My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 668 Yu Jin: I don’t want to do this anymore!

On his way to Xianshan to order his former troops to withdraw to Xiangyang City,

After a hasty calculation of the changes in the strength of Cao and Liu's armies, he sadly discovered that the prime minister had to switch to full defense.

This also slightly shook his original determination to die for his country.

If Cao Gong could finally unify the world, then Yu Jin, who died for his country, could at least get a good reputation after his death and it would go down in history. Death is fine.

But if Cao Gong failed and died for his cause, the situation would be different.

As long as the Han Dynasty can be revived, the history before and after will be written by the Han Dynasty. What will Yu Jin be then?
However, things are not that critical yet.

Yu Jin was only slightly shaken for a moment, and then was quickly frightened by his own terrible thoughts.

He quickly drove these thoughts out of his mind and focused on the current matter of withdrawing troops.

When Yu Jin arrived at the Xianshan camp, the generals guarding the camp were indeed very surprised. At first, they did not allow the gatekeepers to let anyone in, but went to the mountainside to look around and confirmed Yu Jin's identity before opening the gate.

After welcoming Yu Jin into the camp, the general saluted humbly: "Don't blame me, General Yu! The enemy situation has been very intense these past two days. I'm afraid the enemy has tricked us, so we have to be more vigilant. I hope you can forgive me for my impoliteness!"

Yu Jin waved his hand casually: "It's okay, it's a good thing that you are strict in military discipline, which shows that you have learned my true teachings. I know that you are meticulous, so I came here in person today to order you to withdraw your troops back to the city immediately! Abandon this Xianshan camp immediately overnight!"

While giving orders, Yu Jin was quite proud of his ability to judge people.

He was very strict in disciplining his troops, and if something unexpected happened, and his men were forced to abandon a strong camp that they had been building for several months for no apparent reason, based on his understanding of his subordinates, they would not resolutely disobey his orders.

But he would probably send someone else to make a petition and confirm it. If he did, it might delay things. So he took the trouble to come here in person today.

The generals were indeed shocked to hear this, but since Yu Jin was there in person, there was nothing to doubt. They just hesitated and sighed with regret for a while, then began to order the transportation of supplies and prepare to withdraw.

Yu Jin also ordered them to speed up and take the fine military supplies first, and deal with the heavy cart sticks later.

The subordinates had no choice but to do as they were told, but unfortunately as the execution went down layer by layer, some people were reluctant and procrastinated.

By dusk that day, the troops had already set out to withdraw, but some baggage was left behind because the mountain roads were difficult to navigate and the carts were difficult to push at night.

Seeing that there was no threat at the moment, Yu Jin was unwilling to force his subordinates to set fire to the remaining things and retreat quickly.

So he only ordered a group of light cavalry to stay behind and bring more fire. If something unexpected happened, they would burn everything they didn't have time to take away, and then quickly catch up with the main force and retreat together.

It was not an easy task to evacuate a camp that could accommodate tens of thousands of people. It dragged on until midnight, when scouts from the south suddenly reported that a large and unknown enemy force was approaching, with cavalry as the vanguard.

The other party was traveling all night with torches, but it was too dark to see the words on the flags.

After hearing the news, Yu Jin felt a pang in his heart. The thing he had been worried about had finally happened.

According to Zhuge Jin's strategy, his deployment of troops must be linked together. Guan Yu used water to attack, and Huang Zhong on the western front could not just watch and not take action.

According to the current situation, reinforcements can be rushed from other directions to Xiangyang battlefield. And judging from the route, they first go to Xianshan and then to Xiangyang, so they must be Huang Zhong's men.

Yu Jin does have some basic skills.

So he immediately ordered the light cavalry at the rear to carry out the plan, setting fire to stop the enemy and speeding up the retreat of the front army.

……

On the other side of the battlefield, at the same moment.

Huang Zhong was also exhausted today, having been chasing and rushing from the direction of Bian County to the Xiangyang battlefield. He had received this combat order from Zhuge Jin before the battle, which ordered him to turn his full strength to the front battlefield to reinforce after breaking the dike on the south bank of the Han River upstream and ensuring the completion of the water attack.

In order to save time, he also asked his cavalry to go ahead. Now Huang Zhong's infantry was still more than 30 miles away from the Xianshan battlefield, but the cavalry vanguard had already arrived.

Huang Zhong was also afraid of both sides, and did not dare to go too deep with his cavalry. After all, he only had a few thousand cavalry, while the following infantry was 10,000 or 20,000.

If thousands of people rushed in too fast and were ambushed, the consequences would be disastrous.

Fortunately, Yu Jin on the opposite side was more guilty than him, and in the dark he had no idea of Huang Zhong's strength and number of troops.

So when Huang Zhong was still searching up the mountain, he saw a huge fire on the top of Mount Xian.

"General, look! There is a fire on the top of the mountain! Could the burning place be where Cao's camp is?" The scout cavalry officer beside Huang Zhong had sharp eyes and raised his hand to indicate as soon as he saw the flames.

Huang Zhong looked in the direction of the finger, and sure enough, the fire was getting more and more obvious. He couldn't help but think to himself:

"Could it be that Yu Jin suffered a great defeat at Yuliangzhou, so Cao's army hurriedly withdrew? But why are they so frightened? Is there a trick?"

Out of caution, Huang Zhong did not dare to chase too fast, after all, it was dark.

What if Yu Jin set up ambushes on the hillsides on both sides and set fire to the hilltops just to lure the enemy?
Huang Zhong had long known about the dangers of Mount Xian.

Sixteen years ago, when Sun Jian invaded, Liu Biao sent Huang Zu to set up camp in Xian Mountain as a support. Sun Jian was killed by Huang Zu's arrows and stones while attacking the mountain.

Although Huang Zhong was much more familiar with the terrain of Mount Xian than Sun Jian, he did not dare to be overconfident.

They chose to search forward cautiously, and did not arrive at Cao's camp abandoned by Yu Jin until dawn. Most of the remaining supplies in the camp had been burned.

Huang Zhong ordered his soldiers to put out the remaining fire, but only about 20% or 30% of it was left, and they were all relatively non-flammable. The flammable materials such as food, grass, and tents were basically burned.

"It's a pity, but there's nothing we can do. The enemy situation is unclear, so we should be cautious. Yu Jin retreated so badly, and he must have lost a lot of food and supplies. After returning to Xiangyang, the time he can hold out will probably be shorter.

Judging from the situation, General Guan must have achieved an unprecedented victory, otherwise Cao Ren and Yu Jin would not have retreated to such an extent. "

Huang Zhong sorted out the current situation in his mind and made a rough judgment of his own.

Who can blame the poor communication conditions of that era? Huang Zhong and Guan Yu were separated on two battlefields, and it was indeed impossible for them to communicate with each other in real time.

All Huang Zhong could do now was to clean up the burned Xianshan camp and move or bury the burnt debris.

The rest of the usable facilities were used directly, and this place was used as a forward base for the subsequent siege of Xiangyang City from the south.

Xian Mountain stretches for twenty to thirty miles from north to south. The northernmost end is only ten miles away from the south gate of Xiangyang City, and the southernmost end is more than thirty miles away from the city.

After taking control of this place, the enemy's activity space on the south side of Xiangyang City was basically blocked.

After Liu Bei's army gained a firm foothold, they could even move Liu Bei's temporary headquarters 50 miles north from Yicheng to the north side of Xianshan Mountain. This would also make it easier for Liu Bei's army to unify the command of the entire army and deploy the Xiangyang Campaign.

Huang Zhong had been busy at Xianshan for most of the day. By the afternoon of that day, he had finally finished cleaning and could take a break to catch up on some sleep.

It was not until this moment that scouts under Guan Yu's command finally came from the direction of Yuliangzhou to search in the direction of Xianshan and made contact with Huang Zhong.

Upon learning that he had encountered Guan Yu's troops, Huang Zhong did not sleep either. He summoned them in person, treated them to wine and meat, and asked about the battle situation at Yuliangzhou.

Huang Zhong was filled with regret when he learned that Guan Yu had annihilated more than half of Cao's army and forced Cao Ren to cross the Han River to escape back to Fancheng.

"General Guan's divine power is far inferior to mine. Please reply to General Guan that the west and south sides of Xiangyang have been secured, and our troops are ready to cooperate with General Guan in attacking the city at any time."

Words are not enough to prove anything, Huang Zhong said, and then he asked the military clerk to write a letter and send the scout officer of Guan Yu's army back.

……

Yu Jin successfully withdrew the troops from the Xianshan camp back to Xiangyang City, increasing the garrison of Xiangyang City by nearly 10,000 people, and the total number finally approached 40,000.

This also gave him a little more confidence in the subsequent protracted battle to defend the city.

Later that day, Huang Zhong and Guan Yu each led their troops forward steadily, and the vanguard had approached the east and south gates of Xiangyang City.

However, due to the time constraints, Guan Yu and Huang Zhong were unable to immediately set up camp not far from the gate of Xiangyang City to surround it.

It was just that the scout cavalry under the command of Guan Yu and Huang Zhong appeared outside the city gate, and they were ready to run away as soon as they touched the city gate.

I guess he was observing the current state of Xiangyang City's defenses, trying to find out if there were any defense loopholes in the city gates, walls, towers, and other facilities. He also wanted to check how the moat and sheep-horse wall had been maintained recently.

Although Guan Yu's cavalry did not set up camp directly outside the city gate, the appearance of these scouts still slightly shook the morale of the defenders on the city wall.

After all, Yu Jin had tried to block the specific news of the defeat. Except for a few high-ranking generals such as Cai Mao, many other middle and lower-level officers and ordinary soldiers in the city did not know how badly Cao Ren was defeated.

Although some of Yu Jin's defeated soldiers escaped from the Yuliangzhou battlefield and knew the first-hand situation on the front line.

But ordinary soldiers didn't have a global perspective, so it was hard for them to know how many comrades the entire army had lost. Yu Jin was very strict in his military discipline, and he issued a gag order. Anyone who dared to spread the details of the defeat would be punished by military law immediately.

Therefore, it was not until Guan Yu's cavalry appeared that the defenders truly felt how terrible the defeat of the past two days was.

Everyone knows how to calculate the distance, and after a quick calculation, they estimated that by tomorrow at the latest, Guan Yu and Huang Zhong would be camping outside the South Gate and the East Gate to besiege the city. The enemy's scout cavalry would also extend to the West Gate of Xiangyang City.

By the day after tomorrow, there might be a camp of Liu Bei’s army outside the west gate.

With such a speed of siege, it was impossible for the soldiers in the city to say that they were not afraid at all. This scene also caused Cai Mao, Kuai Yue and others, who were already worried, to become even more worried, and they almost pulled their hair out.

Cai Mao knew best that if he was captured by Liu Bei's army, he would definitely be dead. His chance of death was even higher than that of Yu Jin - Yu Jin might even be able to surrender and survive.

Yesterday, when Yu Jin personally went out of the city to welcome back the defenders of the Xianshan camp, Cai Mao was already worried and had discussed countermeasures with Kuai Yue.

Now Yu Jin came back and brought bad news - a considerable part of the supplies stored in the Xianshan camp had not been transferred back in time, and all the soldiers had withdrawn. Because Huang Zhong came too quickly, in order to prevent the enemy from getting them, Yu Jin could only burn as much of the supplies that had not been transferred in time as possible.

When Cai Mao heard this news, he became increasingly unsure about how long Xiangyang City could be defended.

Cai Mao knew better than anyone the scale of military grain reserves in Xiangyang City.

When Liu Biao was in power, most of Jingzhou's money and grain were stored in Jiangling. Compared with Jiangling, Xiangyang only had a small half of the amount.

After Cao Ren arrived in Xiangyang, he ordered his troops to go south of the city and camp on Xianshan Mountain. In order to prevent the Xianshan camp from being divided and surrounded in a protracted war, Cao Ren also ordered people to transport a lot of military rations in Xiangyang City to the Xianshan camp.

Now that the troops had withdrawn from the Xianshan camp, not all of the remaining food could be transported back. Part of it was burned, and part of it was captured by Huang Zhong.

In this way, Liu Bei's army will have more food supplies for the long-term siege, and the time the defending troops in Xiangyang can hold out will be shortened accordingly.

In addition, Cao's army had just suffered heavy losses. In a few days, when Guan Yu's main navy would bypass the main channel of Hanshu north of Yuliangzhou and use the repaired Yuliangzhou water fort as a base, Cai Mao would definitely not have the strength to compete with Guan Yu for control of the Han River.

These negative factors were not the only problem. What was even more terrible was that it was the season of continuous autumn rains and surging river water, and the width of the Han River had also increased greatly. After Guan Yu had the right to control the river, he could definitely block the communication between the north and south banks of Cao's army, and even sneaking across the river at night would be impossible.

At least it would have to wait until the winter dry season, when the Han River becomes narrower and shallower again, before the weaker naval force could secretly reopen the connection between Xiang and Fan by water - and they couldn't transport troops or food on a large scale, they could only send a few speedboats secretly at night to deliver letters and a few important people across the river.

Thinking of so many negative factors, Cai Mao felt that he could not stay in Xiangyang City for another day.

……

Late that night, at Kuai Mansion.

Cai Mao hurriedly visited Kuai Yue again late at night and went straight to him, asking him directly:
"Yi Du! The situation is urgent! A considerable portion of our army's food and fodder in Xianshan has not been transported back in time, and some have even been seized by Huang Zhong! Everyone in the city now knows that Guan Yu and Huang Zhong came so quickly, and General Cao has escaped again. How can we hold out for long with such panic among the people?

If you and I are caught by Liu Bei, we will have no chance of survival. We must quickly think of a way to escape from this hell of Xiangyang City! We can't pretend to be tough with Yu Jin."

Kuai Yue was also helpless. Faced with Cai Mao's urgent request for advice, he could only remind the other party to recognize the situation:

"Degui, please calm down! I know what you said. But how can we disobey General Cao Zixiao's military orders so easily? The situation is critical now. If we flee from the battlefield, we will be punished by military law when we return to Fancheng!
Even if you were friends with the Prime Minister, he would not compromise the dignity of military law for you at this time!"

Cai Mao certainly knew these principles, but saving his life was the most important thing at the moment, so he would do whatever it took even if there were risks.

Even if he couldn't escape, it would be okay to evacuate his wives, concubines and children to the rear, right? Besides, didn't Cao Gong always like to detain the generals' families in the rear?

For example, generals from the north, such as Yu Jin, had their families in Xu Du, so Yu Jin did not dare to act recklessly.

Because Cai Mao was a new surrenderer, Cao Cao had not relocated Cai Mao's family for the past few months in order to appease him and to show the prime minister's magnanimity to the scholars in northern Jing.

But if Cai Mao took the initiative to bring it up at this critical juncture, creating an opportunity and an excuse to move his family north, Cao Cao would most likely go along with it and agree.

After thinking about this idea for a while, Cai Mao, who was desperate, took the initiative to bring up this idea to Kuai Yue and asked Kuai Yue to help him improve it.

After listening to this, Kuai Yue felt that this idea was much more reliable than his initial idea of escaping from the battlefield.

If it's done well, you can actually avoid military punishment.

Kuai Yue also wanted to preserve his wealth and status, so he did his best to think it over, and finally stroked his beard and said carefully:

"If Degui could help the Prime Minister at this critical juncture to 'buy bones for a thousand gold coins' and set an example by moving families to Xudu, and induce other scholars in northern Jing to move their families as hostages, then the Prime Minister would really be happy to see it happen... However, we still lack an opportunity to test the waters.

How about this, Degui can go and see Doctor Jia to see if he wants to escape from Xiangyang. If you can get this opportunity, you can raise the banner of "escorting Doctor Jia across the Han River" and bring your family along. After reaching the north bank, it won't be too late to ask General Cao Zixiao for instructions."

After Kuai Yue finished speaking, Cai Mao's eyes immediately lit up. Of course, he had no difficulty understanding this logic.

Many things require a hook and have unspoken rules.

It was like Huang Silang took the lead in paying the money, so that the two major families in the south of the city had to pay the money. After the matter was done, Huang Silang's money was returned in full, and the money from the two major families was divided.

When it comes to the issue of relocating the families of the scholars in northern Jing, Cao Cao also needs someone to take the initiative to respond, and then Cao Cao can go with the flow.

As for the person who jumped out first, such as Cai Mao, Cao Cao should of course give special treatment of "returning everything in full".

In addition, Jia Xu, who was mentioned by Kuai Yue, was a man who would do anything to save his life, and had no loyalty at all. If Cai Mao went to discuss the matter with him, they would definitely hit it off.

After Cai Mao figured it out, he was overjoyed. He quickly said goodbye to Kuai Yue and went to find Jia Xu.

Of course, he also knew the rules before leaving. He hinted that as long as this matter could be accomplished, he would be able to take Kuai Yue's family with him.

……

Due to time constraints, Cai Mao did not have time to visit Jia Xu's residence that evening. After all, the two parties were not very familiar with each other.

So he waited until the morning of the next day, before it was fully light, to go and ask for a meeting.

Jia Xu had not slept well these days. He was very nervous and had a shallow sleep. When he heard that Cai Mao was coming to visit, he immediately washed up, dressed properly and went out to greet him:
"General Cai's visit is truly an honor to my humble abode. The general must have important business to visit me this morning."

Cai Mao had some things that he couldn't say in the courtyard, so he laughed and followed Jia Xu into the inner hall. He signaled Jia Xu with his eyes to dismiss his attendants, and then he told him the whole purpose of his visit.

Everyone is trying to save their lives, and there are no outsiders, so many things can be said directly.

Jia Xu stroked his beard, but did not say any high-sounding words to cover it up.

During the Battle of Yuliangzhou the day before yesterday, he stayed in Xiangyang City, so when Cao Ren retreated to Hanbei, he was not able to take him with him.

Now that Yu Jin has completely withdrawn his troops and is only concerned with defending the city, there is really no need for Jia Xu to come up with any advice or suggestions.

It's really dangerous to stay here.

Cai Mao is now willing to use the navy to cover his retreat. Of course he will help those who are looking for excuses to cover up the situation. This is called mutual assistance and win-win.

"Don't worry, General Cai. Just dispatch the troops and ships. I will find an excuse. I will definitely be able to get past General Cao Zixiao."

Cai Mao and Jia Xu succeeded in their conspiracy, so he heaved a sigh of relief and went his own way without mentioning it.

Jia Xu's status was no lower than Yu Jin's. He had previously been just an adviser to Cao Ren. If he wanted to leave, he could certainly find an excuse.

So he just thought about it for a moment and made up his mind: it would be hard to explain to Yu Jin, so he simply didn't explain. He only thought about how to explain to Cao Ren after arriving in Fancheng.

In Jia Xu's view, Yu Jin was just a time waster. It was unclear whether he could go back alive to see the prime minister. How could Yu Jin have the chance to report him?
Therefore, after only one or two hours of preparation, Jia Xu followed Cai Mao, Kuai Yue and others, as well as their families, in a rough manner, opened the north water gate of Xiangyang City, and drove a group of warships across the Han River to retreat to the north.

They had to be anxious because if they delayed any further, Chen Dao and Tian Yu might bring Guan Yu's navy to block the river between Xiangyang and Fancheng.

Yu Jin didn't even know about this in advance. It was only after Jia Xu and Cai Mao ran away that he learned that someone had mobilized the navy and opened the north gate of Xiangyang.

Yu Jin was naturally furious when he heard this: "Isn't this desertion from the battlefield? He should be tried by military law! Tie up the captain in charge of the North Gate! Put him to the military trial!"

However, the officer in charge of the water gate was only following the military orders of Cai Mao. Cai Mao was in charge of the navy, and when he asked to open the gate, the people under him could do nothing.

After a long interrogation, Yu Jin was persuaded by his subordinates not to kill the officer who opened the door. He just punished him with fifty military sticks and let the matter go.

Yu Jin was also afraid that if he carried out a purge at this time, the former Jingzhou surrendered soldiers would become even more panic-stricken and unwilling to be used by him.

He was depressed for most of the day, and at the end of that night, Yu Jin was still thinking about how to send someone across the river to complain to Cao Ren.

Unexpectedly, Cao Ren sent several more patrol boats to deliver the message. The messenger came to the former Zhennan General's shogunate and handed a handwritten letter from Cao Ren to Yu Jin.

Yu Jin read the above content and found that it was actually to help Jia Xu and Cai Mao explain - I don't know what means Jia Xu used to convince Cao Ren so completely. The twists and turns in it are not enough for Yu Jin, an outsider, to understand.

Anyway, according to Cao Ren's letter, Cao Ren had already recognized Cai Mao's act of "escorting Jia Xu to the north", and said that Jia Xu was useless in Xiangyang City, and now Xiangyang only needed to hold on and wait for changes. He brought Jia Xu with him and had other tasks, and needed him to help plan the subsequent support and counterattack.

Finally, he also said, "Due to the withdrawal of troops from the Xianshan camp, most of the food and fodder were burned or seized. The military rations in Xiangyang City are now slightly short and cannot last long. Therefore, ordering part of the navy to move to Fancheng and get food in Fancheng can also reduce the consumption of military supplies and food in Xiangyang."

To put it bluntly, they thought that some of Cai Mao's professional naval forces could only fight naval battles, and they would not go up to the city walls to defend the city anyway. Keeping them in Xiangyang would only accelerate Xiangyang's food consumption and consume Xiangyang's inventory of arrows and weapons.

Anyway, the combat scene of this unit is on the surface of the Han River, so it is better to station them on the north bank than on the south bank. The combat effect is the same anyway, and supply is more convenient.

There is truth in what he said, and it seems to be for the sake of Xiangyang City's durability.

But in Yu Jin's eyes, he felt deeply betrayed.

So it turns out that only Yu Wen Ze, because of his negligence and two consecutive defeats, first being ambushed by Huang Zhong and then being drowned by Guan Yu, is guilty and needs to be trapped in this Xiangyang city and make meritorious contributions while serving his sentence?
Others like Cao Ren can leave, Jia Xu can leave, even Cai Mao can leave?
Is there still royal law? Is there still military law?
For a moment, Yu Jin really wanted to yell and quit.

(End of this chapter)