After receiving Zhang Xi's order, Shi Bao and Jiang Wei immediately set off with 30,000 soldiers without any hesitation. With the support of Zhong Limu's navy, they attacked the public security forces.
This month, the two generals who were in command of the army in Jiangling City were overwhelmed.
The battle ahead was going so smoothly, and it was almost going to end all the way, but it was a bit unpleasant that they were still staying in Jiangling City.
For this reason, as soon as they received the military order to go out, the two men held their breath, led the troops, and then marched directly to the public security city in the shortest possible time.
Cheng Zi, the public security guard of Soochow, heard from his scouts that 30,000 Shu troops had crossed the river and captured the public security ferry. He looked back at the poor 3,000 soldiers under his command and withdrew without saying a word.
This is not running away from the battlefield, let me state it first.
When Zhu Ran judged the situation before, he believed that the Shu army would launch an attack from the direction of Wuling County. Therefore, Zhu Ran not only sent reinforcements to Wuling County, but also worked with Lu Dai to formulate a defensive strategy for Wuling County. .
The public security is a very important barrier for Jiangling, and it is also a sharp knife that stands in Jiangling's face. But for Wuling County, the public security does not have much value in sticking to it.
Instead of distributing troops to garrison here, it is better to retreat directly when the Shu army is pressing down, shrink the troops, and retreat to Wuling County.
Cheng Zi took a look at the current situation and found that the Shu army had 30,000 troops, while his own defenders only had 3,000 troops. The military strength comparison was ten to one. Isn't this a large army suppressing the situation? !
Therefore, when Cheng Zi abandoned the city and retreated to Wuling County, he was executing Wuling County's defensive strategy, not escaping from the battle.
By the way, Cheng Zi also brought timely news to Lu Dai that the Shu army was approaching the border.
Cheng Zi's behavior made Lu Dai dumbfounded.
To a certain extent, Cheng Zi's approach was indeed correct. With a ten-to-one military strength comparison, it was meaningless to resist in the police force.
But, you just ran back and didn't even keep a token guard. Isn't it a bit too damaging to your own morale? !
After all, he is also Cheng Demou's son. Oh, forget it, his own son is useless, how can he be so demanding on other people's sons.
At least Cheng Zi knew how to retreat quickly and come back to inform him. His judgment was countless times better than that of his own son.
No matter what, Lu Dai knew the news of the 30,000 Shu army attacking Wuling County, and Lu Dai's first reaction was to immediately gather the troops from the northern counties of Wuling County and retreat to Wuling County with all their strength.
Then, he sent a warning to Zhu Ran, the Jingzhou Mu of Soochow - we have fallen into a trap. The Shu army was trying to divert the tiger away from the mountain and attack Jingnan. The breakthrough point was Wuling County.
Of course, Lu Dai's purpose in doing this was not to ask Zhang Cheng's fifteen thousand soldiers to return to Wuling County.
On the one hand, Lu Dai knew that the war in Changsha was also very tight now, and Zhu Ran needed the reinforcements of 15,000 people more than he did.
On the other hand, Lu Dai felt that with the 20,000 defenders in his hands, plus Lu Kai's 10,000 Lingling County soldiers behind him, he might not be able to defend Wuling County.
Therefore, Lu Dai only warned Zhu Ran and had no intention of asking Zhang Cheng to return to the army for rescue. It would be too cruel to toss the fifteen thousand soldiers in Zhang Cheng's hands like this.
Don't look back and not fight. The soldiers mutinied on the way. That is the funniest thing.
Now Lu Dai still has a lot of confidence in guarding Wuling County.
But as time went by, Lu Dai discovered that things seemed a little different from what he thought.
First, let’s talk about the Shu army that attacked Wuling County. It was not the 30,000 people Cheng Zi said, but only 20,000 people. The leading general was not Shi Bao, whom Lu Dai was familiar with, but a man named Jiang Wei. General.
Lu Dai seemed to have heard of this man, saying that he was a young talent discovered by Zhang Xi in Xiliang. He was later valued by Zhuge Liang and accepted as his disciple.
Although the background is scary, no matter from any angle, this is a young general with little combat experience, right? !
Well, it’s not because of the reputation anyway.
Of course, Lu Dai did not underestimate Jiang Wei because of this. After all, in addition to being Zhuge Liang's disciple, he also had a prerequisite - he was discovered by Zhang Xi.
Zhang Xi's ability to discover talents is now known to the world. The people who can be valued by Zhang Xi may have different abilities, but at least they are talents with the qualifications of a county governor at the beginning.
Moreover, Lu Dai once sent troops to test. Although this "little general" named Jiang Wei was young, his military style was quite steady and he was not impatient. It was difficult to find flaws in his military use.
Therefore, Lu Dai is still holding fast in Wuling County. Anyway, we all have 20,000 troops. I still have the advantage of defending the city. Let alone Jiang Wei, even if Zhang Xi and Zhuge Liang come in person, Lu Dai is confident Can hold it.
However, there is another character that worries Lu Dai. Where did Shi Bao go? !
Compared to a steady general like Jiang Wei, Lu Dai was more worried that a man like Shi Bao, who was unscrupulous in his military use, wouldn't be like last time, mysteriously destroying everywhere and turning the four counties of Jingnan upside down, right? !
After all, according to Cheng Zi, Shi Bao's flag appeared in the Shu army formation, and the strength of the troops currently besieging Wuling County is also different from what Cheng Zi said. Lu Dai does not believe that Cheng Zi is in such a simple situation. There will also be mistakes in military affairs. Therefore, he is even more worried, is there something wrong with Shi Bao again? !
Just in case, Lu Dai quickly notified Lu Kai of Lingling County, asking him to be on guard and organize troops to approach Wuling County as soon as possible, so as not to give Shi Bao a chance to wreak havoc in Wuling County.
Now that he is under siege by the Shu army, he must hold on and wait for time. The safety of the counties in the southern part of Wuling County can only be left to Lu Kai.
And Lu Kai did not disappoint Lu Dai. At the beginning of the war, he had already assembled the troops of Lingling County and was ready to fight at any time.
Upon receiving Lu Dai's request to send troops to assist in defense, Lu Kai immediately sent troops north to station in Fuyi County at the junction of Lingling County and Wuling County to assist in the defense of the southern part of Wuling County.
On the one hand, it can prevent Shi Bao from disappearing around Wuling County and plundering the county's food and grass like the last battle. On the other hand, if Wuling County's guards are tight, Lu Kai can quickly reinforce Wuling County and help Lu Dai defend the city.
It can be said that there was no big problem with Lu Dai and Lu Kai's response. The only thing they did not expect was that Shi Bao did not wander around the mountainous areas within Wuling County this time, but came from near Duliang County, Lingling County. Come out of the mountains.
Duliang County is located further south in Fuyi County where Lu Kai is stationed. In other words, Shi Bao got directly behind Lu Kai this time.
What's even more terrible is that, in addition to the 10,000 Han troops, there were also 20,000 Wuxi barbarians and Pan Jun who emerged from the mountains of Duliang County along with Shi Bao.
After conquering Gong'an without any blood, Shi Bao and Jiang Wei marched together. It was not until they occupied Lingling County that Shi Bao divided his forces with Jiang Wei according to the strategy.
Jiang Wei led the Han Dynasty's southern army to continue southward, marching towards Wuling County, and made a posture of attacking Wuling County.
Shi Bao took Pan Jun and the 10,000 Northern Han army into the mountains of Wuling County.
Wuxi Man was quite doubtful about Shi Bao's arrival. There was no way, this time Shi Bao came with ten thousand Han troops, which was completely different from the last time when Shi Bao came in with more than two thousand Han troops.
Shi Bao also knew what the concerns of these Wuxi barbarians were, so he first explained his purpose of coming seriously, saying that when he came back this time, he would lead the Han army back to Wuling County to expel Wu Gou and give them to Wu Ling County. It's a good day in Wuxi.
But the effect is not very good. You brought so many soldiers into Wuximan's territory. You said you came to bring warmth. Who can easily believe you?
In desperation, Shi Bao had to invite Pan Jun out.
When Pan Jun appeared, he just smiled slightly, and then said to the leader of Wuxi Barbarians, "Do you still remember me?!"
Then, almost without exception, the leaders of this group of Wuxi barbarians paid their respects to Shi Bao. They all looked at Shi Bao dumbfounded.
Why does this old man actually have such great prestige among Wuxi Barbarians? !
Pan Jun himself is from Wuling, and his family has had frequent dealings with the leaders of the Wuxi Barbarians in Wuling. Pan Jun has been rooted in Lingling County for so many years, and he has good friendships with most of the current leaders of the Wuxi Barbarians.
When they saw Pan Jun coming back, these Wuxi barbarian leaders believed that the big man had really returned to Jingnan.
When Shi Bao saw that the atmosphere was like this, he took advantage of the situation and made a request to borrow a road from Wuxi Man's territory to go south to Lingling County. This request was not a harsh request, and the leader of Wuxi Man in Wuling County agreed on the spot. .
By the way, the leader of the Wuxi Barbarians asked Shi Bao if he had enough troops when he came back this time. Shi Bao is also the son-in-law of our Wuxi Barbarians. If the troops are not enough, just say so.
Shi Bao, that depressed one. When I first entered the mountain, why didn't you remember that I was Wuximan's son-in-law, and only now do you remember it? !
But no matter what, Shi Bao originally had this intention, after all, he did not have enough troops on hand.
Although Pan Jun once said boldly that as long as he returns to Lingling County and raises his arms, the counties in Lingling County will definitely surrender without a fight, but what if? !
Only ten thousand troops are somewhat insufficient, and although the Wuxi barbarians in Wuling County can only be regarded as a ragtag group, they can still build up their momentum with more people.
In this way, Shi Bao easily recruited 20,000 Wuxi barbarian soldiers from the Wuxi barbarians, which even scared Pan Jun.
He relied on his family's hundreds of years of accumulation and his more than ten years of continuous hard work in Lingling County to gain such great prestige within the Wuxi Barbarians. But having prestige is one thing, being able to borrow soldiers is one thing. , that is a concept at another level.
How did Shi Zhongrong do this? !
In fact, it's nothing special. It's just that in the war two years ago, Shi Bao and the Wuxi barbarians plundered the food. So far, the Wuxi barbarians haven't finished eating it. What else is more important than food? Persuasive? !
In this way, Shi Bao led a 30,000-man mixed force of Han and barbarians to burrow into the mountains near Wuling County and Lingling County for more than 20 days, and finally emerged from the mountains near Duliang County.
As for Duliang County, when it suddenly encountered a large army of Han troops besieging the city, it did not even issue a warning.
It's not that Shi Bao beat him fast enough, but that Pan Jun really didn't brag.
After the troops arrived at Duliang City, Pan Jun asked the Duliang County Magistrate to go out of the city to see him. As soon as the Duliang County Magistrate saw Pan Jun, he opened the city and surrendered without saying a word.
Not even trying to persuade him to surrender.
(End of chapter)
