Chapter 201 If you don’t enter the tiger’s den, how can you catch the tiger’s cubs?
Shilian Mountain is located in the northeast of Xunyang County, east of Huangmei County in later Hubei Province, and west of Susong County in Anhui Province.
This is the key road from Yangzhou Yuzhang to Jingzhou Jiangxia, and it is the only way for Jiangxia to go from Jiangbei to Yangzhou.
At the same time, it was also the southernmost dividing line between Qichun County and Lujiang County in Yangzhou in the Eastern Wu Dynasty, and the southernmost boundary between Hubei Province and Anhui Province in later New China.
At this time, the drizzle was still falling. There was an abandoned village at the foot of Lianhua Peak, northwest of Shilian Mountain. In a simple wooden house in the west of the village, Shen Chen and Liu Qi were discussing things in the house.
When Huang Zu attacked Yuzhang, he had 60,000 Jiangxia naval troops. However, after the Penglize naval battle last year, although he repelled the Jiangdong army, he also suffered heavy losses. Now he still has more than 50,000 troops.
Among them, more than 30,000 people were stationed in Chaisang, 8,000 in Xunyang, 5,000 in Xiaji, then 3,000 in Qichun, and a total of 5,000 or 6,000 in Xiling, E County and Zhu County.
Since the important counties along the way needed people to garrison, when Liu Qi and Shen Chen arrived in Xunyang, they did not mobilize soldiers and horses from the cities along the route. Instead, they only brought the 500-man Xiling garrison with them all the way to Xunyang.
After arriving in Xunyang, Shen Chen believed that Jiangdong might attack while Huang Zu was withdrawing his troops, so he urged Liu Qi to send troops to guard the road from Shilian Mountain to Xunyang and intercept Sun Quan.
So when he came out this time, Liu Qi asked Xunyang guard Zhang Shuo to lead 3,000 troops to defend the city. He and Shen Chen led 5,000 troops to go out to Shilian Mountain to ambush Jiangdong's army.
What Shen Chen didn't expect was that his guess was correct.
However, it was different from the imagination that the main force in Jiangdong was mainly ships, intercepting Huang Zu's army on the river.
Jiangdong chose to do the opposite, and the main force of the navy became the main force of the army, and actually came directly from the land in Jiangbei.
This is something unexpected.
Therefore, after discovering that the enemy actually had tens of thousands of troops, Shen Chen and Liu Qi did not choose to attack proactively. Instead, they sent people to notify Huang Zu while watching them pass by.
In the wooden house, Liu Qi frowned and said: "Ah Chen, Jiangdong Army has passed almost half an hour, and it is very likely that it has reached Xunyang. We can't just stay here."
Shen Chen, who is nineteen years old, 1.84 meters tall and burly, stood by the table with his hands on each other, looking at the map of Yuzhang on it in a daze.
Seeing that he didn't speak, Liu Qi said again: "Why don't we return to Xunyang immediately? At least we can defend the city!"
"It's difficult."
Shen Chen shook his head: "I suggested that General Huang divide his troops into three groups. I wanted to divert the main force of the Jiangdong navy away from the enemy's base and allow the army to retreat safely to Xunyang. However, I did not expect that the enemy would do the opposite. , choose the main force to abandon the ship and go ashore. Although the Jiangdong Army is not as powerful as the Kwantung Army on land, it is still much stronger than the Jiangxia Navy Army. General Huang may be defeated."
"Is it too late for us to go to support now?"
Liu Qi asked.
Shen Chen muttered: "Let me think about it, let me think about it"
He pondered again.
This strategy is actually a pretty standard retreat plan.
Due to the inconvenience of transportation in ancient times, coupled with the recent heavy rains, communication between the south and the north of the Yangtze River was difficult, which led to great problems in command.
Huang Zu had run out of food and wanted to retreat to the north of the Yangtze River. Shen Chen knew nothing about water warfare and could only provide a general suggestion of a military strategy. The specific plan still had to be left to Huang Zu himself.
So the entire plan for the layout is relatively rough.
To put it simply, Shen Chen suggested to Huang Zu that one day when the wind and rain were less severe and the river could be used for sailing, Huang Zu immediately chose to withdraw. At the same time, he should divide his troops into three groups and deploy suspicious troops to prevent Jiangdong from taking the opportunity to intercept.
At that time, Shen Chen thought that there must be Jiang Dong's spies in the Chaisang area.
Even if Jiangdong did not discover that Huang Zu's army was running out of food and grass, as long as he found the fragments of the grain transport ship and hundreds of thousands of stones of grain floating in the Yangtze River, he could definitely guess that Huang Zu would definitely choose to find an opportunity to retreat.
Therefore, he felt that there was a high probability that Jiang Dongjun would come.
But he didn't expect that Jiangdong Army would choose to abandon ship and go straight to Xunyang.
Aren't they afraid that Huang Zu would withdraw directly from Xia Pheasant or Qichun?
Maybe I have some troubles with sailing.
Zhou Yu and Lu Su.
They obviously had a handle on Huang Zu's psychology.
Shen Chen couldn't help but sigh.
We are facing many difficulties now because there is no means of communication.
He didn't even know the situation on Huang Zu's side, nor did he know whether Huang Zu really used his suspicion trick.
But what is certain is that whether he uses it or not, the situation on Huang Zu's side will not be too good.
Even if people were sent to inform Huang Zu in advance, it would not be a good thing to fight in the wild with the well-prepared Jiangdong Army without any preparation.
Therefore, what is before Shen Chen now is: First, he does not know the situation on Huang Zu's side.
Second, he didn't know how Jiangdong arranged it.
The third and most important point is, what can these five thousand people do?
Return to support Huang Zu?
The number of Jiangdong's troops that the scouts had previously investigated was over 40,000.
This means that the main force of Jiangdong Army is mobilized.
Even if Huang Zu didn't divide his troops and retreat according to his plan, the number would only be 30,000. If people like himself were added, it might not have any effect, but he might be involved.
In addition, there is another very important point, that is, among the entire Jiangxia navy, only Liu Qi went to stop the attack, so he brought enough arrows.
The Huang Zu Army was an army that retreated from the front line, and its arrows may not be sufficient. To fight such a frontal impact battle, it often depends on the arrows and the level of combat between the armies of both sides.
It is obvious that Huang Zu's Jiangxia navy was far inferior to Jiangdong's army in terms of numbers, preparation, and soldier quality.
It's a pity that I didn't bring the Huangmenting soldiers here...
Shen Chen sighed in his heart.
If he had brought Huangmenting's soldiers, he might have been able to sneak attack from behind while Jiangdong's army was attacking Huang Zu.
"Report!"
At this moment, a scout suddenly came to the door and shouted: "A fleet from Jiangdong has arrived from Guanting!"
"Did you stop at Guanting?"
Shen Chen asked.
The scout replied: "Yes."
"This should be the fleet that supports the main force of the Jiangdong Army. If my prediction is correct, the main force of the Jiangdong Army will most likely attack Xiaji and Qichun along the river after defeating General Huang."
Shen Chen muttered and said: "Sir, look at the map."
Liu Qi quickly came over.
The two looked at the map.
Shen Chen pointed in the direction of Xunyang and said: "The main force of Jiangdong Army is here at this time, and their supporting ships are here. Now the rear of Jiangdong is empty."
Liu Qi shook his head and said: "If we follow the path of Jiangdong's army and attack Anqing, it is very likely that we can capture it. But we have no retreat. There are no ships to pick us up. Once Jiangdong's army returns to defend there, we will definitely die."
"Um."
Shen Chen nodded.
It is not advisable to change tactics. They are covered by supporting ships. Even if they are repelled, they can leave at any time by returning to the river bank and boarding the ship.
They don't have a boat, so if they choose to change their homes, they will never return.
"But didn't the enemy send a ship?"
Shen Chen suddenly said.
Liu Qi was surprised: "What do you mean?"
Shen Chen pointed in the direction of Guanting and said: "What if we seize these Jiangdong ships and the main force of the Jiangdong army lets them fight to Jiangxia? Without the supply of grain and grass ships, they will go deep alone. If we have ships, we can return." Already."
Liu Qi was shocked and said: "Seize the ship?"
Shen Chen nodded: "Yes, our officers and soldiers are all well-trained naval forces. They are not good at land combat, but they are all good at water combat. Now that the enemy has sent a ship over, it is a good opportunity to seize chestnuts from the fire!"
Liu Qi hesitated: "This is too risky."
Shen Chen smiled and said: "As the saying goes, if you don't enter the tiger's den, you won't catch the tiger's cubs. If you want to break the siege of Xunyang, you must threaten the rear of Jiangdong. Eldest Young Master, please stay here, I will go."
Liu Qi hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "What Achen said is that if you don't enter the tiger's den, you won't catch the tiger's cubs. I'll go with you."
Shen Chen thought for a moment and said, "Okay, let's go together. Without further ado, let's set off now."
At that moment, the two men issued an order and the entire army was dispatched.
When they came, they brought three days of dry food and a large number of arrows. Every soldier wore a raincoat and marched toward the south toward the official pavilion.
Guanting is located to the east of Xunyang and northwest of Longgan Lake in the south of Huangmei County in later generations. There are rural gatherings around this place and they mostly make a living by fishing. Therefore, Guanting has a relatively small ferry. Although it cannot accommodate so many boats, it can barely accommodate You can borrow the pier to dock temporarily.
The road in the Shilian Mountain Range is actually very wide, and it is not a dangerous place. Otherwise, if it is a place where one man can block it and no one can open it, five thousand people will not be able to try to stop Jiangdong's 40,000 army.
However, although it is not a dangerous place, there is a hilly area extending for more than ten kilometers all the way south, so there are many bunkers.
The ships of the Jiangdong Navy obviously valued this and chose to dock in the Guanting area.
The soldiers all wore coir raincoats and bamboo hats, heading south.
About half an hour later, they arrived at Guanting, several miles away from the Guanting ferry.
Shen Chen ordered his soldiers to hide in the mountainous area of Jinxian Mountain, and he led dozens of people to the official pavilion to see the situation in person.
The light rain was still falling, but the mist had dispersed, and the view was still barely visible.
After arriving at Guanting Ferry, Shen Chen went up to a small hill himself. Looking from the height of the hill, he saw the Inner Bay Port in the south, where hundreds of ships were densely parked.
In later generations, Guanting Ferry was Dayuan Lake in Huangmei County, connected to Longgan Lake. At this time, it was part of Penglize. However, because it was located in the inner bay and surrounded by a large number of hills and mountains, wind and waves could not enter, so it was a place Excellent inland river terminal.
However, because it was originally built as a rural fishing port for surrounding villages to gather for fishing, most of the boats were basically just parked on the water, still some distance from the shore.
"strangeness."
When Shen Chen saw this scene, he was very puzzled.
Liu Qi did not come over, but was accompanied by a deputy general named Qu Gan. Seeing that Shen Chen was puzzled, he asked: "General, what's strange?"
Shen Chen pointed to the ships floating on the lake in the distance and said: "Their ships have not docked, how can they respond to the Jiangdong Army?"
Qu Gan smiled and said: "General, have you seen those fighting ships at the front?"
"Um."
Shen Chen nodded.
Qu Gan explained: "If we encounter a small dock or there is no dock to dock ships, we will choose to use small and medium-sized boats to dock and pick up the soldiers on board."
"I see."
Shen Chen noticed that there were countless ships of various kinds in the distance, and wondered what their functions were, so he asked Qu Gan, "Can these ships be used to transport troops?"
Qu Gan said: "No, some are used to transport troops, some are used for defense, and some are used for offense. General, look over there, the farthest ship is a large ship, like a city on the river, it can carry thousands of people. A little bit The ones farther away are called big boats, which are transport ships and can carry thousands of people. There are also sterns, tugs, battleships, and walking boats."
Shen Chen only went to Xiling in May. He had never fought a water battle before, and he really didn't know much about ships. So when he saw those large and small ships, he didn't know their functions.
And Qu Gan was a middle- and lower-level officer in the Jiangxia Navy, so he naturally knew these things well and introduced them one by one.
These ships are large and small, with different functions. Moreover, due to the complex environment of the river, different ships will perform certain special tasks.
For example, "scout" ships and "yacht" ships are reconnaissance ships, which are only slightly larger than ordinary awning ships. There are also warships, which are medium-sized warships and are generally used to carry hundreds or thousands of people to engage in close combat with the enemy. There are also raiding boats, such as running boats, which are equivalent to war horses on the water.
Qu Gan introduced it to Shen Chen. Shen Chen looked from a distance and saw that the Jiangdong Navy's fleet had one large ship floating on the farthest lake.
There are four large boats on the left and right of the building ship, and then there are more than 20 dinghys and fighting ships close to the shore. There are hundreds more surging and fighting in the outer areas, and 200 boats are cruising further away. Multiple scouts and yachts formed the entire fleet.
And not only these ships, there are also a large number of small boats such as barges, dinghys, and boats hung on the sides of large ships, large boats, sterns, and fighting ships, which can be lowered at any time to meet the soldiers on the shore.
In this way, once the Jiangdong Navy retreats from the land, they can immediately move to the shore for cover.
Obviously Jiangdong Navy is definitely not a good person.
"Qu Sima."
After Ting Qu dared to introduce to him the functions and functions of these ships, Shen Chen realized that his ideas were still too simple.
If you rush over rashly, the scouts and yachts on the periphery will soon notice and warn you.
The raid will inevitably fail by then.
So he pondered for a moment and then asked Qu Gan: "How many people do you think are left behind?"
"There must be no less than three thousand people."
Qu Gan said: "The ships here can carry at least 30,000 soldiers, and to maintain the basic navigation of these ships, at least 3,000 people are needed."
Both the tower ship and the big boat are huge ships, with a full capacity of about three thousand people. The fighting ship is a medium-sized ship, which can carry two to three hundred people. Ordinary rush ships, walking boats, and Lu Nao are raid ships, usually in two Thirty people. Scout yachts are small reconnaissance boats, usually with less than ten people.
But that was a combat situation. If it was just for basic navigation, there would be about 100 or 200 people on the high-rise ship, 200 or 30 people on the stern fighting ship, and four or five people on the stern and gangster, and the scout yacht would be similar to a awning ship. One or two people can drive it.
So in terms of minimum needs, there are five big boats here, which is about a thousand people, there are more than 20 fighting ships, which is about six to seven hundred people, there are more than 100 assault ships, about five or six hundred people, and then There are two to three hundred reconnaissance ships. Counting two people per ship, there are only five to six hundred people.
Therefore, if we fully calculate, the number of people would be about 3,000.
It's just that Shen Chen was a little strange. The scouts had to report back. The Jiangdong Army sent there was at least 40,000 people, but the ship they took in could only carry more than 30,000 people. So where were the 10,000 people left?
But now is not the time to think about this. He asked: "Is there any way to make a surprise attack?"
Qu Gan shook his head: "There are hundreds of ships docked on the shore, but we will kill them directly. They can leave at any time. But if we go into the water and sneak over, we should be able to raid these ships, that is."
"Just what?"
"There is no guarantee that the raid will be successful. After all, our most powerful water ghost can only sneak for half a quarter of an hour. It has been raining recently and the river is turbid, making it difficult to act in a coordinated manner."
"That's it."
Shen Chen began to think.
A surprise attack on the shore is definitely not possible. They are not fools. They rush over directly. Even if everyone wears raincoats and pretend to be Jiangdong navy, they will definitely come to question you.
Once the secret is revealed, at most they will kill a few soldiers who come to question them, and the people on the ship will just sail away, which makes no sense.
As for diving into the water, although Jiangxia Navy has specially trained such water ghosts, the problem is that the river water is turbid and it is difficult to conduct unified command. At that time, some people will dive under the boat and prepare to climb on the boat to raid, and some people will also If you don't reach any place, you will also disturb the enemy.
Therefore, it is easy to raid a camp on land somewhere, but it is very difficult to raid a ship on a river.
"If you dive there, can you penetrate those big ships?"
Shen Chen suddenly asked.
He remembered the scene in the TV series "Water Margin" he watched before time travel, "Zhang Shun defeated Gao Qiu by drilling a boat."
Dayuan Lake was connected to Pengli Ze at this time. Its shape is very special, like a gourd. Inside is a natural inland lake. Outside there is a narrow channel connected to the Yangtze River. The right bank was called Xiaxinshan in later generations, and the left bank was called Chitieling. Small hilly area.
The large boats and the large boats are both more than 20 meters long. If they can drill through these three large boats, they will basically block the river. This is catching turtles in a urn. Even if the other side finds that something is wrong, they can swarm up and out of the water. attack.
However, Qu Gan opened his eyes wide and said: "General, the lower level of the ship has two layers, each layer is several feet thick. Let's not talk about whether it can be drilled through the bottom cabin. Even if it can be drilled through, there is another layer below, and the ship cannot Sink, even sail."
"Forehead"
Shen Chen was slightly embarrassed.
TV shows kill people.
He really doesn't know much about water warfare and ships.
In fact, "watertight bulkhead" technology existed in the Han Dynasty.
At that time, ships were divided into two layers. Even if the bottom of the ship leaked, because the density of wooden ships was less than water, even if the bilge was filled with water, the ship could still float on the water as long as the bottom cabin was sealed.
After the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Sun En's brother-in-law Lu Xun invented a better "watertight bulkhead" technology based on the original "watertight bulkhead" technology, called the eight-slot ship.
The original ship had two cabins, but Lu Xun increased it to eight, so that no matter how many holes were dug in the bilge, it would not affect the navigation of the ship.
So let’s not mention how strong the water ghosts must be underwater to swing their hammers through the ship. Even if they can penetrate the ship, it is impossible to sink the ship. At most, it will only make the water draft heavier.
But if that's the case, wouldn't it mean that the so-called plan to raid Jiangdong's fleet was aborted before it even started?
While hesitating, Qu Gan suddenly said: "General, they are leaving."
"Who's gone?"
Shen Chen quickly raised his head to look.
I saw someone waving the big flag on the boats on the lake, and then many big boats began to turn, and some small boats were dropped from the big boats on the left and right, and began to move closer to the building boat. There were ladders on the boat, and at least four to five hundred people climbed onto the building boat one after another. .
At the same time, half of the small boats began their return journey.
After a while, under the leadership of Lou Chuan, more than twenty fighting ships and fighting ships began to leave Dayuan Lake and head south toward the Yangtze River.
At this time, the lake suddenly opened up a lot. After only half an hour, there were four large boats left and two fighting ships each. There are only about a hundred yachts left.
Although he didn't know what happened, Shen Chen still cheered up and said to Qu Gan: "Qu Sima, can you lead people over to see how many of them are left?"
Qu Gan smiled and said: "There is no need to go there. I just took a look at the tutu near the shore. There are only three or four people in each boat, and the number of people left behind is less than five hundred."
"Can you capture those big ships?"
Shen Chen asked again.
Qu Gan thought for a while and said: "Unless we can capture those stern battleships, we won't be able to get on board even if we dive under the big boat."
Shen Chen patted him on the shoulder and said: "Qu Sima, you are good at water warfare, can you win it?"
"You can give it a try."
Qu Gan replied.
Shen Chen said: "If you can succeed, I will ask the eldest son to recommend you to the King of Chu as a partial general!"
Qu Gan suddenly said excitedly: "Being humble will not disgrace your destiny!"
"Let's go back."
Shen Chen waved his hand and led them away.
There are also Jiangdong soldiers patrolling the surrounding shores and sentries, so it is not advisable to stay here for a long time.
Everyone went back now.
After returning to Jinxian Mountain, Shen Chen discussed tactics with Liu Qi, Qu Gan and another army commander.
Shen Chen looked at the terrain and thought that if he wanted to rush in, he had to go around the left and right banks.
Because there are many ships docked on the shore where the official pavilion is located, there are many Jiangdong soldiers guarding the surrounding shore. The number is not large, but if they are noticed, a warning will be issued.
The north and south banks of Dayuan Lake are several kilometers long, and there are many hills and mountains on the left and right banks. It is impossible to guard every place in such a long place.
Therefore, Shen Chen suggested launching the water from Xiaxinshan and Tiechiling on the left and right sides, allowing the water ghosts to swim to the side of the ship, and then climb up from the left and right sides of the ship.
It is impossible to climb onto the building boat and the large boat. Even after it is drafted, the side of the boat is more than ten feet high from the water.
However, after the draft of the stern and the fighting ship, the side of the ship is relatively close to the water surface, only a few feet, and there is a hole on the edge, which is only 0.3 meters from the water surface.
So it’s very easy to climb onto the cockpit.
Qu Gan accepted Shen Chen's suggestion and immediately issued a military order. Among the 2,500 men and horses he led, he selected a thousand elite water ghosts and headed towards the official pavilion.
This chapter is a tactical chapter, which may be a bit boring, but I am afraid that I will be criticized if I just start the fight without any tactical arrangements and logic, so I have to pay attention to logic when writing novels. There is no other way. My health is a little better, and the tactical layout is completed. Tomorrow is the time to read the operation. The next few chapters are guaranteed to be very interesting. I will resume the 6,000-word update tomorrow, and then when my health is better, I will resume the 8,000-word update, 10,000-word update, and so on. Anyway, the next plot will definitely be interesting and won't make everyone feel bored.