Lu Xun's fleet moved grandly from Xiling along the river towards the east.
Now it is winter, and a fully loaded ship can travel one hundred twenty miles in a day. From Xiling to Wuchang, the approximate distance by water is about 1,200 miles. This can be covered in just ten days.
Wuchang is the current capital of the Eastern Wu. Sun Quan's 50,000 central army, led by high-ranking nobles and trusted generals of Sun Quan, is stationed in Wuchang and Jiangxia.
At this time, the Eastern Wu has only about 170,000 to 180,000 troops available. In addition to the 50,000 central troops, there are as many as 50,000 under various commanders and officers of different ranks, leaving the remaining forces to be local troops from various states and prefectures.
Unlike the Wei, the Eastern Wu's army can be divided into three categories: central troops, border troops, and local troops.
The Eastern Wu's army is divided into three categories: central troops, various commanders and officers' troops, and local troops from different states and prefectures.
This difference is already quite apparent. The army in the important border defense areas of the Wei is directly administered by the court and stationed on the borders, whereas the army controlling the crucial water and land passages in the Eastern Wu is more often composed mainly of the troops of various commanders and officers, supplemented by local soldiers.
In other words, after this battle, Sun Quan would change the border defense area of Lu Xun to Jiangling and transfer Zhu Rán to Lechuan.
So, Lu Xun's 5,000 troops would follow him to Lechuan and his entire family, including men and women, would also move there. Zhu Rán's 2,000 troops would do the same; they would take their families with them and settle in the new location.
It carries a distinct sense of feudalism.
If viewed from the perspective of later maps, the Eastern Wu's occupation of Jingzhou, Yangzhou, and Jiaozhou did indeed cover a considerable area. It was even capable of rivaling the Northern Wei in terms of territory.
However, when looking at population distribution, the actual controlled area of the Eastern Wu becomes rather modest. Even Dan Yang, not far from Jianye, was constantly troubled by the Shan Yue people. Let alone those places with sparse households that still had to be controlled.
The hills, lakes, marshes, and forests are densely populated with few cultivable lands. The mountain Yue people also refuse to pay taxes, hiding in the mountains. With such a population, how could the great Wu be built?
Facing such a situation, Emperor Sun Quan of the Eastern Wu naturally had a plan. He would select a general from his own ranks, give him 1,000 troops, and have him lead his troops and their families to the area that needed defense. Whether it was recruiting soldiers, defending the territory or waging war against the mountain Yue people, having the commander lead with his troops as the core made everything easier to handle.
This is essentially the "production and construction" version of the Three Kingdoms.
A few years ago, when Cao Pi led three armies to attack the Wu, the central Cao Ren moved from Hefei south to attack RunsSU. At that time, Zhu Huan only had 5,000 soldiers under his command. Cao Ren originally thought that this was a sure thing. He ordered General Chang Chao to attack the islands in the middle of RunsSU River.
At that time, the families of Zhu Huan's troops, who were living on the island in the middle of Runsu River, the place where he was defending.
Attacking someone else's family in front of others?
Zhu Huan's troops were as if they had been blessed by a spell. They were filled with anger and anger and fought with an unparalleled ferocity. With only 3,000 soldiers, they defeated Chang Chao's 5,000 soldiers and forced Cao Ren and his son Cao Tai to retreat.
The Wei's troops stationed on the border, to maintain the discipline and prevent the soldiers from fleeing, adopted a "joint punishment" system of keeping their families in the interior. If a soldier dared to flee, he would be punished by law, which affected his family in the interior. It sounds quite cruel, doesn't it?
On the other side of the Eastern Wu, under Sun Quan, they would directly send the families of the officers to the edge of the defense zone! The officers would live with their troops in the defense zone, and their families would live nearby.
Even if the officers agreed, the troops would not agree.
To say that both the Wei and the Eastern Wu had their own ways of dealing with the military households, and neither was particularly more compassionate than the other.
Lu Xun's destination, Wuchang, is located between Jingzhou and Yangzhou. It is in a strategic position where it can rescue Xiling and Jiangling above and Ruyu and Guangling below. Sun Quan has practically placed his army right in the middle of these two places, which is why it's no wonder that Sun Quan chose to establish his capital here after occupying Jingzhou.
The capital of Wei was also chosen with similar techniques, if not even more sophisticated.
Cao Wei had five capitals!
Xuchang needs no explanation; it was one of Cao Cao's early bases. After welcoming the Former Emperor to Xuchang during the early years of the Jian'an era, Xuchang was also renamed as the last capital of the Han dynasty.
Secondly, Yèchéng. Yèchéng was originally the core region of Yuan Shao. After Cao Cao occupied Hebei, before he assumed the title of Gong, he chose the best and most precious part of all the regions under his control as the territory for his Wei public domain. Since then, Yèchéng has become the capital of Wei.
The third is Luoyang, the capital of the Eastern Han dynasty. Cao Pi simply continued to use it as the capital. Luoyang is centrally located in the heart of the country, making it an ideal location for a capital city.
The fourth and fifth capitals were Chang'an and Qiao County. Both were promoted to capital status in the third year of Huangchu years, primarily due to their military significance.
Changing a state capital into a city under the direct administration of the court counts as another form of 'direct administration.' Chang'an served as a defense against Yong and Liang regions, while Qiao County was established as a rear base for fighting against the Eastern Wu.
Cao Rui set out from Chenliu and traveled southeast. After passing the last county, Yiwu, in the Chenliu commandery, he crossed into the Liang commandery to reach the Qiao commandery.
On the evening of the 19th day of the 12th lunar month, Cao Rui led his army to the area between Shuipo and Qiao County, where they naturally camped in the wilderness.
Grown up in Yèchéng and Luoyang, Cao Rui can be said to be short on military experience and not well-versed in the intricacies of army movement and wilderness camping. However, after more than a decade of marching, it can be said that he has become quite clear on the surface knowledge of military camps that an emperor should possess.
Setting up camp in the wild is quite different from staying in a city. Xu Chu's thousand cavalry followed the emperor to camp in the central large camp, while 1,000 cavalrymen from Cao Hong's Zhongluo Camp were stationed on the east, west, south, and north sides.
As for patrolling, watching guards, and going out to conduct reconnaissance, these are ordinary tasks that the army should handle, but Cao Rui found them quite novel.
In the evening, Cao Rui walked out of the tent together with Xu Chu and Cao Hong to patrol the camp. There were campfires everywhere in the camp, and small patrol teams of soldiers were constantly moving around.
Xu Chu looked at Cao Rui and asked, "Your Majesty, the winter night is cold and the dew is heavy, not like in the usual times. Your Majesty should go to rest in your tent. I am here to patrol the camp."
Cao Rui smiled and said, "General Xu is worried about my health, aren't you?"
Xu Chu hesitated for a moment before saying, "I am concerned about your Majesty. This is Your Majesty's first campaign, and traveling at an average of 80 miles per day on horseback, how could Your Majesty still have the energy to follow me on the patrol?"
Cao Rui smiled and shook his head: "A first military campaign does not necessarily mean it is impossible to endure. I began practicing swordsmanship and horseback riding at the age of ten, and it has been more than a decade since then. A little bit of marching is hardly anything."
"You see, the two secondary chancellors, Liu Fang and Sun Zhou, are both in their mid-fifties. They still ride horses during the day and are now working on documents in the tent,"
"Do you think that since I live a life of luxury, my body can't stand it?"
Xu Chu thought for a moment and said, "I know that while Your Majesty was in the palace, you never stopped exercising every day. You swam in summer and practiced swordsmanship in autumn. Xiahou Xian even told me that he was finding it harder and harder to keep up with Your Majesty after returning to camp."
"The winner or loser of a sword fight is one thing, but Xiahou Xian actually lets me win, and I know it. When we get to the battlefield, who will let me win?" Cao Rui kicked away a stone on the road with his foot.
Xu Chu said, "Your Majesty is jesting. The great Wei has tens of thousands of soldiers in armor, how can we let Your Majesty face the enemy directly?"
Cao Rui replied, "While that's true, whether one knows swordsmanship and horse riding is one thing, whether or not they use them is another. As a descendant of Emperor Wu, I still need to be proficient in martial arts."
Yes, Cao Cao indeed was skilled in martial arts. In addition to his role as a commander and strategist, he was also an excellent general.
A few centuries later, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty once criticized Cao Cao: "He is well-qualified as a single commander but not enough for a monarch." And every military crisis faced by Cao Wei was resolved by Cao Cao himself, commanding and directing the troops.
Xu Chu thought for a moment and said, "If Your Majesty insists on being proficient in martial arts, then there is no harm in taking a patrol around the camp with me."
At this time, Cao Hong who was following behind said, "According to the distance, we should be able to arrive in Qiao County tomorrow noon. Should Your Majesty want to rest there for a few days?"
Cao Rui with one hand across his waist and the other hand on the hilt of his sword, walking forward and saying: "General Wei thinks that I should rest?"
Cao Hong gradually adapted to the emperor's speaking style: "Your Majesty might as well take a rest for a day?"
Cao Rui shook his head gently: "We left Luoyang on the 10th day of December and rested for a day on the 14th day in Chenliu, and now it has been five days since then. We will soon arrive in Qiao County."
"Marching 80 li a day, if we continue at this pace, it will take another six days to reach Shoushun. If we rest in Qiao County and delay the journey, I'm afraid I'll be late."
Cao Hong curiously asked, "What are you in a hurry for? If we rest for one or two days, it will only be the 27th or 28th day when we reach Shoushun, and there are still a few days left until the end of the year."
Cao Rui said, "We need to make up for these few days. I have already discussed with the Grand Marshal and the Grand General. We will move out after the Heavenly Altar ritual on New Year's Day in Shoushun."
Cao Hong continued to ask: "Shouldn't the General have arrived in Qiao County by now?"
Cao Rui nodded: "The General is leading an army of 45,000 men. They set out from Luoyang on the third day of December, which is seven days earlier than us. By tonight or at the latest by the day after tomorrow, the General should be in Shoushun."
Cao Hong rubbed his beard and asked, "Then, isn't our army the only one left to arrive?"
Cao Rui said, "There are two other armies yet to arrive. Guizhi, the prefectural governor of Dongguan, and Sunli, the prefectural governor of Langya, are quite far away. They are likely to arrive two days later than us."
Cao Hong thought for a moment and said, "Then can we assemble in Shoushun before the first day of January?"
Cao Rui said, "I have roughly calculated that we will have about 150,000 soldiers."
"Five million for the middle army goes without saying, four million state and county troops from Qingzhou, Xuzhou, Yuzhou, and Hengzhou, plus seven million edge military troops excluding those stationed at Hefei and Guangling. That's about fifteen million."
Although rough and unrefined, Cao Hong still could do basic calculations: "That makes sixteen million? Where did the additional ten thousand people go?"
Cao Rui revealed a faint expression of helplessness: "The remaining ten thousand soldiers will be led by Jia Qi, with four thousand stationed in Wan Cheng, and six thousand working on the road construction."
Cao Hong was somewhat confused: "Jia Qi is also a prefectural governor. How can he go do such leading edge work?"
Cao Rui said, "Who else could it be? Naturally, it's because the Grand Marshal asked him to do it. General Wei, don't you know that there has been a long-standing enmity between the Grand Marshal and Jia Qi?"
Cao Hong had always been a very meticulous commander of troops: "I do know that, but I didn't expect such arrangements from the Grand Marshal."
There is one more chapter at 12:00 am.
(Chapter Ends)
