Koto. .
After Xu Gong left the prefect's residence, he got on the carriage, was silent for a moment, and said to the coachman: "Go to the east of the city, the Lu family!"
The noble families in Wu County are all headed by the Gu Lu family. The Gu Lu family is also the second of the four major noble families in Jiangdong. Their influence can cover the entire Jiangdong. Now, they are probably the only two families that can resist Sun Jian's entry into Jiangdong.
As early as when Sun Ce killed the Qu Ash family, the head of the Gu family began to stay behind closed doors and was unwilling to entertain guests. He asked for permission many times but did not see him. He obviously kept silent. Now he could only go to the Lu family for help.
The Sun family's big account.
In the large tent, Sun Jian knelt and sat at the head of the tent. There were several desks on the left and right sides of the tent. Cheng Pu, Wu Jing, Huang Gai, Han Dang, Sun Ce, Zhou Yu, and Zhou Tai sat at the end.
Although he was sitting closely with him at the end, he had just joined Jiangdong Army and was able to participate in such a highly confidential military meeting. Zhou Tai was unprecedentedly excited, which represented his trust.
"Yuan Lu, please put everything aside." Sun Jian looked at Wu Jing and said.
"No, my lord!" Wu Dingding nodded. He already regarded Sun Jian as his lord, not his brother-in-law. Looking at everyone, he said softly: "Now there are only ten thousand county soldiers in Wu County at most. With us The strength of the Jiangdong Army is at our fingertips, but we don’t have a legitimate name to station in Wu County. As the saying goes, if the name is not official, the words will not be justified. My lord is still the governor of Changsha. If we station in Wu County, we will be punished by the imperial court!"
"No, father, when we were doing business with Yuan Shu, didn't you already win the position of Yangzhou governor? With the position of Yangzhou governor, there is no place in Jiangdong that you can't go." Sun Ce frowned and asked.
The Yangzhou Governor's Department has six counties under its jurisdiction, namely Jiujiang County, Danyang County, Wu County, Kuaiji County, Lujiang County, and Yuzhang County. If you take the position of Yangzhou Governor, you can legitimately rule Jiangdong and extend your tentacles to Jiujiang, this was their original plan when Sun Jian exchanged the jade seal with Yuan Shu.
"Yuan Benchu was causing trouble. Not only did my father not get the position of governor of Yangzhou, but even the position of governor of Yuzhou that originally belonged to me was taken by Yuan Benchu's subordinate Zhou Zhe!" Sun Jian's tiger eyes flashed with a hint of coldness. The cold light said fiercely.
In addition to the imperial court, the Kanto Alliance has gathered 90% of the princes in the world, and the alliance's appointments can also convince the world.
It was understandable that he could not get the position of governor of Yangzhou. He expected that the Yuan brothers would not let his mother take Jiangdong so smoothly. However, to actually take away the governor of Yuzhou that Sun Jian had obtained was equivalent to forcibly snatching it from the Sun family. The meaning is different.
"Father, the Zhou brothers have gone too far to bully others. I am willing to lead troops to defeat them first, and then fight in Jiujiang to capture the heads of Zhou Xin and Zhou Ang." Sun Ce was furious.
"Let's put their affairs aside for now. The foundation of our Jiangdong Army is now in Wu County. Wu County must be captured within this year, otherwise we will not be able to maintain the supplies of tens of thousands of troops." Sun Jian waved his hand and ignored Sun Ce. It's a somewhat worried way.
"Who can tell me about Wu Jun's situation!" Zhou Yu on the side was silent for a moment and said.
"Gong Jin, let me talk to you!" Cheng Pu looked at Zhou Yu and said: "Wu County is mainly controlled by three forces. The first is the noble family, headed by the Lu family and Gu family of Wu County. They Control more than 60% of the land population in Wu County.
Then there is the Prefect's Mansion. The Prefect's Mansion is not a united force. The Prefect Sheng Xian is at odds with the Captain Xu Gong. Sheng Xian is not too hostile to us. Many officials are even willing to invite us to station in Wu County. After all, In recent years, order in Wu County has not been very good.
However, Xu Gong, the captain of Wu County, is the most opposed to our entry into Wu County. The tens of thousands of soldiers in Wu County controlled by this person should not be underestimated. The last one is Yan Hu from Wucheng County, known as Yan Baihu. He and our Sun family Likewise, he came from a powerful place and had tens of thousands of soldiers under his command, so he was quite powerful. "
"Don't worry about the noble family for now. Since they didn't stand up to oppose, they have already acquiesced, and they may not embarrass us. As for Yan Baihu, when we stand firm, it will be easy to eliminate him. The most difficult thing to deal with now. It's the Prefect's Mansion!" Zhou Yu squinted his eyes, analyzed it, and said, "I want to know more about Sheng Xian and Xu Gong."
These two people obviously have something to do.
"Sheng Xian is the governor of the county. This man is talented and famous. He can manage a county, but he is not good at leading troops. Xu Gong has always been ambitious to command the troops of Wu County, and he has always wanted to replace him!" Cheng Pu took several people relationship from beginning to end.
"Gong Jin, in fact, the most important thing for us now is our name. We cannot stand on the opposite side of the imperial court, so we must break into Wu County in the most legitimate name to prevent Jiangdong from resisting us!" Wu Jing looked thoughtfully. Zhou Yu asked: "Gong Jin, what name do you think is better for us to invade Wuxian?"
"Actually, we don't use any name!"
A smile flashed across Zhou Yu's lips, and he had an idea. He stood up, looked at everyone, and said, "Why do we have to fight in? In fact, we can ask them to invite us in seriously."
"Gong Jin, don't try to hide yourself, tell me quickly." Sun Jian was slightly excited when he heard this and said.
"Sheng Xian is obviously a bit pedantic and cowardly, and he has little ambition. All we have to do is to break down Sheng Xian's defensive mentality, let him recognize us, and personally invite you to station in Wu County and take over the position of governor. If we give it up, our reputation in Jiangdong will be greatly improved!"
Zhou Yu looked at the crowd and said: "We can't wait any longer. Send out troops immediately, the whole army, and station troops outside Wu County. You can show off and show force, but you are absolutely not allowed to attack the city. No arrows or swords are fired." , one word, etc.”
"That's it?" Sun Jian frowned slightly.
"That's it!" Zhou Yu nodded, raised the corner of his mouth, and said, "This is the simplest method. Sometimes showing off yourself is the best way to make the enemy retreat. As long as my troops are at the gate, I don't believe that Xu Gong is willing to do so." Sitting and waiting for death without doing anything, as long as he does it, we will have an opportunity to take advantage of it, and it will also allow us to see how much support the Sun family has in Jiangdong. Wuxian is a small matter, but Jiangdong is a big deal."
General's Mansion
The candlelight flickered in Gao Yue's room and the door was slightly open. She must have just returned from taking a shower.
Yuan Xi pushed the door open and walked in. Sure enough, he saw Gao Yue sitting in front of the dressing table, taking care of her hip-length hair.
"Madam, why do you wash your hair at night?" Yuan Xi walked over, took the towel from her hand, and wiped her wet hair.
Take a deep breath, filled with the fragrance of soap locust.
"Why are you here?" Gao Yue didn't reply to him, turned around and glared at him with a red face: "Didn't you go to sister Xiu'er's room to rest tonight?"
"She didn't let me in. She said she wanted to take turns sleeping." Although Yuan Xi also wanted to spend one more night with Diao Xiuer, he was afraid that he had nothing to do. They were both his women, so they couldn't force him, right?
"She didn't let you in, so you didn't go in?" Gao Yue took the towel from his hand and said angrily: "Where was your shamelessness towards me back then?"
"Okay, okay," Yuan Xi rubbed his face against her hair and whispered, "How can she compare with you? I've been back for two days and I haven't slept with my wife yet."
Gao Yue felt sweet in her heart, but her face turned even redder. She wanted to say a few words to him, but his lazy expression showed that she could only sigh softly and said: "Sister Xiu'er has a gentle and cheerful temperament. Don't say such words to me in the future." She mentioned it, otherwise we sisters would have nothing to do.”
Yuan Xi thought to himself, "You think I'm stupid, didn't I say this in front of you?"
But he said with a smile: "Okay, I think what she said is right. Xiu'er is the kind of person who values fairness and will feel at ease. Forcing her to go to her room to rest only made her more frightened. This is not convenient for integration. Let’s talk about it later when we are all familiar with it.”
Gao Yue said a few words, then gave him a slightly angry look and stopped talking.
"Madam, let me dry you." Yuan Xi took the towel from her hand again, wrapped her hair in the towel, and rubbed it gently.
Yuan Xi feels that a woman's long hair is one of the most sexy symbols of a woman. Although women in this era all have long hair, the quality of their hair is quite different.
"Okay, it's clean." Yuan Xi said with a smile.
Gao Yue took two steps outside, turned back and said sweetly: "It seems that my husband likes to be clean."
Yuan Xi followed her steps, and the two of them walked forward.
He said: "I don't like to be clean, but I like to be alone with my wife."
"It's just your sweet mouth." Gao Yue seemed to be walking casually, but her destination was the study not far away.
Yuan Xi looked at Gao Yue Pinpin Tingting, walking gracefully, bending her slender waist and taking small steps, dancing in a lively manner. Looking at the infinitely beautiful Shu Jing's back, her heart felt hot, and she quickly caught up with her, hugging her with both hands. In Gao Yue's exclamation, he picked her up and strode towards the study in front of her.
"What are you doing?" Gao Yue was shy and anxious, raising her pink fist lightly and beating him slightly, but her pretty dimple was buried in Yuan Xi's arms early.
"Madam, I haven't known the taste of meat for a long time." Yuan Xi kicked open the study door, strode in, and put her on the bed, as if he was trying to untie his clothes.
Gao Yue covered her face and said angrily: "Yuan Xianyi, don't do this nonsense, it will be a mess... Oh, go and close the door..."
...I don’t know how long it took, Gao Yue and Yuan Xi were loving each other under the brocade quilt. Gao Yue opened her big confused eyes, and immediately saw that the study door was still open, and her face suddenly turned red. Rouge raised her teeth lightly and took a bite directly on his shoulder.
"Go and close the door. You're so embarrassed. If you do this again next time, I'll really ignore you." Looking at the door that was still open, Gao Yue felt very unnatural.
"The inner courtyard is full of women, and no one dares to come in my study, so there is nothing to be afraid of."
Saying this, Yuan Xiren got out of bed and went to close the door. After closing the door and quickly getting into bed, hugging Gao Yue's hot body, Yuan Xi sighed: "Madam, do you know what I think about the most in the military camp?"
Gao Yue reached out and stroked his brow, and said softly: "What do you think about most, husband?"
Yuan Xi grabbed her arm and said with a smile: "Madam, you know, what else do you ask?"
Gao Yue smiled and said with eyes: "You asked me yourself, and you still blame me."
"Is that okay if I let you guess?"
Gao Yue paused, a hint of shame appeared on her cheeks, and said softly: "It can't be us, can it?"
"Correct answer, but there is no reward."
"Telling you to make trouble!" Gao Yue gently twisted on his chest and said quietly: "Wugu knows your husband's thoughts, but in this troubled world, no one is an exception. It would be great if there was peace and prosperity."
Yuan Xi shook his head, "Actually, everyone has his or her own merits. Although I don't like troubled times, our fate as husband and wife can be said to have contributed to the troubled times. Otherwise, how could your father marry you to me?" Look at each other and smile.
"Before, I only thought that Taoist priests were good at literary talent, but I didn't expect that they also have a way of getting into the camp. I, Yuan Xianyi, have really found a treasure."
"Who did you pick up?" Gao Yue rolled his eyes at him, raised his eyebrows slightly, and said confidently: "If I were a man, I could still go into battle to kill the enemy."
"Leave it to me to kill the enemy in battle." Yuan Xi laughed mischievously, trying to pull his left arm out from under Gao Yue's head, and then kill her. Gao Yue immediately held him down. He said angrily: "Don't make trouble, haven't you put in enough trouble just now?"
"As long as you are a madam, even a lifetime of hard work is not enough." Yuan Xi said shamelessly: "Every time I see my madam, I can't help myself. I can't help myself. I have no choice but to do anything."
"The sweetest thing." Gao Yue bit her lip and kissed him on the forehead, and said with a smile: "But it doesn't count now, I'll wait and see how you behave."
"Okay, just watch."
"Husband?"
"Um?"
"It's so kind of you."
"I feel good about myself too."
"But I'm just a bit thick-skinned..."
Yuan Xi: "..."
Early the next morning, when Yuan Xi woke up, he found that Gao Yue was no longer there. In the next few days, everyone in the Yuan family was busy. Yuan Xi was busy scheming against Cao Cao and Tao Qian, and at the same time, he was busy training soldiers and horses.
In March of the fifth year of Chuping of the Han Dynasty (194), Cao Cao, the governor of Yanzhou, sent troops to Xuzhou on the pretext of replacing his father Cao Song. He stationed 60,000 troops in Xue County of Lu State, and directed his troops towards Pengcheng of Xuzhou.
In the same month, at Cao Cao's request, Yuan Xi's army in Qingzhou sent troops to Langya, Xuzhou from the north. An army of 50,000 troops besieged the northernmost counties of Langya Kingdom.
It has been a quarter since there was no military feeling. Yuan Xi took Guo Jia, Xu Chu and a group of tiger guards on horseback to inspect the camp and inspect the city defenses of various counties.
Watching the galloping horses and the soldiers training, Yuan Xi, who had been immersed in tenderness and sweetness for a long time, felt the conquest spirit in his chest reoccupy his heart and asked, "Fengxiao, how do you think we will fight this time."
Guo Jia carefully looked at the soldiers in the counties and said seriously, "Xuzhou is indeed rich and well-equipped with soldiers and armor, and they are fighting to defend the countryside. Even if we and Cao Cao's army are powerful, we may not be able to exterminate them city by city."
"Cao Cao will directly take down Pi. Can Tao Qian withstand it?" Yuan Xi asked worriedly.
Guo Jia shook his head and said, "There are big variables. Let's not talk about Yuan Shu's rush for reinforcements. Cao Cao must capture Pengcheng before he can advance to Xiapi. Tao Qian must defend Pengcheng Kingdom with heavy troops. This is the main battlefield."
Tao Qian has been in charge of Xuzhou for many years. Since the end of last year, various places have begun to fortify their walls and clear out the wilderness. Their city defense troops are not comparable to those in Qingzhou and other places, and Yuan Shang and Cao Cao have little military rations and cannot last long.
After capturing the city one after another, Yuan Xi finally understood why Cao Cao massacred the city in history. But Cao Cao is going to massacre the city again for a quick victory. Can he stop it?
Yuan Xi had a layer of ambiguity in his mind. It was the attacks and killings of civilians by warlords in the late Han Dynasty, which caused a sharp decrease in the number of Han people, which led to a series of negative consequences in the subsequent Five Husbands. They are all Han people, how can they bear to kill?
Yuan Xi waved his horsewhip and ordered, "Pass the military order and the whole army attacks the city. On the day the city is breached, half of the wealth and silk from the government treasury will be taken out and distributed among the soldiers. However, those who disturb the people and loot will not be spared!"
"We can only besiege these counties. It is useless to have too many soldiers. We can divide our troops to attack Dongguan and Haiqu." Guo Jia then suggested.
Yuan Xi agreed one by one and asked Zhang He to lead ten thousand troops to attack Dongguan in the west of the counties. Xu Huang also led ten thousand troops to attack Haiqu County in the east.
Three days later, after the catapults, ladders, and crash carts for the siege were completed, Yuan Xi's army began to attack the city. However, although the counties were not large, the cities were still strong and there were many bows and crossbows, which made Yuan Shang's army unable to attack the city smoothly.
At Guo Jia's suggestion, Yuan Xijun erected a watchtower and shot arrows at the defenders from a high position.
Surrounded by garrison troops, Yuan Xi supervised the siege. More than 30,000 people besieged the city for three or four days without any progress, which made him angry.
Guo Jia still looked lazy and indifferent, and said quietly, "There is a saying in the art of war. The first is to attack the enemy with troops, the second is to attack the enemy, and the third is to attack the city. We took the lowest method."
"Xuzhou is so vast that it is not easy to swallow it whole. Our army is not strong enough to capture it, so we can only seize its money and food. How can we get it without breaking the city?" Yuan Xi also said annoyed.
Suddenly Yuan Xi thought of something, looked at Guo Jia and asked, "How about the underground attack plan?"
Guo Jia was dumbfounded and sighed, "There is a river flowing here, and the terrain is very low. If you dig shallow, you will be discovered. If you dig deeper, it will be filled without water. My lord is too anxious. I need to know whether to attack the city in a hurry."
Yuan Xi exhaled. The smooth war had made him overconfident. He still had a lot to learn about military warfare. This is how it is when water floods Xiapi. Since ancient times, the two tactics of water and fire are the most cruel and must be done as a last resort.
■■■
Cao Cao left Xun Yu behind to coordinate Yanzhou's defense. Mao Jie, Bao Xin, Lu Qian, and Chen Gong, who had picked up a piece, were also left behind to assist.
After 60,000 soldiers left the state of Lu, Cao Ren led more than 10,000 men to capture the township and other places. Yu Jin also led more than 10,000 men to attack Menliu County, west of Pengcheng. Cao Cao personally led other troops to attack Yinping, the east gate of Pengcheng.
Like Yuan Xi's army, Cao Cao's army did not progress very smoothly. After three months of preparation, city defenses were reinforced in various places in Xuzhou, and the Xuzhou army resisted fiercely. This is the advantage of home and away operations. Xuzhou's army has a will to die, but Yuan and Cao's armies have no intention of death. It doesn't matter whether the commander is Cao Cao or Yuan Xi, the situation is like this.
Cao Cao was still dressed in plain white and sat in charge of the central army's tent. Compared to Yuan Xi, he seemed calmer. Just like the comparison between Li Shimin who just debuted and Li Mi who is already famous.
Xi Zhong, Xun You, and Cheng Yu entered the tent.
Cheng Yu took out a piece of military information and reported, "My lord, the military information I just received indicates that Yuan Xi has sent troops to Langya."
"How's the progress?" Cao Cao asked.
"I don't know. What I just received is the military information from five days ago. There may be a fierce battle going on." Cheng Yu replied.
Cao Cao put the scroll in his hand away and said with a smile, "Okay, the tighter the Yuan family's children are beaten, the less pressure we will have."
"I didn't expect that the defenses in various places in Xuzhou were so tight. I'm afraid the Qingzhou Army will not go well either." Cheng Yu said.
Cao Cao sneered and said, "If the Yuan family kid wants to get food from it, he will have to pay the price. Let this little one do it alone. Is there anything going on with the old man to the south?"
Cheng Yu nodded and said, "As expected by my lord, Yuan Gongli couldn't sit still. He transferred most of the soldiers stationed in Shouchun to Chen State in Yuzhou, which borders Chenliu."
Cao Cao laughed and said, "Yuan Jiujiu has always been interested in small gains and did not consider his retreat. He just waited for our army to cut off his retreat. When do you think it is best to retreat?"
Xi Zhong thought for a while. "Within ten days, we will build up the momentum of the attack on the city, but secretly prepare our troops, cross the Pei State of Yuzhou, and attack Chen State and the Chenliu garrison to attack him."
Cao Cao's eyes were full of sarcasm, "Yuan Jiujiu, Yuan Jiujiu, I only blame you for coming to interfere. I will make sure that you steal the chicken but lose the rice."
■■■
In Chen State, Yuzhou, more than 3,000 cavalry were galloping across the border towards Chenliu.
The three thousand cavalry are all tall horses, and the three thousand knights are all wearing simple fish scale armor. They are equipped with strong bows, halberds, sabers and other long and short weapons. They are clearly an extremely elite cavalry.
Among the three thousand horses, the most eye-catching one is an extremely powerful horse. The horse's fur is as red as fire and as smooth as satin. There is not a single hair on its body, only four big black hooves. . It is none other than the peerless horse Chi Tu.
Lu Bu, the flying general on the red tug, had fierce and sharp eyes. He pulled the reins, and then all the riders beside him stopped.
Lu Bu looked at the soldiers around him. They were all the elite Xiliang cavalry and Bingzhou cavalry following him. "Rest here and wait for the infantry behind. Pay attention to saving your horse power. Tomorrow, we will go straight to Chenliu with all our strength."
After the soldiers dispersed, Cheng Lian, Wei Xu, Song Xian, Cao Xing, and Hou Cheng surrounded them.
Cheng Lian was dissatisfied and said: "General, Yuan Shu has deprived our army of food and fodder supplies many times. When we went out to get money and food for ourselves, he scolded us. Now he wants us to be pawns during the battle."
Wei Xu echoed: "I would like to ask the general, do you really want to succumb to Yuan Shu? When you followed Grand Master Dong, you never suffered such bad temper."
When Lu Bu heard the word "Master Dong", his expression suddenly turned cold and he said displeasedly, "Then what are you going to do!"
"Conquests in the Central Plains continue. Now Cao Cao, Yuan Shu and others are fighting in a melee. We have eliminated them everywhere. Why should we accept Yuan Shu's bad attitude?" Hou Cheng encouraged.
In the past few days since they defected to Yuan Shu, Yuan Shu had taken strict precautions against them. Not only did they have insufficient food and fodder supplies, he also sent people to monitor them and delineated the boundaries of their activities and settlements. In fact, let alone Yuan Shu, other princes would probably be on guard against Lu Bu like this.
At the end of the year, although Lu Bu's 5,000-strong army did not starve to death, they were accustomed to the life of a bandit. How could they be lonely? After some looting, they were severely criticized by Yuan Shu.
Seeing Lu Bu's intention, Hou Cheng continued: "Yuan Benchu is Guan, the leader of the Eastern Army. His power has occupied Jizhou and other places, and most of the heroes have joined him. Why don't we join him and gain some benefits?"
Lu Bu's wild beast-like eyes flashed with murderous intent, and he said sternly, "Don't say more, Yuan Benzhu is not a person to be surrendered to. I will help Yuan Shu capture Chen Liu first and gain some benefits before we make any calculations."
Speaking of Yuan Shao in Jizhou, Lu Bu couldn't help but think of Yuan Xi. That was the eternal shame in his heart, the shame of being spotted by his own prey, and that peerless beauty. . .
