All Heavens and Worlds Modified History System

Chapter 374 Everything is ready, only the east wind is missing~
"He ran pretty fast."

Jiangxia County, on the banks of the Yangtze River.

Looking at the many ships sailing southward on the Yangtze River, Chen Ran snorted and whipped his horse whip, "They are all heading south. Where else can they go?"

He wasn't actually coming slowly.

It took only five days to break through Wuyang Pass, and then they crossed the Tongbai Mountain and defeated Cao's snipers all the way, and successfully reached Jiangxia County.

Unexpectedly, Cao Aman was much more decisive than Liu Xuande. He gave up Jiangxia County without hesitation and fled to the other side.

Not only did he transport all kinds of food and supplies from Jiangxia County to the other side in advance, he even left the civilians behind and took them all away.

The people are very useful. During wartime, they can do logistical work, wash clothes, cook, build camps, transport supplies, and even be thrown out as cannon fodder at critical moments.

For Cao Aman, this kind of thing is not a big deal at all.

"Just run away if you want."

Chen Ran ordered people to "arrange garrisons, repair the city and houses, and find people who are willing to move here from other places. We can give them more land."

After arranging the work here, he did not stay in Jiangxia County for too long, but went west to Nanyang, then took Gan Ning's navy ship to cross the river into Jingzhou and headed straight to Jiangling.

The so-called Jiangling is actually Yingcheng, the capital of the Chu State during the Warring States Period.

After Emperor Zulong unified the world, this area was set up as Nanjun.

In terms of geographical location, it is absolutely very important. It controls the key waterway of the Yangtze River. To the north is the vast farmland of Xiangfan, to the east is Jiangxia County across the river, and to the west you can go upstream into Sichuan.

To the south, the mighty Yangtze River runs across.

On the other side of the Yangtze River are the four counties of Jingnan.

As for why they had clearly conquered Sichuan and Shu, why didn't they send troops from Sichuan and Shu to attack the four counties in southern Jing?
Why else could it be? Of course it’s because of the terrain.

There are no high-speed railways or highways in this era.

There are only the towering and continuous mountains of the Hengduan Mountains, the dense primeval forests full of barbarians, and the large mudflats and swamps full of crocodiles, poisonous snakes, and swarms of mosquitoes.

Going east from Sichuan, the main roads are all in the north of the Yangtze River.

The entire Jiangnan area is a pristine ecological environment, which is the area of ​​Xiangxi in later generations.

Unless Chen Ran was crazy, he would not send an army from the cold weapon era that relied on legs to march and fight in such an environment.

Therefore, if you want to attack Jiangnan, you must at least cross the river in Jiangling.

The location of the navy camp chosen by Chen Ran was Wulin.

The so-called Red Cliff in the Battle of Red Cliffs is actually not in the north of the Yangtze River, but in the south of the Yangtze River.

Opposite Chibi is Wulin.

As the names suggest, Wulin is a dark forest by the river, while Chibi is a large red cliff overlooking the river.

Chen Ran had known that this day would come. When he took over Jingzhou, he arranged for Gan Ning, Wen Pin and others to build a large naval camp in Wulin.

The Eastern Wu responded quickly and also built a camp on the opposite bank to respond.

There are large camps on both sides, facing each other across the river.

Since the breakdown of relations, the two sides have been fighting a small war every three days and a big war every five days, with almost no rest.

This is so because both sides are well aware of the importance of this place.

For Chen Ran in Jiangbei, as long as he crossed the river and captured Chibi, it would be equivalent to cutting off the connection between Changsha County and Chaisang.

Again, the road problem.

The communication channels between Changsha County and even the four counties in southern Jing and Jiangdong were almost all located on the banks of the Yangtze River.

Judging from the map, the area bordering the four southern counties of Jing and Jiangdong is very large, but most of it is undeveloped and even sparsely populated primitive landforms.

As long as Chen Ran captures Chibi, the Sun family will be divided into two.

They are already inferior in strength, and if they are separated, what's the point of fighting~~~
So Zhou Yu knew from the beginning that this was the place that would decide the fate of Eastern Wu.

He concentrated more than 70% of the Eastern Wu navy here, and the remaining 30% were distributed on the long waterway from Chaisang to Jiangdong.

As for the land forces, there are not many of them, only about 30,000 in total.

Zhou Yu knew very well that victory or defeat would be decided by naval battles.

If we lose the naval battle, no matter how many land troops we have, it will be useless because the enemy can use boats to go ashore at any place they choose, and no matter how many land troops we have, they will not be able to fill the long line of defense.

And he has allies.

Liu Bei and Cao Cao have little naval combat power.

Liu Bei still had a few thousand soldiers and horses left, and he was no longer a force to be reckoned with, relying entirely on his reputation to survive.

Cao Cao still had an army of 30,000 to 40,000, so Zhou Yu left most of the land warfare work to Cao Cao.

As long as the Chen bandits on the opposite side are defeated, the army will cross the river and head north, and will soon be able to reach Jiangling through Huarong County. After taking Jiangling, they can go north to visit Xiangfan, go west to directly enter Shu, and go east to retake Jiangxia County.

Zhou Yu admitted that Chen Ran's strength far exceeded that of Jiangdong.

But he believed that the gap between the two sides' naval forces was not that big.

As long as the operation is done properly, the winning rate will naturally not be low.

Chen Ran has a large number of troops, so it is naturally impossible for them all to be concentrated in Wulin.

In fact, it spread from Guangling and other places in Xuzhou all the way along the river to Jiangling, and even the Sichuan and Shu troops left Jiangzhou.

At this time, there were about 100,000 people concentrated in Wulin, including auxiliary troops. Almost all the ships in Jingzhou were concentrated here, with more than a thousand ships of all sizes.

Every day a fleet would leave the camp and head to the middle of the river to fight against the navy from the opposite side.

After a big battle, they would drive back to make repairs before dark. This cycle repeated over and over again, with damage reports every day, but little progress.

"It can't go on like this."

After two or three months of this, Chen Ran decided to change the situation.

The opponent can drag on because their strength is not great, the consumption is not great, and it is considered a local battle.

Chen Ran has gathered hundreds of thousands of troops, and the daily consumption is an astronomical figure. Considering the productivity of this era, he cannot drag it on for years.

"Pang Tong hasn't come yet, and I don't even know where he is. I have to organize the chain boat myself and give Zhou Yu a chance."

Chen Ran made up his mind and quickly convened a military meeting, stating that he wanted to tie up the boats in the camp with iron chains to help the northern soldiers get used to walking on water.

As soon as this was said, everyone opposed it, especially the Admiral of the Navy Gan Ning, who opposed it most strongly.

"My lord, the iron chains connecting the boats are convenient for training, but once the water breaks out, there will be no time to untie them and spread them out. The water will inevitably spread, and then everything will be ruined."

"I know." Chen Ran pretended to be arrogant. "Just be careful and be on guard."

"Since I took command of the army, I have been invincible throughout the world. How can that little Zhou Yu do anything to me? This matter is settled."

The spies Zhou Yu arranged on the other side of the river quickly tied up Chen Ran's ship with iron chains. The news that Zhou Yu himself had nothing to do in his spare time, so he went hunting everywhere and neglected his military duties, was passed on to the other side.

Upon learning this, Zhou Yu was overjoyed.

"What I fear most is that Chen the thief and I will continue to consume each other."

At the coalition meeting, Zhou Yu smiled happily and said, "The Chen bandits are very powerful. If they really waste two or three years, our army will surely be defeated!"

"Fortunately, he is seeking his own death by gathering the ships together and tying them up. We only need to launch a fire attack, and the entire Wulin camp will be burned clean!"

Sima Yi frowned and asked, "It can't be that easy. Chen Ran is not a fool. How could he let the arson ship get close to the fleet?"

Zhou Yu, full of vigor and vitality, turned around and sat down, looking around at everyone, "I'll ask for your collective wisdom."

The three Liu Bei brothers sat upright without saying a word.

They are not strong enough and have no good strategies, so naturally they can only serve as background members.

Cao Cao was much more active. After Sima Yi discussed with the uncle and nephew of the Xun family, Xun Yu said, "Grand Commander, I believe you have a plan."

"Hahaha~~~"

Zhou Yu laughed and said, "I do have an idea. Please discuss it with me."

"Please speak frankly."

"I intend to send someone to pretend to surrender, and lie that he is bringing a fleet across the river to seek refuge with us. Once this is accomplished, we will drive the fleet filled with flammable materials into the water fort opposite, and then set it on fire and burn all of Chen's troops!"

Xun Yu and others looked at each other, and finally looked at Cao Aman.

Cao Aman, stroking his beard, said slowly, "The commander-in-chief's plan is not bad, but if we don't kill Chen the thief, how can we trust the surrendered people?"

"You can use the strategy of inflicting pain on yourself!"

After a moment of silence, Cao Aman still shook his head and said, "I don't think it's easy. Even if Chen Zihou can't see through it, can't Cheng Yu, Jia Xu and others around him see through it?"

Zhou Yu's expression looked somewhat grim.

Cao Cao thought about it, then smiled and said, "It doesn't hurt to give it a try."

A few days later, more news came from the other side.

It is said that Cheng Yu was arranged to transport grain and grass to Xiangfan, and Jia Xu was heard to be ill and had already set out to return to Luoyang.

Now, there is no wise military strategist around Chen Zihou.

Zhou Yu was overjoyed when he heard the news and shouted "God help me~~~"

He chose to test the waters by deliberately spreading the news of discord within the army.

Sure enough, after a few days, someone from the other side crossed the river at night and spent a lot of money to gather intelligence, asking who was at odds with Zhou Yu and so on.

Zhou Yu was overjoyed again, and immediately found Huang Gai to discuss with him a plan of self-torture.

Huang Gai did not hesitate and quickly agreed.

What followed was a public display of self-torture, with both sides completely falling out in full view of everyone.

Now was the critical moment. Huang Gai sent someone to cross the river by boat to deliver a letter to the other side.

After anxiously waiting for several days, Chen Ran's reply arrived.

In his letter, he stated that disease was rampant in the south of the Yangtze River, the soldiers were tired and their morale was low, and he had already planned to withdraw his troops.

I never thought that General Huang was willing to give up evil and join the good, it was truly a pleasant surprise.

As long as General Huang is willing to serve, he will be rewarded with a title of nobility.

"It's almost done." Zhou Yu took a deep breath and instructed, "Send a message to the spies on the other side immediately and ask them to find out the military situation in Chen's camp."

The military intelligence that was passed on indeed said that the Northern troops in Chen's camp were exhausted, and many of them were causing trouble and petitioning, demanding to withdraw and return north.

There was also the Chen bandit naval commander Gan Ning, who had been stripped of his official position and escorted to Jiangling by the Chen bandits because he always opposed connecting the ships with iron chains.

"God helps me, it really is God who helps me~~~"

There is no capable person around Chen Ran, which means that no one can see through his plan.

After Zhou Yu laughed, he asked the last question.

"Everything is ready, only the east wind is missing~"

(End of this chapter)