Three Kingdoms: I, Ma Su, just want to die

Chapter 655: Danyang Mountain People Request Surrender
Although Ma Su led 30,000 troops to Ruxuwu this time, his real purpose was not to capture the city. His core goal was actually to build a vanguard city a hundred miles outside Ruxuwu.

At present, the farming in Huainan had just begun, and it was difficult to be self-sufficient in food and fodder. The food needed by Ma Su's 30,000 troops to march south had to be specially requisitioned from Xuzhou.

Moreover, the road from Hefei to Ruxu was long and difficult to travel, and the loss of food and fodder was unbearable for the Han army. So even if he only brought 30,000 troops, it would be difficult for the Han army to maintain it for a long time.

Therefore, if they wanted to maintain the front line in Ruxuwu for a long time, building a city on the spot was the only option. If it failed, Ma Su could only wait until the harvest season in Yangzhou was over, and then retreat back to Hefei to wait for the next opportunity.

For Ma Su, if he failed to solve the problem the first time, it would be a huge failure. As the Eastern Wu army prepared, the operation would become more and more difficult, and the troops of the Eastern Wu army would become more and more experienced.

At that time, Ma Su could only wait for the Lianghuai farming plan to be completed, and then rely on national strength to crush Dongwu.

"This won't do. If we continue to fight at this pace, I'm afraid Sun Quan will really have to live out his days in Jiangdong." Ma Su shook his head, his face solemn, his eyes flashing with a thoughtful gleam.

"We must find Jiangdong's weakness... or some hidden danger that can be exploited."

Wherever there are people, there will inevitably be conflicts and internal contradictions. This is the same wherever you are. Especially for a regime like the Eastern Wu that can maintain its main body by relying on the monarch's checks and balances, it is normal for it to have many internal contradictions.

But when Ma Su kept thinking and looking for internal problems in Yangzhou, he was disappointed. Although everyone in Dongwu had conflicts and enemies, the conflicts were not intense enough.

Moreover, when the Han army was approaching the city, all these contradictions were covered up in a short time. Under the pressure of the common enemy, the whole of Yangzhou was extremely rare to be united...

This was something Ma Su had not anticipated before the war, and it was also the most troublesome thing at the moment.

If he could not stir up internal conflicts in the enemy army, Ma Su would not have the opportunity to take root near Ruxuwu. However, the premise of wanting to stir up internal conflicts in the Eastern Wu was that Ma Su could not be too close to Yangzhou and the pressure on him could not be too great...

Forget it, it’s a dead end.

With Ma Su extremely worried, the Han army started to rebuild the city walls. In the following days, Ma Su also began to be more vigilant and increase the intensity of night patrols in an attempt to resist the night attack from the Eastern Wu.

But it is obvious that some things cannot be stopped by being cautious. When everyone in Dongwu is not afraid of death, many things are doomed.

In the next half month, Ma Su encountered three night attacks by Wu Jun. Although he was able to successfully repel and annihilate them each time, they still caused Ma Su a lot of trouble every time.

After a whole month, Ma Su hadn't even built the outline of the city...

"Envoy, given the current situation, we will have to withdraw to Hefei in another month." After another night attack, Liu Yin came forward and bowed to Ma Su to report.

"The resistance of the Jiangdong nobles is far beyond our imagination."

"That's true." Ma Su was convinced and could only sigh.

"If they continue to resist like this, it will be difficult for us to invade Jiangdong."

Just as Ma Su and Liu Yin were sighing to each other and beginning to consider withdrawing their troops, a soldier suddenly came to report:
"General, we captured a soldier dressed in Wu uniform... But he told us that he was not a soldier of Wu, but a soldier who rebelled against them." "Resisting Wu?" Upon hearing this, Ma Su and Liu Yin were both stunned. At the first moment, they both guessed that it must be a spy from Wu.

However, when the so-called "spy" was pushed forward, Ma Su's eyes suddenly lit up.

This was obviously a mountain dweller, not a Han Chinese from Yangzhou. Although he was dressed in the clothes of the Eastern Wu, his temperament and appearance gave Ma Su a very familiar feeling.

That's right, they are the elite soldiers of Danyang! And they are the purest elite soldiers of Danyang who have not been educated yet!

"Greetings, General Han!" Seeing this Danyang man clumsily performing Han etiquette, Ma Su couldn't help but feel excited.

The moment he saw this Danyang mountain man, Ma Su suddenly had an epiphany. He remembered at this moment that Yangzhou was not only home to aristocratic families, but also to countless mountain tribes, large and small!
The central and southern parts of Yangzhou are mostly mountainous and have a low degree of development. Previously, most of the area was controlled by mountain people. Since Sun Quan took the position of Lord of Jiangdong, he has been fighting with these mountain people.

He needed the population of mountain people, and also needed these brave and warlike mountain people as soldiers. So for decades, the troops of the Eastern Wu had been capturing mountain people as soldiers.

Among them are the mountain people of Danyang County...

However, the Danyang people have always been the type who disobey education, so they will not sit still and wait for death. Since Sun Quan set his sights on them, the Danyang people have been fighting with Sun Quan endlessly.

Historically, from the Battle of Red Cliff to the Qinglong Years when Sun Quan proclaimed himself emperor, the mountain people of Danyang would go down the mountain to rebel almost every year. Every year around the end of the year, the mountain people of Danyang would go down the mountain to forage for food, as if they couldn't celebrate the New Year without rebelling.

When the children of Danyang mountain people grow up, their first words should be "I'm new here, can you tell me whether we should follow the procedures this year or just protest?"

In short, although the whole Yangzhou mountain people were hit hard, they were not completely wiped out. From the moment this Danyang mountain man came to see him, Ma Su dared to be sure that these mountain people still had the idea of ​​resisting.

Sure enough, the request of this Danyang mountain dweller disguised as a soldier of Eastern Wu confirmed Ma Su's guess.

He was from a surviving tribe in Danyang, and his tribe happened to be located along the Yangtze River in Wu County. They expressed their willingness to welcome the royal army and to send small boats from several tribes to take the Han army to the south.

In exchange, the Han Dynasty needed to accept the surrender of their tribes and absorb their tribal elders into the Han Dynasty's official system.

The news that Ji Han was willing to recruit foreigners as officials had spread, which gave the Danyang tribe hope. So while supporting Han and destroying Wu, they tried to join the power structure of the Han Dynasty.

Ma Su flatly rejected their request.

"Although your suggestion is nothing, I am not ready to go south to Yangzhou at the moment."

Ma Su spoke calmly and rejected the Danyang mountain people's suggestion expressionlessly.

With the prevalence of defensiveness in the Eastern Wu, it would be difficult to cross the Yangtze River and fight in Jiangdong. Although Ma Su was not worried about the danger of the war, he was not prepared for it.

(End of this chapter)