After hearing the message from the messenger, Xu Shu turned around and told Wen Dai, "General Wen, please mount your horse and follow me to go and fetch Qian Zhenxi."
Wen Dai was stunned for a moment: "Only Mr. Xu and I?"
"You and I are enough."
After saying this, Xu Shu jumped on his horse and galloped directly in the direction of Qian Zhao's troops. Seeing this, Wen Dai also hurriedly rode his horse to catch up.
The land of several miles can be reached in a moment.
Xu Shu rode his horse forward, and when he approached Qianzhao's army formation, he galloped straight towards the direction of the general's flag.
"General, how are you?" Xu Shu called out loudly while holding the reins of the horse.
"We parted in Xuchang at the beginning of the year, but I never thought that Yuan Zhi would come to lead the troops. We actually met in Deng County, Jingzhou." Qian Zhao also laughed heroically while sitting on his horse: "Hello, General Xu."
Xu Shu pointed to Wen Dai standing behind him and said, "This is Lieutenant General Wen Dai, the eldest son of the late General Wen Zhongye. After General Xiahou went to Jiangxia, he ordered him to lead 10,000 foreign troops from Jiangxia to reinforce Fancheng."
Wen Dai also dismounted and bowed, "Greetings, General Qian."
As Qian Zhao dismounted, he sighed and returned the greeting to Wen Dai, saying, "I heard in Xuchang that Brother Zhongye was in poor health. Today, I heard the news of his death. I am so busy with the war that I am sorry that I cannot go to express my condolences in person."
Wen Pin has been a general for many years. Although he is a frontier general, he still has some connections in the court.
Wendai thanked Qian Zhao repeatedly, with a few tears in his eyes.
For him, the few connections left by his father were all he could rely on to become a general in the future. Leading an army of ten thousand was an extraordinary configuration.
As for the generals, Zhao Yan, the chief military officer, was in Jingzhou, so only one of Zhao Yan and Xu Shu would be left in the future. His father Wen Pin commanded an army of 25,000, and it was a great honor for him to lead this army of 10,000. If he wanted to achieve his wish, he would have to make a special contribution in this battle, which would be Wen Dai's only chance.
Qian Zhao and Xu Shu rode side by side in front, while Wen Dai followed behind, leading the Wuwei Battalion behind them and continuing to march towards Deng County not far away.
"Yuan Zhi is familiar with the military geography of Jingzhou, and has been in Deng County for many days. Please tell me the truth, how are you going to repel the Wu army this time?"
Xu Shu sighed: "As for the siege of Fancheng, it is not difficult to break it. But it is probably very difficult to drive all the Wu troops out of Xiangfan."
Qian Zhao raised an eyebrow: "What's the difficulty?"
"The difficulty lies in the navy." Xu Shu said slowly: "The navy of Jingzhou is not good to begin with. It has always been chased and defeated by the Wu army on the Han River, and it can't even go south to Yicheng. Some time ago, the camps of the Jingzhou navy between Xiangfan were destroyed by floods. Half of them were left in Caiyang, which is not good enough compared to the Wu army. The other small half was destroyed by the Wu army outside Fancheng."
Qian Zhao frowned and said, "So the difficulty is not in Fancheng, but in Xiangyang?"
Xu Shu nodded, "That's right. However, Xiangyang City is high and strong, and Zhao Dujian and Niu Jin have 10,000 people stationed inside. It is safe to hold out for half a year. Not only is Xiangyang there, but there is also Yuliangzhou on the Han River to the east of Xiangyang."
"What is the situation in Yuliangzhou?" Qian Zhao was puzzled for a moment.
Xu Shu said: "Yuliangzhou is a sandbar in the water, but it is very large, enough for 10,000 or 20,000 people to garrison."
Seeing that they were getting closer and closer to Deng County, Qian Zhao thought for a long time before saying, "If Yuan Zhi's words are true, the Wei navy will not work. If the best scenario is to follow, we can only confront the Wu army across the Han River? Yuliangzhou and Xiangyang are both out of the question?"
Xu Shu shrugged slightly. "Brother Qian, you and I can't do this, but that doesn't mean that Wei can't expel Sun Quan. I have sent a message to His Majesty, asking His Majesty to order Chen Situ of Yangzhou to attack Wu and force Sun Quan to return."
"Well, that's the only way." Qian Zhao said, "No matter what, the siege of Fancheng must be lifted. Does Yuanzhi have any good ideas?"
Xu Shu stroked his beard and said, "I estimate that the number of Wu soldiers besieging the city is about 30,000. Together with the nearby Wu troops, there may be more capable of fighting, up to 40,000 or 50,000. If you and I want to relieve Fancheng, there is no other way except to engage in a head-on battle. If I only lead 8,000 prefecture soldiers from Xinye and 10,000 foreign troops from Jiangxia, this will be impossible. But since Brother Qian brought the Wuwei Battalion here, I can give it a try."
"Forty or fifty thousand?" Qian Zhao was silent for a few moments. "The Wu army is not good at land warfare. You and I have nearly thirty thousand soldiers. If we just want to drive the Wu army away, we may be able to do it. How to do it specifically still needs to be determined on the battlefield."
"By the way, Yuan Zhi came directly to Jingzhou from Yecheng, right? How is General Wuwei doing?"
Xu Shu replied, "General Xu retired and came to live in Ye this spring. He has no worries about enjoying his grandchildren, but his health is getting worse. I saw him once in Yecheng. General Xu... gave me the impression that he may have been gone for the past one or two years."
Qian Zhao sighed: "Don't say that General Xu is getting old, Yuanzhi, look at my face. My hair is getting white, my skin is getting old, and even my teeth are starting to loosen. After this battle, I am afraid I will follow in General Xu's footsteps and resign from Your Majesty and the court." "Birth, aging, illness and death are common to all people. We should act accordingly. Why should we be sad?" Xu Shu's expression was much more relaxed than Qian Zhao's: "Just do our best."
Qian Zhao laughed and stopped dwelling on the topic. He asked, "Now that I have arrived in Deng County, I must follow Yuan Zhi's orders according to the imperial edict. When will the troops be dispatched?"
Xu Shu said, "Then let's rest for a night and send troops to break the siege tomorrow. Eleven years ago, Xu Gongming broke through Guan Yu's siege and marched straight into the city. Tomorrow, I will work with Brother Qian to accomplish this feat!"
Qian Zhao stroked his beard and replied, "That's exactly what is happening."
……
In late September of the fourth year of Taihe, the curtain of war was opening on the border between Wei, Eastern Wu and Shu Han, which stretched for thousands of miles.
The Xiangfan area in the center of the country, Fancheng and Xiangyang were surrounded by the Wu State. Wei Zhen arrived at Chencang and planned with Cao Zhen about the advance of troops and food supplies. The envoys sent from Xuchang also arrived at Shouchun, an important town on the south side of the Huai River, and met Chen Qun and Chen Changwen, who were in charge of the military affairs of Yangzhou.
In the Situ Mansion, a young envoy in his thirties presented the document in his hands to Chen Qun, who was sitting in the middle of the hall, and said, "Your Majesty has said that after receiving the letter, Situ should reply to the envoy with the selected military strategy within one hour."
The situation just told by the messenger made Chen Qun, Jiang Ji and Feng Ping in the hall all look at it seriously. Feng Ping stood up, took a few steps, took the letter from the messenger, and handed it to Chen Qun.
Chen Qun took a deep breath and read the document carefully again word by word. Then he looked up at the messenger and said, "Please wait outside the hall. Someone will take care of you. I will report the decision to you after discussing it with Governor Jiang and Chief Clerk Feng."
"As ordered."
After the envoy retreated, Chen Qun placed the documents neatly on the table and looked at Jiang Ji and Feng Ping. "Your Majesty is really impatient to make a decision in an hour. The envoy just explained it in detail, and you two have heard it. Which option do you think is better?"
"Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, but neither can produce immediate results." Jiang Ji shook his head solemnly and said, "Your Majesty and the Privy Council's intention is to let us attract the attention of the Wu army in Yangzhou, right? This is true, but if we only focus on building the city, should we fight the war or not?"
"You can't take military matters so lightly!"
"Ahem." Chen Qun looked at Jiang Ji helplessly, "Zi Tong, please be careful with your words. Since the court has decided that we should choose, it is definitely not a joke. It is an arrangement seriously approved by the central government. We just need to execute it."
Jiang Ji was obviously somewhat dissatisfied. As the governor of Yangzhou, the task of repairing the city would ultimately fall on his shoulders, not on Chen Qun and Feng Ping.
If we follow the court's advice and build two cities between Ruxu and Qibao Mountains, and two more cities beside Ruxu Fort, how much manpower and financial resources will be mobilized? Wouldn't the income from farming in Yangzhou in the past few years be wasted on this? And there is no sign of results!
Jiang Ji then said, "Mr. Chen, can't you fight for it with the court again?"
Chen Qun's expression gradually turned cold. "Since Your Majesty has said so, as a minister, we must do so. I know that Zitong is in trouble, but right now the court is also in trouble everywhere, not just Yangzhou. The cost of sending troops to Hebei this year, the floods in the Central Plains, the drought in Guanxi..."
Perhaps it was because of his age, or perhaps he was very aware of the importance of his position, but compared to Jiang Jiyi, Chen Qun seemed much more prudent. Of course, in this world, people who do things always complain more, while those who receive tasks and divisions have it easier.
Jiang Ji shook his head helplessly, and turned to sit on the chair and close his eyes to rest. Feng Ping saw Jiang Ji's expression, and looked at Chen Qun with a hint of dissatisfaction. But Chen Qun's response to Feng Ping was just a slight shake of his head.
Then wait! For something like building a city, Jiang Ji, the governor, is still needed to take the lead in organizing it.
About a quarter of an hour later, Jiang Ji slowly opened his eyes from his seat. After clearing his throat, Jiang Ji looked at Chen Qun with a serious look:
"Mr. Chen, if we start implementing this in three days, the state can mobilize 70,000 civilians. If it is extended to ten days, the maximum number of people that can be mobilized is 180,000. If it is more, the state will find it difficult to do anything."
Chen Qun was waiting for Jiang Ji to say this, and nodded in appreciation, "Zitong will be in charge of all civil affairs, and I will make all the decisions on military matters."
"Boying."
"I'm here." Feng Ping stood up and bowed slightly to Chen Qun.
"I'd like to choose the first strategy mentioned in the letter. Build four cities and go straight to Ruxu! Bo Ying, send a message to all places near Shouchun for me, and order them to send troops from all camps early tomorrow morning, gather along the Huai River to Shouchun, and then march to Hefei the day after tomorrow! Send a message to Zhang Hu in Hefei, and order him to lead 5,000 infantrymen. After receiving the order, immediately set off to Dongxing, without any mistakes!"
"I will follow the orders of the chief inspector!" Feng Ping replied solemnly, "Mr. Chen, the troops from Xiacai, Yangquan, Anfeng, Xiquyang and other places may arrive tomorrow, but the troops stationed in Yicheng may take another day."
Chen Qun narrowed his eyes and looked at Feng Ping: "No more waiting! Let them go alone behind the army, one day later is one day later. The military situation is urgent, I don't have time to wait for them here." (End of this chapter)
