At the end of the seventh year of Jian'an, the strength of the Jiangxia navy began to increase dramatically.
Liu Biao's army is divided into three parts. One part is the Xiangyang army, which is distributed in Nanyang, Zhangling, Nanjun and other places.
The second part is the Yangtze River Navy. This part has fewer soldiers and horses. It cruises in the Jiangling and Zigui areas, mainly to prevent Liu Zhang from attacking from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.
The third part is Jiangxia Navy. Huang Zu and the Sun family and his son are all old friends. They have fought with them for more than ten years. They have not only resisted Sun Ce and Sun Quan's attacks many times, but also occasionally counterattacked and entered Yuzhang County.
The southerners were good at water warfare but not at foot warfare, so Liu Biao sent more troops to Huang Zu. The crowd had reached 60,000, and asked him to train the navy as soon as possible to prepare for the crusade against Sun Quan.
Although Jia Xu's customized strategy was to dominate the south, there was also a sequence.
Jiangdong is in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and attacking down the river is obviously stronger than attacking upstream. Therefore, Liu Biao decided to attack Sun Quan with the main force and let Cai Mao command the Yangtze River Navy to defend against Liu Zhang, adopting a strategy of first east and then west.
Not only Huang Zu of Jiangxia, but also Liu Pan of Changsha also increased their troops to 20,000.
Under the influence of the strategy of defending from the west and attacking from the east, Jiangxia, Changsha and even Guiyang in the east have nearly 100,000 troops. However, there are only 20,000 troops in Zigui, Wushan and other places. After all, these places are very dangerous, and 20,000 people are enough to stop Liu Zhang.
Tens of thousands of troops.
The South seemed to be caught in an arms race at this time. Under the strategic influence of the three parties' desire to seize two pieces of the South, everyone was quickly reorganizing their troops, training soldiers, and preparing for the war in the coming year.
On the contrary, the north was quiet and peaceful. Yuan Shao and Cao Cao were facing each other across the Yellow River from north to south. Both sides had begun to have a good harvest and had entered a stage of recuperation.
Although Yuan Shao has a great family and a great business, it is impossible for him to be defeated like this. After two defeats, he lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses. In addition, the Wuchao was set on fire, and the food and grass he had accumulated for many years were destroyed in one go. It was really hurtful.
Moving his bones was a serious blow to him, and he needed to nurse himself back to health.
The same is true for Cao Cao. Although he won, Henan was already in ruins. A large number of people migrated out, resulting in a sparse population under his rule. Guanzhong often rebelled, and now he barely occupied Yuzhou, Yanzhou, Xuzhou and other places.
Under this situation, Cao Cao had to stay away from the quagmire of war in the south and concentrate on production and development of agriculture. So after returning to Xudu in April of the seventh year of Jian'an, Cao Cao discussed moving the capital with Xun Yu.
As one of the top strategists of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Xun Yu also believed that the capital should indeed be moved, and that the strategic direction should be to eliminate Yuan Shao in the north to avoid getting too entangled with Liu Biao.
The only question is where to move.
Luoyang?
Dong Zhuo burned it all down and it was in dilapidated condition. Now it is leaking from all sides.
Hanoi?
There are indeed a lot of fields in Hanoi, and there is a Montenegrin army. Zhang Yan once wrote to the court, willing to join him. If Zhang Yan joins, Cao Cao's strength will greatly increase.
But Hanoi County is too close to Jizhou. It's a bit like the Warring States Period, when the distance between Yangzhai, the capital of South Korea, and Daliang, the capital of Wei, was very close.
Once the two sides go to war, just like Nanyang can attack Xudu at any time, Yuan's army will fight Cao's army near the new capital, destroying the surrounding fields and making it unfavorable for farming.
Then the only places left to choose are Kaifeng, Suiyang and Changyi.
The geographical advantages of these three places are relatively obvious. First, they are far away from Nanyang. The average distance from the three places to Xiangyang is more than 400 kilometers. If Liu Biao wanted to go north to attack Cao Cao, he would have to travel thousands of miles, which was not conducive to the attack.
Second, the distance from Yecheng is relatively moderate. The average distance from the three places to Yecheng is about two hundred kilometers. If Cao Cao wanted to fight Yuan Shao, the supply line would not be too long, and it would be easier to use the Yellow River to stop the enemy.
Third, the three places are surrounded by a large amount of plain terrain, with countless fields that can be cultivated. They are located in the hinterland of Henan, with many rivers and lakes, and Changyi is even close to Onezawa, so there is absolutely no fear of drought and lack of water to irrigate the fields.
Therefore, the conditions in these three places are relatively suitable.
But first Liang Guo Suiyang was excluded.
Because the Yingchuan faction under Cao Cao supported Kaifeng, and the Yanzhou faction supported Changyi.
When Cao Cao moved the capital to Xuchang, it was because he received the support of the Yingchuan family that he moved the capital to Xuchang in exchange for benefits. Now, although the capital has been moved again due to strategic needs, the interests of the Yingchuan family must also be taken care of.
Kaifeng is not in Yingchuan, but in Henan, but it is very close to Yingchuan. The wealthy families of the Yingchuan sect do not want to leave their hometown so far, so they naturally hope to place the new capital closer.
The Yanzhou faction, such as Cheng Yu, Mao Jie, Li Dian, Yu Jin and others, definitely want to take care of the interests of their hometown. This is human nature and inevitable.
In the end, Cao Cao weighed the pros and cons, discussed with Xun Yu, and decided to move the new capital neither to Kaifeng nor to Changyi, but to Chenliu.
The geographical environment of Chenliu is not as good as that of Kaifeng and Changyi, and there is less land around it. It is located between two rivers, like the upper corner of a triangle, and the land is basically below the triangle.
But one advantage is that it is located in Yanzhou and close to Yingchuan. It can balance the interests of the Yingchuan faction and ensure the interests of the Yanzhou faction. It can be regarded as the second best choice.
So in May of the seventh year of Jian'an, after harvesting the new wheat in Yingchuan, the Xudu court moved the capital northward again, to Chenliu County, more than 100 kilometers away.
In this way, the new capital of the imperial court, Chendu, is more than 200 kilometers away from the gate of Nanyang and more than 400 kilometers away from Xiangyang. It only needs to set up more beacon towers and sentries in Yingchuan and Runan. It will be difficult for the southerners to be like Shen Chen
, a pair of iron legs reached the gates of Xudu within two days.
He was busy moving the imperial court, and also moved a large number of people working in the fields. Cao Cao sent people to move a large number of people from Pei State, Runan, and Yingchuan to the north, and concentrated them in Liang State, Chen State, the north of Pei State, and the north of Runan.
The northern area of Yingchuan, plus Henan County, has a population of more than two million people around Chenliu.
At the same time, only a small number of soldiers and horses were deployed around Runan and Yingchuan, and the main force was stationed along the Yellow River in Dongjun County in the north. In this way, since Nanyang is far away from Chenliu and the Yellow River is very close, even if the south comes to attack it again, it wants to quickly
It only takes one day to return to defense.
The seven years of Jian'an were spent preparing for war in the south and recuperating in the north.
The eighth year of Jian'an has officially arrived.
In February, while Sun Quan was still preparing for war, Huang Zu suddenly sent his generals Deng Shuo, Zhang Hu, Chen Sheng and others to attack Chaisang with 15,000 men.
Chaisang was in a raging fire. Before they could come, Zhou Yu knew the news and immediately defended himself.
Hundreds of ships sailed on the river, and Jiangdong Navy also fought against them at the same time. In Pengli Zezhong, the two sides fought fiercely. The battle lasted for a day, and then they each stopped.
At that time, Zhou Yu had 20,000 troops. Jiangdong's troops at this time were not sufficient, with about 50,000 or 60,000 horses. Sun Quan urgently needed time to replenish his troops and train his soldiers.
After all, unlike Liu Biao, he had hundreds of thousands of farmers in the Nanyang Basin to help him grow food, and there were also a large number of northern refugees living in Nanyang, so he could recruit new soldiers anytime and anywhere. Every soldier from Jiangdong was very precious.
By May, Huang Zu had launched several tentative attacks on Jiangdong.
His family was too rich. He actually only had 10,000 or 20,000 people before, but Liu Biao directly increased his troops to 60,000. The new soldiers had been trained for more than a year and needed actual combat, so he started to lead the new soldiers.
You must know that as the number one general in Jingzhou, Huang Zu's naval strength was not weaker than that of Jiangdong. He was almost defeated by Sun Ce several times in the past, all because his troops were far less than Sun Ce.
Because Liu Biao had to guard against Cao Cao in the north and Liu Zhang in the west, he gave him little support, so Huang Zu almost used the power of one county to resist the six counties in Jiangdong.
Now that our strength has greatly increased, we naturally decided to take the initiative.
In more than three months, the two sides fought several battles in the Penglize area in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and the losses on both sides were almost the same.
By July, all-out war finally broke out.
Sun Quan personally took command of Pengli County, with Zhou Yu as the commander-in-chief, Lu Su as the military captain, and Zhou Tai, Cheng Pu, Ling Cao, Ling Tong, Lu Meng, Han Dang, Dong Xi, Xu Sheng, Hu Zong and others as generals.
Lead 40,000 troops to kill Chaisang.
At the same time, Huang Gai, Sun Ben, and Zhu Zhi were ordered to lead 10,000 troops south to Yichun, and they faced off with the armies of Liu Pan and Huang Zhong who were marching north from You County to Liling in the area of Pingxiang City.
Huang Zu used retreat as an advance and began to shrink his army back to Qichun. He launched two battles in Qichun, Xiaji, Zhuxian, Exian and other places.
The war continued, and Huang Zu's plan to lure the enemy deep into an ambush was broken by Zhou Yu and Lu Su. Instead, he was ambushed by counterattacks during the pursuit. He was at a disadvantage in the early stage, so he withdrew his troops back to Shaxian. Taking advantage of Shaxian's superior geographical location, he was on the Yangtze River.
The North Bank used the cliff to launch catapults and arrow rain to repel Jiangdong's army.
In Quren County of Ba County, Liu Zhang sent general Wu Yi to station troops there.
In fact, at this time, neither Liu Zhang nor Sun Quan were as strong as they imagined. Sun Quan had just pacified Jiangdong, and Shanyue had occasionally rebelled. Liu Zhang had just pacified Zhao Wei's rebellion. The current total military strength was similar to that of Sun Quan, only 50,000 to 60,000, and it would not be until ten years later.
Supported by more than 100,000 people.
So at this time, Liu Zhang's lieutenant general Wu Yi, the governor of Bajun Yan Yan, and the generals Liu Wei, Lingbao, Deng Xian and others led an army of 30,000 soldiers out of Yufu and marched towards Zigui.
Cai Mao strictly carried out the defensive tasks assigned by Liu Biao and stationed troops in Yiling.
There is no navy in Yizhou.
Because the upper reaches of the Yangtze River were too narrow and the water flow was fast, it was not suitable for naval forces, so Yizhou was marched by the army.
Cai Mao occupied Yiling and defended the mountainous areas on the left and right, preventing the Shu soldiers from advancing even an inch.
The two sides were in a stalemate for more than a month. No matter how Wu Yi sent people to provoke, Cai Mao just couldn't stand, which was a bit like Lu Xun's battle at Yiling.
However, this strategy was proposed by Jia Xu.
The great thing about Jia Xu is that the strategies he proposes are actually very pertinent and have almost no loopholes.
Liu Biao is a smart man. If you really give him a stupid suggestion, he will not think of it. Therefore, if you want to gain his trust, your strategy must be perfect.
certainly.
Man proposes, God disposes.
If something unexpected happens while the strategy is being implemented, it is naturally none of his business.
In October, Huang Zu attacked again, regained the counties, personally led the troops into Chaisang, and fought a bloody battle with Jiangdong. As Huang Zu's new army had greatly increased in strength after nearly two years of training and actual combat, it defeated Sun Quan step by step.
Defeated, he retreated to Pengli.
At the same time, Zhang Jin, the herdsman of Jiaozhou, was killed by his subordinates. Of course, Liu Biao, who had a strong army at this time, would not give up this opportunity. He immediately sent Lai Gong as the governor of Jiaozhou and Wu Ju as the prefect of Cangwu in the name of the King of Chu.
Judging from the territory, Liu Bian now occupies a very large territory, extending to Guangzhou, Guangxi and part of Vietnam in the south. To the north is Hunan, all of Hubei and parts of Guizhou and Nanyang Basin, with a population of tens of millions and soldiers and horses under his rule.
The crowd supported 178,000 people.
At the beginning of the ninth year of Jian'an, Huang Zu and the Jiangdong Navy launched a decisive battle at Pengli Ze. This battle was known as the Pengli Water Battle in history.
Huang Zu took advantage of his large number of troops and mountains of food and grass. He had been fighting a war of attrition with Jiangdong since last year, and the two sides continued to attack back and forth.
Because Liu Biao held the Nanyang Basin in his hands, with more than two million people in the basin, he continuously provided food and grass to Xiangyang.
Xiangyang is connected to the Yangtze River through the Han River, so last year Liu Biao transported more than five million yuan of grain and grass to Jiangxia, as well as countless weapons and equipment, which increased Huang Zu's chances of winning in his attack on Jiangdong.
The war lasted for half a year, and Jiangdong became increasingly depleted. They were defeated in the Battle of Pengli River and lost their troops. They had no choice but to retreat to the Songyang Anqing area to guard the entrance to Jiangdong.
However, although Jiangdong suffered a lot of losses, Huang Zu did not take much advantage. The battle loss ratio between the two sides was almost one to one. Even more people died in Huang Zu than in Jiangdong. However, Jiangdong had fewer soldiers and Pengli suffered casualties in the battle.
There were seven to eight thousand men, and food and grass were very scarce, so they had no choice but to retreat.
Therefore, Huang Zu did not take advantage of the victory to pursue, but chose to garrison Chaisang and Pengze. He also sent generals Su Fei and Deng Long south along the Ganjiang River to cooperate with Liu Pan of You County to defeat Huang Gai, Sun Bi, Zhu Zhi and others.
people.
Huang Gai and others had received the order to retreat as early as Zhou Yu's retreat. Before Su Fei and Deng Long and others arrived, they went south from Yushui to Yuhan County, and then followed the city of Yingtan, Shangrao, and Quzhou in later generations.
This route from Jiande City, Tonglu County, and Hangzhou City returns to Qiantang.
Since then, almost all Jiangdong's troops have withdrawn from Yuzhang County. After this battle, the entire Yuzhang County was taken over by Huang Zu.
In February of the ninth year of Jian'an, Liu Biao sent people to contact the Shanyue tribe in Le'an and Linru, intending to order Liu Pan and his coalition forces to go north along the Ganjiang River, reach Fanyang County, and then go south from Yushui, dividing their troops into two groups to attack Jiangdong.
In March, Huang Zu continued to march and had a stalemate with Jiangdong's army in Anqing and other places.
The reason for the stalemate here is that the Yangtze River in the Anqing section is slightly narrower. There is a huge Jiangxinzhou in the center of the river, making the widest point 1.5 kilometers and the narrowest point about 1 kilometers. There are many mountainous areas on both sides, such as Catfish.
Mountain, Mashi Mountain, Yanglin Mountain and other places.
Although the width of one kilometer is already very exaggerated, it is still a bit reluctant for the Jiangxia Navy. After Liu Biao increased his troops, thousands of ships, large and small, stopped on the river.
The Jiangdong Navy also blocked the river with a large number of ships. If they rushed directly over, they would have to collide with the ships, or go ashore and fight with the Jiangdong Army.
Huang Zu was confident on the water, but he couldn't guarantee it after landing.
As a result, the two sides entered a brief stalemate.
Liu Pan's side went much smoother. He went south from Shanyang to Yuhan, then passed through Geyang, Shangrao, Dingyang, Xin'an, Xinchang, Jiande and went north to Fuchun to confront Huang Gai's army.
The reason why they were so successful was because of their alliance with the local Shanyue.
In fact, the instability factor of the Sun family in Jiangdong did not come from the four counties to the north of Yangzhou, but the two counties of Yuzhang and Kuaiji in the south. These two counties later became Jiangxi, Fujian and southern Zhejiang. They were all mountainous and occupied by the Shanyue people.
Ever since Sun Ce invaded Jiangdong, and even until Sun Quan established the Kingdom of Wu, Shanyue's rebellion has never stopped. The two sides have been grudges for a long time, and now they naturally want to beat up the fallen dog.
So under the leadership of the locals, Liu Pan continued to advance and reached the rear of Jiangdong.