Chapter 124 An unexpected gain
In the Wancheng camp, Sun Quan, Zhuge Jin and He Qi looked at each other in bewilderment.
More than ten days ago in Wankou, Sun Quan announced the mobilization of troops with high spirits, watching so many generals and soldiers of the Eastern Wu set out for battle.
But now, there are only these three people left in the tent, and the feeling of desolation is beyond words.
Even though Zhuge Jin had thousands of words in his mind, they all came down to one sentence: "Supreme Lord, withdraw the troops."
"Supreme Lord, take all the troops in Wancheng back and use the power of the Yangtze River to block the enemy at Wankou. Maybe we can even provide support for some of the defeated troops."
"The Wei army will arrive tomorrow night at the latest. If we don't leave now, it will be too late."
He Qi, a veteran general of the Eastern Wu, also advised: "Your Majesty, the navy is still there. Even if the Wei army wins, they will only occupy the north of the Yangtze River."
"The navy is still here, Jingzhou and Yangzhou are still here. Your Majesty, let's go."
Sun Quan had been in charge of Jiangdong for 26 years. Whether it was Chibi or Yiling, no matter what crisis it was, it had never been like this. Even though Sun Quan had confronted Cao Wei in Jiangbei many times and surrendered to beg for mercy, it was only to preserve his strength and delay the situation.
Now that 80,000 troops have lost contact and are likely to be wiped out, Sun Quan is unwilling to accept this result. But what can he do if this is the case?
Is it that only Cao Cao was allowed to defeat Chibi and Liu Bei was allowed to defeat Yiling, but you, Sun Quan and Lu Xun were not allowed to defeat Wancheng?
Sun Quan sighed and said, "Let's withdraw the siege of Wancheng now, and quickly. After dawn tomorrow, prepare to retreat south immediately."
Zhuge Jin was stunned for a moment, and after looking around and realizing that there was no one else present except himself, the Left General, he could only accept the military order himself: "I obey your command."
However, just as Zhuge Jin was about to ask whether to retreat to Wankou or retreat back to Wuchang, Sun Quan surprised him by standing up from the table.
Sun Quan narrowed his eyes, placed his hands heavily on the table, and squeezed out a sentence through gritted teeth: "Let the army retreat south first! Ziyu, Gongmiao, you two will follow me on the boat tomorrow and wait for the Wei soldiers to arrive!"
Zhuge Jin and He Qi looked at each other.
Although we have to wait for the Wei army to arrive, there won't be any risk on the boat, right? In this case, there is no need to persuade him anymore, just wait with Sun Quan.
On the second day, that is, at noon on January 13, although the Wei army had not yet arrived in Wancheng, the troops of General Zhendong Cao Tai had already arrived north of Wankou.
Like Wancheng, Wankou was named after the Wan River. The Tianzhu Mountain to the north of Wancheng is also called Wanshan.
The reason why Anhui Province was abbreviated as "Wan" in later generations was because of the existence of Wanshan, Wanshui and Wankou. The place of Wankou was later called Anqing. It was actually an important town.
Cao Tai arrived south of the trailer on the afternoon of the tenth day, and immediately led 10,000 infantrymen to the south, trying to cross the hills to Wankou. The roads were sparse and sparsely populated, and although the hilly terrain was not very rugged, it was still quite difficult.
Less than a hundred miles away, Cao Tai led his troops carrying food and baggage, marching south day and night. On the way, people often fell behind, and Cao Tai left the stragglers behind in order to achieve the purpose of a surprise attack. When Cao Tai arrived north of Wankou, he only had about 5,000 soldiers available.
Although the word "surprise attack" sounds refreshing, it also comes at a huge cost, such as huge non-combat casualties.
Wankouwu is located on the left bank of the Wanshui River where it flows into the Yangtze River. When Cao Tai had assembled in the mountains and was ready to come out, the defenders in Wankouwu were completely unaware.
It’s not the defenders’ fault for being unprepared, it’s just that Wankou is too far away from the main battlefield of Wancheng.
Although he was preparing for a surprise attack, when Cao Tai actually saw Wankouwu from a distance, he found that Wankouwu was located by the water, nearly two miles away from the nearest mountain.
It would be easier if it was at night, but now it was afternoon and the sun was high in the sky. In broad daylight, a surprise attack would not work, so we could only prepare for a strong attack.
When Cao Tai led his troops out of the mountains and prepared to march towards Wankouwu, the defenders in Wankouwu, although they had never expected to discover the Wei army from this direction, they quickly noticed it and organized themselves to prepare for defense along the wall of the wharf.
The word "Wu" originally means a small castle. Since the end of the Han Dynasty, when rebels, warlords and bandits were rampant, local tyrants gathered together to build Wu forts for self-defense.
Even Xu Chu, the current Wuwei General, had gathered thousands of people in the county and built a fortress to protect himself before he surrendered to Cao Cao. The Runan bandits once attacked Xu Chu's fortress with a scale of 10,000 people, but they were all repelled by Xu Chu and his men.
However, at Wankou at that time, the Wankou fort was not as large as the fort built by Xu Chu and "thousands of families" at that time, and Cao Tai's 5,000 Wei troops were much more well-organized than the former Runan bandits.
There is a huge difference between the shapes of the docks on the water and those on land. The docks on land are naturally square, while the docks on the water often have only a semicircular wall facing the land, with a large opening towards the dock.
Yesterday, when Sun Quan led his navy northward along the Wan River, he only left a thousand garrison troops at the mouth of the Wan River, led by Sun Quan's trusted general Song Qian.
Cao Tai led his army to launch an offensive without any psychological preparation, and after the defending general Song Qian was shot dead by the Wei army, he easily captured Wankou Wharf. About 200 Wu soldiers guarding the place were killed in the battle, and only about 100 Wu soldiers seized the remaining small boats at the nearby dock and escaped. Many of them also crossed the Wan River to the west, and only 100 were left to surrender.
Seeing that the fortress had been breached, Cao Tai's General Zhendong Sima Suyi asked, "General, your majesty's order is to seize Wankou, and our army has already taken this place. What should we do next?"
Cao Tai thought for a moment and said, "The Wu army still has some military supplies and fodder left, enough for us to use for more than ten days. Since we have already occupied Wankou, and your majesty's military order does not explain what will happen after occupying Wankou, then we should naturally choose the right time to act."
"Move all the available supplies in the dock and set up camp where we exit the mountain. We will observe here for a few days."
When Su Yi heard Cao Tai's words, she was about to take the order and leave, but was stopped by Cao Tai again.
Cao Tai said: "Pass my order to slaughter all the Wu troops who surrendered here and throw them into the Wan River!"
"This..." Su Yi was worried when he heard Cao Tai's order: "General, killing prisoners is an ominous thing. If the court investigates, won't it just cause trouble?"
Cao Tai glared at Su Yi and said, "In the past, Wu Gou hurt my father in Ruxu. My father died of illness before he returned to Shouchun. Wu Gou and I have an irreconcilable relationship! There are only a few hundred people, not thousands or tens of thousands. If they are slaughtered, then who knows?"
Cao Tai pulled Su Yi over and whispered in Su Yi's ear: "After the soldiers move the supplies away from the dock, leave a team of guards to slaughter these Wu dogs in the dock and throw them into the river!"
Although Su Yi had no choice but to obey the order. After all, the Wei and Wu families had been fighting for many years, and the hatred would not be resolved in a short time.
For the generals of the central army who came all the way from Luoyang, fighting was just fighting, and there was no question of personal vendetta.
As for Cao Tai, a foreign general whose father Cao Ren's death was related to the Wu people, this was not only a personal vendetta, but also a typical military behavior. After years of fighting, they naturally don't take life and death too seriously, and they don't care about the enemy's life even more. How much can it be worth?
Just as Cao Tai was directing his troops to burn down the dock and move supplies, a guard ran up to Cao Tai and reported, "General, we just found a woman hiding in a house in the dock."
Women? Cao Tai said nonchalantly, "What's wrong with women? Just keep them with the prisoners."
The guard explained: "General, this woman doesn't seem to be an ordinary woman. She refuses to reveal her identity, and I can't explain it clearly for the time being. Please go and see for yourself."
Cao Tai raised his eyebrows, stared at the guards suspiciously, and then followed the guards into the dock.
When the Wu army was guarding Wankouwu, Sun Luban hid in the fort. If Song Qian was still there, he would surely lead Sun Luban to break out. But Song Qian was unfortunately killed in the battle, and the Wei army's offensive was urgent. When the Wu army scattered and fled for their lives, Sun Luban had no choice but to hide.
What else could he do if he didn't hide? Sun Luban couldn't float and didn't have a boat, so he could only hide in the dock.
As expected, Sun Luban kept silent when facing the Wei soldiers, but after meeting Cao Tai, a general with a salary of two thousand stones, she took the initiative to talk about her life experience.
After hearing this, Cao Tai shook his head and could only ask his personal guards to take Sun Luban under guard and then take her away.
In his early years, when Cao Cao was chasing Liu Bei at Changbanpo, he captured Liu Bei's two daughters. Cao Tai was in the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry at that time.
Now, after twenty years, has Sun Quan's daughter been captured again?
……
At this time, in the camp, Cao Zhen stood up and said, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty led the army in person as the emperor. Now that the battle is over and the victory is outstanding, the remaining things can be done by the Grand Marshal. I think Your Majesty should also return to the court."
Cao Rui nodded and said, "My role here is nothing more than to bring the central army here and bring the wise men to coordinate the battle situation with the Grand Marshal and the General."
"Now Sun Quan has only 20,000 soldiers left. The general is right. It is time for me to return to Luoyang."
The core of the Wei army had already pieced together the general situation of the entire Wu army through the mouths of the captured Wu army generals. Sun Quan mobilized a total of 100,000 troops, and about 20,000 were killed in the war a few days before and after the trailer, and 40,000 were captured that day.
There were about 20,000 Wu troops who fled into the hills in the south, and within two days, another 10,000 of them came out to surrender.
Then there are 50,000 prisoners here.
It has to be said that this large scale of prisoners put a huge pressure on the Wei army, and how to deal with these prisoners was naturally the top priority that the emperor needed to resolve before returning to Shouchun.
(End of this chapter)
