Chapter 244 Siege is the bottom and the heart is the top
Shen Chen also did not expect that Liu Bei had just passed Baidi City at the beginning of this month, and within twenty days Cai Mao had already taken action. He was a little too hasty.
Zhuge Liang, on the other hand, had a calm look on his face and said softly: "In that case, let's go back to the county office and talk about it."
"good."
Shen Chen stood up and returned to Luo County with Zhuge Liang.
The city is now under the control of a large army. Liu Pan has more than 20,000 troops stationed in various places, including 10,000 people in Luo County to guard the Xiangjiang River.
When Liu Pan heard that Shen Chen was coming, he arranged a banquet in the small hall in the backyard of the government office to discuss important matters together.
The reason why Zhuge Liang is here represents Liu Bei's power, and Liu Pan and Shen Chen actually belong to Liu Qi's power, so to a certain extent, Liu Pan and Shen Chen are closer.
At this time, the three people were sitting cross-legged in the small hall. After eating, they started talking about business. Zhuge Liang stood up and said, "I didn't expect Cai Hao to be so impatient. I originally thought he would not send troops until at least this year." Woolen cloth."
"yes."
Shen Chen also sneered: "If I were Cai Mao, I should send someone to Xichuan to inquire about the situation. He made moves as soon as General Zuo left. If a person like this is the commander of the Jingzhou army, it is better to surrender Jingzhou. Let people.”
Liu Pan said seriously: "Although Cai Mao is not good in some places, he is still capable of leading troops. He is also the second best general in Jingzhou after General Huang, so he should not be underestimated."
"Um."
Shen Chen nodded: "We must despise the enemy strategically, and we must pay attention to the enemy tactically."
The downfall of Cai Mao was that he even started the war impatiently without even trying to find out whether Liu Bei's invasion of Sichuan was true or not. However, it cannot be ignored that he had certain strength.
However, this strength mainly comes from water warfare. He is the commander of the Yangtze River Navy. His ability in water warfare is stronger than Zhang Yun but weaker than Huang Zu.
Liu Pan added: "This time Cai Mao went south to attack the Tang Dynasty, saying that he sent Wang Jie."
"Wang Jie?"
Zhuge Liang was surprised and said: "I remember that the general of Tang Dynasty was Wang Jie's brother-in-law Tian Mai."
"Yes."
Liu Pan nodded: "I'm afraid he is planning to ask Wang Jie to persuade Tian Mai."
Shen Chen smiled and said: "Although Tian Mai is the general who surrendered to the King of Chu from Yuan Shaonan, his family members are all in Jingnan now. Will he surrender to Cai Mao?"
"Probably not."
Zhuge Liang thought: "If this is the case, why not let Tian Mai trap Wang Jie and kill him?"
"I'm afraid this won't work."
Liu Pan shook his head and said: "Tian Mai has always been a brave man. When he attacked Qiantang before, he was almost killed because he rushed too deep, but I saved his life. From what I know about him, he will not rebel. But I won’t betray my uncle.”
After the Battle of Guandu, there was internal discord in Jizhou, which led to many people fleeing. Runan natives Liu Jian, Huanghe, and Tian Mai were all former Yuan Shao's lieutenants and generals. They were also from a powerful family in Runan. They ran away due to internal fighting in Jizhou. Runan.
But Runan was controlled by Cao Cao, so they went south to Liu Biao. Liu Biao almost refused to accept the generals, aristocratic families, and powerful people who had escaped from the north. He recruited them all and settled them in Nanyang.
Since they are from powerful backgrounds and have similar status, they naturally have some connections with each other.
Among them, Colonel Tian Mai married the sister of Wang Jie, the Colonel who was under Zhang Yun at that time. This was a typical marriage between wealthy middle- and lower-class families.
After the battle between Liu Biao and Jiangdong started, Tian Mai was transferred from Nanyang to Jingnan and became Liu Pan's subordinate. He followed Liu Pan to attack Yuzhang. Because he stayed in Jingnan for a long time, Tian Mai's family also moved. Arrived in Changsha area.
At this time, Cai Mao sent Wang Jie to attack Zuotang who was stationed in Tianmai. What kind of plan did Zhuge Liang, Shen Chen, and Liu Pan hear even in Luo County?
It's just that Tian Mai is a strong man, so if he was asked to trap and kill Wang Jie, he might not agree.
Shen Chen said: "We are not the ones who force ourselves to do things we don't want to do. Forget about trapping and killing Wang Jie. His mere men from the school may not even be able to conquer Tang County."
Liu Pan said: "Wang Jie is easy to defeat, but Cai Mao sent him more than one person, but Han Hu has gone to who knows where. Maybe there are other people attacking everywhere."
"There are no more than three places, one is Linyuan, one is Luoxian, and one is Zhouling."
Zhuge Liang tapped the map a few times and said: "He may not go to Zhouling. At most, he can send the Yangtze River Navy to defend the Jiangxia Navy. Then if he wants to capture Jingnan, he can only attack by land and water. Linyuan and Luo County.”
Liu Pan looked at Shen Chen and said, "Can Jiangxia Navy move?"
"able."
Shen Chen nodded heavily, but there was actually a question mark in his heart.
"Mr. Kong Ming, how about you contact General Guan immediately and ask him to lead the army north to guard against Linyuan?"
Liu Pan asked.
Zhuge Liang shook his head: "It is useless to go to Linyuan. There is no place to defend except the city. I plan to ambush Cai Mao's army at Yaoshan."
"Medicine mountain?"
Liu Pan frowned and said, "Isn't it too risky? There are many trails leading directly to Yiyang in the medicine mountain."
Zhuge Liang explained: "Now the enemy is strong and we are weak. We are outnumbered and outnumbered. If we don't choose to lure the enemy deep, we may only be able to defend Linyuan City. Due to the blocked roads and lack of food and grass, it will fall sooner or later."
"Hmm."
Liu Pan nodded in agreement, because although Changde had a large amount of land connected to Changsha, Yiyang and other places in later generations, in the Han Dynasty, its east side was almost entirely lake water.
This means that the only road is the trail near the lake in the northeast of Xuefeng Mountains, and there are several in the mountains.
Once Cai Mao sent a large army to besiege Zuotang, Hanshou, Linyuan and other places, and sent people to occupy Yaoshan, reinforcements from Changsha and Yiyang would not be able to get through, and grain and grass would not be transported. Linyuan would be isolated and helpless.
Therefore, it is more appropriate to simply hand over the dangerous place and stick to the dangerous medicinal mountain. At least even if you cannot defeat the enemy, you can safely retreat back to Yiyang or Changsha.
"I just don't know what Cai Mao's specific plans are, otherwise it would be easier to respond in time."
Liu Pan sighed again.
Although they have internal agents in Cai Mao's army, their ranks are not very high. It is very difficult to find out such high-level information.
Zhuge Liang looked at Shen Chen and said: "Xiaoqing, I remember you once said that Cai Mao is around"
"I never asked him to send a message."
Shen Chen shook his head: "This is too dangerous. I just told him to give his advice to Cai Hao, and then let Cai Hao send troops after General Zuo enters Sichuan."
"I see."
Zhuge Liang nodded slightly: "This is indeed the best way to protect internal forces."
Liu Pan asked: "After the war begins, General Zuo will be able to reach Jiangling City within three days, but it seems that Zhang Yun also led troops to Yunshe a few days ago."
"That must be Kuai Yue's plan."
Zhuge Liang said: "Zhang Yun led the troops to Yunshe in order to force the Jiangxia navy not to rush to aid Jingnan. This further proves their intention to attack Jingnan."
Liu Pan said regretfully: "Cai Mao and Zhang Yun combined have more than 100,000 soldiers and horses. We have few soldiers, but we are controlled by others. It would be great if we could take the initiative to attack and disrupt their attack. This would avoid thinking about them all the time." Where will they attack us?"
"Brother Yijian is quite strategic."
Shen Chen glanced at him in slight surprise and said with a smile: "The best defense is offense, do you know that?"
Liu Pan scratched his head and said: "Is there such a theory? I just saw Xiaoqing that when General Huang was defeated, you suddenly attacked Jiangdong, hijacked Sun Quan, and flooded Yixian County. I thought it myself."
"That's right."
Zhuge Liang also said: "Sometimes the harder it is to figure out what the enemy wants to do, it is better to take the initiative and let the enemy reveal his intentions."
Shen Chen thought for a while and said, "I have an idea."
Zhuge Liang looked at him with a smile and said, "You tell me."
"In the art of military use, attacking the heart is the top priority, and attacking the city is the bottom priority. Fighting with the heart is the top priority, and fighting with soldiers is the bottom priority. You think, since Tian Mai is unwilling to trap and kill Wang Jie, will Wang Jie have the heart to attack his brother-in-law?"
Shen Chen looked at the two of them.
Liu Pan wondered: "Why, you want to recruit Wang Jie to surrender? His family is all in Nanyang, how can he surrender to us?"
Zhuge Liang glanced at Shen Chen and said softly: "Xiaoqing probably wants to be surrounded by enemies on all sides."
"The one who knows me is my elder brother."
Shen Chen said with a smile: "These days, I have sent Xi Zuo to Cai Mao's army to test, and found that most people do not want to fight a civil war. Moreover, the whole Jingzhou people have always believed in obeying the eldest prince but not the second prince. With the prestige of the eldest prince, Cai Mao and Zhang Yun I don’t believe there is anyone in this army of more than 100,000 who is unwilling to do anything, not to mention that the Jingzhou army was originally one body, but now it is divided into two, and the same soldiers are at war, how can they have the heart to fight?"
Now the Jingzhou army has been divided internally. The original Xiangyang and Nanyang defenders have all gone to Cai Mao and Zhang Yun, while the Jiangxia Navy and the 20,000 troops from Jingnan have gone to Liu Qi.
These armies were originally integrated, and the middle and senior officers all knew each other. For example, the original Yangtze River Navy and Jiangxia Navy were all hanging out on the Yangtze River. One was stationed in Jiangling to guard against Liu Zhang, and the other was stationed in Jiangxia to guard against Sun Ce. Generals at all levels And the soldiers often move back and forth to garrison, so they naturally get to know each other.
The source of the army that was later expanded was basically the local people in Nanyang, the refugees who migrated from the north, and the remnants of the Yellow Turbans. These people were recruited by Liu Biao. For example, more than half of the more than 100,000 troops under Cai Mao and Zhang Yun came from here. .
What characteristics do they have in common?
First, the loyalty to Cai Mao is relatively poor, and they are not Cai Mao's direct troops.
Second, Shen Chen's prestige inside is quite high.
After all, Shen Chen had a great reputation throughout Nanyang, and the refugees in the north and the remnants of the Yellow Turbans all benefited from Shen Chen in order to survive.
Therefore, there is still a certain probability of instigating rebellion.
There is one more thing.
That is Liu Qi himself, as the eldest son of Liu Biao, many people in Jingzhou are convinced of him, especially in the past few years when he went to Jiangxia and made many military exploits, and his prestige was rising day by day.
Including the time Shen Chen flooded Jiangdong, although Shen Chen became famous again, Liu Qi was always there, and all the military achievements were attributed to him.
Therefore, when it comes to attacking people's hearts, the reputations of Liu Qi, Shen Chen and even Liu Bei are actually quite effective.
After hearing Shen Chen's analysis, Liu Pan immediately felt that it made sense and immediately asked: "Xiaoqing, please tell me, how should we deal with it?"
"It's very simple, let the whole army shout slogans, and fight while shouting during the war."
Shen Chen told him the trick to attack his heart.
During the war, they shouted, everyone is the Jingzhou Army, if the Jingzhou Army does not fight the Jingzhou Army, we should support the eldest prince and so on.
What else can Cai Mao, Kuai Yue, Zhang Yun control Jingzhou, control the power, and want to seize the late emperor's inheritance? Join us, clear the emperor's side together, support the eldest prince to inherit the throne, etc.
For the Jingzhou Army, regardless of Liu Qi or Liu Cong, they are all Liu Biao's sons. Supporting whom is not support?
Therefore, once a war begins, as long as the war goes wrong, the probability of the soldiers at the bottom surrendering is still very high.
When Liu Pan heard this plan, he was immediately amazed.
At that moment, they also quickly formulated a plan, and soldiers and horses from all over the country were in full swing, and they began to formally prepare for the war to unify Jingzhou.