My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 269: Blooming on Land and Water

After Li Yan was persuaded by Xu Shu and opened the city to welcome Zhang Fei, subsequent events went smoothly.

Zhang Fei camped in Chanling County for a day to allow the troops who had been traveling for days to have a good rest. Li Yan also set up a simple reception with wine and food in the county government office. There is no need to elaborate on the details.

Zhang Fei drank too much in broad daylight, so naturally he began to sleep soundly in the afternoon and did not wake up until the next morning.

However, Li Yan and Xu Shu did not dare to rest. After Zhang Fei drank too much and fell asleep, they were still sorting out the latest military situation in the surrounding area, discussing countermeasures, and helping Zhang Fei plan the next action plan.

The next day was April 21st. After Zhang Fei woke up, he washed up, drank a bowl of hot and sour soup to sober up, and ate some noodles.

Li Yan and Xu Shu had already sorted out the battle plan and came to report to him.

After hearing this, Zhang Fei couldn't help but look up to Li Yan, thinking to himself: How come he could recruit soldiers just by recruiting a county magistrate? Could it be that he was really so lucky that he would be praised by his elder brother when he returned?
Zhang Fei respected scholars. Seeing this, he even stopped eating the fire and sat up to listen carefully: "Oh? I wonder what County Magistrate Li thinks about the military situation?"

This was Li Yan's first job after changing his job, and he wanted to leave a good impression on his colleagues, so he said with great energy:
“General, as far as I know, Zhang Xian had already taken the Yangtze River route five days ago, passed Youjiangkou but did not enter, and continued upstream along the Yangtze River, heading straight for Jiangling.

Only a small army was left, which was the Wuling County army under Jin Xuan that you defeated, to surround Chanling and attack slowly to remove the thorns on the road behind. Two days after the Wuling County army arrived at the city, the general arrived.

So if we calculate the time, it has only been a day and a half since Jin Xuan's detachment was defeated. It is very likely that Zhang Xian is now besieging Jiangling and planning to attack. He probably doesn't know the news here yet, but he will know it soon.

Once Zhang Xian learns that the anti-rebellion troops are coming so quickly, he will definitely give up the siege of Jiangling and withdraw the rebels back to Changsha. As long as our army responds properly, we can intercept them on the way and inflict heavy damage on them, which will save us a lot of effort when we besiege Changsha later."

After hearing this news, Zhang Fei immediately became alert: "Could it be that Zhang Xian personally led his troops to attack Jiangling?"

Li Yan thought for a moment and said cautiously, "That's not the case... Zhang Xian is only a governor, not a famous general. He just started the rebellion, so I should stay in Changsha to stabilize the situation.

Five days ago, when Zhang Xian's army passed through, the county's scout boat saw the flag of the commander on the river with the character "Xing". There were very few commanders with the surname Xing in the counties in southern Jingnan, so it should be Lingling Duwei Xing Daorong.

Before he became the governor of Changsha, Zhang Xian had served in Lingling and Guiyang. Therefore, among the four southern Jing counties, except for Wuling Jinxuan, who was in an alliance with him, the other two counties were actually semi-subordinate. Zhang Xian had also been operating in Lingling for many years and was able to bypass the governor of Lingling and directly command Xing Daorong.

This was also the first time that Zhang Fei heard of these inside stories. It helped him gain some knowledge and a more thorough understanding of the enemy situation.

In history, eight years later, when Liu Bei came to take over Jingnan, the four prefects were Han Xuan, Liu Du, Jin Xuan, and Zhao Fan. But among these four, only Jin Xuan and Zhao Fan were prefects in the fifth year of Jian'an.

Han Xuan and Liu Du were both newly appointed by Liu Biao after he put down Zhang Xian's rebellion. The original governors of Changsha and Lingling were both considered traitors and killed. Including the later governor of Cangwu, Wu Ju, and the governor of Jiaozhou, Lai Gong (but he was expelled by Shi Xie and could not take office), they were also appointed by Liu Biao after the rebellion of Zhang Xian was defeated.

Even Huang Zhong was sent to Jingnan after Zhang Xian was defeated, so these people have not arrived yet.

The current prefect of Lingling is nothing but a puppet of Zhang Xian, a waste who is not even worthy of having his name left. Zhang Xian is in fact the prefect of both Changsha and Lingling counties, and the resources of Lingling are usually at his disposal.

When Zhang Fei heard that Zhang Xian had sent Xing Daorong to lead the army, he continued to ask, "I wonder how many troops Xing Daorong led to attack Jiangling?"

Li Yan: "I don't know. I only saw a few hundred warships gathered on the river that day. According to common sense, if you want to capture Jiangling, you must have at least 10,000 or 20,000 soldiers. Otherwise, even if Jiangling is relatively weak in terms of military strength, it will be impossible to capture it."

Zhang Fei scratched his beard, no longer thinking about the number of enemies, and humbly asked for advice: "Sir, what do you think our army should do now to ensure that we can intercept Xing Daorong on his way back and annihilate him here?"

Li Yan was about to answer, but he didn't know much about the deployment of other troops in Liu Bei's army, and the intelligence was not sufficient.

So Xu Shu, who had chatted with him for half the night, helped to answer: "General Zhang, I have discussed with Brother Zhengfang that once Xing Daorong learns that Chanling has been occupied by the rebellion-suppressing army, there are three possible routes for retreat.

The first option was to go down the Yangtze River and return the same way. However, this route was blocked by Gan Zhonglang's navy, so it was impossible for Xing Daorong to return to Dongting and Xiaoxiang via Baqiu.

The second option is to race against time and go downstream along the Yangtze River, retreat to Youjiangkou, then turn into Youshui to our Chanling, then go south by land over some hills, return to Wuling via Zuotang County, and then find another boat along the Yuan and Li rivers to return to Changsha.

This road is the road our army took when they attacked Chanling, but Xing Daorong will go the other way again. As long as he dares to choose this road, with General Zhang's power, is there any fear that he can't kill Xing Daorong in a field battle?
The third option was that if he was too slow while going downstream along the Yangtze River and was caught up by Gan Zhonglang at Youjiangkou first, he would not even have the chance to retreat into Youshui. He could only go upstream along the Yangtze River, cross the Yangtze River from the upper reaches of Jiangling to Yidao County, and then travel south by land from Yidao back to Wuling.

The advantage of this route is that it will not be directly intercepted by the navy and army of you, General Zhang, and Gan Zhonglang, but the road is more difficult to travel, and there are more mountains to climb. All the boats and vehicles must be abandoned. If these supplies are not burned, they will eventually be seized by our army.

It is also very easy to break Xing Daorong's third retreat route. Please do not hesitate to lead your troops to go upstream along the south bank of the Yangtze River and attack Yidao. Brother Zhengfang also said that he and Yidao County Magistrate Dong He are colleagues and have some old friendships. He is willing to help our army persuade him to surrender and work together to resist Zhang Xian's rebels. As long as Yidao County is occupied, Xing Daorong's retreat route will be completely cut off, and he can only wait for death in Jiangbei, like a turtle in a jar. "

Xu Shu completed the task in one go, listing all three of Xing Daorong's withdrawal routes, and also pointed out the routes on the map, making it very intuitive for Zhang Fei to see.

Zhang Fei suddenly understood and slapped his thigh, "Great plan! Let's follow Yuan Zhi's advice! I will lead 3,000 cavalrymen to Yidao to persuade Dong He to surrender. Magistrate Li will have to work hard and go with me. Yuan Zhi will stay in Chanling to defend the city for the time being."

Zhang Fei made the decision in a hurry. After giving the order, he suddenly remembered a detail and asked again:

"Yuanzhi, you said that Xing Daorong could go upstream along the Yangtze River and find an empty place on the south bank to escape if he had to.

In this case, if we occupy Yidao and Xing Daorong continues to go further upstream than Yidao, how can we block him? Should we just patrol upstream along the south bank of the Yangtze River to block him? "

Xu Shu laughed when he heard this, and told Zhang Fei not to worry: "General Zhang, you are worrying too much - this map does not show the topography of mountains and rivers, and you are not familiar with the geography of Jingzhou, so you asked this question.

In fact, Yiling County is on the other side of Yidao County and a little upstream. Further upstream, there are county towns in Zigui and Wuxian. In the middle is the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River. There are mountains on both sides for thousands of miles. It is all the way to Yufu County in Yizhou, which is in Sichuan.

It is impossible for Xing Daorong to cross the Yangtze River and head south through the Three Gorges. No one can cross the mountains along the south side of the Three Gorges, so if we block Yidao County, we will block the entire south bank of the Yangtze River after the Three Gorges downstream. "

The "Yu Fu" County mentioned by Xu Shu was a county under Ba County of Yizhou, which was later renamed Yong'an by Liu Bei in history. It was located at the western entrance of Qutang Gorge.

Zhang Fei suddenly realized that there was no one in the mountains upstream and it was impossible to cross it. He finally had nothing to worry about.

It's impossible for Xing Daorong to go to Shennongjia and become a savage.

Zhang Fei was full of confidence at the moment. He led 3,000 cavalrymen that day and rushed to Yidao upstream of Chanling to persuade Dong He to surrender and let Xu Shu stay to guard Chanling.

Before leaving, Xu Shu offered Zhang Fei another plan, asking Zhang Fei to write a letter and find a few boats so that he could set out from Chanling, follow the Youshui River to the mouth of the Youjiang River, and then go down the Yangtze River to find Gan Ning.

Zhang Fei was confused and asked about the whole story. Xu Shu then explained:
"General Zhang, our army has blocked all three of Xing Daorong's escape routes. This is only the first step. After that, Xing Daorong will definitely be desperate and force himself to choose a route to try to break out.

Therefore, our army should make preparations in advance and induce Xing Daorong to choose the most advantageous route for us to break through when all three routes are blocked. This way, we can fight more smoothly when we annihilate Xing Daorong later.

In my opinion, the most advantageous way for us among the three is to induce Xing Daorong to break through Chanling by force.

If Xing Daorong broke out via Yidao, because the location was too upstream and there was no waterway near Yidao to approach Wuling, Gan Zhonglang's troops would not be able to exert their combat effectiveness and could only stare blankly on the Yangtze River, out of reach.

Similarly, if Xing Daorong were allowed to forcibly break through the navy on the Yangtze River and return to Baqiu, our army would be useless and could only watch Gan Zhonglang's navy fight Xing Daorong alone.

Only the most compromised of the three routes, Chanling, allows our army to use both land and sea. As long as Xing Daorong dares to enter Youjiangkou, Gan Zhonglang's navy will arrive and block Youjiangkou, while I will defend Chanling City and General Zhang will block the detours around Chanling.

With the city, fields and rivers surrounded on three sides, Xing Daorong was wiped out in an instant! However, to achieve this, Gan Zhonglang's navy had to march slower and not arrive at Youjiangkou too early.

As mentioned before, General Zhang, you can reach Chanling by taking the Lishui River and Zuotang County by land, which is at least two or three days faster than Gan Zhonglang. After Gan Zhonglang parted ways with you, he had to spend a day or two to help General Zhao besiege Baqiu and clear the mouth of Dongting Lake.

All things considered, under normal circumstances, Gan Zhonglang should arrive in Chanling four to five days later than you, General Zhang. We have been here for two days now, and Gan Zhonglang will arrive in two or three days. And within two or three days, Xing Daorong will not have enough time to retreat from Jiangling to Youjiangkou, and he has not even started to retreat yet.

Gan Zhonglang must find an excuse to slow down so that Xing Daorong can reach Youjiangkou before him, but not too far ahead, so as to lure the enemy into taking the bait."

Zhang Fei's brain was slow, and it took him a long time to comprehend the whole plan after hearing Xu Shu's deduction. He couldn't help but applaud.

There was nothing more to say. Zhang Fei immediately wrote a letter and asked someone to send it down the river to Gan Ning, asking Gan Ning to find an excuse to slow down the boat.

In order to prevent Gan Ning from disobeying orders, Zhang Fei also made a few special "threats": only if he drives slowly, he will be given a piece of meat so that he can participate in the encirclement and annihilation of Xing Daorong.

If Gan Ning insisted on coming too quickly and scared Xing Daorong into not daring to withdraw his troops through Youjiangkou, but instead going through Yidao County and crossing the mountains, then Gan Ning's navy would just be waiting for their trip to be in vain!

(End of this chapter)