After reading this document, Liu Xin's face had returned to calmness, and she said in a deep voice: "It's all Liu's fault for not knowing what happened. In fact, he should have expected that Yuan Shu would take action. Yuan Shu has been recruiting troops since last year, and now he
The number of troops under his command has reached more than 200,000. Such a large army cannot be maintained by the three counties of Qiaojun, Runan, and Lujiang alone. His external expansion is inevitable, even if he does not know that I have captured Xuzhou
, sooner or later he will attack Jiujiang."
Not to mention that Yuan Shu was originally an ambitious man. Even if he didn't have much ambition, he had more than 200,000 men to eat and pay, so he had to expand outwards. Jushu was also a wise man, and he had known it for a long time.
He received the information about Yuan Shu's expansion of military strength, but he did not expect this. His face turned red and he muttered: "My lord, it's all my subordinates who failed to do their duty. It's just that in this way, Yuan Shu took the lead, but it hindered my lord's attack."
Jiujiang’s plan…”
Guan Yu had been listening silently, and finally understood what was going on. He couldn't help but become ambitious, and raised his hands and said: "If my lord can trust me, I will be willing to lead an elite army to capture Jiujiang before Yuan Shu!"
Liu Xin waved his hand and said: "Let him go. Even if Yuan Shu takes Jiujiang and gains an additional county, he still won't be able to feed those many people. Yuan Shu doesn't dare to quarrel with me yet, and he has no water on his hands."
If we want to maintain such a huge military force, we have no choice but to seek bad luck from Cao Cao."
Jushou suddenly realized it and said repeatedly: "Haha, wouldn't this be similar to the strategy originally planned by the lord?"
Liu Xin also laughed and said: "Strategy is dead, but people are alive. It is said that all roads lead to Rome. If you want to achieve a goal, there is more than one way. As long as it is done properly, bad things can turn into good things."
Seeing that both Jushou and Guan Yu had blank faces, Liu Xin knew that he had let something slip again, so he had to cough twice and said: "According to legend, there is a big city in the far west, called Rome, surrounding this city.
Roads extending in all directions have been built. As long as you follow any of the avenues, you will eventually reach Rome. If there is a chance in the future, Liu would like to take everyone all the way west to see what the legendary city of Rome is like.
"
Jushou nodded and said: "I understand, this is the same as what we often say: all rivers lead to the sea."
Guan Yu's eyes lit up. These word games didn't mean anything to him. What he cared about was whether a hero could be useful! Liu Xin suddenly mentioned that strange Western city. Didn't he just want to unify it?
The Han Dynasty has great power, and he still has the ambition to expand the territory? Soon, what Liu Xin said next confirmed Guan Yu's guess. He couldn't help but get excited, and finally felt that he was with the right person this time.
Liu Xin put down the document in her hand and said calmly: "Transmit my order, Zhang Liao, Gao Shun will lead the fourth army to stay in Xuzhou, and the rest will follow me back to Jiangnan."
Liu Xin saw the current situation very clearly. Liu Yao's destruction was just a matter of time. He had to capture Danyang before Yuan Shu. He must not let Liu Yao's Yangzhou navy fall to Yuan Shu.
As long as Yuan Shu cannot control the navy, he will not be able to cross the Yangtze River. No matter how much his power expands, it will not affect the development of Jiangnan. Although Jiangnan is still a backward and vast land with sparsely populated areas, in later generations it will be
Incomparably rich and prosperous, Liu Xin wanted to give Jiangnan a stable development environment in this era of frequent wars, so he must firmly grasp the "water control rights" on the Yangtze River.
Liu Yao has been busy recently. In his eyes, his biggest enemy is Liu Xin, because among the princes around him, Liu Xin is the most powerful, so Liu Yao is also the most concerned about Liu Xin's movements. When Liu Xin generals the army
When he was transferred to Jiangnan, Liu Yao also concentrated his main force in Danyang. When Liu Xin's army crossed the Yangtze River and attacked Guangling, he followed closely and transferred his main force to Jiujiang. Anyway, Liu Yao was the moment
Guarding against Liu Xin, Liu Yao was able to move his troops north and south across the Yangtze River so easily, relying on the nearly ten thousand Yangzhou navy and hundreds of warships.
However, before Liu Xin took action against him, it was Yuan Shu who had the idea of Jiujiang first. Fortunately, Liu Yao had basically transferred his main force to Jiujiang at this time, but facing the menacing Yuan Shu, Liu Yao still lacked confidence, so he went back to Jiujiang.
Order the navy fleet to return to Danyang to mobilize reinforcements.
As a result, once the fleet left this time, it could never come back, because Liu Xin's Han navy suddenly blocked the entire river. It was also a navy, and the Yangzhou navy was more than just a difference from Liu Xin's navy.
Regardless of the scale of the fleet, the size of the ships, or the quality of tactics, the Yangzhou navy could not match it. When Liu Xin's navy appeared on the river, the Yangzhou navy had to retreat into the water fortress in Danyang.
Since then, the connection between Danyang and Jiujiang has been completely severed.
Liu Yao did not have many generals under his command, and the only one he could count was Taishi Ci, who has now surrendered to Liu Xin. Because Taishi Ci was not reused by Liu Yao in the first place, his departure actually did not have much impact on Liu Yao's strength.
The main people Yao relied on were Zhang Ying and Yu Mi. He had 60,000 troops under his command, and 35,000 men were stationed in various places in Jiujiang, led by him and Zhang Ying personally. Yu Mi brought 10,000 troops with him.
The army and 15,000 infantry troops stayed in Danyang.
Because the fleet sent to Danyang to transport reinforcements never came back, Liu Yao seemed a little stretched in terms of military strength, but he was not discouraged. Jiujiang County has always been at the center of Yangzhou, with Liyang, Shouchun, Hefei, etc. within its jurisdiction.
The county capital once served as the state capital of Yangzhou, especially the current state capital Shouchun, which has a high city and a deep pool, and is extremely strong. With these strong cities and sufficient grain and grass reserves, Liu Yao was able to fend off the attack of Yuan Shu's army.
However, Liu Xin's actions in Danyang were much faster. Danyang is also located in the sparsely populated south of the Yangtze River. The scale of the cities here is generally small, and the city walls are not too high. Even Wanling, which is a county town, can only compete with
An ordinary county town in Jingzhou. Such a city was like paper in front of the powerful Third Army. In just a few days, Danyang's Moling, Chungu, Wuhu and other counties were captured one after another. Yu Mi
He led more than ten thousand remaining soldiers and hid in the isolated city of Wanling.
With a famous general like Zhang He under the command, it was only a matter of time before Wanling was captured. By this time, Liu Xin was no longer in a hurry. He took Diao Chan and others back to the villa on the bank of Taihu Lake, and at the same time ordered the siege of Wanling.
Instead of fighting. After all, there are still more than ten thousand remaining troops in the city, and the attacking troops do not have an advantage in terms of location. The overall situation has been decided. Liu Xin feels that there is no need for the soldiers to make unnecessary sacrifices. As long as the news of the fall of Jiujiang spreads
If you come here, you won't have to worry about the elk not descending.
However, half a month passed, and Liu Xin still had no news of the fall of Jiujiang, Liu Yao's death or capture.
Yuan Shu's troops divided into three groups and marched into Jiujiang together. They caught Liu Yao off guard and successively captured the three counties of Xiacai, Ping'a and Yicheng. However, Liu Yao quickly recovered and reduced his troops to several counties.
Among the four cities, Yinling, Hefei, Liyang and Shouchun. The common feature of these four cities is that they are easy to defend and difficult to attack, and they are horns of each other, echoing each other from a distance. There is sufficient food and grass in the city, even if it can be defended for a year and a half, there will be no problem.
Among these four cities, Yinling is the first to bear the brunt.
Although Yinling is not as tall as the other three cities, it is a county town in Jiujiang and has a large population. Zhang Ying, who is responsible for guarding Yinling, is Liu Yao's first general. Although he is average in martial arts, he relies on the city
It is still possible to hold on. Yinling City is in his hands and has withstood the fierce attack of Yuan Shu's army for seven consecutive days, and it is still impregnable.
As the sun set, Zhang Ying stood on the city tower and frowned as he watched the Yuan army under the city leaving a pile of dead bodies and retreating like a tide. There were 10,000 soldiers in his city and 30,000 forced soldiers.
There are many strong men, but under the city there are three armies led by Yuan Shu, Ji Ling, Lei Bo, and Chen Lan, with nearly 80,000 people. The entire Yinling City is surrounded like an iron barrel. It is impossible to break out.
We can only rely on the city to hold on, first dampen the enemy's energy and then make plans.
But after seven days, the soldiers and civilians defending the city had suffered more than 8,000 casualties. Although Yuan Jun's casualties would definitely be more than twice their number, Yuan Jun's offensive has not weakened at all. If this continues, the city will always be breached.
One day, this was also what Zhang Ying was most worried about.
Suddenly, a personal attendant came over and whispered: "General, there are not many rolling logs and stones left in the city. Please make up your mind early."
Zhang Ying saw a trace of hesitation in the eyes of the personal attendant. The attack and defense of the city was the most brutal battle. Not to mention the comrades and relatives around him who fell one after another, the piles of corpses under the city alone were shocking. This was shocking.
The meaning of having relatives and followers is obvious. Now that there are not many tools to defend the city, he wants to ask Zhang Ying to abandon the city and break out of the siege.
But Zhang Ying knew that the reason why his troops could persist until now was because of this strong city. If they left the city, they would die faster.
Zhang Ying waved her hand and coldly squeezed out three words from between her teeth: "Demolish private houses!"
With his order, many people in the city will be homeless from now on, but Zhang Ying has no other way. Rolling logs and rocks are sharp weapons for defending the city. Without these things, it is impossible to stop Yuan Shu's army from effectively attacking.
Once they climb to the top of the city, the people in the city will also suffer from them.
In Yuan Shu's military camp below the city, Lei Bo and Chen Lan gathered in Ji Ling's tent. They originally divided their troops into three groups to attack Jiujiang, but in the end they were all blocked under Yinling City. In the past seven days, this has been their
This is the third time we have gathered together to discuss countermeasures.
Ji Ling took out a letter and handed it to Lei Bo, Chen Lan and Chen Lan said in a deep voice: "If we can't attack Yinling City again, it will be difficult for our lord to explain. I wonder if the two generals have any good ideas?
"
Lei Bo and Chen Lan looked at each other and shook their heads together. Suddenly, a soldier walked into the tent, raised his hands and said: "To inform the three generals, the reinforcements sent by the lord have arrived."