The generals of the Wei army in this battle were all very young, and there were several old men leading the troops. Han Guan was also an old man in his sixties, not as old as Wang Ling, but his body was really not as strong as that of Wang Ling.
Han Guan's nearly ten thousand soldiers and horses came from Ancheng, Yuzhou, including thousands of Chinese and foreign troops and thousands of garrison troops.
They did not go to Wancheng, but went directly to Xiangyang for repairs. Because from Ancheng (southeast of Zhumadian) along the Bishui, they can directly reach Xiangyang by traveling both by water and land; the Baihe River and the Bishui both merge into Mianyang in the north of Xiangyang.
Water (Han River).
After receiving Wang Ling's military order, Han Guan took the lead to go south along the Mian River.
This group of troops temporarily became the vanguard of the Wei army, but Xiangyang was more than 400 miles away from Jiangling, and a large area to the north was a sparsely populated isolation area, so there was no danger. When Han Guan arrived at the place where Mian River and Xia River separated, he built
The fortifications stopped.
Then Wang Ling, Wang Guang, Wang Chang, Sun Li and other generals led their armies to Xiangyang in batches, and also moved south along the Mian River.
As soon as several armies from the rear passed through Yicheng County, Xiangyang County, the population became very sparse. In the Jingzhou area, Xiangyang was an important military town on the front line of the Wei State. In order to prevent the Wu State from plundering the population, there was a large no-man's land in the Mianshui River Basin.
Low hills, fertile fields with abundant water resources are still largely abandoned.
This kind of scene is not unusual. Xuzhou and Huainan also have such uninhabited areas. The water source and light terrain are very suitable for farming, but there are often places that are hundreds of miles away from people.
Thousands of Chinese and foreign troops and private soldiers led by Sun Li were at the forefront and reached the entrance of Xia River first. So Han Guan continued to advance southeast and entered the Xia River basin; Sun Li followed the Mian River towards Jiangling.
march.
On September 15th, Sun Lijun approached Dangyang, but the scouts found that Dangyang City was already burning with raging fire, and no one was seen around. Then people found out that nearby villages and Maicheng in the south were also burning.
.
Originally planning to attack a county town in the first battle, Sun Li missed the target.
Sun Li led his soldiers to Dangyang first, and when they arrived outside Maicheng not long after going south, they saw the fire and smoke billowing into the sky, and felt that the air in autumn and winter had become warmer because of this.
When Guan Yu defeated Maicheng, he was beheaded nearby. Although Maicheng was a small city, it became famous because of it. More than twenty years later, unexpectedly, the city was burned down by the Wu army.
The air was filled with a complex smell, and even the smell of roasted meat. The pigs were probably taken away somewhere and were burnt by the fire. The smell was very pungent.
Sun Li rode on horseback and looked at the fire in the city for a long time. The firelight reflected on his face, and his skin seemed to turn red. Against that brave face, there was a confused expression. His thick
His lips pursed for a moment, as if he was about to speak but hesitated.
The surrounding soldiers were also waiting and watching, because the terrain here was open and no enemy troops were found. The people were not even wearing armor, and the troops looked relaxed.
Zhu Ran of Soochow was clearing the country, taking away all the people and materials, and burning the cities and villages. Sun Li immediately sent out a ranger to investigate deeply, and the next day he got the news that Lianzhijiang City had also been burned!
What Zhu Ran did could indeed increase the food burden on the Wei army, because the Wei army could not obtain any local supplements. But Wu State did not do this in the past. Burning the cities and villages would also cause Wu State to suffer huge losses.
Moreover, although these cities outside Jiangling are not strong enough, they can still slow down the Wei army's attack speed. As long as time is consumed and the winter is over, the Wei army will have to retreat.
Zhu Ran was also an experienced veteran. Sun Li did not think that Zhu Ran would destroy the city because he was frightened by the army.
Sun Li thought for a while and could only come up with this guess: Zhu Ran already knew that the Wei army had a powerful siege weapon!
The Wei army's attack in Jingzhou this time involved a large number of troops. If the new trebuchets were taken into account, Dangyang and other cities could not delay the Wei army's attack speed, and could only allow the Wei army to divide its troops in the early stage.
After Zhu Ran withdrew the outer cities, he would shrink the defense to the outside of Jiangling City and delay the Wei army's offensive near Jiangling City.
Sun Li then wrote down the military situation ahead and his own views on the slips and sent them to Wang Ling.
As expected, Sun Lijun arrived at the north bank of Mianshui River a few days later. He climbed to a hill and wherever he looked, he saw that the Wu army had built multiple camps on the south bank.
At this time, the Mianshui River has gradually entered the dry season, and the water surface has become narrower and shallower, but it is still impossible to wade on foot. It is not a good idea to cross the river under the nose of Wu Jun. The pontoon bridge is easily damaged, and may be attacked halfway across the river.
Sun Li once again sent someone to inform Wang Ling in the rear, asking Wang Ling to send troops to find a place to cross the Mian River from the north, and then go around to attack the Wu army on the south bank of the Mian River.
However, there is a swamp in the northeast of Jiangling City, and it is not easy to go around it. Before they can see the wall of Jiangling City, the Wei army is about to have a difficult and fierce battle.
...As early as before Wang Ling's army left Xiangyang, the spies in Nanjun of Wu State had noticed that the Wei army was moving in Jingzhou. Then Han Guan, Sun Li, Wang Ling and others led the army southward along the Mian River in a mighty manner.
The size of the people and horses was also impressive to the people of Wu.
At this time, military intelligence had been reported to Jianye, and even Zhuge Ke, who was in Dongguan, heard the news.
Wang Ling's plan of "making a sound in the east and attacking in the west" was undoubtedly successful at this time. Zhuge Ke really didn't expect that the Wu army stationed troops in Dongguan had already arrived under Hefei's nose, while the Wei army on the Yangzhou side still stood still; the Wei people actually mobilized heavy troops to go there.
Attack Gangneung!
General Zhuge Ke has more than 40,000 men and horses under his command, including a large number of Shanyue soldiers recruited from Danyang, who have become an important force that cannot be ignored in the state of Wu. Now they are all in Dongguan, doing nothing almost every day.
Zhuge Ke was stationed in Wuchang before. If he had not come to Dongguan, of course he would have gone to reinforce Zhu Ran and make achievements in Jingzhou.
Standing on the west city of Ruxu Mountain, Zhuge Ke could see with his own eyes the figures of the Wei army on the unclosed Dongguan Embankment across the Ruxu River. On the Qibao Mountain on the west bank of the river, the Wei army's camp and flags were also vaguely visible.
The expression on Zhuge Ke's face was very ugly at this time. He was very angry as he watched the Wei army stand still on the other side.
The Wei army first deployed troops and generals on the eastern front, approached Dongguan, and built a large number of barracks and barracks on the other side. Zhuge Ke thought that a war was imminent, but unexpectedly, they had already been fighting for a month, wasting food and grass, and still nothing happened. It turned out that the people of Wei
The target is Gangneung!
At this time, the general advised: "Cao Wei's army is attacking Nanjun in a large scale. We might as well turn from defense to offense and cross the river to attack Wang Feixiao on the other side."
Ding Feng, who was standing next to him, immediately dissuaded him: "There is a large piece of flat land in front of Cao Wei's army. If our army crosses the river, the Wei army will set up a battle formation on the flat ground and fight with our army. Our army may not be able to get an advantage. If the battle is unfavorable,
If you want to retreat, you can't board the ship."
Zhuge Ke was convinced after hearing this, and turned his head to look at the boat on the river to the south.
At this time, large ships could no longer sail in Ruxushui, and only some small boats carrying grain came from the direction of Tutang. It was unrealistic for such small boats to carry thousands of soldiers and horses.
The Wu army still fights in places with mountains and rivers, where they can best use their strengths and avoid weaknesses. The best way is to sit on a big boat and move around to look for the enemy's weak links. If you think there is an opportunity, get off the boat and take a shot. If you can't win, just get off the boat.
Boarding the ship and running away, the enemy has nothing to do.
The enemy army in front of them was probably a feint attack, but it had many soldiers and generals, and it didn't look like a weak force. Cao Wei had a large territory and many people, so it was heroic, and at least tens of thousands of people came in the feint attack! Otherwise, Zhuge Ke wouldn't have done it before.
It will be determined that Cao Wei will attack Dongguan.
Zhuge Ke suppressed his frustration and said, "It would be better to wait for Cao Wei's soldiers to take the initiative to attack."
The general sighed and said: "It's winter now, and the enemy is still standing still. I'm afraid they won't attack this year."
Ding Feng also said: "Cao Wei's attack in Dongguan should be a feint, and the main attack direction is probably Jiangling. At the beginning, Quan Zihuang (Quan Cong) wrote a letter saying that Wuchang was far away from Dongguan, and he wanted to come to Dongguan. If he gave the opportunity to Quan Zihuang,
We have already gone to Jiangling at this time! But I don’t know if Qin Liang will be present in this battle of Jiangling. If I can meet this man for a while, it is exactly what I want."
Zhuge Ke had a sneer on his lips, and said to himself: If I had known this, it would have been more appropriate to ask Quan Cong to come to Dongguan. Anyway, Quan Cong was used to being a tortoise.
Quan Cong's wife, Sun Luban, and her descendants of the same clan were annihilated. Quan Cong knew about it and didn't say a word, couldn't he bear it? Unlike Zhuge Ke, who was so anxious and suffocating at this time.
Ding Feng's voice said again: "Cao Wei's new trebuchet is better used to attack big cities on the plains. Jiangling City is on the north bank of the river. Why didn't we think of it earlier?"
What's the use of talking about this now? Zhuge Ke had to think about the consequences of this battle.
If Wang Ling relied on trebuchets to defeat Jiangling City, Zhuge Ke, who advocated gathering troops at Dongguan, would inevitably be criticized by his colleagues after returning to the court. There were many people in Wu Guozhong who disliked Zhuge Ke, such as those who supported King Lu.
Quan Cong and others, and even some of the nobles on the prince's side did not like Zhuge Ke.
Cao Wei had just been in civil strife. With such a good opportunity, Zhuge Ke not only failed to make any achievements, but his reputation was also damaged... Zhuge Ke wanted to curse.
He suppressed his anger and pointed to the Dongguan Causeway in the distance: "Send the bowmen and crossbowmen to shoot those people away, and then send others to provoke the Wei soldiers."
The general cupped his hands and said, "Here."
Sure enough, not long after waiting, there was a burst of noise from the other side of the embankment. There was a embankment across the Ruxu River, with rammed earth above it, and the middle was not closed. People on both sides of the embankment could not fight in close combat, but could only shoot arrows at each other there.
The sound of "bang bang" strings and shouts suddenly increased in volume.
The two armies fired at each other for a long time, and the Wei army probably thought it was useless, so they retreated to the northwest, but only out of the range of their bows and crossbows, and then they started to curse. Both sides sent out soldiers with loud voices and greeted each other from a hundred paces apart.
The other party's family members, especially the mother, used dirty words that were simply unpalatable to listen to.