Tiger Guards

Chapter 400 Descendants of Lord Hu
As night fell, Zhao Jijun completed the headhunting and merit verification.

The fallen officers and soldiers were also cremated outside the camp, and the flames illuminated the road.

Along the road, cartloads of Yuan army heads, all of which had been examined, were being carried by horses. Knights with torches stood guard on both sides of the road as these horses moved in single file, transporting the heads to Sun Ce's army.

Zhao Ji had no interest in building a mound of heads here; he only wanted to return these heads to Yuan Shu.

As for the bodies, the prisoners were instructed to dig a large pit and bury them together.

Sun Yi remained in Zhao Ji's army as a hostage, while Sun Fu returned to Sun Ce's army with the transport team.

More than 5,300 heads were beheaded, and it took more than 100 vehicles to load them all.

On the road, Sun Fu rode his steed at the head of the procession. A slight breeze stirred in the sultry night, and the lush roadside trees swayed and rustled along the way.

The knights escorting the vehicle were used to it, but Sun Fu and his men felt a chill run down their spines as a cold wind whispered.

Sun Ce's main camp surrounded Chen County on three sides. On the other side of the Honggou Canal, separated from Chen County, were the Yellow Turban Army forces of four tribes from Qingzhou, led by Guan Hai and Xu He.

Strictly speaking, Chen County had already been besieged by Sun Ce.

But this is, after all, the capital of the Chen Kingdom, which King Chen has carefully managed. The city is tall and fortified, and Sun Ce needs some time to build more siege weapons.

At night, Sun Ce's campfire blazed brightly.

He watched as truckloads of Yuan Jun's heads were unloaded and piled up to the side, clutching Zhao Ji's military order in his hand, his face filled with shock and disbelief.

Zhao Ji enjoyed the absolute advantage of blocking battlefield information; Sun Ce could only know the situation when Zhao Ji wanted him to.

"Are the soldiers of Xizhou really that valiant?"

Sun Ce asked his men, and Taishi Ci and Cheng Pu were ordered to lead troops to guard the upper and lower reaches of the Honggou Canal and block the east and west gates of Chen County.

At this moment, Han Dang, who had fought against the Xizhou soldiers, spoke up: "That's not entirely true. Back when we followed our late lord to conquer Liangzhou, the Liangzhou rebels were numerous, but not very elite. Later, when Dong Zhuo caused chaos, he gathered Qin Hu and other rebels to serve him, and they were no match for our army."

Anyway, their army, which was fighting against Dong Zhuo, advanced from Wankou and made great strides all the way. They were only caught off guard by Hu Zhen and Lü Bu at the beginning, and had to use the Empty City Stratagem to scare the enemy away.

In every subsequent battle, large or small, Sun Jian's troops were fearless and performed even more fiercely than Zhao Ji is now.

Unfortunately, the Yuan clan was too powerful at the time, and Sun Jian was temporarily relying on Yuan Shu, so he was unable to quickly convert and realize his achievements and influence.

When Han Dang mentioned his glorious deeds from back then, his face beamed with a smile; it was a glory he would never forget.

If Sun Jian had been willing to back down and accept Dong Zhuo's ceasefire and peace talks, Sun Ce would have married Dong Bai, and Sun Jian would have become the ruler of Jingchu.

Regardless of how things change across the land, the Sun family's control of Jingchu is enough to observe the changes in the world.

At that time, the power to decide the course of the world changed hands frequently, but it was often in Sun Jian's hands.

This sense of accomplishment is something Han Dang can never forget, and he wants to follow in Sun Ce's footsteps and achieve a similar sense of accomplishment again.

Not only Han Dang, but also the veterans and officers around him were filled with nostalgia.

Even if they regretted it, they couldn't really blame Sun Jian; without Sun Jian, they were nothing.

Without them, Sun Jian could have gathered others and achieved similar results.

For many people today, continuing to follow Sun Ce has become a source of meaning in their lives.

It's not surprising that they were able to follow Sun Jian to serve in various places and wander with Sun Ce in Qing and Xu.

With their abilities, they'll never go hungry, no matter where they go. If they seize an opportunity, they'll surely recreate their former glory and catch up with Zhao Ji.

As for Lü Bu, to many veterans he was nothing more than a defeated general, nothing to be afraid of.

Even Dong Zhuo was driven away by them. Lü Bu, who had the honor of personally killing Dong Zhuo, was nothing special in the eyes of Sun Jian's old subordinates, far inferior to Zhao Ji, who started from scratch.

In their eyes, Zhao Ji and his group were people similar to themselves.

I only envy Zhao Ji for daring to launch the Anyi remonstrance; otherwise, no matter how capable Zhao Ji was, he would have become another Sun Jian.

The veteran generals around Sun Ce recounted and recalled the great achievements of their late lord, and Sun Ce listened patiently with longing in his eyes.

It was precisely because of Sun Jian's brilliant military achievements that all of Sun Jian's former subordinates, from Sun Ce onwards, had a sense of pride and confidence.

This kind of confidence is not easily eroded; as long as it exists, it will not easily submit to other forces.

Sun Ce led his troops to attack Lu Kang and conquer Jiangdong. His victories in every battle further inspired everyone, leading them to believe that Sun Ce would one day catch up with and surpass Sun Jian. Sun Ce would not repeat the mistakes Sun Jian had made.

This is also the source of Sun Ce's confidence to turn against his own side in the face of battle. Even if he had to abandon his family, these former subordinates of Sun Jian would still follow Sun Ce to continue their adventures.

We're all men. After building up our empire, why would we be afraid of not having families?
Amid the murmurs of the crowd, these piled-up heads of Yuan soldiers... were really nothing special; if they were sent to attack, they could achieve similar results.

After seeing off the cavalry transporting the head, Sun Ce asked Sun Fu in detail, "Grand Marshal, what were your gains and losses in this battle?"

"We captured and killed over 13,700 enemies, with only minor losses. When I arrived, the Grand Marshal was cremateing the fallen officers and soldiers, numbering about 400, and there were also fewer than 1,000 wounded soldiers."

These heads were definitely not brought here for Sun Ce to see. It was one thing to intimidate Sun Ce's troops, but the key was to intimidate Yuan Shu and demoralize the garrison of Chen County.

Sun Ce's task was simple: either arrange the heads neatly outside Chen County, or use the catapults he was building to drop them into the city, thus further stimulating and demoralizing the already demoralized army and civilians.

Given the fortified city of Chen County, Sun Ce would not have wanted to attack it if he had a choice.

The fight against the enemy will come at a price, not only more casualties, but also damage to reputation.

Previously, they had raided and plundered Jiangdong, killing indiscriminately... These messy deeds can be attributed to Yuan Shu, but he was only following orders and could therefore shirk some of the blame.

Besides, in a rural area like Jiangdong, killing more or less wouldn't be a big deal to mainstream public opinion in the Central Plains.

Just like Liu Yan's large-scale purge of powerful clans in Yizhou and Zhao Ji's massacre of prominent families in Xizhou, the mainstream public opinion in the Central Plains did not feel the pain, did not feel the pain, and did not take it seriously.

Therefore, in order to make promises to and motivate his soldiers, Sun Ce had to promise them freedom of movement after the city was captured.

If that happens, the soldiers, civilians, men and women in Chen County will be doomed, and this blood feud and infamy can no longer be attributed to Yuan Shu; Sun Ce will have to bear the burden himself.

If we could use psychological tactics to force Yuan Shu to break out of the encirclement... that would be brilliant. Sun Ce loves to pursue fleeing soldiers and even more so to accept their surrender at low cost.

If Chen County can be captured without any losses, with its surrendered troops, population, and accumulated resources, it would be equivalent to Sun Ce instantly gaining a foothold in the Central Plains, allowing him to engage in more assertive negotiations with Zhao Ji and the imperial court.

Sun Ce was actually a very patient person. He listened quietly, and Sun Fu, while recalling, organized his thoughts and recounted everything he had seen and experienced.

Then Sun Ce asked, "In your eyes, does this Grand Marshal have any weaknesses?"

"Like his elder brother, the Grand Marshal is tough on the outside but gentle on the inside. He is good at comforting his officers and soldiers and is very popular with the army. Moreover, he is as brave and skilled in battle as his elder brother. He is truly his elder brother's lifelong rival."

"I share the same view. What I admire most about him is his willingness to abandon the emperor and put him in Lu Bu's hands."

Sun Ce picked up a palm-leaf fan and fanned himself, explaining in detail: "Lu Bu may seem arrogant, but he is actually a self-protective villain. He and the emperor respect each other, which in turn restrains the officials in the court. The officials have ambitions, but they have no way to realize them. As long as Lu Bu is alive, the court will be controlled by Zhao Ji, like a puppet."

Sun Fu listened quietly, and he also felt that the court and Lü Bu had been too peaceful for the past six months.

Since the campaign against Dong Zhuo, the situation in the world has changed too quickly, often leaving people overwhelmed.

Examples like Lü Bu and the imperial court, who quietly cultivated Nanyang, are extremely rare.

It's not fair to say that Lü Bu did anything wrong. If the weather had been favorable this year, and the Nanyang reclamation project had yielded a bumper harvest with full government granaries, you would have known just how much destructive power Lü Bu could unleash.

For Lü Bu, defeating Liu Biao in one fell swoop and then appointing a compliant member of the imperial clan as the governor of Jingzhou would be no difficult task.

But no one expected that Prince Chen would be assassinated, and Yuan Shu would instantly break the deadlock and grow stronger, and then inexplicably establish a title system; while Nanyang, which had suffered a severe drought for three years, was less drought-stricken in the spring and summer, but then the Jianghan rainstorm broke out, causing flooding in six counties of Jingxiang, and the autumn grain was basically ruined, and there was also the spread of disease.

The emperor trusted Lü Bu and implemented Lü Bu's strategy of recuperation, but the weather did not allow it, nor did Yuan Shu allow it, so the war against Yuan Shu broke out.

Sun Fu then asked, "Brother, will our army abandon the State of Chen after this battle?"

"Although the State of Chen is our ancestral homeland, isn't the State of Qi also our ancestral homeland?"

Sun Ce smiled. Both the Yuan and Sun families were descendants of Hu Gongman. The difference was that the Yuan family was a branch of the local royal family of Chen, while the Sun family was a descendant of Tian Huanzi. Because of their meritorious service in battle, they were enfeoffed in Le'an by Duke Jing of Qi and given the surname Sun. Their descendant was Sun Wu.

That's how the Sun family of Beihai came to be.

The origins of the Sun family in various regions are complex. There are Wangsun, various Gongsun, and Changsun, whose surnames were simplified to Sun. However, this branch of the Sun family claims to be descended from Sun Wu. Tracing back to the ancient pre-Qin period, they are naturally descendants of Hu Gongman, and later, a branch of a minor lineage of the royal family of Qi.

If Sun Ce obtains the title of Marquis of Qi promised by Zhao Ji, and becomes the Governor of Qingzhou, after some effort, he will have a bloodline basis to claim the title of King of Qi in the future.

Compared to the remote Qi region of Qingzhou, Chen was a land of constant warfare. Although its population was still quite prosperous, it was no longer worth Sun Ce's attention.

The sacrifice of the Yuan family enabled the full rise of the Sun family... In a way, the Yuan family did justice to their ancestors.

(End of this chapter)