Quan Cong was wearing a cloak and was followed by ten armored soldiers holding torches. He did not ride a horse, but walked quickly towards the dock, thinking about the war in Fancheng as he walked.
Arriving at the dock, he boarded a random boat and then sailed downstream towards Yuliangzhou. Half an hour later, Quan Cong arrived outside Sun Quan's central army tent and entered to meet him after being summoned by the guards.
"I pay my respects to Your Majesty." Quan Cong quickly stepped inside and bowed.
"Zihuang is here? Please take a seat." Sun Quan seemed to be looking at some documents behind the desk in the light of the lamp.
There was no one else in the tent except Sun Quan himself.
Seeing that Sun Quan ignored him, Quan Cong sat quietly for a moment, then could not help but said, "Your Majesty, I came here today to ask you for advice on how to fight the battle of Fancheng. The Wei army has been marching towards Fancheng and retreating for three consecutive days. According to this situation, I think the Wei army will come tomorrow. The Great Wu has besieged Fancheng, and the Wei army must rescue it. Sooner or later, they will attack our army."
"What does Zihuang think?" Sun Quan asked.
Quan Cong said firmly: "Since the Supreme has more troops in Xiangfan, why not transfer all the troops to the north of Fancheng, fight with the Wei army as soon as possible, win the battle, and then cut off the Wei army's thoughts of saving Fancheng!"
Sun Quan sighed, put down the document in his hand, and then picked up the wick himself, making the light on the table brighter:
"At the beginning of the month, I followed the advice of the generals and personally led an army of 70,000 to attack Xiangfan. The whole army arrived here on September 10th. Today is the 26th, which is half a month. Zihuang, why do you think I want to attack Wei?"
Quan Cong was somewhat confused. Why was this issue still being discussed now? Wasn't it already decided? But when Sun Quan asked, Quan Cong still answered: "This attack on Wei is to completely occupy Xiangfan and contribute to the establishment of the Supreme Emperor!"
Sun Quan said: "What Zihuang said is both true and false."
"After Xiangyang was attacked by the Wei army yesterday, I thought a lot and discussed with Hu Zong and Shi Yi for a long time. I have three conclusions. The flood did not help the city to be conquered that much. Fancheng is to the north of the Han River and it is not something that can be conquered in a short time. If the Wei army comes to help, we will not suffer any loss if we do not fight, but we will suffer losses if we fight."
Is the Supreme afraid? ?
Indeed, this time they had besieged Xiangyang and Fancheng and destroyed many counties along the way, which was already a good result. If they retreated like this, it could be considered a victory, or even a great victory. As long as there were no casualties, a great victory was just a matter of words, right?
Quan Cong had already felt something in his heart, but he didn't dare to say it directly. Instead, he asked: "I don't understand. What should I do? I, General Pan, General Bu and I have only 16,000 soldiers together, which is equal to the Wei army. We are not at an advantage in a field battle on the plain. Even if we have to deal with it conservatively, it is better to give me more troops."
Sun Quan said, "Zi Huang, I will hand over Wu Shuo's 5,000 troops to you. But don't be reckless in the battle. If the Wei army is too close, I will allow you to retreat southward to the camp outside Fancheng and defend it. Try to avoid field battles to preserve your strength."
Quan Cong stood up and bowed, "I have heard your order, Your Majesty, and I will do as you say. But I still have some questions in my mind, so please help me."
"Go ahead." Sun Quan shook his head slightly.
Quan Cong said: "Although there are not enough troops in Fancheng, it is difficult to attack like Xiangyang. But if we deal with the Wei army's attack while attacking Fancheng, how can we capture Fancheng with such scattered energy?"
Sun Quan looked at Quan Cong and said in a deep voice, "We can siege the city as long as we can. If we can no longer siege the city, we can lead our army to Yukouwu and use the advantage of the navy to hold off the Wei army. In short, the longer I stay in Xiangfan, the more I can contain the Wei army, and Zhuge Liang can attack Wei in the west more easily."
Quan Cong sighed and said, "I understand."
Sun Quan also stood up, took his brocade cloak from the rack beside him, walked to Quan Cong, took off Quan Cong's cloak himself, and then put his own cloak on him.
"I will trouble Zihuang to help with the battle of Fancheng."
Sun Quan was in such a state, what else could Quan Cong say? Naturally, he thanked him and left.
After the boat left Yuliangzhou, Quan Cong stood on the boat, looked up at the stars in the night sky, and couldn't help but sigh.
It is true that Xiangyang is difficult to attack, and Fancheng is not that easy to attack either. The original intention of the Supreme to attack Xiangfan was to take the city to build momentum for his enthronement. Seeing that the city was difficult to take, it was also a reasonable choice to settle for the second best and preserve the army.
We should siege Fancheng for as long as we can. If we cannot, we can defend Yukouwu, which has been built. Yukouwu is only one mile away from Yuliangzhou by water. With the advantage of the navy and the support of the Yuliangzhou camp, Yukouwu should be difficult to capture.
Is this really going to last a long time? Although it is normal to withdraw troops when the situation is not right during marching and fighting, and this is not a crisis like the Battle of Red Cliff, and there is no reason to fight to the death in Fancheng, Quan Cong still felt a little sad. He understood what Sun Quan was thinking, but as a general, he was still thinking about winning.
...The next morning, 5,000 infantrymen under the command of Lieutenant General Wu Shuo set out from Yuliangzhou and went to Quan Cong's camp to receive orders.
Xu Shu of Deng County in the north also followed the old practice of the previous few days and left 2,000 soldiers from the prefectures to guard the city. He personally led 6,000 soldiers from the prefectures under Shen Dan, 10,000 foreign troops under Wen Dai, and 10,000 soldiers from the Wuwei Camp, totaling 26,000 troops, and marched towards Fancheng.
The battle formation was still the same as the previous few days, without any changes. Xu Shu led 6,000 foreign troops in the center, Shen Dan was on the right in the west, Wen Dai was on the left in the east, and Qian Zhao's troops followed three miles behind Xu Shu as reinforcements.
Today, the armies of Wei and Wu were still facing each other north of Fancheng. Xu Shu was still eight miles north of Fancheng, and Quan Cong was still five miles north. The two sides were three miles apart, and neither of them had any intention of moving.
This lasted for another half a day. As the sun was setting, Xu Shu ordered his troops to withdraw.
After returning to Deng County, Xu Shu invited Qian Zhao to the main hall of the county government and said:
"This is what happened today, do you have any thoughts, Brother Qian?"
Qian Zhao shook his head: "I don't have any experience, I just think the Wu army is a little bit cautious. Although the Wu army is not good at land warfare, this place is only ten miles away from the Han River. The Wu army has a large army behind them, so they shouldn't be afraid to fight."
"If the Wu army doesn't move tomorrow, you and I will have to move forward. No matter what strange things the Wu army has done in Fancheng, we should try it ourselves with the army at our side."
Xu Shu replied: "Brother Qian, I do have some other ideas."
"A few days ago, Zuo Shi led the cavalry to circle outside Fancheng. The Wu army camp has indeed surrounded Fancheng, and the camp stretches for six or seven miles. The Wu army's situation seems to be trying to lure me to attack their camp. They are waiting for me to tire themselves out. We can choose any of the Wu army camps within six or seven miles to attack."
Qian Zhao nodded: "Then let's attack the west of the city. Aren't the Wu troops in Yuliangzhou? We will attack the farthest point from Yuliangzhou tomorrow. As long as we can open a passage to the city, we can use the city to set up a camp, and the situation in Fancheng will be revitalized."
"The west of the city is very good." Xu Shu replied: "Brother Qian, please inform the generals of the Wuwei Camp later that they need to attack the Wu Camp tomorrow. After this battle, I will personally ask the court for rewards for them."
Qian Zhao smiled and said, "If you ask the court to give them some money, ordinary soldiers may be eager for rewards, but for the generals and captains, the rewards given to them by the court for the repeated use of troops in recent years are enough to support their expenses. It would be better to ask for some additional fiefs for them. After the battle at Chiting in the second year of Taihe, all the two thousand stone officials in the Wuwei Camp were given the title of marquis."
Xu Shu also laughed: "They are all fighting for the court, so how can I not ask for fiefdoms for them? I have agreed to this matter, Brother Qian, go ahead and ask for it. We will need to borrow the fighting force of the Wuwei Battalion tomorrow."
"Okay, then I'll take my leave. What time do we set off tomorrow?" Qian Zhao asked.
"The entire army will march out at 2:30 am," Xu Shu replied.
……
This year has indeed been an eventful year. After Cao Rui came to Xuchang, he has not had a single day of free time. He has been dealing with major and minor affairs in the court every day. He was unable to return to the harem to sleep tonight, so he just stayed in the study for the day.
As midnight approached, Cao Rui was hungry, so the eunuch ordered some food from the imperial eunuch. After supper, Cao Rui walked out slowly and walked around the courtyard, only to see that the light in Pei Qian's duty room was still on.
Cao Rui smiled and shook his head. This scene seemed familiar. It seemed that when Cao Rui was in Luoyang, he came to Pei Qian's duty station one night, and the two chatted for a long time. If he had time today, it would be okay to go to Pei Qian's place to take a look.
Just like last time, when Cao Rui walked to the door of Pei Qian's duty room, Pei Qian had already stood up inside. Cao Rui pushed the door open, and after Pei Qian bowed, Cao Rui walked straight to his desk.
"What is Pei Qing busy with? I have a lot of things to do today, so I will sleep in the study. Pei Qing doesn't have to follow my schedule."
Pei Qian bowed slightly and said, "This matter is of great importance. I have things to do and cannot sleep well. Your Majesty asked me to work on the division of the Privy Council. I wanted to present it to Your Majesty tomorrow morning."
"Then I will listen to it tonight." Cao Rui sat on Pei Qian's chair and looked up at Pei Qian: "Then Pei Qing, please tell us about it." (End of this chapter)
