Chapter 252: Huang Xu's Ambition

Not only are the defenders of Nanchang City looking forward to seeing reinforcements as soon as possible, but Huang Xu is also looking forward to the early arrival of reinforcements from Soochow. Liu Hou's task for Huang Xu was to attack Yuzhang and lure away part of the Eastern Wu naval army. The order did not require them to capture Yuzhang County or annihilate how many Eastern Wu naval forces. However, it is clear that Huang Xu is not satisfied with this, he has more ideas.

Since the Battle of White Emperor City, Huang Xu has grown up rapidly, and his whole person has become more confident. After Liu Feng was killed in the battle of White Emperor City, he became addicted to using tricks and setting up ambushes, and he always wanted to do another big one. So after Liu Hou sent him to Guiyang, he held his breath to train the troops day and night, gearing up to look forward to the day when he would have his own expression again.

Finally God forbid, this day has finally arrived, the little emperor ordered himself to send troops, how could Huang Xu miss this opportunity to show his ambitions. The little emperor's requirements are very low, he only needs to drag the Dongwu naval army for a while, but Huang Xu wants to do better, he wants to swallow the 50,000 Dongwu reinforcements, and if he still has the strength to spare, he wants to even defeat Yuzhang.

When the time comes, he will inevitably be able to "shock China" like Guan Gong. As the second generation of officials in Shu, Huang Xu grew up listening to the "Weishui History" of his elders since he was a child. Who in their generation doesn't want to be like their parents and make a big career?

Now that the achievement is in front of him, how can he let it go? This is the so-called newborn calf is not afraid of tigers, don't look at Huang Xu's young age, but he is very courageous, dare to think and dare to fight. Of course, he is not a reckless person, and the reason why he dares to think like this is also based on his strength.

He commanded 30,000 horses, and there was a brigade of firearms main combat troops, which was strong, and although the rest of the men and horses still used swords, guns, swords, and halberds as their main weapons, each of them was also issued with 3 thunderbolts, all of which could be converted into grenadiers if necessary.

With such a combat force, not to mention that the other party has 50,000 people, even if there are 100,000 horses, as long as the operation is done properly, it may not be impossible to keep them. Although it is said that even if he is facing the enemy head-on, the troops under his command are not afraid of the 50,000 Eastern Wu army, but Huang Xu is still keen on using tactics when he has superior combat power.

During the days when Huang Xu's army was waiting for rabbits under the city of Nanchang, Huang Xu, in addition to sending people to collect food everywhere, also sent a large number of scouts to reconnoiter the terrain everywhere, one was to reconnoiter the movement of the Eastern Wu reinforcements, and the other was to find a place to set up an ambush.

With the help of the "CIA's" fast information transmission network, Huang Xu quickly determined that the reinforcements from Soochow intended to come by water. From Jingzhou to Nanchang, the straight-line distance is not too far, about more than 1,000 miles, but if you take the land route, you have to pass through a large area occupied by the Shu army, and the river network is vertical and horizontal during the period, which is not conducive to rushing.

If they take the land route, it will take a month for the reinforcements of Eastern Wu to arrive in Nanchang at the earliest, and after a long journey, the soldiers must be exhausted, at this time not only can they not immediately enter the battle, but also have to be careful not to be attacked by the enemy. Because this is the time when they are most vulnerable, they must rest for some time before they can go to war. This is also why in ancient wars, generals liked to attack when the enemy had just arrived and had not yet gained a foothold.

Although it is much longer than the distance to walk by water, it may be faster in terms of time, because it is much faster to walk down the river than on two legs. Moreover, the soldiers can rest on the ship, and do not have to be exhausted by the exertion. In this way, the soldiers can fight as soon as they get off the ship, and they don't need to rest for a while before they can go into battle.

Of course, such a march can only be done by the Soochow naval army. If the Shu army or the Wei army are replaced, just collecting ships is not a task that can be completed in a year and a half. After all, to sail such a long distance, it is not just a few fishing boats that can meet the requirements. There are not as many big ships in this era as everyone thinks.

And the Soochow Navy has ready-made warships to use, and the issue of ships does not need to be considered at all. In addition, many people who have never been on a boat will be seasick, let alone take such a long boat ride, especially for the Wei army, which is an army with a large number of landlubbers in the north, it is estimated that a considerable proportion of soldiers will be seasick and not used to life on the ship.

In this way, although they do not have to travel day and night, they will suffer from seasickness, and when they reach their destination, they will be weak in their hands and feet, and they will not be able to fight even more than after a thousand miles of hard work. And the Soochow Navy has long been accustomed to living on the water, and such a voyage is just a pediatric for them.

The Soochow navy could follow the Yangtze River all the way east, all the way to the mouth of the Jiujiang River, and then enter Peng Lize (the ancient name of Poyang Lake) from the Yangtze River system. In Peng Lize all the way to the south, you will enter the Nanchang range, and then enter Yanghan (Ganjiang) from Poyang Lake, and you will soon reach Nanchang City.

However, there are many tributaries of the Yanghan River, and there can be many tributaries from Penglize into the Yanghan River and finally to Nanchang. Because there was no way to determine which waterway the Soochow naval army would take, in desperation, Huang Xu had no choice but to choose to ambush in Nanchang. In a few days, the tributaries converged in Nanchang, and no matter which road the Soochow naval army took, their final destination was also Nanchang City, so it would definitely not be wrong to set up an ambush close to their destination.

The only drawback of setting up an ambush near Nanchang City is that they are afraid that the defenders in the city will run out, and they should cooperate with the outside to ambush the Shu army. This is where Huang Xu needs to be particularly vigilant, and he obviously thought of this, and during this time he intensified his offensive against Nanchang City, with the aim of scaring them and making them dare not venture out of the city to take advantage of the fire.

After a month of construction, there are already 80 stone throwers of the Shu army, and they are now throwing stone balls and stones into the city day and night, beating the defenders of the city to the ground. In order to save troops, Huang Xu "recruited" a lot of local young people to help carry the "ammunition" of the stone throwing machine.

In fact, the operation of the catapult does not necessarily require soldiers to operate, and a lot of the work is to carry and make ammunition. The matter of aiming can be left to the craftsmen, and some craftsmen are also needed to maintain the equipment. In this way, the eighty stone throwing machines were kept running, except for a few craftsmen, basically these local young people, and a small number of soldiers who "maintained order". A large number of troops were freed up to carry out Huang Xu's plan.

The first wave of attacks planned by Huang Xu was on the water. His plan was to use mines to attack the ships of Soochow while they were sailing. After Liu Hou successfully attacked the Dongwu Water Army Barracks with mines for the first time, Huang Xu became interested in this thing.

As one of the core generals of the Shu army, Huang Xu's secrecy level is very high, and he has the right to know some things with a high secrecy level. The mine is a secret in the eyes of outsiders, a very mysterious thing, but there is no secret at all for Huang Xu, who knows a lot about that battle.

Later, he applied to Liu Hou for the use of mines, and Liu Hou generously sent two craftsmen who had participated in the making of mines to be sent by Huang Xu. As a result, Huang Xujun also has the ability to manufacture mines. For this operation, Huang Xu mobilized manpower and used these two craftsmen as technical guidance to create a large number of mines for backup.