Zhou Yu's attack on Jiangling went smoothly in the early stage.
After the Battle of Chibi, Cao Cao fled north to Jiangling, but soon, Cao Cao left Cao Ren to guard Jiangling and Lejin to guard Xiangyang, while he led his troops back north.
After Zhou Yu purged the army, he began to attack Nanjun. The purpose was to completely occupy Nanjun and march north to Xiangyang.
At that time, Zhou Yu stationed his troops on the south bank of the Yangtze River. Before they had crossed the river, Xi Su from Yizhou came to seek refuge with his troops.
Although Xisu was not a general and he only brought a few thousand people, this represented the impact after the Battle of Chibi. Even the generals in Yizhou came to defect, so how many of Cao Ren's defenders in Nanjun were left? How much determination do you have to make? !
This was the first good news that Zhou Yu felt was good.
The second good news is that Zhou Yu sent Gan Ning across the river to attack Yiling, but Cao Ren actually did not arrange many soldiers to defend Yiling, allowing Gan Ning to easily attack Yiling.
Then came the third piece of good news.
When Cao Ren learned that Yiling was lost, he was furious and sent 5,000 men to attack Gan Ning in Yiling. Gan Ning had few soldiers and held on while asking Zhou Yu for help.
At that time, because Zhou Yu had few troops, the generals under his command thought it was not suitable to divide the troops. If it didn't work, they gave up on Yiling.
Only Lü Meng suggested leaving Ling Tong in charge of the village while Zhou Yu went to rescue him personally.
Zhou Yu immediately adopted Lu Meng's suggestion and personally led his army to rescue Gan Ning. He defeated Cao Ren's 5,000 soldiers at the foot of Yiling City, blocked the road with firewood on Cao's retreat, and harvested more than 300 horses.
Although it was a little less, for Jiangdong, 300 horses were enough, enough to form a cavalry unit directly under Sun Quan.
It can be said that the continuous good news made Zhou Yu believe that Cao Ren in Jiangling City was just a mediocre person, and Jiangling City would be acquired by him sooner or later.
Zhou Yu proudly led his army across the Yangtze River and set out for Jiangling.
Then Zhou Yu was taught by Cao Ren how to behave.
At that time, Zhou Yu sent thousands of forward troops to approach Jiangling City, while Cao Ren sent Niu Jin to lead a few hundred newly recruited people to counterattack. As a result, Niu Jin was surrounded by Jiangdong troops.
To be honest, I can't figure out what Cao Ren was thinking. Letting hundreds of newly recruited soldiers attack a forward force of several thousand people would lead to death no matter how you look at it.
Zhou Yu originally felt the same way, but what happened next made Zhou Yu's eyes fall to the floor.
Even Chen Jiao persuaded Cao Ren to give up Niujin if it didn't work. This siege was like an iron barrel. Zhou Yu probably thought that we would send troops to the city to rescue him, so that he could come to a siege point for reinforcements.
As a result, Cao Ren refused to listen. After saying a lot of high-sounding words, he led only a few dozen of his own soldiers and went out of the city to rescue Niu Jin.
When Zhou Yu saw this, he doubted whether Cao Ren's IQ was only in single digits. But later, he doubted whether the force value and troop command ability of his soldiers were only in single digits.
Surrounded by thousands of people, Cao Ren forced dozens of cavalry to retreat more than a hundred steps.
Not to mention this, Cao Ren then led his army into the encirclement, first rescued Niu Jin, then found that Niu Jin's soldiers were surrounded, then killed Niu Jin and rescued Niu Jin's infantry, and finally led everyone to break out of the encirclement, An Ran Return to Gangneung City.
Zhou Yu was so angry that he almost broke his teeth.
Even if the opponent is a cavalry, with strong impact and incompatible arms, the number of people is seriously unequal.
Five thousand men faced off against less than 400 men. How did he command these generals under his command? Are all his soldiers useless? !
This is even more embarrassing than when he was under E County. Zhang Xi also used a strategy to attack the east and west. This time, Cao Ren didn't use any strategy with you at all. He just relied on the combat power and command ability of his soldiers to crush you.
It's not that Zhou Yu didn't know that Jiangdong Army's land combat skills were not good, but after all they had been trained according to the military law given by Zhang Xi, why was it still so bad? !
Zhou Yu did not believe in evil, so he took personal command and began to arrange the attack and defense of Jiangling.
But Zhou Yu found that there seemed to be nothing he could do against Cao Ren.
Cao Ren built a stronghold in the southwest corner and southeast corner outside Jiangling City. He sent his generals Niu Jin and Cao Yong to guard one stronghold each, while he himself guarded Jiangling City.
If Zhou Yu attacks Jiangling directly, both wings will be threatened by Niu Jin and Cao Yong. If Zhou Yu attacks Niu Jin or Cao Yong, Cao Ren in Jiangling City will also lead his cavalry to rescue him.
Zhou Yu had a headache.
It's not that these mutually supporting camps are a headache. When it comes to sieges, it's normal to build camps outside, and Zhou Yu won't be able to do anything about these camps.
What really gave Zhou Yu a headache was Cao Ren's cavalry.
The restraint of the cavalry on the infantry was too obvious. If Zhou Yu did not find a way to deal with these cavalry, Zhou Yu would not be able to pull out the camp and approach Jiangling City.
In this case, Liu Bei led his army to support Zhou Yu.
Now that the two sides are allied forces, even if Zhou Yu intends to consume Liu Bei's strength, in terms of military situation, Zhou Yu will not say that half is hidden and half is hidden. If this happens later, Zhou Yu will be the party at the disadvantage.
Therefore, Zhou Yu told Liu Bei the dilemma he was facing now, and asked Zhang Xi by the way - is the art of war you gave me correct? Why is it that Jiangdong Army has been training according to the art of war for so long, but it is still so weak in land warfare? !
That depressed Zhang Xi blames me for this kind of thing? !
Even if I didn't give you the Mandarin Duck Formation, there is no problem with those military training methods to train the soldiers' willpower and cooperation ability. God knows how you Jiangdong trained? !
But Zhang Xi is also very curious. Even if the Jiangdong Army is rubbish, it will not be charged to this extent by dozens of cavalry. It can be understood by the newly recruited soldiers. These are veterans who have just finished the Battle of Chibi. What on earth is going on? what's going on? !
Not to mention Zhang Xi's curiosity, even Liu Bei was also curious, what was going on with this Jiangdong Army? !
Then Liu Bei proposed that he should go to the front of the formation to watch Jiangdong's army attack the city. Zhou Yu thought about it and couldn't object, so he ordered his soldiers to launch a tentative attack while he took Liu Bei and others up to watch.
Climbing high and looking into the distance, Zhou Yu made an explanation on the side while taking in the situation of the confrontation between the two armies.
"The city of Jiangling is strong, with well-equipped soldiers and supplies, and two strongholds have been set up outside the city to compete with each other. When one stronghold is attacked, it is very difficult for each stronghold and the city to send troops to rescue them," Zhou Yu explained.
Liu Bei hesitated for a moment and said, "Commander, why don't you send people to contain these two places and concentrate on attacking one stronghold. If you defeat one stronghold, the force of the corner will be broken."
Zhou Yu nodded and said, "What General Zuo said is true, but alas!!!"
Zhou Yu did not continue speaking, but pointed to the battlefield and motioned for everyone to take a look first.
At this time, on the battlefield, Jiangdong Army had surrounded Cao Yong's camp and formed a defensive formation in the direction of Jiangling City and another camp to prevent the enemy from coming to aid.
But soon, the gates of Jiangling City and Niujin Camp opened, and thousands of Cao's troops rushed out to rescue them.
It's okay to say that the Niujin camp is basically composed of infantry, and they have been killed by Jiangdong's army, so there is no way to go to meet Cao Yong.
But the direction of Jiangling City was uncomfortable. What rushed out were cavalry, or a thousand cavalry, and the leader was Cao Ren himself.
In the previous battle, Cao Ren showed his majesty as a fierce general. He led dozens of cavalry to defeat the Jiangdong Army by more than a hundred steps. Now he brought out a thousand cavalry. The ability of the Jiangdong Army to withstand the first wave of cavalry attack was considered Zhang Xi's training in the art of war. It worked.
But the result was still the same. In the plain area, infantry faced the attack of cavalry and was looking for death. Jiangdong's army was quickly dispersed by Cao Ren's cavalry. When Lu Meng, who was leading the siege, saw this situation, he quickly paid for his troops and retreated slowly. .
Cao Ren did not pursue, but retreated after resolving Cao Yong's siege crisis and continued to defend Jiangling City.
After about a morning of probing attacks, Zhou Yu smiled helplessly at Liu Bei and others.
"We have attacked the city several times, but they have all been destroyed by these more than a thousand cavalry. If we don't use the cavalry, I fear that it will be difficult to get down from Jiangling and Nanjun will be difficult to conquer." Zhou Yu said with a helpless sigh.
At this time, Zhang Xi asked with some confusion, "Why don't the governor use a plan to capture it?! For example, pretend to attack the camp and have the army lie in ambush outside the city. When Cao Ren's cavalry comes out, they will surround you and kill them?! Once the cavalry breaks through, then Both villages can be destroyed."
Zhou Yu glanced at Zhang Xi, wondering whether this kid was really not good enough or was a bad guy who wanted his Jiang Dongjun to die.
It is true that he has more than 40,000 troops under his command. If Zhang Xi's method is used, Cao Ren's more than a thousand cavalry can indeed be surrounded. But those are cavalry, cavalry that come and go like the wind. If you want to surround the cavalry with infantry, you must not be kidding.
Okay, even if they are surrounded, what price will their infantry have to pay to deal with these thousand cavalry? !
Perhaps the worst result is that his infantry paid a heavy price, and he still could not completely leave these thousand cavalry, allowing Cao Ren to break out of the siege and return to the city.
Besides, no one knows how many cavalry there are in Jiangling City. What if Cao Ren still has a thousand cavalry? ! Continue to surround? !
Don't look back. Cao Ren's cavalry was not surrounded and killed, but most of his Jiangdong Army infantry was lost and unable to attack the city.
Zhou Yu thinks that with the military level Zhang Xi showed in E County, he should not have thought of these things. Therefore, this person is not a good person like Zhuge Liang.
"Then Cao Ren and Yuan Chang are quite similar. They only know how to defend the city. They may not be affected by such tactics to lure the enemy into ambush!!!" Zhou Yu glanced at Zhang Xi with an unkind expression and said angrily.
This is a tactful rejection of Zhang Xi's suggestion. By the way, it is ironic that Zhang Xi, like Cao Ren, only wants to defend the city and be a tortoise, and has never thought about defeating the enemy.
Zhang Xi felt bored and knew that Zhou Yu had seen through his little thoughts, so he immediately lowered his head and stopped talking.
Zhou Yu did not give Zhang Xi a good look, but when he turned to face Liu Bei, he greeted Liu Bei with a smile and said, "Since Duke Xuande has led strong reinforcements here and has also observed the strength of Cao's army, why not let the general lead his army to attack the city tomorrow? Also let me wait for the people from Jiangdong to appreciate the style of Duke Xuande?!"
This was a very nice thing to say, and Liu Bei didn't think about coming over just to shout and act as a cheerleader, so he immediately agreed.
But at this time, Xu Shu, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke up and said, "Since the two families have an alliance, it is natural for our army to attack the city. However, our army is small, but I don't know if the governor can allocate thousands of troops and horses to help. , to express our alliance?!”
Zhou Yu thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "This is what it should be. I will send people to help tomorrow. I wish Xuande a victory first!!!"
(End of chapter)
