Chapter 109: Leading the Troops South The grand archery ceremony gradually came to an end. Only a dozen people had hit all four targets, and all of them received special rewards from the emperor. After the Grand Archery Ceremony, there was a banquet, and the emperor led everyone in drinking. One reason was that it was in accordance with the etiquette process after the Grand Archery Ceremony, and the other was to celebrate the New Year's Day in advance. The time finally came to the New Year's Day. In the early morning, Cao Rui burned incense and offered sacrifices to the gods behind the altar in the southern suburbs of Shouchun. After announcing the change of the reign title to "Taihe", he stood on the platform, drew his sword and pointed it southward, announcing a southern expedition. The armies set out in the order they had previously agreed upon, with the cavalry going first and the infantry following. The armies marched southward from the southern suburbs of Shouchun City, with the army stretching for dozens of miles. The first cavalry team had been on the march for half a day, and the last infantry team had just left Shouchun City. All we can say is that the march of a large army is indeed a huge hassle in terms of management and logistics. There are more than 160,000 troops available in Yangzhou. There were originally 10,000 foreign troops stationed in Hefei, Guangling and Lu'an. Of these, there were originally 4,000 soldiers in Hefei, and with the addition of 5,000 foreign troops later transferred from Shouchun, there were now 9,000 soldiers in Hefei. In addition to the 5,000 troops of Wang Chang, the governor of Yanzhou, who were sent to build roads, the 10,000 troops of Jia Kui, the governor of Yuzhou, who were sent to Wuqiangkou to build fortifications, and the 5,000 troops of Liu Ruo, the general who assisted the country, there were already 20,000 people who had gone south first.
Fifteen thousand and then twenty thousand of the 160,000 troops left, and the total number of troops that set out from Shouchun City to the south was 125,000. Adding the civilians who were conscripted for labor service, the number of troops could be falsely claimed to be 400,000. Generals of the level of Cao Xiu and Cao Zhen must be in charge. Leading the 10,000 cavalrymen heading south was the Right General Zhu Gai, who had been in Jianghuai for a long time and had rich combat experience. Zhu Gai was also a veteran. When Cao Wei first conquered Wancheng, it was Zhang Liao who led the armies of Zhang He and Zhu Gai to attack and destroy Chen Lan who was entrenched on Tianzhu Mountain north of Wancheng. In the 24th year of Jian'an, when Guan Yu attacked Xiangfan in the north, Cao Cao urgently ordered Zhu Gai and Yin Shu, who were in Huainan, to lead 12 battalions of troops to Yancheng under the command of Xu Huang. Zhu Gai played a role in Xu Huang's "direct attack" and breaking through Guan Yu's ten-layer deer horn siege. Now it can be said that it is most appropriate to use the right general Zhu Gai, who is familiar with the terrain and has been in the army for a long time, as the vanguard to lead tens of thousands of cavalry south to attack Huainan and Wancheng. The central army had 30,000 cavalry, and the foreign troops from Yangzhou, Yuzhou, and Xuzhou had a total of 15,000 cavalry. After Zhu Gai led 10,000 cavalry from the foreign troops south, the remaining 35,000 cavalry, led by Grand Marshal Cao Xiu, followed closely behind Zhu Gai and led 30,000 cavalry south. The only cavalry left to the emperor were the 1,000 Tiger Guards led by Xiahou Xian and the five battalions led by the Tunqi Colonel, Yueqi Colonel, Infantry Colonel, Changshui Colonel and Shesheng Colonel. The Five Colonel Battalion had a total of 4,000 cavalry. If we were to say which army had the longest history among these hundreds of thousands of people, it would be the Five Colonel Battalion. As early as the reign of Emperor Wu of the Former Han Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty added eight lieutenants to the Northern Army, which were responsible for guarding Chang'an. During the Later Han Dynasty, the three lieutenants of Zhonglei, Huqi and Huben were omitted, and the remaining ones were the five colonels of the Northern Army. The five lieutenants were equivalent to two thousand stones, and their positions were prominent and idle, and they were mostly appointed by the royal family and close friends. During the Han Dynasty, the position in charge of the five military camps was called Beijun Zhonghou, with a rank of 600 stones. When Liu Biao and Liu Jingsheng, who occupied Jingzhou, were in Luoyang, they were recruited by General He Jin and served as Beijun Zhonghou. However, after Cao Pi ascended the throne, he changed the salary of 600 dan to 2,000 dan, and the title of the Northern Army Zhonghou was changed to Wuyingxiaodu. At that time, the Wuyingxiaodu was Wenqin Wen Zhongruo, who was from Qiao County and was quite trusted by Cao. Zhu Gai's 10,000 cavalry served as the vanguard, and Grand Marshal Cao Xiu's 30,000 cavalry followed behind Zhu Gai. The remaining 85,000 troops, mainly infantry, were naturally supervised by General Cao Zhen, and followed Cao Xiu slowly southward. If you want to go south from Shouchun to Wancheng, you must pass through the entire Lujiang County. From Shouchun, you must first go to Shu County, and then from Shu County, you must pass through Jiashi and Wuqiangkou before you can go to Wancheng. The distance from Shouchun to Wuqiangkou is about 350 li. Wang Chang, the governor of Yanzhou, had set out in advance to repair the road along the way, and built many open spaces and logistic supply places along the road, so the speed of going south from Shouchun was extremely fast. Zhu Gai's vanguard of 10,000 cavalrymen set out early in the morning of January 1st and arrived at the camp that Jia Kui had already built at Wuqiangkou on the evening of January 3rd. It has to be said that a capable person will complete any task assigned to him with high standards. Jia Kui is such a person.
Jia Kui first led 10,000 soldiers from Yuzhou southward, divided 4,000 soldiers into two groups to go to Wancheng, 2,000 soldiers built fortifications on the north and south sides of the Jiashi Road, and 4,000 soldiers built a large camp at Wuqiangkou. The stone-paved road was narrow, and it took only three days for the two thousand men to build fortifications before they reached Wuqiangkou. Jia Kui's troops at Wuqiangkou increased from 4,000 to 6,000, and with the arrival of 5,000 troops under General Liu Ruo, there were 11,000 troops. Eight large camps that could accommodate 10,000 people were built from north to south, facing the river and backed by the mountain. Jia Kui was also the first to achieve success in this battle. Zhu Gai arrived at Wuqiangkou Camp on the evening of January 3, having traveled 350 miles in three days and two nights. After resting for one day and two nights, he set out from Wuqiangkou in the early morning of January 5, and continued to march towards Wancheng along the flat land at the foot of the mountain from the northeast to the southwest. A large part of the advantage of cavalry lies in speed. Zhu Gai traveled 350 li in three days, and his troops were still intact. After a day and night of rest, he could continue to fight southward. The normal marching speed of infantry is 60 li in a day and night, which can be called extremely fast. Starting from Wuqiangkou, it is only 180 miles to Wancheng. This route is very familiar to Zhu Gai. Zhu Gai, the Right General who is over 50 years old, has walked this route since Zhang Liao conquered Chen Lan in his early years. He also walked this route again last August when he followed Grand Marshal Cao Xiu to capture Wancheng and beheaded Shen De. Just after setting out from Wuqiangkou, Zhu Gai said to his trusted Biebu Sima Song Wei while riding on his horse: "From Wuqiangkou to Wancheng is 180 miles. Although you were not yet a soldier when I conquered Chen Lan in my early years, you came with me last August. You should be familiar with the route." The cavalry brigade marched southwest without stopping, and Song Wei naturally followed behind Zhu Gai on horseback. Song Wei cupped his hands and said, "General, do you want me to go ahead and explore the way?" Zhu Gai held the reins with his left hand and stroked his beard with his right hand: "That's right. The road was muddy in August, but now it's January, the road is dry and there is less water, so the speed must be much faster." "From Wuqiangkou to Guache, it's a total of ninety miles. I'll give you three hours to lead your 1,000 cavalry to clear the way for me and find a place to camp near Guache." "Can you do it?" Zhu Gai stared into Song Wei's eyes. Song Wei was over 30 years old, and as a cavalryman, he was at his best physically and mentally. He bowed and replied without hesitation: "As ordered. When will the general arrive after I arrive?" Zhu Gai stroked his beard again, thought for a moment and said, "You lead the way, I will arrive at most one hour later than you." Song Wei sat on his horse and bowed in agreement. Then he rode forward without stopping to find the thousand cavalrymen from his own headquarters. The trailer was ninety miles away from Wuqiangkou, a dangerous place with mountains and rivers, which Zhu Gai had always known well. Within this 90-li range, we can either rush to camp at a strategic location near the trailer to gain the advantage of terrain, or simply stop after 40-50 li and camp anywhere in the middle. The terrain conditions are similar anyway, so we can pass the trailer tomorrow morning. In fact, Huainan has always been rich in rivers and hills. From Wuqiangkou to Wancheng, it is almost a straight road from due northeast to due southwest. In fact, it is not really a road, but just a long strip of flat land at the foot of Dabie Mountain. The distance between Dabie Mountain and the Yangtze River is only a hundred miles. If you start from any place at the foot of Dabie Mountain and head straight towards the Yangtze River, you will first pass through a flat land that is only a few miles wide, then hills that stretch for fifty or sixty miles, and finally after crossing a large mountain, you can reach the Yangtze River. There are indeed not many roads suitable for cavalry, so Zhu Gai can only send Song Wei's troops to explore the way first. This is the advantage of cavalry. Although their speed in long-distance travel is not much better than that of infantry, once speed is needed, cavalry can complete tactical maneuvers at a speed as fast as the wind and far exceeding that of infantry, thus achieving the general's combat intentions. On normal days, the cavalry could only march about 80 miles a day. But now, when the need arises, they can march 90 miles in three hours. As for the fatigue of the men and horses, Song Wei's 1,000 cavalry can rest later. A thousand cavalrymen could trample out a path, and Zhu Gai led his nine thousand cavalrymen to advance along the path that had just been trampled out. However, in the afternoon, when Zhu Gai was still twelve miles and about half an hour away from the trailer, Song Wei, who was exploring the way ahead, suddenly came back at a rapid speed. Seeing Song Wei coming back, Zhu Gai was shocked and angry: "What happened in front? Why did you come back to see me at this time?" Song Wei did not answer. When he rode to Zhu Gai's side, he bowed and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "General, I will divide my subordinates into two teams of 500 people each and march forward one after another. I led the front team and just when we reached the trailer, Wu soldiers shot arrows down from the low hills on both sides." "I quickly ordered a retreat, but I still lost about fifty cavalry. I have ordered the remaining four hundred cavalry and the five hundred cavalry in the rear to set up camp on a mound three miles away." "I came to look for the general myself."
Zhu Gai frowned and said nothing. From a military perspective, Song Wei's abandonment of his own 900 cavalrymen to search for his commander alone could almost be considered a crime of "abandoning the army." But from a political perspective, Song Wei just lost more than 50 cavalrymen in the trailer, which was really the first defeat since this expedition! Song Wei came back alone to find himself, and not many people knew about this, so there might still be room for maneuver. (End of this chapter)