Chapter 956: Nanyang Raiders
The three main generals of the Central Plains Army, Wu Qi, Wei Wuji, and Cao Ren, came to see Chutian.
Cao Ren's fighting spirit was high, but Wu Qi and Wei Wuji looked calm, and they seemed not so fanatical about drinking horses along the Yangtze River.
The Central Plains Army also had generals such as Pang Juan, Cao Hong, Xiahou Dun, and Li Dian.
The legions that went south to attack Wancheng, Xinye, and Xiangfan came from the Central Plains Army and the Guards.
The Central Plains is the Central Plains in a narrow sense, and the scope of control includes more than a dozen counties and states in Yuzhou and Yanzhou.
Wu Qi spread out a map on the desk.
"To attack Wancheng, one must go through the Xia Road of Fangcheng. Guo Ziyi stationed 80,000 troops at Bowangpo, trying to contain Wang Shi."
"If Guo Ziyi is repelled and Wancheng is besieged, the defender of Wancheng will be Zhang Xun. Wancheng has been strengthened for many years and is easy to defend and difficult to attack. If the attack is too urgent, bypass Wancheng, attack Xinye, and intercept the Song Dynasty who supported Wancheng. Jun, Wu Jun."
Wu Qi gestured for the attacking route on the terrain map.
Nanyang County is a large county with a population of several million. If we try our best to recruit troops and stick to it, we can get 200,000 soldiers. It is said that Tang is not a small prince.
The Central Plains Army has 300,000 troops and the Imperial Guard Army has 600,000 troops, so there are enough troops to implement Wu Qi's offensive plan of opening and closing.
If it is really impossible to defeat Wancheng, which is defended by Zhang Xun, you can use part of the troops to besiege Wancheng, and the rest of the troops can bypass Wancheng and attack Xinye.
Then……
"Upgrade Xinye to a large city, open the teleportation array, bypass Wancheng directly to transport troops and food, and push towards Xiangfan. Wancheng becomes an isolated city. Once the food and grass are exhausted, or Fancheng is captured, Wancheng will definitely surrender to us."
Wu Qi's tactics are similar to leapfrog tactics. For cities that cannot be captured quickly, they can avoid them, attack other cities with strategic significance, and then attack back.
This is a viable strategy.
but……
As the commander-in-chief of the Warring States Period, Wu Qi may not have a deep understanding of the power of firearms.
Chutian has Hongyi cannons and an eighth-level firearms battalion. In a year, it has accumulated nearly 1,000 solid bullets.
The function of the Hongyi cannon is not only to scare the cavalry, but also to attack the city. The power of the Hongyi cannon is more terrifying than the trebuchet.
If Chutian is determined to attack a city, even if the opponent has a top defender and a strong city, Chutian can still use 24 Hongyi cannons, plus hundreds of giant trebuchets and giant siege towers, Conscript millions of troops, attack the city day and night, and capture it.
It's just that Chutian depends on whether the price paid is directly proportional to the benefit obtained.
This time, Chu Tian wanted to see whether Zhang Xun, the famous defender of the city, was the best, or his own Hongyi Cannon was the best.
"The King of Song hoarded heavy troops in Xiangyang and Fancheng. The King of Wu had already released the captive Han Shizhong and other generals. Han Shizhong and others returned to Xiangyang. Cai Mao, Liu Pan, and Huang Zhong were stationed in Xinye, with a force of about 70,000."
Xue Yue, who was in charge of intelligence, appeared in the tent at this time and participated in formulating tactics.
Xueyue seldom appears in front of everyone, but she is actually one of the important high-level members of the Chutian faction, but she usually walks at night in brocade clothes, so she rarely shows her face in public.
"In order to deal with me, King Wu Tongque even tolerated King Song's separatism of Nanjun and released the captured generals. He is a strong enemy."
Chu Tian seldom noticed the player lord Tongque. His limelight was suppressed by Chutian, Lao Qin, and Mingguan.
During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Tongque tried every means to become sworn brothers with Sun Jian, and as the prefect of Lujiang, he led the troops of Lujiang County to the south of Jiangdong, captured the land of Jiangdong, and pacified Baiyue.
Then attack Song Wang Yang Shilang, occupy Jiangxia County, divide Jingzhou into two, annex Jingnan, and force Yang Shilang to become a minister.
If it weren't for the great pressure brought by Chutian, perhaps Tongque would not have peace talks with Yang Shilang.
Talking about peace with Yang Shilang is no less than a strong man breaking his wrist. Tongque failed to completely unify Jingzhou and Yangzhou, but it brought pressure to Chutian.
Tongque did not push Yang Shilang to the Chutian camp, making Yang Shilang always think that there is still a chance to fight for the world.
After all, when Liu Bei was almost going to join Sun Quan, he could rely on the Battle of Chibi to turn Xianyu over.
Now Yang Shilang still has the entire South County, and the two big cities of Xiangyang and Jiangling are still in Yang Shilang's hands.
Tongque even returned half of Jiangxia County to Yang Shilang to win Yang Shilang over.
From this point of view, it is conceivable that the Bronze Sparrow is not that simple.
Sun Jian's recent relationship with Chutian is also very bad.
Sun Jian believed that Chutian violated the original marriage agreement, and Chutian didn't know how to deal with the agreement with Sun Jian.
This is where the disadvantage of political marriage lies, and there will always be various unexpected contradictions.
"Ling, Cao Cao of the Hebei Army, get ready to go south. He may need to support Jianghuai."
When Chu Tian was conquering Nanyang County, what he was worried about was Jianghuai.
The military general who had been attacking Hefei before was Sun Jian. Now that Tongque has ended its war with Jingzhou, it is very likely that he will conquer Hefei himself, or even bypass Hefei guarded by Yue Fei and attack Guangling County.
Yue Fei's Jianghuai army comes from Jiujiang County, Guangling County, and Runan County. There are about 200,000 troops. Facing the Jiangdong Army that is out in force, they are defeated with two fists and four hands. If Yue Fei is besieged in Hefei City, Jiangdong Army May choose to avoid Yue Fei.
Therefore, Chutian ordered Cao Cao to make preparations for going south to support.
"Then, let's arrange it like this."
Chu Tian roughly agreed with Wu Qi's plan.
In this crusade against Nanyang County, there are four important cities that need to be captured, Wancheng, Xinye, Fancheng, and Xiangyang.
"Tomorrow the camp will be set up, and Cao Ren, Cao Hong, and Xiahou Dun will be the vanguard."
After Chutian resolutely wiped out the princes of Nanyang County and said Tang, he officially sent 900,000 troops to the south.
At this moment, Chu Tian thought of King Fu Jian of the former Qin Dynasty.
In the Battle of Feishui, Fu Jian dispatched more than 800,000 troops to the south to attack the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and was defeated by 80,000 Beifu troops. Fu Jian's vanguard was 200,000. The rest of the former Qin soldiers and horses heard that the former army was defeated and all retreated.
The 900,000 army also faces a problem, that is, there are very few battlefields that can accommodate such a huge force, and even the roads will be trampled by the 900,000 army...
In all likelihood, the enemy would not choose to fight a decisive battle with the 900,000 troops on the open plains.
Therefore, the actual battlefield may be a collision between the vanguard.
"Tai Shici, you lead the cowardly Xue army and go to help."
Chutian dispatched the Qixue Army of the Iron Cavalry Corps of the Imperial Guard to go south with the Iron Wall Corps of Cao Ren and Cao Hong as the vanguard.
"yes."
Tai Shici got on his horse and carried his longbow.
Cao Ren and Cao Hong looked at each other and mounted their horses.
Every general is eager to make meritorious deeds, and this battle to pacify Jingzhou is their unique opportunity to make meritorious deeds.
One-eyed Xiahou Dun followed them into battle.
There are about 100,000 people in this army, which has more troops than Guo Ziyi who is stationed in Bowangpo.