At the end of the Warring States Period, the State of Qin swept across the world and the State of Chu was defeated. After losing a large area of land, it was forced to move its capital eastward. From 241 BC to 223 BC, the Chu people built a capital on the plains - Shouchun in 19 years.
After the Qin and Han Dynasties, Shouchun gradually declined, but it is still an important transportation hub.
To the west of Shouchun is Shiting, which connects Jiangxia and Lujiang. After Shouchun was defeated by the coalition forces of Cao Cao and Liu Bei, the remaining 1,000 Yuan troops in Shiting defected to Jiangdong Army.
To the south of Shouchun is Wujiang Port, from which the navy can attack Lujiang City, Wuhu Port and Qu'a Port. Now it was captured by Sun Ce himself and his army.
To the east of Shouchun is Pengcheng, which is the only way to Xuzhou. Yuan Shu built a fortress here to guard against Liu Bei in Xuzhou.
To the north of Shouchun is Song County, which is the gateway to Yuzhou. Cao Cao built a fortress here to block the north and south. Now Cao Ren is stationed here with 30,000 elite troops, and at the same time ordered the Wei troops in Shouchun to retreat here, vowing to build this into an iron wall to resist Chu.
After Ji Shu captured Shouchun, Sun Ce did not lead his army to join Ji Shu, but directly marched eastward to attack Pengcheng Fortress.
Although Sun Ce wanted to attack Song County immediately and advance into Yuzhou to approach Xuchang, the capital of Wei State, without Xu Han holding back Wei's 100,000-strong army, the outcome of this battle would have been unpredictable. Therefore, he had no choice but to help Liu Bei defeat the main force of the Wei army in accordance with the covenant, and then the two families would each get what they needed.
If the Wei army was still a little reluctant to give up on Shouchun, at least they resisted stubbornly and lost more than a thousand troops before retreating. Then Pengcheng had been completely abandoned, and Sun Ce easily captured the Pengcheng Fortress and opened the way to Xuzhou.
"Wen Xiang, you lead 20,000 troops to deal with Cao Ren in Song County. Remember not to attack the city. As long as you hold back the Wei army, no fault will be considered merit."
"Take orders."
The generals sat in the hall to discuss military deployment. Ji Shu pointed at the map and gave Xu Sheng some instructions. Seeing Xu Sheng clasping his fists in agreement, Ji Shu then said to Zhou Tai.
"Youping, you command an army of 10,000 to garrison in Shouchun, and you and Xu Sheng are the horns of each other. If Xu Sheng cannot support it, dispatch the Huxiao Battalion to rescue Xu Sheng. If the enemy forces divide their forces to hold Xu Sheng back, attack with another army. In Pengcheng or Shiting, you must destroy this army first. Don't let it get behind our army or invade the territory of Chu. If it cannot be eliminated, try to hold it back and send fast horses to me or General Zhu Zhi of Chaisang. Warning."
"Don't worry, military advisor, unless Cao Ren can get more than 30,000 troops out of Wen Xiang's entanglement, what do I, the Tiger Roar Camp, have to fear?"
Ji Shu nodded. After giving these instructions, there was nothing more to explain. He believed that Zhou Tai and Xu Sheng knew the details of the army much better than he did. All that was left was that he took 20,000 troops and horses to join Sun Ce.
Slowly sitting back in his seat, Ji Shu stared at the map and sighed slowly.
"Zi Yuan, are you still worried about sending troops to Wei this time?"
Zhao Yun frowned and asked.
"······Yes."
There was a hint of bitterness on Ji Shu's face. Although he and Zhou Yu strongly opposed it, Sun Ce had reached an alliance with Dong Zhuo and Liu Bei in secret or in the open. It was a done deal. What could be done?
Ji Shu also knew that many generals in the army had clear grievances and had long wanted to retaliate against Wei, and they approved of his lord's action. In fact, while Sun Ce was taking revenge, everyone also carved up Wei's territory, gained practical benefits, and suppressed Wei, a powerful enemy, which was also of great significance.
But Ji Shu was worried that the fall of Wei would push Chu to the forefront. Chu State prematurely replaced Wei State and became the number one prince in the world, but just winning one Yuzhou was not enough for Chu State to have the capital to be proud of the world. In the past, whenever the Wei State made any move, the Qin State would send troops to hinder it. In the future, I am afraid it will be replaced by the Chu State. This will greatly hinder Chu's plan to attack Shu and Lu in the future, and this plan is the foundation that can truly make Chu become stronger.
Even though Chu State still benefited strategically, in terms of national policy, Chu State lost.
"Ziyuan, don't think about this. Where the king is, we will return; where the king's sword points is our way forward."
"Now it's better to think about the tactics to defeat Cao Wei and let the brothers reduce their casualties."
Indeed, it is better to think about the future than to regret the past. This is what he should do most as a military advisor of the Chu State.
Ji Shu suddenly understood and quickly thanked Zhao Yun.
"Brother Zilong's lesson is that I was too arrogant when I was still thinking about other things during the confrontation with Wei State."
"Xu Sheng and Zhou Tai follow orders and guard the Shouchun defense line. Zhao Yun and Jiang Qin immediately send orders for the army to move out. We will rush to join the lord immediately."
"Take orders!"
······
"Reporting to the military advisor, no secret passage has been found in the fortress."
"Well, thank you for your hard work."
Ji Shu waved the soldiers down to rest, and he ordered people to search Shiting Fortress.
Be careful to sail the Wannian ship and give up Shiting so easily. There is no guarantee that the Wei army did not leave any back-up tools to retake this place later. After a few words from Zhao Yun to wake him up, Ji Shu began to focus all his attention on this war.
Since a large number of soldiers and horses had not found the secret passage, Ji Shu felt relieved. He ordered the soldiers to rest for half an hour before continuing to rush to Xuzhou.
After walking out of Shiting Fortress, Ji Shu, Zhao Yun, and Jiang Qin walked side by side, and Jiang Qin sighed.
"It went so smoothly. It's really a bit boring. Thinking about the sneak attack on Jingzhou, the battle in Jiangxia was very hard."
"Ha ha"
Zhao Yun and Ji Shu both laughed a few times, but Ji Shu's smile gradually became stiff.
"Zi Yuan?" "Military advisor?"
Zhao Yun and Jiang Qin soon discovered something strange about Ji Shu. They turned around and looked at Ji Shu who stopped and couldn't help but wonder. But Ji Shu ignored the two of them at the moment. He was lost in thought and his face became darker and darker.
A strange sense of dissonance.
He should have noticed it long ago, it was so smooth. Compared with the Battle of Jingzhou, the confrontation with Wei went too smoothly.
Cao Cao is not Liu Biao, and Cao Cao's counselors are no worse than Zhuge Liang and Kuai Liang, but now they are not as good as the Jingzhou Army?
Ji Shu also thought that he had paid attention to the Wei army, and felt that it was precisely because Wei's counselors were smart enough that they could see the situation clearly, shrink the defense line, and hold on to Song County.
But if Wei's counselors could really see the situation clearly, couldn't they see that on the Chu front, their 50,000 troops would be dragged by 30,000 Chu troops in Shouchun, while on the Xu-Han front, their 100,000 troops Will we face the 170,000 allied troops of Chu and Han?
They would let the situation move little by little in a direction that is unfavorable to them, and then sigh, "Ah, how can it be stopped? I have seen through the inevitable defeat of Wei a long time ago." Is that so?
It turns out that arrogant people never know their own arrogance. The one who really can't see the situation clearly is Ji Shu.
Something must have changed somewhere!
In the corner that Ji Shu couldn't see, there was a change that Ji Shu didn't know about on the map marked on the surface.
His heart was pounding, and Ji Shu was oppressed by an unprecedented sense of urgency. He even felt like a pair of hands in the void passed through his body and grabbed his heart. This was something he had never felt before.
"Send an order for Xu Sheng and Zhou Tai to thoroughly search the surrounding area. Send more people to wine shops and hunters to collect intelligence. Don't let go of any suspicious clues. Send them to me immediately!"
Huh?
Zhao Yun and Jiang Qin were shocked when they saw Ji Shu stunned for a while, then suddenly changed his face and issued such a strange order.
The soldiers who were delivering the order didn't think so much and left in response to the words.
Only then did Zhao Yun and Jiang Qin ask.
"Zi Yuan, what's wrong?"
have no idea.
I don’t know how to answer the two of them. Ordinarily, the current situation is very favorable for Chu State, but Wei State's inaction makes Ji Shu feel uneasy.
No, it's not that he did nothing, but Wei Guo must have done something, but Ji Shu didn't know. It is this unknown that makes Ji Shu uneasy, even afraid.
"I always feel like something is going to happen, but I can't tell what the problem is, so I have to ask Xu Sheng and Zhou Taiduo to collect intelligence and be more vigilant."
"That's it for now. We are about to reach Qiao County, which is controlled by Xuzhou. Let's rush to meet up with eldest brother first and then make plans."
