For a young man of twenty-one who has mainly received Confucian education, Sun Quan's question is obviously too difficult.
Sun Deng pondered for a long time before bowing and saying, "Your Majesty, my child indeed does not know how to attack a city when it is submerged in water. Please forgive me."
Sun Quan smiled and stroked his beard: "No matter, your words, Xiao Gao, have already satisfied the king. If you don't know, you can go and consult some of the generals and sailors in the military. When Wu Wu's navy arrives near Xiangyang, I will come to ask you again."
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Sun Deng bowed deeply, and together with the four guests behind him, he walked down to the highest level of Wu Wang's boat and returned to his own private cabin.
The Wu Wang fleet, despite being the largest, most luxurious, and most magnificent fleet in the army, actually served as Sun Quan's command center. In addition to various busy officials such as military officers and clerks, there were also many accompanying guards.
Being allowed a separate cabin as the crown prince is already a favor.
The boat sailed up the Han River against the current, gently swaying with the water waves. Through the window, one could see a yellowish-brown color in the river water, and occasionally some broken wood was carried by the current.
This is the flood, and the disaster that Wei encountered has become a favorable time for Wu to launch an attack. The lives of the people and the people always come after the emperor's dominion.
Sun Deng sat down first, followed by the four attendants. The last one, Zhuge Ke, closed the cabin door. As soon as they settled in, he bowed to Sun Deng in greeting:
"Oh, when the Most Respected One asked the Crown Prince a question just now, I wanted to remind the Crown Prince but never found the opportunity," Zhuge Ke said. He was pale and fat with few eyebrows and a very loud voice. As soon as he started speaking, his voice echoed in the narrow cabin.
"Yuan Xun, please speak a little more quietly. You're almost deafening me," Zhang Xiu said with a slight frown next to him.
"That's what I'll do," Zhuge Ke said, still smiling and bowing towards Sun Deng. "There's no need for the Crown Prince to go ask those generals. I can answer for the Crown Prince."
Sun Deng is the Crown Prince of Wu, and in the eyes of the current King Sun Quan, he is as precious as the tip of a thorn. The four guests chosen by Sun Quan for him are: Zhuge Ke, the son of General Zhuge Jin; Zhang Xiu, the son of General Zhang Zhao; Gu Tan, the grandson of Prime Minister Gu Yong; and Chen Biao, the son of Deputy General Chen Wu. All of them are from distinguished families and are older than Sun Deng.
This luxurious standard configuration directly indicates to the officials of Wu that the position of Crown Prince Sun Deng is secure.
Sun Deng was humble and polite. After hearing Zhuge Ke's words, he bowed and asked, "Please explain to me how to attack a city during a flood."
Sun Ce and Sun Quan, in the Jiangdong region, recruited talented individuals. In addition to recruitment by decree, the most commonly used approach was through 'guests'. Lowering one's status to socialize was a common practice.
Although Sun Deng always refers to them as brothers, each of them knows who they are.
Zhuge Ke bowed and replied, "The water attack has been recorded in history. I won't mention the far ones. I'll give two recent examples for the Crown Prince."
"Please go ahead, Brother Yuan Xun."
"Since water attacks are used to attack cities, they must be related to the city walls," Zhuge Ke said. "All the walls are constructed of packed soil, which requires long-term maintenance. If it encounters a sudden rainstorm or a flood, the packed soil will become soft and collapse."
"Does the Crown Prince know about Han-endian Bu Lü Bu, also known as Bu Fengxian? He was defeated in Xiaopu, Xuzhou by Cao Mengde. This is because Cao Mengde led the adjacent Yue and Si rivers to flood the city, causing the walls to collapse and enabling him to capture Bu Fengxian."
Sun Deng was the first time to hear this battle example: "To borrow the water of two great rivers to flood an entire city, there is such a military strategy in the world?"
Zhuge Ke smiled and patted his chest: "Cao Mengde's military strategies were indeed outstanding, but when he faced the majestic army of the king in Chibi and Rumenushu, he was unable to do anything, and it was still the king who was higher."
"Another person who took advantage of the water to attack a city was Guan Yu, also known as Guan Yunlong."
Sun Deng nodded: "I am aware of this. I was taken by my father to a banquet in the city of Jianye many years ago, and I even saw the surrendered Yu Jin, also known as Yu Wenze."
Zhuge Ke said: "No matter how big or small the water, our Wu Navy will definitely block the north-south flow of the Han River. So there are different ways to attack a city when the water is big or small."
Sun Deng's demeanor grew even more humble, bowing his head and asking: "I would greatly appreciate it if Brother Yuan Xun could enlighten me."
"The Crown Prince is too modest. What is there to teach? These are mere tricks of military strategy that can be pierced through with a needle." Zhuge Ke was quite self-satisfied and even glanced at the three others in the cabin one by one:
"If the water level is high, you can attack Xinan by boat. If the water level is low, you can build a dam outside the city to divert the flow and flood the city from outside!"
Zhang Xiu laughed lightly: "Yuan Xun speaks so easily. Building a dam to block the water is just wishful thinking. How can you build a dam when all the places are flooded? And how can you divert water to Xinan City?"
"I believe, rather than asking how to attack the city, the king is actually inquiring about how to choose the right timing for the attack! As for the matter of attacking the city, it is something that our generals will handle. Why should the crown prince worry about it?"
"This," Zhuge Ke was caught off guard by Zhang Xiu's words, but he didn't get angry: "I'm just telling the Crown Prince how to attack. The actual actions will have to be decided when we reach the city of Xinan, and we will do our best."
"Talking about strategy on paper." Zhang Xiu laughed again.
Zhuge Ke gave a sly look and also laughed: "Talking about strategy on paper is endless fun. Uncle Zhang, why don't you join in the discussion and talk about the best timing?"
The four of them had never led troops before. Although there were a few truths in their words, the fact remained that Sun Deng now knew the correctness of his father's words. Matters of military strategy should be decided by actual commanders in charge of armies.
"Alright, you must stop arguing about this matter." Sun Deng quickly intervened: "This afternoon, I will go to the Shaminan General's fleet in a boat and ask for advice. At that time, the four of you will accompany me and listen to how the general explains it."
"Yes."
"As the Crown Prince said."
The four all nodded in agreement.
......
The Great Wei army arrived in the town of Taiyin on the 23rd day of the eighth lunar month, and Cao Renyi led 4,000 riders southward that day. He entrusted all the various duties to his previous general, Man Chong.
For Man Chong, the things in his hand were like a tangled mess, and he needed to do them one by one.
Firstly, he had to distribute rewards to the soldiers in the army.
For the state militia of You and Ji provinces, it is easy to distribute rewards, as there is a well-established system in place. However, for the light cavalry of the Xianbei, Wuyuan, and Xiongnu tribes, it is more difficult.
Man Chong and the military officials insisted on distributing rewards to each of the horse-mounted warriors who had accompanied the campaign. However, the leaders of each tribe insisted that Man Chong distribute the rewards to them, who would then distribute them to the horse-mounted warriors in their respective tribes.
Given the organizational level of these Huns, they are far from being able to take a cut of the rewards that have already been distributed from their own tribal horsemen. To enrich themselves, they would have to retain the rewards.
Man Chong naturally disagreed.
You accompany the Great Wei Emperor in the army, and the imperial court has already provided rewards for your respective chiefs. Why do you need to take money from your own cavalry? Who knows whether you will distribute the coins and cloth you take away to your cavalrymen?
You might as well take the full rewards from the Great Wei and pocket them, then still have to inform your tribal cavalrymen, telling them that the Great Wei is stingy!
Just the distribution of rewards alone took two days of negotiation, with Man Chong eventually having to execute one of the most troublesome Uighur chiefs, and the rest of the Huns finally quieting down and accepting the rewards distributed by the imperial court.
The rewards for the 16,000 horse-mounted warriors were finally distributed by the cavalrymen of the central military division under Sun Liwei, without passing through the hands of each tribal chief.
In addition to the rewards, the next task was to compile records of condolences, and the military advisors under General Man Chong of the Great Wei sent letters to the county and prefectural governments of various regions to inform them of the place of origin, merits, and due compensation for the deceased soldiers.
That's always the case. It's easier to fight, but the tasks after the battle are more complicated.
The newly appointed General of Xianbei Protection, Duan Zhao, was to be stationed in Youbei. Man Chong spent time selecting four thousand competent soldiers from the state militia to serve under him. He personally imparted advice to Duan Zhao and also invited Tian Yu to share his experiences and insights on governing and commanding officials in border areas.
There were also many more trivial matters concerning grain and supplies to attend to. After completing one by one, by the time Man Chong set out from Youbei and reached outside the city of Quanzhou, it was already the eighth day of September.
At this time, Man Chong's army consisted of over 10,000 horsemen from the central army except for the remaining ones, and another 3,000 light cavalry from the Xiongnu tribe, 2,000 light cavalry from the Qupi clan of the Xianbei tribe, and 5,000 horsemen and 5,000 foot soldiers from the area around Liaodong.
The Liao Dong army, which was a mix of 10,000 cavalry and infantry, was the most elite troops selected by Man Chong and Liu Ye from Sun Cong's 50,000 Liao Dong troops during their time in Xiangping. This can be considered one of the achievements of this campaign.
According to the words of the emperor himself, if the state of Yingzhou were to belong to the Wei Dynasty but not require military intervention, then how could it be considered part of the Wei's territories?
Great Wei has always been generous to its surrendered generals. The 10,000 Liao Dong soldiers were temporarily led by the surrendered and honorary title "Praiser of Justice" to the General who had joined Wei named Bi Yan and Bi Hongyi.
To be honest, when such a great favor was bestowed upon Bi Yan, even he himself found it hard to believe. The harsh cold of Liao Dong compared to the fertile lands of Henan in Great Wei is quite apparent. To let slip an offered official position would truly make one look like a fool, so he happily accepted it.
To serve at the imperial capital, isn't that wonderful?
Cao Rui and Man Chong, et al., were not worried about it either. Since they were all stationed in Henan, how could they fear that these Liao Dong soldiers would deflect to Wu? In fact, letting an old general command his troops in a foreign land could help the soldiers feel more at ease. If things didn't work out, they could always let Bi Yan retire later. There were a thousand ways to deal with him.
The large army stationed outside Quanzhou City, as Xin Pi and the grain transport fleet gradually moved south, the city of Quanzhou also gradually lost its previous bustle.
Man Chong, who was in charge of military affairs, naturally lived in the main tent. After dinner, Jiang Wei, who was responsible for guard duty tonight, entered the tent quietly and respectfully reported:
"Reporting to General, the Xianbei Chief requests an audience." (This chapter is complete)
