Since he stayed in Jingzhou, Xu Shu rarely had time to make decisions alone.
When the late emperor entered Sichuan, the main general left in Jingzhou was Guan Yu, and the chief counselor was Kong Ming. Later, Kong Ming, Shi Yuan and others all entered Sichuan one after another, and Xu Shu officially assisted Guan Yu and guarded Jingzhou.
In the meantime, Zhang Yuanchang came to help for a while and served as the prefect of Nanjun for a while.
It was in the past ten years that Xu Shu truly began to take charge as Guan Yu's chief adviser.
However, due to Guan Yu's aloof character, Xu Shu rarely had to make decisions on his own. Most of the time, what he had to do was to provide advice to Guan Yu, and try his best to persuade Guan Yu not to be stupid when Guan Yu's head was hot.
But now, it's really time to make a decision on his own. Xu Shu felt slightly uneasy.
Theoretically speaking, the person with the highest official position in Wancheng now should be the chariot general Zhang Fei. After Guan Yu fell ill, it should be Zhang Fei who stepped up to take charge of military affairs and decide the next combat strategy.
But Zhang Fei.
"Whatever Military Master Xu says, I, Old Zhang, will just do it!"
This is the answer Zhang Fei gave, although it was consistent with the three generals' characters as always, but it also increased Xu Shu's pressure invisibly.
This is no longer Liu Bei's army when he was in Xinye, whose total strength did not exceed 5,000. This is an army of 110,000 that he has to command, and what he has to decide is a major matter related to the safety of Jingzhou and the Northern Expedition to Luoyang.
What's even more terrible is that in the current army, with Guan Yu falling ill and comatose, there is no one left who can discuss with Xu Shu.
Zhang Fei knew that his strategy was insufficient, so he became the boss. Wang Ji and Deng Ai, who were most suitable for negotiation, led the troops to Kunyang and Guanping. Wu Yi was not good enough, and Wang Ping was only good at commanding the unworthy flying army. Guan Xing can talk about literature with him, but he is a pure fool in combat. As for Liao Hua, let's not mention it for now. He is good at managing logistics and leading troops in combat, but he is just okay.
Xu Shu can only rely on himself to make decisions, so Xu Shu has been desperately reminding himself that he must deal with it calmly.
Xu Shu has always had a clear understanding of his own abilities.
He is not as versatile as Kong Ming, nor as outstanding as Shi Yuan in military strategy. As for Fa Xiaozhi, I have not had much contact with him. I have only heard rumors that this person often has fantastic ideas and is good at strategic arrangements.
These people are either better than him in all aspects, or stronger than him in one aspect. It's not that Xu Shu lacks self-confidence, it's just that Xu Shu knows that he is just an ordinary counselor who knows a little bit about everything, but is not considered a top strategist in anything.
Therefore, Xu Shu believes that when making strategic decisions, he should try not to destroy the original plan. Only tinkering with the original strategy is the best choice for him now.
So, what was Kong Ming’s strategy for this Northern Expedition? !
It's still the same old strategy of reconquering Sun Quan in the east and attacking Cao Wei in the north. This is the basic strategy.
Specific to the actual operation stage, it is to use Jiangxia County and tacitly allow Dongwu to invade Lingling and Wuling counties, a total of three counties, in exchange for Dongwu to go north to attack Runan, so that the Jingzhou army can mobilize enough troops and horses to go north to conquer Wancheng , opened up the passage into the Central Plains, and then sent troops to Luoyang.
In fact, the most critical first half of this strategy has been achieved so far, and now the only goal left is to send troops to Luoyang.
As long as Luoyang is conquered and the big goal of reviving the Han Dynasty is more than half achieved, the rest is just a matter of time.
At this critical moment, Soochow's sudden instability was unexpected, but it was also very reasonable.
After all, with Sun Shiwan's reputation, who can completely believe that he is not a monster? !
Therefore, if the established strategy of the Northern Expedition is followed, Xu Shu should ignore the threat posed by Soochow at this time, advance to Kunyang with an army of 110,000, conquer Yingchuan, and then march directly to Luoyang.
After all, when they first formulated the strategy, Kong Ming and Yuan Chang had not considered the possibility of Soochow turning their sides midway, and had already made arrangements and responses in advance.
Now Xiangyang is guarded by the veteran general Wen Pin and ten thousand people, assisted by Zhang Ni, and has the Xiangfan defense system in hand. Even if Soochow has naval forces to assist in the battle, it may not be that easy to conquer Xiangyang in a short time.
As for Jiangling, following Li Qiu of Wuling and Pan Jun of Lingling, they retreated north. Some of them stationed troops in the Public Security Bureau, and some stationed troops in Jiangling. Now the Public Security Bureau and Jiangling combined have 10,000 people stationed there. Coupled with the support of Yidu County, in theory, It's not a big problem either.
If we think according to this strategic arrangement, Xu Shu should choose to continue the Northern Expedition instead of leading troops to return for reinforcements.
However, the military report Xu Shu received made Xu Shu feel that something was strange.
Wenpin from Xiangyang and Shibao from Jiangling actually sent news about the Soochow Navy invaders at the same time, and Xu Shu carefully calculated the time of occurrence, and it seemed to be very close.
Zhou Yu was in Jiangxia and had a total of 10,000 sailors and 10,000 infantry at his disposal. How did he manage to appear in the Public Security Bureau and Yicheng, two places hundreds of miles apart, at the same time? !
Split your forces and attack? ! What threat can that be! ! !
How could a famous general like Zhou Yu do such a stupid thing? !
A bluff, trying to use this method to stimulate the Jingzhou Army to return for rescue? !
This possibility cannot be ruled out, but the problem is that this strategy is too crude and conspicuous, and anyone with a little bit of brains can see through it at a glance.
That was Zhou Yu, a famous general recognized by the world, a genius commander who was able to defeat Cao Cao's army of more than 100,000 men in a water battle with more than 20,000 men. His strategy couldn't be so crude, right? !
Therefore, it was difficult for Xu Shu not to think that Zhou Yu had other back-up plans. This bluff was just a way to confuse himself and allow him to continue the Northern Expedition and lengthen the return route.
Once Xu Shu led his troops to conquer Yingchuan and march into Henan, it would be impossible to return to Xiangyang or even Jiangling in a short period of time.
At that time, once Soochow attacks Jingzhou again, it will have to rely on Xiangyang and Jiangling to resist.
If Zhou Yu only relied on the 20,000 people who occupied Jiangxia, Xu Shu wouldn't have to worry too much, but the problem is that there can't be only so many soldiers in the entire Soochow, right? !
Indeed, according to intelligence, Soochow is also at war with Cao Xiu of Runan, and has invested a lot of troops, with a total of 70,000 to 80,000 people. In addition to the 20,000 people in Zhou Yu's hands, it has already reached 100,000. .
But the problem is that although Sun Quan has the nickname Sun Shiwan, it does not mean that Sun Quan only has 100,000 troops.
The Han Dynasty occupied the four states of Jing, Yi, Yongliang, and could muster more than 200,000 troops. Sun Quan now also occupied the four states of Qing, Xu, and Yangjiao. It is impossible that he only has the troops he sees now.
It is not too difficult for Sun Quan to gather another 50,000 soldiers.
Moreover, now, Soochow Wu and the Han Dynasty are not in an alliance in name. Jiangxia County was also "occupied" by Zhou Yu's troops. In other words, if Soochow Wu chooses to attack Jingzhou again this time, there will be no moral pressure. It is a normal attack by sending troops.
What worries does Sun Quan have about this? !
As for Zhou Yu's private guarantee before the war, the strategy between countries depends on the personal reputation of a general. Anyone who takes it seriously is really stupid.
Sun Quan really wanted to go all out and launch an attack regardless of Zhou Yu's reputation. As a minister, what can Zhou Yu say? !
The more Xu Shu thought about it, the more he felt that the possibility of a sneak attack by Soochow was very high, and the launch time should be after the main force of the Jingzhou Army continued the Northern Expedition and captured Yingchuan County.
So, how should you respond? !
The Northern Expedition was already halfway through. Strictly speaking, after occupying Wancheng, the biggest strategic purpose of the Northern Expedition had been completed.
But in this Northern Expedition, Yongzhou paid such a high price, almost destroying most of the left Fengyi and half of the right Fufeng County. It was not easy to get out of the situation where Cao Wei Sili's troops were seriously insufficient. If you are like this If Bian had withdrawn his troops after capturing Wancheng, he would not have such a good opportunity the next time he wanted to send troops from Wancheng to attack Luoyang.
Xu Shu did not want to give up the great situation of the Northern Expedition, but he had to defend Jingzhou.
Based on this judgment, Xu Shu made his own choice - he ordered two generals, Liao Hua and Guan Xing, to lead 10,000 Jingzhou soldiers each to return to Xiangyang and Jiangling, and follow the commands of Wenpin and Shi Bao to consolidate the defense.
He led the remaining 50,000 people to press forward to Kunyang County, reinforce Deng Ai and Wang Ji, and strive to defeat the Wei army in front as soon as possible and capture Yingchuan. Then, based on the actual situation, he would consider whether to continue to advance or return to Jingzhou to aid. .
This strategy is a bit like having both ends in mind. On the battlefield, being uncertain about choices is also a taboo.
Xu Shu knew this, but now Xu Shu still had the confidence to do so, because he still had enough troops on hand. He had transferred back 20,000 soldiers and 90,000 more soldiers, enough to form a frontal suppression of the Wei army of about 50,000.
However, when Xu Shu and Zhang Fei led their troops to Bowang, they suddenly received an urgent report from Jiangling Shibao.
Soochow sent troops from Jiangxia and Changsha to attack Jingzhou.
In Changsha, Sun Quan, with Zhu Ran as commander, led 30,000 naval troops and 20,000 infantry, a total of 50,000 people, to attack the public security forces.
On the Jiangxia side, Zhou Yu personally led 20,000 naval and army troops up the Han River and headed straight for Xiangyang.
Jingzhou is in a state of emergency.
As soon as the news came, not to mention Xu Shu, even Zhang Fei was surprised.
It was not that Soochow was surprised by the sneak attack, but that Soochow could still send so many soldiers to fight.
Fortunately, in Xiangyang, although Zhou Yu is a famous general in the world, he does not lead many troops. Wenpin, who guards Xiangyang, is Zhou Yu's old opponent. He has a mature and steady personality, so he should not be easily succeeded by Zhou Yu.
But Jiangling has a total of 10,000 defenders. Although the prefect Shi Bao has shown a certain level of military strategy, he usually appears more as a civilian official.
Facing the siege of 50,000 people, it's really hard to say whether they can hold on until the moment Liao Hua leads his troops to return for reinforcements.
Moreover, even if Liao Hua's reinforcements are in place, Jiangling only has a total of 20,000 soldiers and horses. It is still very stressful to defend against the attack of 50,000 Soochow troops.
Under this situation, even Zhang Fei began to consider whether he should directly return to the army to rescue Jingzhou.
After all, Jingzhou is the foundation of this group of Jingzhou troops, and the Northern Han army brought by Zhang Fei also needs Jingzhou to provide food and grass support. If Jingzhou falls, all the army's retreat will be cut off.
However, under such circumstances, Xu Shu gritted his teeth and suggested that Zhang Fei continue to attack Kunyang.
It was not to compete with Soochow for time to see who captured the city first, but something was mentioned in the military report sent by Shi Bao.
Chen Daojun, who was originally supposed to be stationed in Yufu as a backup, suddenly had 3,000 people coming down the river and appearing near the police station.
The leading general of these three thousand men was Pang Tong Pang Shiyuan, the great Han servant.
This is why Xu Shu dared to continue the Northern Expedition.
(End of chapter)
