To be honest, Zhang Xi certainly wouldn't want to start such a big battle at this time.
In Zhang Xi's expectation, it would be best to defeat Soochow in one battle.
Through economic warfare, he messed up Soochow's economy and triggered civil strife in Soochow. He seized the time to expand his war preparations. When the civil strife in Soochow reached an uncontrollable level, he would seize the opportunity to go down the river and conquer Jianye in one battle. .
Just like the war in history when the Western Jin Dynasty destroyed Wu, the overwhelming momentum was determined by one battle.
Under the current situation, the Soochow regime is still stable. No matter how we use troops, it will only be a waste of troops. This is not the current optimal solution.
Therefore, Zhang Xi still listened to Yang Xi's warning.
Indeed, the attack on the Dongwu Army's water stronghold at Lukou may trigger a chain reaction, and indeed, as Yang Xi said, it may turn into an offensive war against Jiangxia.
This is not something Zhang Xi can control, but is determined by the current situation.
Although Lukou is located in Jiangxia, it is an important node connecting the three counties of Jiangxia, Yuzhang, and Changsha. Both Lu Su and Zhu Ran once stationed troops here, which shows the importance of this place.
Especially now that Changsha County is no longer under the control of Soochow, and the control of Baqiu Water Village and Dongting Lake waters has been lost, Soochow must face the threat of Jiangling Navy head-on. If there is no longer Lukou as a forward position to suppress If the Jiangling navy lives, the Soochow navy can only completely cower in Xiakou, Jiangxia, and be beaten passively.
Therefore, as long as Zhu Ran is not confused, this place will not be easily lost. Once attacked by the Jiangling navy, Zhu Ran in Xiakou will definitely do his best to rescue.
And Liu Lue, the commander of the Soochow Navy who stayed at Lukou, was not that easy to deal with. The guy who was only reckless back then gradually began to become calmer after years of training and accumulation in water battles.
It is now impossible to block people in a water village and beat them like they did in Baqiu.
So, Zhang Xi and Yang Xi discussed it for a long time, and finally Zhang Xi took a step back and asked Yang Xi whether he could achieve what he wanted if he chose Baqiu as the new water village of Jiangling Navy.
Yang Di also hesitated for a long time before coming to the conclusion that "maybe it's okay".
In fact, this matter is really not something Yang Xi and Zhang Xi can decide.
Although, according to the current general trend of the world, the Han Dynasty is strong and Soochow Wu is weak. In theory, the people who dare not start a war without authorization should be the Soochow Wu side.
But specific issues need to be analyzed in detail. At least in the Yangtze River Basin, the Soochow Navy is stronger than the Jingzhou Navy.
Without the support of the navy, it would be very difficult for the Han Dynasty to cross the Yangtze River. If you look at the problem from this perspective, you will find that the weak side is actually the Han Dynasty.
Baqiu is too close to Lukou. If the Jiangling Navy moves to Baqiu, it will be equivalent to sailing the warship in front of the Soochow Navy. The Soochow Navy in Lukou cannot sit idly by.
In the past, it was also out of this consideration that the Jiangling Navy did not want to overly stimulate the Soochow Navy. Therefore, even if the Han Dynasty occupied Changsha and controlled the land area around Dongting Lake and Baqiu, the Han Dynasty only adopted milder patrol measures on the water areas. Instead of marching directly to Baqiu.
Now, if the Han Dynasty really chooses Baqiu as the water fortress of the Jiangling Navy, then the reaction of the Soochow Navy in Lukou is really beyond the control of Yang Xi and Zhang Xi.
Perhaps, Soochow does not want to start the war lightly and will endure this time. At most, it will increase the intensity of harassment and force the Jiangling navy to lose a foothold in Baqiu.
Perhaps, the Soochow Navy will immediately increase its troops at Lukou to confront the Jiangling Navy. It is even possible that a water war will break out between the two sides to compete for control of the waters from Baqiu to Lukou.
The former is in line with Zhang Xi's strategic concept. On the one hand, it can intimidate the Soochow Navy, and on the other hand, it can allow the Jiangling Navy to lead the Yizhou Navy to practice in battle and increase actual combat experience.
But if it is the latter, even if the Yizhou Navy has a large number of people, it will not be able to help. It may very well return to the outcome of an all-out war in Jiangxia as previously expected.
So, whether to take the risk and test it out, this is the decision Zhang Xi has to make.
Who makes him the highest chief executive in Jingzhou, and he is a rare top official who holds real military and political power.
After Zhang Xi weighed it up, he decided that it would be better to give it a try.
First of all, as the top decision-maker in Jingzhou, he can't always leave everything to his subordinates to worry about while doing nothing himself. He also has to make his own response to Soochow.
Secondly, Zhang Xi thought about it for a long time and felt that the invasion of Baqiu was still within control. If the Soochow Navy really wanted to fight a decisive battle, Zhang Xi would not be able to withdraw the Jiangling Navy. Avoid unnecessary consumption.
No matter how good the Soochow Navy was, he would not dare to chase the Jiangling Navy to the public security ferry. Unless Zhu Ran was mentally retarded and wanted to die.
Therefore, Zhang Xi still ordered to march into Baqiu before the end of November in the 14th year of Yanxi.
It can't be any later. If it's any later, the southeast wind in the Yangtze River Basin will start. By then, the boat from the Public Security Bureau to Baqiu will be against the wind, which will give Soochow the wind direction advantage.
It is now mid-August of the 14th year of Yanxi. With two months of preparation and one month of camp relocation, the problem should not be big. After all, Baqiu and the surrounding areas around Dongting Lake are under the control of the Han Dynasty. The only thing to worry about is This is the movement of land and water armies.
As for Lu Shuijun, Liu Lue actually doesn't know what to do now.
Speaking of Liulue, he is indeed much calmer than when he fought the Baqiu Water War ten years ago. He is now a qualified naval general.
But the problem is that Liu Lu is calm, but his upper limit is only so high, and he is not a general who is good at using his own brain to think.
It is enough for such a person to stay behind and obey orders, but it is too difficult for him to expect him to take independent measures according to the actual situation.
Soochow's detailed operations in Jiangling actually sent reminders to Zhu Ran and Liulue in Jiangxia and Lukou in late September, saying that military supplies had been mobilized frequently in Jiangling County recently, and there might be big moves.
As for Liu Lue himself, he did judge from the unusual patrol frequency and route of the Jiangling Navy during this period that the Jiangling Navy might go out to fight.
But what is the purpose of Jiangling Navy and how should he deal with it? Liu Lue doesn't know what to do.
The only right thing he did was to send warning information to Zhu Ran who was living in Xiakou, and asked Zhu Ran to be ready to support Lukou at any time.
It will take time for this information to be transmitted until Zhu Ran is ready to go to war.
During this intermission, that is, in late September of the 14th year of Yanxi, Yang Di led 30,000 naval troops and five large stone-throwing ships. Among them were fifty Zongke and more than 170 large and small warships. Under the escort, we left the public security water village and went down the river.
Target, Baqiu Water Village.
At this time, I still didn't know where Yang's real destination was. However, there were a total of 50,000 Jiangling naval forces. Seven ships were thrown into the water, and two-thirds of them were dispatched at once. This does not mean that the main force was exhausted. What does it mean to use all the main force? !
For this reason, Liu Lue also quickly gathered all the warships and naval forces in his hands, totaling 15,000 people, more than 100 large and small warships, and three Mengchong warships, and deployed defenses at the meeting point to prevent the Jiangling Flood. The army took advantage of the situation to attack Lukou.
At the same time, Liu Lue once again sent Ke Ke to Xiakou, requesting Zhu Ran to come to the rescue as soon as possible.
After making all these preparations, Liuluo began to prepare for an inevitable water battle with the Jiangling Navy. However, he received a message from Zongke from the front, saying that the Jiangling Navy suddenly turned a hundred miles upstream and headed towards the Jiangling Navy. Go in the direction of Baqiu.
This news immediately made Liu slightly hesitate.
Originally, the idea of staying here was to fight a naval defensive battle near Lukou. If he was really defeated due to lack of troops, he could retreat to the water stronghold, stand firm and wait for help, waiting for Zhu Ran to rescue him.
But the Jiangling Navy went to Baqiu, should you go with them? !
Don't go. Just sit back and watch the Jiangling Navy occupy Baqiu. That would be like having the enemy come to your doorstep. Baqiu's Jiangling Navy will know exactly what movements the Lukou Navy will make in the future. The number of small-scale battles will inevitably increase greatly.
But if they go, Liuluo's preparations for defensive sitting down will be completely ineffective, and he will have to follow the Jiangling Navy into Dongting Lake to fight.
Although it cannot be said to be an away battle, it is still within the enemy's hinterland. The land around Dongting Lake is the territory of the Shu Han. It is easy for the Jiangling Navy to get supplies from the shore, but the Soochow Navy wants to establish a temporary waterfront there. It is difficult to build a stronghold.
It is difficult for you to say that this was a trap deliberately set by the Shu thieves. The purpose was to lure the Soochow navy in Lukou into fighting in Dongting Lake.
Liu slightly hesitated. He felt that it was better for him not to take risks. Instead of taking the risk of entering Dongting Lake to fight, it would be better to return to Lukou first and wait until Zhu Ran led his troops to help before making any plans.
It was Liu Lue's hesitation that allowed Yang Xi to enter Dongting Lake with almost no obstruction, and then established a temporary docking base on the south bank of Dongting Lake. At the same time, he notified Shi Bao to provide necessary county troop support and build a complete water village. .
By the time Zhu Ran led the navy to Lukou and met up with Liu Lue, it was already seven days later. At this time, it was enough time for Yang Xi to arrange the outer defense line of Dongting Lake and build a rough water fort at the same time.
Once Yang Xi established a basic foothold in Dongting Lake, the person who was now in a dilemma became Zhu Ran.
No matter it is definitely not possible, the 30,000 Jiangling naval forces are right under your nose and may attack Lukou at any time. How can you let Zhu Ran rest assured? !
But if you want to control it, you have to find a way to enter Dongting Lake to fight. With the 20,000 people Zhu Ran and Liu Lue combined, it may be difficult to win.
If we want to win completely and expel the Jiangling Navy, we must also mobilize the last 10,000 naval troops who stayed in Xiakou to go south. But if this happens, if the Xiangyang Navy goes south along the Han River, who will defend Xiakou? !
Now Zhu Ran can neither advance nor retreat. He can only be trapped at the entrance of the land and cannot move for the time being.
(End of chapter)
