Shu Chen

Chapter 552
In the summer of the fifth year of Shaowu, the South Central Division attacked Jiaozhou.

Before the departure, Ma Zhong encouraged the generals to say: "We, the officials who cut the talisman, should act like the joints of the thighs and arms. This attack on Jiaozhou will surely make Wu Gou know the hatred of our great Han Tianwei and Yixue Xiandi!"

At the end of summer and June, Ma Zhong's troops entered Jiaozhi County along the Xisuishui (Red River) valley.

Seeing that Lu Dai and his deputy, Sui Chun, led their troops to stand guard at the confluence of the Forbidden Creek and Xisui River, they sent people to invite them to fight after they landed in the camp. Soldiers collected surrounding wild valleys, felled wood and built small boats, which seemed to mean detouring down the river to disturb the counties in the heart of Jiaozhi.

In this regard, Lu Dai remained unmoved.

Just let people go back to the counties to inform the Han army that they have arrived, and urge some Haoyou or barbarian tribes who are vassals of Wu to harvest the grain as soon as possible, fortify the walls and clear the fields, so that the Han army should not have the opportunity to feed on the enemy.

Continue to adhere to the previously set tactics and wait for work with ease.

The Han army, who was waiting to come across hundreds of miles of mountain roads, was frustrated by the difficulty of transporting grain and fodder, and failed to produce results for a long time, so they were discouraged and stopped.

At that time, regardless of whether he leads the pursuit to gain anything or not, Jiaozhou will survive the military disaster.

Liu Zuan, who guards Yulin County, also deployed in the same way.

Bushan and Zengshi County, which he and Nie You guarded respectively, are the two ends where the Han army entered Yulin County from Zangshui and Yushui (Youjiang).

But they could not fortify the wall and clear the field.

Under the shortage of troops, Dingzhou and Tanzhong counties in the northern part of Yulin County, located in the Zhoushui (Longjiang) Valley, can only rely on the county soldiers and local Haoyou private soldiers to maintain.

These people will not burn the rice that is about to be harvested.

But for Jiangdong, it doesn't matter.

These two counties were not rich in production and sparsely populated. There were more barbarian tribes than Han people, and few surrendered to the Jiaozhou government.

Furthermore, the road from Xinggu County to Yulin County is long and difficult.

If the Han army has a better route to choose, it should not send too many soldiers and horses here.

And as long as Liu Zuan guards Bushan County, the Han army will not be able to enter Hepu and Nanhai counties. From the strategic level, it will still wait for work at leisure, and the Han army will fall into the quagmire of difficult transfer and long and long journey.

After all, Lingnan is a place where miasma is rampant!

Among them, the miasma in Yulin County (now Guangxi) is even more disconcerting.

For example, when General Fubo Ma Yuan led his troops to Jiaozhou to challenge Mrs. Erzheng's rebel army in the past, it took nearly two years and paid four to five out of ten of the dead army officials to win.

Most of these lost military officials were not battle-damaged.
Although the Han army that came from Nanzhong was more adapted to the environment of vertical and horizontal mountains and dense forests, it was also inevitable.

Considering factors such as rugged and long roads, harsh environment, and sparsely populated land, Liu Zuan felt that the Han army would definitely not send the main force to Yulin County.

Perhaps, they sent at most three or four thousand soldiers to harass and restrain him, so that he could not divide his troops to meet Ma Zhong's troops with Lu Dai.

That's what Liu Zuan thought after learning about the military situation in Jiaozhi County.

Gein Jiangdong knew that the Han army, which had always been determined to return to the old capital, could not have too many soldiers and horses guarding Nanzhong.

It is also impossible to dispatch heavy troops from Longyou or Hanzhong County to attack Jiaozhou.

Let me ask, if the Han army had the courage to change their strategy from occupying Guanzhong to attacking Jiangdong, why not march into Jingbei, and instead come to a wild place like Jiaozhou?
Of course, there were not all things that gave Liu Zuan a headache.

He and Nie You's garrison can make the local Lishu and barbarian tribes feel at ease, and they don't need to worry about the Han army's invasion. However, Qian Bo, the captain of Gaoliang West Gaoliang who is stationed in Lingfang County, makes the local Haoyou and barbarian tribes complain.

Originally, Lu Dai asked Qian Bo to lead his headquarters across counties to benefit Yulin County's defense.

For example, the duty of Liu Zuan and Nie You was to resist the invasion of the Han army, while Qian Bo was to deter and suppress the Haoyou or barbarian tribes who took the opportunity to make trouble, so as to ensure that the war would not be in danger of poisoning.

Unexpectedly, Qian Bo is the biggest "poison"!
He was originally a bandit, but his banditry remained unchanged even after he put on his official uniform.

Taking advantage of this time during the garrison in Lingfang County, he extorted cards from the nobles in the county and the barbarian tribes outside the city.

Regarding this, the magistrate and county captain of Lingfang dared not speak out, and the common people and barbarians inside and outside the county were miserable.

No way, Qian Bo was endowed by Lu Dai with the power to calm the chaos and calm the people, and he has absolute authority in Lingfang County; and there are two thousand soldiers in the headquarters, and he has the strength to destroy the family.

The incident was brought to Liu Zuan's case in the spring.

Liu Zuan would not condone such behavior.

Otherwise, before the Han army came to harass Jiaozhou, Li Shu in Lingfang County could not bear the hardship and rose up first.

Instead, he sent Buqu to supervise [-] Qu to go there with his own letters, ordering Qian Bo not to harass the Li Shu and restrain the soldiers under his command, but also to appease the Li Shu in the county on his behalf.

At that time, Qian Bo kept quiet for a long time.

Because he was afraid that Liu Zuan was the son-in-law of Lord Wu and Sun Quan, and he was worried that Lu Dai would hold him accountable at the meeting.

But after Qian Bo learned that the Han army had left Jiaozhi County, he thought that neither Sun Quan nor Lu Dai would hold him accountable when the war between Han and Wu was in turmoil, so he reverted to his old ways.

Although it is not like the previous rapacious and plundering bandits or robbers or plundering by force, they have linked up with the nobles and tribal leaders in the county to forcibly expropriate money, food and materials from some barbarian tribes who have always refused to attach to the government and refuse to be kingized. Help the Wu army resist the invasion of the Han soldiers.Those who dare not give, gather troops to attack!

And the euphemistic name is "the responsibility is to seek disobedience for the country and to proclaim the king."

Such an approach made it difficult for Liu Zuan to deal with it for a while.

From a rational point of view, he knew that Qian Bo's behavior would inevitably increase the disturbance in the county.

If the Han army really sent troops to harass Yulin County, they would definitely come to Lingfang County after learning about it, and lure those invaded tribes to raise troops to rebel, adding a little uncertainty to the war.

But from the perspective of Jiangdong's control of Jiaozhou, Qian Bo's move is beneficial.

For one thing, Qian Bo divided half of the money, food and materials obtained by force into the county treasury and transferred them to Lu Dai's military.

The other is that there is no trace of the Han army in Yulin County at this time.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, it is good to weaken those barbarian tribes who are not convinced by the king, at least it will make the government's governance smoother in the future.

Coincidentally, Qian Bo is not from Yu Lin.

If the anger of the crowd is aroused, Liu Zuan will come forward to appease.

Sending Qian Bo back to Gaoliang County and returning some supplies to the expropriated barbarian tribes will calm the situation.

All in all, the pros outweigh the cons.

This is why Liu Zuan hesitated.

In other words, his delay in intervening in this matter is a decision in itself.

But there were some things he didn't expect.

For example, the barbarian tribes whose supplies were forcibly confiscated really turned against them.

Also, compared to Ma Zhong's troops entering Jiaozhi County, Huo Yi's troops entered Yulin County earlier in early summer and April!

(End of this chapter)