through."
Sun Quan nodded slightly and ordered his troops to go down and let each army take turns to take a rest and prepare to fight again that night.
Time passed very slowly, which was torture for everyone in Wu Jun, but time also passed very quickly, and late at night had arrived before they knew it. Starlight gradually filled the sky, and the bright moon also shone brightly on the surrounding fields, enveloping the soldiers on both sides of the Zu River in a cold light. Everything seemed so quiet that the troops on both sides of the river couldn't help but hold their breath, lest the noisy breathing might cover up something.
Like a thunderbolt from the blue, a distant and clear loud shout came, clearly ringing in the ears of the two armies by the river. Everyone could not help but tremble, and then looked towards the source of the sound. But there were only bonfires burning in the misty night. Apart from the shaking of the earth, most people found nothing. Only a few people in the north could see that a puff of smoke gradually rose up from Dayin Mountain.
But the Wu army in the south of the Yangtze River was very clear-headed and knew that this must be the Wu people in Huaibei who were breaking out, so they shouted loudly by the Zu River and made it look like they were about to cross the river to fight. After suffering the losses of the Battle of Haixi, no one dared to actually come forward to fight. Although the Han army was nervous for a moment, seeing no one crossing the river, they quickly realized that the Wu people on the south bank were bluffing, and instead started to taunt loudly. For a time, the North and South Taiwan Strait were quarreling.
But the scolding was quickly covered up by the sound of drums. It turned out that Sun Quan knew that the generals could not cross the river, so he simply ordered thirty cowhide drums from the army, and decided to lead the drums himself to cheer for the Wu people who broke out on the north bank. The shouts of fighting in the distance gathered together and soon aroused a louder noise. This was the response of the Wu army who broke out of the encirclement. They waved their swords and swords while shouting in the air.
This shout was heard by Wu Jun on the south bank. It was vague at first, but became clear as the moon shadow moved westward, and gradually, the sound of gold and iron weapons clashing was heard. Sun Quan, who was playing the drums, was greatly encouraged. He ignored the soreness in his wrists and the drumbeats became more and more rapid. But what is worrying is that the Han army camp on the other side did not move at all, and the flags were not disordered at all. They obviously did not suffer too much pressure, which also meant that the Wu people who broke out were still blocked by huge difficulties.
The Wu people waited anxiously and looked forward to it, but as the moonlight faded, the shouts became fainter until they disappeared completely. Was he forced to retreat? The Wu people thought this with disappointment. After all, when dawn came, they did not wait for the Wu army to break through, but smelled a horrible and strong smell of blood. The sun had not yet appeared at this time. Under the red clouds, Sun Quan, who was standing on the high platform, could finally vaguely see the scene in the distance. About two miles away, there was an open field, where the military flags of the Wu people were abandoned. There are countless corpses piled together, forming a hill.
Almost all of the 30,000 Huaibei Wu troops who were surrounded were killed in this battle. Sun Quan fell ill on the spot when he saw this scene. On the south bank, the Wu army saw the death of their relatives and friends. They all cried bitterly and were very sad. However, they did not dare to fight the Han army again. They could only retreat to Huainan sadly under the command of the governor Lu Su.
