After arriving from Nanhai County to Jiaozhi County, the biggest difficulty for the Han army was not to defeat the Wu army and occupy the county, but to bring the war to an end as soon as possible.
There is no longer any suspense about the war in Gein.
Regardless of the strength of the troops, the morale of the officers and soldiers, or the popular aspirations of the local soldiers and common people.
Therefore, the Han army's expectation was to defeat the Wu army outside the city as much as possible, rather than to have the Wu army stay in the city and resist stubbornly, making the war protracted.
When Huo Yi explained all these considerations to Wu Dang in detail, he even said jokingly, "The envoy should not be preoccupied with war at this time, but should think about how to keep the governor of Jiao in peace for a long time, so that the common people can enjoy the favor of the Han Dynasty!"
Wu Dang laughed heartily at this, said goodbye and went back.
Emperor Liu Chan had assigned him the post of governor of Jiaozhou in advance several years ago.
Five days later, all the Han soldiers recovered from the symptoms of crossing the sea. Huo Yi then allocated more than a thousand men to stay in the fleet, while the remaining 6,000 soldiers and more than 2,000 men from Wu Dang's tribe all left looking at the water stronghold.
But unexpectedly, Wu Jun, who had abandoned the port, could not even defend the water stronghold!
Don't they hope that Liu Zuan will lead his troops to rescue them?
Huo Yi and Wu Dang were both surprised and inexplicable.
Moreover, the water stronghold was quite strong. It was a rainy season in autumn, so the Han army could not attack with fire!
And they gathered all the ships in the water stronghold, and when they led the troops northward along the river valley to Longbian County, the seat of Wangjun County, they met the messenger sent by Cuagu along the way, and then they knew the reason.
Cua Gu, who was in charge of the private army of the powerful southerners, was accompanied by Ma Zhong's troops in this war.
And the reason why he was able to send people to look for Huo Yi was because the Wu army in Jiaozhi County was already besieged on all sides!
However, it is said that after more than 5,000 people from the governor's headquarters withdrew from Ludai at the confluence of Xisuishui (Red River) and Jinxi River, and entered Liling County to station, Ma Zhong also led his army to continue the approach a few days later.
They followed the north branch of Jinxi River and arrived at Fengxi County on the northeast side of Linling County.
As soon as the army arrived, before Ma Zhong could go to see if the city was attackable, the city gate opened from the inside and many powerful private soldiers poured out.
They kidnapped the county magistrate and the garrison generals and came to surrender.
It's not a false surrender.
According to the records left by Shen You, the Han army confirmed that many of these right-wingers had previously corresponded with the Han army.
The whole county was defeated without any bloodshed, and everyone was overjoyed.
Ma Zhong also moved his troops and horses closer to the city to station them, so that the soldiers could relieve the tension and boredom of sleeping in the wild.
And the benefits these heroes brought to the war did not end there.
When the general situation was determined, they all rushed to ask for orders to contact the Han army or persuade other Haoyou and barbarian tribes who were still waiting to see. They also used their local advantages to inform the entire Jiaozhi County of information one by one.
For example, Huo Yi had returned across the sea and came to the port with his troops, and Sui Chun and Sun Mao's troops went south to the water village. Through their intertwined relationships, they analyzed it earlier than Ma Zhong's department.
This military situation also allowed Ma Zhong to adjust his deployment immediately.
Instead, he personally supervised five thousand soldiers to stay here and continue to monitor the movements of Lu Dai's tribe. He sent Cuagu to lead three thousand soldiers and horses and more than a thousand private soldiers assembled by Hao You to watch Longbian County and rush away.
After Sun Mao tried to lead his troops south, the defense was weak and the county government was captured.
But it's a pity that Cuagu is still a step too late.
When he led his troops through Wanghai County, there were also "smart people" in the county who abandoned Wu and returned to the Han Dynasty.
And they act much more ruthlessly than the people in Fengxi County.
It was after killing all the non-local assistants appointed by the Wu State and the powerful families who attached themselves to Wu that they carried their heads and went out of the city to seek surrender from the Han army.
In this way, it is natural to temporarily station troops in Cuagu.
There is no way, Wanghai County has become the territory of the Han Dynasty from now on, he cannot allow the county to fall out of line.
If these surrenders are not appeased and some soldiers are stationed in the city, I am afraid that the Li people in this county will be robbed as slaves by the powerful rightists or barbarian tribes, and burning, killing, and plundering will occur everywhere.
It was during the two-day delay here that Suichun and Sun Mao learned the news.
When the Han army arrived at Longbian County, they happened to meet their leading army rushing back.
When they meet unexpectedly, the two armies inevitably engage in a fierce battle.
Although Cuagu divided 500 soldiers to guard Wanghai County, the strength of the troops was slightly inferior to that of the Wu army, but the morale of the two armies was not the same.
However, Suichun and Sun Mao were in a hurry to enter the city and had no intention of entangling the Han army outside the city. Facing the surging Han army, they just wanted to divide their forces to contain it, fight and retreat into the city to defend.
It also makes it possible to foresee the outcome of the war as soon as it begins.
Sui Chun, who personally led his troops to break up the rear and fight in order to buy time for Sun Mao to enter the city, although Shuai Li's soldiers fought to the death, could not make the panicked soldiers live towards death.
However, after a quarter of an hour of fierce fighting, Wu's army showed signs of failure.
But after two quarters of an hour, Sun Mao's troops entered the city, and after Suichun's soldiers saw the "way to survive", everyone no longer wanted to continue fighting fiercely, and rushed back to the city gate.
At the beginning, Suichun could also intimidate soldiers by beheading soldiers who escaped from the battle.
However, as the Han army's offensive became more and more fierce, more and more Wu soldiers began to flee, and Suichun was unable to prevent the defeat.
When Cuan Gu saw this, he immediately led his bodyguards and rushed away while looking at Suichun's general flag.
He hopes to kill the generals and seize the flag, and drive the troops to cover the city gate.
But Suichun was equally decisive.
When he saw that nothing could be done, he gave up the idea of ​​restraining his subordinates and evacuated the battlefield under the protection of his personal guards.
Coincidentally, Sun Mao also made a prompt decision.
After Suichun entered the city, he ordered to shoot the people crowded in front of the city gate with crossbows, and successfully closed the city gate.
This can be regarded as resolving the crisis of the city changing hands.
But what he lost was military morale.
Seeing that Cuagu no longer had any chance of attacking and seizing the city, he ordered the prisoners to be surrendered, the battlefield to be swept and the camp to be settled.
They also deliberately allowed the prisoners to be buried outside the city in front of the defenders, and to bury the soldiers who died in the battle on the spot.
The cool autumn breeze desolates the devastated battlefield; as the river goes south, it is filled with the tears of the prisoners and the sobs of "their souls have returned"; the setting sun is like blood, reflecting on the dragon-made city wall and dyeing the eyes of the Wu army guards red.
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It also spread sadness in their hearts.
The county soldiers recruited from the local area were worried that after the city was captured by the Han army, even if they did not die in battle, they would become prisoners of war and suffer harsh treatment, and their families would be punished as slaves.
The Jiangdong soldiers who were in charge of the conquest were filled with despair.
Even though Wu's army suffered less than a thousand casualties and captured less than a thousand people in this encounter, they all understood and no longer had any hope of victory.
However, after they settled in Wai Cua Valley, they did not take advantage of the situation to attack the city the next day. Instead, they sent people to lure Huo Yi's tribe.
The Wu army in the city has been reduced to withered bones in the graves, so there is no need to rush.
And once Huo Yi's troops arrive, it will be a huge blow to the morale of the Wu army in the city, and it may even force the Wu army to surrender without a fight!
Why do we need to attack fortresses and increase casualties among soldiers?