Chapter 1178: Calculating each other
In the morning of early summer, the sun rises over the mountains earlier and earlier.
The thin mist quickly dissipated under the sunshine.
Wen Qin also got up earlier than before. It can even be said that he didn't dare to sleep too much at all.
It was not bright yet, so he hurried to the city.
Yesterday, the Wu army attacked the city so violently, which was so unexpected that he could not be careless.
Looking at the first ray of sunlight breaking through the mist, shining on the Wu Army camp outside the city.
Wen Qin's heart became heavier and heavier.
The reinforcements coming from Hefei were blocked to the east.
Based on the size of the camp, the Wu army in the south should number at least 60,000 to 70,000.
Compared to the nearly 10,000 defenders in the city, we are indeed outnumbered.
But there is nothing we can do about it.
After all, in the Yangzhou area, Hefei should be the first place to garrison, followed by Shouchun.
As for Lu'an, its location is a bit off after all, and its strategic position is far inferior to that of Hefei.
Not to mention Shouchun, which is the core of Yangzhou.
If Liu'an was not on the front line and was a county government, I would not even have these 10,000 people.
Wen Qin naturally knew his situation.
Wang Ling, the governor of Yangzhou, had conflicts with himself.
Except for the necessary defenders, the opponent cannot allow him to lead too many troops.
The most important thing is actually that in the early years, the Wei Dynasty lost too many troops in the west.
The late emperor had to mobilize troops from all over the country to fill the gap in the west.
Who would have thought that Sima Yi, that traitor, actually harbored huge ambitions.
Yangzhou faced the Wu invaders and seemed not to be greatly affected by the Battle of Guanzhong.
In fact, all the reserve forces in Qingxu and even Yanzhou have been mobilized.
The vitality that Yangzhou had finally recovered in the past few years after the Battle of Shiting was exhausted again.
In recent years, the Wei Dynasty has been divided into two. In order to maintain the huge military strength of Yangzhou and Jingzhou, Xuchang.
While using up the last of their family resources, they had to increase taxes.
There was also last year's drought, which made Wei's situation even worse.
Even Runan, which has done the best in farming, heard that riots by farmers also occurred last year.
You can imagine the corrupt situation in various places in Kanto.
Even the Wei Dynasty could hardly survive, so why did the Wu invaders have enough energy to invade the north?
Wen Qin was thinking a lot and was worried, but he saw that the Wu army under the city had begun to make movements.
He quickly shuddered, put all his thoughts back, and looked at it intently.
However, they saw that the Wu army did not attack the city again, but sent a battalion to circle the city and head east.
At this time, sending troops and horses to the east has no other choice but to block the reinforcements coming from the east.
After Wen Qin figured this out, his spirits suddenly lifted.
It seemed that although Wang Yanyun was at odds with him, he still knew that the overall situation was the most important thing and sent reinforcements as quickly as possible.
Otherwise, Wu Kou would not have sent troops to the east at this juncture of attacking the city.
What confused him was that Wu Kou was in the south, but there was not much movement.
“Strange, the thieves were so desperate yesterday, but they didn’t attack the city today?”
The general next to him spoke out the thoughts of the people who were waiting for him.
Wen Qin said nothing, but looked intently in the direction of Wu Jun.
But he didn’t have a telescope, so naturally he couldn’t see much.
The only thing that can be concluded seems to be that the number of soldiers sent by Wu Kou to cut trees has increased.
After a while, Wen Qin's eyes flashed, he suddenly laughed, and slapped his big hand on the city wall:
“I already know the traitor’s plan! I’m afraid Wu Kou may have miscalculated this time and will be unable to succeed.”
Hearing what the general said, the left and right couldn't help but look at each other.
“General, how do you say this?”
Someone asked cautiously.
Wen Qin pointed to the city and said confidently:
“Sun Quan went to Hefei with great fanfare, but secretly sent so many troops here.”
“Is it possible that you have the intention to capture Liu’an in one go and then turn east to attack Hefei?”
“If not, why would Liu’an City be surrounded without leaving any gaps?”
The so-called besieging the army is to make the defenders in the city have the intention to escape and not to have the intention of fighting to the death.
It is hard to say that Wu Kou laid siege to Lu'an this time just to prevent the city from sending messengers to Hefei to inform them of the situation here.
"This also explains why they tried their best to attack the city yesterday before fully building the siege equipment."
Isn’t it just that you want to capture Liu’an City as soon as possible before the reinforcements arrive?
If I hadn't defeated the Ximen Wu bandits from the beginning and sent the message in time.
Had Wang Yanyun not led the army to Hefei from the beginning, reinforcements could have been sent nearby in time.
It is impossible to say that Wu Kou will only succeed half way.
As for the other half, of course Wu Kou underestimated the defense of Lu'an City.
“When the Wu invaders arrived in a hurry, they probably had already rolled out all the siege equipment they had built in the past few days during yesterday’s battle.”
Wen Qin smiled even more happily:
“Who would have expected that all the siege equipment would be destroyed. Naturally, they will not be able to produce more siege equipment today.”
How to attack a city without siege equipment?
Do we just rely on those light ladder ants to attack the city?
The Han army might have dared to do this.
But what about Wu Kou...
It was not that Wen Qin looked down upon Wu Jun.
But after guarding Liu'an for so many years, Wen Qin had long understood the character of the Wu soldiers who invaded the north every year.
After robbing the people's wealth and scrambling, it is rare to attack the city.
There were not many siege equipment, and reinforcements from Hefei arrived early, so the Wu invaders became timid, which makes sense.
Hearing the general’s analysis, the left and right people suddenly realized and said one after another:
“Congratulations, General!”
Although there are some people who have concerns and always feel that something is not right, at this time, they dare not say anything to undermine morale.
In fact, Wen Qin didn't know that what he said was just his own guess. The truth is unknown.
But he said it with such certainty, naturally to appease people's hearts.
“However, the thieves want to build siege equipment with peace of mind, but I can’t fulfill their wish!”
Wen Qin said loudly:
“Send the order, I will personally lead the army out of the city and go to receive the reinforcements from Hefei!”
It seems impossible to attack the thief through the south gate.
The thief general leading the army seems to be quite capable, and the camp is fairly neatly arranged.
Hearing the general's words, and remembering that the general had defeated the thieves at the east gate, everyone immediately responded.
The east gate of Lu'an City slowly opened again.
Wen Qin led the only elite cavalry in the city and rushed out of the city. Just like he had done earlier, he shouted:
“You thief, if Wen Zhongruo is here, who dares to fight with me?”
The Wu army at the east gate had been broken through by Wen Qin once. Now when they saw this man leading the army out of the city again, the Wu soldiers who had seen Wen Qin's bravery couldn't help but feel timid.
However, thanks to the lesson learned from the last Dongmen Wu general who was beheaded, this time the Wu army erected a fence early.
Although we didn’t have enough time, we also placed anti-horse antlers and the like at the entrance and exit.
Wen Qin led his elite cavalry to the outside of the fence, slowed down his horse, and fired a wave of arrow feathers inside.
Then it suddenly turned and rushed to the west.
The advantage of cavalry lies in their mobility.
The main force of the Wu invaders is in the south, east of the city. The Wu invaders just want to block the east gate, and their numbers are not enough to attack the city.
Without sufficient numbers, it is impossible for them to defend everywhere.
…
Sure enough, during the days when the main force of the Wu invaders in the south was preparing to attack the city, the reinforcements from Hefei arrived too quickly, and Wen Qin took the opportunity to join forces with the reinforcements from Hefei from the east.
Wu Jun was caught off guard, and in the end, Wei Jun broke the Wu invaders' siege of Lu'an City.
Once the east side is lost, the Wu army's encirclement in the north will naturally lose its meaning.
I can only say, live once and live everywhere.
The only thing that Wen Qin was not satisfied with was that Hefei's reinforcements were only more than 20,000.
“Why are there so few troops?”
Wen Qin questioned the general who led the team.
"General Wen, there are quite a few already." The leader of the army was Wang Guang, Wang Ling's son. However, he said to Wen Qin, "The army I lead, together with General Wen, is enough to resist the invading thieves." .”
What I want is to defeat the enemy and capture the thieves, not to hold the city to stop the thieves.
Wen Qin would not express his thoughts publicly, but continued to ask:
"I sent a messenger to report the news. I once said that the main force of the Wu bandits was in Lu'an and not Hefei. Is it possible that the King Commander didn't want to defeat the thieves?"
Facing Wen Qin’s question, Wang Guang did not show any timidity. Instead, he smiled and said:
“It is precisely because you want to defeat the thief that you make such a decision!”
Wen Qin frowned: "What do you mean by this?"
"General Wen didn't know something. Sun Quan wanted to defraud Liu'an, so he did not hesitate to put himself in danger and personally led his troops away from the shore and came to the gate of Hefei City."
Wang Guang explained, "Your Excellency, we are currently at a stalemate with Sun Quan. As soon as Shouchun's rear army arrives, Sun Quan will threaten to give birth to his wings, and I am afraid he will not be able to escape!"
Yangzhou plus the troops in Qingxu, Runan and other places, the maximum number was no less than 150,000 or 60,000.
However, Shiting suffered heavy losses in the First World War, and due to excessive deployment in recent years, only about 100,000 troops were left.
Whether it is 150,000, 60,000 or 100,000, it is impossible for Yangzhou alone to support such a large number of troops.
So the troops on the eastern front to defend Wu State are not all concentrated in Yangzhou on weekdays, but part of them are distributed in various places in Qingxu.
Once there is a war, they will be summoned to Shouchun, and then the troops will be mobilized according to the invasion of the Wu invaders.
It's just that this time, Wang Ling was eager to make contributions and wanted to prove to Cao Shuang, who promoted him, that he was definitely more suitable to be the governor of Yangzhou than Man Chong.
So as soon as he heard that Sun Quan had appeared in Chaohu, before the army had been assembled, he immediately led most of his troops south to Hefei.
This slightly impatient approach seems to be a good idea based on the current situation.
After sending reinforcements to Lu'an, Wang Ling's troops in Hefei were not enough to defeat the Imperial Guards led by Sun Quan.
But the rear army gathered from Qingxu had already received Wang Ling's order and began to make a circuitous route, preparing to make a detour and ambush the Wu army's flank.
At that time, no matter how powerful the armor and weapons of Sun Quan's imperial guards were, they would not be able to withstand the combined attack of the two Wei armies.
However, Wang Guang naturally would not elaborate on the specific layout with Wen Qin.
Just when Wen Qin heard what Sun Quan had done, he suddenly lost his composure:
"What did you say? Sun Quan really dared to lead his troops ashore?"
It was not his fault for losing his composure, but with the main force of the Wu invaders approaching Lu'an City, Wen Qin was already convinced that the Wu army in Hefei was nothing more than a bluff at best.
Especially Sun Quan, last time he lingered on the ship for more than 20 days without daring to go ashore.
This time, I'm afraid I have to keep up the pretense for a longer time.
Unexpectedly, he dared to lead the army ashore and even reached the city of Hefei.
The most important thing is that Wang Ling, who has seen through Sun Quan's lies, can't really capture Sun Quan and achieve immortal feats, right?
Thinking of this, Wen Qin suddenly felt mixed emotions.
Speaking of which, the false and true information about Wu Kou was delivered personally to the old man Wang Ling!
Just because Wu bandits gathered under Lu'an City, Wen Qin had to first find a way to retreat from the enemy in front of him.
As for whether Wang Ling, who is far away in Hefei, will really make great achievements, it is beyond his control.
The next offensive and defensive situation of Lu'an City seems to have been right by Wen Qin.
Wu Jun has not launched much attack, but standing at the top of the city, you can already see that wood is gradually piled up in the nearest Wu Jun camp.
Two days later, the wood was piled outside the camp.
Wu Jun seems to be starting to assemble large siege equipment.
Wen Qin saw these changes in his eyes and was not afraid at all:
“Come on, thief!”
Although the military strength is still smaller than that of Wu Kou, Wen Qin already has enough confidence to face Wu Kou's upcoming siege.
Just when Wang Ling was trying to make a trap to capture Sun Quan, Wen Qin was trying to find a way to repel the Wu army under Lu'an City.
Far away outside Shouchun City in the rear, a group of men and horses appeared quietly.
Shouchun City is the administrative seat of Yangzhou and one of the most important hubs in the Jianghuai area of Wei State.
There are residents and garrisons in the city, as well as business travelers. Countless people come in and out of the city every day.
Every day before dawn, there are already many people waiting inside and outside the city gate, waiting for the city gate to open.
The gate guard rubbed his eyes and yawned, twisting the rope, preparing for today's routine.
This is the rear area. Although there are rumors that there are thieves in Hefei, no one cares.
After all, the Wu invaders in the south invaded almost every year, but they never crossed Hefei.
The officials and people of Shouchun have become accustomed to this for more than twenty years.
Not to mention that this time, Governor Wang personally led the army south early.
Shouchun City still has its gates open as usual, which means everything is business as usual.
The city gate creaked open, and people inside and outside the city gate waiting to enter and exit swarmed up.
“Slow down, slow down!”
The city gate official shouted loudly, "Come in this way, come out that way, come one by one!"
At this time of day, the city gate is the most chaotic and crowded.
The guard at the city gate noticed that there seemed to be a lot of people going in and out today, but he didn't pay too much attention.
After all, there are thieves ahead. Some business travelers want to leave as soon as possible, and some rich people from the countryside want to go to the city with their families to avoid the limelight for a few days. That is normal.
Wu Jun, who came from Lu'an day and night, took advantage of this point and took advantage of the fog that had not completely dissipated to rush towards the city gate...
Zhuge Ke’s persistence in sending detailed expeditions to explore the road over the years finally paid off at this moment.
Wu Jun's surprise troops completely avoided the eyes and ears of Wei Jun and took a path that Wei Jun did not expect.
The soldiers of Wei Army at the top of the city still couldn’t believe their eyes until this moment.
He rubbed his eyes desperately several times, and when he found that he was not dazzled, he sounded the alarm sternly:
“Enemy attack!”
(End of this chapter)