Chapter 96: Naval and Land Warfare

[Cao Wei's record of the results of Yiling was "More than 80,000 of his soldiers were killed, and only his own body was spared." Taking into account the consistent water content in historical records, and the Wuxi barbarians sent troops to supplement.

It can be roughly inferred that the Shu Han sent at most 50,000 troops, plus Wuxi Man, the number was about 70,000 to 80,000, numbered 100,000.

The record of Lu Xun's military strength is relatively clear, "Xun was appointed as the Grand Governor, and during the holidays...50,000 people refused."

But Sun Wu’s military strength cannot be viewed simply like this. For example, in the Battle of Chibi, Zhou Yu only led 30,000 people, while Sun Quan led tens of thousands of people in Chaisang as the second line of defense.

The same goes for the Battle of Yiling. Zhuge Jin led the army to build the second line of defense in Gong'an, and Sun Quan led the army in Wuchang to form the third line of defense. The overall investment is conservatively estimated to be at least 150,000 people.

Moreover, the battlefield Yiling was located in was fighting in a canyon. Liu Bei was the attacker and his troops were dispersed. Lu Xun's defense was able to concentrate his strength in one place.

Therefore, on the local battlefield, the Wu army had the upper hand. It is difficult to say that it was a true battle of defeating more with less. 】

Speaking of battle formations, several generals are no strangers, so we studied them together.

Guan Yu speculated from the coach's perspective:

"With 50,000 troops, there will be at least 30,000 troops led by Fang Zilong. And some of the 50,000 troops should be sent to Huang Quan to go north of the Yangtze River."

"Then there will be at most 40,000 people arriving in Yiling."

"Jiang Dongbing can't fight, but there are so many..." Zhang Fei was a little envious.

Now, even including Le Jin's group of surrendered soldiers, the number of combatable troops is only 30,000.

And this brother-in-law can easily earn more than 100,000. If he can seriously train his soldiers, how strong will they be?

Liu Bei looked at the words "Bei only escaped with his own life" expressionlessly, but he felt blood dripping in his heart.

Even if there are only 40,000 people according to what the second brother said, it is still a force that has been saved with great difficulty.

They should have fought against thieves for the country, but they were buried here in vain.

[In 221, Liu Bei appointed Feng Xi to lead the army into the western boundary of Yiling.

Relying on the superiority of troops, the early battle was quite smooth. Wu County was broken and Zigui was captured. Samoko, the leader of the Wuxi Barbarians, sent envoys to respond to the Shu Han.

At the beginning of the next year, Liu Bei marched towards Xiaoting. At the same time, Liu Bei, who was over sixty years old, also made a very correct decision:

To open the way to the Wo Mountain, Ma Liang was sent from here to Wuling to contact the Wuxi barbarians. When he was in Jingzhou, Ma Liang was sent by Liu Bei to Wuling County to teach agriculture, mulberry trees and water conservancy. He was well regarded among the local ethnic minorities.

And sure enough, the Wuxi barbarians joined the army in response to the Shu Han, and the Shu Han's military strength increased by nearly 20,000. 】

Ma Liang wrote down his name, but he didn't expect that his trivial achievements would be known by future generations?

I just don’t know if in the eyes of future generations, bringing in the Wuxi Barbarians was a meritorious service? Or is it meritorious to govern Wuling County?

Pang Tong felt that he had learned another trick: Jiangdong attacked Shanyue with a large army.

The generals in Jiangdong also commented that the people of the mountains were brave, but they became cowardly after being captured as soldiers of Wu.

So it seems that it is also a way to let Shanyue feel the merits of Zhihua and come to vote voluntarily?

It's just... there are nearly 20,000 barbarian soldiers. I wonder if the Lord has enough food and grass?

Kong Ming whispered: "I am still over sixty years old and still fighting in person... Why should my lord do this?"

Liu Bei smiled: "Kong Ming died of illness on the way to the Northern Expedition, so why should it be like this?"

The monarch and his ministers looked at each other and smiled for a while.

[Facing the Shu Han, whose morale was booming down the river, Lu Xun thought it was necessary to temporarily avoid the edge.

From Yizhou to Yiling, the overall terrain along the Yangtze River from west to east is valleys, canyons, and small plains, and this small plain was locked tightly by Lu Xun with heavy troops.

The exit was locked, and the Shu Han army had no choice but to camp in the canyon for nearly a hundred miles.

Liu Bei was eager to fight, but Lu Xun refused to defend, and remained unmoved despite all kinds of scoldings.

The two sides were in a stalemate from the beginning of the year to the hot June. It was only then that Liu Bei revealed his first flaw:

Under the unbearable heat, Liu Bei ordered his navy to go ashore and camp in the mountains to escape the heat in order to wait for the autumn before attacking again. 】

"How can this be so!" Guan Yu said anxiously:

"Abandoning the ship and going ashore, wouldn't it mean that we were giving up the waterway to Lu Xun in vain?"

Liu Bei scratched his head: "If we find that Sun Wu's navy is attacking, just give us the order to board the ship."

Guan Yu shook his head in pain: "Brother, the ship is moving silently, why do we need a sun attack?"

"Using boats to hide soldiers and marching at night silences the soldiers and cuts off their retreat. If the company and battalion cannot take care of both the front and the rear, wouldn't it mean that the position is in chaos?"

Liu Bei's face turned pale.

Guan Yu again apologized for his omission: "I am responsible for the defeat of Yiling. If there are people who know the navy, they will definitely advise my brother."

"Why should Yun Chang blame himself?" Kong Ming stood up and pulled Guan Yu up:

"Now that we know it, we have made up for our omissions."

Only Liu Bei still blamed himself very much: "Ji Han, I succeeded at your hands, but I failed at my hands."

"My lord, why do you blame yourself so much!" Kong Ming was very angry:

"Without the master, Liang would still be farming in Nanyang at this time, and Yun Changyide would be nothing more than a trafficker butcher!"

"The thief Cao stole the world, why will future generations talk about a thief who stole the country?"

[Lu Xun saw that the morale of the Shu Han had declined, and that the Wu army was more adapted to the hot weather than the Yizhou soldiers, so he knew that the opportunity for victory had come.

After holding on for half a year, Lu Xun organized the first attack. Although the attack failed, Lu Xun said something profound:

"I have learned the art of breaking it."

Generally speaking, one would think that the "skill" here is the Burning Company.

But in fact, the three parties of Wei, Shu and Wu did not describe much about fire attacks in the Battle of Yiling, because fire attacks often need to take advantage of the wind.

For example, the description of the classic fire attack in Chibi is "The wind was very fierce...the sky was filled with smoke, and many people were burned and drowned by men and horses."

There was no record of strong winds during the Yiling period, and the method of using fire to defeat the enemy was only briefly mentioned in history books:

"Order each person to hold a handful of straw and use fire to attack and pull it out. Once the situation is established, all the troops will attack together."

Basically, everyone was asked to bring a flammable object, light it, and throw it into the Shu Han camp. It was that simple. 】

"Setting the horses on fire and burning the camp is a way to disrupt the army."

Guan Yu was very clear about this, and at this moment he admired this opponent a little:

"Facing an urgent army, he knew how to defend himself, and when the enemy was tired, he could choose the opportunity to attack."

"Know the enemy's situation before attacking, and look for clever methods when attacking. Everything he did was appropriate."

Jian Yong also laughed:

"At the Red Cliff, Zhou Gongjin's plan made the wind and fire grow together. If there was no strong wind, Cao's thieves would not have been defeated like this."

Kong Ming also nodded in agreement: "The fire borrowed the wind, so Cao's thieves were busy with themselves. If there was no strong wind, Cao's thieves would have retreated calmly. Why did they lose their courage in a battle?"

"As for Yiling, how could there be a strong wind in Jingzhou in midsummer? As Yunchang said, setting fire to the camp was just a means to disturb the morale of the army."

"The camp must have been cut off by the Sun Wu navy."

Everyone nodded involuntarily. They had been in Jingzhou for more than two years. The climate was extremely hot in summer, and there was not a breeze.

【Lu Xun never mentioned fire attack in his memorial to Sun Quan, which shows that fire attack was never the main point in Yiling.

Instead, Lu Xun pointed out the most critical factor in this battle in his memorial to Sun Quan before the attack:

I initially disliked it, because they wanted to advance by land and sea, but now they abandon boats and go on foot, setting up camps everywhere. I can see from their arrangement that there will be no other changes.

The victory or defeat of Shu Han and Sun Wu, the life and death of 80,000 soldiers, and the key to the three rises of Yan and Han.

All depended on those four words: advance by land and sea. 】

Liu Bei was actually still reliable at Yiling, but he lacked strategists. He didn't have Pang Tong and couldn't be a righteous man. It was too hurt.