When Cao Cao gathered his troops and headed south, Huo Jun took a boat thousands of miles down the river and arrived at Jiangdu County in the north of the Yangtze River, where he gathered 30,000 soldiers.
When Huo Jun arrived in Jiangdu, generals such as Gao Xiang, Yu Shao, Quan Cong, Jiang Ji, Ding Feng, and Zhong Lifei arrived with their troops. With the cooperation of the generals, Huo Jun spent two or three days getting familiar with the situation of each department, and then took a boat into Hangou.
Hangou uses lakes, natural rivers, and artificial canals along the way to communicate with each other. From its south, water from the Yangtze River flows into the river channel, and then turns to the northeast and enters Sheyang Lake. After exiting Sheyang Lake, it turns to the northwest and connects with the Huai River at Huaiyin.
The Hangou waterway dug in this way twists and turns, shuttling between lakes and rivers. Since Yuan Shu disrupted the Jianghuai River, Hangou has not been dredged for a long time, and siltation has occurred in many places. In addition, the wind and waves in Sheyang Lake are dangerous, so few people pass through Hangou.
After Yuan Shu was defeated and died, Jianghuai had a brief period of peace. As the governor of Guangling, Chen Deng dug a horse to dredge the hundred-mile Hangou route of Sheyang Lake. At the same time, he used the Hangou as a weir to irrigate farmland, thus protecting the people. Peace.
However, with Chen Deng's resignation, Guangling was plundered by the Sun family. With wars raging, the people fled south to Jiangdong, and Guangling County was mostly deserted.
After Huo Jun took Hefei from the north, he advocated the restoration of the Jianghuai area from the 17th year of Jian'an, and did not hesitate to recruit people from Jiangdong to go north to revive the Jianghuai area.
Under this, Liu Ji served as the prefect of Guangling and rebuilt Gaoyou and Hailing counties; Xu Sheng led his headquarters to move to Sheyang City, relying on the strong winds and waves of Sheyang Lake to resist the attacks of the Taishan bandits.
Two days after setting off from Jiangdu, Huo Jun took a boat to Sheyang City, where Xu Sheng went out to greet him in person.
Sheyang City, official residence.
"Ha ha!"
Xu Sheng invited Huo Jun to the throne and said with a smile: "The last general will be stationed in Sheyang City. He will be idle for several years and will not be allowed to fight. Now that the governor has led his troops to come in person, it is the time for us to make some achievements."
Huo Jun sat on the couch and said with a smile: "Only generals are not allowed to take charge of the border. When Guangling is rebuilt, we should rely more on Wen Xiang's contribution to the border control. Now when we use troops to attack the Huai River, we should rely more on you!"
"hey-hey!"
Xu Sheng was not polite to Huo Jun, an old leader, and said with a flattering smile: "In this Northern Expedition, I hope the governor can entrust important responsibilities."
"Wen Xiang!"
Gao Xiang pretended to be dissatisfied and said: "If you want to take on an important task, have you ever asked me?"
"Commander, don't be partial to Wen Xiang!" Ding Feng shouted.
After a few laughs with his subordinates, Huo Jun lowered his hands to signal everyone to be quiet and asked: "Wen Xiang has been suppressing Sheyang for a long time, does he know about Huaiyin?"
"Sheng Duo is investigating!"
Xu Sheng presented the map and said: "Captain, since Cao Cao's southern expedition, Shouchun has become an important town, and Xiahou Dun personally takes charge of it. Three years ago, Xiahou Dun ordered General Zhu Guang to lead thousands of soldiers and civilians out of Huaiyin to control Huaiyin. We raised troops to fight for it, but Zang Ba led his troops to support us. With the enemy outnumbered and outnumbered, we retreated to Sheyang."
"Since Zhu Guang rebuilt Huaiyin, he took advantage of the fertile acres and opened rice fields to use it as military food. It has gradually become a climate. In a few years, it will become a big town and will block our army's way to the north. It should be eliminated early."
Previously, Huo Jun defeated Hefei, and his soldiers swept across the Yangtze River and Huaihe River, and briefly occupied the city of Huaiyin. However, Jianghuai was too vast, and Huaiyin was too adjacent to the Wei border. At that time, there were few soldiers and horses in Jianghuai, making it difficult to hold on. Under Cao Cao's southern patrol, Huo Jun gathered the refugees and moved the battle line back to Sheyang.
In the next five or six years, Cao Cao established military towns with Yiyang, Shouchun, and Huaiyin as city walls, and his Huaihe River defense line gradually took shape. Now that Huo Jun's Northern Expedition is so dangerous, the first thing to do is to break through Huaiyin, and then contact Liu Bei through the Huai River.
Huo Jun looked at Huaiyin on the map and said: "If you want to take Xuzhou from the north, you have to go down to Huaiyin. You have to have Huaiyin, and you can enter Surabaya, and you have to look at Xiapi; you can retreat to the city, and rely on the dangers of the Huaihe River, and carry the east side of Huaiyin on your back. Use your strength to retreat the enemy to Huaibei."
The position of Huaiyin is very critical, controlling Sikou. Only by conquering Huaiyin City could Huo Jun consider whether to go north via Sishui to capture Xiapi, or to go west to join Liu Bei to face Cao Cao.
After a pause, Huo Jun asked: "Wen Xiang, what is the terrain of Huaiyin today? How far is it from Zang Ba's headquarters?"
"Somebody come!"
Xu Sheng stood up to greet him and said, "Bring up the sand table!"
Under Xu Sheng's greeting, several sergeants laboriously carried the sand tray into the hall.
"Captain!"
Xu Sheng led Huo Jun to the sand table and said: "Since Sheng Sheng defended Sheyang, I have been trying to break Huaiyin for a long time. It has been a year since I made the sand table. Now is the time to use force. Please take a look at it."
While talking, I saw a small city standing on the sand table. It was built along the water, with water on the north and east sides.
Xu Sheng pointed to the city and said: "This city was built in the Qin Dynasty. The city is small and the water is bad, so it is difficult to house large troops. Earlier, Zhu Guang wanted to build a big city, but was attacked by Sheng, so he did not dare to build a big city. Now we are taking a boat. Entering the Huai River, you can reach the foot of Huaiyin City."
Saying that, Xu Sheng added: "Zang Ba, as the governor of Xuzhou, stationed troops in Xiapi and supervised Huaiyin. If we attack Huaiyin now, Zang Ba will lead his troops south to rescue. Our army should be careful."
Huo Jun looked at Huaiyin City with a thoughtful look on his face.
"Commander, why not follow the strategy of encircling Hefei and encircle the city and mobilize reinforcements? Lure Zang Ba southward, and the commander will lead his elite troops to meet him. If we can defeat Zang Ba's troops, not only can we go to Huaiyin, but we can also hope to go to Pi! Gao Xiang suggested.
"Does Zitong have a plan?" Huo Jun asked.
Jiang Ji pondered for a while and said: "Zang Ba has the responsibility of guarding Xuzhou. The governor is here today and he will take it as a warning. How dare he risk going south. And although Huaiyin is heavy, the city is narrow and it is located in Huainan. It is difficult to lead troops down. Rescue.”
"Ji thought that Zang Ba wanted to take advantage of Huaiyin and waste our army's strength. When our army is exhausted and we don't know if we want to capture Huaiyin, he will personally lead his army southward to contain our army."
A negative example of encirclement and reinforcements is represented by Zhuge Ke's Battle of New City. Sima Fu stood still in Shouchun, and Zhuge Ke was not thinking about calling for reinforcements. In the end, not only did the army fail to capture Hefei, but Sima Fu was not even seen. Under the great epidemic, and being pursued by Wen Qin's army, the army was ultimately defeated. .
Therefore, whether to use the strategy of besieging the city for reinforcements must be judged clearly whether the enemy's reinforcements have a genuine intention to rescue. Otherwise, if you pretend to attack the city and let the soldiers in the city defend it with confidence, the city will be difficult to fight.
After a little hesitation, Gao Xiang said: "Zang Ba is the governor of Xuzhou and oversees Huaiyin. How can he not save Huaiyin? If he doesn't, Cao Cao will most likely punish him."
Jiang Ji shook his head and said: "Although Huaiyin is important, it is compared with Xiapi, but it is not a place that must be protected. If Xiapi is lost, you can see Pengcheng in the west and Langya in the east. Today Ji's meeting with Zang Ba may be based on Huaiyin. The city is trying to weaken the spirit of our army."
Jiang Jineng came to this conclusion not by random guessing, but by some basis.
Huo Jun led 30,000 troops to the north. The morale of the army was strong, and he was bound to want to win as soon as possible. Under this situation, using Huaiyin City to kill Huo Jun's morale is the best way.
After all, the success of the battle of Hefei lies in Huo Jun's preparation to store water and flood the city. If there is no water available now, the city of Huaiyin must be gnawed hard. Under such circumstances, Zang Ba would inevitably adopt a more prudent plan.
"What decision should the governor make now?" Xu Sheng asked.
Huo Jun walked around the sand table and said: "If we cannot conquer Huaiyin now, it will be difficult to enter the Huaihe River. If it is difficult to enter the Huaihe River, the king's flanks will be in danger. In this northern expedition, Shouchun is the priority, and conquering Xiapi is the second. And even if it is difficult to enter the Huaihe River, the king's flanks will be in danger." Defeat Zang Ba, but the position of Xiapi is very difficult to conquer."
Whether you want to besiege the city and bring reinforcements, or choose to attack the city directly, it all depends on the goal of the battle. In this Northern Expedition, Huo Jun, as a partial army, naturally had to cooperate with Liu Bei in fighting.
And if we have an in-depth understanding of the geographical location and city defense of Xiapi City, we can roughly know that even if Zang Ba is defeated, Xiapi City is not that easy to defeat. Unless we follow Cao Cao's example and conquer the Si River, we will flood the Pi River.
However, Xiapi is located three to four hundred miles away from Huaibei. If Huo Jun raises his troops to move north, he will be easily surrounded by heavy troops.
Huo Jun looked up at Xu Sheng and said, "Where is Xu Sheng?"
"The general is here!"
"I order you to be the vanguard and lead the troops into Huaiyin City tomorrow. I will lead the army behind and break through Huaiyin immediately. Don't do what Zang Ba wants."
"No!" Everyone responded with their hands raised.
The next day, Huo Jun set out from Sheyang County and headed for Huaiyin City.
At the same time, Zang Ba was in Xiapi City and not only received Cao Cao's edict, but also Zhu Guang's intelligence.
In the hall, Zang Ba summoned generals Sun Guan and Yin Li to discuss military affairs.
Zang Ba let the two of them browse the information about Huaiyin and said: "Huo Jun led 30,000 soldiers to the north to capture the city of Huaiyin. How should we deal with it now? Do we follow the king's orders?"
Sun Guan flipped through the information, frowned and said: "Huo Jun is proficient in the art of war, and even the king is afraid of him. Now he is leading the army to the north, and his momentum is in full swing. It is not appropriate to rush south to fight with him. From what he sees, he should follow the king's order and start first. Keep the walls strong and clear the fields, and protect Xiapi as the top priority."
Yin Li said carelessly: "Huaiyin is guarded by Zhu Guang, who is not my Taishan brother. We can let him defend the city first, and when Huo Jun is in trouble for a long time and exhausted, we can send troops to rescue him, which will be a great achievement!" "
Zang Ba frowned slightly and said: "Your Majesty said that the wall would be clear and the country would be clear, but he did not say anything to tell our army to stand still. Huaiyin City is small and outnumbered. If it is known that our army will not be saved, it will be difficult for it to hold on for a long time."
Sun Guan thought for a long time and said: "The governor can send a letter to Zhu Guang, saying that reinforcements have been sent and that the king will arrive soon, so let him stay and wait for reinforcements. At the same time, Guan led his sergeants to move south slowly, and the governor led the army behind. If Huo Jun set up If there is an ambush, the governor will respond."
"After Huaiyin has been defended for more than a month, the king will lead his army to the south. He will definitely divide his troops and march eastward, and the governor will lead his army south again. With the help of heavy troops, if the city of Huaiyin is not broken by Huo Jun, then the siege of Huaiyin will be solved!"
With Huo Jun's reputation, almost no general dared to look down upon him. Especially the Taishan bandits, after many battles with Huo Jun, not only did they win with few, but they also suffered many losses. Now I no longer dare to confront Huo Jun head-on. I can only be cautious and complete the tasks assigned by Cao Cao.
Such a cautious mentality was judged by Huo Jun and Jiang Ji. If they tried to siege the city for reinforcements, it would probably be in vain and would be delayed.
Zang Ba stroked his beard and said: "According to Zhongtai's words, you will lead the soldiers southward, and I will lead the army to support you. At the same time, we will implement the strategy of strengthening the wall and clearing the wilderness, and secure Xiapi as the top. Select other smart people to enter the city and let Zhu We must hold on to the light for more than a month. When the king's troops arrive, the danger of siege will be gone!"
"good!"
(End of chapter)
