My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 386: You don’t care if I’m just bluffing or not, you have to save me anyway

After Zhuge Jin unraveled the ultimate goal of this battle and analyzed it clearly with Guan Yu and Zhao Yun, Guan Yu and Zhao Yun's previous frustration about "killing too few enemies" finally dissipated completely.

What has passed is past. There is no point in worrying about killing a few more or a few less enemy troops. We should still look forward and better achieve the main strategic goal of this battle.

In the following days, Zhao Yun and Guan Yu made their own arrangements. While threatening Fu Li, they turned back and cleared the mines that they had buried behind them due to their previous rapid advance.

For example, Guan Yu went straight to Fuli without fighting in Quli County. Quli County is close to Suishui River. After Guan Yu's main force passed, the grain fleet would still be harassed by Cao's army in Quli County, threatening the safety of the grain route.

Zhao Yun still had many hidden dangers behind him due to his rapid advance. For example, there was no time and energy to thoroughly attack and capture Longkang County along the Woshui River. Not to mention Qi County, which was now guarded by more than 20,000 main Cao troops, so it should be impossible to capture it.

Now that Cao Ren has retreated and there is no chance for them to take advantage, Zhao Yun and Guan Yu will divide their forces to deal with Longkang and Quliu first.

Quli County was guarded by a detachment of troops under Zhang He, making it difficult to capture for the time being. Guan Yu did not want to waste more lives on a violent attack on such a small county, so he chose to strengthen the siege fortifications and increase scouts for surveillance.

At the same time, the navy was dispatched to attack from the Suishui River, burning all the facilities such as the docks, piers, warehouses and other facilities located on the river outside the north of the city of Quli County, thereby weakening Zhang He's army's combat potential in blocking the river and intercepting food.

Zhao Yun's side was much more convenient. The morale of the Longkang County defenders was not very high. If they were not afraid that Cao Ren would retaliate against the families of the defenders who stayed behind, they would actually want to surrender.

After Zhao Yun defeated Cao's army in Qi County and killed more than 10,000 enemies, he took a large number of heads of Cao's slain generals and officers, as well as some prisoners, and took them to the foot of Longkang City. He used all kinds of insults and threats to make the defenders mistakenly believe that Cao Ren was in danger and his main force had been badly damaged.

In addition, Zhao Yun also organized several deterrent attacks. Finally, Longkang County held out for about half a month. Feeling that it had done its due to Cao Ren, it secretly negotiated with Zhao Yun and opened the city to surrender.

In this way, Gan Ning's navy patrolling along the Woshui River can be freed up for use on other battlefields, which is a great benefit to Zhao Yun's combat power along the way.

Before the Longkang defenders agreed to surrender, they had only one request: they hoped that when Zhao Yun publicized it to the outside world, he would not say that they surrendered, but only that they fought hard and were defeated, and all died for their country. In this way, Cao Cao would not retaliate against the families of the Longkang defenders who were left behind.

In history, the Cao Wei regime later used many vicious means to maintain the fighting spirit of the troops and prevent surrender. Of course, it is still the Jian'an period, Cao Cao is still in the name of the Han Dynasty, and he did not do as much as Cao Pi did later, but everything develops gradually, and it is normal for the defenders of Longkang to have concerns.

Zhao Yun naturally agreed to this request.

……

Guan Yu and Zhao Yun turned back to clear mines and consolidate the siege camp on the southern line of Cao Ren.

In Fuli City, Cao Ren finally survived the most anxious days at the beginning.

The 50,000-60,000-strong army in the Fuli war zone suffered only 13,000 casualties and was able to save more than 40,000 people. This was a blessing in disguise for him.

But he soon realized that these 40,000 people were not enough to defend Fuli and Zhuyi for a long time because the distribution of troops was too unreasonable.

The small Qi County was surrounded by more than 20,000 people. In Fuli City, there were only more than 15,000 people left. Zhuyi, a little further back on the north bank of Suishui, had only 9,000 defenders. The total number of defenders in the three cities was 46,000.

"If Zhao Yun used a small force to monitor Qi County, for example, he could have sent more than 10,000 troops to surround and monitor it, the 20,000 troops in Qi County would lack a general and would have just suffered a defeat, so they would not dare to leave the city to fight back, which would be equivalent to being held back.

I can only rely on the 24,000 men at hand to hold off the main forces of Guan Yu and Zhao Yun for several months. How can this be possible? If I cannot hold it, I cannot retreat to Suiyang in Liang County by water via the Sui River. In that case, the 20,000 men in Qi County will be given to Zhao Yun for nothing. The only plan now is to order Zhang He and Cai Yang to lead troops to help. "

Cao Ren thought to himself, and his thoughts were exactly the same as what Zhuge Jin had predicted and deduced a few days ago. It can only be said that his understanding of the situation was completely crushed by Zhuge Jin.

Thinking of this, Cao Ren did not dare to delay and immediately sent out several patrol boats, each carrying messengers and elite guards, to retreat upstream of Suishui River, and then detour to Runan and Pengcheng to ask for help and troops.

Two of Cao Ren's messengers took five or six days to travel in a circuitous way, crossing the Woshui River from the south of Qiao County, crossing the Yingchuan River from the south of Ruyin, and crossing the Huai River from the south of Fubo.

After taking a difficult detour and crossing three large rivers, they finally arrived at Anfeng and Xincai respectively, and sent letters for help to the two major defenders in Runan, Li Tong and Cai Yang.

Xincai was the county seat of Runan at that time, and was guarded by Li Tong, the governor of Runan. Anfeng was the front line of the confrontation with Liu Bei's army in Shouchun and Hefei, and was the gateway to block Liu Bei's army in the lower reaches of Huainan from going upstream and attacking Huaixi, and was guarded by the great general Cai Yang.

Cai Yang is portrayed as a weak person in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, but was used by Luo Guanzhong to "behead Cai Yang's brothers to resolve doubts, and meet the king and his ministers in Gucheng to gather together as heroes."

But in official history, since there is no scene of Guan Yu "passing five passes and killing six generals", there is no need for Guan Yu to kill Cai Yang to show his loyalty.

During the Battle of Guandu, when Liu Bei joined forces with Liu Pi and Gong Du in Runan, Cai Yang was ordered by Cao Cao to attack Liu Bei. He was defeated by Liu Bei and killed in the chaos. There is no record of who killed him.

In this life, Liu Bei was fighting Sun Ce during the Battle of Guandu and did not go to Runan. Cai Yang and others have lived to this day and are still helping Cao Cao defend Anfeng. Li Tong and Cai Yang, Li Tong is a bit strategic. After learning that Cao Ren was in danger, he was a little suspicious, worried that it might be a trick of Liu Bei's army to "point east and attack west", so he did not dare to transfer the most advanced garrison in Huainan, but only wanted to draw some reserve troops from the rear to avoid loopholes in the first line of defense in his own defense zone.

Unfortunately, Cai Yang had no strategy at all. He was just a brave general who followed orders without hesitation. When Cao Ren asked him to rescue, he did it decisively.
Cai Yang asked his nephew Qin Qi to lead the vanguard and set off immediately. He himself would make some preparations and take a considerable number of troops from Anfeng within three days. First go to Qiao County, then take a detour to the upper reaches of Suishui, make a big circle by water, enter the encirclement of Fuli, and help Cao Ren withstand the threat of Zhao Yun.

This marching route was also due to the fear that Zhao Yun could come and go like the wind on the Huaibei Plain, and they would intercept and kill him halfway or defeat him one by one.

……

The news that Cai Yang led Cao's army in Runan to cross the Huai River to the north to reinforce Cao Ren could certainly not be concealed from the scouts of Liu Bei's army in Yangyuan and Shouchun areas across the river.

Zhuge Liang was very concerned about this and had been paying attention to it. On the third day after Cai Yang led his troops north, Wei Yan, who was stationed in Yangyuan, rushed back to Shouchun and reported to Zhuge Liang in person:
"Military Advisor, Cai Yang has really fallen into the trap! He has already crossed the Huai River to the north! Now Runan is empty, especially the Huainan part of Runan. Anfeng, Liaoxian, and Yiyang should not have many troops. I am willing to be the vanguard and go up the Huai River today to attack Anfeng first to report to the lord!"

Because Wei Yan was too young, he had few opportunities to make contributions in battles. So far, he had only made some achievements in Jingnan and Jiaozhi, and the enemies he fought against were all very weak, so his abilities were not obvious.

He was eager to join the fight against Cao Cao as soon as possible, to prove himself by making a great contribution, and to get rid of his identity as a military commander and become a captain, which would bring honor to his family.

After all, only those above the rank of captain can be considered senior generals, otherwise they are just "middle-level generals."

Zhuge Liang had only known Wei Yan for three years, but he could understand his mentality. He just advised him not to be arrogant and impatient: "Don't be impatient. Cai Yang just crossed the Huai River! He has to save Cao Ren, and he still has to cross the Yingchuan and Woshui rivers.

Our army has the advantage of the navy. If Cai Yang crosses one more river, it will be more difficult for him to turn back in the future. As long as he doesn't show any signs of turning back, why should we rush? We will investigate again and report back!
Moreover, Cai Yang and Li Tong lacked wise men around them, so I was not surprised that they fell into the trap. But it was different in Pengcheng, as Zhang He had Guo Jia by his side. I was worried that Guo Jia could still see some clues from my and my brother's intentions.

What we are most afraid of now is to alert the enemy. If we let Cai Yang go north safely to reinforce and Runan is not in trouble, we can put more pressure on Zhang He and make him afraid to fall behind. If we attack Runan now, wouldn't it be a loss of the greater for the less, giving Zhang He a reason to shrink back and defend and not help? "

Wei Yan was speechless after hearing what Zhuge Liang said. After thinking about it carefully, he realized that this was indeed the truth.

It is said that Brother Zhuge is thinking far ahead. After all, I am too young and only care about the gains and losses of the three-acre land in Runan battlefield.

Then just wait a little longer. The bigger and deeper the net is cast, the more you will catch when you pull it in. Don't be impatient.

……

At the same time that Li Tong and Cai Yang sent reinforcements, Zhang He in Pengcheng County was indeed caught in a dilemma.

His pressure was greater than that of Li Tong and Cai Yang, because Guan Yu still had more than 10,000 troops stationed in Quli County, Pengcheng County, confronting Zhang He's general Wang Zhong. Zhang He and Guan Yu were already at war.

But he could not ignore Cao Ren's request for help, because Cao Ren was his direct superior and military orders could not be disobeyed.

After much deliberation, Zhang He personally went to Guo Jia's house to visit him, asking Guo Jia for some "reassurance" and also asking Guo Jia to help him share some decision-making responsibilities.

"General Cao sent me a military order, asking me to draw troops from Pengcheng and Mount Tai to assist in the defense of Fuli, but the defense of Pengcheng is equally important. I wonder how many people should I send?"

The leg that Guo Jia broke last year has healed, but he is still a little weak. After the serious injury, he has been suffering from minor illnesses all the time, and he has been taking medicine randomly to relieve the pain, so he looks a little pale.

He usually did not go to the prefectural government to discuss matters. It was always Zhang He who would come to him to ask for advice when he had questions.

After Guo Jia listened quietly, he personally asked for Cao Ren's order and read it carefully. He frowned, stroked his goatee and said:

"I think this matter... is somehow inappropriate. In fact, General Zixiao should not have thought of defending Fuli and Zhuyi to the death. He should have been more flexible. The area around Fuli is a vast plain.

As long as they can hold out for two or three months and delay enough time, relying on the two cities sandwiched between the river and Liu Bei's warships, it will be impossible for them to infiltrate the upper reaches of Suishui. When they are finally unable to hold on, they can retreat by water at any time, and it will be no problem to retreat to Xiangxian or even Suiyang.

We traded territory for time, and when Sikong conquered Yecheng and returned south, with several times more troops to counterattack, would Liu Bei's generals still be able to gain a foothold around Fuli? In the end, they were still beaten back by our army.

Therefore, the essence of Fuli is to defend it, but not to defend it to death. Just retreat a little bit to buy time. Now Zhao Yun has detained these 20,000 people in Qi County for nothing, and the situation has become much more difficult..."

Zhang He was getting impatient, but he could only hold his temper. He interrupted at this point and asked, "Sir, I don't quite understand what you are saying. Can you tell me exactly how many troops I should send to rescue General Cao?"

(End of this chapter)