The strongest devouring system in the Three Kingdoms

"Call him uncle quickly!" In the backyard of the general's mansion, Leon, who was already learning to speak, looked at the man in front of him who already had a familiar scent. His eyes darted around, and it was unclear what he was thinking. After Su Xiao's repeated instruction, Leon finally called out, "Uncle."

Chen Er happily tossed Leon into the air. Leon, suspended in mid-air, felt no fear at all; he thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of flying. Leon kept making "ya ya ya" noises.

……

On June 22, 2188, the Northern Autonomous Region issued a mobilization order. Although the order only targeted Youzhou and Anbei Protectorate, the autonomous region's army mobilized more than 100,000 reserve troops within just three days. These troops were equipped with smoothbore matchlock muskets. These muskets were manufactured by small arsenals built by other prefectures after Chen Er accepted the advice of Andeli and others. These small arsenals were responsible for producing gunpowder for training reserve musketeers in the local garrison, as well as producing smoothbore matchlock muskets, which were the earliest models of matchlock muskets.

Although these reserve musketeers were not as good as the regular army of the autonomous region, their equipment was comparable to that of the musketeers of various warlord forces. In just two days, Youzhou mobilized nearly 100,000 people. The warlords of the world trembled upon hearing this and were also worried. Who was Chen Er going to attack?

Yuan Shao, in particular, was extremely worried. He had only been driven to Yanzhou not long ago, and the war against Dong Zhuo had just ended. Was Chen Er about to make a move against him? Yuan Shao felt despair. At this time, the Yanzhou army numbered only 50,000, and there were not even 10,000 musketeers. If war broke out now, Yanzhou would surely be defeated. In order to preserve what might be his last hope, Yuan Shao immediately sent out a large number of envoys to seek help.

However, a few days later, news came from the north that the mobilization order of the Northern Autonomous Region had been canceled and all the soldiers who had been summoned had gone home. However, what puzzled everyone was that if the mobilization order was canceled, why was Chen Er still mobilizing the main force?

It wasn't until a week later that the world understood! It turned out that Chen Er was going to wage war against the northern grasslands again. It seemed that the barbarians of the northern grasslands were starting to stir up trouble again. The feudal lords of the world thought to themselves, "Well, now is the time to stir up those barbarians and make them as much trouble as possible, because that way, Chen Er's progress will be severely hampered, and they will naturally have more time to develop."

Yuan Shao, in particular, seemed to be considering joining forces with the barbarians to attack Chen Er. However, this idea was nipped in the bud by Xu You and others. The barbarians were the enemy of the entire empire. If Yuan Shao were to attack Chen Er at this time, his reputation would be completely ruined, and perhaps all the warlords in the land would rise up against him under Chen Er's call.

Yuan Shao was well aware of this principle, but he could only sigh and then lie low, carefully developing his own strength.

"Brothers! Soldiers of the Autonomous Region! The Turks in the north have become restless once again. For the sake of peace in the north, we have built trading cities. For the sake of peace in the north, we not only trade with those gentle tribes, but we can even choose to forgive the Turks. All of this is just to hope for less bloodshed. However, now the Turks actually want to maintain their rule on the grasslands. This is simply outrageous!"

Stepping onto the command platform, Chen Er roared at the soldiers before him, "Brothers, can we tolerate this?"

"No! No! No!" The soldiers' shouts below seemed to shake the heavens and earth. Chen Er nodded calmly, then gestured to his soldiers and asked, "Then what should we do?"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" Three consecutive shouts of "Kill!" The killing intent of the autonomous region's army soared to the sky, truly making the heavens and earth change color.

"Good! Well said! Soldiers of the Autonomous Region, remember my words: treat our friends with the gentleness of spring! But treat our enemies with the ruthlessness of winter!"

After speaking, Chen Er stepped down from the command platform, mounted his horse, glanced at his wife and children on the city wall, and then shouted to the army, "Marching into battle!"

"Huh!"

More than 60,000 soldiers responded in unison, their strong fighting spirit making every Yuyang resident feel their determination to win! Watching their husbands, fathers, and children go to war once again, these people who enjoyed the excellent welfare benefits of the autonomous region had eyes full of reluctance, but they still resolutely let their sons, husbands, and fathers follow in Chen Er's footsteps to the front! Marching off! At the same moment that Chen Er swore an oath to go to war, Yan Rou, Tian Yu, and Guo Jia at Lulong Fortress also made preparations for the expedition. Facing Gongsun Du, who had little power to resist, the three had no worries. They directly handed over the defense of Lulong Fortress to the reserves of Youbeiping County and the Lulong Fortress Garrison Regiment, and then the two armies of the Third Army, a total of 50,000 men, marched north.

"My lord, what is our army's ultimate objective in this battle?" Mounted, Xi Zhicai asked Chen Er. As the strategist, he still didn't know his lord's final goal for this northern expedition. Although Guo Jia's mention of the horse farm plan at the meeting had led everyone to believe it was Chen Er's plan, the ever-cautious Xi Zhicai felt it wasn't Chen Er's ultimate intention. If it were just that, Chen Er wouldn't need to mobilize so many elite troops; a small number of elite Youzhou cavalry plus mercenary cavalry would suffice.

Upon hearing Xi Zhicai's question, Chen Er stopped and said to Xi Zhicai, "Zhicai, you guessed right. My goal is indeed not just to establish a stable pasture. My fundamental goal is to completely conquer the barbarians on the grasslands. Although this time it was only a few large remnants of the Turks who were acting, who knows how many more will be involved next time? Therefore, I am determined to take advantage of this opportunity to crush the last bit of spirit of the Turks, just like when I wiped out the Man Niu tribe last time!"

"In that case, I understand." Xi Zhicai was right after all. Chen Er's purpose was not so simple. Guo Jia had decided to know something, but he did not say it. Instead, he deliberately emphasized the issue of the grassland. Was he guarding against someone?

Xi Zhicai had even more doubts, but this was not the time to ask them. He decisively steered the conversation toward a more complex topic, such as who should be the first target of the attack.

This is the most important thing to determine right now. Of course, this cannot be determined in a short time. After all, the Turks themselves are still mobilizing their troops. Xi Zhicai is thinking about whether he should give the Turks more time to gather the main forces of the few major Turkic tribes together, and then launch a massive attack to solve the problem once and for all.