The war in the land of Heluo started with Sima Yi's initiative. But in fact, Sima Yi took the initiative and did not act according to the plan, but acted without permission.
Sima Yi didn't want to do this either. Yanzhou's county soldiers are still gathering in Chenliu County, and they haven't even been completely assembled, let alone supporting Hulao Pass.
But Sima Yi really couldn't wait any longer. If he waited any longer, Zhuge Liang would almost close all the loopholes in the land of Heluo.
Therefore, Sima Yi could only take the risk and take the initiative, trying to capture Gong County in a short time and establish a forward fortress.
In doing so, on the one hand, it can disrupt Zhuge Liang's strategic arrangements. On the other hand, if it goes well, it can also buy a certain amount of time for Chen Liu's reinforcements to come later.
This was the main reason why Sima Yi attacked in advance, and it was also the reason why Sima Yi persuaded Xiahou Ba, the guard of the army, to agree to his initiative to attack. Without Xiahou Ba's consent, Sima Yi would not have been able to attack smoothly.
However, although Sima Yi persuaded Xiahou Ba, it was somewhat risky for him to do so.
After all, if he attacks without authorization and starts the Heluo War in advance, it may also cause his own people to be caught off guard.
For example, Chen Tai and Cao Zhen.
Chen Tai really didn't expect that Sima Yi would start the war in advance. When he received this military report, he was still in Xuchang collecting military rations for the counterattack.
After receiving the report of Sima Yi's initiative to attack, Chen Tai hurriedly organized the county troops and immediately went north, trying to drag down the Wudang Feijun stationed at the border of Yingchuan County and Henan County. Unfortunately, by the time Chen Tai arrived at the border, , Wudang Feijun had already retreated to Luoyang, and Chen Tai didn't even see a shadow.
Chen Tai had no choice but to immediately lead his troops back to Xuchang. Yingchuan County only had so few soldiers. Guo Huai's Runan County soldiers were still confronting Zhu Ju and had not yet withdrawn into Yingchuan as planned. Chen Tai's troops were insufficient.
Moreover, in the strategic arrangement of this war, Yingchuan County was only responsible for flank threats. Chen Tai did not dare to lead his troops too far away from Xuchang. He also had to guard against the threat to Xuchang from the Shu bandits in Xiangcheng.
Now that my mission goal is gone, there is really not much difference between staying at the border and returning to defend Xuchang.
If the emperor blamed him after the war, it would only be because of Sima Yi's problem. It was okay to start the war in advance. He actually didn't inform himself in advance. Who can be blamed for this? !
There was no big problem with Chen Tai, but Cao Zhen from Hedong County was so angry that he scolded his mother! ! !
The old thief Sima is very capable. He sent troops directly without even saying hello. Is it possible for you to counterattack Luoyang with the 30,000 infantry in your hand? Let me see? !
Of course, Cao Zhen said these words out of anger in his heart. Sima Yi had already sent troops. If he didn't take any action, then the counterattack on Luoyang would really be in vain.
Originally, Cao Zhen planned to stay in Hedong County, try to ease some conflicts between the Hedong family and Qin Lang, and persuade the Hedong family to provide enough money, food and ships to support the army's crossing of Henan. Now, everything has come to nothing.
While Cao Zhen gathered soldiers from Bingzhou County and quickly moved south to station in Hanoi County, he gave the Hedong families an ultimatum - when he led his troops to the Yellow River ferry in Hanoi County, he hoped to see at least a hundred ships capable of transporting troops. Show up there.
Let these Hedong aristocratic families weigh the consequences of not showing up.
I don’t have the patience to tangle with these aristocratic families.
Then, the aristocratic family really put together eighty or ninety merchant ships of various kinds for Cao Zhen within ten days.
The Hedong families are not fools either.
A man like Qin Lang who was born as a young master had no prestige in the army and no foundation in the court. The wealthy families in Hedong could fool him or even slap him in the face.
After all, when the lawsuit came before the emperor, the emperor had to weigh whether the Hedong family or Qin Lang was more important.
But if the Hedong family fails to comply with the orders given by a person of Cao Zhen's level and the family is destroyed, don't blame them for not reminding you.
One is a fake general who relies on the emperor's cronies as generals, and the other is a clan general who was killed in a sea of corpses. Who can be fooled and whose words should be listened to, in fact, these Hedong aristocratic families know very well.
In this way, Cao Zhen got a large number of boats crossing the river, and he didn't bother to argue with these Hedong aristocratic families. He immediately began to arrange his soldiers to cross the river and seize Mengjin Ferry across the river.
The Battle of Heluo officially started under this situation, which was relatively smooth despite some twists and turns.
The two sides fought fiercely in the Heluo area, and each responded to the battle according to the original plan. The Battle of Jiangling, from the beginning, seemed so single, but the singleness was a bit weird.
This is not Zhang Xi’s opinion alone, even Wang Ji feels the same.
The Battle of Jiangling is really not fun. After so many years, Soochow has only used a few tricks to attack Jiangling.
On land, troops were sent from Jiangxia and marched toward Ying County.
On the water, troops were sent from Lukou to attack the public security forces, cut off flank threats, and protect grain routes. After landing ashore, they marched toward Jiangling.
And with a high probability, the water route is the main force, and Jiangxia is advancing with partial divisions. After all, Soochow has advantages in water warfare.
Whether it was Lu Meng's sneak attack on Jingzhou or Zhu Ran's subsequent siege of Jingzhou, this was the same routine.
The single offensive line caused Zhang Xi to be very focused when dealing with Soochow's attack.
He sent Zhou Tai to lead 10,000 troops to garrison Ying County. He first withstood a wave of attacks by the Soochow Army, stalled for time, and observed the development of the situation.
Send the Jiangling Navy to guard the water passage from Jiangling to the Public Security Bureau, and assist in guarding the Public Security Bureau as much as possible. If it can be defended, Soochow will have no choice but to retreat. If it cannot be defended, then it will retreat to Jiangling and rely on the Jiangling city defense to continue to hold on.
These are all the offensive routines Soochow could use in the past three Jiangling offensive and defensive battles.
But this time, the Battle of Jiangling became very strange from the beginning.
First, Zhuge Ke from Jiangxia suddenly took the initiative to send troops and led 20,000 Jiangxia infantry to Ying County while Lu Xun was still organizing the troops in Jiangdong County in Jianye.
Immediately afterwards, Zhu Ran, the governor of Jingnan, who was supposed to cooperate with the action, still led the navy to stand still at Lukou.
What's even more outrageous is that Zhuge Ke was just like a stupid young man. Without any military support, he advanced with light troops and reached the outskirts of Ying County in less than fifteen days.
You know, Ying County is only five days away from Jiangling. At this time, more than 30,000 county soldiers have gathered in Jiangling City.
In other words, Zhuge Ke's light troops rushed into the outskirts of Ying County, and there were no other Soochow troops around to contain and coordinate. If Zhang Xi suddenly sent troops from Jiangling at this time, it would only take five days to arrive at Ying County and surround Zhuge Ke. Headquarters, besieged.
Even if Zhuge Ke wanted to run away, he didn't even have any friendly troops to respond.
Such an abnormal military action directly caused Zhang Xi and Wang Ji to be a little confused. Has Zhuge Ke lost his mind and gone crazy? !
This is if the abilities of Soochow's "four friends of the prince" are at this level, then Soochow's future will really become a joke.
With this sudden behavior, not to mention Zhang Xi, even Wang Ji suspected whether there was something fishy going on.
Judging from the information obtained from Soochow, although Zhuge Ke has never led an army to fight externally, within Soochow, Zhuge Ke is also a person who quelled the Shanyue rebellion. He still has experience in leading troops, and he was there In this battle, it can be seen that Zhuge Ke has quite good strategies and wisdom.
This kind of person should not be a reckless man who can attack lightly.
Wang Ji didn't believe it, and it was even more impossible for Zhang Xi to believe it.
Although Zhuge Ke's overall character and ability are indeed as Yang Xi said, he is a "talented but sparse" person. However, there is a premise for this sentence, which is that he must first have "talent".
This is a person who has certain talents, but does not think things through well, thinks very highly of himself, and is willful in doing things. This is two different things from being ambitious and talented.
Now this guy is acting like a reckless man, rushing into Ying County with light troops. Don't think of it as Soochow's plan to divert the tiger away from the mountain.
Zhang Xi decided that it would be better to wait and see for the time being.
And this wait and see, something happened to the south.
Shi Bao, who was stationed in Lingyang, was suddenly attacked by Lu Dai, the prefect of Wuling Wuling.
In fact, Shi Bao had long been prepared to be attacked by Lu Dai. The "sudden" here refers to the number of troops sent by Wuling County, which actually exceeded Shi Bao's expectation.
The last time Soochow attacked Jiangling, the maximum number of troops besieging Lingyang was 10,000. Shi Bao used 5,000 to defend Lingyang. Although it was more difficult to defend, it could still be defended.
But this time, Lu Dai directly led 30,000 people to besiege Lingyang, and immediately surrounded Lingyang, cutting off Shi Bao's retreat to the police.
Shi Bao was really dumbfounded. Where did Lu Dai get so many troops? Why didn't he receive any information beforehand? !
A strength of 30,000 people. This is how we can have so many troops by transferring all the soldiers from Guiyang, Lingling, and Changsha counties, right? !
But no matter what, Shi Bao is now in trouble and can only defend the city.
Li Qiu, who was guarding the public security, was also shocked when the scouts reported the situation of Lingyang being surrounded, and hurriedly sent a message to Jiangling. Now it was not a question of whether Shi Bao could defend Lingyang, but whether he could escape.
Moreover, once Lingyang is lost, the 30,000 Soochow troops will take advantage of the situation and move northward. The public security forces may also be trapped in a tight siege.
Therefore, Li Qiu had to quickly ask for help from Jiangling.
(End of chapter)
