Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1012 Waiting for opportunity
Zhou Yu stood on the bow of the ship and kept issuing orders, directing the Jiangdong soldiers on the shore to form defensive formations.

The Jiangdong Army on the shore now faced hundreds of cavalry from Yuan Xi's Army, who launched a surprise attack at dawn. Because of its sudden arrival, it had a big impact on the Jiangdong Army's military establishment, which had not established a camp on the shore.

After waking up, many Jiangdong soldiers subconsciously fled to the riverside, and then jumped into the river to take refuge. This made Zhou Yu, who rushed over in a hurry, shook his head.

Because he could clearly see that most of these escaping soldiers were captured Sangoe soldiers. These people were very tenacious when they resisted the Jiangdong Army in the mountains, but after they were captured and sent to the army, they lost all fighting spirit and were unable to fight. Mixed shit.

This kind of people are usually fine when the battle is going smoothly, but when the battle goes slightly wrong, they tend to run away. Don't count on them in a tough battle. Zhou Yu will be satisfied if he can avoid disorder.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yu was also a little depressed. Jiangdong's army seemed to have a large number of people, but what they could really rely on were the private armies of the major families. These captured Shanyue people were really unreliable!
He kept issuing orders, and Jiangdong generals also came ashore to quell the commotion. Under Zhou Yu's command, Jiangdong Army gradually regained its composure and formed a formation to block Yuan Xi's cavalry attack.

Yuan Xiqi's troops launched several harassment and attacks, but when they saw that the Jiangdong army did not reveal any flaws, they whistled and decisively turned around and galloped away.

Zhou Yu couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he saw it. After the reinforcements from the opposite side arrived in the past few days, they changed from the previous defensive posture to an active attack, which put more pressure on Zhou Yu's side.

Zhou Yu was unwilling to advance rashly because he did not yet understand the situation of the enemy on the opposite side. More importantly, he was waiting for news from Sun Quan along the way.

Once Sun Quan leads the army to attack Hefei, he doesn't even need to capture it. As long as Hefei is surrounded, and the news reaches Chaohu, Yuan Xi's army will definitely be in chaos. That is the best time for Zhou Yu to attack with all his strength!
In fact, Zhou Yu was initially opposed to Sun Quan personally leading the army to attack Hefei, with the infantry as the main force.

However, Sun Quan had made up his mind, and Zhou Yu could not persuade him. In addition, Zhou Yu felt that although this plan was a bit risky, Yuan Xijun should not be able to mobilize more troops in Jianghuai. Sun Quan brought at least 50,000 to 60,000 people to attack a city like Hefei. A small town, no matter how you look at it, it is enough!

So Zhou Yu's strategy was to fight against the opponent in the past few days and drag Yuan Xi's naval forces here so that they would have no time to rescue Hefei. When the news came that Hefei was besieged, all the envoys would be at a loss!

In the next few days, Zhou Yu commanded the navy to break into Chaohu again and started a fierce battle with Yuan Xi's navy. In the end, they both suffered casualties and returned without success.

However, as the battles ended, the Jiangdong navy gradually declined and was forced to retreat into the Ruxu River. Yuan Xi's army took the opportunity to go south and once again occupied the entrance from Ruxu River to Chaohu. They even broke into Ruxu River in one go. For miles, densely packed warships completely blocked the entrance waterway.

But it was impossible to go further south. The narrow waterway made it impossible for both sides to move. The warships at the front were like cannon fodder under the intensive attack. The southeast wind was blowing at the moment. Yuan Xi's army was fighting against the wind in Ruxu Water, shooting with bows and arrows. Without an advantage, battle losses continue to increase.

Lu Xun, who was in charge of the command, saw that the two sides had completely turned into a bad battle, so he ordered to retreat to Chaohu Lake again. It was difficult to attack against the wind, but it was easy to retreat. He returned to Chaohu, and the Jiangdong Army took advantage of the situation to advance, and the two sides faced off again.

In the camp at night, Yuan Xi said to everyone: "Jiang Dong's intention in the past few days has been very obvious, and he deliberately dragged us to death here."

"I'm afraid they are waiting for the opportunity. Naturally, they are waiting for the news that Hefei is besieged and fell."

"But they won't wait around. Looking at the current situation, they may not be careful."

As expected, Yuan Xi received a secret letter from Zhou Yu's navy the next day.

After Yuan Xi opened it, he found that it was a letter of surrender from the opposite general, and it was signed by Huang Gai.

In the letter, Huang Gai said that Zhou Yu had deceived others too much, had little talent, and had no tolerance for others. A few days ago, Huang Gai offended Zhou Yu because of his suggestions and was whipped in public. As a veteran Jiangdong general, Huang Gai lost face.

Furthermore, Zhou Yu led a large army, but he was unable to capture Chaohu. He was really a deadbeat. Huang Gai believed that Zhou Yu had lost his spirit. Under his leadership, the Jiangdong Army would definitely not win the battle and would end in a disastrous defeat sooner or later.

In addition, Huang Gai had lost face because he was deceived by Lu Xun's suspected soldiers in the battle of Chaohu the day before yesterday. Zhou Yu also used this to mock him. However, for the sake of his own future, Huang Gai felt that he should no longer stay in Jiangdong, a ship that was about to sink. On board.

Huang Gai believed that Yuan Xi was the hero of the world today, so he was willing to surrender and surrender, hoping that Yuan Xi could take him in.

If Yuan Xi agrees, Huang Gai will use the excuse of attacking Yuan Xi's army to choose an opportunity to be the vanguard. When the time comes, Huang Gai will come to surrender at night and send hundreds of ships carrying weapons and baggage to show his sincerity.

After Yuan Xi read the letter, he handed it to Taishi Ci who was standing aside and said with a smile, "What do you think of Ziyi?"

Taishi Ci read the letter and said, "This false surrender is too obvious."

Yuan Xi raised his eyebrows, "How did Ziyi know that this was a false surrender?"

Taishi Ci said without hesitation: "It's very simple. Huang Gai is actually a very proud person deep down. Although he may fall out with Zhou Yu for the sake of face, he is unlikely to betray Jiangdong. This will damage his reputation."

"And his family members are all in Jiangdong, how can he let go of his family members?"

Gan Ning said: "This is not impossible. I have been dealing with Jiangdong generals in the past few years, and I have heard a lot about what he did."

"Among the Jiangdong generals, some have a bad reputation, and Huang Gai is one of them."

"He is a descendant of Huang Zilian, the prefect of Nanyang. It is said that he is somewhat related to Huang Zu, but his family is poor, so he works as a minor official in Nanyang." "Dong Zhuo was in chaos, and all the noble families in the world rebelled. Sun Jian conquered Lingling. It was at this time that Huang Gai took refuge with Sun Jian."

"Huang Gai fought with Sun Jian, Sun Ce, and Sun Quan successively. Although he is only a captain until now, there is one thing he did."

Everyone knew that the person who knew General Jiangdong best was none other than Gan Ning, so they all said, "What is it?"

"Massacre the city." Gan Ning said in a deep voice.

"When I was young, I committed suicide. Although I have changed my ways now, I still regret the absurdity of that time every time I think about it."

"But Huang Gai is different. His reputation in Jiangdong is like Cao Jun's Lejin. He was responsible for the massacre after Jiangdong captured the city."

"Although it may not be without the instruction of Sun Jian and others, the fact that Huang Gai does it every time is enough to explain a lot of problems."

"Not long ago, Huang Zu was defeated in the Jiangxia Puppet Government. The coach Cheng Pu stayed outside the city. It was Huang Gai who entered the city and massacred him."

After everyone heard this, they all exclaimed in surprise and looked at Yuan Xi. When Yuan Xi saw it, he nodded and said, "Xingba is right."

"This man is indeed a murderer."

He naturally knew the records of Jiangdong in the Three Kingdoms, "Gai followed the policy and gained power, wielded armor and went around, and slaughtered the city with swords."

In fact, there are not many records of Jiangdong's massacre, and it is far less famous than Cao Cao. Of course, a large part of the reason is that there were not many cities conquered by Jiangdong in later generations.

According to the records of the Three Kingdoms, Cao Cao personally massacred at least three places in Xuzhou and Liucheng Wudu. Xiahouyuan and Cao Ren also have more than two records each. Counting other records of Cao Jun's massacres, there are even more records.

The only record of Sun Ce's massacre in later generations was "taking control of Kuaiji and slaughtering Dongye". This was actually considered rare for Sun Ce who conquered the entire Yangzhou area.

In contrast, when Sun Quan attacked Lujiang and Jiangxia, he ordered the massacre of cities. In the records of these massacres, the names of other Jiangdong generals who participated are not recorded, only Huang Gai's name is listed on them.

Of course, it is also possible that Huang Gai had no foundation among the Jiangdong nobles, so he was forced to do dirty work. However, when he suppressed Shanyue, he also used quite tough methods.

Therefore, judging from the records, Yuan Xi believed that Huang Gai had a stubborn temper and had already been tied to death on a Jiangdong warship. He had done so many things for Jiangdong and had no way out. From this point of view, he was the most important to Jiangdong. How could one of those loyal people change their families so easily just because the war was temporarily unfavorable?
It seems that what Zhou Yu used was probably a counter-intentional plan used by later generations. However, if this kind of plan was not known in advance, it would seem reasonable to outsiders. After all, Huang Gai served Jiangdong loyally, but was humiliated by Zhou Yu, and he was dissatisfied. Is that normal?

Moreover, from Jiangdong's point of view, Yuan Xi was on the defensive. Facing Huang Gai's surrender, he would naturally accept the surrendered generals first and take Huang Gai's soldiers and warships over first. At the worst, he would just let Huang Gai be the forward.

Zhou Yu's plan was probably not to let Huang Gai enter Yuan Xi's army, but to find a way to cause chaos to Yuan Xi's fleet on the way there, and to follow behind and take advantage of the situation to cover up and defeat Yuan Xi's navy.

But Zhou Yu probably didn't expect that Yuan Xi had no intention of asking Huang Gai to surrender. His plan was to pin Huang Gai to death on the road.

Zhuge Liang said, "This is an interesting time to surrender."

"Ten days later, it will be exactly the time when Sun Quan will arrive in Hefei."

Lu Xun agreed: "Yes, Zhou Yu should have been waiting for this opportunity. He was waiting for Sun Quan's army to surround Hefei and cut off our retreat. He wanted to kill us all in one fell swoop and avenge the last battle of Chaohu. "

After hearing this, Taishi Ci moved his arms and said with a smile: "He has a big appetite. The sharp arrows on my bow are waiting for him!"

Yuan Xi said: "He is waiting, why aren't we waiting?"

"The Jiangdong Army is backed by a naval force and can advance or retreat. With my current strength, it will be difficult to severely damage it."

"But this time Jiangdong naval forces gathered in Ruxu River, and Cao's army retreated with their own agenda. Sun Quan even abandoned the boat and landed on shore, sacrificing his strengths and weaknesses and using infantry to attack the city. This is God helping me!"

"I thought it would take five to ten years to suppress the Jiangdong navy and the situation on both sides reversed, but I didn't expect that Sun Quan would lose his temper!"

"If it can be decided in one battle, there will be no big threat to Jiangdong from now on!"

"Everyone has made great achievements and brought peace to the world today!"

(End of this chapter)