The Three Kingdoms: Zhaolie, the strategist, and the rise of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 139: Li Yi is angry, and the princes are afraid; he lives in peace and the world is quiet
Zhou Yu threw a military report obtained from the front line in everyone's face.

The general content is that Xuzhou promoted military farming and expanded the military horse throughout the territory.

He also traded with Yuan Tan in Qingzhou in the north and Liu Biao in Jingzhou, and stockpiled large amounts of food and fodder.

In addition, Dantu and Guangling are separated by a river.

The Sun family discovered that the number of ships in Guangling had increased significantly.

Compared with last year, it has more than doubled.

This is just what we see on the surface. As for how much Xuzhou is producing behind the scenes, it remains unknown.

Sun Ce had a solemn expression on his face, and he walked down the stairs slowly with his hands behind his back.

"I think Liu Bei has great talent and is very popular among the people. He will never be inferior to others."

"I have met Li Yi, who is beside him, once before."

"He is a man of great strategic ability and command skills, and his plans are unpredictable."

"The combination of these two is like adding wings to a tiger."

"Those who are combined with Zhang Fei and Guan Yu are both enemies of ten thousand people. They are used as Liu Bei's minions and will serve him till death."

How can I allow others to snore on my bed?

Sun Ce ambitiously planned to pacify Jiangdong.

But he found a huge monster appearing on his north side.

In just over two years, Xuzhou has emerged from the shadow of the Second Massacre and is full of vitality, with all things flourishing.

This rapidly growing strength even shocked Sun Ce.

Zhou Yu felt a little depressed and frowned as he said:
"Liu Xuande rose from the north, with a heroic spirit, and had Li Yi, a man of extraordinary strategy, and Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, generals of great stature."

"I have never had water in my life. Now that I have taken over Xuzhou, I am afraid that the dragon will get clouds and rain, and will not be confined to the pond after all."

"We should plan for it early!"

Originally, everyone was still preparing for the attack on Xu Gong of Wujun, but they did not expect that Liu Bei's skyrocketing strength was completely beyond their control.

Sun Ce's heart sank, and he continued:

"Last year when I was in Guangling, Li Ziyu promised me an alliance and invited me to fight Yuan Shu together."

"Although I have not agreed, I have not rejected it either. I will just have to wait and see when the time is right."

"But now it seems that Liu Bei has Li Yi as his assistant. It seems that he no longer needs to borrow the power of my Sun family to challenge Yuan Shu."

Everyone looked at each other, frowned and said nothing.

Zhou Yu sang along:
"What will we do when Sun is no longer of any use to Xuzhou?"

When these words were spoken, all the generals felt nervous.

You should know that Qu'a and Dantu where they were were only separated from Guangling in Xuzhou by a river.

If Liu Bei really wanted to destroy them, he only needed to send a strong force, which would arrive the next day.

According to Sun's original idea, Xuzhou had to deal with Yuan Shu and Cao Cao in the west.

Especially Cao Cao of Yanzhou. Logically speaking, the Cao and Liu families were the ones who should have fought each other.

Let’s not talk about the geographical conflict between Yan and Xu states.

Cao Cao had attacked Xuzhou twice before and killed many people wherever he went. He had a deep hatred for Xuzhou and it was bound to be a fight to the death.

But the two families actually reconciled and did not fight.

Instead, they intended to join forces to attack Yuan Shu.

If Cao and Liu joined forces to attack Yuan Shu, even if his family was wealthy with three generations of officials, he would probably be unable to resist.

"Yuan Gonglu cannot accomplish anything. I am here with my troops, and I don't want to let him take over my post."

"But my Sun family and Yuan Shu are closely related. If Yuan Shu is really swallowed up by Cao and Liu."

"With my current strength, it is difficult to resist these two."

Sun Ce could feel that Cao Cao and Liu Bei were no ordinary people.

If these two people join forces, I will have little chance of winning against them.

"My Lord, what do you mean?"

Cheng Pu stood up and took the initiative to ask.

Sun Ce looked around before slowly opening his mouth and saying:
"I intend to turn westward, first attack Liu Yao in Danyang, and then take Xu Gong in Wujun."

what! ?

As soon as these words were spoken, they immediately caused a huge uproar.

The policy of moving south was decided last year.

In order to march south to attack Xu Gong, all supplies were stored in Wu County in the south during the one-year rest period.

If there is a sudden U-turn, the transportation of materials alone will be delayed for nearly half a year.

No one understood Sun Ce's decision.

In particular, his uncle Wu Jing immediately stood up and advised Sun Ce to remain calm.

"Bofu, please don't act on impulse!"

"War is a matter of great importance to a country, and we must be cautious."

"Since last year, we have decided to march south, first attacking Youquan Xugong, and then Wucheng Yan Baihu."

"If both are defeated, we can pursue the victory and take Qiantang directly."

"If Qiantang is conquered, the road to Kuaiji will be opened to the south."

"If we take Wujun and Kuaiji, Danyang and Yuzhang will also be in our pocket."

"The land of Jiangdong will be taken by the Sun family sooner or later."

"Why did you suddenly change your mind and decide to attack Danyang?"

Wu Jing is the most powerful among Sun Ce's troops, and he is also Sun Ce's elder.

He had a lot of say in the army, and even veteran generals from Sun Jian's time such as Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, and Han Dang had to respect him.

Sun Ce rubbed his temple with his hand. He considered this decision for a long time and made a great determination.

“…This is also a helpless move.”

Sun Ce frowned and said in a deep voice:
"Gongjin has already made it very clear just now that Xuzhou will soon launch an attack on Yuan Shu."

"If this is true, then Chen Yuanlong will definitely send troops from Guangling, cross the river and attack Jiujiang from behind."

"If we march our army south, Qu'a and Dantu will be exposed to the people of Xuzhou."

“We have to guard against this.”

Sun Ce explained the reason for the sudden change of strategy.

If they went south, the backs of Qu'a and Dantu would be exposed to the people of Xuzhou.

Who can guarantee that with Chen Yuanlong's ambition, he won't be able to destroy them by chance?
Sun Ce didn't want to go south to fight and end up having the crystal stolen from his home.

Therefore, he would rather take the risk of transferring supplies and waste another half a year than expose his back to Xuzhou.

It’s not that Sun Ce didn’t dare to take risks, but that Liu Bei was too ambitious and he had to be on guard.

In particular, Zhou Yu also emphasized many times that Liu Bei of Xuzhou was a far more formidable and powerful opponent than Yuan Shu of Huainan.

If necessary, it is not impossible to unite with Yuan Shu and expel the people of Xuzhou.

"When the lips and teeth are gone, they are interdependent..."

Sun Ce put his hands behind his back and said, "Cao and Liu have made peace and are attacking Yuan Shu together. If we don't lend a hand, we will be the next one."

This is what Sun Ce is most worried about.

Yuan Shu's family is powerful and Sun Ce is still dependent on him.

If he was killed, could the Sun family withstand the attacks from Cao and Liu?
Therefore, it was neither reasonable nor moral for Sun Ce to sit idly by and watch Huainan.

Not to mention, once Guangling sent troops to cut off the Yangtze River.

Then Sun Ce immediately lost contact with Jiangbei.

In Jiangbei, he also had many clan generals leading troops under Yuan Shu.

Especially in Liyang, Sun Fu and Sun Xiang had more than 10,000 troops there.

To take a step back, even if Yuan Shu was really destroyed, his death would not be a pity.

But his clan members couldn't die there either.

These are all the capital for Sun Ce’s future entrepreneurship!
"Bofu's proposal is inappropriate!"

Wu Jing refuted Sun Ce's strategic proposal.

"This move is really too risky."

"The Xuzhou army is powerful. Whether they can cross the river or not is beyond the control of our Sun family."

"For now, the only solution is to wait and see whether Huainan succeeds or fails."

"If Yuan Shu wins, that would be great."

"If Liu Bei wins, he will also lose a lot of vitality."

Yuan Shu was in a dominant position in Huainan, with well-trained troops and sufficient food.

According to conservative estimates, 50,000 to 60,000 troops can be mobilized.

The art of war says, if your force is ten, surround it; if your force is five, attack it; if your force is twice as many, divide it.

Yuan Shu had previously failed in his attacks on Guangling because he was the attacker.

Now if he becomes the defender, especially since he owns two major counties, Jiujiang and Lujiang, he will have depth and defense.

Liu Bei is also not easy to defeat.

According to Wu Jing's estimation, if Liu Bei really wanted to completely destroy Yuan Shu.

At least 100,000 people will be needed.

And the war will last at least a year.

You know, war hurts civilians the most.

If Xuzhou really mobilizes 100,000 people, how much energy will you consume?
How long will it take to recover?
After destroying Huainan, how much energy will be left to fight the Sun family?
This period can buy at least another year.

"As long as we march fast enough, we will be able to capture Wujun and Kuaiji within two years."

"If we hurry up, we can get Yuzhang."

"On the contrary, if Yuan Shu is really destroyed by Xuzhou, we should just sit back and wait and see."

"This is a great opportunity for us to break away from the Yuan family. We really shouldn't wade into this muddy water."

Wu Jing had served as Yuan Shu's military commander, the Lieutenant General, and had been under his command for many years, so he knew very well that this man could not accomplish anything.

It was only a matter of time before he was destroyed, so there was no need for Sun Ce to waste his troops to rescue him.

"As for the troops of Sun Xiang and Sun Fu in Liyang, they can also take advantage of the war to escape from Yuan Shu."

"Send them across the river to join us."

"If the people of Xuzhou really want to go to war with Yuan Shu, there is no reason for them to stop our Sun clan's troops."

Everyone nodded, one more enemy is worse than one more friend.

There was no need for Xuzhou to detain the Sun family members and not release them when fighting Yuan Shu.

"Zhu Zhi is currently in Qiantang. He will go north to attack Youquan, and we will go south from Wuxian to cooperate, attacking from both north and south."

"Xu Gong is definitely not our opponent."

"Then we will go south along Wujun and attack Wang Lang. This will not only expand our territory, but also connect us to the southern part of Danyang." "This is a good opportunity to take Danyang."

"If we turn around and fight west now, not only will it be difficult to get supplies, but we will also be trapped in half of Wu County."

"It's too risky."

"Even if we can really guard against the people of Xuzhou, if Xuzhou really wants to send more troops to attack us, what can we do?"

"Go south now, it's worth the risk!"

As soon as he finished speaking, veteran generals such as Cheng Pu and Huang Gai stood up to respond.

Sun Ce looked solemn. He was feeling uneasy and always felt that allowing the Xuzhou army to move south was not a good thing.

"…This is the only way for now."

Sun Ce sighed and prayed silently in his heart that he would not regret his decision today in the future.

"But we need to send someone to tell Liyang."

"Just say that if the Xuzhou army really attacks, there is no need to resist, just let them enter Liyang."

"I don't think Chen Yuanlong, who has captured Liyang for nothing, will block the river and prevent Sun Xiang and his group from crossing."

The generals followed his advice and went on to prepare for the war heading south.

Cheng Pu personally crossed the river to Liyang and informed Sun Xiang and others not to resist the Xuzhou army.

It's a waste of troops.

……

……

Time flies, and soon it is April.

According to Li Yi's idea of launching a full-scale war after the autumn harvest, Xuzhou had less than half a year to prepare.

During this period, Li Yi's main activity was to recruit civilians on a large scale with Lu Su, Kong Rong and others.

This is also one of the reasons why war costs a lot of money. The most important thing in war is logistics.

You have to use civilian laborers for logistics, and you have to pay them.

And most importantly, the conscription of civilian laborers would lead to a shortage of civilian labor, thus triggering a series of social conflicts.

Therefore, the larger the scale of the war and the longer it lasts, the more damage it will do to the national strength.

In order to prepare for the all-out war to overthrow Yuan Shu, Li Yi spent three full years before he dared to take action.

First of all, just to take care of Chen Yuanlong's troops in Guangling, at least 15,000 civilians had to be conscripted.

As for the main battlefield in the direction of Runan, there were at least thirty to fifty thousand civilian laborers.

Some of them can be directly replaced by the Yellow Turban soldiers captured in Runan before.

In addition to the conscription of laborers, the most important thing is the supply of food and fodder, which is also for logistical support.

In the past few months, Li Yi entrusted Lu Su, the commander of the agricultural department, to strictly control food rations and prohibit the outflow of food.

He also asked Mi Zhu, the deputy governor, to allocate another sum of money to buy a large amount of meat such as pork, beef, mutton, chicken, duck, and eggs.

The purpose is to provide soldiers with extra meals and supplement protein.

The soldiers are undergoing high-intensity training every day. If they don’t eat better, they will inevitably complain.

In addition, battlefield equipment such as ordnance, armor, and catapults are also being built in full swing.

The expenditure in March alone was as high as more than 15 million yuan.

Liu Bei had never fought such a large-scale war in his life and never realized that a large-scale war would be so expensive.

I still feel a little pain in my heart.

But Li Yi came out to persuade him that he must grit his teeth and endure it for the sake of the war in Huainan.

Xuzhou’s big move must have alarmed the surrounding princes.

The first was Yuan Shao in the north, who discovered that Liu Bei had mobilized a large number of troops in Xuzhou and stockpiled a large amount of food and equipment.

There must be a big move coming.

Yuan Shao and Liu Bei are now allies, and he believes that Liu Bei is not here to fight him.

But he was surprised to find that the number of troops that Xuzhou could mobilize was beyond his imagination.

This doesn't seem like the kind of troops that can be mobilized in Xuzhou, which has suffered two massacres.

"Liu Xuande is famous for his bravery and is very popular among the people in Xuzhou."

"Before that, he recommended my son as a talented person, and I tacitly agreed to let him take over Xuzhou."

"It seems that his power in Xuzhou is not comparable to that of two years ago. Should we still maintain our alliance with Liu Bei?"

Yuan Shao summoned all the ministers to the main hall to discuss matters.

Xu You and Li Yi had a very good relationship. Not long ago, Li Yi sent someone to deliver a few ox carts loaded with money and grain.

Please ask Xu You to say a few good words to Lord Yuan.

He also assured Xu You that Xuzhou had never thought of competing with Hebei for supremacy.

It was because Yuan Shu committed atrocities that Xuzhou could not bear to see the suffering of the people, so it punished the criminal.

This is also for the sake of Lord Yuan...

After receiving benefits from Li Yi, Xu You was already very happy.

In addition, Li Yi spoke with certainty, repeatedly stating that Xuzhou was far inferior to Hebei.

Li Yi was a mediocre talent from the countryside, far away from the counselors in Hebei. How could he dare to look north?
Xu You then felt more assured and advised Yuan Shao:

"General Liu is in Xuzhou now. He has done nothing wrong. Why are you sending troops to him?"

"Besides, Xuzhou mobilized its troops to attack Yuan Shu, which is also a good move for you, my Lord."

"Yuan Shu has been in Huainan for many years. He has a strong army and sufficient food. How can Liu Xuande be easily defeated?"

"When two tigers fight, one of them will be injured."

"No matter who wins or loses, Hebei will benefit."

Yuan Shao heard this and thought it made sense, so he asked Xu You:
"According to Ziyuan's opinion, how should we place Liu Xuande of Xuzhou?"

Xu You stroked his beard and grinned:

"Now Liu Xuande has mobilized all the troops in Xuzhou to attack Yuan Shu. We can just sit back and wait and see."

"In my humble opinion, we might as well secretly provide Liu Xuande with money, food and weapons to help him attack Yuan Shu."

"Firstly, it can balance the power of Huainan and Xuzhou."

"Secondly, Liu Xuande will no longer have to worry about anything when he sees that Hebei is helping him. He can now focus on attacking Yuan Shu."

"If Yuan Shu is destroyed, Xuzhou and Huainan will be devastated, and both tigers will be injured."

"By that time, you will have destroyed Gongsun Zan and unified the north."

"Then we can safely cross the river, attack Henan, and unify the country."

"This destiny lies in Hebei, I hope you will take notice of it!"

Yuan Shao was overjoyed when he heard this, as this was exactly what he wanted to hear.

In fact, Yuan always felt that he was destined to succeed.

In history, Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor.

Although Yuan Shao did not proclaim himself emperor, he had this idea.

He also specifically tested the attitudes of the officials in Hebei, but was met with strong opposition.

Yuan Shao could only put the matter aside for the time being in shame.

Unexpectedly, the Battle of Guandu broke out later, and Yuan Shao fell seriously ill and never had the chance to become emperor again.

"good!"

"In this case, Ziyuan can go and take care of this matter as soon as possible."

"Prepare the weapons, money and food and send them to Xuzhou."

"First, to show Hebei's sincerity, and second, to help them attack Yuan Shu."

Yuan Shao waved his hand, showing his true character as a local tyrant.

Xu You was overjoyed when he heard this and nodded repeatedly.

Secretly, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly. Now he could embezzle some more money!

The response from Hebei came quickly.

Liu Bei was surprised and delighted by Yuan Shao's attitude.

He was originally worried that Xuzhou's display of overly strong mobilization capabilities would arouse Yuan Shao's fear.

This caused Xuzhou to hesitate and not dare to declare a full-scale war against Yuan Shu.

Unexpectedly, Yuan Shao unexpectedly sent money, food and military equipment as a gesture of goodwill.

This was indeed beyond Liu Bei's expectations.

Li Yi explained to Lao Liu:
"The factional struggle in Hebei was fierce, especially between the Hebei faction and the Ruying faction."

"This caused Yuan Shao to suffer from information asymmetry."

"Xu You, with whom we had a good relationship before, was greedy and unruly, allowing him to whisper in Yuan Shao's ears."

"Yuan Shao was in a high position and could not see clearly, so he underestimated the strength of my Xuzhou."

He paused slightly and thought about the situation in Xuzhou that he had explained to Xu You.

It was half true, so he added:

"Lies are not terrible. In this world, only half of the truth is told."

"It is often more terrible than a lie."

Liu Bei nodded and listened attentively.

"The military advisor's diplomatic strategy is truly amazing."

"In the past, when Su Qin and Zhang Yi used the art of diplomacy, their anger made the princes afraid, and their peace made the whole world quiet."

"Now, when I look at the military advisors' strategies and decisions, their ideas are far superior to those of Zhang and Su."

"Isn't this a true man?"

Liu Bei was deeply impressed by the diplomatic strategy planned by Li Yi.

He originally thought that it would be good enough if he could make Yuan Shao keep his troops in place for the time being.

But I didn't expect that Yuan Shao would send money and food as aid, which was truly a pleasant surprise.

Zhang Yi treated King Huai of Chu like a baby back then, and looking at Li Yi's strategy today, it is no less than that.

However, compared with Zhang Yi, his military advisor was good at nothing more than diplomacy.

He can also manage domestic affairs, develop military farms, engage in production, and lead troops independently in external affairs.

Even if Zhang Yi and Su Qin were resurrected, Liu Bei would never change them.

"We don't need to worry about the princes along Yuan Shao's side. Now there is another group of princes that we need to work hard on."

Li Yi continued speaking.

Liu Bei blinked his eyes, and immediately understood what was meant, and uttered two words:

"Cao Cao!"

……

(End of this chapter)