Survival Three Kingdoms

Chapter 330
On the second day of March in the seventh year of Jian'an, Zhou Cang slaughtered three animals, swore to sacrifice the flag, and divided his troops into three routes to attack Liaodong northward.

A total of 5000 people were in the cracking camp and inner guard camp of the Central Route Army, 1000 in the navy, 5000 in the engineer battalion, craftsman camp and boatmen, and 5000 supply and transportation soldiers, a total of 6000 people, and 30 shi of grain and grass.More than [-] large and small ships cross the ocean in a row.

Because there was no ice floe, it arrived in Ta County in southern Liaoning smoothly on the sixth day of March.Zhou Cang named the landing point Lushunkou, and Zhou Ji was in charge of Lushunkou.Zhou Cang issued five orders in succession:
Order [-]: Send scouts to Liaokou, Wuci, and Liaodong to inquire about news, and transfer Liaokou's navy to Lvshun to assist in the defense.

Order [-], led by Wang Dachui, craftsmen and boatmen built water villages, granaries, and ships at Lushunkou.

Order [-]: Cao Xing arranged defenses and looked for guides to find out the route to Xiangping, Liaodong County.

Order 3000, [-] supply transport troops returned to Dongnae to continue transporting supplies.

Order five, a thousand sailors are cruising in the coastal waters to strictly guard against the Liaodong navy.

In Lushun in March, it was warm and cold. Fortunately, there was no shortage of winter clothes and tents in the army. Although the military tents could not keep warm, at least they could keep out the wind.

Of course, you cannot find a fisherman if you are looking for a guide on land.The current Northeast is really vast and sparsely populated, with only a few sparse villages in a radius of a hundred miles. The life of the villagers is very hard, just like in Peijia Village, because there are no wars and government oppression in these places.Cao Xing didn't spend any money, and spent fifty shi of grain to recruit five guides, all of whom were local hunters. Because they had been to Xiangping for selling animal skins, ten shi of grain for a family was enough for them for a year. Words are enough to make them take risks, what's more, they are just leading the way. They are grateful to Cao Xing, answering every question, and knowing everything.According to what they said, it would take half a month to go to Xiangping, but they never had to worry about encountering soldiers on the road, they only needed to guard against wild animals.

Just in case, Zhou Cang isolated them separately and asked about the route. Although the five people said differently, the route was not bad, so it can be seen that what they said was true.After the army rested in Lushun for two days, on the eighth day of March, Zhou Cang and Cao Xing led [-] cracked earth battalions, [-] personal guard battalions, [-] engineers, [-] transport troops, and a large amount of luggage, and began to march northward.

Zhou Cang was worried that he would be blocked by the Liaodong army on the road, but in fact the road was unimpeded. After careful questioning, he found out that because of the vast land and sparse population, Gongsundu's army was mainly concentrated in the county, while the other three sides of the Liaonan sea were not. There is no enemy, so not only is there no garrison, but also the defense of Xiangping and Lelang is constantly recruited from southern Liaoning, which is consistent with the information obtained by Gan Ning.

The biggest problem is that the roads are not smooth, there is no official road, the snow is gradually melting, and the ground is full of mud. The engineer battalion is opening the way in front, cutting down trees to pave the way for the troops behind, and can only travel thirty or forty miles a day.

In the past ten days, the army marched for more than three hundred miles, and passed through four or five county towns. The so-called county towns had no cities at all. They were surrounded by wooden fences and earthen walls, just like a larger village.The big ones can have two to three hundred households, and the small ones have only a hundred or so. Zhou Cang and Cao Xing gritted their teeth. The population is too sparse. It is estimated that even if 20 immigrants are moved here, the land will be more than enough.

I heard from the chiefs of the counties that there are now only 18 households in southern Liaoning, with a population of [-], or the permanent population may be even smaller, and the total population may be even larger, because many people have fled to the mountains to gather herbs and hunt for a living.There were few people in Liaodong, and Gongsun Du recruited all the young and strong into the army. In order to supplement the military resources, the taxes were very heavy, almost reaching three to four out of ten taxes.So many people took refuge and fled into the mountains.

For these principals, Zhou Cang stayed on, encouraging them not to dawdle, and to work hard, and Liaodong will soon undergo earth-shaking changes. They will no longer be village chiefs but veritable county magistrates.To persuade those who have fled into the mountains to come out, Master Mu Zhoucang of Xuzhou came to rescue the people, exempted from tax for three years, and the tax in the future will not exceed one ten taxes.

On the way, Zhou Cang received rewards from his horse inspections one after another. Pei Yuanshao had successfully arrived at Liaokou. Two boats and more than [-] people were lost on the way.In Liaokou, Pei Yuanshao divided his troops: Wu Gang went west, and Pei Yuanshao rushed northward.

Liaodong explored the horses and reported that Xiangping soldiers and horses were mobilizing to the city, and there was no movement of sending troops and horses abroad.Zhou Cang frowned, according to the time, Chen Dao should have arrived at this time and spread rumors that Yuan Shao wanted to take over Liaodong, did it have any effect?Or that Gongsun Du did not dare to act rashly?That depends on whether Wu Gang's dose of eye drops can be effective and whether he can mobilize the Liaodong Army.

Wu Ci's scouting horse reported back, Gan Ning showed great power, defeated the Liaodong navy in one fell swoop, captured [-] warships, burned nearly a thousand, captured [-] sailors, beheaded [-], occupied the water village, and named it Donggang.Gan Ning is now rectifying the navy and defense.Zhou Cang was overjoyed, he did not expect Gan Ning to be so brave.Zhou Cang was also very surprised that the Liaodong navy was a bit too vulnerable, and the victory was a bit of a joke. After careful questioning, he learned that the Liaodong navy was actually about [-]. I haven't returned to camp yet after returning home from vacation.After the ice surface thawed, Yang Li, the commander of the water army, didn't take it seriously. Because there was still broken ice on the sea surface, no navy patrol was arranged on the sea surface, and the defense of the entire Liaodong water village was useless.Gan Ning suddenly attacked the water village at dawn, the water army was still asleep, did not resist at all, and became a prisoner in a daze, the general Yang Li killed himself.The general Yangli committed suicide and completely dedicated the Liaodong navy, but Yangli also had a younger brother Yangyi in Xiangping, which was regarded as a life-and-death hatred with Yangyi.

In this way, Gan Ning has 5000 men under his command, and it will be extremely easy to guard Donggang and cut off Le Lang. "God help me!" Zhou Cang raised his hands high, and then shook his head and sighed: "Anyi, Anyi. Just trying to be easy for a while will lead to bitter fruit. Although Liaodong has a navy, it has never fought. It is inevitable that he was negligent and sent orders to Lushun , Be sure to strengthen maritime patrols and make no mistakes."

"Reorder, send a letter to Guangling, quickly transport the immigrants to Lushun, and enrich them to the counties in southern Liaoning, replace all the county magistrates with our people, give each household [-] acres of land, and pay no taxes for three years. If you want to hold In Liaodong, it is not enough to rely on soldiers, it is necessary to develop Liaodong."

"Yes." Sun Da led the order and left.

"Congratulations, my lord, for winning the first battle. We are still 150 miles away from Xiangping. Shall we hurry up and join General Pei?" Cao Xing asked.

"Send the order, speed up the march, and arrive in Xiangping within three days! Send scouts to find out the news."

The Xuzhou soldiers were full of fighting spirit. They marched fifty miles a day and more than a hundred miles in two days. They saw that they would arrive at the city of Xiangping in one day.That night, he set up camp fifty miles away from the city, and Tan Ma never came back. Zhou Cang was disturbed and took Sun Da to patrol the camp.

(End of this chapter)