Overlord!

Chapter 270: Soldiers advance to Jiaozhou
Just kill one prince to conquer Jiaozhou?

Sun Ce immediately asked with concern: "What do you mean by Chang Shi's words?"

Zhang Zhao said: "The princes in Jiaozhou are led by Shi Xie, and his brothers are combined into counties. He is as long as a state, located thousands of miles away, and his majesty is supreme. When going in and out, the bells are ringing and the pan is equipped with majestic rituals, the flutes are played, and the chariots and cavalry are full. Dao. There were often dozens of Hu people burning incense in their hubs. Their wives and concubines rode in the carriages, and their children rode in the army. They were so valuable at that time that they conquered hundreds of barbarians. Even the king of South Vietnam, Wei Tuo, could not compare with them."

"If Brother Shixie surrenders, all counties in Jiaozhou will be at peace."

"But Wu Ju, the prefect of Cangwu, is light and weak, and has always been at odds with Shi Xie and others. He has ambitions but no talents. Therefore, he has little food and soldiers, and is not enough to dominate the frontier."

"The general has been ordered by the emperor to supervise the military in the south and has the power to conquer Cangwu. Therefore, he can order Wu Ju to pay tribute. If he does not obey, he can use his army to attack him."

"Wu Ju died for resisting the king's master, and the brothers Shi Xie will be frightened and surrender."

Wu Ju was the prince who Liu Bei wanted to seek refuge with after his defeat in Dangyang in history.

Then Lu Su found Liu Bei in the rebellious army and said to him: "Wu Ju has few grains and a small army. He can't protect himself, so how can he accommodate others? General Sun is in six counties. He has plenty of soldiers and grains, and he respects the virtuous and courteous people very much." , Jiang Biao is a hero, and many people join him. This is your plan. It is better to send your confidants to join Soochow in order to jointly plan for great things."

As a result, the alliance between Sun and Liu was promoted and the Battle of Chibi was won.

As a governor of Jiaozhou, his subordinates could not compete with Sun Ce in terms of talent, army, or treasury.

There may only be a few thousand troops under his command. Even if there are more than ten thousand troops, in the barren land of Jiaozhou, their combat power and armament cannot be comparable to that of Sun Ce's army of kings.

Sun Ce only needs to send a large general and attack with a partial army, and he can march thousands of miles.

After all, ever since the Central Plains was pacified in ancient times, when Jiaozhi was opened up, only tens of thousands of people could be sent to destroy the country, punish crimes, and sweep across Jiaonan.

With more than [-] infantry and cavalry, that was the scale that an ordinary feudal dynasty would need to wipe out the entire Jiaozhou.

If Sun Ce were to attack Cangwu County, 3000 or at most 5000 men would be enough.

After all, Zhao Yun, Zhang Fei and others only used 3000 people to attack Guiyang, Wuling and other counties in southern Jingnan.

Cangwu County is just south of Guiyang County. Starting from Guiyang County, the seat of Guiyang County, as long as you cross Linhe and Fengyang counties, you can reach Yushui tributary flowing down to Guangxin, the seat of Cangwu County. county.

Being able to go down the river valley means that the terrain here is relatively flat and there are no defensible obstacles. Moreover, it is high in the north and low in the south. Wu Ju cannot find the pass even if he wants to resist.

The distance between two counties, no matter how empty it is, how empty can it be?

Moreover, it is still along the river, and it is a civilized area in Jiaozhou. There is no need to worry about breaking into miasma and swamps.

If there is no enemy obstruction, Jiangdong's army will be able to cross these two counties and encircle Cangwu in about five or six days after leaving Guiyang.

The two counties are separated, and Wu Ju can't even hold on.

After all, it is too close to transport grain from Guiyang here.

No matter how much the princes pull their hips, they will not be able to maintain supplies for two counties.

Bandits and bandits in the Central Plains plundered prefectures and counties, and the scope of their robberies was more than two or three counties.

Therefore, it is impossible for Wu Ju to be trapped in the isolated city, which is asking for death.

He had no external reinforcements and was just waiting to be captured.

The generals of the Jiangdong Army who were attacking the city probably wanted him to defend the city. By then, as long as the army surrounded the city, dug trenches, and built the siege forts, they would be able to surround Wu Ju without attacking the city or killing any soldiers.

The supply lines of the two counties were transported by oxcarts and trucks. In just one or two trips, tens of thousands of stones and grains of food and grass could be delivered, enough for thousands of siege troops to besiege the city for more than a year.

In this case, there was almost no damage to the people of Guiyang, and there were no casualties to the Jiangdong soldiers.

Sun Ce thought for a while and said: "Yes, just follow what Chang Shi and Zhuge Liang said, and capture Cangwu. Regardless of whether Shi Xie surrenders in fear or not, at least he can expand the territory of Cangwu and gain a large county."

Zhang Zhao asked: "Who does the general want to appoint? March into Cangwu? Although the scale of the troops used this time is small, it involves the overall situation of our power in Jiangdong and Jiaozhou, so we cannot be careless."

Sun Ce nodded, he originally wanted to use Zhuge Liang.

After all, Zhuge Liang put forward this advice.

However, considering the use of thousands of troops, it is not Zhuge Liang's strength.And he is not familiar with the land of Jingnan.

Finally, Sun Ce said: "We should continue to use the rebellious general Lü Meng as our general, and the commanders Gan Ning, Zhou Tai, and Lü Dai will march forward, and then send a group of surprise cavalry to Lü Meng's tent to obey orders."

Lu Meng had been stationed in Jingnan before and had a good understanding of the local situation. Therefore, it would be basically foolproof for him to command [-] infantry and cavalry to march into Cangwu.

He can prepare complete supplies and logistics, and recruit enough heroes from Jingnan and Jiaobei to serve.

Counting the heroes, guests, witch doctors, guides, lobbyists, etc. who are working for him, the scale of his troops sent this time may not be less than [-].

If he pays huge sums of money to make good friends with the powerful families in Jingnan and allows their tribes and guests to transport food and grass for him, then his nearly [-] troops will not need to distract themselves from logistical supplies.

Using more than a thousand oxen, horses and donkey carts to transport grain and grass can ensure that the front line has no worries about food and grass.

His thousands of troops can fully participate in the war.

As Sun Ce's military order came out, the Jingnan army immediately mobilized its troops. After three months of preparations by Lu Meng, they launched their march southward in the crisp autumn weather.

Lü Meng took General Gan Ning as the vanguard and sent troops from Guiyang. In one fell swoop, he defeated Wu Ju's more than a thousand troops guarding the border and invaded Cangwu County.

Cangwu is really close to Jingnan, especially Guiyang County is right next to Cangwu County. Now that Jingzhou has fallen, Jiaozhou doesn't have much room to resist.

Liu Biao had sent troops to attack Jiaozhou several times. Wu Ju's Cangwu prefect was appointed by Liu Biao after the former prefect Shi Huang died of illness.

You know, Liu Biao didn't have much stable rule in Jingnan before.

The three counties of Changsha, Guiyang, and Lingling did not obey Liu Biao for a long time, and the Jingman people in Wuling even resisted renting taxes.

As a result, Liu Biao was able to capture Cangwu County like this. It can be imagined how different the power of Jiaozhou was compared to that of the Central Plains.

Lu Meng was a general who was able to capture three counties from Guan Yu in one fell swoop.

He also made outstanding achievements in Sun Ce's attack on Liu Biao. When Zhou Yu was infected with the epidemic and Zhuge Liang had not yet left his official post, he single-handedly stabilized the entire northern front for Sun Ce and defeated Liu Biao in Jiangling.

It can be said that even the Jingzhou army led by Liu Biao was no match for Lu Meng.Not to mention Wu Ju, the prefect of a county under Liu Biao.

It's just that as a martial artist, Wu Ju didn't have much of an overall perspective.After hearing Sun Ce's order to hand over [-] troops and their equipment and armor, [-] shi of grain and grass, [-] pieces of cloth, and [-] kilograms of gold, he became furious.

It turned out that he had unexpectedly violated the law, that is, he openly surrendered to the former general Sun Ce and respected him as the lord of the south.But in fact, he was domineering in Cangwu County and did not listen to Jiankang's orders.

But when Sun Ce issued this order, he immediately raised his troops in anger and blocked the troops at the county boundary!
Is it bearable, what is unbearable?

By handing over [-] troops and their equipment and armor, wouldn't that mean taking away all of Wu Ju's military power?

The three thousand kilograms of gold, fifty thousand bolts of silk, and one hundred thousand stones of grain and grass that he wanted would completely drain the treasury that Wu Ju had accumulated over the years!
Then how can he obey the law and violate the law?

Therefore, Wu Ju immediately ordered his subordinates Qu Jing, Wei Yi, Qian Bo and others, as well as the traitor Gao Liang and others, to gather troops together to prevent Lu Meng from entering the north of the border.

Among them, Qu Jing is his direct descendant, and he is a township party member. They are both from Changsha County and Linxiang County, and they are a wealthy family in Changsha.

Wei Yi, on the other hand, was a Cangwu man, a man of great courage, and both Wu Ju and Qian Bo trusted him. He led a large number of heroes from Cangwu County.

The one most relied upon by Wu Ju in the north was the great thief Gao Liang. He was a local thief and was even more powerful than Huang Longluo, a local thief in Shanyin County. He had more than [-] crossbowmen and tens of thousands of troops under him. Ignore the people and harm the officials and people.He roamed around the borders of the four counties of Nanhai, Cangwu, Yulin and Zhuguan, acting as a bandit. He was specially designed to serve as a refuge for rebels and fugitives. Many of his subordinates were desperate to fight to the death, and his power was prosperous.

We must know that Huanglongluo only has a few thousand people, and they only govern Shanyin County in Kuaiji County. The prefect Wang Yi cannot attack them with his army.

Gao Liang was moving around the four counties of Nanhai, Cangwu, Yulin, and Zhuguan, and his power was so powerful that it reached the entire Jiaozhou. No princes could defeat him.

It's just that he is based in Jiaonan, and his reputation is unknown in the Central Plains.

In fact, this is equivalent to the powerful forces such as the Black Mountain Bandits and Qingzhou Bandits in Jiaozhou.

Moreover, Gao Liang was very ambitious. He knew very well that Wu Juwu was a light and tough man, and Shi Xie was a Confucian. If they occupied Jiaozhou, they would not threaten Gao Liang's interests.

Everyone can separate themselves into one party, and they will not attack and destroy each other.Gao Liang and other old thieves can still go around robbing people and killing officials and people.

But if Sun Ce's army enters Jiaozhou, he will swallow up the strong captives in anger, and he is afraid that he will not allow anyone to occupy the mountains and forests.

So after Wu Ju sent someone to explain his interests to him, he only accepted a small gift and immediately sent thirty thousand troops to Cangwu to help Wu Ju resist Lü Meng.

Of course, most of his 3 people are just a mob, without any armor or equipment, let alone military discipline.

The only people under his command who can really fight are the three thousand strong crossbowmen and the thousands of capable bandits.

However, he was cunning and had heard stories about the heroic heroes in the north, so he compared Wu Ju to Gongsun Zan and himself to Zhang Yan, claiming to lead one hundred thousand troops to relieve the siege of Cangwu.

The momentum was very powerful, and it quickly reached the ears of Lu Meng who was advancing quickly.

After all, Lü Meng only sent out more than [-] troops this time. When he suddenly heard that his opponent had an army of [-], it was inevitable that some soldiers in the army would feel uneasy.

So Lü Meng summoned the generals and said: "The thieves in Gaoliang are just a group of grass bandits. They have no city gates and can only rely on bandit raids as their capital. When they are safe, ants will gather, and when they are poor, the birds will scatter. They can be captured quickly, not by the crowd." If the star gallops and the lightning strikes, there will be no danger, and five hundred fine knights will perish on their own."

Then Lu Meng shouted: "Gan Ning!"

"The end is here!" Gan Ning immediately raised his chest and clasped his fists.

As a famous fighting general in Jiangdong, he has a majestic body and a good fighting spirit. He is very brave and good at fighting.

Instead of being afraid of the so-called hundreds of thousands of bandits, he was actually quite excited. If he led [-] cavalry to defeat them, his prestige would be even greater.

Anyway, after defeating the enemy in one fell swoop, the ministers in Jiankang City did not know how many enemy troops there were.

The more people the other party claims, the more joyful it is for him.

Lü Meng agreed with him and said: "If Wu Ju relies on danger and refuses to fight, I am still worried that he will not be able to win quickly. Now that he has attracted the Gaoliang Su bandits, he will really help me to shake up Jiaozhou! This battle will defeat him." If you look down on the leader in Gaoliang, Cangwu's defenders will be frightened and flee, and Cangwu will be able to defeat them!"

"You will lead five hundred cavalry to march southeast along Yushui to attack Gaoliang and other villages. When Gaoliang hears this, they will abandon Cangwu and return. We ambush our troops at the dangerous pass. If we want to attack them, we will defeat them in one battle. !”

"General, take your orders!" Gan Ning immediately clasped his fists in high spirits.

He led five hundred cavalry, three horses per person, and only ten days of food and grass, and headed down the river to Gaoliang Bentun on the border of Cangwu County and Nanhai County.

Cangwu County is governed by Guangxin County on the west bank of the tributary of Yushui, while Ganning is on the east bank of Yushui. The cavalry galloped without much hindrance, and under the guidance of the guide, they rushed straight to the border of Cangwu County, near the high and cool Bentun.

When the news reached Guangxin County, Gao Liang was really shocked. The parents, wives, children, and family property of the officers and soldiers in his camp were all in the camp. If there was any loss in the camp, the people's hearts would definitely be scattered.

There is no need to wait for Sun Ce's army to attack, his men will disintegrate and become displaced on their own.

In today's troubled times, all armies are disintegrated and dispersed, and countless invincible ones disperse.

The key reason why Gao Liang became a traitor was that he had hoarded a large amount of grain, grass and supplies in his village and gathered the property of the thieves and bandits.Those who make thieves and bandits have perseverance have perseverance.

This allowed him to win many battles and not be annexed by any princes.

But if there is any mistake in this camp, even if he defends Cangwu County for Wu Ju, his own head will inevitably be put in front of the cases of other princes.

So after Gao Liang learned the news, he immediately ordered the three armies to return immediately!
Wu Ju was so shocked that he quickly brought people to dissuade him. Wu Ju personally held the reins of Gaoliang's horse and persuaded him: "General Gao, this is the enemy's plan! When Cao Cao, the general of the Central Plains, was the governor of Dongjun, it was exactly this plan. Defeat the Black Mountain Army. Do you want to follow in their footsteps?"

Gao Liang said angrily: "If all my soldiers, wives and children are taken away by Lu Meng, how can I continue to persevere? Does Wu Fujun think that all my soldiers will die?"

When a famous general like Guan Yu lost Jiangling, his entire army collapsed and he was defeated in Maicheng.There is no way that a bandit like Gao Liang could maintain the hearts and minds of his [-]-strong army even after losing his home village!
Therefore, even if there may be an ambush ahead, he must return to support his village.

This is because we know that there are tigers in the mountains and prefer to go to the tiger mountains.

Gao Liang even said to Wu Juyou: "Why don't Mr. Wu gather his troops and go with me? If I fail, Cangwu County will definitely not be able to hold on. If you and I join forces, even if the thieves set up an ambush, it will be difficult to win."

Wu Ju's expression suddenly changed. Did he ask him to abandon the county and go with Gaoliang's old thieves?
Then wouldn't his reputation as a celebrity be completely ruined?
Wu Ju immediately rejected Gao Liang's words unceremoniously and denounced them as extremely ridiculous.

If he, Wu Juguo, can really join forces with Gao Liang, he might be able to take advantage of the opportunity to defeat Lü and Meng's armies as Gao Liang said.

It's a pity that Wu Juse is fierce and timid, and he is always scheming. He does great things but cherishes his own life.He only led his army to defend Guangxin County, leaving Gao Liang to gallop back for reinforcements alone.

(End of this chapter)