The pot that Zhu Ran broke out of seemed to belong to Shi Bao, but in fact, neither Zhang Xi nor Pang Tong had any intention of letting Shi Bao carry it.
This was caused by a mistake in judgment by both of them. They directly misjudged the direction of Zhu Ran's breakout.
Regardless of whether it was Zhang Xi or Pang Tong, both of them still had the awareness of responsibility. Therefore, they did not blame Shi Bao for this, nor did they reduce the rewards that should be given to the Wuxi Barbarians because of this failure.
As Zhu Ran broke through the encirclement, Jiang Wei once asked for instructions whether to pursue him along the way. Even if Zhu Ran could lead his troops to Dongting Lake and retreat with the support of the navy, as long as the pursuit was fast enough, even if Zhu Ran could not be left behind. However, it is not a problem to keep some Soochow soldiers.
But that's it. Zhang Xi and Pang Tong discussed it for a while and decided to let Zhu Ran go.
This decision was not considered from a military perspective, but from a political perspective.
If they really want to force the last 20,000 soldiers of the Soochow Army to stay in Jingnan, I'm afraid Sun Quan really won't let it go.
The naval army was defeated, the entire army was annihilated, Jingnan was lost, and most of Jiangxia was lost. Under this situation, whether it was for the defense strategy of Soochow or for the stability of his throne, Sun Quan could not give up with the Han Dynasty, and would inevitably carry out General mobilization, another battle with the Han Dynasty in Jiangxia.
And when that time comes, the outcome will be unpredictable.
In this battle of Jingnan, the Han Dynasty was able to win. On the one hand, it was because the strategy formulated by Zhang Xi and Pang Tong completely took into account all Zhu Ran's reactions, and Zhu Ran himself also appeared in the grand strategy of Jingnan's defense. Very big mistake.
Zhu Ran concentrated too many troops on the frontal battlefield. He never expected that Shi Bao's partial division would bypass Lu Dai's defense area in Wuling County, start directly from Lingling County, and push forward all the way to the empty rear of the Soochow Army. Finally, Changsha was captured and Luoxian was surrounded.
On the other hand, it was also because at the beginning of the war, the Jiangling Navy and the Xiangyang Navy won both water battles and took control of the Yangtze River Basin in a short period of time.
In this regard, the biggest responsibility really does not need to be shouldered by Zhu Ran. It is the result of Zhuge Ke's reckless behavior.
The combination of these two factors led to the Soochow Army's complete defeat in the Battle of Jingnan.
But if it happened again, the Han army would not have such good luck.
At least in terms of the navy, once Soochow increases its troops in Xiakou, it will be difficult to maintain control of the Yangtze River waters with the combat effectiveness of the Xiangyang Navy and Jiangling Navy.
Without control over the waters of the Yangtze River, it would be difficult to determine the outcome of a battle with the Soochow Army in Jiangxia.
In terms of navy, Soochow definitely still has certain advantages. In terms of army, although Soochow's army is difficult to fight on land, they have many soldiers. It is not impossible to mobilize troops from Jiangdong, Huainan and other places, and it is not impossible to mobilize another 100,000 people. In addition to Jiangxia's original amphibious and land coalition forces, they can gather an army of about 150,000.
On Zhangxi's side, there were only Han soldiers who had just experienced the Battle of Jingnan. Naturally, it was impossible for the Wuxi barbarians to follow the Han to fight in Jiangxia. In this Battle of Jingnan, the army's casualties were less than 20,000. Even including the two partial divisions of Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin, the combined amphibious and land forces totaled less than 90,000 people.
This is only a factor in terms of military strength. The logistics pressure is also incomparable between the two sides.
If Sun Quan is really in danger of losing, he can use the power of a country to provide logistical supplies to the Soochow Army, while Zhang Xi's side can only use the power of one state at most. The logistics pressure on Zhang Xi's side is obviously greater.
Therefore, Zhang Xi and Pang Tong discussed and decided not only to spare Zhu Ran this time, but also to order Guanqiu Jian and Wen Qin, who were fighting in the northern border of Jiangxia, to withdraw their troops and withdraw to Jiangling County.
The purpose is to send a signal to Sun Quan: the Han's goal is only Jingnan.
For Soochow, Jingnan is related to the defense line of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, which should be lost as much as possible. As for Jiangxia, it is the barrier to the east of the Yangtze River, which must not be lost. Withdraw from Jiangxia to appease Sun Quan, and before sending envoys to reply, Sun Quan asked Zhou The peace request conveyed by Yin shifted from military war to political wrangling, which is the best result that Zhang Xi can think of at present.
For this reason, Zhang Xi personally led 30,000 troops and horses to stay in Luo County and sent Jiang Wei to lead the Han Dynasty Army to garrison Liling County to prevent the Soochow Army from invading Changsha from Yuzhang County. Shi Bao led 10,000 troops back to Wuling County. On the one hand, Wuxi barbarians were placed, and on the other hand, they were stationed in Wuling County. Zhou Tai led five thousand soldiers to go south as soon as possible and gathered Guiyang County.
The remaining 10,000 soldiers, led by Pang Tong, retreated to Wulin on the other side of the Yangtze River. Following the retreat of Jiangxia, Wen Qin and Guanqiu Jian joined forces and guarded the Wulin crossing to prevent the Jiangxia Dongwu army from counterattacking.
In terms of naval forces, the Xiangyang Navy, under the command of Wenpin, retreated to Hanjin Ferry to avoid the reinforcements of the Soochow Army from the Yangtze River. Yang Qi led the Jiangling Navy to march to Lukou, using the water fortress left by the Soochow Navy. Deploy defenses on the spot to prevent the Soochow navy from continuing to move upstream and defend Jingnan's flank.
All in all, they just put on a posture of withdrawing from Jiangxia and defending on the spot, waiting for Soochow's response.
As for Soochow, Sun Quan was so angry at the result of the battle in Jingnan that he flew into a rage in the palace.
There is no way, the defeat is too miserable, not to mention the entire four counties of Jingnan in one battle, even Jiangxia, the barrier of Soochow, has been lost almost half, how can you not be angry?
This time, Sun Quan finally didn't care about saving face, and directly sent an edict to Gu Yong, Bu Zhi, and Zhang Zhao to go to the palace to discuss matters. At the same time, he wrote to Lu Xun in Shouchun, asking for Lu Xun's opinion on the battle.
In fact, the real intention was to ask Lu Xun whether he would be confident enough if Lu Xun was allowed to lead the army to counterattack the Shu Han and retake the four counties of Jingnan.
But let alone Lu Xun, even Gu Yong, Bu Zhi, and Zhang Zhao couldn't agree on whether to launch a major counterattack against Jingnan.
Gu Yong supported the counterattack. After all, the loss this time was indeed a bit miserable. If he could not make a sufficient response, it would not only make Shu underestimate Soochow, but also make some restless forces within Soochow reappear. Chao Qin and Mu Chu’s thoughts.
Of course, this is a superficial reason. The real reason is that the tens of thousands of hectares of fertile farmland in Changsha County, Lingling County, Guiyang County and other places were created by Jiangdong families who invested a lot of money and food! ! !
Those are all inheritances that can be passed down to the family, and Zhu Ran was just wasted. Gu Yong didn't impeach Zhu Ran immediately, which was already a worry for the country.
No matter what, the loss of these foundations will be painful for any Jiangdong family. How can they just give up?
But Bu Zhao was firmly opposed to continuing to use troops against Shu Han.
In fact, strictly speaking, Bu Zhao is not against the use of troops against the Shu Han, but against a decisive battle with the Shu Han under the current circumstances.
Zhu Ran had just experienced a major defeat and lost the entire Jingnan. Now the battle was not going well among the frontline troops, morale was low, and they did not have the conditions for a counterattack.
The follow-up reinforcements can also be said to have been hastily summoned. They were okay to deal with temporary changes, but Soochow did not make sufficient logistical preparations to fight a protracted war.
Furthermore, if we want to counterattack Jingnan, we will not only have to mobilize troops from Jiangdong, but also troops from Huainan, which will inevitably lead to a shortage of troops in Huainan.
Although they have signed an alliance with Cao Wei, whether the alliance can be implemented in these years depends entirely on the integrity of both parties. Can you guarantee that Cao Wei will abide by this alliance with integrity and not attack Huainan? !
You know, after Cao Wei experienced two Heluo battles, now is also a time when he is in urgent need of blood. Huainan's troops are empty. Can Cao Wei really not be tempted? !
Finally, and most importantly, we fought the Shu bandits in Jingzhou to the death, and mobilized the troops of Huainan and Jiangdong. Even if we can recapture the four counties of Jingnan again, can we bear the price? !
Once the Shu Han side was defeated, it would be a huge loss for half of Jingzhou. At least Soochow did not have the strength to threaten Xiangyang and Nanyang in the north of Jingzhou.
But even if we win Soochow and recapture Jingnan, if we severely damage the troops of Jiangdong and Huainan counties, it will not be worth the gain.
If the Shu Han group is really defeated directly, I am afraid that it will not be a question of whether Cao Wei is willing to abide by the covenant, but a question of whether Soochow will be attacked by Shu Han and Cao Wei from both sides.
Therefore, Bu Zhi believes that now is not a good time to fight a big war with the Shu Han. Instead, he should stick to Jiangxia. First, keep Jiangxia as a barrier to the east of the Yangtze River, conserve his strength and wait until the time is right. When the time is right, he can recruit some elite troops to retake Jingnan. Four counties, even Jiangling.
Two people, two words, both sound reasonable.
Sun Quan was unable to make a decision for a while and had to ask the old prime minister Zhang Zhao.
Zhang Zhao, on the other hand, closed his eyes and said nothing.
It seems that he is senile, but in fact, Zhang Zhao has already given Sun Quan his answer.
The words of Gu Yong and Bu Zhi made it easy for Zhang Zhao to make a choice.
All Gu Yong's rhetoric is just a matter of face. Since the founding of King Huan of Changsha, Soochow has never lacked the so-called "Chao Qin Mu Chu" people. In the final analysis, it is whether Sun Quan is willing to admit this failure and bear the responsibility. This is just the consequence of this failure.
But Bu Zhi's rhetoric was based on the actual situation, analyzed the current national conditions and the situation in the world, and gave advice to Sun Quan.
One is a matter of face, and the other is the actual situation. As long as Sun Quan can think calmly, he will know which one he should choose.
But in this case, Sun Quan still asked Zhang Zhao for his opinion, which actually showed that Sun Quan still couldn't let go of his own face.
What can Zhang Zhao say? !
Sun Quan is no longer the Sun Quan he used to be. He is now the leader of a country. Zhang Zhao, the supreme leader of Wu, will soon be buried, so why should he have any more conflicts with Sun Quan?
Not speaking is actually an attitude. It means telling Sun Quan that you won't listen to me if I tell you my opinion. So it's better not to say it, so that we, the monarch and his ministers, won't look at each other anymore.
And Sun Quan obviously understood the meaning of Zhang Zhao's silence - Zhang Zhao also opposed continuing to send troops to fight a decisive battle with the Shu army.
Well, from a rational point of view, Sun Quan also knows that in the decisive battle with the Shu army, Cao Wei will be the winner in the end. But this time he really lost so miserably that he can't swallow this sigh of relief.
Moreover, the loss of the four counties in Jingnan led to the lack of defense lines in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, which was also extremely detrimental to Soochow's defense.
Sun Quan still couldn't make a final decision and was still hesitant.
Sun Quan is waiting for a reply from Lu Xun in Huainan. If Lu Xun is sure that he can retake Jingnan, then a fight is not impossible.
Then Sun Quan waited for Lu Xun's reply.
"Your Majesty has an order, and I must obey it. I must personally take the troops from Huainan and go to Jiangxia to fight the thieves to death."
Well, forget it, stop your troops and dispatch your envoys! ! !
(End of chapter)
