One thing to say is that since regaining Jiang Xia, Guan Yu has always attached great importance to Jiang Xia.
Not only did he arrange for Jingzhou veteran general Wenpin to guard Jiangxia, but Guan Yu never transferred a single soldier from Jiangxia during the Northern Expedition.
Guan Yu knew very well how important the geographical location of Jiangxia was. He was the one who kept an eye on Jiangdong and was Jingzhou's first line of defense against Jiangdong.
No soldiers can be easily mobilized in this direction.
After all, given the virtues of the Jiangdong rats, if they could stab a big man in the back once, they might backstab him a second time. Guan Yu would not have any doubts about this now.
Therefore, Jiangxia County, under the control of Wenpin, has always been wary of Jiangdong, which is now Soochow.
Sun Quan suddenly stabbed him in the back and started an undeclared war. He indeed took the initiative and captured Xiaji and Jinchun counties at once, but Wenpin quickly reacted.
The problem is that although Wenpin responded in time, Sun Quan led more than 50,000 soldiers to attack Jiangxia this time, while the defenders of Jiangxia, including the army and navy, only had a total of 15,000 people.
There are 10,000 naval troops, which is Wenpin's biggest support in guarding Jiangxia. The remaining 5,000 people are still county soldiers distributed in various counties.
Not to mention the absolute disadvantage in terms of military strength, this civil servant did not dare to vouch for whether the Jiangxia navy was more capable than the Soochow navy.
If the forces are equal, and 10,000 Jiangxia naval forces are facing off against 10,000 Soochow naval forces, then Wenpin will not show any fear. It is just a fight. It is not certain who will win and who will lose.
But this time more than 50,000 people came to Soochow, and based on the characteristics of Soochow soldiers, their soldiers were both land infantry and naval troops. Ten thousand against fifty thousand, both sides are proficient in water warfare. , Wenpin is not arrogant enough to think that he can fight one against five.
Therefore, the most important thing now is to find a way to block Soochow's advance, hold on to the city, and wait for reinforcements from Xiangyang.
Actually, it’s not too far from Xiangyang to Jiangxia.
Soochow's attack on Jiangxia was to go up the Yangtze River, and it was also necessary to consider whether the hydrological conditions were suitable for the attack. The journey from Xiangyang to Jiangxia is along the Han River. As long as Wenpin can persist in Xiling for ten days and a half, the reinforcements from Xiangyang will probably be able to reach Xiakou.
At that time, if the Xiangyang navy joins the Jiangxia navy, there may not be a possibility of a confrontation with Soochow on the Yangtze River.
As for the army, it’s not that Wenpin underestimates Soochow’s land warfare capabilities. On land, Wenpin relies on city defense and may be able to defeat one against five, but there is no problem at all against one against three.
Therefore, the current problem is how to delay time and wait for reinforcements from Xiangyang.
This issue is really difficult for Wenpin.
In Xiling County today, there are only two thousand county soldiers, and although there are ten thousand naval troops, these ten thousand naval troops are of great use, and the naval camp is not located in Xiling, which is close to the inland, but is arranged in Xiakou Yuan Hydrolysis Station. Can't get close to fire.
If Sun Quan really went all the way up the river, broke through the defenses of E County and Zhu County, and attacked Xiling, then Wenpin could only stop the siege of Soochow's 50,000 army with two thousand county soldiers.
No matter what Wenpin thinks about this kind of thing, there is always something wrong with it.
The worried Wenpin paced back and forth, thinking hard about how to defeat the enemy.
Wenpin is not Zhang Xi, and he cannot do things like sinking ships and intercepting rivers. This can be done in E County, but not in Xiling County.
Near E County is the Sanjiangkou, and there are several narrow areas in the Yangtze River where it is possible for ships to sink and intercept the river.
Xiling County is close to the inland, and the closest place to the Yangtze River is more than 80 miles away. Moreover, the river is wide. Even if all the ships of the Jiangxia navy are scuttled, it may not be able to block the river.
Besides, today's Soochow is no longer the Jiangdong of the early years. Today's Soochow is one country after all, and Sun Quan does not need to argue with aristocratic families for a few reinforcements. This time, 50,000 soldiers attacked Jiangxia. This was not the case earlier. Years are simply unimaginable.
At the beginning, Zhang Xi only faced more than 10,000 Jiangdong soldiers. He used 3,000 soldiers to guard E County and occupy the city defense, which was able to delay Zhou Yu's withdrawal.
But now, Wenpin only has 2,000 county soldiers in his hands, and he is facing 50,000 Dongwu soldiers replaced by Zhang Xi. If he insists on defending, he will not be able to hold it.
Therefore, Wenpin must find a way to delay this period of time with strategies.
As for Wenpin, he finally thought of a way and ushered in the most glorious moment of his life.
First of all, Wenpin ordered the county soldiers who were originally scattered in various counties in Jiangxia to immediately go to Xiling to assemble as many troops as possible to defend the city in Xiling.
If the rest of the county towns are lost, they will be lost. As long as Xiling, the county seat, and Xiakou, the navy base, are not lost, it is not a big problem.
Secondly, Wenpin ordered all counties to behave calmly as usual after sending off the county soldiers. Even if his Soochow army passed by with great fanfare on the water, those who should leave the city to farm still went out to farm. , Those who should go up the mountain to chop firewood continue to go up the mountain to chop firewood, and do not even interrupt the originally scheduled market. Even if the soldiers of Soochow come ashore to buy, they will sell when they should.
After giving these orders, Wenpin directly ordered the four city gates of Xiling County to be opened, assuming a defenseless posture, and then locked himself in the prefect's mansion, pretending that nothing happened.
This move directly defeated Sun Quan.
What does this mean? !
He had already led troops to conquer Xiaji and Jinchun counties. As a veteran general in Jingzhou, it was impossible for Wenpin not to know this, right? !
What is this response plan? !
If you were anyone else, Sun Quan would have thought that Jiang Xia's general was too frightened to fight against the "heavenly soldiers" he brought.
But this is Wenpin.
As a famous general in Jingzhou who has survived from Liu Biao's time to the present, Sun Quan is very familiar with Wenpin.
In the entire Jingzhou, the most feared figures by Sun Quan were Guan Yu, the current general of Jihan, and Wenpin.
This is a man who is skilled in both water and land warfare, and is both civil and military.
Now that he knew that he was leading troops to attack Jiangxia, how could he adopt such a retarded response strategy?
Especially when Sun Quan led his troops up the river and captured E County and Zhu County with almost no effort, with Xiling right in front of him, Sun Quan's uneasiness reached its peak.
Could this Wen Zhongye be using a strategy to lure the enemy deeper and prepare to ambush him? !
If it were on the water, Sun Quan really wasn't afraid. This time there were many naval forces in Soochow, and fighting on the river, even if there were 50,000 naval forces in Jiangxia, Sun Quan would not be afraid.
But the problem is that Xiling is located inland. It is 80 miles away from the nearest place to the Yangtze River. To conquer Xiling, you must lead the army ashore to fight on land.
In land warfare, Sun Quan's confidence was not that sufficient.
The fact that the Soochow army was not good at land warfare was not only felt by Wei and Han, but also by Sun Quan himself.
If this was Wenpin's ambush, well, it's better to be on the safe side.
Therefore, Sun Quan ordered the entire army to dock and temporarily set up camp along the coast. At the same time, he sent scouts to the direction of Xiling to conduct a detailed investigation of Xiling's current defense situation.
Then, the news from the scouts and Xizuo made Sun Quan even more uneasy.
After investigating, the scout reported back that there was no trace of defense in Xiling County, and no soldiers were found within twenty or thirty miles around. The scout ventured close to Xiling County to check, and found that the four gates of Xiling County were wide open, and the people were still out of the city to work, and there were not many in the city. Guarded by soldiers, it looked like the world was at peace.
The news coming back from the details is even more outrageous.
According to the news conveyed by the police in Xiling City, Wenpin has not left the prefect's mansion in recent days. The gate of the mansion is closed tightly. It is rumored that the prefect Wen has been lying down in the mansion. There is no sign of mobilizing troops and no orders.
Once these two pieces of information are combined, not to mention Sun Quan's muttering, even Lu Fan is a bit vague.
Wenpin, that is Jingzhou veteran Wenpin. What is he doing? !
Jiangdong's attack on Jiangxia took more than a day or two. It took at least about ten days to set off from Chaisang and reach the four counties in succession. Now that the army is about to approach Xiling City, why does Xiling County look so defenseless? !
But if you want to say that Wenpin didn't know anything about it, that's not right either.
The gates of the governor's mansion in Xi County are now closed. It must be Wenpin's countermeasure adjustment after he learned the news of Jiangdong's invasion. Otherwise, how could the gates of the governor's mansion be closed on weekdays.
As for the rumor that Wenpin was sleeping, whoever believed it was a fool.
This must be Wenpin secretly dispatching troops and horses, but the problem is that no one knows what kind of arrangements Wenpin has made, whether he has arranged an ambush, or what kind of strategy he has. It is impossible to guess.
For this reason, Sun Quan had to suspend his march and wait for four or five days to observe the changes.
Anyway, Sun Quan is now leading a large army to suppress the border, with 50,000 soldiers, against a small Xiling County. Even if he waits for four or five days, Sun Quan can afford to wait.
On the other hand, Wenpin, no matter what tricks he played, he could always find clues in four or five days, so that he could see through his strategies and methods and make the most appropriate response.
So, Sun Quan camped on the bank of the Yangtze River and waited for five days.
However, during these five days, Sun Quan found no trace of Wenpin's conspiracy. The scouts sent to Xiling County reported as always that there was no movement in Xiling County, and not even a single scout was sent out.
Now, Sun Quan can wait, but Lu Fan, Zhou Li and others can no longer wait.
The two came to find Sun Quan together and persuaded Sun Quan to advance the army.
Lu Fan persuaded, "The Supreme Leader brought the king's troops here and lingered for several days without advancing. This is not good for the morale of the army. I hope the Supreme Leader will take action soon."
That means we have brought so many soldiers here, and we have just stayed on the bank of the Yangtze River for a few days, eating and playing in the water. We are not here for tourism, so it is not a problem to wait like this.
Zhou Li, on the other hand, said to Sun Quan, "If the Supreme is worried about Wenpin being deceitful, he can join 10,000 troops and horses with Li. Li is willing to be the Supreme's vanguard and attack Xiling."
That means there are so many of us attacking Xiling County, so there is no need to worry so much. If you are worried about fraud, you can also send me to go to the mine. There is no need to continue to waste so much time.
When Sun Quan heard what his two subordinates said, he thought about it carefully. He simply gave Zhou Li 5,000 troops and horses and asked him to be the vanguard of his headquarters and go to Xiling.
However, this time Sun Quan finally learned the lesson from the Battle of Hefei. He was afraid that Wen Pin would imitate Zhang Liao and send 800 warriors to attack the Chinese army. He specifically emphasized that when Zhou Li marched, he must pay attention to following the main force. The connection between the troops cannot be too far apart.
The maximum distance cannot exceed thirty miles, otherwise there may be danger.
It's hard to say that he is in danger. It can only be said that Zhou Li might be ambushed and in danger.
After sending out Zhou Yu, Sun Quan did not continue to stay on the Yangtze River to eat fish. Instead, he immediately broke camp and set off, following Zhou Yu and heading towards Xiling County.
But this time, Sun Quan protected his central army very closely.
(End of chapter)
