Liu Jingjun's 30,000-strong waterborne army gathered in the east and south of Jiangling City. For a time, their armor was dazzling and the river was full of boats.
As the saying goes, "If there are ten thousand people, there is no edge." There are more than 20,000 Liu Jingjun's infantry and cavalry arrayed in the eastern suburbs of Jiangling.
The strength of the southern rebel army not only made the defenders at the head of Jiangling City uneasy, but also Liu Qi and Cai Mao were secretly surprised.
They had speculated on Liu Jing's military strength before, but in the end they still underestimated the opponent. In less than two years after Liu Jing occupied Jingnan, he was able to mobilize more than 30,000 troops to fight abroad, which proved that his strength was no longer weak.
It's strange that Liu Biao, Liu Qi and Cai Mao weren't surprised.
When Liu Jingshui's army was showing off its power at the foot of Jiangling City, the rear was also busy. The "Main Barrier Matters" led tens of thousands of civilians to build forts in Jinxiang in the east of Jiangling and Jinan in the north.
Each of Liu Jingjun's base lieutenants has a manual, which describes the process of building the camp, starting with the marking of the land, and then digging trenches, setting up barriers, and erecting fences... The base lieutenants must strictly follow the regulations in the manual, and violators will be severely punished by military law.
.
It was by relying on such a camp building manual that Liu Jingjun built a neat military camp that stretched for more than ten miles from east to north in just half a day.
In the next few days, Liu Jingjun dug deep trenches around Jiangling City, preparing for a long-term siege.
At the same time, Liu Jing sent scouts to explore the surrounding areas of Jiangling, especially in the north, Wufuyi and Maicheng. The scouts went all the way north to Dangyang. Although Liu Jing did not know that Zhang Yun was in Dangyang, Dangyang was located between Jiangling and Xiangyang.
The north-south waterway of Nainan County is an important point, and I knew from my butt that Liu Biao must have heavy troops in Dangyang.
On March 16, the scouts responsible for exploring the north returned to the Jinxiang camp, confirming Liu Jing's guess that Dangyang was indeed heavily guarded.
In order to prevent Dangyang soldiers from attacking from behind, Liu Jing slightly strengthened the defense in the north, and then temporarily stopped paying attention to Dangyang. Even Jiangling was not the focus of his current attention...
That night, the lights in the Jinxiang Township Temple were brightly lit. Zhuge Liang, Xu Shu, Jiang Wan, Deng Zhi and other Liu Jing's close associates were there. In addition, there were five leading generals including Gan Ning, Huang Zhong, Wei Yan, Huo Jun and Huo Du. They were surrounded by
Surrounded by Liu Jing, he stood in front of two silk maps. The two silk maps were the "Topographic Map of Western Nanjun" and the "Map of Nanjun City".
After exploring the surrounding areas of Jiangling, Liu Jing decided to use military advisor Zhuge Liang to supervise the army, Zhonglang General Gan Ning as the general, and the four captains Huang Zhong, Wei Yan, Huo Jun, and Huo Du, and five thousand generals to march west to the upper reaches of Jiangling.
county.
Needless to say, Zhuge Liang will be Liu Jing's greatest reliance on Cao Cao in the future.
Liu Jing has a clear understanding of himself. Because of his past life experience, familiarity with history, etc., he may be a qualified ruler, but he is not a military genius, at least not comparable to Cao Cao, the only military strategist in the Three Kingdoms.
The only one under Liu Jing who had the ability to compete with Cao Cao was Zhuge Liang. In order to allow Zhuge Liang to grow up as quickly as possible, Liu Jing did not even think about such an opportunity to take charge of his own affairs. Zhuge Liang must be his first choice.
Gan Ning was chosen as the general because in history, when Zhou Yu defeated Jiangling City, it was he who suggested to Zhou Yu to capture Yiling first and cut off Jiangling's western aid. This also became a turning point in the Battle of Nanjun. Gan Ning was the most suitable leader.
Among the four major lieutenants, Huang Zhong and Wei Yan were the most important among the three armies, but they were not as important as brothers Huo Jun and Huo Du. They were both from Zhijiang, and the first stop of the army's westward march was Zhijiang County.
Huo Jun took the initiative to introduce the situation of Jiaozhijiang to everyone present: "The name Zhijiang comes from the branches of the Yangtze River in the territory, which flows into the river in the east, so it is called Zhijiang. The county seat of Zhijiang County is located on Baili Island in the middle of the river.
Bailizhou is named after the hundreds of miles around it, and is also called Zhongzhou."
"Although mulberry fields, melons and fruits can be grown on Bailizhou, it is not enough to support one's own needs, and the county town has low walls and is difficult to defend. On the day the army lands on Bailizhou, our clan will lobby inside, and the officials and people of Zhijiang will surrender to the city.
"
There is a reason why Huo Jun dared to say this. As early as when Liu Jingjun arrived in Jiangling, the Huo brothers followed Liu Jing's orders and sent people to sneak back to Zhijiang to contact the clan members.
The Huo family belongs to a large family in Zhijiang, and there are not many people who hold county offices. Even the chief officials in the county, including Ting (five sense organs), are also members of the Huo family.
Since Zhijiang could not be defended, and the Huo family was acting as an internal response, there was no other way but to surrender.
Liu Jing nodded slightly, then pointed to the location of Yiling on the map, and said to Zhuge Liang, Gan Ning and others: "The focus of this westward advance is Yiling. As the saying goes, soldiers need to be quick. After capturing Zhijiang, you cannot stay for a long time. You should
Taking advantage of the unpreparedness of the counties upstream, quickly advance westward from the Yangtze River and capture Yiling. As soon as Yiling is reached, divide your troops to guard the mouth of the gorge, and you will be in an invincible position. By then, whether you are returning to Yidao, Weishan, or marching to Zigui,
In Wu County, everything comes true."
The so-called mouth of the gorge is the mouth of the Three Gorges Yiling Gorge. It starts from Yufu, Yizhou in the west, passes through Wu County, Zigui, and ends at Yiling. It is 700 miles long. There are mountains on both sides of the bank, with no gaps, and many rocks and mountains.
, hiding the sky and blocking out the sun, extremely dangerous.
Because Liu Biaosu was at odds with Liu Zhang, Zigui stationed a garrison of several thousand men in Wu County, which is close to Yizhou, to prepare for the west. Liu Jing's army blocked the mouth of Yiling Gorge and Wu County, and Zigui's troops would immediately become turtles in the jar.
Zhuge Liang's understanding of the Three Gorges all came from books and maps, but this was not the case with Gan Ning. When he defeated Yizhou, entered Jingzhou, and crossed the Three Gorges for 700 miles, he still remembers it even though eight years have passed.
After being away from home for eight years, Gan Ning missed his hometown almost all the time, and he hated Liu Zhang to the extreme. What made him a little relieved was that Zhao Wei, who personally drove him out of Yizhou, could not escape the fate of the rabbit and the dog.
end.
Liu Jing knew Gan Ning very well and specifically warned him: "Our current enemy is Liu Biao. Before Liu Biao is eliminated, it is not appropriate to make another big enemy. If he enters the gorge in the future, if he encounters the Shu army, try not to fight with him."
A conflict occurred."
Gan Ning said with a defiant expression: "What if the Shu army takes the initiative to attack us?"
Liu Jing asked, "Do you think it's possible?"
Gan Ning was speechless for a moment.
The Zhao Wei Rebellion, which lasted for more than half a year and affected half of Yizhou, was only a year old. This battle greatly damaged the vitality of Yizhou. Liu Zhang was busy recuperating and could not care about Jingzhou.
Liu Jing then discussed with Zhuge Liang, Gan Ning and others for a long time, and did not break up until the appointed time.
The next day, brothers Huo Du and Huo Jun were the vanguard, with a thousand men in small boats. Zhuge Liang and Gan Ning led four thousand men on water, and more than a hundred large and small boats followed them.
At this time, the Yangtze River had become Liu Jingjun's inner lake, and Jiangling entered the river without any control, almost like a blind man. Therefore, Liu Jingjun marched westward, while Liu Qi and Cai Mao were completely kept in the dark and had no idea.