Tiger Guards

Chapter 301 The Only Choice
With Yuan Shu retreating to Huainan and Cao Cao being defeated and forced to retreat to Jiyin, the previously chaotic situation in the Central Plains became clearer.

This also put immense diplomatic pressure on Sun Ce. He desperately needed external recognition, otherwise he risked being turned against him by Yuan Shu at any time.

He commanded more than 30,000 men, most of whose families lived in Jiangdong.

In other words, Yuan Shu is not yet ready, and when Yuan Shu launches his full-scale attack, Sun Ce will be unable to stop him.

What's most infuriating is that Zhao Ji values ​​alliances and is determined to support Liu Bei, which leaves Sun Ce feeling helpless.

The west gate of Xiapi, at the White Gate Tower.

Sun Ce, along with his generals Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, Sun He, Cheng Pu, Han Dang, Taishi Ci, Jiang Qin, and others, climbed the tower to enjoy the view and discuss their next move.

Sun Ce sat facing west, raising his cup to drink alone. His family was also in Jiangdong; how could he not be worried?

When Xiapi was captured, it was inevitable that Liu Bei would have to retreat.

Given Yuan Shu's character, he would definitely pursue them relentlessly, then suddenly appear, claiming to be acting on imperial orders to rescue Liu Bei and Chen Deng from their perilous situation; and then return the hostages to Liu Bei and the others. Logically and morally, he should become the ruler of Xuzhou.

Unfortunately, Cao Cao intercepted the first wave of messengers and then sold them to his arch-enemy Yuan Shu. The second and third waves of messengers also arrived at Zhao Ji's army.

It wasn't that Cao Cao hated Sun Ce that much; it was just that Cao Cao often divided his troops and had experienced the rebellion in Yanzhou, so he instinctively hated Sun Ce's behavior.

Suppressing Sun Ce would be beneficial to the stability of Cao Cao's internal affairs... This was almost a common bottom line for Cao Cao, Yuan Shu, Zhao Ji, Yuan Shao, Lü Bu, and others.

You feel happy when you turn an enemy general to defect, but you don't feel happy when you turn one of your own generals to defect.

More detestable than being turned or being turned is a general like Sun Ce who establishes himself on the front lines and plots rebellion.

The second wave of messengers, including his cousin Sun Gao, was lost. It was only the third wave of messengers, including Zhang Hong, who, by virtue of being a disciple of the Zhao family, managed to get in front of Zhao Ji. He used the pretense of attacking Cao Cao as his sincerity and, after much persuasion, managed to get Zhao Ji the titles of Chancellor of Pengcheng and General Who Destroys the Barbarians.

He now commands over 30,000 troops from Jiangdong and Huaisi, plus over 10,000 troops from Xuzhou who have been coerced by Cao Bao and other Danyang soldiers, plus over 10,000 men under Chen Deng's command.

Despite having a total force of fifty to sixty thousand and grain reserves in Xiapi and Pengcheng, Sun Ce was unable to move an inch.

Xiapi City was a huge prison, making it difficult for troops from Jiangdong to mutini or desert.

By all accounts, Cao Bao's Danyang soldiers were also from Jiangdong.

Cao Bao and the Danyang soldiers rebelled because they did so out of respect for Yuan Shu, not because of Sun Ce.

Therefore, Cao Bao's Danyang troops are currently in a precarious position, and are the type to leave at the first opportunity.

Although Chen Deng handed over his fourth and fifth brothers to Sun Ce as hostages, what use would it be to hold Chen Deng hostages if the various armies in Xiapi were in chaos?
Therefore, after Sun Ce split up his 50,000 to 60,000 men, the only ones he could truly use were Sun Jian's old troops, the Huai and Si soldiers recruited by Sun Ce before crossing the river, and his hometown soldiers.

Any additional troops would only be a burden, consuming the money and provisions of Xiapi and Pengcheng.

If these people didn't resist, Sun Ce would have packed them up and sold them into slavery.

The army must be reduced in size and burden; otherwise, relying on the grain reserves in Xiapi and Pengcheng, it will not last until next spring.

In order to win over and stabilize the morale of his troops, Sun Ce had no choice but to follow the old strategies of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao, and has already begun to send people to search for large tombs around Xiapi and Pengcheng.

When circumstances became unavoidable, the tombs and mausoleums of kings, nobles, and high-ranking officials had to be excavated to alleviate the shortage of military supplies.

He also wanted to apologize to Yuan Shu and clear up the misunderstanding... but after killing Yuan Shu's envoy Zhang Cheng, there was no room for maneuver in the short term.

At present, he is facing a life-or-death situation.

If he could obtain the legitimate official position of Chancellor of Pengcheng and also acquire his father's former position as General Who Destroys the Enemy, he would immediately be able to establish a firm foothold.

At the same time, the troops were streamlined, and those who did not want to stay were immediately dismissed and put down roots in Pengcheng, just like Liu Bei and Tao Qian did back then, to help the people of Xuzhou and Liu Bei guard the western gate.

In that case, we would have to face Cao Cao directly on the upper reaches of the Si River.

From then on, he would be subject to the dual leadership of the imperial court and Xuzhou, which would greatly restrict and limit him. How could this compare to the carefree and unrestrained life he had in Jiangdong?

This is one path; the other path is to switch sides and join forces with Yuan Shao in the Central Plains, allying with Cao Cao.

Once Cao Cao provides him with an army, Sun Ce will be able to forcefully suppress internal dissidents and drive them to wear down Liu Bei until Liu Bei is driven out.

By then, he will be able to barely hold onto Xuzhou.

However, Zhao Ji and Lü Bu also made it very clear that after Zhao Ji killed Li Jue and Guo Si, he would definitely lead his troops to the Central Plains to defend the emperor again and join forces with Lü Bu.

It is highly likely that they will sail down the Ji River to fight another decisive battle with Cao Cao.

If Sun Ce disobeys, he will abandon Cao Cao and sail down the Bian River. At that time, Liu Bei and Zang Ba will come from the directions of Langya and Donglai. How will he resist them?

Should he hope for reinforcements from Cao Cao, or rely on Yuan Shu? He might not even be able to wait until Zhao Ji attacks him next year; Yuan Shu will dismantle him this winter.

This meeting, ostensibly to discuss the choice of course, was actually aimed at persuading Cheng Pu and others to temporarily back down and submit to the imperial court.

Cheng Pu and the others had no objections; given the situation in the Central Plains, as long as they could eat their fill and not starve, that was enough.

Forcing development is too much to ask of people.

Sun Ce's window of opportunity to grow strong was very short, and it has already been missed; there's no use in regretting it now.

There was no need to oppose Sun Ce now, since we didn't oppose him then.

But there's one thing to worry about: after accepting an official position from the imperial court... if the court wants to transfer people from Sun Ce's faction, will you give them to him?
If we don't give it to them, they'll immediately be labeled traitors, and the situation will become even more dire.

They took it apart, even if it was just a tiny bit.

For example, Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, Taishi Ci, and others. When the court wanted to recruit them, Sun Ce was unhappy. But what if these people pretended to be unhappy, but were actually very happy?

Poor and humble couples are sad.

At this moment, Sun Ce encountered the greatest predicament of his life, which was even more unbearable than when he was a hostage under Yuan Shu.

At that time, Yuan Shu had Sun Ce under his control and ordered Sun Ben to take command of Sun Jian's former subordinates and become the governor of Yu Province. If Sun Ben disobeyed, he could use Sun Ce as a bargaining chip.

When Sun Ce established his own independent regime, Yuan Shu first mobilized Sun Ben, Sun Ce's cousin, along with Xu Kun, Sun Ce's cousin, and Zhu Zhi, to obey orders, abandon Sun Ce, and sail south.

Sun Ben, Xu Kun, and Zhu Zhi all abandoned him, which dealt a major blow to Sun Ce's confidence.

During the banquet, only Zhang Zhao stood up and clearly supported aligning with the imperial court, while the military commanders remained silent, which made Sun Ce feel as if he were standing on the edge of an abyss.

Zhang Zhao instinctively hated Cao Cao. He was from Pengcheng, and Cao Cao had massacred Pengcheng. This blood feud had only been going on for two years, how could he easily forget it?
Zhang Zhao also had his reasons: "Lu Bu and Zhao Yuansi are brave soldiers from the border regions who have never respected the court. If they form a father-in-law and son-in-law alliance, they will be no different from Li Jue and Guo Si. In my opinion, the day when they oppress the officials and mistreat the emperor is not far off. General, you should garrison Pengcheng and wait for the imperial edict to punish the rebels."

This is still a path, at least there's hope.

Who wouldn't want to serve the emperor to punish the disobedient?

Look at Zhao Ji, who suddenly appeared out of nowhere and beat Yuan Shao so badly that he dared not fight back.

Sun Ce, still holding his cup in contemplation, looked at Zhang Hong and asked, "What does Mr. Zigang think?"

“I am a disciple of the Zhao family, and I should not slander my former master.”

Zhang Hong began by saying, “But looking at the likes of Dong Zhuo and Li Jue, it is inevitable that the border warriors are crude and violent. However, if you, General, take Pengcheng and rely on the resources and manpower of Xuzhou, you cannot ally with Cao Cao. If you rely solely on Pengcheng, you will inevitably be weak if you raise an army to punish the traitors in the future.”

Sun Ce nodded: "This is also what I'm worried about. Lü Bu and Zhao Ji are powerful and domineering. If we cannot unite with Yuan Shao and Cao Mengde, it will be difficult to succeed, and it will only endanger the lives of our officers and soldiers."

As for Zhao Ji's request to attack Cao Cao, it is possible to agree, and it is not difficult to put on a show, but don't expect to actually exert any force.

Zhang Hong then said, "Why not befriend the King of Chen?"

Zhang Zhao also spoke up: "That's absolutely right. Both Lü Bu and Zhao Ji rely on Prince Chen's provisions to be able to run rampant in the Central Plains. Given Lü Bu's character, once he entered the court and seized power, how could he possibly allow Prince Chen to rule alongside him?"

In order to win over Prince Chen, Zhao Ji set a precedent in the world by appointing Prince Chen as Grand General. How could a Grand General not be in charge of the affairs of the Secretariat?

Therefore, it should be a condition that Zhao Ji agreed to when Prince Chen entered the court to govern.

But Zhao Ji wanted to retreat to Bingzhou. Why should Lü Bu keep his promise?

After considering all the options, none of them were suitable to be allies, but King Chen was the perfect fit.

King Chen also had enough resources to support Sun Ce. With nearly a million people in Chen, replenishing troops and supplies, Sun Ce was confident that he could fight Lü Bu again.

Not only him, but even Sun Jian's former subordinates dared to fight Lü Bu again.

At this moment, Cheng Pu spoke up: "General, Lü Bu is short-sighted and ruthless, and he will bring about his own destruction sooner or later. We might as well temporarily obey the imperial decree and take refuge in Pengcheng. As Mr. Zibu said, we should befriend the King of Chen and join him in raising an army to punish the traitor in the future."

Taishi Ci was a surrendered general, and as the last seat, he did not express his opinion.

Sun Ce looked around at everyone and, seeing that they all agreed, said, "In that case, I will now submit a memorial to the court."

He then went to see Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong: "I will also trouble you, Mr. Zibu and Mr. Zigang, to go to Liu Bei and Chen Yuanlong to express my intentions."

"Here."

(End of this chapter)