There was nothing wrong with Zhuge Ke's strategy, and he did catch Zhou Tai off guard. The ambush had the desired effect.
But Zhuge Ke also made a small mistake - he misestimated the gap in military strength and combat effectiveness between the two sides.
But strictly speaking, Zhuge Ke cannot be entirely blamed for this matter.
When Zhuge Ke was in Jiangdong, his greatest achievement was to quell the Shanyue rebellion, but as for the Shanyue ethnic group, there were not a few people who could quell their rebellion.
From the earliest time when Sun Ce pacified Jiangdong, Shanyue came out to make trouble. Now when Zhuge Ke pacified Shanyue, there were many generals of Soochow who had the experience of pacifying Shanyue.
For example, Lu Dai, Jiang Qin, He Qi, Quan Cong, Zhou Li and others. Generals at the commander-in-chief level such as Zhou Yu, Lu Meng and Lu Xun are all willing to compete with Shan Yue.
Shanyue's combat effectiveness is just that. In the early years, it could still pose some threat to the unstable Jiangdong regime. However, in recent years, with the stability of Soochow's regime, Shanyue has almost become Soochow's Dingkou and troop base.
Every time Soochow suppresses a rebellion, they have the advantage of military strength and combat power. It is not difficult to quell the Shanyue rebellion.
The reason why Zhuge Ke was able to stand out in the process of pacifying Shanyue was that, on the one hand, he had a good father and some people praised him. On the other hand, the strategies adopted by Zhuge Ke were indeed eye-catching.
In the past, Soochow's efforts to pacify Shanyue were basically done by force. Although Shanyue could be defeated, it would be somewhat delayed, and in these pacified areas, there is a high probability that Shanyue would rebel again within a few years.
There is no way, people really can't survive the winter in the mountains.
But the strategy adopted by Zhuge Ke was not so much pacification by force, but political pacification. He first used force to deter Shanyue so that Shanyue would not dare to take the initiative to go out to fight. Then they used the method of encirclement on all sides to force the people of Shanyue to come out of the mountains, causing Shanyue to lose its biggest support for rebellion. In the end, he used an approach that was almost partial to the Shanyue people to win over the people of Shanyue and guide more Shanyue people to come out of the mountains and accept the rule of Soochow.
The pacification this time somewhat means "attacking the city first, attacking the heart first". Not only did Shanyue be pacified at the minimum cost, it also attracted a large number of Shanyue Dingkou to come out and settle in the mountains, and increased the taxation of Dingkou a lot with Da Wu. origin of.
There is a saying that Zhuge Ke's suppression of the Shanyue Rebellion was very impressive, at least from a political perspective.
For this reason, Zhuge Ke was valued by Sun Quan. During this battle, he was sent to Jiangxia by Sun Quan to lead the Jiangxia County troops in the battle.
Until now, Zhuge Ke's combat purpose and combat thinking are very clear.
The purpose of attacking Ying County was not to capture Ying County as soon as possible, but to create a momentum for the Soochow army to suppress Ying County, attract the attention of Zhang Xi in Jiangling, and prepare for Zhou Yu's subsequent inducement operations.
Therefore, it cannot be said that Zhuge Ke went all out to attack Ying County. It was more or less a strategic necessity to waste time with Zhou Tai under the city of Ying County.
Zhuge Ke didn't think that he could really defeat the unknown Jingzhou general Zhou Tai.
Zhou Tai's withdrawal route was also carefully planned by Zhuge Ke. Regardless of whether it was the west gate or the north gate, Zhuge Ke arranged ambushes. And Zhou Tai did not expect it. He encountered Zhuge Ke's arrangement at the north gate of Ying County. ambush attack.
However, Zhuge Ke probably had more dealings with the Shanyue people, and he somewhat misestimated the combat effectiveness of the Jingzhou County soldiers under Zhou Tai's command, and regarded them as soldiers who were slightly more capable than Shanyue.
Three thousand ambush troops, in Zhuge Ke's eyes, are enough to surround and kill more than 10,000 Shanyue rebels. After all, this is Shanyue, and 10,000 people are mostly just taking care of their families. The number of truly combatable soldiers will not exceed 3,000. people.
Of course, Zhuge Ke knew that the soldiers of Jingzhou County were regular troops and could not be simply compared to the Shanyue Army. However, in his opinion, even if the combat effectiveness of the Jingzhou County soldiers was much stronger than that of the Shanyue Army, his three thousand ambush troops would not be able to encircle and kill them. It shouldn't be a big problem to hold back the enemy's troops by surprise, wait until the main force led by himself arrives for reinforcements, and encircle the Ying County defenders, right? !
Zhuge Ke felt that he had underestimated the defenders of Ying County, but when Zhuge Ke led his troops to the north gate of Ying County, he only saw his own soldiers scattered everywhere after being defeated, and did not look at them at all. Go to the garrison of Ying County led by Zhou Tai.
Still let people run away.
Zhuge Ke was very angry about this.
As for Zhoutai, he was indeed extremely lucky. Fortunately, there were only three thousand ambush troops, and the Soochow Army's land combat capabilities were still not disappointing after so many years.
Facing Zhuge Ke's attack, Zhoutai, who had been defending Ying County for a month, still had about 9,000 troops left in hand when he withdrew. This shows that Zhuge Ke really did not fight seriously. And Zhou Tai was indeed able to defend with ease.
Anyway, Zhou Tai led these 9,000 soldiers and horses to break out from the north gate and easily defeated the 1,000 blocking soldiers of the Soochow Army who stayed at the north gate. At this time, Zhou Tai somewhat thought that this Zhuge Ke , he was probably just a second-generation official who took advantage of his father's status to join the army to gain military merit.
After all, Zhuge Ke really didn't leave a deep impression on Zhou Tai. Not only the attack was a complete mess, but the defenders' dispatch was also the same, and it didn't look like they had much ability.
Then, Zhoutai was attacked by Zhuge Ke's ambush.
Zhou Tai was somewhat panicked by the sudden attack. After all, according to Zhou Tai's prediction, given Zhuge Ke's ability, it was impossible to be ambushed outside the north gate in advance.
He doesn't have the brains and ability.
But now, this ambush appeared at the moment when Zhou Tai lost his vigilance. Zhou Tai really did not expect it.
In this case, Zhou Tai had no choice. He knew that he had fallen into the trap.
If he cannot break through the entanglement of this ambush, he will not be able to leave even if he wants to when the main force of the Soochow Army arrives from behind.
Therefore, Zhou Taiyi gritted his teeth, used himself and his bodyguards as arrows, and took the initiative to launch an attack to the north where the ambush was densest, trying to break through. Only in this way could there be a glimmer of hope.
But, to be honest, Zhoutai was helpless at this time. Everyone could think of setting up an ambush at such a key place. The ambush soldiers sent must be elite, and they could not break through so easily.
Then, Zhou Tai really led his troops to break through.
Zhou Tai himself was stunned. What kind of ambush was this? ! How could you have the nerve to ambush yourself with this fighting ability? !
But no matter what, since you have already fought out, then turn around and fight back.
Zhou Tai's goal was not to escape alone, but to lead the garrison to support Jiangling City.
Running out by himself is not a skill, but leading everyone to evacuate together is the embodiment of his ability.
Such an easy breakout also made Zhou Tai realize that although this ambush was ambushed in Zhou Tai's most dangerous place, its own combat effectiveness was really not that outstanding.
In this case, there is no chance.
In this way, under Zhou Tai's back and forth attacks, the Soochow Army's ambush finally became loose in formation. Zhou Tai seized the opportunity and led a large force to break out of the ambush and get rid of the Soochow Army's entanglement. Go all the way north.
Of course, Zhoutai is not without losses.
When leaving Ying County, Zhou Tai had 9,000 men, but when it came time to break out, Zhou Tai still had about 7,000 men left. An ambush caused nearly 2,000 casualties to the Ying County defenders.
Most of these casualties were caused when the Yingxian defenders were shaken and at a loss when they first encountered an ambush. It can be seen that the effect of the ambush was achieved, but the number of ambush troops sent by Zhuge Ke was too small. Some.
If there were another two thousand people, the result might be completely different.
Strictly speaking, Zhou Tai lost to Zhuge Ke in terms of strategic layout, but Zhou Tai's battle experience was far richer than Zhuge Ke's, and the land warfare capabilities of his soldiers were also better than those of Jiangxia County brought by Zhuge Ke. Soldiers are stronger.
This time, a loophole was found and Zhou Tai led his army to escape. Next time, he may not have such good luck.
This is why Zhoutai lamented his good luck after breaking through.
Even so, when Zhou Tai made a big circle and retreated from Ying County to Jiangling, he only had 6,000 soldiers under his command.
Some of the 1,000 missing men were those who failed to keep up with the large army in time during the breakout process, some were those who escaped halfway because of the lack of morale of the army, and some were those who were unable to continue fighting with the army due to injuries. In short, Zhou Taineng led the troops to return to Jiangling, with only 6,000 troops.
At this time, outside Jiangling City, with the successive losses of Lingyang, Gong'an, and Yingxian, and the defeat of Jiangling Navy, from east to west, except for the north, there is no figure of the Soochow Army. In the other three directions, Jiangling has The siege was completed by the Soochow Army.
Zhou Yu also arrived at Jiangling City in less than two days and set up camp. Five days later, with the arrival of the main army of Lu Xun and Zhuge Ke, a hundred thousand Soochow troops gathered under Jiangling City.
In Jiangling City, Zhang Xi received 9,000 soldiers returned from the police, 6,000 soldiers detoured back from Ying County, plus the 7,000 defenders he still had, a total of 22,000 soldiers.
Well, if we include the 15,000 men under Wang Ji's command who have received the news and are returning to the army, then Jiangling's total defensive strength should be around 37,000 men.
With a strength comparison of three to one, it is not impossible to fight a battle to defend Jiangling! ! !
(End of chapter)
