Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 65 Spider Web
After conquering the outer city of Jiangling, the Cao army received an unexpected surprise.

In the outer port of Jiangling, a large number of warships were seized and a group of well-trained sailors were captured.

This is not surprising. At the same time as Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao started their rebellions, a civil uprising also broke out in Jiangdong area. Within two years, they occupied ten states, namely Tai, Qu, Wen, Wu, Ming, Yue, Xin, Hangzhou, Su and Chang.

Due to the weak military strength in the southeast region, the court built ships in Jiangling and prepared to transfer the Sichuan Army eastward to suppress the bandits in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

"With these warships, we can go directly downstream, merge with the rebel army in Jiangdong, and seize their base. Even if the world is divided into three parts, it will not be difficult to replicate Sun Ce's struggle for hegemony!" Liu Hanhong said to Wang Xianzhi excitedly.

"Isn't it too much of a coincidence?" Shang Rang couldn't help but hold his forehead and ponder.

"What's the coincidence?" Liu Hanhong asked, "These warships were completed in the middle of last year, when we were still fighting the Battle of Songzhou..."

"From what I know, the top minds in the Four Marshals field often make clever use of existing factors to plan their actions, so as not to appear deliberate." Shang Rang said calmly, "No matter what, we must not take this woman, Zhen Ranyu, lightly."

"Shang Rang is right." Wang Xianzhi stroked his beard in approval. He was also very pleased with the progress of this disciple who was known for his intelligence.

Huang Chao had a rare talent like Zhu Wen under his command, so his own disciples should also have wise men who could compete with the Four Generals.

However, the growth of young people takes time and cannot be achieved overnight. Facing such a strong opponent as the Four Marshals, it is right to be cautious.

The generals stared at the map in the commander's tent, which detailed the terrain of the mountains, rivers, and cities in the Jingchu area.

At this moment, someone suddenly broke into the tent from outside.

"Urgent report! Li Fu, the governor of Shannan East Road, led his troops from Xiangyang and defeated our guard at Jingmen. Among the enemy troops were the Heluo troops under the command of General Yan."

"Urgent news! General Yan defeated our army east of Shenzhou, killing over 2,000 men. General Yan wrote a letter to the court announcing the victory, claiming to have annihilated 20,000."

As the leader of the martial arts world, Wang Xianzhi's intelligence network has always been pervasive.

Qin Yan burst into laughter. "How could a dignified General Yan resort to the tactic of falsely reporting military achievements and claiming one as ten? The roving troops we have north of the three passes of Yiyang total less than 5,000 men. How could we have managed to carve out 20,000 heads?"

When the generals heard this, they all burst into laughter.

Only Shang Rang looked solemn.

He ran his fingertips over the map, frowning, thinking about something.

"Our army is stationed at Jingmen to prevent troops upstream of the Han River from interfering with our efforts to capture Jiangling."

"The roving troops north of the three passes of Yiyang are also intended to monitor the enemy's movements north of the Dabie Mountains."

"The fact that both routes were broken almost simultaneously, and so quickly, suggests the enemy's previous slow reaction was likely deliberate. Now that we have broken through Jiangling, the enemy will move down the Han River, through the three passes of Yiyang, and attack our division from both sides."

Wang Xianzhi's expression also changed slightly: "Are you saying that Jiang Ling is a bait thrown to us by Marshal Yan?"

"Jiangling's inner city is extremely strong and difficult for our army to capture. If we stay in Jiangling, we will inevitably be attacked from both inside and outside."

Shang Rang analyzed methodically, "But what if our army uses these warships to sail downstream? There are enormous benefits to sailing downstream, as Liu Hanhong pointed out earlier."

Although Wang Xianzhi was not as well-versed in military strategy as Huang Chao, he was by no means a man without wisdom.

After hearing the above analysis, Wang Xianzhi stroked his beard and said calmly, "So, the waterway from Jingchu to Jiangdong must be filled with huge traps?"

"An iron chain across the river." Shang Rang said slowly, "If my disciple is not mistaken, once our army is blocked on the river, the enemy will have time to gather reinforcements and trap and kill our army."

Wang Xianzhi was stunned: "Is there any way to crack it?"

"Yes. We should abandon the downstream route and cross the river directly into Hunan. The barren land of Sanxiang cannot support a large army. We must split our forces into several routes to obtain supplies. This action is very risky, but we can avoid the traps set for us by General Yan."

Wang Xianzhi lowered his eyes in thought.

Dividing his forces would mean he would temporarily lose control of most of them.

But it's probably not a bad thing for cultivating young people's talents.

Although he is not afraid of the four generals, if possible, Wang Xianzhi still hopes to take advantage of the Jingchu area and avoid a decisive battle with General Yan in order to wait for a more secure opportunity.

After all, it can be seen from the Battle of Songzhou that the four generals will never fight a decisive battle without the advantage of time, place and people, and they will never fight a battle without confidence. This is also the key to their invincibility in the past 20 years.

Choosing to fight them means falling into the trap they set.

"But I believe things aren't that simple," Shang Rang said. "How could Marshal Yan leave us the possibility of taking Jiang Ling's bait and then retreating calmly? If so, how would she explain this to the court?"

Wang Xianzhi's troops quickly withdrew from Jiangling, leaving behind a devastating mess and a field littered with corpses. This is an unavoidable evil in wars throughout history.

But the Cao army still had not made a clear decision on the next move until a few days later, when a new urgent report arrived.

The troops of Liu Yanzhang, deputy leader of the Zhenyi League, were besieged in Qizhou and Huangzhou (Note: Qizhou and Huangzhou are located approximately east and west of today's Huanggang City) by the forces of Yingzhou Governor Zang! "Even before our detachment operating in Shenzhou (Note: present-day Xinyang, Henan) was attacked, Governor Zang had already disregarded that detachment and advanced directly into Jingchu. To avoid our detection, they even deliberately avoided the three passes of Yiyang and directly crossed the steep cliffs of the Dabie Mountains. In such cold weather, the non-combat casualties would be quite staggering."

"However, our army shifted its attack to Jiangling, leaving Deputy Alliance Leader Liu's troops, who had originally been the vanguard of the main army, isolated. The Huaixi army doubled their speed in pursuit and successfully trapped Deputy Alliance Leader Liu between Qi and Huang."

"If our army enters Hunan, it would be like watching Deputy Alliance Leader Liu perish. If we go to rescue him, we can only quickly rescue the Deputy Alliance Leader's troops, lure them aboard, and then devise a plan to break through the river defenses and sail downstream."

Shang Rang tried his best to extract the truth about Yan Shuai's plan from the overwhelming information.

That woman was simply a queen spider. The vast land and mountains, and the crisscrossing Jinghan River network were just a big web woven by her.

She slowly tightened the net, waiting to suck every last drop of juice out of her prey.

Wang Xianzhi was silent for a long time.

He and Liu Yanzhang had known each other for over forty years, and Liu Yanzhang was the second most important figure in the tribe after him. Furthermore, Wang Xianzhi was known for his unwavering loyalty, so how could he disregard the life of his old friend and abandon Liu Yanzhang and nearly ten thousand other men in the Liu tribe?

"I remember that during the Three Kingdoms period, someone broke the Iron Chain Across the River method." Wang Xianzhi said slowly.

"Yes, that man's name is Wang Jun, a famous naval commander who helped destroy the Wu army during the Western Jin Dynasty." Shang Rang nodded. "Wang Jun sailed down to Yizhou on his towering ship, and the royal aura of Jinling faded. Thousands of iron chains sank to the bottom of the river, and a single banner emerged from the stone."

"The specific method was to build dozens of large rafts, each more than a hundred feet in size. On the rafts, straw men were tied, wearing armor and holding staffs. Soldiers skilled in water would ride ahead on the rafts. Any iron spikes pierced the rafts would be carried away by the rafts. They would also weave torches, over ten feet long and several dozen feet wide, filled with sesame oil, and placed in front of the boats. Whenever they encountered iron locks, they would light the torches, melting the locks and burning them through, allowing the warships to pass unhindered."

Hearing Shang Rang's words, Wang Xianzhi burst into laughter.

"This senior general and I share the same surname. How could his heroic spirit not bless us?"

"Command the three armies, prepare wine, food, and incense, and offer sacrifices to General Wang Jun on the river. Order men to quickly build rafts and torches to use in defeating the enemy!"

"Even the four generals' plans aren't foolproof, not to mention I, Wang Xianzhi, possess unrivaled military power." Wang Xianzhi stood with his hands behind his back, suddenly revealing a majestic demeanor that looked down upon the world. "How can the troops of this little girl Zhen Ranyu compare to Song Wei's Five Square Formation and the Pinglu Iron Cavalry?"

Hearing this, the morale of all the generals under Wang Xianzhi was greatly boosted.

The Five-sided Formation had been destroyed by Wang Xianzhi single-handedly, and the Pinglu Cavalry would not participate in this battle due to Song Wei's evasion.

With Wang Xianzhi's extraordinary strength combined with Shang Rang's brilliant strategy, who says they can't fight the four marshals head-on?
On the grounds that they had the same surname, they sought help from Wang Jun, a famous general of the Three Kingdoms period, which gave the generals great confidence.

Just as Shang Rang's imitation of the tactics of Yang Zhong, Duke of Sui of the Western Wei Dynasty, who swept across Handong, the father of Emperor Wen of Sui, won the hearts and minds of the people, the successful battles of predecessors often give later generations more confidence when facing similar situations.

"Even if my life dies, I will help Master win this battle, clear the way for our army's hegemony, and open up a path to the sky!"

Seeing that a decisive battle was inevitable, Shang Rang's eyes gleamed brightly and he clenched his fists and spoke resolutely.

There was no longer any hesitation in his mind.

He had no way of calculating how much of Flame Commander Zhen Ranyu's plan was pre-calculated and how much was a result of improvisation.

But now that it has come to this, there is no other way but to fight to the death.

No matter how ingenious the plan, it must be tested in a decisive battle. If the decisive battle is won, the enemy's trap and clever layout will become worthless in an instant.

Therefore, even though he realized the gap between his planning ability and Yan Shuai's, Shang Rang still held great faith in his heart.

He believed in Wang Xianzhi's military power and frontal tactics, and believed in these brave warriors who had shared life and death with him over the years.

Of course, I believe more in my own wisdom, courage and determination.

No matter what, this bloody battle will surely go down in history. Whenever Shang Rang thought of this, he felt his blood boiling uncontrollably.

At the same time, in the camp of General Yan, Wang Jian’s troops of the Zhongwu Army were stationed in the camp.

Wang Jian showed an interested expression and moved his rough fingers across a map of Jingchu.

"Between two points, the straight road is the shortest. Why do we feel that this section of waterway is not so straight?" Wang Jian said to a personal soldier beside him.

His fingers moved from Jiangling in the west to Qizhou in the east, back and forth along this section of the Yangtze River, repeating this more than a dozen times.

However, once the two points are fixed, it doesn’t matter whether the river surface is straight or not.

"The most terrifying thing about this situation is that once you fall into the big net of Jingchu, no one can resist the sweet smell of Jiangling's bait - even if you see through it in advance." Wang Jian continued to talk to himself, and grabbed a piece of roasted lamb with oily spots from the bowl beside him, put it to his nose intoxicatedly, smelled the fragrance, and stuffed it into his mouth.

He could not see through the whole plan of Marshal Yan, but when he saw the inkstone that Marshal Yan sent to Liu Xun, he knew that Marshal Yan was obviously going to use the Yangtze River to send Wang Xianzhi and his 50,000 troops to the Western Paradise.

As for Liu Xun, if he wants to see through this plan, this kid will have to practice hard for another ten years.

(End of this chapter)