Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 317 Wuling Guerrilla
The large banners bearing the character "Han" that fluttered atop Linyuan City were quietly taken down one morning at the end of March, after less than half a month.

Before Sun Wu's Jingnan governor Jiang Mi arrived with 20,000 troops, General Ma Zhong of Annam, General Sha Lie of the Auxiliary Han, and General Ma Bing of the Protectorate of Miao, they did not hesitate to withdraw all 8,000 troops stationed around Lin Yuan and disappeared without a trace, as if Lin Yuan had never been captured by the Han army.

Most of the officials and powerful clans in the city who had wholeheartedly assisted the Han dynasty had already withdrawn with the army, heading west along the Yuan River and retreating into the depths of Wuling, or scattered to their familiar strategic passes and caves.

Those with sensitive identities and outstanding achievements, such as Xi Wen, the Wuling Gongcao, had already arranged for their families to go to Chengdu to meet the emperor.

Some who were unable to easily escape due to their large family businesses and numerous relatives were told by Ma Bing from the beginning not to pledge allegiance to the Han Dynasty, but to surrender to the Wu army once they arrived.

These powerful clans were happy with this arrangement, as they didn't know whether these few thousand Han soldiers could withstand the pressure and defend Wuling. If the Han army was defeated and the Wu people discovered that they had pledged allegiance to the Han, they would inevitably face retribution.

Several prominent families in Wuling had relatives who still served as officials in the Han Dynasty, or whose relatives had died for the Han. Upon seeing the Han army arrive and knowing that the Han army was about to abandon Linyuan, they voluntarily handed over several of their eldest sons to the Han army.

Ma Bingcheng adopted the system of appointing the legitimate sons of various families as officials.

Subsequently, under Ma Bing's instruction, Wuxi barbarian Sha Lie led his men to "invade" the fortified villages of these families and "robbed" more than 10,000 jin of grain from them.

After the Han army left, all the powerful clans, whether they had been plundered or not, strictly disciplined their troops and were always ready to close their fortified villages.

When Wu Jingnan, the governor of the south, led more than 20,000 naval and infantry troops into Linyuan, he found it to be an empty city where people were filled with fear and panic.

He was somewhat confused.

After all, the idea that "if you lose land but save people, you will save both people and land; if you save land but lose people, you will lose both people and land" is not accepted by the vast majority of people in this era.

Once a territory is conquered, its resources must be squeezed to the extreme, and the territory used as a fortress. If the enemy attacks, the defenses must be built step by step, with layers of resistance. This is the war theory of this era.

Jiang Bi, also known as Jiang Boshen, was a veteran general under Sun Quan. After Bu Zhi left Jingnan, he became the governor of Jingnan, a position he held for five years. He was known for his stubborn and headstrong personality.

Seeing the Han army flee at the mere sight of him, they couldn't help but feel contempt, thinking that the Wuxi barbarians and the Han army were nothing more than a rabble, and that upon hearing of Jiang Boshen's sudden arrival, they had fled into the mountains like rats, not daring to face his army.

After taking control of Linyuan, this governor of Jingnan posted notices to reassure the people and strictly enforced the laws and regulations of the Wu army. At the same time, he dispatched hundreds of scouts in multiple routes. Some went to the counties southwest of Wuling to investigate, while others went deep into the mountains and forests to search for traces of the Han army, intending to annihilate the Han army in one fell swoop and achieve complete success.

Before the scouts returned, an advisor suggested a bloody purge of the local powerful clans who had sided with the Han, in order to deter the rioters in Wuling, a prefecture where "all nine counties had rebelled."

Jiang Mi deeply agreed.

After some investigation, they were shocked to find that none of the local powerful clans had colluded with the Han army. Not only that, but several powerful clans had been bloodily plundered by the Wuxi Yi people, and some families even had their eldest sons killed by the barbarians. Every family was dressed in mourning.

As for the other powerful clans, most of them took the initiative to flatter and offer grain to Jiang Mi after he entered Linyuan. Jiang Mi knew that there must be something fishy going on, but he couldn't find any evidence to hold against him.

The saying goes, "Even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake." If you arbitrarily eliminate a local tycoon without any leverage, it will inevitably incite public anger, and the matter will likely fizzle out. But regardless, a deterrent force is still necessary.

Five days after the Han army withdrew, several wandering knights in the county went to the government office to report and expose the crimes. There were many villages, Miao villages, and small families in the surrounding area that had previously communicated with the Han.

Liquidation soon followed.

Within a few days, several villages, Miao villages, and small clans outside Linyuan City that had been exposed as having sided with the rebels were looted by Wu's army, and all their grain, fodder, and valuables were plundered.

All men, regardless of age, weakness, illness, or disability, were conscripted by the Wu people as laborers and servants.

Women of all ages were stripped naked and left without clothes. They covered themselves with tattered mats and straw. Those without straw sat on the ground and covered themselves with soil. Their cries of agony shook Linyuan.

Any resistance resulted in rivers of blood.

Inside Linyuan City, some local low-ranking officials who were unwilling to leave and were reported to have ties with Xi Wen and other surrendered people were arrested, imprisoned, and severely tortured to interrogate them about the whereabouts of the Han army and the rebel barbarians.

For a time, everyone in the four border areas of Linyuan felt insecure, and complaints filled the roads. However, due to the military might of the Wu people, they dared to be angry but dared not speak out.

This high-pressure policy may have been able to intimidate people, but it also contrasted sharply with the Han army's policy of not harming the people after they occupied Linyuan. This pushed many powerful clans in Wuling who knew the inside story but were still hesitant to join the Han army.

Many powerful clans, while feigning friendship with Jiang Mi and other Wu people, secretly maintained contact with the Han army that had retreated into the mountains, providing them with logistical intelligence about the Wu army.

General Sha Lie, who was familiar with the terrain of Wuling Mountain, broke up several thousand Miao people and more than a thousand Nanzhong barbarians under General Meng Huo, who was in charge of Anhan, into smaller groups of several hundred elite soldiers, and dispersed them in the crisscrossing dense forests.

General Ma Zhong of Annam led his more than 3,000 armored soldiers to reside in the three counties of Youyang, Qianling and Chongxian on the upper reaches of the Yuan River.

The scouts sent out by Jiang Mi quickly discovered that the Han army had retreated to the three westernmost border counties of Wuling and might withdraw to Fuling in Shu at any time.

At that very moment, Jiang Mi suddenly received an urgent letter from Sun Quan, the Emperor of Wu.

Jiangling was already surrounded by Zhao Yun and Chen Dao.

Cao Xiu then led a large army to the Canglang River (a tributary of the Han River that connects to the Yangtze River, from which one can travel south directly to Jiangling).

Hu Zhi, the governor of Jiangxia under Cao Wei, led 20,000 infantry and naval troops to advance on Xiakou (180 li west of Wuchang, controlling the grain route to Jiangling).

Jia Kui and Man Chong, meanwhile, were eyeing Hefei covetously.

Wu's army is now surrounded by enemies on all sides, and is facing shortages in both manpower and supplies.

Finally, Sun Quan, unaware that the Han army would willingly relinquish Lin Yuan, wrote a letter ordering Jiang Mi to quickly lead a large army westward.

Only by clearing out and forcing back this small group of Han troops who had invaded Wuling could we free up troops to provide support to Jiangling and Xiakou.

After receiving the order, Jiang Mi didn't think much of it, assuming that Sun Quan wanted him to annihilate the Han army. He immediately mustered more than 12,000 troops and headed west.

However, the Wuling Mountains were rugged, making marching slow. The area was sparsely populated and supplies were scarce. Less than a hundred miles from Linyuan, they were attacked by a night raid and stray arrows from the forces of Sha Lie and Meng Huo.

Jiang Mi sent men to pursue them into the mountains, but these Wu soldiers soon lost their way and encountered ambushes and traps, ultimately daring not to pursue them further.

Occasionally, large groups of Miao and Man soldiers would be discovered in the mountains. Jiang Mi would lead his troops to wipe them out. By the time the main force arrived, the Miao and Man soldiers had already escaped using the familiar mountain paths, leaving only an empty temporary camp and the embers of a campfire that had just been extinguished.

When Jiang Mi's army finally reached Youyang, where Ma Zhong was located, the original 12,000 soldiers had been reduced to just over 10,000 due to various reasons, and the Han army in Youyang had fled west to Qianling.

Jiang Mi felt as if he had punched the air, and was furious. He immediately ordered his deputy to leave two thousand men to garrison Youyang, and then led more than eight thousand men westward along the You River to attack Qianling.

Before he could even reach Qianling, Ma Zhong led two thousand soldiers from the city and fled north along the You River to Chong County.

Jiang Mi grew increasingly furious. After forcibly requisitioning a round of grain from the homes of the people of Qianling, he left a thousand men to guard Qianling and led more than six thousand men to continue the pursuit to Chongxian in the north.

Youyang, Qianling, and Chongxian are the three westernmost counties of Wuling. Since Youyang and Qianling have been occupied, the Han army either has to defend Chongxian to the death or abandon it and retreat to Fuling in Shu.

Regardless, he achieved his goal of annihilating and forcing the Han army to retreat.

As expected, the result was once again beyond Jiang Mi's expectations. Before his army even reached Chongxian, he received news that Yuanling had been captured.

Yuanling is located southeast of Qianling and Youyang counties, at the confluence of the You and Yuan rivers. It is the first city west of Linyuan, the county seat, and is nearly 400 li away from Linyuan. The army's provisions had to be transferred through Yuanling.

He had left a thousand men to guard Yuanling, but unexpectedly, a hundred Han soldiers were hiding in the city. Sha Lie and Meng Huo led several thousand men to approach the city at dawn. With the help of the Han soldiers in the city, they directly seized the gate. The Wu army in the city was unprepared. In the chaos, half of them were killed and the other half scattered and fled.

Jiang Mi was shocked and furious, and hurriedly led his army back to Yuanling.

As a result, the Han army disappeared again. Seeing that the Han army was so cunning and difficult to control, the large-scale army's attack was not only ineffective but also resulted in heavy losses. Jiang Mi finally decided to change his strategy.

He withdrew his troops from Qianling and divided them to garrison the three important counties and strategic passes of Linyuan, Yuanling, and Youyang, attempting to stabilize the situation and wait for the Han army to run out of food and retreat on its own.

But another problem soon arose.

The distance from Linyuan to Yuanling is nearly 400 li, and the grain route is rugged and difficult to traverse, making it an extremely long journey.

Meanwhile, the Miao warriors of Wuxi under Sha Lie's command and the more than 1,000 barbarian soldiers under Meng Huo's command did not need to carry much food and fodder, as they could forage for food in the mountains and streams. They were especially skilled at mountain raids and small-scale assaults.

They were scattered along the hundreds of miles of grain routes, often approaching Wu's grain convoys like ghosts in the dead of night or early morning, taking advantage of the darkness and the terrain such as mountains, forests, and valleys for cover.

Sometimes, teams of several dozen men would launch rockets from a distance into the grain convoy's camp, setting the tents and provisions ablaze, causing chaos before quickly evacuating.

Sometimes, just a few agile warriors would sneak up to the base of the supply depot's wall and snipe the Wu soldiers' sentries with poisoned blowguns or crossbow bolts, keeping the Wu army's supply depot awake all night.

Wu's grain ships also became targets of the attack.

Sha Lie selected Miao warriors from the Five Streams who were skilled in swimming, and together with Miao people familiar with the waterways, they set up an ambush in places where the river was narrow and the current was rapid.

They did not engage in direct combat with the escorting Wu army, but instead harassed them from time to time with rockets, or dived at night to sabotage the grain ships. Of the 10,000 shi of grain that set out, less than 3,000 successfully reached Yuanling and Youyang.

In mid-April, Jiang's secret agent dispatched a batch of military equipment from Changsha to Yuanling. Due to the inertia of the past month, the Wu army escorting the equipment thought it was just a small force. As a result, they were first suppressed by a hail of arrows shot from the dense forest, and then more than two thousand Miao and Man people rushed out and defeated the Wu army. All the ships and military equipment were drowned in the water.

Now, transporting supplies has become even more difficult.

Jiang Mi began sending small groups of men to collect grain from the homes of people in Youyang, Qianling, and Yuanling counties. The Han army showed no mercy to the small groups of Wu soldiers who went out of the city to collect grain and patrol.

Ma Bing personally planned several ambushes, choosing mountain paths and dense forests that the Wu army was bound to take. With superior forces, he quickly surrounded and annihilated the Wu troops, and after capturing their weapons, armor, and provisions, he immediately moved on without lingering.

The local powerful clans initially saw the Han army as somewhat like bandits and roving brigands, wavering and uncertain. However, upon discovering that the Wu army was helpless against the Han army, they hurriedly closed their fortified villages, refused to supply them with food, and secretly informed the Han army of the patrol routes and troop rotation times of the Wu people. This enabled the Han army to carry out several accurate and efficient ambushes in the future.

This relentless harassment caused immense suffering to the Wu troops stationed in various locations.

During the day, they were on high alert, and at night they dared not sleep soundly, their minds constantly on edge. As the number of soldiers, weapons, and provisions dwindled, the morale of the Wu army also began to waver.

Jiang Mi often tried to turn the tables and annihilate the Han army when they were ambushed, but the Han army always discovered his plan. On a few occasions when the Han army failed to receive the news, the Miao people easily escaped thanks to their high mobility.

On one occasion, the Miao soldiers of Shalie were overtaken by the Wu people. After a brief engagement with the Wu people, relying on the advantageous terrain, they retreated after a brief skirmish, leaving the Wu army with a numerical advantage but no opportunity to exert it.

The Wu army soldiers were increasingly exhausted and frustrated, and complaints began to rise in the army. They called the Wuling Mountains a ghost realm and regarded the Miao people of Wuxi as mountain demons.

By early May, after two months of running around, being on guard, and achieving nothing, the soldiers under Jiang's command, including Wu's troops, had lost their will to fight and were showing signs of exhaustion.

Jiang's secretary himself was also very anxious due to the stalemate in the war and the enormous pressure on logistics. He repeatedly sent urgent reports to Wuchang and Jiangling, saying that although this Han army was small, it was difficult to wipe out.

However, Lu Xun, facing pressure from Zhao Yun and Cao Xiu, was trapped in Jiangling City and could not receive any messages from Jiang Mi.

Sun Quan, who was all bark and no bite, finally dared not be arrogant. After retreating to Wuchang, communication with the counties in Jingnan became difficult. Messengers were slow to arrive, and it was unknown whether they had sunk in the river due to the torrential rain or been intercepted by the Wei army.

In short, by mid-May, Jiang Mi still had not received permission from Sun Quan and Lu Xun to withdraw to Linyuan.

General Ma Bing, the Protector of the Seedlings, along with generals Sha Lie and Meng Huo, led over three thousand men to a karst cave between Linyuan and Yuanling.

Ma Bing pondered for a moment at the somewhat rudimentary map, then calmly said, "They are showing signs of fatigue and their arrogance is no longer what it once was. It's time to pick a few easy targets and give them a good beating."

Sha Lie rubbed his hands together, eager for action: "It should have been done long ago! These past few days, the soldiers have reported that the Wu army stationed at Longmen Village has become much less vigilant, with many drinking and gambling every night! They have stockpiled a lot of transit grain there, so we can give it a try with a strong attack!"

Because Linyuan and Yuanling were too far apart, with hundreds of miles of uninhabited land in between, the Wu army had to set up several transit camps in between.

Longmen Village was the most dangerous, best-defended, and largest in terms of manpower, with over a thousand soldiers.

However, precisely because of this, this place became the Han army's primary target.

Ma Bing carefully examined the map and the intelligence sent back by his scouts, and nodded, saying:
"The garrison commander of Longmen is arrogant, and the soldiers are eager to return home. This is a good opportunity to concentrate our elite forces and launch a night raid on the stronghold. If we can capture it, we can obtain a batch of supplies and further deter the Wu army."

When fighting separately, Miao soldiers and barbarian soldiers can mostly hunt and fish on the spot for food, and only need a small amount of rice to supplement their diet. The logistical pressure is not great. However, once several thousand people gather in one place, hunting and fishing will hardly be able to meet the army's food needs.

May 21st.

It rained heavily.

The rain, fog, and sound completely concealed the Han army's movements.

Sha Lie and Meng Huo personally led three thousand fierce Miao and Man warriors, braving the rain to travel twenty miles, and silently reached the outside of Longmen Village.

Following the outer sentry posts, as they approached the camp, they saw Wu soldiers on the camp wall huddled under a thatched shed for shelter from the rain, gambling and having fun.

Although Sha Lie and Meng Huo had cooperated quite a bit over the past two months, neither of them looked down on the other. At this moment, they each took the lead, throwing their grappling hooks onto the stockade wall and climbing up with the agility of monkeys, quickly taking care of several sentries and opening the stockade gate.

More than a thousand people rushed in.

The other two thousand people dispersed to the other two gates of the stockade.

Most of the Wu soldiers in the stronghold were dozing off, gambling, and indulging in women. Caught off guard, they were almost unable to organize any resistance.

The first batch of soldiers quickly rushed to the four sides, opened the other two gates from the inside, and more than 3,000 men rushed into the village.

The battle began in the downpour and ended in the downpour.

The defending general and more than a thousand Wu soldiers were annihilated, with no prisoners. A small number of laborers, slaves, women, and a large amount of grain and supplies were taken away by the Han army.

The torrential rain stopped at dusk, and Sha Lie ordered all the grain that could not be taken away to be burned. The towering flames were particularly dazzling in the night.

At the same time, Ma Zhong dispatched a small but elite force to attack a Wu army dock near Yuanling, burning dozens of moored ships and further crippling the Wu army's logistics.

The fall of Longmen Village and the attack on the dock were like two resounding slaps to Jiang Mi's face.

He flew into a rage and killed several officers who had failed in their duties, but ultimately could not change the fact that the morale of Wu's army was declining.

Having suffered a great loss, Jiang Mi finally realized that if he continued to disperse his forces in this way, he would only be devoured by the Han army.

Finally, they made up their minds to reduce their troop strength.

At the end of May, he completely abandoned the remote and difficult-to-defend counties of Yuanling and Youyang, and concentrated all his troops back in Linyuan, the county seat, intending to shorten the supply route, rely on the city's defenses to stabilize the situation, and wait for reinforcements or a turning point in the battle in the Jiangling direction.

Wu Jun's proactive move to retreat eastward was exactly what Ma Zhong, Ma Bing, and others had anticipated.

"When the enemy retreats, we pursue!" Ma Zhong exclaimed excitedly, following the sixteen-character mantra given to him by the emperor. "Jiang Mi's retreat is a sign of cowardice. We should take advantage of his withdrawal to harass him along the way and keep him from having a peaceful time. If we can seize the opportunity, we can cut off his tail and expand the results of this battle!"

(End of this chapter)