Chapter 018 The Mindset
On the original historical track, after Sun Jian died unexpectedly, his subordinates did not hand over to Sun Ce directly, but were led by Wu Jing and Sun Ben. After several years of war, they basically did not mention the record of being verbal. After Dang Likou confronted Liu Yao's generals for more than a year, they suffered a great loss and did not make any contribution. It was not until Sun Ce crossed the river that these troops regained their might and swept across Jiangdong.
From this we can see that Wu Jing does not have the ability to stand alone, he is just a talent. As a relative of Sun Wu, the Wu family has no outstanding figure. It seems that all the talents of the Wu family are concentrated on Mrs. Wu alone.
Sun Ce did not expect Wu Jing to have any strange plan to defeat the enemy. He just asked in detail about the process and then realized that he was indeed preconceived.
The reason why Yuan Shu did not supply military rations in time was not that he deliberately dragged his feet, but that he had too much to eat. Although Nanyang is a big county and his household registration accounts for 40% of the entire Jingzhou, Nanyang is an imperial town, and there are too many royal relatives here, and they are all strong. Even Yuan Shu, a fierce ghost in the road, dare not rob them easily. The food collected through normal channels is limited, which is far from satisfying the sudden increase in personnel.
Yuan Shu fled from Luoyang to Nanyang and brought some followers. Sun Jian came from Changsha to Nanyang and brought more people. After several times of Yudou, he captured some people. Now Yuan Shu has more than 20,000 people under him. These people have to eat, and the demand for food and grass has increased soared, which has exceeded the ability of Nanyang County. After years of accumulation, it is still not visible yet. Now more than a year has passed and the warehouse is empty, so the supply of these 20,000 people has become difficult.
Without food and grass, you can't fight. Sun Jian has been leading his troops for more than half a month and has not attacked Fancheng, just waiting for food and grass. Fancheng is north of Mianshui, across the water from Xiangyang, and the defender is Huang Zu. If you attack now, Liu Biao's support capacity is limited. Once winter comes, the water level of Mianshui drops and people can wader by. Liu Biao can send people to support Huang Zu at any time, and Sun Jian will have to face more enemies. Wu Jing was worried about this and wrote letters to Yuan Shu almost every day to ask for food.
Sun Ce was not worried about this issue. Wu Jing was worried too much. Even if Liu Biao supported Fancheng, he was not Sun Jian's opponent with Huang Zu. However, taking advantage of the high level of the Mian River and Liu Biao's support, it was a good opportunity to win Huang Zu. Liu Biao had many powerful and famous scholars under his command, but he had limited battles. Huang Zu was barely one of them. Kill him, and Liu Biao broke his arm.
“How many days can the existing food and grass be supplied?”
"If you don't fight, you will be supplied for about ten days. If you are fighting, you will have a maximum of five days."
"Gongjin, can you take Fancheng within five days?"
Zhou Yu blinked his eyes and looked at Sun Ce in confusion. Sun Ce had just arrived at the military camp and had not yet established a stable foothold. He was so anxious to express his opinion and asked him to express his opinion to take Fancheng within five days. This is not safe. If Fancheng is so easy to attack, would Sun Jian not be able to control his troops? If he can't attack, wouldn't Sun Ce's words be in vain?
"You need to prepare siege equipment to attack the city, but five days are probably not enough."
Wu Jing was also a little unhappy and scolded without hesitation: "Bo Fu, leading troops to fight is not just a matter of argument, and you cannot be taken lightly. Although Fancheng is just a small city, the garrison is strict. Huang Zu has more than a thousand men under his command, and he is well-equipped and has enough food. Moreover, once the fight starts, Liu Biao will definitely send someone to support him. This battle is likely to be in a stalemate. If we are not prepared enough, we will suffer a loss."
Sun Ce knew what Wu Jing was thinking, but he had his reasons for thinking so.
"Uncle, you are waiting for food and grass, and Liu Biao is also waiting for food and grass. The autumn harvest has ended, Nanyang's grain and grass are transporting here, and other counties in Jingzhou are also transporting to Xiangyang. The longer the time is delayed, the more obvious Liu Biao's advantage is. You also said that after the winter, the water level of the Mian River drops, and Liu Biao's men can wade by. Since that's the case, why don't we take action before Liu Biao is ready?"
Wu Jing was speechless for a moment. "With that being said, but... should we let the soldiers fight hungry?"
Sun Ce smiled. Wu Jing was too brave and not flexible enough, and it was too difficult to talk to him. However, he was his biological uncle, so he could not help but give him face. He further reminded: "Uncle, there is no grain in Wancheng, but a large amount of grain is transported to Xiangyang south of Mianshui. We can completely snatch that grain, which not only solves our own problems, but also cuts off Liu Biao's hopes, killing two birds with one stone. What's wrong with it?"
Wu Jing's eyes lit up and turned angry into joy. "This is a solution. However, Liu Biao will definitely send someone to protect him. If we lack troops, it will be difficult to get it. If we have too many troops and cannot guarantee our whereabouts, it may be another fierce battle that will be evenly matched in the end."
Sun Ce raised his lips slightly and smiled. Zhou Yu saw it, but he understood what Sun Ce meant. "Bo Fu, you can use cavalry to harass him."
Before Sun Ce could speak, Wu Jing rejected it. "That's not possible. These two hundred righteous followers were finally saved up and you can't take risks."
Zhou Yu further explained: "There are not many two hundred Yi Jue cavalry, but are there more than one hundred in each division? The total number of nearly four hundred cavalry is not small. Besides, this is harassing the baggage, not head-on combat. If you fight, run away. Unless Liu Biao has enough cavalry to pursue, it will be foolproof."
Wu Jing suddenly realized and slapped his thigh. "Yes, why didn't I expect it? Bo Fu, you're so good." Wu Jing was so excited that he turned around and wanted to run out. He ran two steps and turned back, pulled Sun Ce out, and rushed straight to Sun Jian's central army tent.
After listening to Wu Jing's report, Sun Jian also sucked his palm and smiled. "Shu Zi, I didn't expect that you are smart enough to know that you are eating from the enemy. However, if you don't have the help of Zhou Jun, you can only talk about it."
Zhou Yu was about to say a few words of modesty, but Sun Ce stopped him with his eyes. Zhou Yu was puzzled, but he still closed his mouth.
The more Sun Jian thought about it, the happier he became. He immediately asked someone to invite Cheng Pu and Han Dang. In fact, he knew nothing about the cavalry. Not long ago, he had fought side by side with the Youzhou cavalry led by Gongsun Yue, and was envious of the cavalry's ability to move quickly and the powerful impact. The reason why he never thought of this idea was that Sun Ce and Zhou Yu, who had just arrived, reminded that it was not that he did not know how to win by surprise, but that his cavalry had too few cavalry and had too short time to have cavalry, but his thinking was still on the tactics of infantry and did not take the initiative to think about that.
Zhou Yu was right. He had few cavalry, less than four hundred people. If he faced the coalition forces of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, this cavalry would not be enough. But what he wanted to deal with now was Liu Biao. Liu Biao had even fewer cavalry. Except for some generals who had mounts to travel, most of the soldiers could only walk. More than 300 cavalrymen were more than enough to bully Liu Biao. Even if he couldn't get food, it would be fine to make Liu Biao unable to sleep.
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Chapter completed!