"Advancing by both water and land..." Guan Yu murmured, a hint of wistfulness in his voice.
Influenced by the Lightscreen, Guan Yu had already begun to familiarize himself with naval warfare. And it was precisely from this naval perspective that he truly understood the terrifying power of those four words.
The route from Yizhou to Jingzhou was downstream. If they advanced by both water and land, the navy could not only transport supplies but also strike deep into the heart of Jingzhou to harass the enemy.
With the rear constantly in danger, how could Lu Xun possibly hold the line at Yiling for half a year?
Liu Bei, having read Lu Xun's letter to Sun Quan, had buried his face so deep under the desk he was practically hiding beneath it.
The enemy was terrified of a coordinated water and land advance, and what did he do? He abandoned his ships for foot soldiers, walking right into their trap.
"Big Brother, do not hide under the desk," Guan Yu said, half amused, half concerned. "Our navy is already better than anything Lu Xun faced. This time, we will be the ones setting the trap."
"Big Brother," Zhang Fei leaned in with a mischievous grin. "Are you sure you are not secretly related to Zilong? The more soldiers you command, the worse you perform?"
Zhao Yun's face twitched. "That is not how it works."
"Then why does it keep happening?" Zhang Fei shot back.
Liu Bei raised his head from the desk. "Maybe I should just stick to 800 men. That number has a certain... charm."
Guan Yu sighed. "Yide, look what you have done."
"What? I was just asking a question!"
[Lightscreen]
[Lu Xun's method of using the navy to cut off the rear is sparsely recorded in historical texts, but we can piece it together.
The Biography of Huang Quan records: Rode the current to cut the siege... the road was cut off.
The Biography of Zhu Ran is even simpler: Cut off his rear road, Liu Bei was defeated and fled.
Lu Xun's grandson, Lu Ji, bragging about the victory at Yiling, said: Lu Xun compared the Shu troops to a long snake, saying the terrain was narrow, the head and tail could not save each other, such was the momentum.
Combining these three records, we can restore a basic truth:
Right from the start, Lu Xun had found his winning opportunity. After Liu Bei ordered the navy ashore, he tightened his preparations for his plan.
Having ascertained the true state of the Shu Han camps, he ordered Zhu Ran to sail upstream. While the camps were engulfed in flames, he struck straight into the rear of the vanguard.
In this way, Liu Bei's connected camps not only lost their effectiveness but became a burden. Panic and fear spread rapidly through the linked camps. The stalemate between the two armies shattered on its own, and the Shu Han army collapsed swiftly.]
"Truly terrifying,"
Pang Tong could not help but say. "He understood the art of reading the battlefield and seizing every advantage. This general Lu Xun, facing my lord's strong army, did not clash with its sharp edge. The Yiling gorge was the battlefield he chose, and the timing of the decisive battle was decided by him. From start to finish, he controlled the flow of battle and placed himself in an invincible position."
"Shiyuan, why say so much?" Zhang Fei summarized. "Simply put, Lu Xun decided where to fight, and when to fight. How could Big Brother possibly win?"
With such a plain explanation, the generals instantly understood: if the opponent chose the battlefield, they naturally held the advantage.
"What if we, as my lord, encountered this situation?" the generals discussed.
"Repair the grain routes, prevent fire hazards, wait for autumn and their momentum will naturally fade," Guan Yu said.
"Order the soldiers to yell and curse every day, wait for their morale to break, then lead the troops to trample their camps," Zhang Fei said.
Zhao Yun, remembering the words of that future Taizu from the Lightscreen, said, "Send an elite force to cross the mountains and harass the rear, forcing the enemy to fight."
Three generals gave three different answers. As for Wei Yan, no one demanded an answer from him; after all, his tier was not high enough yet.
Liu Bei was very gratified: all three of his brothers were reliable.
[Lightscreen]
[All of this was watched clearly by the unlucky egg Huang Quan on the north bank of the river.
He did not know who the Wu general who rode the current to cut the siege was; he only knew his retreat had been cut off.
Huang Quan had his pride and did not want to surrender to Wu, so he could only head north to surrender to Cao.
The Cao army, who had been sunbathing and watching the show for over half a year, was completely dumbfounded:
This Huang Quan was a heavy minister of Shu Han who had helped Liu Bei secure Hanzhong! A massive fish! And he was bringing over 10,000 elite troops and supplies to surrender!
The Cao army, kicking back and feasting, had just effortlessly completed their annual quota.
It is worth mentioning here that Shu Han also believed Huang Quan's surrender to Cao was a helpless move.
His son, Huang Chong, served as an official normally. Later, he followed Zhuge Zhan to fight Deng Ai, and died in battle alongside Zhang Fei's grandson, Zhang Zun.]
What an unlucky man. But what could be done?
"Huang Quan did not fail me. It was I who failed him greatly," Liu Bei sighed.
"My lord ordered him to lead troops on the north bank to resist the Cao thief. That was a sign of trust," Pang Tong stepped forward to comfort him. "Moreover, once the connected camps were broken, my lord could not even care for himself. How could he care for others?"
"The father surrendered to Cao out of helplessness, and the son died in battle for the country," Zhang Fei said with newfound respect. "Our Shu Han truly produces good men!"
"Huang Quan has broad thoughts and elegant tolerance," Jian Yong praised. "The Lightscreen mentioned his name before, so I asked around in Chengdu. He is currently serving as Master Shangshu, Huang Quan."
"Another talented man left to waste," Liu Bei said, shaking his head with a bitter smile. "Liu Zhang really knows how to squander talent."
[Lightscreen]
[Another proof of Lu Xun using the navy to cut off the rear is that Liu Bei escaped back to Baidicheng almost entirely alone.
In the cold weapon era, the only way an army is destroyed or surrenders in an organized formation is when their rear route is cut off.
Typical examples include the Battle of Guandu where Yuan Shao's rear was cut off, and the Xiangyang-Fancheng Campaign where Second Master Guan's rear was cut off.
Moreover, looking at this battle, it is very similar to the Incheon Landing. At that time, the North Korean army was crushing the South Korean army like splitting bamboo, and their frontline was stretched extremely long.
The US army landed at Incheon, relying on coordinated sea, land, and air operations to strike the center and cut off the North Korean army's retreat, causing the North Korean army to collapse rapidly despite being in an advantageous position.
If not for the intervention of our Volunteer Army, the North Korean army might have been destroyed in an organized formation, leading to an irrecoverable situation on the Korean peninsula.]
Pang Tong's expression shook violently, but looking left and right, everyone's faces were perfectly calm. They were clearly already used to this, and were even discussing it in hushed tones.
"It seems this later great war was fought over a vassal state," Huang Yueying guessed, frowning. "Presumably, a vassal of this US wanted to attack a neighboring state of our Han, using the old trick of using a borrowed path to strike a third party. I just do not know where this Joseon is?"
Zhuge Liang recalled the bamboo slips he had read. "When Zhou destroyed Shang, they enfeoffed King Zhou's uncle as the Marquis of Joseon. His fief was located in Liaodong."
"Joseon connects the Central Plains and extends to the sea. Calling it a peninsula is quite fitting."
"Emperor Wu destroyed Wei Man and established the Four Commanderies. After General Gongsun perished, there was rarely any news of it."
Why so complicated? Jian Yong shook his head. "Just another piece of Han land that declared independence."
Because of these completely novel pieces of information, no one was paying attention to the fact that Liu Bei had barely escaped with his life, which actually made Liu Bei breathe a sigh of relief.
Looking at Pang Tong, who was still adapting, Liu Bei smiled and comforted him, "The Lightscreen is like this. It occasionally reveals fragments of the future. Kongming found it strange and wondrous."
Pang Tong nodded in understanding, then heard Liu Bei ask, "Can Shiyuan guess what mobile warfare means?"
On the other side, the generals' attention was focused on the sea, land, and air coordination. Wei Yan's eyebrows were twitching wildly, unable to maintain his composure any longer.
"That air force must be the thing that can fly in the sky from the Lightscreen before, right?" Zhang Fei guessed, then clicked his tongue in regret. "I thought future generations all knew how to grow wings."
Guan Yu stroked his beard in thought. "The navy... is the future direction of the water army?"
"Multi-branch coordination is also the future direction of warfare?"
[Lightscreen]
[However, in the Battle of Yiling, the success of this amphibious operation only guaranteed Lu Xun was temporarily invincible.
To truly secure victory, there was still one very tough obstacle: the 60-year-old Emperor Zhaolie, Liu Bei, a man who never knew when to quit.
Relying on setting fires to disrupt morale and using the navy to cut off the retreat, Lu Xun broke over forty camps in succession. He beheaded Zhang Nan, Feng Xi, and Shamoke. Generals like Du Lu and Liu Ning were also forced to surrender in desperation.
At this point, the situation was sliding toward an irreversible abyss, but Liu Bei still intended to make one final, desperate gamble.]