The revival of Shu Han

Chapter 374 Attack and Defense of the West City ([-])

October 23, North Jingzhou, Nanxiang County, Zhuyang County.

"The last general, Hu Lie, pays homage to King Ruyin."

"Xuanwu is exempt."

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Your Majesty, due to the recent frequent deployment of troops by Lu Kang in Xiling, General Zhennan (Yang Hu) is unable to leave Xiangyang, and cannot come here to pay a visit. Please forgive me, Your Majesty."

"It's okay, although I need the cooperation of Wu Gou when I send troops to the Jin Dynasty this time. But God knows what these mad dogs are up to. There are still due precautions."

"The final general thank you for your generosity."

"Hehe, let's not talk about this. Xuanwu, how many soldiers and horses did you bring with you this time when you went north to join forces with this king? How many supplies?"

"According to Luoyang's order, the last general brought ten thousand Jingzhou troops to join forces with the king. In addition, my uncle asked the last general to bring two thousand civilian men to carry grain and grass, and one thousand craftsmen to accompany the king to march together."

"2000 people moving food and grass? Is it too little?"

"Your Majesty, there should be no less. This time Shangyong suppressed the rebellion, the imperial court only sent [-] soldiers and horses in total. This is the first. Second, from Zhuyang, all the way to Xicheng and even Hanzhong, the Han River flows through. Our army’s rations, weapons, and various materials can be transported by water throughout the entire process. Therefore, my uncle asked the last general to tell the king that the important thing now is not how many civilians there are, but how to ensure smooth water transportation.”

"Well, this king is in Luoyang, and he has been taught by the general very clearly. What this king means is that the northern army is not good at water and cannot operate a boat. Therefore, the transportation and protection of food and grass are all in the hands of Xuanwu. OK?"

God, who said that this prince is the most generous?As soon as we met, you handed over this kind of drudgery that you can't see a little bit of results when you do it well, and it's particularly conspicuous when something happens?And it seems to be very reasonable, I can't object at all?

"No, I accept orders."

"Well, if that's the case, I can leave the back to Xuanwu." Finally, the logistical matters that worried Sima Jun the most were arranged. At this time, King Ruyin was also in a good mood: "Order the whole army to rest for a day today. , slaughter pigs and sheep at night, and march into Shangyong County tomorrow!"

"Hey~~~!"

……

The next day, Sima Jun's whole army set off from Zhuyang and went upstream along the Han River.

"Xuanwu, my king heard that more than 30 years ago, Jiang Gongyan, the former great Sima of the Shu thief, once formulated a strategy. He said that he boarded a boat from Hanzhong, captured the three counties of Shangyong along the Han River, and then attacked Jingzhou?"

"It's true, because Zhuge Liang's five invasions back then failed, and it was too difficult to transport troops and food across the Qinling Mountains, so the Shu thieves had this idea back then. However, it is convenient to attack by going down the river, but It is not so easy to come back. Therefore, the Shu thieves just thought about it and did not dare to implement it. Moreover, the Han River reached the downstream, the water volume increased sharply, and the waterways became extremely complicated. If you are not familiar with the local water conditions, you will not be able to fight at all. "

"Well, I've also heard about this. It is said that during the time when my uncle was in charge of Jingzhou, his main job was to manage the Han River?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. There have been nine disasters in the downstream of the Han River. If the Han River is not properly managed, the people of Jingzhou will not be able to farm with peace of mind. All they want is to escape to Southern Jingzhou controlled by Soochow. So if the Han River is not controlled If it is well governed, North Jingzhou will not be governed. If the people are not stable, everything in North Jingzhou, such as raising soldiers, preparing for war, attacking enemy countries, etc., will be impossible to talk about."

"Good, I hope the Han River will be tamed as soon as possible, so that Northern Jingzhou can live and work in peace and contentment."

In the first two days of his departure, Sima Jun was in a relatively relaxed mood, often pulling Hu Lie to chat about this and that.But as the fleet of the Jin army deepened, from Sima Jun down, all the generals, including the ordinary soldiers, looked more and more unsightly.

Without him, because along the way, not to mention the enemy, even ordinary people have not seen it.The four or five county towns that stood next to the Han River and its tributaries have all become empty cities.

……

November [-]th.Weixing County, Mulansai.

"My lord, we went all the way south along the Zhe River, a tributary of the Han River, to Shangyong County. There was also an empty city. There were no shortage of people and food. The wheat fields outside the city were all burned."

"Your Majesty, the scouts have dispatched personnel to report. According to this, Xicheng County, 120 miles west of Mulansai, is full of banners and people."

"Hey! I finally know that there are still living people in the three counties of Shangyong... It seems that Bandit Cao has concentrated all his troops in the west city and wants to cage the city to fight against our army. Have you ever found out how many people there are in the west city? People stationed?"

"Your Majesty, forgive me, I was shot by a bow and crossbow before I got close to the city wall of the West City, so..."

"Forget it, you have worked hard. Go down and rest."

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your generosity."

After waving the scouts back, Sima Jun summoned the generals accompanying the army with a gloomy expression.

"Everyone, I don't know soldiers, but I can see such an obvious situation. Cao's bandits are not strong enough to fight our army head-on. So we can only concentrate our forces and hide in one place. The reason why we gave up the many counties along the Hanshui River Sticking to the west city is nothing more than trying to lengthen our supply line so that we can attack from it."

"Good advice, Your Majesty! The last general is waiting to be subdued."

"Hey, don't say these are useless. Almost everyone can see through such a simple strategy. But seeing through is the key. How to deal with it is the key. Can you teach me?"

The so-called conspiracies are all shady, because they will be invalid when they are seen.But Yangmou is different: so what if you see through it?The general trend is like this, even if you know it is a pit, you have to jump into it.

For Sima Jun, how could this expedition be considered a victory?Getting Cao Ti's head is the most perfect.At worst, it would be good to get the heads of Zhang Hu and Zhang Xiong, the old generals who still have a lot of connections in today's Jin court.But if there is no battle, take over Shangyong and Xincheng counties directly, and then issue a report saying: After our army fought bravely, we successfully recovered Shangyong and Xincheng counties.Is it okay for the enemy to huddle in Weixing County and tremble?Yes, but the consequence of doing so is to make the aristocratic families in the Central Plains despise the Sima royal family even more.The aristocratic family is seriously separated from morality, can the state of Jin still exist?

Besides, now Shangyong and Xincheng counties are really saying that there is no one.But at least the population on the government register was concentrated in Xicheng.If you don't take down Xicheng, you will just occupy the territory of Shangyong and Xincheng.Without the people to provide food and taxes, how can these two places be guarded?Population migrated from Jingzhou to fill here?Then if the Shu thieves provoke a big war in the west in the future, the heavy soldiers here will be forced to move out.What should we do if the remnants of Cao Wei in Xicheng came out again?
So, no choice.Knowing what the enemy was going to do, he had no choice but to jump into the pit.

"In this way, the Chinese army continues to advance, and the Jingzhou army pays attention to guarding the grain road."

"Follow your Majesty's orders."

On November [-], Cao Ti led [-] Luoyang Chinese troops to the west city.

On the one hand, cement is currently one of Jihan's most important strategic materials.On the other hand, Guan Yi repaired the castle too hard in Mei County the year before, so that neither Sima Wang nor Shi Bao refused to attack the city after a large-scale attack.As a result, the main force of the Jin army did not lose much in the flesh and blood mill expected by Guan Yi in Mei County, and it further caused Jiang Wei's decisive battle in Maoling to almost fall short.So this time, the walls of the west city did not have cement hardened.However, according to the shape of Mei County, rammed earth was used around the city wall to make it a bastion.

Seeing the familiar rammed-earth city wall instead of the gray-white stone city wall in the legend, Sima Jun and the others all breathed a sigh of relief.

Nodding to Gou Xi, Gou Xi came out more and more: "Who is in charge in the city? Come out and answer?"

After a sound of armor colliding, a voice rang out: "Wei Wang Cao Ti is here, who is leading the army against Jin, report your name!"

"Bold and rebellious, the Ruyin King of the Great Jin Dynasty is here, and the thief dares to pretend to be the King of Wei? I don't know that Wei's destiny is over, will he give way to Jin?"

"Shut up! Why such shameless words!"

……

Up and down the city, the two sides scolded each other for a while about the so-called orthodoxy, but they both felt that it was meaningless.Then each of them stopped talking: if you can't say clearly with your mouth, then use your fist to speak.

However, this west city seems to be well-defended.Is it really something that 2 people can eat?

"Your Majesty, the general has been watching the city for a long time today. Not to mention the banners on the city, the key is that there are quite a few people at the four gates in the south, east, west and north. Therefore, if you want ants to attack the city, I'm afraid..."

"Well, after all, the rebels gathered all the people in the three counties of Shangyong into the city. Besides, it is very likely that the Shu rebels also sent reinforcements to the city. Xiuchu (Yang Zhao), how much do you need here?" Time to build catapults and other siege equipment?"

"My lord, the rebels have cut down and burned all the forests around the west city. At the end of the day, the general estimated that logging from the vicinity of the camp to the nearest forest would take at least [-] miles back and forth. Therefore, it will take about ten days to complete the forest. Build enough siege machines."

"It doesn't matter, the king has already learned that the Han River will not freeze in winter. As long as the Han River is in hand, our army's logistics can be guaranteed. So Xiuchu, you just work hard here. We brought this time With limited troops, it is always good to have fewer casualties."

"Thank you, Majesty, for your understanding. Majesty, please rest assured that within ten days, at least the siege equipment will not drag down the entire army."

"Good, everyone, then the next step is to choose an important place and set up a camp. This king doesn't know much about this matter, so, Uncle Mao, I will leave this matter to you."

"Please rest assured, Your Majesty, this matter will be settled in the end."

On the other side, in the west city.

"General Wei, Jin Ni has started camping, when will they attack the city?"

"Wai Mo took a look at the city wall today. The number of this army is about [-] to [-]. It is impossible to attack the city with this number of people. So no matter what, it will take a lot of time to build siege equipment. It is estimated that a large-scale attack on the city will take at least ten days."

"Oh, what about our defense?"

"Hehehe, don't worry, my lord. Twenty or thirty thousand people want to capture the city guarded by me, Luo Xian? It's simply wishful thinking."

(End of this chapter)