Quanling Prefecture, War Room.
A huge sand table lies across the room. Jingzhou and Jiaozhou are scaled on the wooden platform, and the mountains, rivers and cities can be seen at a glance.
The war room is Gao Shun's favorite place. When he has free time, he will bring Lan Yuan and Lan Ji to teach them how to survey the terrain, where is suitable for defense, and where can they camp.
Although the two little ones didn't understand much, they kept Lan Tian's instructions in mind and listened to Gao Shun's teachings very patiently.
At times like this, A Dou would play top outside the house. He was not interested in fighting.
Lan Tian likes to look at problems from big to small, first observing the overall situation and then slowly focusing on the local aspects.
He picked up several chess-like wooden chess pieces and placed them near the Yangtze River and Dongting according to their number and size. The red color represented Jiangdong Army and the green color represented Liu Bei Army. Then he placed one in Linxiang and the other in Linxiang. At Xiaopu Pass in the south of Guiyang.
Seeing Jiangdong's troops in full bloom on the sand table, Lan Tianxin said that Sun Quan must have been planning this for a long time.
Lan Tian withdrew his gaze from the sand table and said seriously to Hu Ke: "Now let's talk about the situation in Changsha in detail."
Hu Ke answered with clasped fists: "I returned from Jiangling to Quanling five days ago. When the merchant ship reached Dongting, I met Governor Su's navy. Only then did I know that more than a thousand warships in Jiangdong had just been forced back by a storm. Governor Su deduced based on the size of the ships. The opponent's strength should be about 50,000, and he has already reported to General Guan and sent people to Changsha, Guiyang, and Lingling for early warning."
"Early warning? We haven't received any in the past two days." Gao Shun frowned.
Hu Ke continued to explain: "I said goodbye to Governor Su and headed south to the Xiangshui River. When I walked to the intersection of the Xiangshui River and the Weishui River, I suddenly found nearly a hundred Jiangdong warships with the flag of Ling on the warships..."
"It must be Ling Tong. The people sent by Governor Su have probably been killed." Gan Ning added.
Hu Ke nodded, "I had the same idea as General Gan. At that time, I took advantage of the dusk to turn the helm and escape towards Dongting. Because of the lightness of the boat, Ling Tong's warship did not catch up. Later, I turned to a branch and entered Zishui to escape completely. "
"Zishui couldn't reach Quanling at all. How did he come back in such a short time?" Gao Shun asked curiously.
Hu Ke swallowed his saliva and said, "I knew that the situation was urgent, so I didn't dare to rest day and night. I took the overland route from Zhaoling to Zhaoyang. I recruited the people's fishing boats in Haoyang, and finally entered the Xiangshui River via Chengshui and met Gan. The general, horses and fishing boats were all donated by the people, otherwise it would not have been so fast."
Zhaoling belongs to Changsha County, and Haoyang belongs to Lingling County. The two counties border each other. Lantian's prestige in this area is astonishingly high. When I heard that Hu Ke was going to Quanling to report an emergency military situation, officials and people were active on the road. Cooperate, Hu Ke will not take any money no matter what he eats or spends.
"Thank you for your hard work." Lan Tian encouraged him.
"That's what I should do." Hu Ke said, hammering his chest.
Lan Tian said to himself: "Fortunately, General Guan transferred Governor Su to the public security department. Otherwise, the navy from Jiangdong marched in and threatened Jiangling. Jiangxia might have been lost by now, and Fu Shiren still betrayed his brother-in-law..."
"Captain Su is still reliable. When General Guan transfers the main force of the Han River to Dongting, he will have the geographical advantage of Dongting Lake. Even though Sun Quan has 50,000 naval troops, he may not dare to attack by force." Gan Ning analyzed.
"According to Lieutenant Hu's description, Ling Tong's troops should only have four to five thousand men. As long as there are no other reinforcements to cooperate, it will be difficult to capture Linxiang with three thousand defenders." Gao Shun said happily.
Gan Ning asked curiously: "What is the back-up plan that you just mentioned? Liao Gongyuan took over Changsha from Mr. Pan who died of illness. The two of them were very different in military matters, but Ling Tong's 5,000 men wanted to capture Changsha. possible."
Liu Pan turned out to be Liu Biao's powerful general, who made Sun Ce's west miserable. Later, Taishi Ci was transferred to Jianchang to contain it. Unfortunately, he passed away shortly after Red Cliff. In order to balance the interests of the Jingxiang gentry, Liu Bei Liao Li pushed to the position of Changsha prefect.
Lan Tian was about to explain his backup plan when the word Liu Pan suddenly stimulated his nerves, and his eyes moved to You County on the sand table, where Liu Pan was originally stationed.
If Gan Ning hadn't been unintentional, Lan Tian would have almost underestimated his opponent, and sweat began to form on his forehead.
There are not only warships and naval forces in Jiangdong. There are 20,000 infantry and cavalry stationed in Jianchang and Haihun for a long time. After Liu Pan's threat is removed, they mainly assist in suppressing Shanyue in Danyang County.
If this force enters Jingnan from You County, it can take Changsha with Ling Tong to the north, and threaten Guiyang and even Lingling to the south. However, Hao Pu only deployed a thousand guards in that area.
Sun Quan's three-front linkage from north to south this time has a total strength of more than 70,000 to 80,000 troops. Losing Jingnan due to improper response is equivalent to marrying Jiangdong.
Lan Tian said to Gao Yuan in a deep voice: "Go and invite General Xu and General Li quickly. There is an urgent combat mission immediately."
"The rats from Jiangdong are not enough to be afraid of. A few of us are not enough?" Gan Ning looked surprised. In addition to him and Gao Shun, there was also the Barbarian King Samoko in the war room.
Lan Tian shook his head after hearing this. He took out a handful of tokens from the table and handed one to Gan Ning.
"As a general, you are most afraid of underestimating the enemy. You rush to help Changsha by water. Now there are only more than a thousand naval troops in Quanling. You can use some transport troops to make up the number. Remember not to fight with Ling Tong in the water. Defending Linxiang will count as a great achievement for you. pieces."
Gan Ning took the token and asked: "Although the transport troops do not have to fight, it is not easy to train them. They still stay in Quanling to transport supplies. The final general will defeat Ling Tong with just these thousand people, otherwise he is not a hero."
"Then please." Lan Tian clasped his fists and saluted.
"I will live up to my mission." Gan Ning clasped his fists and turned around.
This was the first time that Lan Tian and Gan Ning were so solemn. The biggest threat to Jingnan now belongs to the middle road. Jiangdong's infantry and cavalry can enter from You County. There are no passes along the way to defend. If they are unable to stop them, they will pierce the heart like a sharp knife.
Rivers in Jingnan extend in all directions, allowing merchants to carry out trade in peacetime and transporting troops and food during wartime. This is the most fundamental reason why Lantian attaches great importance to waterways.
It is said that soldiers are valuable and fast, and the shunned troops rush to the battlefield. These transport ships can save time.
"Boping, you also rush to the dock with your army immediately. The transport ship from Quanling cannot be delivered at once, and the rest rush to Yinshan County on foot." Lan Tian handed another token to Gao Shun.
Gao Shun solemnly accepted the order, "Sir, do you want to mobilize all ten thousand people?"
"Leave two thousand for General Xu to support Xiaopu Pass." Lan Tian explained.
"Wei." Gao Shun clasped his fists.
Gao Shun and Gan Ning left the war room one after another. Shamoko looked at the token in Lantian's hand and was eager to see it, but the other party seemed to have forgotten his existence, turned around and locked his eyes on the sand table to study.
Xu Shuang and Li Yi arrived one after another, and Lan Tian handed them two tokens respectively.
Hao Pu had two thousand defenders at Xiaopu Pass. As long as they did not take the initiative to surrender and offer the pass, it would be difficult for the Jiangdong soldiers and horses gathered in the South China Sea to break through the pass in a short time. Because there was no direct waterway, Xu Shuang could only choose the nearest march route. From the south, go around Jiuyi Mountain and enter Guiyang County.
