My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 104: What's the point of talking about the code of conduct with the rebels? Let's fight together
Throughout mid-June, Ji Ling repeatedly tried to attack and consume the city of Xuyi, but could not make any progress. He could only hope that Lü Bu in the north or Liu Xun in the south would help him break the deadlock.

Unfortunately, Lu Bu could not be relied upon. Lu Bu's core base was located in Xia Pi City, which was only over 200 miles away from the Xuyi battlefield. However, he just stayed in Xia Pi and watched the enemy die without any help.

Ji Ling even bypassed Yuan Shu and sent envoys directly to Lu Bu to ask for help, but it was completely fruitless and he was rejected all the time.

In comparison, Liu Xun, who actively fought on the southern front, was even more commendable.

Liu Xun and Ji Ling were both direct subordinates of Yuan Shu. During the first three days of June, they stayed in Shouchun to participate in various ceremonial activities, and then returned to Lujiang to begin preparing for the military expedition.

Because the distance from Shouchun to the southern part of Lujiang is about 400 miles, Liu Xun will definitely send out his troops a few days later than Ji Ling.

Liu Xun returned to Hefei on the fifth day of June, and then rushed to Wancheng (Anqing) without stopping, arriving on the seventh day. After three days of preparation and assembly of troops and warships, he officially set sail from Wankou in Wancheng on the tenth day of June, going east along the Yangtze River, preparing to go downstream to Guangling and attack Liu Bei's southern territory along the river.

The Lujiang navy under Yuan Shu was usually stationed in two key water forts on the river defense pass.

One is the Wanshui River, which flows through the county seat Wancheng, where it flows into the river, and the Wankou Water Fort.

Another place is the Ruxukou Water Fort, where the Feishui River, Chaohu Lake and Ruxu River flow into Hefei.

These two places are the mouths of the rivers that flow through the core city of Lujiang County. They are about 270 to 280 miles apart and can be reached by sailing downstream along the Yangtze River in two days.

Therefore, Liu Xun led the Wankou navy eastward, expecting to meet up with Qiao Rui's Ruxukou navy two days later on June 12, and then deploy a general attack.

Because Liu Xun and Qiao Rui did not think that the Zhuge family was an enemy at all, all these deployments certainly did not take into account the reactions of the princes on the south bank of the Yangtze River during the entire journey, and whether they needed to be on guard.

After all, Liu Xun and Qiao Rui did not have a God's perspective. Given the slow transmission of military information at the time, they would not have known that Guan Yu had captured Chen Pu's Linli Mountain on June 8th in the mountainous area inhabited by the Shanyue on the opposite bank.

Two days later, he conquered Zulang and annexed his territory.

They had no idea that Guan Yu would join forces with Taishi Ci to capture Wuhu under Sun Ce's rule on June 15th, and suddenly appear on the other side of Ruxukou.

It was not easy for ordinary civilian fishing boats to cross the Yangtze River in this era. If there were naval forces patrolling the river and temporarily blocking ports and merchants, it would be possible to block the incident that had just occurred on the south bank for ten days or eight days and prevent the princes on the north bank from noticing it.

If we want to block it for a longer period of time, it will be difficult to do so, as there will be omissions sooner or later.

……

June 8th, Chaisang City.

This day was the day after Guan Yu conquered Linli Mountain on the Danyang battlefield. It was also the day when Tian Yu was still besieging Xuyi County on the Guangling battlefield.

However, Zhuge Jin, who was in Chaisang, was unaware of these two pieces of news.

He didn't have a spy satellite or a bird's-eye view. The only thing he could directly micro-manage was the current situation in the northern part of Yuzhang County.

He only knew that three days ago, he had ordered Gan Ning's troops, who were besieging Lin Lishan together with Guan Yu, to go down the Poyang River from Yi County and march quickly back to Chaisang to gather together.

The Po River flows fast in the upper mountainous area, so the army can move very fast downstream. This morning, Gan Ning had already returned to Chaisang City.

Taking Gan Ning's fatigue into consideration, Zhuge Jin did not use him immediately. Instead, he let the troops rest for a day. That day, he provided a feast for the soldiers with lunch and dinner, including fish and meat.

The next morning, Zhuge Jin called Gan Ning, who looked refreshed, and shared some of the latest information with him.

"The spies we sent to Lujiang, as well as the envoys who were forced to go to watch Yuan Shu's enthronement a few days ago, have brought back news. Yuan's troops in Wankou have been gathering in the past few days, with troops being dispatched from Wancheng, Lu'an, and Longshu (Shucheng) every day. Weapons and food should have been prepared in advance.

It seems that they are only waiting for Liu Xun to return to Wancheng and rest for a while before heading east. Qiao Rui is in Ruxu, and he should join forces with the troops in Hefei and wait to join forces with Liu Xun..."

Zhuge Jin's plan was unintentional. In addition, the Yuan family did not guard against "rebellion" from the Zhuge family. Even when Yuan Shu ascended the throne, the Zhuge family sent a worthless guy to pretend to hold an empty title to watch the ceremony. Naturally, he could find out more details.

At this moment, he told Gan Ning such detailed information. Although Gan Ning didn't know what to do, he was already excited.

His intuition told him that the enemy was in the open while he was in the dark, and he could definitely launch a big surprise attack this time.

"I wonder what the Lord wants me to do?" Gan Ning was too lazy to think and directly asked Zhuge Jin for instructions.

Zhuge Jin then pulled out a map and sounded the alarm for Gan Ning:
“I have secretly asked Ziyi to wait in Chungu County. Once Linlishan is breached, he will cooperate with Yunchang to launch a surprise attack on Sun Ce’s Wuhu.

Therefore, in the first wave of attack against Yuan Shu these days, you can only rely on your Jinfan Battalion and the troops assigned to you later, a total of three thousand people.

After the first wave of attacks, you can count on Ziyi to come to your aid. You will have to hold on for at least three to five days. After ten days, Yunchang may be able to spare a hand - provided that everything goes well for Aliang in Linlishan and Wuhu. "

Gan Ning was not afraid of the temporary shortage of troops. Instead, he was a little excited: "As long as I don't have to fight the enemy head-on, three thousand people are enough to hold Liu Xun back. My Lord, just tell me how to fight."

Zhuge Jin nodded, and then pointed to a few points along the Yangtze River on the map: "Here's what I think. Since the Lujiang army is stationed in two places along the river, Liu Xun and Qiao Rui will definitely meet up. So you can lead your army to Hulin (Chizhou), a hundred miles downstream on the other side of Wankou, before Liu Xun sets out. Then use the lightest patrol boats to scout the enemy's movements at Wankou every day. Once you find that Liu Xun's main force has set sail from Wankou and entered the Yangtze River, you can let the patrol boats report back quickly, and then the main force will set sail immediately, rushing ahead of Liu Xun, raising the banner of Liu Xun's vanguard, and going downstream to Ruxukou.

When Liu Xun led his troops, the main force took the Yangtze River, and the sailing speed was certainly much slower than that of the express messengers on land. Therefore, Qiao Rui must have received an urgent message from the express messenger one or two days in advance, telling him to be prepared and to advance together after gathering all the troops.

When Qiao Rui received the news and knew that Liu Xun was coming soon, he naturally would not be on guard. By then, you happened to arrive at Ruxukou half a day or a few hours earlier than the real Liu Xun under the banner of Liu Xun..."

When Gan Ning heard this, his eyes became eager. According to Zhuge Jin's description, he could easily imagine that this would be a crushing sneak attack victory!

When Qiao Rui knew that Liu Xun was about to arrive, he arrived before the real Liu Xun, which was definitely the moment when the enemy's defense was the most relaxed! It was estimated that the enemy would not be able to react until Gan Ning started to jump on board and kill or shoot arrows!

"My lord, are you asking me to launch a surprise attack on Ruxukou? I will not waste this opportunity!" Gan Ning guaranteed with a slightly trembling voice.

Zhuge Jin pressed his finger slightly, signaling him to be patient: "It's not that simple. If you just launch a sneak attack, what if the enemy fleet is anchored at the Ruxukou Wharf? There are not many soldiers on board. How much damage can you cause? It will take a lot..."

Gan Ning listened carefully and nodded repeatedly, indicating that he would prepare everything and then leave.

Zhuge Jin stopped him again and said that he would also go to Chungu County first and let Gan Ning give him a ride.

Gan Ning thought that Zhuge Jin was not confident in his use of troops, but later he learned that Zhuge Jin felt that Wuhu was likely to be captured and wanted to go to Wuhu to take up his post as "Prefect of Danyang".

Gan Ning was stunned when he heard this. Most of the territory of Danyang County was either in the hands of Sun Ce or Zu Lang. And the Lord of the Mansion was so sure that he would be able to take up his official position in Danyang soon after sending Guan Yu, Taishi Ci and himself. This open-mindedness and confidence was rare in the world.

However, Gan Ning was still a little worried and reminded him, "If the Lord goes to Danyang, what will happen to Chaisang? We need wise men to help guard it."

Zhuge Jin was not worried about this: "I have transferred Pang Shiyuan from Poyang County Magistrate to Chaisang County Magistrate. Anyway, the copper mine in Poyang has been deployed, and there is no need for any wise men to coordinate the follow-up.

Pang Shiyuan is not a talent of Baili. Although he is still young, he can only continue to be the county magistrate. It is time to give him a more important county to gain experience. I will leave the remaining county soldiers to him, and he will have no problem defending the city."

Pang Tong received Zhuge Liang's letter in early March of that year and came to Yuzhang to seek an official position. Up to now, he has been the magistrate of Poyang County for three months.

Because Poyang is located in the hinterland of Yuzhang County, there is no military threat and it only needs to deal with civil affairs, financial management and mining.

After several months of training, Pang Tong has made some progress in logistics scheduling and coordination, and has also gained experience in presiding over large engineering projects.

Now that he has been transferred to Chaisang, he has to take care of both civil affairs and military defense, which can be considered as a comprehensive experience.

It was impossible to get promoted directly as he was too young and had too little experience. But even if they were both county magistrates, there were big counties and small counties. Chaisang was the second most important county in Yuzhang County, which was enough to show that he was being cultivated and valued. Pang Tong was very grateful.

……

After receiving Zhuge Jin's order, Gan Ning immediately set sail and led the navy from Chaisang along the Yangtze River to Tongguan Town.

Afterwards, while inquiring about Liu Xun's movements, he prepared various supplies needed for the attack, including a large amount of firewood and tung oil for quick fire starter, as well as some small sampans that were already old and about to be abandoned.

Two days later, it was discovered that Liu Xun had set sail from Wankou with a large army.

Gan Ning did not dare to delay and immediately set out again ahead of Liu Xun, sparing no manpower, using sails and oars to try his best to catch the wind.

After two days and one night of sailing, Gan Ning successfully arrived at Ruxukou where Qiao Rui was stationed at dawn on June 12.

When sailing on the river at night, he did not act stealthily, but openly lit a torch and deliberately used the light of the torch to illuminate the large banner of "General Liu, the Southern Expeditioner" to make it very clear.

Of course, Liu Xun, of his rank, was not qualified to be the General of the Southern Expedition. However, after Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor, he conferred fake titles on everyone, which were much higher than the positions they had originally obtained in the Han court.

So much so that there was a General Liu Bei in the Han Dynasty and a General Liu Xun in the Zhong Dynasty. If you only look at the flags, because only the surname is written but not the given name, the characters are exactly the same, which is really ridiculous.

The soldiers of Qiao Ruijun guarding the dock of Ruxukou Water Village also saw Gan Ning's fleet from afar. At first, they were curious and wanted to warn him. But as soon as they reported it to the officer at the level of Qu Junhou, they were stopped for "making a fuss".

"Didn't I tell you that General Zhengnan's army will come to join us today! There's nothing to be surprised about!" Naqu Junhou also scolded the patrol captain.

The patrol captain also felt aggrieved and couldn't help but argue: "But didn't they say they would arrive in the morning? It's not even daybreak yet."

Naqu Junhou said with a stern face: "How can you sail on the river with such accuracy? Maybe if the wind direction is favorable and the river current is high, you can sail faster. Hurry up and open the gate! Be careful that the general will punish you for your negligence!"

The night patrol sentry had to put aside all his doubts, did not take any precautions, and even opened the water fort.

　There is no other way to deal with the three-line operation in the past few days. Try to pull the rhythm back. It will be better to deal with a single line in the future.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)