After confirming the three-way supply plan, Lu Yuan did not delay and quickly implemented the plan.
Qingyunzi, Huang Xuan, Li Xiong and other three armies, and even the armies of Changsha, Hengyang and Luyang, don't need to worry about these. The six army commanders will act according to their own plans.
But on Jiangxia's side, Lu Yuan wanted to cooperate personally.
The main force led by Shen Qiu had many remaining soldiers and horses. There were as many as 110,000 soldiers and horses in the military camp outside the city alone.
Now that all the armies of the Ning Army have been defeated one after another, these 110,000 soldiers and horses have become the strongest force in the Ning State, and can even be said to be the only main force.
If possible, Lu Yuan naturally did not want to let this army return to Ning Country.
Otherwise, when he launches a life-destroying war in the future, these 110,000 people may become the biggest obstacle to Chu State.
Therefore, even if it is known that the Ning army still has 70,000 naval troops in Jiangxia, and even 40,000 naval troops can be urgently mobilized from the country at any time to support, let alone take away these 110,000 people, even if all the Ning army in the north of Xiangyang River is withdrawn, the ships The transportation capacity is more than enough.
But knowing is one thing, doing it or not is another.
Regardless of whether the probability of success is high or not, it will never go wrong to try to contain, delay, or even destroy this Ning army.
Even if Lu Yuan can support the Jiangxia Ning army for a while, get Huang Xuan to defeat Xiang Duan in Changsha, then organize his troops and horses, rush to the hinterland of Yuzhang, and cut off the Ning army's retreat route from the road, this will be enough. is excellent.
Cutting off the retreat route of Shen Qiu's restless army would not plunge them into a desperate situation. After all, there was still water.
But once the land route is lost, the morale of the army will be shaken.
At that time, Lu Yuan ordered the Chu navy to launch a fierce attack on the Ning navy. With the morale of the army fluctuating, the defeat of his troops would inevitably increase.
With two escape routes, water and road, one cut off and the other threatened, how could the Ning army hold out for a long time?
At that time, Lu Yuan would reorganize the troops in the city and launch an all-out attack on the Ning people outside the city. With all retreat routes lost, the army panicked, and even lack of food and grass, he had a good chance of defeating the last main force of the Ning army. of.
Even Lu Yuan didn't have to annihilate all the troops. He only needed to kill 40,000 to 50,000 people, which would be considered a profit this time.
Now Ningguo's troops and horses have been greatly damaged, three counties in the country will soon be lost, and the population under control has been greatly reduced.
If Ning Jun wants to replenish it in the future, he will have to pay a higher price than at this moment.
Even the soldiers and horses that were replenished were just new recruits with little combat power. They were far less powerful than today's veteran soldiers, and their overall combat power was far behind.
If we eliminate more Ning troops now, there will be less resistance when we attack Ning State in the future, and the losses in the entire Jiangdong region will be reduced, which will help us accumulate more information for the future Northern Expedition.
Therefore, adhering to this idea, after giving orders to various ministries, Lu Yuan led his troops out of the city the next day.
…
The Ningjun camp is three miles away.
Tens of thousands of Chu troops were already in formation, their flags were flying, and the earth was all pale yellow.
Lu Yuan was riding a white horse, leading a group of generals in front of the formation, looking towards the Ningren camp in the distance.
But a hundred steps away from the Ningren camp, more than ten Chu soldiers who went to invite a fight were shouting back and forth.
But there was no response from the Ningren camp.
He even shouted too much, and more than a dozen arrows flew in, instantly frightening the provocative Chu soldiers in front, and quickly fled back.
"Your Majesty, people are still unable to get out. I'm afraid it will be difficult to lure them out."
Seeing this, General Chu, one of the people beside him, couldn't help but turn his head to look at Lu Yuan and said helplessly.
"It doesn't matter, they can shrink back if they want. It's only for a few days. When the time comes when these turtles want to leave, they won't be able to help them."
Lu Yuan glanced at the army sergeants who were driven back, then left his sight and said indifferently: "Compared to this, how is the Luokou Ferry side?"
Someone nearby who arranged the matter replied: "Late yesterday night, 20,000 naval troops had already left the camp. They rushed down at night, carrying 40,000 soldiers and horses in the city, to raid Luokou Ferry. Calculating the time, at this time Luokou Ferry The ferry should have been captured, and the news from the Navy should have been sent back."
As he was talking, suddenly there was a clear eagle cry on the horizon, and then a ten-foot-long eagle turned into the sky and flew towards it. With a strong wind howling, it landed in front of Lu Yuan's white horse.
The sudden arrival of the raptor scared everyone so much that their white horses trembled and almost fled away.
Fortunately, Lu Yuan's mind moved and swept across the many horses, instantly calming their emotions.
Then he looked at the eagle in front of him.
This eagle that looked extremely majestic, like a ferocious beast, was the spiritual eagle that Lu Yuan had previously bought from the snowy plains in exchange for hundreds of spiritual pills.
This eagle can fly five thousand miles a day. Even if Chu State communicates with the snowy plains, it only takes three to five days to use this eagle. It has become the most important communication tool that Chu State relies on today.
It is extremely convenient to send messages back and forth.
He reached out to the neck that the eagle offered to him, took out a small bronze cylinder with a rope hanging on it, opened it, took out a piece of thin paper, and rolled his eyes to read it.
After reading the above content, Lu Yuan couldn't help but smile on his face and praised: "Yes, the Navy is making good progress. A moment ago, Luokou Ferry was captured, and Ningren's retreat on the water has been cut off by me. .”
"Congratulations, Your Majesty, Mie Ning is about to die."
"God bless me greatly."
When the generals nearby heard this, they couldn't help but congratulate him.
No wonder everyone is so happy, the location of Luokou Ferry is really important.
In the hundreds of miles area near Jiangxia, apart from the ferry under Jiangxia City, the only ferry that can pass large ships is Luokou Ferry, a hundred miles to the east.
This ferry is located on the border of Chu and Ning. It was previously owned by the Chu State. In addition to more than ten navy ships patrolling the ferry, there are also thousands of soldiers and horses stationed to guard it.
Later, the war between the two countries began, and the Ning people's army came across. The ferry was naturally unable to resist. The garrison in the water port abandoned its defense and retreated early in accordance with military orders.
After Ning Ren accepted it, he did not waste the crossing.
As we all know, transporting grain by water is far superior to transporting grain by land, whether in terms of carrying capacity, speed, or cost.
If supplies are transported from the hinterland of Yuzhang to the Jiangxia front line, then based on the fact that the distribution center for supplies is Nanchang, the capital of the county, the journey from this city to the front line camp is about six hundred miles.
Transporting grain for six hundred miles would supply hundreds of thousands of troops on the front line, so General Yu would have to mobilize at least two to three hundred thousand civilians and recruit hundreds of thousands of cattle, donkeys, mules, and horses to barely meet the demand.
Moreover, it may take as long as a month for the food to be sent to the front line from the city, or half a month if it is urgent.
If we switch to transporting grain by water, we only need a few hundred ships, and when the fleet arrives at the ferry, we will occasionally recruit more than 10,000 civilians to help carry the supplies.
And if you take a boat straight up, if the wind is favorable, you may be able to reach it in one day.
It is clear at a glance which of the two methods of transporting grain has greater losses, is safer and more efficient.
Therefore, since the war began, Ningguo's food and supplies have basically been transported by water.
And ships transporting grain inevitably require ports.
The only ferry closest to the Jiangxia front line and controlled by the Ning army was Luokou Ferry, which the Chu army had previously abandoned.
Since this ferry was occupied by the Ning army, it has been set up as a logistics base. Every day, dozens of ships come from the hinterland of Ning to unload goods here.
Then, vehicles, horses and manpower were arranged from this ferry to transport the frontline camp to the bottom of the sea for hundreds of miles.
Because this place is related to the supply of money and food, the Ning army specially arranged tens of thousands of garrison troops and 5,000 naval troops to defend the port despite the shortage of troops. This shows the importance of this place.
In the past, Lu Yuan also knew that this place was important and a peaceful place.
But at that time, even if he sent troops to attack this place, after defeating it, he would not be able to hold it for long.
Because there are a large number of Ning troops near the port, if they learn that their retreat has been stolen, they can dispatch tens of thousands of troops to recapture it at any time.
The Chu army in Jiangxia City in front was blocked by countless camps of the Ning army, and they could not cross hundreds of miles to support them.
On the Yangtze River, the navy of the Ning Army also blocked the river and rushed to attack the port. Not only was it unable to cut off the Ning Army's money and food, but it also blocked its retreat.
Instead, they will trap their own troops in the port in vain and be eaten by the Ning people.
At the same time, in addition to waterways, Ningren can also transport grain by land. Although the cost is a bit higher, but you are in the rear, you are safe.
Even if the waterway in Chu State is cut off, the people of Ning will not be short of food.
Therefore, attacking Luokou Ferry at that time not only had no benefits, but was also extremely risky. Lu Yuan naturally would not waste this effort.
But this time is different.
Shen Qiu is about to defeat the Ning army in Changsha. At that time, he can continue to move quickly with light troops, penetrate directly into the rear of Ning state, and seize the empty Yuzhang capital Nanchang.
If this can be done, Ning's army will lose its land retreat, cutting off one of its retreat routes.
Then Lu Yuan captured Luokou Ferry and garrisoned it with heavy troops, thus cutting off the Ning army's water retreat.
He doesn't need the tens of thousands of troops he has sent out to determine how long they can hold on and how well they can do.
As long as the 20,000 navy and 40,000 forbidden troops can hold out for a month, it will be enough to trap Ning's army to death.
Because according to detailed returns, the grain storage in the Ningjun camp basically maintains half a month's share. At the same time, Luokoudu sends a batch of supplies every ten days to ensure that the army is not short of supplies.
Therefore, the Chu army only needs to block Luokou Ferry for a month, and the Ning army, which only has half a month of food reserves, can only last about twenty days no matter how much it saves.
If it lasts more than twenty days, you will be in a dilemma of food shortage.
And if it exceeds one month, then the Ning army here, just like the Zhao army in the Battle of Changping, will be so hungry that their heads and eyes will be dizzy, and everyone will compete to eat.
Under such circumstances, it would not be difficult for the Chu army to capture the Ning army.
Even if it is better, it is not impossible to directly recruit the 100,000 Ning army on the opposite side.
As the Chu army is not short of food and they are also from Yangzhou in the south of the Yangtze River, as long as these Ning troops surrender, it will take two months to successfully receive them, reorganize them into the Chu army, and put them on the battlefield.
This is undoubtedly a great benefit.
With these foreseeable prospects, Lu Yuan and the other generals were naturally extremely happy.
In their hearts, the Ning Army in front of them has become a turtle in a urn, withered bones in the grave, and there is no escape.
“Although the Luokou Ferry has departed, it’s not yet time for me to sit back and relax.
There are still 110,000 soldiers and horses in the Ning army camp. If they all come out in force and attack Luokou Ferry, it may not be impossible to recapture them.
Therefore, in order to completely cut off the Ning army's retreat, we on Jiangxia's side must not slack off.
The solitary order was passed, and from today onwards, all the ten thousand cavalry in the city were dispersed outside the Ning army camp, and I stared at the Ning people.
If they make any move to leave the camp, they will immediately attack and block their speed.
At the same time, the rest of the infantry in the city also went out to invite battle every day to contain the energy of Ning's army and cooperate with the cavalry's actions.
I want these 100,000 Ning troops to completely turn into a turtle, huddled in this shell, and never want to leave this place. "
Lu Yuan looked around at the generals and gave a stern order.
"yes!"
After hearing the words, all the generals gathered together and followed the orders.
In this way, Lu Yuan, who had never fought before, led his army back to the city, and then released all the tens of thousands of cavalry in the city.
Teams of one thousand people and one hundred people were dispersed within dozens of miles near the Ningjun camp, and tight surveillance blocked the opponent's retreat routes.
Chu Jun's move naturally attracted Ning Jun's attention.
…
Ningjun camp.
After just receiving the news that the Chu army outside the camp was invited to fight and return to the city, Shen Qiu, who was a little upset, had not yet calmed down. Suddenly, there were horse hooves outside the camp, causing countless commotions.
When he sent someone to see what was going on, there were soldiers outside who came first to report.
The cavalrymen, known simply as the Chu Army's cavalrymen, were already blocking the main roads outside the military camp, seemingly intending to completely block them in the camp.
Hearing this, Shen Qiu's brows jumped slightly. He instinctively sensed Chu Ren's conspiracy and felt a little uneasy in his heart.
Soon he summoned the generals in the camp and asked everyone to find out what the Chu army's purpose was.
But after the generals discussed it, they couldn't figure it out because they had limited clues and didn't know what the people's purpose was.
So after everyone thought about it, they had no choice but to strengthen the defense of the camp to prevent the Chu people from taking advantage of the situation to make a sneak attack. Then they sent out detective cavalry to the surrounding areas, trying to capture some Chu people's cavalry to find out the Chu people's purpose.
This was just the most basic way to deal with it. It was a passive strategy, which naturally made Shen Qiu dissatisfied.
But apart from this solid suggestion, he had no other solution.
There were some other voices in the army.
For example, Wu'an Hou Bai Yi'an has not given up his extremely conservative policy.
After hearing about the sudden movement of the Chu army, he went crazy and immediately asked Shen Qiu, saying that the Chu people had been stable for several months, but there must be such a sudden change at this time, there must be a big conspiracy.
Now that they are blocking the surrounding area, they must be trying to hide some information. If they continue to stay here and wait for the Chu people to complete their arrangements, the entire army will be in danger.
Therefore, for the sake of the safety of the army, it should be said that the Chu army's arrangement was not completed at this time. When the plot was just started, he immediately led the army to withdraw and returned to Yuzhang.
Anyway, Jiangxia was no longer conquered at this time, and Shenqiu's original plan to send troops to raid the Chu army's hinterland had become a lie due to the defeat in the Lingnan battle.
Ning Guo could no longer take advantage of Chu State.
In this case, leaving empty troops and horses on the front line, wasting money and food, is just a waste of national power.
This move not only shakes the country's foundation, but also brings the danger of overturning to the army. We can no longer take such risks.
Leading the army back to Jiangdong as soon as possible, preserving the current strength, and then integrating all the information to prepare for a long war with the Chu people is the most prudent strategy at the moment.
However, Bai Yi'an's words did not move Shen Qiu, but instead made him and the ministers dissatisfied.
What kind of Chu army conspiracy, what kind of withdrawal of troops to return home?
The main purpose of military campaigns is to use all kinds of tricks and unscrupulous means to destroy the enemy.
Moreover, it has been said since ancient times that if the army is in danger and war is fierce, how can there be no danger on the battlefield?
Moreover, this is the moment for the stalemate with the Chu people. Whether Lingnan can be preserved, whether Jiangbei can be preserved, whether Ning State can be kept away from the enemy, and whether Yangzhou's hegemony can be maintained, all depends on this time.
Bai Yihuaan said it easily.
The army gave up everything and retreated to Jiangdong to defend it.
But Jiangbei, Lingnan, Jiangdong's tranquility, and Yangzhou's dominance, can all of the above really be given up easily?
If we give up everything, will Ningguo still be Ningguo?
Can Jinling still be called the emperor?
The relationship between things is too important. Bai Yi'an looks at the problem from the perspective of war, which may seem very wise. Everyone is drunk but I am sober.
But war is never just war.
Behind the war, there are also economic, political, popular and other factors affecting...
Sometimes, when it comes to a big war, it won't work if you only think about the war.
We also need to look at it from an overall perspective, from a national perspective, and from a global perspective.
Viewed from such a large angle, many choices and decisions that seem stupid in the eyes of everyone actually have many other factors influencing them.
At this time, Shen Qiu and the others were affected by many factors behind the war. It was impossible for them to be like Bai Yi'an, who only considered the pros and cons of winning or losing the war, and easily said that they would withdraw from the army.
In this way, in Bai Yi'an's eyes, when the country was in danger, the whole dynasty was full of cowardly kings and mediocre ministers.
These are these foolish kings and mediocre ministers. Do they not know that by doing so, they may deplete the country's power and even cause the destruction of the Ning Kingdom?
No.
They also know their own choices and are very stupid and passive.
But if he doesn't choose this way, Ning Guo may not die, but he himself will die first.
The simplest one.
In this war, Ning State deployed 600,000 troops, mobilized two vassal states, one ally, and nearly one million coalition troops. The momentum could be said to be the highest in Jiangnan in three hundred years, and the Kyushu countries were even more eye-catching.
In such a war, Ning State suddenly withdrew its troops and surrendered, abandoning three allies and one county in Jiangbei, resulting in hundreds of thousands of casualties and countless losses in money and food.
After paying such a price, who will bear the responsibility for this defeat?
The commander of the coalition forces in this war, the Ning Emperor Shen Qiu?
Or maybe the many generals, high officials, and ministers who filled the camp?
Or you, Bai Yian, the Marquis of Wu'an?
The guilt of this defeat was so great that even as the emperor, Shen Qiu did not dare to bear it.
Because I can't bear it.
As long as he admits it, he will face the crime of defeat, face the fault of hundreds of thousands of soldiers who were killed and injured, face the angry resistance of the army officers, face the fierce public opinion of countless people who lost their fortunes and even their families because of the war, face the loss caused by the defeat. The middle-class rural gentry who have gained a lot of their own interests...
Even if you are the emperor, you cannot bear the anger of the countless groups above and will be burned by the fire.
Notice.
Jinling's political power has never been based on one family, but is recommended by aristocratic families and taken turns by each ethnic group.
When the Xiao family was in power, they lost half of the country, hundreds of thousands of troops, and too much interests of the powerful class, so all parties were angry and ordered him to step down.
At this time, the Shen family was in power. If Bai Yi'an said it, he would also lose Jiangbei and several vassal states in Lingnan, which was equivalent to losing almost half of the country.
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses were lost, and the interests of many people were also damaged.
The lessons learned only lasted for more than ten years.
The Xiao family has now become the fringe of the six surnames and seven tribes. They are hostile to all tribes and reviled by all the people.
The fate of his predecessor was still vivid in his mind. No matter how big-hearted Shen Qiu was, he would never dare to repeat it with his own life.
And the same.
The consequences of the defeat in the war were so serious that none of the battalions, generals, officials, and ministers were willing to bear the incalculable loss of interests after the defeat, as well as the heavy burden that would inevitably arise in order to resist the enemy when the Chu Kingdom invaded in the future.
The lessons of Yue's last defeat were still before their eyes, so they naturally did not support retreating.
Therefore, under the resistance of all the monarchs and ministers, Shen Qiu's proposal was rejected without exception.
Faced with Lu Yuan's blockade, Ning Jun just conservatively sent people to investigate the news and responded passively.
The only chance to recapture Luokou Ferry while the Chu army had just captured Luokou Ferry was completely lost.
In the key decision, Ning Guo took another turn.
