Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 57: The Stone-Swept Ship

"It seems that we really have to send more troops to Jieting." The Han emperor, who thought he had a basic understanding of military strategy, remained calm and was not ashamed of speaking too much and making mistakes.

All those gathered in this tent today are the most important ministers of the Han Dynasty, and I have taken all the credit for the great victory in Xiegu. My prestige is no longer comparable to that of the original Adou. So what if I am wrong?

Dong Yun nodded slowly, and Deng Zhi and Zong Yu also agreed.

However, just when the move to send more troops to Jieting was almost a done deal, the commander-in-chief of the three armies, Zhao Zilong, hesitated for a long time before finally speaking out:
"Your Majesty, I believe that instead of increasing the number of troops stationed at Jieting, we should reduce the number of troops stationed there."

Deng Zhi was stunned, and Dong Yun and Zong Yu were also stunned.

But among those present here, when it comes to marching and fighting, who can compare with the local Marshal Zhao Zilong?
Then the tent became quiet for a while.

Liu Chan thought of something after a moment:
"General Zilong is planning to... detach his troops to garrison Chencang?"

Dong Yun, Deng Zhi and Zong Yu were all shocked when they heard this.

"Your Majesty, this is exactly what I meant." Zhao Yun said resolutely.

"I think it's not possible." Liu Chan quickly shook his head and refused.

The Chencang City today is not the Chencang in history where Hao Zhao and his few thousand men resisted the prime minister with tens of thousands of men.

After nearly a year of construction and reinforcement by Hao Zhao and Wang Shuang, Chencang was directly replicated one-to-one based on the template of Guan Yu's north and south cities in Jiangling. If the south city was lost, they could retreat to the north city.

The city was so solid and had so many defensive materials that today's small city of Chencang, which is low, dilapidated and lacks defensive materials, cannot be compared with it.

Dong Yun, who had already visited Chencang for an on-site inspection, echoed the emperor's sentiments and responded solemnly:

"General Zhao, Chencang City is located north of the Wei River, a hundred miles away from Wuzhangyuan. Our army is small, and if Chencang is surrounded by the Wei invaders, it will be impossible to rescue it. It is too risky."

Chencang City is small and dilapidated, and cannot accommodate many troops, and the Han Dynasty does not have that many troops.

And the biggest problem is that Chen Cang can only control the Wei River grain route from Chen Cang Road to Chang'an, but it is difficult to control the Wei River grain route from Wei River to Jieting.

It should be noted that the city is more than ten miles away from the Wei River which flows into Long in the east. Chencang, which can only garrison two to three thousand troops, obviously cannot pose any threat to the Wei River grain route more than ten miles away.

Zhao Yun said solemnly:
"Your Majesty, in the 19th year of Jian'an, the former General of the Cavalry, Ma Mengqi, who had not yet returned to the Han Dynasty, led Zhang Lu's troops to besiege Qishan.

"At that time, it was Zhang He who personally led 5,000 elite troops, abandoning their food and supplies, and crossed the mountains along the narrow path of the Wei River into Long, where they unexpectedly defeated Meng Qi's troops.

“If Chencang is abandoned directly, and if the enemy really has Bingzhou and Hedong’s military supplies, as long as they can find out whether our Guanzhong army is real or fake, they will definitely occupy Chencang and march back into Long via the narrow Weishui River.

“Although the narrow passage has fast-flowing currents and is difficult to navigate, if we do not hesitate to sacrifice resources and force the people to carry food in, it will be a great threat to the Prime Minister.

“At that time, Zhang He only needs to hold out for more than a month, or force his way out to support Ji County, or disrupt the Prime Minister’s attack so that he can’t make a full effort.

"When the Wei invaders' troops and food arrive again from Guandong, it's unclear what the overall situation in Longyou will be like."

Everyone was shocked when they heard this.

It was military common sense that the Wei River's narrow channel had fast currents and was not suitable for transporting grain upstream.

Moreover, people really don't remember that Zhang He had ever fought a battle against the Wei River into Long and defeated Ma Chao.

Liu Chan also thought of Wei Xing who was in a mess when he came down the mountain from the narrow path of Weishui yesterday. How could Zhang He lead the army into Long through that narrow path?

The kneeling Zong Yu stood up straight to face:
"General Zhao, I believe that defending Chencang is dangerous.

"Once Zhang He discovered that the food routes to Chencang and Jieting were blocked and he could not enter Long, he might first surround Chencang and capture the city, and then make his own plans.

"Furthermore, Chencang is a small city with few soldiers stationed there.

"If he sends over ten thousand men to block the city of Chencang, and sends tens of thousands more to Long, the few thousand defenders in the city will be helpless and unable to prevent Zhang He from re-entering Long to obstruct the Prime Minister."

The destruction of the Xiegu plank road left the Han Dynasty stretched thin in terms of military and civilian manpower in Guanzhong.

Not only did he have to seize Jieting by trickery, but he also had to organize captured civilians to build a large camp at Wuzhangyuan, and he had to deploy decoy troops at Sanguan so that Zhang He could not detect the real situation. Finally, he had to monitor Meiwu.

Chencang was a completely empty city at this moment, with no manpower to strengthen its defenses.

Furthermore, dividing troops is a taboo in military strategy. The Han army has few soldiers, so how can it divide the troops again and again?
What will we do if we are defeated one by one?
Zhao Yun immediately said:

"Your Majesty, now that Jieting has been captured, I personally believe that Zhang He's army will probably not enter Long via the Jieting Longdi Road again, but will choose to follow the narrow road along the Wei River again, which is most likely to surprise me.

"If I occupy Chencang, they will most likely surround it without attacking it in order to rescue Longyou.

“So he must divide his forces.

“But how many troops can he allocate?

"If we can force the Wei invaders to send most of their troops to protect the grain route, preventing them from marching into Long, wouldn't that be a good strategy?"

Dong Yun, Zong Yu, and Deng Zhi looked at each other in bewilderment. The Han army had only so many soldiers available in Guanzhong. How could they force the Wei invaders to send large forces to protect the grain route?

Liu Chan was also confused and felt that his brain was not enough.

After all, he had just thought that as long as the army reinforced Jieting and completed the mission that Ma Su failed to complete, and the remaining soldiers and civilians in Guanzhong only needed to defend Wuzhangyuan and take the opportunity to harass the Wei army's food supply, the Han Dynasty would be invincible.

Seeing everyone's confusion, Zhao Yun finally explained:

"Your Majesty, everyone, doesn't Qiang Chief Yang Tiao have over a thousand light cavalry? Why are we using them to defend Yuezhi? Isn't that a waste?

"I, your old minister, believe that we should appoint Zhao Tong to lead a thousand brave soldiers to replace the Qiang chieftain Yang Tiao in guarding Anding, and work with the Anding officials and people to control the three roads of Wating, Jitou, and Fanxu.

"These three roads are far away, and Anding has already returned to Han, so it is least likely that the Wei invaders will enter Long from there.

"An Guo and the Qiang chieftain can lead over a hundred tiger cavalry and over a thousand light cavalry to hide in Mount Qi.

"Wait for the troops and provisions from Taiyuan and Hedong to arrive westward along the Wei River, and then use light cavalry to harass them.

"The Wei invaders at Jieting were completely annihilated. The reinforcements from Taiyuan and Hedong are unaware that Jieting has been recaptured by the Han. They believe that the area east of Meiwu, north of the Wei River, is secure and therefore are not prepared. It is highly likely that they will win the first battle.

"Even if they fail in the first battle, how many more men will they need to protect this grain train? I believe a thousand cavalrymen can hold off twenty thousand without any problem."

Can a thousand cavalrymen hold back twenty thousand people?

Everyone was stunned.

It was already difficult for a thousand cavalrymen to hold back a grain transport team of seven or eight thousand people, so how could they hold back twenty thousand people?

Zhao Yun saw that everyone was confused and explained again:
"Your Majesty, we are not alone with a thousand or so light cavalry.

"Now that the Wuzhangyuan stronghold is almost complete, the Xieshui stronghold can be abandoned. Deyan (Zong Yu) and Bo Miao (Deng Zhi) and their 4,000 troops guarding Meiwu can withdraw to the middle island of the Wei River and establish a garrison."

"Retreat to Zhongzhou?" Liu Chan was stunned.

Most of the Wei River channels are more than a mile wide, but there is one exception.

Ten miles northwest of Wuzhangyuan, there is a sandbar on the Wei River, which is three miles long and one mile wide.

The Wei River is divided into two tributaries, north and south, by this central island, and then merges into one again after the central island.

The Wei River channel running north and south of Zhongzhou is a bit narrow, only a little over a hundred meters wide. The water is a bit turbulent here, but with boatmen pulling the boats on the shore, it doesn't affect navigation. With this thought in mind, Liu Chan looked at Zhao Yun:

"General Zilong, although the area is a bit narrow, the Wei invaders are transporting food along the Wei River. Even if we station ourselves in Zhongzhou, the soldiers there probably won't be able to do anything to them, right?"

Although the distance of more than one hundred meters is within the range of bows and arrows, people can safely pass through it by raising wooden shields. After all, Zhongzhou is only three miles long, so it is not a problem to defend for a period of time.

Zong Yu and Deng Zhi nodded repeatedly. If not for this, they would have thought of setting up camp in Zhongzhou long ago.

However, General Zhao, who was sitting below Liu Chan, shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, everyone, didn't we seize nearly a hundred grain ships from Cao Zhen's camp earlier?"

Liu Chan was confused for a moment, and then suddenly realized:

"General Zilong intends to use these grain ships to block the Wei River north of the sandbar?"

Zhao Yun nodded immediately:

"Your Majesty, Holy Ming!
"Now that the Wei invaders have not yet arrived, I think we can send people into Xiegu to burn the mountains and pound the rocks, and then use the transport ships to carry the grain!
"Then sink all the over a hundred grain ships loaded with large stones into the Wei River north of the sandbar!
After hearing this, Dong Yun, Deng Zhi and Zong Yu finally understood.

Liu Chan also remembered a similar case in history, which was also clear at once, but after thinking for a moment, he still had some doubts:

"But the Wei River is nearly two zhang deep, and these grain transport ships are small and flat, so it would probably take several shipwrecks to isolate one area.

"Just a hundred of these grain ships wouldn't be enough to completely block off the Wei River, would they?"

However, as soon as the words fell, Liu Chan, who had just asked the question, quickly reacted and nodded repeatedly:
"I understand.

“Although these hundred or so grain transport ships may not be able to completely block the Wei River, they can at least block half of it!
"If this is the case, then if the Wei invaders want to go to Chencang again, they will have to enter the range of the Yuanrong crossbows of our soldiers stationed on the sandbar!"

Transporting grain is not as simple as imagined. All you need is a boat. However, if you don’t know the water conditions, it is easy to capsize.

When a boat goes upstream in a place with fast-flowing water and unclear water conditions, it needs trackers on the shore to pull the boat. Because it is difficult for the boat to turn around, the trackers are needed to help control the direction of the boat.

This was the case with the Western Han waterway that brought the Han Dynasty into Longyou. It required cooperation between the boatman and the trackers, and there had to be someone who was familiar with the water conditions and reefs to command.

At present, if the half of the Wei River north of Zhongzhou can be cut off, the Wei people want to cross the river near the sandbar. Not to mention whether they have a way to block the arrows and crossbows, it is hard to say whether they have a long enough rope.

But how easy is it to dismantle a sunken ship?

In this case, the Wei people would most likely choose to land their grain at Meiwu, east of the sandbar.

The difficulty of transporting grain from Meiwu to Chencang over a hundred miles by land and the total length of the grain team increased by more than three to five times compared to transporting grain by water.
By then, the Zhongzhou defenders in the south may sneak across the Wei River at any time, and Guanxing and Yangtiao in the north will constantly harass us with more than a thousand light cavalry. This journey will be too dangerous.

Perhaps we can really use 4,000 to 5,000 people to divide their 10,000 to 20,000 troops to protect the grain road!
If Zhao Yun really stationed in Chencang, he could take away nearly 10,000 of Zhang He's troops. Then even if Zhang He really took the risk to go up Long from the narrow road of Weishui, I am afraid that he would only have 20,000 to 30,000 troops left at most.

As long as the news is informed to the Prime Minister in advance, the Prime Minister will assign four to five thousand soldiers with reliable men to wait for the enemy to tire themselves out, which will be enough to control the narrow passage of Wei River.

The narrow road along the Wei River is much more dangerous than Jieting. Going up Long from there is no different from the strategy of attacking Ziwu Valley. The goal is to catch the enemy by surprise and take advantage of their unpreparedness.

Before, no one wanted to send people to guard Chencang because there were too many factors to consider.

First, the reinforcements from Taiyuan and Hedong had not yet arrived; second, no one expected that there would be anyone capable of going up there; and third, the city of Chencang was small and dilapidated and there was no power to rebuild it.

Zhao Yun saw that everyone was silent, and then he said to calm them down:
"Perhaps tomorrow An Guo will escort the 2,000 captives from Jieting and over 10,000 civilians to Chencang.

"The surrendered prisoners are difficult to control, so it would be better to take them to the Wuzhangyuan stronghold for custody.

"But the civilians can help build the defenses of Jieting. Zhang He should be arriving in Long in a few days, so we can do a lot."

The more than 10,000 civilians in Jieting had not been taken into consideration by the people in the tent before.

After all, at that time it was not known whether Jieting could be captured, so they were needed there to act as a decoy and to help build siege equipment.

Thinking of this, Liu Chan pondered for a long time, looking a little worried:

"General Zilong plans to lead the three thousand decoy troops from Sanguan to defend Chencang?"

Zhao Yun nodded and said, "The 3,000 decoy troops at Sanguan cannot be withdrawn now. Deyan and Bo Miao's 4,000 troops who are monitoring Meiwu must also go to Zhongzhou to set up camp.

"Minister Dong has to continue setting up camp at Wuzhangyuan and also look after the captives, so he doesn't have enough manpower.

"Now we have to arrange for people to go into Xiegu to burn the mountains and stir up the rocks. It is still unknown whether we can sink all the hundreds of grain ships loaded with rocks before the Wei invaders from Taiyuan, Hedong, and Chang'an arrive to provide assistance.

"And the new recruits from Sanguan can retreat to Chencang at any time. Furthermore, when a battle is imminent, the most unfavorable thing is for the soldiers to not know their generals, and for the generals to not know their soldiers. If we must use the 3,000 new recruits from Sanguan to defend Chencang, we must have an experienced minister!"

Everyone in the tent was silent.

General Zhao’s proposal is really too dangerous.

What if Zhang He saw that Zhao Yun, the commander-in-chief of the three armies, was isolated in Chencang with only a few thousand men, so he did not go to Long anymore but gathered a large army to attack?
Wuzhangyuan is a hundred miles away, and the Han army is insufficient and absolutely cannot provide rescue.

But if we replace him with someone else, who here is more prestigious and experienced than General Zhao?

When Deng Zhi, Dong Yun, Zong Yu and others thought of this, their faces darkened and they all sighed in their hearts.

There is a huge gap in national strength. Although there have been many big and small victories recently, successfully taking Longyou is still like walking on a tightrope on a cliff, and no mistakes can be made.

The current number of troops in Guanzhong cannot play a decisive role in the overall recovery of Longyou.

The only thing we can do is to tie down one or two as much as possible to create opportunities for the Prime Minister's army.

"Your Majesty, everyone!" Zhao Yun stood up and clasped his fists towards everyone.

"Although I have only been with Your Majesty for a short time, I strongly sense that Your Majesty possesses the qualities of a hero and a king, and embodies the spirit of our ancestors! Not only does he command the unwavering support of his people, but he is also wise, cautious, and courageous!
"With Your Majesty here to oversee the situation, our Han Dynasty will undoubtedly be able to recover!"

Liu Chan, who was still thinking about the situation, was stunned when he heard this. Why did it sound like General Zhao was saying goodbye?
Not only him, but Dong Yun, Deng Zhi, Zong Yu and others also froze in expression. At this moment, they all thought that the old general was going there with the intention of dying.

Seeing the expressions of the crowd, General Zhao, who had just made an impassioned speech, quickly smiled and spoke in a strong voice:

"Your Majesty, everyone, this is not my intention, so there is no need to worry!

"I, an old minister, want to see Your Majesty return to the old capital and reclaim the Central Plains. How can I die in Chencang?!

"I say this only to inform the three of you that I will be stationed in Chencang, and the three armies here will be leaderless. You must consult with Your Majesty first on any decisions you make!"

"Of course!" Deng Zhi felt relieved and spoke immediately.

Zong Yu and Dong Yun also nodded in understanding.

Seeing this situation, Liu Chan felt a little nervous.

This means that since General Zhao is not here, all important matters here will be decided by me!

After a while, the meeting was over. Liu Chan thought again and again, and finally came up with the first appointment and dismissal decree in his emperor career:
"Minister Dong, I wish to appoint General Zhao Tong and Zhao Hunyi as the Protector of the Qiang, with imperial seals, and order them to lead a thousand Tiger Guards to defend Anding.

"Then I appointed Qiang chieftain Yang Tiao as the governor of Anding, and ordered him to select and appoint county officials. I also sent officials, civilians, and Qiang warriors to guard Anding together with the Protector of the Qiang.

"How about ordering him and the Central Military Supervisor Guan Anguo to lead their elite cavalry to harass the Wei invaders' food supply routes?"

Dong Yun immediately stood up and bowed: "Great!"

(End of this chapter)