Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

On October 13th of the [-]th year of Jian'an, when the clapper sounded at the third quarter of the eclipse, the white mist on the surface of Yunmengze Lake in the distance became much thinner.

The weather in early winter was very cold, and the sun was covered by overcast clouds. Although it didn't rain, the air was full of humidity.

This kind of humidity is mixed with the cold and severe north wind, which will make people feel wet all over the body. There is no water in the corner of the clothes, and it seems that water can be squeezed out.

There is a saying in later generations that winter in the north depends on heating, and winter in the south depends on righteousness.The damp and cold belong to magic damage, the white mist is like ice, and the bone-piercing cold can take away many, many people every winter.

Tian Mai sits on the tower of Zuotang County. He is very thick and powerful. Because he was born in Runan, he followed Yuan Shao in his early years and was a captain of Yuan Shao. After the Battle of Guandu, he was forced to flee to the south with his family. Go to Liu Biao.

The tyrants at the end of the Han Dynasty were only richer than ordinary people, and their political status was not too high.Especially after changing the family, you have to start from the grassroots and share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers in order to win the love of the soldiers.

So at this moment, more than a dozen soldiers gathered around him to warm up the fire together. Everyone was shivering from the cold, and they wanted to stretch their hands and feet into the brazier. Even if they were burned by the fire, they didn't feel any.

In the era when there was no cotton-padded clothes, high-ranking officials and dignitaries could wear "down jackets" made of silk and stuffed with animal feathers to keep out the cold, while the low-level soldiers could only wear clothes made of wheat straw and reed flowers. There is no difference.

"Pfft, what the hell weather."

Tian Mai rudely spat on the ground next to him. As a native of Runan, he is used to the comfortable climate in the Central Plains Henan area, no matter how long he stays in the south, he feels very uncomfortable.

An officer at the side rubbed his hands and said, "Every winter, we in Jingnan suffer the most. We don't have enough clothes to wear, and we can freeze to death in the cold."

"The climate in the north is not bad, but if you wear a few more clothes and you can barely survive over there, it's useless to wear as many clothes as you want here. Besides, we don't have many clothes. Since General Liu advocated at the beginning of the year After the eldest prince fell out with Xiangyang, new clothes have not been released for almost a year."

"Then what can we do? In the past, food, grass and military equipment were sent from Xiangyang. Although there is no shortage of food and grass, the military equipment is in short supply. It is the end of the year, and the weather will be even colder. Over the years, I have seen Qingcao Lake freeze over."

"Okay, don't say a word."

Tian Mai interrupted the complaints of several officers. Although this kind of complaint is very common in the army, if you talk too much, it will always affect morale.

"I'm coming."

At this moment, the soldiers who had been watching in shifts at the top of the city shouted immediately.

Tian Mai hurriedly got up and ran over, came to the side of the female wall and looked out, and saw hundreds of boats coming on the lake of Yunmengze, one mile northeast of Zuotang County.

"Blow the whistle!"

He immediately gave the order.

"Beep beep!"

The sharp whistle seemed to wake up the whole city.

Because it was too cold on the top of the city, except for Tian Mai and a group of soldiers standing guard, the rest of the people warmed up in the city tower, under the city gate, and in the houses next to the city.

Unless you grit your teeth and run for two miles in this kind of horrible weather, you really can't do without the brazier.

But as soon as the whistle sounded, the north gate of Zuotang County woke up from the death-like silence, and an unknown number of soldiers emerged from the city towers, gates, and houses, and rushed to the top of the city under the urging of the officers.

The boats outside the city were floating on the lake. The big boats hadn’t docked. The first ones came were hundreds of small boats, carrying a large number of soldiers to the shore. Then the soldiers methodically began to search for support points on the shore and tied up the boats one by one. Locked to the shore.

A big ship like a building boat cannot dock. The water on the shore is relatively shallow. If it runs aground, the ship will be useless, so it can only float on the lake, leaving hundreds of soldiers watching to prevent the ship from being blown. You can just run, and you don't need to use iron chains to connect them.

After about half an hour, an unknown number of soldiers had gathered in the north of Tangcheng, all kinds of whistles and drums were beating constantly, and a large number of siege equipment and luggage were continuously transported from the ship to the shore.

The fleet in the distance was still operating, but some people came out of the crowd and came towards the direction of the city.

Within eighty steps, Tian Mai recognized that it was his brother-in-law Wang Jie. Wang Jie was wearing a general's armor, and there were not many people around him.

"No arrows allowed!"

Tian Mai gave the order, and soon all the archers on the top of the city stopped.

When Wang Jie walked down to the city, the city was actually not high, only about two and a half feet, almost five meters, and the distance between the two sides was about 20 meters.

He looked at the top of the city, squinted his eyes and shouted: "Sister-in-law!"

"here I am."

Tian Mai responded lazily.

The relationship between him and Wang Jie is actually quite good. At that time, they were not called brother-in-law, but brother-in-law, brother-in-law, or brother-in-law. The two are relatives, but now they are their own masters, and there is nothing they can do.

"When our uncle and son-in-law meet, talking on the top of the city is not too natural, why don't you come down and walk around with me?"

Wang Jie said.

Tian Mai responded: "Okay."

As he said that, he turned his head and went down the city. The guards next to him wanted to follow, but Tian Mai stopped him, so he went out alone.

Seeing him coming down, Wang Jie asked his personal guards to stand aside and went up to meet him.

"Where's my sister?"

The first sentence of meeting is to ask about relatives.

Tian Mai shrugged and said, "In Linxiang, take care of your two nephews."

The two walked side by side along the city wall.

"It's fine for daily life."

Wang Jie asked.

"good."

"How have you been lately?"

"That's it."

"The Taiwei asked me to play Tang, what do you think?"

"What can be done?"

Tian Mai said helplessly: "There is going to be a war at the top, so there is nothing we can do."

Wang Jie said in a deep voice: "Why don't you surrender? Now the Taiwei has more than 3 troops, the eldest prince has only [-] horses in Jiangxia, and General Liu has only [-] horses in Jingnan. How can we compete with them?"

This is the status quo after Liu Bei "leaves".

The troops controlled by Cai Mao and Zhang Yun include the Nanyang garrison, the Xiangyang garrison, and the Yangtze River navy, which add up to [-] to [-], almost twice that of Liu Qi and Liu Pan.

So at least on the bright side, the huge disparity in military strength between the two sides will give people a feeling that Cai Mao is sure to win.

However, Tian Mai shook his head and said: "Uncle, you know me, General Liu saved my life. Besides, you don't really think that the Taiwei will win, do you?"

"Is not it?"

Wang Jie frowned.

Tian Mai said in a deep voice: "Brother, don't forget, that guy has been standing behind the eldest prince. With his ability, have you ever seen him lose a battle?"

that one?

Shen Chen?
Wang Jie hesitated for a moment.

Jingzhou's name as the God of Soldiers is still worthy of awe.

More importantly, he has never been defeated.

With Cai Mao's ability, can he defeat the undefeated God of War?
For a while, Wang Jie also began to waver.

But it was only for a moment, after a while, he patted Tian Mai on the shoulder and said: "I will attack the city tomorrow, you can do it yourself."

"Row."

Tian Mai waved his hand.

The two passed by and said goodbye to each other.

It's not that the way is different and that they don't conspire with each other, it's just that they can't help themselves.

If Wang Jie's family was not in Nanyang, why didn't he want to lead the troops to surrender?

After the uncle and son-in-law parted, Wang Jie went back to camp.

He felt that this would be a protracted battle. Although there were few soldiers in Jingnan, there must not be many defenders in Tang Dynasty, but he knew his brother-in-law, and it would be impossible not to fight this battle.

The sky gradually darkened.

Just after Wang Jie's army set up camp outside the city, Zuo Tangnan's city gate was quietly opened, and a messenger flying horse came to deliver the order from above.

"retreat?"

Looking at the contents of the letter, Tian Mai couldn't believe it, but there was an indescribable joy on his face.

At least this order must be good news for him.

For one thing, there is no need to fight Wang Jie.

Secondly, and most importantly, the probability of losing this battle is too great.

There are only [-] soldiers defending the city, and more than [-] soldiers are attacking the city. It is too difficult to defend.

"The general has an order to withdraw to Yaoshan immediately."

said the messenger.

"I see."

Tian Mai nodded, looked up at the night, and said, "Then withdraw troops tonight."

"If the troops are withdrawn tonight, what will happen to the food and equipment in the city?"

A Sima under his command asked.

"No more."

Tian Mai waved his hand: "Complete the order as soon as possible."

"only!"

Sima went to convey the order.

Soon the city began to move quietly, taking advantage of the darkness, heading south towards Hanshou.

And the same thing happened in Hanshou and Linyuan.

Two days later.

In the direction of Linyuan, Cai Mao's general Han Hu led 8000 people from the south of the frail hills, and went straight to Liyang.

Liyang is the area around Li County and Shimen County in Changde City, Hunan Province in later generations. At that time, the county was not yet established, and it was called Liyang Township. It was not until the fourth year of Taikang in the Western Jin Dynasty that Liyang County was established.

All the way south from here is Hanshou County. The Hanshou County in the Han Dynasty is different from the later Hanshou County. It is located on the north bank of the Yuanshui River and northeast of Changde.

It's just that when Han Hu traveled thousands of miles south from Liyang to Hanshou, what greeted him was not the enemy, but the wide-open city gate.

The entire city was abandoned, and all the supplies in the city were distributed to the people, who all fled to the deep mountains and old forests. Hanshou County seemed to have become an empty city overnight.

"strangeness."

Han Hu was puzzled.

But since the enemy has withdrawn, it doesn't seem to be a bad thing for them.

In addition to Wang Jie and Han Hu, Cai Mao also sent two other generals, Sun Yi and Zhou Bo, to lead a fleet of 1 people to Nan'an.

This place is the later Huarong County, not Huarong County in the Han Dynasty. It is located to the east of Zuotang County and southeast of Chanling County. At that time, it belonged to the large sandbar exposed by Yunmengze Lake.

In this way, by October 24, Cai Mao's army had already nibbled away step by step, captured a large area west of Dongting Lake, and began to move closer to Changsha counties such as Yiyang, Luoxian, and Linxiang in the southeast.

On October 13th of the 25th year of Jian'an, Cai Mao finally sent Han Xi to lead 1 people to Qingcao Lake, which is Dongting Lake, heading towards Luo County.

And he himself led an army of 26 to attack Zikou on the [-]th.

Zikou is the port where Zishui flows into Dongting Lake. However, due to the larger water area in the Han Dynasty, the northeast of the entire Yiyang City belongs to the Dongting Lake area, so the specific location is actually at the intersection of Zishui and Yuanshui, probably in later generations. The area around Guoluping Town in the northeast of Ziyang District, Yiyang City, Hunan Province.

In this way, all the layout plans of Cai Hao are very clear, and his tactical layout is still very good. He did not choose to directly run tens of thousands of people to Luo County and Liu Pan, who blocked the Xiangjiang River, to fight a tough battle. Yiyang and Linxiang.

To put it simply, first detour to steal your hometown, and then attack north and south, go north from your hometown, and cooperate with the fleet on Dongting Lake to attack Liu Pan who is stationed in Luo County. Even if Liu Pan cannot be eliminated, at least he can cut off his food and grass.

The best result is naturally to defeat Liu Pan and regain the entire Jingnan.The worst outcome is that Liu Pan will go to Jiangxia by boat, and then they will be able to attack Jiangxia smoothly with land and water troops.

It has to be said that as a non-intellectual person, Cai Mao's intelligence is definitely worrying, but as a general in Jingzhou second only to Huang Zu, he still has a certain ability to lead troops to fight, especially in water warfare, which will make Zhou Yu afraid later, so it can be seen At least it is at the second-rate level, and the tactical layout has a nose and an eye.

It's just a pity that Shen Chen and Zhuge Liang had already deduced his tactics before the battle, and they had already guessed that they would definitely attack from the northwest, so they made arrangements in advance.

At the end of October, before Cai Mao arrived at Zikou, he sent an order to Han Hu and Wang Jie to attack Yiyang immediately.

His three armies planned to meet up in Yiyang and jointly attack Linxiang, that is, Changsha.

It started to rain that day.

"General, this Meishan is so big. In the past, Taihou Meizhen had to move to Yiyang because Tailing was occupied by Zhao Tuo. This place is Meishan. To the north and east is the vast Qingcao Lake, and to the west and south are endless stretches. Mountains, Meishan and Wuling Mountains were called Kunlun Mountains by Chu people in ancient times, and the roads are indeed not easy to walk.”

Among the high mountains, along the south bank of the Yuanshui River, Han Hu is standing on a hill overlooking the distance, and the local guide who is looking for him is introducing the road: "But the road we are going to take is not bad, but The rammed-earth avenue between Linyuan and Yiyang is also far away from the lake and river, but it has been raining for the past two days, so the road may be a little muddy, but as long as you pass the Yaoshan Mountain in front, the road will be easier to walk."

Han Hu looked in the direction pointed by the guide.

The army has been gone for two days. This place is actually the later Hanshou County, which is located in the south of the Yuanshui River. This Meishan Mountain is the Xuefeng Mountains in the later Yiyang City.

The road they took is also quite interesting. It is probably the Changde-Yiyang section of the G5513 Changzhang Expressway in later generations. Because Yuanjiang City in the northeast of the Han Dynasty was still blowing bubbles at the bottom of the lake, this route was considered a relatively easy road at that time.

The characteristic of this road is that there are hills on both sides of the north and south, and the south side belongs to the Xuefeng mountain range, with lofty mountains and lofty mountains in the distance.

In the north, there are hills, but the Han Dynasty was not a hilly area, but a lake in Dongting Lake. On the lake, there are mountains and islands, and you can see countless small islands like Jiangxinzhou, which are densely packed. After hundreds of years, after the water recedes, It turned into hills and hills.

Because they walked close to the foot of the mountain, the mountains on their right were full of overgrown forests and overflowing lakes and swamps. The road was basically at the bottom of hills and valleys, but because the terrain was higher than the lake next to it, it did not spread up.

It was light rain, the mist was hazy, and the ground was covered with slippery mud. Immediately after stepping in, there was a footprint. I was splashed with mud, some of my shoes got wet, and soon lost consciousness from the cold, and some of them were simply smashed, and they walked directly into the muddy water in the middle of the road.

At least the guide said it was easy to walk. Compared with the flat rammed earth avenue in the north, it can't be said that it is a thousand miles away, and that is the difference between clouds and mud.

At this time, Han Hu actually regretted that he had stayed in Linyuan for a few days. He had already sent someone to investigate the road, so why didn't he just send someone to cut some dry firewood to pave the road?But now that he has fallen into this field, he naturally has nothing to say. He just asked the guide, "Which mountain is Yaoshan?"

The guide pointed to the end of the road, and I don’t know how many miles away, there was a mountain shrouded in white mist and said: "That one, that mountain is so high, the water of Qingcao Lake spreads to the foot of the mountain, and we have to climb a certain slope to get there. In the past, the road over there was not very easy to walk. But there is no other way, if you take other roads, you have to cross Wuling Mountain and Meishan Mountain, and take Yixi River to go there. One person passed through, and these places were passed by the local Wuling and Meishan barbarians, if we Han people pass by, we will inevitably fight, but we can’t go.”

The Yixi road mentioned by the guide actually refers to going south from Changde, crossing Xuefeng Mountain, and entering Majitang Town in Taojiang County, Yiyang City. The origin of Majitang Town is said to be related to Guan Yu. It is connected to Dongting Lake in the north. , to the east is Yiyang City, which has been the main traffic route from western Hunan to eastern Hunan since the Qin and Han Dynasties.

It's just that in the Han Dynasty, barbarians occupied this place, and the roads were difficult and dangerous. Even if it was possible for the army to pass, it would take time and effort, and it was far less easy than taking the official road.

Han Hu nodded slightly, turned his horse's head and descended the hills, winding along with the troops.

After walking for more than ten miles, I finally reached the foot of Yaoshan Mountain. Yaoshan Mountain is majestic and tall, and the north of the mountain is submerged by the water of Dongting Lake. As the guide said, if you want to get there, you have to climb the foothills.

The mountains are densely forested and the cliffs are steep, climbing all the way upwards obliquely. After two or three quarters of an hour, the soldiers are already exhausted and out of breath, suffering unspeakably.

"General, take a break."

The lieutenant general complained to Han Hu: "The weather is wet and cold. The soldiers who set out from Linyuan braved the wind and rain. Today, they have walked for a long time and everyone has not rested. Now they have to climb the mountain. I am afraid that the soldiers and horses will be exhausted."

Han Hu frowned, but quickly calmed down and said, "Well, let's take a rest."

The soldiers were overjoyed when they got the order, and they ran to rest on the lawn on both sides of the road. Now, regardless of the slippery ground, they found a rock, or just lay down under a tree, and everyone was exhausted.

Most of these marches carry dry food, those who eat eat, and those who drink sip water. Because of the cold and humid weather, the soldiers are almost in groups of three or four, hugging together to keep warm.

It's just that they were too tired just now, their bodies were sweating profusely, and they had a sudden rest without keeping warm. Many people soon shivered from the cold.

Han Hu didn't notice the state of the soldiers. He still turned his horse's head and looked at Qingcao Lake in the distance from a high place.

After waiting for half an hour, he ordered to continue marching again.

The soldiers began to climb the foothills again. After walking for more than an hour, they finally started to descend the mountain. The road down the mountain was indeed much wider. Because there was no foothills, a plain could be seen in the distance, except for the vast forests and lakes. , and even some rural pavilions and village gatherings can be seen.

"General, this medicine mountain was taken by the local villagers. Everyone is collecting medicine in the mountain. The place we climbed is not even the halfway up the mountain, but the foot of the mountain. The mountain is probably a thousand feet high. After we pass, it will be a smooth road. "

The guide flatteringly introduced to Han Hu.

Han Hu ignored him, but looked at the distance of Qingcao Lake. At this time, the fog in the morning had already dispersed, and he could see tens of kilometers away from the top of the mountain. Although his eyesight was not that good, he could still see it vaguely. There, on the surface of Qingcao Lake more than ten miles away, countless mighty ships are sailing south.

That was Cai Mao's main fleet. According to the agreement, Han Hu and Wang Jie must join them at Zikou before the first day of the day, and then attack Yiyang non-stop. Yaoshan is less than fifteen miles away from Yiyang. Should arrive within the appointed time.

Thinking of this, Han Hu issued an order and shouted: "Command, hurry up, you must arrive at Zikou before dark!"

"only!"

The lieutenant delivers the order.

Soon 8000 troops came down the mountain one after another.

In the dense forest on the right side of the foot of the mountain.

At this moment, countless arrows have been placed on the bowstring, aiming at Han Hujun who has been sleeping in the open for two days!