Chen Lan had an army of 30,000. In addition to the thieves who had gathered after arriving at Lujiang River, there were about 5,000 soldiers who had fought with Yuan Shu and experienced hundreds of battles.
This force is stronger than He Yan's [Ji Yao Camp] and Li Shu's old troops currently led by Liu Ye combined. Otherwise, Lu Su, Liu Fu and others would not have decided to capture Lei Xu and Mei first when formulating their plan. Do it, annex his tribe, and then go to fight Chen Lan.
Now that Chen Lan is attacking, even if He Yan and Liu Ye come together, they may not be able to stop him. Now He Yan wants to deal with Chen Lan alone, which is undoubtedly a bit confusing.
"In short, Chen Lan must not be allowed to approach the rear of our army and join Lei Xu and Mei Gan!"
Riding on the express boat, He Yan forced himself to calm down.
"When Chen Lan came here so quickly, he must have never imagined that we would turn around and kill him."
"If we take advantage of Chen Lan's panic and use cavalry to divide his troops, we may not lose the possibility of victory."
He Yan called his soldiers to get a map of the Lujiang River and observed several routes on it.
"If Chen Lan wants to get out of Tianzhu Mountain, there are only two mountain passes in the east and south."
"There is Wan County on the mountain pass to the south. Chen Lan is familiar with the art of war. He will definitely consider that the soldiers of Wan County will probably cut off his retreat. Therefore, Chen Lan will most likely choose the mountain pass to the east."
"And when sending troops from the east, Chen Lan's army will definitely pass through Shu County. This is our opportunity."
He Yan followed Cao Cao in Guandu and learned something. Although he was not immediately able to use troops like a god, he had a basic understanding of basic strategies and tactics.
"This battle must be won in one fell swoop, without any delay!"
After determining the route, He Yan asked all the soldiers to throw away their baggage, food and grass, and march at full speed with only their armor, crossbows and arrows.
Driving along Chaoxian County to Shucheng, the scenery along the way was uniquely beautiful in the south of the Yangtze River, but neither He Yan nor his soldiers were in the mood to pay attention to the scenery.
The leader ran wildly for more than three hours, until He Yan finally breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the gate of Shu County.
"Lu Meng, lead your infantry and hide in the city, wait for Chen Lan's army to pass by and rush over directly!"
"clear!"
Lu Meng had always been the first to get there, and he did not resist this military order at all.
"Remember! We must break up Chen Lan's army in one go! Otherwise, if we let Chen Lan find out the strength of our army and give him time to adjust, he will most likely fail!"
He Yan was extremely confident in Lu Meng's ability to attack difficult situations.
Without this ability, Lu Meng would not be able to rely on his humble status to reach the level of governor in Jiangdong step by step. As long as he is given a chance, Lu Meng will definitely surprise the world.
"Leave the rest to me."
He Yan climbed up the city wall of Shu County and looked at the surrounding terrain.
"The mountains and rivers in the west of Lujiang County are blocked, and the waterways are crisscrossed in the east. Only Shu County is surrounded by a plain. It's no wonder that the ancestors established this place as Lujiang County."
Shu County and Anhui County are different in that they were built based on the terrain of mountains and rivers. The terrain here is almost all plains.
Plains means more farmland, and more farmland means more food production. When more food is produced, the place will naturally become richer.
The plain terrain is helpful for the development of agricultural economy, but its military performance is a mess.
Because there are many open spaces, it means there is no danger to defend.
Not only is there no danger to defend, but if you want to set up an ambush, it will also be easily discovered by the enemy, thus losing the upper hand.
"In addition to letting Lu Meng lead the troops out of Shu County, I must find a way to get around Chen Lan's rear."
If you want to win more with less, you must accumulate enough momentum!
"Those who are good at fighting seek power and do not take responsibility for others, so they can choose people and follow the power."
"Those who are in power will fight against others, just like turning wood and stone. The nature of wood and stone is that they are quiet when they are safe, they move when they are in danger, they stop when they are square, and they move when they are round."
The meaning of this passage in "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu is that if a person who is good at fighting wants to gather [power], he should be like earth and rocks rolling down a high slope, rolling bigger and bigger, and gradually accumulating his own advantages.
If Lu Meng can really break up Chen Lan's army by then, then He Yan will lead the cavalry to roll up the momentum, causing Chen Lan's troops to become more and more panicked, and finally win.
This requires that the appearance of the cavalry must be extremely sudden, so that they can cooperate with Lu Meng to form an effect of one plus one being far greater than two.
"It is impossible to set up an ambush near Shu County."
He Yan pointed on the city wall to the south of Shu County: "I will lead two hundred cavalry and wait there."
"After Lu Meng rushes out of the city, I will use the sound of drums as a signal. At the right time, I will go around Chen Lan's rear and attack his tribe!"
Although two hundred cavalry are not many, they are enough to deal with ordinary bandits.
In addition, there are few horses in the south, and soldiers do not often fight with cavalry. They are likely to be frightened out of their wits under the charge of cavalry.
If not, Zhang Liao in the future would not be able to use 800 men to give Sun Quan the nickname "Sun Shiwan".
After deciding on the tactics, He Yan continued to lead the cavalry to the south before even staying in Shuchengdu for half a quarter of an hour.
The manpower has been exhausted, and the only thing left is God's will.
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After He Yan left, Shu County closed its city gates tightly.
Lü Meng lurked in the city and not only removed most of the flags on the city walls, but also withdrew many of the defenders, giving the enemy the illusion that "the city is empty and they have to close the city to protect themselves."
About half an hour later, a few sparse groups of scouts appeared outside Shuxian City.
These scouts were affiliated with Chen Lan. After inquiring about the information about Shu County, they immediately reported it to Chen Lan in the rear. Their words were quite urgent: "General! Shu County is empty! The guard army only has more than 2,000 soldiers at most!"
"
Shu County is a big county in Lujiang! If Chen Lan can capture Shu City and plunder it, he will definitely be able to spend the second half of the year comfortably!
"madness!"
When Chen Lan saw that the scout was still thinking about plundering at this time, she also directly cursed.
"Looking at the movements of He Yan, Liu Ye and the others, they are probably planning to take over Lei Xu and Mei Gan first, and then attack me last!"
"How long do you think Tianzhu Mountain can last without Lei Xu and Mei Gan attracting the attention of the government?"
Chen Lan moved forward some distance and could vaguely see the city wall of Shu County.
Shuxian's defense was indeed very lax as the scouts said, but Chen Lan still did not choose to cause trouble.
"Bypass Shu County! Rush to Chao County with all your strength!"
With Chen Lan's military orders, the soldiers under his command who were used to looting were staring at Shu County with regret.
But soon, their regret turned to horror.
"General! Someone has come out of Shu County City!"
Chen Lan's men were eager to get on their way, and they also formed a long snake formation, moving quickly towards Chaoxian County like a big python.
Because they had to bypass Shu County, the long queue undoubtedly exposed their "belly".
Lu Meng, who had been ambushing Shu County for a long time, naturally would not miss this opportunity. He directly followed the tactics formulated by He Yan and opened the city gate to kill Chen Lan.
"Lu Meng of Runan is here! You will be punished as soon as possible!"
There was a thundering drum beat from Shu County behind him. Lu Meng held a large shield in his left hand and a heavy ring-headed sword in his right hand. He followed the drum beat and rushed faster and faster, leading the three thousand infantry in the city fiercely like an arrow.
It cut towards the middle of Chen Lan's military formation.
There wasn't much distance between the two sides, and Lu Meng was extremely fast. He quickly came into contact with Chen Lan, biting the big python's belly, unwilling to let go.
"die!"
Lu Meng often fought against Shan Yue in the east of the Yangtze River, and he had already developed his fierceness. He could easily cut off an enemy's head with a big shield and a sword in his hand.
On the contrary, Chen Lan's tribe who was attacked were first frightened, and then were attacked by Lu Meng. They were already trembling with fear and hurriedly responded to the fight.
It's just that although the [剽姚 Camp] led by Lu Meng has a small number of people, everyone is wearing armor, and the equipment is much better than these thieves.
When I hit it with my sword, it was a hole. Not only can you not break my defense with your sword, but you might even get a few holes in it from the patches on the armor. Not every soldier can accept this kind of embarrassment.
In addition, although [Ji Yao Camp] is composed of three people, whether they are Cao Ren's elite, Lu Meng's tribe or Li Shu's old tribe, they are all veterans who work well together.
The veterans of the three parties formed formations skillfully, and often five people forming a small square could defeat ten or even twenty enemies. With the support of all aspects, the infantry led by Lu Meng actually fought in this small square.
Advantage!
"Don't panic!"
When Chen Lan saw Lu Meng suddenly charging out, he regained consciousness after being panicked and commanded the soldiers at the front and rear.
Now that Chen Lan was at the back of the position where Lu Meng intercepted him, Chen Lan made a decision in an instant——
"Don't worry about the people in front! Rearrange your formation!"
The soldiers near Chen Lan gradually calmed down and began to regroup according to the instructions of the military flag.
Lü Meng's tribe has a small number of people, so even if Lü Meng throws all the troops in front of him to kill, Lü Meng will definitely not be able to kill them.
On the contrary, taking advantage of this time, Chen Lan could reorganize his formation and kill Lu Meng back when he was held back by the troops in front.
In this way, this "long snake cuts its waist" trend will soon turn into "python gathering to strangle", and the offensive and defensive trends can be different!
Chen Lan stared at Lu Meng, who was still fighting the enemy bravely, with a sneer on his lips.
"It seems that this is all they have left."
Chen Lan could also see that the people under Lu Meng's tent were all elite soldiers. However, the numbers were not superior, and there were no geographically favorable fortifications to rely on, so they could not make any trouble in the face of the human sea tactics.
Ever since Chen Lan was beaten by two fierce men, Cao Cao and Lu Bu, he had given up the idea of winning by relying on wisdom and tactics.
Sea of people!
Only the sea of people!
In the face of absolute military strength... everything is nothing but illusion!
But Chen Lan forgot that not everyone is Han Xin who says "the more, the merrier".
Sun Tzu has long warned in "The Art of War" - "Soldiers are not expensive and have many benefits, but without force, it is enough to join forces, anticipate the enemy, and capture people."
The meaning here is "When fighting a war, more troops is not always better. As long as you do not underestimate the enemy and advance rashly, you can concentrate your troops, determine the enemy's situation, and gain the trust and support of your subordinates. It is enough."
Otherwise, no matter how many troops we have, we will only end up with the fate of "anyone who easily changes the enemy due to carelessness will be captured".
Even though Chen Lan had the determination to "survive with a broken arm", she did not achieve "coordinated efforts" and "anticipate the enemy".
Just when Chen Lan was reorganizing his army, dust began to rise in the south.
But it was He Yan who finally came a long way from the secret place in the south after hearing the sound of drums in Shuxian County and rushed directly to the rear of Chen Lan.