Overlord!

Chapter 277 Taishi Ci marches into Donglai

Since Jiangdong's army was in Qingzhou, and the eastern front had almost connected the Yangtze River and Yellow River, the news was transmitted directly back to Jiankang without any hindrance.

Soon Sun Ce received the battle report: "Cao Cao personally led five thousand troops and marched towards Qingzhou to relieve Zang Ba's siege. Before they were more than ten miles away, Yan Liang was frightened and came to fight against him. Cao Cao sent generals Dian Wei and Zhang Xiu forward to attack. Defeat Yan Liang."

"Yan Liang fought and then retreated, and gathered tens of thousands of his main force at Jishui, and defended with his back to the river, hoping to counterattack Cao Cao. Cao Cao urged the troops, frowning on all sides, and everything fell apart. Thousands of people died. Yan Liang was killed by Dian Wei. The boats, equipment, water, infantry and military supplies were all temporarily exhausted, and the corpses flowed down."

After reading the battle report, Sun Ce summoned Zhang Zhao, the commander-in-chief, and handed him the general's emergency report.

After Zhang Zhao read it, Sun Ce sighed with emotion: "Cao Cao is a man who cannot be underestimated. Under adverse circumstances, he can always survive. Defeating Yan Liang in this battle is a great victory, which is enough to change the situation in the Central Plains."

Defeat Yan Liang's 3 men in one battle!

What kind of concept is this? It is almost equivalent to Lu Xun's defeat of Liu Bei in the Battle of Yiling.In the Battle of Xiangfan, Guan Yu flooded seven armies.

An earthquake in the Central Plains is inevitable.

Zhang Zhao collected his military report, put it aside, frowned and said: "That's why we allied with Yuan Shao to attack Cao Cao. Each led an army of [-] people to compete between the two formations. Yuan Shao would probably lose. But Cao Cao But it hasn’t happened yet.”

Sun Ce immediately nodded, not to mention fifty thousand, even if Yuan Shao raised a hundred thousand people to the south, Sun Ce felt that Yuan Shao might not be able to defeat Jiangdong.

Even if Cao Cao only commanded [-] troops, Sun Ce would not dare to say that victory was certain.Otherwise, in the Battle of Linhuai, Sun Ce would have directly gathered his main force and recklessly fought Cao Cao.Why use force to win and surround Cao Cao?
After all, this is the famous Emperor Wu of Wei!Cao Cao was highly praised as an unparalleled military strategist who could always be a hero and bring order to chaos.

If he has a tailwind, he may be easily lost in waves.

But in the headwind situation, it is so sharp that no one dares to underestimate it.

However, Sun Ce also had the ambition to conquer thousands of miles, and said with a smile: "Although Cao Cao followed the techniques of Sun and Wu, he made changes in times of crisis and anticipated the enemy's surprises. One general has more wisdom than ten thousand others. He is also nepotistic and virtuous. It is difficult for a person to take on an important task, and those who are not members of the Cao family cannot be the commander-in-chief of one side. I am raising a hundred thousand people to carry out a three-pronged northern expedition. They will inevitably be overwhelmed by the left and right, and it will be difficult to deal with it. If you pay attention to one thing, you will lose the other, and you will eventually be defeated."

"When his power weakens, our troops march into Yan and Henan. Although Cao Cao has achieved great success in Zhongxia, he is powerful all over the world, advocates deceitful staff skills, and has endless conquests. The people are afraid of his power and do not cherish his virtue. He will be defeated. That’s it.”

This is also Sun Ce's greatest confidence in competing with the princes of the world in the Central Plains.

Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty asked Han Xin how many troops he could lead?

Han Xin said, Your Majesty, you can lead [-] troops.

Emperor Gaozu was very happy and asked Han Xin how many troops he could lead.

Han Xin said, "When I, Han Xin, order troops, the more the better."

So Emperor Gaozu smiled and asked: "The more you the better, how could you be preyed upon by me?"

Han Xin then replied: "Your Majesty cannot command troops, but he is good at generals. This is why Xin is your Majesty's bird. Moreover, your Majesty's so-called gift from heaven does not come from human power."

In this conversation, it seems that Gaozu can only lead one hundred thousand soldiers, which is a relatively insufficient ability.

But you must know that since ancient times, generals who can command hundreds of thousands of troops without making mistakes are all famous generals in the world.

As far as Han Gaozu himself was concerned, he had experienced hundreds of battles and was invincible.At the end of the Qin Dynasty, among the generals in the world, he might not be able to defeat Han Xin and Xiang Yu.

But hitting others is always devastating.

Among the Han camp, apart from Han Xin, Liu Bang himself was the most capable of fighting.

Therefore, on the Chenggao-Xingyang line, it was Liu Bang who withstood Xiang Yu's attack, and Han Xin outflanked Xiang Yu's power.

At least in terms of defensive warfare, Xiang Yu is known as the enemy of thousands of people throughout the ages, and there is nothing he can do against Liu Bang.

Even after Xiang Yu retreated, Liu Bang dared to lead his army to pursue him without hesitation, and finally surrounded him in Gaixia.

Therefore, later generations Liu Yuan, Shi Le and others said that a man should imitate Gaozu. How could the so-called Emperor Wu of Wei be effective?

As for Shi Le, he saw it more clearly. His subordinates said to him: "Your Majesty's military strategy is superior to that of Emperor Gao, and his prowess is superior to that of Wei Zu. It is unparalleled since the three kings, and it is inferior to Xuanyuan!"

Shi Le smiled and replied: "It is important for a person to know himself, and your words are too much. If I meet Emperor Gao, I will attack from the north. If I encounter Guangwu, I will drive together in the Central Plains. I don't know who will kill him."

"A real man should act with dignity and grace, as bright as the sun and moon. He cannot be like Cao Mengde or Sima Zhongda and his son, who bully the orphans and widows; they can conquer the world by being charming."

This is because being able to command one hundred thousand soldiers is a very difficult thing in itself.

At least Cao Mengde was far inferior to Gao Zu in terms of generalship of one hundred thousand soldiers.Therefore, Li Shimin evaluated him as one general with more than enough wisdom, but ten thousand times with insufficient talent.

These princes in the late Han Dynasty were probably at this level.It is inappropriate to say that they are following the wind and waves.They just can't lead more than [-] troops. Basically, whoever leads [-] troops will lose the battle.

It was not until the Sima Division period that the heroes of Cao Wei went through a lot of experience before they could raise more than [-] troops to put down the Huainan rebellion.

In Jiangdong, he undoubtedly had a huge advantage over Cao Cao in terms of large-scale battles.

Sun Ce himself was good at fighting, but the key was his willingness to delegate power and appoint people, which resulted in Zhou Yu, Lu Meng, Zhuge Liang, Cheng Pu, Tai Shi Ci, Zhang Liao, Zhang Fei and others being considered important.

Han Xin said to Emperor Gaozu, "Your Majesty is a good general. The so-called generals are given by heaven, not by human power."

The same is true for Sun Ce. His ability to select talents and appoint them is actually a talent given by nature and cannot be matched by human power.

Raising an army of [-] troops, the generals appointed by Sun Ce to be the governors were absolutely unmatched by Cao Cao.

Cao Ren could not defeat Zhou Yu, and Sima Yi might be able to stop Zhuge Liang, but he was not trusted by Cao Cao.

Therefore, after finishing speaking calmly and confidently, Sun Ce said: "We defeated Cao Cao because of our superior strength, unlike Cao Cao's admiration for deceitful staff skills. Therefore, we only want to increase our power in Jiangdong as much as possible before Cao Cao succeeds in his evil plan."

Zhang Zhao was thoughtful, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "General, does he mean Donglai?"

Sun Ce immediately nodded heavily: "Yes, Donglai!"

As Cao Cao relieved the siege of Qingzhou and Yan Liang took over, the battle of Qingzhou could no longer be fought in Jiangdong.

Zhuge Liang cannot be allowed to lead [-] partial troops to continue the attack westward.That is nothing more than the result of recreating the battle of Chencang.It would be difficult to capture the fortified city heavily guarded by Cao's army, and once it was lost, the situation of dividing Qingzhou would easily be unstable.

Instead of doing this, it would be better for Zhuge Liang to send troops to guard Jixian, one of the only military towns in Qingzhou.

Sun Ce still had absolute confidence in the elite troops under his command. With thousands of elite troops guarding this important military town, Cao Jun could not defeat it even at any cost.

Cao's army in Qingzhou will be blocked to the west of Beihai, so Jiangdong's army can calmly attack Donglai to the east of Beihai.

The location of Donglai County is too important. Basically, this county covers the three cities of Yantai, Qingdao and Weihai in later generations.

It can be said that this is the northern equivalent of the essence of Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou and other hinterlands represented by Wuxian.In the Spring and Autumn Period of Hegemony, Wu and Qi both relied on these elite places to achieve their hegemony.

The key is that the Bohai Bay is connected to the north here, which is a great convenience for connecting with Youzhou.

Even the largest force in Donglai was the army of Gongsun Du, the governor of Liaodong.

Since the rebellion at the end of the Han Dynasty, Gongsun Du was so ambitious that he attacked Donglai and appointed the governor of Yingzhou.

Gongsun Du could even send troops to attack cities and seize territory. With the shipbuilding industry in Jiangdong, it was no problem to go to Youzhou for trade from Donglai.

The biggest advantage of cross-sea trade here is that there is a long string of pearl-like islands on the sea. When the fleet encounters wind and waves, it can always find an island to take shelter.

With the Donglai and Beihai areas, Sun Ce could build a late Han Dynasty version of the Maritime Alliance.

A large number of war horses, cattle and sheep can be bought back from Youzhou City.

The Maritime Silk Road will be more convenient.

The war horses only stay on the ship for three or four days, and the losses in each market horse trade will be reduced by [-]%!From the loss of hundreds of horses to more than ten or even several horses in an instant.

So after hearing Sun Ce's words, Zhang Zhao nodded slightly and said: "Capturing Donglai will indeed strengthen our momentum. It will not only secure our rear, but also increase our troops and thousands of cavalry."

Don't look at the inconspicuousness of the new troops added each time. Today's capture of Xuzhou will increase the number of more than a thousand cavalry. Tomorrow, the capture of Jiaozhou will recruit more than a thousand brave men. The day after tomorrow, the capture of Qingzhou will increase the number of thousands of cavalry.

With such an increase, Jiangdong's army may be able to directly produce close to 7 troops in the Northern Expedition.

These were professional warriors and elite soldiers under the recruitment system. You must know that when the Song Dynasty was founded, the powerful forbidden army only had 20 people.

During the Battle of Gaoliang River, Zhao Guangyi, the donkey cart emperor, was ambitious and wanted to sweep across the Liao Kingdom and take back the sixteen states of Yanyun, so he only brought 10,000+ people with him.

It wasn't that Sun Ce looked down upon Cao Cao, but he really didn't think there was much chance that Cao Cao would be able to hold off the elite troops and generals of the Three Northern Expeditions from Jiangdong in the face of a decisive battle with Yuan Shao.

Now Jiangdong is also prospering, and the three armies are furious!It can be said that the country's military strength is so strong that it can travel thousands of miles with a single force.Such arrogance has never been seen since the heyday of Han Dynasty!
It's just that this powerful military front has not yet been revealed in front of the Central Plains.

Soon, this army will move forward in the Northern Expedition, be invincible and shock the world.

Prior to this, Jiangdong's army was still recuperating.

Zhang Zhao asked: "General, the three armies are now in full swing, preparing for the Northern Expedition. There are no partial troops available. How do you want to take Donglai, general?"

Being able to dispatch the more than [-] cavalry under Zhuge Liang's command was basically the best without affecting the Northern Expedition.

There are only a total of more than [-] troops stationed in Xuzhou. If a large number of troops are mobilized to Donglai, it may affect the situation of the Eastern Route Army in the Northern Expedition.

How can one county compare with half of the Northern Expedition?
In this regard, Sun Ce said calmly: "I don't plan to deploy more elite troops, but I want to take Donglai with just one general!"

Zhang Zhao thought for a moment and asked, "Is it Taishi Ziyi?"

Sun Ce nodded with a smile and said, "That's right. It is Taishi Ziyi who was originally an official of Donglai County. He was famous for destroying the official seal of the governor. Later, he lifted the siege of Beihai and expelled the Yellow Turbans. He acted kindly and righteously in the prefectures and counties. .”

"When he leads the army back to his own county, he will surely gain the support of the military officials, the help of heroes, and the support of tens of thousands of people. It will be easy to defeat Liu Yi."

Liu Yi is an unknown young general under Gongsun Du.Naturally, the talents in the bitter cold land of Liaodong cannot be compared with the outstanding people in the Central Plains.

If Taishi Ci leads the army to attack it, he will be able to defeat it quickly.

In Tai Shici's eyes, such separatist generals were no different from ordinary bandits and chiefs.

As long as Taishi Ci can gather the hearts of the people of Donglai, recruit the wealthy families and rebels in Donglai, and gather thousands of people, he can easily drive out Liu Yi.

In order to increase the combat power of Taishi Ci's command, Sun Ce planned to transfer Huang Zhong's Jiefan Army to his command.

Huang Zhong's Jiefan Army was not part of the Northern Expedition Right Army previously deployed, but was temporarily assigned to Zhuge Liang by Sun Ce.

Now that he is leading Zhang Fei and Wei Yan to guard Ju County, there is no need for an elite force like the Jie Fan Army.

After all, in the battle to defend the city, there is not much difference between a young man and a sharp soldier. He has two thousand elite soldiers, and if he recruits thousands more young men to go to the city to help in the battle, even if Zang Ba kills all the [-] Taishan troops under the city of Ju County , and can't take this city.

However, Huang Zhong's elite troops were the first to enter the battle and served as sharp men under Taishi Ci. Liu Yi from Donglai County was not worthy of mention.

If Liu Yi had the talent of a general, gathered his troops in advance, guarded the important military town with heavy troops, and counterattacked Tai Shici, the situation in Donglai would not have been settled quickly.

If he is slow to react and does not dare to take the responsibility of abandoning the land, he will disperse his troops and guard the city everywhere.

Then Taishi Ci could imitate the situation when Sun Ce entered Jiangdong, easily defeating him everywhere, and then encircling him in one place.

By then, Gongsun Du's power in Qingzhou will be over, and he may not even be able to defend the city. Someone from the big clan in the city or his generals must cut off his head and surrender to the city.

But no matter what, Taishi Ci led more than a thousand troops to march into Donglai, which would not affect the plan of the Jiangdong Three Routes Northern Expedition.

Zhang Zhao nodded and said: "Zi Yi is very righteous, brave and resourceful. He is our general in Jiangdong. It is suitable for him to take on this important task."

Sun Ce also had full confidence in Taishi Ci. He was extremely righteous and righteous, which was a very high evaluation.

This temperament is suitable for gathering rebels. Historically, he could gather thousands of people to fight against Sun Ce when he ran deep into the mountains of Danyang.

Now that he has been ordered by Sun Ce to return to his hometown, he will definitely be able to gather a large number of Donglai's rebels and Green Forest.

It would be the best situation if he could be appointed as the governor of Donglai.

It's a pity that he is from Donglai and cannot govern this county according to the system.

Zhang Zhao said: "Ziyi is a military officer. It is better to choose a Donglai governor to assist him. With his reputation, he can help our army to pacify Donglai."

Sun Ce thought for a while and said, "Then let Wang Shuzhi be the governor of Donglai to help Ziyi march."

Wang Shuzhi is also known as Wang Xiu, a famous scholar in Qingzhou. He is from Yingling, Beihai, and is famous in the prefecture and county.

He once served as the commander of Jiaodong.The Shalu clan, the Duke of Jiaodong, was powerful and built its own defenses and refused to respond.Wang Xiudu led several cavalry into the gate and killed the Lu brothers. Gongsha was so shocked that he did not dare to move.Xiu comforted the rest, and it was Kou Shaozhi who was so powerful in Jiaozhou that the people praised him.

Yuan Tan was defeated and Beihai was captured by Sun Ce. This famous scholar in Qingzhou returned to Sun Ce's command.

His entry into Donglai will be a great help to Taishi Ci.

(End of this chapter)