Riding and cutting the imperial pirates of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 664 South County
Jiangling is located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, in the west of the Jianghan Plain, bordering Hanshui River in the north, Jingshan Mountain in the west, Bashu in the west, Yangtze River in the south, and Huguang in the south. It was called "the thoroughfare of seven provinces" in ancient times.

Because there are no high mountains in the territory under its jurisdiction, all of them belong to Lingfu, so it is named Jiangling.

It was originally the capital of Chu Ying, and it was the capital of Jingzhou before Liu Biao became the Queen of Jingzhou and changed to Xiangyang.

And Nanjun was set up by Qin Shihuang. "Historical Records: The Chronicle of Qin Shihuang" records: "At the age of 13, King Zhuang Xiang died, and the government was established as King Qin. At that time, Qindi had merged with Ba, Shu, and Hanzhong, and Yue Wan had Ying. , set up Nanjun." Ying here refers to Jiangling.

Since the Warring States period, Nanjun, where Jiangling is located, has been an extremely important territory in the south. However, until the end of the Han Dynasty, there were not many major wars here, and its military status is actually not important. Not only Jiangling, but also Xiangyang in the north The same is true.

However, in the original history, from the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the status of Nanjun has undergone significant changes, and it has become a strategic place that various princes competed for. There have been seven battles of medium and large scale.

So why is there such a change?

That's because it was precisely from the end of the Han Dynasty that the political struggle within the Celestial Dynasty, and even the situation of the lords competing for the throne, officially changed from east-west confrontation to north-south confrontation!

From the middle of the Warring States period to the last years of Wang Mang, the most economically developed areas of the Chinese Dynasty were the "Kandong" with the North China Plain as the main body and the "Kanxi" with the Guanzhong Plain as the main body. The political struggles and military conflicts that occurred at one point also basically manifested as confrontation between East and West.

For example, the Battle of Dingding between the Western Qin and the Six Kingdoms of Shandong, Liu Biao and Xiang Yu's struggle for hegemony between Chu and Han, the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms during the Western Han Dynasty, and even the battle between Wang Mang and Lvlin Chimei and other rebels in the New Dynasty. They are all concentrated in the west of Yuzhou bordering on the Kanto and Kansai, Nanyang in the north of Jingzhou, and even Sili and Jizhou.

During this period, neither Jiangling, Nanjun, nor Jingzhou were actually important towns to determine the ownership of the artifact, so the military strategic significance was naturally not that important.

At the end of the Han Dynasty, due to warlords fighting in chaos, the North China Plain and the Guanzhong area were severely damaged, and people's livelihood began to decline. As a result, a large number of gentry people fled to the south where the war was less affected. Nanzhou, Yangzhou and other southern states and counties, as well as the Bashu area, experienced their first economic take-off period. Although they are still not as rich as the Central Plains, the gap is constantly narrowing.

By the time the Three Kingdoms came to power, although the economy could not be completely balanced, it could barely support a certain degree of military confrontation. This made the political struggle within the Celestial Dynasty gradually evolve into a north-south competition, and the location of the military conflict between the two sides followed from the Central Plains to the north. It was transferred to the Jianghuai Plain, Jianghan Plain and Qinling Mountains where the north-south economic regions were handed over.

It was also from this moment that the military status and strategic value of Jiangling and even the entire South County rose sharply!
Taking Jiangling alone as an example, first of all, it is an important economic town in itself, because it is located in the center of the Two Lakes Plain (Jianghan Plain in Hubei and Dongting Lake Plain in Hunan), with fertile land and rich products. Since the Spring and Autumn Period, it has developed agriculture and The handicraft industry, to put it bluntly, means a lot of people and a lot of money.

Secondly, it is also an important road hub of the main line of water and land transportation in the Tian Dynasty. The land road directly leads to the north and the south, and the south can pass through Changsha and cross the five mountains to Jiaozhou, and then transfer to Yangzhou. From Wuguan to Guanzhong, and out of Fangcheng to the North China Plain, the land route from Jiangling to Xiangyang is the famous Jingxiang Road, which is the "royal road" that Emperor Qin and Han Wu traveled on their tours to the south.

Not to mention the waterway, Jiangling is located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, which traverses the entire China. It naturally became a transit station for the waterway shipping of the Celestial Dynasty. The importance is really self-evident.

Of course, in the original history, for Jiangling to become so "important", it actually had to wait until Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao and went south to Jingzhou.

At that time Liu Cong surrendered and Liu Bei retreated from Xinye. The first thing he thought of was to go to Jiangling, because this place itself is a strong city and rich enough, Liu Bei wanted to use its wealth to fight against Cao Cao.

However, Cao Cao saw through his plan and led his elite cavalry to the south from Xiangyang, traveling more than [-] miles in one day and one night. In the end, he not only occupied Jiangling first, but also almost defeated Liu Bei's army at Changban, Dangyang. Liu Bei had to be defeated. Hanjin went to Mianyang, while Cao Cao completely took over Nanjun, and then used Jiangling as the front-line command point to prepare for the subsequent conquest of Jiangdong.

After the Battle of Chibi, Jiangling's status became more and more important, and the Sun Liu Allied Army and Cao Jun fought fiercely for it.

Both Lu Su and Gan Ning suggested to Sun Quan that after gaining a foothold in the east of the Yangtze River, they should take Jingzhou to the west and completely control half of the rivers and mountains south of the Yangtze River; Liu Bei also used troops to recover Jingzhou for him in the name of assisting Liu Qi. Thoughts, they reached an agreement on the purpose of expelling Cao Cao's forces, so they joined forces to besiege Jiangling and fought fiercely with Cao Ren, the main general Cao Cao stayed behind.

After a year of fighting between the two sides, Cao Ren's soldiers, horses, food and salaries were seriously depleted, but they could not be replenished in time, so he was forced to retreat from Jiangling to Xiangyang.After the victory of Sun and Liu, the land was divided. Since the Wu army led by Zhou Yu was the main force in the battle, the division of territory was mainly carried out according to Sun Wu's wishes. Sun Quan appointed Zhou Yu as the prefect of Nanjun, occupying Jiangbei from the west of Jiangling to Xiakou. The territory of Yiling.

Later, after "Liu Bei borrowed Jingzhou", Jiangling's status was raised again.

Jingzhou is divided into big and small. Big Jingzhou covers the seven counties of Jingxiang, while small Jingzhou is a single county. After the Battle of Chibi, the Cao, Sun, and Liu families had different understandings and attitudes towards Jiangling.After Cao Cao's defeat, he realized that he did not have the power to unify China, so he decided to shrink the front line and try to restore the economy in the rear of the Central Plains. He decided to "set Hefei in the east, defend Xiangyang in the south, and solidify Qishan in the west" to defend these three fronts with all his strength. From this point of view, in addition to the pressure from Zhou Yu, Cao Ren voluntarily retreated from Jiangling, and Cao Cao also voluntarily gave up. The focus of the south is on Xiangyang.

Soochow's attitude towards Jiangling also changed.

Originally, according to Zhou Yu's vision, the next step is to enter Bashu, and then go north to capture Xiangyang and spy on the Central Plains. Jiangling is the starting base for him to achieve the above-mentioned combat goals, which can be described as the top priority!
The key is that as long as Jiangling is occupied, Liu Bei who occupies the four counties in the south of the Yangtze River (Changsha, Wuling, Guiyang, and Lingling) will be completely isolated. He can neither enter Yizhou nor go north to Xiangyang. Grasp it, firmly control it to death.

It's no wonder that the big-eared thief wants to sow dissension secretly, saying to Sun Quan that "Gongjin's civil and military strategy is the hero of thousands of people, considering his vast power, he may become a minister soon", if Zhou Yu is really allowed to implement it step by step With this strategy, let alone whether Sun Wu can dominate the world, Liu Bei, who has been completely locked in his development opportunities, will definitely have no chance.

It's a pity that although Sun Quan didn't fall for this provocative plan, Zhou Yu was too short-lived. In the 15th year of Jian'an, when Sun Quan approved the strategy of conquering Yizhou in the west, Zhou Yu was full of ambitions and prepared to return to Jiangling. Yueyang) died of road infection at the age of 36.

When Zhou Yu died, Sun Quan was like a mourner, but Liu Bei and Cao Cao were ecstatic. The latter immediately mobilized troops in Hefei on the front line of Jiujiang, preparing to start the first southern expedition of "Four Over Chaohu".

The pressure on Sun Quan, who had lost his backbone, immediately increased. In order to concentrate his troops for defense, he followed Lu Su's strategy and handed over the newly occupied Jiangling and Nanjun to his ally Liu Bei, and asked him to defend Cao's army along the Xiangyang road for him.

This is naturally a wish for Liu Bei, because Jiangling is an indispensable part of the "Longzhong Dui"!
What did you say in "Grandly Right"?

If the general wants to become the hegemony, let Cao Cao occupy the sky in the north, and let Sun Quan occupy the land in the south, so the general can occupy the harmony of the people.First take Jingzhou as home, and then take Xichuan to build a foundation, so as to become a tripartite force, and then you can map the original.

Jingzhou here refers to Nanjun. According to Zhuge Liang’s hegemony plan for Liu Bei, the first step is to capture Nanjun, then go west to Bashu, and finally enter Wan and Luo to attack Cao Wei in two ways. Occupy Jiangling.

It's just that this wishful thinking was destroyed by Zhou Yu. After Cao Ren withdrew from Jiangling, he immediately occupied Jiangling and Yiling at the mouth of the gorge, but threw the four counties in the south of the Yangtze River to Liu Bei.
So Zhou Yu, who was in the way, had just passed away, and Liu Bei did not hesitate to risk being detained, and immediately went to Jiangdong in person to discuss with Sun Quan about "borrowing Jingzhou". Unwilling and half reluctantly agreed to this matter.

After that, Jiangling became the capital of the Liu Bei Group, a trinity of political, economic and military centers. When Liu Bei led troops into Sichuan, and when Guan Yu went north to Xiangyang, Jiangling was the rear base of the Shu Han.

The fourth change in Jiangling's status occurred after Lu Meng backstabbed Guan Yu and Soochow occupied Jingzhou.

At this time, Jiangling became the outpost of Wu's defense against Wei. After Sun Quan eliminated Guan Yu, he moved the residents of Jiangbei from Nanjun to Jiangnan, and withdrew the line of defense against Wei. Jiangling only left a small number of troops to guard. The government office and the main force of the army also moved to the south bank of the Yangtze River, resulting in a significant decline in Jiangling's strategic position and losing its important position as a regional ruling center.

After Cao Cao's death, Cao Pi once sent a large army to besiege Jiangling, and the defender Zhu Ran repelled the Wei army's attack one after another. Although there were only [-] remnants left in the end, he was still able to protect the city and hold this outpost.Because there were few people living in the hundreds of miles from Xiangyang to Jiangling, Cao Wei's southern expedition army could not get enough supplies along the way, so Sun Wu's Jingzhou commander Lu Kang believed that Jiangling was not as important as Yiling. He couldn't solve the problem of food supply, and would eventually withdraw, so he didn't pay as much attention to local defense as he did to Yiling.

The fifth time was in the battle of the Western Jin Dynasty to destroy Wu. The capture of Jiangling and the elimination of the Wu army in Nanjun was an important step in the use of troops by the Jin Dynasty.According to the previous combat plan, the main force of the Western Jin Dynasty to attack Wu was the Yizhou navy led by Wang Jun and Tang Bin who sailed out of the Three Gorges. After they occupied Yiling and Jingmen, they had to obtain 7000 troops from the governor of Jingzhou, Du Yu, near Jiangling. and the supply of grain, grass and equipment, otherwise there will not be enough strength to continue eastward.In order to achieve the victory in the battle in the direction of Jiangling, Emperor Wu of Jin deployed the strategic general reserve "Zhongjun" led by Jia Chong in Xiangyang, ready to support Du Yu's southward attack at any time, so as to ensure the completion of this plan.As a result, under the siege of the Jin army's superior troops, Jiangling was captured in nine days, so that Wang Jun's navy successfully obtained supplies, and then went straight to Wuchang and Jianye downstream, forcing Wu Emperor Sun Hao to surrender.

After Wu was destroyed, the Three Kingdoms returned to Jin, and the world was unified again. However, some things could never go back. The fighting spirit situation still maintains the confrontation between the north and the south. Jiangling, Xiangyang and Nanjun have always been strategically important places. The so-called "Jin, Song, Qi, and Liang are important towns, riches and soldiers, and half of the Southern Dynasties." That is to say here. .

However, during the Southern Song Dynasty, the Liao, Jin, and Mongolian Yuan invaded the Central Plains on a large scale, because the cavalry of these foreign races had too much advantage. More importantly, it officially climbed to the top as the most important town in the world.

Therefore, the terrain is actually the biggest weakness of Jiangling in terms of military affairs. In terms of defense, its biggest advantage is the natural danger of the Yangtze River in the south. However, once the enemy crosses the Yangtze River, it has no danger to defend. The city smoothly set up its formation, and even the cavalry galloped.

After taking down Qianling, the ferry crossing naturally fell into Wang Zheng's control. In order to catch the enemy by surprise, not to rectify the defenses for the enemy, and to set aside water conservancy barriers, Wang Zheng ordered his men to collect all the ships in the city as soon as they entered the city. They began to cross the river non-stop.

Three hours later, at dusk, under the afterglow of the setting sun, the heavenly army had already crossed the Yangtze River and formally entered the Han River plain area. After a short rest, Wang Zheng ordered to continue marching, heading straight to Jiangling.

From the Han River Plain to Jiangling, it is only fifty miles away, and at nightfall, soldiers are already approaching the city.

Regarding the distribution of the enemy troops in Jiangling, Wang Zheng had already let Mi Fang's Benming Division investigate and understand in advance. It is a hub, so the number of troops is not too small. The total number of defenders is [-], of which [-] officers and soldiers are stationed in the east and west of the city. The largest number is an outer city in the south called Jinxiang City. Four thousand defenders were stationed.

It is worth mentioning that besides the [-] defenders, there is another military force that should not be underestimated in Jiangling City, that is, the [-] relatives of Guo Yong, the prefect of Nanjun.

Guo Yong was born in the Guo family of Julu. He was the prefect of Nanjun during the Guanghe period (AD 178). He was able to sit in Jiangling as an outsider for more than [-] years because he was not only from a famous family, but also had a free private army. That is, "Guangzong Army".

The so-called Guangzong Army, as the name suggests, means that this army is composed of all the brave people from Guangzong Township in Julu.

Julu is the hometown of Zhang Jiao, and also the source of the first Yellow Turban Uprising. From this we can see that the customs here are martial arts, and its people are sharp. The trilogy organized by the Julu people is naturally extremely powerful, and they dare to fight. Being able to fight is not to be underestimated.

(End of this chapter)