Overlord!

In the Battle of Xinji, more than [-] elite infantrymen of Jiangdong Army fought with Cao's army of more than [-] for three days. In the end, Cao's foreign generals rebelled and attacked from both sides. As a result, Cao's army returned with a disastrous defeat. Thousands of people were beheaded and the entire army was scattered. .

The significance of this battle was not only to defeat the main force of Cao's army in Yan and Henan, but also to completely break the morale of Cao's camp. A large number of cities surrendered in the face of the wind, and the entire territory of Runan changed flags and surrendered to Yuan and Sun. coalition forces.

Wherever Xu Huang's troops went, there were heroes who led their troops to join him. By the time he swept across the right wing and led his troops to Xu County, there were already tens of thousands of rebels and bandits.

With [-] people, Xu County's retreat was completely cut off, which meant that Cao Jun's front line could no longer obtain supplies from the rear.

Zhou Yu, Lu Meng, and Sun Ce also took advantage of this great victory to quickly clear out the entire western counties of Yingchuan and gather their troops under the city of Xu County.

Although Cao Ren's more than [-] people were just a ragtag group, they even included Xiahou Dun's troops who were driving the city to fight, and their combat power was not worth mentioning.

But that was already all the young men in Yingchuan and Runan that Xun Yu could mobilize!
With these 2 people destroyed, Xun Yu no longer had any available troops, so he could only summon the officials, craftsmen, and young men in the county to go to the city to make a final resistance.

This is also inevitable. Ying and Ru counties have been devastated several times, and their populations are no longer what they used to be. The total population of the two counties is limited to tens of 10 people.

The main force of tens of thousands of Cao's troops was defeated, and Sun Ce gathered another hundred thousand troops here. It can be said that the entire Ying and Ru front lines were involved in the flames of war, and all the young men were forcibly recruited to fight.In order to determine the ownership of the Central Plains, it is an established fact that men should fight and women should luck.

Even if Xun Yu was extremely talented, he would not be able to defend the plain hinterland of Yingchuan on his own under such a situation where a prairie fire was ablaze.

However, he also knew very well that it was wishful thinking to expect him to defeat the main force of Sun Ce's army.

Although Cao Jun also deployed tens of thousands of troops locally to defend Ying and Ru, most of them were young men, soldiers and other motley crews.The real elite of Cao's army was less than ten thousand.

The main force of Cao's army has been brought to the front line of the Yellow River by Cao Cao to confront Yuan Shao.

All Xun Yu had to do was stall for time, waiting for Cao Cao to defeat Yuan Shao, and then return with the main force to the south for reinforcements.

But under the current situation, it is a coincidence that what he expected was exactly what Sun Ce expected!
Because the pressure and threats Yuan Shao gave him at the moment were too severe.

More than [-] soldiers surrounded Xu County, but Sun Ce was not in a relaxed mood. After personally patrolling the camp with his subordinates, he stood on a high slope of only ten meters and looked down at this huge joint camp.

The coalition forces numbered more than [-] people, and they camped for more than [-] miles, completely surrounding Xu County.

But most of them are rebels and heroes from the Ruying area.

Not only were they large in scale, they also had high morale. Before Sun Ce's army attacked the city, they took the initiative to fill in more than ten moats in the south direction of the city for the army, each of which was no less than dozens of paces. Then they built earth slopes in front of the city, and several The slope outside the city is almost as high as the city wall.

Sun Ce frowned, and after glancing around, he said in a solemn tone: "Yuan Shao is so powerful in Heshuo that he is famous all over the world. People think of him in return. All the states and counties have sprung up. They are all named after the Yuan family. He is a heroic righteous teacher and a victorious soldier who raises the flag." Everyone will fight to go to his court. There are [-] to [-] victorious soldiers under Xu County. How many of them are loyal to me in Jiangdong? How many of them are seeking the fame of Yuan Shao? Once..."

Sun Ce didn't say anything more about what happened next.

When alliances fight, they are often defeated due to provocations, because each has his own agenda and is wary of each other before the cause is completed.

Therefore, as the lord of Jiangdong and the commander of the southern front, Sun Ce would naturally not be the first to start a fight between the two armies.All our allies should work together and treat everyone equally.

But now Sun Ce had to be wary of these righteous teachers and thieves who were raising the banner of Yuan Shao.

Now they can rebel against Cao Cao for Yuan Shao, and if the war between the north and the south resumes in the future, they will naturally be able to rebel against Jiangdong for the Yuan family.

Yuzhou was captured by Jiangdong at great cost, and of course it was impossible to hand it over to Yuan Shao.

But Runan, the hometown of the Yuan family, is really a huge potential crisis when Yuan and Sun are at odds.

Not to mention the future, even now, if Yuan Shao defeats Cao Cao, they rise up in large numbers, start a rebellion, surrender the entire county to Yuan Shao, and ask Yuan Shao to appoint the governor of Runan or the governor of Yuzhou, then Sun Ce's army will be in trouble.

Yuan Shao could calmly rectify the situation, but Sun Ce had to lead his troops everywhere to quell the rebellion.

At that time, Yuan Shao will attack Sun Ce's Jing and Yang from five or even six states, plus a nearly completely destroyed Xuzhou.

Zhang Hong, as the mastermind, naturally had to think about this, and immediately gave advice, saying: "I personally think that if Yuzhou becomes the place where the north and the south confront each other in the future, it will be extremely detrimental to our Jiangdong. The general even appointed a governor of Yuzhou and Dong It is also difficult for us to control the front lines and cause chaos everywhere. But now there are countless people holding flags in Runan, and it is difficult for the general to take back their military power. If Yuan Shao raises his army outside and the bandits rebel inside, Yuzhou will not be restored to our possession."

Sun Ce nodded with great approval, which is why Sun Ce directly announced the title of Marquis of Guannei to those bandits who had joined him!
This is Sun Ce taking the opportunity to win over people's hearts and trying his best to take back his military power.

The Marquis of Guannei did not have a fiefdom, only a rank salary. Sun Ce could still afford the rank salary of more than [-] yuan.

Moreover, these people only have the title of Guan Neihou and do not have any official positions. That is to say, they have virtual titles but no real power. They are significantly different from Jiangdong Generals.

If the generals in Jiangdong are granted the title of Marquis, they will be given the title of general with real power, starting with Jiatinghou. For example, He Qi is a partial general and Donglingtinghou.Lü Meng is the general who fought against the rebellion, and he is the Marquis of Anting. These are generals who hold great power. In the future, they may be promoted to the rank of Marquis of Townships, even County Marquises, and Marquises of Ten Thousand Households.

This is what Jiangdong General is pursuing. Unlike those Guannai Marquis whose titles are basically fixed here, it is almost impossible to get promoted again.

What Sun Ce is doing now is to ask the generals and commanders in Jiangdong to try their best to organize the heroes and righteous troops who are willing to accept Jiangdong's seals and ribbons.

It's just that this process is not smooth and the progress is very slow.

As Zhang Hong said, once the Yuan and Sun armies turn against each other in the future, these powerful armed separatists will most likely rebel immediately and offer the city to Yuan Shao.

The Yuan family's former officials and guests, as well as a large number of powerful and talented people, still believe that Yuan Shao is famous in the world and has the best hope of unifying the Yuan Dynasty.

After all, there are still mediocre people in the world, and not everyone can see the situation clearly.

So Sun Ce asked: "If the situation is like this, in your opinion, how should we deal with it?" Zhang Hong immediately said: "As soon as the generals and soldiers arrived at Yingchuan, they were victorious in many battles, and the world responded, and their achievements were made day and night. We should do this At that time, I had three strategies: upper, middle and lower. Now Cao Cao is on an expedition. He is far away in Yanzhou, which is thousands of miles away. There is the limit of righteous troops in the south and Yuan Shao is in danger in the north. The army is cut off and the food is cut off. The situation is extremely dangerous. Now the general has gathered troops to surprise him and drove in. Yan, just grab him by the throat. There is Yuan Shao in front of him, and he has no way to retreat. Before the first ten days of the new year, the food supply will be exhausted. He raised his subordinates and summoned them, and they surrendered and were captured without a fight. Then they made Cao Cao a vassal and guarded Henan for a while. Controlling Yuan Shao in the north is the best strategy."

Hearing this, Sun Ce took a breath instantly.

Zhang Hong's idea was something Sun Ce had never thought of before.

It is also a limitation of the thinking of later generations.

Could Emperor Wu of Wei be subordinate to others and serve as a vassal like Liu Bei?

When Liu Bei was weak and alone, he served as a guest general under Liu Biao and Liu Zhang, defending the two princes from foreign invasion.

But how to treat such an outstanding talent is also a huge problem. Huang Quan once advised Liu Zhang that Liu Bei has a distinguished reputation and is here to invite him. If he wants to meet him as a soldier, he will be dissatisfied. One country cannot tolerate two kings.

The final result was also obvious. Liu Bei captured Yizhou as soon as the situation improved.

And if Sun Ce treats Cao Cao with courtesy, it is not impossible for him to succumb to Jiangdong due to the situation.After all, he was just a vassal of Yuan Shao in the early stage.Yanzhou was captured by Lu Bu. He also considered sending his family and children to Yecheng to become Yuan Shao's generals.If it weren't for Cheng Yu's urging, Cao Cao wouldn't have had much trouble fighting for world hegemony later.

Therefore, if we can change the inherent thinking of later generations and look at it from the current perspective of counselors like Zhang Hong, we should broaden our horizons, go north to welcome Cao Cao, and give him the land of several counties in Yanzhou, turning it into a vassal town in the east of the Yangtze River, just like the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms The Jiedu envoys under the command of the princes, this is indeed the best way to wipe out the world!

Combining the power of Sun Ce and Cao Cao to attack Yuan Shao, eliminate powerful enemies one by one, and finally rule the law and reduce the vassal, it is indeed the best strategy to bring peace to the world!

It's just that it was difficult for Sun Ce to change his mind for a while. Emperor Wu of Wei was a powerful and talented man who won the hearts of the people.I'm afraid that I won't fall for others in the end, and my plans are unpredictable.There is an ancient saying: "If you let the enemy in one day, you will suffer troubles for generations." It is better to plan for it as early as possible.

But what Zhang Hong said really inspired Sun Ce greatly.Don't the princes of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms know that the Jiedushi under their command is ambitious?No, they themselves started out as rebels, and they really knew the virtues of the vassals and governors under their command.But they can still use it to accomplish great things.After the territory of the power expands and the strength becomes prosperous, even if the Jiedushi of any town rebels, it will not matter in the end.

Therefore, expanding the territory and increasing strength is the most upright plan for hegemony.

And Zhang Hong immediately said: "The four fortresses of Yanzhou, the country of Tianfu, even though Cao Jun is guarding the generals, it is not a big deal if they are defeated. With Zhang Miao's talent, he can still fight for the four battles with an army thousands of miles away. Gu Xiao, who caressed the sword, was also respected as a powerful man. If you don't attack when passing through the city, and the troops enter Chenliu to cover up his unpreparedness, even though Yuan Shao defeats Cao Cao, he will lose his belt. We are in danger and we must defeat it. A perfect plan lies within this plan.”

Although this strategy is slightly risky, it is finally more normal and Sun Ce can accept it calmly.

Compared with Yuzhou, the terrain of Yanzhou is still much more dangerous. There are dangerous pass places such as Taishan County in the east, and east-west water flows such as the Yellow River and Jishui in the west.

The Battle of Guandu was a confrontation along the Jishui River. Cao Cao defended the territory and Yuan Shao had [-] men.

If Jiangdong can quickly seize the southern part of Chenliu, in the future confrontation between the north and the south, Jiangdong's army can take the initiative to attack, and can quickly seize Jishui and even along the Yellow River.

The elite troops of Jiangdong were blocking the front line, and the former officials of the Yuan family and the rebel bandits in Runan were unable to receive foreign aid. With the outstanding military and civil servants of Jiangdong's generals, peace was easy.

Then Sun Ce asked: "What's your next plan?"

Zhang Hong replied: "I plan to move the people of Yan and Yu southward, using the Huaihe River as a barrier. They can especially stand side by side with Yuan Shao from the north to the south. The outcome is uncertain."

Hearing this, Sun Ce refused without hesitation and said: "Abandoning the power of swallowing up the world and adopting the state of partial peace and separatism is what a wise man would not do! I can't do it alone. This sincerity will be laughed at by future generations for thousands of years. "

What if Sun Ce is Sun Quan?Turn a good situation into a separatist and self-defense regime!

Moreover, this plan is not feasible. Let alone moving hundreds of thousands of people southward, which will cause great public dissatisfaction and how many people will flee. Just stay south of the Huaihe River, which nominally divides the world.

But in fact, it was like Sun Ce was using Jingzhou and Yangzhou to fight against Yuan Shao's seven states!
Today's economic center is undoubtedly still in the north, and it is a fact that the north is strong and the south is weak.Using the south to fight the north will only lead to being destroyed by Yuan Shao in the future.

When the administrative divisions south of the Huaihe River expanded rapidly, and the local states, counties, population, and wealth were more than those in the north, then Zhang Hong's next strategy could be considered.

Otherwise, it would be a situation where the Sui Dynasty destroyed Nanchen.

Sui and Chen were rivals between the north and the south, but in terms of military power and economy, the north had an overwhelming advantage after recuperating.

Now that the three families of Yuan, Cao and Sun are separated, it is hard to see how much weaker Jiangdong is compared to the north.

But once they abandon their territory and return to the south, and Yuan and Cao merge, Yuan Shao can easily raise 20 troops. If Jiangdong wants to continue his northern expedition, it will be very difficult, and he will be killed by Yuan Shao sooner or later.

So after comparing this, Sun Ce suddenly discovered that he, like other princes, could only choose a policy and act on it!
I don’t know if this counts as knowing that there is a good plan but not being able to use it.

Now, Sun Ce also has a deep understanding of the helplessness of the kings and princes in history. Many times, he had no choice but to choose a seemingly safe path and watch one movie at a time.

The essence of this world is like a grass-roots team. Everyone in the team is stepping on the watermelon rind and sliding wherever they go.

As for foresight and understanding the situation, that is just conjecture.

If you can take one step and see two steps, you can be said to be far-sighted and far beyond ordinary.

Therefore, in the end, Sun Ce said: "I thought what you said was a prudent statement. It is a long-term strategy for the country. In the current situation, we should advance quickly to seize the dangerous obstacles to contain Yuan and Cao. Regardless of which of the two wins, No matter who loses, they can't raise troops to go south and attack them with troops."

"Guyi personally supervises the army to attack the city here, and Zhou Yu leads the army north to capture the important town of Chenliu, join forces with Zhuge Liang's troops, and cut off the Northern Army's way south."

Zhuge Liang had already marched towards Yanzhou from the east, while Chen stayed in the west of Yanzhou. Zhou Yu then marched, and the two routes combined to form a line of defense.

With Zhou Yu overseeing an army of thirty thousand, even if Cao Cao came in person, he might not be able to win.If Jiangdong's army advances quickly, the dangerous land they seize will become the front line for the future confrontation between the north and the south. (End of chapter)