Lushan Mountain is majestic. Every August, everything is verdant and the mountains are green.
Since the main force of the Wanping Army arrived at the border of Lushan a few years ago, they have fought against the imperial army in Lushan.
It has been at war for more than half a year now.
The entire Lushan Mountain, with a radius of hundreds of miles, is full of battlefields where the two armies are fighting.
From 200,000 to 300,000 people at the beginning, now close to 500,000 to 600,000 troops are fighting fiercely here.
The Wanping Army and the imperial court respectively invested a large number of troops here.
The entire Lushan territory has become a battlefield meat grinder.
A large number of lives collapsed and died here...
The person in charge of the Lushan army in the imperial court now is Beizhonglang General Yuanzong, who is known as the "famous scholar in the world".
Yuan Zong was a man of resolute character and noble moral character. When he was young, the high officials of the state and city repeatedly asked for land, but he did not agree.
When he was in his thirties, under the persuasion of his master Ma Rong, he became an official and became a doctor of the Imperial College.
Many years ago, there was banditry and barbarian rebellion in the south of the Yangtze River. The imperial court believed that Yuan Zong was both civil and military, so he appointed Yuan Zong as the patrolman of Jiangnan Road to take charge of the suppression of bandits in the south of the Yangtze River. After Yuan Zong arrived at Jiangnan Road, it took less than a month.
He put down the banditry and won the appreciation of the court and the emperor.
Later, Yuan Zong resigned due to illness and returned to his hometown in Lingzhou.
But just one year later, Yuan Zong was recalled by the imperial court and became a councilor. He participated in the collation and continuation of Confucian classics and won a lot of reputation in the reading circle.
After Lin Xiao's defeat, considering Lushan's status in the hearts of the world's literati, the imperial court specially sent this Confucian general to go out.
Yuan Zong was over sixty years old and went into battle. After arriving at Lushan, he took advantage of Lushan's terrain and quickly defeated the Jingu generals in several games, turning the morale of the two armies around.
After that, armies continued to enter the Lushan battlefield, and the imperial court gradually took the initiative.
But Yuan Zong still couldn't defeat General Shengong in one battle, and the battle situation was not much different from Lin Xiao's battle back then.
The difference is that this time the emperor gritted his teeth and persisted, letting Yuan Zong delay here, firmly believing that this veteran general with both civil and military skills like his teacher could defeat the Wanping Army.
It was precisely because of Yuan Zong's persistence that Wan Pingjun became restless.
When the war reached Yuzhou, the Wanping Army always fought independently and failed to gather a larger torrent, which also laid the foundation for Qin Hu to lead his army to pacify Yuzhou later.
In early August, Qin Hu personally led the army and attacked Lushan.
As Lushan's number one guard, Yuan Zong, he was naturally greatly welcomed.
.........
Lushan Beixun Mountain Range, Cangjiang River, one of the branches of Qingluo River, flows through the Beixun Mountain Range.
Crossing the river here and heading north is the boundary of the Xunshan Mountains.
To the south is the border of Lushan.
Cangjiang Ferry is an ancient city.
This city was named Cangjiang City, and all boats coming and going from the ferry docked here.
After the war reached Lushan, the water transportation in Cangjiang City basically stopped. There were still some grain ships from the imperial court arriving upstream, but there were basically no ships coming from the downstream.
Since Cangjiang's water transportation was not developed, the status of Cangjiang City was not important.
In the multi-day Lushan Battle, only two partial divisions of the two armies fought with each other here.
As a result, Cangjiang changed hands many times.
On the 35th, it belongs to the imperial court. In a few days, the flag may be changed and it will become the Wanping Army.
The people in the city are used to it, and there are very few residents left. Those who can leave have basically left.
Today, Cangjiang City is in the hands of Wanping Army.
More than ten days ago, General Liu Chuangxin of the Wanping Army captured this city.
On this day, several huge ships floated up the Cangjiang River.
The horn sounded from the ship, and the Wanping army at the head of Cangjiang City immediately beat drums to signal the enemy.
The sound of horns was heard on the mountains on both sides of the river, startling countless birds.
After hearing the news, Liu Chuang hurried out of the general's mansion and walked to the top of the city.
After Liu Chuang led his army to defect to General Shengong, he was named General of the Wanping Army and enjoyed the same status and treatment as Commander Daqu.
However, Liu Chuang did not achieve very good results in the subsequent Battle of Lushan.
The capture of Cangjiang City this time was regarded as a voluntary move by Liu Chuang. He hoped that by capturing Cangjiang City, he could completely cut off the imperial court's east-west water transportation.
Therefore, General Shengong also felt that Qin Hu was about to launch a fierce attack on the Wanping Army in Lushan, and made arrangements in advance.
Liu Chuang occupied the city with more than ten thousand elite troops, which was equivalent to driving a nail into the northernmost part of Lushan.
According to the estimation of General Shengong, Qin Hu's army is unlikely to take the water route, and Liu Chuang should not encounter any major attacks here.
"General Jingu also made a miscalculation one day."
Liu Chuang's face was as sinking as water, and he looked at the large ships floating on the river to the west, and immediately ordered the entire army to be under martial law.
Always be ready for a fight.
.........
On the Cangjiang River.
Cao Su and Fan Long are not in the same ship.
Fan Long's attack on Cangjiang City with more than 10,000 elite troops was the first step for Qin Hu to lead his army to narrow the scope of activities of the Wanping Army.
Although this place is not an important place, after it is captured, the Wanping Army in the south can only rely on land to move north.
The two armies seemed to have the same idea.
The big ship Cao Su was on was a royal navy ship.
It was his first time to ride on such a huge ship.
This ship is more than ten feet high and more than forty feet long. The hull is divided into three to five floors. There are buildings on the ship, so it is called a building ship.
The ship's hull is huge, and it can easily break through a thousand people when fully loaded with soldiers.
None of the sergeants under Cao Su were serious naval officers, but there were many southerners in the army, so it was not a big deal if they came by boat.
In Fan Long's army, some of the frontier soldiers who had not broken through to the Qi and Blood realm were said to be showing signs of seasickness.
Cao Su stood on the bow of the ship and had an excellent view. He could see Cangjiang City in the distance at a glance.
Cangjiang City is a simple and majestic city, standing on the bank of the river, with many boats at the ferry crossing.
"Cangjiang City is a bit short, no wonder it was captured so easily."
Cao Su estimated that the walls of this water city were only about ten feet high at most. Not to mention compared to big cities such as Guyue, Xunshan, and Yincheng, it was also slightly inferior to small cities such as Heping City, Yuncheng, and even Dengcheng.
"This is the result of many repairs. I heard that this place was not originally a city, but a small ferry town at most."
"There are no supplies, so I won't attract the attention of adults."
Beside Cao Su, there were Zhang Ke, Li Li and other captains.
Zhang Ke's skill was profound and he could also see the height of the city wall. Luo Yi and Li Li were a little inferior and could see the blurry outline. The other centurions couldn't do it because their eyesight was too poor.
Waterfowl flew across the river, and the ship cut through the high waves and moved forward.
Zhang Ke smiled and said: "Sir, our army is already short of strength, but we actually have to divide our forces to capture Cangjiang City. What kind of medicine is being sold in the military advisor's gourd?"
"I heard that the number of the Wanping bandits in Lushan has reached more than 400,000, and a large part of them are elites who have swept through several states."
Li Li rarely maintained a unified tone with Zhang Ke, but when he heard Zhang Ke's doubts, he couldn't help but boast: "Although there are many thieves, they are just the ones who are willing to betray others."
"Our army is so brave that five thousand can fight against fifty thousand, but only four hundred thousand can be destroyed with only forty thousand."
Forty thousand destroyed four hundred thousand?
Even the God of War would not dare to say this.
Everyone just ignored Li Li and ignored him out of habit.
Cao Su said in a deep voice: "The military advisor has his own clever plan, so you don't have to worry."
Luo Yi suddenly said: "Sir, is the intruder also among the Wanping Army here?"
As soon as Luo Yi opened his mouth, everyone fell silent.
Liu Chuang......
After the riot in Pingcheng that day, Liu Chuang gathered a few people and ran away.
Later, he really joined the Wanping Army, and the news spread to the ears of many soldiers under Cao Su. Naturally, they regarded Liu Chuang as an enemy. Many honest people even hated him to the bone, thinking that Liu Chuang was responsible for the final tragedy in Pingcheng.
destiny.
Collaborating with the enemy and treason is a traitor to the country.
Therefore, the soldiers under his command called Liu Chuang a "robber", and even Luo Yi was no exception.
"The person must be here, but I don't know if he is in Cangjiang City."
"Lushan has a radius of a hundred miles, and there are more than ten battlefields, large and small. The probability of encountering Liu Chuang directly is not high. Don't be too anxious."
"As long as we destroy these tens of thousands of troops in front of us one by one, these tens of thousands of troops will definitely gather together in the future."
"By then, Liu Chuang won't be able to escape even if he wants to."
The implication behind Cao Su's words is Qin Hu's general strategy.
Defeating the enemy from all sides and finally forcing it into a desperate situation, it was not a thundering force like in Yuzhou.
Fighting steadily and breaking the situation one by one is also the art of war.
Although everyone has not read any military books, they have led troops for many days and understand some of the art of war.
After hearing Cao Su's analysis, everyone looked thoughtful.
Zhang Ke asked: "Sir, after taking Cangjiang City, should we lead the army directly south? It is not an easy way to go south from here."
What Zhang Ke means is that further south from here is the Lushan Mountains.
In addition to the rugged mountain roads, more than 400,000 Wanping troops blocked the advance, making it extremely easy for an army to move forward alone and encounter an ambush.
Cao Su shook his head and said: "Look at the building boat we are riding on."
"Why did the imperial court mobilize these buildings and ships for our use?"
"Isn't it just for us to attack by surprise?"
"Cangjiang City can definitely be won, but from now on, it shouldn't be a regular battle."
"If I were Mr. Fan, I could simply lead my army to bypass the Qingluo River and go straight to the hinterland of the Wanping Army. I could even intimidate the Jiangning Mansion."
"The enemy navy is too weak. If they resist, I can retreat to Cangjiang City, coming and going like the wind, disturbing the enemy's will."
"Cut off its source and cut off its food, and thieves can be captured."
A war is all about logistics. When the two sides are about the same strength, if there is a problem with the logistics of either side, the other side will collapse completely.
Cao Su's harassment style is to rationally utilize resources when there is a shortage of troops.
Although it is simple, when everyone hears it, they feel that Lord Cao is skillful and unpredictable in his military skills.
In just a few sentences, there is a very profound art of war, which is worth learning and understanding.