My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 320 Surprise Attack on Gaoqian Village

Does Houguan have any soldiers?

Yes, there are many.

The year after Sun Ce defeated Wang Lang, he sent troops south. Houguan, with the strength of a single county, managed to gather tens of thousands of troops and even defeated Han Yan, the Southern Commandant personally appointed by Sun Ce.

This was also the reason why He Qi was able to rise to prominence.

However, Wang Lang's order to mobilize troops might not be effective. Even if it were, it might take Houguan's reinforcements one or two months to reach the Guling line, unless there were enough ships to travel north by sea.

The Sun family was considered a local power in Jiangdong. Although they had offended most of the gentry and powerful clans, they had also made some close allies.

Sun Ce was also able to receive a lot of intelligence about Wang Lang's movements.

Therefore, he was well aware that Wang Lang had done everything in his power to stop him. At the same time, Sun Ce was also worried that Hou Guan would obey Wang Lang's orders and send reinforcements north.

From the court's perspective, Sun Ce was a thief, while Wang Lang was an official.

Every day that is delayed, Wang Lang’s power will increase, because Kuaiji is too big. Even excluding Houguan, the ten counties north of Yongning (Wenzhou) still have a lot of potential to be tapped, but it will take time.

Therefore, Sun Ce really couldn't afford to drag this out.

Just as Sun Ce was patiently preparing to launch the sixth wave of the river-crossing offensive, an unexpected person arrived in Qiantang and requested an audience with Sun Ce.

The visitor was Sun Jing, courtesy name Youtai, a native of Fuchun, Wu Commandery (present-day Fuyang, Zhejiang). He was the younger brother of Sun Jian, the governor of Changsha during the late Eastern Han Dynasty, and also the uncle of his brothers and sisters, including Sun Ce and Sun Quan.

Sun Jing and Sun Jian were very close since childhood. When Sun Jian raised an army, Sun Jing used his personal appeal to gather five or six hundred soldiers from the local clans for Sun Jian.

However, when Sun Jian was rewarded for his meritorious service and transferred to the position of Prefect of Changsha, Sun Jing did not choose to follow his brother to the post, but instead returned to his hometown of Fuchun.

Even when Sun Ce marched south and his horses were trapped in Guling, he still sent people to invite Sun Jing several times.

As a result, Sun Jing delayed setting off until Sun Ce was in a state of utter distress, at which point she finally brought her family to Qiantang to meet with Sun Ce.

Sun Jing had lived in Fuchun for decades and was practically a local strongman. Sun Ce actually needed Sun Jing's help, hoping that she could come up with a way to break the deadlock.

Sun Jing brought her three eldest sons with her this time.

His eldest son was Sun Gao, his second son was Sun Yu, and his third son was Sun Jiao.

Sun Jing was 42 years old at the time, but his sons were about the same age as Sun Jian's eldest son, Sun Ce. His eldest son, Sun Gao, was 25 years old, two years older than Sun Ce.

Sun Yu, the second son, is twenty-one years old this year, two years younger than Sun Ce.

Sun Jiao, the third son, is sixteen years old this year, the same age as Sun Quan.

In later generations, Sun Quan was extremely wary of the lineage of his elder brother Sun Ce and the lineage of his cousins ​​Sun Ben and Sun Fu, but he failed to completely guard against the lineage of Sun Jing, especially the lineage of Sun Gao, who was the first to stand up and try to seize power from Sun Quan. Nearly half of the powerful ministers in Eastern Wu in later generations were grandsons of Sun Gao.

After Sun Quan's death, in the power struggles within the Eastern Wu court, Sun Jing's faction was arguably the most powerful force among the powerful.

However, at this time, neither Sun Ce nor Sun Jing knew anything about these things.

On the contrary, Sun Ce was overjoyed by the arrival of Sun Jing and his three cousins.

"uncle!"

Upon hearing of Sun Jing's arrival, Sun Ce traveled five li outside Qiantang to greet him at the Wuli Pavilion outside the city.

Sun Jing was quite low-key. Although he was an elder and had the ability, he showed great respect for Sun Ce and was not arrogant at all, unlike the two times he had been invited but had not shown up.

Sun Ce was secretly pleased to see this.

Sun Jing is the only surviving elder of the first generation of the Sun family. With Sun Jing's support, Sun Ben and Sun Fu would have no choice but to submit.

“Bo Fu”.

Sun Jing was in his prime at this time, with a robust physique, much like Sun Jian. Moreover, he valued righteousness over wealth and was respected by his fellow villagers, who all followed him.

Sun Ce walked up to Sun Jing and bowed respectfully before being helped up by her.

“Bo Fu, you have sent people to Fuchun twice in the past half month to invite your uncle, but he has not come.”

Sun Jing asked with a smile, "Do you harbor any resentment?"

Sun Ce immediately replied, "Nephew has no complaints."

Sun Ce did not say he dared not have any complaints, but rather stated that he had no complaints; there is a difference between the two.

The phrase "not daring to have any complaints" clearly implies that there are grievances, but one is simply afraid to express them.

"But without resentment" means that one truly has no resentment.

Sun Ce's words were indeed sincere; he was not deceiving Sun Jing.

This was because when Sun Jian raised his army, Sun Jing stayed in his hometown and did not follow him. It was clear that one of the brothers was going out to fight for the future, while the other retreated to guard his hometown.

Moreover, Sun Ce had many brothers in his generation. Sun Qiang died young but had two sons, Sun Ben and Sun Fu. Sun Jian had five sons, and Sun Jing also had as many as five sons.

Sun Xiang's relationship was a step further. Sun Xiang's father, Sun Ru's great-grandfather, and Sun Jian and Sun Jing's great-grandfather were brothers. Therefore, Sun Xiang was actually three generations removed, but he was still within the fifth degree of kinship and belonged to the same clan.

Sun Ce's generation had a total of twelve members, and if Sun Xiang is included, the number reaches thirteen. However, the only direct descendant from the previous generation was Sun Jing. Moreover, Sun Jing was the elder who stayed behind to guard the ancestral hall, so Sun Ce truly dared not have any complaints.

Sun Jing laughed, and Sun Gao and the others behind him also smiled.

"Your uncle didn't come the first two times because he couldn't help you even if he had."

Sun Ce's eyes lit up at Sun Jing's words.

Sun Ce was also a shrewd man, but he was too arrogant and sometimes his pride blinded him.

But he dared not show any arrogance in front of Sun Jing, and naturally immediately understood the implied meaning in Sun Jing's words.

Sun Ce immediately bowed deeply and earnestly said, "I am trapped in Guling and unable to cross Qiantang. My troops have been stranded north of the Yangtze River for half a month. I humbly request my uncle to guide me to relieve the army's predicament, eliminate Wang Lang, and return to Wu Commandery."

Sun Jing was very pleased with Sun Ce's respect, while Sun Gao and the others behind him couldn't help but show a bit of pride.

These expressions caught the attention of the many generals behind Sun Ce, and many of them couldn't help but frown.

Although Sun Jing behaved very well, her sons did not seem like well-behaved children.

However, these generals were all veterans of countless battles, and they naturally understood that the most crucial thing now was to capture Guling and break through the Qiantang River.

Other matters can be discussed later.

Sun Jing was unaware of her sons' actions behind her. She helped Sun Ce up and gave him some advice, saying, "I once sent someone across the river to gather some intelligence, which may be useful to you."

Sun Ce was overjoyed and immediately asked for advice.

Sun Jing didn't mince words and directly explained the situation: "Wang Lang has deployed over ten thousand troops along the Guling line, with the main force stationed inside Guling City and the navy encamped along the river. You have been unable to cross the river several times precisely because you are trapped by the combination of land and water. Without taking Guling, capturing the water fortress alone is not enough to establish a foothold. Wang Lang's garrison can rely on the fortified city of Guling to find any opportunity to counterattack the water fortress and drive you down the river."

"Exactly!"

Sun Ce lamented, "If we directly besiege Guling, the naval forces in the water fortress will harass our logistics. If we attack the water fortress first, the enemy will reinforce from Guling and attack our rear from the side. Even if we take the water fortress, the naval forces there will still escape from the Qiantang River, making it difficult to deal with."

Sun Jing continued, "Do you know that Guling City is small and the water fortress is along the river? Where did Wang Lang put the grain, supplies, and military equipment?"

"I truly have no idea."

Sun Ce was taken aback, then overjoyed and asked, "Could it be that Uncle knows?!"

Sun Ce had tried to gather intelligence on this matter, but his men couldn't get into Kuaiji. Even if they managed to sneak in, they would be captured alive because of their accents.

Therefore, although he had always wanted to target Wang Lang's logistics, he never had reliable intelligence support. He could neither find the enemy's food and fodder storage points nor find a feasible route to bypass the Guling defense line and launch a surprise attack.

Sun Jing smiled and nodded: "Wang Lang's grain and military supplies are currently stored in Gaoqiantun."

Gaoqiantun is a place that belongs to Gaoqianting.

Gaoqian Pavilion is not a tourist attraction, but a pavilion, the most basic administrative unit during the Qin and Han dynasties.

Liu Bang was originally a village head.

Gaoqian Pavilion was also very famous in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The story of Cai Yong visiting Gaoqian Pavilion in Kuaiji is recorded in the "Biography of Cai Yong" in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty.

Within Gaoqian Pavilion, there is a hamlet with flat terrain, situated in the middle of the main road, making it an excellent place to store supplies.

Therefore, Wang Lang, Yu Fan, and Zhou Xin unanimously decided to use Gaoqiantun as a logistical supply base, from which various grains, fodder, and military equipment would be continuously transported to the front-line Guling defense line. "Gaoqiantun..."

Sun Ce muttered to himself a few times, then looked at Sun Jing with shining eyes: "Uncle, do you have a good way to defeat the enemy?"

Sun Jing uttered four words: "Investigate the ancient road."

"Before I came, I had already sent people to retrace this route. Although it was somewhat difficult, it was still feasible for a large army."

Sun Jing continued, "Now that the water is low in winter, it is the perfect time to cross the Qiantang River and launch a surprise attack on Gaoqiantun from the flank and rear."

Upon hearing Sun Jing's words, Sun Ce was overjoyed and extremely grateful to Sun Jing: "I will never forget your kindness, Uncle!"

“You and I are uncle and nephew, related by blood, what is there to be grateful for?”

Sun Jing chuckled and said, "I have brought two thousand young men from the village and the clan's retainers with me. They are led by Gao'er and Jiao'er. They are the ones who retraced the Chadu Ancient Road and are familiar with the terrain. They can lead the way for you."

The three people behind Sun Jing, including Sun Gao, bowed to Sun Ce in unison.

********
After receiving guidance from Sun Jing, Sun Ce immediately convened an emergency meeting.

The final decision was to have Sun Gao lead Fu Chun's troops as the vanguard, with Sun Ce personally leading 14,000 elite troops to follow closely behind, while the remaining 6,000 or so men were stationed in Yuhang and Qiantang cities, as well as the Linjiang camp outside Qiantang city.

In order to mislead the Kuaiji army on the other side of the Qiantang River, Sun Ce deliberately claimed that the water source was polluted and that containers were needed to purify the water. Therefore, he found hundreds of large-bellied, small-mouthed bottles and jars to purify the water.

As dusk approached and the sun began to set, Sun Ce filled these bottles and jars with fuel, placed them throughout the camp, and then lit them with ropes as lamps.

In this way, those on the opposite bank of the Qiantang River, near Guling, would see the brightly lit camp of Sun Ce's army and would not be suspicious of the army's movements.

After successfully deceiving Wang Lang's army, Sun Ce rushed forward, marching under cover of night.

Most of Sun Ce's troops were from Jiangdong. They grew up in Jiangdong and had access to fish and shrimp for a long time. Dried fish and fish oil were the best remedies for treating night blindness.

Therefore, the probability of night blindness among Sun Ce's troops was quite low. Even Cheng Pu and Han Dang, who were from the north, were able to overcome their night blindness because they had meat to eat and stayed in Jiangdong for about a year.

Sun Ce's night raid went very smoothly, especially with the brothers Sun Gao leading the way. Not only did they make no mistakes, but they also spent a lot of effort to clear and secure the road, making it easier for Sun Ce's main force to advance.

When they arrived at the banks of the Qiantang River, Sun Jing had already sent people to gather dozens of fishing boats and dozens of bamboo rafts.

Although the river had dried up, the weather was still extremely cold. If their clothes got wet, they wouldn't be able to fight.

Seeing how well-prepared Sun Jing's family was, Sun Ce and the others gained confidence.

In just over half a night, Sun Ce's entire army had crossed the Qiantang River.

But after crossing the river, Sun Jiao, who was ahead, actually returned.

Sun Ce was surprised, but his expression remained calm.

"Brother, there's an abandoned camp ahead."

Sun Jiao looked anxious and, upon seeing Sun Ce, loudly reported, "There were still two hundred Kuaiji soldiers in this camp, and my elder brother has captured them all."

Upon hearing that the situation had changed, Sun Ce suppressed his panic and inquired carefully.

It turned out that a new camp had been erected on the path ahead, blocking the way. If two or three thousand men were stationed there, they would surely be able to block Sun Ce's entire army from moving.

However, at this time, there were only about two hundred Kuaiji soldiers in the camp, and they were completely unprepared, so they were easily captured by Sun Gao in a surprise attack.

Sun Ce led Sun Jiao to the front, and by the time he arrived, Sun Gao had already questioned the prisoners and obtained the results.

"General, Gao has investigated and found out that Wang Lang, with someone's guidance, actually set up a camp here more than half a year ago, with 3,000 men stationed there. However, the situation on the Guling front became critical, and there was no enemy activity here for a long time, so Wang Lang transferred the troops here back two days ago."

Sun Gao reported: "These two hundred men were left here to keep watch, but they have been here for so long that they have become complacent and careless, which is why they were easily defeated by me."

Upon hearing this, Sun Ce immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, remembering something, he pressed Sun Gao, "Do you know who advised Wang Lang?"

"I was unable to get an answer."

Sun Gao shook his head: "The prisoners here are also unaware."

Sun Ce nodded, but thankfully it didn't cause any trouble.

Sun Ce immediately ordered the entire army to rest in the camp for three hours, and to cook all the rations in the camp so that the soldiers could have a good meal.

Sun Ce's army rested in the camp until dawn, ate some dry rations, and then immediately set off, rushing towards Gaoqian Village.

A thousand soldiers of the Kuaiji Army were stationed at Gaoqiantun. Rather than guarding against attacks from Sun's army, they were more concerned with protecting the local people and local youths from petty theft.

When Sun Cejun arrived at Gaoqiantun, it was just lunchtime.

The soldiers of Gaoqiantun had no idea that there would be an enemy attack and were lining up to eat.

Sun Ce's soldiers had traveled dozens of miles and crossed the Qiantang River to get here. The food they had in the camp was hardly enough, and they were still relying on dry rations to survive.

Just then, smelling the aroma of food wafting in the air, Sun Ce shouted out a slogan: "Take down Gaoqian Village and let everyone eat their fill for lunch!" This excited the entire army, who roared with excitement.

How could the thousand or so men of Gaoqiantun be a match for Sun Ce's army, let alone be caught off guard? The battle lasted less than an hour before the entire Gaoqiantun was captured and occupied by Sun Ce's army.

Of the 1,000 Kuaiji soldiers who remained, more than 200 were killed, and the remaining 700 surrendered immediately.

After capturing Gaoqiantun, Sun Ce immediately ordered the entire army to take a break.

The mountains of grain, weapons, and armor piled up in Gaoqiantun were undoubtedly the best supplement, essentially giving Sun Ce a forward base so that he didn't have to worry about logistical pressure at all.

Sun Ce's army can now rest and prepare to meet Wang Lang's army, which is retreating from the Guling line.

Sun Ce's army launched a broad-based attack on Gaoqiantun, a key military stronghold of Wang Lang's army, and the news could not be kept secret.

Soon, news of the fall of Gaoqiantun, the successful crossing of the river by Sun Ce's army, and the successful surprise attack reached Wang Lang, who was stationed in Shanyin County.

"What? Gaoqiantun has fallen?"

When Wang Lang learned of this news, it was like a bolt from the blue.

If it weren't for multiple sources reporting back at once, he wouldn't have been able to accept that the news was true.

"How...how could Gaoqian Village be lost? Could it be that Guling is also..."

Wang Lang's first thought was whether Guling had already been captured by Sun Ce, and whether Sun Ce's army had taken advantage of the situation to launch a surprise attack and subsequently seize Gaoqiantun.

If that's the case, then the entire Kuaiji Commandery is doomed.

Fortunately, the situation was not so hopeless. When they learned that Sun Ce's army had crossed the river via the ancient Chadu Road and launched a surprise attack on Gaoqian Village, they found that the situation was not hopeless.

Left with no other option, Wang Lang could only order Zhou Xin, who was stationed at the front line, to return to the capital immediately and recapture Gaoqiantun.

Currently, Zhou Xin is the commander-in-chief and Yu Fan is the deputy commander at the Guling front, and the two of them are working together to defend the Guling line.

After receiving the order, Zhou Xin did not have time to summon Yu Fan to discuss the matter. He directly led his own troops, along with the powerful clans and troops under his command, totaling 12,000 men, toward Gaoqiantun, attempting to take advantage of Sun Ce's unstable foothold to defeat him and retake Gaoqiantun.

At this time, apart from the five hundred county soldiers in Shanyin City, there were only two thousand Kuaiji soldiers on the front line at Guling.

The fate of Kuaiji was almost entirely in Zhou Xin's hands.

If he could defeat Sun Ce and recapture Gaoqiantun, the situation could still be maintained. Even if Guling was breached by Sun Ce, there would still be room for maneuver.

But if Zhou Xin loses, then the upper half of Kuaiji will have no power to resist, and Wang Lang will only have one way to escape by sea.

Zhou Xin drove his troops toward Gaoqian Village.

By the time Zhou Xin arrived, it was already past 3:45 PM, and the sun was almost setting in the west.

Zhou Xin's troops had just arrived and had not yet formed ranks when they heard a great drumbeat from Gaoqian Village.

The next moment, the gates of Gaoqiantun camp opened, and Sun Ce's army emerged from several gates, forming ranks against Gaoqiantun.

Zhou Xin was secretly alarmed and regretted getting too close, but now that things had come to this, he could no longer retreat to reorganize his troops. Instead, he immediately ordered the entire army to form ranks.

In the twilight, the two armies arrayed themselves in battle formation, ready to fight each other.

(End of this chapter)