Chapter 359 Simultaneous development of waterways and direct access to Xiangfan
Chapter 359: Use both waterways and take Xiangfan directly
Author: Playing with Basilisk
Chapter 359: Use both waterways and take Xiangfan directly
The general trend of the world is sometimes like playing chess.
Jingzhou was originally in a deadlock, with Cao Jun in the north and Sun Quan in the southeast. Attacked from both sides, the retreat was also blocked by Sun Jiao. There was no way to escape from heaven or earth, and there was almost no way to survive.
The best outcome for Shen Chen would be to fight Sun Jiao to death in Yiling, or to escape from Fangling back to Yizhou via Linju.
But Huang Zhong's appearance was like a divine hand that brought the entire chess game to life.
After the chess game was revived, the clarion call for a counterattack began. On August 30, the 24th year of Jian'an, Huang Zhong marched into Zhouling, Ganning surrounded Sha Xian, and Sun Quan was on the verge of death.
By September 1st, Shen Chen's army began to attack Yiling and Yidao. At that time, Zhuge Liang sent the last 8,000 people from Jiangzhou, led by generals Liao Hua and Zhao Rong, to take Yidao directly from Jiangdao, and fight with Shen Chen's troops from east to west. Attack Sun Jiao from both sides.
Sun Jiao's food route was cut off, Lu Meng's army was destroyed, and the morale of the army was low. Although they tenaciously held on to the camp, countless soldiers fled every day, and they soon fell into a desperate situation and were almost on the verge of collapse.
Shen Chen had abundant troops at this time. At that time, 50,000 people attacked Jiangling. Gan Ning took away 20,000, but after joining Zhao Yun and Shamoko, there were another 50,000, plus Liao Hua and Zhao Rong, there were 60,000.
After two days of fierce attacks, Sun Jiao's army was left struggling to hold on. Out of an army of more than 30,000 people, only ten of them had morale and morale. They fled overnight and thousands of them surrendered.
The sky is still gloomy. During the past two days, the rain has slowed down a little during the day, and then it rains continuously at night. By the beginning of September, the violent wind and rain came again, and the clouds as thick as ink covered the sky and brewed. With the terrifying wind and rain.
Danyangju, located south of Yidao, is the current residence of Shen Chen's army.
Now Zhao Yun's tribe has occupied Huya Mountain, and Shamoke has seized Xiaoting. The two of them attacked Yiling. The defenders of Yiling were not as numerous as Yidao, and Sun Jiao was not in Yiling. The morale of the soldiers and horses here was even lower, and the military camp was already crumbling.
Liao Hua and Zhao Rong's tribes were located in Jingmen Mountain to the north of Yi Dao, and formed an outflanking trend with Shen Chen's main force of Sun Jiao's tribe on Yi Dao.
Today, Shen Chen received the news that Zhao Yunbu and Samoko had captured the Yiling stronghold within two days and had made it extremely difficult for the Yiling defenders, so he summoned the generals to discuss the matter.
Many generals under his command gathered together. Shen Chen looked around at everyone in the tent and said, "Everyone, we have reinforcements coming."
"Are there reinforcements coming again?"
The morale of the officers and soldiers was boosted, and the already high morale was given a boost. Everyone's face was filled with smiles.
"Um."
Shen Chen nodded and said: "The king has ordered Meng Da and Kou Feng to bring all the garrison troops from Shangyong and Fangling, totaling more than 10,000, from Linju south to help. They should be able to reach Maicheng in the next two days."
"Great, we have more troops."
"At the beginning of this battle, everyone was worried. If it weren't for the general's power, the soldiers would have been afraid. But now, looking at it, the general has already made a clever plan."
"What are you talking about? We have always believed that the general can lead us out of our predicament. How can you not believe in the general?"
"Nonsense, I have always believed it. Aren't the soldiers under my command a little worried?"
Zhou Jian, Wang Jie, Wu Shuo, Han Hu, Zhao Jun, Li Ying and other generals of the Jingzhou Army breathed a sigh of relief. After capturing Jiangling, the gloom of the past was swept away.
Even Shen Chen felt a lot more relaxed. Although the reinforcements from Liao Hua, Kou Feng and others were not large, they came at the right time.
Because Liu Bei attacked Guanzhong with Guan Yu and his own main force, and there were very few troops left behind in Yizhou. These troops were squeezed out like toothpaste, so in this battle, both sides have exhausted their all.
Shen Chen said to everyone: "Sun Jiao is about to be destroyed, but this beast is still somewhat capable. The Yiling side probably won't be able to hold on for long, but he may be able to last ten and a half days. I don't have time to waste time with him on the Yidao. We plan to march north with our army and take Xiangyang directly, where is Zhang Xiu?"
"The end will be here."
Zhang Xiu felt a chill in his heart, stood up and cupped his hands.
"I order you to be the general and command 20,000 people to station here and attack Sun Jiao with Liao Hua and Zhao Rong."
Am I the general?
Zhang Xiu was stunned for a moment. He was nearly sixty years old and had only been a second-tier senior general of the Liu Bei Group for many years, serving under Shen Chen.
Now he has become the commander-in-chief?
"Zhang Xiu?"
"only!"
Zhang Xiu felt his heart surge and said loudly: "The last general will definitely live up to his command."
"Um."
Shen Chen nodded with satisfaction and said to Lu Chang: "Lü Chang, take 10,000 people with me and take a boat to Xiangyang."
"only."
Although Lu Chang wondered whether it was too early to go straight to Xiangyang before Sun Jiao was captured and there was no news from Sun Quan, he would never question Shen Chen's orders.
"Everyone."
Shen Chen looked around at the crowd and said in a deep voice: "In this battle, I will not only destroy Sun Quan's main force and take advantage of the situation to take Jiangdong, but also cut off Cao Cao's claws extending towards Nanyang. Not a single one of his 100,000 people in Xiangyang can escape." , after you defeat Sun Jiao, you will immediately head north to Xiangyang, do you understand?"
"only!"
Everyone should give it a thumbs up.
After issuing the military order, Shen Chen's camp divided 10,000 people today and took ships to go south.
At the same time, several military orders were sent to other places.
Huyashan, Xiaoting, Zhao Yun and Shamoke of Yiling also received the order, ordering them to quickly deal with the defenders of Yiling and go north to Xiangyang to join together.
Wenpin and Zhou Buyi's troops who retreated from Xiangyang to Yicheng and Nanzhang also received Shen Chen's military order two days later.
There are also Kou Feng and Mengda tribe who went to Maicheng, Liao Hua and Zhao Rong tribe of Jingmen Mountain, etc.
Now in the area around Jiangling in the south of Guangnan County, Liu Bei's group already has 80,000 troops. In the Xiakou area, more than 30,000 Huang She's troops have also been rescued, plus Huang Zhong's 70,000 and Gan Ning's 20,000. The total strength is 200,000.
Shen Chen left Zhang Xiu to continue stationed in Danyang Ju, and ordered them to quickly deal with Sun Jiao and then go north. He himself took a boat to go south, and arrived at Xiakou from Xiashui two days later.
At this time, Xiakou's soldiers and horses already numbered 100,000, and they surrounded Sun Quan of Sha Xian on three levels outside.
Although Sun Quan ordered the withdrawal of the troops that day, it was not easy to withdraw the troops in a short time. The dock was also surrounded by the Jingzhou army, and the river was densely packed with ships. Unless Sun Quan committed suicide and forced the pass, it would be difficult to fly.
Shen Chen just looked at the city from a distance outside Shaxian and left quickly.
It doesn't matter to him whether Sun Quan dies or not.
The top priority now is to let all Cao's troops die in Xiangfan.
On September 3rd, in the midst of a violent storm, Shen Chen ordered Huang She to be the commander-in-chief and led 50,000 troops to continue the attack on Shaxian. He and Huang Zhong led an army of 60,000 troops to march directly to Xiangyang.
The current situation is obviously clear.
Shen Chen had a big appetite. Not only did Sun Quan want to stay in Jingzhou forever, but Cao Wei's army in Xiangfan must not let them escape. This battle must hurt Cao Wei so that they would be completely unable to send troops to support them in the battle to eliminate Jiangdong.
Soon the fleet went north along the Han River in a mighty manner, passing Jingling and Boguo, and joined Zhou Buyi and the Wenpin Department in the Yicheng area, with a total of 75,000 people. They took both waterways and headed straight for Xiangfan.
On September 6, the sky was covered with thick clouds. From the end of August to the beginning of September, heavy rain had been falling continuously for seven or eight days. Xiahou Dun and Yu Jin were in a very bad mood.
At this time, the two were stationed in Xiangyang and Fancheng respectively. Today's weather has eased a little, but there have been heavy rains for many days. The Han River has risen by two or three feet. Many low-lying areas have been submerged, and the grain roads behind have also been flooded. Not very smooth.
Just after lunch time, Cao Jun stationed on Yuliang Island saw densely packed ships on the Han River in the south. The sound of horns soon resounded throughout the sky, and the sound of enemy attacks spread throughout Xiangfan.
Xiahou Dun was still in Xiangyang City. After receiving the news, he hurriedly left the city in the rain. Looking out over the Han River from a small mountain in the east of the city, he saw that the vast Han River was full of Jingzhou naval forces.
Xiangfan in the Han Dynasty was very small. Xiangyang was a small old city surrounded by a moat in later generations. Fancheng was directly opposite it, across the river. A large part of Xiangyang city in later generations was in the plains at this time, and Shen Chen's army was in On the triangular river surface of Yuliangzhou, Xiangyang and Fancheng.
Soon his army docked towards Fancheng. The place where it docked was called Jiju at that time. In later generations, it was probably located in the Fancheng Jiangtan Park area. It was directly south of Xiangyang City, due west was Fancheng, and due east was Yuliang. continent.
Yu Jin was currently stationed in Fancheng. When he saw Shen Chen's army starting to land, he did not dare to leave the city and could only stay in retreat. This made the Queyue Formation originally placed by Shen Chen useless.
The so-called Queyue Formation is a semicircular formation. Chariots are arranged on the outside. Soldiers hold spears and crossbows in the vehicles. The rear is backed by the river. If the enemy wants to take advantage of the mobility of the cavalry, they will not be able to do so when you are ashore. If you organize a formation to counterattack, you can use the Queyue Formation to resist, which was created by Liu Yu in the Southern Song Dynasty.
Seeing that Yu Jin was less courageous than a flea, Shen Chen calmly arranged for the army to go ashore and stationed the camp at high ground, including the Dengsai hillside in the north. Because at this time, the river had surged and flooded the ground, so he could only camp. On the mountain.
By September 7th, Shen Chen's army had already set up camp outside the city. Xiahou Dun and Yu Jin were so anxious that they sent people to deliver messages to the north while stepping up military reorganization to fend off Shen Chen's army that could attack at any time.
In the early morning of September 8, Shen Chen ordered Wenpin and Zhou Buji to hold on to the camp, while he took a boat and led 30,000 people to the Han River to attack Xiangyang.
It was raining heavily in the sky. Shen Chen was standing on the boat wearing a raincoat. The water of the Han River was lapping at the shore. The boat was swaying with the waves. He raised his head and looked at the cloudy sky. The big raindrops kept falling, causing countless ripples on the surface of the Han River. .
"General!"
Lu Chang came over to report: "The soldiers have landed."
"Um."
Shen Chen looked at the familiar Xiangyang City in the distance and said: "The heavy rain will continue to fall in the past few days, and the water level on the river will still rise sharply. We must station our troops at higher ground."
"Xianshan?"
Lu Chang looked at the mountains south of Xiangyang.
If there is any mountain in the surrounding area that is the highest, Xianshan Mountain is naturally the highest. If you are stationed on the mountain, you don’t have to worry about being flooded.
However, Shen Chen shook his head and said sternly: "We must not be stationed in Xianshan. Every time it rains, flash floods will break out in Xianshan. The academy was flooded once that year. We can only find a hillside more than ten feet high. If we can't find it, , just build up the soil yourself.”
"only."
Lu often saw Shen Chen serious, so he had no choice but to agree.
Historically, Lu Chang was the defender of Xiangyang. At that time, Guan Yu mainly focused on Fancheng and did not attack him, but he was still in trouble.
A flash flood broke out in Xian Mountain and almost flooded him. That means Guan Yu's main force only had 30,000 or 40,000 men, and he was concentrating his forces against Cao Ren and Yu Jin, otherwise Lü Chang would probably be left alone.
Although Shen Chen didn't know about the flash floods in Xianshan in history, he had lived in Xiangyang for more than 20 years. Every time there was a heavy rain in Xiangyang, flash floods would occur in Xianshan. How could this be a stationed place?
In the early morning, 30,000 people found a large area of hills and small slopes to camp in the east of Xiangyang.
This is the land of the Pang family. Pang Tong's ancestral home is located in the east of Xiangyang City. It used to be thousands of miles of fertile fields, but the people moved to the south and now it has become an empty village.
After setting up camp, Shen Chen waited patiently for the heavy rain to continue.
Historically, it started to rain at the end of August, and the heavy rain lasted for more than half a month. At its highest point, the Han River surged five or six feet to a height of more than ten meters, flooding Xiangfan.
Now that the heavy rain has fallen halfway, he just needs to wait patiently for the opportunity.
On September 10th, the Han River continued to surge to a height of three feet. At this time, almost half of Xiangyang was submerged. Water gates in various places in the city continued to release floods, but to no avail, and could not keep up with the inflow.
Xiahou Dun closed seven or eight water gates in the north and west to slow down the water inflow into the city and allow the water to flow out from the lower east and south water gates.
But this undoubtedly made the water levels of the moats on the southeast sides extremely high.
Seeing an opportunity, Shen Chen immediately issued an order, and the mighty fleet sailed from the Han River into the Xiangyang moat. The moat was a hundred meters wide. Against the background of the water level, the ships such as the stern warship were actually level with the city.
The Jingzhou naval forces only needed to sail their boats outside the city and use wooden planks to build ladders to enter the city directly.
After the ship sailed into the Xiangyang moat, relying on the parapet on the second deck, the two sides launched a fierce exchange of bows and arrows. The distance between the two sides was less than twenty feet away. Even if the bows and arrows were interfered, the lethality and range were not affected.
The shooting continued for a whole morning, and both sides suffered casualties. In the afternoon, Shen Chen's warships were lined up with planks, and under the rain of arrows, he ordered the ships to approach the base of the city wall, intending to forcibly board the city.
Xiangyang is surrounded by water, and there is no land outside the city. Ships can sail directly under the city wall, facing the two cities side by side.
Xiahou Dun resisted desperately in the rain, went to the city to fight in person, and drove the enemy back with difficulty.
However, the morale of the soldiers was extremely low at this time. Even though they were more numerous than the Jingzhou Army, they were unable to stop them at all. At one point, the Jingzhou Army was forced to attack the city wall and almost broke through Xiangyang.
If Xiahou Dun had not fought to the death, Xiangyang might have changed hands by now.
It was not until late in the evening that the sound of the Jingzhou Army's golden sound was heard, and the soldiers withdrew back to the ship like a tide, and then the ship left in a swaggering manner in front of Xiahou Dun.
After the Jingzhou Army sailed out of the Xiangyang moat and watched their departing figures, Xiahou Dun, who was worried, raised his head and looked at the sky that was still raining and the river outside the city that was swelling like a flood.