My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 77: Fortify the countryside or fight a quick battle? That is the question

The first year of Jian'an, the 30th day of the first lunar month, Haihun County.

Haihun's garrison commander Zuo Da sent scouts to search along the Gan River early in the morning and ordered his subordinates to report immediately if they saw any movement of friendly reinforcements.

It was not until the afternoon that we finally received the news: hundreds of warships and civilian ships, each carrying dozens or nearly a hundred people, were sailing down the Ganjiang River and directly into the Pengli Lake.

He hurried out of the city and went to the dock to greet them in person.

After a while, the fleet temporarily stopped at Haihun Wharf. A burly man with a face full of flesh and fierce eyes stepped off the boat with vigorous steps. Zuo Da hurriedly greeted him and saluted:
"Brother! My troops have been reorganized. According to the plan, are we going to head north tomorrow? Isn't it a bit risky to take the initiative to counterattack Chaisang like this?"

This muscular man was none other than Zuo Rong, the number one Buddhist thief in the late Han Dynasty. He was a vicious and stubborn demon who had killed his master three times, had no faith or loyalty, and roamed around and harmed many counties.

Many later game artworks like to portray him as an enlightened monk, but this is completely nonsense. The Han Dynasty did not require ordination, and the many Buddhist precepts and rules did not appear until the Liang Dynasty Emperor Wu of Liang, Xiao Yan, standardized them.

Zuo Rong was a thief who drank, ate meat, played with women, defrauded his former master and killed innocent people without mercy. There were no rules or regulations at that time.

At this moment, facing his third brother's request, his face was livid, his expression was firm, he gritted his teeth and uttered a few words in a low voice:
"I don't blame you for asking me this in private, but you must never say such words that can shake the morale of the army in front of the soldiers! Regardless of whether we are sure or not, we have no choice but to risk everything and survive!
I had thought about it before. I could defend Haihun and Nanchang to the death, wait for the enemy to tire out, lure them to attack, then rely on the strong city to tire them out, and finally counterattack and defeat them. But the Zhuge family was too cunning and vicious.

The spies reported back that Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang were good at winning over the hearts of the troops and bewitching the soldiers, making our Yuzhang soldiers willing to serve them. If we wait any longer, more and more people will serve the enemy, but our military strength will not increase with time. Time is not on our side. A quick battle and a quick decision is the best option."

In fact, Zuo Da was vaguely aware of this truth, but he just felt that even if the enemy's training was not complete and the people's hearts were not completely loyal, this small gap could not offset the extra difficulty brought about by the change in the situation of attacking and defending the city.

He then sighed sadly: "That's true, but the difference in difficulty from Zhuge's army attacking the city and us defending the city to us attacking the city and Zhuge's army defending the city is more than double.
Even if the enemy's morale is low, this reduction in combat power is probably not enough... What if the Zhuge family defends the city without fighting, which only consumes our army?"

Zuo Rong's face turned cold: "Then we will slaughter the people everywhere! Force the Zhuge family to come out and fight us! I have also inquired about it. The new Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang have a weakness, that is, they regard Yuzhang as their own long-term land, so they love the people.

If they dare not fight in the field, we will plunder and kill all the rural residents of Chaisang who are unable to retreat into the city. If that doesn't work, we will break into the other counties that they have surrendered, kill all their people, plunder their property, and then at worst, take all the stuff and run away again!
We have done this twice before, when we plundered Guangling and Danyang and fled to Yuzhang. It's no big deal. If the Zhuge family wants to be appointed an official by the imperial court, they can only make Yuzhang their nest. They have no choice! But I do!"

These few words gave Zuo Da some extra confidence. It turned out that our army was not completely desperate in this fight. If we couldn't win, we could still escape. It was just that our strength would be greatly reduced, and we would have to recruit more people to fight and endure to make a comeback.

After figuring this out, he finally calmed down a little and agreed with his elder brother.

Zuo Rong continued to encourage his brother, suggesting that even if they failed to succeed in this life-and-death fight, they might still have a way out:
"If we can't win in the end, we can break out of Hukou from Chaisang. The Yangtze River stretches for thousands of miles, so where can we not go downstream? We've already been to Danyang, and Huang Zu of Jiangxia is not easy to mess with. At worst, we can go to Lujiang in the north of the river.

Liu Xun is weak and can only govern in the fertile plains. If our army can break through to Yingshan and Huoshan (Dabie Mountains), we may be able to defend the dangerous areas.

I heard that Lei Bo and Chen Lan, who were once the most powerful in Ying and Huo, were recruited by Liu Xun last year. Later, Lei Bo died in Guangling, and Chen Lan was also seriously injured. If we go there, we may be able to occupy the position vacated by Lei Bo and Chen Lan after they became good people.

Liu Xun was defeated by Liu Bei and suffered heavy casualties in his military strength. Perhaps he will recruit us for the sake of the fact that the enemies of the old enemies can join forces. Then we will be able to be patient and wait for changes.

If Yuan Shu can succeed, we will also become the heroes who expand the territory. If he can't succeed, the worst that can happen is that we can learn from the method of killing Zhao Yu, Xue Li and Zhu Hao and assassinate Liu Xun to take over the magpie's nest."

When Zuo Rong said this, there was no shameful expression on his face, as if having the thought of killing his master for the fourth time was not a despicable thing at all.

Who has made the world so chaotic? Those warlords are greedy and will do anything to expand their power and deal with common enemies.

If Zhao Yu hadn't been greedy for his soldiers and wanted him to help fight Cao Cao, would he have been killed by him?
If Xue Li hadn't been greedy for his soldiers and wanted him to help fight Sun Ce, would he have been killed by him?
If Zhu Hao hadn't been greedy for his soldiers and wanted him to help fight Zhuge Xuan, would he have been killed by him?
If Liu Xun does not covet his soldiers in the future and wants him to help fight Liu Bei, will he be killed by him?
They all deserved to die! There is no war of justice in the Spring and Autumn Period! These warlord dogs should not laugh at each other!
After all this psychological preparation, Zuo Rong even felt that he was acting on behalf of Heaven, oh, not acting on behalf of Heaven, acting on behalf of Buddha, and that he was specifically making those who were greedy and drank poison to quench their thirst pay for their retribution!
That night, he let the army rest in Haihun County for a night to recuperate and recover.

The next day, Zuo Rong took his third brother Zuo Da and two county military commanders, Xue Zheng and Yu Jian, and gathered all the soldiers who could fight in the field, a total of 40,000 people, and made a desperate march north.

Only 3,000 soldiers were left to guard Nanchang and Haihun respectively, of which no more than a few hundred were monks, and the rest were militia.

Because of the huge size of the army, Zuo Rong did not give up the Pengli Lake waterway, but chose to advance by land and water.
Let the land troops go north along the shore of Pengli Lake, and when passing through the dangerous section of Lushan Mountain, it is better to take a boat ride.

The troops traveling by water did not dare to take a straight route to Chaisang, for fear of being intercepted by Gan Ning halfway, so they chose to sail close to the shore so that they could land at any time.

The land and sea forces supported each other to ensure that they would not be harassed or weakened by the Han army along the way.

……

Zuo Rong mobilized all 40,000 soldiers and horses, risking his life. Of course, such a big movement could not be concealed from the Han army in Chaisang.

Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang soon received an urgent report from the scouts:

"Report! Zuo Rong's troops left Haihun early this morning and headed north. They traveled seventy miles a day by land and sea and set up camp at the southern foot of Mount Lu. They did not risk crossing Mount Lu. They are still sixty miles away from Chaisang."

Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang had been waiting for this moment for two or three days. Recently, they had been on alert every day, ready to go to war at any time.

After receiving the report, Zhuge Liang immediately made some gestures on the map: "It is still thirty miles to cross the Lushan mountain area. After leaving the mountain, it is still another thirty miles to the city of Chaisang. Tomorrow, Zuo Rong's troops will definitely be able to reach the city and set up a siege camp."

Guan Yu was standing by, stroking his beautiful beard and testing him: "Then tell me, should our army defend the city with strong defense, or advance to the dangerous part of Mount Lushan to block the entrance, and then learn from Shuzhi's ambush method to defeat the enemy?"

Zhuge Liang smiled and said, "The ambush method can only be used once and not twice. The key to Shuzhi's success was that our army defeated Chaisang too quickly and calculated the time when the enemy reinforcements were about to arrive but had not yet arrived. As a result, the enemy reinforcements just didn't know that Chaisang had been defeated and there was an ambush at Lushan.

Moreover, the enemy troops are advancing by land and sea this time, taking a route along the mountains and lakes. The land route must be dangerous, so they chose to ferry people by water in batches. They landed early in places where they were easily intercepted by water. With such caution, I am afraid it will be difficult to find an opportunity to take advantage of. "

Guan Yu nodded and said, "Then we should defend the city with strong defense and clear the fields. The application of military tactics should be a combination of the strange and the normal. Previously, our army used the strange method blindly and won three battles in a row. Zuo Rong will be prepared in the end.

He was so cautious this time, just in time for him to see the correctness of our military tactics! Defend the city first, wait until the enemy is exhausted, and then go out of the city to fight a decisive battle with them! "Guan Yu was very satisfied with his decision, but Zhuge Liang raised a new question and hidden danger:

"General Guan, do you think that if the situation were reversed and you were in charge of Zuo Rong's troops, you could break through Chaisang, which was defended by 12,000 men, with only 40,000 men?"

Guan Yu was stunned: "It shouldn't be possible, unless the attacking side has sufficient food and grass, while Chaisang City is short of food and grass, so as to break the city through a long siege."

Zhuge Liang: "Since you can't even change your position, how could Zuo Rong not know?"

Guan Yu narrowed his eyes: "So what do you think he thinks?"

Zhuge Liang rubbed his chin, which had not yet grown a beard, and said, "In my opinion, he knew that he would die if he waited any longer, so he tried his best. But trying his best does not necessarily mean winning, it can also mean breaking through.

Zuo Rong had previously roamed through three counties, and when things really got out of hand, it was not impossible for him to take valuables and belongings with him and his elite soldiers and continue to roam. However, the 30,000 militiamen under his command were slow to move and could not take them away.

So he wanted to drag these innocent burdens with him to fight us to the death. Once the innocents were almost consumed, his elite troops came and went quickly, and they might take this opportunity to escape northward and out of the lake mouth.

Besides, if he is not planning to flee, then he may have other ways to force us to fight in the field and not give us the opportunity to tire ourselves out while defending the city."

Guan Yu thought about it, but couldn't think of how Zuo Rong would force a fight, so he couldn't help but ask, "Then what do you think is the way to force our army to fight quickly?"

Zhuge Liang sighed, "I'm not sure. I heard that Zuo Rong is extremely cruel. Maybe he will slaughter innocent people and raid other counties and towns that our army doesn't have heavy troops to defend, forcing our main force to go to war. He knows that our Zhuge family will treat Yuzhang as our own territory and take good care of it."

Guan Yu's eyes suddenly turned cold: "Is it possible that he is so vicious? We must be on guard, despicable!"

Zhuge Liang said, "If they really do that, it's not impossible to deal with it."

Guan Yu quickly asked: "Tell me quickly!"

Zhuge Liang pointed to Mount Lu on the map and said, "Although it is impossible to ambush the enemy in Mount Lu, we can still set up a camp at the north peak of Mount Lu, deploy one or two thousand elite soldiers, defend the dangerous area, and store more water and food in advance.

Now it is early spring, the weather is still cold, and the water and food are not easy to spoil, so it is fine to store them for half a month. When the enemy army passes by, pretend to ambush them and harass them with hidden crossbows and rolling stones. But the enemy army is prepared, so they will not be killed or injured too much.

But the North Peak of Lushan Mountain is a dead place. There are no mountain springs or waterfalls, and no place to draw water. After a long time, it will inevitably be trapped and destroyed by hunger and thirst.

If Zuo Rong mistakenly thought that we were setting an ambush and that it backfired, how could he be willing to give up this bait? After he escaped the ambush, he would certainly divide his troops to surround the northern peak of Mount Lushan. Even if the mountain was too steep to attack, he would think it would be better to delay for ten or eight days and wait for our troops on the mountain to die of thirst.

At that time, if our army does not want the soldiers on Mount Lu to die of thirst, we must send out the main force from Chaisang City to rescue them, and Zuo Rong will be able to achieve the goal of forcing our army to fight in the field. In this way, he will temporarily stop slaughtering and plundering the surrounding areas and harming the people in other counties.

The advantage for our army is that we can delay the battle for another ten days or half a month as originally planned, and use the geographical advantage to wear down the enemy's morale and military discipline.

The downside is that we can only delay for more than ten days at most. We can't delay as long as we want as we originally planned to defend Chaisang. When the day comes, we must fight our way out of Chaisang, rescue the friendly forces in the North Peak Camp of Mount Lu, and defeat Zuo Rong with the help of both inside and outside forces!"

Guan Yu listened carefully, his eyes glowing more and more, and finally he slammed his palm on the table: "Then it's settled! I can't delay even for a day, I also intend to fight to the death with Zuo Rong.

Now we can delay for an extra ten days, giving our army ten more days to continue to improve military discipline and morale. With this balance of power, our army will surely win! Let's follow this strategy!"

The two of them had made their plans, and they went to find Zhuge Jin, who had not been involved in military affairs in recent days, and had a chat with him. Zhuge Jin's eyes lit up and he was very supportive of the plan.

Zhuge Jin asked himself, if he were asked to figure out these strategies, he might not be able to figure them out.

How could he have thought that "Zao Rong might use the method of harming other counties and towns to force you to fight a quick battle in the field"?

There is no historical answer to this kind of roundabout way.

Unlike the previous Battle of Huaiyin and Battle of Guangling, Zhuge Jin only needed to make slight adjustments to the standard answers, and the difficulty was much lower at that time.

And since Zhuge Jin didn't even think of the first point, there is no way he would have thought of the following strategy: "Since the enemy wants to use some chips to threaten our army to fight in the field, we should deliberately give them a chip that is difficult to swallow to attract hatred."

I don’t know if there was a Han Dynasty, no matter Wei or Jin.

"My second brother is really smart. He even thought of these two points. I helped Liu Bei win the first two battles because I had the answers from history books to refer to. Now, for a battle that appeared out of nowhere and did not exist in history, I can only fight my own battle and let the enemy fight the enemy."

Zhuge Jin thought to himself, feeling lucky.

Fortunately, I had trained my second brother well in advance, otherwise, although we could have won, the losses would have been greater, and we would have wasted ten days of opportunity to wear down the enemy's morale and will.

After thinking through the whole story, Zhuge Jin said directly: "I have no objection, but as for this bait method, why not let Xingba lead 2,000 soldiers to camp on the north peak of Mount Lushan, pretending that the ambush failed and that we were surrounded by the enemy.

Xingba is brave and decisive, but he is not good at leading a large army. It is better to let him carry out this kind of mission of deterrence behind enemy lines than to let him participate in a head-on decisive battle."

Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang looked at each other and thought that this arrangement was a good one.

The Han army immediately deployed according to the plan. That night, they sent Gan Ning to take enough water and food and set up camp on the northern peak of Mount Lushan. They agreed to come to rescue him within ten days.

(End of this chapter)