Sending troops to Niuzhu also meant that Liu Yao's previously deployed defense line had collapsed. Sun Ce once again crossed the river like a ghost, defeated Liu Yao's army and successfully captured more than 10,000 people! At the same time, Sun Ce issued proclamations everywhere: The villagers and subordinates of Liu Yao and Zuo Rong who come to surrender will not ask any questions; those who are willing to join the army can join the army, and their whole family will be exempted from taxes and corvee; if they do not want to join the army, they will not be forced to do so. .
The Sun family has been operating in Jiangdong for a long time, and its reputation among the people is not comparable to that of Liu Yaozirong and others. Now it seems that Sun Ce is even more powerful than Sun Jian was back then. For a time, countless followers flocked in, and many Sun family members gathered around I don't know how long I have been waiting for this day. In a short period of time, Sun Ce recruited more than 20,000 soldiers. Adding in the prisoners collected earlier, there were an additional 30,000 troops!
Not only the size of the army increased, but many rural gentry families also provided various kinds of help. In terms of horses alone, they provided Sun Ce with more than a thousand horses, not to mention other materials. Moreover, ordinary people also supported Sun Ce very much. Wherever Sun Ce's army went, they sent water, wine, and even cattle. The common people know that only the Sun family can bring peace to Jiangdong, and only with peace can they live and work in peace and contentment!
For a time, Sun Ce's reputation was so great that ordinary people were frightened when they heard his name.
Of course, reputation is false, and strength is real. After defeating Liu Yao, Sun Ce crossed the river again and headed north to attack Zuo Rong again. Not to mention running back and forth, Sun Ce always took the lead. This time, he was injured by an arrow and unable to ride, so he was carried back to the camp by his subordinates. After returning to the camp, Sun Quan did not get angry or retreat. Instead, he asked his men to decorate the mourning hall and blow it up to kill him. Zuo Rong, who had been unable to retreat, was overjoyed when he heard the news of Sun Ce's death. He immediately sent troops to attack Sun Ce's barracks. Sun Ce first sent hundreds of soldiers to respond to the enemy, then pretended to be defeated and escaped, leading the enemy into an ambush set up in advance, and gave an order to rise. , kill all the enemy troops. Later, Sun Ce personally led his troops and took advantage of the victory to attack the Zairong camp. In front of the camp, he ordered his soldiers to shout, "How is Mr. Sun doing?"
The sound shook the enemy camp, the ground shook, and the mountains shook, scaring countless enemy soldiers to run away all night. When Zuo Rong saw that Sun Ce was still alive, he was also panicked and did not dare to leave the camp at will.
After this battle, Sun Ce's reputation shocked the world and he was revered as the "Little Overlord of Jiangdong"!
Seeing that Zuo Rong had become a coward again, Sun Ce did not continue to waste time with Zuo Rong. At this moment, he believed that Zuo Rong was really scared and would no longer dare to easily send troops to harass Sun Ce's rear. With his worries relieved, Sun Ce gathered all his troops, crossed the Yangtze River again, and returned to the Jiangdong area he was most familiar with. On the frontal battlefield, he openly launched a decisive battle against Liu Yao's garrison.
When two armies meet, momentum often determines everything.
If Sun Ce had come to fight Liu Yao from the beginning, it would be hard to say who would win and who would lose. But after crossing the river several times, wandering around for several months, and experiencing several great victories. On Sun Ce's side, with the power of a winning streak, every one of his soldiers was as powerful as a rainbow, as if there was no battle in the world that they could not win. On the other hand, Liu Yao's side, as soon as they heard Sun Ce's name, everyone's legs were weak and timid. At this time, it was good enough not to be a deserter.
Amid this ebb and flow, can Liu Yao still have a chance of winning?
First, Meiling was defeated, then Hushu was defeated, and then Jiangcheng was defeated. Sun Ce gradually conquered and annihilated all the defenders posted by Liu Yao outside Qu'a, and surrounded Qu'a, forcing Liu Yao to lead The soldiers left the city for a decisive battle.
This decisive battle, said to be a decisive battle, is actually just Liu Yao's last battle, and there will be no surprises in the outcome. After the defeat, Liu Yao was forced to flee to Dantu. Sun Ce pursued him again and successfully captured Taishi Ci. Liu Yao had no choice but to follow Xu Shao's advice and could only continue to flee west to Yuzhang. At least at this moment, Sun Ce should give priority to retaking Jiangdong instead of attacking Yuzhang.
At that time, Zhou Shu, the prefect of Yuzhang, died of illness. Liu Biao sent Zhuge Liang's uncle Zhuge Xuan as the prefect, and the Han court sent Zhu Hao, Zhu Hao's son, as the prefect. Liu Yao chose to support Zhu Hao and helped Zhu Hao become the prefect. He became the governor of Yuzhang and settled down in Yuzhang smoothly.
Since then, Liu Yao has fled, leaving Jiangdong without a leader. Under Sun Ce's majesty, he can no longer make any big waves. So Sun Ce sent Zhu Zhi to attack Wu County. Xu Gong, the governor of Wu County, was defeated and fled to Yan Baihu, the commander of Shan Yue. Send Zhou Yu back to guard Danyang to prevent Liu Yao or Liu Biao from leading troops to attack. He sent Wu Jing to capture Guangling north of the Yangtze River and consolidate the Yangtze River defense line. Seeing that Liu Yao in the south was defeated by Sun Ce and Liu Bei in the north was defeated by Yuan Shu, Zuo Rong knew that there was no point in continuing to defend, so he trapped and killed Xue Li and annexed Xue Li's territory. The troops then abandoned Moling they occupied and went to Yuzhang to defect to Liu Yao again.
In this way, in just a few months, from Guangling in the north, to Danyang in the west, and to Wu County in the middle, most of Jiangdong had been captured by Sun Ce. At this time, Yuan Shu's army was still with Liu Bei in Xuzhou. It's a stalemate. From east to west, north to south, except for the sea in the east, only the Kuaiji area occupied by Wang Lang in the south is left. After taking it, Sun Ce can occupy the entire Jiangdong and restore the glory of the Sun family!
Kuaiji is the hometown of the Sun family. Third uncle Sun Jing and a group of Sun family children have been hiding in Kuaiji.
It was probably because Yuan Shu's reaction was too slow, and it was also due to the slow communication speed in this era. Of course, in the final analysis, Sun Ce's movements were too fast! In just a few months, Yuan Shu may have just learned that Sun Ce successfully captured the crossing of the river, and he was crossing the river back and forth, fighting on both sides. As a result, before he could react, Sun Ce had already controlled the entire Jiangdong. !
Seeing this, Yuan Shu dared to delay. If he kept waiting, Sun Ce would really lose control. Without needing to be reminded by others, Yuan Shu immediately sent someone to notify Sun Ce of Hui Shouchun. Well, Hui Shouchun would receive the reward. Yuan Shu greatly appreciated Sun Ce's achievements and was ready to canonize him.
Of course Sun Ce didn't believe Yuan Shu's lies, so he went back to receive the title? Well, it was indeed a title, and the official position should be quite high, but would Yuan Shu be stupid enough to grant Jiangdong to Sun Ce? Why don't you just send one of your cronies here like before? Yuan Shu always regarded Sun Ce as a weapon to conquer the country, but did not give him the rewards he deserved, let alone let him go out to give him a chance to establish his feet. This time, Sun Ce was able to capture Jiangdong so quickly, which completely exceeded Yuan Shu and everyone's expectations.
Sun Ce knew that it was not the time to fall out with Yuan Shu yet. Yuan Shu had not yet proclaimed himself emperor and the time had not come yet. Moreover, after capturing Jiangdong, Sun Ce wanted to continue westward and capture Lujiang, Yuzhang, and even Jiangxia, taking control of the entire Yangtze River and opening the door to Jingzhou at the same time! At this time, Sun Ce obviously didn't want Yuan Shu to cause trouble for him.
Therefore, Sun Ce personally wrote back to Yuan Shu, claiming that there was still Kuaiji in Jiangdong that had not been captured. If Kuaiji was not defeated in one go, there might be changes in the future. Once Kuaiji was captured, he would return to Shouchun to receive the reward.
