The army rested for five days, and a large amount of grain and grass had arrived in Xiangyang from Nanyang, and the potters were ready to march south and capture Jiangling in one go. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Jiangling was located in the Yangtze River valley, and the importance of the naval army was further reflected in the battle, so the potters summoned Wu Zixu and asked him about the strategy of capturing Jiangling.

In the account, the potter summoned Wu Zixu and said with a straightforward explanation, Wu Zixu immediately said: "The last general has expected that the king will take Jiangling, so he has come up with a set of strategies to capture Jiangling in the past few days, and today is just the king." ”

This Wu Zixu is indeed the strongest person in comprehensive data, not only proficient in water warfare, but also has a very high strategic vision, and has already thought of a strategy for himself in advance.

The potter nodded slightly, with a look of appreciation on his face, and said: "It turns out that Zixu has a good plan, come and listen to it." ”

Wu Zixu was in great spirits, and immediately compared it in front of the map and said his strategy.

Although Liu Biao was defeated and retreated to Jiangling, the remnants of his retreat, plus the original 10,000 soldiers and horses in Jiangling, could barely make up 30,000 soldiers and horses, in addition, Huang Zu's naval army stationed in Xiakou also had 20,000 people. The last general estimated that most of the generals would accept the proposal and persuade the king to go south along the Han River, destroy Huangzu first, and then go back to the west of the Jiangxi River, and seize Jiangling by land and water. ”

The potter nodded and said: "Yes, Jiangling is bordered by the Yangtze River in the south, if you don't annihilate the Huangzu naval army, how can you complete the encirclement of Jiangling." ”

Hearing the words of the pottery merchant, Wu Zixu smiled, pointed to Jiangling and said: "Although Jiangling City is also near the river, it is quite different from Xiangyang, this Huangzu is to be destroyed, and Xiakou is also to be taken, but the general thinks that the order is a little wrong." ”

The potter nodded to him and motioned for him to continue.

"Your Majesty, please look." Wu Zixu pointed to the top of the map again, "Xiangyang City is bordered by Hanshui in the north, and the king can capture Xiangyang, and it is only after the annihilation of Cai Mao's army that the army can cross the river and enter Xiangyang, but Jiangling City is different." ”

Wu Zixu's fingers moved back to Jiangling, "Jiangling is south of the Yangtze River, from Xiangyang to Jiangling in the south, all the way is smooth, and there is no water system to block it. ”

Hearing Wu Zixu's words, the potter fell into deep thought, and once again turned over those buried memories.

In the original history, when Cao Cao took Jingzhou in the south, it was from Xiangyang that he rode all the way south, and after Dangyang defeated Liu Bei, he took Jiangling directly.

At that time, Xiakou was still under Liu Qi's control, and Cao Cao did not have a single warship at all, but he still took Jiangling by land.

If Cao Cao can do this, why can't I?

The potter's train of thought gradually became clearer, his thoughts flew around, and he suddenly figured out why the generals suggested taking Xiakou first.

The reason is that the generals are not familiar with the terrain of Jingzhou, and they have a preconceived idea that Jiangling is located on the edge of the Yangtze River, and if they want to take Jiangling, they must seize the right to control water like Xiangyang, so that they can enter Jiangling.

If Gangneung Fortress is located on the south bank of the Yangtze River, it is naturally important to obtain the right to control water, but it is precisely because Gangneung is located on the north bank and the location is different, which determines that the right to control water is not the decisive factor in the capture of Gangneung.

"It is worthy of being a pioneer of the water army...... "The potter who suddenly became enlightened admired Wu Zixu even more, and thought that this general of the water war was really called right.

"Go on." The potter nodded affirmatively to Wu Zixu.

Wu Zixu said again: "So the last general thinks that although our army has destroyed Cai Mao's army, but the strength of Huang Zujiang's Xia army is far better than Cai Mao's, with my 5,000 water army to go to Huang Zu to fight, may not be able to win quickly, the king only needs to send the water army south along the Han River, threatening to capture Xiakou, in order to drag Huang Zu's 20,000 water army, dare not go to Jiangling to rescue, the king can lead the infantry army from Xiangyang to the south, arbitrarily besiege Jiangling, why worry about the city is not broken." ”

Wu Zixu's strategy has been clearly stated, that is, to feint Xiakou with a naval army, contain Huang Zu, and then besiege Jiangling with the main infantry army, turning the battle of Jiangling into a simple land battle.

The pottery merchant's thoughts were flying, and his heart had made up his mind, so he happily said: "Okay, according to Zixu's plan, this king will appoint you as the governor of the navy, lead 5,000 sailors to feint Xiakou, and nail Huang Zu's 20,000 soldiers and horses to Xiakou, Zixu, can you do it?" ”

Wu Zixu said proudly: "The king can rest assured, if Huang Zu sends a boat to save Jiangling, the last general is willing to be dealt with by military law." ”

Seeing Wu Zixu's self-confidence, the potter was even more worried, and couldn't help laughing wildly.

A few days later, the potters issued a royal order, and the whole army was exhausted to capture Gangneung.

According to Wu Zixu's proposal, the pottery merchant appointed him as the governor of the navy, led 5,000 sailors, more than 200 warships, and marched south along the Han River, killing Xiakou, threatening to capture Xiakou, and then the land and water army went up the river and took Jiangling directly.

In Xiangyang, the pottery merchants left the veteran Lian Po, the strategist Chen Deng guarded Xiangyang to appease the people, and the pottery merchants raised an army of 50,000 cavalry and led the civil and military elites to Jiangling by land.

The development of the war is just as Wu Zixu pushed away.

In order to avoid being attacked on both sides, Liu Biao strictly ordered Huang Zu to lead the army to hold on to Xiakou and block Wu Zixu's army from entering the Yangtze River.

The pottery merchant led a large army to drive south, and in a few days, the counties of Lianke Dangyang and Maicheng arrived at the city of Jiangling in less than five days.

Liu Biao also seemed to have been prepared for this, he knew that the land battle was not the opponent of the potters, so he withdrew all the 30,000 Chu troops into Jiangling City, trying to defend it with the high city wall.

Jiangling is the second largest city in Jingzhou, and Liu Biao has been running Jingzhou for more than ten years, and has already built Jiangling's city defense comparable to Xiangyang.

Moreover, Jiangling is the place where Jingzhou's materials are hoarded, and the grain and grass stored in the city are piled up like a mountain, which lasts for several years, and the ordnance and baggage are countless.

Liu Biao relied on the city's strong food and sufficient food to dare not abandon the city like Xiangyang, and was determined to defend Jiangling.

Moreover, Liu Biao has no other choice.

If he abandoned Jiangling again, he would have only two options, either retreat to Xiakou and join Huang Zu, or flee to the four counties of Jingnan.

As soon as Jiangling is lost, the army of potters can attack Xiakou from the south and the north, and Xiakou is bound to be unable to defend it.

As for the four counties of Jingnan, although the terrain is vast, they are all remote places, and Liu Biao's rule there is not stable, and escaping there can only delay the time of destruction.

Therefore, Liu Biao could no longer retreat, only with the determination to die and stick to Jiangling with all his might.

After the pottery merchants arrived at the front line of Jiangling, they did not immediately launch a strong attack on Jiangling City, but first divided their troops to capture Yiling upstream, in order to prevent Gou Jian from taking the opportunity to send troops from Shuzhong and come to Jingzhou to get a piece of the pie.

Then, the potters divided their troops to capture the periphery of Jiangling, Zhijiang and Yongxiang counties, and completely turned Jiangling into a lonely city on the north bank of the Yangtze River.

After completing the fixed-point elimination of the periphery, the potters divided the eastern, northern, and western camps into three large camps with a large army, forming an arc-shaped semi-encirclement of Gangneung City.

……

Gangneung Fortress.

In the dim lobby, Liu Biao, who was sitting on the top, had a gloomy face as iron as iron, his fists clenched, and he secretly gritted his teeth.

"Father, Huang Chengyan's old horseman, has been procrastinating and refusing to go on the road, Erchen had no choice but to use soldiers and horses to forcibly take away his Huang family, who wanted to be robbed by the cavalry led by the pottery thief in the middle of the road, Erchen was invincible, and he could only lose the Huang family and the Huang family to the pottery thief."

Liu Qi in front of the hall reported to Liu Biao angrily.

Liu Biao's eyes swelled with anger, you must know that the Huang family is one of the four major families in Jingzhou, if it falls into the hands of the potters, it will be wiped out by the potters, and he is afraid that he will submit to the potters and turn to support and support the potters, which will deal a heavy blow to his prestige.

"Huang Chengyan doesn't know how to lift things, this king has recruited him several times, and he refused, and now he refuses to go south, and this king sees that he has long had wolf ambitions and wants to defect to the pottery thief!" Liu Biao, who was furious, gritted his teeth and scolded.

Kuai Yue persuaded: "The king is angry, Huang Chengyan is also a member of my clan, he should be able to see that the pottery thief is the public enemy of my clan, so he won't want to take the initiative to join the pottery thief." ”

"If he doesn't have this heart, how can he drag on the road and refuse to go on the road, this king has proposed to his daughter for Qi'er several times, why did he refuse three times and twice?" Liu Biao shouted.

Kuai Yue's body was shocked, and he didn't dare to speak again for a while.

Liu Biao clenched his fists tightly, and said with hatred in his mouth: "Huang Chengyan, you must not let this king know that you have surrendered to the pottery thief, otherwise, this king will never let your Huang family go!" ”

Just as Liu Biao was gritting his teeth, the scouts rushed in and reported that the Wei army was gathering in the direction of Beicheng with the intention of launching an attack.

The atmosphere suddenly became tense, and Liu Biao, who was solemn and excited, was shocked by his old figure, and hurriedly put on his clothes and left the house, and went straight to the north gate of Jiangling.

Landing at the north gate, Liu Biao raised his eyes and swept it, only to see 50,000 Great Wei Infantry Cavalry solemnly arrayed, the banner covering the sky and the sun, the sword and halberd were like a forest, and the momentum was monstrous.

And the defenders of Chu at the head of the city, after experiencing successive defeats, are now attacked by the Wei army, and they are all terrified and frightened.

Liu Biao stood proudly with his sword, although he showed a calm and fearless posture, but his eyes flashed a little uneasy from time to time.

Seeing that Liu Biao seemed to be uneasy, Kuai Yue smiled and said with relief: "Jiangling City is not inferior to Xinye, our army has nearly 30,000 people, but the pottery thieves and horses are only 50,000, it is difficult to break through my Jiangling, and the king doesn't have to worry about it at all." ”

Kuai Yue's words and demeanor revealed confidence everywhere, as well as disdain for potters.

The chief strategist's relief made Liu Biao feel a little relieved, so he took out twelve points of calmness, arrogantly facing the vast Wei army outside the city, his eyes flashed with contempt and determination, and he said coldly: "Tao thief, Jiangling City is the second largest fortified city in my Great Chu, if you dare to attack the city, this king will tell you to break the halberd under the city this time, this king will do what he says!" ”

The king of Chu was so confident that the Chu soldiers and soldiers along the city were also infected by it, and their confidence recovered slightly.

Woo woo woo -

In front of the city, the horn of the attack sounded, and the Wei army began to change, and the attack seemed to be about to be launched.

Liu Biao's nerves immediately tensed, and he drew his sword and shouted: "The soldiers of Da Chu, for the sake of the right path in the world, will defend the city with this king!" ”

The high-pitched encouragement, the blood of the Chu army at the head of the city was boiling, and the shouts of killing rose like a tide, and the momentum was great for a while.

A hundred steps ago, the potter sat on a high horse, staring coldly at the head of Jiangling City, and when he heard the sudden shouts of the enemy troops at the head of the city, a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"Self-righteousness again and again, but failure again and again, Liu Biao, haven't you learned enough......"

After a sneer, the potter raised the war knife in his hand lightly and shouted, "Bombard this king to death." ”