Overlord!

Chapter 311 Pledge to go to war

Although Sun Ce was very deliberately slow when making statements concerning the overall situation of the world, once he expressed his support for the emperor and planned to attack Yuan Shao, Sun Ce acted very quickly.

In August, Sun Ce accepted the title of Duke of Song. In September, after Sun Ce watched the naval drill, the army was assembled in October and gathered on the Yanzhou and Qingzhou lines.

This shows the benefits of Jiangdong General's seizure of Yanzhou. The Yuzhou Cai and Ru areas influenced by Yuan are now in the rear.

Sun Ce's 100,000 troops were not gathered on a front line. After all, they were 100,000 troops, and the formation stretched for hundreds of miles. Among them, 10,000 elite troops and 3,000 cavalry were stationed in Runan County.

Almost in response to Yuan Shao's powerful and powerful group of thieves, they were brutally suppressed by Cheng Pu, Yu Jin, Huang Gai, Man Chong, Li Tong, Xu Ding and others as soon as they raised their flags. The thieves were reported to the Sun Ce case three days later.

One of the reasons why it was so fast was that Jiangdong had already anticipated this situation, deployed defenses in various important towns in advance, and was prepared to counter the rebellion.

The more important reason is that Jiangdong's army is really powerful, large in scale, and full of fierce generals! There were two to three thousand troops stationed in various military towns. Under the command of famous generals such as Cheng Pu, Yu Jin, and Huang Gai, it was too easy to exterminate a group of princes and thieves gathered together.

Cai Ru's land is completely plain and there is no danger to defend. If the rebels want to respond to Yuan Shao, they cannot stay in Wubao and must take the initiative to attack counties. But as soon as they sent out troops, the elite garrison in the military town arrived at dawn and dusk to defeat the enemy in one battle.

The rebels had no time to join together. Not only were their combat capabilities inferior to the elites of the Song Dynasty, but their scale was also inferior to the elite warriors in various military towns.

If you fight with fear, everything will be defeated with one blow.

It can only be said that the rebellion in the heavily guarded counties was doomed by the government's preparations.

In just three or four days, General Runan sent over a dozen heads of thieves and chiefs.

Sun Ce stood in the commander's tent, looking at these victorious beheadings, and said, "This can be regarded as a sacrifice to the flag of my three armies!"

Zhao Yun stood aside, holding Sun Ce's sword in both hands, respectfully holding it in front of Sun Ce, and said: "Song Gong, the soldiers are waiting for Song Gong to take the oath."

Sun Ce strode forward, grabbed his sword, and walked outside the tent surrounded by civil and military officials. At this time, three armies had gathered outside the tent, with flags fluttering and spears like a forest.

Seeing Sun Ce, countless soldiers immediately raised their arms and shouted loudly, the sound was like thunder, shaking the mountains and rivers.

Sun Ce stepped onto the general platform amidst the cheers of countless soldiers. He raised his arms and the sound of mountains and tsunamis suddenly stopped.

So Sun Ce looked down at the powerful soldiers of the three armies, formally began to swear an oath, and issued a proclamation against thieves:

"On the first day of the tenth month of the seventh year of Jian'an in the Han Dynasty, on the first day of the tenth month of the seventh month of the Han Dynasty, the envoys of the Han Dynasty, Chi Jie, Jiajia Yue, Song Gong, Da Sima, Shi Zhong, took charge of the shepherd of Yuzhou, recorded ministerial affairs, assisted in the administration, commanded the Chinese and foreign armies, and oversaw the military affairs of the thirteen states in the world. , report to the state pastor, prime minister, department supervisor, commander, general, subordinate, and subordinate:

Therefore, Yuan Shao, the Marquis of Ye, was arrogant and insulted the heaven and earth, and was against the Tao and the principles. He arrogantly overstepped his authority and usurped the throne. Pretend to be destiny, forge talismans, deceive the people, and anger God. Anti-violent embellishments are considered auspicious. Teasing the gods and praising misfortune. The bamboos of Chu and Yue are not enough to write down their evil. It is clear to the world, and everyone has heard and seen it. Now I will give a brief description of the big end to serve as a metaphor for the people.

In the past, the emperor thought that the Yuan family had the merit of being a prime minister and an assistant, so he succeeded him for five generations and reached the position of public minister. Since the imperial court began to broadcast Yue, the emperor has also appointed Yuan Shao to assist the industry and entrust him with important tasks.

However, Yuan Shao was in office in his prime years and had a strong army. He had no court etiquette. The courtiers disapproved of him and the righteous people ridiculed him. The whole world heard that this was a crime.

As a minister, he should eliminate national calamities, and as a son of man, he should finish his ancestral legacy. To stop crying before it ends is to be unfaithful to a minister and unfilial to a son, which are two sins.

The world is already at peace, but he sits down and raises the public, causing the smoke of war to rise again, causing turmoil in the world, causing death, injury and displacement. This is the third crime.

Since the end of the First Ping Dynasty, our generals in Jiangdong have united as one and swallowed up the mountains and rivers with anger. The thunder began with lightning, and the majestic sound preceded the departure of the army. Therefore, the enemy watched the lightning and feared the thunder, and listened to the sound and feared the power of the army.

The sound of soldiers first came, but they have been coming for a long time. In the past, there was a time when Yu Shijie was in charge of the country, Xia Houchu was sworn to the army, and Yin was sworn to stay outside the army gate. Zhou Jiang will fight and swear to it.

The people of Youji have always been cruel. Wherever they went in the past, they starved to death everywhere, peeling off their skin and spinal cord. But now they do not know how to repent, and they still harbor evil intentions. They are the envy of both men and gods. Heaven and earth will not tolerate it. We respect the will of Heaven and obey it. The hearts of the people, use all the strength of the country to defeat them;

How can the fire of fireflies compete with the sun and moon? I, the righteous men of the Song Dynasty, observe the weather and give instructions, and carefully use the calendar to observe the benefits of the seven states. It connects Baiyue to the south and three rivers to the north. There are groups of cavalry and jade shafts connecting each other. The red millet in Hailing is exhausted by the accumulation of storage; the red flag in Jiangpu, how far can it be restored? The sound of the class sounds and the north wind rises, the sword energy rushes and the south fights for peace. Silence makes the mountains collapse, shouting makes the situation change. If you use this to control the enemy, there will be no enemy that cannot be destroyed; if you use this to achieve success, there will be no enemy that cannot be defeated!

The Duke or the like may pass down the title of Han Dynasty from their family, or send it to their minions as a copy, or receive an imperial edict from a state or county. The words are still in your ears, how can you forget your heart when you are loyal? If a handful of soil is not dry, how can you support a six-foot-long solitude? If you can turn misfortunes into blessings, send them to your residence, and jointly establish the honor of the diligent king, without abolishing the order of the old king, all the nobles will reward you, and they will point to the mountains and rivers. If he is attached to a poor city, wanders on the wrong road, and is ignorant of the past, it is a sign that he will be punished later.

Look at who owns the world in today’s realm! Moved to Xizhou County, Xian envoys learned about it. "

Sun Ce was in Chenliu at this time. In front of 30,000 soldiers, he sent out a message to punish the thieves, which immediately shocked the world.

His statement about supervising the military affairs of the thirteen states was definitely not a lie!

Immediately, all states in the world were afraid of his power and responded one after another. Starting from He, Luo and even Guanzhong in the west, they all raised their flags with victorious troops, each raising thirty or forty thousand troops, and declared to fight against the thieves.

Xian Yufu, Zhang Yan and others from the north also raised troops in Hebei and declared their separation from Yuan Shao. In an instant, there were rebels in You, Bing, and Jizhou, and even powerful troops were raised in Qingzhou.

The seven states under Sun Ce's rule immediately read the contents of the proclamation, angrily denounced Yuan Shao's crimes, and declared that this unkind and unjust man would be eliminated!

But one thing is clear to officials everywhere: absolutely no one accuses Yuan Shao of being disloyal.

Although Yuan Shao's major crimes were enumerated in the article "Pursuit of Thieves", it is obvious that from beginning to end, it did not say a word about being loyal to the Han Dynasty. It only angrily accused Yuan Shao of being unfilial as a son, unkind as a general, pretending to be destiny, and angry. God.

That's why Sun Ce mobilized troops to attack, and the last sentence is very meaningful, please look at whose family controls the world in today's domain!

Whose family rules the world?

Is it the Han family? Zhao family? Or...the Song family?

Everyone's first reaction after reading the appeal was the same.

If Sun Ce swept over the Zhao family and all the people in the world belonged to the Song family, then it would be obvious that this would be the world of the Song family!

This is also the most important reason why Sun Ce did not angrily accuse Yuan Shao of being disloyal. He also wanted to proclaim himself emperor.

And it is very likely that he will be proclaimed emperor in a year or two. Naturally, he cannot angrily accuse Yuan Shao of being unfaithful, but he must angrily accuse him of pretending to be destiny and angering God, thus attracting a large army to conquer.

And Sun Ce defeated Yuan Shao and then proclaimed himself emperor. No powerful enemy dared to offend him. This was naturally his true destiny.

However, in the end, the slogan is just a nominal dispute. As the ministers said, the virtuous people in the world live there.

This virtue is also the virtue of martial virtue!

Able to use martial virtue to unite the desires of the world. Although he is an ordinary man, he can still be an overlord.

Therefore, after issuing the proclamation, Sun Ce immediately launched the Northern Expedition. On the Yanzhou line, he sent 30,000 troops to attack the strategically important military town Enjucheng along the Jishui River.

There is no doubt that the general who leads the army is Sun Ce's most trusted general Lu Meng.

He advanced quickly and soon led his troops to the city of Yuanju. Seeing this fortified city, even Lu Meng, Gan Ning and others, who were known for their ability in conquering and fighting, frowned.

The city here is more than four feet high, and the Jishui River is used as a moat. Therefore, the pool is deep and wide, and the river is more than thirty feet wide!

More than thirty feet, that is, a distance of more than eighty steps. At this time, it is difficult for our own bows and arrows to be thrown upwards to the city wall, but the opponent's condescending position can easily shoot through the armor of most soldiers.

I don’t know how long it will take to fill in this moat, which is more than thirty feet wide and several feet deep!

After Gan Ning led his cavalry to patrol in front of the city, he returned to the camp where the army was encamped. He found Lu Meng and said: "General, the enemy's army is not only high in the city and deep in the pond, but also has many defenders. The city is covered with banners and flags. Only the southern part of the city is There are no fewer than seventeen flags in sight, and it will be very difficult for our army to attack this place by force!"

Lu Meng nodded, looked at the map, and said: "Shen Pei is considered a very strategic person in Zhaoying. He has the position of Sikong and oversees the elite three armies. He has been operating here for nearly a year without anyone restraining him, so he must be very effective."

This is why Yuan Shao is eager to proclaim himself emperor.

He was a general in the four states of Hebei, and his interests could not satisfy the needs of his subordinates.

In particular, he distributed the land of the four states to his nephews and relatives, leaving many ministers with no title and could only fight internally.

There is only one general position, and it is given to Jushou, so how can other counselors like Jushou?

Factional strife was therefore very serious.

Tian Feng had previously advised him not to grant official positions to scholars, but to give them to other heroes to look forward to.

With Yuan Shao's character of being able to listen to any suggestions, he naturally took Tian Feng's words seriously.

He actually regretted this decision. After all, no matter whether Cao Cao or Sun Ce controlled several states before, they did not allocate them to their own clans. Instead, they selected talented officials and appointed them as local governors and prime ministers.

He probably knew that his great cause had not yet been accomplished, so he first allocated all high positions to the clan, which caused a lot of complaints among the heroes. So he quickly corrected the problem, but the method of correction was a bit radical, and he directly declared himself emperor!

Although this caused a lot of other problems, the previous problem was indeed solved.

Ministers from various factions received awards and promotions.

Many ministers rose to the rank of minister.

For example, Guo Tu was granted the title of Great Secretary of Agriculture for his meritorious service, Yuan Xu was granted the title of Taichang, Xin Ping was granted the title of Guang Luxun, and if Tian Feng had not been killed, he might have been granted the title of Situ. On the other hand, Ju Shou's promotion route was the same as usual, from military supervisor to captain.

However, now that Shenpei is Sikong and Jushou is Taiwei, there is no conflict between the interests of the two. On the contrary, Shenpei still needs Jushou to help him recruit, train, and reward soldiers, which greatly reduces the internal friction.

And Sikong Shenpei did not stay in Yecheng. Instead, he was forced to go to the front line of the confrontation to build fortifications. Guo Tu, Xu You and others had no intention of attacking him. After all, they had brought Shenpei down. How could they be allowed to take over? ?

They asked themselves if he was not as strong and courageous as Shen Pei. It would be more appropriate to let him supervise the army on the front line and manage the property themselves in Yecheng!

This also allows the review team to fully utilize their talents and build an airtight line of defense.

But Lü Meng said: "I am waiting for Peter in this city. Otherwise, Dingtao is located in the north of Jishui. It will be difficult to defend the isolated city and we may lose something."

Gan Ning sighed: "It's a pity that I couldn't capture this place in the first place."

The reason why this is the city that Lü Meng's army must capture this time is because it happens to be stuck between Chenliu and Jiyin counties.

During the Northern Expedition against Cao Cao, the Yuan and Sun families demarcated the Jishui River, but Zhuge Liang's troops advanced quickly and captured Dingtao, the county seat of Jiyin County, before Yuan's army.

This enabled Sun Ce's army to gain a strategic location north of Jishui.

If the army sends troops from Dingtao, it can directly penetrate Juyang. If Juyang is captured, the Pu River will be in control. The Jiangdong army will deploy defenses on the Pu River line, and the heavy troops deployed by the Yuan army on the Jishui line will become turtles in the urn.

Therefore, Yuan Jun was also eyeing Dingtao. Yuan Shao sent envoys to ask Sun Ce to support him in proclaiming the emperor. He only sent three envoys, but to discuss Sun Ce's return to Dingtao, he sent no less than five envoys.

In addition to diplomatic actions, Yuan Shao also made targeted military deployments. Yuan Shao's army of 130,000 deployed multiple lines of defense. Once the two armies started fighting, the frontline troops would block the Jiangdong army, and the heavy troops deployed on the second and third lines would move toward Dingtao. Surround them.

Without the mediocre emperor's micro-management intervention from the rear, the generals on both sides are famous generals, and the war is destined to not be a simple offensive or defensive war.

When the armies of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao faced each other, you can see that Yuan and Cao attacked each other many times.

Now that Sun and Yuan's armies are fighting, the scale of the troops is larger, and the generals have more experience in commanding large corps, which naturally makes the attack and defense of the war more intertwined.

An isolated city cannot be defended for long. The same is true for Koto.

If Dingtao hangs alone in the north of Jishui, Yuan Jun's long-term preparations brought in a large number of siege equipment and attacked fiercely day and night. It is very likely that the Northern Expedition in Jiangdong did not capture Yuan Jun's city, and Yuan Jun first pushed the front to Jishui. south of the water.

So Lu Meng said: "It's too late to sigh now. Think about how to capture the city. The key is to think about it. What are your plans for a tour?"

Gan Ning immediately shook his head and said: "The city of Yuanju is located in Wangxian County, Yanzhou. The city is very tall and the attack will inevitably suffer heavy losses. We can only wait for the siege equipment."

Wang County is a large county with more than 20,000 households!

With a household registration of 10,000 people, it was considered a large county in the Han Dynasty, and the county was governed by the county magistrate.

Yuanju is located in the hinterland of the Central Plains. At its peak, there were 30,000 households!

If Cao Cao and Lu Bu had not fought so hard here, Yanzhou would really be a sacred place that Sun Ce could not reach.

After all, it took several years for Wu County to reach 30,000 households under Sun Ce's governance.

Lu Meng said: "It is unwise for us to attack like this. Why did Duke Song make such a big show of force?"

(End of this chapter)