Overlord!

Chapter 256 Sun Ce’s princes are strong

The Battle of Huainan entered late August, and armies from Lujiang and Jiangxia had quickly moved to Dongcheng County.

Dongcheng County is just south of Zhongli, a military town on the Huaihe River, next to Jiujiang County. It is the hometown of Lu Su, the governor of Jiangdong.

There is only Jiujiang County between Lujiang and here, so even though it took a lot of time to assemble, the army still took only dozens of days to move to the vicinity of the battlefield.

This also means that it only took about two months from the beginning of Cao's army's southern invasion to the time when Jiangdong's army came to support from all directions.

On various fronts in Shouchun, Zhongli, Dongcheng, and Huaiyin, Jiangdong's main army has arrived, ready to rush to Gaoshan County where Xu Kun is stationed.

This speed really shocked Cao Cao, who was besieging the mountains. If all the enemy troops arrived, he would be surrounded on all sides, and it is very likely that the main force would be lost in Huainan!
The reason why the army can be so fast is entirely due to the fact that the army is all professional elite soldiers.On weekdays, the soldiers are resting and training in the camp. As long as the soldiers who are taking a rest are recalled and the arsenal is opened, the army can be neatly dressed and set off quickly!
As the main forces from Jiangdong arrived one after another, the situation in the Battle of Huainan changed. From an attack by Cao's army, to a mutual offensive between Cao and Sun.

Cao Cao's army wanted to defeat Sun Ce's army in the mountains, but Sun Ce's army intended to launch an offensive on both the left and right wings to encircle Cao Cao.

But at present, it seems that it is not easy for both sides to achieve their goals.

Cao Cao personally supervised more than 27 Chinese and foreign troops in the [-]th Army, and marched to Huaihe to attack the mountains.He stationed himself on the Beitun Hill in Gaoshan County, and ordered his eldest son, Cao Ang, the governor-general Yue Jin, Shi Huan, Lu Qian, Li Tong, etc. to surround him on all sides, setting up several sieges and steep barriers.He also ordered the generals Xia Houyuan, Dian Wei and others to select elite soldiers as wandering troops to guard the reinforcements from Jiangdong.

Cao Cao wanted to trap Xu Kun in the city. The city walls were built to be airtight. Xu Kun tried to go out of the city to attack Cao's army at night. He surrounded the troops and fired stone chariots and rockets from the top. Crossbow arrows were rained down by stones, killing and wounded. The ground is covered with blood, and the trench is filled with blood.

Under this situation, even if Sun Ce arrived with reinforcements and fought fiercely with Cao Cao's main force, it would be difficult for Xu Kun in the city to rush to reinforce the main force and attack Cao Cao's army together.

Since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, all the heroes in the world have been gradually wiped out. At this time, only a few powerful princes such as Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, and Sun Ce are left. The war is no longer as reckless as it was in the past. One fierce general can decide thousands of people. The victory or defeat of human wars.Nowadays, the wars between various princes are becoming more and more perfect, and the two sides are competing for their military strength and power base.

Any famous general who is good at conquering and fighting must have fortifications, trenches and other fortifications built extremely neatly wherever he goes.

It has to be said that an army that loves to build fortifications is almost invincible in the era of cold weapons.

A man who is good at fighting must first be invincible and wait for the enemy to become victorious.

In this regard, Cao Cao, Yu Jin, Cao Ren, etc. all did an impeccable job.

Including Xiacai City, tens of thousands of cavalry led by Cao Ren also built tight fortifications, and Xu Sheng was surrounded by three layers of ravines.

It is completely impossible for Xu Sheng to attack Cao Ren with two hundred soldiers and defeat Huang and shoot thousands of people.

But all this is the same for Jiangdong. Jiangdong's left army, Zhou Yu, has commanded an army on the south bank of the Huaihe River, eyeing it with eager eyes. He may cross the river to attack Cao Ren at any time, making excellent use of the Huaihe River's natural moat.

Jiangdong's right army surrounded Chen Deng's subordinates from all sides, making it difficult for Chen Deng to fly!

Although Zhou Zhang was a reckless man, Wei Yan, the Zhonglang general who went to attack Xuzhou, was a talented general.He personally sat at the foot of Xiangxiang City and directed tens of thousands of volunteers to build fortifications, dig trenches, pile mountains of earth, and build barriers.

Chen Deng wanted to scare the tens of thousands of troops attacking the city into defeat without a fight with just a handful of fire, which was completely impossible.

More importantly, the main force of Cao's army, the five thousand cavalry commanded by Cao Chun, was repulsed by Wei Yan several times.This Jiangdong Zhonglang general led three thousand elite soldiers several times to fight against Cao Chun, defeating him every time!
Cao Chun can also be regarded as a very capable general in Cao Cao's clan.

But how can the heroes in a clan compare to the heroes Sun Ce selected from the entire southern world?
No matter how you look at it, Cao Chun's commander-in-chief, ability, bravery, etc. cannot compare to Wei Yan.Even in terms of the size of the troops and the fighting spirit of the three armies, Wei Yan's command was more advantageous.

Especially the thousands of soldiers under Cao Chun's command were unable to stop Wei Yan's tiger and wolf divisions. In the first battle, they were defeated by Wei Yan's general Xiang Lang and his army of [-] drums, and hundreds of them were beheaded.

Cao Chun had to withdraw these soldiers and train them in the camp. At the same time, he personally led two thousand troops to fight against Wei Yan.

But to break the siege of Chen Deng, without reinforcements, it is almost out of reach.

In the Battle of Huainan, the two sides fought fiercely. The total loss of elite soldiers was tens of thousands. The number of young men, civilians, and civilians was killed and injured in the tens of thousands, and countless amounts of food and grass were consumed.

It's just that in such a fierce battle, the ones who suffered the most were not Cao Cao and Sun Ce, but the Emperor who was far away!

As the war entered September, Sun Ce received an uninvited guest.

The imperial envoys of the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, Yushi Zhongcheng, Chijie, and Zhao Yan came to Jiangdong again.

The emperor has no choice but to send envoys!

Although Cao Cao and Sun Ce were at war, the one who suffered the most was the Emperor of the Han Dynasty.Nowadays, there are only a few princes such as Sun Ce, Cao Cao, and Yuan Shao who still pay tribute to the emperor.

The rest of the scholars were far away in Jiaonan, and they were in separate states. Although they still paid tribute to the emperor, their number was very small, and they only came once every few years.The imperial court was just feeling his loyalty, so he gave Shi Xie a seal saying: "Jiaozhou is an extinct territory, with rivers and seas to the south. The benevolence above is undeclared, and the righteousness below is blocked. At a time when the world is in chaos and roads are cut off, but you will not abolish your tribute duties. I am issuing an edict. I paid homage to General Zhonglang of Suinan, and was granted the title of Marquis of Long Du Ting, Dong Governor of seven counties, and the title of Governor of Jiaozhi remains as before."

Just looking at the reward given to Shi Xie, we can see that the court just had to appease the loyal ministers.General Suinan Zhonglang!This was still a relatively prestigious position when the Han Dynasty was at peace.

But now that the world is in chaos, great generals, great Sima, generals with heavy titles, and county princes have all awarded rewards to the princes. Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, and Sun Ce's subordinates have even presented a large number of generals to the court. The court also recognized it with pinched noses. Print the ribbon edict below.The various Zhonglang generals were listed from all sides. There were more than ten Zhonglang generals under Sun Ce alone and nearly twenty prefects.

The emperor made the rewarder Xie the general of Suinan Zhonglang, the governor of Jiaozhi, and the governor of the seven counties of Jiaozhou. This shows that he attaches great importance to Sun Ce's attitude.Even the imperial court could not give Shi Xie the position of governor of Jiaozhou.

After all, the last time Zhao Yan came, he sent an edict to reward Sun Ce as the shepherd of Jingzhou, as the governor of Yangzhou, and to supervise the military affairs of Yi, Jing, Yang, and Jiaozhou.

The imperial court was also afraid that once Shi Xie was appointed as the governor of Jiaozhou, it would make Sun Ce unhappy, cut off the loss of gifts, and start another war in Jiaonan.

Of course, the imperial court did not only treat Sun Ce like this.The same was true for Yuan Shao and Cao Cao. After Yuan Shao appointed the governors of the four states, the imperial court never appointed any governor of Hebei.

Under Cao Cao's rule, Cheng Yu was also responsible for overseeing affairs in Yanzhou, and Xuzhou still does not have any governor to this day.Even the famous Xuzhou governor Che Zhou is now just the governor of Donghai.

And the reason why the court was like this was obviously out of necessity.For the emperor of the Han Dynasty, the most important thing was to stabilize the princes and maintain the consensus that the Han Dynasty was the common master of the world.

At the same time, without the tribute from the princes, the emperor would not be able to support the hundreds of officials in Luoyang City and the imperial army of the Three Rivers and Five Schools, let alone revitalize the Han Dynasty.

You must know that the most important reason why he can overwhelm the generals in Guanzhong to surrender is that he still has a useful army under his command. At the same time, all the princes in the world still pay tribute to the royal family. Li Jue died and his family was wiped out. The past that was reported to the capital is still shocking. With the generals in Guanzhong.

These people don't have the huge ambitions of the three princes in Guandong. They don't dare to imagine conquering the world. They just want to segregate themselves in Guanzhong and live happily.

The emperor did not expect them to be willing to submit or pay tribute to the imperial court at all. He only hoped that these vassal towns could maintain their borders peacefully and not launch rebellions, but just cause trouble to the imperial court.

Except for the generals in Jiaozhi and Guanzhong and Liu Zhang who deliberately closed off Yizhou, the only princes that the emperor's court could count on to pay tribute and transfer taxes were Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, and Sun Ce.

But among them, Yuan Shao had hundreds of thousands of people from four states, and their arrogance had become stronger, and they paid tribute to the emperor with rare slips.

In fact, the only real sources of tribute for the imperial court were Cao Cao and Sun Ce.

Of these two princes, one practiced farming, raised cattle and horses, and had abundant grain. He was also close to Luoyang, so he could transport large amounts of grain to the court.

One prince had the advantage of salt, iron, and silk, and sent a large amount of wealth and silk to the court to enrich the court in Taicang, so that the court could pay salaries to officials and enable generals to recruit troops and horses.

It can be said that without the tribute of these two princes, the court would lose one-third of its tax revenue.

Therefore, when Cao Cao and Sun Ce fought, the imperial court in Kansai became the hardest hit.

In particular, Cao Cao's power spread across prefectures and counties, starting from Jingxiang on the left to the Huaihe River on the right, spanning four prefectures and covering the hinterland of the Central Plains.As soon as he had a bad relationship with Jiangdong, Jiangdong's flow of wealth from all directions was blocked.

The tribute teams that used to go north from Xiangyang and Jianghan can no longer pass through the Xiangyang area.

The emperor and the court were naturally anxious.

So the emperor sent envoys to Huainan to reconcile with Guandong and made the two prime ministers stop fighting.

In fact, Zhao Yan did not get along well with Sun Ce. The main reason was that the last time they met, Sun Ce made a clear statement that there can only be one famous general in the world who can help the building collapse, and all others are rebellious!
It’s time for the imperial court to take sides!Accusing Cao Cao of being a traitor to the country allowed other princes to serve the country in the name of punishing disobedient subjects.

If Cao Cao can be accused of being a traitor to Cao Cao, then he will be an invincible soldier because he is a righteous soldier who punishes the people and fights crimes.

By then, there will be turmoil within Cao Cao's forces. Many of the governors and ministers regard themselves as Han ministers. If Cao Cao is accused of being a traitor to the country and the army attacks him, a large number of civil and military watchers will surrender.

The difficulty of attacking an uneasy force is completely different from that of attacking a monolithic force.

Of course, no one can guarantee that this kind of thing will happen.

If the emperor chose to side with Cao Cao and accuse Yuan Shao and Sun Ce of being rebellious officials and traitors, then Sun Ce wouldn't care too much.It is time to prepare for public opinion as soon as possible to replace the Han Dynasty.

After all, he is located in the south of the Huaihe River. With the dangerous mountains and rivers and the advantage of the terrain, he can separate himself and defend himself. Even if there is a loss of peace and harmony, he can still stabilize the situation with the advantage of the terrain.

The worst thing is just a situation like the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

But now it seems that the emperor is obviously not ready to take sides in this regard.

After the angel Zhao Yan arrived with a strong sense of justice, he said to Sun Ce: "General, in the past Jia Fu and Kou Xun were quarreling with each other and causing harm. The ancestors said that the world was not settled, and the two tigers could fight privately! Today I have divided them. So we resolved the dispute and agreed to cooperate with each other. Public opinion comes out. When troubles are resolved, people at that time will be pleased with them."

"General Cao Yu ascended first, he is brave and majestic, especially better than Jia Fu. General Cao is better than Xiao He in knowing how to control people. It is appropriate to work together to help the Han Dynasty."

"Yan was entrusted with the orders of Zhou and Shao, and he came to Huai with an imperial edict to preach the favor of the court and show peace. May the general resolve the dispute between the general and General Cao, so that each can stop their troops and work together to achieve good results. This Yan's wish is also shared by the world. Hope."

Sun Ce couldn't help but smile when he heard this. He, Zhao Yan, was a good metaphor.

Jia Fu was the second champion of the Han Dynasty, No. 28 of Yuntai 3, and was granted the title of six counties.Compared with Sun Ce, it can be said that he has a good reputation.Moreover, the champion princes have always had an unparalleled status in the Zhuxia. Those who can be awarded the title of champion princes are all loyal and famous generals who have great military achievements and are powerful throughout the ages.

Kou Xun, on the other hand, was only granted the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Households to compare with Cao Cao, which may not be appropriate.This time, it was intended to promote Sun Ce, indicating that Cao Cao was far inferior to Sun Ce.

Of course, the status of the envoys on Cao Cao's side may be completely reversed.After all, in terms of military exploits and bravery in battle, both Cao Cao and Sun Ce are indeed the champions of the world, and it is appropriate to compare them to the champions.

Comparing these two people, Yin also carried the expectations of the emperor and the court.

It is hoped that these two princes can serve as generals under the emperor like Kou Xun and Jia Fu, and assist the emperor to revive the Han Dynasty again.

Liu Xiu re-established the Han Dynasty as the founder of the Han Dynasty. If Liu Xie could re-establish the Han Dynasty three times, he would probably be named Gaozong!
But whether Liu Xie can be Li Zhi or Zhao Gou is obviously not just a matter of wishful thinking.

Moreover, Sun Ce may not be willing to be the champion of his great Han Dynasty. He is also the general who commands the army. He can be Jia Fu, or even more so, Zhao Kuangyin.

After Zhao Yan finished speaking, Sun Ce refused unceremoniously and said: "Cao Cao was cruel and unkind and relied on the strength of the masses. He plundered Huainan, invaded our borders, massacred my cities, and killed my people. I punished the rebels alone to save the chaos. , raised his arms and shouted, the three armies raised their voices in unison. They were about to defeat Cao Cao on the battlefield and kill the traitors in Huainan. How could they stop?"

"Moreover, Cao Cao used our land and treasures in Huainan to raise an army in vain. When he raised his army, the imperial court did not dissuade him. When he attacked the city and plundered the stronghold, the emperor did not see him. He killed my people and massacred the people, which is even worse. I haven’t seen the Han Dynasty declare favor.”

"Since the imperial court cannot control its cruelty, I will lead the three armies to avenge my blood and punish the people! If the weak are not helped, who will be virtuous; if the strong escape punishment, who will be afraid of power! Righteousness is still there, justice is still there Survive! I swear to be righteous and vigorous, and those who jump from the beam will be killed no matter how strong they are!"

(End of this chapter)