In fact, it was Xun's two letters to Cao Cao, only one night apart, and they all took the same path, both of which were to go to Dengzhou by boat first, and then to Nanyang by land. The first one was just a letter, and the latter one was also attached to Chen Duan and Chen Zizheng, even if he ran all the way, Chen Duan's old life was half abolished, after all, it was no better than a professional messenger, and the result was nearly ten days later.

Chen Duan heard Shixun say that Zhou Yu was likely to have sent troops to Sun Quan, so he hurriedly came to meet Cao Cao. Originally, he still had doubts in his heart, thinking that Zhou Yu might not be so bold, and Sun Quan might not be able to be persuaded by him, so desperate, but when he arrived at Cao Ying and saw Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong, he knew that he was unfortunately said by Shi Xun. The three of them sat on pins and needles all day long, but Cao Cao refused to let go, nor did he inform them of the battle situation on the front line.

Cao Cao unfolded Shixun's second letter, first to intercede for Huang Jie—that was because Shixun happened to receive a distress letter from Huang Jie. But he didn't say in the letter how he had a good relationship with Huang Jie, nor did he mention what talent Huang Jie had, and it was a pity to kill him, but only said one sentence: "It's useless to kill, and it's harmless to stay." "Cao Cao, you are not a butcher, you don't take pleasure in killing, so what are you doing to kill a guy who is not beneficial? If it doesn't hurt to leave the guy, you can pinch your nose and keep it.

Cao Cao read the letter, and couldn't help but sigh, and said in his heart that Huang Jie had just seen through the conspiracy of the Jiangdong and Jiangxia joint forces, and made a great contribution, and he still reported to me in front of everyone, even if I wanted to kill him to intimidate Huang Zu now, I couldn't do it - it just happened to be Hongfu's face.

continued to look down, but couldn't help but frown slowly. Immediately sent Liu Fang to summon Xun You, Jia Xu and others to come. The display is a handwritten book. Then he asked them, "Is this a sale?" ”

Jia Wenhe spread his hands: "This is also a wonderful idea, but I don't know about water warfare, so I can't calculate it." Xun You said: "Wen Hongfu was in Liaodong before, and he transferred the sea boat to break the Gongsun Sailor, which must be enlightening, but I think of this." It may not be sold, but it is expected to be harmless. "I'm not sure I'm going to make it, but I fail. It shouldn't be much of a loss, so he can give it a try.

So what exactly did Jixun offer? It turned out that he had a big brain, and he planned to lead the naval army of Youzhou to the south along the coast to threaten Sun Quan's Wuhui heartland!

Let's say that since Xun replied to Cao Cao's first letter, he thought all night and couldn't sleep. So early the next morning, he summoned Guan Jing, Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Jin, Guo Huai, Shi Jun and others, and first reported the shape of the south, saying that I estimate that the Sun family has already sent troops to attack the back of the Wang Division. And it is likely to join forces with Liu Biao in Jingzhou, and the prime minister will go south this time. The outlook is not good.

It was Jun who said that the prime minister personally led more than 100,000 troops, and the Sun and Liu families died less than 80,000 people, even if they joined forces, we may not suffer. Zhuge Liang shook his head and said: "Zigao has never been in battle, and he doesn't know military strategy. The art of war cloud 'ten is to surround it, five to attack it, and to divide it if it is doubled', which is perfect. Now I only double the enemy, and the division can be broken, and if the enemy is combined, it will be difficult to calculate. The danger of the enemy controlling Jianghan is difficult to divide with the boat division, and if Jing Yang Guomeng, it is not easy to break it. ”

Yes Jun said what should I do? We are far away in Youzhou, even if we are worried about state affairs, we can't intervene and use our strength.

Shi Xun said that it may not be, but immediately unfolded the map, pointed and said to the ministers: "I want to ask the prime minister to lead the boat division south to scratch Wu Hui." Jing Yang, lips and teeth, so Jing Yang had to be saved; However, Wu will be Sun Quan's heart, if the heart is in danger, who counts the lips and teeth? "At that time, Sun Quan will definitely be forced to transfer troops back from the Western Front to consolidate the defense of the coastal areas.

Zhuge Jin expressed cautious concern, saying that the boat travels thousands of miles, the wind and waves are unpredictable, and it is inevitable that it is dangerous, and there is no precedent for attacking the enemy from the sea. Shi Xun smiled slightly: "I don't go deep into the ocean, but down the coast, that is, in the event of wind and waves, I can close the shore, or there will be no danger." In addition, attacking the enemy by sea is not unprecedented, and the former Wu Wangfu sent a boat division to attack Qi, but he was defeated. I'm not attacking Wu Ye today, scratching my ears, what's the risk? ”

Shi Xun Qianshi occasionally searched for online resources, and saw that the earliest naval battles in ancient China took place in the late Spring and Autumn Period, and Wu Wangfucha once went by sea to fight the Qi State, but the battle was lost, and the wolf returned. He was so shocked that he hurriedly went to the history books, and finally wrote it in the "Historical Records. In the corner of Wu Taibo's Family, a line of text that is easily overlooked was found: "Qi Bao's murder of Qi mourning duke." When the king of Wu heard this, he cried outside the military gate for three days, and attacked Qi from the sea. The Qi people defeated Wu, and the king of Wu led his troops back. ”

At that time, he laughed, and said in his heart that the historical materials can't be made up casually, just saying that the husband sent the sea route to fight the Qi country, where is it written that he had a naval battle with the Qi people? Can't it be a failure of the landing operation? The first battle of warship against warship on the sea - even if it is not far from the shore, and there is the help of the army - the first battle must be the Baicun River, how can there be any real naval battle before that?

Before the First Sino-Japanese War, did China have any famous naval battles? Baicunjiang can barely be counted once - that is basically a coastal battle - and then Yashan is counted once, Luliang who aided Korea to resist the Japanese is counted once, Zheng He's naval battle of breaking Su Ganra is counted once, and Shi Lang is counting Liu Guoxuan's Penghu naval battle once, and it really becomes a certain scale, so it's five times, right? At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, the attack on Japan and Zheng Chenggong's pacification of Taiwan were just landing battles in which troops were transported by sea ships, and in the early Ming Dynasty, there were a few battles against the Japanese, but the scale was not large, and even the name could not be retained.

Well, in the last years of the Ming Dynasty, the southeast coast was fighting for hegemony, and the pirates were killing each other, so it should be forgotten, but unfortunately there is too little relevant information left.

Why did the ancient Chinese pay so little attention to naval warfare? On the one hand, ninety percent of China's territory is on the mainland, and it has never attached importance to the development of coastal islands, and the Pacific Ocean is not as unpredictable as the Mediterranean, and it is not easy to go deeper, so the vast majority of naval battles are battles against pirates, or pirates fight each other, and the scale is neither small nor large. Zheng He did go on an ocean voyage, but unfortunately it was short-lived, and he was soon burned by the bigwigs of the DPRK and China who even burned the blueprints of the treasure ship.

There is another reason, that is, the field of vision is limited, and inertia dictates. There were four periods in ancient China when it was most capable of ocean navigation: first, Sun Wu, Sun Quan not only sent a fleet to discover the island of Taiwan, but also sent a ship to Liaodong to unite with Gongsun Du; Second, in the Southern Song Dynasty, the land was declining, and the treasury revenue had to rely on overseas trade, but it was a pity that the sea ships could not cooperate with the war on land, and they were finally forced to Yashan to be destroyed; the third is the Yuan Dynasty, which hurt its vitality by fighting Japan twice in a row, but was forced to the door of the house by the Japanese invaders; Fourth, in the early days of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang was still able to build a big boat to suppress the Japanese, and Zhu Di had Zheng He's treasure fleet, but unfortunately it could not be continued.

Because of the inertia of tradition, scholars only focused on the inland and did not care about the sea. That is, taking Sun Quan as an example, he was able to sail to Taiwan, and he was able to go back and forth to Liaodong, and he never thought of using the sea fleet to make a commotion and attack the coastal areas of Jiangbei. If the Wu army was like the Japanese in later generations, killing them from the sea and landing to harass them in three days, how much damage did you see to Cao Wei's economy?

But he is different, he does not have such land inertia, but is extremely longing for the sea, just to set a precedent - of course, not a precedent for naval warfare, it is estimated that Soochow does not have a sea fleet this time - to try to destroy the enemy's courage from the sea. From now on, let the Chinese know that the role of sea ships is not only to transport troops, but also to harass and attack.

Shi Xun immediately spoke with a lotus flower, and told everyone his thoughts, and the big guys were convinced. Only Guan Jing still shook his head and said: "In the southern affairs, Xun Gongda, Jia Wenhe and others are planning for the prime minister, what is the matter of the king?" "It's easy to attract hatred if you interject casually, let alone do it yourself?

Shi Xun looked at Guan Jing and continued to smile: "Shi Qi used to say that I was selfish, and Yun 'is selfless and selfless, but can slander', and now I am doing this, that is, selfless." ”

Guan Jing was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then thanked him.

In this way, the plan to send troops to Wu Hui was basically determined, and of course Cao Cao's consent must be obtained. So Shi Xun wrote a letter and handed it to Zhuge Jin, asking him to go on a long trip and escort Zhang Hong to Nanyang. As for Lu Yi, Shi Xun deliberately left the young man behind, so that he could take a boat to Jiangnan in the future, so that he could send Lu Yi to contact the local family surnamed Xian, thinking that he should respond.

Because at the meeting, Zhuge Liang once asked, "Sir, how are you going to make a fuss about Wu Hui?" We can't keep drifting on the sea, we have to dock, if we land on the shore and are attacked by enemy troops, it is difficult to board the ship, isn't it very dangerous? Shi Xun immediately replied: "There are four surnames of Wu who can be used as internal aid, and Chen Yuanlong is based on Guangling, so what is the risk?" "I want to use Guangling as my rear rest and material replenishment base, and then go deep into the coast of Wuhui, relying on the surname Wu Si as an internal response, and I'm afraid that I won't be able to find a suitable anchorage? Could it be that Sun Quan can guard the coast like an iron barrel in the short term?

At this time, the sailors of Youzhou had begun to take shape. After Shi Xun pacified Liaodong, he immediately ordered Liu Xu to go to Pingguo, copied several local maritime merchants, obtained more than ten sea ships, and the sea ships donated by Youzhou maritime merchants, the total number of sea ships was exactly twenty. Unlike the river fleet, this "navy" did not distinguish between building ships, ships, and fighting ships, and all of them were large ships—how far small boats could run on the sea—they could carry two or three hundred people, and excluding sailors, these twenty ships were full, at least four thousand soldiers.

The base of the fleet was located near the later Tianjin City, which was under the jurisdiction of Quanzhou County at this time, and Liu Xu was appointed as the commander of Quanzhou County, and also the captain of the harbor - not the commander of the navy, but the commander of the naval base. The real commander of the navy appointed the merchant-born Wei Xun with the title of "Bohai Sea Division" - as far as their vote had really fought naval battles, who else could they send if they didn't send him? (To be continued......)