Chapter 260 Huaihe River Navy, let’s go big!
Zhou Tai, the governor of the Huaihe River Navy and deputy admiral of the navy, was leading the fleet northward.

According to Jinmao's request, one must start from Yingshui, pass through Yuzhou and Sili, and then enter Luohe from the Yellow River before they can converge.

These days, hearing the continuous reports of victory coming back from the front lines, it is impossible to say that Zhou Tai has no ideas.

However, Ling Cao was seriously injured and retired on the spot, which also alerted Zhou Tai.

While you are still young, you should win more military merits, so as to avoid being like Ling Cao, who only became a colonel and could never become a general in his life.

Zhou Tai doesn't want to retire and remain a deputy governor in name only.

Normally, a governor is comparable to a general of miscellaneous title, but Jin Mao's rule is very strict with military generals, who must establish their positions based on military merit.

It’s different for scholars. If they come up with a few successful strategies, they can be promoted quickly.

Therefore, even if he had to pass through Ruyin County, the capital of Runan County, Zhou Tai was unambiguous.

Some even expect that some short-sighted people will come out to block the way, because that would be a walking military achievement, picked up for free!
To be honest, in the past two years, Zhou Tai has become very familiar with the surrounding area. As far as the water army is concerned, there is not a single capable fighter!
This also indirectly reflects that the military achievements in the past two years have been pitifully few. Although garrisoning is a great achievement, Zhou Tai still thinks it is too slow.

Look at Zhang Fei, a latecomer, who became the person with the highest military rank in the entire army!
Moreover, Zhang Fei made many great contributions in this battle. Zhou Tai speculated that Zhang Fei might become the first general in the Yangzhou army.

On the Yingshui River.

Jiang Qin boarded the central army ship from the scout boat.

Unlike Zhou Tai who was patient, Jiang Qin was very impatient and was always looking for trouble on the border in the hope of artificially creating military merit.

If the neighbors around had not been frightened, the unexpected fighting would not have happened.

Otherwise, Zhou Tai might have to cut off Jiang Qin's head as a sacrifice, which would be a serious violation of military regulations!

"Captain, we only killed a few thieves. The road ahead is clear for thirty miles."

Jiang Qin bowed to Zhou Tai in awe and asked, "Where shall we set up camp?"

It would be unreasonable to say that Jiang Qin did not realize that Zhou Tai wanted to kill him as a sacrifice.

Zhou Tai has become more and more strict recently, but Jiang Qin has become much more obedient and dares not cause trouble.

It's funny to say that.

Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin, the two used to be good friends who could talk about anything, but now they are like strangers when working together.

But instead of feeling any resentment, Jiang Qin was grateful to Zhou Tai.

It was because of Zhou Tai's strictness that Jiang Qin discovered a better self.

"Go forward another thirty miles!"

Zhou Tai looked at the geomancy map expressionlessly and said, "Let's take a rest tonight and pass through Ruyin County first!"

In order to get to the battlefield as quickly as possible, Zhou Tai tried his best.

Jiang Qinju wholeheartedly agreed with this.

It was late in the evening.

The fleet arrived at Ruyin County. Zhou Tai looked west with a serious expression, and there was the city wall of Ruyin County.

Because Ruyin County is adjacent to the Yingshui River, if someone on the city wall wants to attack the fleet, the Huaihe River Navy will be in a very passive position.

This is also the reason why Zhou Tai had to travel overnight.

suddenly!

Zhou Tai's eyes widened when he saw a big word "Yuan" embroidered on the flag on the top of the city wall!
The Runan Yuan family, that is, the family of Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, should have been located in Ruyang County, but this is Ruyin County!

When this happens, there is only one possibility.

Either Yuan Shu returned to Runan County, or the Yuan family produced another outstanding figure, otherwise it would be impossible to hang the Yuan family flag on the city wall of Ruyin County.

Zhou Tai silently kept this matter in mind.

On the rest of the journey, we didn't encounter any blind thieves or bandits.

Those who have survived to this day are not stupid. Anyone who would rush forward to seek death after seeing such a powerful fleet would have died long ago and would not have survived until now.

The first day of March.

It should have been the spring ploughing season, but the banks of the Luo River were bleeding every day.

On this day, the Huaihe River Navy led by Zhou Tai finally joined the main force.

Jin Mao specially held a banquet on the south bank of Luo River to welcome Zhou Tai.

During this period, the war was in full swing, with the Yangzhou army and Dong Zhuo's army winning and losing alternately. Overall, the Yangzhou army had the upper hand.

But at the same time, the Yangzhou army had consumed a huge amount of arrows. If they continued to fight in the same way, Jinmao would probably go bankrupt.

"Youping has finally arrived, and I can finally take a breath."

Jin Mao was very enthusiastic towards Zhou Tai. Not only did he let Zhou Tai sit next to him, he also held Zhou Tai's hand and asked about his well-being.

"Did everything go smoothly on the way here?"

"How is Guangling County now?"

"Is Yu Fan okay?"...

The series of questions came like a string of cannonballs, catching Zhou Tai off guard, but he tried his best to answer them.

In the past two years, Zhou Tai has become more calm and steady, showing the demeanor of a great general.

Jinmao is also very happy about this.

The boiled water has three rounds of experience, and the dishes have five flavors.

Zhou Tai then remembered that there was one important thing he hadn't said, so he stepped out and bowed, saying, "My lord, I have something to report."

"Hey, everyone here is not an outsider, and tonight is a family dinner, Youping doesn't need to be so nervous."

Jinmao was sick of being on the boat these days, so he went to land to take a breath.

Zhou Tai thanked him and said, "When I passed by Ruyin County, I saw a flag with the word 'Yuan' on it hanging on the city wall. I wondered if Yuan Shu had returned to Runan County."

Jin Mao immediately sat up straight, frowned and asked, "Did you see it clearly? It's the Yuan character flag?"

Zhou Tai said with certainty: "Absolutely true!"

Jin Mao cursed in his heart, Yuan Shu had been defeated, but he still dared to return to Runan County. He must have something to rely on.

The reason why he was sure that it was Yuan Shu and not anyone else in the Yuan family was because Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, as representatives of the Yuan family, had already occupied all the family resources, and the Yuan family could no longer afford a third capable person.

Runan County has a special geographical location, right in the middle of the Huai River Basin, separating Guangling County and Nanyang County.

It’s not a big deal under normal circumstances, but Yuan Shu might have to live in fear every day.

But now, Jinmao is at war with Dong Zhuo.

more than!

There is also another side that goes to war with Liu Yan.

Fighting on two fronts!

If Yuan Shu intervenes again, we will be attacked from both sides and it will be very difficult to deal with.

“This news is very important!”

Jin Mao stood up and said with a smile: "Youping, I didn't expect you to have made so much progress in the past two years. You really deserve my respect."

Then, Jin Mao's face darkened and he said, "Zhou Tai deserves a great achievement!"

"Send another order to Zuo Lusu to see me!"

The previously recruited scholars such as Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, Bu Zhi and others gradually came to the fore. The two who did better, Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong, had already become county magistrates.

Zhang Zhao even became the magistrate of Shu County and was in charge of the affairs of Lujiang County, which was enough to show that his talent in internal affairs was enough to be qualified for the position of county governor.

However, Zhang Zhao had only been in the army for a short time, his loyalty was unknown, and he was also a refugee from outside, so Jin Mao did not dare to easily hand over an entire county to him.

The reason why Lu Su has not been upgraded is not because of his lack of talent. On the contrary, it is because he is too useful that Jin Mao has kept him in his hands.

Now that Lu Su has proven his loyalty, it's time for him to step onto the stage and show himself.

Soon, Lu Su hurried over.

As a secretary, Lu Su had to deal with numbers every day and worked as an accountant for Jin Mao, and he had obviously lost a lot of hair.

After all, Jinmao owns two states, and it is quite troublesome to calculate the statistics. "Lu Su greets the lord!"

"Zijing is here." Jin Mao stood up again, wiped his hands clean, and then said, "I have an important task for you!"

"As an envoy, you have come to Runan County for me. First, you need to find out whether Yuan Shu is the one in charge, and second, you need to find out what Yuan Shu is trying to do."

Unexpectedly, Lu Su said with embarrassment on his face: "My lord, there are still ten accounts that have not been settled. Please let me take care of this matter first, and then I will go on the mission."

Jin Mao was stunned. He didn't expect that Lu Su's reason for refusal would be so weird.

"That's fine." Jin Mao waved his hand and said, "Just let Xun Yu handle these matters."

The last time Xun You saw Jia Xu coming, he summoned Xun Yu to the front line.

There is no reason, just to make the lord stop in time and not go down the evil direction.

As a talented person who could assist the king, Xun Yu was no less accomplished than Lu Su in mathematics, and was even more professional.

At least there is no problem in handing the affairs of one state to Xun Yu.

Since Jin Mao had said so, Lu Su had nothing else to say and agreed: "My Lord, I will prepare it right away."

"Hey, what are you in such a hurry for?"

Jin Mao stopped Lu Su and said, "Yuan Shu is the rear general, you should understand him, Jia Wenhe!"

"Chen is here!"

"Go and help Zijing prepare everything."

"Here!"

"Dianwei!"

"The general is here!"

"Select one hundred personal guards to escort Lu Zijing to Runan County."

"Here!"

As the battle gradually escalated, a group of outstanding new recruits emerged and joined the main camps, and the royal guards were naturally replenished as well.

Now the three battalions under Jin Mao are fully staffed again, but their combat effectiveness cannot be compared with before, but it is enough to cope with the current situation.

After fighting for a long time, Jin Mao realized how incompetent the ordinary soldiers of Dong Zhuo's army were.

Except for some capable generals such as Xu Rong, Duan Wei, Yang Ding and Niu Fu, other generals such as Dong Yue, Dong Cheng and Dong Yu were just mediocre.

Li Jue, Guo Si and others were cavalry generals and were not very good at infantry combat, so there is no need to talk about their strengths or weaknesses because they never had the chance to fight each other.

Therefore, the more they fought, the more confident Jin Mao became. As long as Dong Zhuo dared to go out of the city to fight, he would dare to wipe out Dong Zhuo's 150,000 troops with only 70,000 men!

Now with the addition of 10,000 Huaihe navy led by Zhou Tai, we have even more confidence.

"Somebody come!"

"Call all the generals to discuss military affairs!"

Jin Mao decided to give Dong Zhuo a tough time.

...

Luoyang.

The scale of the Yangzhou army's action this time was very large, and it seemed that they were going to capture Luoyang.

Dong Zhuo does not have the habit of holding meetings for everything like Jin Mao, especially now that he is in a high position of power, he just wants to see results!
However, it is counterproductive.

The more Dong Zhuoyue acted arbitrarily, the faster the news of defeat at the front would come.

"Report!"

"The south of the city is in danger, General Duan Wei is asking for help!"

"Report!"

"The east of the city is under fierce attack, General Xu Rong is asking for help!"

"Report!"

This time Dong Zhuo was very angry and wanted to draw his sword and chop the third messenger.

"Mengjin Pass garrison commander Niu Fu reported that a group of unknown navy troops had come up on the Yellow River, neither attacking nor retreating. General Niu asked the Prime Minister to decide whether to launch an offensive?"

"Niu Fu!" Dong Zhuo was furious and chopped the messenger with a knife.

This son-in-law is good in every way except that he is as timid as a mouse and asks me about even the most trivial matters.

We are in the midst of a war. Don’t you know the saying that the military situation is urgent?
How much time would it take to send a messenger from Mengjin to Luoyang?
The battlefield changes rapidly. If the enemy launches an attack, do we still need to send someone to ask for orders?

That's right!

Niu Fu actually did this!
Meng Jinguan.

This place had been massacred by Ding Yuanxue and had become a barren land. There was no need to fortify the city and clear the fields because all the people around who could escape had already fled, and those who did not escape had turned into bones.

Even wild dogs don't want to bother with this shitty place.

Zhou Tai received the order and deliberately withdrew the general's flag and continued to move closer to Mengjin Pass.

Niu Fu is stationed here with 30,000 baggage troops.

Because this place became a barren land, it became an important grain storage place for Dong Zhuo in his early years. A lot of grain and supplies were stored behind Mengjin Pass and Xiaomengjin Pass.

Even though most of the food and supplies have been withdrawn to Luoyang, there is still a small part that has not been withdrawn in time.

The goal of this operation is to destroy the supplies here, and if possible, to wrap up and eat up Niu Fu's troops!
The battle plan was simple.

The Jingzhou navy led by Huang Gai transported troops on the Luo River and mobilized a large force to create the illusion of a fierce attack on the East Gate.

In fact, it was to attract firepower for Zhou Tai's troops to launch a surprise attack on Niu Fu.

On the surface, it seems that there is no problem for ten thousand elite soldiers to defeat thirty thousand miscellaneous soldiers.

The only thing to note is that Xu Rong must not be aware of the strategic intention, and Xu Rong must not be allowed to send troops to support Niu Fu.

Therefore, Jinmao deployed 60,000 troops on the front line, ready for a decisive battle.

In fact, most of these 60,000 people were new recruits. All the elite troops except the personal guards were gathered together and handed over to Zhou Tai.

Everything went very smoothly.

Dian Wei had already led his men to move the catapult camp to land, exactly five hundred steps away from the east city gate.

If Xu Rong, the defender of Dongcheng, wanted to destroy the catapult camp, he had to send troops for a surprise attack.

And that would fall into Jinmao's trap.

Therefore, when Xu Rong launched the first wave of attacks from the catapult camp, he asked Dong Zhuo for help. He had no intention of showing up, not even going up to the top of the city wall.

the other side.

It was the first time for Zhou Tai to command a battle of this level.

Not to mention the 10,000 elite soldiers, the lineup of generals alone is ridiculously luxurious.

In addition to Huang Gai and Zhang Fei attracting attention in the front, Dian Wei, Guan Yu, Dong Xi, Wen Pin, Sun Ce, Cheng Pu, Han Dang, Zhu Zhi, Sun Ben, Wu Jing and others are all here!

Han Dang has always been unruly, and only Sun Ce can command earthquakes. Therefore, Han Dang, like Guan Yu, is a high-ranking soldier!
Relying on Cheng Pu's relationship, Zhu Zhize quickly integrated into the army. After several small battles, he was successfully promoted to a first-class lieutenant and became a garrison commander, able to command two hundred people.

"Prepare to land!"

At Zhou Tai's order, Sun Ce, along with Han Dang, Sun Ben, and Wu Jing, led 1,500 elite troops and began to land.

Mengjin Pass is more than two miles away from the Yellow River.

Zhou Tai just wanted to see how the enemy defender would react.

If there is no reaction.

"All troops landed!"

Seeing that Niu Fuzhen had no reaction, Zhou Tai immediately gave orders, ordering Dian Wei, Dong Xi, Cheng Pu, and Jiang Qin to lead a thousand people each to land at the same time.

Zhou Tai led Guan Yu, Wen Pin, Zhu Zhi and other generals as well as 4,500 elite troops on the ship to respond to sudden situations at any time.

(End of this chapter)