Chapter 365 Guo Jia Comes Down to the War Letter and Asks Me to Wait for the Final Battle Tomorrow
Chapter 365 Guo Jia came down with a letter of challenge and asked me to wait for the decisive battle tomorrow.
Author: Playing with Basilisk
Chapter 365 Guo Jia came down with a letter of challenge and asked me to wait for the decisive battle tomorrow.
In early October of the 24th year of Jian'an, Wu Dang looked at his home that was flooded in Suiting, Longzhong Township, west of Xiangyang, and his expression was not very good.
Suiting used to be a plain with hundreds of miles of fertile fields. It was bordered by the Han River to the north, Atou Mountain to the south, and Jingshan Mountain to the west. The countryside was crisscrossed by roads, and the villages and pavilions gathered people coming and going. It could be described as a fertile and paradise land.
But at this time, after the Han River overflowed, it turned into a mess. Villages were washed away, fields were covered, and even the originally wide roads were submerged in the gravel. Only the accumulated sediment and ruins were left in the place to tell the story of the past.
traces left by the multiplication of people.
Wu Dang's hometown was completely gone. In front of nature, human beings always seem so small and fragile.
Huo Yang patted his shoulder and comforted him: "Although our family is gone, our people are still there. Master Shijun is right. If he hadn't had the foresight to move the population of his hometown, maybe our family would also be buried in the flood."
.”
Wu Tao also said: "Yes, there are still some remnants of your family, but there is nothing left of my family. The two acres of land I tilled with my own hands are now flooded into a beach."
Wu Dangzheng was so sad that he almost laughed at the two of them. Huo Yang and Wu Tao's family was from the lower class in Guizhou. Their entire property consisted of a dilapidated house and several acres of land. Even if it was flooded, there would not be much loss. Anyway, they themselves
Not much value.
According to the class classified by Master, his family is a rich farmer, with only about 200 acres of land. Not to mention the house, livestock and various furniture that were difficult to take away when they moved.
But of course he wouldn't say that. He just shook his head and said with a bitter smile: "It's just a little uncomfortable. Longzhong Township is the place where I was born and raised, and it's just gone."
"Don't worry, when Master Shijun regains Jingzhou, the folks will come back."
Wu Tao also patted his back, pointed to the east and said, "Look, there seem to be a few cubs over there."
Looking in the direction Wu Tao pointed, he saw several horses appearing on the slope of the road east of Suiting. The people on the horses were wearing black military uniforms of the Wei army, looking at them from a distance.
"Beep beep beep beep!"
A sharp whistle sounded immediately, and hundreds of cavalry behind the three men whistled and galloped away into the distance.
Those Wei soldiers quickly turned their horses and fled in the direction of Xiangyang.
Xiangyang is surrounded by water, so it is almost impossible to send out large-scale scouts. They can only use small boats to carry a small number of scouts. Each time Cao Wei sent out only a few scouts, at most a dozen.
Because Shen Chen's fleet would patrol the Xiangyang moat at any time, even if there were some ships in the city, Xiahou Dun did not dare to use them on a large scale.
Now the entire Han River is Shen Chen's territory. Every steel ingot that falls from the sky has to be named Shen, and every Chinese sturgeon that jumps out of the river has to be served on Shen Chen's dining table, let alone Cao Jun who is trapped in the city.
Almost no Cao troops dared to appear on both sides of the Mian River.
Xiahou Dun was like a turtle that didn't even dare to show its head. Once it stretched out its claws and head, the kitchen knife outside would chop it off at any time.
So he doesn't know why, nor does he know the current situation.
He only knew one thing - if Xiangyang was not evacuated before November, countless soldiers would starve to death.
Cao Jun's scouts who traveled to Yancheng every day could only choose to move at night, and they also had to walk over mountains and along the mountainous areas. During the day, they could basically only visit the outskirts of Longzhong Township.
And every time Huo Yang and Wu Dang, they were able to chase the once arrogant Cao Jun scouts all over the ground like a rabbit.
But everyone knows that the scouts released during the day are just a cover. The real scouts and messengers move quietly at night, always passing through Yin County where Fu Fang is located, and then Fu Fang informs Shen Chen...
Time passed slowly like this, and by the beginning of October, Zang Ba's reinforcements had arrived at Wancheng, Nanyang, all the way from Xuzhou, and a few days later they arrived at the front line to join Xia Houyuan.
He brought 18,000 men, and after joining Xia Houyuan and others, he had an army of almost 90,000. Counting the 40,000 in Xiangyang City, Cao's army had 130,000.
This undoubtedly gave Xia Houyuan and the others the confidence to take action. On October 6, in the general's tent located in the Fancheng camp in the north of the Yangtze River, Shen Chen was looking at the letter sent by the enemy, and couldn't help but smile.
The current situation is that the enemy cannot move and I cannot move.
Xia Houyuan and others remained calm and did not take the initiative to provoke. He also had no intention of attacking Yancheng. Both parties occupied the city and built camps. If they took the initiative to attack, they would always suffer losses.
After Guan Yu's seven armies were flooded in the Battle of Xiangfan, Xu Huang was stationed in Yancheng. Guan Yu personally led his troops to conquer, but was eventually repelled by Xu Huang, which shows how difficult it was to attack the camp.
Anyway, it is not Shen Chen who is anxious now, but Xiahou Dun who is short of food in the city, and Xiahou Yuan and Cao Cao who want to save Xiahou Dun. If Cao Jun wants to save Xiahou Dun, he has to take the initiative to attack, so why should he ask for trouble?
"Senior brother, what do you say?"
Seeing Shen Chen smiling while reading the letter sent by the enemy, Zhou Buji asked curiously.
Shen Chen smiled and handed him the letter in his hand, looked around the crowd and said, "Guo Jia came down with a letter of challenge and asked me to wait for the decisive battle tomorrow. Guess what this means?"
At present, all the generals are distributed in various camps. In the main camp, there are only Shen Chen, Zhou Buyi, Cai Du, Deng Ai, and deputy generals such as Liu Wei, Zhou Jian, Zhang Nan, Qu Gan, etc. Even Shan Yi has been sent out now. , so there are fewer generals in the camp.
The main subjects of his inquiry were also Zhou Buji, Cai Du and Deng Ai.
Deng Ai stood up and raised his hands and said: "Xia Xiahou Dun is short of food, so he must be preparing to evacuate. Guo Guojia's letter of challenge is probably to cover Xia Hou Dun's retreat."
"Um."
Shen Chen nodded and encouraged: "Shizai's stuttering problem has improved a lot. If you persist, you will be able to speak normally in the future."
"Thank you, Master."
Deng Ai smiled honestly, he cared deeply about and enjoyed his master's recognition.
Shen Chen then said: "Shi Zai is right, it is not safe to withdraw troops at night. There are no big ships in Xiangyang City, so we can only use small boats to transport people to the outside of the West City in batches. At this moment, our army's scouts are all over the four city gates of Xiangyang. , once discovered and the fleet sets out at night, Xiahou Dun will be destroyed by our army in an instant. Therefore, Guo Jia may think that he must withdraw his troops during the day."
"Guo Jia is very courageous."
Zhou Buyi smiled and said: "Invite us to fight fiercely in the wild during the day. This way, even if our army discovers Xiahou Dun's move to evacuate, the main force will be dragged on the battlefield and cannot pass. Then let Fu Fang build on the river bank of Zhuyang Yin County The wall, even if there are other troops attacking us, Xiahou Dun's own troops can use the wall to block us and successfully retreat to the north bank, or even join the battle and attack our army from behind."
Shen Chen nodded in agreement: "Guo Jia has always been very courageous and good at scheming. It is precisely because of this that he has the same affinity with Cao Cao."
In history, this man was not only a master of psychology, but also a master of ingenuity.
For example, he killed himself by running thousands of miles to attack Bailang Mountain. Although it caused him to travel long distances and die of illness due to the bitter cold outside the Great Wall, it also almost caused Cao Cao's entire army to be wiped out, but what was the result?
The result was a win.
In a world where heroes are judged by success or failure, winning is right.
Just like Ma Di was famous for his resourcefulness before Jieting, and was valued by Zhuge Liang. He also said the famous aphorism "attacking the city is the bottom, attacking the heart is the top".
But after the Battle of Jieting, he became synonymous with straw bag. This is the reality.
Therefore, Guo Jia's life is still very legendary. Even though his role in giving Cao Cao psychological comfort was greater than its actual significance, he was also famous for daring to come up with some ingenious schemes that would put him in danger of death.
It's just that this strategy is like a double-edged sword. In the Battle of Bailang Mountain, Cao Cao and Zhang Liao barely won, but Shen Chen was not a Tadun type of guy.
So if you want to come up with such fancy things again, then you are looking down on Shen Chen.
Cai Du said: "In this case, we don't need to pay attention to Guo Jia. What is urgent now is Cao Jun. If we want to win steadily, we should continue to hold on to the camp, surround Xiangyang, and wait for Xiahou Dun to leave the city to die, or wait for him to provide food and grass." Die from exhaustion.”
"Well, it is right to seek victory while maintaining stability. In this case, we will definitely win."
Shen Chen agreed, but his expression didn't change.
Zhou Bujie noticed this and asked, "Senior brother, do you think this is bad?"
“Good is good just”
"Just what?"
"It's just that time doesn't wait for me."
Shen Chen let out a long sigh and looked troubled.
"Why?"
Everyone was puzzled.
Continuing to delay will only benefit them, so why should they go out and take the initiative?
Shen Chen said in a deep voice: "You don't know the situation in the rear, so I'm here to tell you. Now the people of Jingzhou and Yizhou can be said to be in dire straits."
"So serious?"
Zhou Bujiu frowned. He really had not paid attention to these issues.
"This battle can be said to be a competition between Cao Cao, Sun Quan and my lord for their national strength. The burden on the people in terms of food, grass, corvees, and taxes is extremely heavy."
Shen Chen looked worried and said: "Jiangdong has been largely defeated by us now, but Cao Cao's national power is stronger than ours. The most important thing is that this battle almost destroyed the entire Jingzhou. If you want to recover, you need at least one Two years."
"Although the Nanyang side is occupied by Cao Cao, Cao Cao has never had any extra troops to harm the people. It is fine now. It's just that the place is occupied by Cao Cao, and we can't recruit the people and get food and taxes."
Zhou Buyi touched the green beard growing out of his chin, lowered his head and thought: "The same is true in Jingnan, but it has just been recovered, and there are still many Jingnan aristocratic families to deal with. There is no chance that there will be trouble in the rear. Find a way to supplement it for us.”
"Jiangxia, Xiling, and Nanjun were hit by heavy rains and floods again. Your Majesty is still fighting with Cao's army in Guanzhong. He traveled a long way away, and the pressure on food and grass from the rear must be great. It seems that the general is right."
Cai Du added: "Now that Jingzhou is almost half destroyed, the pressure for food and grass is all on the people of Yizhou. In the land of Bashu, the people may indeed be in dire straits."
"yes."
Shen Chen shook his head and said: "If it weren't for Brother Kong Ming's hard support and strategizing at the rear, I'm afraid we would have lost this battle long ago. So we can't drag it out any longer. They want to rescue Xiahou Dun as soon as possible, and I also want to eliminate Xiahou Dun as soon as possible, so why not take advantage of it? .”
Xiahou Dun settled in Xiangyang at the end of August. By September, heavy rains in Xiangfan flooded half of the food and grass. The remaining half of the food and grass could only be eaten for two months, but it is already October, which means that he will have no food by the end of October. .
However, this is when the army is well fed. If we follow Cao Cao's example of killing the grain officer, and use big buckets to feed the soldiers, instead of using small buckets to prevent the soldiers from being fed, they can sustain themselves for a longer period of time.
In this way, by November, not only would the delay be longer, Zhang Liao's reinforcements from Yecheng would also arrive, which was actually not good news for Shen Chen.
The current situation in Jingzhou is extremely corrupt, mainly due to the disaster caused by this flood.
On the Jingnan side, Sun Quan only occupied it initially and then quickly moved northward, without harming the people. The same was true on the Nanyang side, because in ancient times, population migration was a huge project.
Historically, it took Cao Cao four years to move the population of Hanzhong and two years to forcefully move the people of Huainan. However, it was not successful and a large number of people fled to Jiangdong.
Shen Chen was able to relocate 300,000 to 400,000 people in Xiangyang within twenty days because he had enough prestige to persuade the people to leave. At the same time, the relocation location was more than a hundred miles away in Nanzhang, and the journey was not far away.
But Nanyang is different. Today, Nanyang has a population of more than one million, distributed in various counties of Nanyang, and most of them are concentrated in the south of Nanyang, more than 300 kilometers away from the Henan area where Cao Cao wants to move.
Nowadays, Cao Cao's troops are all fighting on the front line. If he wants to force the people to relocate one by one, it will be difficult to accomplish unless the people leave voluntarily or Cao Cao summons an army of hundreds of thousands. Otherwise, it will be almost impossible.
Therefore, in fact, Shen Chen used Jingzhou as bait, causing little population loss in Jingnan and Nanyang, and had no great impact. Cao Cao and Sun Quan could not spare the troops to attack the people.
The only trouble is this epic natural disaster that occurs once in a thousand years.
The floods inundated both sides of the Han River and the Yangtze River, causing the displacement of many people who had no time to evacuate, and a large number of fields were submerged.
However, Nanyang is now occupied by Cao Wei, and Sun Quan's occupied area in Jingnan has just been recovered. Nanjun, Jiangxia and other Shenchen occupied areas have been harmed by floods, resulting in huge logistical pressure.
The consumption of food and grass was very high, and the transfer of civilian labor resulted in serious corvee labor. Many people in the disaster areas behind were displaced and were crying for food. The pressure was all on the people of Yizhou.
Therefore, Shen Chen must end this battle as soon as possible, capture all Cao's troops or drive them out of Nanyang, and restore stability to Jingzhou as soon as possible.
After understanding their current situation, Zhou Buyi could only say in agreement: "Brother, this is thinking about the overall situation. Now it seems that we really need to make a quick decision."
"only."
Cai Du hesitated and said, "I'm just thinking about a question."
"What's the problem?"
"Since it is more beneficial to our army to hold on, does Guo Jia suspect that we are taking advantage of our tactics?"
"Won't!"
Shen Chen said without hesitation: "The situation in Cao Cao's rear is actually not much better than ours. War smoke is everywhere in Henan, and there are countless rebels. They are also facing the same difficulties we are facing. Guo Jia would not have guessed how heavy the burden on our rear is." Serious. Besides, he should know my character. It is not my habit to stand firm in the face of Cao Jun."
Cai Du said: "That's good. In that case, I agree with the general sending troops."
"I agree too."
"I have long wanted to slash Xia Houyuan with a knife and seize his white horse."
"General, I would like to be the vanguard!"
All the soldiers stood up one after another, with high fighting spirit.
"good!"
Seeing that everyone's morale was available, Shen Chen said happily: "Now that Nanjun Jiangxia Xiling and other places are suffering from floods and the people are suffering, we must quickly recapture Nanyang, so I decided to send troops. Let me meet Guo Jia for a while and see him." What kind of calculation is there! Send an order to Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong, and leave them the task of intercepting Xiahou Dun. You must bring Xiahou Dun’s head back to me!"
"only!"
The soldiers agreed with a roar, and their morale was skyrocketing.
Although everyone hopes that I can update three or four times a day, and the maximum number of updates per day is about 20,000, but I can't bear it. After a few days of Qingming Festival, I have to go back to visit tombs and worship ancestors. Currently, I live in the county. After all, there are many opportunities for blind dates in the county. I will go back to my hometown. It takes more than an hour to drive from the town, and another half hour from the town to the mountains. It is really inconvenient to go back and forth, and you have to pay homage to the ancestors and sweep the tombs. There is not much time for typing, so I have to save a few chapters for emergencies. But everyone is eager to read it, so I will change the chapter originally scheduled at 9 o'clock in the morning to after 12 o'clock. There will still be 2 chapters every day. I will send it out for everyone to read as soon as possible. Basically, this plot has come to an end. It should be in It will be over before Qingming Festival, so it won’t delay everyone for too long.