If you want to cut down Xiapi, starting from Xuyi, you need to take a boat to Huaiyin, and then go up against Surabaya, through Ling County to Xiapi.

Xiapi City is adjacent to Surabaya and Yishui in the south, and Suishui is adjacent to it, so it has the advantage of water transportation. In times of peace, businessmen gather, fertile fields for thousands of miles, and agricultural merchants flourish. Therefore, since the Qin and Han dynasties, Xiapi has been an important town in the eastern part of the Central Plains.

When Chen Deng welcomed Liu Bei into Xuzhou, he said that they could ride 100,000 steps in Xuzhou to help Liu Bei compete for world domination. Although there is water in it, it can be seen that the richness of Xiapi is abundant.

However, since the end of the Han Dynasty, due to Cao Cao's massacre, flooding and other series of operations, the people have been displaced and the Xiapi has withered. Gai Zangba is the assassin of Xuzhou, but he has no name and power, which also leads to a group of bandits and bandits, hiding between the mountains and rivers.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were four or five counties in the Surabaya Basin, but now there is only one county in Ling County. The people of Ranling County were also moved into the city by officials because of Zang Ba's policy of clearing the wilderness.

In mid-to-late March, Huo Jun led 20,000 soldiers to drive the boat upstream, hundreds of miles by water, and the army marched to Xiapi for five days.

Xuzhou, Xiapi City.

On the city wall, both the sergeants and the people, under the supervision of the generals, carried the equipment to the warehouse on the city tower. There are all kinds of castle defense equipment such as bows, crossbows, rolling stones, and wood, and the reserves are amazing. Obviously, under the governance of Zang Ba, Xiapi City was quite well prepared to defend the city.

Behind the female wall, Zang Ba put on armor and stroked his sword, looking out of the city, with a solemn expression.

He fought with Huo Jun several times and lost repeatedly. In the past ten years, from the south to Jianghuai, Huo Jun counterattacked to Xiapi, which is really embarrassing.

Sun Guan was puzzled, and said: "Huo Jun has only 20,000 or 30,000 soldiers, and I have tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians. Now that Huo Jun is going north, can An break me? And the king is stationed in Huaixi, hearing that I am in danger, I will send troops and horses to rescue, Huo Jun will be a retreat, so the army will be in vain! ”

Zang Ba's face remained unchanged and said: "The king and Liu Bei confronted Yu Shouchun, and Huo Jun was mostly partial to Huaidong. Now Huo Jun is going north, or he has the intention of taking advantage of the emptiness of Qingxu to raise troops and make chaos. ”

"Report!"

The scout carried the command flag, ran to Zang Ba quickly, and said: "General Qiqi, Huo Jun led the army to disembark, and now camped on the bank of Surabaya, and his soldiers and horses are numerous. ”

Zang Ba's face was slightly straight, and he said, "How many people should there be, can you find out?" ”

The scout said: "The number of Guan Huo Jun's banners and boats is no less than 20,000, and there are many people wearing armor, and there is the banner of the 'Gang Army' in his banner, which should be the elite of water thieves. ”

"More than 20,000 people?"

Sun Guan's expression moved slightly, and he said: "Huo Junxing has more than 20,000 soldiers to the north, and there are more than 10,000 soldiers and horses in our army. Now why not take advantage of the enemy's instability to send an elite attack on the water thieves to relieve the siege of Pi. ”

Sun Guan and Zang Ba were friends in their early years, and they were also known as Baby. In the early days of Tao Qian's reign, Sun Guan and the generals of Mount Tai conquered the Yellow Turban, took the lead, fought bravely, and made many contributions. Cao Cao broke Lu Bu, Sun Guan and Zang Ba surrendered to Cao Cao's account, and Sun Guan was named Beihai Xiang.

When Liu Bei raised troops in Jiangzuo, Sun Guan accompanied the army on many southern expeditions, and few of them won. As Liu Bei's threat became bigger and bigger, and the sergeants under the tent were also damaged, Sun Guan was promoted by Cao Cao, moved to General Zhenwu, and turned into the Taishou of the East China Sea.

"Don't be a baby!"

Zang Ba shook his head and said, "Although the strength of our army is slightly weaker than Huo Jun, the army is brave and easy to fight, and I am afraid that there is a risk of defeat. In the view of hegemony, it is enough to stick to the city, Huo Jun marched thousands of miles away, and it was difficult for the grain and grass to be used for a long time. ”

The supply line between Huo Jun and Liu Bei was not based on the place from which the army departed to the front line, but from the grain storage area to the front line. For example, although Huo Jun set out from Xuyi, it does not mean that the supply is from Xuyi to the front line. Huo Jun's grain and grass will be transported from Jiangzuo across the ditch to Huaiyin, and then from Huaiyin to the north against Surabaya to the front line.

At this time, Huo Jun has two months' worth of military rations in his hands, and if the grain and grass cannot be transported after a month and a half, Huo Jun will probably lead the army to retreat to Huaiyin.

Sun Guan frowned and said, "In the Battle of Hefei, Huo Jun built a dam to intercept the fertilizer water to flood the city. Now that Picheng is close to Surabaya, the rainy season is approaching, if Huo Jun follows the old policy of the king and floods Pi with Surabaya, our army will be able to stay there? ”

"Divert Surabaya to irrigate Pi?"

Zang Ba looked solemn and said: "If Huo Jun follows the old strategy of the king, our army can only take advantage of the time when he digs the river weir to send the elite out of the city to fight!" ”

Sun Guan pondered a little and said: "It is not the best policy to go out of the city for a decisive battle and destroy the river weir." If Huo Jun had the intention of making a decision, Xuan Gao ordered the soldiers to go out of the city to ask for help, and let the king send troops east to rescue. echoing from the time, Huo Jun must be afraid and did not dare to fight lightly, so he led the army to retreat. ”

Zang Ba was also unambiguous, and agreed and said: "First inform the king of the military situation, and say that Huo Junxing will go north." If Huo Jun wanted to build a dam and lead Surabaya to break the city, he would send another letter to the king asking for help. ”

"Good!"

Needless to say, Zang Ba and Sun Guan discussed the strategy of defending against the enemy, and Huo Jun, who had just arrived in Xiapi, led the generals to inspect the topography of the mountains and rivers.

Xiapi is not a special fortress, but a city built by a large population and a critical geographical location. Therefore, like most cities, he was located by the river, that is, at the mouth of the river where Yishui and Surabaya meet, so that the people in the city could obtain fresh water resources.

Success is also Surabaya, defeat is also Surabaya. More than 1,000 years later, during the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty, the Tancheng earthquake caused Xiapi to be flooded by Surabaya, and the thousand-year-old city was destroyed.

Huo Jun rode his horse around Xiapicheng, accompanied by Jiang Ji, Gao Xiang, Ding Feng, Huo Fan and others.

Holding the reins, Huo Jun said: "Our army was ordered by the king to go north and up, thinking that it was a feint. How to use troops today, can Cao Cao think that he is in a hurry, and divide his troops to look east? ”

Jiang Ji pondered for a while and said: "Dudu, there is Surabaya in Xiapi Zhou, you can follow Cao Cao's old strategy and lead Surabaya to irrigate it." A large embankment was built to suspect the enemy, and the enemy was in a hurry to ask for help, when Cao Cao would divide his troops to the east. In this way, the king's life can be accomplished! ”

"What Zitong said is the same as what Jun thinks." Huo Jun said: "Building an embankment to store water will definitely surprise Cao Cao'er!" ”

"Governor, Jianghuai is sparsely populated, why don't you let the cavalry disperse and search for the people of Xiapi to move to Huaidong." Gao Xiang suggested.

Huo Jun shook his head and said, "Zang Ba is strong and clear, and it is expected that there are not many people in Pi. If you want to move the people south, you may only go deep into Suishui. However, Suishui is far from Xiapi, and if the cavalry disperses, Zang Ba leads the elite to fight, I am afraid that it will be unfavorable to the army. ”

The young cavalry in the south was at a disadvantage in the battle of the army, and sometimes even if they defeated the Wei army, it was difficult to form a big result due to the lack of cavalry. It would not be wise to let the horsemen go out and move the people at this time.

After hesitating for a while, Huo Jun said: "The scouts of the Gongli faction went deep into Suishui to investigate, understand the cities of Suishui, and see if they could find an opportunity to break the city and move the people to Jianghuai." ”

"No!"

As a tributary of Surabaya, Suishui is located downstream of Xiapi. Compared with the Surabaya Basin, which has been tossed several times, the county seat of the Suishui Basin is relatively intact, such as Suiling (Suining), Xiaxiang (now Suqian), and the three counties of Taking.

Although the specific number of people in these three counties is unknown, it seems that there are at least thousands of households based on the information explored by Huo Jun. If the people of the three counties can be moved south, they can also enrich the household registration in Huaidong.

Huo Fan asked in the crowd: "Governor, if Cao Cao sends reinforcements to the east, how should our army deal with it?" ”

Huo Jun glanced at Huo Fan and said with a smile: "Does Shi Zai have any opinions?" ”

Huo Fan served as the captain of Tuntian, and for many years in Tuntian, Hefei, he implemented the rice-wheat rotation system, and all of them achieved a bumper harvest. In the area of hundreds of miles south of Hefei to the Yangtze River, there are gradually people under Huo Fan's diligent tuntian.

Jiang Ji, as the Taishou of Jiujiang, obtained the policy of not collecting taxes for three years from Liu Bei, and under Jiang Ji's governance, hundreds of families fled south to Jiangnan and returned to Quanjiao and Liyang counties. At present, Jiujiang County not only has Hefei, but under the operation of Jiang Ji for several years, the two counties of Quanjiao and Liyang have been reset.

Of course, if you want to delve into the population data of the three counties of Jiujiang, Lujiang, and Guangling in Liu Bei's hands, it can only be said that excluding the army, there are less than 100,000 people.

Seeing his father's question, Huo Fan was not humble and said: "Governor Qiqi, our army is going north to Surabaya, and there is a risk of going deep alone. If Cao Cao ordered the soldiers to march towards the troops, attack from the east and west, and echo Zang Ba's appearance, our army would be in danger. Fan thought that when the scouts were sent to the east and west, they would not be caught off guard by the surprise attack of the enemy. ”

"Good!"

Huo Jun nodded his head in appreciation, and said: "What Shi Zai said is a steady move, let the scouts be deployed in all directions, hundreds of miles deep, ride a good horse, report a day, and not be taken advantage of by the enemy." ”

The most dangerous thing about going deep into the enemy's territory is that the direction of the enemy is unknown, and the scouts are widely distributed, so that even if the enemy suddenly arrives, your own army can advance and retreat in a certain way, so as not to be at a loss.

(End of chapter)