Changsha is much farther from Xiangyang than Luoyang is from Xiangyang. In later generations, Wuhan was called the thoroughfare of nine provinces.
But in fact, Wuhan in the Han Dynasty did not even have a county. It was located in Jiangxia County, which happened to be the easternmost point of Yunmengze.
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Yunmengze was still there, but the area was much smaller, no longer the vast area of nearly 30,000 square kilometers during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
Therefore, most of Wuhan at this time is still a swamp in Yunmengze. It will be necessary to wait until after the Battle of Chibi and Sun Quan to build Xiakou City in Snake Mountain before there will be Hankou, one of the three towns in Wuhan in the future.
As for later famous cities in Hubei such as Jianli City and Hanyang City, they are simply still at the bottom of the lake.
Most areas including the Jianghan Plain in later generations are now either swamps and lakes, or are still in a marshland. The terrain is much more complicated than the smooth Jianghan Plain in later generations.
Although most of Yunmengze has disappeared, there are still countless large and small lakes left. As a result, from Jiangling in Nanjun to Xiakou in Jiangxia, there are all waterways extending in all directions. The waterways are extremely changeable, forming a lush and branchy landscape.
water network.
If you take the water route, if you go from west to east, such as from Nanjun to Jiangxia County, and follow the Yangtze River, the speed will be faster, especially with a tailwind, the fastest time can reach about 25 kilometers per hour.
Li Bai's "A Thousand Miles to Jiangling in One Day" is not an exaggerated poem, but a declarative sentence.
But if you are traveling by water from south to north, or from east to west, the speed will be much slower, because you are going upstream and you need to rely on human power to paddle. It is difficult to walk several kilometers per hour.
For example, in the battle of Lü Meng's raid on Jingzhou, from November 24, Jian'an, he disguised himself as a merchant in Xunyang and went all the way up the Yangtze River to early December, Jian'an 24, it took nearly half a month to reach Jiangling. Except for the midway
Except for a little delay in accepting surrender twice, the rest of the time was spent on the road.
Liu Biao's main areas of control were Nanjun, Jiangxia County and Nanyang County to the north of the Yangtze River. As for Changsha County, Lingling County, Guiyang County and Wuling County to the south of the Yangtze River, they were only nominally under his jurisdiction, and Liu Biao did not
Don't have much control.
So when a rebellion broke out in the Changsha area, Liu Biao didn't even know about it at the first time due to the remote and complicated roads and slow waterway information transmission. He was still waiting for Sun Cao's reply in Xiangyang, thousands of miles away.
As a result, by late June, Zhang Xian's army had entered Dongting Lake from the Xiangjiang River Basin. The ships were moving from Changsha County, Wuling County and other places, using large rivers such as Yuanshui, Xiangshui, and Zishui, all the way.
Going north, it was not until the Jingzhou Navy in Jiling, located near the Yangtze River Basin, that they discovered this situation.
According to records, the main force of Jingzhou Navy is located in Jiangling in Nanjun, Shaxian in Jiangxia, and Xiakou area. This area is almost connected by Yunmengze, forming a wider area than the 800-mile Dongting Lake.
Water area, the famous Battle of Red Cliff took place nearby.
Historically, Liu Biao and Sun Quan's Jiangdong navy fought back and forth. Although they could only be forced to defend, they were never defeated by Sun Quan across Jiangxia. Huang Zu even killed Ling Cao, Xu Kun and other Jiangdong generals, which shows that Liu Biao
The strength of Jingzhou Navy is not weak.
There is Liu Biao's naval force in the Xiangyang area, commanded by Cai Mao and Zhang Yun. In addition, there are some rear patrol troops in the Yangtze River, Dongting Lake, and Xiangjiang River areas to prevent Sun Quan from sneak attacks on the rear from Yuzhang and other places. In this way, Huang
Zu's military strength and Jingzhou Navy's strength should be roughly divided into three parts.
The first part is naturally the Jiangxia Navy under the control of Huang Zu, which has the largest number and the strongest strength. The second part is the Xiangfan Navy in Xiangyang. The number of troops in this part is not large. The third part is the Yangtze River in the rear.
The army is located in Jiangling and Jiling areas.
Cao Cao surrendered the entire Jing Province of about 80,000 troops, while Liu Biao's total force was more than 100,000. It can be seen that when Sun Quan defeated Huang Zu on the eve of the Battle of Chibi, he also wiped out the main force of the strongest Jingzhou navy.
Later, the naval force that Cao Cao was able to obtain was the Xiangfan Navy and the Yangtze River Navy. The total strength should be between 30,000 and 40,000. Then in the Battle of Chibi, a fire was burned completely. From then on, Cao Cao never returned.
There is no ability to go south and pacify Jiangdong.
The first Liu Biao force that Zhang Xian's army encountered when heading north was the Yangtze River Navy in Jiangling. When Sun Quan eliminated Huang Zu, he captured about 20,000 to 30,000 prisoners, which shows that Huang Zu's army should number between 30,000 and 40,000.
between.
And because the Han River is not as wide as the Yangtze River Basin and has a lake as big as Yunmengze, the number of naval forces in Xiangyang is not large, probably around 10,000 to 20,000. From this it can be seen that the strength of the Yangtze River Navy should also be one or two.
Within ten thousand, and the combat effectiveness was far inferior to Huang Zu's Jiangxia Navy.
Therefore, Zhang Xian's Jingnan Allied Forces conquered Xiaoling on the south bank of the Yangtze River. Xiaoling was the Gong'an County in later generations. The name of this place was not changed until Liu Bei captured the four counties in Jingnan and stationed here, taking Zuo Gong'an Camp.
The place is named.
When Xiaoling fell, the entire Yangtze River Navy was shocked. They quickly sent people north to report to Liu Biao. At the same time, they defended Jiangling and relied on the vast Yunmengze Lake to take advantage of the navy's advantage to temporarily stop Zhang Xian south of the Yangtze River.
At this time, Liu Biao had just received a reply from Sun and Cao. He didn't know about it yet. He was summoning Kuai Yue, Kuai Liang, Cai Mao, Zhang Yun and others to come to his mansion again to discuss important matters.
Everyone in the hall sat down. Liu Biao raised the letter in his hand and said with a smile on his face: "Everyone, Cao Cao and Sun Jian have replied to their letter. What do you think they said?"
Kuai Yue knew the result when he saw his expression, and said with a smile: "They must all support Ming Gong's rise and be willing to send troops to help."
"good."
Liu Biao nodded, "The two have agreed to form an alliance, saying that as long as I send troops, they will definitely send troops to rescue me."
"this is a good news."
Kuai Yue said: "Ming Gong, please give me an order. Zhang Xiu has already sent more than 30 letters for help in less than ten days, which shows that he can no longer hold on for much longer."
Liu Biao looked at Zhang Yun and said: "Chengping, you lead 20,000 people to the north, and join Wenpin with 40,000 troops to fight against the invading enemy."
"I know, uncle!"
Zhang Yun stood up and saluted Liu Biao.
Forty thousand troops.
This is the number of troops Liu Biao sent this time.
As mentioned before, the total strength of Liu Biao's army during this period was recorded in "Three Kingdoms" and "Book of the Later Han" as more than 100,000.
But the exact number of hundreds of thousands has not yet been determined.
However, based on the fact that Cao Cao surrendered about 80,000 Liu Cong's troops, Liu Qi took about 10,000 more troops to Jiangxia, and Sun Quan destroyed Huang Zu's 30,000 troops, the total military strength should be 120,000.
Including the nearly 60,000 to 70,000 Jingzhou Navy, the number of land forces Liu Biao can use does not exceed 60,000, and Xiangyang still needs at least 10,000 to 20,000 troops to defend, so the 40,000 troops are almost his.
limit.
From this point of view, Liu Biao still attached great importance to the imperial court's southward march. He planned to join forces with Cao Cao and Sun Jian to attack the imperial court's invasion head-on and let the imperial court know that Jingzhou was not easy to mess with.
But just when Zhang Yun received the order and was about to set off, a guard suddenly rushed in from outside the door and said: "Ming Gong, it's bad, the Yangtze River Navy has come to report that Zhang Xian, the governor of Changsha, has rebelled."
"What?"
Liu Biao was shocked and said: "Where is the enemy? How many soldiers and horses are there?"
The guard replied: "There are about 40,000 to 50,000 horses in Chiling."
"Why does it happen to be at this time?"
Liu Biao was so angry that he raised his hands and shook them frequently. It was obvious that he was helpless.
However, brothers Kuai Yue and Kuai Liang were still calm. Kuai Liang said: "Ming Gong, Changsha used to be very prosperous, but now it is not as prosperous as before. Now Zhang Xian can gather 40,000 to 50,000 troops. This shows that there is not only a rebellion in Changsha, but also a rebellion in Changsha."
There are uprisings in all the four counties in Jingnan, and a large army must be sent to suppress them."
Kuai Yue pondered: "Zhang Xian once served as the governor of Guiyang, Lingling and other places, and he was deeply popular among the people. I am afraid that Guiyang, Lingling and other places have also participated. This power is not trivial. If left alone, I am afraid they will attack us.
The important rear area."
"Now the imperial troops are moving south and are trying to annex Nanyang. There are also bandits moving north from Jingnan. What should you do?"
Liu Biao was anxious and angry.
Although Changsha was prosperous, that was what happened before. After the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Ou Xing, Zhou Dynasty, Guo Shi and others rebelled one after another, and the plague was rampant, causing a significant decline in population and economy.
When Yuan Shu served as the governor of Changsha, Chen Mu took a fancy to this and believed that Yuan Shu could not rely on Changsha to raise an army, so he transferred him there in order to suppress Yuan Shu.
Unexpectedly, the Yuan family was too powerful and the foundation in Changsha was insufficient, but the Yuan family in Runan had a solid foundation, which helped Yuan Shu and finally allowed him to succeed.
As for Guiyang, Lingling, Wuling and other places, there have been many rebellions. Moreover, the people here are mostly ethnic minorities and do not accept the king's rule. It was a place outside the Han Dynasty at that time. Therefore, the overall strength of the four southern counties of Jingzhou is far inferior.
In the north of Jingzhou, the number of soldiers and horses that can be afforded is very limited.
However, a very important reason why Zhang Xian was able to raise an army was that he had served as a prefect in Lingling, Guiyang and other places, and he was deeply popular among the local people. So when he called, thousands of troops and horses immediately followed him, with four or five soldiers.
Thousands of people marched northward in mighty force.
Although Liu Biao's total force was quite large, Huang Zu was in Jiangxia at this time. Although Yuan Shu was trapped in Yangzhou, he was still evil and eyeing Jiangxia. Therefore, these soldiers and horses could not move. If Yuan Shu was moved, he would take advantage of it.
The soldiers and horses in Xiangyang still have to deal with the crisis of the imperial court moving south. There are only about 20,000 Yangtze River Navy troops in the Jiangling area. These troops are not elite and may not be able to withstand the powerful enemy.
Kuai Liang thought: "I heard that Sun Ce, the eldest son of Sun Jian, was attacking Jiangdong in Shouchun. Although Yuan Shu occupied Yuzhang, Danyang and other places, and had soldiers and horses in Chaisangbu, he was defeated by Sun Ce and was probably unable to do so.
It would be better to invade Jiangxia again..."
"Transfer Huang Zu over?"
Liu Biao frowned for a moment. Historically, he placed Huang Zu in Jiangxia to prevent Sun Quan from invading.
But now that Yuan Shu is on his last breath, with only tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, he no longer has the ability to invade Jingzhou. Logically speaking, he should not continue to send a large army to garrison Jiangxia.
However, the reason why he did this is very simple, that is, he saw that Yuan Shu was at the end of his power. If Yuan Shu was destroyed and Jiangdong was left without a master, the Jingzhou army would immediately go down the river and occupy Yangzhou.
In this way, Liu Biao will be able to sit on the two states of Jingzhou and Yangzhou, and rule across the river from the north. His strength will be unprecedentedly expanded. After all, he is also a person who has sacrificed to heaven and earth and dreamed of being an emperor. Now there is a great opportunity.
In front of him, Liu Biao didn't want to miss it.
If Huang Zu is transferred back, then Jiangdong will have no fate with him at all. This makes Liu Biao feel extremely entangled in an instant. Should he choose to keep Jingzhou, or continue to deploy troops in Jiangxia and spy on Jiangdong?
"Is Ming Gong thinking that Yuan Shu is already a withered bone in the grave, and Jiangdong is about to fall into a situation without an owner. If Jiangxia Navy is transferred back, Jiangdong will fall into the hands of Sun Jian?"
Kuai Yue saw what he was thinking and asked immediately.
"yes."
Seeing that he couldn't hide it, Liu Biao sighed: "A large piece of unowned land like Yangzhou should belong to me, Jingzhou."
Kuai Yue thought for a while and said: "Ming Gong, the letter from Zhang Xiu only said that the imperial court sent Zhao Yun to lead 20,000 troops. We had previously planned that Zhao Yun had 50,000 troops in Yingchuan, so Wenpin and Chengping were sent to lead the four.
Ten thousand people, including Zhang Xiu's ten thousand or twenty thousand horses, and Sun Cao's reinforcements, we will definitely be able to defeat the imperial army."
"Um."
Liu Biao nodded slightly.
The battle report Zhang Xiu gave him said that Zhao Yun only brought 20,000 troops, but Yingchuan was too close to Nanyang and the remaining 30,000 people could arrive in a day or two to support him, so he initially counted the enemy's strength as 50,000.
Since Sun Jian and Cao Cao had to guard against the imperial troops in Henan Yin, Jizhou, Qingzhou and Xuzhou, they could not find many men and horses to come to the rescue. Therefore, in the analysis of the specific number of people needed to defeat the imperial army, Liu Biao, Kuai Yue, Kuai Liang and others believed that,
They need at least 40,000 people to reach it.
In this way, with the 40,000-strong army plus Zhang Xiu's army and some of Sun Cao's reinforcements, the total number of coalition forces can reach at least 70,000. If they are against the imperial court's 50,000 people, they will at least have the upper hand in terms of numbers. This should be 100%
He defeated Zhao Yun a hundred times.
Kuai Yue continued: "The reason why we think the imperial court has 50,000 troops is because Zhao Yun deployed 50,000 horses in Yingchuan. But if this is the case, then why did Zhao Yun only bring 20,000 people instead of 50,000?"
"you mean?"
Liu Biao hesitated.
Kuai Yue said: "I'm thinking that Yingchuan is too close to Yanzhou and Yuzhou, and the road is smooth, and there is nothing to defend. That's why the imperial court sent heavy troops here to guard against Yanzhou, Yuzhou and our troops, then if
If all the 50,000 people from the imperial court come over, wouldn’t that mean Yingchuan?”
Liu Biao suddenly realized: "What you mean is that the reason why the imperial court sent 20,000 people is because it can only send 20,000 people. If all 50,000 troops are dispatched, then Yingchuan will be attacked by Sun Cao. Then we will fight with them
In a pincer attack from the north and south, the imperial army will surely die?"
"Exactly."
Kuai Yue's analysis showed that he seemed to be in control of the situation.
Liu Biao was overjoyed and said: "Then according to the different degrees, we don't need to send 40,000 people at all, right?"
"Yes, I think 20,000 people are enough."
Kuai Yue replied.
"good!"
Liu Biao nodded repeatedly and said: "Then we will send 20,000 Wenpin to the north and Chengping to 20,000 people to go south to quell the rebellion!"