The commander of the Chu army.
The news that Xiahou Dun led 30,000 troops and appeared in Dongping City had just reached the Chu army camp, and Sun Ce immediately summoned everyone to discuss countermeasures.
"Tell me what you think."
At this moment, Sun Ce was sitting quietly on the main seat, listening carefully to everyone's opinions. Advisors such as Zhuge Jin, Ma Liang, Hua Xin, Yi Ji, and Xiang Lang were roughly divided into three factions.
First, he advocated sending 5,000 soldiers and horses to support General Huang Gai's retreat to Rencheng, with Rencheng and the Xiaopei camp as horns. This created a situation where once the Wei army went south to Xiaopei, Huang Gai would send troops to Dongping to cut off its rear, forcing Wei Jun's 30,000 troops did not dare to act rashly.
Second, he advocated sending 10,000 troops to reinforce General Huang Gai to defend Dongping, and completely split Dongping and Xiaopei into two battlefields to fight Han and Wei respectively.
Third, he advocated sending 5,000 soldiers and horses to support General Huang Gai's retreat to Rencheng. At the same time, Xiaopei's battlefield turned from offensive to defensive and retreated to Qiao County, and then ordered Pang Tong to send troops from Shouchun to attack Song County and make a gesture of attacking Runan and Xuchang. , forcing Xiahou Dun to withdraw his troops.
Everyone talked for a long time, but Ji Shu, who was sitting on the left side of Sun Ce, said nothing.
It's not that Ji Shu is pretending to be profound. Everyone's opinions have their own reasons whether they are radical or conservative. But Ji Shu's proposition does not need to be spoken out, but he has already done it.
To this day, it is not difficult to figure out Cao Cao's attitude. He must first want to pacify the entire north to form a stable territory. Otherwise, once a flaw is exposed in the attack on the south, Dong Zhuo, who has a deep hatred against him, will definitely take the opportunity to attack the hinterland of Wei. The threat of the Xiliang cavalry is too great for him.
North first and then south is the national policy of Wei State. This is a fixed number and will never be changed easily. Therefore, Cao Cao will never invest too much energy in Xuzhou at this time. All he wants is to delay Sun Ce.
So Xiahou Dun came with 30,000 troops, and Ji Shu's arrangement was for 10,000 troops from Rencheng and Dongping. He never planned to add another soldier in this direction.
In his opinion, Xiahou Dun's attack on the north was just to attract the Chu army to create opportunities for the Han army, and would never fight to the death. These 10,000 troops were enough to cope with it.
But there are too many variables in this world. For example, Xiahou Dun could not understand Cao Cao's true intention. For example, the soldiers of the two armies were jealous of each other. For example, Xiahou Dun or Huang Gai died.
Too much too much!
Ji Shu did not arrange for Jiang Qin to build a defense line in the north because he was worried about accidents. You must know that the Yulin Army abandoned the Huxiao Camp to block the Wei Army and was able to escape. If Yu Lin Erlang were to see the Wei army again, Ji Shu was really afraid that they would become red-blooded and cause a situation that neither Sun Ce nor Cao Cao had imagined.
That's why Ji Shucai sent Huang Gai and his troops who had been sitting in the rear. After all, General Huang Gai was cunning and should be able to grasp the situation appropriately.
Although Huang Gai's weight is not light and it is also a variable, someone must do it. Ji Shu could only reduce the variables as much as possible and control the development of the situation, but could not control everything.
"Zi Yuan, what do you think?"
Everyone's eyes couldn't help but turn to Ji Shu following Sun Ce's voice, because they all knew that Sun Ce had the highest chance of adopting Ji Shu's opinion.
However, before Ji Shu could speak, the soldiers walked into the tent and reported new military information.
"Your Majesty, news has just arrived from Dongping. General Huang Gai went out of the city alone and drove back Xiahou Dun's 30,000 troops. Now the crisis in Dongping has been lifted."
So fast!
How long had it been since the intelligence about the discovery of the Wei army came, and Xiahou Dun had already retreated?
Everyone showed a look of astonishment.
Sun Ce secretly breathed a sigh of relief and smiled happily.
"Sure enough, Uncle Huang is still going strong! Conquering the enemy without fighting is the best method of war!"
"Let me mark General Huang's merits first, and I will give him a reward after the war is over."
After everyone praised him, they left one by one.
After everyone retreated, Sun Ce turned to look at Ji Shu and asked curiously.
"Zi Yuan, I saw you were not in a hurry just now, so I knew you had an idea. Could it be that you had already calculated that Uncle Huang could force Xiahou Dun back?"
I wish I had known earlier! Then I wouldn't have sent him in the first place!
Although Ji Shu once said to Huang Gai, "I will be ruthless when the enemy moves, and I will stop when the enemy is quiet", Ji Shu did not expect Huang Gai to be so ruthless! Still be cruel to yourself! He just sent himself in front of Xiahou Dun.
Fortunately, Xiahou Dun was not crazy yet and still knew where to go, otherwise the situation would have been out of control at this time.
After thinking about this, Ji Shu breathed a long sigh of relief and said.
"I only guessed that Xiahou Dun was bluffing and that there was no danger to the north, but I didn't expect that General Huang would go into danger alone."
Ji Shu was very angry when he saw Sun Ce laughing. Obviously Sun Ce knew Huang Gai better than Ji Shu and knew that he could do such a thing.
"You can't hold your breath anymore. I was afraid that you would immediately send troops to Dongping as soon as you heard about General Huang being surrounded."
"Hmph, I am assured of Uncle Huang's ability. Do you think Wei will make other moves?"
Seeing Sun Ce asking this, Ji Shu nodded without thinking.
"Yes! Presumably they will provide grain, grass, weapons, and horses to Xu Han from the river in the north. It is not impossible to send a small group of elites disguised as bandits to attack our army's grain road."
"These are just small things, and there are many ways. How to fight the next battle? Where is the focus? Tell me again."
Seeing Sun Ce asking with a serious look on his face, Ji Shu took a sip of tea, paused briefly before speaking seriously.
"Now that Xiahou Dun has retreated, we should still use the previous strategy on Xiaopei battlefield - dragging them until their food and grass are exhausted. We will win without fighting."
"The most important thing next is to see the war on the second brother's side. If the second brother wins, the war will soon enter the third stage; if the second brother loses, he will lead the navy to retreat to the Yangtze River Basin, etc. Zhuge Liang will naturally turn his fighting power to Xiaopei after suffering the losses of the naval army. In this case, the war will be protracted."
"But I still say the same thing, as long as you hold firm, I, Da Chu, will definitely win the battle in Xuzhou!"
Sun Ce's eyes were bright, he patted the table with his right hand, nodded and smiled.
"Okay, you go back and rest first."
After Ji Shu left the commander's tent, he walked around the military camp, asked the craftsmen about the improvement of the stone carts, and also inspected the defense.
When he was inspecting a camp gate, he suddenly saw several horses galloping towards it. The leader, Ji Shu, knew him as a guard around Taishi Ci. He couldn't help but feel a little uneasy in his heart, and he quickly walked over.
The small team stopped at the entrance of the camp, and the leader of the group immediately conveyed a message to the soldiers on duty as soon as he got off his horse.
"Jingzhou has an urgent report and needs to meet with the king."
The soldiers on duty did not dare to neglect, and quickly sent one of them to report.
"Are you He Lou? Why are you here?"
He Lou was stunned for a moment, then turned around and saw that the person coming was Ji Shu, so he quickly stepped forward and clasped his fists.
"Seeing the military advisor, I am here to present the urgent military information to the king under the orders of the superior general."
Upon hearing the urgent military situation, Ji Shu's face suddenly became solemn and he stretched out his hand.
"Where is the military report? Get it quickly and show it to me."
"this?"
He Lou obviously hesitated because this was against the rules.
Ji Shu rolled his eyes at him angrily and asked.
"What? Is there any military information that I can't use? Or do you think the king will hide it from me if he knows about it?"
Too! He Lou scratched his cheek awkwardly, laughed, and quickly handed the letter in his arms to Ji Shu.
Ji Shu took out the letter and read it at a glance. In He Lou's opinion, it was still a relatively urgent military situation, but after reading it, Ji Shu's brows gradually relaxed, his face became more and more relaxed, and he even laughed after reading it.
"Okay! Since Ziyi is so confident, go back and tell Ziyi to go ahead and do it!"
"but,"
Ji Shu said, taking out a token from his arms and handing it to He Lou.
"Just in case, I allow him to be temporarily mobilized to deal with emergencies. If this happens, you need to report to the lord as soon as possible."
He Lou took the token and was immediately shocked.
You must know that among the tokens, the seal is the most important thing, and it will never leave the body easily; the second is the tiger charm of the lord and the military charms of other superior generals. And this token is just that. It is Ji Shu's military talisman and represents the will of the central government.
Like Taishi Ci, even if he was a general overseeing Jingzhou, the military symbols he used could only mobilize his own troops, but could not do many things. For example, recruiting soldiers and mobilizing troops outside the jurisdiction require documents from the central government, but with Ji Shu's military symbols, these are no problem.
Even if Taishi Ci wanted to recruit troops and establish himself as king in Jingzhou, no one would doubt him before he became king, because there would be no problem with the procedure. This token is just that.
He Lou carefully put the token into the armor on his chest and pressed it repeatedly with his hand.
Ji Shu nodded lightly.
"Now that you've put it away, go back immediately and tell Ziyi exactly what I said, without any mistakes!"
"Yes! The last general takes the order!"
He Lou put away the token, responded in a daze, and quickly mounted his horse and took the people back.
After instructing the soldiers on duty not to tell anyone about the military situation, Ji Shu returned to the tent to see Sun Ce.
"What? Ziyi asked to come to Xuzhou to join the war and avenge Zhou Tai? Alas, isn't this nonsense?"
"Yes, I have severely criticized him and sent his people back."
Sun Ce complained a few more words about Tai Shici, but he didn't mean to blame Ji Shu. The two talked for a few more words, and Ji Shu went back to his tent.
Returning to his tent, Ji Shu sat in his chair for a long time. He took out an envelope from his lapel, took out the letter and read it again, then lit it with a fire stick.
The letter was finally reduced to ashes in the brazier.
