My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 642: Jia Xu: Just after falling for Zhuge Liang’s trick, he fell for Zhuge Jin’s trick again
After Liu Bei and Cao Ren had been in a stalemate for more than ten days, Liu Bei's army suddenly made a slight attack on the battlefield in the Tongbai Mountain area on the east front of the north bank of the Han River and captured Zhangling County and Sui County which were guarded by Liu Biao's former subordinates.

It also completely protected the safety of Liu Bei's army's grain route along the Han River, and prevented Cai Mao's former subordinates along the tributaries on the north bank of the Han River from sailing downstream and entering the Han River to harass them.

In the short term, this move would occupy a certain amount of Liu Bei's troops, making Liu Bei's troops in the central front battlefield even weaker. But in the long term, it could save Liu Bei's troops more troops.

Because from then on, the 600-700-li Han River waterway from Wuchang to Yicheng was no longer threatened, and Liu Bei's army no longer needed to keep a fleet on patrol.

As long as the surface of the Han River north of Yicheng is blocked to ensure that Cai Mao's navy in the north cannot move south, the Han River waterway south of Yicheng will be absolutely safe.

This is a typical trade-off of "dividing troops will make you weak in the short term, but it will be more beneficial to concentrate superior forces in the long term."

Since Zhuge Jin even used this trick, Cao Ren certainly couldn't just sit there and wait for death. He had to make good use of this flaw revealed by the enemy and do something during this time when Liu Bei's "frontal forces were empty".

Otherwise, he would be completely sorry to Cao Cao and would not be able to control his soldiers. How could he convince the people?
Under the tremendous pressure from both inside and outside, Cao Ren's first choice was to let Yu Jin send a troop to rob food.

Whether more actions will be arranged in the future will depend on the results of the tentative grain robbery ban.

Of course, some preliminary preparations can be done in advance, so that once Yu Jin pulls out a new fighter, he won't be in a hurry at the last minute.

……

When Yu Jin was assigned the task by Cao Ren, he was nervous at first.

But he was a famous general in Cao's camp, capable of both offense and defense, and he had been eager to fight in the past half month. So he had no reservations about executing the order, and as soon as he received the order, he organized elite cavalry to cut off Liu Bei's food supply.

This was also due to the fact that Yu Jin had never suffered any losses at the hands of Liu Bei's camp before - Yu Jin's most glorious moment before was more than 11 years ago, when Zhang Xiu rebelled in Wancheng and tried to attack and kill Cao Cao. Cao Cao fled after his eldest son Cao Ang and general Dian Wei were killed in the battle. In the end, Yu Jin helped to cover the retreat, gather the chaotic soldiers, stabilize the situation and defeat Zhang Xiu.

After that, although Yu Jin also made meritorious contributions and was promoted, the credit for the Battle of Guandu belonged to everyone, and Yu Jin did not perform particularly well compared to others.

And because Yu Jin had made many contributions on the battlefield in Nanyang before, after the Battle of Guandu defeated the Yuan family, Cao Cao placed Yu Jin in Nanyang all year round to guard against Liu Biao.

Therefore, the other three best generals of Cao's camp (the original five best generals excluding Yu Jin and Zhang Liao) were basically beaten up by Liu Bei's camp in the past six or seven years.

Le Jin suffered losses in Lu County and Taishan, Zhang He suffered losses repeatedly in Hebei and Pengcheng, and Xu Huang also suffered losses in Huaibei.

Yu Jin was the only one who never suffered any loss because he was responsible for defending Liu Biao. His value among the four best generals in Cao Ying was rising again and again. This time when they were going to attack Liu Biao's territory, Yu Jin was the first to follow Cao Ren southward. In his heart, he had the least fear of the enemy.

On the day of the attack, Yu Jin thought to himself, "Huh, Wen Qian was defeated by Zhuge Jin and Gao Shun, Jun Yi was defeated by Guan Yu and Zhao Yun, and Gong Ming was also defeated by Guan Yu.

But now Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are not in Jingbei, Zhao Yun is far away in Youzhou, and even Gan Ning is in Shuzhong. Liu Bei has no generals around him. This is a godsend opportunity. Wouldn't it be a pity if he doesn't make achievements quickly this month and take the lead? "

With this idea in mind, Yu Jin selected a cavalry unit of 5,000 people and launched the first offensive.

……

When Yu Jin began to try to cut off the food supply route between Dangyang and Yicheng, the senior generals of Liu Bei's army on the opposite side naturally noticed it in advance.

Before Yu Jin took action, Liu Bei asked Zhuge Jin that since the feint attack on the eastern front had worked, should the central route also be guarded more strictly, such as by providing more elite guards to the grain transport team?

Not only did Liu Bei mention this matter, but even Huang Zhong, Liu Bei's most useful frontline general, also took the initiative to ask for instructions.

At that time, Huang Zhong felt that there was no chance of defeating the enemy in the field in the near future. Chen Dao was sent to the north bank of the Han River to take over Zhangling and Suixian. There were no other generals to be dispatched by the lord, so it would be better to send him with some cavalry to escort the grain team.

However, these suggestions were all rejected by Zhuge Jin.

Liu Bei and Huang Zhong were both a little surprised at the time: "Sir/Situ, you did everything you could to lure Cao Ren into underestimating the enemy and robbing the grain. Now when the time came, why didn't you pay attention to protecting the grain team? Shouldn't you have sent a large number of troops to guard it and attack it head-on?"

Zhuge Jin had a convincing argument for this: "If our army defends tightly, how can Cao Ren's scouts fail to detect this situation? Seeing that we have more escort troops, they will definitely suspect that there is a trick and will not be willing to send too many troops at once.

It would be better to send another surprise force far behind, without personal guards. After luring out Cao's army, wait for them to start looting, and then reinforce them to chase and kill them. If Cao's army is willing to send infantry to fight together, then they will not be able to escape. If only cavalry is used, as long as Cao's army wants to transport the food, they will not be able to run fast and will still be caught up. "

Zhuge Jin's remarks sounded so amateurish that Liu Bei and Huang Zhong both spotted the flaw immediately.

Liu Bei, with common sense from years of leading troops, immediately pointed out a question: "Wait for Cao's army to take action before going to rescue? What if the enemy is all cavalry and does not seek to transport the looted food back? What if they set fire to the food as soon as they see our army's rescue, and the cavalry flees at full speed?"

Zhuge Jin just smiled and said, "If that's the case, we'll admit our loss this time and let Cao Ren have a taste of sweetness. Then, we'll reduce the frequency of grain transportation by land and ensure that there are heavy troops to protect it in the future.

As for the water transport from Jiangling to Zhangxiang Town, Dangyang County, do not slow it down. Because the backlog caused by the slowdown of land transport in the second half and the unslowed water transport in the first half, let it be stored slowly at the Zhangxiang wharf. You can send people to expand the granary in Zhangxiang."

When Liu Bei heard this, he began to understand a little.

As for Huang Zhong, he hadn't reacted yet, but he realized that he just had to follow orders.

……

As Zhuge Jin deliberately did not strengthen the close defense of the grain transport team, Yu Jin's first tentative grain robbery was indeed very successful.

When Yu Jin's cavalry appeared in the hilly area more than 40 miles southwest of Yicheng, Liu Bei's army, which had just transported grain there, seemed a little panicked.

The officer who transported the grain was under Liu Qi's command, so he was unknown and had no historical achievements at all.

If Liu Qi had not been close to Liu Bei for many years and some of his direct troops were not well-equipped, these grain transport soldiers would probably have been scared when they saw Yu Jin appear.

Now, at least they were well-equipped, with strong crossbows and steel-filled halberds, and some of the front-line soldiers also had steel-filled armor. These former Jingzhou soldiers immediately surrounded some of the chariots, with the crossbowmen on the chariots, the gaps around the chariots filled with large shields, and the halberd soldiers filled in to resist close combat.

However, as a grain transport team, this group of people still has few main combat soldiers, and a considerable number of them are only auxiliary soldiers.

Yu Jin's troops were all cavalry and they came quickly. Liu Qi's grain transport soldiers were unable to use all the chariots and sticks at once, so they just hastily formed a small formation and responded to the enemy like a hedgehog.

Yu Jin is a talented general. He knows that today he is only here to test the enemy, not to take on any tough tasks.

As for the hedgehog-like enemy that had retreated into the chariot formation, he did not make the same low-level mistake as Gongsun Zan did in the past and did not directly use light cavalry to charge.

Yu Jin simply killed the civilians and auxiliary soldiers on the periphery who had not had time to form a battle formation, and dragged away the grain carts and oxen and donkeys that could be robbed. Then he threw a bunch of torches at the grain transport troops who were forming a battle formation.

When the torches were thrown, Liu Qi's grain transport soldiers would of course try their best to shoot back with their crossbows, killing or wounding hundreds of Cao's cavalry. But there were still hundreds or thousands of torches that successfully fell into the chariot formation, causing a considerable fire.

If it was a normal empty truck, it would be easy to put out the fire after so many torches were thrown at it. But the goods on the grain truck were very dry, and the flames spread as soon as they appeared. Even though many people tried their best to put out the fire, they still suffered a lot of damage in the end.

Taking advantage of the chaos caused by the grain transport troops fighting the fire, Yu Jin turned his horse around and retreated more than ten miles away.

However, not long after Yu Jin thought he had completely succeeded, something unexpected happened.

On the west side of the battlefield, there was a cavalry unit, which seemed to have come from Bian County, southwest of Yicheng. They crossed the battlefield from west to east and attacked Yu Jin's flank.

The commander of this intercepting cavalry was none other than Huang Zhong.

Yu Jin didn't know Huang Zhong's strength, but he had no intention of fighting.

Originally, if Liu Bei's army had not come to rescue him, he had planned to drag back all the looted animals, as well as the cart handles that the animals could use to pull the carts quickly.

But since he had discovered a large group of cavalrymen chasing him, Yu Jin had no choice but to act decisively. He immediately ordered all the donkeys to be taken away and to flee with the troops, and all the cattle that could be killed were killed. As for the grain carts that could not be pulled away, they were simply set on fire.

Seeing a large number of grain carts on fire, Huang Zhong could only assign some soldiers to put out the fire and control the situation, while he himself took the remaining cavalry to chase and kill Yu Jin.

Huang Zhong was brave and a master of archery on horseback. He had led troops for many years and was very strict with his cavalry's archery training. After Liu Qi defected to Liu Bei, his men became accustomed to the configuration of double-sided metal stirrups and high-bridge saddles, and their archery skills were further improved.

Therefore, under Huang Zhong's pursuit, Yu Jin's cavalry suffered some casualties in the struggle. But in the end, because Yu Jin's cavalry was mainly light cavalry, and his horses were not at a disadvantage in speed, he gradually pulled away.

Huang Zhong had to go back to put out the fire to prevent any other accidents, so he did not dare to chase further. He only chased for about twenty or thirty miles before turning back.

Huang Zhong was naturally depressed by this result. He couldn't help but sigh to the generals around him:

"Everyone says that Zhuge Situ is a man of great foresight and never fails to make plans. But today's battle was really frustrating. The enemy is made up of cavalry, and they set fire and took advantage of the chaos to escape. How can we annihilate them all?"

The generals also said to comfort him: "General, why worry about it? At least we defeated the enemy general and captured a lot of enemies, which is enough to show our merit."

Huang Zhong just shook his head helplessly. What he wanted was not such a small gain. What he wanted to fight was a war of annihilation.

After Huang Zhong finished the battle, he withdrew his troops and immediately reported the situation to Liu Bei and Zhuge Jin.

Liu Bei heard that a batch of grain had been robbed, and the victory was not overwhelming, so he didn't make much profit. Although this was a well-planned result, when the time came, he still felt that "less profit is a loss."

Fortunately, Zhuge Jin remained very calm and comforted Liu Bei, saying, "Don't worry, my lord. We will see the outcome sooner or later if we continue on this path. Starting tomorrow, we will slow down the land transportation of grain as planned. I don't believe that Cao Ren, who has just tasted the sweetness, can bear it."

Liu Bei said anxiously: "If it is true as Ziyu said, the little money we invested now can certainly make a lot of money back. I am just afraid that Cao Ren can't help it." Zhuge Jin: "He can't help it, I said."

……

On the other hand, Yu Jin achieved some small results in the first battle. After withdrawing his troops, he reported the situation to Cao Ren truthfully.

It is not surprising that in this kind of tug-of-war, both sides claim to be the winner.

After all, Yu Jin achieved his goal of robbing and burning grain, and he retreated after the fight. As for who suffered greater casualties in the struggle between the two sides, it is hard to tell for the time being.

Yu Jin was the one who retreated and gave up control of the battlefield, and he couldn't collect the bodies and count them. So as long as the strategic mission was completed, it would be considered a win, Cao Ren also thought so.

For this reason, Cao Ren naturally rewarded Yu Jin and reported the latest battle situation on the front line to Cao Cao in Wancheng.

After Cao Cao stationed in Wancheng for a period of time, he also sent troops southward. However, in order to avoid danger, Cao Cao himself would not go to Fancheng in person. He always stayed in Wancheng to remotely control the war situation and advise and coordinate the generals.

Upon hearing that Cao Ren had reported the victory, Cao Cao also wrote a letter of commendation.

In the following days, Cao Ren continued to strengthen the reconnaissance of Liu Bei's army's food supply routes.

Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. After Liu Bei's army suffered a loss, the frequency of grain transportation by land decreased sharply. When they had to transport grain occasionally, they were heavily guarded. Cao Ren and Yu Jin never seized the opportunity again.

However, as another seven or eight days passed, Cao Ren and Jia Xu discovered a new opportunity for battle.

It turned out that a scout of Cao's army who was sent to the south and infiltrated deeply into Dangyang County came back to report that "we have discovered that Liu Bei's army's camp at Zhangxiang Wharf in the north of Dangyang County has been rapidly expanding in recent days, and countless granaries have been added."

When Cao Ren heard the news, he immediately asked Jia Xu to help him analyze it.

After checking the authenticity of the evidence, Jia Xu immediately made the correct judgment: "General, this is not surprising. Liu Bei must have been asking Liu Qi to transport the grain and grass from Jiangling to Yicheng. Therefore, the grain stored in Jiangling was continuously transported north.

But now the second half of the land route from Zhangxiang to Yicheng has been harassed by us. To be safe, Liu Bei does not intend to resume transportation until Chen Dao's troops are withdrawn. It is even possible that he will wait until Guan Yu arrives before transporting the second half of the land route.

However, the first half of the waterway from Jiangling to the Beizhang Township wharf in Dangyang County could not be threatened by our army, so Liu Bei's army piled up so much stored grain at the northernmost wharf of the Ju River!

Liu Bei must have felt that Dangyang was far from the front line. Our army's stronghold in Xianshan, south of Xiangyang, was separated from Dangyang by a county. So Liu Bei and Zhuge Jin both felt that there was no danger in temporarily storing so much food outside Dangyang. Anyway, it would be transported again within half a month at most..."

The more Cao Ren listened, the more eager he became. He suddenly thought of an event that happened eight years ago: when the Prime Minister was still Sikong, he and Yuan Shao were in a stalemate at Guandu...

In the end, they discovered Wuchao, a temporary transfer point for large-scale grain storage, and then sent out a surprise attack to burn Wuchao, causing the morale of Yuan Shao's army of hundreds of thousands to collapse.

In those days, Yuan Shao's rear base for storing grain was actually Liyang City. Liyang was well defended, and even after crossing the Yellow River, to Yanjin on the south bank, it was still well defended.

But the problem was that Yuan Shao's army continued to advance and finally reached Guandu, causing Liyang and Yanjin to be too far away from the front line.

In the end, Yuan Shao had to choose a temporary storage point at the end of the waterway for grain transportation, and then unload the ships and load them onto trucks to complete the last leg.

And the final hub that allowed Yuan Shao to "unload ships and load trucks" eight years ago was Wuchao!

Eight years later, Liu Bei's army transported grain from Jiangling in the rear to Yicheng on the front line. The final node of this "land and water transportation" was Zhangxiang Port in the north of Dangyang County!

The strategic positions of the two, if not exactly the same, are at least of similar type.

It's not easy to rob and kill people halfway from Dangyang to Yicheng, so why not go directly to Dangyang's old nest and burn it all down? !
Cao Ren's heart could not help but become more and more eager.

Especially as the high-ranking generals of Cao's army, they all experienced the ups and downs from despair to renewed hope during the Battle of Guandu eight years ago. In their hearts, they all have an unspeakable path-dependent belief in replicating this miracle.

It is just like those big bosses in the business world of later generations who, after surviving many dangerous situations and eventually achieving great success, when talking about their experiences when they were young, they cannot help but say, "I was able to escape death by doing such and such."

This successful experience of escaping death back then is too destructive for a middle-aged person because of path dependence.

Even if his mind tells him that his luck won't be that good twice, he can't help but try to replicate the glory of his youth.

Dangyang today is like Wuchao in the past! Burn Wuchao again! Just like destroying Yuan Shao again, reverse the stalemate between Cao and Liu!
However, the current question is how to attack Dangyang? Should we attack Dangyang? What is the strength and weakness of the enemy?

None of these problems can be ignored, otherwise it will lead to disaster.

Cao Ren sorted out his thoughts briefly, and then issued three instructions:
"Wenhe, you must immediately order the scouts to intensify their patrols and make sure to find out the defense situation of Dangyang County and the Zhangxiang Water Fort in the north of Dangyang County, and find out how strong it is and whether the guards are tight.

Secondly, I will immediately write to the Prime Minister, asking whether we can attack Dangyang directly and burn Liu Bei’s stored grain once the time is right!

Finally, figure out how to clear the way to Dangyang. Remember the road to Dangyang passes not far east of Bian County? Is Huang Zhong, who intercepted Wen Ze before, stationed in Bian County now?

If we pretend to attack Bian County and surround Huang Zhong, but actually block the four gates of Bian County and immediately go around the city and attack Dangyang, does Wenhe think it will be a surprise attack?"

Jia Xu did not dare to answer easily. He concentrated and thought carefully for a long time and found that Cao Ren’s idea was actually very feasible.

It was indeed a bit hasty to finally make the decision on this matter at this moment.

However, as long as you confirm the three issues mentioned above and fill in the gaps, you can really give it a try.

If Huang Zhong was surrounded in Bian County and forced to switch from defense to offense, then Liu Bei's army in Bian County would not be a threat, at least not in the short term.

In this way, Cao's army, which bypassed Bian County and headed south to Dangyang, could ensure that their retreat was safe. It was also easy to expand the victory by taking advantage of Liu Bei's army's carelessness that "Dangyang County was already a second-tier city, so there was no need to worry too much about the safety of Dangyang".

Moreover, as long as it is confirmed that the defense of Zhangxiang Water Fort in the north of Dangyang City is indeed not strong, why not attack it quickly?

If it is a siege, then you really have to think carefully. Breaking down the city walls can take several days even for the smallest city, including a county town like Dangyang.

However, Liu Bei’s army did not store the grain in Dangyang City, they stored it at the dock in the north of the city!

How strong could the wharf camp be? If the main force of the infantry made a desperate effort and attacked by force, there was a good chance of breaking through it.

Even if the enemy comes to rescue, the worst that can happen is we can just fight a field battle in the north of Dangyang City.

By that time, Chen Dao was still in Zhangling, on the eastern front north of the Han River, and had not yet returned. Guan Yu had not arrived either, so Huang Zhong might have been cut off in the county.

How many elite soldiers could Liu Bei's army near Dangyang come to rescue? Cao's army now had an absolute advantage in numbers and was not afraid of a field battle at all. It was also impossible for them to be exhausted by Liu Bei's army guarding the camp before the field battle.

After all these key points were sorted out, Jia Xu also agreed with Cao Ren's opinion. He just added some specific suggestions on how to scout and how to confirm the authenticity of the intelligence, and let Cao Ren consider it.

Cao Ren accepted all these instructions and immediately sent a messenger to cross the Han River to the north and head straight to Wancheng to report the latest plan to Cao Cao.

Just a day and a half later, Cao Cao received Cao Ren's request in Wancheng.

To this end, he also called in Guo Jia, who was seriously ill and bedridden, and Sima Yi, who was now serving him wholeheartedly, to discuss the matter together. Cao Cao also realized that the impact of this decision was absolutely significant, so he did not hesitate to trouble the seriously ill Guo Jia.

If it was a general military strategy issue, Cao Cao would discuss it with Sima Yi himself.

After listening to the discussion between Cao Cao and Sima Yi, Guo Jia also felt that this was a plausible idea. He seconded the proposal with a hoarse voice and wheezing voice:
"Prime Minister! Don't miss this opportunity! Liu Bei's power is now complete. First, get Liu Zhang, then Liu Biao. In the long run, his power will not be inferior to the imperial court. When Yuan Shao was strong and the Prime Minister was weak, he relied on Wuchao to make a desperate bet to break the deadlock.

The situation now is no different from that at Guandu. Dangyang today is like Wuchao in the past! Liu Bei today is like Yuan Shao in the past! "

After hearing this, Cao Cao finally made up his mind and quickly replied to Cao Ren with a handwritten order that night. It stated that as long as Cao Ren could find out that Liu Bei's army had no other deceptions, he could send out his elite troops to attack Dangyang Water Fort.

A day and a half later, the news was sent back to Cao Ren.

After reading it, Cao Ren finally deployed some intelligence collection and analysis work, and mobilized the troops to be used. Finally, after confirming that everything was correct, he handed the attacking troops over to Yu Jin and let Yu Jin be in charge of this attack.

Because it was necessary to storm the water fort, cavalry would not be very effective. Therefore, cavalry could only be used as a peripheral reinforcement force in this battle, and the main attacking force had to be infantry.

Yu Jin also needed to divide his troops to surround Bian County to ensure that his side would not be in danger of being cut off during this long-distance raid.

After taking all these factors into consideration, he would need to bring even more infantry.

In the end, he brought almost all the main infantry forces of the Xianshan stronghold, nearly 30,000 people, and all 5,000 cavalry under his command, as well as a part of the reinforcements that Cao Ren temporarily transferred to him from the Xiangyang garrison.

Some of these troops were Liu Biao's former subordinates led by Cai Mao. Cao Ren did not expect them to fight hard, so he only assigned them the secondary task of besieging Bian County and blocking the gate, so that Yu Jin could concentrate his elite troops to launch the main attack.

Yu Jin prepared his troops and finally on June 13th, he launched a southward raid, heading straight for Dangyang County, vowing to burn Liu Bei's grain storage areas to the ground.

(End of this chapter)