While the ministers in Jingzhou were discussing, there were fierce battles on the other side of the border.
Outside Jianchang City, Ganning's siege has been going on for the third day. In the past three days, he has been attacking the city in a hurry. He divided the main force of 6,000 into three groups, almost day and night, non-stop.
But the development of the situation was beyond his expectation.
On the one hand, the Jianchang defenders showed unexpected stubbornness, which made Gan Ning, who was originally full of confidence and wanted to decide the outcome in a battle, give up this dream almost after the first day of siege.
On the other hand, the two sides are attacking and defending. The battle is so fierce and the movement is not small. As a result, so far, there is no movement in Changsha County, a hundred miles away. Not to mention the dispatch of troops and horses.
Not a single person was seen on the sentinel cavalry or the probing horse!
What's happening here.
Was Changsha County's reaction too slow, or did it fail to see the importance of Jianchang at all? Otherwise, there is really no way to explain this strange phenomenon. Jianchang was besieged, and the attacking army was fighting in full swing, not far away.
However, Changsha County remained motionless and as quiet as a chicken.
So on the fourth day, Gan Ning immediately ordered gold to withdraw his troops, suspended the offensive, and gathered in the commander's tent with Taishi Ci and other generals to discuss countermeasures.
"First of all, it is certain that although no sentry cavalry from the Jingzhou Army has been found so far, in the past few days of siege, small groups of cavalry have broken through the city. I also obeyed the general's order and asked my brothers to deliberately let them go.
, these people must have sent envoys asking for help for Hua Xin. By now, the news that our army besieged Jianchang must have reached Changsha long ago."
Lieutenant General Zhu Ju spoke first: "Changsha County seems to have no intention of rescuing even though it is known about this matter. It is really strange."
"It's a bit tricky indeed."
Gan Ning also frowned slightly: "In Zhou Mu's plan to attack Jianchang, it would be best if we can fight with lightning speed. If we can't defeat it quickly, we can also turn around.
The attack was a trap, and reinforcements were encircled. They lured some of the Changsha defenders out in advance and weakened their defensive strength. As a result, not only was it a warning, but the Jingzhou army's response was also unexpected, and it turned out to be indifferent.
Yi, the plan will be settled?"
"My lord, did you say that you would send reinforcements?"
Gan Ning glared at him, then looked around at the generals and said fiercely: "This time I will lead the team myself!"
After pondering for a moment, Taishi Ci drew the map on the table with his pen, looked around, and said in a deep voice: "This place is only more than forty miles away from Jianchang. In the past few days, our army has spared no effort in attacking the city, which can be regarded as a show."
That’s 10%. When the war is at its fiercest, I’m afraid even the sound of trebuchets will be heard in this Wu Fort!”
Zhang Xian was a native of Nanyang in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Before Liu Biaodan rode into Jingzhou, he was already the prefect of Lingling in Jingzhou. Interestingly, even though he was at odds with Liu Biao, he still served as the prefect of Guiyang and now the prefect of Changsha.
From this point, we can infer its great influence and deep qualifications in Jingzhou.
If it's the former, that's fine, if it's the latter.
Gan Ning turned cold and said with a sneer: "The implication is that we have been busy here for a while, but we have become monkeys in a show, and we have only made the people of Jingzhou a joke?"
But in fact, this does not mean that Liu Biao does not have an overall view. He may not know that the result of this kind of "sitting back and watching success or failure" may be that no matter Cao Cao or Yuan Shao becomes the final winner, the next step will be to attack him in Jingzhou. He may not want to send troops northward, but he will
Hunting the Central Plains, but at this time he was powerless and had no ability to send troops.
"Although Linxiang is more than two hundred miles away from Jianchang, there are several forts on the border between the two states, and the one closest to Jianchang is here."
Lieutenant General Zhu Ju asked: "Which army and horses will be sent out for this siege?"
Taishi Ci thought for a moment and shook his head: "What is the purpose of my lord's move? I can't even guess it."
Just reading this limited text, it seems that the process of Liu Biao's counterinsurgency was quite smooth. The last six words "siege, break, and pacify" are ordinary. It seems that the rebellion was solved quickly. The Battle of Guandu took place in the fifth year of Jian'an.
Well, why don't you have the ability to send troops?
"It's fine if the Jingzhou army doesn't come to rescue us. Jianchang is so difficult to fight!"
Gan Ning really couldn't guess what Wang Zheng's intention was. But since the military order was like this, he still had to strictly abide by it. While he was worried, he passed the military order: "Since there are no more military reports,
Our army will implement this! Send this general’s order and attack the city again in an hour.”
"With nearly 10,000 troops, how could there not be enough troops to come to aid Jianchang? Ziyi, your second guess is somewhat reasonable. I wonder if we have really become fucking monkeys this time!"
And like Cai Mao, Zhang Xian is also a die-hard "voting for Cao" faction.
After the general's order was given, all the generals stood up together, clasped their fists on their chests, and in the military salute, their armor plates made a clanging sound: "Promise!"
Gan Ning was convinced and quickly asked: "What's the secret?"
This is one of the reasons why Wang Zheng only sent 6,000 troops to Jianchang even though it was the first battle of the Southern Expedition and Jianchang was so important. Another reason was that Jianchang was a mountain city, which was not suitable for logistics and was not suitable for large-scale legions.
The terrain of combat.
Later generations did not think highly of Liu Biao and regarded him as a guard dog. The main reason was that at the critical moment of the battle between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, Liu Biao did nothing, sat back and watched the success or failure, and missed the last opportunity.
"Ziyi, how can I not mind?"
It would be best if Jianchang could be captured, but wouldn't it be more ideal if Linxiang's defensive strength could be weakened in advance during the process of capturing Jianchang?
"Never."
Gan Ning scolded angrily: "You know, I have not been under the lord's command for a long time. If I had not made some achievements in Nanchang before, how could I have snatched it from the hands of Huang Zhong and Wei Yan this time?
Come to the position of pioneer officer? I originally planned to make another contribution, but unexpectedly it turned out to be a bad start!"
Although Tai Shici had not been in the army for a long time, he was born in a noble family and had served as a military official in Beihai. Not only was he proficient in bow and horse, but his attainments in military formations and tactics were far beyond that of Gan Ning, a water thief. He analyzed carefully.
: "Either our army's intelligence is wrong, and there are not many troops stationed in Linxiang, so we dare not come to rescue Jianchang easily, or."
In comparison, all other cities, even Xiongguan like Pengcheng, capitals like Xiapi and Shouchun, can be solved within a month at most.
"Soldiers are deceitful," Tai Shici advised: "The so-called victory or defeat is a common thing for military strategists. In fact, it does not mean that in the battle of wits between the enemy and ourselves, whether it is bullying or being tricked, it is a common thing, and the general does not need to be too over the top.
care"
"Book of the Later Han Dynasty: Biography of Liu Biao" records: In the third year of Jian'an, Zhang Xian, the governor of Changsha, led Lingling and the three counties of Guiyang to rebel against Biao. Biao sent troops to attack, defeat Xian and pacify it.
Gan Ning stood up suddenly and walked around the tent a few times, "The Benming Division has already investigated how many people there are in Linxiang. Since Liu Biao's death, Cai Mao has been in charge of power alone and has carried out frequent troop mobilizations at the border.
In order to prepare for the war, capitals such as Linxiang have also mobilized many garrison troops from various counties, and now there are at least ten thousand people in the city."
"My lord personally went to the front line to supervise the battle. If he, Mi Fang, had not disliked his long life, he would never dare to make mistakes in such matters. Therefore, the information must be conclusive, and even if there is any deviation, it will not be serious."
"If we continue fighting like this, I'm afraid even Xiangyang in Nanjun will know that our army wants to surprise Changsha. When Cai Mao knows it, he will make full preparations and turn the surprise attack into an open attack. The fighter plane will be fleeting. Our army will again
How to deal with it?”
Taishi Ci's prediction was true. The Xuzhou army's attempt to lure the snake out of its cave and attack Jianchang in the Ming Dynasty was aimed at Linxiang. It was indeed seen through by Zhang Xian, the highest official in Linxiang, the governor of Changsha.
In fact, he thought of a possibility. Perhaps from the beginning, Wang Zheng had not expected Gan Ning to capture Jianchang quickly. Perhaps from the beginning, Wang Zheng had only one purpose in letting Gan Ning come to attack Jianchang, and that was to
Lure the snake out of its hole.
There was no Suke in Jianchang, and the reaction of the defenders in Linxiang was so unexpected, it was naturally impossible for Gan Ning not to report to Wang Zheng.
Let’s not talk about the distance, just take the Wang Zheng and Xuzhou Army, which have attacked the most cities and expanded the most territory in recent years. Their truly famous battle was the capture of Linzi, the fifth capital of the Han Dynasty, but many people have ignored one thing.
One thing is that Linzi is also the city where Wang Zheng spent the most time so far, nearly two months.
The main reason why Linzi is so difficult to conquer is that it has a moat!
As a military commander in the original historical Soochow forces, in terms of personal bravery, Gan Ning was indeed a first-rate figure among the heroes in the late Han Dynasty. It was easy to charge into battle, but after all, a tough battle was different from a field battle. Although a brave general could still play a certain role,
But it was difficult to control the overall situation. More importantly, strategizing was not Gan Ning's specialty, and he also had certain limitations in arranging troops. According to Han Xin's statement, "Generals cannot exceed ten thousand troops."
In other words, Liu Biao also sent troops at this time, but the direction was to the south instead of the north. The opponent was precisely Wang Zheng's current target, Zhang Xian, the prefect of Changsha who was stationed in Linxiang!
Gan Ning was deeply puzzled by this and murmured to himself: "Ziyi, the Jingzhou army in Linxiang has not moved. My lord must have noticed that our army's strategy has been seen through by the enemy. Judging from the current situation,
, If we want to capture Jianchang with the current troops, it will take at least ten months or more. The lord ordered us to continue the attack and did not send more troops, but why?"
"Back to the general," Zhu Ju hurriedly came out of the queue and said: "There is no military report from Yichun, but an ultimatum was sent from Nanchang in the morning, and the state pastor wrote a reply in his own hand. He didn't say anything more, he just asked us to continue the attack on the city."
With this kind of experience, Taishi Ci believed that Wang Zheng had already made a plan and had made up his mind from the beginning. He hoped to transfer the defenders in the city and change the siege into a field battle. Only then would he have a chance to capture Linxiang in a short time.
"Hey"
Facing the questioning gazes of the crowd, Taishi Ci said one word at a time: "It can only be that our army's strategy to lure the snake out of its hole has been seen through by the Jingzhou army!"
"Which one?"
How could a general lose his composure like this? His joy and anger can only be expressed in words.
Taishi Ci raised his sword eyebrows and shook his head secretly. However, the other generals did not have the Qi-nurturing skills like him. They were all startled for a moment. They looked at each other and did not dare to let out their breath. The room in the tent suddenly fell into a sound that could be heard by a needle drop.
In silence.
actually not.
Taishi Ci was silent for a moment, then raised his hands and said, "This is just the general's humble opinion, and it may not be true."
"Does the lord still want to continue to lure the snake out of the hole?" Gan Ning was very puzzled: "We have been fighting for three days. If Linxiang's defenders wanted to come for reinforcements, they would have come long ago. They just refuse to come out. What can we do?"
For the siege party, the two cities are actually equally difficult to attack, but the reasons for their difficulty are different. Jianchang is a mountainous city, which makes it difficult to siege due to its terrain, and it is difficult to mobilize troops on a large scale. As for Linxiang, as the capital,
Not only is it a solid city with sufficient food and grass, but the most important thing is that Linxiang has an extremely wide moat!
Taishi Ci, who was familiar with military literature, knew how difficult it was to conquer a city with a moat.
The key is that many of the people brought to Mali this time were from Gan Ning's headquarters. Thinking of this, Gan Ning became more and more angry. His fists were already clenched tightly. He turned back to the case and suddenly slammed on the table.
Punch!
There was only a "bang" sound, the power of this punch was astonishing, and it actually knocked the criminals away completely.
It's no wonder that he was holding back his anger. He really treated the soldiers with admiration after three days of separation. Not only was Hua Xin no longer as immature as before, but the Shanyue of Yuzhang was also quite fierce. After three consecutive days of siege, this time as the vanguard
The six thousand soldiers had already suffered nearly a thousand casualties. If the defenders of Linxiang could not be lured out and Jianchang could not be captured in a short period of time, then these nearly a thousand soldiers would have been killed and injured in vain.
After a while, Gan Ning managed to suppress his anger, and then asked again: "Is there any letter from Nanchang? Over there in Yichun, is there any military report from General Xu?"
"Since they know about this battle, Linxiang must also know about it, but they can sit so calmly. There must be an inside story."
Because there is also a record in "Three Kingdoms·Liu Biao Biography": Zhang Xian, the governor of Changsha, rebelled against Biao, and Biao was besieged for many years. Xian died of illness, and his son Yi was restored to Changsha, so he attacked and merged with Ling and Guangxi in the south and occupied Hanchuan in the north.
The place is thousands of miles away, and the armor is more than 100,000.
The four words "not falling for years" can actually tell the seriousness of Zhang Xian's rebellion.
"Continuous years" cannot be one year. It will take at least two years or nearly two years, or even longer, to use such a word. Moreover, after "consecutive years", Liu Biao has not really defeated Zhang Xian.
Only after the opponent died of illness and his son continued to lead the army did Liu Biao finally have the opportunity to defeat the rebels and regain Changsha, Lingling, Guiyang and other counties.
It can be speculated that Zhang Xian's rebellion caused Liu Biao to devote most of his energy and troops to Jingnan for at least two to three years. Under such circumstances, how could he participate in the Battle of Guandu?
From this point of view, just like Xu Gong's disciple who assassinated Sun Ce, Zhang Xian can also be regarded as the hero behind Cao Cao's victory in the Battle of Guandu.
Being able to serve as the shepherd of Jingzhou under Liu Biao for many years, and with a stable foundation, Zhang Xian set off a rebellion in the three counties. Zhang Xian is not an ordinary person, and may even be one of the heroes ignored by history. He is definitely a strong enemy!
However, not only Taishi Ci and Gan Ning are completely unaware of this, but Wang Zheng, who is a time traveler, is also unaware of this.