Chapter 355 The friendly army is in trouble like a mountain, and the city wall is gone
Chapter 355: Friendly troops are in trouble and remain motionless, the city wall is gone
Author: Playing with Basilisk
Chapter 355: Friendly troops are in trouble and remain motionless, the city wall is gone
A wise man will make a mistake every time he worries, and a fool will gain something after a thousand worries.
Strictly speaking, Shen Chen is just a grand strategic planner, and the specific details are indeed far inferior to those of Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong.
Because when we were planning, we were only thinking about how to completely wipe out Jiangdong's army, and we didn't think too far into it. Later, as the war progressed, we made a temporary plan and decided to use the flood to wipe out Cao's army.
As a result, Huang Zhong had to leave at least half a month later than originally planned. There was a heavy rain in Jingzhou. Only then did Shen Chen remember that the floods had flooded Xiangfan and Jiangling was probably not much better.
Historically, Jiangling was not flooded, but it also rained. For example, Lu Meng's army once violated military law by robbing civilians of bamboo hats. It can be seen that the Jiangling area was also in a storm at that time, and it was during the Battle of Xiangfan. What happens after the month.
Therefore, when a tunnel was dug in Jiangling and the storm had already arrived, the already overwhelmed Jiangling City was in danger of collapsing. On the contrary, Shen Chen had to worry about the safety of Jiangling City before Huang Zhong arrived.
As night falls, Jiangling City disappears into silence. Just when the south is returning to peace, in Xiangyang in the north, Xiahou Dun and Yu Jin's army finally enter Xiangyang City.
At this time, the huge Xiangyang seemed to have turned into a ghost land overnight. The streets were empty, with scattered signboards, debris left behind during the hasty move, and clothes blown on the streets by the wind. More than ten streets from the north to the south were all in a mess, like It looked like it had been looted.
The cold wind of late autumn blew on the street, the bamboo horses hanging on the street corners jingled, the signboards fluttered in the wind, and the crackling raindrops continued to fall. It had been raining for a whole day from yesterday to today.
Xiahou Dun, Yu Jin, Zhao Yan and others entered the city. The three of them were not riding horses and were wearing raincoats. They looked around the deserted streets. Behind them, countless troops poured in and quickly occupied every corner of the city.
Surrounded by the guards, the three of them walked to the former Chu Prince's Mansion. The Chu Prince's Mansion left by Liu Biao was once lived by Liu Qi. Later, Liu Qi died of illness, and Liu Cong made a mistake, so Liu Biao's third son Liu Xiu took over. The King of Chu lives here.
During Jian'an, Liu Bei captured Xichuan. Under Fazheng's suggestion, the kings of Chu and Shu exchanged fiefdoms. Liu Zhang moved to Jingzhou and Liu Xiu moved to Yizhou, but Liu Zhang did not live here.
When Shen Chen was in Xiangyang, he lived in the Nanjun Prefect's Mansion. When Fazheng and Zhang Song and Jia Xu were in charge of Jingzhou, they lived in their respective mansions and handled official business in the Nanjun Prefect's Mansion, so this place became empty.
The main reason why the Liu Bei Group does not live here is because they respect Liu Biao and Liu Qi. The future owner of this mansion will be Liu Qi's posthumous son, Liu Hao, who is ten years old and currently lives in Jiangzhou.
But the Cao Wei Group didn't care about this, they barged into the Chu Prince's palace and wanted to live in the best house.
After entering the Prince of Chu's Mansion, Xiahou Dun glanced around. It had been raining heavily recently, and even during the day it was as dark as night. However, lights were lit everywhere in the Prince of Chu's Mansion, and the guards had already moved in.
"It's unimaginable."
Xiahou Dun couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "Shen Chen actually made such a bad move. Even though the King of Wei often used chess games to tell me about the general trend of the world, and he once asked me to learn chess, I don't think I can make such a move at my level."
Zhao Yan frowned and thought: "Yes, this is really puzzling. Xiangyang City has high walls and thick walls. It is one of the most fortified cities in the world. How could Shen Chen abandon this city?"
"I didn't believe it when the scouts came to report, but the facts are right in front of me."
Deng Zhan, the Marquis of Lexiang on the other side, thought: "Is there some deceit here? Shen Chen deliberately gave up Xiangyang to lure us and then take the opportunity to make a surprise attack?"
Xiahou Dun glanced at Deng Zhan with his one eye and said, "Is there anyone in this world who uses his own fortified city as bait? Would the King of Wei give up Chen Du or Ye City and then lure the enemy to pursue them?"
Deng Zhan blushed.
In fact, he has a high status, but his fighting skills are not very good.
Historically, he was known as a man of both civil and military skills, but in the end he was defeated by Cao Pi in a one-on-one duel. It can be seen that he was just an embroidered pillow.
"Wen Ze, what do you think about this matter?"
Xiahou Dun walked deeper into the palace with his hands behind his back, then turned to ask Yu Jin.
He knew that Yu Jin had been blaming himself for his defeat at the hands of Zhou Buyi recently and was often taciturn. The two of them had been partners for many years and had a good relationship, so he didn't blame him.
But it was not okay to remain silent like this, so I simply asked Yu Jin for his opinion. Firstly, I really wanted to hear his thoughts, and secondly, it was to open up the conversation.
As expected, Yu Jin was also thinking about this issue. After pondering for a long time, he suddenly said, "Is it because of the recent rain that he wants to flood Xiangyang?"
"Unlikely."
Zhao Yan said: "In the tenth year of Jian'an, there was a heavy rain in Jingzhou, which flooded Xiangfan. Liu Biao then ordered the expansion of the city canal, and built several waterways around the periphery, connected to the moat for flood discharge. No matter how hard the rain fell, It will be difficult to fill the city again."
Yu Jin slapped his forehead and said, "That seems to be the case. The heavy rain that year is said to occur only once in a hundred years. Shen Chen relied on that storm to store floods in Yi County and flooded the east of the Yangtze River."
"Um."
Xiahou Dun nodded: "Unless it encounters a once-in-a-thousand-year flood, Xiangyang is safe and sound. So, does that guy Shen Chen have other intentions?"
"Regardless of whether he had other intentions, Xiangyang's return to our hands was his biggest mistake."
Zhao Yan smiled and said: "Xiangyang is the seat of Jingzhou. The city is more than three feet high. It is easy to defend but difficult to attack. It can be said to be the strongest city in the world. With this city and Fancheng, the king of Wei can at least take Nanyang. Nanyang has 400,000 households. It’s the north.”
"That's true."
Xiahou Dun smiled. No matter how you look at it, Cao Jun took the biggest advantage in this operation. With Xiangfan in hand, Nanyang also returned to the north. Liu Bei was weakened. Cao Cao's power rose to a higher level. No matter what Sun Quan did, they were anyway. What a win.
Everyone came to the hall of Prince Chu's Mansion. As soon as they entered the door and had not taken their seats, suddenly a messenger hurried out of the door. He knelt down on one knee and said to Xiahou Dun in the corridor: "Report!"
"What's the matter?"
Xiahou Dun turned his head with his hands behind his back and looked at the messenger with one eye.
The messenger replied: "General, there is an urgent report from Jiangling. Shen Chen has assembled the main force to attack Zhijiang. He has captured Zhijiang County and is now advancing towards Yiling. The envoy of Sun Quan has written, hoping that the general can send troops to help."
"oh?"
Xiahou Dun looked at Yu Jin, Zhao Yan, Deng Zhan and others, and laughed suddenly: "So that's it. Shen Chen wanted to gather all his troops to attack Yiling and open the road to Yizhou. Sun Quan's troops were just a mob. I guess I can’t hold on anymore at this point.”
Yu Jin immediately said: "General, why don't you take this opportunity to go south and immediately send troops to attack Sun Quan from both sides? Then you can take Shen Chen's head. The king of Wei hates him deeply. Killing Shen Chen will definitely eliminate the big trouble that is the king's henchman."
"If you go south in the rain."
Xiahou Dun hesitated slightly and said: "Our army is not very well prepared. Not to mention the slippery roads and insufficient rain gear, we would head south rashly."
"But this opportunity cannot be missed. The time will never come again. If Shen Chen is let go in this battle, it will be a big trouble in the future."
Zhao Yan also advised.
"Hmm"
Xiahou Dun thought it made sense, so he said: "Okay, tomorrow I will immediately send people to the rear to collect more rain gear, and rush south to help Sun Quan."
The next morning, the pouring rain was still pouring down.
Early in the morning, the messenger who had gone to the rear last night hurriedly arrived again, reporting important matters to Xiahou Dun.
In the middle of this year, Guo Jia, who was still recuperating in Yecheng, heard that Sun Quan had finally taken action, so he dragged his sick body down south to the front line, and last month he reached the rear of Xinye.
Xiahou Dun sent people back to Xinye last night to collect raincoats, bamboo hats, bamboo hats and other rain gear from Nanyang people, in preparation for going south to Jiangling to rescue Lu Meng.
However, Guo Jia asked the messenger to go back overnight and asked Xiahou Dun not to send reinforcements from the south.
Knowing Guo Jia's intention, Xiahou Dun summoned Yu Jin, Zhao Yan, Deng Zhan and others to inform them of Guo Jia's suggestion.
"Your Majesty, do you mean to let Shen Chen go back?"
Zhao Yan was shocked and said: "Isn't this just letting the tiger return to the mountain?"
Xiahou Dun said: "Your Majesty said that even if Shen Chen goes back and Liu Bei loses Jingzhou, he will definitely be furious and attack Sun Quan. We can sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight and wait for the two tigers to fight."
Yu Jin frowned and said: "Let's not say whether Liu Bei will be furious and attack Sun Quan. Even if he does, I'm afraid Sun Quan will not be his opponent."
"This is the result we want."
Xiahou Dun said: "Jiangdong is good at navy, but our navy is not as good as Jiangdong. Your Majesty said, if Shen Chen is annihilated, Liu Bei will be weakened and his strength will be greatly reduced, and he may not fight Sun Quan again. There is nothing we can do about Sun Quan. If Liu Bei Just defend Baidi City and Jiangdao, and focus on taking Guanzhong. If Sun Quan cannot get Yizhou, he will also fight us in Nanyang, Huainan and other places, and we will fall into a situation of fighting on two fronts."
When everyone heard this, they immediately started thinking.
It has to be said that Guo Jia does have insight into people's hearts and is an extremely resourceful counselor.
He knew that if Shen Chen did not die and the strength of the Jingzhou army was preserved, Liu Bei would definitely find a way to recapture Jingzhou and fight Sun Quan. The two sides would continue to fight and consume their strength, allowing Cao Wei to profit from it.
But once Shen Chen died, Liu Bei's power was greatly reduced, and it was difficult to take advantage of Sun Quan on the river, so he would most likely choose to be patient and shake hands with Sun Quan.
At that time, Liu Bei would focus on taking Guanzhong, Sun Quan would attack Nanyang and Huainan, and Cao Wei would fight on both sides, which would be extremely disadvantageous for Cao Cao.
That's how it has been historically.
After Guan Yu's death, although Liu Bei went crazy and launched the Battle of Yiling in order to avenge his brother, Zhuge Liang still continued the strategic policy of allying with Wu to fight against Wei after his death, which ultimately left Wei in a two-front war situation for the next few decades. , the situation was very bad for a time.
The current situation is very similar to this.
Although Guo Jia doesn't know history, he has realized this. The only miscalculation is that Liu Bei is not a forbearable hero like Cao Cao. No matter whether Shen Chen dies or Guan Yu dies, he will choose to send troops to avenge or fight with Sun Quan. Have a fight.
But no matter how the fight ends, at least the two sides will still unite to compete with Cao Wei. Because only two weak people united can compete with Cao Cao who owns the entire north.
Therefore, Guo Jia understood that Shen Chen could not die. He needed Shen Chen to return to Yizhou with the Jingzhou army so that Liu Bei could launch a war against Sun Quan.
This is the difference between those who seek the country and those who only have small immediate gains like Sun Quan.
It is no wonder that later generations have a very low evaluation of Sun Quan. Some people are fans of Liu Bei, some are fans of Cao Cao, and some are even fans of Sun Jian and Sun Ce, but almost few people are fans of Sun Quan.
The reason is that his structure is really pitifully low, and he only cares about petty profits, but does not have great talents or strategies.
After hearing Guo Jia's analysis, everyone thought for a while, and Zhao Yan was the first to speak: "Your Majesty is right, if we really force Shen Chen to a dead end and Liu Bei's strength is greatly reduced, it is possible that he will only defend Jiang Dao and concentrate on Successful."
"Um."
Yu Jin also nodded and said: "Yes, Jiang Dao has been easy to defend and difficult to attack since ancient times. Liu Bei only needs to send elite troops to guard it, and Sun Quan will not be able to capture Yizhou. If they stop making peace, they will have to seek the north, which is really not good for us."
"That's it, we will never send troops and let them bite dogs."
Xiahou Dun agreed: "Anyway, there are reasons. It's not that we don't want to save the friendly troops, but it's raining heavily and we don't have enough rain gear, so we can't move forward."
Everyone looked at each other and laughed.
The friendly troops are in trouble and remain as motionless as a mountain.
Although this is a joke, the current strategy is correct.
If we really follow this strategy, it will indeed lead to internal strife between Sun Quan and Liu Bei in the future.
But this strategy has a prerequisite. Shen Chen has really reached a desperate situation.
So, is he in a desperate situation?
In the early morning of August 29, the 24th year of Jian'an, heavy rain had been falling for three or four days, and the water level of the Yangtze River was also rising rapidly.
There is no fog on the river this morning, but there are heavy rains and the vast Yangtze River is rolling in waves.
Lu Meng, wearing a raincoat and a bamboo hat, stood on the gate of Jiangling City with a haggard face. Looking to the north, he saw the camp of Shen Chen's army. At this time, countless densely packed black figures came out of the camp gate in the rain.
Such heavy rain weather is not suitable for fighting at all. Even if you wear rain gear, armor and a raincoat to absorb water, you may not be able to walk very far.
But for some unknown reason, Shen Chen still went out, and tens of thousands of troops began to march towards Jiangling despite the rain.
"Quick, quick, quick."
The originally sparse soldiers on the Jiangling Castle Tower began to crowd upwards.
After discovering the enemy's movements in the morning, Lu Meng, who originally judged that the enemy would not send troops, could only immediately let the soldiers come out of the barracks, put on rain gear and went to the tower to prepare for battle.
In fact, there is bad news this morning, that is, as the river surges, the inland rivers in the city also spread due to the influx of water from the water gate, and poured into the city.
The ground in Dongcheng sank partially during last night's heavy rain, and a hole was exposed. The originally solid rammed earth was washed away by the rain and turned into turbid mud. A large amount of water emerged from the hole.
It was a tunnel dug by Shen Chen before. He originally planned to launch a sneak attack on Jiangling, but he postponed the launch of the plan and changed it to when a heavy rain came. As a result, the tunnel was filled with water and collapsed.
The only good news for Lu Meng and Shen Chen is that only one tunnel has collapsed so far, while several other tunnels and the city wall seem to be relatively stable.
Therefore, Lü Meng didn't have to worry about the city wall collapsing and Shen Chen coming in, while Shen Chen didn't have to worry about the city wall collapsing and scaring Lü Meng away.
The two of them each have their own little thoughts, so naturally they don't know that they are plotting against each other.
When it was just after lunch time and the heavy rain was still pouring down, Shen Chen's army marched forward in the rain in the direction of Jiangling in the south without formation.
The ground was slippery, and many soldiers stepped on puddles that were deep and shallow. Water got into their shoes, and many people even fell down.
But no one said anything and just moved on.
Because Shen Chen told everyone half an hour ago that reinforcements from Yizhou have arrived and will arrive at Jiangling today to destroy Lü Meng today.
Therefore, even though everyone knew that rainy days were not suitable for fighting, the soldiers marched towards Jiangling without any complaints.
At this time, Shen Chen also walked forward like the soldiers.
The day before yesterday, taking advantage of the darkness, an envoy sent by Zhuge Liang broke through Sun Jiao's blockade and walked overland from Laikou, which was the mountainous area north of Yichang City in later generations, to Maicheng, and informed Shen Chen that Huang Zhong had set out.
Although heavy rain is not very beneficial to ships, in history, Guan Yu also defeated Cao's army in a boat during heavy rain, which shows that it is not completely impossible to sail in the wind and rain.
It's just that it's still very dangerous. After all, the waves in the Yangtze River are bigger, and even the big ships of later generations are in danger of capsizing, let alone ancient wooden ships.
But higher risks mean higher returns. The biggest benefit of this battle is to eliminate a large number of effective forces in Jiangdong and Cao's army. When Liu Bei's group destroys Jiangdong, Sun Quan cannot resist and Cao Cao cannot support.
So even if there are risks, you have to bite the bullet.
Just like now, Shen Chen was wearing a raincoat weighing several kilograms. Big raindrops hit the bamboo hat, making a crackling sound. You could also feel the heavy impact of the raindrops, which made people unable to lift their heads.
The rainwater flowed down the inside of the bamboo hat, onto Shen Chen's cheeks, and then dripped down his chin. He looked around and saw that the soldiers were all busy on their way.
Although there is no formation, at least no one is left behind and no one is running away. Everyone is preparing for today's battle.
While this made him feel a little relieved, he was still very nervous.
After all, we have reached the critical point of the decisive battle, and we are afraid that they will rush outside Jiangling City. If they use the tunnel outside the city to enter according to the original plan, the tunnel collapses. Or, like in Waterloo, if Huang Zhong arrives late, that will not be good.
Plans can never keep up with changes.
No one knows whether their plan will go smoothly. Sometimes, when manpower is limited, it will eventually be impossible to defeat the enemy.
Shen Chen raised his head and glanced at the sky. Heavy rain was pouring down, and the earth was turbulent.
Outside Jiangling City, the waters of the Yangtze River and Penglize were spreading towards the city. The water level had risen more than ten feet high. If Huang Zhong came, he only needed to drive the stern battleship outside the south city and sail into the moat through the Yangtze River waterway. Board the boat and enter the city.
Their role on the periphery is to intercept Lü Meng's defeated troops. Today they must eliminate Lü Meng, then turn back to deal with Sun Jiao, go down the river to capture Sun Quan, and finally go north along the Han River to eliminate Cao's army.
The task in this battle is arduous.
Shen Chen moved with difficulty. After more than half an hour, the army finally arrived outside Jiangling City, less than a hundred steps away from the city.
This distance is within the range of arrows and arrows, but with such heavy rain, bows and arrows cannot be used.
The city was crowded with nervous Jiangdong troops.
No one spoke.
Originally, at this distance, both sides could hear each other's voices.
But in the face of extremely noisy natural sounds, even if thousands of people are shouting, they may be heard vaguely and have no idea what the other party is shouting.
So both sides fell into silence.
It seemed like the only thing left in the world was the pouring rain and the sound of rolling thunder.
"Boom!"
After the two sides faced off for about half an hour.
Suddenly there was a loud noise between heaven and earth.
Then a huge wave came from the Yangtze River in the south.
There seemed to be an explosion-like sound in Jiangling City, which was earth-shaking.
All Jiangdong's troops were frightened and turned around because the sound came from inside the city.
Then under the dim light, they vaguely saw a wave pouring in in the direction of Nancheng, and the water on the ground inside the city was rising.
Several tunnels Shen Chen dug before finally couldn't bear it and all collapsed.
After the huge wave surged, a corner of the southern city was revealed, which made everyone, including Lu Meng, feel a chill in their hearts.
In the southeast corner of Jiangling City, near Penglize and the Yangtze River, the foundation collapsed, a small half of the city wall collapsed completely, and water from the Yangtze River was pouring into it.