of Troops

Chaisang County is close to the Yangtze River and is the entrance of the Yangtze River into Pengli Lake. It blocks the passage of Jiangxia from Jingzhou to invade Yangzhou and Yuzhang.

In history, whether it was Huang Zu's attack on Yuzhang or Sun Ce and Sun Quan's repeated attacks on Jiangxia, Chaisang was inseparable.

The two sides either fought around Chaisang County, or started from Chaisang County and headed north.

It can be said that this is the most crucial link between Yangzhou and Jingzhou. Like Xunyang County in Jiangbei, it is a strategic location that military strategists must compete for.

However, the heavy rains in recent days were an unexpected event.

The heavy rain not only raised the water level of the Yangtze River a lot, but also flooded Chaisang County, which has a relatively high terrain, with water from the river, almost completely submerging the dock outside the city in the north, which later became the urban area of ​​Jiujiang City.

In the Han Dynasty, Saihu and Bali Lake to the west of Jiujiang City were connected with the Yangtze River. Together with the urban area of ​​Jiujiang City, they formed a natural port.

At the same time, Chaisang City is surrounded by Mount Lu to the east, the remaining mountains of Jiuling Mountain to the west, the mighty Yangtze River and Penglize to the north, and the overlapping hilly areas of Mount Lu and the remaining mountains of Jiuling Mountain to the south. The geographical location is extremely advantageous.

But because of this, Chaisang’s travel routes to the west and south are also restricted.

If you take the land route from Chaisang, you have to cross three mountain ranges in succession to return to Jiangxia, or go south to Nanchang and Changsha to return to Jingzhou. Therefore, boats have almost become the only means of transportation for people in Chaisang area.

But under the current extreme weather, it is almost impossible for ships to leave the port. Even if they leave the port, it is difficult to sail on Penglize and the Yangtze River. Once the wind and waves get bigger, the entire army may be wiped out.

Therefore, after the ship carrying grain capsized in the Yangtze River and it was not known how long it would take for the next batch of grain to arrive, Huang Zu had to consider retreating his troops and returning to the north of the Yangtze River to find Yang.

On June 9, the 10th year of Jian'an, in the yamen of Chaisang County, which was shrouded in wind and rain, Huang Zu summoned the generals to discuss matters in the hall.

Everyone gathered in the hall, including senior officers Zhang Hu, Chen Sheng, Su Fei, Deng Long and other generals, plus some assistants such as chief secretary, chief historian, and Cao Shi, totaling more than twenty or thirty people, large and small.

Huang Zu was sitting on the main seat, looking at the latest official document sent from Xunyang, with a serious expression on his face.

After a while, when everyone had entered the hall, bowed to him and sat down, he threw the official document on the table and said softly: "Xiangyang has replied."

Many generals immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Su Fei was the governor of Jiangxia and the chief military officer of Jiangxia County. His official position was second only to Huang Zu, and he was the second in command. When they heard this, they quickly asked: "Master Fu, your Majesty agrees.

Have we withdrawn our troops?"

"The king gave the eldest son full authority to handle the matter. The eldest son agreed to our request to withdraw our troops and sent someone over to ask us how we plan to withdraw our troops."

The wind and rain outside were still strong, and Huang Zu was not in a good mood. He said with a heavy face: "In the middle of last month, I asked the king to withdraw his troops and return to Jiangxia. The messenger traveled over the mountains and ridges, and traveled overland for a month to deliver the letter. He was almost killed on the mountain road.

The mud and rocks are buried, so it seems that it won’t be possible to take a detour from Fuyi Mountain back to Xiaqian and then back to E County.”

"Then we can only take the water route across the river to find Yang. This is the best choice. We have thousands of large and small ships still staying in Chaisang. If we go back by land and the ships are destroyed, we will almost never attack Jiangdong again.

ability.”

Su Fei thought.

In fact, it is not impossible to return to Jiangxia by land. There are large hills to the west from Chaisang. Although it is also a mountainous area, there are at least roads that can lead you all the way to Ruichangting, which is later Ruichang City, Jiangxi Province.

Just after passing Ruichang Pavilion, there is the Lianyun and Mufu Mountains that stretch for more than 100 kilometers. You have to pass Yangxin County and Xingguo Town before you can get to Xiajie.

Not only is the road difficult to walk along the way, it is also windy and rainy, and you may encounter mudslides at any time.

The most important thing is what to do by land and ship?

They attacked Yuzhang with thousands of ships, large and small. Although some troops were stationed in Xunyang, Xiazhi, E County and other places, Chai Sang's army numbered more than 30,000, and there were more than 1,000 ships, almost the entire Jiangxia.

Half the number of ships in the navy.

Once they abandon these ships, the number of Jiangxia Navy's ships will be inferior to that of Jiangdong Navy. When the time comes for a water battle, Huang Zu's nearly 60,000 naval troops will have to watch from the shore, at least 30,000 of them.

So the ship cannot be lost.

Now that they are short of food and grass, and need to withdraw to Jiangxia, they have to consider taking the ships away.

Huang Zu looked at the chief clerk and asked: "How much food and grass is left in the city?"

"There are still more than 60,000 stones."

The chief clerk replied: "It can still feed the army for twenty days. If the weight is reduced, or fishing nets are arranged to catch fish in the river, the rest of the month can be used."

Huang Zu said in a deep voice: "Everyone here with me has been in Jiangxia for many years, and you should also know that once the river enters the rainy season, it often rains for many days in a row. Although it has been raining intermittently for nearly a month from last month to now, who knows?

There is no telling whether there will be another month, and at the end of the month there will be no food, and the army will be hungry, so the top priority is to retreat, at least to Xunyang."

Su Fei said: "But now is the time when the wind and waves are strong. It is still too dangerous to sail at this time. I think we should send someone to inform the eldest son first and ask him to transport some grain and grass to the north of the Yangtze River. Wait for a few days to see if the wind and rain subside, and then

Cross the river."

"Um."

Huang Zu nodded and said: "I think so too, Su Fei, I order you to lead a school of troops to station at Jiujiang Pavilion first. Deng Long, you lead a school of troops to station at Ruichang Pavilion and move some of the baggage first.

Get to the boat, wait for a while, and see that the wind and rain have subsided a little, then cross the river back to Xunyang."

"only!"

Su Fei and Deng Long each took their orders.

Liu Bian is not short of food now. Xiangyang Prefecture has tens of millions of dan in stock, so there is no shortage of food and grass for Huang Zu. The 60,000-strong army plus the auxiliary troops will be equipped with at least three months' share each time, which is almost fifty

The appearance of ten thousand stones.

However, this battle could not be endured for a long time. The confrontation lasted for more than a year, and both sides were exhausted. Taking advantage of the heavy rain, Huang Zu also had the idea of ​​returning to Jiangxia to rest and fight again the next day.

Anyway, the people in Chaisang, Pengze, and Xunyang areas were all moved to Jiangxia by him. Now they don't have much food in stock, so it's really an opportunity to go back and rest.

After letting Su Fei and Deng Long make preparations, Huang Zu asked the generals to return to the camp first.

He himself was still sitting in the hall looking at the official document.

In addition to asking him to plan the withdrawal of troops by himself, the eldest son Liu Qi also mentioned in the letter the suggestion of Shen Chen, who was currently a guest at the Cheng Mansion of Jiangxia County.

The first suggestion is to hope that he will withdraw his troops and try not to take the land route but the water route.

The second suggestion is that if he takes the water route, he should divide his troops into three routes, one from Ruichang Pavilion to Jiangxinzhou, the other with the main force back to Xunyang, and the last all the way to Huangmeiting. In this way, the three routes can be considered from beginning to end to prevent people from attacking. Attack halfway.

The third suggestion was for him to carry some supplies and put them on the boat first, then find a time when the wind and rain were light, and then cross the river back to Xunyang. They would meet him in Xunyang City.

Shen Chen.

Huang Zu looked at the sky in the distance and suddenly sighed.

Unknowingly, more than ten years have passed. The child who followed his uncle to Jiangxia to meet him has grown up and will soon reach adulthood.

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After noon, the pouring rain was still falling, and the pattering raindrops hit the forest at the northern foot of Fuyi Mountain, making a crackling sound in the lush forest.

Fuyi Mountain is the eastern foothills of Jiuling Mountain, south of Chaisang County and north of Liling County, which is also the due north of De'an County in Jiangxi Province.

There is a house on a small hill on the north side of the mountain range near Chaisang County, which the locals call Minshan.

There used to be a village in the mountains, but dozens of people were relocated. Only a few hunter cabins were left in the mountains. Many of them collapsed due to disrepair, but the one on the top of the mountain was recently renovated. .

The newly renovated house is made of bamboo. The raindrops beat through the forest and fall on the bamboo house, making a crisp sound. In addition to the wind and rain, you can even hear the sound of plucked piano strings.

At this time, a man in a brown raincoat climbed up the rugged mountain path to the top of the mountain and arrived in front of the bamboo house.

The bamboo house was hidden under the forest, surrounded by towering trees. Almost as soon as the man came over, someone stood up under the surrounding trees and among the grass.

They were all wearing raincoats, so it was difficult to tell whether they were friends or foes based on their appearance.

"It's the Captain of Peiping."

Behind that man were several soldiers wearing raincoats, who immediately shouted.

Lu Meng walked to the bamboo house, took off his raincoat on the corridor, listened to the sound of the piano at the door, and said softly: "Captain."

"Come in."

A gentle voice came from the door.

Lu Meng opened the door and walked in. He saw a handsome young man in his thirties sitting cross-legged on the mat in a spacious bamboo house, gently stroking the Yao Qin.

"The governor is so elegant and happy."

Lu Meng said with a smile, and finally added: "Two schools of troops came out of Chaisang City, one went north to Jiujiang Pavilion, and the other went west to Ruichang Pavilion."

The man playing the piano was none other than Zhou Yu. When he heard these words, his slender hands stopped and pressed lightly on the strings. The sound of the piano in the room immediately stopped, except for the sound of wind and rain. There was no other sound.

Zhou Yu lowered his head and looked at the piano. After nearly half a minute, seeing that he didn't speak, Lu Meng was very puzzled and asked: "Captain?"

"Um."

Zhou Yu shook his head and said: "I was just thinking, why are they going to Jiujiang and Ruichang?"

Lu Meng said: "Perhaps he plans to cover Chai Sang from the front and back."

Zhou Yu thought for a moment and said, "Old thief Huang Zu is probably planning to withdraw his troops."

"withdraw troops?"

Lu Meng was surprised and said: "Is this the time?"

Zhou Yu said with a smile: "Do you still remember that we fished out pieces of the sunken ship a few days ago? There was a lot of grain and grass in the cabin. The grain transport ship was probably overturned by the wind and rain. The grain in Chaisang City may have bottomed out."

Lu Meng said happily: "In this kind of wind and rain, you can't go by water, you can only go by land. He sent troops to Ruichang, but he planned to go back to Jiangxia over the mountains. Then we mobilized troops and ambush him while he was withdrawing, wouldn't we?

A big victory?"
To be continued...