Tiger Guards

Chapter 380 Xu Xiadige
Chen State, Chen County.

Chen County is located on the west bank of the Honggou Canal. As in previous years, the fields outside Chen County are lush and green.

Even though the water level in the Honggou Canal was relatively low, Chen State's sophisticated water conservancy equipment still allowed for continuous water intake, ensuring irrigation of the canal.

Yuan Shu has recently been hosting small banquets every three days and large banquets every five days to entertain scholars, officials and envoys from the two provinces of Yan and Yu.

However, news from the front lines shattered this brief period of luxurious living.

Yuan Shu is now full of ambition and high spirits.

After the strategists were seated, Yuan Shu, still slightly drunk, asked, "How much of the truth is there about Zhao Ji's vanguard taking over Xu County?"

Yan Xiang, Yang Hong, Zheng Hun, Yuan Huan, Zong Cheng, He Kui, Zhang Fan and others gathered together, but none of them were sure if the information was true or false.

Yuan Shu asked whether it was true or not that Zhao Ji's vanguard had entered Xu County, which was definitely true.

In reality, Yuan Shu was asking whether Zhao Ji himself had accompanied the army.

If Zhao Ji leads the central army to follow, it means that Zhao Ji's entire army will come to the front.

Based on Yuan Jun's current deployment, it's unlikely that his force of over 50,000 men will have a high chance of winning.

Currently, Yuan Shu's army is divided into five parts. He personally leads the central army of over 20,000 men in the State of Chen; General Ji Ling commands 30,000 troops and is stationed east of Ruyang City.

Ruyang has roads that intersect in the east, west, north, and south. In the future, this place will be called Zhoukou, a vital transportation hub in the Central Plains.

In this land east of Wankou and west of Chen State, there are four such well-connected transportation hubs.

That is, Yingyin in the northwest, Yanling in the northeast, Ruyang in the southeast, and Yanxian in the southwest.

These four points form a box. Ji Ling is stationed in Ruyang. He can seize grain from Xuxia to the north and block Lü Bu's army from Nanyang to the west by seizing Yanxian.

Ji Ling's long-term garrison in Ruyang was due to two main reasons: first, he needed time to train his troops; second, he did not want to provoke Lü Bu and Zhao Ji.

If we don't actively provoke them, then Lü Bu and Zhao Ji won't send troops. In that case, the eastern Xuzhou battlefield can continue to besiege Xiapi and Pengcheng. After capturing Xuzhou, Liu Xun and Zhang Xun, along with the surrendered troops, can then be transferred to the western battlefield, which will naturally be able to suppress the combined forces of Zhao Ji and Lü Bu in terms of troop strength.

Yuan Shu looked around and, seeing everyone's reactions, understood that Zhao Ji had truly come.

He grew angrier the more he thought about it: "Didn't they say that even if Lü Bu didn't send troops, Zhao Ji would still hold Heluo?"

Yan Xiang cupped his hands and replied, "Your Majesty, Zhao Yuansi has no shortage of wise men from the Western Regions under his command, and they may have already seen through the affairs of Nanyang."

The only explanation is that someone on Zhao Ji's side saw through the situation and took the initiative to break it; it cannot be interpreted as the presence of spies or traitors within their own ranks.

Yuan Shu didn't believe it; he still suspected that there were people around him who were loyal to the Han Dynasty.

Yang Hong also spoke up: "Your Majesty, during the Battle of Chenliu last year, Zhao Yuansi gave Lü Fengxian two thousand fine horses before the battle began. This shows that he is a generous man with a strong sense of righteousness and does not concern himself with trivial gains and losses. Now Lü Fengxian is slow to deploy his troops, but Zhao Yuansi is eager to rescue Xuzhou, so he took the lead in sending troops."

"In that case, I understand."

Yuan Shu's frustration subsided somewhat, and he asked another question: "The counties of Yingchuan have successively fallen under Zhao Ji's command, and he has easily obtained no less than three million shi of wheat and millet. Should our army take advantage of the fact that his various armies have not yet united to launch a full-scale attack and blunt his momentum? Or should we hold Ruyang and Chenxian and wait for the other armies to return to reinforce us?"

The crowd whispered among themselves. Yuan Huan, a man from Fule in Chen State, cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I believe we should immediately order the General of the Rear to attack and seize Langya, forcing Zhao Yuansi to request battle. Our army's fortifications are strong, and under the scorching heat, we can break their momentum."

General Ji Ling was in charge of the vanguard, General Sun Ben was in charge of the rear, General Zhang Xun was in charge of the left, and General Liu Xun was in charge of the right. In addition, there was Sun Xiang, a cousin of Sun Jian, who was appointed as General Who Conquers the South and stationed in Wan City, Jiujiang Commandery, to supervise and monitor Hua Xin.

Sun Xiang was also responsible for turning Sun Jing against Hua Xin, attempting to dismantle Hua Xin's power before the Jingzhou army could.

Ji Ling is currently the most formidable general in the army. In this hot climate, he also has a strong fortified camp. No matter how fierce Zhao Ji's attack is, he will not be able to break through Ji Ling's camp in a short time.

Ji Ling's camp was far superior to Cao Cao's camp in Chenliu.

At that time, Cao Cao set up camp to facilitate his attack on Lü Bu, and did not put much effort into fortifying the camp.

Ji Ling is different. From the beginning, she was determined to hold her ground. She needed to defend not only Zhao Ji, but also Lü Bu.

Since we're already on Yuan Shu's pirate ship, whether we jump ship later or not, the most important thing now is to stop Zhao Ji.

Zhao Ji is different from the others; when he captures these people, he really goes all out.

If they were dead and their bodies were never found, their families and clans could still claim that Yuan Shu had forced them to serve him.

If they were to fall into Zhao Ji's hands alive, their relatives would suffer the consequences of severe torture.

As for whether Zhao Ji would resort to torture, Zhong Yao, Huan Dian, Ding Chong, and Dong Zhao were among those who could offer their opinions.

Yuan Shu was not satisfied with Yuan Huan's opinion, and after looking at the others, he realized that none of them had any good ideas for the time being.

In any case, Ji Ling's garrisoning in Ruyang was a predetermined strategy, and it was impossible for him to be transferred out to execute other tactics. The purpose was to buy time for the subsequent assembly of the main army.

The larger the clash between armies, the more likely they are to resort to unconventional tactics, and most of the time they can only engage in a head-on confrontation.

The biggest challenge now lies here: without the advantage of cavalry, there is no advantage in open field battles. Only by actively avoiding open field battles can we avoid defeat in the decisive battle.

Previously, they could choose whether to implement a scorched-earth policy in the Ruying area.

Even Yuan Shu couldn't make this decision back then, let alone now.

By preserving the grain supplies in the Ruying region, and then assembling a large army to defeat the combined forces of Zhao Ji and Lü Bu with superior numbers, they could pursue the enemy and potentially annihilate them in one battle. However, if a scorched-earth tactic is implemented prematurely, it would completely alienate the people of Yan and Yu, which would be detrimental to both the decisive battle and the subsequent annihilation of Lü Bu and Zhao Ji.

In addition to the allied forces of Zhao Ji and Lü Bu, the enemy also included the allied forces of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao.

Once the news of their victory in the decisive battle spreads, Cao Cao will surely obey Yuan Shao's military orders and lead his troops south to defend the emperor!
To break the deadlock, the only hope is to annihilate Lü Bu in one battle, capture the emperor and his ministers, and then annex Lü Bu's troops. Only then can Cao Cao be crushed or prevented from making any rash moves.

Another problem lies with Liu Bei. Liu Bei cannot surrender, and with the war having progressed to this point, he cannot unilaterally cease hostilities.

If Liu Bei dared to unilaterally cease hostilities, his political credibility would be ruined. Given Liu Bei's status and background, he would not be able to hold onto Xuzhou at all.

At this moment, Yuan Shu was in a difficult situation and could only hope that Ji Ling would perform steadily.

With Ji Ling's army anchored in Ruyang, they could at least hold off Lü Bu's army coming from Wankou and Yanxian; even if Zhao Ji bypassed Ruyang to attack Chenxian, Yuan Shu was confident he could stop Zhao Ji there.

Without eliminating Ji Ling, Zhao Ji's own supply lines would also be insecure.

At the decisive moment, Cao Cao would definitely lead his army south... At such a time, Zhang Yang would not dare to come and watch the battle; if Zhang Yang made any rash moves, he would most likely be annihilated by Cao Cao in open battle.

Therefore, Cao Cao's southward march to observe the battle would indirectly threaten Zhao Ji's supply lines and increase Zhao Ji's grain transport costs.

The meeting failed to produce a solution to Zhao Ji's problem.

Left with no other option, Yuan Shu sent Jin Shang, the former governor of Yanzhou, whom he had been detaining, to negotiate with Zhao Ji.

As for the messenger who was beheaded by Zhao Ji and sent the message to Wandu, he is dead and that's that. In the chaos of the times, Yuan Shu was willing to give him a chance to make a contribution, and he risked his life to do so. There is nothing to regret or feel sorry about.

On the battlefield, countless soldiers die one after another, but how many can achieve merit and become county magistrates?
And what about envoys who came from scholar-official backgrounds?

Doing a good job in diplomacy can easily get you a county magistrate position or a similar official post.

Compared to the high mortality rate and rewards of military service, the low-risk, high-reward job of an envoy is actually quite difficult to find.

There are very few people like Zhao Ji who would kill an envoy.

In Xudu, Zhao Ji inspected the Xuxia Residence in the southern suburbs.

An unexpected person was waiting for him at the mansion; this person was Chen Qun, the mansion's head.

Zhao Ji inspected each warehouse and found no rat holes, but cats and dogs catching rats everywhere, as well as rat traps, which made him very satisfied.

After the inspection was completed, Zhao Ji asked Chen Qun, "You come from a prestigious family, why do you condescend to work in the mansion's storeroom?"

"Reporting to the Grand Marshal, my father has determined that the key to victory or defeat in this year's decisive battle against the Han traitors lies in the promised grain. Therefore, he persuaded the Grand General to appoint me as the Chief of the Imperial Household Department."

Chen Qun cupped his hands and said, "I have been raised by the Han dynasty for generations, and I should naturally have the heart to serve my country. If the Grand General and Grand Marshal are slower to advance than the bandit Yuan, I will burn the grain reserves and perish with the government."

If a million bushels of grain were burned, whoever did it would be regarded as a heinous villain by the people and disaster victims, and their reputation would be completely ruined.

If one does not wish to tarnish the reputation of one's family, then the only option is to die for their cause.

"Your ambition is commendable."

Zhao Ji then asked, "How many brothers do you have in your family?"

"Reporting to the Grand Marshal, there is only one servant here."

Chen Qun paused for a moment, then said, "I also have a younger cousin and a younger cousin. My younger cousin was captured by the general's troops in her early years and her whereabouts are unknown. My brother-in-law was captured while guarding Yingyin and later moved to Taiyuan with the Grand Marshal's troops. We have not corresponded since."

"I've heard your story too; we're in the same boat."

Zhao Ji then said, “Since the family line is small and a great war is about to break out, I hope you can go back to serve your father. As for your sister and brother-in-law, I will also send a letter to inquire about them so that they can be reunited.”

Chen Qun bowed deeply again, saying, "I will accept the position of Grand Secretary of Xuxia and have no reason to fear death."

“I don’t want to be distracted by the food issue. Not only you, but all the officials and guards here will be replaced.”

Zhao Ji bluntly stated, "Zhong Yuanchang died because of me, and now I bear the responsibility for the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of men and women. I cannot trust you. Otherwise, if there is even the slightest rumor, I am afraid I will kill you first to eliminate any potential threat. Go back, take care of your father, and get married and have children as soon as possible."

Chen Qun looked disappointed. He was still unmarried and could only sigh and bow deeply to Zhao Ji, saying, "Yes, sir."

He then removed his black gauze hat and official hat, looked up at the sky and sighed, his figure desolate: "I regret that I cannot join the Grand Marshal in punishing the treacherous minister."

Zhao Ji did not respond, his expression was natural, and he looked at Zhao Jian: "Send a letter to the General's headquarters, stating the matter of Chen Changwen's cousin, requesting the General to investigate and search, and I am willing to pay for her redemption; send another letter back to Jinyang to find Chen Changwen's sister and husband and send them to Luodu for temporary settlement."

"Here."

Zhao Jian agreed and took the initiative to lead Chen Qun away to avoid an awkward situation.

Even if Chen Qun himself went to Zhao Ji's side as a hostage, Zhao Ji would not allow Chen Qun to continue managing the Xuxia Mansion.

A single fire at a critical moment could burn away Zhao Ji's ten years of hard work!

In places like this, only Tiger Step Army soldiers from Hedong can be sent to guard them; no one else can be trusted.

(End of this chapter)