Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 501 Coastal Military Intelligence
Ma Chao led 4,000 elite cavalry on a 200-mile raid day and night, attacking Liu Bei's camp and beheading over a thousand men, capturing over 20,000 soldiers and civilians, and seizing a large amount of supplies. It was a great victory. Liu Bei led his defeated army of over 2,000 men to Gong'an and sent messengers to urgently summon the various tribes north of the Yangtze River to cross the river.

The following day, upon learning of the breach of Liu Bei's camp, the various troops abandoned the civilians and fled, retreating to Gong'an before the Tang soldiers could detect them. A later assessment of the losses revealed that, in addition to the tens of thousands of civilians left behind north of the river, three thousand soldiers had been killed or wounded, causing Liu Bei considerable distress.

After defeating Liu Bei, Ma Chao led his troops to garrison Jiangling. On Pang De's advice, he enforced strict military discipline and allowed the people to return to their homes, forbidding soldiers from looting. Seeing that the Tang people were different from the Chen people, with much better military discipline and no looting or plundering, the soldiers and civilians of Nanjun felt much more at ease.

Standing at the mouth of the Youjiang River, Liu Bei looked at the city on the opposite bank and couldn't help but sigh.

"Lord!"

"For!"

Liu Bei looked out over the river and exhaled, saying, "The Tang army is adept at running and maneuvering; I must admit I couldn't have foreseen this. Fortunately, none of the tribes that went out to relocate have suffered defeats, otherwise our army would have suffered heavy casualties!"

"Last night's battle demonstrated the bravery of the Tang cavalry, just as my lord predicted. But now that our navy is here, the Tang are no match for us," Li Yan said.

"Our strength alone is insufficient to contend with the Tang people; we must contact Cao Cao and Sun Ce as soon as possible."

After a moment's thought, Liu Bei said, "Please invite Cao Cao's envoy here to discuss the alliance between our two families and the use of force. Later, we will jointly travel to Ba and Shu to finalize the alliance with the Sun family."

Li Yan nodded slightly and said, "Wuling County in Southern Chu has not yet surrendered. Now that our lord has stationed troops at Youjiang, we can send another general to attack Wuling. If the four counties of Southern Chu surrender, our lord can govern them and perhaps raise 40,000 troops. Cao Cao, who controls Yangzhou, can raise 100,000 troops, and the Sun family can raise 50,000 to 60,000 troops. The three families can raise 200,000 troops. With this, we can share the world with the Tang people."

"hope so!"

Liu Bei, his spirits lifted, asked, "Could we contact Shi Xie now and see if he is willing to send troops? If Shi Xie is willing to use troops, although Jiaoling is far from Jingzhou, it can at least boost morale and make Zhang Yu fearful."

“Why not give it a try!”

"good!"

Liu Bei nodded and said, "Order Yide to lead 3,000 troops to conquer Wuling, while our army will garrison at Youjiangkou to contain the Tang army. Also, have Yunchang transfer troops here as soon as possible."

After a pause, Liu Bei looked at Li Yan and said, "Since you, strategist, possess great talent, I will now temporarily oversee the tax collection of the four commanderies to supply the army."

"Yes!" Li Yan replied happily.

Although Liu Bei seemed to control the four commanderies of Jingnan, his rule over them was relatively weak due to his late establishment and shallow foundation. Therefore, after his defeat at Jiangling, Liu Bei was unable to launch another northward campaign and had to first consolidate his internal power and negotiate an alliance with Cao Cao and Sun Quan.

Not to mention that after Liu Bei was defeated by Ma Chao, he planned to stay in Jingnan to develop his strength. Now, Ma Chao has already sent the military report of defeating Liu Bei to Wancheng day and night.

"Ma Chao was a brave and skillful commander, adept at seizing opportunities. He marched two hundred li day and night and broke through Liu Bei's camp in one fell swoop. How magnificent!"

Xun You read through the military report and said with a smile, "Congratulations to Your Majesty on acquiring such a fine general. With proper training, Ma Chao may one day become a valiant general under Your Majesty, just like General Wen Yuan."

Jia Xu stroked his beard and smiled, saying, "Ma Chao defeated Liu Bei, capturing more than 20,000 soldiers and civilians, and rescuing the Chu people who had migrated south. Nanjun will be safe now. In addition, Qu Yi's army has arrived at Xiakou, and Huang Zu has 5,000 elite troops to assist him. Cao Cao has been attacking for a long time without success, and he will withdraw his troops and return south sooner or later."

Zhang Yu said with a hint of regret, "It's a pity that the navy is newly established and cannot yet contend with it. Otherwise, when Liu Bei was defeated and fled, the navy could have swept south and recovered Jingnan in one fell swoop. With Jingnan gone, Jiangdong would have no natural defenses and would sooner or later fall into my hands."

"Your Majesty is still young, only a little over thirty, while Cao Cao and Liu Bei are already older than you. Although we cannot take Wancheng now, we will surely have the world in three years." Jia Xu reassured him, "The key now is to pacify the counties of Jianghan and to secure the Central Plains."

"We'll just have to wait a little longer!" Zhang Yu stared at the map on the wall and asked, "Have Man Chong and Li Song sent any new military intelligence this time?"

"Have!"

Xun You said, "After Yuan Tan captured Linzi, he recruited Yuan Shang's former troops, but was defeated by Man Chong's army. Now Yuan Tan is trapped in Linzi, and Man Chong has led his troops to build a strong fortification. Yuan Tan will be beheaded sooner or later. After Yuan Shang's defeat, he sent Qian Zhao to ask Gao Gan to send troops, but Gao Gan refused and even plotted to kill Qian Zhao."

"Qian Zhao feared Gao Gan's plot against him, and seeing that Yuan Shang's power was waning, he rode alone to seek refuge with Li Song. Yuan Shang, having nowhere else to turn, led his remaining troops across the sea to Yangzhou, seeking Cao Cao's protection. In addition, according to military reports, Yuan Xi was defeated by Li Song, fled across the Wen River, and then went south to Yangzhou to join Cao Cao."

"Currently, Li Song's army has descended Mount Tai and is campaigning against Gao Gan's forces. If Gao Gan and Zang Ba are defeated, Li Song can then take advantage of the situation to conquer Tao Shang and capture Xuzhou in one battle. Together with Qingzhou, the two coastal prefectures will be safe!"

Zhang Yu had already told Li Song and Man Chong that he would not accept conditional surrender, only unconditional surrender. After all, Liu He of Youzhou and Lü Bu of Yanzhou had been a constant headache for Zhang Yu due to their semi-independent status. Now, with the Tang army's large numbers, it was impossible to allow semi-independent forces to exist. In particular, situations like those of the generals of Mount Tai in history were not to be allowed to occur in the Tang Dynasty.

In fact, if we examine this closely, the reason why Cao Cao could not unify the country, besides the defeat at the Battle of Red Cliffs, was that there were highly independent generals from Mount Tai, such as Zang Ba, Yin Li, and Sun Guan, in the Xuzhou region.

Normally, Xuzhou possesses excellent ports and has been an important shipbuilding center in China from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Qin and Han Dynasties. Therefore, if Cao Cao could control the Xuzhou region and rely on its coastal population, he could actually build a naval fleet. Combined with the navy in Jingzhou, they could advance from both Huainan and Jingzhou, thus eliminating the naval advantage that the south relied on.

When the Mongol Yuan dynasty destroyed the Southern Song dynasty, it was unable to conquer Sichuan and Chongqing, so it chose to break through from Xiangfan. It dispatched two armies, one from Jingzhou and the other from Yangzhou, and finally destroyed the Southern Song dynasty in one fell swoop.

Therefore, whether it was to reduce governance troubles or to better eliminate Cao Cao, Zhang Yu could not allow the generals of Mount Tai to be semi-independent. If they were truly willing to surrender, they would have to give up their separatist territories and submit their troops to the Tang army's command.

Zhang Yu said, "Tell Man Chong that if he defeats Yuan Tan, he must wipe out the bandits in Qingzhou and ensure the safety of the coastal areas. If necessary, Zhang Yan can lead an army south to assist Li Song in his campaign against Gao Gan and Tao Shang."

"Tell Li Song that the Tang army is now numerous and there is no need to take risks. A steady and methodical approach will lead to victory. If Gao Gan and Zang Ba join forces, and the enemy has many generals, we can sow discord among them. Once the enemy's morale is low, we can win in one battle."

"promise!"

Man Chong single-handedly defeated the Yuan brothers, Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang, and is now not far from unifying Qingzhou, which shows how brilliant Man Chong's military tactics are.

In comparison, even with Lü Bu's help, Li Song took a long time to conquer Yan Province, highlighting the significant difference in their abilities. If we don't offer more assistance to Li Song now, conquering the powerful Xu Province will likely be even more difficult. However, Li Song isn't without merit; he knows how to unite his subordinates and is adept at adopting strategies.

"Your Majesty!"

Guo Tu glanced at the military report and said, "Sun Ce sent Sun Jing eastward to seize the strategic passes of Yiling and Huya Mountain. Yiling is a necessary passage into Shu. Should we send Ma Chao to lead troops westward to attack?"

Zhang Yu pondered for a moment and said, "Liu Bei has stationed his troops at Youjiangkou, so it is not advisable to act rashly now. Moreover, although Yiling is the gateway to Shu, if our army were to conquer Shu, we would have no choice but to march south from Hanzhong, and we could not advance westward from Jingzhou!"

The route from Yiling to Bashu is by waterway, and the Tang navy is currently unable to advance westward via the Yangtze River. Even if they were able to advance westward, with Liu Bei stationed in Jingnan, it is estimated that as soon as the navy enters the Three Gorges, Liu Bei will send troops to blockade it, and the Tang navy will be defeated without a fight.

Therefore, Yiling was like a chicken rib to the Tang Dynasty—tasteless to eat, but a pity to throw away. Now that Sun Jing has taken it, let Sun Ce keep it for a while.

"Your Majesty, Cao Cao's troops are at Xiakou. Should we send General Wen Yuan to lead his troops across the Huai River to see if we can capture Shouchun? Even if we cannot capture Shouchun, we can still plunder the people of Huainan to weaken Cao Cao's strength." Xun You pondered for a while and said, "If Cao Cao knows that Huainan is in danger, he will withdraw his troops and flee far away. At that time, Jingzhou will be free from military troubles."

"feasible!"

(End of this chapter)