Overlord!

After capturing Xuzhou, Sun Ce also retreated.

During this battle, Jiangdong sent more than [-] soldiers and officials, which placed a huge burden on Jiangdong. Many corvee workers were hastily recruited. They suffered from the bitter cold of the corvee and more than a thousand people suffered from frostbite.This was already the result of Zhang Zhao's full efforts, and he took out a large number of military uniforms from the treasury and distributed them to the corvees.

The Jiangdong Army will issue two sets of summer and winter military uniforms to newly recruited soldiers in spring and autumn. Since Jiangdong has a recruitment system, it is issued every three years.Therefore, old pawns will also receive two new sets of servers every three years.

But even so, there are less than [-] sets of winter clothing in Jiankang City. After all, the military uniforms produced every three years are relatively limited.

Therefore, so many corvees were hastily allocated, and many of them did not have winter robes to spend the winter in the north.

It is also due to the fact that Jiangnan has been pacified for many years and the people are prosperous, so the families of the recruited corvee can prepare several sets of cotton robes for winter.

A cotton robe is not a cotton robe, that is, a robe filled with some wadding, rags, chicken and duck down between two layers of cloth. This kind of winter clothing is naturally unable to withstand the increasingly cold weather today.

Under such circumstances, continuing the fight will only exacerbate the suffering among the people.

The best season for the Jiangjiang Northeast Expedition is undoubtedly to wait for the turn of spring and summer, when the river water rises sharply, and then the boatmen gather together to advance by land and water.

Moreover, Jiangdong has captured Xuzhou. The most important task at the moment must be to stabilize people's hearts, consolidate the defense, and then contact Yuan Shao in Qingzhou.

This battle gave Jiang Dong a clearer understanding of Cao Cao's abilities, and all civil and military officials admired his talent.

Cao Mengde may be very rough when the wind is favorable, but in the desperate situation against the wind, the majestic talents and strategies he displayed are truly worthy of his evaluation as a transcendent hero.

If he is not eradicated, both Sun Ce and Yuan Shao will have trouble sleeping and eating.

Therefore, Sun Ce must contact Yuan Shao and attack Cao Cao together.It just so happens that Xuzhou is now captured by Jiangdong and is connected to Qingzhou of Yuan Shao's power in the east.

So after returning to Jiankang, Sun Ce has been preparing to contact Yuan Shao.

He Yuan Shao may be scheming and decisive, but he is definitely a hero of the world. He knows very well that if he wants to bring peace to the world, he must make friends far and near to deal with Cao Cao together.

Historically, when Sun Ce died and Sun Quan succeeded to the throne, Jiangdong was unstable. Yuan Shao even did not hesitate to contact Zhennan General Liu Biao and Jianzhong General Zhang Xiu to ask them to attack Cao Cao.

Now that Jiangdong is strong, Yuan Shao's strategy of jointly attacking Cao Cao must coincide with Jiangdong.

Therefore, he previously sent envoy Xun Chen to visit Sun Ce in person. Now that Sun Ce has captured Xuzhou, it is reasonable and reasonable to send an envoy to Yecheng to inform Yuan Shao.

I'm afraid Yuan Shao is also happy to see the outcome of this situation. After all, Liu Bei took over Xuzhou and immediately sent an envoy to report to him, and he readily recognized it.

However, before Sun Ce was selected as the envoy candidate, Zhang Zhao personally entered the Chui Gong Hall to report an extremely important military information to Sun Ce.

"General, according to the news from Xuzhou Langya Prime Minister Sun Shao, Cao Jun's general Zang Ba led more than [-] elite troops to the north and defeated Qingzhou Qi, Le'an, and Beihai."

Sun Shao was from Beihai, and he was the first prime minister of Soochow in history.

Under Sun Ce, he also received important responsibilities. Before that, he had been serving as Tian Cao of Wu Commandery.

You must know that in Jiangdong, Tian Cao's status is extremely special. He can no longer be regarded as an ordinary county official. He is the most prominent official in charge of a county's wealth, almost equivalent to most of the county officials.

As the county magistrate was dismissed by Sun Ce, the powers of the three envoys were strengthened. Tian Cao was actually an independent official in charge of the wealth of a county, with almost no interference from the prefect.

After all, the taxation in Jiangdong is mainly based on land tax. In the case of taxation based on acres, the power and power of the field cao are far greater than those of ordinary county officials.

And Wujun is the center of wealth in Jiangdong. The fertile fields in Wujun are related to the wealth and tax revenue of the entire Jiangdong.

Therefore, being able to serve as Tiancao of Wu County is a prominent and important position.

For such an important minister, who was the first to join Sun Ce, Sun Ce directly promoted him to the position of Prime Minister of a county.

Langya Kingdom is next to Beihai Kingdom, and Sun Ce also hopes to use his prestige to attract the people and heroes of Qingzhou.

In fact, this was very effective. I heard that Sun Shao was serving as the Prime Minister of Langya, and there were many heroes from Beihai who joined him as government officials.

After all, if he relied on Langya's thousands of people, he would have to form a county with hundreds of officials, and it would not be enough to use all the literate and illiterate young men.

And because of this, he was also very well-informed about the news in Qingzhou, and the news about Zang Ba leading his army northward could be transmitted in time.

Sun Ce still valued Zang Ba, the Taishan bandit, and Chen Shou's evaluation was that Li Tong, Zang Ba, Wenpin, and Lu Qian were in charge of Weizhou County and had Weihui.

In other words, he is at least the same level of general as Wenpin.

And he is different from Diploma. He is the dominant vassal town, which is somewhat similar to Sun Ce's early relationship with Yuan Shu.It can be compared to Zhang Xiu and Huang Zu.

Therefore, he still has more than [-] elite soldiers from Mount Tai.

Hearing that he led his army to the north, Sun Ce said with a smile: "Zang Ba is very knowledgeable. Do you remember that he was stationed in Kaiyang before?"

Kaiyang is located in Langya Kingdom, and is located very far to the south. It can be said that it is located in the northern border of Xuzhou, adjacent to Qingzhou and Yanzhou.

Zhang Zhao replied: "When Lu Bu usurped Xuzhou, Zang Ba took Langya Prime Minister Xiao Jian in Ju County and occupied Langya County, which was similar to Wang Lang's garrison in Kuaiji. However, after Cao's army defeated Liu Bei in a battle, it became powerful in the Central Plains. Zang Ba was afraid of his power, so he withdrew from Ju County and stationed his troops in Dongwu County, looking north at Gaomi."

Dongwu County is already the northernmost part of Langya Kingdom.

From the southernmost point of Langya to the northernmost point of Langya, it can be seen that Zang Ba is really afraid of Cao Cao's power.

After all, his record of defeating Liu Bei and conquering Xuzhou in one battle was terrifying.

There is basically no danger to defend Xuzhou. If he does not surrender in Langya, he may inevitably make the same mistake as Liu Bei.

Withdrawing to Dongwu has given up the entire Langya to Cao Cao.Further north, we enter the Beihai Kingdom, Yuan Shao's sphere of influence.Going up the Weishui River is Gaomi, an important town on the North Sea.

Sun Ce had previously thought about how to deal with the feudal princes, but unexpectedly he wisely withdrew from Xuzhou.

Zhang Zhao continued to explain: "I'm afraid Zang Ba has no choice. Cao Cao's army has been defeated, and the general has swallowed up Xuzhou. Zang Ba has helped Cao Cao massacre the people before, so he must not tolerate me in Jiangdong. If he doesn't want to be defeated by our army, he can only choose to march north. Qingzhou and Beihai, or withdraw to Taishan Road to the west." Should he withdraw to Taishan County or march to Beihai Kingdom?
This choice may be difficult for ordinary people, but for a dominating prince like Zang Ba, there is no need to think too much.

That must be heading north to attack Qingzhou.

Withdrawing to Taishan County means that he has completely become Cao Cao's general in Yanzhou, and sooner or later he will be captured by Cao Cao.Just like Zhu Ling, Cao Cao often hated him and wanted to seize the central part of his camp.Therefore, because of Yu Jin's majesty and resoluteness, he sent dozens of cavalry with the order to Zhu Ling's camp to seize his army. Zhu Ling and his troops did not dare to move;

As for attacking Qingzhou, you can continue to separate one side and maybe take advantage of the opportunity to expand territory.Even if the battle is defeated, there is still a way to retreat. It will not be too late to return to Yanzhou and become a general under Cao Cao.

Anyway, Zang Ba will definitely not wait for Xuzhou.

The terrain here is too flat and there is no danger to defend. It is where Jiangdong's cavalry roams freely.A distance of several hundred miles is a natural chasm for the infantry, but for the cavalry, it is just a smooth road.

Three thousand cavalry arrived at dawn and dusk, and he continued to stay in Dongwu. Maybe one day his head would be chopped off by Zhuge Liang.

Although Sun Ce withdrew his troops, he still had [-] troops stationed in Huainan and Xuzhou. Among them, Zhou Yu led the main force of the army to station in Huainan, and Zhuge Liang led [-] elite assault cavalry and [-] black armor cavalry to station in Xiapi.

Although the fertile fields in Xuzhou's plains are desolate, there is no shortage of tew grass in the fields, which is suitable for Jiangdong's horse herding, so Jiangdong's elite cavalry are stationed in the Xiapi and Pengcheng areas.

Three thousand elite cavalry galloped across Xuzhou. This was where the cavalry came into play.As a general who knows his troops well, Zang Ba knows very well that under this situation, Xuzhou is not a place where soldiers can live for a long time.

In fact, he ran very fast.

Zhuge Liang is from Langya, and he has long wanted to restore Langya. If Zang Ba does not leave, Zhuge Liang will definitely send out elite cavalry to raid his people and make them uneasy.

This gave Zhuge Liang the advantage. Not only did he dare to take the initiative in the Northern Expedition, he could also directly station himself in front of the enemy, seize all their wheat and grain, and ensure that the army and the people did not offend, and win the hearts of the local people.

However, Zang Ba's march into Qingzhou should not only be based on his personal ambitions.

Sun Ce thought about it and said: "Cao's army marching into Qingzhou from the right is probably related to Cao's army's strategy. Cao Cao used the land of Yan and Hezhou to resist the military front of the hegemony in the north and south. It is better to win quickly than to escape for a long time. Zang Ba marched into Qingzhou, He can easily capture several counties in Qingzhou, which not only weakens Yuan Shao's strength, but also improves his situation. When he competes with Yuan Shao in Henan, he will not be disturbed by attacks from the right."

Historically, Cao Cao was able to win the Battle of Guandu, and Zang Ba's contribution to Qingzhou and to contain Yuan Tan was indispensable.

With the defeat of Huainan, more than [-] troops were lost, and countless supplies and equipment were abandoned. Cao Cao was obviously at a disadvantage again in the confrontation between the forces of Yuan Shao, so he once again promoted Zang Ba's move and gained a pawn forward.

Zhang Zhao very much agreed with Sun Ce's analysis and said: "Cao Cao lost the land of Xuzhou, and Yanzhou and Henan were both destroyed. It can be said that he can resist the power of the world with the land of one state. If he cannot fight quickly, he will be defeated. I just don’t know if Yuan Benchu ​​can stabilize the situation, work as a farmer, and then gradually camp in Henan. In this way, the situation in the Central Plains can be settled."

Sun Ce couldn't help but smile, he, Cao Mengde, had also ended up in this situation.Use the army of one state to defeat the country of nine states, and use the strategy of one person to compare with the wisdom of the world.

The half-broken Yanzhou plus the half-broken Yuzhou can barely be considered a big state, and its population and wealth are definitely higher than those of Shu.

But even so, Cao Cao must take the initiative to attack if he wants to succeed in his career.

Sun Ce sighed and said, "I'm afraid that the people of Yan and Yu will suffer even more. This time Cao's army lost troops and generals. After returning, they will definitely use force to recruit tens of thousands of young men."

Maybe, the size of Cao's army may reach more than [-] like that of Shu.

Zhang Zhao asserted at this time: "Cao Cao was preoccupied with his merits and exploited his own wisdom, instead of learning from the past. He claimed that he was the king of the country and wanted to conquer and run the world with force, and he was bound to fail."

"In the past, Xiang Ji had a powerful people, who crossed the state and occupied the territory, and had a big task. However, he was defeated in Gaixia and died in the east city. The clan was burned, and they laughed for thousands of years. They were not righteous and abused the people below. Cao Cao Today, he is tyrannizing the people even more than Xiang Ji, but he is not as smart as the overlord. How can he be undefeated?"

Sun Ce shook his head cautiously and said: "Cao Cao's military strategy is certainly not as good as Xiang Ji's, but his talents respect the virtuous and his rule of law is a hundred times better than Xiang Ji's, which means that he can dominate the Central Plains. If Yuan Benchu ​​cannot determine his long-term plan, he will be Provoked by Cao Cao, he changed his orders at night and abandoned his temple to win a decisive battle, fearing that he would eventually be defeated by Cao Cao. Therefore, I planned to send an envoy to Hebei to make an appointment with Yuan Shao to attack Cao's thieves together, and the two armies responded to each other from a distance."

Sun Ce really didn't trust Yuan Shao's decision. He was indecisive and could easily be swayed by the opinions of other counselors.

To put it nicely, it means being able to open up a wide range of opinions and accept advice with an open mind.

To put it bluntly, he is lacking in opinions.In any case, he would accept everyone's opinions, neither listening to them favorably nor believing them all.

Therefore, he clearly had the advantage, but the factional struggle among his subordinates was obviously more serious than that of Cao Cao.

He could no longer be allowed to settle for the situation. Jiangdong must take the initiative to contact him and set a common date for dispatching troops.

It was commonplace in the Three Kingdoms to send troops together to defeat Cao Cao's thieves.Shu and Wu often sent troops to the Northern Expedition together, echoing each other from afar.

However, Cao Wei's power was stronger than that of Shu and Wu, and it could defend on both sides. In addition, Sun Quan's ability to command troops was extremely limited, but he was unwilling to delegate power, so it was difficult to shake the foundation of Cao Wei.

Now that Sun Ce controls the entire south of the Huaihe River, his troops are even more fierce. It's time to take the initiative and unite his allies!
Speaking of taking the initiative, Sun Ce couldn't help but think of another ally. He asked Zhang Zhao: "Is Zhao Yan, the censor Zhongcheng, still in Jiankang?"

In terms of etiquette, Zhao Yan must say goodbye to Sun Ce in person before returning to Luoyang. Sun Ce has not seen him recently, so he should not have left yet.

Zhang Zhao immediately replied: "Zhao Yan is still staying in Jiangdong. He went to visit Wang Lang and recruit him as a court official on behalf of the emperor."

After speaking, Zhang Zhao asked: "General, do you want to unite with Guanxi and attack Cao Cao together?"

Sun Ce nodded. From the moment the emperor intervened, Sun Ce made it clear that there was only one loyal general in the world who could save the world.

It's time for the emperor to express his support for Sun Ce and Yuan Shao, or Cao Cao.

Considering the interests of the court, the emperor definitely does not want any princes to be dominant. For example, Yuan Shao swept the world and became the master of the entire Guandong.

That would greatly threaten the dominance of the Han Dynasty. Yuan Shu had the intention of arrogance, and Yuan Shao was not without it.Otherwise, Yuan Shao would not have asked his officials at the beginning, but he was forced to kill the counselor who advised him to follow the will of God and the people.

If the emperor were stronger, he would most likely choose to support Cao Cao to balance the power of the world.

But Sun Ce felt that the emperor should not have such courage. Up to now, the emperor and many ministers in the court felt that the Han Dynasty would not die, and there would be another general like Huangfu Song to clear up the chaos for the court.

Therefore, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, and Sun Ce were praised by court officials as the pillars of the Han Dynasty.

But where can there be so many Guo Ziyi in the world?
If he forces the court, he may not join forces to attack Cao Cao, but he will never help Cao Cao again. (End of chapter)