My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 510: The task of feigning defeat to lure the enemy is actually Gan Ning's turn
Jia Xu advised Xiahou Yuan, "Don't withdraw the siege rashly when morale is at its lowest. You should hold on a little longer and find a surprising time to withdraw the siege after morale has risen."

Although Zhuge Liang did not hear these words in person, he could see from his actions afterwards that Xiahou Yuan had not moved his camp. With Zhuge Liang's brain, he could easily infer how Jia Xu persuaded Xiahou Yuan.

It can only be said that Zhuge Liang, who has been tempered and strengthened by his elder brother Zhuge Jin, is now much more intelligent and knowledgeable than his peers in history. Although he is only 26 years old, his strength is as strong as his peak state in his 30s or 40s in a parallel time and space.

In front of Zhuge Liang today, Jia Xu's little trick was like a one-way perspective cheat, with no secrets at all.

Since he knew what the enemy was thinking, Zhuge Liang could certainly respond in a targeted manner. If the enemy was not in a hurry to withdraw and move camp, he would create some bad news for them to force them to make a decision as soon as possible.

……

Just two days after the high-level military meeting of Liu Bei’s army in Jiangbei City ended, Zhuge Liang launched his first test.

The specific executor was, of course, Gan Ning, the naval commander of Liu Bei's army.

Gan Ning received instructions from the military advisor in advance and kept all the key details in mind. Then he led a naval force of about 5,000 to 6,000 people, set out from the Ciqikou Wharf in Jiangzhou City, headed north for 150 miles to Dianjiang County and Diaoyucheng, and launched a waterway offensive against Cao's army.

When Gan Ning appeared, Xiahou Yuan, Zhang Xiu and Jia Xu were still slightly shocked. After all, they had been waiting for several months, and Liu Bei's army finally came to rescue Wei Yan who had been besieged for a long time.

When the scouts detected Gan Ning's fleet approaching, they immediately reported the situation to Xiahou Yuan.

Xiahou Yuan also immediately asked Jia Xu and Feng Kai for advice, asking them to come up with a countermeasure - as for Zhang Xiu, Xiahou Yuan had no intention of discussing it with him this time. The main reason was that Zhang Xiu was a general from the Xiliang faction and knew nothing about naval battles, so it would be useless to ask him.

If it is Zhang Fei who attacks, then Zhang Xiu can still be of great use. If it is Gan Ning who attacks, then Zhang Xiu can only watch the show.

"Gan Ning is coming with great force this time and is heading straight for Dianjiang County. Should we defend the water fort and not go out, fighting him with bows and crossbows, or send out warships to meet him?" Xiahou Yuan asked directly.

Feng Kai was considered to be the one who was relatively knowledgeable about naval warfare in Xiahou Yuan's army. Historically, he had also participated in the battle of Cao's army against Jingzhou. Naturally, he was entrusted with the important task of commanding the navy by Xiahou Yuan this time.

Based on his professional expertise, Feng Kai said pertinently: "It is an indisputable fact that Liu Bei's navy is far superior to ours. Gan Ning is brave and a native of Ba County, so we couldn't defeat him before. It is better to hold on to the water stronghold and rely on the narrowness of the three rivers to consume the enemy."

After Feng Kai finished speaking, Xiahou Yuan looked at Jia Xu again.

Jia Xu stroked his beard and pondered for a while, then said, "What General Feng said is the correct way of military strategy, but seeing that Gan Ning is coming with such a fierce force, the situation is different.

Last year, Gan Ning also fought with us. Whenever our patrol boats tried to turn from the West Han River to the Fu River, they would be intercepted and killed by Gan Ning west of the river fork. It was still late autumn, and the river was still high. I observed that Gan Ning had many large ships, so it was difficult to defeat him.

At the end of last month, we also fought with Gan Ning twice. Both times, our army wanted to seize Wei Yan's Diaoyucheng North Bank Wharf, and Gan Ning used the navy to intercept and cut off our retreat. In those two battles, the warships Gan Ning used were not as large as last autumn, but they did not penetrate too far beyond Sanjiangkou. It seems that his combat power is weaker than last late autumn.

I didn't understand it at first, but after seeing Wei Yan's dock, I figured it out - we were in the upper reaches, and we only had small boats all year round, and we couldn't find any big ships. Gan Ning came from the lower reaches, where the river was wide and the water was deep, and the warships of the Jingzhou and Yangzhou naval forces could sail here smoothly.

Therefore, the deeper and wider the river, the more disadvantageous it is for us. And the shallower the river is in winter, the more Gan Ning can only switch to small boats to fight us. Small boats lack battlements to block arrows, so they are at a disadvantage when shooting at the camps on the shore. We can completely lure the enemy deep into our territory, and then use the upstream fire ships to rush down the river to destroy them...

Of course, how to fight specifically depends on how big Gan Ning's plan is. If he still only wants to protect Wei Yan and is unwilling to go deep, we will have no chance to fight back. "

Xiahou Yuan originally had no confidence in naval battles.

Cao's army came from the upper reaches of Hanzhong. The boats that could be collected on both sides of the upper reaches were all small boats, and the soldiers of Cao's army were even worse at swimming. With a comprehensive disadvantage in boats and people, what was there to fight? Therefore, every time when Gan Ning came to harass, Xiahou Yuan would hold on.

But this time, Jia Xu combined his previous experience of fighting with Wei Yan, suddenly observed the impact of the water level and width of the river on naval battles, and put forward other opinions, which really made Xiahou Yuan happy.

Indeed, in most cases and under most circumstances, Cao's army would not be able to fight a naval battle. However, at special times and in special geographical environments, this may not be the case.

It seems like we can give it another try!
Xiahou Yuan stroked his beard and praised: "What Wenhe said does make sense. Captain Feng, you should follow Wenhe's advice and prepare enough warships, put more large shields on both sides to block arrows, and prepare some fire ships, waiting for the opportunity to move. I will let the water forts on both sides shoot at Gan Ning and weaken him, and then observe his subsequent actions."

After receiving the order, Feng Kai immediately took his leave to prepare.

……

After a while, Gan Ning's navy reached the section of the Jialing River between Dianjiang County and Diaoyucheng - at this point, the Jialing River had already merged with the Qu River, but the Fu River had not yet merged.

Therefore, the width and water volume of the river here have been reduced by at least 30% compared to the downstream. It is still March, and the winter dry season has not completely passed, so the tower ships and large battleships are naturally unusable. Gan Ning only has a small fleet, some warships, and a small number of small battleships to continue to attack upstream.

When the fleet passed the water fort along the coast of Dianjiang County, because the total width of the river was less than 100 feet and they had to avoid the shallow water area on the south bank, Gan Ning's fleet would of course be exposed to the range of Cao's archers on the north bank.

Xiahou Yuan personally supervised the battle in Dianjiang County and sent as many archers as possible to suppress the enemy. For a while, arrows flew across the river bank like locusts, with thousands of archers on both sides desperately raining down arrows.

Cao's crossbowmen can hide behind rammed earth walls and picket fences to attack, which is almost the same as shooting arrows on the city wall. The cover is very good. These fortifications were built by Cao's army for a whole winter. They are very complete, with no blind spots in firepower and no defensive weaknesses. Since ancient times, as long as the land side has a fortress to rely on, the navy/naval side will not be able to take advantage of it. Even if Gan Ning is good at water battles, he cannot change this natural law.

His battleships could rely on the shelter of the cabin, and the soldiers could only shoot arrows outward through the portholes. But the soldiers on the warships did not have such a good cover, and the ordinary boats were shot at and suffered terribly.

Fortunately, Gan Ning did not intend to continue to shoot at Xiahou Yuan. He was just passing by and had to force his way through this section of the river.

So Gan Ning fired at the enemy while ordering the rowers to row faster.

Even so, several boats were difficult to control because their helmsmen and rowers were shot too many times by Cao's army and had to rush to the south bank, eventually running aground on Wei Yan's pier on the north bank of Diaoyu City.

After getting out of the range of Cao's crossbows, the surviving sailors quickly carried their wounded comrades ashore.

Now it has been some time since Wei Yan built the north bank wharf, and a water fort of considerable size has been built nearby, with several buildings specifically used to treat wounded soldiers, equivalent to a "field hospital", so that wounded soldiers can receive emergency treatment immediately.

The soldiers of Liu Bei's army were generally well-equipped. Even though sailors could not wear iron armor to prevent themselves from falling into the water due to heavy loads, they were basically equipped with light leather armor. Even if they were shot by a crossbow at a long distance, it would not be fatal even if their armor was penetrated.

Gan Ning's troops fought with Cao's army for a long time, but there were only many wounded soldiers and few deaths. As long as they can be pulled back for treatment, there is hope.

Gan Ning ignored the escaped boats and continued to charge upstream with the fleet. His goal was also very clear, that is, the anchorage of Cao's water fort. Cao Cao had stored small boats in the water forts around Dianjiang County, which were convenient for ferrying between the three rivers and contacting the various camps to transport supplies.

Even if Cao's army held their ground and refused to fight, as long as Gan Ning could get outside the camp and set it on fire, he would be able to cause considerable damage to Cao's facilities and fleet.

However, Gan Ning's reckless advance today did not yield much. He approached two water forts of Cao's army and found that there were no ships at the anchorage. Xiahou Yuan must have given an early warning and pulled most of the small boats back.

Gan Ning was just using archers to shoot at Cao's army on the shore throughout the whole process, but Gan Ning did not gain any advantage in this kind of shooting.

"Don't worry about it. Just throw the swallowtail torches at the towers of the water fort, set them on fire and leave! Send out two boats to burn the gate of the fort completely!"

Although Gan Ning was unwilling, he also followed the mentality of a thief who never leaves empty-handed, so he set fire to Xiahou Yuan's two empty water forts, destroying some facilities.

Several watchtowers were quickly ignited by the thrown swallowtail torches and fish paste oil jars, and gradually burned down. The gate of the water fort was also smashed by the boats with sharp knives stuck in the heads and piled with firewood, and then the boats were pressed against the gate and burned it down.

After doing all this, Gan Ning gave an order: "Xiahou Yuan must have withdrawn his fleet upstream to avoid our army! Follow me to chase him into Dangqu (Qujiang River) and wipe out Cao's navy! Make sure Xiahou Yuan can't take care of the north and south banks!"

Gan Ning's order was not without purpose. In the process of attacking and destroying upstream, he had seen Feng Kai's flag in the upper reaches of Qujiang River through lookout, and many Cao army ships had already avoided it in advance.

As Gan Ning pursued, Xiahou Yuan, who was watching the battle in the camp on the shore, also felt a little relieved, and Jia Xu on the side looked even more proud.

"Gan Ning is too arrogant. At this time, he actually dares to chase us into a small river like Dangqu. The water level and volume of Dangqu are several times smaller than that of the West Han River (Jialing River). By then, he won't even have time to turn around." Jia Xu comforted Xiahou Yuan with an expression of success.

"I hope so." Xiahou Yuan was still a little unsure.

Fortunately, it didn't take long for facts to prove Jia Xu's judgment.

Gan Ning went upstream for another twenty miles, reached the fork of the Jialing River and the Qu River, and then pursued into the Qu River without hesitation.

There were also Cao's water forts on both sides of the Qujiang River. Because the river was narrow, Cao's archers on both sides fired arrows crazily without hesitation. Feng Kai's navy, which had been fleeing to lure the enemy, suddenly turned around and attacked.

"Feng Kai, you dare to fight me? All the generals, follow me and move forward to kill Feng Kai!" Gan Ning shouted arrogantly. Soon, he and Feng Kai were fighting.

However, Gan Ning's advantage did not last long as a group of boats in Feng Kai's army upstream suddenly caught fire and rushed downstream.

Fortunately, Gan Ning's navy was highly skilled in combat and familiar with water and boat operation, so they quickly tried their best to dodge.

After all, Gan Ning's fleet was not a "linked ship" and they managed to dodge many attacks. Only a few warships were burned. Two other battleships ran aground on the shoal of Qujiang River because they turned around too hastily.

"Oh no! The water here is too shallow, we are chasing too deep, let's abandon ship!" The sailors under Gan Ning's command immediately abandoned ship and evacuated with great acting skills. They threw away their weapons and jumped into the water, swimming to the friendly warships and evacuated.

After gathering the defeated troops, Gan Ning immediately pretended to be defeated and retreated quickly.

Feng Kai was overjoyed when he saw that he had actually defeated Gan Ning, and he couldn't help but feel unbelievable for a moment.

(End of this chapter)