Chapter 377: Overwhelming and decisive! [Subscribe]

The surface of the river was shrouded in mist.

Cao Cao returned to his seat, took out a message bead, and asked the other party: "Where are you?"

"As ordered by the king, the army has already captured Yunyang and is heading westward." It was Zhang Liao who responded.

Since the Xianbei went south to attack Hexi, Cao Cao successively mobilized Zhao Yun, Ma Chao, Pang De, Qu Yi and others to the northern line to block the Xianbei.

This included sending Zhang Xiu northward, marching along the Daxing Mountains to the mountain pass, and destroying the Xianbei people's food supply routes.

But from then on, Zhang Liao, who was on the northern front, never showed up again and did not participate in the war on the northern front.

The reason was that Cao Cao had other arrangements for him.

How could we not use Zhang Liao in the crucial battle to capture Jiangdong?
His name was passed down through the ages, and his most famous battle was the Battle of Xiaoyaojin, which was fought in Jiangdong.

That was also one of the most unequal enemy-to-friendly ratios in the history of war, both ancient and modern, in which the few defeated the many.

Zhang Liao's Battle of the Gods.

Zhang Liao was transferred by Cao Cao early on and marched south from the northern line.

When Cao Cao went to the shipyard to check the construction progress of the Da Wei, Zhang Liao was there.

Cao Cao then went south and patrolled along the coast until he reached Jingzhou, and Zhang Liao still accompanied him throughout the journey.

But he never showed up.

He accompanied Cao Cao on the journey in compliance with his orders, to learn about the distribution of enemy and our own forces along the way and to prepare for the next battle.

The Battle of Chibi officially broke out, with both sides fighting each other with their own calculations, and Zhang Liao still did not participate.

He received orders from Cao Cao and began to march eastward from his own territory north of the Yangtze River, eventually arriving at the easternmost seaport of Xuzhou.

On the sea, there was a huge ship waiting for Zhang Liao.

This large ship was none other than the Da Wei, whose deck tower had not yet been completed.

The bare boat was filled with soldiers.

Those were the eight hundred warriors led by Gao Shun.

Accompanying Zhang Liao were Cao Cao's personal cavalry.

These people together only have more than 800 people, but they are the most elite team in the entire Cao camp.

They were fully armed, some wearing the latest generation of heavy armor, with the incantations connected to each other, allowing them to attack and defend as one.

The Dawei can carry more than 3,000 people at a time when fully loaded.

The Xianzhen Camp had 800 soldiers, more than 70 heavy cavalry, and their war horses, which was just the right number.

Just two days before the fire at Chibi, Cao Cao issued an order through the Xunzhu: Raid on Jiangdong!
The position where Zhang Liao ascended to the throne of the Great Wei was Guangling County in Xuzhou, south of Sheyang Lake on the sea.

Looking at the map, Sheyang Lake to the south and the mouth of the Yangtze River are not only adjacent but also very close.

And walking on the water is unobstructed.

In this era, there was no concept of water territory, and there was no maritime defense.

After passing the mouth of the Yangtze River and heading west into the Yangtze River, you will reach Wujin County in Jiangdong, which is Changzhou in later generations.

Jiangdong has been in turmoil in recent years.

The territory of Cao Wei was further south than in the same period in history.

This resulted in Jiangdong's capital being established in Jianye earlier than in history, which was relatively safe and more strategically significant.

Jianye, the capital of Jiangdong, is less than 300 miles away from Changzhou.

Zhang Liao and his men attacked by boat and landed at this location.

On the night of the fire at Chibi, Zhang Liao and Gao Shun led the Xianzhen Camp, sailed to the west of Wujin in Jiangdong, and disembarked.

A surprise attack was launched that night, and the sharpest edge was displayed on the heart of Jiangdong.

Cao Cao's move was to use his elite troops to attack the enemy's head directly.

If a general succeeds, the world will be settled.

After Zhang Liao landed, he immediately launched an attack.

The Jiangdong garrison in the Wujin area was completely unprepared for the Cao army that descended from the sky.

The 3,000-strong garrison was defeated by heavy cavalry led by Zhang Liao and Gao Shun, who destroyed the camp with ease.

Zhang Liao’s second target was Yunyang County, south of Wujin.

His strategic goal was to tear open a hole in the heart of Jiangdong, smash its defense line first, and then destroy its resistance.

The sun is rising.

The garrison troops of Jiangdong in Yunyang were called the Yunyang Camp.

If anything happens in Jianye, the Yunyang troops will rush there immediately to protect the center.

Since the time of Sun Ce, military strongholds have been widely established in Jianye and Jingkou areas as protective barriers.

Yunyang's troops had marched north many times to confront Cao's army north of the Yangtze River. They were one of the most elite divisions in Jiangdong.

They stationed an army of 5,000 men in the suburbs of Yunyang County.

When he suddenly heard the thunderous sound of horse hooves, Sun Jiao, who was in charge of leading the troops in Yunyang Camp, was still a little confused.
"Which army came to my Yunyang camp suddenly without any prior notice?"

He frowned and listened, feeling something was wrong:

"Such heavy hoofbeats. Judging from the sound, there must be tens of thousands of people."

He and the few soldiers around him all felt a murderous aura coming with the sound of horse hooves, which was as condensed as a tidal wave and made people feel cold.

Sun Jiao suddenly said, "Quick, send the order to deploy the defense."

Boom——

When you see the war horses covered in black armor and the cavalrymen covered in black armor appear.

Sun Jiao's face turned pale with horror: "Cao Wei's heavy cavalry!"

The heavy cavalry, numbering only 800 men, rode forward on horseback, with an imposing manner like an army looking down upon ten thousand troops.

Sun Jiao's hair tingled as he ran from the main gate of the military camp into the camp, shouting frantically, "Enemy attack..."

Before he finished speaking, Cao Wei's heavy cavalry had already rushed straight towards the Yunyang camp, and the army broke through the formation.

The eight hundred troops were divided into two columns, and from the east and west, they broke through the outer camps of the Yunyang camp, galloped back and forth, and killed the Jiangdong army.

The people in the camp were running around in panic, unable to organize an effective defense or confrontation. Even the buildings in the camp collapsed under the impact of the heavy cavalry.

Some Jiangdong soldiers mounted their horses with shields in hand and fought against the heavy cavalry. They were pierced through with their shields by the heavy cavalry's giant spears.

Then he was caught under the hooves of the heavy cavalry.

In just an hour, Cao's army broke out of the camp and headed for the next target.

Shocking trails of blood were left in the Yunyang camp.

In Yunyang County not far away, after Cao's army left, someone came out to check. When he arrived at the Yunyang camp, he exclaimed in horror and was frightened.

There were only a handful of defeated soldiers left in the camp, lying on the ground in shock, with dull eyes.

The entire camp was razed to the ground.

The news of the Yunyang camp being breached reached Sun Quan in Jianye in the afternoon.

Sun Quan suddenly stood up from his seat:

"Cao's army appeared a hundred miles away from Jianye and broke through Yunyang's camp?"

"Where did they come from?"

"Not only Yunyang Camp, Cao's army also broke into Wujin Water Camp last night, broke into Yunyang Camp this morning, and broke into Siyang Mabei Camp near noon.

In one night, they attacked three of our camps in Jiangdong.

Judging from their trajectory, Cao's army should have landed in Wujin, taken the water route, and then attacked Yunyang and Siyang."

Civil officials, military generals, and even many Jiangdong nobles, led by Zhang Zhao, were now gathered in the main hall of the Sun family mansion in Jianye.

"We should quickly concentrate our forces to resist the incoming enemy forces." A general stepped forward and said.

Sun Quan's sense of insecurity suddenly rose.

Fortunately, the troops from Jiangdong have been gathering in Jianye in recent days.

Immediately, sentries were sent out to send messages everywhere, gathering troops and preparing to deal with Zhang Liao.

Except for the people who went to Chibi, the remaining civil and military officials of Jiangdong, such as Song Qian, He Qi, Lu Meng, Chen Wu, Sun Jiao, Zhu Ran, Zhu Huan, Quan Cong and others were all in Jianye or on the south bank of the Yangtze River.

Out of fear of Cao Cao, Sun Quan not only mobilized the army with all his strength.

He also summoned the nobles, made concessions, and quickly reached an agreement with them.

At present, many Jiangdong nobles are also banding together to resist Cao Wei.

These nobles each gathered their own private soldiers and came to Jianye to join forces with the troops of the Sun family of Jiangdong.

There are quite a few troops that can be mobilized near Jianye.

Sun Quan originally thought that if Zhou Yu was defeated, he would still have the strength to fight and be able to protect himself.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Liao would lead the Xianzhen Camp and suddenly attack into Jiangdong.

In addition to Zhang Liao, at the same time, Li Dian, Le Jin, Man Chong, Xu Huang and others crossed the Yangtze River from the north bank to the south and launched a full-scale war against Jiangdong.

At the same time, the battlefield of Chibi.

By the next afternoon, the news of Jiangdong's disastrous defeat had spread to everyone who was paying attention to the war.

Southern County of Jingzhou.

Liu Bei sat in his official residence, the color on his face gradually fading away.

He watched Zhuge Liang leave Chibi and join him:

"Jiangdong has already been defeated?"

Zhuge Liang said calmly, "Zhou Gongjin and Lu Zijing wanted to attack with fire. They used Huang Gai to pretend to surrender, and brought kerosene and firewood to set fire to the river. They hoped that Cao's ships would be too large and would not turn around. They hoped to defeat Cao with fire."

"The strategy was correct. The timing, psychology, and the right time were all well grasped."

“But judging from the few times I’ve met Cao Wei, the King of Wei is very scheming and his predictions will come true.

It's the same this time.

The Wei army hid its troops in advance and waited for the Jiangdong troops to gather, and then defeated them in one battle! "

"After the battle, I was on a low hill overlooking the river, looking out over it."

"Cao Wei, in turn, used fire to break through Jiangdong."

"More than half of Jiangdong's troops and ships were burned. Tens of thousands of soldiers jumped into the river or were killed by Cao's army."

“As of this morning, the fire is still burning.

There were about 50,000 people from Jiangdong gathered at Chibi, but less than half escaped, and about 30,000 were captured or killed.

"The escape of these 20,000 people also means that the army is demoralized and has no strength to fight again."

"The defeat of Cao Wei in Jiangdong is a foregone conclusion."

With every word Zhuge Liang spoke, Liu Bei's face turned paler.

Wei Yan and Liao Hua were also in the room.

The other person is Fu Ping, who is from the Fu family and has not appeared for a long time.

On behalf of the emperor, he also wanted to obtain timely news about the Battle of Chibi.

Zhuge Liang briefly narrated the process. Several people were silent, but expressions of surprise frequently appeared on their faces.

After a while, Liu Bei recovered a little and asked Zhuge Liang:
"What should we do now?"

"For now, Cao's army must pursue with all their might to defeat the remaining forces in Jiangdong."

"After Jiangdong's defeat, internal problems will get out of control."

Zhuge Liang said: "Yizhou should immediately withdraw its troops and annex the neighboring tribes of Yizhou to improve itself and increase its strength.

Cao Wei should take Jiangdong first, we still have some time."

Fu Ping couldn't help but ask: "In Mr. Zhuge's opinion, is it possible that the war between Jiangdong and Cao Wei will... repeat?"

Zhuge Liang looked at Fu Ping and said: "With the means of the King of Wei, he will not just fight offensive and defensive battles in Chibi and Jiangdong."

"If my guess is correct, Jiangdong will not be able to turn back."

"In three to five days at most, there will be further news that will spread throughout the world!"

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(End of this chapter)