My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 349: Step by step, step by step

After Xiahou Yuan adopted the latest marching strategy suggested by Guo Jia, he personally stationed his troops on the Donghai Plain between Qu County and Tancheng, digging earth and building fortifications.

Zhang He and Zang Ba were sent to lead the cavalry in the east and west respectively. In just two or three days, they were able to get behind the defenders of Tancheng and Quxian, creating a temporary division and encirclement, cutting off the communication between the defenders of the two places and the rear, trying to create panic and tension in the area and lure Guan Yu to come to the rescue.

In Xiahou Yuan's heart, he didn't have high expectations for this kind of seduction.

In his opinion, if Guan Yu had strong enough willpower, he would be unwilling to face the enemy's attack and unwilling to come to the rescue, which was a 70% chance.

If this step fails to work, then the only option left is to rob and relocate the people, loot and destroy to force Guan Yu to fight.

At that time, Xiahou Yuan would not only destroy Tancheng and Quxian, but also plunder Houqiu County, the southernmost county of Donghai County, and even Quyang County and Siwu County in the north of Sibei in Xiapi County, and even Huaipu and Haixi counties in Guangling County.

They captured as many people as they could from the countryside outside the city, and also took away as much of their property and food as possible to ensure that the thieves did not leave empty-handed.

Anyway, as long as it is in the land north of Sishui-Huaihe River, in front of the highly mobile cavalry corps, they can come and go as they please. There is not much difference between going one hundred miles deep and two or three hundred miles deep.

If there are really too many people being looted and the action is slowed down, and Guan Yu's army seizes the opportunity to intercept and attack, then it would be better to abandon the people and let the cavalry retreat alone.

Cao's army had no psychological burden, unlike Liu Bei who had the moral burden of "bringing the people across the river". The people were robbed, and there was no loss if they were thrown back. After all, the dead and wounded in the war were all the people under Liu Bei's rule. Why did Cao Cao feel sorry for them?
Even if Cao's army failed to seize the territory, at least they destroyed Liu Bei's territory. "You can't keep what I can't get." They created a large uninhabited area on the front line of the two armies' controlled areas. It was a win-win situation no matter how you look at it.

After the Battle of Chibi, Cao's army and Sun Quan's army fought back and forth between Hefei and Ruxukou, which resulted in "nine out of ten houses in Huainan County (formerly Jiujiang County) were empty". That is, from Shouchun to the south, all the way to Juchao County in Chaohu Lake, except for the people living in the city and the military settlements under militarized management, all other civilians fled.

If the two great princes in the north and south continued to fight each other and it was difficult for them to break through, it would be normal for them to create an unmanned area with a depth of two or three hundred miles at the front of their respective occupied areas. The ancient wars for hegemony were inherently cruel.

In this life, if Cao and Liu are in a highly hostile state on the Xuzhou front and repeatedly fight each other, this situation will also occur - unless one side can quickly break the deadlock and achieve decisive results in a short period of time after the two sides go to war, taking the entire Xuzhou and pushing the defense line to a safe and stable geographical dividing line.

……

Fortunately, Xiahou Yuan’s vicious back-up plans were not used as soon as expected.

Because the two cavalry forces he sent out, from the east and the west, encountered unexpected situations one after another.

The ninth day of September is also the fourth day after Cao's army set out.

Zhang He was sent westward with seven or eight thousand cavalrymen to infiltrate the area south of Tancheng, the capital of Donghai County, and cut off Tancheng's connection with Xia Pi through Yishui.

On the same day, Zang Ba and Sun Guan led five to six thousand cavalrymen and penetrated eastward to the south of the important seaport city of Qu County, cutting off the land communication between Qu County and the rear.

We will put aside Zhang He’s situation and experiences along the way for now and just talk about Zang Ba and Sun Guan.

Zang Ba and Sun Guan were also natives of Xuzhou, and had been local bosses in Langya for many years. Naturally, they were very familiar with the geography of the neighboring counties of Donghai.

They didn't need to collect geographical information specifically before the war, as they already had a general impression of the environment around Qu County in their minds.

However, when he arrived in Qu County, Zang Ba found that the local environment was very different from his impression a few years ago.

The city of Qu County is not big, only three or four miles long from north to south and just over two miles wide from east to west.

However, because the coastal area near Lianyungang was mountainous in later times, the city of Qu County was not built directly along the coast, but avoided the coastal hills and was built on a plain. After exiting the East Gate, there were still five or six miles to reach the harbor.

In previous years when Tao Qian was in power, places like ports would not be well protected. Once a war broke out, the defenders of Qu County would hide in the city, and the dock area, shipyard, and commercial area in the east of the city would definitely have to be abandoned.

But now, after several years under Liu Bei's rule, and with the Mi Zhu family's focus on investing in their hometown, the east of Qu County has become many times more prosperous than before, and two large-scale shipyards have been built, employing thousands of craftsmen and laborers. Other seaport facilities and various workshops are also changing with each passing day.

There are several workshops in Donghai County that polish crystals and manufacture various precision and expensive equipment, all of which are well guarded. Liu Bei's army's thermometers, telescopes, distiller and so on are all produced here. There are also supporting workshops that manufacture various other sailing gear and rigging equipment, all of which are thriving.

When Zang Ba and Sun Guan arrived with their cavalry, they saw that the defenders of Qu County had actually temporarily dug a defensive fortification consisting of trenches and pits. The fortification stretched for five or six miles, from the city wall in the east to the hilly highlands by the sea, protecting the entire port, commercial and industrial areas.

The soil dug out from the trenches was also used by the Mi family to build a low earth wall, and they also cut down trees and erected many sharp stakes on the earth wall as fences and shelters. There were also some beacon towers, watchtowers and arrow towers built with rammed earth along the way.

In a nutshell, although the level of rigor of this defense facility is far inferior to that of a city wall, it is after all stronger than an ordinary camp.

However, in the eyes of Zang Ba and others, this so-called solid fortress was full of loopholes.

Zang Ba couldn't help but joke with Sun Guan, who was traveling with him, and said, "I heard that in recent years, under Liu Bei's rule, and with Zhuge Jin's advice to Mi Zhu to make money by making strange things, Qu County has been very prosperous. The population has more than doubled compared to five or six years ago, and industry and commerce are thriving.

I didn't expect that Mi Zizhong was so ambitious that he was reluctant to give up his ports, shipyards and workshops when faced with war. He wanted to build camps and trenches all the way to the sea. This camp must be five or six miles long. Our scouts before the war were so poor that we didn't find out about it?"

Sun Guan, who was standing by, observed carefully and sneered complacently: "It's not a big deal if we didn't find out before the war. After all, in the last seven or eight days before the war, in order to paralyze the enemy and prevent them from being on guard, General Xiahou told the spies to be more restrained.

These trenches and earthen walls seem stronger than ordinary camps, but they didn't take long to build. If Mi Zhu happened to sense danger a few days before the war and started to rush the construction, it would be normal for us not to be able to detect it. But even if such a camp is built, can it save Qu County? You know, the key to defending the camp is whether you have enough troops to fill the defense line. In my opinion, Mi Zhu only knows how to make money, but not soldiers. He connected the earthen wall from the city of Qu County to the seaport in one breath, and there are five or six miles of frontage to defend in the north and south. How many troops does he need to put in?"

After listening to Sun Guan's analysis, Zang Ba also agreed with it.

We all have military knowledge, so there is no need to explain some things in too much detail. Those who understand will understand.

If someone who is really good at mathematics is willing to take it seriously, it is easy to come to the conclusion:

Even if three or five soldiers were placed behind each foot of the earth wall to defend, and the north and south sides were six miles apart, that would be 1,200 feet each. Wouldn't it take three to five thousand soldiers to defend each side? That would add up to nearly ten thousand soldiers.

Adding the defenders of Qu County, based on the calculation of one person per ten feet of wall, Mi Zhu would have needed at least tens of thousands of people to defend the line.

As for the attacking side, as long as they make a desperate effort to break through a point, even if the defending side does not collapse, the attack and defense of the camp will turn into a hand-to-hand fight to seize and block the entrance.

How could Liu Bei's army, which had so many fewer soldiers than Cao's, dare to defend such a long target? Wouldn't this give Xiahou Yuan the opportunity to fight with Liu Bei and wear out all of Liu Bei's troops?
After understanding these principles, Zang Ba and others couldn't help but feel confident.

Zang Ba smiled and said to Sun Guan, "If you ask me, Guo Jijiu's strategy is of little use. The enemy has a greedy man like Mi Zhu who doesn't know how to choose. God is really helping our army! You should immediately prepare to divide the troops to cut wood and set up camp, and watch the enemy's escape route on the south side. I will write an urgent military report with details of the situation here, and send it back to General Xiahou by express horse, and ask General Xiahou to make a decision."

Sun Guan gladly accepted the division of labor and went to prepare without further ado.

……

Later that same day, westward toward the Tancheng battlefield.

Zhang He spent half a day and led his cavalry to march over 70 miles to the Yishui River south of Tancheng, temporarily cutting off the Tancheng defenders' route back to Xiapi along the Yishui River.

Zhang He did not expect to be able to break the deadlock immediately. He felt that Zhang Liao would definitely defend the county seat of Tancheng to the death and would not easily go into battle.

The troops he brought with him were only cavalry, and they could only cut off the enemy's retreat route. It was impossible for them to attack the city, so he would probably have to wait for a few days.

However, just one night had passed after Zhang He hastily set up camp.

The next morning at Yinshi, it was also the time when the soldiers slept the deepest and the temperature was the coldest.

The north gate of Tancheng suddenly opened quietly, and then Zhang Liao led hundreds of cavalrymen, with their mouths sealed and their horses reined, and quietly went out of the city to form a battle formation.

Without torches, this team of cavalrymen went around the city in the dark and returned to the south side, where they launched a raid on Zhang He's camp.

Zhang He's troops had just traveled the day before, and in the afternoon they cut wood and set up camp. It was very tiring, and most of the soldiers were soundly asleep.

Fortunately, Zhang He was also a famous general, and he had cavalry patrols on duty all night, so they were not attacked directly in the camp. When Zhang Liao's raiding team was still three or four miles away from Zhang He's camp, they were hit by Zhang He's night patrol scouts, and a fierce hand-to-hand combat broke out between the two sides.

Relying on his superior numbers on the local battlefield, Zhang Liao killed and wounded more than a hundred of Zhang He's patrol troops, but this also delayed time, allowing Zhang He's main force to urgently get up and fight the enemy.

When Zhang Liao arrived at the camp gate, Zhang He's troops had already left the camp and formed a battle line. The two sides fought fiercely for a while, especially Zhang Liao, who was leading the way, and even engaged in a melee with Zhang He.

However, this kind of melee fight to the death was not a duel of generals. The two men only exchanged two or three dangerous moves before passing each other and charging at the cavalry behind them.

It was just these three short moves that made Zhang Liao and Zhang He secretly frightened and no longer dared to underestimate each other's martial arts.

This bloody and short fierce fight lasted less than two cups of tea. Zhang Liao had a slight advantage at the beginning, but seeing that more and more of Zhang He's troops were marching out of the camp in a strict battle array, Zhang Liao, who was at an absolute disadvantage in terms of total strength, quickly withdrew while he was ahead.

Because it was still dark, and Zhang He was a general from Hebei Province who was new to Xuzhou and unfamiliar with its geography, he did not dare to pursue further, fearing that Zhang Liao had ambushed troops in the dark on the way of his retreat.

After the battle, Zhang He's troops were counted and killed a total of more than 300 cavalrymen, including the night patrol scouts that were intercepted and killed at the beginning.

Zhang Liao also suffered nearly a hundred casualties. Considering the advantage of the sneak attack at the beginning, this result was not a big victory and was acceptable to both sides.

"Why is Zhang Liao so eager to go into battle? He actually ignored the shortage of troops and the fact that he only had such a small number of cavalry, and dared to take a gamble and go out of the city to rob the camp? I haven't heard that there are heavy troops stationed in Tancheng." As Zhang Liao retreated, Zhang He could not help but think, always feeling that something was wrong.

From the perspective of military strategy, he had no intention of besieging or attacking the city, but only of intersecting the enemy to cut off their retreat. Zhang Liao should not have been so eager to fight.

All this seemed as if someone was forcing Zhang Liao to fight and share the pressure with someone.

Zhang He was puzzled until the next day, when he was patrolling to block the communication between the Tancheng defenders and the rear, he intercepted a team of messengers delivering letters.

(End of this chapter)