If someone had told Zhang Xi half a year ago that the conquest of Wu would go smoothly, I am afraid Zhang Xi would have killed the person who said this.
But today, half a year later, Zhang Xi, who learned about the victory of the Han Dynasty Navy in Poyang Lake, believed this.
Soochow's largest and final barrier was the navy. Once the Soochow navy was defeated and unable to stop the Han navy from advancing eastward, half of Soochow's national power would be lost.
The rest of the land battle is about the national strength of the two countries. Based on the current comparison of the national strength of the two sides, it is only a matter of time before the Han army defeats Wu in the land battle.
The comprehensive national strength of the two sides is not at the same level. The Han Dynasty can completely afford it, but Soochow cannot afford it.
Not to mention, today's Soochow, people's hearts are in turmoil. First, Sun Quan, the British leader of the generation, died, and then the young leader was doubtful, and powerful ministers took over the government. Sometimes Zhang Xi had to wonder whether there was really a "destined destiny" "Such a thing exists.
Otherwise there is really no way to explain what is happening now.
At the beginning of the war, neither Zhang Xi nor Zhuge Liang was very optimistic about the conquest of Wu. The biggest purpose was probably to make a certain breakthrough in the direction of Xuzhou or Jiangxia and occupy some counties.
It is simply unrealistic to destroy Wu in one battle. With Soochow's current national strength and Soochow's monarchs, ministers and good generals.
Apart from anything else, the relationship between Lu Xun and Zhu Ran was not easy.
But who would have thought that after the war started, there would be so many changes in Soochow, and all of them would be fatal blows to Soochow.
In the Huainan direction, due to insufficient food and grass, Lu Xun had to retreat to Shouchun and abandon Qingxu. On the Jiangxia side, the commanders of the first army were frequently replaced, which led to turmoil in the army's morale and heavy losses to the navy.
After the two lines were collectively broken through, Lu Xun's side could still manage to hold on, but the Soochow navy on Jiangxia's side lost more than half. The original combat strength advantage was overwhelmed by the strength of the Han Dynasty, and it was impossible to exert its maximum combat power. As a result, The failure of the Poyang Lake water battle.
At this time, Soochow encountered its biggest blow - Sun Quan died of illness.
If this wasn't the fate of the Han Dynasty, Zhang Xi really couldn't find a suitable explanation.
In any case, with the situation developing to the current point, the time to destroy Wu is indeed ripe.
Today's Soochow Navy, except for the remnant army led by Ding Feng, only has the last navy stationed in Zhenze, which is used to defend Jianye, and its strength is only about 10,000.
The Han navy that captured Poyang Lake was not idle either and immediately divided into two groups.
Along the way, led by Yang Xi, they immediately went down the river and attacked Soochow's strategically important Ruxuwu in the Huainan area.
Once Ruxuwu is captured, it will be equivalent to cutting off the connection between Huainan and Jiangdong. The more than 70,000 Huainan regiments led by Lu Xun will be completely trapped in Huainan due to lack of food supplies.
On the other side, they were temporarily resting and waiting at Poyang Lake. After Zhong Limu from Xiakou led his army to join them, they headed south at full speed with Wang Jun as commander and attacked Jianye by water.
The reason why they had to wait for Zhong Limu to come and join them was not only to strengthen the force of the eastward navy, but more importantly, to use waterways to transport reinforcements.
Today's opportunity is really great. Anyone who understands the strategic situation can realize that this is the best time for a war to destroy the country.
Since it is a war to destroy the country, it is definitely not enough to rely on a small fight between the two states. During this period, both Pang Tong who is in charge of Heluo and Zhuge Liang who is in charge of Chang'an are trying their best to coordinate the various places. Strength, form a second batch of reinforcements as soon as possible, and strengthen the attack on Huainan and the Yangtze River Basin.
Especially in the Yangtze River Basin. You can't rely on those 50,000 naval troops to land in Jiangdong and capture cities and territories, right? !
Although it is not impossible for the navy to go ashore to fight, the scale of 50,000 people is not enough after all. More troops must be added.
Therefore, Zhonglimu stayed in Xiakou and did not immediately reinforce the front line. He was waiting for reinforcements from Xiangyang, Nanyang, and even Badong County in Shu. These three places were closest to Xiakou, and after Zhuge Liang's rapid In coordination, these three places also organized reinforcements of about 50,000 people as quickly as possible and were quickly gathering in the direction of Xiakou.
As for the direction of Huainan, Pang Tong also tried his best to organize troops from Heluo, Jizhou, and even Bingzhou counties to quickly go south to reinforce Yanzhou and increase Xu Shu's troops from 150,000 to more than 200,000.
The purpose is obviously not to provide support to Zhang Xi and contain Lu Xun, but to defeat Lu Xun in Huainan as much as possible and achieve the joining of the two fronts.
Even for this reason, Xu Shu did not send anyone to attack Xuzhou and other places that had been cut off from contact. He directly ordered Wen Qin to go directly south from Xiapi County, join Hu Zunhou, and attack Shouchun on three fronts.
As for Soochow's response, to be honest, it is not too slow, at least it is much faster than when Sun He was in power.
For example, Quan Cong immediately used Bu Zhi to reinforce Zhu Ran in Moling County and block Zhang Xi's land attack.
As the Han navy troops approached Ruxuwu, they ordered Xie Jing, the governor of Ruxuwu, to strengthen the defense, appointed Zhang Xiu as the general of the building and ship, and led the Zhenze navy to immediately rush to Ruxuwu's aid.
All aspects of the response were timely and very effective.
It's just that the situation in Soochow is really bad, especially in terms of military morale. Soochow is really hit hard now.
Sun Quan's death itself was the biggest blow to Soochow. Even though Sun Shiwan often embarrassed himself on the battlefield, he was indeed the founding king of Soochow. His death was the spiritual support of Soochow when the Shu Han army pressed upon them. At that time, the blow to the people's morale in Soochow was quite serious.
In addition, the Emperor of Soochow who succeeded to the throne was only a six-year-old baby, and the power was in the hands of Sun Hong and Quan Cong. It’s not that everyone has no confidence in these two guys, the point is, these two people are as different as Sun Ce at the time. Zhang Zhao and Zhou Yu during the Tuogu period are really incomparable.
The gap between the two is so big that even Sun Hong and Quan Cong would not think there is any comparison.
Even some aristocratic families believe that with the death of Sun Quan at this time, the young master of Soochow has doubts that Wu may really be in doom. Perhaps it is necessary to make some other plans.
The political system of Soochow is basically a system in which the Sun family and the family interest groups compromise with each other and govern together.
When Sun Quan was in power, his political skills were superb and he played tricks of checks and balances. This ensured the stability of the country and the Sun family overcame the interest groups of various families.
But now Sun Quan has passed away, and the successor emperor Sun Liang is only six years old. Although Sun Hong, the representative of the Sun family, has taken over the power, the power of the Sun family today is far less than before. Sun Hong cannot even check Quan Cong, let alone other people. Family interest group.
Therefore, when the family interest group begins to have other evil intentions, it will be an extremely unfavorable situation for the Sun family.
In other words, Sun Quan has been in power for nearly fifty years. During this period, Sun Quan relied on his superb political methods to win over a number of aristocratic families, such as Zhu Ran, Bu Zhi, Lu Xun, and Zhu Ju. and others, now they all have their hearts set on the Sun family, who also holds great power.
With these people in awe, there were only undercurrents surging inside Soochow, and there was no chaos for the time being.
However, no one knows how long this situation can last. Even Quan Cong is in a very tangled state now, let alone others.
Theoretically speaking, Quan Cong is Sun Quan's son-in-law and the representative of the interests of a local family in Jiangdong. He now holds the real power in Soochow, and there is no reason for him to have different intentions.
But, to be honest, it was because Quan Cong held the actual power in Soochow that he knew more clearly how precarious the big ship of Soochow was.
Of course, if Sun Quan was still here, even if he was unconscious and unable to take charge, Quan Cong would not easily have second thoughts. After all, Quan Cong was still very grateful for Sun Quan's kindness to Quan Cong.
But now that Sun Quan is gone, you want Quan Cong to devote himself to Soochow. Quan Cong is not such a person.
In other words, the Jiangdong family does not behave like this.
Historically, when the Western Jin Dynasty destroyed Dongwu, the Jiangdong families did not put up any extra resistance after the defense line along the Yangtze River was completely lost. Those who surrendered were called quick and easy. Wang Jun led the navy, and it was like a child's play to directly attack the army. Yecheng is down.
Quan Cong is actually a representative of the Jiangdong family, and they are all hesitant and hesitant now.
If they have a choice, of course they want to keep the Soochow regime. After all, they can obtain the greatest benefits within the Soochow regime system.
But if Soochow really can't hold on anymore, then they will not choose to sink with the broken ship Soochow. It will only be a matter of time before they jump off the ship to survive.
However, the current situation is not clear, and the aristocratic families, including Quan Cong, will be very confused whether they should continue to protect Soochow, or whether they should make plans in advance or be prepared for both.
And just as these aristocratic families were constantly weighing their balances, the battle situation ahead changed again.
Not in the direction of Huainan.
In the direction of Huainan, Lu Xun was present, and there were also famous generals such as Sun Shao and Zhu Ju to assist him. Although his troops were already at a disadvantage, Shouchun still defended very rigorously. Although Xu Shu had three armies attacking, the one with the fastest progress now , and did not hit near Shouchun.
The defense line that was breached again was the Yangtze River defense line that Zhang Xi and Xu Shu were least optimistic about before the war. Yang Xi won the battle with Xie Jing at Ruxuwu. The navy came ashore and surrounded the Ruxuwu defense line.
Immediately afterwards, Wang Jun, who had completed his assembly at Poyang Lake, led a total of 80,000 land and sea troops, went down the river, and met the Zhenze navy led by Zhang Xiu in Niuzhu.
Very similar to history, in the battle of Niuzhu River, Wang Jun encountered the iron rope across the river set by Zhang Xiu's general Wu Yan.
The ending was the same as in history. After being temporarily blocked, Wang Jun quickly formulated a strategy to defeat the enemy. He used rafts to remove the iron cones and burned the iron ropes. He broke through Niuzhu in the first battle and marched to Stone City.
(End of chapter)
