Wang Jun sailed down to Yizhou, and the royal aura of Jinling faded away. A thousand-foot iron chain sank to the bottom of the river, and a banner emerged from the stone.
This is "Reminiscence of Xisai Mountain" by Liu Yuxi of the Tang Dynasty.
Yuan Xi had no way of knowing whether in the later Battle of Red Cliffs, the Eastern Wu really blocked the mouth of the Yangtze River with iron chains as described in this poem.
Because the endless Yangtze River estuary is, according to later data, at least five kilometers wide, it is really unimaginable that a large iron chain several hundred meters long could be made there.
You have to know that the iron chains of this era were all hammered out by blacksmiths one hammer at a time.
In this place where the rushing river and the sea meet, even at night, the large and small ships coming and going are as numerous as stars on the river. It is obvious that water transportation was already extremely developed at that time.
Because there were so many ships at the large and small docks along the coast, even though it was already dark, people lit torches and were busy loading and unloading goods all night long.
Yuan Xi suddenly realized that he was wrong about one thing.
It was along the Yangtze River, a place where hundreds of cavalrymen landed quietly without being noticed by anyone!
Since ancient times, places with water systems are where people gather.
The reason is that in this era when only human and animal power can be used, water resources mean that it is suitable for human habitation and living, and the most convenient mode of transportation in ancient times was water transportation. Therefore, in order to form a place suitable for living, or even a city, there must be abundant water sources around it.
Even the roads were built along rivers so that water could be obtained in time, which was especially important during marches and battles.
In wars of this era, it is relatively easy to predict the enemy's movements. All you have to do is take out a map and deploy scouts along rivers and streams, and you can make a pretty accurate guess.
A few days ago, Guo Jia predicted the escape route of the Black Mountain Army from Beixincheng and asked Zhao Yun and Taishi Ci to intercept them respectively. This was based on this method.
Of course, there are also those who do not follow the rules and march through the deep mountain paths for surprise attacks, but the relative risk is that if they cannot find water, there will be no return.
There are often villages and small towns next to rivers and streams, and big cities are often located next to large rivers.
Now Yuan Xi ordered the fleet to go up the river under the cover of night. Looking at the constant flow of ships on both sides of the river, he felt a headache in his heart. He also overlooked another thing.
After Sun Ce fought his way from Jiujiang to Guangling, he was able to transport soldiers and supplies to and from Yuan Shu's army in Lujiang via the Yangtze River. As a result, there were many more ships on both sides of the Yangtze River, and with so many people and eyes around, it was impossible to conceal any movements.
At this moment on the Yangtze River, his fleet of dozens of large ships was too conspicuous.
Yuan Xi quickly discussed with Guo Jia and ordered all ships to lower their flags and gradually distance themselves from each other to conceal their whereabouts.
The Guangling City in the Han Dynasty was roughly located somewhere in Yangzhou in later generations. It was surrounded not only by the Yangtze River, but also by several other water systems.
The most recent one is the Hang Canal dug by the order of King Fuchai of Wu. It was an important part of the Grand Canal dug by the Sui Dynasty in later times. It starts from the Yangtze River in the south and ends at the Huai River north of Huai'an in the north. It is also called the Huai-Yang Canal.
Although the Hang Canal had been dug for nearly a thousand years, due to the chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty, its coast had suffered from war and was sparsely populated, so it was more convenient to travel than on the Yangtze River.
In the pitch-black night, the fleet forced its way to the shore of the Han Canal despite suffering damage to its ships, and lowered the cavalry and the men on board.
After working for most of the night, hundreds of cavalrymen finally came ashore from the river within a radius of dozens of miles, and then disappeared into the dense forest.
Taishi Ci got off the boat with the last batch of cavalry. He wanted to gather these cavalry in the dense forest and then hide them more than ten miles outside Guangling within a day without being discovered by the enemy.
On Yuan Xi's side, he concentrated the remaining six or seven hundred soldiers onto five or six boats and did two things before attacking the city.
One is to send a small number of people to sneak into Guangling City during the day, and then launch an attack that night and take the opportunity to open the city gate.
Second, the remaining people stayed at Guangling Wharf to provide support and prevent the people from Guangling City from escaping by water.
Seeing Guo Jia and Tian Yu carefully discussing every detail, Yuan Xi wondered if things would really go so smoothly.
But he could not show his worry, because he was the commander of an army, and if he showed a lack of confidence, the morale of his soldiers would be crushed.
He thought about it and then went down to the cabin.
He walked down the wooden ladder and inside the lower cabin, Sun Li was sitting on the ground and talking with the soldiers.
Most of the hundreds of soldiers were calm and composed, but a few looked unhappy. These were all northern soldiers, and some of them suffered from obvious seasickness.
Sun Lizheng laughed at them, "Look at you guys, you usually say you're better than me, but you get sick like this when you're on a boat, isn't that shameful?"
Someone laughed and scolded, "Young man Sun, you have followed the envoy and you no longer care about us."
Sun Li patted his chest and said complacently: "Don't be sarcastic. You laughed at me for not getting married before, but now I even have a child. I wonder what you still have to say!"
Everyone burst into laughter, "Yeah, yeah, Sun is really capable."
At this time, Yuan Xi came down, and everyone stood up immediately when they saw him.
"Young Master!"
"Envoy!"
Most of these soldiers are veterans of Beixincheng. They have followed Yuan Xi since he first went to Beixincheng.
Seeing that everyone was a little reserved, Yuan Xi suddenly realized that he was now the ruler of a state, and the distance between him and them would probably become greater and greater in the future.
Thinking of this, he took a few steps forward, patted the shoulder of the person in front and said, "I won't say anything else."
"I can't guarantee that you'll all come back."
"I can only promise that if any of you don't come back, as long as you have families, I will support them for the rest of their lives."
"Those of you who don't have families, I don't know what you want, just tell me."
"I will join you in the battle then."
After hearing this, someone said, "In the past few years, the young master has never lacked food and salary for me. It is not a problem to feed one more person."
When everyone looked closely, they found that the man's surname was Hu and he was a hunter.
When Zhuo County was in chaos, his family was killed by the rebels. He was the only one who escaped to Beixin City and later became a scout for Yuan Xi.
Old Hu continued, "Because I had plenty of food, I got a wife and had a son."
"My life was given by you, young master. You just got married and have no children yet, yet you can fight the enemy with us. What else can I say?"
"Don't worry, sir. No matter how many enemies are ahead, I, Old Hu, will chop them down one by one!"
After hearing this, everyone shouted, "Great!"
"Old Hu is straightforward!"
"That's what I wanted to say!"
"I am willing to die for you, sir!"
"I am willing to die for you, sir!"
Seeing the excitement among the crowd, Yuan Xi nodded slightly, clasped his fists and said, "Then I'll have to trouble you all!"
He felt a little heavy in his heart. After all, after tonight, he didn't know how many of the people in front of him would be able to come back.
In particular, there were dozens of people who needed to enter the city in advance. They were selected by the most elite scouts. In order to disguise themselves as civilians, they could not carry weapons or armor and could only find ways to face the fully armed defenders on their own. If they revealed the slightest flaw, they would lose their lives.
Yuan Xi went up to the deck and saw the outline of a big city vaguely appearing dozens of miles away. That was Guangling, the destination of this trip.
He returned to the cabin and said to Zhen Mi, "Today and tomorrow, you must stay in the cabin. No matter what happens, you must not come out."
After hearing this, Zhen Mi asked, "My husband, are you afraid that I will be in danger?"
Yuan Xi said: "There is such a reason. The key is that we came to Guangling under the name of the Zhen family caravan this time."
"Your appearance is too outstanding. If someone sees you, it will be easy for them to guess your true identity, and then all our efforts will be wasted."
After hearing this, Zhen Mi nodded quickly. She said worriedly, "I heard that my husband is going to fight in person. Please be careful."
Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Don't worry, I know what's going on."
In the morning light, the large ship slowly docked at Guangling Wharf.
Even in Guangling, such a large ship was rarely seen. When they saw it approaching the shore, everyone exclaimed in amazement and rushed over to see what was going on. For a while, the dock was crowded with people and there was a lot of noise.
The ship's gangway was lowered, and soldiers dressed as servants pushed carts full of mahogany boxes down the gangway. However, there were too many people at the dock and the road was blocked.
At this time, Tian Yu stood up carrying an iron sword and shouted, "The Zhen family caravan is transporting goods. Do you want to die?"
He took out his iron sword and knocked on the side of the boat. "We are all gangsters. If you ruin my master's business, I will report it to the governor and ask the Zhen family to give me an explanation!"
"But when we go out to do business, we want to be safe and harmonious. This is a good omen for meeting you all. Please give way to us to avoid a quarrel!"
He asked someone to bring a basket of copper coins and sprinkle them on the dock. The copper coins fell like raindrops amid the cheers of the crowd. When the crowd saw it, they scrambled for them. For a moment, the dock became more chaotic, with the sounds of trampling, shouting, and scrambling being heard everywhere.
Yuan Xi and Guo Jia stood in the back. Guo Jia laughed and said, "Guo Rang really looks like a slave."
"That's good too. The louder the noise, the less likely the other party will get suspicious."
Seeing the crowd scrambling and the dock in chaos, dozens of soldiers guarding the dock surrounded the crowd, shouting and dispersing them.
The leading sergeant raised his spear, pointed at Tian Yu and shouted angrily: "How dare you cause trouble here? Get down here!"
After hearing this, Tian Yu sneered, flipped over and jumped off the side of the boat. Amid the exclamations of the crowd, he jumped two meters straight down and landed heavily on the dock.
He walked up to the captain leisurely, clasped his fists and said, "Sir, this is the Zhen family caravan. We have come to Guangling several times to do business, and we are not here to cause trouble."
The captain said angrily: "What Zhen family? How come I have never heard of it!"
Tian Yu sneered and said, "Jizhou Zhen Family, you wouldn't be unaware of this, right?"
When the chief heard this, he realized that these were the four richest businessmen in the world. How could he not have heard of them?
Tian Yu smiled and said, "How come I don't recognize these military officers? They look a little unfamiliar to me."
He knew that these people were Sun Ce's subordinates. They had just occupied Guangling City for a month and were unfamiliar with the merchant caravans from all sides. This was just the right opportunity for him to take advantage of them.
After hearing this, the chief shouted, "This city now belongs to Lord Yuan!"
"I'm going to board the ship and inspect it now!"
Tian Yu sneered after hearing this and said, "Why didn't we have this rule before?"
"Is this Guangling's way of entertaining guests?"
"Who is the current governor of Guangling?"
After hearing this, the captain's face turned cold and he shouted, "Why, do you still want to complain?"
Tian Yu laughed and said, "No, I heard that Guangling City has changed its owner, so my Zhen family prepared a small gift and wanted to pay our respects."
He ordered someone to bring a box over. When the lid was opened, there were more than a dozen rolls of silk cloth inside.
The sergeant saw it and sneered, "With just this little stuff, you still want to see our general?"
Tian Yu shook his finger and said, "This is for Jun Ye."
He pointed to the dozen or so boxes behind him and said, "Those are for the governor."