The sky was getting darker and darker, and when it was approaching Rendingchu, the defenders in Wankou City were already very tired.
Their total number of soldiers was only over a thousand, and the number of enemies outside the city was five times that of their own. In addition, the enemy beat them to the gate of their lair, so the morale of the soldiers was actually very low.
Lu Su stood on the top of the city with a very serious expression. At this time, Han Dang was summoning the soldiers to give lectures, encourage them, and strive to improve the morale of the soldiers.
The main reason was that they never expected that the enemy would suddenly appear at Wankou in the rear, which inevitably made them doubtful.
Could it be.
Is there something wrong with Zhou Yu on the front line?
Was Huang Zu's withdrawal of troops completely a trap?
wrong.
If it was a trap, then the enemy should not attack with a small force of thousands of people at this time, but with a large-scale attack.
Huang Zu would not be so stupid as to send thousands of people to disturb Gong Jin before defeating them.
Therefore, it is very likely that there should be a problem with the navy. After all, the troops sent there are only to contain the enemy's navy. If they encounter part of Huang Zu's navy, maybe...
Lu Su thought.
He didn't think there was something wrong with Zhou Yu's plan.
Because they had already investigated Huang Zu's movements clearly, and the troops were divided into three groups.
Therefore, Jiangdong's strategy at that time was to take advantage of the situation and pretend to send out naval forces to attract the two naval forces away, while in fact the main force attacked by land.
If something really goes wrong, Xunyang is a trap. First of all, the weather does not allow it. It was still a violent storm yesterday. Today, the rain is only lighter during the day, but it stopped at night. How could so many troops be mobilized so quickly?
Secondly, what Zhou Yu brought over was the main force of the Jiangdong Army, the elite Sun Family Army of Sun Jian and Sun Ce. Their land combat strength was not much worse than that of the army in the north. How could Huang Zu's naval force be comparable?
The last and most important point is that Lu Su felt that something was really going wrong. The people coming were definitely not just a few thousand people from one school, but several armies with tens of thousands of people.
Therefore, in summary, Lu Su believed that there was nothing wrong with Zhou Yu.
The one who was in trouble should be the Jiangdong Navy commanded by Cheng Pu, Ling Cao, Dong Xi and others, which fell into a disadvantage in the fight with the Jiangxia Navy.
"I hope nothing happens to General Cheng."
Lu Su thought in his mind.
At this time, Han Dang had already encouraged the soldiers and came to the top of the city and said to Lu Su: "Captain Lu, what do you think?"
Lu Su told Han Dang his suspicions, and finally licked his tongue and said: "I think General Cheng's side will only be at a disadvantage rather than a big defeat. Otherwise, the enemy should have tens of thousands of navy troops attacking Wankou."
, so we just need to hold on a little longer and we can wait for the good news from Gongjin."
"It would be best if that were the case."
Han Dang sighed and said: "It's just that there are few soldiers in Anhui and the enemy is strong. I'm afraid they will never give up. What if we attack the city overnight?"
"It doesn't matter."
Lu Su glanced at the mountains of arrows piled up on the surrounding city walls and said, "We have enough arrows. Feel free to use them. Be careful at night. During the day, you have a wide field of vision. They can't do anything to us."
"Um."
Han Dang nodded and walked towards the female wall.
He suddenly remembered something again, and turned around to ask Lu Su the questions he had arranged for the night, when he suddenly heard the sound of drums and trumpets outside the city.
"Enemy attack!"
Sharp whistles resounded throughout Wankou City, and officers at all levels who had just arranged for some soldiers to rest quickly called the soldiers back.
Fortunately, not long after Han Dang gave his lecture, the soldiers had just returned to the barracks and had not yet taken off their armor to sleep.
At this moment, there was movement outside the city. He quickly picked up his weapon and ran out of the barracks towards the city gate.
At this time, Lu Su had arranged two to three hundred people on the top of the city. He immediately came to the female wall and looked out, nervously looking outside the city.
But until the soldiers rushed to the top of the city under the urging of the officers, he did not see a single enemy.
It was still dark outside the city and nothing could be seen.
"A strategy to tire out the enemy!"
Lu Su's face darkened. The drums and horns outside continued to sound, but the enemy had no intention of attacking at all, which obviously meant that the opponent had other plans.
There is nothing wrong with people staying up all day and all night. The problem is that they cannot be in a state of high tension all the time.
War is not as simple as singing and eating. If the soldiers continue to remain in a state of tension but cannot wait for the enemy to come, their mental state and energy will be most likely to be quickly exhausted due to high tension.
Therefore, the strategy of weakening the enemy often only takes a few days to succeed.
Of course, this situation is usually used when one's troops and horses are several times that of the enemy's. Repeated harassment will keep the enemy exhausted. If the number of people is equal, the enemy's exhaustion strategy will rarely be effective in a short period of time, and it will often take many months.
OK.
But our army is small.
Lu Su couldn't help but sigh.
"Captain, our army is small, and the enemy has been harassing us all night, making us exhausted. If we don't care, we are afraid that it will happen again. What should we do?"
Han Dang had followed Sun Jian and Sun Ce in the north and south for many years, so he naturally knew the opponent's plan.
Lu Su looked at the still noisy momentum outside the city, pondered for a moment, and said: "It's easy to solve it, it just depends on whether the general has the courage!"
"oh?"
Han Dang said displeasedly: "I have followed Wuchenghou and Wuhou across the north and south for many years. I have even been to Xiliang, so why don't I dare?"
Lu Su then said: "In this case, the general can lead 300 people out of the city and ambush in the back mountain. When the enemy comes again to make noise, I will personally lead the 500 people to attack, and the general will attack at the same time, attacking from the front and rear, and defeat their invading force.
enemy."
"Out of town?"
Han Dang was shocked and said: "It is already very difficult to hold the city, and we still go out to fight. If they invade in a large scale, wouldn't they want to give up Wankou?"
The geographical location of Wankou is very important, and it can be said that it cut off Zhou Yu's retreat.
Now Zhou Yu's strategy is to take advantage of Huang Zu's retreat, attack Huang Zu, and then take advantage of the situation to occupy Chaisang and Xunyang. He may even have the opportunity to directly enter Jiangxia, occupy many cities along the river in Jiangxia County, and wait for an opportunity to attack Jingzhou.
Shen Chen's strategic purpose was naturally to control Wankou and force Zhou Yu to retreat. In this way, Zhou Yu's retreat was cut off, and he naturally could not attack Jiangxia and could only retreat back to Wankou.
Therefore, the current battle for Wankou will become very important. Once Lu Su and Han Dang defend it, or Shen Chen and Liu Qi capture it, their respective strategic goals will be achieved, and the other party's strategic goals will completely fail.
Therefore, Han Dang absolutely cannot accept Lu Su's suggestion to leave the city.
However, Lu Su persuaded: "Even the general thinks that we will definitely lose if we leave the city. Will the enemy still think that we dare to leave the city? As the saying goes, the victorious army wins first and then seeks battle, and the defeated army fights first and then seeks victory. Sometimes you want to win.
, we must first be invincible, otherwise if we continue to defend, the morale of the soldiers will be unstable and they will be destroyed."
"Um."
Han Dang pondered for a long time, impressed by Lu Su's boldness, and said in a deep voice: "Okay, then I will lead the troops out of the city."
The noise outside the city continues.
The two discussed some details, such as first sending scouts out to investigate the situation, and then deploying troops to go out from the north gate, climb to the back mountain near the east gate, and lie in wait, waiting for the people in the city to raise fire as a signal, and attack together.
The noise outside the city lasted for about two-quarters of an hour and finally stopped. Lu Su sent people out of the city to check. In the darkness, the scouts discovered the enemy's harassing troops, which were retreating to the rear.
Anqing Pavilion is located on the bank of the Yangtze River southwest of Wankou. From a topographic point of view, the back mountain of Wankou, which is later known as the Lion Mountain of Anqing City, will continue to the east.
In this way, the northwest direction of Anqing Pavilion is Wankou City, and the due north direction is a remnant of the Lion Mountain.
Therefore, at this moment, a thousand harassing troops led by Liu Nan are located in the northeast of Wankou.
The scouts from Wankou came back to report and reported the situation there.
Lu Su made arrangements calmly. He believed that the enemy was likely to set up sentries around Lion Rock to observe the situation in the city at all times, so Han Dang should go around a little further, from the north to the east of Lion Rock.
Han Dang accepted his suggestion and soon led 300 people out of the North City Gate at night, heading northwest in a large circle of seven or eight kilometers from the south of Lion Rock to the east.
Lu Su thought for a moment, and then ordered the soldiers to use wood as a support, tie straw on it, and prepare some fish paste to place on the top of the city.
Time passed minute by minute.
After another half an hour, the noise of drumming outside the city began again.
Shen Chen personally took two hundred guards to a small hill in the Lion Mountain Range in the northeast of the city to observe the city.
Because we were only a kilometer or two away, we couldn't see clearly. We could only vaguely see at least nearly a thousand figures on the top of the city, constantly shuttling back and forth. We felt quite exhausted by the momentum outside the city.
Apparently his strategy of weakening the enemy worked.
"General."
The scout captain on the side smiled and said: "The people in the city have no rest all the time. They will be exhausted soon."
Shen Chen nodded slightly and said, "Well, let the soldiers behind have a good rest and prepare to attack before sunrise."
"only."
The scout captain sent people back to report to Liu Qi and Qu Gan.
Shen Chen continued to observe the city.
The sky was getting darker and darker, and he was a little tired, so he sat cross-legged under a tree and rested against the tree.
After an unknown amount of time, he was in a daze when his bodyguard woke him up and said, "General, it's daybreak."
Shen Chen opened his eyes in confusion. The sky was still dark, but there was already some light, like the gray world around five o'clock in the morning.
The ancients did not have clocks. Although they had engraved clocks and sundials for keeping time, they were not convenient to carry, so they often counted the time by looking at the sky.
At this time, it was almost the beginning of sunrise at the end of Ping Dan. Shen Chen stood up and looked at the city in the distance.
He saw that the city was still gray. Liu Nan was still sending soldiers outside the city to beat gongs, drums and horns. The defenders on the city were indeed exhausted. Except for a few who were still observing on the parapet wall, most of them were on the city wall.
He fell into a deep sleep.
Although the rain has stopped, and it is still June, the temperature in the south is not too cold, and is even a bit hot, but the defenders of Wankou will probably not feel comfortable just sleeping on the wet city wall for one night.
If we take advantage of this moment to attack, it is indeed very possible to capture the city.
"Let's go back."
Shen Chen then said: "Lead the army and prepare to attack the city."
"yes."
The guards stood up one after another. They were all on duty in three shifts, and they were still somewhat energetic at this time.
In fact, I was woken up several times by the soldiers led by Zhang Nan in the middle of the night, but when fighting, I would fall asleep as quickly as I woke up. As long as you are brave, sleeping on the battlefield is not a big deal.
Anqing Pavilion was not far away, and soon Shen Chen returned to the pavilion. At this moment, Liu Qi and Qu Gan had also woken up and were gathering soldiers.
The soldiers had already prepared wooden planks and a large number of ladders.
These wooden planks were temporarily removed from some ships on the dock last night. Although they are not as convenient as wooden curtains and shields, they can protect themselves very well when there are soldiers holding large wooden planks during the advance.
Outside Anqing Pavilion, Shen Chen assigned tasks. According to the plan, Liu Nan harassed the enemy all night. The enemy must be exhausted and unlikely to believe that someone outside the city is really preparing to attack.
So now is a good time to capture Wankou.
Shen Chen then made arrangements. He asked Qu Gan to lead 500 men to continue the attack from the south gate. Since the east gate was so lax, the south gate was more likely to be unguarded. He then personally led 500 men to sneak closer to the east gate.
Once he is sure that he can make a surprise attack, he will lead the five hundred people to rush over and climb to the top of the city to seize the city, so that the army behind can take advantage of the chaos and kill them in one fell swoop.
This arrangement is very reasonable.
If there are too many people, it is easy to be exposed. If the army charges collectively, it cannot be concealed. It is very likely that the enemy will hit them back with bows and arrows.
Therefore, using a small number of troops, we can first reach the bottom of the city and fight to the top to seize the city head.
After arranging the tactics, Shen Chen led 500 rested warriors to carry more than 20 ladders and began to move closer to Wankou.
There is a gentle slope to the south of Wankou, to the northeast is the remnant of Lion Mountain, and only to the east is a flat plain area.
It was definitely not possible to rush in directly from the east. He planned to go around the southeast of the city from the south.
At the beginning of sunrise, the sky was still gray under the overcast clouds and the sun was hazy. Standing on the top of the city, you could only see the gray outside of the city, which was less than a hundred meters away.
Shen Chen personally led 500 soldiers and slowly approached the south gate. However, the south gate was actually nearly half a mile away from the gentle slope. He had to take advantage of the darkness to reach the bottom of the city. Now he still had to be more careful.
In the distance, towards the east gate, Liu Nan was still making noise, and the gongs and drums were beating loudly. Shen Chen climbed up the gentle slope, popped his head out and began to observe his surroundings.
The south gate of Wankou, which was half a mile away from him, was gray and pitch black. Nothing could be seen. There seemed to be no one on the top of the city. Only on the towers at the left and right corners, a few people could be vaguely seen walking around. silhouette.
At the foot of the Lion Mountain in the north, about a mile away from the city, Zhang Nan was sending soldiers in a small forest to continuously play conchs and drums. The huge momentum made the people on the city head blurry.
"Walk!"
Shen Chen waved to the back, indicating for everyone to follow.
"Beep beep beep!"
Almost at that moment, he suddenly heard a shrill whistle.
"General, the city gate is open!"
The soldiers around him quickly reminded him to look towards the east gate.
Shen Chen also immediately glanced over, and saw countless figures rushing out of the gray morning mist in the direction of the east city gate, heading towards the small forest.
At the same time, the noise of the grove stopped suddenly, and then another blaring horn sounded.
That was the sound made by the Jiangxia Navy when they encountered an enemy attack!
I will start to take care of myself from today to tomorrow. My condition has improved a lot. There will be another chapter later.