In the early morning of the next day, Huo Jun ordered his sergeants to destroy the river weir, led his army to withdraw from camp, and took boats down the Si River.
On the wall of Xiapi City, Xuzhou sergeants cheered and drank when they saw Huo Jun break camp and withdraw his troops.
Zang Ba slapped the city wall vigorously and said happily: "The soldiers have been surrounding for more than a month, the embankment will be completed, and Huo Jun will finally leave."
Sun Guan looked at the boat going away, and said with a sigh: "Huo Jun is leaving in the boat. He is about to cross Sikou into the Huaihe River and fight with Zhao Yan, Xu Huang and others. I expected that the siege of Xiapi has been solved. , do you want Lu Taishan to return to the army? There is no need to go south to help me."
The Lu Taishan mentioned by Sun Guan was none other than Cao Cao's old general Lu Qian. Lu Qian served as the prefect of Mount Tai, and was the core figure assigned by Cao Cao to monitor the generals of Mount Tai in the east.
Taishan County belongs to Yanzhou, adjacent to Langya County and Dongguan County. It can monitor Zang Ba, Sun Guan and other generals from a high position. It is separated from Xiapi County by Donghai County.
After Cao Cao formulated a strategy to encircle and suppress Huo Jun, he asked Lu Qian, who was a minor figure to go on an expedition, to mobilize troops. He was ordered to supervise the troops of Jinan, Lu, Shanyang and other counties as the prefect of Mount Tai. He also dispatched six to seven thousand local armed men to follow him. Support Xiapi, prevent Huo Jun from jumping over the wall, and storm Xiapi City.
As for how Sun Guan got the news, Liu Ye, who took a preemptive strike, sent scouts to sneak into Xiapi City in advance and informed them of the news of the army blocking Sikou and the news of Lu Qian going south, so as to prevent Zang Ba and Sun Guan from attacking. Afraid of battle and surrendered.
Now I have to say that Huo Jun broke out of the camp in time. If he hesitated to leave, Cao Wei's reinforcements would be surrounded from all sides, including Zhao Yan and Xu Huang in the south, Zang Ba and Sun Guan in the city, reinforcements led by Lu Qian in the north, and reinforcements led by Lu Qian in the east. It's the sea.
Zang Ba hesitated for a while and then said: "I'm afraid the king has other plans. Just send someone to inform Lu Taishan and let him decide how to deploy his troops."
"good!"
Sun Guan looked at the swollen river weir outside the city and said, "Huo Jun is leading his troops to retreat to Sikou. Should our army send troops to pursue it to cooperate with Zhao Yan and Xu Huang?"
After a pause, Sun Guan said: "If we don't send troops south, once Huo Jun breaks through Sikou and his troops enter the Huaihe River, he may be punished by an edict from the king, or Zhao Yan, Xu Huang and others may participate."
Zang Ba stroked the hilt of his sword and muttered: "What Yingzi said is true. No matter what happens now, our army must send an army to pursue it to prevent Huo Jun from breaking through Sikou and being punished by the king. And if Huo Jun is blocked at Sikou, This army can also cooperate with the flanking attack."
Sun Guan patted Zang Ba on the shoulder and said: "General Xuan Gao is not allowed to leave Xiapi City in person. Now Guan will lead the partial army south to pursue Huo Jun."
"Um!"
Zang Ba nodded and warned: "Huo Jun should not be underestimated. The baby should be careful and do not pursue too closely."
"Please rest assured Xuan Gao!"
Sun Guanduo was confident and said with a smile: "Huo Jun has many soldiers. I will chase after them. I will never pursue them too deeply."
"good!"
With Zang Ba's consent, Sun Guandian rode five thousand horses in unison. At about noon, he waited for Huo Jun to leave for a while before he dared to leave Xiapi City and take a boat down the Si River.
At this time, Huo Jun, who was withdrawing his troops along the Surabaya River, arrived at Suikou of the Surabaya River. Suddenly, Huo Jun ordered the fleet to turn northwest, go up the Sui River, and head towards Choli.
On the boat, Ding Feng saw the fleet going deep into the Suishui River. He looked puzzled and asked: "Captain, the Surabaya River is in danger of being blocked now. If the captain doesn't lead the army to withdraw quickly, how can he lead the fleet deep into the Suishui River?"
Standing in front of the map, Huo Jun put his hands behind his hands and thought, but did not answer Ding Feng's words.
Today, Huo Jun is very grateful to Zhu Guang. The map of Xu Huai in his hand came from the map of Xu Huai presented by the surrendered general Zhu Guang in Huaiyin. Although the map is crude, it has marked rivers and city walls. Without a map, the difficulty faced by Huo Jun would be even higher.
Jiang Ji smiled and said, "Does Chengyuan know about Suishui?"
"I don't know!" Ding Feng shook his head and replied.
"The Sui River carries Daliang Honggou Water and goes down to Surabaya. If you take the Sui River, you can take Lu and Suiling as close as possible, and as far as Xiangxian and Daliang. If you want a detailed water map, you can even enter Honggou, and when you go out of Honggou Water, you can merge with the big river. "
The river waters in the Huaibei region have changed a lot. The rivers in the late Han Dynasty were completely different from those today. For example, the Yellow River takes over the Huaihe River, causing sediment accumulation in the Huaibei River, or changing the river course.
Suishui connected Honggou and Surabaya during the Han Dynasty and served as a tributary of Surabaya. However, in later generations, the Suishui River no longer connected with the Si River, but flowed into Hongze Lake from the Sihong area.
Jiang Ji stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Now we will turn northwest and enter the Suishui River. We will leave the boats and boats and run to the Nishui River. If we can enter the Nishui River, we will search for the boats and boats and go down the river. You can go to Huainan."
"Now the commander-in-chief has decided to seize the river weir and ride on a boat to take advantage of the current. He does not want to cross the Huaihe River from the mouth of Surabaya, but wants to confuse Zang Ba and Zhao Yan's army, thereby buying time for our army."
It is very important to confuse the two armies of Zang Ba and Zhao Yan. Huo Jun's army only has enough food and grass for more than a month. It is now blocked between the Si River basin and deep in the enemy's territory. If you insist on breaking through Sikou and be bitten by the enemy, the army will be in danger.
No matter what, if Huo Jun wanted to escape, he could do so with the cavalry. At this moment, his top priority is to preserve the army, and he is unwilling to abandon the army and leave.
Today, by breaking the river weir and taking advantage of the current to move boats and boats quickly, Zang Ba thought that the army was about to leave Sikou, and took the opportunity to lead the army to march northwest, thus achieving an unexpected move.
Ding Feng's eyes lit up and he said: "So the governor confuses the Wei army and turns to the west. The army leaves the boat and sails down the Lishui River and merges into the Huai River to ensure that the army retreats to Huainan."
"I'm afraid it's not that simple!"
Jiang Ji sighed slightly and said: "The army abandoned its boats and sailed to the Nishui River. I am afraid that there are no boats and sailing boats available in the Nishui River, and there are no boats and sailing boats to travel with. When our army reaches Jikou, I am afraid that the enemy aggressors have already arrived at Jishui to stop them."
"Captain, what should we do?"
Ding Feng looked at Huo Jun's upright back worriedly and said.
Looking at the map hanging on the cabin, Huo Jun looked calm and said: "The enemy has deployed a large army along the Huai River, and the hinterland of Huaibei is empty. Now that the troops have entered the Sui River, they will shock Cao's army!"
"Moreover, there must be a road before the car reaches the mountain, and the boat will arrive naturally at the bridge. If we want to protect the army, how can we stick to ordinary military tactics."
"The governor is wise!"
Although Ding Feng didn't understand what Huo Jun said next, he showed respect and looked like he was listening to the instructions.
In the cabin, Huo Jun was thinking deeply about the next response strategy, while the Nanhan boat was sailing along the Suishui River. Its destination was Fuli, which was about 200 miles away from Suikou.
Although the boat is sailing against the current, it is helped by the southeast wind. The two-hundred-mile waterway travels with the wind and against the current. Although it is difficult to reach it in one day, under the starry night, one can definitely reach Fuli in the next day.
Not to mention that Huo Jun's troops were on their way by boat, but on the other hand, the Wei army in Surabaya had to take advantage of the rising water level in Surabaya to escape due to Huo Jun, and Sun Guan did not dare to pursue closely. When Huo Jun turned into Suishui River, Sun Guan had no idea that Huo Jun had changed his course, and he still Thinking that Huo Jun was breaking through to the Surabaya River, he followed the Si River straight down.
While Sun Guan was on his way, Zhao Yan and Xu Huang, in order to prevent Huo Jun from forcing his way to Sikou, led their sergeants to stand ready and stepped up the work of blocking Sikou.
Huo Jun's expectation was correct. Not only were Zhao Yan, Xu Huang and others present in Sikou, Cao Cao also sent Xia Houshang to encircle and suppress Huo Jun. Xia Houshang was ordered to command five thousand elite infantry and cavalry to support Sikou, which was slower than Zhao Yan's arrival on the 2nd.
Of course, not only was the Wei army at Sikou on alert, but Xu Sheng also deployed all his elite troops on the south bank of Sikou, waiting for Huo Jun to break out from Sikou at any time.
The Han and Wei armies in Surabaya waited until nightfall, but there was no sign of Huo Jun's troops.
However, late at night, the Wei army in Sikou responded to the scouts sent by Sun Guan. Xiapi scout Yan Huojun dug the river embankment early this morning, and the boats took advantage of the water's momentum to go down.
When the Sikou Wei army received this information from Sun Guan, they fell into confusion. They originally thought that Huo Jun was camping and resting halfway along the way, preparing for the decisive battle tomorrow, but after checking with the scouts, they discovered that the Huo Jun they had surrounded was missing and had disappeared from the Sishui River.
Zhao Yan waved the scouts back and said confusedly: "According to Sun Donghai, Huo Jun broke the river embankment today, and the boat took advantage of the swollen Si River to take advantage of the situation. However, the scouts searched in every possible way, but there was no trace of him. Why did he suddenly disappear today?" "
Generals Xu Huang and Wen Ji looked confused. Why did Huo Jun suddenly disappear if they were not here to stop the enemy?
Xiahou Shang first arrived at Sikou. Not knowing the details, he frowned and asked, "Is it possible that there is a tributary of the Sishui River, and Huo Jun has entered the Huaihe River from another place?"
Liu Ye shook his head and said: "The only person who can travel in and out of Qingxu by big boat is Sishui. Now Sikou is blocked, if you take another way, run to Lingshui. However, if you go to Lingshui, Huo Jun will abandon the boat, and I will The army has scouts posted in Lingshui. If we march in Lingshui, our army will definitely detect it."
"The enemy is longer than boats and boats, shorter than cavalry. Even if Huo Jun's army is powerful, if our army raises its cavalry to pursue them, the enemy will be defeated. As a famous general, Huo Jun will never commit suicide."
Wen Ji couldn't understand and complained: "Our soldiers blocked the river in batches. Many of them are tired and just hope to win. Huo Jun is not in Sikou now, and I don't know where he is marching. Wouldn't it mean that all the previous efforts have been wasted!"
Xu Huang looked at the map of Xu Huai and speculated: "It is impossible for Huo Jun to go east, so is it possible to go west? The king is still confronting Liu Bei, and the army has not yet marched westward. Huo Jun can always discern the truth and falsehood. Will he march westward now? Then we headed south, were supported by the enemy's navy, crossed the Huai River, and retreated to the south bank."
"Um?"
Liu Ye reacted suddenly, walked quickly to the map, and found Surabaya. Then, I used my fingers to patrol up and found Suishui.
Looking at the map of Suishui River, Liu Ye said excitedly: "Perhaps as Gong Ming said, Huo Jun may go against the Suishui River and take advantage of the situation to move westward. Then he left the boat and drove to Mishui River on foot, collecting boats and boats along the way. Then he went south along the Mishui River. , crossed the Huai River at Jiekou."
As he spoke, Liu Ye moved his fingers down to Zhongli and said: "Huo Jun left Zhongli Fei to guard Zhongli City. He has about 3,000 soldiers. With the support of this department, Huo Jun's 20,000 troops can easily cross the Huaihe River. ."
Hearing Liu Ye's analysis, everyone's eyes lit up.
Zhao Yan stroked his beard and asked: "If we follow what Commander Liu said, we should lead the soldiers to march westward, seize Jiankou before Huo Jun's army, and do not allow the enemy to cross the river. At the same time, send a message to the king to see if he can march westward. , encircle and suppress Huo Jun."
"Exactly!"
Liu Ye looked excited, pacing in the tent, and said: "To prevent Huo Jun from attacking from the east to the west, we can allow ten thousand people to seize Jiankou, and the army can still block Surabaya. Then inform Sun Guan and Lu Qian of Huo Jun's whereabouts, and ask them to attack from the east and north The troops from both sides are advancing to see if they can find Huo Jun's whereabouts."
"Huo Jun left his boat behind and violated the taboo of military strategists. Now he is deep in Henan and wants to cross the Huaihe River elsewhere. He is familiar with the situation and does not know that there are few people in the Mishui River. If there are few people, there will be few boats and boats. This is the way to defeat."
"good!"
Zhao Yan pondered for a long time and said: "Let Gongming and Boren divide their troops with tens of thousands of troops at Mikou. I will supervise all the troops at Sikou to prevent Huo Jun from leaving and returning. If I check Huo Jun's movements, I will send troops to the west to help. "
"promise!"
Xu Huang and Xia Houshang stood up and accepted the order.
(End of chapter)
