My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 444 Division of Forces in Jingnan
At the same time Liu Biao received the news, Kuai Yue outside Linxiang City also received an urgent report from Huang Zu.

After reading the report, Kuai Yue sighed.

Kuai Yue was not surprised by Yangzhou's invasion, and he had anticipated the current situation.

"Guards, please invite the two commanders to the main tent for a meeting."

After a moment's thought, Kuai Yue ordered Cai Mao and Liu Pan to discuss the matter.

As for the other generals, it's best not to let them know about these things for now.

The siege of Linxiang has been going on for more than half a month, and the army has suffered considerable casualties. The number of dead alone is as high as 800, and if the wounded are included, the number has exceeded 4,000.

This was achieved even after using seven or eight thousand able-bodied men from the campaign against Jingnan, demonstrating the intensity of the battle.

Things weren't going well inside Linxiang City either. Kuai Yue estimated that the enemy's casualties were around three thousand, especially the moat, which had already been partially filled in by Kuai Yue's side, reaching all the way to the Yangma Wall.

However, the artillery battle between the two sides was not satisfactory. The city of Linxiang had the advantage of high city walls, and the range of its catapults was much greater than that outside the city. In addition, Sun Ce was brave and repeatedly led his troops out of the city to sweep through, destroying several waves of catapult positions, which gave Kuai Yue a lot of trouble.

In this era, catapults and artillery pieces were mostly very close together, often only a hundred meters or so. Even large catapults did not exceed a distance of 150 meters.

Therefore, the only way to counter the catapults on the city walls was to push them to the front lines.

In this way, Sun Ce could come and go with ease and confidence, and his rear was directly supported by long-range firepower from the city wall, so he didn't have to worry about being attacked from behind.

Kuai Yue did devise traps for Sun Ce, but unfortunately, to his dismay, these traps were either seen through by Sun Ce or broken by his strength, and none of them achieved a satisfactory result.

Before long, Cai Mao and Liu Pan arrived one after the other and entered the main tent.

Kuai Yue waved his hand at the two men who were bowing, saying, "De Gui and Zi Huan, please sit down."

After Cai Mao and Liu Pan sat down, Kuai Yue had Kuai Qi hand the documents in his hand to the two of them, instructing them to read them carefully.

I was shocked when I saw it.

Cai Mao and Liu Pan were terrified and shocked.

"Grand Commander, if Huang Chengde is lost, our army's retreat will be cut off."

Cai Mao, as the naval commander, was most sensitive to this and almost jumped up in anger.

"good."

Kuai Yue nodded and looked at Cai Mao, asking, "What strategies does De Gui have available?"

Cai Mao lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then raised his head again and said, "In my humble opinion, we should divide our forces to rescue Huang Chengde."

The Battle of Linxiang is currently at its peak, with a large amount of manpower, material resources, and financial resources invested, so it is not appropriate to withdraw troops lightly.

Since retreat is not an option, the only choice is to divide the forces.

Cai Mao's idea was quite good. The navy was relatively independent and not very useful in siege warfare.

Therefore, dividing the forces to rescue Huang Chengde is not a bad idea.

Liu Pan, however, spoke up, saying, "That's inappropriate."

Cai Mao frowned and looked at the other person: "Zi Huan, what's wrong with this?"

Liu Pan explained, "Our land and naval forces are originally one entity. Only through coordinated action can we advance directly to the walls of Linxiang. You must know that Jingnan is not without a navy. If Governor Cai withdraws his entire army, while the Jingnan navy may not be able to shake our main force at the city walls, they can easily harass and attack our logistics. What should we do then?"

"This……"

Cai Mao looked at Liu Pan in surprise. Even though they disagreed, he had to admit that Liu Pan's words made a lot of sense. However, in his mind, Liu Pan was not a strategist. He was decent in military strategy and quite brave, but he had never had any talent in strategy.

Therefore, Cai Mao was genuinely surprised by Liu Pan's well-reasoned opinion and couldn't help but suspect that the other party had secretly received guidance from a master.

"Then... in your opinion, what should we do now?"

Cai Mao immediately adopted a defensive strategy, turning to ask for the other party's opinion and trying to find the answer to the problem from their response.

To Cai Mao's surprise, Liu Pan simply shrugged and refused, saying, "I just think there's something wrong with Commander Cai's idea, but I really can't come up with a solution myself."

Cai Mao was dumbfounded, realizing that something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Liu Pan glanced at Cai Mao's shocked face, secretly pleased, and gave Kuai Qi a grateful look. Just as Cai Mao had guessed, Liu Pan's words were indeed secretly passed on to him by Kuai Qi.

“What Zihuan said makes a lot of sense.”

At this moment, Kuai Yue spoke up: "De Gui, why don't you give me some of your ships and send the main force to Shaxian to rescue Huang Chengde? What do you think?"

Upon hearing this, Cai Mao hesitated.

The internal structure of Jingzhou was very similar to that of a joint-stock company in later times. Although Liu Biao was the governor (chairman), his shareholding was not large. He was not even the largest shareholder, let alone the controlling shareholder.

The Cai family's traditional strength, or basic shareholding, is actually in the area of ​​online trolls.

This is why the relationship between the Cai and Huang families is somewhat cold. If the naval forces had not been split into the Jiangxia and Xiangyang naval forces, the relationship between the two families would probably have been even worse.

Although Cai Mao couldn't say it outright, he essentially treated the Xiangyang navy as his own private army. Even Zhang Yun, whom Liu Biao had planted in the Xiangyang navy to infiltrate it, was won over and assimilated by Cai Mao. Where was there any force in the Xiangyang navy to check and balance the Cai family?

Therefore, Cai Mao's hesitation in accepting Kuai Yue's suggestion to divide his forces was not because he wanted to concentrate his strength to rescue Huang Zu, but simply because he did not want the other party to encroach on his naval power.

It was for this reason that Kuai Yue used Kuai Qi to instruct Liu Pan, and used Liu Pan's words to pressure Cai Mao.

As expected, just as Kuai Yue had guessed, Cai Mao, though unwilling, did not want to oppose Kuai Yue's mediation without a reasonable justification.

After hesitating for a long time, Cai Mao suppressed his unwillingness and asked, "According to the Grand Commander, how many troops and ships should the navy leave behind?"

Kuai Yue clearly had a plan in mind, but on the surface he deliberately pretended to make a decision on the spot. After pondering for a while, he proposed in a consultative tone: "We must leave behind 10,000 naval troops and 800 warships of various sizes, of which no fewer than 80 are large ships of the size of Mengchong."

"This won't work!"

Cai Mao shook his head immediately. The navy of the Eastern Han Dynasty was not a purely naval force; it was also capable of land warfare and was more akin to the amphibious forces of later times. At the same time, the army in Jingzhou also had a portion of soldiers who could operate boats and could be readily deployed to reinforce the ships.

Just as the saying goes that northerners ride horses and southerners navigate boats, this is a result of the geography of the south. Therefore, the strength of the Jingzhou navy was in no way inferior to that of the army.

Of the 70,000 troops sent to the south, 30,000 were naval forces from Jingzhou, accounting for 40%. The fleet included more than 2,000 warships of various sizes, with over 200 of them being large warships.

Kuai Yue demanded 10,000 naval troops, along with 800 ships, including 80 large warships. This was equivalent to taking away 40% of Cai Mao's fighting force, which was not something Cai Mao could easily accept.

Seeing Cai Mao loudly refuse, Kuai Yue countered, "Then how much can you offer?"

"Grand Commander, it's not that I'm unwilling, but the best course of action is to join forces with Huang Chengde to defeat the Yangzhou navy."

Cai Mao's words are not wrong, and they are certainly correct in principle. But in reality, does that mean that if Cai Mao led all his naval forces to join the battle, he would definitely win?

By leaving behind a portion of their naval forces, Kuai Yue at least had room to maneuver. Without the support of their naval forces, Kuai Yue might not be able to withdraw even if they wanted to, and even if they did, the losses would likely be extremely heavy.

Cai Mao pondered for a moment, knowing he couldn't refuse to give up anything, so he compromised, saying, "At most, we can only leave 5,000 naval troops and 500 ships, of which only 20 are warships."

"Can!"

Kuai Yue had already weighed the options in his mind, and the amount of power Cai Mao had given him was already above his minimum requirements.

At this time, the military situation was urgent. The distance between Huang Zu's Shaxian and Xiakou was only a hundred or two miles along the river, and with favorable winds and currents, it would only take a day to reach each other.

With the other party compromising, Kuai Yue didn't want to waste time arguing.

"In that case, De Gui, go back now and quickly allocate this naval force to me. Then lead the remaining troops north as soon as possible to rescue Huang Chengde."

Kuai Yue's words relieved Cai Mao, who was worried that the enemy was concentrating their forces and delaying the rescue.

Upon hearing Kuai Yue breathe a sigh of relief, Cai Mao immediately rose to take his leave: "Grand Commander, please rest assured. I will immediately divide my troops today and set sail north later."

The Xiang River flows from south to north, and after passing Dongting Lake, it flows into the Yangtze River. Therefore, when the Jingbei navy came, it was against the current, but on the return journey, it was with the current.

Kuai Yue's request was met, so he naturally had no objections: "The military situation is urgent, De Gui can act as he sees fit."

Cai Mao immediately got up, left the main tent, and went to the army to select troops.

Kuai Yue and Liu Pan remained in the main tent. The latter tentatively asked, "Grand Commander, shall I also take my leave?"

Kuai Yue slowly shook his head, glanced at Liu Pan, and said softly, "Zi Huan, in your opinion, how long will it take to break through the city?"

Liu Pan, courtesy name Zihuan.

Upon hearing Kuai Yue's question, Liu Pan was immediately stunned. After a long while, he hesitated and said, "Grand Commander, the moat has only just been filled in, and the sheep and horse walls have not yet been breached. Isn't it too hasty to talk about breaking through the city?"

That means the person asking was Kuai Yue; otherwise, Liu Pan would have been cursing.

The Jingbei army suffered casualties of four thousand elite soldiers, and countless civilian laborers and able-bodied men were killed or wounded, and only then did they manage to open up the passage to the city.

Isn't it ridiculous to talk about the city falling at this point?

Even asking when we can climb the city walls would be more reliable than this.

However, Kuai Yue was always known for his wisdom and resourcefulness, and his schemes were ruthless. Upon hearing this, Liu Pan was immediately filled with doubt and uncertainty.

Kuai Yue glanced at Liu Pan, who seemed somewhat guilty, shook his head, and bluntly asked, "Are you confident you can break through the city within fifteen days?"

Liu Pan thought about it seriously, and finally shook his head with a grim expression: "I'm afraid it won't work."

Liu Pan spoke with great difficulty, feeling that he might be reprimanded by Kuai Yue.

To his surprise, Kuai Yue showed no displeasure whatsoever, only sighing softly: "In that case, after De Gui goes north, your troops should quietly gather and prepare to withdraw."

"Withdraw troops!?"

Liu Pan was so shocked that he stood up abruptly: "Grand Commander, how can we withdraw the troops? If we withdraw now, all the brothers who died or were wounded in the early stages will have died in vain."

Kuai Yue looked up and glanced at the other person, a slight smile playing on his lips: "If we withdraw now, we can come back later. At most, we'll lose three or four thousand men. But if something goes wrong with Huang Chengde, neither of us will be able to leave even if we want to."

Shaxian is a distance of seven or eight hundred miles from Dongting Lake, but for the navy, it is only a journey of ten days or so. This is because Yangzhou is downstream and they need to go upstream. If the wind and current are favorable, traveling a thousand miles a day is not a myth.

Kuai Yue was well-versed in military strategy and familiar with military tactics, so he naturally knew the principle of making lenient assessments of the enemy.

Liu Feng's army doesn't need to win a complete victory. As long as they can defeat Huang Zu and Cai Mao within five days, travel for ten days, and arrive at Dongting Lake in half a month.

When Liu Fengjun's naval ships enter Dongting Lake, their retreat will be cut off.

Kuai Yue was willing to stake his own head on it, saying that when the time came, his Jingnan Expeditionary Army would be the first to perish.

If they retreated, the fate of the army would be in Kuai Yue's own hands; if they didn't retreat, the life and death of the army would depend entirely on Huang Chengde and Cai Degui.

Kuai Yidu would rather lead his army back and wait for an opportunity to march south again than risk the lives of the Jingbei army under the walls of Linxiang City and have to be at the mercy of others.

After hearing Kuai Yue's words, Liu Pan also realized what was going on.

As Kuai Yue said, although the casualties have reached four thousand, only eight hundred have died in battle. Even including those seriously wounded who cannot recover, the permanent losses are only a little over three thousand. The other soldiers can recover after their injuries heal. The reason why the permanent losses are so high is naturally because the feudal lords do not pay attention to the treatment of the wounded.

In general warfare, the ratio of those killed in action, seriously wounded, and lightly wounded is roughly 1:1:2.

In Liu Feng's army, the rescue rate for seriously wounded soldiers was about 50%, while the rescue rate for lightly wounded soldiers was as high as 99%. Unless it was tetanus, sepsis or other diseases that were considered incurable in this era, lightly wounded soldiers would basically not die.

However, in the Jingbei Army, and even in the armies of the warlords throughout the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the recovery rate of seriously wounded soldiers was only 50%. This was not only due to the dirty environment, poor treatment methods, and scarce medicines, but also because the warlord armies often rescued the lightly wounded first, while letting the seriously wounded die.

This is quite easy to understand, since from the perspective of input and output, rescuing seriously injured people is undoubtedly a losing business.

Of course, this does not mean that the recovery rate of lightly wounded soldiers in the Jingbei Army is very high. In fact, many lightly wounded soldiers will soon become seriously wounded due to wound contamination, infection, inflammation and other conditions.

The recovery rate of lightly wounded soldiers in the Jingbei army was only 30% to 50%, far less than that of Liu Feng's army. This is why Kuai Yue and Liu Pan claimed that the Jingbei army suffered 3,000 to 4,000 casualties when only 800 had died in battle.

This is why Liu Feng's army had an astonishingly high proportion of veteran soldiers, and the root cause of its continuously improving combat effectiveness.

Liu Pan straightened up, cupped his hands in greeting to Kuai Yue, and asked, "Grand Commander, where shall we retreat to?"

(End of this chapter)