Overlord!

Chapter 204 Victory is Li Er, defeat is Zhao Er!
Zhang Hong spoke sternly, and his loyalty and generosity were touching.

Although Lu Su did not agree with Zhang Hong's plan, he respected his loyalty and was shocked and speechless.

Sun Ce saw that he was loyal and strong, and his words were generous. He felt his ambition and said: "Since Zhang Zhonglang has said this, how can I not follow it? Send the order, go all out, and defeat Shouchun! Anyone who dares to repeat his words to the class teacher will be killed." !”

As Sun Ce worked hard, the [-] besieging troops under Shouchun City suddenly became determined to fight, and they all attacked the city bravely, hoping to complete their victory in one battle.

But the progress of the war was not as smooth as Sun Ce thought.

In mid-May, there was a severe drought in Huainan, the weather was extremely hot, and the heat was overwhelming, and the soldiers in Jiangdong were unbearable.

Sun Ce had no choice but to move the navy boats to the land, and then camped near the stream, stationed troops to rest, and mainly besieged Shouchun.

Fortunately, there is fertilizer and water under Shouchun City. Although there is a severe drought in Huainan, the fertilizer and water have not completely dried up, so Sun Ce does not have to worry about water sources.

While soldiers can especially rest and recuperate, war horses do not have the tenacity and endurance of humans.

The scorching heat was unbearable, and hundreds of horses died of fever.

This is why war horses have been produced in alpine regions since ancient times, but it is very difficult to raise horses in the south.

You must know that even on the grasslands, herders mostly rely on the Qilian Mountains, Rouge Mountains and other mountains to graze their herds, and they are not always on the endless plains.

After the fever, what troubled the cavalry even more was that the army had run out of grass!
Due to the decrease in water flow and silt blockage in the Huainan River, water transportation has become extremely difficult.

In order to transport grain and grass to the army, starting from Wuxian and Jiankang, we had to take a detour by sea, then take the Huaihe River, all the way north, a distance of thousands of miles.

During the summer storm, the navy sailed in the southeastern sea, causing the sinking of more than a dozen warships. Subsequently, the navy did not dare to sail further.

Therefore, there is still grain in the army, but no grass left.War horses can’t eat corn all the time!

However, there was a severe drought in Huainan, thousands of miles of barren land, and dry dust flying everywhere, and even the grass roots were eaten up by the people. Even if Sun Ce wanted to retreat to the next best thing, he couldn't do it by herding horses in Huainan.

Guangling prefect Lu Fan urgently raised [-] bundles of grass from Guangling to support Shouchun, but it could only relieve the urgent need.

This siege can be said to be the most brutal battle Sun Ce has ever fought since he founded his army.

There were more than [-] casualties among the soldiers, nearly [-] horses were lost, and money, food, cloth, herbs and the like disappeared like running water!
As for the people who could not receive relief due to the war, the dead may be close to 10!

No wonder war has been the biggest drain on wealth since ancient times.

The elite army that Sun Ce had recruited over the years and the wealth that the country had accumulated over the years had been lost by nearly [-]%.

If Shouchun County cannot be conquered or the army is defeated by Shouchun City, with a loss of [-] to [-] troops, tens of thousands of military equipment, war horses, carts, etc., and millions of shi of grain, then this is a terrible battle. The fiasco of the Battle of Biyiling.

Without a genius like Zhuge Liang to reorganize the country's situation, it would be impossible to organize tens of thousands of troops to conquer the north and south in just a few years.

But if Sun Ce's place is miserable, then Shouchun City will be a pure hell on earth!

When Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor, there were 15 households in the city, and there were 20 people in a family of five or six members, and the population of Gongqing's family and powerful families might be close to [-].

Sun Ceyou remembers that from the beginning of the Han Dynasty to the end of the Han Dynasty, when he was looking for the deserter Wang Chang, he was running all over the city, and the crowds responded, and the population was at its peak.

But now, after more than a month of siege, there are only less than a few thousand households left in the city.

Even the inner court and harem in Yuan Shu's palace complex, which used to be full of licentiousness and had hundreds of concubines, all of whom were married to Luo Wan, and who were disgusted with Liangrou, are now starved, sallow, weak, and skinny.

Yuan Shu had gone through a long siege, and now his eyes were blood red. He looked at the empty palace and asked viciously: "Where are the officials? Where have they gone?"

Yan Xiang, Guangluxun who belonged to Yuan Shu, lowered his head, sighed deeply, and said: "The ministers are afraid that the city will be destroyed and they will be killed, so they have resigned from their posts and given up their seals to seek a way to survive."

"The city was destroyed and killed?" Yuan Shu instantly seemed like an aroused beast, roaring angrily: "Who can destroy the city? His son Sun Ce? He is an arrogant child, but he is just a pawn under my command, and I use him to make him noble. For a moment, I don’t need him to even have the slightest bit of resentment! Is he worthy of attacking Shouchun?”

"Everything he can do to help Sui Jiangdong and be a famous county is all given to him by me! But he has betrayed his kindness and rebelled against me. He is an ungrateful villain. I, Yuan Shu, have such a good head, how can I be allowed to be betrayed by such a repetitive villain? Taken!”

It is this kind of struggle of spirits and the contempt from the bottom of his heart that allows him to grit his teeth and hold on until now.

After all, when he, Yuan Gongli, was young, he was also an arrogant and high-spirited young man.

If he hadn't rashly proclaimed himself emperor, causing rebellion and alienation, and being besieged by Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Ce, he would never have been in such embarrassment.

If he still has [-] troops stationed in Huainan.

How dare Sun Ce besiege Shouchun with only 3 people?

So even if he didn't get a response from Yan Xiang, Yuan Shu remained unmoved and continued to go his own way, asking: "Where are the reinforcements? Where are the reinforcements? As long as the reinforcements in Huaibei attack, the situation will get better! I still have a few more Once the tens of thousands of troops arrive at Shouchun City, they will definitely defeat Sun Ce's son!"

Yan Xiang hesitated for a moment and said: "Pei Prime Minister Shu Shaoyan knew that he was going to die, so he dispersed all the military rations to relieve the drought and save the people from misery. The prefect of Runan, Xu Qiu, has led his army to surrender to Cao Cao. Now only the reinforcements are left. The garrison of Lu Bu and Longkang is less than [-] strong."

"Ah!" Yuan Shu was so angry that he almost vomited blood. He threw out the imperial seal in his hand and hit it on the column in the palace.The jade seal shattered, and a corner of it was missing again!
The cracked jade seal passed down from the country is just like the Zhong family that is in turmoil at this moment, completely without the dignity of the past.

Yuan Shu roared angrily: "How did I, Yuan Shu, fall to this point?"

But no one in the hall responded to his anger. There seemed to be endless anger in his chest that was about to explode, and he was breathing violently and rapidly.

He was so angry that his vision suddenly went dark, and he fainted on the couch.

The ministers were immediately shocked and shouted: "Your Majesty!"

"His Majesty!"

Yuan Shu was really not a magnanimous character. When he first discussed with Sun Ce about proclaiming himself emperor, Sun Ce wrote him a letter expressing his objection, and he became so angry that he fell ill and stayed in bed for more than ten days.

Now being besieged by Sun Ce in the city for a long time, he finally ended up with the same ending as Zhang Jiao, becoming depressed and trapped in the city.

As for what he was feeling, how could he, Yuan Shu, have fallen to this point?In fact, in the final analysis, it was due to his lack of compassion.

There are hundreds of people in his palace and concubines, and one person is lucky every day, but he is not heavy for a year.These people are rich and loathsome, but they are all hungry and poor from the palace down. The soldiers are often poor, and the soldiers are even less than the cost of a whole body, considering what they receive!
How could such soldiers be willing to fight to the death for Yuan Shu?Therefore, Lu Bu could march across Huaiyou with a few thousand men.

Now that he was defeated by tens of thousands of elite soldiers under Sun Ce, it was considered the most honorable ending.

But now Yuan Shu's general, Lu Bu, is gaining momentum!

When Sun Ce gritted his teeth and attacked the city, Lu Fan sent another [-] bundles of rut grass, and at the same time sent Chen Jiao personally to deliver an urgent military message.

Chen Jiao saw Sun Ce in the camp and immediately paid homage: "General Xuzhou has urgently reported that Yuan Shu's right general, Xuzhou Mu Lu Bu, defeated Liu Bei on the banks of the Surabaya River in Pengcheng. Now he is urgently deploying his army to come to Huainan!"

As soon as the words fell, everyone in the tent was shocked!
Nowadays, the army is having trouble attacking the city and is suffering under the fortified city. The divisions and veterans are exhausted and have suffered heavy losses. It can be said that the morale, vigor and combat effectiveness of the army have dropped to the lowest point.

If Lu Bu comes again with a newly victorious army and is at full strength, I am afraid that the Jiangdong army will be in danger of being defeated miserably.

Jiangdong has already paid an extremely heavy price. If he retreats like this, it will not be considered a failure, but a disastrous defeat.

The army that hastily retreated could not even defend the city it had captured so far.

If you go further, the main force of the army will withdraw to Jiangdong.Just like what Zhang Hong said, the enemy army will regain strength.

At that time, Yuan Shu and Lu Bu will reunite tens of thousands of people, and the counties in Lujiang and Huainan that have surrendered will also rebel.

The most important thing is Shao Pi!
If there are no defenders left in Jiangdong, this important granary land will be captured by Yuan Shu and he will do harm.

If only one general was left to lead thousands of troops to guard Shaopi, then the defenders would at least have to resist the siege of Yuan Shu and Lu Bu's thousands of troops for a year.

It will take at least next year for Jiangdong to regain its strength, regroup its military morale, and then plan the Northern Expedition.

But just look at the tragic situation in Shouchun City. There is no one who must be rescued outside. It is definitely not something ordinary people can do if they are trapped in an isolated city for a year.

Countless generals gritted their teeth and clenched their fists, unwilling to give in.

Jiangdong's army has already tried its best in the Northern Expedition. In the early stage, it also attacked cities and villages and was invincible.

The enemy troops surrendered at the sight of the wind, and all the cities and towns all surrendered to Jiangdong. Even the tens of thousands of defenders in an important military town like Zhongli dismounted their armor and surrendered without a fight!

Zhongli!This is the most important military base along the Huaihe River. If we attack from north to south, Zhongli will be the most important town guarding the Huaihe River, a hundred times more important than Hefei.This is Jiankang City on the Huaihe River.Guard the Huaihe River and control natural dangers.Its economic status may not be as good as Shouchun, but its military status is comparable to Jiankang and Xiangyang.

If it weren't for Jiangdong's attack from south to north, and Qiaorui's surrender, revealing the deployment of Huainan, which led to Zhongli being besieged by the enemy, Zhongli would never have tens of thousands of defenders in a military town like Zhongli. Under such circumstances, the three armies dismounted their armor and surrendered to Kaicheng.

But even though the early stage had been so smooth, there were still situations where the army was blocked in the fortified city, leading to the possibility of returning with a disastrous defeat.

Siege warfare in this era is really too difficult.

Often one city can move the entire world!
Liu Ye immediately suggested: "General, our troops are exhausted. Yuan Shu is defending the fortified city and is not easily able to make a sudden advance. Lu Bu is coming in victorious, sharp and energetic. We are surrounded by enemies from both sides. We cannot complete our strategy. It is better to withdraw and protect six troops." Peace, in order to bear its disadvantages."

Sun Ce didn't want to become the ridiculous donkey cart emperor Zhao Guangyi. When the army's Northern Expedition went smoothly and swallowed up the captives, he was defeated in the city of Youzhou and returned.

Therefore, when all the generals were panicked, Sun Ce stepped forward and directly rejected everyone's suggestion to save the siege and wait for the change.

He said solemnly: "Why panic? Yuan Shu's soldiers are devastated, up and down centrifugal, not bothered to attack hard, but can sit back. Lv Buxin defeated Liu Bei, and the arrogant soldiers will be idle. I occupy the Huaihe River and choke its throat. If you take the risk of fighting for the crossing , it will be very easy to take it alone. If you are suspicious and don't fight, Yuan Shu will be defeated in ten months. The city will be destroyed and the troops will be stronger, and the momentum will be doubled. You can defeat two enemies with one fell swoop, let's do it here!"

Whether he becomes Li Shimin or Zhao Guangyi depends on this battle!

Sun Ce looked at Chen Jiao and asked, "How did Lu Bu defeat Liu Bei?"

Chen Jiao hurriedly replied: "Liu Bei's army has only a small number of soldiers. Although the general provided armor and weapons and Erchen gave the soldiers a gift, they still lacked military appearance. During the Northern Expedition to Xuzhou and the recapture of Xiapi, the army's reputation was revived and the army was revived. The power is so great that the people of Xuzhou look forward to it."

"It's just that before he could pacify Xuzhou's territory and train his army, he sent his troops to attack Lu Bu. At the beginning of the year, he suffered a small defeat. He was killed by more than 5000 people and suffered nearly [-] casualties."

"He was deeply ashamed. He thought that he was outnumbered because of his small number of troops. So he raised three armies, with more than 5 people, and took the name of [-] people to attack Lu Bu."

It is only claimed to be 5 people, which shows how small the size of its army is.The actual number may be less than 5000.

If Lu Bu wants to fight Liu Bei, even if Liu, Guan, Zhang and Xiahou Dun are included, the combined force of tens of thousands will still be unable to defeat Lu Bu's bravery!

What's more, Liu Bei now has few soldiers, Tian Yu is no longer there, Chen Qun has left, and Zhang Fei has been loaned to Jiangdong.

In the past, it was said that Liu Bei's generals could not match Guan Zhang and his civil servants could not match Jian Yong and Sun Qian, but now he could not even gather Guan and Zhang.

It is not impossible for Liu Bei and Guan Yu to fight Lu Bu with a few more than ten thousand people.What they want to command is the more than ten thousand elite soldiers trained by Zhuge Liang in the later period, and Lu Bu may not be an opponent.

However, Liu Bei's commander is a newly recruited group, and the training has only lasted for several months, less than half a year, and the army is lacking. If they go to fight Lu Bu, they will be defeated very ugly.

What Chen Jiao said next immediately confirmed Sun Ce's conjecture.

"Liu Bei led his troops to Pengcheng, and Lü Bu sent all his troops together. Japan and China, both sides reached the east of Pengcheng, and established themselves east of Surabaya in Wushan Pavilion. The two sides formed an array, stretching for six or seven miles. Lü Bu challenged them, but Liu Bei's army chased them and approached. before its array.”

"Lü Bu's army was stationed and advanced together. At this time, Liu Bei's army retreated, and the army was in panic. The enemy took advantage of it. General Chen Gong of Lu Bu's army led Hu Qi to gallop behind him."

"Liu Bei's army was frightened and said that Hu's cavalry had arrived! He was immediately defeated and the zombies fell into the trap."

Sun Ce asked in surprise: "Hu cavalry? Where did the Hu cavalry come from? Why does Lu Bu have cavalry in his army again!"

Chen Jiao sighed: "It's the Xiongnu Hu Qi. In the fourth year of Chuping, the Xiongnu and the Black Mountain Army joined forces with Yuan Shu to attack Cao Cao. They were defeated and returned. Thousands of his troops surrendered to Yuan Shu under the command of Chang Nu. Yuan Shu will go up. Qian Hu's cavalry will support Lü Bu. Lü Bu will ride and Yuan Shu will move, and we will work together to plot the world."

This is tricky!

If Yuan Shu changed his ways after his defeat and handed over all his cavalry to Lu Bu, not to mention Liu Bei, even Cao Cao would have a headache.

Therefore, Zhang Hong’s advice is indeed ambitious and he must not withdraw his troops!Shouchun must be defeated.

If we turn around now, the thieves will definitely rise again. If they are more connected, it will be difficult to succeed!
(End of this chapter)