Feng Yi asked: "Lord, can we really cross the waterfront and defeat the county army on the other side in three days?"
Liu Sheng may not understand their situation, but how can Feng Yi not understand his own situation? Currently, they only have a dozen or so boats in hand, and they are all small fishing boats. One boat can accommodate seven or eight people.
That's right, even if more than a dozen boats are filled with people, only a few hundred people can get on the boat. Let's not talk about how to fight the water battle. Even if we miraculously get ashore successfully, it is estimated that people will have to be rushed to the other side as soon as they get off the boat.
The county troops surrounded and annihilated him.
Liu Xiu shrugged and said with a smile: "I just said it casually, Gongsun, you don't really take it seriously, do you?"
Everyone present looked at each other and shook their heads in unison. Liu Xiu glanced at everyone, shook his head and said, "Pay back!"
Everyone followed Liu Xiu and returned to the camp. Ma Wu asked in confusion: "Since my lord guessed that Liu Sheng might rebel, why didn't you capture him just now and let him go instead?"
Liu Xiu said: "Firstly, he has not rebelled yet. At this time, they have no reason to detain him. Secondly, Liu Sheng has many soldiers under his command, with more than 10,000 troops. If we fall out now, it will not do us any good. At present,
Our biggest enemy is Runan County."
He asked for a map, spread it on the table, and looked at it carefully.
Binhe is a big river, with its source in Wuyin area, flowing through most of Runan County, and finally flowing into Runan River. Liu Xiu looked at the map and asked: "Secondly, how many ships can we raise in the past few days?"
Yao Qi sighed helplessly, shook his head and said: "Lord, before our army arrived at Binhe, the county government had already requisitioned all the ships in this area. Now we can requisition very few ships, even if it takes another ten days.
In half a month, the number of ships that can be raised is also very limited."
Feng Yi took up the conversation and said: "Lord, even if our army can gather enough ships, I do not recommend that our soldiers cross the river by force. Not many of our soldiers are good at water, and only a handful of them understand water warfare.
But compared to the Runan County Army, we cannot afford to fight a water war!"
Pingyu is on the east bank of the Binhe River. The county troops in Pingyu City basically know how to fight with water, and their water skills are also very good. If we want to fight a water war with Runan Junjun, we are taking advantage of our own shortcomings to fight the enemy.
It is not a wise move to lead an army.
Liu Xiu didn't answer immediately. He scratched his fingers on the map. After a long time, he finally raised his head and said, "Zizhang!"
"My subordinate is here!" Ma Wu immediately stepped in and saluted.
"You lead our cavalry and rush to the old city of Xiping overnight, cross the river secretly from the old city of Xiping, and then march to the county army camp on the east bank of the river."
There are two Xiping cities in Runan, one is the new city and the other is the old city. The new city is located at the junction of Runan and Yingchuan. The city is very prosperous. The old city is located in the north of Runan, by the riverside. It has been abandoned for a long time.
Although the old town is uninhabited, there are many ferries and villages and towns nearby.
Feng Yi frowned and said worriedly: "Lord, if all two thousand cavalry want to cross the river, it will not be easy, and the movement must be quite big."
Liu Xiu nodded and said, "That's why I asked Zhang to lead his troops to the old city of Xiping to cross the river."
Xiping Old City is far away from Pingyu, hundreds of miles apart. No matter how far the county government's spies probe, they will not be able to detect places as far away as Xiping Old City.
Ma Wu didn't say anything, and immediately stepped in to take the order from Liu Xiu, saying: "My subordinates will lead the army and set off immediately."
As he spoke, he turned around and was about to go out. Liu Xiu raised his hand to stop him and said, "Wait until nightfall before setting off!" Then, he turned to look at Zhu You and asked, "Mr. Zhong, what are you doing in the army?" How much money?"
Zhu You was stunned for a moment, and then said: "When I left Kunyang, my subordinates received 100,000 yuan from Duke Cheng Guo, and captured Xiping, Wufang, and Shangcai. Some were also seized, but most of them have been lost." It’s time to reward the soldiers, and there are only 40,000 to 50,000 yuan left.”
Liu Xiu pondered for a moment and said to Ma Wu: "Zizhang, take all this money with you. If two thousand cavalry are to cross the river, it will inevitably be necessary to requisition a large number of nearby fishing boats. We cannot let the fishermen's efforts go in vain!"
Ma Wu said disapprovingly: "My lord, you are worrying too much. We are going to requisition the ships. Who dares not to obey?"
Liu Xiu looked at Ma Wu helplessly and said sternly: "We are the Han army. No words or deeds can damage the reputation of the Han army. What's more, if we forcefully conscript ships, it will inevitably arouse the dissatisfaction of the people, and the voices of dissatisfaction will It has always been transmitted very quickly, but once it reaches the ears of the county army and makes the county army aware and prepared in advance, the effect of surprise and victory will be lost!"
Hearing this, Ma Wu suddenly realized and nodded, "Don't worry, my lord, I will be polite to the local fishermen when we get to Xiping Old Town!"
Liu Xiu smiled, turned to Zhu You and nodded. Zhu You bowed to Liu Xiu and gave a salute, and then left the camp with Ma Wu. He took out the money from the general and gave it to Ma Wu.
Although Ma Wu was dispatched as a surprise force, Liu Xiu was not idle either. He went around to collect ships with great fanfare, pretending to forcefully cross the river and start a water battle with the county army.
On the east bank of the river, the people who commanded the county army were the prefect and the captain of Runan. The prefect of Runan was named Xu Lang, and the captain was named He Wang. They had different attitudes on how to deal with the Han army. Are not the same.
Xu Lang was the one who surrendered. After the Battle of Kunyang, more than 400,000 troops were wiped out. At this time, Xu Lang felt that the court was in danger and was on the verge of collapse.
When he heard the news that Liu Xiu led the Han army into Runan, he was so frightened that even the more than 400,000 troops commanded by Wang Yi and Wang Xun could not resist Liu Xiu, let alone Runan? He advocated that the county government immediately send troops to Runan. The Han army surrendered.
However, Captain He Wang disagreed with him and insisted on taking the lead in the battle. Speaking of which, He Wang was not very loyal to Wang Mang, and he did not think that his side could resist Liu Xiu. The main reason was that he could not surrender.
When Liu Shenggang was in trouble in Chengyang, he gathered a Green Forest Army. It can be said that it has many soldiers and generals, and it expanded outward very quickly.
At that time, it was He Wang who led the county army to defeat Liu Sheng's tribe in one fell swoop and forced them back to Chengyang. It was during this battle that two of Liu Sheng's sons died.
It can be said that there was an sworn hatred between him and Liu Sheng. Once the county government surrendered, Liu Xiu and Liu Sheng, the Han troops, could let go of the prefect Xu Lang, but how could they let him go?
Others who had the same idea as He Wang were the generals under his command.
Therefore, the military commander headed by He Wang insisted on the main battle and refused to surrender to the Han army. Xu Lang, the prefect, had no choice but to bite the bullet and stationed with the army on the east bank of Binhe to prepare for the battle.
As the captain of Runan, He Wang had defeated Liu Sheng before. He was a man of some real talent and knowledge, and he understood the principle of "know yourself and the enemy, and you will never be in danger in a hundred battles".
He was very concerned about the movements of the Han army and sent a large number of spies and spies to the west bank of the river to keep an eye on Liu Xiu's every move.
It was precisely to avoid He Wang's spy, Liu Xiucai asked Ma Wu to lead the cavalry out of camp at night and drove overnight to the old city of Xiping.
Liu Xiujun was looking for ships on the west bank, and the news was soon reported to He Wang by spies.
After hearing this, the latter couldn't help laughing and said to Xu Lang: "Liu Xiu thought that he defeated Da Sikong in Kunyang and the million-strong army commanded by Da Situ could easily defeat our army in Runan. He was too arrogant.
Got it!"
After hearing the report, Liu Xiu was collecting boats and preparing to cross the river. Xu Lang didn't understand why He Wang was so happy. Seeing his puzzled face, He Wang said cheerfully: "Liu Xiu's troops are not sailors, they are all landlubbers."
, and our department may not be able to fight on land, but fighting on the water is definitely not what Liu Xiu's department can match. Now Liu Xiu wants to lead his army across the river and start a water battle with our department. Isn't he going to kill himself with an egg against a stone?"
Speaking of this, He Wang became more and more proud and said proudly: "I think Liu Xiu'er is nothing more than that. If he hides on the west bank and refuses to cross the river, that's it. As long as he chooses to cross the river, no matter how many soldiers and horses he brings, I will
Let them never come back!"
Xu Lang didn't understand military affairs and didn't know how to fight, but He Wang's contemptuous attitude toward Liu Xiu made him feel very bad and wrong.
He frowned and said: "Master He, Liu Xiu is by no means an ordinary person. Otherwise, it would be impossible to defeat Da Sikong and Da Situ in Kunyang. Master He must not take it lightly!"
He Wang glanced at Xu Lang and said with a smile: "I am really unsure about fighting on land against Liu Xiu, but fighting on water, not to mention one Liu Xiu, even ten or eight Liu Xiu
Even if they are tied together, I won’t take it seriously!”
Xu Lang smiled bitterly. Seeing He Wang's confident look, he said no more.
During a journey of more than two hundred miles, a group of Ma Wu cavalry rushed all night. When daybreak, they did not stop and continued on their way, finally arriving at the old city of Xiping at noon.
There is currently only a dilapidated city wall left in the old city of Xiping. The city wall has a history of hundreds of years and has been severely weathered. There is nothing left in the city, only ruins.
There are several villages and towns near the old city, and they all have a large population. This area is considered to be the middle and upper reaches of the riverside, with abundant aquatic products. Most of the fishermen's harvests here are pretty good, and the population of nearby villages and towns is naturally increasing.
After Ma Wu arrived, he immediately dispatched his soldiers to villages and towns to collect boats. Of course, according to Liu Xiu's order, they did not just borrow boats from fishermen with their mouths, but brought coins with them.
Fishermen rent a boat.
The reputation of the Han army has always been very good and has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. This time they used boats to cross the river and were willing to rent the boats to the fishermen who borrowed them, which greatly won the favor of the people.
Many fishermen offered to lend their ships to the Han army for free without paying for the Han army's money. However, the Han army refused and strictly followed Liu Xiu's orders and paid the corresponding fees according to the size of the ships.
Seeing that the Han soldiers insisted on paying, the fishermen took out the homemade dried fish and distributed it to the Han soldiers.
The soldiers of the Han army did not refuse this time. They went into battle lightly, carrying only a few days' worth of dry food. It was so hard that it was hard to swallow. It was much more delicious to eat it with dried fish.
Ma Wu's troops started crossing the river at noon and continued until midnight. Only then did all two thousand soldiers and horses cross the river. Ma Wu was very grateful to the fishermen who helped them cross the river, and spent the remaining money with them.
Distributed among the fishermen.
After successfully crossing the river, Ma Wu's troops found a secluded forest and rested for three hours. Then, Ma Wu led two thousand soldiers all the way south and went straight to the Runan County Army's camp.