The Rebellious Officials and Traitors of the Late Han Dynasty

Chapter 430: Red Cliff (I)

The Chaisang navy camp was set on fire. The raging fire dyed the sky red and could be seen clearly from more than ten miles away. Both warring parties had withdrawn from the battlefield.

Zhao Yun and Zhou Tai's troops retreated twenty miles downstream, while Lu Xun and Cao Ang led their troops back to Chaisang. Gan Ning, as the victorious party, also led his troops back to Jingzhou. On the way, Gan Ning received news that the Lujiang navy camp had been breached by Cao Chun.

Although he had a premonition, Gan Ning still felt very upset when he received the news.

After a great battle, although they were the winners, they also suffered a lot of losses. The navy camp was breached and most of the tens of thousands of navy soldiers were killed.

"Xingba, although both sides suffered losses this time, we are actually the winner. The Jingzhou navy has not been damaged. Jingzhou has a large amount of timber, and we can build ships in a very short time. We can fight again." Sima Yi comforted.

"Yes, Commander-in-Chief, Cao, Liu, and Sun joined forces, but they also suffered a lot of losses, especially Cao Cao, the main force of the coalition, who suffered heavy losses and no longer had the strength to fight. In fact, we won the victory." Wen Pin also persuaded.

Gan Ning nodded. He knew that the two were trying to comfort him, but when he thought of the soldiers who died in the battle, Gan Ning felt very aggrieved.

Sima Yi looked solemn and said, "The most urgent thing now is to report this to the Lord. I thought the three parties joined forces for their own selfish motives, and I didn't take them seriously. But judging from today's naval battle, they cooperated very closely, and even Liu Bei's troops were fighting bravely. This is unusual!"

Wen Pin also thought of this question, and nodded and said, "Military Advisor is right. When we attacked Cao Cao's navy camp, Zhao Yun did not give up the attack and held us back very well."

"The lips and teeth are interdependent?" Sima Yi stroked his beard.

There seems to be no other explanation for this situation. We can only think that the three parties all believe that it is the truth that the lips and teeth are cold, and they will cooperate sincerely with each other in the face of the cavalry army that is about to swallow up the world.

But being able to connect the three forces together is not something that ordinary people can do.

For a moment, a tall and graceful figure appeared in Sima Yi's mind.

"Is that you? Zhuge Liang."

Sima Yi stood on the deck and looked at the sky in the distance. In his opinion, the only person who could do this was probably Zhuge Liang, and only he had such plans and means.

"Military Advisor, where should we go now?" Gan Ning asked.

"The Lord's intention is very clear. He will defeat Cao and Liu step by step. The first target is Liu Bei of Jingzhou. The target is Jingnan. We will go to the Wulin Navy Camp first, and then wait for the Lord to arrive."

Sima Yi thought about it and decided to place the navy in Wulin first, wait for Qin Shou's arrival, and then fight a decisive battle with Liu Bei.

"That's great." Gan Ning was thinking about how he should apologize to Qin Shou. The Lujiang Navy had lost its main force, and even Gan Ning almost fell into it. As the commander of the army, Gan Ning naturally had to apologize.

The Cavalry Army had clear rewards and punishments, so since they were defeated, they would naturally be punished. Especially this time, Gan Ning took the initiative to send troops, which led to him falling into the enemy's calculations, and the punishment was even heavier.

At this moment, in the Chaisang Navy Camp, Zhou Yu, dressed in white, looked at the ruins in front of him with an inexplicable expression. He was familiar with everything here, because he built this camp, but he never thought that one day he would come back here in this way.

"The Cavalry is really amazing! They were able to arrive in time under such circumstances."

Zhou Yu sighed. On the one hand, the opponent's counselors were very powerful, and on the other hand, it was because of the opponent's overall strength that they were able to discover the abnormality of Liu Bei's navy in the shortest time and immediately send troops to rescue.

"Yeah, we were caught off guard." Lu Xun also sighed.

Although the main force of the Lujiang Navy was destroyed, a lot of men were also lost. Cao Cao's navy camp was burned down and a large amount of wood was also burned.

"Where is the cavalry's navy now?" Zhou Yu asked.

"Go upstream of the river. We don't know where the enemy's camp is yet. The most likely choice is Wulin, which can directly face Jingnan." Lu Xun guessed.

Zhou Yu also agreed, "Qin Shou's troops left Bashu and entered Jingzhou from Zigui. They will go east to Nanjun and will definitely choose Wulin. If our troops don't arrive, the enemy will take southern Jing. It seems that the place where we will fight is Wulin."

After hearing this, everyone showed a trace of solemnity on their faces. Everyone knew that this was a war that was related to the fate of the world. If the Cavalry Army won, they would take the opportunity to sweep the world and become the master of the world.

If Qin Shou was defeated and the fate of the world was uncertain, Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Sun Quan could still survive, and everyone could still keep their wealth.

But everyone was really at a loss about this.

"Our army will first go to Chibi to spy on the situation in Wulin, and then make plans," Lu Xun suggested.

Zhou Yu also agreed: "Bo Yan is right. We can train our troops at Chibi and wait for Qin Shou's army to arrive."

After all, they are a coalition force. Although they have a large number of people, their combat effectiveness is not good. If they can have a unified command in today's battle, they may be able to keep Gan Ning.

After hearing Zhou Yu's order, everyone nodded and immediately led the army to attack Chibi. They were almost across the river from the Cavalry Army, and a war seemed to be imminent.

In Nanjun in the north of the Yangtze River, the cavalry of Jingzhou also began to gather. One part was the main force of the cavalry from the north, about 50,000 people, and the other part was from Jingzhou, about 100,000 people. In addition, there were about 80,000 troops brought from Bashu, totaling 230,000 people.

His advisers include Jia Xu, Sima Yi, Fa Zheng, Zhang Song, etc., and his military generals include Huang Zhong, Wei Yan, Yan Yan, Zhang Ren, Gan Ning, Wen Pin, etc. There are thousands of them.

This was the war with the largest number of troops and the most powerful lineup Qin Shou had commanded since his debut.

At this moment, Nanjun had become a huge military camp. A large amount of food and grass gathered every day, and a large amount of leather clothes were transported from the north. Seeing that winter was about to come, even though Wulin was located in the south, the soldiers felt very cold.

Thanks to the trade between the Cavalry and the various tribes on the grassland, a large amount of animal fur was sent to the army and made into leather armor, which was used to defend against bows and arrows and also to keep warm.

It can be said that the Cavalry Army almost emptied out its resources for this war. If they are defeated, they will probably take years to recover and will switch from offense to defense within a few years.

This is also the reason why Cao Cao lost the opportunity to fight a major war after his defeat in the Battle of Chibi in history.

Wars are always fought for money and food. If you want to support an army of 250,000, the daily consumption of money and food will be an astronomical figure. Even a powerful man like Qin Shou will be cautious.

(End of this chapter)