Lincheng is about thirty kilometers away from Lingyang, which is almost the distance between Qingyang County and Lingyang Town in later generations.
At this moment, Zhou Yu led an army of more than 10,000 people to gather here.
The total strength of Jiangdong's troops was about 60,000 to 70,000. In the water battle with Huang Zu at Penglize, he lost 7000 to 8000 troops, so he still had about 60,000.
Of these 60,000 people, at least 10,000 to 20,000 need to defend Jiangdong, and most of them will stay in the Qiantang area with Huang Gai, Sun Bi, Zhu Zhi and others to prevent Liu Pan from attacking Jiangdong from the south.
Then in the previous battle of Xunyang, Zhou Yu led the main attack of 40,000 people, and the remaining thousands of people were distributed across the Yangtze River, mainly in Anhui County, Juchao, Wankou, Hulin, Songyang, Nanling, Lincheng, Lingyang, etc.
There are more than ten cities along the route.
In other words, Jiangdong's current military strength is actually very scattered.
Huang Gai on the southern front had more than 10,000 people, and Wu County and Danyang counties in the rear had thousands of people left behind. Those who faced Huang Zu on the Wankou front line were no more than 50,000, probably a little more than 40,000.
Although he has defeated the Jiangxia Navy and even captured Huang Zu alive, Liu Biao is very powerful and is very likely to send troops again, so he must be on guard.
So Zhou Yu's current arrangements are as follows. Lu Meng and Xu Sheng led about 8,000 people from Yunxi River to Yi County. He himself led more than 10,000 people in Lincheng. In order to encircle and suppress Shen Chen, he dispatched about 20,000 troops.
The rest of the troops were stationed at Wankou to guard against the Jiangxia navy.
After all, it was precisely because of the emptiness on the front line that Shen Chen took advantage of it. If Liu Biao suddenly sent a large army to attack while he was encircling Shen Chen with all his strength, his situation would be very serious, so he had to guard against it.
In the afternoon, a messenger reported to Zhou Yu at the Lincheng County Government House, telling him that the scouts who were waiting in the mountains around Lingyang found that the soldiers in Lingyang City had all boarded the troop transport ships, eight large ships.
It headed towards Jinghu Lake in a mighty way.
Zhou Yu then found Lu Su, and the two of them crouched on the table to observe the map of Jinghu Lake, which was also the map around Taiping Lake in later generations, and conducted tactical research.
"According to what Xi Zuo said, Shen Chen's current movement is towards Jinghu Lake, but because of the heavy fog on the lake, they can't keep following him. They can only judge from the direction that they should be heading towards Shushui in the south.
"
Lu Su pointed to the direction of Yixian County in the south and said: "Strange, does Shen Chen have a false reputation? It is impossible not to guess that we will send troops to Yixian County."
Zhou Yu smiled and said: "The mountain road in Yishan is difficult and dangerous, and the road is complicated and changeable. Not to mention that Shen Chen is not from Jiangdong. Even a person from Jiangdong cannot know that Yunxi can lead to Yi County, so it is normal for him not to know that the back road is cut off.
matter."
Lu Su nodded and said, "That's true."
"but."
Zhou Yu changed the topic and said: "There are many Shanyue around Yi County. The only thing I am worried about now is that the Shanyue people will send people to help Shen Chen."
Lu Su shook his head and said: "The Shanyue people will not take such a big risk to go against us. The Shanyue tribes who led Liu Pan last year were all slaughtered by us. We were so shocked that countless Shanyue tribes asked us to surrender.
Do they still dare to risk the annihilation of their clan and become enemies with Jiangdong?"
"rational."
Zhou Yu nodded slightly: "It's just that even if we don't send troops, we may still lead the way for them. We must beware of this."
"This is easy too."
Lu Su smiled and said, "Just send someone to warn them."
"good."
Zhou Yu also laughed: "What Zijing said is exactly what I thought. In order to prevent them from being capricious and defecting to the Jingzhou army again, I still have to send someone to warn them to prevent chaos in Shanyue."
Since the Shanyue and Jiangdong regimes have always been in a state of hostility, there have been many fierce battles and collisions between the two sides in history. In the past few years, Sun Quan launched a large-scale attack on Shanyue and killed a large number of Shanyue people, and they began to migrate south.
The original Shanyue people were spread all over the southeastern hills. Now, there are no traces of Shanyue in the north of the southeastern hills, such as Lincheng, Lingyang, Anwu, Xuancheng, Jingxian, Guangde, Ningguo, Huai'an and other places.
Their footprints also went all the way south, deep into the depths of the Huangshan Mountains, and moved to Yishan Mountain, Linli Mountain, Anle Mountain, Busie Mountain, Liyang Mountain and other places south of the southeastern hills.
These places were probably around Huangshan City in Anhui Province in later generations. In the Han Dynasty, they were inaccessible deep mountains and old forests, surrounded by mountains and forests.
Last year, Liu Biao sent Liu Pan deep into the hinterland of Jiangdong. The reason why he was able to fight all the way to Qiantang was because of the help of the Shanyue people south of the Huangshan Mountains, and he barely managed to confront Huang Gai for more than half a year.
However, after Liu Pan ran out of supplies and withdrew his troops, these Shanyue people were retaliated by Jiangdong.
Huang Gai marched along Zhejiang, which is also the Qiantang River in later generations, to Xinshi, and attacked Shanyue in large numbers, forcing these Shanyue tribes to migrate all the way to the southwest, and hid in the mountains northeast of Jingdezhen in later generations.
The remaining Shanyue tribe surrendered to Huang Gai, making the Shanyue people in this area no longer dare to oppose Jiangdong.
Therefore, both Zhou Yu and Lu Su believed that the Shanyue people were not so bold to send troops to help.
After all, they should be able to understand the current situation clearly. Huang Zu suffered a huge defeat and even he was captured. Jiangdong rose again and it was only a matter of time before he regained Yuzhang.
Once the Jingzhou Army is driven out of Yuzhang, the Shanyue people will face a disaster, so as long as they are not stupid, they will not be stupid.
In fact, it is exactly as analyzed by Zhou Yulu Su.
Although the Shanyue people had a grudge against Jiangdong, it was actually Jiangdong who took the initiative to attack Shanyue, hoping to plunder their population and property and expand Jiangdong's strength.
Moreover, the Shanyue tribe was not united within itself. Historically, Sun Quan sent He Qi to defeat them one by one and easily pacified countless Shanyue tribes.
Therefore, the Shanyue people really did not dare to send troops, so they could only lead the way and help Shen Chen secretly.
However, they certainly could not have imagined that although the Shanyue people did not dare to send troops to help, there were still other ways to serve Shen Chen.
After analyzing the situation, Zhou Yu pointed to the map and said: "The arrangement is like this. Once we replace Wu Hou and Zigang Gong, we will immediately attack Yi County from both sides and annihilate Shen Chen."
"That's right Gong Jin."
Lu Su raised his head and looked at him and said: "Yesterday, I remember that an official document was sent, saying that Anwu, Jingxian, Xuancheng and other places had lost contact. Someone from Wuhu sent people to inquire, but there is no news yet."
Zhou Yu frowned and said, "I also know about this. It was probably Shen Chen who sent people to attack the county towns along the Jingshui River. I was still thinking yesterday whether he would divide his troops and send people to attack Jiangdong."
"Although Jiangdong is empty, there are still thousands of people in each county combined, and General Huang is stationed in the rear. How can he accomplish such a big feat with just a few thousand people?"
Lu Su smiled and said: "We are not Cao Cao. Cao Cao was attacked by Shen Chen in the rear because he had to deal with Yuan Shao on the front line. Now that we have the main force, even if we forgive him, he can't accomplish anything big."
"Don't underestimate the enemy."
Zhou Yu thought for a while and said, "It's better to send some scouts to explore the horse to see the situation."
"Um."
Lu Su nodded and said, "That's fine."
"Report!"
At this moment, soldiers outside suddenly rushed into the county government hall, raised their hands to the two of them and said, "Marquis Wu is back."
"What?"
Zhou Yu was shocked, but then he said happily: "Where is Wu Hou?"
The soldier said: "Our scouts found a man on the river bank. He called us and called himself Marquis Wu. We couldn't identify him, so we took him to General Ling Tong's station. General Ling Tong confirmed that he was Marquis Wu, and he should be there now. On the way back to Lincheng."
"Quick, Zijing, come with me to greet you."
Zhou Yu stood up quickly.
He also has arrangements on both sides of the river near Lincheng and Lingyang.
Ling Tong was stationed on a mountain on the left bank of Qingshui near the Lingyang front line. It was thirty or forty miles away from Lincheng. However, Qingshui originated from Taiping Lake and flowed from south to north to the Yangtze River, so it flowed along the river. It will be very fast if downloaded.
Almost as soon as Zhou Yulusu arrived at Lincheng Pier with Zhou Tai and Hu Zong who were currently in Lincheng, a large ship had already stopped at the pier, and several middle- and lower-level officers quickly disembarked and stood around.
After a while, Sun Quan, who was covered in mud and was quite embarrassed, walked out of the boat with his head held high. Seeing this, Zhou Yu and Lu Su both frowned, then raised their hands and saluted, "Marquis Wu."
"snort."
Sun Quan ignored them and walked forward on his own.
Zhou Yu pulled a soldier from behind and asked, "Why doesn't General Ling Tong change his clothes for Marquis Wu?"
The soldiers looked confused: "It's not that the general doesn't want to, but that the Marquis of Wu doesn't want to."
"I see."
Zhou Yu's face darkened and he knew what was going on, so he winked at Lu Su.
Lu Su nodded slightly and followed Sun Quan towards the county government office.
Sun Quan went straight into the city. Zhou Yu, Lu Su, Zhou Tai, Hu Zong and others hurriedly followed him. When they ran to the lobby of the county government mansion, Zhou Yu disappeared.
"Where's Zhou Yu?"
Sun Quan entered the county government hall and looked back.
All the officials of Jiangdong Army were there, including Lu Su, Zhou Tai, Hu Zong and more than a dozen other lieutenants, but the main general Zhou Yu was missing.
When everyone was surprised, Zhou Yu came in with his upper body bare and carrying a thorn stick on his back. He knelt down in front of Sun Quan and said, "Marquis Wu."
The flesh is bare and bears the thorns?
Sun Quan was speechless for a moment and was a little speechless.
"The fact that Marquis Wu is in prison is all the fault of Yu and many generals in Jiangdong. It was Yu and his colleagues who failed to plan well, which put Marquis Wu in danger. Yu is willing to suffer the death penalty and asks Marquis Wu to punish him."
Zhou Yu knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing in apology.
All the soldiers around were watching, no one said a word.
When they came in, they had already received a warning from Lu Su, asking them to just watch and never get involved.
No one spoke in the hall, and the surrounding area became quiet.
Sun Quan was sitting in the hall, his eyes flickering and his face uncertain. He could neither speak nor speak. He didn't know how to respond.
For a moment, the hall was so quiet that the sound of a pin dropping could be heard clearly.
At this time, Lu Su also stood up and knelt down and said: "Su also has an unshirkable responsibility for this matter. Please ask the Marquis of Wu to punish Su. Even if he is sentenced to death together with Governor Zhou, Su will not complain at all."
"Hmm"
Both of them wanted to be punished by death, and it was even more difficult for Sun Quan to say anything.
He really wanted to lose his temper today.
Because five years had actually passed from Sun Ce's death to Sun Quan's coming to power, but he was still worried about the fact that he had insufficient power.
Although he is nominally the lord of Jiangdong, the major families and military leaders in Jiangdong may not necessarily obey him.
Nowadays, there are many factions in Jiangdong, and the internal struggles are very fierce. In addition to countless aristocratic families, there are also the veteran faction left by Sun Jian, the young faction left by Sun Ce, and members of the Sun family clan.
Needless to say, there is no need to say more about the major families. In the army, there are veteran generals such as Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, Han Dang, and Zhu Zhi, and then there are Zhou Yu, Lu Su, Lu Fan, Jiang Qin, Ling Tong, Ling Cao, and Zhou.
Tai, Lu Meng, Chen Wu, Chen Bao and other young men.
If you include civil servants and counselors as well as the power of the Sun family, the situation becomes even more complicated.
Sun Quan came to the throne at a young age and lacked authority.
So on the way back, he had already planned to take advantage of this opportunity to establish his authority and directly attack officers at all levels on the Jiangdong front line.
After all, this matter was essentially a major mistake made by frontline generals like them.
He was in the rear area, and he did not rush to the front line to be captured rashly. In the end, the enemy fought all the way to Lingyang and easily captured him, the lord of Jiangdong. He suffered such a shame and humiliation that the frontline generals could not escape.
relationship.
And most importantly.
According to Sun Quan's character, he originally planned to go to the front line this time, personally lead the troops to Xunyang, defeat Huang Zu, and establish his authority.
Huang Zu was the sworn enemy of their Sun family. He killed his father and defeated his elder brothers many times. If Huang Zu could be killed or captured alive, then Sun Quan's prestige would rise to the level of his father and brother overnight.
However, Zhou Yu, Lu Su, Han Dang, Cheng Pu, Zhang Hong, Qin Song and other senior ministers objected one after another and resolutely refused to allow him to go to the front line. In this case, Sun Quan could only endure it and retreat to the rear.
Unexpectedly, Huang Zu was captured, but it was Zhou Yu's credit, and he was captured instead. This made Sun Quan almost angry to death. For a while, he was even more angry that his veterans interfered with his decision without permission, so he planned to establish his prestige.
.
After all, if Sun Quan had acted according to his idea from the beginning, he would have been able to capture Huang Zu alive, and he would not have been captured alive by others.
It's just that he originally planned to take the opportunity to establish his authority, but Zhou Yu's kneeling made it difficult for Sun Quan to get angry.
If Zhou Yu and the others were dealt a heavy blow, it would most likely be spread out and people would say he was harsh on his subordinates, which would be detrimental to his image of being generous.
Moreover, Zhou Yu's talents were indeed highly recognized by him, and he was also one of the two most important assistants left to him by his brother Sun Ce. It was even less likely that Sun Quan would severely punish or even kill Zhou Yu.
So holding it high and laying it down gently is the best choice.
Sun Quan looked around the hall with a pair of bright eyes. Zhou Yu and Lu Su knelt down, but the others did not kneel down to beg for mercy. This made him feel a little better.
If everyone pleads for Zhou Yu together, it will prove that Zhou Yu's prestige in the army is higher than that of him, the Marquis of Wu. Is this okay?
After hesitating for a long time, Sun Quan said softly: "This time Gu and Dongfang were captured by that little thief Shen. It was indeed a big mistake for you. However, Gu escaped alone, Zhou Yu captured Huang Zu alive, and Lu Su saved
Arriving at Wankou can be regarded as making up for one's fault. However, the death penalty can be avoided, but the living penalty cannot be escaped. The two of you will use twenty sticks, and the other generals will all have ten sticks. Zhou Yu will temporarily take over the post of governor, and Lu Su will continue to take charge of Zan's military school captain.
Pay the penalty and make meritorious service!"
Zhou Yu then breathed a sigh of relief, lay down on the ground, looked at Lu Su, kowtowed and said, "Thank you so much, Marquis Wu!"