My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 261 The noose is tightening
According to Zhuge Jin's plan, the subsequent battle against the Sun family should focus on inducing Sun Ce to return to Moling and be trapped in the isolated city.

Then they continued to besiege and wait for Liu Bei's reinforcements, consume the food and grass in Moling City, and cut off the supply channel between Moling and the outside world.

In this way, when the grain after the autumn harvest this year cannot be transported into Moling City, Sun Ce will collapse sooner or later. Even if he still has more than 20,000 elite soldiers to defend the city, and can also recruit many local braves to help defend, everything will be in vain if the food is cut off.

It has been four years since Zhuge Jin joined Liu Bei's camp. During these four years, Liu Bei's army has never fought the most traditional "siege and food cut-off" siege war. The main reason is that in previous battles, they felt that this method of fighting was too slow and would easily slow down the strategic rhythm.

But this time, the situation was perfect for the food-cutting and siege method. Because Liu Bei's army was fighting on two fronts, Zhuge Jin and Guan Yu's forces were only half of Sun Ce's. After weakening the enemy in several battles, they only managed to reduce the enemy's forces to the same level as their own.

Since the military strength of both sides was similar, it would be impossible to break into the city by force. He had to delay Sun Ce for several months and wait for the battle on the western front to be completed before transferring troops.

After all, Zhuge Jin only built some siege weapons such as catapults and Ge Gongche, and he did not have muskets and cannons like other time travelers who had great cheats. Moling has always been a strong city in the southeast, with complete fortifications. As long as the defenders are determined, they can drag on for a long time in later dynasties.

In this case, more haste makes waste. Don't be afraid of being slow or taking too much trouble in besieging Moling. If you are slow here, it will be faster when you can issue an order to conquer other places in Jiangdong in the future.

However, with Zhuge Jin's intelligence, after finalizing the actual combat plan to be implemented, other alternative options and abandoned plans cannot be wasted.

Those abandoned projects can still be used as smoke bombs to lure the enemy.

It’s like County Magistrate Ma doesn’t have the courage to suppress bandits, but he still has the courage to make money in the name of suppressing bandits, and it’s a big one.

Zhuge Jin would not go to Wu County to burn, kill, loot, or incite Gu, Lu, Zhu and Zhang to rise up against Sun. He already regarded the people of Wu County as his own subjects, but Sun Ce and Zhou Yu did not know that he would not do that.

So Zhuge Jin explained to Guan Yu and Taishi Ci overnight, asking them to do this and that, combining the real and the fake.

……

The next morning, after resting for only one night in Guangling, Guan Yu and Taishi Ci set out on a new journey again, crossing the Yangtze River with their fleet to the south, preparing to attack Dantu.

Before Guan Yu set out, Zhuge Jin had already sent out more small patrol boats the night before to spread the illusion of a feint attack along the Yangtze River. On the way, he seized some fishermen's boats from the south of the Yangtze River, gave them some money, food, rice, and cloth, and let them go to spread rumors.

Zhuge Jin also sent people to infiltrate Dantu County in advance to make other preparations - of course, these people did not carry weapons, otherwise they would not be able to get in.

In the morning, Guan Yu landed in Dantu and occupied the port town along the river north of the county. He then divided his troops to the east and west sides to encircle Dantu County. In the late afternoon, the army moved to the east and west gates of Dantu County.

Guan Yu's troops displayed their flags and showed great military might. The defenders on the city wall, looking from afar, could not tell the exact number of Guan Yu's troops, but they felt that there were at least 10,000 of them.

The defender in Dantu City was Zhou Yu, who had failed in his attack on Guangling and was temporarily hidden by Sun Ce to appease the public anger.

When Zhou Yu saw this situation, he immediately sent people out of the south gate and rode fast to Piling to report the emergency. At the same time, he reorganized the city defense and tried to keep a backup plan in case of any emergency.

It was already May 20th, and Zhou Yu had learned from a fast horse messenger from Piling the previous night that Sun Ce had been wounded by an arrow and was being treated in Piling. He also knew that because Sun Ce was recovering from his injury, the troops were still gathering in Piling, gradually gathering up the defeated soldiers, and there was no time to withdraw.

Zhou Yu had just sent someone to ask for help when Guan Yu on the other side had already deployed his troops, not planning to wait a day before launching an attack on the city. Zhou Yu hurried back to the tower at the north gate of Dantu to check on the enemy's situation.

I was surprised to see that Guan Yu's army was actually pushing some siege equipment, although they were all relatively light and simple. But the troops were able to launch a siege just one or two hours after arriving, which was already very unexpected.

Apparently, all the siege equipment was shipped to the riverside and then unloaded and pulled directly to the siege battlefield. Although there were no large vehicles like the Ge Gongche that took several days to assemble, there were enough simple small battering rams and flying ladders.

After Guan Yu's army formed up their battle formation, they sent Taishi Ci to personally speak in front of the formation, and had a group of scolding soldiers use the loudspeakers.

"Listen up, people of Dantu! Liu Yangzhou has returned to Dantu following the imperial court's order to suppress the rebellion! You followed the predecessor Liu Yangzhou, Duke Zhengli, to serve the country and resist the Sun thief for two years. The imperial court remembers your loyalty!
As long as you help the imperial army to drive out the Sun thief, Liu Yangzhou will grant Dantu County more favors and exempt the county from land tax, capitation tax and corvée within three years! You will be the model of Wu Hui's first uprising! The imperial army of tens of thousands will besiege the city today, don't make mistakes! "

Taishi Ci shouted repeatedly, and the defenders on the city wall actually showed fear. After all, most of Dantu's troops were taken away by Sun Ce in the previous decisive battle. Now the remaining defenders in the city, in terms of numbers, must be less than 30% of Guan Yu's siege troops.

What's more terrible is that Taishi Ci's words reminded Zhou Yu of one thing: Dantu County was Liu Yao's last stronghold in Danyang. Liu Yao held on here until the second year of Jian'an, which was more than two years later than the fall of Moling and other areas of Danyang.

Although Liu Yao and Taishi Ci took their own troops and some loyal people with them when they retreated, many people in Dantu County still cared about the imperial court. Or they hated the Sun family because they had fought against them for many years and their relatives and comrades died at their hands.

Zhou Yu couldn't guarantee whether Zhuge Jin and Taishi Ci had taken advantage of this before the battle and sent spies to infiltrate and contact the city in advance to find an insider.

If Sun Ce's main force was still stationed in Dantu, there would be no need to worry about potential internal support. But now Sun Ce's main force has been severely damaged and is still in Piling, so the situation is delicate.

Zhou Yu knew that the situation was not good, and quickly ordered: "Quickly block the three gates in the east, west and north! Only leave the south gate for entry and exit, guard the city carefully, and make sure that even if there is Taishi Ci in the city, he cannot seize the gate!" Sun Ce's army resolutely carried out Zhou Yu's orders, and Guan Yu then launched a tentative siege on the city. There was a sound of drums, and Zhou Yu was caught off guard and fought desperately. He finally withstood the fierce attack in the evening of the first day, and both sides suffered casualties.

However, looking at Guan Yu's military strength, Zhou Yu became more worried, knowing that if Sun Ce did not come back, he would not be able to hold on for long.

After a night, Zhou Yu estimated that the messenger he sent to Piling to report the emergency should have arrived at midnight, and Sun Ce should send troops to support after dawn, but it would take at least one or two days for the army to march back to Dantu from Piling.

Dantu corresponds to the urban area of Zhenjiang in later generations, and Piling is between Changzhou and Jiangyin, which means that the distance between the two places is approximately equivalent to that of a half-prefecture-level city in later generations, about 130 to 140 miles.

This distance can be covered by two days of forced march by infantry, but it would be impossible if there were wounded soldiers.

On May 21, after dawn, Zhou Yu observed the enemy situation again and found that in just one night, Guan Yu's army had extended the siege camp a lot further south, passing the southeast and southwest corners of Dantu County.

According to this progress estimate, if they fail to break out during the day, Guan Yu’s army camp will definitely block the South Gate before nightfall.

Seeing the noose slowly tightening, Zhou Yu also felt a little alert: "Could it be that Guan Yu wants to completely surround Dantu, and then take advantage of Bofu's eagerness to rescue him, surround the city and attack the reinforcements, and then have another decisive battle with Bofu's remnants after his repeated defeats outside Dantu City?
Our army is already stretched to its limit. If we continue to lose, our forces will be far weaker than Guan Yu and Zhuge Jin. We can no longer waste our resources by besieging and attacking reinforcements. We can only defend the core cities and wait for changes. Could it be that... before the siege is complete, we should abandon the small county of Dantu? And go back to defend Moling with all our strength?"

Zhou Yu knew very well that Sun Ce was very loyal to him. If he was besieged in Dantu City, which was not very strong and had not many soldiers, Sun Ce would definitely be forced to come to his rescue with all his strength.

The Jiangdong Army has already suffered two defeats in a row. If they lose again, all their manpower will be wiped out. How can they hold out until Cao Cao defeats Yuan Shao, turns the situation in the Central Plains around, and wait for changes?
Although Zhou Yu was not sure whether Cao Cao could defeat Yuan Shao, he knew that the only way out for Sun Ce's army was to hope that Cao Cao would win and then join forces with Cao Cao to attack Liu Bei. Apart from this situation, Sun Ce's army could no longer turn the tables on its own.

It is very important to preserve our manpower now.

While Zhou Yu was in panic, Guan Yu and Taishi Ci launched attacks on the city from the east, west and north that morning. Zhou Yu continued to resist with all his might, but he became increasingly overwhelmed.

Perhaps because Guan Yu had delayed cutting off the communication between the South Gate and the outside world, around noon, Zhou Yu received two reports of bad news from the scouts he had sent out the night before.

"Report to the Commander-in-Chief! Downstream, we have discovered that Zhuge Jin and Guan Yu's navy have landed along the coast and are harassing various counties. There is also the Kuaiji navy under the banner of Wang Lang, who are taking advantage of the situation to plunder on their way back!"

"Report to the Governor, an urgent report from Jurong County said that they had just received a report of defeated troops from Niuzhu County this morning. The enemy Lu Su's troops attacked from Wuhu and have already laid siege to Niuzhu County!"

These two pieces of news made Zhou Yu increasingly upset and unable to support himself. He was afraid that the enemy would infiltrate and attack again and cut off Sun Ce's retreat route, so he decided to divide his troops and break out of the city to secure the main road between Dantu County and Jurong County and set up camp on the main road.

Because Zhou Yu knew that the road between Dantu and Jurong County was the only way for Sun Ce's main force to retreat to Moling. If Guan Yu surrounded Dantu, even if he failed to capture the city, he could bypass the city to Jurong and cut off the road, thus cutting off Sun Ce's retreat route.

In order to prevent being surrounded and attacked, and to ensure that the retreat route was open, Zhou Yu had to divide his troops.

With this division of troops, the defenders in Dantu City became increasingly weak and the soldiers had no will to fight.

The siege of Dantu County lasted until the early afternoon when an old friend who had contacted Zhuge Jin and was loyal to Taishi Ci suddenly set fire to the city. Because Zhou Yu had blocked the city gate in advance, these people could not directly seize the gate.

However, the inexplicable fire in the city caused the morale of the defenders to plummet. In addition, the attackers kept shouting, "The former subordinates of Lord Zhengli and General Taishi have defected to the city!" The defenders were frightened and fled through the South Gate left by Guan Yu. They even trampled on each other when leaving the city.

Guan Yu did not order anyone to block the gate, but quickly seized the city of Dantu. After most of the enemy troops had fled, he rushed in to cut them off, and then chased and killed the enemy's front troops.

If you don't want to block the head, you can cut off the waist and chase the tail. This three-axe combo is the best for enemies who want to break through and escape without fighting.

Zhou Yu himself broke through to Jurong and sent the latest defeat report to Sun Ce who was still on the way.

Sun Ce had just led a main force of 15,000 men and galloped non-stop to a position more than 50 miles away from Dantu. He heard that the small county of Dantu had been lost and Zhou Yu had gone to Jurong.

He had to temporarily adjust the direction of his march, from rushing to the northwest to retreating to the west, and finally ran back to Jurong after one night.

Because of this defeat, Sun Ce was so angry that the wound on his face that had just been bandaged almost broke open again. The two brothers met again in Jurong County, sighed and groaned, and continued their journey the next day, rushing back to Moling to defend it, fearing that Moling would be lost.

After Guan Yu and Taishi Ci captured Dantu, they completely cut off the Yangtze River waterway between Moling and the hinterland of Wuhui.

If Sun Ce wanted to transport any troops, money and food to Moling City in the future, he could only go by land through Jurong County. Guan Yu stationed a large number of troops in Dantu and could send troops to harass and cut off the supply line from Moling to Jurong at any time.

At that time, my neighbors will store grain and I will store guns. When Sun Ce transports things through Jurong, he is actually helping Guan Yu transport them.

(End of this chapter)