Chaos of the Three Kingdoms Summons

Chapter 2223 A battleground for military strategists
Guo Ziyi knew very well that since the Guanning Iron Cavalry suddenly attacked from behind them, the so-called Guanning Iron Cavalry in the city was probably just a decoy.

But even so, after being ambushed, if the soldiers in the city rushed out at this time, they would probably be killed without a burial place.

Judging from the intelligence they had received previously, the defenses in the Jianghuai region should indeed be weak, but a weak defense does not mean that not a single soldier is gone.

Even if there are too few soldiers in the city, even if there are only a thousand soldiers at this time, once they join forces inside and outside, it will still be a devastating blow to them.

Therefore, Guo Ziyi had no intention of fighting at all. He simply abandoned part of his troops and retreated decisively.

After all, all the troops under his command were cavalry, so if he wanted to withdraw from the battlefield, he could do so very quickly.

Since ancient times, it was possible to defeat cavalry units, but if you wanted to encircle and annihilate them, the difficulty would increase several times.

"Fourth Young Master! Although Guo Ziyi has been defeated, his main force is intact. We must not be careless!" Xu Xingzhi looked at the generals who had won the battle, and quickly spoke to Zhu Di.

The generals in Yangzhou have suffered a series of losses at the hands of the Jin army since the outbreak of the war in the south. They have endured a lot of humiliation along the way!
After finally winning the battle, many people started laughing and dancing for joy. For a moment they didn’t even know who they were!
Therefore, Xu Xingzhi couldn't help but become worried!

The victory they just won was at best just a small victory, in which they only killed and wounded a thousand or so soldiers of the enemy. Moreover, they were only facing a vanguard army of the enemy, and they did not even seriously damage the main force of the vanguard army.

Even though he had won such a victory, Xu Xingzhi still couldn't be happy.

How could he be happy?
He could almost imagine that in the next Jianghuai region, the potential enemies might include all the troops of the Jin army in the Central Plains!
When the main force of the Jin army really arrived, that was when it became truly like a dark cloud pressing down on the city, threatening to destroy it.

Speaking of Xu Xingzhi, his luck is pretty good.

When Chen Qianzhi captured Nanjing, he happened to be in the city. Although Chen Qianzhi did not dare to stay after the city was captured due to the current situation, he was able to survive in the end. Without a certain amount of luck, it would definitely not have been possible.

"Don't worry, I'll save it!"

"It's just that the soldiers have been suppressed for too long!" Zhu Di sighed.

Doesn't he know that this so-called victory actually means nothing?

Of course he knows it very well, and he knows it better than anyone else!
However, most of the Yangzhou soldiers and horses in the city were the remnants of Zhu Biao's or Shengkeng's. They were defeated too badly at the hands of Chen Qianzhi, again and again. It was a terrible defeat!

The bit of ambition in my heart has been crushed!
After winning this battle, those once fierce and vigorous soldiers will come back, and their morale will be restored!

Therefore, Zhu Di indulged them in venting.

When thinking about the result of this battle, Zhu Di actually breathed a sigh of relief.

In this battle, his victory was actually very dangerous!
Because, now in Shouchun City, apart from the Guanning Iron Cavalry, there are actually only a thousand troops.

In fact, in this battle, Zhu Di prepared two traps for Guo Ziyi!
The first one is in Hefei, and the other one is in today's Shouchun!
Hefei is located between the Yangtze River and the Huai River. For the Jin army, Hefei is a good choice for both offense and defense: if they advance, they can drink water from the Yangtze River at any time. As long as they station troops in Chaohu Lake or go down the Rushu River from Hefei, they can reach the north bank of the Yangtze River and threaten Zhu Yuanzhang's capital Nanjing on the south bank of the Yangtze River; if they retreat, they can block the Yangzhou navy south of the Huai River, thus protecting the Central Plains.

Relatively speaking, the importance of Hefei to Zhu Yuanzhang in Yangzhou is even greater than that of the Jin Army. "To defend the Yangtze River, one must defend the Huai River." To defend Nanjing, the Yangtze River alone is not enough, because the Yangtze River is too long and Zhu Yuanzhang cannot station heavy troops everywhere. Only by advancing the defense line to the Huaihe River basin can the relative safety of Nanjing be guaranteed. The strategic position of Hefei, located between the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River, is suddenly highlighted. If Hefei can be taken, Zhu Yuanzhang will have strategic depth, and it will be possible to further advance to the Huaihe River basin and even eye the Central Plains.

If Jingzhou is the western gate of Jiangdong, then Hefei is the northern gate of Jiangdong. It is precisely because of the important geographical location of Hefei that Zhu Di selected 8,000 troops from the defeated soldiers to come to the Jianghuai area, but among these 8,000 troops, he arranged 7,000 of them in Hefei.

If it weren't for the unexpected surprise of Xie Ai and Yuan Chonghuan, he actually didn't know how to defend the Jianghuai region!

Although Xie Ai had not arrived at this time, and things on his side could not be finished all at once, which was far less convenient than Yuan Chonghuan, but these two people finally gave Zhu Di great confidence.

Because of the important geographical location of Hefei, Zhu Di actually considered whether Guo Ziyi would take Hefei first. Therefore, he also arranged an ambush in Hefei!

Moreover, it was a very cruel plan of burning with fire!

However, whether for Runan or Xuzhou, Shouchun is much closer to these two places than Hefei.

Therefore, for Yuan Chonghuan and Guo Ziyi, Shouchun was closer to them.

Therefore, Guo Ziyi chose Shouchun as his first target.

Moreover, although the geographical location of Hefei is important, it is more important to Zhu Yuanzhang as a defensive force. If compared with the Jin army as the active attacker, the location of Shouchun is more important.

Shouchun is bordered by the Huai River to the north, the Fei River to the east, and the huge Shaopo Lake to the south. It goes east along the Huai River to Xuzhou, goes west along the Huai River to Runan, goes north along the tributaries Ying and Wo rivers to enter the heart of the Central Plains, and goes south along the Fei River into the Yangtze River to reach Caishiji in the south of the Yangtze River. Through the water network, it has truly become a hub with easy access.

In ancient times when the level of science and technology and productivity were low, waterways were equivalent to modern railway tracks. The most reasonable way to transport materials and troops was by water. In ancient China, the dense water network could realize the waterway from the Yellow River to the Yangtze River. Ships set out from the Xingyang section of the Yellow River and passed through Honggou-Yingshui-Huaihe-Feishui-Chaohu-Rushushui to enter the Yangtze River. The Feishui and Yingshui were connected at the Huaihe River to form a waterway crossroads, and Shouchun was located here. One city controlled three waters and controlled all directions!

If the Jin army wanted to open up a new Jianghuai battlefield and attack Yangzhou from the Jianghuai direction, then, facing the Jin army with at least hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, water transportation could obviously save a lot of manpower and material resources and reduce the consumption of food and fodder during transportation.

It just so happened that in ancient times, when the army was marching and fighting, 70% of the food and fodder needed was consumed during transportation.

For the Jin army, which had conquered the Central Plains and began to worry about food and fodder problems in order to restore the Central Plains, Shouchun's geographical location was obviously more critical.

Guo Ziyi was not just a simple commander, but an all-round talent. It was because he could see this that he decided to make Shouchun his main attack direction.

Shouchun, which controls the core of the intersection of the world's waterways, has such an important strategic position that it is bound to be a place of competition among various forces. However, Shouchun is a place that is easy to defend but difficult to attack.

To the north of Shouchun, the Huai River serves as a moat, and low mountains and hills such as Bagong Mountain, Zijin Mountain, and Xiashi Mountain serve as barriers. Before a battle, troops can be stationed in the mountains to provide a commanding position, and they can form a corner with Shouchun. The enemy in the north needs to take away all their strongholds in the mountains before they can safely cross the river.

To the west of Shouchun is the transition zone between the remnants of the Dabie Mountains and the Huaibei Plain. There are many small water systems that flow into the Huai River, including diversion, irrigation, and drainage. The water network is dense and difficult for cavalry and foot to travel. The defenders can also divert rivers to flood the roads to block the enemy.
South of Shouchun, after passing Shaopo and going down along the Fei River, the important military town of Hefei was built between the valleys of the remaining ranges of the Dabie Mountains as a barrier to the south of Shouchun.

The area east of Shouchun can be said to be the biggest weak point in the entire Shouchun defense, but the terrain here is low, and in case of emergency, the Fei River can be opened to flood it.

It can be seen that although Shouchun does not have the natural barriers of Guanzhong and Sichuan, due to the perfect distribution of mountains and rivers, it is difficult for the enemy to capture Shouchun in one battle. After the defenders can withstand the first wave of attack, subsequent reinforcements can come along the water, forming a decisive battle situation under the city of Shouchun.

During the chaotic times of separatism, Shouchun was surrounded by enemies on all sides and could not be defended, but when the two major forces in the north and the south confronted each other, Shouchun truly became a battleground for military strategists.

From this perspective alone, it was not wrong for Guo Ziyi to set Shouchun as the first target. If he could take advantage of the enemy's defense being empty and capture the city at the first opportunity, he would not know how many casualties could be saved in the future.