Cao Zhi did not require Cao Ren's army to advance at all levels or in bands. He did not even require his troops to divide their troops and make detours. He did not even require the tricks required for large-scale wars. The entire so-called battle plan was to
He led an army of 100,000 people to kill Fancheng in a straight line.
Although Cao Ren knew that Cao Zhi's starting point for this battle was not to really fight Liu Biao, but to win a victory to scare Liu Biao, this way of advancing was somewhat risky.
The cold weapon wars of this era are actually not as simple as imagined. Especially the duel between armies of more than 10,000 people is not as imagined. Thousands of troops from both sides line up in a wilderness, the two armies face off, and then
At the sound of the horn, both sides rushed forward to fight and kill.
War with an army of tens of thousands often involves planning. For example, when an army sets out, launches an offensive, or marches into battle, it is necessary to formulate detailed combat plans and marching strategies. What is the marching route, the baggage, the vanguard, and the center.
How about the army, how about the rear guard, how about the skirmishers and cavalry set up on both sides, etc.
In addition, a large number of scout cavalry had to be withdrawn. I don't know how many teams. According to the direction designated by the general, countless scouts went back and forth to conduct reconnaissance and searches, and sent back information one by one to the Chinese army for the commander's reference.
It is a means of reconnaissance of terrain, but also important information such as enemy movements and numbers.
Generally speaking, large-scale wars involving more than 10,000 people often begin with encounters between scouts and rangers from both sides. Small groups of cavalry scouts from both sides, during the search and reconnaissance of each other, clashed and exchanged fire again and again.
After the fire search, the following scout cavalry are often the first to bleed and die. Countless small-scale battles between the rangers and small-scale battles set the tone for this kind of large-unit war.
It can be said that to complete a major war involving more than 10,000 people, at least 70% to 80% of the process consists of the previous seemingly meticulous marching strategies and the confrontation of small groups of scouts and rangers.
But on August 13th, Cao Ren, who entered Jingzhou, received an urgent military order from Cao Zhi, asking him not to send cavalry scouts to inspect the Jingzhou army and horses gathered outside Fancheng, and asking him to show extreme contempt.
Advancing into Fancheng with a posture.
"What kind of order is this?" Cao Ren was dissatisfied and slapped the order he had just received on the cases in front of him.
"If we don't send scouts, are we going to let the enemy's scouts get under our noses?" Xiahou Dun, who came with Cao Ren's army, also said doubtfully.
But as soon as he finished speaking, a chuckle rang out from outside Cao Ren's tent, and then another voice said: "Yes, we just want to let Jingzhou's scout cavalry come and go freely, so that Cai Mao will be fooled and abandon the navy he is good at.
, come across the river and fight us!" As he spoke, the generals in the tent stood up, and Cao Zhi and his entourage appeared at the door of the tent.
######Jingzhou Fancheng is the gateway to the west of Xiangyang, and its geographical location is very important. Behind it is Jiangling City, the seat of Nanjun, as well as Jushui and Zhangshui. The reason why Jingzhou is prosperous is Liu Biao
The reason why the state capital is placed in Xiangyang may be due to the special geographical environment of this triangle area. Not only are there many rivers criss-crossing it, which facilitates the development of Jingzhou's navy, it also has extraordinary military value and space for Jingzhou. The famous
Changbanpo, Dangyang, and Longzhong are all within this area. It can be said that many heroes and stories in history were created here. There is also the special economic value of the triangle area. There are abundant water resources here, and the river beaches
It is a vast plain, suitable for growing crops, irrigating, and developing agriculture, making Jingzhou the largest and most stable production area in the country. Secondly, it has convenient transportation, which can facilitate the circulation and development of commodities and trade.
But all this may have to change or be affected, because Cao Zhi came to this era, and his army was about to launch a war against Fancheng, the protrusion of the triangle area.
At this time, on the plains north of Fancheng, Jingzhou's army had also assembled. With the emergency war preparation order issued by Cai Mao after Cai Mao's arrival, Fancheng's soldiers and civilians, who had not experienced war for many years, suddenly fell into chaos.
We are about to enter the harvest season of this year - the autumn harvest. Although the country is in a period of war, the lives of ordinary people are a bit tense, but after all, Fancheng has not seen war for several years, so the people in the city have somewhat forgotten the war disaster.
Taste, they have long been accustomed to a peaceful life.
But one hundred thousand Jingzhou troops came anyway, and they came to protect the city of Fancheng from the enemy. The people of Fancheng shuddered when they heard that Cao Cao's troops were approaching the city. Recently, there is a rumor in the city that when Cao Cao conquered Xuzhou, he was in Pengcheng.
There are rumors of massacres in places such as Pengcheng. It is said that because the soldiers and people of Pengcheng fought desperately against the invading Cao army, when Cao Cao's army broke through the city, Cao Cao ordered that all the chickens and dogs in and around Pengcheng be killed.
After the soldiers and civilians in Fancheng heard about this, they all felt the doomsday and terror. He now had a very contradictory mentality, that is, he hoped that his army and horses could block the attack of Cao's army, but he did not want to suffer the consequences if he really could not hold on.
The misfortune of Pengcheng's soldiers and civilians.
As a powerful and wealthy tycoon, Zhou Mu, with hundreds of thousands of troops and horses in his hands, Liu Biao was not willing to surrender to Cao Zhi. After getting through the initial troubles and figuring out Cao Zhi's main attack direction, Liu Biao
He decided to mobilize elite troops and generals to go to Fancheng to stop Cao's army from advancing straight into the city.
Cao Jun's intention was very clear. Judging from the posture and advancement, Cao Zhi wanted to break through Fancheng and eventually form a pattern of encircling Xiangyang on three sides.
Liu Biao still failed to make the best use of his talents when dispatching generals. His suspicion and selfishness eventually took over.
Wen Pin, the most talented army commander, once took the initiative to ask for war when Liu Biao was dispatching troops. He asked to form a land and water coalition to send troops to Fancheng to fight against Cao's army. He also formulated a detailed combat strategy: he advocated using strengths and avoiding weaknesses, and sticking to Jushui
, Zhangshui, the intersection of the three rivers of the Han River, Cao Jun had to cross the river if he wanted to capture Fancheng. Then they took advantage of the ground battle on the northern plain of Fancheng to contain Cao Jun, and then used their powerful naval forces to take advantage of the natural flow of the river.
The barrier cut off Cao's army's backup and supplies, cut them in half, and finally annihilated the invading Cao army.
This plan was very well done, taking advantage of all our own arms and geographical advantages. It can be said that apart from the variables on the battlefield, this combat plan was perfect.
Of course, the premise of all this is that Cao Jun crosses the river and attacks the city, otherwise everything is out of the question. Wenpin didn't even know that there was a battle plan that was almost the same as his, and it had been quietly completed among Cao Jun.
Wenpin's plan was approved by Liu Biao, but when it came to assigning specific positions, Wenpin was not appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Fancheng front line. Instead, his brother-in-law Cai Mao was appointed as the general governor (that is, the position of commander-in-chief of the army), and his nephew Zhang Yun was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Fancheng front line.
The general of the army, Wenpin, was only sent to the eastern front to prevent Cao's army advancing from Yuzhou from attacking them. The direction of Yuzhou was not the main attack direction of Cao's army, and both sides invested the least troops. To put it bluntly, Liu Biao did not dare to attack them.
One hundred thousand troops and horses were handed over to outsiders, and he did not trust generals who were not members of his own family to have too much military power.
Cai Mao and Zhang Yun, who had won a small victory in this power contest, became even more high-spirited and eager to win. Encouraged by them, the troops gathered from all walks of life strictly followed their orders, and Wen Pin's
The plan was to march all the way westward, upstream the Xiangjiang River, and gather in the north of Fancheng. Wenpin's battle plan was gradually laid out, and they were waiting for the lone army led by Cao Ren that penetrated deep into Jingzhou to be loaded into their army.
pocket.
At this time, Cai Mao personally dispatched from the city of Fancheng and personally led his troops to the place where they expected the battle to take command.
But soon Cai Mao's scouts reported to him an important piece of information. The mighty Cao army was marching south only on the main road. The closer they got to the Fancheng area, the more arrogant Cao's army became. Thirty miles west of Jushui
After setting up camp, three waves of scouts sent by Cai Mao conducted multi-directional fire reconnaissance, but they did not encounter any Cao army's scouts and cavalry. When such a large army is approaching the main attack target, it is arrogant not to send scouts and cavalry.
Is it a gesture of restraint, or something else? Cao Ren's strange behavior made Cai Hao and Zhang Yun seem a little undecided for a moment.
That night, a hundred-man Jingzhou cavalry team on the left crossed the river repeatedly to spy. Seeing that the garrison troops were making no move on the other side of the Jushui River, they boldly closed the distance further, and even the cavalry roared and ran to the front.
The ranks of the army were less than a stone's throw away.
At this time, the forward generals of Cao's army seemed to have finally discovered them and ordered the forward troops to fight back. The cavalry brigade separated into a small group and beat back the hundred-man Jingzhou Cavalry.
However, Cao Ren's strict order did not allow the cavalry to pursue Tai Zong. The members of the cavalry could only hold their breath. After driving away the Jingzhou cavalry, they hurriedly turned back to the main group. The Jingzhou Scout Cavalry lost dozens of cavalry.
After that, they did not dare to press too hard, but they did not leave. After clamoring for a long time, they returned to the headquarters camp on the other side of the Ju River and went back to report the situation to Cai Mao, Zhang Yun and other generals. After that, Cai Mao and Zhang Yun did not send any more scouts.
Monitor the movements of Cao's army, and perhaps conduct further reconnaissance expeditions.
Cai Mao and Zhang Yun were surprised after listening to the report of the turning scouts. They also admired the courage of Cao Ren, the leader of Cao's army. Although this kind of courage is really a bit contemptuous, Cao Ren, the leader of Cao's army, must have had a smooth journey ahead.
, thinking that the Jingzhou army was vulnerable, even if he knew that what was blocking Cai Mao, Zhang Yun and an army of 100,000 people, he was still a bit unscrupulous, clearly targeting Cai Mao, Zhang Yun did not dare to cross the river to attack him, and determined that the decisive battle was here
After Cao Jun crossed the river, he was on the vast plain behind Jushui in the northwest of Fancheng.