Overlord!

Emperor Liu Xie's handling of Yuan Shao's proclaimed emperor was excellent, and Cao Cao vividly demonstrated his political decisiveness.

However, it may also be because the Yuan family had already proclaimed themselves emperor once, so the Han Dynasty already had a comprehensive response plan.

In response to the Yuan family proclaiming themselves emperor, the imperial court has always adopted the same method, which is to appoint generals and order all the princes in the world to attack the Yuan family.

This time, in addition to making Sun Ce the Duke of Song, the Emperor also made Zhang Yan the General of the Eastern Conquest, ordering him to go out of Heishan and raid Changshan and Zhongshan areas.

He also appointed Xian Yufu as General Jianzhong and Youzhou Mu, and ordered him to unite Wuhuan, Xianbei, Youzhou and other famous tycoons to raise 100,000 troops and go south to fight against the thieves.

Of course, the imperial court also generously rewarded all the generals in Guanzhong. All ten generals in Guanzhong were promoted to generals. Ma Teng, Han Sui and others were promoted to left generals and right generals. Even Ma Chao, Pang De, Yan Xing, Cheng Gongying and other generals from Ma Teng and Han Sui were also promoted to Zhonglang General, Xiaowei and other positions.

Fortunately, the imperial court was self-aware and did not reward these officials under Sun Ce.

Now the officials under Sun Ce's rule have a very delicate relationship with Sun Ce. The governors of various states are frightened, lest Sun Ce suspect their loyalty.

At this time, if the Han Dynasty comes and rewards them as state shepherds and generals, they will become even more uneasy. If they received the titles of governor and general from the Han Dynasty, wouldn't they become their own vassal town? There is a tendency to be rebellious and independent.

But they know very well that if they raise an army to rebel, if they raise an army today, they will be in ruins the next month.

The governors of various states had no military power, and even the finances for recruiting troops were allocated from Jiankang. They did not dare to think about raising troops at all. Therefore, in order to prevent Sun Ce from being suspicious, he did not dare to have any contact with the Han Dynasty.

Sun Ce is also very aware of his current situation. He is already walking on thin ice and there is no way out. At this moment, if he doesn't advance, he will die or his family will be destroyed.

So after seeing off the angel Zhong Yao, he took the civil and military generals to Xuanwu Lake outside Zhaoming Palace to inspect the training of the navy.

More than a hundred warships are stationed here all year round to practice water warfare.

Lu Xun, another commander-in-chief who Sun Ce paid more attention to, now serves as the acting captain of this navy.

The expansion of the Jiangdong army not only increased the size of the infantry and cavalry, but also increased the size of the navy. It was precisely because Lu Xun trained here all the year round and performed well that he became the captain of Xingpinglu.

Sun Ce led the civil and military generals school everywhere to watch the naval landing drill organized by Jiangdong general Zhou Yu.

For this drill, the navy assembled 30,000 people. After Sun Ce and others boarded the boat at Xuanwu Lake, they followed the boat down the Yangtze River and gathered with the 30,000 main boatmen on the river.

Now it is the time of autumn in the south of the Yangtze River, and 30,000 troops have gathered on a grand and mighty scale.

After gathering with the main force of the 30,000-strong army, Sun Ce moved from the stern to the high-rise ship. The fleet cut through the waves, and Sun Ce's large crimson horse roared in the oncoming wind. Sun Ce couldn't help but raise his voice and said:

"Watching troops approaching the river, how can the water flow?"

"The mountains are covered with spears and spears, and the black armor shines brightly in the sun."

"A fierce general is furious and courageous."

"Whose clouds and rivers are vast? A reed can sail."

"Subjugate the enemy without fighting, and be called virtuous by fighting with soldiers."

"The ancient public residence in Qiyi was the beginning of the Yin Shang Dynasty."

"Meng Xian camped in Hulao, and Zheng people were afraid of Jiqing."

"Fulfilling the state affairs and cultivating crops will lead to self-destruction."

"Agriculture was promoted in Huaisi, and houses were built in Xu Fang."

"The right amount will transport power and strategy, and the Sixth Army will be healthy and prosperous."

"How can it be like the poem "Dongshan", which is so sad!"

Beside the deck, Zhou Yu followed Sun Ce and said, "The Duke of Song is extremely heroic. This poem has a heroic style."

Sun Ce smiled and said: "The lofty sentiments and ambitions are the result of the three armies. Whether this lofty sentiments can spread thousands of miles depends on whether Gongjin Navy can accomplish extraordinary feats."

Zhou Yu glanced at the more than 3,000 ships densely packed on the river, and said energetically: "With such a great army, why worry about the enemy being destroyed? I am fully prepared. Please practice with Song Gong."

"Can!"

Following Sun Ce's order, Zhou Yu immediately asked the school officer on the side to wave the flag and send out the flag message.

The order from the flagship was issued, and more than a hundred ships immediately broke away from the naval division, carrying a large number of soldiers, cutting through the waves, and sailed quickly towards the north bank.

Although the wind and waves on the river were high, these ships arrived at the shore violently and quickly like arrows. Thousands of soldiers jumped off the ships as soon as they docked and stepped on the river water. After rushing onto the shoal, some people quickly formed a formation and pushed forward, while others quickly built wooden bridges and docks to attract the large ships of the rear fleet to approach.

At this time, a large amount of smoke and wild horses also appeared on the shore, and the imaginary enemy acted by Jiangdong's cavalry was rapidly attacking the shoal.

The arrows fired by both sides, apart from the fact that there were no actual arrows installed, could be said to be as close to actual combat as possible, with tens of thousands of arrows lost.

Obviously, the cavalry could not defeat the defenders on the shore by relying only on mounted shooting.

Although it was the navy who landed on the beach, their arrow array was not weaker than ordinary crossbowmen. Especially Lu Xun, who commanded the landing operations, did not place his troops in a very dangerous and dangerous place, but on the beach. On the plain, there was even a shoal left for the cavalry, as if inviting them to attack.

Chen Wu, who was commanding the cavalry in combat, thought that the navy had an ambush, so he did not dare to attack.

The two sides faced off for more than an hour, probably because of the drill, and since there was no Sun family anyway, Chen Wu finally couldn't hold back and attacked.

But as thousands of arrows from the arrow array were fired, the shoal quickly turned into a swamp that swallowed up both sides. The soldiers who were hit by the arrow were forced to retreat, immediately blocking the subsequent impact. On the battlefield, this means that here There is already a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood, so it is no longer appropriate to charge. Both sides can only add limited troops here and continue to strangle and consume them.

And Jiangdong has the advantage of scale of troops. At least at the point of landing, Jiangdong has an absolute advantage of scale.

Subsequent troop reinforcements arrived quickly, both sides were exhausted, and it was soon determined that the attacking Chen Wu was defeated. In fact, Chen Wu had already charged into the formation himself at this time. The soldiers in the middle of the formation collided fiercely, and the sand and dust were flying. When Chen Wu was dragged out, he was already disgraced.

Losing to a young man made him lose face. He angrily criticized the exercise as fake. How could the real Jiangdong cavalry not be able to disperse a group of navy soldiers?

Giving him three thousand cavalry would scare a group of soft-legged shrimps to pieces in the water.

His friend Xian Yulie used all his strength to drag him away from the battlefield, lest he interfere with subsequent exercises.

The subsequent exercise was actually the focus of this round of exercise. It took more than four hours, and the navy soldiers finally built a usable berth. Late at night, batches of canal boats docked and unloaded More than 7,000 kilograms of grain were deposited.

And it was not until Sun Ce saw this scale that he finally nodded with satisfaction. In this era, when marching and fighting, the army is always marching in front. How to ensure sufficient logistics for the army is the top priority.

With seven thousand shi of food, even if the 30,000-strong army that landed was immediately trapped and killed by Yuan Shao around the beach, it would still be able to last for ten days.

Ten days were enough for the navy to be destroyed in the storm, and a second batch of grain set sail from Qingzhou to Hebei.

After the exercise ended, Sun Ce held a banquet in the building to reward the generals who participated in the exercise. Lu Xun, who was in the limelight today, naturally became the focus of Sun Ce's attention.

Sun Ce specifically ordered that his seat be moved to his left. In today's banquet, his status was second only to Zhou Yu, who was on his right.

This made countless officers and commanders on the ship look at Lu Xun with jealousy and hostility.

In this regard, Lu Xun became more and more respectful and did not dare to have any dissatisfaction.

His status is special, and his family has a blood feud with Sun Ce. If he has any thoughts of resentment, he will be criticized! So he can only be more humble and loyal than ordinary people!

Sun Ce is also very satisfied with Lu Xun's current attitude. He and the Lu family do have a blood feud.

When he was still a general and a prefect, this hatred could not be resolved.

But when his power spread throughout Jiangdong, and was about to sweep across the entire world, this hatred naturally disappeared.

Lu Xun may not serve as Sun Ce's official, but he will definitely serve in this power with roots all over the south.

Lu Xun may hate a governor, but he will never hate a common leader of the world.

After all, if the emperor beheaded a public minister and a scholar-bureaucrat, his descendants would still be loyal to the emperor and serve the country, and they would also be grateful to the emperor for his eclectic use of the guilty officials.

For thousands of years in the Central Plains, countless emperors killed their fathers and used their descendants. The most famous ones are of course the descendants of Yue Fei and Zhang Juzheng.

So Sun Ce said to Lu Xun: "You were able to adapt to the situation during the battle today, and you are indeed a good general. I plan to use you as a vanguard to fight Yuan Shao. Don't let me down."

Lu Xun immediately stood up, knelt on the ground respectfully, put his forehead to his palms, and said solemnly: "A certain man must lead his army to surprise. After covering up the enemy, he will help Song Gong defeat Yuan Shao in one battle and destroy his power!"

Sun Ce laughed and said: "Good! Good! Young people are high-spirited and ambitious. Destroy Yuan Shao in one battle. You can help me achieve this great victory."

The reason why Sun Ce mobilized his troops and did not hesitate to gather 30,000 troops for exercises was that Sun Ce did not intend to continue the confrontation with Yuan Shao.

If you want to achieve great success, defeat the enemy in one battle. Just like the navy of the Tang Dynasty defeated the Japanese pirates, after being recommended by the boat master, Yuan Shao was defeated in one fell swoop.

Sun Ce believed that if this strategy was successful, it would surely bring about the collapse of Yuan Shao's power. This exercise was to demonstrate the execution capabilities of Jiangdong's army.

After all, the last time such a large-scale floating sea battle was mobilized, it can be traced back to the Han Dynasty's General Lou Chuan who sent troops to Jiaozhi.

The military's organizational capabilities will also degrade. Although the distance from Qingzhou to Jizhou is closer than from Yangzhou to Vietnam, it is also an inland sea. There are a large number of islands to shelter from the wind. There are a large number of merchants with experience of traveling back and forth and familiar navigation with water patterns and celestial phenomena.

But the Central Plains Army has indeed not organized a floating sea battle of 30,000 troops for a long time.

The navy currently commanded by Zhou Yu was not only well-trained, but also mobilized two thousand cannons and tens of thousands of civilians and sailors without making many mistakes. Sun Ce was immediately confident.

Then Sun Ce led the civil and military ministers to leave the navy station. The navy only knew that Sun Ce planned to fight on the sea, but they knew nothing about the specific place to attack.

Of course, limited by the communication conditions of this era, even if this secret was told to the naval commander, the north would not be able to detect it.

In fact, at this time, Yuan Shao in the north had just heard that Sun Ce was dispatching troops and generals for the Northern Expedition.

However, many civil and military officials in the Zhao court denounced this, thinking that the frontline generals were alarmist.

After all, people tend to believe what they want to believe.

When Yuan Shao became emperor, he wanted to unify the world with his prestige and forced Sun Ce, Ma Teng, Han Sui, Xian Yufu, Liu Zhang and others to surrender to him. He named these princes as princes and kings of the Zhao family. The parallel system is just like when Liu Bang first founded the country.

No matter how powerful the princes and kings under his rule were, at least he had unified the world in name only.

Before he became emperor, he didn't want to believe that once he became emperor, war would break out.

Therefore, at this time, even if his subordinates reminded him that they had detected information, Sun Ce was about to embark on the Northern Expedition, and wars broke out all over the world.

He will also become angry and unwilling to believe it.

At this time, the monarch is ignorant and his loyal words are offensive, and the villain will take over.

Guo Tu, Feng Ji and others all told Yuan Shao that now the world is at peace, the whole world welcomes the Yuan family, and the imperial seal is in hand. The Yuan family is destined to return by fate, so how can there be any rebellion?

Yuan Shao was like Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty at this moment. Even though the world was full of rebellions, he couldn't see or hear. He was addicted to the prosperity and peace of Jizhou.

But after all, Yuan Shao came out of troubled times. He was much stronger than Emperor Yang of Sui Dynasty. At least in military terms, he was very decisive.

It is clear that in today's world, the only person who can truly threaten his status is Sun Ce.

The other Ma Teng, Han Sui, Liu Zhang, Zhang Yan, Xian Yufu and others are nothing more than native chickens and tile dogs.

If Sun Ce had not been there, he would not have had to intervene. With just a few generals, they could wipe out all these people and take them all back to Yecheng to be punished.

Therefore, although he did not believe that Sun Ce would launch an army to attack him in the north, he still deployed heavy troops in Yanzhou, Yuzhou, and Qingzhou very early.

He deployed the 100,000 elite soldiers under his command and the 30,000 Cao troops who surrendered to him on this line.

Among them, Yanzhou was the focus of his defense. He and Cao Cao faced off in this area. He knew very well that if the Southern Army broke through from here, it would only take a month or two to cross the Yellow River. After crossing the Yellow River, the city of Ye would be close at hand. Got it!

Especially now that it is freezing cold and the Yellow River has frozen, Sun Ce's cavalry can rumble across the river. Tens of thousands of elite cavalry enter Hebei, which is undoubtedly a severe blow to his reputation.

After all, even if his troops return for reinforcements, they will not be able to reach the vicinity of Yecheng in a month or two, and King Qin's army will have to walk for dozens of days.

Therefore, Yuan Shao sent his own Sikong Shenpei to sit here personally, build fortifications to guard against Sun Ce, and supervise the army to fight hard, keeping Yanzhou area airtight.

But this also gave Sun Ce a great opportunity to attack his weakness with surprise troops! (End of chapter)