My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 659: Changing homes to stop losses, a good idea

Yuliangzhou is just to the east of Xiangyang City, and Cai Mao’s water fort is less than twenty miles away from the city.

Therefore, after a fire broke out in the water fort at night, it would soon be seen by Cao's patrolling soldiers on the east wall of Xiangyang, who would then report the situation to Cao Ren as quickly as possible.

Cao Ren woke up from his sleep with a start, and after listening to the report, he was shocked and puzzled.

Things happened too suddenly. He was unable to remotely command his own reinforcements that had already set sail and were halfway there in real time, and he did not know Cai Mao's current situation.

But this does not mean that he will let everything develop naturally and do nothing.

Therefore, almost immediately after waking up, Cao Ren summoned Jia Xu and other key staff members and generals in the city to discuss countermeasures urgently.

Of course, to be precise, they didn't even have the basis to discuss countermeasures directly at that time - because they couldn't even know immediately what the situation was on Cai Mao's side.

How much damage did this fire cause? Can Cai Mao still save the situation, or should he think of other ways to remedy the situation?

I don’t know any of this.

But this cannot be blamed on Cao Ren, because in the ancient war environment, backward communication technology would inevitably lead to this situation.

Otherwise, during the Battle of Guandu, Yuan Shao would not have had to spend time judging whether it was too late to save Wuchao and whether it was necessary to save it after knowing that Wuchao was on fire. In the end, it was Guo Tu who forced Yuan Shao to analyze the situation with limited information, which made Yuan Shao make up his mind.

Today, the problem Cao Ren faces is the same as that faced by Yuan Shao when the Wuchao fire broke out.

The role Jia Xu needs to play is just like that of Guo Tu when the fire broke out in Wuchao.

"Wenhe! In your opinion, how did Guan Yu succeed in his surprise attack on Yuliangzhou Water Fort? Why did Cai Mao's camp catch fire at this critical moment?

This idiot can't even guard a camp! Our reinforcements are on the way, can they save Cai Mao?"

Cao Ren asked four questions in a row, speaking very quickly. It was obvious that he had too many confusions that needed Jia Xu's immediate resolution.

Jia Xu was also in a difficult situation as the intelligence was too scarce.

He racked his brain and thought about it quickly, and finally sorted out a few points:
"I don't know how Gao Shun or any other enemy general succeeded in attacking Cai Mao. But the morale of the Jingzhou navy is unstable. If it really comes to this, I'm afraid they will waver and turn against their allies in the middle of a battle.

If our army wants to rescue Yuliangzhou again, it may easily repeat the mistake of Yuan Shao sending Han Meng to rescue Wuchao. And Cai Mao's ability is even inferior to Chunyu Qiong... For now, we should quickly think about how to remedy the situation from other aspects."

Cao Ren's face became even uglier as he listened to Jia Xu's serious words and the unlucky example he hastily cited.

What kind of examples are these? It is true that Yuan Shao failed to save Wuchao, but was his attempt to rescue it wrong? If Zhang He and Gao Lan had gone with Han Meng to rescue Wuchao, would they still not have been able to do so?
Cao Ren then showed his displeasure: "Doctor Jia, you must have been confused! You actually made such a comparison! According to what you said, our army should not rescue the Yuliangzhou water fortress. Shouldn't we follow Guo Tu's advice and attack Gao Shun's camp?"

The main generals of Cao's army witnessed the Battle of Guandu and were deeply impressed. So everyone knows that another idea Guo Tu gave to Yuan Shao was "changing homes".

When Cao Cao went to attack Wuchao, Guo Tu advised Yuan Shao to send Zhang He and Gao Lan to steal Cao Cao's camp, under the pretext of besieging Wei to save Zhao and attacking the enemy where they must be rescued.

Following this analogy, Cao Ren would naturally think that "the temporary camp established by Gao Shun when he landed yesterday was originally located between Xiangyang City and Cai Mao's water stronghold. Now an unexpected incident has occurred at the water stronghold. If rescue is not in time, then it seems feasible to immediately switch sides and attack Wei to save Zhao."

After all, there were still so many main forces of Cao's army in Xiangyang City. As long as they opened the east gate, they could reach Gao Shun's temporary camp in just a few miles. Gao Shun's main force went to fight Cai Mao, so the defense in his camp would definitely be weak.

In this case, the troops left by Gao Shun should not be enough to fully patrol the entire line and "attack Cao's army halfway across the river." Even if Cao's army had to wade across the river, they could ensure that the main force would rush ashore and gain a firm foothold.

What's more, Cao's army still has a considerable number of small boats on hand. These boats were originally carrying soldiers to rescue Cai Mao's water stronghold, but now they only need to turn around halfway and can immediately start the new mission of exchanging homes with Gao Shun.

After all, Cao Ren was a talented general. He would not oppose just for the sake of opposing, or avoid speaking out because it was unlucky.

So as he was talking, he also realized that if he really took this step, it seemed that there was nothing wrong...

The current situation is different from the exchange of homes at Guandu after all.

As a result, Cao Ren's voice lowered involuntarily, and his tone became hesitant and thoughtful.

Jia Xu was standing by and confirmed that Cao Ren had understood this, then he began to gently hint at the solution:
"General, your views are truly unconventional, and you can always break through your prejudices about the past, which is really rare. I also think that Yuan Shao's decision to let Zhang He and Gao Lan attack Guandu Camp was probably a stupid move, but today our army's attack on Wei to save Zhao is definitely not a stupid move!

Gao Shun's military strength was not much greater than Cai Mao's. If he wanted to defeat Cai Mao in one fell swoop, how could he possibly win quickly if he did not try his best and risk everything?

When the Prime Minister was at Guandu, he only wanted to burn the grain in Wuchao, not to completely destroy the Yuan army in Wuchao. This is very different from today. Gao Shun went there to annihilate Cai Mao. "

After Jia Xu's analysis, Cao Ren gradually realized that the two were indeed not comparable.

Yuan Shao had his reasons for having to save Wuchao back then, because Wuchao was where he stored grain.

Today, Cao's army has no reason to rescue Yuliangzhou Water Fort. Yuliangzhou Water Fort itself is not valuable, it is just Cai Mao's navy that is valuable.

But Cai Mao's warships have been transferred in large numbers tonight to transport reinforcements.

The remaining naval soldiers who can retreat will retreat, and those who don't have time to retreat have probably surrendered to Liu Bei's army, so it will be too late to rescue them.

In this case, it is better to consider stopping the loss and exchanging for other chips.

"Since that's the case, I've made up my mind. Contact Yu Jin immediately and ask him to join me in marching as quickly as possible to attack Gao Shun's old camp east of the city!

As long as our army controls both sides of the Yuliangzhou waterway at the same time, even without the navy, we can still suppress the enemy in the water fortress left by Cai Mao!"

……

After receiving Cao Ren's order, the generals of Cao's army immediately carried it out vigorously. They hurried out of the city and headed east to exchange positions with Gao Shun.

The distance of five or six miles could be reached in just a quarter of an hour. At the end of the fourth watch, Cao's army, led by Cao Ren himself, arrived at the seasonal river between Yuliangzhou and Xiangyang.

At the beginning, Cao's army couldn't wait for the warships to ferry them across, so Cao Ren directly ordered some soldiers from Jingzhou to serve as the vanguard and wade across the water.

There were Gao Shun's troops guarding the camp and patrolling at night on the other side of the river. When they saw someone trying to cross the river, they immediately sent out scouts and sent cavalry to rush over. They rained arrows and charged at the Cao army that had just landed and was not yet stable.

The Cao army that had just landed was washed away to pieces, leaving behind hundreds of corpses. The first two landing attempts were blocked by Gao Shun's garrison troops.

However, Cao Ren did not waver at all. His face was ashen and stern. He only ordered the battle line to be extended and the troops to wade along the waterway from south to north at multiple locations at the same time.

When his generals hesitated, Cao Ren shouted angrily, "What are you worried about? I have already found out that Gao Shun does not have enough troops!"

If we wade through one or two points, he can still defend himself. But if we rush across from eight or ten points at the same time, Gao Shun will be unable to defend himself! Hurry up and execute the military order! Those who hesitate will be punished by military law!"

The generals were finally convinced and immediately continued to carry out the order.

In this way, Cao's army relied on their all-out fighting style and quickly defeated Gao Shun's remaining troops, who were struggling to cope with the situation. For a moment, they were outnumbered.

At five o'clock in the morning, part of Cao's troop transport fleet that had been forced to return also turned back and ran into Cao Ren. Cao Ren immediately ordered them to find a shallow beach to land and attack Gao Shun's old camp. The situation in Gao Shun's old nest became increasingly precarious.

However, this whole process, the repeated pulling and consumption, took more than an hour in total.

As early as when Cao Ren just launched an attack to try to change the position, Gao Shun's remaining troops had already realized that the situation was not good, and quickly sent people to Cai Mao Water Fort to contact General Gao and ask for the next plan.

……

On the other hand, it was only half an hour after Cao Ren sent troops to attack Gao Shun's old camp and tried to exchange camp with Gao Shun.

Gao Shun appointed a general to stay in the camp and he immediately reported the situation in the rear to Gao Shun.

At that time, the battle in Cai Mao's water stronghold had not yet completely ended.

Cai Mao himself escaped by boat, and Zhang Yun was just beheaded by Guan Ping.

But in the dark night, many enemy soldiers were unaware of the situation, and some were still insisting on spontaneous resistance. Gao Shun was urgently needed to completely suppress the enemy's momentum.

The messenger sent by the remaining general also had to repeatedly ask his comrades in the chaotic Cai Mao Water Fort for a long time before he found Gao Shun himself, which really wasted some time.

There was no way around it. The entire Xiang and Fan areas were in chaos. There were no mobile phones in that era. During the war, no one knew where their main general would rush to.

When Gao Shun heard about the incident in the rear, he was also quite shocked. He hurried to the watchtower on the west wall of Cai Mao Water Fort, which he had just captured, and looked in the direction of the west.

Ten miles to the east, in the direction he came from, there was no obvious fire, but he could vaguely see the faint flickering of torches. If he listened carefully, he could also hear some shouts and screams.

It was also Cai Mao's fault that the shouting and fighting were too intense and the fire was too fierce, so Gao Shun was a little blinded by the light and failed to notice the change in the direction. "What should we do? Should we rush back immediately to save our old camp?"

This thought flashed through Gao Shun's mind, but he quickly rejected it.

If he returns now, it is still unknown whether he can make it back before Cao Ren breaks through his old camp.

Even if he could get back, he would have to run back for more than ten miles. When he arrived, he might be defeated by Cao Ren who had already attacked the shore.

Our troops have been marching and fighting for most of the night, so how could they have the energy to run back?
Cao Ren's new troops worked at least two less shifts than Gao Shun's troops. On the battlefield, the time difference of two shifts would consume enormous physical energy.

Moreover, if he retreated now, the remnants of Cai Mao had not yet been completely subdued. If there was a reversal, he would lose both ends.

These thoughts only lasted for half a cup of tea in Gao Shun's mind, and he made a decisive decision: I can't go back to save him! I must go all the way! I will trade homes with Cai Mao!

He abandoned his old camp and gave it to Cao Ren. Then he seized Cai Mao's camp and continued to defend it.

Cai Mao's camp was higher and steeper than Gao Shun's newly built camp, and it also had some hills and mountains to rely on. Gao Shun's own old camp was very low-lying, right on the shore of the temporary waterway of Yuliangzhou, where there was no way to build a dock or dock large ships.

In comparison, even though Cai Mao's water stronghold had just been burned down, and many facilities were burned down, the remaining fortifications were better than Gao Shun's own camp - Gao Shun's old camp was built in less than a day and a night, and there were no other fortifications except an earth wall and an earth ditch.

In that case, of course we have to change homes!

Gao Shun immediately ordered the messenger: "If you work hard for a while, I will give you a new horse. Go back to the old camp and tell them to retreat immediately and move closer to me. Let's exchange homes with Cai Mao! However, before you leave, make sure to set a few fires and burn everything that can be burned to avoid aiding Cao Ren, the enemy, and also to use the fire to stop the enemy in the chaos!"

The messenger did not dare to refuse the hard work. He just drank a bowl of hot water and a bowl of hot wine, picked up a bag of beef jerky, changed to a new horse that still had plenty of strength, and galloped back with the military order that Gao Shun had just hastily written.

Another quarter of an hour later, the messenger rushed back to Gao Shun's old camp and conveyed the military order.

The troops left behind by Gao Shun in the camp numbered less than 10,000 people. Facing the increasingly fierce attacks from the main forces of Cao Ren and Yu Jin, they could no longer hold out.

Upon hearing that the general agreed to retreat and that most of Cai Mao's troops had been annihilated and their water stronghold had been captured, the generals guarding the camp naturally breathed a sigh of relief and immediately organized their troops to retreat as orderly as possible.

They did not dare to resist until Cao's army was completely surrounded, but instead pretended to launch a counterattack, pushing Cao's army in a certain position into the river, temporarily intimidating Cao Ren.

Then, taking advantage of the moment when Cao Ren and Yu Jin were in doubt, Gao Shun's troops who stayed behind in the camp set fire and retreated one after another. When retreating, they tried to let the heavily armored soldiers go first for a few cups of tea to reduce the loss of armor and helmets while rushing.

But the rear-end suicide squad that couldn't be escaped had no choice but to throw away all their steel-filled armor while running.

The only way they could exercise their subjective initiative was to throw as much steel armor into the river as possible, making it more difficult for Cao's army to find the spoils after they occupied the camp, thus causing more trouble for Cao's army.

The battle lasted until the end of the fifth watch, when it was already getting light in the sky. Cao Ren and Yu Jin joined forces to charge into Gao Shun's camp.

The casualties in Gao Shun's camp during the night attack were not small, with at least two to three thousand people killed or seriously injured and captured. Of course, the casualties caused by these defenders to Cao's army during the blocking process were definitely not less than this number.

As for Cai Mao's water stronghold in the west, Gao Shun and Guan Ping won an absolutely crushing victory, forcing the enemy to collapse and surrender, with the casualty ratio being at least ten times greater.

So, in summary, Gao Shun won ten times more on the east front and barely broke even on the west front in this battle of attacking in the east and defending in the west. In the end, the comprehensive average was at least four or five times the victory, which was quite impressive.

……

"Gao Shun's soldiers who were guarding the camp actually escaped! After such a fierce battle, we only managed to draw and seize their camp. How hateful!"

After it was completely light, Cao Ren stood in the camp abandoned by Gao Shun, pulled out a ring-handled sword, and chopped at a charred wooden pillar next to him to vent his anger.

He was not satisfied with the final result tonight.

Although Gao Shun's camp was captured, except for the earth wall and the earth ditch that could not be burned, nothing else flammable was left for Cao Ren.

Yu Jin, who was urgently pulled in to help, tried to persuade him kindly: "General, you have already turned the tide. The failure last night was all due to Cai Mao.

If he hadn't been careless and was ambushed by Gao Shun, forcing us to change our plans hastily, how could the loss be so great?
However, the biggest losses were suffered by Cai Mao, and we were evenly matched with Gao Shun."

Yu Jin said so, but everyone knew that Gao Shun used both hands to beat people last night, one hand to beat Cai Mao and the other hand to guard his home against Cao Ren.

Although Cao Ren used his troops in a hurry and had no time to prepare fully, it is not glorious to fight the opponent with one hand even with your all.

Cao Ren calmed down and asked with a sigh, "We came in such a hurry last night that we didn't have time to count the losses of Cai Mao's navy. How many of Cai Mao's navy were killed?"

Yu Jin couldn't answer this question either. After a lot of trouble, Jia Xu, who came from the city with reinforcements, helped report the latest intelligence to Cao Ren, and finally solved the mystery.

"Of Cai Mao's navy troops who remained in the camp last night, only a few thousand men escaped by boat or fled back to the army. The rest were basically wiped out. Of course, the warships that Cai Mao sent out to pick up the people, as well as the sailors who were driving the ships, were all safe.

Adding it all together, he could barely gather more than 10,000 naval forces to return to the team. In other words, he lost 10,000 to 20,000 people overnight, about several thousand of them were killed in battle or seriously injured, and the remaining at least 10,000 were forced to surrender by Gao Shun and Guan Ping. "

The loss was 20,000, and more than 10,000 surrendered!

This number made Cao Ren feel suffocated again.

More than two months ago, Cai Mao took more than half of Liu Biao's troops to defect to Cao Cao.

Later, Huang Zhong forced back 7,000 to 8,000 people in the battle of Bian County. Huang Zhong counterattacked Shandu County and captured several thousand more. In total, Huang Zhong captured at least 10,000 people on the Western Front.

On the eastern front, Gao Shun and Guan Ping took away nearly 10,000 of Liu Biao's former followers when they defeated Wen Pin at Lumen Mountain, and now they have taken away more than 10,000 when they defeated Cai Mao. At least 20,000 people were taken back from the eastern front.

In the entire Jingbei battlefield, including the east and west fronts, within two months, 30,000 of Liu Biao's former subordinates rejoined Liu Bei.

The number of Liu Biao's former troops left in Cai Mao's hands had dropped to 30% of Liu Biao's original total, while the number of Liu Qi and Huang Zhong's troops had risen back to 70% of the total.

It can be said that when Cao Gong accepted Liu Biao's inheritance, he accepted loneliness.

"Cai Mao suffered heavy losses. Not only did most of his navy die, but even the camp supplies were burned and looted by Gao Shun. Gao Shun, on the other hand, only left us an earthen wall and an earthen ditch! Nothing else!"

When Cao Ren thought of this, he muttered to himself angrily and chopped the charred wood with a knife to vent his anger.

It was Yu Jin, who was standing by and saw things more clearly as a bystander. He thought it would be better to say some comforting news to General Zixiao to help him adjust his mood.

Yu Jin then pointed out tactfully: "General, please see, our army defeated Gao Shun's guards, but we did not gain nothing. Gao Shun's brave warriors who stayed behind to cover the retreat of the friendly army lost their steel armor when they left in order to escape quickly.

When our army was cleaning up the battlefield, we picked up a hundred or so pieces, and it is estimated that there are more that we have not found. The world knows that the Zhuge family's "Yuzhang-made" steel armor is excellent. It is rare for our army to defeat the enemy. We can clean up the battlefield and seize thousands of sets. We can distribute them to our elite troops, so that they can show their power in the decisive battle."

Cao Ren was relieved to hear this rare good news, and quickly asked for details: "Oh? Gao Shun was so embarrassed when he retreated, but why did you spend so much time cleaning up the battlefield and still not figure out the detailed results? Is it so troublesome to pick up a few pieces of steel armor for free?"

Cao Ren was speaking with a hint of disdain, and almost said, "What else can you do? You can't even pick up free stuff quickly!"

Yu Jin could hear Cao Ren's impatience, and hurriedly explained: "Those elite troops under Gao Shun were also trying to stop our army from crossing the river, and wanted to attack us halfway across. So they made a feint, counterattacked and killed their way to the river, and then threw their armor directly into the river when they retreated.

Gao Shun must have ordered them to do this on purpose, because he didn't want us to get the spoils too easily. So our soldiers had to grope along the riverbed in shallow water, and only when they stepped on steel could they salvage it."

Cao Ren didn't say anything at this point. It turned out that he had deliberately sunk into the water to cause trouble. However, he couldn't blame the soldiers who were cleaning the battlefield for their inefficiency.

Cao Ren cleared his throat and said, "Then let them search the river carefully. Before the decisive battle, they will fish out as much as they can."

This is something I picked up for free, and it’s top-quality steel armor. I definitely won’t want to throw it away.

After a short rest, Cao Ren planned to continue concentrating his forces within one or two days to recapture the Cai Mao Water Fort that Gao Shun had just captured, and then annihilate Gao Shun's troops.

Of course, Cao Ren also thought that if Cai Mao's navy suffered a decisive blow, it would be easy for Guan Yu and Zhuge Jin in the rear of Liu Bei's army to use their navy to support Gao Shun.

So even if Gao Shun was defeated in the end, he could still take a boat to the Shuizhai Wharf and evacuate from the Han River.

However, as long as Gao Shun was ultimately defeated by Cao's army, even if he could retreat, he would certainly suffer huge losses - Cao Ren had seen and heard too many examples of those who failed to defend along the river.

Whenever the defenders rushed to retreat, they would be chopped off. The defenders would definitely not want to die, so they would all want to grab a boat and escape first. This scramble would destroy the morale of the army.

Cao's army still has hope and can continue fighting.

The key is that if you don’t try this time, all the previous losses will be pure losses and in vain.

With this mentality, Cao Ren finally made up his mind to concentrate his main forces, as well as the forces of Yu Jin and Xu Huang, one by one, and prepare for a strong counterattack.

(End of this chapter)