My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 272 Everything is ready
When Liu Feng returned to Xiang County, he not only exceeded his mission but also brought Liu Bei five hundred sets of iron armor and more than forty warhorses, which made his father overjoyed.

Next, it's about Lu Su and Liu Ye.

Liu Feng immediately invited the military advisors from Xiang County—Xun You, Lu Su, Guo Jia, and Liu Ye—over.

At this time, Liu Bei had already established his own government. Xun You was appointed as the military advisor of the central army, Lu Su as the military advisor of the vanguard army, Liu Ye as the military advisor of the rearguard army, and Guo Jia as the military advisor of the left army.

Of course, this is merely an appointment by the hegemon's office and will not affect their positions in the imperial court.

This style of behavior was learned from the widow Cao next door.

Cao Cao pioneered the establishment of the Hegemony Bureau, and then used this as a foundation to erode the Han dynasty's rule, ultimately succeeding in usurping the throne. This fully demonstrates the effectiveness of this approach.

Xun You, Lu Su, Liu Ye, and Guo Jia reacted very well. They were all delighted to accept their positions in the Hegemon's Office and expressed their loyalty to Liu Bei personally. Lu Su and Liu Ye, in particular, looked like they had finally made it and were secretly overjoyed.

Soon, the four strategists were invited over.

Liu Bei took out the imperial edict and ordered his attendants to pass it on to the four military advisors for review.

After reading it, all four of them were filled with surprise and delight.

Xun You, as the military advisor of the central army, held the highest position and was the first to speak. He cupped his hands and congratulated Liu Bei, saying, "My lord, the great undertaking can be accomplished!"

Lu Su and Liu Ye both had smiles on their faces, the only difference being that Lu Su was somewhat reserved and rather introverted, while Liu Ye was much more unrestrained.

Liu Ye spoke first: "The Xu and Wang families have decided to pledge their loyalty to our lord and are willing to send hostages to Xiang County. In my humble opinion, these two families are trustworthy for the time being and are capable of serving."

Guo Jia added at the opportune moment: "General Zuo has been excessively exploiting the local people. Even powerful clans rarely escape his harsh taxes, and countless middle-class families have been ruined. The once prosperous Shouchun is now showing signs of desolation. According to intelligence reports, the Xu and Wang families have just been ordered by Yuan Shu to provide 55,000 shi of grain and 1,500 laborers each within a month. The Xu family is responsible for 30,000 shi and 800 laborers, while the Wang family is responsible for the rest."

At this point, Guo Jia sighed, "Such harsh taxes would be difficult for even powerful families like the Xu and Wang families of Jiujiang to sustain."

In the past few months, Liu Feng had been secretly launching an offensive against the powerful clans and gentry of Yangzhou, while also sending out a large number of spies, with a focus on the two counties north of the Yangtze River.

Among them, Jiujiang Commandery was the most important, after all, it was Yuan Shu's stronghold.

Among the two prefectures north of the Yangtze River, three families were the most courted by Liu Feng: the Xu family and the Wang family in Jiujiang, and the Zhou family in Lujiang.

Among them, the Xu and Wang families of Jiujiang were powerful local clans with considerable martial prowess and numerous followers.

Although Jiujiang and Lujiang have numerous rivers and fertile land, they also have a large number of mountains within their borders. The Dabie Mountains in Lujiang, in particular, almost divide Lujiang in two.

In these mountain ranges lived a large number of Nanman and Shanyue people. The Nanman and Shanyue people of Jiujiang were particularly martial and often came down the mountain to plunder the Han people.

As a result, the Han Chinese powerful clans in Jiujiang were quite strong militarily, with many followers, and they often went into the mountains to capture barbarian tribes as slaves.

On this land of the two prefectures north of the Yangtze River, the Han and the Man people lived in harmony and friendship, making progress together.

However, excessive military force can easily lead to trouble. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Jiujiang was the largest source of rebellion in the southeast. Several rebellions not only killed Han army commanders and colonels, but also drove away the prefect of the prefecture several times.

The key to Lu Zhi's rapid rise to the central government was that he was appointed governor of Jiujiang during a time of crisis. During his tenure, he suppressed rebels and southern barbarians, successfully bringing order to Jiujiang.

In fact, Xu and Wang are common surnames in Jiujiang, accounting for the majority of the population.

The Xu family, in particular, produced a major rebel during the reign of Emperor Chong, named Xu Feng, who proclaimed himself the Supreme General and captured several counties in Jiujiang, demonstrating his formidable strength.

After Yuan Shu took control of Shouchun, he adopted a strategy of suppression against the Xu and Wang families, forcing them to provide money and grain, but at the same time denying them corresponding political status.

If Yuan Shu hadn't been so capable at the time, and had over 100,000 troops (including the generals' private retinues, as well as local garrison troops), both of them would have rebelled long ago.

I endured it all because I had no other choice.

Liu Ye was originally from Jiujiang. After a brief conversation, both families immediately became interested and secretly contacted Liu Ye multiple times. They were determined to join Liu Bei and lead the way for Liu Bei's army.

All of this was within Liu Feng's plan. The surprise attack force that Liu Feng placed in the east of the city was relying on intelligence from local powerful families like Xu and Wang.

The distance from Dongcheng to the eastern shore of Shaopi is not short, at least one or two hundred kilometers, and the shoreline is very long, stretching for over a hundred miles. This area is enormous.

Without reliable intelligence and knowledge of the local terrain, such a long-distance raid could easily go wrong.

If you take the wrong path and your raid fails, the losses will be enormous, and you will turn from hunter to prey, putting you in a very dangerous situation.

In this situation, the most important thing is not the army's combat effectiveness, but intelligence.

The value of the Xu and Wang families lies here.

As powerful local clansmen of Jiujiang Commandery, and with years of experience in friendly battles with the southern barbarians, they were extremely familiar with the terrain. Moreover, they could keep track of the speed of Yuan Shu's reinforcements, and once Liyang, Shuxian, and other places began to gather troops and conscript laborers, they would definitely send the intelligence to Liu Bei as soon as possible.

After Liu Ye and Guo Jia finished speaking, Lu Su also spoke up with a smile: "My lord, the Zhou family is also showing signs of wavering. Gongjin has been exchanging letters with me many times recently, and judging from his words and actions, he seems to be inclined to side with me. At this time, there is also an imperial edict to remove the title of Left General. As a result, the Zhou family will definitely make adjustments."

"good very good!"

Liu Bei nodded repeatedly as he listened. Right now, Yuan Shu was the meat and he was the butcher, and Yuan Shu was completely unaware of this. This gave Liu Bei a feeling that he had everything under control.

We've been fighting for so many years, and I've been through countless battles, but I've never felt so confident of victory as I do now.

At this moment, Liu Feng spoke up: "Father, Runan is the second-largest prefecture in the land, with thirty-seven counties under its jurisdiction. It cannot be governed by anyone but a renowned scholar. In my humble opinion, perhaps the position of Prefect of Runan could be entrusted to Zhou Shang. I think Zhou Shang should not be retained as the Prefect of Danyang. If he is unwilling to take up the post of Prefect of Runan, he can be transferred to the position of Chancellor of Lu. If he is interested in the central government, then we can guarantee him a position among the Nine Ministers."

The Zhou family had two generations of high-ranking officials, with an additional 2,000 shi (a unit of grain measure) in their household. Zhou Yu's biological father had even served as the magistrate of Luoyang.

His father, Zhou Zhong, also rose to the rank of Grand Commandant, one of the Three Dukes, and is currently serving as Commandant of the Guards in Luozhong, one of the Nine Ministers.

When Liu Feng welcomed the emperor back to the east, he deliberately deepened his relationship with Zhou Zhong. Zhou Zhong's position as Commandant of the Guards was saved by Xuzhou, otherwise Cao Cao originally wanted to replace Zhou Zhong with his own people.

When Liu Feng went to Luoyang to request an imperial edict, he made a special trip to visit Zhou Zhong.

After a long discussion, Zhou Zhong made a wise decision: to side with Liu Bei.

At this moment, Liu Feng took out a letter and handed it to Lu Su: "Master Zijing, this is a letter written by the Commandant of the Guards, Duke Zhou. Please pass this letter on to the Zhou family. I believe it will be of great help to you."

Lu Su was overjoyed and bowed to Liu Feng, saying, "Although Gongjin was wavering, I lacked the final say. I did not expect that the young master was already prepared. I am truly ashamed."

"Why are you so upset, sir? Feng has traveled to Luozhong many times. This was just something I did on a whim, a simple favor."

Liu Feng, however, dared not accept Lu Su's praise and replied earnestly, "Gongjin's affairs still require your continued attention, sir."

Lu Su cupped his hands and replied solemnly, "Please rest assured, young master, I will do my utmost."

Liu Bei sat in the high seat and saw his eldest son showing such obedience and respect to his trusted advisor. He was very satisfied and stroked his beard with a smile.

"Oh, right, there's something else I wanted to tell you."

Liu Bei suddenly remembered something and turned to Liu Feng, saying, "Reports of victory have come from Yuanlong's side. He has breached three fortified villages, forced nine salt merchants to surrender, and the salt affairs in Langya are settled. More than twenty large and small salt merchants have either been killed or surrendered, with only a few fleeing to the north to join Guan Cheng of Donglai. Tens of millions of taels of gold and silver, over two hundred thousand shi of grain, thousands of swords, bows, and crossbows, more than thirty sets of iron armor, over one hundred warhorses, and countless other valuables and weapons have been seized. Now that everything in Langya is settled, he has ordered Zilong's troops to march south together with Jia Kui and Jia Bin's troops. Judging by the time, they should be able to arrive before the start of the war." It is already August, and Liu Bei's side is preparing to start the war in September, or at the latest, October.

It was autumn harvest time, and crops were ripe. As long as Yuan Shu did not adopt a scorched-earth policy, there was food available almost everywhere. This truly meant that the enemy had food, which greatly reduced the logistical burden on Xuzhou.

At the same time, it can effectively curb Yuan Shu's ability to defend the city, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.

Of course, Yuan Shu's side wasn't stupid either. The fact that Liu Bei's army had been sharpening their knives for so long without making a move made it obvious what they were planning.

However, this was ultimately an open strategy, and the only way for Yuan Shu's side to break it was to fortify their defenses and scorched earth.

However, this decision was extremely difficult to make, and the initiative still lay with Liu Bei.

Liu Bei's side launched a multi-pronged attack using waterways this time. The biggest advantage is that even if the attack plan is suddenly stopped, the loss of supplies will not be too great, because most of the supplies are gathered in strategic locations, and they can still be used in the attack next year.

But Yuan Shu was not so clever. If he really wiped out all the wheat, millet, and rice, what would we eat next year?
Yuan Shu not only faced the cost of a complete crop failure, but also had to provide additional grain to help the people in their time of need. How could Yuan Shu possibly afford this?

Therefore, Yuan Shu could only hold out, unrealistically hoping that Ruyin could rely on its strong and tall city walls to block Liu Bei's army, thus buying Yuan Shu time to gather reinforcements and harvest grain.

"Good! Great!"

This adds a full six thousand men, including a thousand cavalry.

However, Liu Feng quickly inquired, "I wonder what the losses are for Uncle Zilong, Liang Dao, and Jia Bin's troops?"

Liu Bei was in a good mood and replied with a smile, "It's all thanks to your artillery crew. Yuanlong also had plenty of time. He had the cavalry cover the battlefield and then captured the fortified villages one by one, so the casualties were really not high. Zilong's troops lost more than 300 men, Jia Kui's troops lost more than 100 men, but Jia Bin's Three Rivers Knights suffered no losses, only a few warhorses."

The combined casualties of Zilong and Jia Kui amounted to over five hundred, accounting for one-tenth of the total number of soldiers, demonstrating the intensity of the battle.

However, considering the casualties during the late Eastern Han Dynasty, which often reached 30% to 40%, this casualty rate is actually not high.

Liu Feng couldn't help but recall what he had done in Qu County. Fortunately, he hadn't been arrogant or underestimated his enemies. It was also because these wealthy salt merchants in Qu County were used to being arrogant and domineering that Liu Feng was able to devise a plan to trap and wipe them out in Qu County.

If the plan had failed and these salt merchants had fled back to their fortified villages outside the city, given the overwhelming strength of the salt merchants from Qu County compared to those from Langya, I doubt I could have taken them down without suffering several thousand casualties.

Without a counterweight catapult, the difficulty would be even greater, and there was even a risk of capsizing and all efforts being in vain.

Seeing that Liu Feng remained silent, Liu Bei assumed that he was distressed by the losses suffered by Jia Kui's troops and quickly comforted him, "Don't worry, I have already replenished the troops for Zilong and the others. Jia Kui's troops have also been expanded to two thousand men. In order to maintain their fighting strength, I have also specially added several hundred veterans to them, and the rest are all reserves."

Liu Feng smiled but didn't explain. After thinking for a moment, he discussed with Liu Bei, "Father, I would like to make a slight adjustment to the strategy."

Liu Bei immediately became interested: "Oh, what idea do you have now?"

"I have been reviewing the intelligence reports, and after Mr. Fengxiao has sorted them out, the information coming from Jiangdong is that Sun Ce's elite troops are still converging on the southern part of Wu County. Obviously, their target is still the southern part of Wu, especially Xu Gong, the governor of Wu County, and then Kuaiji County."

At this point, Liu Feng nodded to Guo Jia in respect.

Guo Jia returned the greeting with a smile, and then Liu Feng continued, "Since Sun Ce has no chance of returning to the river, the troops we have stationed in Guangling are a waste."

The forces currently assembled in Guangling consist of 4,000 men under Gao Shun, 4,000 men under Xu Sheng, and 4,000 men under Pan Zhang, plus 6,000 naval troops under Zhou, Jiang, Gan, and Dong. In addition, 4,000 men under Zhao Yun, 2,000 men under Jia Kui, 2,000 men under Xu Ding, and 1,000 cavalry under Jia Bin will also be dispatched.

These troops, combined, numbered a full 27,000, enough to cross the river directly and launch a full-scale attack on Sun Ce in Jiangdong.

However, Liu Bei's group did not want to launch a campaign to cross the river.

Because the operation was too large, it also violated the principle of dividing forces.

The reason Guangling assembled such a large army was in preparation for Sun Ce's likely return to Jiangbei, or at least to gather a large force in Qu'a, in order to contain the Guangling army.

But now Sun Ce is actually showing a face of betrayal against Yuan Shu, only caring about continuing to expand his territory, showing no sign of returning to Yuan Shu's aid, and not even making any move to restrain the Guangling army.

It would be a waste of manpower for the Guangling Legion to remain in Guangling.

“Father, I intend to use Gao Shun’s troops, plus Gan Ning’s and Dong Xi’s troops, totaling 7,000 men, to defend Guangling. Uncle Zilong’s troops will be transferred to my third uncle’s troops on the eastern route, and Uncle Yide’s troops can be increased to 10,000 men, putting greater pressure on Yuan Shu’s eastern front. I will personally lead Pan Zhang, Xu Sheng, Jia Kui, Xu Ding, Jia Bin, and Zhou and Jiang’s troops to Dongcheng.”

Liu Feng explained in detail: "If we can annihilate Yuan Shu's reinforcements in one battle, that would be the best outcome. If not, with infantry as our support, I can advance and retreat freely, and even encircle Shouchun from the south."

When Liu Bei and Xun You heard this, their brows furrowed.

Because the changes proposed by Liu Feng were too risky, as mentioned before, the troops in the eastern city were actually without reinforcements and had little support, which is why they were in danger of becoming prey if they failed to strike.

Now Liu Feng actually wants to increase the troop strength of the East City route, which is clearly illogical.

But as Liu Feng explained, the others' brows relaxed again, clearly convinced by him.

"The greatest danger along the East City route is the lack of reinforcements and supplies, as there is no fortified city to rely on."

Liu Feng explained to Liu Bei, Xun You, and others: "However, I have reinforced the city with more than 10,000 infantrymen, which will make the eastern route not only have the effect of a surprise attack but also the momentum of a regular army. In addition, with the accompanying artillery, it will be even more capable of attacking cities and capturing strongholds. In this way, I can freely choose to attack strong cities and use them as my own strongholds. This is a strategy to turn the tables."

Liu Feng's words sounded arrogant and overbearing, but according to the intelligence, his statement was actually correct.

Yuan Shu had already amassed his forces, and apart from Shouchun and possible reinforcements, there were no large troop formations left in the two counties north of the Yangtze River.

The reinforcements from Dongcheng numbered eight thousand cavalry, twelve thousand infantry, and three thousand naval troops. Such a massive force was not afraid of even encountering Yuan Shu's field army.

Faced with hollowed-out cities, how could Liu Feng possibly fail to capture them with such a large force, coupled with artillery support?

Meanwhile, because there are no major rivers to rely on for transporting grain, military equipment and other supplies along the East City Road, the autumn harvest season has brought plenty of grain outside the city, which has inadvertently solved the biggest danger for the East City Road.

"Young Master's plan is brilliant!"

Xun You was the first to speak in support of Liu Feng: "My lord, please see, if the young master can annihilate Yuan Shu's reinforcements gathering in the south as planned, then we can easily take Hefei and Chengde, and head north along the Fei River, directly attacking south of Shouchun. Even if we fail to annihilate Yuan Shu's reinforcements, the young master only needs to take Chengde and station 6,000 infantry and cavalry there, including 3,000 cavalry, to block the enemy south of Chengde. The young master can still lead the main force north to Shouchun and join forces with you at the city walls of Shouchun."

Liu Bei looked at the map on the table and listened to Xun You's analysis, nodding repeatedly.

The biggest flaw in the original plan was that the cavalry corps that attacked from the east failed to catch the reinforcements gathered by Yuan Shu, allowing the reinforcements to enter Shouchun, or they turned the tables and captured the cavalry from the east.

But now that Liu Feng has made this change, he has plugged this last loophole.

No matter how the battle unfolds, Liu Bei's army is already in an invincible position.

The situation Yuan Shu faced was simply a matter of being slightly worse off than being much worse off.

If reinforcements don't arrive, that's a minor disadvantage.

If reinforcements are wiped out, that's a huge disadvantage.

(End of this chapter)