My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 240 Gao Shun surrenders to Liu
Zhuge Jin spent more than half a month inspecting and sorting out the winter farming work in Guangling and Donghai counties.

Plans have also been given for any subsequent rectifications and adjustments that need to be made.

It will take at least several months for Hua Tuo's medical experiments to be carried out and the glass experimental instruments to be fired before the results can be seen.

It will also take several months to upgrade the horse farm planning and promote the war horse trade.

As for occupying a new county in Liaodong as a springboard for maritime trade and a new shipbuilding base, it will take another year or two to complete the project.

Zhuge Jin had done what he was supposed to do. He calculated the time and realized that Xudu would soon be in chaos. He then confirmed with Chen Deng the military situation in Guangling and the possible subsequent attack plans to lure the enemy, and deduced the possible reactions of Sun Ce and Zhou Yu.

Then, Zhuge Jin took a boat back to Wuhu and personally presided over the preparations for war in the Jiangnan territory.

Liu Bei's army had a total of 40,000 soldiers on the eastern front, who had to guard against the Huaihe-Sishui-Yishu defense line facing Cao Cao, and also against Sun Ce. Therefore, only about 20,000 soldiers could be used to defend against Sun in the first phase.

After the battle between Cao Cao and Yuan Shao became increasingly fierce and Cao Cao was absolutely unable to look south, he could withdraw troops from the Huai-Si defense line in batches to the south, so that the Yangtze River defense line could account for 30,000 troops.

It is impossible to defeat Sun Ce with this amount of force, so the main goal of the first stage is to defend and counterattack to consume Sun Ce's manpower and attack kinetic energy.

After Sun Ce became exhausted, the main force of Liu Bei's army killed Zhang Xian on the western front, and then moved to the east to deal a fatal blow to Sun Ce.

The eastern defense zone now has only two main senior generals. Taishi Ci defends Jiangbei and coordinates Xiapi, Donghai, and Guangling counties, with Tian Yu and Chen Dao as deputies. There are about 8,000 soldiers stationed at key points along the Yangtze River.

Guan Yu was in charge of defending Jiangnan, with Zhang Liao as his deputy. Ten thousand soldiers were gathered in Wuhu for garrison, and the rest of the rear support points had no more than three or four thousand soldiers in total.

Zhang Liao was a surrendered general who had just surrendered last year. Although he held a high position under Lu Bu, he had to accumulate military merits again before he could be promoted under Liu Bei. It was impossible to "employ people like piling up firewood, and the latecomers would be on top", otherwise the morale of those veterans would be dispersed.

Others such as Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Gan Ning, etc. were all under the direct command of Liu Bei himself and were to be used on the western front.

In contrast, the opposing Sun Ce army assembled all the combat power of the three counties of Wu and Hui, with approximately 50,000 to 60,000 combat soldiers, who were also recruited at a ratio of one soldier for every thirty people.

The three counties of Wu, Hui and Yangzhou are located in the Taihu Plain, the most densely populated and agriculturally developed area in Yangzhou. However, such a small area has a population of 1.8 million.

The generals who should have belonged to the Sun family in history, except Taishi Ci, Lu Su, and Lu Yi who were poached by Liu Bei, and He Qi who was originally following Wang Lang, the others are still under Sun Ce, and there is no change. (Gan Ning does not count, Gan Ning did not join Sun at this time in history, he should be under Huang Zu)
……

Zhuge Jin left Haixi County, Guangling Prefecture on February 13 and sailed upstream, which took about five or six days to reach Wuhu.

On the same day that Zhuge Jin began his return voyage, in Wuchang County of Jiangxia Prefecture to the west, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang finally heard that the "Dong Cheng and Lu Bu Rebellion" had occurred in Xudu, but the specific details were still unclear.

Cao Cao's information blockade was relatively successful. The only information that leaked out at the first time was about the fact of the mutiny. As for the motives and details, outsiders were still unaware.

When Liu Bei heard this, even though he was mentally prepared, he still couldn't help being shocked. At the same time, he admired the Zhuge brothers' foresight.

He immediately sought consultation with Zhuge Liang, and also sought consultation with Gan Ning, Zhang Fei, Pang Tong, and Xu Shu, intending to discuss the next stage of military deployment adjustments.

Zhang Fei was just transferred to Wuchang a few days ago in order to participate in the Jingnan Campaign that might break out. Zhao Yun might be transferred here later, but not yet - Zhao Yun has to defend the Shouchun-Hefei defense zone, which is also very important. Only after ensuring that all Cao's troops in Huaibei are pinned down by Yuan Shao, can Zhao Yun move.

……

Zhuge Liang was the first to arrive. The other civil and military officials had not yet arrived, so Liu Bei caught him alone and asked him many questions:
"Sir, do you think that this news should be reported to your brother immediately? Now we only know that Dong Cheng and Lu Bu rebelled against Cao and were killed, and we don't know the other details. I never thought that Lu Bu would have such courage. Alas, if Cao Cao is identified as a traitor to the Han Dynasty in the future, wouldn't Lu Bu become a loyal and righteous man?"

Zhuge Liang had thought about it on the way here, so he immediately replied: "I think it's a good idea to wait and see for a few days, and have the scouts and spies step up their investigation. In addition, we should immediately send troops from Xiling County to patrol north along Tongbai Mountain to find out if there are any unusual movements in Runan County controlled by Cao's army.

We are isolated from information here, mostly because of the Tongbai Mountain, and other channels have to go south. If we can take the initiative to cross the Tongbai Mountain, we should be able to get more details. If we can't get more detailed information within five days, then we will take what we have and send it to Wuhu immediately."

Liu Bei thought about it and decided that he would wait a few days to find out the situation thoroughly. He immediately arranged a small group of troops that were good at mountain warfare to go deep into Tongbai Mountain and head north.

Gan Ning, who was in charge of the defense zone in the north of Jiangxia County, was naturally the direct recipient of this task.

As soon as Gan Ning arrived at Wuchang Marquis's Mansion, he immediately received this order. He certainly would not refuse, but he also explained the difficulties:
"My lord, the snow on Tongbai Mountain has not yet melted, and the roads are difficult to travel. We can only send out a small elite team to scout. In addition, it is difficult to supply baggage, so we must equip the soldiers with light and easy-to-carry food."

Liu Bei certainly met all these requirements: "We don't need a lot of people, just a few teams of dozens of people. If climbing the mountain is inconvenient, we can equip them with spiked shoes that were customized during the battle of Linli Mountain two years ago. All dry food can be rationed with salted meat, dried fish, fried rice, and sugar cubes. Soldiers are also selected from the Danyang soldiers who participated in the battle of Linli Mountain and are good at climbing."

When Gan Ning heard that the logistical support was so good, he naturally became full of confidence and immediately went to make arrangements.

Cao Cao's troops would have suffered heavy casualties if they tried to cross Tongbai Mountain on a snowy day, but Liu Bei's army was different. They had a large number of soldiers from the south, especially mountain soldiers, and with special equipment and high-calorie supplies, they could completely avoid casualties.

The sugar supply mentioned by Liu Bei is ordinary sucrose, but not white sugar. There was sucrose in the late Han Dynasty, but the cooking process was poor and there were many impurities. It was worse than the brown sugar in later generations. It could only be regarded as black sugar or caramel, with a lot of cellulose and sugarcane pectin impurities. But for ordinary soldiers, it was already a very high standard to have brown sugar as a calorie supply when performing tasks. When eating sugar, they had to weigh it and think, "Is it because I survived a life-threatening mission that I can eat so well?"

After arranging the intelligence scouting work, other civil and military officials had almost arrived, and Liu Bei continued to discuss the war preparedness situation with everyone.

Zhang Fei, who had just arrived, looked impatient and begged to be the vanguard, hoping that Liu Bei would let him attack Changsha County first.

Liu Bei was both angry and amused when he heard this, and could not help but scold him: "Whether we can declare Cao Cao a traitor this time, and how Zhang Xian will collude with Cao Cao, it is still unclear, why rush!"

Pang Tong and Xu Shu couldn't help laughing when they saw Zhang Fei's anxious look, but they didn't dare to laugh out loud.

Zhang Fei noticed everyone's expressions and glared at them subconsciously. However, he still respected scholars and officials, and knew that Pang Tong had been with his elder brother for three years and was quite capable. He did not want to be disrespectful, so he did not cause trouble for Pang Tong.

In contrast, Xu Shu had only been here for more than two months, and was now only the magistrate of E County. It was not known that he had a noble family background or profound knowledge. Zhang Fei took advantage of Xu Shu and asked, "Why? Does Magistrate Xu think that we should not rush to attack Changsha?"

Xu Shu had only been able to supervise the opening of iron mines, iron smelting plants, and weapon forging plants in E County, all of which were farm management work. This time, Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong gave him a chance to perform because of his relationship with Sima Hui, and only then did they invite him to participate in the military meeting.

Xu Shu also wanted to perform well, but when Zhang Fei asked him angrily, he had to respond cautiously. He should be able to resolve Zhang Fei's impatience and make achievements in strategic arrangements, so that his lord would pay attention to him as soon as possible.

The lord has too many counselors around him! Not to mention Zhuge Jin, Chen Deng and Lu Su in the eastern theater, just talking about the western theater, there are Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong above.

Compared with Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong, Xu Shu certainly has no strengths. His only comparative advantage is that he has a better understanding of the current situation in Jingzhou.

After all, Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong left Jingzhou three years ago, and Xu Shu had only been away for a few months.

Xu Shu was very careful to play to his comparative advantage and said cautiously: "General Zhang is eager to make achievements, which is of course a good thing and beneficial to the great cause of the lord. Once there is a change in Jingnan, our army must attack Changsha quickly, but not too quickly. Therefore, we really need a fierce general to attack Changsha as soon as possible."

Liu Bei didn't have much expectation for Xu Shu today, but after hearing his mysterious words, he became more interested and asked, "Why can't we go too fast, but also can't go too fast?"

Xu Shu took a deep breath and answered with a hale and hearty voice: "If we don't hurry, Liu Biao will be able to react and order Liu Pan and Huang Zhong to go south from Jiangling to quell the rebellion. Even if our army encircles Changsha, Liu Biao can take advantage of the opportunity to attack Wuling. In this way, the two families will inevitably be divided by the Xiang River in the future.

But if he moved too quickly, the other three counties in southern Jing might not have enough time to respond to Zhang Xian. As far as I know, although the governors of the four counties in southern Jing were more or less dissatisfied with Liu Biao, the other three did not have the courage to start a rebellion on their own, so they either pushed Zhang Xian to be the leader or waited and watched.

If Zhang Xian shows signs of weakness too early, the rebellion in the other three counties may be nipped in the bud and it will be difficult to see the end. By then, Liu Biao will send an edict to appease him. What reason will the lord have to mobilize the army?"

Liu Bei thought about it and it made sense.

If Zhang Xian was killed too quickly and frightened the other three counties, and they gave in before they had a chance to engage in battle, wouldn't that be a good thing for Liu Biao?
It seems that we need to think more about how to refine the actions in the first phase after the war to ensure that Liu Biao is not allowed to rush south to pick peaches in time, and the other three counties are not frightened.

This kind of "want this and that and more" thing is really hard to handle.

"Forget it. Let's think about this matter again and see if there is a specific countermeasure. We should try to come up with a strategy before sending out the troops. Now that the specific cause of the Xudu mutiny has not been figured out, we are not in a hurry to act rashly."

Liu Bei asked everyone to go back and think about it carefully, and the military meeting was over.

……

In the following days, Liu Bei planned the war preparations while asking Gan Ning to step up scouting.

Hard work pays off. Just three days later, on February 17, the search team sent by Gan Ning found Gao Shun, who was heading south, and a part of Gong Du's Runan army who had come to surrender, in the Tongbai Mountain area and along the Daoshui River north of Xiling County.

After a cautious contact between the two sides, Gan Ning confirmed that the other party had no ill intentions and was really here to seek refuge. He immediately sent someone on horseback to Wuchang to report the news, and then took Gao Shun and others back to Xiling County.

When Liu Bei heard that Dong Cheng and Lu Bu's troops had come to surrender, as well as Dong and Lu's families, he was also shocked. He realized that he could definitely dig out some very important inside information from Gao Shun.

Liu Bei hurriedly crossed the river from Wuchang County and came to Xiling County on the north bank.

As soon as he arrived in Xiling, Gan Ning also returned with Gao Shun and Gong Du. Upon hearing the news, Liu Bei personally went out of the north gate of Xiling City to greet them.

Gao Shun also knew Liu Bei. When he saw Liu Bei, he felt very ashamed because they had once stolen from Liu Bei's lair.

Gao Shun quickly dismounted his Red Hare and knelt down in shame, saying, "I am a criminal general at the end of my rope. I want to follow General Wei and General You to kill Cao Cao and support the Han Dynasty, but I have no other choice but to surrender to General Chariot and Cavalry. I beg you to take me in!"

(End of this chapter)