Volume 3: The Land of Jingchu Chapter 236 Yiyang Military Situation
After Taishi Ci finished speaking, he turned around and left.
"Why? Why don't you kill me?" Ling Tong asked in a crying voice.
If they were just considering the overall situation, they should at least control Ling Tong, and then Bai Tu and Taishi Ci should communicate with Sun Ce privately and execute him secretly.
"Even a guy like you can contribute to the 'future'... Don't get me wrong, I don't think there is any guilt in killing enemy generals, it's just... there is still a chance to detain enemy prisoners. However, remember that you are only my prisoner from now on. If I find out that you have done anything that is not beneficial to the General's Mansion, I will kill you before my lord knows!" Taishi Ci said without turning his head.
The woodcutter looked at Ling Tong, then turned and left with Taishi Ci. After turning the corner, he asked, "Is this really okay?"
"My lord said that trust between people is the power to change the times... and don't forget, from now on I am the General of the Wind Guard and I will keep an eye on him." Taishi Ci said.
The chief of Bufengwei was only the General of the Central Army.
"Don't tell this matter to the lord, I will handle it properly." Taishi Ci pleaded specifically.
Although it is impossible for an “ordinary woodcutter” to give advice directly to Bai Tu, an “ordinary woodcutter” can.
"That's not what I'm talking about... It's better for you to go to a medical school for your injury," said the woodcutter.
"Should..." Taishi Ci frowned when he heard this, and seemed unwilling to expose himself.
"You have to go, otherwise I might take the initiative to find a doctor for you!" The woodcutter became more tough.
Although Taishi Ci's injuries are probably not very dangerous considering the physique of the warriors in Cheng Ji's world, but... it is possible that he might get infected if he is unlucky.
Taishi Ci chuckled upon hearing this and walked towards the medical school. Thanks to the "patient privacy rights ", Taishi Ci felt that if he went directly to Hua Tuo to treat the injury and asked him to keep it confidential, Hua Tuo would not tell anyone else unless the Fengwei wanted to investigate.
As for the Fengbuwei...why did Taishi Ci want to check his own medical records?
The woodcutter seemed still worried and followed Taishi Ci for a few steps, probably wanting to see if he would obediently go to see the doctor.
Taishi Ci looked at the woodcutter, hesitated for a moment and then said, "Something happened in Yiyang County, so I went to Chengji Mansion."
When the woodcutter heard the name "Yi Yang County", he became visibly nervous - including Chen Dao, more than thirty of his fellow Baima Yicong members were in Yi Yang at that time.
At this time, the "sharp knife" of the Northern Army that was attacking the upper reaches of the Huai River and Yuan Shu's old subordinates from Yiyang County was a light cavalry regiment formed based on the remnants of the Bai Ma troops including Chen Dao, and with manpower and horsepower drawn from the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry.
Due to its geographical location, Yangzhou had less than 5,000 cavalrymen in total. Not to mention being comparable to Yuan Shao, it was also inferior to Cao Cao, Liu Zhang, or even... possibly Liu Biao!
Jingzhou is at least connected to Guanzhong in the north and Bashu in the west. Guanzhong is now the place where the princes of Xiliang are rampant, and grain can be exchanged for Liangzhou horses, while Bashu is also the origin of Dian horses.
However, Jingzhou was between Yangzhou and Bashu, and the channels for buying and selling horses were severely disrupted by Jingzhou. Horses could only be purchased in small quantities by private tycoons.
As for the Central Plains, he doesn’t even have enough horses now, so it’s impossible to sell it to Bai Tu. As for Guanzhong... Bai Tu can certainly get his hands on it.
Lu You, a later poet, wrote: "A night snow on a tower ship at Guazhou Ferry, an autumn wind blowing over the iron cavalry at Dasan Pass" - When the Southern Song Dynasty's Northern Expedition was going smoothly, it had inflicted a heavy blow on the Jin army at Guazhou, and was now heading towards Dasan Pass, showing signs of wanting to recover the Central Plains.
It’s just a pity that everyone knows the result. In the end, “the Great Wall on the frontier is just a vain promise, and the gray hair in the mirror has already turned white”. The ruling class of the Southern Song Dynasty gave up the opportunity...
Let’s not talk about the Southern Song Dynasty for now. “Guazhou Ferry” is Guazhou, which is located south of Guangling City and across the river from the current Jingkou City, and “Dashan Pass” is the western gate of the Guanzhong area.
Therefore, the General's Mansion occupying Guangling County is actually bordering Guanzhong, but...
Now, nine out of ten houses in Guanzhong are empty, and it is surrounded by four strong passes in the southeast, northwest, northeast and southwest. It is a typical place with hard bones and little flesh, and no one would easily go there to break their teeth.
Moreover, after Bai Tu announced "Killing one person is like killing my father", it was tantamount to declaring war on Li Jue and Guo Si in Guanzhong, eliminating the possibility of friendly transactions between the two sides.
As a great general's mansion, it is now like a retail investor when it comes to horses, especially good horses that can be trained into war horses. It has been relying on small transactions from the public and accumulating small amounts into large ones.
If it weren't for Chen Dao and others, whose ability to train and lead cavalry was recognized by Lu Bu, Bai Tu would never have been able to transfer war horses from the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry.
However, this time, the Yiyang light cavalry suffered a setback in Min County - Min County is located in the upper reaches of the Huai River and is also the junction of Jiangxia and Nanyang.
The 1,500 Yiyang light cavalry, which had just started to show signs of improvement, lost one third of their force in the battle at Min County...
Chen Dao wanted to return to Nanjing to apologize, but Bai Tu stopped him and ordered him to serve at the front line to make amends for his crime!
Bai Tu has never been a supporter of the idea that "defeat is a sin". If the defeat was caused by objective unfavorable conditions, Bai Tu would not even mention "making up for one's crime with merit". Instead, he would give some words of encouragement. However... this time Chen Dao's defeat was indeed shameful.
Fifteen hundred light cavalry should have been "invincible" on the northern battlefield - Yuan Shu's remaining troops did not have any mature and organized cavalry, and the main force could only muster a thousand cavalry for marauding formations at most. Their quality was not comparable to that of the White Horse Volunteers, and they were not good at individual cavalry combats. They could only be used to maraud for the main force, that is, to prevent the pure infantry formation from being devoured by the opponent's cavalry.
Fifteen hundred light cavalrymen trained according to the White Horse Volunteers could either win or escape. Unless they fell into a trap, how could there be such heavy losses?
The previous journey from Xiyang to the state of Ji also proved this point - at first, the northern army had everything going smoothly, breaking through the enemy lines in the field, setting up camps and capturing cities...
However, after arriving in Ming County, they will face the first tough challenge.
The county seat of Ming County was not a concern, but within Ming County, there were three passes "crowded together", namely Mingyan, Zhiyuan and Dasui - which were known as the Three Passes of Yiyang in later generations, or the Three Passes of Xinyang.
This was the place where Sun Wu led his troops to conquer during the pre-Qin period when the State of Wu attacked the State of Chu.
In history when there was no White Rabbit Effect, Guan Yu was also blocked here when he wanted to march north in Jingzhou.
In the Tang Dynasty, separatist forces repeatedly emerged in Huaixi relying on the three passes. In the Southern Song Dynasty, the defense of Huainan was also controlled by others because the three passes were isolated.
It can be regarded as the first difficult hurdle for the Northern Army in its westward expedition, which is equivalent to Miankou to Jiangxia...
Of course, although the three passes today are not in disrepair, they have not been expanded or rebuilt on a large scale since the pre-Qin period. They cannot compare with the scale after the expansion by the Tuoba clan of the Northern Wei Dynasty in later generations, let alone the famous passes such as Tongguan, Hulao Pass, Dasan Pass, etc.
The reason why they have a strong ability to block the east, west, south and north is that these three passes are in narrow passes, and the seemingly small passes are enough to be guarded.
In other words, the defenders often do not rely on holding the pass, but rather rely on the terrain here to create an environment where the two sides meet on a narrow road.
Not long ago, the Northern Army attacked Mingyan, and the remaining troops of Yuan Shu set up their battle array in the narrow pass.
Chen Dao led a thousand cavalrymen to break through the formation, but during the charge, the spearmen in front of the pass suddenly withdrew, revealing a square formation composed entirely of warriors holding halberds...
