Chapter 235: Attacking Xinye from the north to cleanse Xiangyang
Chapter 235: Attack Xinye from the north and cleanse Xiangyang
In Jingzhou in February and March, it rained for one-third of the time.
Although it is not like the continuous heavy rains during the flood season after May and June, it is the Qingming Festival and the cold weather, and the light rain continues, and the entire Jiangnan is shrouded in mist and rain.
And the ancient city of Xiangyang, which has experienced more than a thousand years of vicissitudes of history from the Shang and Zhou dynasties to the Eastern Han Dynasty, seems to have fallen into a dead silence.
The light rain was falling, and countless large ships were ready on the banks of the mist-filled Han River.
Today is a rare good weather.
"Lieutenant."
Outside Xiangyang City, Kuai Yue raised his hands and said: "This battle is extremely crucial. I hope the Taiwei will win in one fell swoop."
Cai Mao laughed and said: "Gan Ning is no more than a pigeon, let me capture him alive."
"The great cause of Jingzhou is entrusted to the Taiwei."
Kuai Yue surrendered again.
Cai Mao turned around and boarded the ship. Tens of thousands of troops followed one after another and headed north to Xinye.
Nanyang's 50,000-strong army was stationed in Wancheng after Liu Bei went south, while Han Xi and Lu Jie were stationed in Ye County, Duyang and other places respectively.
Gan Ning was still stationed in Huyang County as the garrison of Huyang, but recently, he moved to Xinye.
Xiangyang ordered him to hand over his military power on the grounds that he had transferred without authorization, and was escorted back to Xiangyang for trial.
In fact, everyone knows which side Gan Ning is on, but with tens of thousands of elite soldiers under his command, he is a force that cannot be ignored, so no one dares to do anything to him.
Now that the war has officially begun, Cai Mao and Kuai Yue plan to attack Gan Ning first, and then eliminate Huangmenting's defending force.
Strategically this is correct.
Because although most of the troops in Nanyang belong to Cai Mao and Kuai Yue, the people from Gan Ning and Huangmenting are hidden dangers. Once they concentrate their forces to attack Jiangxia, these people are likely to cause rebellion in the rear.
Therefore, in line with the principle of eliminating the latest hostile forces first, Cai Mao and Kuai Yue decided to first defeat Ganning and Huangmenting, completely integrate Nanyang County, and then encircle Jiangxia in three ways.
This time Cai Mao brought 30,000 troops, and ordered Han Xi and Lu Jie to go south, with a total of 50,000 troops, of which 20,000 were stationed in Caiyang. Together with Zhang Yun's troops in Fancheng, there were 50,000 to 60,000 troops around Xiangyang.
Be prepared for the enemy to come to help from Zhangling Jiangxia.
As for whether mobilizing the troops guarding the entrance of Nanyang Basin such as Han Xi and Lu Jie back would lead to a void in the front, allowing Cao Cao to take advantage of it, Cai Mao, Kuai Yue and others were not worried.
Because Cao Cao is in Yecheng now.
Three years after Yuan Shao died of illness, Cao Cao finally recovered his strength and began to use troops against the north.
At this time, Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan had conquered Jizhou and had been fighting for many years, and they were already exhausted.
In March last year, while Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan were fighting in Julu, Cao Cao once again attacked Yuan Shang northward and surrounded Yecheng.
Yuan Shang was horrified and rushed to rescue him. He was ambushed and defeated by Cao Cao, and fled north to Youzhou to join Yuan Xi.
Later, due to the unbearable pain caused by the headache, he had to retreat and return to Chendu to recuperate.
Yuan Tan took the opportunity to annex Yuan Shang's troops, occupied Jizhou, tore up the alliance with Cao Cao, and began to fight with him.
At the end of last year, after Cao Cao's condition stabilized, he went north again to raid Wei County. Yuan Tan resisted desperately. The two sides are currently engaged in a life-and-death battle around Yecheng. The outcome has not been determined after three or four months of fighting.
Therefore, Cai Mao and Kuai Yue concluded that Cao Cao could not go south alone, and decided to take advantage of this opportunity to immediately wipe out Liu Qi's forces and resolve the internal troubles in Jingzhou, then send troops to Xichuan, and then take Jiangdong to gain the entire south!
In their first battle, they planned to bring the war to Xinye.
There is no other reason.
Xinye is close. If they take Jiangxia directly, Xinye is likely to harass Xiangyang.
And after eliminating the forces of Gan Ning and Huangmenting, they can go south from Zhangling, take Suixian County between Tongbai Mountain and Dabie Mountain, and attack Xiling of Jiangxia by land.
Then the navy went south from the Han River and attacked Jiangxia Shaxian by water. The last route was from Jingnan to attack Zhouling, which was later known as Jiayu County.
In this way, the three armies attacked Jiangxia at the same time, completely blocking all the roads Liu Qi took to escape north and west. Unless he fled east to Jiangdong to join Sun Quan, he would be unable to fly and would be dead!
The surface of the Han River was covered with white mist. Kuai Yue watched Cai Mao's fleet heading north, disappearing into the mist along the Feishui River. He took the carriage back to Xiangyang City with neither joy nor sorrow on his face.
At this time, he was planning to carry out a purge in Xiangyang. There were too many officials from aristocratic families with ambiguous attitudes and unclear sides who chose neutrality in this struggle.
And neutrality means unstable factors.
Therefore, even if you are ruthless, no matter what means are used, whether it is coercion, threats, inducements or killings, these unstable factors must be eliminated.
So after returning to his Situ mansion, Kuai Yue began to draw up a list and sent people to various official mansions to control them.
Some people need to be imprisoned, some need a good conversation, and some need...
only.
Looking at the last few lists, Kuai Yue frowned.
Neither the Pang family nor the Huang family expressed their stance. Although they did not participate in politics, many of their descendants still became officials, and Pang Degong and Huang Chengyan had extremely high prestige and could not use force.
However, Pang Degong had a very good relationship with Shen Chen, and Shen Chen clearly supported Liu Qi, which made Kuai Yue decide to kill him.
These people are likely to inform Shen Chen of their action plan.
But.
He said that, but he didn't dare to take action. Once he touched the Pang family and the Huang family, all the major families in Jingzhou and the scholars would be shaken.
Kuai Yue frowned deeply, but finally crossed out these two families and said, "Here comes someone."
"Situ."
The attendants outside the door have been waiting for a long time.
Kuai Yue said: "Prepare several boxes of gold, silver, jewelry, silk and satin, and send them by carriage to the Pang family and the Baishui Huang family outside the city."
The Chief Secretary Situ next to him said in surprise: "Is Situ planning to win over the Pang family and the Huang family? But Pang De Gong and Cheng Yan Gong are not living in Baishui outside the city. One is living in seclusion in Yuliangzhou, and the other is living in seclusion in Miannan."
Kuai Yue said in a deep voice: "It is precisely because Mr. Pang De and Mr. Cheng Yan are not at home that we can send gifts, otherwise the gifts will be returned. This just shows our attitude. They can refuse, but their family members cannot refuse.
I think they will understand what I mean."
"oh."
The chief clerk nodded as if he understood, and then looked at the last name on the list: "Situ, over there with Da Sinong."
The chief minister of the Jingzhou imperial court was none other than Deng Hong.
Deng Hong was mainly engaged in agriculture in his early years. At that time, Liu Biao received hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turbans and Guanzhong refugees, and he was in charge of these matters in Nanyang.
Moreover, he also made keel waterwheels, improved farm tools, and invented retting technology, which greatly increased grain production and laid a solid foundation for Liu Biao to have enough grain and grass to recruit a large number of troops for war. Therefore, he was appointed by Liu Biao to specialize in agriculture.
Kuai Yue had a headache just looking at this name.
Deng Hong and Shen Chen's mother were cousins and nieces, and they were Shen Chen's maternal grandfather. They had a deep relationship and should have been at the top of the list to be punished.
But he has a good wife.
No matter what, Kuai Yue has to take care of the Cai family. The Cai family is now the largest family in Jingzhou.
Madam Cai has now become the Queen Mother, and the Queen is also a member of the Cai family, which means that Deng Hong has now become a relative of the emperor. His wife is the niece of the Queen Mother Cai, and is the sister of the Queen Mother Cai. With her protection, no one can touch her. Deng Hong.
"never mind."
Kuai Yue shook his head and said, "Mrs. Cai is not a troublemaker. She can't be offended. Just let the soldiers keep an eye on her outside Da Sinong's mansion. Don't go too far."
"only."
The chief clerk received the order and went down to give the order.
Soon the whole of Xiangyang fell into chaos. Some officials who had a good relationship with Liu Qi were dismissed from their posts and sent to prison. Some wealthy families were ordered not to contact Jiangxia, and some were simply beheaded. Cleansing was going on everywhere to prevent Someone became Liu Qi's internal correspondent.
In Da Sinong's mansion, Deng Hong, who was just forty years old this year, was sitting cross-legged in the pavilion in the back garden with a very melancholy expression. Next to him was Cai, who was in her thirties, had successfully lost weight, and her figure became more plump.
Farther away, there were three innocent and romantic children running around. It was March, and the courtyard was full of flowers and butterflies.
Deng Hong's eldest son was named Deng Yan. He was born in October of the first year of Jian'an. At that time, Zhang Ji's attack happened at the beginning of the year. When Cai was pregnant with Deng Yan, she did not even dare to tell Deng Hong, who was working as a lobbyist between Liu Biao and Zhang Xiu. Twelve years later, he was playing in the garden with his younger siblings.
Looking at this scene, Ms. Cai's face showed a touch of warmth, and she smiled as she watched her young children making noise.
Deng Hong put his arm around her waist and said softly: "Madam."
"Husband."
Ms. Cai patted his hand and said, "What's wrong?"
"Situ sent people to surround our mansion."
A hint of melancholy flashed across Deng Hong's eyebrows: "People are being arrested everywhere in Xiangyang recently."
"I know."
Mrs. Cai whispered softly in his ear: "Husband, don't worry, they can't enter the mansion."
"lady."
Deng Hong hugged her tightly and asked: "Is it really right for Madam to do this? Maybe we should do nothing."
Cai shook his head: "My uncle, I know that the Cai Kuai family has offended many aristocratic families in Jingzhou over the years. King Chu has rashly proclaimed himself emperor, and the major aristocratic families have long been dissatisfied. I am afraid they will never gain the support of the aristocratic families. Support, only in this way can the family continue."
"I see."
Deng Hong's eyes were slightly distracted. In such a major matter, he was afraid that his wife would be implicated, so he couldn't make up his mind. Cai was behind everything.
As he spoke, he became a little depressed and muttered to himself: "How could Jingzhou become like this? It seems like it will collapse overnight."
Mrs. Cai did not speak. She just snuggled next to Deng Hong, chanting songs softly and looking towards the north. There were not only her Cai family in Cai Yang, but also her Deng family in Huangmenting.
Ms. Cai was not happy in the Cai family. Although her parents treated her very well, she could not leave the house all day long because of her obesity. After all, it was difficult to soothe her soul.
Only in Huangmenting did she truly feel what happiness was.
She can show her face without worrying about being looked at with disgust by other children from aristocratic families, and she doesn't have to worry about being discriminated against.
Wherever he went, he was respected by people because of Deng Hong. What everyone looked at was not the disdain for a fat and ugly woman, but a kind of heartfelt admiration and even envy...
The people at the bottom envied the life of the upper class, but more importantly, Deng Hong specialized in farming and helped the people in Huangmenting to actively produce. He and Shen Chen took the lead in urging the clan to move south, so that everyone survived.
Therefore, the prestige of Shen Chen and Deng Hong was extremely high among all the people in Huangmenting. As Deng Hong's wife, Cai was naturally respected by them.
Here, she also feels like a real big family.
The Cai family and the Deng family are both members of her family.
therefore.
In this bloody storm, she will never let the Cai family and the Deng family fall into a situation of no return!