Liu Daogui frowned slightly: "Where did you get the information that there are 800,000 stones of military rations stored in Changsha City?"
Tan Daoji said proudly: "My third brother Tan Zhi has been the internal historian of Wuling for more than a year. Since the demon bandit rebellion, he has been solely guarding the last stronghold of Wuling County in Jingnan. Although he has not sent troops to recover other places, But he was not idle at all. From Qiao Daofu's army in Baidi City to Changsha, Baling, Nankang, and even places near the Five Ridges such as Shixing and Yingtan, he sent spies to find out the truth. For Just make sure that the surrounding situation is within your field of vision, so that you can make targeted deployments."
Liu Daogui nodded: "So he got the information about the 800,000 shi of military rations in Changsha City and informed you, right?"
Tan Daoji nodded: "Yes, he has actually reported this situation to you several times. In the past six months, Changsha City has been used as a stronghold for demon thieves to transfer military supplies from the rear. Because Yu Yue fought well in Jiangzhou, the people in the rear It is not that easy to transport grain and grass to the Jiankang front line, so more and more grain is stored in the large warehouses in Changsha City, and even three or four backup warehouses outside Changsha City are also in use. I think the demon thieves are so anxious Let Yingjiu be the vanguard and march forward in a flamboyant way. I'm afraid it may not necessarily be the ambush behind you as you think, but..."
Liu Daogui said expressionlessly: "What you want to say is that they want to scare Yu Yue away, open a passage back to Changsha, and obtain the 800,000 shi of military rations as soon as possible to supply their army?"
Tan Daoji smiled slightly: "That's what I think. The demon thieves besieged Jiankang for half a year. They failed to attack the city and were forced to evacuate. But now there are still about 20 soldiers and horses. These people have to eat. The demon thieves used to plunder the river." I am afraid that the food and grass in Yuzhou and Yuzhou have been almost exhausted. They are going forward without retreating and do not want to retreat. Once this style of play is withstood, it will become a big problem in the follow-up, or they will be scattered. , or run out of food, I can only choose one thing.”
Liu Daogui nodded: "Your analysis makes sense, so you judge that the demon thieves are afraid that we will capture Changsha first and obtain these stored grains, so you are anxious to let Yingjiu expel Yu Yue first and open up the passage back to Changsha, right?" "
Tan Daoji stroked his beard proudly: "Yes, in fact, I think what the demon thieves really want to guard against is our Jingzhou soldiers and horses, not Yu Yue. Last time when Xiao Shitou was with the demon thieves, they came with a fleet At first, we did not want to attack Jiangling, but we wanted to set up water forts in Changsha and Yueyang to prevent our navy from attacking from Jiangling. In other words, we wanted to seal our army in the water city of Jiangling and not be able to cross the river to Jingling. The southern region threatens its food routes, and it cannot attack the monster thieves’ retreat from the water.”
Liu Daogui nodded: "That's true, but when Xiao Shitou was in the thief camp, he used his own wisdom to induce the devils of the Tiandao Alliance to change the plan and let all the demon thief fleets be dispatched to attack Jiangling, and then we were defeated in one fell swoop. Annihilation, this result is actually very serious for the demon thieves, because it means they lose control of the river, and our fleet can transport tens of thousands of troops to Jingnan at any time to cut off their escape route."
"But while we were victorious, the demon thief was also lucky enough to defeat Brother Xile with the help of a traitor, annihilate the Yuzhou Army, and attack Jiankang. In the past few months, we have been standing still because we are afraid of repeating what Brother Xile did. Tragedy, fortunately, the elder brother still withstood the pressure and defended Jiankang. Now the initiative of the entire war has returned to our hands. However, Daoji, you'd better think carefully, if these few The Moon Demon thieves are not afraid that Changsha City will be captured by us and we will lose food and grass, so why are we suddenly so anxious now?"
Tan Daoji pondered for a moment and said: "I really haven't understood this, but no matter what the demon thieves think, we can fight according to our own routine. As long as five thousand, no, just give me three thousand elite soldiers and let me cross the river. My third brother and I joined forces to attack Changsha. The army guarding the city was Zhu Liang, the Lingnan barbarian chief. This man was not familiar with military affairs. He only knew how to drink and have fun all day long. The barbarians under his command were also undisciplined. There are five thousand defenders, but we can take it in three to five days."
"Once Changsha is broken, even if we don't need these 800,000 stones of military rations, we can burn them with fire and leave them to the monster thieves. After doing this, my third brother's troops and I will return to Jiangling to help defend. It’s better than staying here doing nothing.”
Liu Daogui sighed softly: "Daoji, you are too focused on making achievements. Don't you know what is most important to us now?"
Tan Daoji gritted his teeth: "Of course I know that guarding Jiangling is the most important, but if we cross the river for a few days, at most half a month, it seems that it will not affect the defense of Jiangling."
Liu Daogui said in a deep voice: "Your battlefield feeling should be strengthened. The army of demon thieves still exists. If they withdraw to Lingnan, the rabble from Jiangzhou, Jingzhou, and Yuzhou that are newly attached along the way will be disappointed or scared and collapse. This time, even if the demon thieves return to Guangzhou and seal off the Five Ridges, we will never let them go again. We will definitely chase them to Guangzhou and eliminate them. Therefore, they will never choose to evacuate, but will definitely attack Jingzhou in a last-ditch effort. .”
Tan Daoji nodded, but was still a little unconvinced: "Even if they don't want to retreat to Lingnan, obtaining the military rations from Changsha is a guarantee for their attack on Jingzhou. Now, before their army arrives, we will take or burn these military rations first." , wouldn’t it be better? By then they will be short of food and grass, and they will have to seize time to attack Jiangling. Wouldn’t it be better for us to fight?”
Liu Daogui shook his head: "If the demon thief wants to attack Jingzhou or Jiangling this time, he will not use slow attacks. Instead of setting up camp and besieging the city, he will definitely use the fastest speed to attack quickly or even sneak attacks, because the direction of Jiankang is My eldest brother has already taken the initiative. Once he takes action, the demon thieves will be attacked from both sides. They can only seize Jiangling as quickly as possible while they have more troops and the main force is still there. Only then can they have a chance to confront Jing Yang."
"So, the military rations in Changsha are of little significance to them, and leaving Jiangling to divide the troops is of great significance to them. Lu Zongzhi's departure has pushed my troops here to the limit. If it were not to test the enemy's ambush and intentions, , I will never let Zhu Chaoshi go to Jiangzhou to fight this battle. Therefore, not only can you not cross the river, but I have also ordered Tan Zhi of Wuling to abandon Wuling and withdraw the entire army." (End of this chapter.) )
