Huan Xuan received Tao Kan's order and prepared to attack Fancheng. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoFancheng and Xiangyang are separated by a river, and they hold each other across the river, which is a big trouble for Xiangyang, if you don't drive away the Zhao army in Fancheng, Xiangyang City will never live in peace. (After the founding of the People's Republic of China, Xiangyang and Fancheng were merged into Xiangfan City)

Early one morning, Huan Wen took the initiative to ask for battle: "Uncle, I am willing to lead a thousand naval troops to attack Fancheng and catch him off guard." ”

Huan Xuan smiled and said: "The overall goal of this operation is Xinye, not only will we not attack the other party, but we will also pull the warship to the other side of the river and attack Fancheng with great fanfare. ”

Huan Wen was puzzled, and Huan Xuan explained: "The goal of our overall operation is to capture Xinye, and our army can contain the enemy more with great fanfare in Fancheng, and we can reduce the pressure on Jingzhou soldiers to attack Xinye." Whether it is us or Jingzhou soldiers, whoever wins the battle first can give the other party the greatest support. The Jingzhou soldiers captured Xinye first, and I am afraid that the enemy army in Fancheng will retreat without a fight. ”

The battleships slowly gathered on the southern shore of the Han River. A few days later, Huan Wen led 2,000 soldiers to swagger across the Han River. Tao Kan received the news that Huan Xuan had attacked Fancheng, and immediately ordered Tao Bin to lead the main force north to attack Xinye.

In the past 30 years, the Central Plains has experienced the Rebellion of the Eight Kings and the "Xiongnu Han" to destroy the Western Jin Dynasty twice. Behind there are the former Zhao lord of the Xiongnu Liu Yao and Shi Le to dominate the world, the core of its struggle is almost in the capital of the Western Jin Dynasty Luoyang, more than ten years of war made Luoyang belong to the Sizhou land population withered. Although Shile unified the north, the population of the whole country declined too quickly, and he moved the population to the Yecheng area, so that most of the famous families and populations of Later Zhao were concentrated in the east, while the population west of Luoyang was very small.

Later Zhao's defensive forces were also not strong, and the two sides had a sharp confrontation on the Huai River. Tao Bin led 20,000 troops to attack Xinye, and Huan Xuan attacked Fancheng, making Guo Jing, the assassin of Jingzhou in Later Zhao, difficult to take care of, and his troops were stretched. Before reinforcements could come, he had to reluctantly withdraw Fancheng's troops, determined to defend Xinye. Xinye is far away from the big rivers, which is conducive to infantry and cavalry combat, and Guo Jing still has some confidence in defending Xinye.

This is the first time that Tao Kanzheng has presided over the Northern Expedition, and he has done his best. The main force of Jingzhou went north by water, land and water, and soon surrounded Xinye.

Guo Jing urged reinforcements again. When Shi Le heard the urgent report, he was extremely angry, and immediately ordered the central army to help Guo Jing speed up the march and seek revenge for Xiangyang. I didn't want to, but I was stopped by Xu Guang, and said to Shi Le: "I am studying the battle against Jin day and night, Guo Jing is not a good strategy to provoke a war in Xiangyang, I have a better set of decisive battle plans here." ”

Shi Le became interested, Xu Guang pointed to Wuchang on the map and said: "When the Su Jun Rebellion occurred, our army took advantage of the situation to capture most of Yuzhou and forced the Eastern Jin Dynasty to move the Yuzhou administrative office south to Huanggang, the southernmost part of Yuzhou. This place is only a stone's throw away from Wuchang, the leader of the Yangtze River, and is separated by a river. If you want to fight a big war, it is better to take Huanggang directly, and then capture Wuchang, so that half of Jingzhou belongs to me. Our army trains sailors here, and in less than five years, it can go straight down the river and unify the world, which is a good strategy for the Jin family to destroy Wu. ”

Shile silently stared at the map, and although he was devout to the Buddha, he still maintained the keen sense of smell of a military strategist. Although Xiangyang is a strategic location, he is in the upper reaches of the Han River, and the capture of Xiangyang is only in a strategic sense to go down the Han River and capture Wuchang. Now that the front line in Yuzhou is within easy reach of Wuchang, there is no need to go near and far to attack Xiangyang in the west. Compared with the Zhao army, after the capture of Huanggang, Wuchang City has been opened, and Xiangyang City has temporarily lost its primary strategic position.

After looking at it for a long time, Shi Le said: "It should be easy to capture Huanggang from southern Henan. However, if we want to capture Wuchang on the other side of the river, it will be difficult for our northern infantry to do so. Cao Cao's 200,000 troops attacked Wuchang, but they were humiliated by Chibi. ”

"If Taiwei Shi Hu leads 50,000 iron horses, Huanggang will be at your fingertips." Xu Guang continued: "If Shi Hu manages Jiangbei as carefully as Yanghu, he can take Wuchang in less than five years." ”

So Shi Le made up his mind and sent Shi Hu to lead an army of 50,000 to Huanggang on the same day, advancing at full speed, and even the reinforcements sent to support Guo Jing also changed their way to march to Huanggang.

After the death of Liu Cong, the "Xiongnu Han" emperor, and Liu Kun, the northern warlord of the Jin court, in 317 AD, Shile's pressure on the Central Plains was greatly reduced, and he began to focus on the construction of base areas in Xingtai and Anyang, and almost no longer conquered in person. His son was very young, and his cousin Shi Hu fought bravely, conquered the northern expedition for Later Zhao, and won the military authority of Later Zhao.

On the way to Huanggang, Shi Le ordered Shi Hu to quickly advance to Huanggang. But Shi Hu, who has always fought bravely and unambiguously where to fight, this march was grinding.

He suspected that there was a conspiracy in this military operation. Before leaving, Shi Le confessed that he not only had to take Huanggang, but also patiently looked for opportunities to capture Wuchang. If you don't go to occupy Xiangfan upstream, wouldn't it be a pipe dream to capture Wuchang. If the Jin army loses Huanggang in the north of the Yangtze River, the sailors will inevitably swim over to defend Wuchang in the south of the Yangtze River. At that time, even if the Jin army did not come to destroy his dock, he would not be able to build enough warships for two years, and Shi Hu decided that such a clumsy plan must be Xu Guang's bad work:

If you lose, you will be punished immediately, and even if you win, you will be trapped and die in Huanggang. will be outside, Xu Guang will be easier to find his own fault.

The march was slow along the way, and seeing Shi Hu's unhappiness, Kui An and Guo Xie were very puzzled by Shi Hu's abnormal behavior as deputy marshals, and asked why he didn't march quickly.

Both of them are members of the Eighteen Cavalry, veteran generals, and Shi Hu had to explain carefully. Shi Hu said with a smile: "I am not satisfied with the two of you, I still have no confidence in my heart to fight against the Southern Dynasty." ”

Shi Hu said: "The southern army is very timid, every time the infantry and cavalry march by the river, water and land together, so that the naval army can protect the infantry, once it meets the enemy, it will fight against the water, and there are naval troops behind the boat to release arrows, or put strong crossbows, can strongly support the waterside infantry cavalry, so that it is difficult for our army to eat its infantry in one bite." In case it can't be resisted, it can also rely on the navy to pull the infantry across the river. The two old brothers forgot the loss we suffered twenty years ago? ”

After the Yongjia Rebellion, in 312 AD, in view of the fact that the north was in the sanitation of the Xiongnu Liu Cong, the Jin warlords Liu Kun and Wang Jun, Shi Le did not want to return to the north, but wanted to be the second Sun Quan in the southeast, and to be a partial son of heaven. As a result, Shile's 70,000 or 80,000 people were blocked by Ji Zhan's thousands of sailors, soaked in the continuous rain for two months, and finally ran back to the north in disgrace.

Kui An and Guo Xie were unimpressed by Shi Hu's reluctance to fight the Southern Dynasties.

Kui An said: "Twenty years ago, we lost not to their army, but to the sad weather. It rained for two months in a row, and we soaked in the water for 60 days. Besides, twenty years ago, we were just hungry people looking for food everywhere. Now our troops have experienced a hundred battles, and they will be successful in attacking and winning! ”

Shi Hu was annoyed in his heart, and secretly scolded himself: "Twenty years ago, they were all watching plays on the shore. But he fooled Lao Tzu to get on the boat and fight with the Southern Army. If it weren't for Lao Tzu's great life, otherwise he would not be twenty years old, and he would have fed Wang Ba. ”

Shi Hu was unhappy in his heart, but he didn't show it, thinking: "Don't be crazy, let your old boy take the front and fight to cross the Yangtze River when the time comes." ”

Thinking of this, Shi Hu seemed to see Kui'an falling into the river. He was amused by his own thoughts, and said with a smile: "The two elder brothers are our Guan Yunchang and Zhang Yide, with you here, it is natural to succeed immediately." ”

"I haven't fought for a few years, and my hands are itching," Guo Yin interjected.

Kui An said: "The entire north has been pacified for five years, and now the ruling power of the DPRK is all those civil ministers, who usually serve as staff officers in front of the king of heaven and command indiscriminately, but in fact, in the end, the country is not defeated by our orders." However, the ministers and ministers led by Cheng Yao and Xu Guang control the power of the imperial court, and our old army leaders are now all standing aside. Last year, I approached Xu Guang and hoped that he would promote my son to Taishou, but not only did he disagree, but he also ridiculed the old man in a weird way. ”

Guo Yin said beside him: "Brother Kui is the pillar of the country, but his nephew has not been promoted." I'm worse than you, my family includes thousands of family members and tribes, and my little money is used for it, and it's overstretched. During the New Year's festivals, the slaves could not even afford to put on new clothes. ”

After Shile pacified the north, civilian officials and base camp staff officers were reused, and the traditional military generals began to stand aside, and the generals complained greatly.

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After the death of Shile's chief strategist Zhang Bin, Xu Guang was in charge of the military planning and management of the base camp. When he received the report, Shi Hu marched slowly. took the letter to the auxiliary minister Cheng Yao, let Cheng Yao read the letter, and said to Cheng Yao: "We just happened to participate in his copy." ”

Cheng Yao got the military report and quickly entered the palace to meet Shi Le. Entering the inner room, Cheng Yao knelt down and said, "Shi Hu violated the military order and marched slowly, so he should be beheaded." ”

Shi Le was also puzzled when he heard it at first, and said: "Back then, I sent Shi Hu into the pass to attack the powerful Liu Yao, and Shi Hu didn't blink, Shi Hu can fight well, and he can rank first in my dynasty." ”

Shi Le put down the Buddha beads in his hand, took the military newspaper and read it twice, meditated for a while, and then said with a smile: "Shi Hu was bitten by a snake for three years and was afraid of the well rope, you still remember that twenty years ago, when we attacked Huainan, Shi Hu, who was not yet twenty years old, led the sailor to fight a decisive battle with the Jin family, but fell into the river and almost fed the big fish. I want to fight Jiangnan He has no confidence, which is not surprising, in fact, I don't have confidence either, otherwise I would have drunk Ma Yangtze River in the past five years. ”

Shi Le is old, Cheng Yao saw that Shi Le actually took such a military aircraft event as a joke, so he made a heart, and continued: "In the past ten years, Shi Hu has been the main commander of the marching and fighting, and now even the surviving eighteen cavalry generals are subject to his command, I am afraid that one day the prince will not be able to subdue him." ”

Shi Le picked up the Buddha beads again, counted the rosaries in his hand and said: "I have been thinking about this question for a long time, the prince is only nineteen years old this year, and I have only been in the country for five years to achieve real peace. You haven't fought with Tao Kan, you have always fought with Guo Mo. Tao Kan can level Guo Mo without a single shot or soldier, and his skills are profound. This old guy has been preparing for the Northern Expedition, and you don't know it. ”

Guo Mo has been on the south bank of the Yellow River for more than ten years, and Shi Le has not been able to catch him for a long time. Even Cheng Yao himself has suffered losses. Cheng Yao was unconvinced by Tao Kan in his heart, but he didn't dare to say it again.

Shi Le said: "Outside the Great Wall, Murong Xianbei and Duan's Xianbei are strong, and now they are superficially subservient, but in fact they are a big trouble for our China and the DPRK, and I think they are more dangerous than the Southern Dynasty." Shi Hu once personally captured Duan Mobo, the leader of the Duan clan, and shocked the Duan clan. Back then, I not only released Duan Mobo, but also ordered him and Shi Hu to become brothers of the opposite sex, with Shi Hu here, the powerful Duan clan would not dare to invade the Central Plains, and the Murong clan behind the Duan clan could only honestly claim to be a minister. Now that there are strong enemies in the north and south, it is not the time to kill heroes. ”

Shi Le stood up and walked to Cheng Yao's side, helped him up, and said: "You are the prince's uncle, of course I believe in you more, if I am not there, you will preside over the overall situation, and Shi Hu will be the outside." ”

Before Shi Le finished speaking, he suddenly spurted out a mouthful of blood and almost fell, Cheng Yao hurriedly held him up, called the guards, and the palace was in chaos.

Shi Hu had already controlled the army, and the news of Shi Le's serious illness soon reached his ears.

Shi Hu handed over the military power to Kui'an and ordered him to stand by. Prepare to return to the capital Xiangdu (later Zhao capital city Xingtai). Guo Yin worried: "Stay put, in case Guo Jing loses Xinye, we can't afford to be responsible." ”

Shi Hu hurriedly said: "I'd rather lose Xinye than lose Xiangguo." ”

"Without the emperor's order, it is a capital crime for you to return to Beijing without permission." Guo Yin said again.

"If you don't go back, you won't see a way out." Shi Hu has made up his mind. Shi Hu didn't care whether he disobeyed the king's order, left a large army, and only led more than 20 horsemen to quickly return to the capital Xiangguo.

Shi Hu failed to attack Huanggang, and the reinforcements of the Zhao army to Xinye also moved closer to Shi Hu's remaining troops, and Guo Jing could no longer hold Xinye City, so he retreated to Nanyang in desperation. Huan Xuan was stationed in Fancheng, and the entire Xiangfan area was under Huan Xuan's control.