Before the rise of Liaodong, that is, in the early years of Jianxing, the confrontation between Hu and Han mainly occurred in the Yellow River Valley, in which the Youji Siqing and the five states must fight for the place. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoSeven or eight years later, especially after the fall of Liaodong and the strong rise of Han and Zhao, the three continents of Siyou became the jurisdiction of Liaodong.

Now the focus of the Hu-Han confrontation began to shift southward, gradually concentrating on the Huai River line. From west to east, there are four important towns along the Huai River line on the left side of the river, namely Shouchun, Zhongli, Xuyi, and Huaiyin, with Xi Jian, Liu Yin, Wang Shu, and Dai Yuan as the guards.

As long as these important towns are kept, Huainan and Jiangnan can ensure peace of mind, and if Shi Le competes for these four towns, he can sweep Huainan and threaten the Yangtze River, making it difficult for the Jianye court to be stable.

After capturing the northern part of Xuzhou, Shi Le concentrated his forces to attack Shouchun in July of the second year of Taixing, and waved his troops to attack the city day and night. However, Shouchun City was high and thick, coupled with Xi Jian's proper command, and the help of the sailors, Shi Le lost his troops again and again.

In desperation, he had no choice but to ask Zhang Bin for advice.

"Zu Ti, this nail has been pulled out, swept away the Jin army north of the Huai River, I thought I could take advantage of the situation to go down to Huainan, but I didn't expect Shouchun to be unable to attack for a long time. Seeing that the weather is getting hotter, the rainy season is coming, and the Huai River is famous for its flooding and impermanence, in case the Jin army comes to a flooding plan, the entire army is in danger of being destroyed, I wonder if Meng Sun has a clever plan in his heart to help me solve the dilemma in front of me? ”

Zhang Bin pondered for a while and said: "Shouchun guard general Xi Jian, who is well versed in the art of war, is a general who is both offensive and defensive, so that our army has exhausted all kinds of siege methods before, but none of them have worked. According to the news that the ministers received from the captives and the local people, Xi Jian was loyal to Sima Rui. Since the town of Hefei and Shouchun, it has been actively preparing for war, always guarding against our army to take Huainan! ”

"Especially since the death of Zu Ti in battle, Xi Jian began to collect materials and food for defending the city early, and was ready to defend Shouchun. At present, there is at least one year's worth of food in Shouchun City. If our army continues to attack, it will definitely be pinned down under Shouchun City. After a long absence, the veteran soldiers of the division will inevitably be tired, and if they are accidentally attacked by the Jiangdong Navy Division again, I am afraid that it will ......"

After hearing this, Shi Le was even more worried, "According to what Meng Sun said, shouldn't this attack on Huainan be in vain?" ”

Unexpectedly, Zhang Bin shook his head and gave different suggestions, "No, no, no, the minister did not persuade the lord to retreat, but Bin thought that the army had traveled thousands of miles to Huainan, and if it returned after a hard battle, it would definitely frustrate the morale of the army." Once morale is sluggish, it will be difficult to compete for supremacy on the battlefield in the future. Therefore, the minister thought that this time it was necessary to take Huainan and expand the strategic room for maneuver of the army before he could return to the court. ”

Zhang Bin's deafening words hit the deepest worries in Shi Le's heart. Since the rise of Liaodong and the war against Hulu, almost every battle has been won without defeat, the powerful Liaodong army has brought great pressure to the people of Xiangguo. And the best way to alleviate the pressure of everyone is to be invincible like Liaodong.

"Does Meng Sun have a good way to win?"

Zhang Bin said confidently: "In my humble opinion, if Shouchun can't attack, there is no need to attack hard, and we must change our strategy." ”

Shi Le's eyes lit up, "What is Mengsun's opinion?" ”

"In order to prevent the army from being trapped under the fortified city of Shouchun for a long time, it is necessary to attack the east and open up a new battlefield."

"Open up a new battlefield? Where? ”

"My lord, there are four important towns in the entire Huainan line, in addition to Shouchun, there are still three cities of Xuyi, Zhongli and Huaiyin. Among them, there are Jiangdong naval divisions in Xuyi and Huaiyin, and there are Hongze as natural dangers, and the officers and men of our army were born in the north, and they are good at land warfare but not water warfare, and at the same time lack warships, so it is quite difficult to break through the Huai River from the eastern front. ”

On the contrary, Zhongli, located in the middle reaches of the Huai River, does not have a big lake as a natural danger, and the guard Liu Yin is just a horse's ear. Although he was born in a family and has a reputation, since he was appointed as General Pingnan to garrison Zhongli, he has become more and more arrogant in his high official position, indulging in alcohol and fun every day, not asking about political affairs, only knowing how to make a lot of money. ”

"The lord only needs to surround Shouchun and not take it, secretly send a member of the general, surprise the army day and night, and sneak attack Zhongli. As long as Zhongli is broken, the door of Huainan will be opened, and the army can directly take Hefei, so that the entire Huainan County will be at your fingertips. And Jiangzuo's carefully laid Huainan defense line also lost its effect, and the army could drive straight into the land that swept Huainan. ”

"Even the three fortified cities of Shouchun, Xuyi, and Huaiyin will surrender without a fight."

Shi Le was overjoyed when he heard this, and praised again and again: "Mengsun Gao, if this battle can successfully capture Huainan, Erdang should be the first." ”

At that moment, Shi Le immediately summoned all the generals to arrange a sneak attack on Zhongli, and he ordered his nephew Shi Hu to lead 20,000 troops to carry out a sneak attack.

A few days later, when he came to Zhongli City, Shi Hu raised his eyes and found that the city was precipitous and not less than Shouchun, but fortunately, the guard Liu Yin was indeed as Zhang Bin expected, and he drank well, so that he seized the opportunity to concentrate his forces and break through the city gate in one fell swoop.

After taking Zhongli, Shi Hu reported to Shi Le while going south to take Hefei.

The defenders of Hefei were caught off guard and were broken by Shile, and as a result, the entire Huainan defense line of Hefei was declared a failure.

In order to avoid being trapped in a lonely city, Shouchun Xijian retreated southwest to Lujiang County with the assistance of the sailor. Huaiyin Dai Yuan immediately went south to Hailing City and held the last stronghold in Jiangbei, while Wang Shu directly took the naval warship all the way south to cross the river and return to Jiangdong.

And after Shi Le learned that his nephew Shi Hu had captured Zhongli and annihilated tens of thousands of enemies, he was overjoyed and immediately divided his troops to attack Huainan!

Jiangbei and Huainan were lost, and the entire Jianye was shaken, and the court actually ended the endless internal friction and agreed to work together to protect the Yangtze River. In order to prevent Hu Lu from taking advantage of the situation to threaten the capital Jianye, Sima Rui ordered to strengthen the defense of Liyang.

Liyang when the Yangtze River and land rush, the left Yangtze River, the right control of Zhaoguan, Liangshan Zhi its east, Haochu ring its north, for the "Huainan Domain", "Jiangbiao" of the guarantee, since ancient times, for the soldiers must fight for the place.

Whoever comes from Huaixi will cross the river and enter the Jingling.

The south is slightly northern, and the river is also crossed by quarrying to the west. The north and south are in trouble, and Liyang is the key to it.

Originally, Shi Le also wanted to take the opportunity to capture Liyang, but was dissuaded by Zhang Bin.

Zhang Bin said unceremoniously: "Xiangguo's attack on Huainan is just to expand the strategic maneuver space, so that it is convenient to compete with Liaodong in the future, not to form a mortal enmity with Jiangdong!" In the absence of a naval division in Xiangguo, it is impossible for the army to fly across the Yangtze River to seize Jiangdong, so Liyang is insignificant to us. On the contrary, in order to ensure the safety of Jianye, Jiang Zuo swore to ensure Liyang. ”

"If Liyang is given to Jiangdong, it will make Jiangdong breathe a sigh of relief. Then the lord took the opportunity to send envoys south to Jianye to try to reach an understanding with Jiang Zuo. ”

"Ahh Settle with Jiang Zuo? Is this possible? Shi Le couldn't help but doubt Zhang Bin's judgment.

"There must be a glimmer of hope in everything to strive for, the Jiangzuo court is more conservative and enterprising, and most people only know how to stick to one acre and three points of land in Jiangzuo, and there is no ambition to restore the Central Plains. If the lord proposes to take the Yangtze River as the boundary to ensure that the army does not invade Jiangnan, Jiang Zuo will definitely raise his hand to welcome this. ”

Speaking of this, the corners of Zhang Bin's mouth showed a look of mockery and continued: "What's more, Jiang Zuo wants Xiangguo and Liaodong to lose both, our envoy might as well reveal one or two to Jiang Zuo, as long as the two sides reach a settlement, Xiangguo will soon go north to compete with Liaodong!" ”

As Zhang Bin expected, Jiang Zuo was panicked by Hu Lu's invasion of Huainan, and when Shi Le's envoy entered Jianye to express his intentions, the court immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

With the facilitation of all parties, Jiang Zuo and Xiangguo quickly reached a sense of reconciliation.

Sima Rui is willing to coexist peacefully with Shi Le, and he is just sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight, and with Jiang Zuo's strength, he has no chance of winning against Xiangguo or Liaodong. The only hope is for Xiangguo and Shile to fight and lose, and then Jiang Zuo will take the opportunity to hold high the banner of the Northern Expedition and sweep the country in one fell swoop.

Knowing that Jiang Zuo intended to reconcile, Shi Le happily accepted Jiang Zuo's kindness, and he stayed in Kui'an to guard Huainan, and then personally led the main force north to return to Xiangguo.

At this point, the battle for Huainan came to an end, and the focus of the world's attention returned to Liaodong again.

In August, the remains of Zu Ti were finally successfully transported to Jicheng, and Da Sima Weishuo, Liu Kun, Pei Wei and other Liaodong went up and down the city for 20 miles to greet the remains of Zu Ti in person.

Wei Shuo took the opportunity to announce in public that he would hold a state funeral for Zu Ti in Jicheng, and listed him as a national hero and was commemorated by the people at four o'clock. (To be continued.) )