In the Battle of Chengde, the Han army suffered huge gains and light damage, which is unprecedented in ancient times. Under the encirclement and siege of the Han army, Lu Su, the governor of Huainan of the Wu army, died in the battle, Lu Meng, the governor of Danyang, escaped alone, and Lu Dai, the governor of Jiaozhou
There were countless other officers of the Wu army who were captured or died, and more than 40 of them were identified from their heads alone.
As for the ordinary Wu soldiers who were attacked in the rain, many of them had fallen into the Feishui River, and their bodies were nowhere to be seen. But even so, there were still more than 8,000 heads counted, so big pits had to be dug to fill them.
The corpse pit was dug by 20,000 Wu prisoners. Looking at their expressions, their numb faces were like puppets. They seemed to be unable to think, let alone speak and smile. In comparison, the Han army's losses were only
Thousands of people came forward.
Of course, for Liu Xie, the biggest gain was the 20,000 Wu navy that surrendered to the Han army. There were 60 fighting ships, 50 Qingque, 300 sterns, and six large ships, all of which were safe and sound.
It was handed over to the Han army. In addition, the existing ships of the Han army already exceeded the Wu navy, and they were enough to sail across the river and expedition to the south of the Yangtze River.
And this was just the result on the battlefield that day. As the news of the Han army's victory continued to ferment, it had new impacts one after another. Zhang Zhao and Quan Cong originally planned to take over the retreating Wu army, but they learned that their side was defeated.
After hearing the news, he was at a loss and was in a dilemma. Zhou Buji took advantage of the situation and led his troops to surround Hefei. He gathered the retreating Wu people along the way and forced them to surrender to Hefei. Zhang Zhao felt that he had no way out and the Sun family was in decline, so he finally agreed to surrender.
After occupying Hefei, Zhou Busuo reported the news to the four counties in Huainan and spread the message widely. At this time, the Wu people had no available troops in Jiangbei. In just ten days, the four counties of Qichun, Lujiang, Jiujiang, and Guangling all changed their banners.
, the north of the Yangtze River was no longer owned by the Wu people. At this time, Liu Xie marched his army into Hefei, joined Zhou Buyi in Chaohu, and ordered the Han army and the surrendered troops to land on the shore and Chen Bing. Two hundred thousand people were in the company camp for four
For more than ten miles, flags stretched out, boats and boats stood side by side, and their military strength was impressive and overwhelming. The people in the south of the Yangtze River were frightened when they saw it from a distance.
Having said that, the outcome of the Battle of Chengde was not only unpredictable by the Wu people, but also far exceeded the expectations of the Han army. According to Zhuge Liang's original plan, he only hoped to defeat the Wu army and occupy Shouchun.
, use this as a stronghold to remove the outskirts of Hefei step by step, and after capturing it, force the Wu navy back to the south of the Yangtze River, which can be said to be a success. But now the Han army has captured the four counties of Huainan with very slight losses, which has attracted a new
Question: Should we take advantage of the situation to cross the river and destroy Sun Wu in one fell swoop? Liu Xie was a little undecided.
According to common sense, since the new land of Huainan has been captured, it is time to work hard to stabilize the new foundation. After three or four years, the land will be peaceful and prosperous, the people will be submissive, and the people will submit, and then send troops directly towards Jianye, Jiangdong will be unable to resist.
.But on the other hand, the Wu navy has lost most of its troops. Except for Zhou Yu's troops in Jingzhou, there are only more than 30,000 defeated soldiers left in Yangzhou. The entire Yangtze River is almost undefended. It would be unavoidable not to cross the river with troops at this time.
It's a bit too conservative. Wait two years before fighting again, and the Wu people will recover. How many casualties they will have to pay is another unknown.
After weighing the two sides, Liu Xie decided to hold a military meeting first to see how the military morale was before making a decision.
There were many people participating in this military meeting, and the list was drawn up by Liu Xie himself. From the commander-in-chief of the three armies, to the Sima of the army, as close as the accompanying Lang officer, as far away as the Huainan County magistrate, and even the Wu people surrendered generals and local officials.
All the officials from the county came to Hefei to attend the meeting. On the day of the meeting, all the people attending the meeting were shocked to find that the emperor had actually invited more than two hundred people. It could almost be called a small court meeting.
Pang Tong first said: "After the Wu thief was defeated, people in the south of the Yangtze River were panicked and couldn't sleep at night. It was indeed a good opportunity to cross the river. But when will the little thief be defeated? It's already winter now, and it will take another two months.
It's the end of the year, and the soldiers are worried about returning home. I'm afraid they can't talk about war. However, His Majesty has been on the expedition for a long time, and there is no one to take charge of the country. There are also people's livelihood issues in Huaibei. Therefore, there are often rumors in the capital that something is wrong with Your Majesty. This is not a good sign. All officials in the court
Everyone is eagerly awaiting your Majesty's return."
Huang Quan also agreed with this idea. He echoed: "Your Majesty, the Wu people do not have river defense at the moment, but our navy can hardly do anything. In the battle of Chengde, although there were countless boats, there were few people to operate them.
Crossing the river will probably take twice the effort with half the effort, and if something unexpected happens, there will be no way to retreat."
Wei Xi was quite dissatisfied with this. He said: "The Wu people suffered a series of defeats, so they must have a grudge against the Sun family. When Wang Shi fought in Huaibei, didn't two old men Deng Dang and Zhang Zhao submit to him? It can be seen that the situation is very good. As long as Wang Shi crosses
Jiang, sent many envoys to appease the surrounding people and promote the heroes of Wu. The people of Wu will definitely surrender. When the time comes, Sun Quan will be alone and can be captured with a single blow, so why wait until the end of the year?"
Secretary Liu Fang also said: "What Jun Wei said is true! Now that Huainan is at peace, the world has been unified, and this is the moment. You all hesitated to go forward. Could it be that you have forgotten how miserable the common people of Jiuzhou have been in the past thirty years?"
Your Majesty obeys the heavens and responds to people, punishes the people and punishes their sins, and unites the country. This is the blessing of all people! How can you retreat like this?"
Liu Xie was not in a hurry to make a judgment, but patiently waited for everyone to finish speaking. At the same time, he also noticed that except for the general Soochow who had remained silent, the governor Zhou Buyi had not yet expressed his stance. So he asked Zhou
Without question, he said: "Wen Zhi, in your opinion, should I cross the river?"
After listening to the emperor asking Zhou Buyi for his opinion, all the aides stopped arguing and turned their gazes over. Although Zhou Buyi was not able to personally participate in the victory of Chengde, he was actually the first contributor to the victory. This is
Within a few days, rumors circulated privately in the army that the emperor planned to promote him to the position of General Wei, under Qi Gong. Looking at the past and present, I am afraid that only the former champions can have such a favor. And his opinion is naturally also
It is of great importance and may directly determine the outcome of this military discussion.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! After Zhou Buyi was named, he slowly walked to the front, and then said: "Your Majesty, whether you can cross the river or not, my opinion is not important, but it is decided by
Military morale and public opinion are both indispensable. If the military morale is used, we can fight, and if the public opinion is used, we can win. I don’t know anything about these two, so I just didn’t say anything."
Seeing that his friend agreed with him, Liu Xie was greatly relieved. With a slight smile on his lips, he asked again: "What Wen Zhi said is true. It's just military morale. Public opinion is unpredictable. How can we know it?"
"Your Majesty is already doing this. Isn't today's military meeting just for this purpose?"
Liu Xie laughed when he heard this, and then ordered all the officers participating in the meeting to stand up, those on the left who were in favor of crossing the river, and those on the right who were not in favor. Soon, most people showed their left arms, and only a few people were in disapproval. Liu Xie
Xie saw Deng Ai who had reported earlier and was a little curious for a moment. He called him over and asked, "Why does Shi Zai object?"
Deng Ai replied hesitantly: "Your Majesty, it would be best if we win this battle. But if we fail to win, the king's division may not be able to return to the north of the Yangtze River, and the losses will be even more incalculable. The art of war always says, before you think about victory, think about defeat first, so as to
Come to think of it, it is better not to cross the river." Deng Ai knew that the emperor was irritable, so after he finished speaking, he quickly lowered his head and looked at the ground, waiting for the emperor to rebuke him.
Unexpectedly, the emperor chuckled, patted Deng Ai on the shoulder and said: "It is the duty of a minister to speak impartially, and it is the duty of an emperor to accept advice according to his choice of words. What is Shi Zai afraid of? Could it be that he thinks that I am a Jie and Zhou who cannot listen to objections?
King?" Then he said: "What you said about the art of war is correct, but let's talk about the matter now, how should the Wu thieves win? It's just to defend the city and wait for our army to retreat. How can there be a big defeat? Could it be another change?
A navy?"
Speaking of this, Liu Xie turned to Zhang Zhao and asked: "Mr. Zhang, how many naval forces does Zhou Yu have in Jingzhou? How many troops and horses does he have?"
Zhang Zhao replied: "Your Majesty, Jiangling and Xiakou have a navy contract of 30,000 men, and the ships are equivalent to the Huainan Navy. In addition to the navy, there are also 30,000 men in Anlu, Xiling, Changsha and other places.
It's just that it's very difficult to defend the cities separately, and I'm afraid only the navy can mobilize them."
Liu Xie laughed when he heard this and asked again: "What does Mr. Zhang think of the public opinion in Jiangdong?"
Zhang Zhao replied again: "Your Majesty is so powerful that he is always victorious in every battle, but the Wu people are content with being safe and never fight a lopsided battle. If your Majesty's army crosses the river, there will be no need to fight. The military might alone will be enough to conquer Jiangdong!"
After the conversation was over, Liu Xie ordered Deng Ai to retreat, and then smiled at Zhou Buyi and said: "The military spirit and public opinion can be used. We are straightforward. It seems that crossing the river is inevitable."
Liu Xie had already planned to forge ahead, but after this meeting, his determination became even stronger. He then issued an edict to the court, calling it a great victory. The north of the Yangtze River was cleared, and the giant bandits were eliminated. With this move, the agreement to cross the river was decided. The army
The discussion in China also subsided and they turned to full preparations for war.
Liu Xie first ordered Huang Quan to organize and train the navy, and integrate the Wu surrender troops into the navy. Firstly, it was to strengthen the navy, and secondly, it was also a political offensive, in order to disintegrate Jiangdong's will to resist. According to Huang Quan
As said, the reorganization can be completed in about one month.
He also ordered Zhang Zhao to cross the Yangtze River and go south, and persuade his old troops Chen Wu, Kuang Qi and others to surrender one by one. As soon as this order came out, it caused a burst of criticism in the army. Some people said privately: "Your Majesty is too lenient to these Wu people, they are just some sluts."
, why is it necessary to recruit them? Even if there are not these people, our army will send thousands of horses to cross the river, who can stop it from the east of the river?" Of course, after Liu Xie heard about it, these rumors immediately dissipated, and the source could not be found.
At the same time, Liu Xie personally mobilized military equipment and intervened in local affairs in Huainan, aiming to restore the basic order in Huainan in the shortest possible time and solve logistical problems for the army to cross the river. He did everything well, and after January
Inside, the thieves in Huainan are scattered, and the counties are in trouble. This autumn's taxes have also been delivered to Hefei as promised, enough for the army to last until the early spring of next year.
By November of this year, everything was ready. Liu Xie personally led a mighty army of 200,000 people, crossed the Yangtze River from Liyang, and officially landed on the land of Jiangnan at Niuzhujitou.