Wuling is not a straight high mountain, but a continuous small mountain range. The highest peak is called Wushan, so it is called Wuling.
There are also a large number of small hills below Wushan Mountain. These small hills are connected with each other to form this majestic mountain range.
At this time, on the hillside of the back mountain, thousands of Jiangdong troops were losing ground front and rear.
They were ordered to make a detour from the rear for a sneak attack, but halfway up the mountain, the water suddenly rose at the foot of the mountain, and then hordes of Jiangxia navy appeared on the mountain and attacked with arrows.
As a last resort, Han Dang, who led the team, had no choice but to use another hill as cover and ordered the soldiers to hide in the woods on the reverse slope behind the mountain. Faced with the invading Jiangxia navy, they repeatedly repelled it.
When Shen Chen arrived, Liu Qi was commanding an encirclement and suppression campaign, but Jiangdong's army was very tenacious. The two sides attacked each other for two-quarters of an hour, with no results.
"Achen, you are here."
Liu Qi stood on a higher hill and looked down diagonally. The enemy was actually behind the hill diagonally below, but because of the slope, neither bows, arrows nor rolling stones could hit the enemy.
And if they went down to fight at close range, they would be hit back by the opponent's counterattack, so the two sides fought back and forth on a slope of about forty degrees. In addition, there were many woods and thick trees, so it was easy to find a bunker. It's hard to fight through.
Seeing Shen Chen coming, Liu Qi, who had been in a stalemate, was overjoyed and said to him: "Ah Chen, look, those Jiangdong soldiers have occupied the hill below. It is difficult for us to attack them. What can you do?"
Shen Chen stretched out his head and peered down, and saw that the slope below was not very steep. However, because the road connecting the hill here to the hill on the opposite side was relatively narrow, with slopes of more than 60 degrees on both sides, it was difficult to attack from other directions. They were able to pass through the connected trail, but the trail was occupied and it was difficult to attack by force, so there was a stalemate.
He thought for a moment and asked, "Have you been persuaded to surrender?"
"Not yet."
Liu Qi said: "But the leading general calls himself Han Dang. Han Dang is a veteran of Sun Jian, so he will not surrender."
"That's hard to say."
Shen Chen smiled and shouted below: "General Han, can you come out and talk to me?"
Han Dang climbed up the slope and exposed half of his head. He looked at him warily and shouted angrily: "Shen Chen, what trick did you use again?"
"There's no trick."
Shen Chen said: "It just happened that the upper reaches of the Shu River burst. Now your Jiangdong Army is submerged in the water, and Sun Quan doesn't know whether he is alive or dead. Why not surrender as soon as possible?"
"Pooh!"
Han Dang said angrily: "You want me to surrender and dream."
Shen Chen sighed: "In this case, we can only attack by force."
"Come if you want, there's no point in talking!"
Han Dang made a dull voice, his eyes revealing his will to die.
Shen Chen said to Liu Qi: "eldest son, let people cut down the trees and build boats to go around the back of the mountain. Now that the flood has passed, the only thing left is to slowly release the flood, and we can only attack them from the rear."
The opponent occupies a hilltop. It is difficult to attack directly because of the terrain. If you use fire to burn it, it will not burn. First, the air is moist, and second, it is not easy to burn.
Although autumn has already entered at this time, the leaves of the trees in the south are all emerald green, and water can come out just by pinching them with your hands, but there is no fire at all.
Therefore, unless Lu Xun brought a large amount of hay with him to light Liu Bei's tent like in the Battle of Yiling, it would be impossible to directly light the mountain on the opposite side. Therefore, the only choice was to make ships and go around from the water to the rear to attack.
Wushan, the highest peak in Wuling, is only over 200 meters above sea level. The hills below are naturally not much higher. The small hill occupied by Handang is only 40 to 50 meters high, but the water level below has risen by ten meters. Domi.
In other words, even if you go by boat, although the other party is condescending, the distance between them is only thirty or forty meters high. Shooting from behind and attacking from the front and back can still threaten them.
At that moment, Liu Qi went to implement Shen Chen's plan. After more than an hour, he managed to build a hundred raft-like boats, carrying two to three thousand soldiers and paddling to the back mountain.
However, Shen Chen still underestimated the speed of water dispersion. Although the hills on both sides blocked the spread of floods, Shushui still played a role in discharging floods. The water level dropped several meters in just an hour, making it very difficult for the Jiangxia Navy to deal with it. .
Almost two more hours later, the two sides fought fiercely until midnight. After paying a very heavy price, Shen Chen personally led an attack from both sides and attacked the hill occupied by Han Dang.
At this moment, the surrounding areas of the hill were densely packed with Jiangxia navy troops, everyone holding torches. Han Dang did not lead many people, only three to four thousand people.
In this kind of attack from the front and back, their number is getting smaller and smaller. Many of them are lost in the mountains and forests, or fall into the water, and some can't help but surrender. The height in that area is only forty or fifty meters, and the range is less than a thousand. On the small hills with an area of square meters, their living space is getting smaller and smaller.
In the end, Shen Chen finally captured the top of the mountain and forced them to the mountainside. He shot a large number of arrows downwards from a high position, and soon they were unable to retreat. There were various voices persuading them to surrender, and many people chose to surrender. .
"General Han!"
Shen Chen shouted to a reverse slope below: "The situation is over, surrender."
"It is absolutely impossible for me to surrender."
Han Dang was already very depressed, but he still cheered up and said: "It took my lord three generations to gain a foothold in Jiangdong. How can we lose to you? Let's fight if we want."
"well."
Shen Chen sighed and ordered: "Fire the arrow!"
"Fire the arrow!"
Countless arrows were shot towards the slope below. There were very few Jiangdong soldiers left, and they were quickly killed in large numbers.
The sound of falling into the water was endless. At the end, Han Dang screamed and stumbled down the cliff. He was hung up by a big tree and barely escaped with his life.
But immediately after the last line of defense was lost, swarms of Jiangxia navy troops swarmed in, and some shouted to capture Han Dang alive and not to let him go.
Seeing this situation, Han Dang smiled miserably and said: "Shen Chen, you won this battle, but don't be too proud. My lord will defeat you one day."
After saying that, he reluctantly stood up, covered the wound from the arrow on his shoulder, turned his head, jumped into the flood several meters deep, and disappeared without a trace.
It was already getting late, but the heavy rain had stopped long ago. The sky was clear and clear these days. As the Mid-Autumn Festival approached, the bright moonlight shone on the water, making the turbid floods shine with a silvery white glow.
Shen Chen sighed: "There are still righteous people in Jiangdong. Unfortunately, Sun Jian and Sun Ce are both admirable people, but Sun Quan is not a wise man. The righteous people are also with the wrong people."
"Achen, let's go."
When Liu Qi saw him standing on the top of the mountain still looking at the water below, he said, "Go back to camp and rest for one night. It's time to set off tomorrow."
"Um."
Shen Chen nodded, turned his head and headed towards the top of the mountain.
The surrounding Jiangxia navy stayed to deal with the aftermath, escorting the prisoners and cleaning the battlefield. The moon was as cold as water, and the battle was finally over.
By daytime the next day, the flood had almost completely receded, leaving behind a mess at the foot of the mountain, with yellow mud all over the ground and countless bodies sunken deep in the mud, ship fragments, broken trees, weeds, branches, and debris swept away by the flood. stone.
These were only at the foot of the mountain, and more were washed away by the floods and floated along the river to Jinghu Lake dozens of kilometers away. This battle resulted in at least tens of thousands of Jiangdong navy casualties. Not even the famous generals knew how many, so it is difficult to estimate. .
No one even knew the lives and deaths of people like Sun Quan and Zhou Yu. Shen Chen and the others had no intention of cleaning the battlefield because the battlefield was already in a mess and there was almost no value in cleaning it up.
However, in order to prevent the rotting corpses from causing a plague and harming the surrounding Shanyue people, Shen Chen also specifically told Chen Pu and Zu Shan to send people to bury Jiang Dongjun's corpse, and Shen Chen paid to hire them to do it, otherwise They haven't necessarily put in the effort yet.
In early August, Shen Chen and Liu Qi returned to Nanchang.
It was not until mid-August that Liu Biao received the news at the palace of the King of Chu in Xiangyang City, South County, Jingzhou.
In fact, the first news he received was that the Jiangxia navy was defeated and Huang Zu was captured.
This news once made him feel very uncomfortable. Firstly, Huang Zu was his support, and secondly, once Huang Zu failed, no one could stop the Jiangdong Navy.
As a result, Shen Chen never expected that Shen Chen would bring him a big one, which made him overjoyed.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty, Congratulations, Your Majesty."
In the backyard of the mansion, Jia Xu smiled and bowed his hands to Liu Biao and said: "The Jiangdong navy suffered heavy losses in this battle and is no longer able to recapture Yuzhang. Your Majesty can ascend the throne as emperor and dominate the south."
Liu Biao put the official document in his hand on the desk and said with a happy smile: "Yes, I didn't expect to survive from a desperate situation. A Chen is really a lucky general among the few, Sun Quan was lucky enough to survive, Zhou Yu was seriously ill, and the other ten generals were killed or injured. There were only a few left, and a flood drowned tens of thousands of Jiangdong soldiers."
Sun Quan was not dead, but he had almost lost a layer of skin. Zhou Yu was seriously ill, Lu Su was not flooded in the rear, Zhonglang General Han Dang was killed in the battle, Ling Cao, the captain of the bandit commander, sank to the bottom of the river, Lu Meng, the captain of Pingbei, was seriously injured, and the eastern capital Wei Ruiliang was shot and killed.
Others include Danyang Commander Quan Rou, Fengzheng Commander Liu You, Liwu Commander Chen Zhong, Guard Commander Chen Zong, Sima Lushi, Ding Lie, Huang Song, Zhu Zhong, Deng Shao, Zhao Fei, Li Dai, etc. More than ten middle and lower-level generals drowned.
It can be said that the middle-level officers in Jiangdong, except for Lü Meng, are almost broken. Except for those who did not participate in the war, among the high-level generals involved in this battle, only Zhonglang General Xu Sheng is still alive.
There are also some celebrities who did not serve as generals but followed Sun Quan, such as Zhang Hong, Sun Quan's imperial censor, who drowned, Sun Quan's childhood friend, Hu Zong, who served as Jin Cao, was dying, Sun Quan's personal bodyguard on the ship, and Zhou who always held up Sun Quan's shield. Tai was in a coma for several days and became seriously ill.
Therefore, except for the two generals of the Jiangdong Army, Xu Sheng, the lieutenant general, and Zhu Ran, the Zhechong captain, most of the generals were dead, injured, and sick. The rest of the lower-level soldiers were even more difficult, with more than 30,000 troops. , less than half returned alive, and more people either died in the floods in the forests on both sides of the bank, or were washed into Jinghu Lake by Shushui to feed the fish.
This battle can almost be said to have severely damaged the entire Jiangdong. Although it was not as good as Cao Cao in the Battle of Guandu, where he killed Yuan Shao's 80,000 surrendered soldiers, the foundation of Jiangdong cannot be compared with that of Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao had a population of tens of millions under his rule, and Sun Quan
It is only three to four million, and the problems of Jiangdong's aristocratic families are more complicated, so this battle can be said to be a thorn in the side.
It is estimated that Sun Quan would be very reluctant to defend along the Yangtze River, let alone invade Jingzhou again. Therefore, Liu Biao can confidently and boldly proclaim himself emperor, then use his bows from left to right, constantly send troops to beat Jiangdong and Yizhou, and follow Jia Xu's strategic plan to dominate the entire south.
Able to send troops to the Central Plains and seize the Han Dynasty!
"Your Majesty, the most urgent task now is to issue an edict immediately to inform everyone in Jingzhou and boost morale."
Jia Xu added: "In addition, the Jiangxia navy should be stationed in Yuzhang again. Our losses in this battle were also very heavy. The king can recruit some soldiers and horses into Jiangxia and Yuzhang counties. After he becomes emperor next year, he can attack with a large army.
Jiangdong, destroy the Sun family."
"Um."
Liu Biao nodded with satisfaction: "Wen He's words really won my heart."
Jia Xu muttered: "Since Yuan Shao died of illness this year, his third son Yuan Shang was succeeded to the throne by judges and others in Yecheng with a false edict. Tian Feng used Yuan Shao's real edict to succeed Yuan Tan in Qingzhou. Yuan Shang has Yuan Shao in his hands.
The main force, Yuan Tan, has a reputation for righteousness. If these two fight, the north will definitely be won by Cao Cao, and we must destroy the south as soon as possible."
Liu Biao asked: "With the intention of Wenhe, what should I do?"
Jia Xu smiled and said: "Does your Majesty know about the recent changes in Yizhou?"
"Are you talking about Zhang Lu?"
"good."
Jia Xu nodded: "Zhang Lu saw Liu Zhang's defeat and wanted to take advantage of the situation to attack the entire Yizhou. Liu Zhang was weak at this time. I expected that if no one came to help, Zhang Lu would take advantage of him. This person occupied Hanzhong and Bajun, and his troops were not strong enough.
Don't underestimate me, if he captures the entire Yizhou, it will be very troublesome for the king to capture Bashu even if he captures Jiangdong in the future."
After Liu Zhang's defeat in Zigui, his strength was very weak.
Historically, Zhang Lu actually owned not only the territory of Hanzhong, but also half of Ba County.
Liu Zhang's actual territory only consisted of Guanghan County, Shu County, Guanghan vassal state, Shu County vassal state, Keywei County and the southern part of Bajun.
The approximate area of later generations is Chengdu in the west, Luzhou in the south, Chongqing in the east, Mianyang, Suining, and Nanchong in the north. This area, that is, the Sichuan Basin, is still only two-thirds.
The other third of the Sichuan Basin, which is later known as Guangyuan City, Bazhong City, and Dazhou City, is currently under de facto control by Zhang Lu.
Historically, Liu Zhang always wanted to take back these places and sent Pang Xi as the governor of Bajun, but he was defeated by Zhang Lu.
At this time, the troops sent by Liu Zhang to attack Liu Biao were almost completely wiped out and their strength was reduced sharply. Someone in Hanzhong happened to dig out the jade seal from the ground and presented it to Zhang Lu. Zhang Lu thought that he had a chance to capture the entire Yizhou, so he went south to attack in a large scale.
Chengdu.
Jia Xu believed that Liu Zhang was seriously injured now, and Zhang Lu had absorbed a large number of Guanzhong people and strengthened his troops due to Dong Zhuo's Chang'an Rebellion. It was very possible for him to take advantage of the situation and defeat Liu Zhang to seize Yizhou.
In this case, the population of Hanzhong and Bajun would have been large, and if Zhang Lu had obtained the entire Bashu Plain, his strength would have been stronger than that of Liu Zhang who had not been defeated, which would have been disadvantageous to Liu Biao.
Even if Liu Biao takes Jiangdong by then, it will probably be much more difficult to take Yizhou back.
"What does Wen He mean?"
Liu Biao asked.
Jia Xu's eyes flashed with a glint and he said: "Your Majesty, you should raise your troops to attack Yizhou, in the name of uniting with Liu Zhang, drive out Zhang Lu, and then take advantage of the situation to annex Yizhou, then the south can be conquered!"