After the promulgation of the order to abolish the dock, all the officials in the imperial court discussed it a lot, thinking that this matter was not a trivial matter. Because the imperial edict covers a wide range of areas, not only in Hebei, but also in the counties of Longyou, Henan, there are many forts built, which are also in the abandoned area. And the Prime Minister Chen Chong's opinions are so firm that many officials just read the imperial edict. They all noticed the coolness behind them. Therefore, some people say that this matter is like the Dutian Rebellion during the Jianwu period of Emperor Shizu. It is really difficult to say whether it will succeed or fail in the end.
Chen Chong naturally understood that haste makes waste, and he directly issued the order to abolish the dock to express the court's determination to abolish the dock. In terms of specific measures, he was actually well prepared. If we take a closer look, the biggest obstacle to the implementation of the dock-abolition order is mainly in Wangwang, Hebei County. After all, for them, abolishing the dock is harmful but not beneficial, but if these famous families can be recruited in a timely manner and given a certain degree of comfort, the New Deal may not be implemented smoothly.
Therefore, Chen Chong took out all the surplus money from last year and planned to use it specifically to deal with this matter. When Chen Chong, the person responsible for the case, came to meet Chen Chong, Chen Chong specifically told him that in addition to necessary killings, he should also pay attention to appeasement: all ethnic groups in Hebei must declare that the imperial court is willing to compensate them for their abandoned Wubao; and take the initiative to Chen Chong can draw up a list of scholars who cooperate with the country's new policies and submit them to the Prime Minister's Office. Chen Chong will select the best and promote them to win over the hearts and minds of the scholars in Hebei. Don't be stingy with rewards for officials and soldiers who have made meritorious services. Only with such a combination of kindness and power can order in Hebei be consolidated.
But no matter how much you say, the result will only be known after a long time. Although the order to abolish the dock was issued with great fanfare, it did not take effect overnight. The government and the public only discussed it for a while, and the relevant remarks dispersed. What attracted people's attention was the war with the Wu people in the south.
As the turmoil after Zhou Yu's death gradually calmed down, in March of the second year of Yanxi, the Wu army reappeared on the border between the two countries. This time the Wu people were divided into three groups and launched a fierce attack on the Han army with an army of 150,000. The eastern route was led by Lu Meng, the governor of Huainan, with more than 70,000 troops under his command, and he attacked Hefei from Chaohu; the central route was led by the governor Lu Xun, who led 50,000 troops and attacked Sui County from Anlu; the commander of the west route was unexpected, and he actually defected the year before. Sima Yi, the former Zhennan general, is now the governor of Jiaozhou. He led 30,000 Jiaoguang troops to attack Ningzhou from Yushui.
This year's Wu offensive is predictable, but such a massive scale also shows Sun Quan's determination to seize the territory. In contrast, the court's preparations were somewhat stretched: on the Huainan side, Zhuge Liang had more than 50,000 soldiers under his command, all of whom were remnants of the Jianye Battle, and seriously lacked war horses; on the Nanyang side, Marshal Guan Yu was still reorganizing The Nanfu camp has about 40,000 troops, but due to Sima Yi's rebellion, morale is still low. As for Ningzhou Nanzhong, because the barbarians are difficult to tame, Xifu basically has no defenses in the state, and only the kings are left behind in the Dian Lake area. Just ten thousand people. It cannot be said that the imperial court's arrangement is bound to fail, but under the premise of occupying an absolute advantage in national strength, the troops that the Han army can bring out to face the enemy are actually not as good as those in the south. It is no wonder that the bureaucrats are frustrated.
But in fact, the war is not a competition of military strength, and the situation of the Han army is not as disadvantaged as it appears. After two years of rest and recuperation, the very pressing officer shortage problem within the Han army has been considerably alleviated. For example, in Dongfu and Nanfu, which suffered the most heavy losses, young generals such as Chen Qian, Fei Yi, Wen Qin, and Gufu have emerged, and the quality of the army has improved considerably. The Han army was strategically on the defensive and did not need to accumulate a large number of troops on the front line. As long as it could ensure continuous supply of food and supplies, the Wu people would not be able to exert their strength advantage in the siege. Moreover, Luoyang still has 40,000 newly built Shanglin troops as mobile troops. Once the front line is in danger, Chen Chong will be able to lead his troops to help in time.
The only thing worth mentioning is that Chen Chong originally expected that Wu Jun would continue to focus on attacking Bashu according to Zhou Yu's arrangement, so he ordered Ma Chao and others to remain stationed in the area from Jiangzhou to Baidi City. Unexpectedly, Sun Quan chose the next strategy and ordered Sima Yi to send troops to Nanzhong, which was weakly defended. Continuing the attack from this direction would not cause any substantial harm to the Han army. The imperial court could not make ends meet here. Even if it was completely abandoned, it would be embarrassing on the surface, but in fact it would be one less burden. Even if the Wu people completely occupied Ningzhou, they would not be able to cross the mountains and launch a substantial attack on the hinterland of Bashu.
Therefore, after Chen Chong received Ma Chao's military report, he couldn't help but smile to Huan Jie and others: "The southerners were already weak, but Sun Quan ignored each other and launched a three-pronged attack. In the end, only he knows whether he will fall short of the success or be able to comfort himself. "
Sure enough, by mid-May, Wu Jun's offensive in Nanyang was the first to fail. Lu Xun led his troops into Mianshui River in a large boat and occupied Yuliangzhou as he had done the year before. He then divided his troops and marched eastward to surround Suixian County, trying to gradually occupy the city of Handong and control the entire Green Forest Mountain, so as to achieve the purpose of forcing the Han army out of Handong. However, Lu Xun was unable to convince the crowd when he led the troops in battle for the first time as the chief governor. The various governors were unwilling to fight with all their strength. Lu Xun knew this very well, so he plundered the people in eastern Han Dynasty and did not start trying until April. Attacked the city, but gained nothing. Guan Yu only ordered Xinye Xizhen's troops to come and watch, and the Wu army relieved the siege and returned to Yuliangzhou.
Before leaving, Lu Xun left a letter in the camp specifically for Guan Yu. He wrote in the letter: "Two swans met in the south of Guangze. In the middle of winter, when they were hungry and cold, they did not avoid danger and hunted in a forest. When they got a fish, they refused to give in to each other, so much so that they Death. Others mourned and said: The sky and the earth are so vast that they stop at just one fish! How can there be any reason for the swan to be trapped in a single lake when it is flying south across the sky?"
After Guan Yu got the letter, he quickly understood its profound meaning. He made the letter public to all the generals and commented with a smile: "Sun Quan gave Lu Xun this important task. I thought he was a rookie in British strategy like Zhou Gongjin, but he actually wanted to do it with me." To talk about the expansion of heaven and earth is to secretly make peace with me and build the boundaries together! This is not what a human minister would say, but if it is beneficial to the common people, why wouldn't I do it?" So he wrote to Lu Xun, asking him to He can let the people he plundered leave after keeping their mouths.
However, Lu Xun did not return the people's population, but sent people to send more than 2,000 people back to Anlu along the Green Forest Mountain as his own troops. When Guan Yu saw this, he sent more than 3,000 troops to Li Hui to cross the Bishui River and penetrate deep into the Green Forest Mountain area. Each member of Li Hui's tribe was equipped with two fast horses, and they traveled very quickly. They arrived in the morning and at night. They met Zhou Jun, the Wu guard, on the way. The Wu people held the people in custody and were inconvenient to fight. They were defeated by Li Hui in a battle. , collect the people and return them. When Lu Xun saw this, he simply withdrew to Xiangyang.
On the west road, Sima Yi crossed Cenwang Mountain and entered Xinggu County, temporarily stationed in Dutang. Then he spent a lot of money and food to reward the various tribes in Nanzhong. As expected, Zhu Bao, Gaoding, Yongkai and other people responded. At that time, there were many people. Among the four counties of Yunnan, Yongchang, Jianning, and Xinggu, only Wang Ping remained. The three counties of Dianchi, Lianran, and Yuyuan that were still defending still obeyed the Han order. However, the barbarians were clamoring and could not obey the orders. Sima Yi tried to lead the army to attack Dianchi Lake, but it did not stop for a month. The barbarians he recruited could not fight for long. After the offensive came to a standstill, the fighting spirit quickly dissipated. When the rainy season entered in June, these barbarians were no longer restrained by Sima Yi, and they left the team one after another and went back to their hometowns to rest.
Sima Yi felt helpless about this, so he lifted the siege of Dian Lake and moved to occupy Wei County in the northwest of Dian Lake, intending to force the Han army to leave by cutting off grain roads. However, what is ironic is that the Han army had three years of food stored in Dianchi Lake and was not affected. However, after Sima Yi extended the food road, it was attacked by mountain goats, and then the dilemma of short food appeared. In desperation, Sima Yi could only retreat to Lugao and ordered his men to farm the fields and clean up the mountains. Apparently, he had made plans to run Nanzhong for a long time.
At this point, the Wu army's offensives on the west and middle roads have stalled, and only the east road in Huainan is still in a stalemate.
Lu Meng marched into Huainan this time, aiming to harvest compound fertilizers, and his army was the largest among the three. Sun Quan not only transferred the boat division from Jingzhou to help, but also all the horses captured in the previous battle of Jianye were allocated to the eastern army. Therefore, when the army appeared at the gate of Hefei City, the Han troops guarding the city raised their eyes and looked around. They were surprised to find that banners under the city were all over the mountains and plains, the boat divisions filled the rivers and lakes, and the armor was shining brightly in the sun. Its military appearance was so spectacular that it could be called the best in the history of the Wu army. .
Seeing this situation, the Han army couldn't help but feel fear in their hearts. However, Zhuge Liang disagreed. He unfurled a banner on the city, wore a very conspicuous white dress, and ordered his followers to beat drums behind him. According to military common sense, the commander should hide his location and then attack him unprepared. However, Zhuge Liang confidently surrounded the city for several weeks, which puzzled the Wu army below the city. They discussed with each other: "We all heard that Zhuge Kongming was a famous wise general in the Northern Dynasty. How could he commit suicide now?" Where are you, could it be that he has some cunning plan or ambush?" So they didn't dare to act rashly. When the Han army saw that their coach was so calm, they no longer felt fear in their hearts.
Naturally, Kong Ming was not simply putting up an empty city strategy. Before the Wu army arrived, he discussed military affairs with Du Ji and others, and concluded that the southerners were not good at training horses, so he sent someone in advance to inquire about the location of the Wu people's horses. After the Wu army settled down, he learned that Lu Meng had gathered his cavalry on the east bank of Chao Lake, so he sent a message to Du Ji where he was, ordering him to lead 7,000 cavalry to raid the Wu army's cavalry camp. Du Ji set out at night and marched seventy miles at night to where the Wu army's cavalry was. Then he set fire to the camp and made a noise while galloping through the camp. As expected, the Wu army was in chaos, with ownerless horses running around at will, which greatly disrupted the order of the Wu army and allowed the Han army to come and go freely. At dawn the next day, Wu Jun's horses were defeated, and their combat power was greatly reduced.
Lu Meng suffered this loss, but he was not discouraged. Instead, he observed the geographical situation around Hefei, and then said in the military meeting: "I heard that 'Fen River can irrigate Pingyang, Jiang River can irrigate Anyi', and the same is true here." So a weir and dam was built in Feishui, and small towns were built on the left and right of the weir and dam, which flooded Hefei. Hefei suddenly became Zeguo, and the Wu boat division then moved in, forming a stalemate with the Han army.
The Han army had also seen this method of water attack before. When the Han army destroyed the east bandits, it relied on flooding Linzi. Now that we are facing a water attack, what method should we use to break the situation?
