Overlord!

In order to recruit Guan Yu, Sun Ce gave him a heavy reward.

He was promoted to General Polu and Rural Marquis of Yicheng, and he was promoted from a partial general to a general with the title of general in one fell swoop.

As all the heroes in the world have been wiped out, the number of generals who were once indiscriminately issued is now rare. Basically, except for these generals in the Song Dynasty, there are not many people in the world who have the title of general.

For example, under Liu Zhang and Zhang Lu, only a handful of ministers could be awarded the title of general.

At this time, if someone rebels in Guandong and calls himself a general, he will definitely be a giant bandit, and will attract all the officers and soldiers to encircle and suppress him.

Yicheng Xianghou is a township in Xinzheng County, Henan Province. Although it is not prosperous yet, it is located at the intersection of Yingchuan and Henan counties and is an important transportation thoroughfare. It is expected to be prosperous in the future.

The title of Marquis of Yicheng and Rural Affairs was much better than that of his Han Shouting Marquis who was far away in Jingnan.

Sun Ce's reward for Guan Yu was generous, but Guan Yu's loyalty did not waver.

Zhang Hong replied: "Guan Yu has replied to the letter and refused to be called up by the imperial court. He resigned from his post and handed over his army to the army."

Hearing this, although Sun Ce felt a little regretful, the result was not satisfactory.

He didn't have high expectations for this matter, and to be honest, the military capabilities of the generals of the Song Dynasty were no less than those of Guan Yu.

In terms of bravery, Zhang Liao may be even better than Guan Yu. After all, Guan Yu has never had those magical achievements achieved by Zhang Liao in his life. Whether it is defeating Wuhuan or Sun Quan, they always use a small number to defeat a large number and achieve a great victory.

In terms of commanding ability, Guan Yu cannot be compared with Zhou Yu, Lu Xun, Zhuge Liang and others. He may not even be comparable to Lu Meng, Xu Huang, Taishi Ci and others.

If we only talk about charging into battle and overwhelming thousands of men, there are too many fierce generals and fighting generals in Jiangdong, such as Zhao Yun, Gan Ning, Huang Zhong, Xu Sheng, Zhang Fei, etc., too numerous to mention.

In the current situation, with an army of more than 100,000 people, all of whom are elite soldiers and generals, sweeping across the world, the role that Guan Yu, a fierce general, can play in the Song army has been very limited.

This person doesn't have to be used by me, but the key is that he can't be used by the enemy either.

In this era, there were too many people who wanted to be conquered by the imperial court, and some even wanted to be elected by the three princes.

Guan Yu's resignation had little impact on Sun Ce, but it had a great impact on Liu Bei.

Liu Bei's team was already broken up. Even if he promoted a group of people and discovered a group of talents, they were still not as good as top generals like Guan Yu.

Guan Yu was unable to unite troops for Liu Bei, and his attack on Hanzhong was bound to be even slower.

Sun Ce just asked out of curiosity: "Where is Guan Yu now?"

Zhang Hong replied: "It should be that he served as an army officer in Cao Cao's Sikong Mansion and also served as a marching Sima. He was conquered by Cao Cao, and then Cao Cao ordered Le Jin to lead the army to help Liu Bei in the campaign."

Sun Ce nodded slightly. Nowadays, it is normal for heroes to be recruited by various high-ranking officials at the same time.

Especially after Guan Yu resigned from office and was conquered by Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Cao Cao completed an exchange of interests. Avoid this famous general, and his talent will be wasted.

But this doesn't matter to Sun Ce. As long as he can delay Liu Bei from entering Shu, Sun Ce's goal has been achieved.

Sun Ce asked: "Does Liu Bei have any counselors in his army?"

Zhang Hong nodded and replied: "The imperial court sent the famous scholar Zhong Yao to supervise the generals in Guanzhong and march into Hanzhong together with Liu Bei. The two sides combined nearly 30,000 troops and have already invaded Hanzhong."

Sun Ce knew the key military information that Liu Bei had entered Hanzhong, but he had not paid detailed attention to Liu Bei's march route before.

So this time he took advantage of the conversation to reach Hanzhong and asked, "Which way did Liu Bei take?"

Zhang Hong introduced in detail: "The main force of the army took the Baoxie Road, but was blocked by Zhang Lu's troops. His troops left Chencang Road from the west and unexpectedly invaded Hanzhong."

This is barely enough to be considered as building the plank road openly and secretly building the warehouse.

It's not that this tactic will still be effective hundreds of years later, but the participation of the generals in Guanzhong caught Zhang Lu by surprise.

Baoxie Road has been the main route into Shu for nearly a hundred years. The connection between Shuzhong and Guanzhong mainly relies on this road.

The other roads are almost deserted, not to mention deserted.

Everyone could predict that the imperial army would enter Hanzhong and take the Baoxe road.

Zhang Lu was not unpopular in Hanzhong, on the contrary, his Five Pecks of Rice religion made the people of Hanzhong support him extremely, and the soldiers and people of Hanzhong were willing to fight to the death for him.

In this case, Hanzhong can be said to be impregnable. Not to mention Liu Bei, even if Sun Ce personally led the army to march from Baoshe Road, it would be difficult to break through such a dangerous terrain where one man is in charge and no one can attack.

The reason why Liu Bei broke into Hanzhong was because Chen Cangdao was in Liangzhou Wudu, which was the sphere of influence of the generals in Guanzhong.

Zhang Lu did not expect that the generals in Guanzhong would be persuaded by Zhong Yao and also participate in the attack on Hanzhong.

So when more than ten thousand Xiliang troops sent troops from Chencang Road and entered Hanzhong.

There was a loophole in Hanzhong's defense.

But this does not mean that Hanzhong was lost.

Zhang Lu was very popular in Hanzhong, and the soldiers and the people were willing to die for him. Even if the generals from Guanzhong invaded Hanzhong, the war was still difficult. Even if they captured Hanzhong County and governed Nanzheng, it was of no avail.

Sun Ce asked: "Do you have more detailed information about the battle in Hanzhong? What is Zhang Lu's current situation?"

Zhang Hong shook his head and said: "Hanzhong is separated from the Central Plains by rugged mountain roads, and there is not much detailed information. However, looking at the situation of the mountains and rivers, it can be concluded that Hanzhong will never be easily lost. Zhang Lu supported tens of thousands, and even if he was attacked in the early stage, We can lead the remaining troops to defend Hanzhong and move forward, relying on the Xicheng and Shangyong areas to defend."

The problem with Hanzhong is that not only is its terrain rugged, but its territory is also too vast.

In the later period, it was divided into three counties, especially Shangyong County. It was originally a county in Hanzhong, but in the late Han Dynasty, it had an important strategic position that was not weaker than Hanzhong.

Because it is located in the easternmost part of Hanzhong, it is directly connected to Jingzhou through Mianshui River, which leads directly to Xiangyang, the military town of Jingzhou.

Of course, although they are very close geographically, the drop in the upper reaches of Mian River is too large to allow navigation.

Therefore, it is almost impossible for a large army to march from Shangyong to Xiangyang. Information can only be exchanged through a small number of pedestrians and caravans.

So Sun Ce asked: "Maybe he is convinced that Zhang Lu is still resisting instead of leading his army to surrender to Liu Bei?"

At this time, Zhang Zhao categorically asserted: "This is our consensus. Liu Bei killed Zhang Wei, which shocked Hanzhong and made everyone uneasy and would not dare to surrender."

"What's the meaning of this?" Sun Ce didn't respond for a moment.

In terms of tactics and politics, he is definitely not as good as Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong and other advisers. He is better at giving strategic plans to his subordinates, and is not good at so many conspiracies and analyses.

Otherwise, all the princes in the world would not pay special attention to counselors. It was said that Liu Bei killed Zhang Lu and Yizhou was in shock. Liu Zhang did not dare to resist anymore and surrendered to the Song Dynasty. Sun Ce could clearly see this relationship.

This situation is simple and clear, even Liu Bei can figure it out.

Therefore, if Liu Bei captured Hanzhong, he would never and would not dare to kill Zhang Lu.

Although he didn't have a counselor, he still had some political strategy.

But why did killing Zhang Wei cause Hanzhong to be shocked? Resist firmly to the end?

It stands to reason that Zhang Wei was the general who led the army and stood on Baoshe Road to block Liu Bei's advance.

He should be killed so that Hanzhong would not dare to resist again.

Who else would not kill a general who stubbornly resists like this?

If it were Sun Ce, Sun Ce would definitely kill him too. This will frighten the enemy generals and prevent them from resisting. Otherwise, if everyone holds on to the city, will Hanzhong still be able to fight?

Zhang Hong explained: "Nowadays, people in Yizhou have a desire to separatist rule. From the princes to the civil and military, they are all in high positions. They have no external or internal troubles and no danger of survival. Therefore, they all enjoy glory and wealth and are not willing to surrender easily. "

"The current situation is that people like Liu Zhang and Zhang Lu are afraid of being slaughtered and want to lead the army to surrender first. However, their civil and military forces are unwilling to submit to others, and they are unwilling to accept the land as their subjects."

The current situation is completely different from the Battle of Red Cliff.

Sun Ce's advantage was so great that it made other princes feel desperate.

Don't always limit your perspective to Sun Ce. I feel that Sun Ce's force only has a few hundred thousand troops, and he is stretched everywhere, so he should be cautious in using his troops.

That's because Sun Ce has the ambition to found a country and change the Yuan Dynasty, so he is well versed in the art of war. He must win first and then fight, so that he can win everything.

But from the perspective of other princes, Sun Ce's sense of oppression was simply suffocating. Any prince who thought of resisting Sun Ce's army would feel like a cold light on his back and wake up in the middle of the night.

After all, ever since Sun Ce raised his army, those who attacked were defeated and those who attacked were defeated.

No matter how difficult the battle was, whether there were some bumps in the battle, the final result was that he defeated all powerful enemies with overwhelming force.

A fierce warrior and an iron horse, capable of swallowing thousands of miles like a tiger!

In just eight or nine years, Sun Ce evolved from a prince from Jiangdong in a corner of the southeast to the number one person in the world who wanted to conquer the world.

This speed is not weaker than the process of Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Shizu sweeping away the world.

Even compared to Li Tang, it was only slightly inferior.

That was also because Sun Ce had too few troops and food in the early stage. In the battle, Sun Ce even went more smoothly than Li Shimin.

Because the level of these princes at the end of the Han Dynasty was relatively low, and Sun Ce had no constraints from his superiors, he used all the elite soldiers and generals, and if he appointed talents and talents, he would be able to defeat them and win in battles.

The other princes trembled when they saw Sun Ce's army.

This is why the princes of Youzhou surrendered without a fight. They knew very well that they were in a bitter cold place and their foundations could not stop Sun Ce's troops.

They might be able to win once, maybe twice, or even three times, but as long as the Song Dynasty gets serious and mobilizes 50,000 troops to go north, their tens of thousands of troops and their unsustainable supply situation will definitely lose.

This is true for Youzhou, and it is also true for Yizhou.

Moreover, Shu was relatively isolated and unable to expand externally, which made Youzhou often surrender easily after the unification of the Central Plains in ancient times.

Just like the famous poem about national subjugation: "The flag was lowered on the king's city, and I learned about it in the deep palace. One hundred and forty thousand people were all disarmed, and not one of them was a man."

It is talking about the situation where the Shu Kingdom surrendered to the Song Dynasty without even making a single move.

Neither Zhang Lu nor Liu Zhang, who now occupy Shu, have the kind of talent that Sun Quan has.

Both of them tend to surrender to protect themselves, but the ministers decide whether to surrender or not, and have little impact on them. They surrendered to Liu Bei, and then surrendered to Sun Ce, and they could also preserve their wealth. Sun Ce will return him to the township party, appreciate his reputation, and still not lose his job as a Cao Cao. He rides on a cart, serves as an official, travels with scholars, and is tired of serving as an official, so he does not lose his state and county. The general welcomes Cao, do you want to return home in peace? The big plan has been decided in advance, so don't use everyone's opinions.

The current situation can be said to be the battle with Chibi, and the situation faced by Sun Quan is exactly the opposite.

The princes wanted to surrender to Sun Ce early, but the civil and military officials below refused. After all, Sun Ce's army has not yet reached Shu.

Therefore, Zhang Hong asserted: "This kind of civil and military people should have been attracted by Liu Bei. But once he killed Zhang Wei and caused other people to hurt his kind, he would not dare to surrender easily. They all supported Zhang Lu and resisted Liu Bei, waiting for Master Wang. Then it will be difficult for Liu Bei to attack Shu."

Sun Ce smiled and said, "If this is the case, doesn't it mean that Zhang Lu is on his way to surrender?"

Even a force like Zhang Lu that was united by religion had interest groups and a ruling class. When they reached an agreement that surrender was in everyone's interests, it was a matter of course for them to surrender to the Song Dynasty.

Zhang Zhao nodded and said, "I thought that if the mountain road hadn't been so rugged, Jiang Biao might have arrived already."

After hearing what Zhang Zhao said, Sun Ce suddenly smiled and became hopeful.

And the situation did not disappoint Sun Ce. Just after the New Year, spring plowing and farming were busy in various places. In the early spring of Jiangnan, good news from Jingzhou went directly to Jiankang.

Zhu Ran, the envoy of the Xiuyi Guards, excitedly reported to Sun Ce in person: "Song Gong, good news, good news for Yizhou! Pang Xi, the governor of Badong County, and the wealthy families in the territory, led an army of more than 10,000, and brought more than ten counties to the Song Dynasty. "

The good news came as expected. The surrendered watch from Hanzhong had not yet been delivered. Instead, the surrendered watch from Yizhou first went down the river and arrived at Jiangling in one day. Then it went straight down the river and was quickly delivered to Jiankang.

Badong County is the gateway to Yizhou. After Liu Bei was defeated in the Battle of Yiling, it was the dangerous terrain here that prevented the Soochow army from advancing.

The gate of Yizhou surrendered to the Song Dynasty, and Sun Ce's army could easily drive straight into the middle of Shu along this way.

Therefore, Sun Ce almost ignored the reason for Badong County's surrender and immediately ordered: "Order General He Qi to immediately lead five thousand troops up the river, station in Badong, and take control of Badong."

This is a critical moment in a race against time. As long as the Jiangdong army can advance to the front line of Quren before Liu Zhang can react, they will control the entrance to Sichuan.

Jiangdong's elite army has always had elite troops stationed on this line, just inside the territory of Jigui. These are elites that Sun Ce did not deploy even in the Northern Expedition.

He Qi led his troops to Badong from here, which was much closer than Liu Zhang who sent his troops to rush for reinforcements!

The straight-line distance between Sister Gui and Qu Ren was only over a hundred miles away. If the terrain wasn't so steep, Jiangdong's army would have been able to reach it in a few days.

Now that Pang Xi has surrendered to the Song Dynasty and the defense line has been opened, the Song army will definitely be able to occupy the strategic military position before Liu Zhang.

After arranging all this, Sun Ce asked Zhu Ran with some interest: "How could Badong County offer the surrender letter before Hanzhong?"

Sun Ce thought that the order would be Zhang Lu first, followed by Liu Zhang. Unexpectedly, Zhang Song did not come, and Pang Xi surrendered first. (End of chapter)