People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 517: Selecting Generals and Soldiers
There were strong gusts of wind. When Xu Chen walked down from the boat, he could not help but let out a long sigh. It did not feel too good to be lying in wait in the rear of Xuzhou for more than a month. In order to lengthen the distance between the Wu-Shu coalition forces as much as possible, the Yellow Turbans could only remain silent for as long as possible.

Xu Chen didn't want the State of Wu to be aware of his carefully planned plan in advance and send a letter to the Wu-Shu coalition. Once the Wu-Shu coalition returned for support early, the time he could operate would be greatly reduced.

Exchanging space for time, the Wu-Shu coalition forces took a month to reach Xiangyang, and it would take no less than a month to return. This also means that the Yellow Turbans can do whatever they want within the territory of Wu during this month.

After almost half a day of full-scale troop transport, there are now nearly 50,000 troops standing on the other side of Guangling, and Xu Chen feels that they can take action now.

Although the Yellow Turbans had just crossed the river, their excellent military qualities enabled them to quickly complete their preparations, and a series of tasks such as setting up camps, forming battle formations, and defending were being carried out in an orderly manner.

"Zhao Yun!" Xu Chen stood on the makeshift wooden platform and called out the name immediately.

Zhao Yun, who was standing by, stepped forward immediately and saluted: "I am here!"

Xu Chen looked at him and said, "Our army's crossing of the river cannot be concealed, and it must have been discovered long ago. I think the Wu Palace should have known the news soon. I order you to lead 20,000 infantry and cavalry to attack Jianye first. We don't ask to capture Wudu, but we must blockade the city. No one in the city can escape. Do you understand?"

Zhao Yun replied in a deep voice: "I obey your orders!"

Xu Chen said again: "Taishi Ci!"

Taishi Ci smiled slightly and stepped forward to clasp his fists: "I am here!"

Xu Chen said, "We must take Yangzhou when we cross the river this time. We only have one month. Time is running out and we cannot afford to waste it. We must take down Jianye, the capital of Wu, and all the counties in Yangzhou. The closest one is Qu'a. I order you to lead 10,000 soldiers to attack. How long will it take you to take it?"

Taishi Ci immediately thought about it and realized that this kind of question cannot be answered casually, and once you say it, you must do it.

The main force of the Wu army has been lured to Xiangyang by a strategy of luring the tiger away from the mountain. Although Wu still has some basic troops left in its own territory, their number is pitifully small. Most of them are still guarding the capital city of Jianye. As for the countless cities in the huge Yangzhou, I am afraid there are only county and county soldiers led by the county lieutenants and county magistrates in various counties.

As for how large the basic military force in the counties is, Taishi Ci, who was once a government official in the Han Dynasty, knew it best.

In a county, a few hundred soldiers are enough, and the maximum number is over a thousand. The number of soldiers that can be organized in a prefecture is at most 10,000 or 20,000. If the local powerful nobles give their full support, the number can be doubled, but that's all.

He led 10,000 Yellow Turbans to fight, which sounded like the force was not enough, but in fact, with the main central army of Wu no longer there, this combat power was an incredible existence no matter where it was thrown in Yangzhou.

Qu'a was not even a county seat, but just a slightly larger county town. Taishi Ci could imagine that when he arrived at the city, what might be waiting for him were only the thousand or so soldiers in the city.

Even if the county magistrate and the county lieutenant could forcibly conscript civilians into battle, this kind of combat power would be completely negligible to the Yellow Turbans.

Taishi Ci felt that 10,000 soldiers were enough for him to walk around Yangzhou at will. What level are the Yellow Turbans? What level are the county and county soldiers of the Wu Kingdom? Even if they were sent to him, they would not be enough for him to kill.

Soon he finished his calculations, and then he had strong confidence in his heart, and raised a finger to Xu Chen: "Including the marching time, it will only take one day for me to capture Qu'a. If I can't do it, I am willing to be punished!"

If ordinary people heard this, they would think Taishi Ci was too arrogant. He attacked a county without hesitation, which was just a joke. However, for the current situation, this was not an exaggeration. "There is no need for a military order. I believe you have the ability. After taking Qu'a, I will send troops to join you. You just need to continue to fight and march to Danyang, Kuaiji, Yuzhang and other counties." Xu Chen smiled and said.

Taishi Ci's expression became serious and he responded with acceptance of the order.

Xu Chen once again warned: "Remember, our army only has one month. The purpose of attacking the counties is not to occupy land and expand territory. That is a matter for the future. Now we just need to destroy the local military system of Wu. Within one month, Yangzhou must change my surname to Xuanxia!"

As soon as these words came out, Zhao Yun Taishi Ci responded with great momentum: "I will definitely fulfill my mission!"

Only after watching them turn around and leave and start counting the troops on the spot did Xu Chen pause his arrangements.

If we hurry up and keep an eye on Wu Du and Jianye, the rest will be easy.

If Zhao Yun and Taishi Ci were to lead 30,000 troops respectively, there would only be 20,000 Yellow Turbans left on the south bank. But this was enough. Xu Chen did not think that the current Wu State had the power to defeat these 20,000 Yellow Turbans.

If we can gain a foothold here and transport all the remaining troops here, the entire line of troops can be fully deployed.

The main force of the Yellow Turbans, numbering more than 100,000, will be divided into ten routes with this place as the center and will attack the entire Yangzhou. Except for the main force that needs a little more troops to attack Jianye, the other armies only need to maintain a scale of 10,000 to launch a comprehensive attack on the entire Yangzhou like an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.

One month is enough.
The Yellow Turbans' battle plan was very tight, without any pause at all. Both the generals above and the soldiers below carried out their respective military orders efficiently.

This swift, clean and efficient action was obviously the result of careful planning before crossing the river, and it was now executed without any delay.

This is indeed the case. A fierce battle on the water here a month ago destroyed the elite naval forces of Wu and Shu. Wu and Shu watched helplessly as the Yellow Turban army marched westwards from here all the way to Xiangyang, but they never imagined that the Yellow Turban land army they saw was actually a temporary army of recruited civilians.

The real main force of the Yellow Turbans had never appeared before Wu and Shu before today. After the naval battle, Xu Chen, Lu Ping, Taishi Ci, Zhao Yun and others did not leave with the civilian army, but retreated directly to the rear and waited for time.

After a long period of dormancy, they had already mastered the subsequent plans, so they were able to be efficient and compact when they started to implement them.

Such efficiency and compactness were so great that when the news from Wu State was just delivered to Jianye, the 20,000 infantry and cavalry army led by Zhao Yun had already appeared on the horizon outside Jianye City.

Jianye was the capital of Wu, so the walls were deep and high. Zhao Yun's 20,000 troops were not enough to break through, but they were more than enough to blockade the city.

Now, Zhao Yun was about to turn into a lasso and tie up Wu Guo's head. When the army behind arrived, he would tighten the lasso little by little and strangle Wu Guo.

By the time the Wu Kingdom lost its head, all the counties and prefectures in the country would be in disarray.

(End of this chapter)