Shouchun City's first barrier to enemies coming from the south was Li Jiangshui (today's Doujian River).
This river, located more than 20 miles south of Shouchun, connects Dongfeishui and Shaopi. It can be crossed with a simple pontoon, but it is too difficult for boats to operate on the waterway.
According to common sense, after the Wei State lost Hefei New City, it must have foreseen that Jiangdong would be invaded in the future, and it should have guarded this river.
But Wei Guotai Lieutenant Man Chong did not.
Moreover, Jiangdong arrived outside Shouchun City in late summer and June this year, hoping that he could grab some for military rations and farm them outside the city.
However, when we arrived, we discovered that Wei's farmland in Huainan was gone.
These two surprising things also made Lu Xun no longer want to attack Shouchun City.
Abandoning dangerous places and abandoning fertile fields outside the city...
In other words, it was because there was no shortage of food in the city, and the Wei State was confident that it could defend the city without any worries.
Perhaps the reason why Man Chong gave up the defense of Li Jingshui was because he wanted Wu to come and attack the enemy as soon as possible, so that he could fight under the city wall with bloodshed and then stop and return.
Moreover, Lu Xun also knew that General Wang Ling of Wei Zhendong, who was sitting in the city, must have the idea that "if the man does not die, the city cannot be broken". This man was a disciple of Wei Wu Cao Cao who was promoted from the "Kun punishment"
, and was once appointed to the Prime Minister's Palace, and he was regarded as a loyal minister of the Wei State.
Under such circumstances, if Jiangdong wanted to gain advantage in the war on the eastern front, it should divide its forces to monitor Shouchun instead of sending the main force to Guangling and go north to Qingxu.
The southern part of Xuzhou is also densely covered with water.
If Jiangdong's elite troops can advance into the lower reaches of the Huaihe River, and then move to occupy the Surabaya River to the foot of Xiapi City, then they can use the Surabaya River as the boundary to divide the east and west, and analyze most of Xuzhou from the territory of Wei!
It is also possible to allow the elite navy to cross the sea and enter Donglai, and then move by sea and land to the north to see Qingzhou.
Because of the current strength of the Wei State and the constraints of the Han Dynasty entering Guanzhong, Cao Rui could no longer mobilize many Luoyang Chinese troops to come to the eastern front for rescue.
However, even though he had some realization in his heart, Lu Xun still did not change his strategy.
It's not that Sun Quan didn't give him the authority to make decisive decisions on the spot.
But as the person who promoted the Wu family's powerful family to fight tooth and nail, he, like Sun Quan, was unable to change his course, and could not and did not dare to live up to this "united will".
The military information coming from Quan Cong made him see another possibility.
He entered Shaopi and tried to break through Quan Cong's troops at the Huai River port. When the troops came to Manchong's garrison, he knew that he could not stop Manchong from sending troops to rescue Shouchun.
The Wei army has already blocked the river connecting Shaopi and Huai River...
There was no way for the navy's ships to dock.
Man Chong also ordered the soldiers to transport the "Wood City" to build camps along both sides of the port, forming a crescent-shaped camp, which completely eliminated the possibility of the Wu army disembarking from Shaopi. [Note 1]
Therefore, the purpose of Quan Cong's letter was to ask Lu Xun to increase his troops so that he could have enough troops to occupy Anfeng County in Anfeng County and open up the entrance to Huaihe from Shaipei by land.
Anfeng County was established in the second year of Wei Huangchu (221) when Cao Pi separated Qi County in the northwest of Lujiang County and assigned Anfeng, Anfeng and Yulou counties to Yuzhou.
Anfeng County is the county government.
From Anfeng County, you can go north to Anfengjin, which crosses the Huai River; going east, you can reach Yangyuan, where Shaopei enters Huaikou.
In other words, Quan Cong wanted to build the plank road openly and secretly visit Chencang.
The plan was to force the Wu army to move north to occupy Anfengjin on the upper reaches of the Huaihe River in Shouchun, forcing Man Chong to divide his troops from Yangyuan to fight, and to help Lu Xun attack Shouchun and contain the Wei reinforcements outside the city.
Because the soldiers and horses he asked for were not from Lu Xun's central army, but from the Zhu garrison stationed in Lu'an County, a few thousand soldiers and horses were enough.
But after Lu Xun got the letter, he did not follow his advice and send some troops from Zhu.
The reason is that the place Zhu Ju is guarding is related to the safety of Sun Quan in Lujiang County and the entire army's food routes, and cannot be moved away.
However, he sent Zhuge Ke, Chen Biao and Ding Feng's troops to listen to Quan Cong's orders, and assigned 20,000 troops and horses to General Hussar to lead the generals to continue besieging the city, while he himself led 30,000 troops to Yang.
Yuan advanced, intending to flank the Manchong tribe with Quan Cong.
Bu Zhao had been guarding Xiling before, and what he was guarding against was the soldiers and horses deployed by the Han Dynasty in Yong'an.
Last year, after Sun Quan made an agreement with the Han Dynasty to attack the Wei Kingdom in the north at the same time, he rejected the advice of other ministers with the words "all the Han troops have entered Guanzhong, why bother to plot against our Wu Kingdom"? He sent his clan to guard Xiling and gave in to thousands of governors.
Soldiers and horses came to Huainan to assist in the battle.
He is from Xuzhou.
If Jiangdong successfully conquered Shouchun and occupied Huainan, then Sun Quan would be able to gain the support of some local scholars and common people by using him as governor to march north to Qingxu.
It's just a precautionary measure.
Yes, Lu Xun made such arrangements because he knew that Shouchun was in a hurry and could not be defeated, so he turned to defeat the Manchong tribe first, resist the reinforcements coming from Luoyang, and occupy the Huai River.
If everything goes well by then, Shouchun, which has become an isolated city, will be breached. It will only be a matter of time.
In other words, Lu Xun had no choice but to pin his hope of taking over Huainan on the Guanzhong dispute between Han and Wei.
If the Han Dynasty can push the Wei army to an unsustainable point in Guanzhong, Wei's Luoyang army will inevitably turn back to guard Guanzhong, otherwise the Wei Dynasty's "mandate of destiny" will be lost!
This price is much more serious than losing Huainan, and Cao Rui naturally knows which is more serious.
And if the Han army was defeated or defeated in Guanzhong, then from a strategic level, Jiangdong would also be forced to stop his troops and return - just because of the pressure from the Yongliang tribes of Wei State to enter Jingxiang, Jiangdong's army would not be able to continue.
Stay in Huainan.
When Zhuge Ke, Chen Biao and other troops arrived, Quan Cong, who learned of Lu Xun's instructions, was silent for a moment.
It's not that I have any dissatisfaction or criticism about Lu Xun's scheduling.
What he didn't expect was that Lu Xun, who was known for his prudent military tactics and was even criticized as being conservative and unenterprising, would be so decisive and bold this time.
There is a vaguely radical style of accomplishing all the results in one battle and not knowing the future.
Of course!
That's radical.
Gein's deployment will allow Wei to find an opportunity to cut off the Wu army's return path.
Wei's Luoyang Central Army could have come from Yuzhou, passed directly through Anfeng County, inserted diagonally into the Dongfeishui River Valley between Hefei New City and Chengde garrison point, and left them all in Shaopi.
Don't expect Zhu's headquarters stationed in Lu'an to be able to stop Luoyang's central army.
Zhu's stronghold, which only had more than 10,000 people, was to contain the Yuzhou County soldiers of the Wei state. If they abandoned their camp and came out to intercept the Luoyang army, it would be an act of suicide without any suspense.
However, after Quan Cong was silent for a moment, he immediately sounded the drum and gathered his generals to act according to Lu Xun's instructions.
Because he doesn't have a better battle plan.
Instead of going through the same painless intrusion war as before, it is better to take advantage of this opportunity and fight with the absolute superiority of troops.
Yes, even if the Luoyang Central Army of Wei State arrives for reinforcements, the Wu Army still has an absolute advantage in strength.
Such a situation was caused not only by the Wu State's all-out efforts.
Firstly, the states on the eastern front of the Wei State that were severely damaged in the previous Battle of Shiting still have not recovered their war foundation.
Another thing is that today's Huainan is completely deserted except for the Lujiang County of Wu.
Li Shu in counties such as Lu'an and Bo'an, as well as Xinfeng County and other places, all moved away from the Wei State after the change of ownership in Hefei New City.
While preventing Li Shu from being robbed by Jiangdong, it would also expand the scope of Wu's advance. In order to ensure the safety of the rear, Wei had to add many garrison points and send troops to build fortifications.
Under such circumstances, Wei's troops in Huainan, except for the more than 10,000 soldiers stationed in Shouchun and Sun Li's 5,000 soldiers on Bagong Mountain, only had 30,000 Manchong troops and 2,000 cavalry stationed on the north bank of the Huai River. .
As for the Chinese army stationed in Luoyang, apart from the necessary troops for defense, Cao Rui sent roughly 40,000 infantry and cavalry troops to assist Huainan or Jingxiang.
Considering that Wu's army currently employs more than 100,000 troops, it naturally has a strength advantage.
The only worry is that the Wei State's fighting power on the plains is more powerful than that of the Wu State.
In particular, the Luoyang Central Army, which was famous for its bravery, was often able to outnumber the enemy and win in the previous wars between Wei and Wu.
In his mind, Quan Cong regarded Lu Xun's arrangement as a gamble, a bet on the time difference. Whether he and Lu Xun would succeed in attacking Manchong's troops from both sides sooner, or whether it would be faster for Luoyang's commander to cut off the Wu army's return route.
Because if the Wu army defeated the Manchong tribe and entered the Huaihe River, they would be able to drive into the heart of the Central Plains, and there would be no need to worry about their return!
Of course, there is another possibility for war.
For example, the Luoyang Central Army of the State of Wei had no intention of cutting off the Wu army's return route. Instead, they chose a safer tactic and went straight to Anfeng County or Yangyuan for a decisive battle with the Wu army.
Therefore, Quan Cong also adopted a very safe way to advance.
After arriving in Anfeng County, he asked Ding Feng's troops to disperse the cavalry on the outside to guard.
Don't send Zhuge Ke and Chen Biao to attack An Fengjin.
It doesn't matter whether they can break through and let the Wu army cross the Huai River from Jinjinkou, but they must contain the crossing to prevent Luoyang's Chinese army from crossing the river smoothly and delay their arrival on the battlefield.
And he led his army from Anfeng County to Yangyuan.
Before leaving, he selected 6,000 men who dared to die from the army as the front group, and ordered Ren Du and Zhang Zhen to lead the advance.
Ren Du and Zhang Zhen were previously subordinate to Zhu Huan. They were brave enough to risk their lives in battle and were among the few in Cong's tribe who could take charge of critical tasks.
Lu Xun's march was almost the same as his.
He also raised a large sum of money to recruit five thousand dead soldiers, with the loyal and generous Governor Liuzan as the vanguard, and he himself led the army behind and looked at Yangyuan.
In Yangyuan, when the scout reported Wu Jun's actions, Man Chong let out a long sigh of relief.
[Note 1: Wooden city is a defensive weapon placed outside the city or on the battlements in ancient times. "Hanshu Chen Tangzhuan": "There is a heavy wooden city outside the earth city. Shooting from the wooden city can kill and injure outsiders quite a lot." Qi Jiguang's "Ji Xiao"
Volume 15 of "New Book": "The wooden city is made of large and small trees. Each door is five feet wide, and the battlement is five feet high. There are two rolling wooden paths, and large bamboo nails are attached to float on the bolts. About two people can carry it, and the weight is appropriate.
Jun. On the city, you can stand on the crenels to prevent night attacks; among the soldiers, you can stand shoulder to shoulder and set up a camp."]
