Five days later, news came from Jiangling Camp that Marshal Guan Yu died of serious injuries and died in Jiangling Camp. The government and the public were shocked for a while. Guan Yu died at the age of sixty-five. Although he was not in his prime, he was still in good health. Since the founding of the country, he had repeatedly made extraordinary achievements and played an important role in important battles such as Longshouyuan, Pingcheng, and Linzi. And this year Later, he took over the Nanfu army, calmed the political situation in Nanyang, turned the war against Wu into peace, and turned offense into defense. Therefore, he became famous in both the government and the public, and his reputation was extremely high. On weekdays, he was kind to the soldiers and kind to the people. He was consistent regardless of his status, so he won the hearts of the people. Upon learning of his death, the officers and soldiers of the three armies were all saddened, and the people of Jingzhou were also grieved. After that, Guan Yu's coffin went up the Han River. People in white clothes and white hats stood on both sides of the bank, and there were hundreds of miles of people paying homage and crying. The imperial court gave him a posthumous gift of ten thousand households, and he was given the posthumous title of Wu Mu.
Some time before Guan Yu's accident, he had frequent nightmares. He once dreamed that pigs were biting his feet. He knew it was ominous, so he said to his surroundings: "I am declining this year, and I'm afraid I won't be able to return it!" In the end, during the Battle of Jiangling, he He was killed by an arrow. At this time, the overall situation in Jingzhou was decided, and the army was about to sweep into Sanwu, but he unexpectedly suffered this accident. It was really a pity.
But despite the sadness, the war will continue. The current situation is that the Han army has captured important towns such as Jiangling, Anlu, and Yidao. The three territories of Jingnan, Bashu, and Jiangbei are contiguous. The upper reaches of the Yangtze River to the north and south mouth of Yunmengze have been completely occupied. It can be said that they have occupied everything. The right time and place. According to Chen Chong's original strategy, the Han army only needed to capture the last two cities of Xiakou and Xunyang that Lu Xun currently occupied, and then they could take advantage of the situation and reach Jianye. With this advantage, regardless of Guan Yu's life or death, the Han army would not stop attacking.
But after Guan Yu, who will be the commander-in-chief of the entire army? There was a lot of discussion between the government and the public. According to merit and seniority, it was the turn of the chariot general Zhang Fei, or it was Zhang Ji or Pang Tong who were the deputy generals. However, some people commented that Zhang Fei, Wei Yan and others were impatient and unkind to others, and Pang Shiyuan was too inexperienced to suppress everyone. It would not be difficult to destroy Wu. They were afraid that the generals would cause internal strife because of the competition for credit, so it was better to let him If the prime minister adjusts in the middle, there will naturally be no variables. This statement made perfect sense. Soon, someone in the court suggested that Prime Minister Chen Chong should also serve as marshal to complete the rest of the great cause of destroying Wu.
Chen Chong heard this and refused. Firstly, he was old and unfit to go to the battlefield. Secondly, he also knew that Yide wanted to lead the army alone. This was probably his last chance, so after a brief discussion, he quickly promulgated He received an edict to appoint Zhang Fei, the general of chariots and cavalry, as the commander-in-chief of the three armies, ordering him to defeat Lu Xun, then join up with the Dongfu army, and finally defeat the three Wu states in one fell swoop and capture Luoyang. In private, Chen Chong also sent a handwritten letter to Zhang Fei, writing: "Yun Chang has passed away, and you and I are the only two brothers in the world. It is time to accomplish this eternal achievement to comfort the spirits of our loved ones in heaven."
After receiving Chen Chong's handwritten letter, Zhang Fei was sad and happy. He sorted out his emotions and quickly started to act. In mid-March, in addition to leaving 30,000 sergeants to guard the logistics, Zhang Fei personally led an army of 150,000 troops from the 27th Division of the West and South Prefectures to continue marching eastward. Then the troops were divided into two groups, with Nanfu attacking Xiakou and Xifu attacking Chaisang.
At this time, it happened to be the rainy season, with heavy rains pouring and the river swelling. Zhang Fei led a group of generals and staff to the shore to observe the enemy's situation in Chaisang where Lu Xun was. An aide advised Zhang Fei that as the river water increased, he might as well imitate the method of water attack. As long as water can enter the city, the city will naturally be destroyed.
Zhang Fei then ordered tens of thousands of people to build weirs day and night. After all, it is the turn of spring and summer, the soil is loose, and there is often water seepage in the landfill dams. I tried stacking it three times without success. Zhang Fei was furious and ordered the soil bearer and the soil bag to be stuffed into the breach. Pang Tong tried to speak to Zhang Fei, but Zhang Fei reprimanded him for letting Guan Yu down. The rest were even more frightened and did not dare to say anything, so they could only continue to build the weir.
In April, after the dam was built, the water gradually rose. Within half a day, it rose to almost the same level as Chaisang City. The city was flooded into a lake, and people clung to the arrow towers or rooftops. In addition, there is a mountain in the city. After dark, Lu Xun and his close aides camped on the mountain. Everyone knew that the city was about to be defeated, so they stopped resisting. Lu Xun was even more desperate. He knew that he had no physical abilities. Before Zhang Fei surrounded Chai Sang, he sent all the ships and sailors downstream.
Then the Han army came by boat, occupied all the walls in Chaisang City, and then dug weirs to release water. With the help of the Han army on the city, the Han army opened the city gates without bloodshed, occupied the entire city, and captured Wu soldiers. Nearly 10,000 people, including 20,000 civilians. After Zhang Fei received the news, he immediately ordered that all the prisoners be tied up, and a large pit hundreds of feet wide was dug in the south of the city. Then, on the grounds of paying homage to Guan Yu, he drove the prisoners in together and buried them all alive. Not only did this include most of the lower-level sergeants and civilians, but even Lu Xun, the commander-in-chief of the Wu army who had captured and surrendered, was now buried under three feet of loess.
Zhang Fei's behavior can be described as appalling. The Han army has always been known for its strict military discipline and benevolence. Since the founding of the army, there has never been atrocities such as massacres and entrapment. After Zhang Fei gave the order as a marshal, it immediately caused an uproar in the army. Generals such as Pang Tong, Jiang Wei, Li Hui and others repeatedly tried to persuade him, but Zhang Fei suppressed him in the end. After the disastrous defeat of Jianye a few years ago, the Han army generally hated the Wu people. Although it caused a lot of criticism, it was still successfully implemented. Since Emperor Gaozu established Chaisang City, Chaisang has been the highlight of Yuzhang County for four hundred years. Unexpectedly, in just a few days, it has been reduced to a white land, and there is no longer the sound of chickens and dogs inside and outside the city. After Xiakou City heard about the tragic situation of Chaisang being defeated, they were also frightened and immediately surrendered to the Han army.
But when the good news came back to Luoyang, Prime Minister Chen Chong could hardly believe it. He repeatedly confirmed whether the news was true or false, and then felt deeply depressed. He understood Yide's thoughts and emotions, but this approach was absolutely unacceptable to him, and he believed it was also unacceptable to Yun Chang. After so many years of fighting, everyone has experienced wars more tragic than the Battle of Jiangling, such as the Battle of Bohai, the Battle of Huoshibu, the Battle of Pingcheng, etc. There were countless dead and injured soldiers, but there was never a massacre of the city to vent their anger. Who did this trap and killing occur? It is nothing more than wanting to benefit the common people externally, but living up to one's own conscience internally. Unexpectedly, when he was about to succeed at the end, he was in danger of losing his job. Chen Chong was troubled and troubled by this.
According to the military law established by Chen Chong when he founded the army, once a general massacres a city, he must be dismissed from the military and his title revoked. But what should be done now?
Speaking of which, when Xuande led his army to besiege Linzi, Yide, because of the unfavorable outcome of the battle, sent his troops to kill and capture prisoners. When he planned to kill Linzi soldiers and civilians, it was Yunchang who intervened to stop him, and this prevented him from being buried alive. Xuande then forced Yide to garrison in the north and refused to see him even before he died, just to teach Yide a lesson. Unexpectedly, after so many years, he still didn't change.
Chen Chong thought over and over again and thought that even if he was not dealt with according to military law, Zhang Fei should no longer serve as the commander-in-chief of the former army. Otherwise, if we continue to condone Yide's command of the army, I am afraid that after Jianye, there will be another burst of burning, killing and looting. Not only will it greatly lose the hearts of the people in Jiangnan, but military discipline and law will also be completely ruined.
This is a difficult decision. Chen Chong knows full well how much harm this decision will bring to Zhang Fei, but this is not only responsible for the people of Jiangnan, but also for a peaceful and peaceful future. Over the past thirty years, too many people have died with their eyes open, and the Yangtze River has feasted on the blood of too many people. He did not want this river to turn into a bloody chasm in the future, allowing people to continue fighting each other, so Chen Chong had to make this decision. But what will Yide think of himself when he sees the order? Unkind? Fake good name? Chen Chong didn't want to imagine it, but he also knew that it was inevitable.
When Chen Chong raised the matter at the court meeting, all the courtiers said nothing. There are two reasons: first, the court changed commanders not long ago, and now they have changed commanders again, which may not be good for the morale of the army and will also have one or two variables on the war; second, handsome talents are rare, UU Kanshu et Now that Zhang Fei has been relieved of his post, then the new Who should be the commander-in-chief? Is it better to let the Prime Minister go to the front line in person? According to Wei Xi's intention, he might as well issue a document to admonish Zhang Fei. There is no need to change the commander again.
Chen Chong was greatly disgusted by these words. Isn't this the attitude of Emperor Guangwu towards Wu Han's massacre of Shu? Back then, I criticized Guangwu's hypocrisy in front of Xuande. Could it be that I would repeat Guangwu's old path? Therefore, Chen Chong immediately vetoed this suggestion, and then opposed all opinions and advocated that after Zhang Fei was replaced, Zhuge Liang, the governor of Huainan, would be responsible for the subsequent war to destroy Wu. This made the officials couldn't help but secretly discuss that Zhuge Liang could not be said to have no talent, but his qualifications could not be compared with Zhang Fei. And he alone commands the three armies, with more than 200,000 soldiers and horses under his command. Can he really conquer the masses? However, Chen Chong persisted, believing that Zhuge Liang was both civil and military capable of shouldering this responsibility, and finally passed the edict.
In this way, in late April, Zhuge Liang led the Dongfu Army to Xunyang. After joining Zhang Fei's army, Zhang Fei was dismissed and returned to Luoyang, and Zhuge Liang officially took over the command of the army that destroyed Wu. Zhuge Liang was forty-six years old at the time. Although he was no longer young, his ability to control such a large army still made the officers and soldiers suspicious. But Zhuge Liang did not defend himself. Instead, after half a month of reorganizing his army, he led his army eastward and advanced to the Ruxukou area.
On the south bank of Jianye, the last Soochow navy was gathering at Niuzhuji. Thanks to the two changes of commanders of the Han army, Sun Quan had enough time to mobilize all the ships from Jingzhou, Huainan, Yangzhou, and Jiaozhou here. There were thousands of boats and boats stretching nearly 30 miles along the shore, while Wu The last 110,000 troops were left, and they all gathered on the shore, hesitant. Their commander at the moment was none other than Sima Yi, the surrendered general from the north and now the governor of Huainan.
The river where the two armies were going to fight was the battlefield where the entire Han army was destroyed last time.
