The Grandmaster Strategist

At the beginning, Can tame the jingqi in Shu, and the secret was not known to the public. Cui and Dongbu of the Yong army jointly attacked Shouchun. At noon, Nan Chu's elite cavalry protruded and defeated Yong's army below the city. Yong's army cut off Dong Shan's troops, and Cui Jue's troops broke through and fled, but lost 40 to 50 percent of their troops.

Dong Shan, a native of Tianshui, Longxi Province, had no parents at a young age. He was fond of fighting and was hated by his relatives, so he joined the army. At first, he was a general of the King of Qi. In the fifth year of his prosperity, he was transferred to Xuzhou and became a general of Pei Yun, the governor of Huainan. In the seventh year of his prosperity, In the year of 1949, he was ordered to enter Huaixi, capture Zhongli, and attack Shouchun. Shouchun was defeated. After Dong asked for permission, he was trapped by the Southern Chu army. At that time, the Chu army wanted to recruit and surrender, but they provoked Lu Yun and Shi Yujin to fight to the death. Lu and Shizhen killed Dong Shan, and Yong's army surrendered.

——"Zi Zhi Tong Jian Yong Ji III"

On the night of November 21st, in Jingkou and Guazhou, heavy fog hung down the river. Lu Can stood on a building boat and looked at the surging river. Behind him, the navy of Jiujiang Camp was ready to take advantage of this opportunity to cross the river. After a sneak attack and a confrontation with Yong's army for more than 20 days, Lu Can was calm on the surface, but he was uneasy in his heart.

He was not worried about Pei Yun on the other side. Although the Yong army on the other side had nearly 100,000 troops, the navy only had more than 20,000 men and less than 1,000 boats. With such a force, it was impossible to cross the river and capture Jingkou. Of course, even if he intends to recapture Yangzhou, it will be difficult for him to succeed with 50,000 naval troops. At Guazhou Ferry, neither army has the necessary chance of victory. This is why neither army has taken the initiative to challenge these days. It's just that Pei Yun can be content as usual, but he is worried about several battle situations, whether Huaixi can win according to his plan, whether Xiangfan can be as stable as Mount Tai, and whether Jiameng Pass can be safe and sound. Among them, the most important one is the Battle of Huaixi. If Huaixi is defeated, Huainan will no longer belong to Southern Chu, and the Yong army can easily cut off the connection between Xiangfan and Jiangling. In this way, Jingxiang is isolated. In the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, Yong's army can attack the Yangtze River again. Apart from the Yangtze River, there is no buffer room. At that time, even if Sun Wu is reborn, it will be impossible to save the overall situation.

After getting the movements of Yong's army and the deployment of troops, Lu Can could see that Yong's army also knew the importance of Huaixi. Both Shuzhong and Xiangyang were attacked by generals. This was to contain the two places and prevent them from causing harm. They were separated, otherwise these two places would be easy to defend but difficult to attack, and the Nanchu generals responsible for the defense were not ordinary. If the Yong army really wanted to capture one place, it would have to at least double its strength. The situation in Huaidong was eroding, and Pei Yun went straight in. Originally, the Yong army could use this place as a breakthrough, but Emperor Yong must have also realized that the water network in Huaidong was more conducive to the attack and defense of the Southern Chu army. Therefore, although Pei Yun easily defeated Huaidong, he still did not He made rash advances and even deliberately lured himself into the quagmire of fighting for Huaidong. Therefore, for the Yong Army, the real purpose was Huaixi. Although the Yong Army's true purpose was covered up with great fanfare and the offensive of the three-pronged army, Bingfeng knew that it could only be Shouchun.

However, although Lu Can saw this, he was helpless. If Yu Mian and Rong Yuan relaxed a little, it was extremely possible for the Yong army to take advantage of the situation and launch a large-scale attack. If Jingkou did not take precautions, Pei Yun would definitely cross the river to capture Jianye. , once one hundred thousand Yong troops cross the river on foot, with the strength of the Jianye Forbidden Army, it is feared that the events of the past will happen again. Therefore, even with Lu Can's ability, he could only watch Yong's army take Huaixi. If Yong's army sent a large number of generals to attack Huaixi, then there was nothing Lu Can could do. However, the people in the Yong Dynasty were underestimating the enemy, so Li Zhi did not send a general to supervise Huaixi. In the west, Changsun Ji and Pei Yun each sent their own troops to form a coalition to attack Shouchun. This gave Lu Can a chance to turn defeat into victory.

In order to win the victory in Huaixi, Lu Can can be said to have exhausted all his efforts. Although the general of Huaixi, Shi Guan, was not a wizard, he was tough, calm and trustworthy. In order to confuse Yong Jun, he prevented Yong Jun from sending out soldiers who could take charge of his own affairs. The general attacked Huaixi, but Lu Can deliberately "neglected" the situation in Shouchun and did not send reinforcements to rescue Huaixi. Then he did not spare the life of his beloved son and asked Lu Yun to go to Shouchun to assist Shi Guan. This was really a very dangerous thing. If there was anything wrong, even if Huaixi was victorious, it would be impossible.

Lu Yun's life will also be lost in Shouchun. However, if we do not do this, we will not be able to stabilize the hearts of Shouchun's soldiers and civilians, and we will not be able to drag Yong's army to the point of exhaustion, let alone defeat Yong's army with nine thousand elite cavalry. Finally, Lu Can mobilized the flying cavalry battalion that had been hidden in the snow.

Southern Chu did not attach much importance to cavalry. This was due to the geographical limitations and also because Nan Chu lacked the confidence to go north since the founding of the country. Therefore, in the war with Dayong, Southern Chu has always been at a disadvantage, so that it was subordinated to the vassal state. This situation The biggest change came when Prince Zhao Jue of Germany took charge of the army. Zhao Jue was devastated by the unfavorable military situation of Nan Chu. With his insistence, Nan Chu finally had its own cavalry. With less than 20,000 cavalry, Zhao Jue blocked Dayong's iron hoof from south and broke into the middle of Shu. , Qi King Li Xian attacked Xiangyang twice. It was this cavalry that cooperated with the defenders in the city to achieve the final victory. However, after the death of Prince De, the monarchs and ministers of Southern Chu, who were severely hit and humiliated, not only did not seek revenge, but the appeasement force rose. Lu Xin, Duke of Zhenyuan, who succeeded Prince De in charge of military affairs at that time, was from the navy and had no influence on the military affairs. The cavalry was not paid much attention to, so instead of being expanded, the cavalry was gradually weakened. If it hadn't been for the efforts of Prince De's old troops, it would have been difficult to maintain the Xiangyang cavalry establishment.

After Lu Can inherited the position of general, he decided to redevelop the cavalry. However, due to the obstruction of Shang Weijun and others, the Jiangxia Cavalry Camp, which had just 3,000 people, no longer received the support of the court. Some courtiers even criticized and accused Lu Can wasted military pay to raise useless and wasteful cavalry. Some people even accused Lu Can of deliberately cultivating his own direct lineage by training new troops. Of course, Lu Can could not confront Shang Weijun, so he had to give up the plan to build a riding camp. However, Lu Can did not give up. After he won the victory at Jiameng Pass, he secretly trained a cavalry camp in the middle of Shu. Yu Mian respected Lu Can very much and obeyed his orders. Lu Can's power in the Southern Chu military was almost Covering the sky with one hand, there are many in Sichuan, so not only the Da Yong secret spies knew nothing about the existence of this cavalry camp, but even the Southern Chu court did not know about it.

There are three main sources for obtaining war horses: when the cavalry camp established by Prince De was reduced, the dismantled military horses were secretly sent by Lu Can to establish a horse farm in central Sichuan; smuggling Northern Han war horses by sea, this route is not ideal. Dayong is very powerful in the East China Sea, and shipping is very difficult. It is difficult for war horses to support them, and they have to be transported thousands of miles to Shuzhong. However, many outstanding stallions at Shuzhong Racecourse enter through this route, but the Northern Han Dynasty After the demise, this route was basically useless; in addition, Lu Can even sent his cronies to Tubo to buy horses, and the difficulties and dangers involved were obvious. Under Lu Can's painstaking efforts, he finally had the nine thousand cavalry of the Flying Cavalry Battalion today.

The selection of the cavalry was made by Lu Can, who took advantage of various opportunities to select warriors from the Southern Chu army. Some of the generals trained were surrendered generals from Shu, and some were the old troops of Prince De. How did he get to Shu? It was because of the commander of Xiangyang, Rong Yuan. Rong Yuan was a man of outstanding talents, but his mind was not broad enough. After he took over the position of Xiangyang general, he squeezed out some generals who had never been compatible with him. At that time, Lu Xin, the governor of Nanchu Military Affairs, did not want to offend him, so he secretly placed these generals, including many cavalry generals. Later, these people were persuaded by Lu Can to train cavalry camps.

After ten years of gathering, Lu Can finally mastered an elite cavalry that was unknown to anyone, and this cavalry became the key to Nanchu's victory. Before the Battle of Huaixi began, Lu Can had secretly ordered this cavalry to sneak to Jiangling. Although the road to Shu was difficult and the spies of the Yong Army had good ears and eyes, the Lu family had been operating from the middle of Shu to Jiangxia for many years, and then used the strength of the Jiangxia Cavalry Camp. Under cover, the cavalry finally arrived at Jiangling quietly. After the Battle of Huaixi became more intense, this cavalry took advantage of the chaos and arrived in Shouchun. Taking advantage of the darkness, the horses' hooves were wrapped in thick cloth, the people held their titles, and the horses picked up their bells. They quietly arrived at the foot of Shouchun City, hiding and waiting for the opportunity to attack. The Yong army was exhausted and worried that the Nanchu army would attack the camp and intercept them, so they did not send out scouts at night to investigate the military situation. In this way, the Feiqi Battalion gave Yong's army a heavy blow and achieved a great victory in Huaixi.

Of course, Lu Can has not received the military report from Huaixi at this moment, so he naturally does not know that he has succeeded, but he has already made up his mind. No matter how the battle in Huaixi goes, he will launch a decisive battle today. If Huaixi wins, it will be the best. If Huaixi wins, it will be the best. If he is defeated, then he should win a victory in Huaidong as soon as possible, recapture Yangzhou, and use it to cover Jingkou and Jianye. As for how to respond to the two battlefields in Huaixi and Huaidong, he has entrusted it to Yang Xiu, who has been controlling the overall situation from the Jiangxia camp this time.

The fog became thicker and thicker, and it was almost impossible to see the five fingers of one's hand. Lu Can sighed softly and said: "Attack."

Following Lu Can's order, the Nanchu navy attacked the other side, and the battle to determine the final outcome of the Dayong Southern Expedition in the seventh year of Longsheng began.

In Guazhou, within the dry stronghold of the Yong Army, Pei Yun had already fallen asleep. Although the fog locked the Hanjiang River tonight, the passive defense of the Southern Chu Army on the other side for many days made him somewhat slack. Although the night patrol sergeant of the Yong Army was ordered to pay careful attention to the movements on the river. , but Pei Yun did not expect that the Southern Chu army would launch a massive attack today.

Therefore, it was not until the Nanchu navy arrived at the edge of the Yong army's water stronghold that they were discovered by Yong Jun's sentry. Suddenly, the golden drums of the water stronghold and the dry stronghold were beating in unison. The Yong army was also well-trained and came out of their tents to meet the enemy. The fog filled the air. , the shore was also completely white, and only the shouts of killing of the Nan Chu army could be heard, as well as the raging fire rising from the camp that was set alight by the rockets of the Nan Chu army.

The light of the fire dispelled part of the fog. At this time, Pei Yun, who had already gone into battle, ordered all Yong troops to light torches. Although the light of the torches became the best target for the Southern Chu army, they quickly stabilized their position under the precautions of the Yong troops. , up and down Guazhou, the fire was bright, and the heavy fog on the river bank had been dispersed by 60 to 70%, but the river was still foggy, and the Yong army could be said to be in a passive position. Pei Yun had to order to strictly guard the dry and water strongholds, and ordered the three armies to Bows and arrows returned fire. After fighting hard in the middle of the night, by dawn, the Yong army had repelled several attempts by the Nan Chu army to grab the stalls, but the water stronghold was in a mess, and Pei Yun was filled with rage.

After dawn, the heavy fog gradually dissipated, and the warships of the Southern Chu Army could be clearly seen. This sight shocked Pei Yun even more. He saw more than two thousand boats forming a water formation, moving back and forth in the river. Flying, it seems that the fog cannot hinder their progress at all. Concerned that the Chu army was rarely willing to fight, Pei Yun ordered the Dayong navy to go out to meet the enemy. Of course, because the Dayong navy only had a thousand boats and 20,000 people, Pei Yun ordered that he could not cross the center of the river. It was best to move to the south. Chu Shui's army was led to the riverside and asked Yong's army on the bank to help with bows and arrows.

Suddenly, boats and ships collided in the river, and the two armies began a fierce water battle. Over the years, the navy of the Yong Army has also fought fiercely in the Jianghuai River, and its elite level is no less than that of the Nanchu Navy. However, after all, the Nanchu Navy is powerful, and Familiar with hydrology, the battle situation soon tilted towards Nan Chu. Upon seeing this, Pei Yun ordered his navy to temporarily retreat to the water stronghold. Sure enough, under the threat of the Yong army on the bank, the Nanchu navy did not continue the attack, but returned to the south bank.

After noon, after having eaten and drank enough, the Nanchu navy, which had regained its energy after resting, attacked again. The battle situation became tense. The Nanchu navy could not attack Guazhou, and the Dayong navy could not cross the center of the river. Pei Yun stood by the river, looking at Lu Can's banner fluttering in the wind in the middle of the river, feeling increasingly uneasy. At the end of the day, the water battle became more and more fierce. The Nanchu army released many small warships. The bows of those warships were covered with fine iron. A collision could severely damage the Yong army's warships. These small warships were in Nanchu Under the cover of the warships of the Chu army, they were biting the Yong army's warships like wolves. From time to time, we saw the warships of the two armies sinking in the river. The soldiers who fell into the water had almost no possibility of being rescued because of the enemy's arrows. The arrows would mercilessly shoot through their bodies, the river would be stained with blood, and the wreckage of the warship would flow eastward along the river. Dayong's navy had given up the possibility of victory, and just defended the water stronghold tightly to prevent the Nanchu army from breaking through the stronghold. The Southern Chu army was helpless before the water stronghold. Although the infantry and cavalry of the Yong army could not fight on the water, they could still shoot arrows in the dry stronghold. Seeing that the battle situation could only continue like this, Pei Yun breathed a sigh of relief. He had no intention of defeating the Nanchu Navy. He was not surprised by this result. As long as the Nanchu Navy could not board Guazhou, the situation would not happen. What a change.

At the end of Shenshi, the setting sun was like blood, the clouds were thick, and the cold wind was gradually biting. However, the Southern Chu army became more and more courageous as they fought, with no intention of retreating. Pei Yun felt uneasy. At this moment, Lu Can received a military report on the ship in the middle of the river. After closing the military report, Lu Can's eyes showed a bright light and he said loudly: "Gentlemen, Huaixi has won a great victory, and our army has defeated Yongzong." He beheaded nearly 30,000 soldiers, captured 4,000 Yong soldiers, and beheaded the enemy general Dong Shan." After hearing this, everyone on the boat cheered loudly, and the sound became louder and louder. The news spread throughout the south as if it had wings. Almost all the officers and soldiers of Chu Shui Army cheered and rushed towards Yong Jun's water stronghold, one after another. Inspired by Huaixi's victory, they did not care about life or death. Their cheers confused the Yong army officers and soldiers, but they could only resist the attack of the Nan Chu army tenaciously. After half an hour, the red clouds became thicker, the setting sun was hard to see, and the sky and earth were desolate and dark. After a day of hard fighting, the Nanchu army's offensive had gradually weakened. The Yong army was all refreshed, knowing that as long as they repel this attack Attack, today's battle should be over.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, cheers came from the Nanchu army again. The Yong army was horrified. Looking around, a Yong army sergeant suddenly pointed to the west and shouted: "The enemy has reinforcements." Everyone who heard it was shocked. Looking to the west, I saw where the sky and the water meet, and the sterns of the boats covering the river were coming towards Guazhou. The news of the arrival of the Nanchu reinforcements spread quickly like a cold wind. General Yong Jun looked around. The boats were getting closer and closer, and he could almost see clearly the faces of the Nanchu soldiers standing on them, but the flags on the boats were blown by the strong wind. I have to hunt and fly, and I can’t see the writing on it clearly. But Pei Yun suddenly understood that apart from the Jiangxia Camp, where else could there be such a huge naval force in Nanchu. To fight or not to fight, a look of determination flashed in Pei Yun's eyes and he said loudly: "Get ready to fight!"

As night fell, the Jiangxia camp rushed to Guazhou and launched a fierce attack on Yong's army's water and land stronghold. The addition of fresh troops plunged the fate of Yong's army into unknown darkness. At this moment, after accumulating strength for a day, Fei Fei The snow finally fell on the river, and the cold river on a snowy night, the sterns of buildings and ships, and the blood of war created the most beautiful picture.

When Lu Can stood on the ship, looking at the retreating Yong army, he finally showed a happy smile. He couldn't help but look at the Huaixi Military Newspaper in his hand. Behind the document, there was clearly a personal letter from Shi Guan, which said with words like this.

"The young general took the lead and fought bravely, winning the hearts of the soldiers and people in Huaixi. He joined forces with Xiu'er to kill Dong Shan. Although he was quite young and spirited, he was in danger of unexpected events. However, the general has a son like a dragon and a tiger, and he is the leader of Southern Chu. Fortunately, the Lu family is lucky."

In the early morning of November 22nd, the Yong Army in Huaidong was finally defeated across the board. Pei Yun led the Baiyi Battalion to personally cut off the rear, and the Southern Chu Army retook Yangzhou. However, the situation in Huaidong still did not change for the better. Luo Louzhen's tyranny in Huaidong made the people in Huaidong lack trust in Nanchu, so Pei Yun was able to retreat to Chuzhou and Sizhou, although other prefectures and counties were invaded by Nanchu. The Yong army recovered, but the Yong army still controlled the frontier town of the invasion of Huaidong. Although Southern Chu achieved two great victories, it also suffered heavy losses in troops, so Lu Can had to leave his generals to guard Yangzhou and control Guangling, which led to a confrontation between the two armies in Huaidong. In Huaixi, although the Southern Chu army took the opportunity to recapture Zhongli, Cui Jue retreated to Suzhou, and Huaixi's army was insufficient to further threaten Xuzhou.

During the Great Yong's Southern Expedition in the seventh year of its prosperity, both sides lost more than 100,000 soldiers. It could barely be said to be a draw. Southern Chu was victorious and Yong's army suffered a disastrous defeat. The important towns of Chuzhou and Sizhou in the east of Huaibei fell. It was Yong's army that captured They had the upper hand, but Pei Yun was restrained on the Huaidong battlefield. The Huaixi army of Southern Chu could invade Suzhou and Xuzhou controlled by Dayong at any time. Here again, Nanchu had the upper hand. The person who gained the greatest benefit from this battle was Lu Can, the general of Southern Chu. He regained the military power in Huaidong. The two great victories in Huaixi and Guazhou made Lu Can's reputation skyrocketing. From then on, the Southern Chu military had only one voice. With time, it will not be difficult to stabilize the Jianghuai River. By then, there will be no hope for Dayong's southern expedition, and the world will soon fall into a deadlock of dividing the north and the south.