Volume 5: Overlord of the Sea Chapter 622: Shu Land Action
Zhuge Liang could not accept Bai Tu's idea for the time being. In fact, most people could not accept it either. However, for most people, there was no need to fully accept it - whether it was the middle and low-level officials or the workers in all walks of life in the State of Chu, they should just do their job.
But Zhuge Liang's words, not accepting Bai Tu's idea, meant that he would not be used by the State of Chu!
I don’t even dare to use the white map…
However, Zhuge Liang originally wanted to return to his thatched cottage to live in seclusion. Anyway, he had already arrived in Xiangyang... and it was not far from Zhuge Liang's thatched cottage.
But Zhuge Liang didn't expect that in just nine years, he would return here again, and in such a state.
However, he was left behind by Bai Tu.
"Since we can't make it in time for the spring plowing, Mr. Zhuge, there's no need to rush back to farm. Why don't you stay here and give me some advice occasionally?" Bai Tu made a freeloading voice.
I don't want to appoint you as an official, but I still hope you can give me some advice!
"If the King of Chu invites me, I will of course obey his orders. However, Chu has so many wise counselors and brave generals that I am no shortage of people." Zhuge Liang did not resist too much. After all, he did not want the war to be too complicated.
Of course, Bai Tu just wanted to let him see it and didn't really expect Zhuge Liang to do anything.
Whether he was extremely intelligent or had a destiny book on his shoulders, it could not change the fact that Zhuge Liang had never been exposed to the military system of the Chu State and did not thoroughly understand the strengths and weaknesses of the Chu Army in all aspects.
You should know that the Chu army has already gone beyond the scope of cold weapon combat and started to use mainly hot (qi) weapons. Due to the differences in productivity and technological structure, from strategy to tactics, it is very different from ordinary cold weapon armies!
The first step for the Chu army to march north was to cross the Guandu River...
Once Cao Cao fails to defend the Yanjin area and is forced to cross the Yellow River by the Chu army, he will face a fierce attack from Chu!
At the same time, Deng Ai, who was far away in the south, and Meng Da, who had already been instigated to rebel, also began to actively contact them.
Because Zhao Yun was in Hanzhong, even if there was nothing to do, he had to deploy his troops in Jiange. At the same time, Chen Dao also led a detachment to put pressure on Jiangzhou in Badong. So Zhang Ren and Yan Yan were in Jiange and Jiangzhou respectively, and they couldn't get away at all!
Those southern barbarians who were "driven out" by the development of the southern part of Chu State had previously caused chaos in Yizhou County and Qianwei County, and the Shuhou Mansion in Xichuan only wanted to protect itself.
Meng Da was originally responsible for setting up camp in the Zhuti Mountain area to resist the "invasion of the Southern Barbarians". He was considered one of the "small leaders" south of the Lu River and deep in the war zone.
Because of his bravery and several anticipatory attacks, he successfully linked up with other friendly forces...
Therefore, not only was his position promoted and he had more soldiers under his command, but many other "small leaders" also admired Meng Da very much and secretly regarded him as their leader!
Originally, Meng Da wanted to cooperate with the Enlightenment Department to gradually "corrupt" other generals guarding the south of Lushui. However, starting from the Guanzhong Incident, although Meng Da received the news late, he had a keen "sense of smell" and had guessed that the Chu army would most likely take action in advance.
After receiving Deng Ai's message, Meng Da went all out. On the appointed date, he invited several other generals with over a thousand soldiers stationed nearby to come in advance, using the excuse of "surprise attack on the southern barbarians"...
After the banquet, Meng Da bluntly listed Liu Zhang’s immoral behaviors and stated the conditions that the State of Chu agreed to!
The other generals were horrified, but no one was in a hurry to call for their personal guards...
"I know that everyone here is willing to protect the people of Bashu. Now that the Chu army has arrived, the danger of Bashu will be resolved. If you have any concerns, you may as well stay here. You will be rewarded in the future!" Meng Da persuaded the soldiers while... ambushing the swordsmen outside the tent as usual.
Although there was a small disturbance in Meng Da's camp at this time, it was quickly quelled, and... Meng Da sat on the throne with full confidence from beginning to end, as if nothing had happened.
That’s right, Meng Da already commanded more than 10,000 troops, and there was also a “military supervisor” from the Shuhou Mansion in the army. However, a few days ago, Gao Shun’s Xianzhen Camp had passed through the Nanman war zone and came to Meng Da’s camp, personally supporting him!
Although 3,000 trap camps are not considered a large number, they are definitely not enough to quietly cross the war zones of two counties without being discovered...
However, for Gao Shun, this is just basic operation.
The southern part of Yizhou is mountainous, and the Formation Breaking Camp only travels among the mountains. As long as one soldier from the Formation Breaking Camp discovers a southern barbarian scout, or even just an ordinary barbarian passing by, the entire army will immediately go into hiding. There are truly three thousand people, as one, without any unnecessary movements !
The ultimate control over Ji Zao's soldiers achieved the effect of complete command without any "redundant" operations.
It can be said that only Gao Shun can "play" the battlefield duel as a real-time strategy game. For any other general, what they need to consider is not as simple as a strategy game, because it is not that the army can be controlled by moving the mouse and keyboard...
While Meng Da was "showing his cards", Gao Shun also immediately suppressed the part of the army that was not his confidant!
Overnight, the core of Meng Da's army became the Chu army, and they gradually conquered several surrounding Shu garrisons.
By the time Xichuan reacted, the gates of Jianwei County had already been opened, and Jiang Yang had to face the "rebels" head-on.
At the same time, Deng Ai also led the Southern Central Army to the north to attack the barbarian tribes. These were the remnants of the tribes that had been "driven" northwards and had to fight against the Shu army because they were unwilling to accept the Chu State.
In the eyes of the Shu army, there are still some threats, but in the eyes of the Chu army, they are all chickens and dogs... It's impossible!
If there really were a large number of Chu troops, Deng Ai could easily defeat them, but in fact, most of the current "Chu troops" in Nanzhong are local people in Nanzhong, that is, the various tribes that had previously accepted the Chu State and embraced Baixue.
The equipment is new and the military supplies are sufficient, but their combat effectiveness is far inferior to that of the real Chu army.
Deng Ai had no illusions that he could sweep away all enemies with ease. In fact, he had high hopes for the 40,000 men who would be gathered together after Meng Da surrendered the Shu army south of the Lu River!
The reason why he sent troops was that he was worried that the barbarians who had previously wreaked havoc in southern Yizhou would cause trouble.
As long as this defection could cross the Lu River and capture Jiangyang, the center of the Lu River, the southern part of Yizhou would have changed its flag.
For the Shu army, once Jiangyang was lost, Jiangzhou, the center of Ba County, would no longer be a strategic place that was easy to defend but difficult to attack. No matter how strategic a place was, it could not withstand a knife hanging behind it...
Once Ba County was broken, the Chu army could immediately pour in, and Shu County would have to bear the direct pressure.
Now that there is no hope for the Han Dynasty, the reason why Liu Zhang can still hold on is that Sima Yi made some promises to him. Deng Ai suspects that it doesn’t matter. As long as Ba County is lost and the Chu State directly advances into Shu County, Liu Zhang will not be able to withstand the pressure and will most likely be persuaded to surrender!
