Chapter 697 I will take charge
Chapter 697 I will take command*
In March of the 24th year of Jianxing, the quiet Guandong began to move.
Yuzhou and Xuzhou were the first to move, and a large number of soldiers and food began to be transported southward along the Central Plains water system. A large amount of supplies and troops continued to gather in Shouchun, and the war against Wu was about to break out.
This time, Ma Su planned to deploy 120,000 troops in the Lianghuai area at one go. Go south along Hefei and attack Yangzhou directly from Ruxuwu.
At the same time, Xiang Chong of Jingzhou and Guan Yinping of Jiaozhou will rush with him. Attack Jiangdong from three directions at the same time, and remove Sun Quan's last stronghold in one fell swoop.
This is the largest military action since the Han Dynasty swallowed up Guandong. The total number of troops dispatched was at least 200,000, and nearly one million civilians followed.
However, just when Ma Su was about to leave, Zhuge Liang came to Shouchun. And as soon as he saw Ma Su, Zhuge Liang stated his intention.
He wants to personally lead the army to destroy Wu!
"Youchang, the water in the southeast is very deep, you can't control it, let me take charge, you go down to lead the troops."
Zhuge Liang said to Ma Su leisurely, looking very calm. However, people who are familiar with Zhuge Liang can see the excitement of this great Han Prime Minister at this moment.
Compared with Ma Su, Zhuge Liang's hatred for Dongwu is more specific.
Whether it is the national hatred of Liu, Guan and Zhang, or the family hatred of Zhuge Ke, Sun Quan is the first. If it weren't for Cao Cao's early slaughter of Xuzhou, Sun Quan would definitely be Zhuge Liang's number one enemy.
So at this critical moment, Zhuge Liang took the initiative to come out of the mountain, contrary to his usual behavior.
Ma Su could also feel Zhuge Liang's excitement, so he very tactfully gave the general flag to Zhuge Liang.
So, the commander-in-chief of the attack on Wu changed from the general of the Han Dynasty to the prime minister of the Han Dynasty in such a short time.
Under Zhuge Liang's personal command, 120,000 Han troops set out from Shouchun and came south with great momentum.
Because Ruxu Fort had been broken, the Eastern Wu no longer had a foothold in the north of the Yangtze River. Therefore, the Han army encountered no obstacles at all and easily reached the Yangtze River.
In this battle, almost all the generals of the four expeditions and four towns were dispatched. With so many masters taking turns to serve, how could Sun Quan be so convinced?
The Han army successfully approached the Yangtze River, but Zhuge Liang did not immediately order a battle to cross the river. Instead, he ordered the Han army to set up camps along the river, stabilize the camps first, and then talk about crossing the river.
Because there were many troops this time, the Han army camped for hundreds of miles along the Yangtze River. The flags covered the sky and the momentum was huge. Many people were extremely excited to see this scene.
Of course, the excitement of the Han camp here, the Wu army in the south of the Yangtze River was terrified. Across the Yangtze River, Ma Su could see the lights in the south of the Yangtze River day and night, fearing that the Han army would cross the river.
But what surprised Ma Su was that this time the Yangtze River was no longer unobstructed. At some point, hundreds of warships reoccupied the river and blocked the Han army.
"Jiangdong Navy? Weren't they held back in Jingzhou? Why are they back?"
Ma Su was no stranger to this force, as it was the last bargaining chip of the Eastern Wu.
"Report to the General, a letter from the General said that the Wu army in Xiakou had retreated without a fight. Jingzhou has recaptured Xiakou and is approaching Chaisang."
"It seems that Sun Quan is not going to take the west and is ready to defend Jianye with all his strength?" Ma Su raised his eyebrows, with a trace of fear in his eyes.
He had seen the combat power of the Jiangdong Navy, which was definitely the strongest navy at present. Now that Sun Quan has withdrawn this unit, it will not be so easy to force a crossing of the Yangtze River.
"What did the Prime Minister say?"
"The Prime Minister intends to launch a forced crossing directly from multiple directions such as Ruxuwu, and suppress the Eastern Wu Navy with continuous forced crossings." Liu Yin was silent for a moment, and then reported to Ma Su carefully.
"The prime minister means that our army has an absolute numerical advantage. Although the navy of the Eastern Wu is strong, as long as our army crosses the river from multiple directions, the other side will not be able to take care of all of them..."
"Then the loss will be great..."
"The prime minister said this is the best result."
"Hiss... It seems that the prime minister really doesn't know how to fight on the water." Ma Su came to a conclusion immediately after listening to Liu Yin's report.
If the prime minister knew a little about water battles and had a little confidence in water battles, he would not have used this method.
Ma Su shook his head gently and then spoke.
"Forget it, the prime minister probably can't be relied on, so I'll break the deadlock."
After all, Zhuge Liang hadn't fought for more than five years, and he was indeed a little rusty. Ma Su thought it was better to go it himself, and destroy the Eastern Wu as soon as possible.
"The Eastern Wu army is really not good, and the only headache is this big river. If a small group of troops can sneak across, it is not impossible to do something..." Ma Su touched his chin and looked at the rolling Yangtze River in thought.
At this time, Jiangdong was already a frightened bird, and many Jiangdong bureaucrats began to quietly submit surrender letters. Ma Su was sure that as long as he quickly crossed the Yangtze River to the south, Dongwu would collapse.
However, the focus now was how to sneak across the Yangtze River.
Deng Ai immediately gave a solution to this problem.
"Sir, the Baiyue in Wujun have ships. They have also contacted us and are willing to support the Han Dynasty to recover Yangzhou."
"But they don't have many ships, and they are all small boats, so there won't be too many to sneak across..."
"Then let that unit go." Ma Su answered without hesitation.
"That one? General, are you sure?" As soon as Ma Su said this, Deng Ai hesitated.
"Of course, I believe in their training results." Ma Su nodded, and then continued to add.
"I will personally lead them to cross the Yangtze River to the south. As for who of you is willing to follow..."
"I will go!" Jiang Wei and Deng Ai jumped up at the same time to follow. Then the two looked at each other, and the more they looked, the more they felt annoyed.
"I will go! I can protect the safety of the envoy!"
"My martial arts are not bad, not to mention that I am a local, so I am more reliable than you!"
"You? You are really not good enough!"
"Not good enough? Are you looking for trouble?"
"Go out and practice? Whoever wins will follow the general!"
"Uh..." Just as the two were arguing, Zhang Yi and Shu Ji also hesitated and stood up.
"We also think we can go together..."
"Come together, whoever can fight the best will go with the general!"
Looking at the mainstays of the Ji Han army arguing with each other like children, Ma Su almost laughed.
But soon Ma Su found that Liu Yin had been standing by and did not join them in the trouble.
"Xiu Ran, don't you plan to practice with them?"
"No, it's all nonsense." Liu Yin said righteously.
Well, Xiu Ran is still steady...
However, before Ma Su opened his mouth to praise, Liu Yin changed the subject and looked at Ma Su with longing.
"What's more, I have followed the general for so many years. When encountering such a big event, I believe the general will not forget me."
Ma Su: "..."
You are just a smart kid, right?