In the summer of the thirteenth year of Yanxi, Lu Xun, the general of Soochow, launched the Yanzhou strategy.
Lu Xun personally led 80,000 troops from Huainan County to the north to attack Guanqiu Jian, who was stationed in Liang State. Zhu Ju led 30,000 troops from Runan County to the north to attack Chenliu, and restrained Xu Shu, who was stationed in Chenliu preparing for war.
Xu Shu, the governor of Yanzhou in the Han Dynasty, concentrated his troops to fight. On the one hand, he asked Guanqiu Jian to hold on to the Liang State and wait for Hu Zun of Jiyin County to lead his troops to rescue him. On the other hand, he concentrated his troops on Chenliu and launched a decisive battle with Zhu Ju's 30,000 troops.
Just when the two sides were going head-to-head with Maimang in a decisive battle, Lu Xun unleashed his trump card - ordering Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Dan to jointly send troops from Shanyang County, one to attack Jiyin County, and outflank Hu Zun and Guanqiu from the rear. Jian's 50,000 allied troops, while the other chose to go north to attack Dongjun, go deep into the interior of Yanzhou, and forced Chen Liu's Xu Shu to return to the army for rescue.
It is not surprising that Lu Xun was the winner of this northern attack on Yanzhou, but as long as the timing is good, he can capture at least the southeastern half of Yanzhou and expand the Huainan barrier.
However, Lu Xun obviously underestimated Xu Shu.
Xu Shu did not choose to withdraw his troops from Chenliu and return to defend Dongjun. Instead, he chose to take the initiative in Chenliu and at the same time let Zhang Ni lead the Yanzhou County troops to attack Runan and outflank Zhu Ju's retreat.
As for Dongjun, Xu Shu chose to trust Wen Qin, the prefect of Dongjun, and ordered him to stick to Dongjun and wait for help.
Both sides were actually fighting to see whether Zhuge Dan would be the first to break through Dongjun and Jiyin and besiege Chenliu, or whether Xu Shu and Zhang Yi would be the first to break through Zhu's army and enter Huainan from Runan.
The two sides started fighting in Yanzhou. The battle lasted for nearly four months, and it was difficult for both sides to determine the outcome.
As for Dongjun, Wen Qin chose to shrink the defense line and focus on fortifications in Zhencheng and Puyang. He abandoned the practice of other counties in Yanzhou and tempted Zhuge Dan to launch a siege to delay time.
While Zhuge Jin led his troops to invade Jiyin County, Hu Zun also chose to abandon the defense of the northeastern counties of Jiyin County, and took the initiative to lead troops to join forces with Guanqiu Jian of Liang State, and formed a group to fortify at the junction of Jiyin County and Liang State. Prevent Zhuge Jin and Lu Xun from attacking together.
As for Chen Liu, although Zhu Ju also noticed that Zhang Yi led his troops to invade Runan and made the choice to retreat in time, Xu Shu seized the opportunity and delayed the retreat, allowing Zhang Yi to attack first. Entering Runan, cutting off Zhu Ju's retreat.
Seeing that Runan County was occupied, Zhu Ju responded quickly to the battle. He gave up returning to the army and chose to go east to join Lu Xun.
The war has developed to this point. In fact, the Soochow Army has no hope of winning.
In this battle, both sides had equal strength and the situation was very complicated. It was hard to say who had the advantage. As long as Lu Xun could continue fighting in Liang State and hold back Yanzhou's main army, Sun Shao would hold Shouchun's side until Zhuge Dan was in Dongjun. If Wen Qin is defeated and Dongjun is occupied, the situation will be completely reversed.
Lu Xun originally planned to do this, but...just when Zhang Yi led his troops to occupy Runan, Lu Xun received a battle report from Jiangxia.
The Jingzhou Army sent troops.
Under the command of Yang Xi, the Jingzhou navy attacked from north to south along the Han River and concentrated on attacking the Jiangxia navy in Soochow. Zhu Ran led the troops to fight.
The two sides fought a fierce battle in the waters near the land entrance, and both sides were evenly matched.
The Soochow Navy is still unable to break the Jiangling Navy's rip-off formation, but once the Jiangling Navy and Xiangyang Navy are engaged in close combat by the Soochow Navy, they will inevitably be at a disadvantage.
The coaches of both sides are trying to use their own advantages to win the water battle, but the coaches of both sides are not easy to deal with, and no one can easily find an opportunity.
In the water battle, it can be said that they were evenly matched, but in the land battle, Zhang Xi personally led an army of 20,000 people and sent troops from Jiangling to attack Zhangling, which attracted the Jiangxia prefect Zhuge Ke to lead troops to help defend.
But in fact, Wang Ji led 10,000 Jiangling Army troops to cross the Han River at Hanjinkou and enter the counties in the eastern part of Jiangxia, repeating the marching route of Wen Qin and Guanqiu Jian during the Battle of Jiangling.
Zhuge Ke was afraid of Zhang Xi's reputation, so he used nearly 70% of his troops to help defend Zhang Ling. As a result, the counties in the northern part of Jiangxia had almost no defensive troops. Therefore, Wang Ji marched straight in after crossing the Han River, directly threatening Xiling, the governor of Jiangxia County. .
After passing Xiling, you can take a detour and enter Lujiang County, which is considered to be deep into the hinterland of Huainan.
Obviously, Zhuge Ke could not accept this situation.
However, if Zhuge Ke chooses to abandon Zhangling and temporarily retreat, under the cover of Zhu Ran's navy, he can return to Xiling and block Wang Ji's land in Jiangxia County from Zhangling to Lukou, the land in Jiangxia County will be completely lost, and the Han army will control the east. Possibility of crossing the Yangtze River.
Once the Han army really crossed the hinterland east of the Yangtze River, the door would be wide open.
This situation is greater than the threat of Wang Ji entering Lujiang.
Therefore, Zhuge Ke could only hold on to Zhangling while asking for help from Jianye, hoping that Jianye could increase his troops in Lujiang in time to block Wang Ji.
After Sun Quan received Zhuge Ke's request for help, he immediately made his own decision.
Sun Sheng was ordered to lead troops to reinforce Lujiang, and at the same time, he forwarded the battle report of Jiangxia to Lu Xun, who was fighting in Liang State.
To a certain extent, Sun Quan quite trusted and respected Lu Xun, leaving the choice to Lu Xun to make his own judgment.
But the problem is that given Lu Xun's character, he had no other choice but to give up attacking Yanzhou and retreat to rescue Jiangxia.
One is because Lu Xun himself was cautious in using troops. If Jiangxia fell, even if he occupied the entire Yanzhou, it would be meaningless, so he could not allow Jiangxia to lose.
Another one: Lu Xun knew Sun Quan’s character and temper very well.
Sun Quan passed Jiang Xia's battle report to Lu Xun. If Lu Xun pretended not to see it and took risks with Jiang Xia, even if Lu Xun won in the end, Lu Xun's position would be shaken in Sun Quan's heart.
Sun Quan can give Lu Xun trust, but this trust must be "trust" recognized by Sun Quan. Otherwise, no matter how good their personal relationship is, Sun Quan will no longer trust Lu Xun.
Two years ago, Lu Xun disobeyed Sun Quan's orders and sent troops without authorization when the Shu Han Dynasty attacked Yanzhou. Sun Quan was already very dissatisfied and treated Lu Xun in the cold. If Lu Xun did not choose to withdraw his troops this time, then I am afraid Lu Xun would have no choice but to return to Jianye. , become a general who will never leave Jianye for the rest of his life.
In desperation, Lu Xun could only choose to retreat.
Let Zhu Ju lead his troops to retreat to Shouchun first, and after replenishing his troops and ordnance, he immediately went south to rescue Jiangxia and repel Wang Ji.
After that, Zhuge Dan and Zhuge Jin withdrew their troops from Dongjun and Jiyin County and continued to defend Shanyang County.
Finally, Lu Xun withdrew his troops and returned to Huainan.
However, if he just withdraws his troops, Lu Xun is also worried that the Shu thieves will follow the trend and invade Huainan. After all, Runan has been occupied by Zhang Yi of the Shu Han Dynasty, and the gate to the west of Shouchun is open.
Therefore, Lu Xun sent Ding Feng to raid Qiaojun on the way to withdraw, attracting Zhang Ni, Guanqiu Jian and others to gather troops in the direction of Qiaojun, but they did not dare to divide their troops to pursue southward. Finally, Lu Xun led his troops to raid Runan County again, and re-entered Qiaojun. They captured the three county towns of Ruyin, Xiyang and Shenxian, and regained control of the eastern part of Runan County.
The war between the two sides lasted until the early winter of the 13th year of Yanxi. Both sides retreated, stopped fighting, and retreated back to their original borders.
This battle made both Han and Wu realize their problems.
On the Soochow side, through this Yanzhou strategy, they finally understood that as long as Jingzhou, or Jiangling, is not in their hands for a day, it is basically impossible for them to go north to expand their territory.
And Ji Han also realized that relying on the power of Yanzhou alone, it was impossible to eliminate Soochow's wings in Qingxu and Huainan, at least when the defender of Huainan was still Lu Xun, it was basically impossible.
Therefore, after weighing back and forth, Soochow Sun Quan finally chose the strategy of sticking to the border and waiting for the opportunity.
On the Dahan side, they are also reassessing the risks of attacking Soochow at this time, as well as the price that needs to be paid.
At least after this war, both sides fell into a temporary truce.
But all this is not what Cao Wei's small court wants to see.
After all, if the Shu thieves don't set their sights on Soochow, they will inevitably choose to continue going north to eliminate the small court of Cao Wei entrenched in Youzhou.
Under this circumstance, Cao Shuang once again went to find Huan Fan, who he had demoted to a commoner a year ago, and asked him to go to Soochow again.
Huan Fan was so angry that he became bedridden! ! !
(End of chapter)
