My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 524 Victory Reports from Qingzhou
When Liu Feng arrived in Wu County, it was already May.

Jiaozhou has now been annexed by Kuai Yue, and Shi Xie will soon deliver it to Wu County.

The problems of the Yue and Man tribes in Yuzhang, Kuaiji, Danyang, Jiangbei and even Jingnan have been largely resolved.

Thanks to the efforts of He Qi, Gao Shun, Zhuge Liang, Lu Xun, Pang Tong, and even the powerful clans of Jingzhou, a million Shanyue, Jingman, and Huaiyi people have been relocated from the mountains and settled in the plains. They have been registered as commoners, educated as farmers, and participated in spring plowing.

In addition, the auspicious snow last winter foreshadowed favorable weather this year. It is foreseeable that the taxes and grain income of the three prefectures under Liu Feng's jurisdiction will increase by at least 20% to 30% this year.

This optimistic outlook emboldened the Left General's Office to be bolder in its overall budget, investing more resources in liberating and enhancing productivity.

However, this also led to another consequence: Liu Feng had to expand his army again.

Not counting the 20,000 to 30,000 surrendered soldiers from Jiaozhou, the results of the campaigns to quell the Yue, Jingman, and Huaiyi tribes in the past two years alone brought a million new people to Liu Feng's government, of which 200,000 were able-bodied young laborers.

Liu Feng had the intention, and at the same time, he had to select the most warlike, daring, and brave elites from these 200,000 men and then organize them into an army.

This would not only further strengthen the Shogunate army, but also provide them with an extremely elite mountain special forces unit with explosive combat power.

At the same time, it can also isolate the most warlike groups among the Yue, Jingman, and Huaiyi peoples, thereby reducing the difficulty, cost, and energy consumption of maintaining stability for other able-bodied men.

This is a win-win situation.

However, the shogunate had a major dispute over the number of people to be selected.

The faction led by Lu Xun, Pang Tong, and He Qi hoped to select a force of 60,000 men, which could be considered as a separate mountain army of 30,000 to 40,000 men for the campaign in the Nanyang direction.

Nanyang is a basin surrounded by mountains, providing ample opportunity for mountain troops to operate, whether entering Guanzhong via Wuguan Pass or Hanzhong via Shangyong Pass. Moreover, once they successfully enter Guanzhong, they can cross the Yellow River into Bingzhou, which is another vast mountainous region.

If it is a defensive operation, the mountainous areas west of Jiangling City will also require troops familiar with mountain warfare to defend them.

Although Liu Zhang never ventured eastward in history, Liu Feng has now swept across the entire southeast, posing a far greater threat to Liu Zhang than Liu Biao could in the original timeline. Therefore, some vigilance and precautions are still necessary.

Lu Xun, Pang Tong, He Qi and others believed that a force of 60,000 people could completely drain the backbone and elite of the Yue, Jingman and Huaiyi tribes, leaving only the most obedient young and strong to farm.

At the same time, military achievements can enhance the loyalty of these elite warriors from the Yue, Jingman, and Huaiyi tribes to Liu Feng, the Han army, and the Left General's staff, enabling them to integrate into the Han army system more quickly.

Most importantly, they don't feel sorry for these people when they die.

What's even more interesting is that the most elite among the Shanyue, Jingman, and Huaiyi peoples were particularly eager to serve Liu Feng. Their worship of the Han army's military might and their confidence in their own abilities led them to have a fanatical adoration for the Han army that defeated them, as well as for their lords and famous generals such as Liu Feng, Zhuge Liang, Lu Xun, He Qi, and Gao Shun.

They were eager to join this group and were willing to make sacrifices for it.

Not to mention, the treatment of the Han army almost drove these warriors from the Yue, Jingman, and Huaiyi tribes crazy.

Putting everything else aside, just the fact that you can eat your fill after joining the army, occasionally get to eat meat, and get a lot of refined salt, plus the army provides you with two sets of uniforms every year, and you can also receive five coins and cloth every month.

These benefits drove the Yue, Jingman, and Huaiyi peoples absolutely crazy.

In the past, the Han people's greatest advantage in controlling the Yue, Jingman, and Huaiyi tribes was salt and cloth; even ironware was inferior.

But once they joined the army, none of these problems remained. How could these barbarian warriors possibly tolerate that?

The central ministries, which held a cautious view, felt that conscripting 60,000 barbarian soldiers in one go was too radical, especially since they were to be trained as elites. Such a large and unstable legion-level force was obviously too risky.

The central command's opinion was to recruit around 20,000 men, distribute them among various military units, and then gradually integrate them.

The voices and influence within the upper echelons were strong, but they couldn't withstand the fervent desire of the common people from the mountains, the barbarians, and the Huaiyi to join the army.

After careful consideration and comprehensive judgment, Liu Fengqian made a seemingly compromised but actually unwise decision.

That is, to recruit in stages, with the first stage directly recruiting 40,000 men. Among them, Lu Xun, He Qi, and Zhuge Liang each led an army of 20,000 men, half of whom were soldiers from the Yue, Jingman, and Huaiyi tribes. The remaining 10,000 men were organized into five battalions and reinforced the armies of Taishi Ci, Zhao Yun, Zhou Yu, Jia Kui, and Gao Shun.

Meanwhile, the Jiaozhou army selected 20,000 elite soldiers to form the Jiaozhou Army, which were stationed in various prefectures, with one battalion of 2,000 men in each prefecture. Of the remaining 6,000 men, 2,000 were organized into a navy and stationed in Nanhai and Jiuzhen respectively. The last 4,000 men were stationed in Guangxin County, Cangwu Prefecture, the capital of Jiaozhou.

After Liu Feng made his decision, the conscription process began to proceed slowly. Unexpectedly, the stability brought about by the large-scale conscription of the Shanyue, Jingman, and Huaiyi peoples far exceeded expectations, which was a pleasant surprise.

Time flies, and the white horse has passed by my knees.

Liu Feng enjoyed a rare period of leisure in Wu County.

After entering August, three reports arrived one after another.

The first report was about the war in Qingzhou in the north.

After Guan Yu entered Beihai and joined forces with the armies of Kong Rong, Lü Bu, Chen Gong, and Zhang Miao, he advanced along the main road towards Ju County.

The army of 50,000 set out on the expedition, and also mobilized more than 60,000 laborers, of whom 50,000 were conscripted from Langya, Tancheng and other places. The four families in Qingzhou only provided a total of more than 10,000 laborers.

This was only possible because there was a waterway between Xuzhou and Beihai that could be relied upon, which offset some of the transport capacity; otherwise, the number of laborers would have been several times higher.

The money and grain were flowing out in a steady stream, and it was foreseeable that the spring plowing work would be affected to some extent after a large number of laborers were conscripted.

Fortunately, the route was all flat and there were main roads to rely on, so the loss of food was still acceptable.

After the troops were dispatched in April, in mid-April, the two sides' forces confronted each other in the Ju County area.

Yuan's army relied on the Mei River for defense, which was a form of defense. Guan Yu, on the other hand, sent most of his troops to confront Yuan's army along the Mei River, while leaving 15,000 men to surround Ju County, intending to remove this thorn in Yuan's side first.

Ju County was the capital of the Beihai Kingdom, but due to the lack of natural defenses on all sides, the depletion of its people, and the weakness of its military, Kong Rong abandoned the city not long after taking office and moved to Duchang County in the west to reside there.

Later, when Taishi Ci broke through the siege to seek reinforcements, Liu Bei rushed to his aid from hundreds of miles away, which also happened in Duchang County.

Ju County was located right next to the states of Qi and Le'an, less than twenty li from both. This was naturally due to the effective division system of the Han Dynasty. After Qingzhou was stabilized, Ju County was captured by Yuan Shao's army and became an important eastern stronghold.

With Ju County there, the states of Le'an and Qi had a barrier and shelter, and did not have to worry about being attacked.

At this time, Ju County had been repaired to some extent, and its defenses were still acceptable. There were also two thousand Yuan soldiers defending the city, and their will to resist was quite strong.

On Yuan Jun's side, putting aside Yuan Tan's political abilities, he was actually a competent general, though not particularly outstanding.

When Guan Yu had just besieged Ju County and was facing Yuan Tan across the river, Yuan Tan was still able to barely suppress his fighting spirit and wait for an opportunity to strike.

When Chunyu Qiong arrived with 30,000 reinforcements, Yuan Tan, who now had the advantage in troop strength, began to stir.

He assembled 30,000 troops under his command, plus more than 10,000 soldiers from the powerful clans and gentry in the three prefectures of Le'an, Qi, and Pingyuan who supported him, and prepared to cross the river for a decisive battle.

Chunyu Qiong immediately objected. As a reinforcement, if he rashly crossed the river, Yuan Tan would be the primary credit if they won, but if they lost, he would become the scapegoat.

Moreover, Chunyu Qiong was Yuan Shao's confidant and a longtime friend, and he knew that Yuan Shao had the idea of ​​deposing the eldest son and establishing a younger one in his place.

Furthermore, given Yuan Tan's volatile temper and ungrateful nature, how could Chunyu Qiong possibly risk his life for Yuan Tan?

The two had a heated argument. Yuan Tan tried to pressure Chunyu Qiong as the commander-in-chief, but Chunyu Qiong was deeply trusted by Yuan Shao and was not afraid of Yuan Tan's pressure at all. He actually stood his ground and refused to back down.

At the crucial moment, Xin Ping stepped in to mediate.

He was an old friend of Chunyu Qiong, a trusted advisor of Yuan Tan, and had a background in the Henan faction. Chunyu Qiong had to give him some face both out of courtesy and reason.

The two sides finally agreed that Chunyu Qiong would support Yuan Tan with 5,000 men, while leading the remaining 25,000 men to disguise themselves as the main force of Yuan's army and hold the Meishui defense line to contain Guan Yu's main force.

Yuan Tan himself, on the other hand, detoured to the lower reaches of the Mei River, crossed the river at night, and attacked Ju County from the north. If he succeeded, he would not only annihilate Guan Yu's troops besieging the city, but also completely surround the allied forces on the east bank of the Mei River.

In principle, Yuan Tan's plan is good. After all, he has been in charge of Qingzhou for four or five years and has served as the governor of Qingzhou for three years. He should have a high reputation in Qingzhou.

Unfortunately, while Yuan Tan was brave and decisive in battle, he was utterly terrible in governance. He was not only narrow-minded and fickle, but also greedy and tyrannical, and his administration was lax. This aroused rebellion in Qingzhou, from the powerful clans to the common people.

This operation, which involved marching within the territory of Le'an Kingdom, should have been a home-ground operation and should have been kept highly confidential.

However, shortly after Yuan Tan's army began its operation, news of Yuan's unusual movements reached Guan Yu's desk.

Guan Yu immediately passed the intelligence to Xun You and Guo Jia. After reading it, Xun You immediately judged that Yuan Tan wanted to sneak across from the north and then outflank the rear of the allied forces, with Ju County as the target.

Guan Yu adopted Xun You's suggestion and secretly hid his main force in the Changping area between Ju County and Pingshou, while piling up firewood in the camp north of Ju County.

When Yuan Tan led his troops to secretly cross the border from Yi State and headed straight for Ju County, they attacked the camp north of Ju County under the cover of night and were surprised to find that all the tents were empty.

Then, flames erupted everywhere, and the sounds of battle shook the heavens.

Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Lü Bu each led their troops out to attack, catching Yuan Tan's army off guard and causing them to flee in disarray.

Yuan Tan's fierce generals, the brothers Lü Kuang and Lü Xiang, fought a bloody battle, while Yan Jing led his troops in a counterattack, holding off Lü Bu's Bingzhou cavalry. This prevented Yuan Tan's army from collapsing and from being driven into the Mei River.

However, that was all Yuan Tanjun could do. After desperately holding on for two hours, Yuan Tanjun could no longer hold on and was defeated.

Fortunately, Yuan Tan had already reorganized the command system and arranged for the troops to withdraw slowly.

Chunyu Qiong on the opposite bank wanted to provide assistance, but with the Mei River separating them and it being nighttime, he dared not cross the river. If his side were to be ambushed by the allied forces while crossing, the entire Mei River defense line would collapse.

The western part of Qingzhou is a flat plain. If it collapses, it may even have to retreat to the north of the Yellow River to gain a foothold. The loss would be too great, and Chunyu Qiong dared not gamble on it.

However, Chunyu Qiong did not remain idle. He made a great show of force on the west bank, lighting multiple beacon fires and pretending to be about to cross the river to provide relief, hoping to draw back some of the allied forces.

In fact, just as Chunyu Qiong had hoped, when Chunyu Qiong's entire army made the illusion of crossing the river, Guan Yu did indeed send some troops back to reinforce the riverbank defenses in order to guard against Chunyu Qiong actually crossing to rescue them.

However, that was all the assistance Chunyu Qiong could offer.

In the end, Yuan Tan's army suffered heavy losses in this battle, with more than two thousand heads taken from Liu Bei's army alone, along with an equal number of prisoners.

Yuan Tan's army fled back to the west bank of the Mei River in panic, where a stampede caused thousands of people to drown.

If it weren't for the fact that Yiguo County was located west of the Meishui River, giving Yuan Tan a chance to regroup, the Yuan army would probably have suffered even greater losses.

After regrouping his defeated troops, Yuan Tan was devastated. He had lost nearly 10,000 men in one night, not even counting the 2,000 garrison troops of Ju County who were already trapped.

Most of the men and soldiers he lost were his hard-earned capital accumulated over many years; these veterans were far superior to new recruits.

Liu Bei's army was naturally overjoyed; the joy of their initial victory greatly boosted the morale of the allied forces. Even Lü Bu's troops unusually refrained from clashing with their allies over spoils of war, simply because the victory had been so easy and pleasant.

In this battle, the allied forces beheaded more than 2,800 people and captured more than 3,400. Yuan Tan's army suffered more than 8,000 casualties from trampling and drowning, which can be described as a devastating blow.

Yuan Tan was unwilling to give up and even wanted to fight again by the river, but Chunyu Qiong firmly refused, and the two sides had an even more intense argument.

Chunyu Qiong even threatened to withdraw his troops, and Yuan Tan, persuaded by Xin Ping, had no choice but to back down.

The two armies temporarily resumed their standoff across the Mei River, and two days later, Ju County opened its gates and surrendered, with all two thousand garrison soldiers laying down their arms and surrendering.

After the city of Ju County was captured, the strategic initiative was effectively transferred to the Allied forces.

Xun You and Guo Jia joined forces to offer another plan, asking Guan Yu to send Zhang Fei to lead his troops north to attack and capture Shouguang County, east of Meishui, within the territory of Le'an State.

(End of this chapter)