Chapter 113 Confrontation Across the River
In the central army tent, Cao Xiu saw that the emperor had assigned tasks to Right General Zhu Gai, Yuzhou Governor Jia Kui and Auxiliary General Liu Ruo one after another, and he looked a little anxious as he sat in his seat.
Grand Marshal Cao Xiu was already getting a little restless at this time.
The cause of this southern expedition was that Zhou Cang sent him a false letter of surrender. Logically, he, as the commander-in-chief of the Yangzhou military, should have led the troops south.
But as time went on, the situation became more and more serious, beyond Cao Xiu's expectations and control.
Not only did the number of troops arriving in Shouchun increase, but the emperor actually led 50,000 central troops south in person.
Although most of the military orders so far were issued to the armies in the name of the Grand Marshal, Cao Xiu still knew how many of them were arranged by himself. Even Cao Xiu himself was acting as a middleman behind the emperor's camp to pass on the emperor's orders.
Rather than saying that Cao Xiu wanted to command the army, it would be more accurate to say that Cao Xiu wanted to gain military merit by leading the troops, and thus use his military merit to dispel the rumors to the court and the generals that he took the office as the Grand Marshal because of his surname Cao and his royal family name.
Cao Xiu could not hold back any longer, so he stood up, bowed to the emperor and asked, "Your Majesty, what shall we do with the 30,000 cavalrymen I lead?"
Cao Rui naturally saw Cao Xiu's slightly anxious expression, and understood Cao Xiu's intention to ask for a fight. But no matter from which aspect, Cao Rui did not want to let Cao Xiu go out and lead the troops to the south alone at this time.
In the original history, Cao Xiu was defeated by an army of 90,000 led by Lu Xun at Shiting. He escaped thanks to Jia Kui's quick rescue, but fell ill and died that year.
You know, Cao Xiu was not just a general, but also the only two available generals from the royal family, along with Cao Zhen. If Cao Xiu was gone, the balance between the royal family and the scholars in the court would be broken very quickly.
Although Cao Rui believed that with his existence, it was unlikely that Cao Xiu would have the same fate as in history, he also believed that Cao Xiu could be saved.
But no matter what, we should still avoid it, right? Just think of it as pursuing a positive psychological hint.
Cao Rui looked into Cao Xiu's eyes and said slowly: "Grand Marshal, the 30,000 cavalry troops under your command are not only the most powerful force in our Wei, but also bear the weight of the world for our Cao family."
"Such an important army cannot be confined to the narrow land and hills of Wancheng to fight against the infantry of Wu. I would not feel at ease if these 30,000 cavalry were handed over to anyone other than the Grand Marshal."
"Can you understand what I mean?"
Cao Xiu was just asking for a fight, not going against the emperor's will. From Liaodong to Xiliang, from Youzhou to Yangzhou, Cao Wei had only 55,000 cavalry in its vast territory.
At this moment, in Yangzhou, apart from Zhu Gai's 10,000 cavalry and the 5,000 cavalry guarding the emperor, the remaining 30,000 cavalry were all in his hands. If there was any mishap with these 30,000 cavalry, it would really be a major event that shook the foundation of Cao's rule.
Cao Xiu took a deep breath and then bowed to the emperor: "Your Majesty, I understand your painstaking efforts."
Cao Rui nodded and said, "The 30,000 cavalry of the Grand Marshal will play a decisive role. They can either stay at the base camp of Wuqiangkou and not move, or stay on the plain between Wuqiangkou and the trailer, or move when the decisive battle near Wancheng comes."
"I still have to rely on the Grand Marshal to assist me in commanding and dispatching here. Grand Marshal, please don't refuse."
Of course Cao Xiu agreed.
But after a moment, Cao Xiu seemed to have thought of something: "Your Majesty, why not send my banner to Zhu Gai. The Wu soldiers don't know the military strength of our Wei army, and they might misjudge it.
Cao Rui was about to nod, but turned his head to look in the direction of Sima Yi and Liu Ye. After seeing both of them nod in agreement, he agreed without hesitation.
……
With the continuous military orders issued from the two major camps of Cao Wei's Wuqiangkou and Dongwu's Wancheng in the late night of January 5, the fate of more than 200,000 soldiers from both Wei and Wu also changed accordingly.
On the morning of the sixth day, Zhu Gai had just woken up in the camp when he received a military order from Cao Xiu, the Grand Marshal of Wuqiangkou. Along with the order came Cao Xiu's own flag and order.
After a simple breakfast, Zhu Gai led 4,000 cavalrymen westward without hesitation.
In fact, the Right General Zhu Gai felt quite confident at this time, simply because his troops were all cavalry, while the Wu soldiers on the opposite side were only infantry.
No matter how many troops there are in Wancheng, whether it is 20,000, 30,000, 100,000 or 200,000, Wancheng's troops are just infantry. From the foot of the mountain to the hills, the length is nearly 90 miles and the width is at least 6 or 7 miles. Zhu Gai can come and go freely.
It is true. Four legs are naturally faster than two legs. The superiority of cavalry does not lie in its riding function for long-distance marches, but rather in its explosive power and speed, which can complete extremely fast tactical deployments in a short period of time.
Even if there were ambushes on both sides, the narrowest part was six or seven miles wide. How could they be ambushed?
It would be much easier to deal with if all the cavalry of the Wu army were deployed. It would be double joy and they could just strangle them on the spot.
Zhu Gai had led the cavalry for twenty years, and he absolutely did not believe that the cavalry of Eastern Wu could defeat his own.
It's very arrogant, but it's true.
A few days ago, when Lu Xun sent Pan Zhang to lead 2,000 cavalrymen to the north to isolate the east of Wancheng on January 2, he collected 2,000 cavalrymen from the entire Wu army, which was a good intention. The Wu army did not produce horses, and the two thousand cavalrymen that the Wu army had squeezed out with all its strength came from various sources.
Some were obtained by Sun Ce and Sun Quan from various places during their successive conquests after the early years of Jian'an; some were captured during the many years of wars between Jingzhou and Yangzhou and Shu Han and Cao Wei; some were obtained from Cao Wei in a fair and honest manner; and some were even bought from Liaodong.
It's also interesting to say.
As early as the 24th year of Jian'an, when Sun Quan wanted to send Lü Meng to attack Jingzhou and take Guan Yu's retreat, he sent people to visit the Han court and Cao Cao in Xuchang. The envoys from the Eastern Wu not only completed the diplomatic mission, but also bought back 200 horses. Sun Quan was so happy that he rewarded the envoys.
In the third year of Huangchu, when the Wu army was fighting with the Shu Han army in Yiling, Cao Pi sent envoys to Eastern Wu to show his friendship and gave dozens of horses to Sun Quan.
The most interesting thing is that in order to buy horses, Sun Quan once ordered his fleet to go north along the coastal route to Gongsun Kang in Liaodong. Gongsun Kang did sell hundreds of war horses to Sun Quan at first, but he was slightly frightened by Cao Wei's envoy in Liaodong, so he stopped the transaction and beheaded Sun Quan's envoy.
It can only be said that in the current stage of the North's battle against the South, in addition to the advantages of geography and population, excellent war horses, a strategic resource, is also an indispensable and important aspect.
On the morning of the sixth day, almost at the same time as Zhu Gai, Quan Cong, the right governor of Wu and general of Sui Nan, received an order from the commander-in-chief Lu Xun and led 20,000 troops in formation and slowly marched eastward.
Leading the way were Quan Cong's own 6,000 troops, with 4,000 Jiujiang soldiers in the front and 2,000 elite troops following behind.
Following Quan Cong were the 10,000 men led by Wu Nan Du Chen Biao, in a formation of 3,000, 3,000, and 4,000, led by Chen Biao himself and two 2,000-stone officials.
Then came Heda and Zhu Ju with two thousand men each.
Quan Cong knew that although he knew from the news last night that the vanguard of the Wei army was cavalry, he did not know the number of cavalry, the commander, and whether there were infantry following them.
Of course, caution is the key.
At noon, Quan Cong's 20,000 infantrymen arrived at the designated location. As Lu Xun said, the area from the foot of the mountain to the hill is about eight miles wide. In winter, there is little water, and the river ahead is less than knee-deep. It is unlikely that it will be effective as a barrier.
Quan Cong was always on guard against the arrival of the Wei cavalry, so he arranged 12,000 men into three large formations and spread out along the river behind the stream.
The remaining 8,000 people began to set up camps along the river.
But often the more you don't want to encounter something, the faster the thing you want to avoid will come.
Quan Cong had just assigned the task when the scouts who had been sent to the east during the previous march rushed towards the camp.
A personal guard reported the matter to Quan Cong. When Quan Cong looked into the distance, the people in the camp could hear the faint and low sound of horse hooves as soon as the scouts entered the camp. A group of cavalrymen who were difficult to see appeared more than a mile away.
This scout is really useless. It makes no difference whether the message is passed or not.
Quan Cong was very anxious, and he quickly gave orders to his personal guards, asking them to quickly form three large formations of 4,000 men, and to have the 8,000 men who were building the camps to assemble and hide behind the formations.
It's too late.
The stream flows from northwest to southeast. The 4,000-man formation on the far left, which has not yet been fully prepared, is still more than two miles away from the foot of the mountain. At this time, nearly 2,000 soldiers who are preparing to set up camp with their backs to the mountain are running towards the nearest formation at a desperate moment.
If the infantry lost their formation in front of the cavalry, it would be almost tantamount to suicide.
Zhu Gai personally led his troops to cross the river and attack from the gap left by the Wu army in the north. In less than half a quarter of an hour, the Wu army left nearly a thousand corpses on the flat ground.
By the time Quan Cong's northernmost large formation was completed and began to march northward along the river, shouting slogans and beating drums, Zhu Gai's 4,000 cavalry had already changed from the rear team to the front team and rushed back to the east bank of the stream.
Quan Cong did not dare to be careless, and hurriedly ordered the large formation not to cross the river and to move closer to the headquarters located in the middle.
What was strange was that the Wu army was hastily forming up their battle array on the west side of the stream, while the Wei army on the east side were all sitting on their horses, watching the Wu army leisurely as they finished forming their battle array, with no intention of crossing the river at all.
The two sides faced each other across the river. After Quan Cong's remaining 19,000 soldiers had formed up their battle array, the Cao army on the other side did not make any moves.
It was not until an hour and a half later, when the sky gradually darkened and the sun began to set, that a messenger, riding alone, slowly crossed the stream and walked towards Quan Cong's own flag.
I will study how to publish it, and plan to send you the simple schematic diagram that I have used for this battle up to today before the two chapters are released tomorrow night.
(End of this chapter)
