Volume 5: Overlord of the Sea Chapter 561 Timing
"Commander, I found out ... Three hours ago, Ma Chao led the Qiang people to cooperate with the Yang family of Nanzheng. Nanzheng just fell, and Ma Chao is sorting out the city affairs. It seems that Zhang Lu escaped at the beginning of the night attack."
Less than ten miles outside Nanzheng City , Sun Kuang reported to Sun Ce who had just disembarked.
When Bai Tu first met Sun Kuang, he was just a silly-looking little fat boy, but now he is a company commander of the cavalry division.
This time, Sun Kuang's cavalry company was placed under the Wuchang 1st Division Guard Regiment, which was the personal guard regiment of Sun Ce, the commander of the Wuchang Military Region.
Although he was Sun Ce's third brother, Sun Kuang still inherited the fine tradition of the Sun family in the army and only addressed each other by their military positions.
Sun Kuang had just gone to investigate the situation and found some defeated troops coming out of Nanzheng. He captured a middle-level general alive and inquired about the situation.
"Are we not yet firmly established..." Sun Ce looked in the direction of Nanzheng City, and then gave an order: "Those who land later will set up camp along the water. Two people will be left in the engineering battalion to assist in setting up the camp, and two people will be left in the artillery company to guard against incoming attacks. The rest of you, come with me and rush to Nanzheng!" Sun Ce thought about it for a moment, and then made a decision immediately.
We should attack Ma Chao while he is still unstable. However, half of them have not landed yet. If we wait, we will waste time and give the enemy a chance to catch their breath. So we should stay and set up camp first. In case we fail to take them down, we can still return to the camp.
Zhou Yu was standing by at this time, but he did not stop Sun Ce. During this time... Sun Ce also glanced in Zhou Yu's direction repeatedly, and finally seemed to have given up something.
After Sun Kuang went to pass on the message, Zhou Yu "floated" to Sun Ce's side, covered his eyes with a feather fan, and whispered: "There are really not enough cavalry!"
"Yes... well, there's nothing missing. After all, our tactics are different! Hahaha..." Sun Ce wanted to agree at first, but then he suddenly remembered something and changed his tone.
Zhou Yu gave him a speechless look.
Sure enough, if there were not enough cavalry, Sun Ce would probably want to attack Nanzheng with a small group of cavalry first!
Unfortunately, it is difficult to transport cavalry by water, and now, except for three independent cavalry regiments, the cavalry of Chu State are distributed in the form of "cavalry companies" like artillery, ensuring that each brigade has a cavalry company, but only as an auxiliary functional arm, rather than the main force on the battlefield.
Otherwise, with Sun Ce's recklessness, he would have the guts to charge straight ahead with 800 cavalrymen...
However, now only each brigade has scattered cavalry companies, and the training they receive is not the tactics of the old cavalry such as collective charge, so Sun Ce had to give up the idea.
Of course, Sun Ce without cavalry is still Sun Ce. Nanzheng was not far from the landing site. Since he knew that the enemy had not yet established a firm foothold, Sun Ce naturally led his troops there as soon as possible, wanting to take the opportunity to seize Nanzheng first!
In fact, the timing was a bit unfortunate. If Zhang Lu had held out for another day, the Hanning Army and the Chu Army would have attacked Ma Chao together...
However, there are also advantages to Zhang Lu's escape. If we defeat Ma Chao together with Zhang Lu, even if Zhang Lu does not mention it for the time being, he will definitely be wondering in his heart - so the purpose of your Chu State building the Han River Dam is to transport troops here?
Zhang Lu has been operating in Hanzhong for such a long time, and at that time Chu was the guest and Zhang Lu was the host. Once the foreign enemy left, there would definitely be a lot of conflicts and even clashes. After all... the Chu army did not come here for "public welfare"!
However, Zhang Lu had just escaped and Ma Chao had not yet completely taken control of Nanzheng. This timing caused some difficulties on the tactical level, but from the overall perspective, it made things easier.
"Bofu, do you remember what I told you about what Han Xin did during the Chu-Han Contention and the ambush from all sides?" Zhou Yu asked Sun Ce on his way to Nanzheng.
Sun Ce thought for a moment and then said, "Drill through the crotch?"
Zhou Yu: ...
The word "井" (well) visibly appeared on Zhou Yu's forehead. He gritted his teeth and said, "So you really don't remember it at all, right?"
"Ahem, let me think about it..."
"Don't think about it! It's the Chu song! In order to defeat the morale of the Chu army, Han Xin ordered the Han army to learn to sing the Chu song!" Zhou Yu reminded while rubbing the red dot.
“Chu songs? Many people can sing it... No, we should sing... Qiang folk songs now? This is a bit unconventional..." Sun Ce scratched his head, looking like "Where can I find people who can sing Qiang folk songs at this time?"
"Of course we're not singing for the Qiang people. Even though we've fought hard all night, the number of Qiang people in Nanzheng is only more than us, not less. Singing the Qiang people's songs will not arouse their homesickness, or make them think that their homeland has been lost! What I mean is... we can let those defeated troops of the 'Tianshi Dao' we found before quickly teach them a few teachings of the Tianshi Dao step by step." Zhou Yu rolled his eyes.
After Sun Ce was reminded, he thought about it and finally understood . He couldn't help but laugh: "Hahaha, you are worthy of being Gongjin!"
That’s right, the Qiang people don’t feel any ripples in their hearts when they sing Qiang songs now, but... the teachings of Tianshi Dao can inspire the resistance consciousness of the believers in the city, and make them think that the army outside the city is “their own people”.
Ma Chao's foothold is not stable now. As long as there is more chaos in the city and the Tianshi Dao rebels again, Sun Ce's chances of succeeding in retaking Nanzheng will be even higher!
Although Zhang Lu had already escaped, which greatly reduced the morale of the remaining Tianshi Dao soldiers in Nanzheng City, most people probably didn't know what had happened. It was only the Qiang people and the actual situation that told them that Zhang Lu had already escaped.
At this time, if someone outside the city shouted the teachings of Tianshi Dao, it would still inspire their loyalty to Tianshi Dao, and they might even imagine Zhang Lu bringing people back to rescue them...
"But in this case, after we occupy Nanzheng, will we be dragged down by the Tianshi Sect?" Sun Ce rarely thought one step further, which made Zhou Yu very relieved.
Although Sun Ce's words sounded a bit arrogant, as if he had already defeated Ma Chao, but... at least Sun Ce was thinking!
"No, after entering the city, we can naturally spread the word for them that Zhang Lu has escaped, and then commend those Tianshidao generals for their spirit of defending the people in the city to the death, and execute those traitors who colluded with the Qiang people...
The remaining troops in Nanzheng must be incorporated resolutely and quickly, and any armed forces that do not comply with Chu laws must be resolutely banned. However, the influence of Tianshi Dao can be gradually weakened.
Besides... Zhang Lu is now most likely to flee to Hanchang. If nothing unexpected happens, General Zilong should have arrived there by now, right? If Zhang Lu is controlled, these won't be a problem at all." Zhou Yu analyzed step by step.
Sun Ce nodded continuously after listening, then said with a silly smile: "Hahaha, but now we still have to defeat Ma Chao first. Gongjin, you are a little too impatient! Hahaha..."
Zhou Yu: ...
