My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 262 Sun Ce's Worries
Even Wu Jing and Xu Kun were getting restless. The strategy of heading south had already been decided during the winter.

I thought Sun Ce had summoned everyone here to do a final check and see if there were any good ideas for a southward offensive.

But now Sun Ce suddenly says he wants to turn around and attack the northern part of Danyang. How could this not cause the expressions of everyone in the hall to change drastically?

Xu Kun glanced at Wu Jing, then at Cheng Pu, and finally his gaze settled on Sun Ce.

Sun Ce's expression remained resolute, showing no sign of backing down.

This puzzled Xu Kun greatly.

Xu Kun has a straightforward personality, and his position also gives him the right to be straightforward.

Seeing that Wu Jing and the old ministers did not speak rashly, Xu Kun could not hold back and was the first to speak: "Bo Fu, we had already discussed it last winter. Once spring came, the main force would go straight down to Quan, defeat Xu Gong, and then pursue the victory to take Qiantang and open the passage to Kuaiji in the south. How can you change your mind like this?"

After Xu Kun finished speaking, Wu Jing, who seemed quite composed, also spoke up: "Yu Zhang is right. Since the truce last year, all preparations have been made for the southward advance, and most of the supplies are concentrated in Wu County and south of Wu County. If we turn around now to attack Danyang North, the transfer of supplies will probably be delayed for half a year."

Sun Ce didn't react much to Xu Kun's words, but Wu Jing's words caused his expression to change drastically.

It wasn't that Sun Ce looked down on Xu Kun, but Wu Jing's words hit the nail on the head, leaving Sun Ce deeply moved.

"Bo Fu, you can tell us what you're thinking so we can all discuss it together."

Seeing that both major clansmen had clearly opposed the idea, Cheng Pu spoke up at the opportune moment, mediating between them.

Sun Ce was silent for a moment before speaking: "Everyone has heard the news from the north. Liu Bei of Xuzhou has been appointed General of the Cavalry by the Emperor, and the central government has appointed him as the governor of the three provinces of Xu, Yu, and Yang. If our army marches south as planned after the spring, who knows if the Xuzhou army will cross the river?"

What good would crossing the river do?

Xu Kun was the first to jump out in opposition. It wasn't that he really looked down on the Xuzhou army; on the contrary, he was very worried about the Xuzhou army crossing the river, so he wanted to show his fearlessness.

"We will attack from the south and defend from the west, holding back the Xuzhou army along the line from Qu'a to Wuxian. As long as our main force can quickly advance into Kuaiji, the situation will be completely turned around."

Wu Jing slowly asked, "Then who will keep watch? You?"

Xu Kun was speechless with embarrassment. It's no wonder Wu Jing was disgusted with him, since Wu Jing was the one originally assigned to guard Wu County and Qu'a.

When attacking Wu County earlier, Wu Jing's troops were given sole command. Sun Ce personally led his old troops to help Wu Jing guard the rear and block the counterattack of Liu Yao's allied forces.

Now that we are heading south to attack Xu Gong and enter Kuaiji, we naturally cannot let Wu Jing lead the attack anymore, otherwise the others will cause trouble.

We can't keep letting Wu Jing eat meat while everyone else gnaws on bones, can we?

Therefore, it was inevitable that Wu Jing's troops would defend Wu County. Wu Jing was already worried about the Xuzhou army crossing the river, and now that Xu Kun was still causing trouble in front of him, he couldn't help but feel annoyed and say something to the enemy.

"Uncle, cousin."

Sun Ce spoke up at the right moment, interrupting the two, saying, "The problem now is not whether the Xuzhou army can cross the river or not, but that if we continue south, our connection with Jiangbei will be completely severed."

Only then did everyone react.

Although they occupied Dantu, the Xuzhou army had already entered Jiangcheng, while there was a Jiangdong allied navy of four or five thousand men at Niuzhu.

The naval force of the Jiangdong Allied Army was not a regular army, but a quasi-military organization put together by local strongmen and fishing tyrants.

In other words, these online trolls have to go home after get off work.

If Liu Yao had strategic needs, he would have to communicate with them in advance and then spend time gathering them together.

Normally, people fish or trade as they please, and they are not under Liu Yao's command 24/7.

The problem is that Yuan Shu's situation is even worse. His navy is actually composed of powerful local magnates, fishing tyrants, and fishermen, and they are weaker and more resentful of Yuan Shu himself.

Therefore, the Jiangdong coalition always held the advantage on the Yangtze River, to the point that Sun Ce had to carry reeds to cross the river.

After Sun Ce successfully occupied Wu County, communication with Jiangbei became somewhat difficult.

However, as the Xuzhou army marched north to defend the emperor, Sun Ce's connection with Jiangbei returned to normal.

The difference lies simply in the fact that the main force and navy of the Xuzhou army have both moved north.

Now that the Xuzhou army has returned to the prefectures and counties, everyone can immediately sense how communication along the Yangtze River will change.

"The Xuzhou army will make a move sooner or later, and I am more worried that they will not cross the river than that they will cross it."

"But not Jiang?"

Sun Ce's words immediately puzzled everyone. Shouldn't it be a good thing if the Xuzhou army didn't cross the river?
This would obviously give Sun Ce's army more time to prepare for war and expand their living space to the south.

Sun Ce shook his head and smiled wryly, "If the Xuzhou army crosses the river, they'll definitely cause us trouble. But if they don't cross the river, are they just going to stay in Xuzhou and waste their time?"

"General Zuo is in grave danger!"

Wu Jing was the first to react: "Liu, the General of the Cavalry, is in charge of the affairs of Xu, Yu, and Yang provinces. The two counties north of the Yangtze River are right under his nose. Moreover, the General of the Left has always been at odds with Liu. If the Xu province army does not cross the river, they will have no choice but to enter the Huai and Si rivers."

As soon as Wu Jing said this, everyone present nodded in agreement. The Xuzhou army had not crossed the Yangtze River before entering the Huai and Si Rivers. They couldn't just stay at home and eat for free, could they?

"General Zuo has fifty to sixty thousand men under his command. They may not be enough for field battles, but they should be more than enough for defense, right?"

Xu Kun speculated in a consultative tone: "Military strategy says that if you have ten times the enemy's strength, surround them; if you have five, attack them; if you have twice that, divide them. If the Xuzhou army really wants to take over the two counties north of the Yangtze River, they would need to mobilize at least 100,000 men, right? Can they even mobilize that many?"

Xu Kun's idea was not wrong. Even with the help of many major rivers such as the Ying River, Ru River, Huo River and Huai River, it would still take 30,000 to 50,000 laborers to move south from Xuzhou to attack Huai and Si.

Runan was not Liu Bei's traditional territory, nor was it even his actual territory.

If Liu Bei wanted to attack the two commanderies of Jiujiang and Lujiang, he could either start from Guangling, take the Yangtze River waterway to attack Liyang, and then cross Langya Mountain and Fengyang Mountain before heading north.

Alternatively, they could simply ignore Li Yang, enter Chaohu directly from Feishui, then move to Shishui and attack Hefei.

This route is very convenient and can be navigated by large boats. The entire route is waterway, making resupply and logistics quite easy.

The only requirement is that the navy must be strong enough to completely suppress Li Yang's navy; otherwise, the supply line will be endlessly harassed and attacked by Li Yang's Yuan Shu navy, and it may not be able to hold out and will collapse.

At this time, Xuzhou's navy was very strong, and this route was one of Liu Feng's alternative plans.

Similarly, from the perspective of Sun Ce and others, they believed that the most likely plan for the Xuzhou army was to mobilize 30,000 to 50,000 people and cross the Yangtze River into the Fei River.

Because if it were them, they would definitely choose this option without hesitation.

“Once the Xuzhou army crosses the Yangtze River and enters the Fei River, and captures Hefei, then Liyang will truly become an isolated city.”

Only then did Sun Ce reveal his truest thoughts with deep concern.

He was more concerned about the remnants of Sun's army in Liyang than Yuan Shu.

Sun Ben, Sun Fu, Sun Xiang, and nearly ten thousand other followers are still in Liyang City.

These were all part of the Sun family's wealth and the property of their clan members; how could Sun Ce possibly abandon them?

"If we can successfully capture Niuzhu by the middle of the year, we can then coordinate with Liyang across the river and become one."

Sun Ce then laid bare his thoughts.

His words are not contradictory at all. Even if the Xuzhou army's navy is strong, the Yangtze River is simply too big. Not to mention the Huai River, even the Yellow River cannot compare with the Yangtze River.

The surface of the Yangtze River is truly boundless, like looking at the sea, with water and sky merging into one color, without any distinction between the riverbanks.

To think that a few thousand naval troops could completely control such a vast expanse of water is utterly delusional.

Even if it can be barely sealed off during the day, it's impossible to prevent smuggling at night.

Therefore, Sun Ce made the statement that they echoed each other across the river and were united as one.

Upon hearing Sun Ce's words, Wu Jing, Xu Kun, and the others fell silent.

Sun Ce's idea was actually quite correct, and no one could criticize his motives.

Even in-laws like Wu Jing and Xu Kun, who were not related by marriage, actually hoped that the Sun family army could unite as one and support each other.

If Sun Ben and his troops could abandon Liyang and cross the river to Wu Commandery to join forces with Sun Ce, the military strength of Wu Commandery would double, giving them enough power to sweep across the entire Kuaiji Commandery.

The problem is that if Sun Ben and his troops were to cross the Yangtze River to the east, then the most likely outcome would be that Liyang would become an isolated city.

Crossing the river then will be much more difficult than it is now.

At this moment, everyone understood why Sun Ce, with everything in place, suddenly suggested turning back to attack Niuzhu, even at the cost of a major war.

He wanted to protect Li Yang's nearly 20,000 Sun family troops.

"Bo Fu, that was too dangerous."

Before Xu Kun could speak, Wu Jing was the first to speak.

Wu Jing was over forty years old, but he was handsome and refined, resembling a dashing scholar far more than a military commander. This was understandable, as Sun Ce was also extremely handsome, even surpassing Zhou Yu in appearance.

It must be said that Sun Ce's mother, Lady Wu, had very beautiful genes.

Wu Jing shook his head and said, "The Xuzhou army is powerful. Regardless of whether we cross the Yangtze River to the south or not, our only way out is to continue south. Heading south to Kuaiji will not only expand our territory, but also connect the southern part of Danyang and open up the passage to Yuzhang and Jiaozhi in the west. The western expedition to Niuzhu is too risky. Success would be gratifying, but if we suffer a setback, we will be in a dilemma and trapped in half of Wu territory."

"By then..."

Wu Jing said with a solemn expression, "It's not just the Conquerors who are besieging this isolated city."

At this time, Sun Ben was recommended by Yuan Shu to be the Commandant of Danyang and acting General Who Conquers the Barbarians. Wu Jing addressed him as General Who Conquers the Barbarians as a sign of respect.

Wu Jing's words were incisive, yet also quite tactful.

In fact, everyone can see that if the westward advance fails, not to mention Sun Ben of Liyang, even Sun Ce of Wu will only have two paths left: waiting for death or surrendering.

Sun Ce could not deny the deduction in Wu Jing's words. He stood up, quite agitated, and began to pace around the hall.

The other generals looked at each other and began to whisper among themselves.

"Bo Fu, in my opinion, we should continue south. You should write a letter and persuade Zheng Lu and Zheng Nan."

At this time, Sun Xiang was also recommended by Yuan Shu to be appointed as the General Who Conquers the South.

However, compared to Liu Feng, a legitimate General Who Conquers the South, Sun Xiang's credentials are far less prestigious.

In fact, this was also a result of poor transportation. Yuan Shu's memorials would not actually be sent to the central government, and the emperor and the court could not possibly avoid Yuan Shu's memorials.

However, this also gave Xuzhou a new pretext to attack Yuan Shu.

“What Yu Zhang said makes a lot of sense.”

Generals such as Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, Han Dang, and Chen Wu all offered their opinions in support of Xu Kun's views.

Sun Ce then turned back to the head seat and sat down again, saying solemnly, "I intend to go to Liyang to personally persuade my two cousins."

"Bo Fu!"

"Little Lord"

"General!"

For a moment, everyone in the hall was in a panic again, looking at Sun Ce in disbelief.

Sun Ce remained calm as ever, raising his hand to stop the crowd, saying, "I am fully aware of what you have said. The plan to conquer the south remains unchanged."

Upon hearing that Sun Ce had abandoned his plans, the generals breathed a sigh of relief.

Before they could rejoice, Sun Ce continued, "I am determined to cross the river to Liyang. My mind is made up, so please do not try to dissuade me further."

After speaking, Sun Ce was the first to stand up and leave the hall, leaving behind the generals who were in an uproar.

Wu Jing looked rather grim, yet he was the one who understood Sun Ce the most.

To be fair, if Li Yang were one of Wu Jing's 20,000 clansmen, he would definitely cross the river to meet him and persuade him to preserve his strength and retreat to Jiangdong.

Sun Ce, who had moved into the back hall, also looked solemn. He had a premonition that the Xuzhou army would definitely march south this time, and might even wipe out Jiangdong and Jiangbei together.

Therefore, he had to unite all available forces within the Sun family.

If he could acquire Sun Ben and Sun Xiang's 20,000 men, his chances of holding off the Xuzhou army crossing the river in Jiangdong would greatly increase. He could even continue his southward expansion while simultaneously blocking the Jiangdong army.

Only in this way can the Sun family find the best solution at present.

However, the optimal solution for the Sun family may not be the optimal solution for Wu Jing, Xu Kun, Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, and others.

Therefore, faced with the opposition of these people, Sun Ce could only back down half a step and maintain the southern expedition in exchange for the opportunity to support the remaining forces of the Sun family in Liyang.

Sun Ce wasn't the only one with a headache; his younger brother's fan, Zhang Babai, who would later chase after the King of Wei Wu all over Hefei, was also in a terrible predicament.

Zhang Liao was troubled because he had just received an order requiring him to hand over all the infantry in his garrison and then, together with Taishi Ci, lead the cavalry of the army to Tancheng.

Zhang Liao was troubled because seven or eight hundred of his troops were his old subordinates, his personal private troops.

The problem is that after Zhang Liao joined Liu Bei, he couldn't afford to support all his troops on his own.

Originally, under Lü Bu's command, everyone was poor together, since they were all fellow townsmen from Bingzhou. Even if they had no food, these retainers would not abandon Zhang Liao and run away.

Once Lü Bu had territory, no matter how large it was, he would always share a portion with Zhang Liao.

Because Zhang Liao was almost the second most powerful figure in Lü Bu's army, a true major shareholder.

After surrendering to Liu Bei, Zhang Liao could forget about taking over territory, but his military food supply was completely taken over by Xuzhou, so he no longer had to worry about where to get food the next day.

During this northward expedition, Zhang Liao also obtained the rank of Lieutenant General. In particular, Liu Feng replenished him with a large number of Three Rivers Cavalry, which once expanded his cavalry to two thousand.

This made Zhang Liao extremely happy.

But to his utter surprise, Liu Feng sent another order, demanding that he hand over all his infantry.

It should be noted that most of these infantrymen were from Bingzhou and had followed Zhang Liao for many years, becoming like brothers.

Therefore, even if Zhang Liao himself agreed to the handover, would these infantrymen agree?
Zhang Liao felt an unbearable headache.

"General, you were looking for us?"

Just as Zhang Liao was sighing, several burly men walked into the tent.

These people are Wei Yang, Song Zhang, and Zhang Lu, all from Bingzhou. Wei Yang and Song Zhang are from Yanmen County, the same hometown as Zhang Liao, and Zhang Lu is a relative of Zhang Liao.

"Everyone sit down."

Zhang Liao waved his hand, stopping the three men from offering their greetings and gesturing for them to take their seats.

After the three were seated, Zhang Liao composed himself and sat down as well.

Then, he addressed the three men, saying, "I have just received military orders to hand you over to Military Advisor Liu for command, while I will lead the cavalry unit ahead of you and head straight for Tancheng."

Sure enough, as soon as Zhang Liao said this, Zhang Lu and the other two started shouting.

"General, what does this mean?"

"General, is the General of the Flying Cavalry going to annex us?"

"No, I'll only listen to you, General. I won't listen to anyone else!"

Seeing Zhang Lu, Wei Yang, and Song Zhang making a ruckus, Zhang Liao calmed down.

First of all, this is certainly not an attempt by Xuzhou to annex him.

Zhang Liao only had a total of 1,100 to 1,200 soldiers. Without reinforcements from Xuzhou, they couldn't even fill a single platoon.

Zhang Liao absolutely did not believe that Xuzhou wanted to annex him.

Moreover, Zhang Liao was prompted to reflect on the actions of Zhang Lu and others at this time.

Xuzhou is now booming and thriving.

Liu Shou was granted the title of General of the Cavalry, and his reputation for benevolence and virtue spread throughout the Central Plains. His son was even more outstanding, managing to navigate the court and fight battles in the provinces at a young age.

The Xuzhou Army has always been strict and solemn, with a strong emphasis on military discipline and a commitment to strictness and fairness.

Zhang Liao had seen the Eastern Han central army before. When he arrived in Luoyang, the Northern and Southern armies and the Three Rivers Cavalry had just suppressed the Yellow Turban Rebellion and were at the peak of their fighting strength.

However, in terms of military discipline, the Northern and Southern armies were far inferior, and could not compare to Xuzhou.

This is quite alarming, and it's a problem that Zhang Liao has always kept in mind.

Looking at the arrogant demeanor of Zhang Lu and his two companions, it seemed as if soldiers belonged to their generals and it was only natural.

It was precisely this arrogant and domineering attitude, treating soldiers as his own private property, that made him stand out from the other armies in Xuzhou.

Seeing this scene again, Zhang Liao's unease, anxiety, and resentment subsided considerably.

This allowed Zhang Liao to view Liu Feng's orders more objectively and fairly.

"Everyone be quiet!"

Zhang Liao suddenly shouted, which stunned the other three.

(End of this chapter)