Tiger Guards

Chapter 448 Outstanding Talents of Huainan
Shouchun City is surrounded by mountains and rivers, with three sides encircled by mountains, or hills and highlands.

Only the terrain to the west, towards Shaopi, is relatively flat, which makes Shouchun City very suitable for flooding.

This was originally an important town in the Chu region. After being repaired and developed during the Han Dynasty, the city is now well-fortified and has a relatively complete defense system.

After Yuan Shu abandoned his army at Beishan and fled to Shouchun, although many of the Beishan garrison also fled into the city of Shouchun, the morale of the army suddenly collapsed and could not be restored.

What made the defenders and the people in the city even more desperate was that Lü Bu dispatched Gao Shun and Wei Yue to lead troops to besiege the city. Gao Shun set up a camp at Bagong Mountain in the south of the city, while Wei Yue seized the camp at Beishan Mountain, forming a pincer attack from the north and south.

At the same time, Lü Bu dispatched special personnel to measure the drop and trend of the Fei River east of Shouchun City, indicating his intention to flood Shouchun.

Compared to the losses incurred in a direct assault on Yuan Shu's stronghold, Lü Bu was willing to bear public criticism in order to carry out a devastating flood siege.

Exchanging labor for casualties and extinction has always been a very profitable business.

As for the revenue from capturing prisoners and people... the problem now is that the entire Central Plains, Nanyang, and even the two provinces of Jing and Yang are short of food!

The three counties of Jiangdong and Yuzhang must have grain reserves, as this area has never lacked grain.

Even in the face of severe flooding, they could still catch fish and shrimp to stave off hunger.

The problem is that the collection system is not sound and the cost of collecting grain is too high... Liu Ai, the governor of Yangzhou, may not necessarily be determined to carry out this task.

Therefore, in Lü Bu's eyes, the population of Shouchun was equivalent to human merit.

After the conflict with Zhao Ji, Lü Bu no longer cared about capturing prisoners or carrying out any reckoning.

If Zhao Ji suddenly voices his support for the other side during the reckoning, then it will be Zhao Ji's turn to suffer.

Rather than being caught in a dilemma, it would be better to flood Shouchun and end it all.

It saved him trouble, and it also saved the officials in the court who had brothers, nephews and sons involved in the rebellion... Although he was very sad, he was also much more at ease.

Yuan Shu dared to launch two simultaneous water attacks in Xuzhou, and Zhao Ji also used the Ying River to break through Yuan Shu's Ruyang camp; so why couldn't Lü Bu flood Shouchun?
The atmosphere in Shouchun was extremely oppressive. Even after Yuan Shu fled back into the city, he remained optimistic, not believing that Lü Bu could successfully launch the flood.

It is currently the high-water season of the Fei River, and Lü Bu lacks sufficient manpower to cut off the water and build a dam.

As for military supplies... unfortunately, with all sides in chaos and fighting, the already disaster-stricken year has been exacerbated by the war, resulting in reduced production. How long can Lü Bu hold out?
People like Yuan Shu, who grew up in a privileged environment, have a way of thinking that is simply beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.

If Yuan Shu can hold out until Lü Bu's army runs out of food and is forced to retreat, then he can once again dominate the region between Xu and Yang.

Zang Hong was able to hold Dongwu City for a year even when he was starving, so Yuan Shu could certainly do the same!
He had experienced three major ups and downs, and compared to the most dangerous time, this was really nothing.

If Lü Bu were to breach Shouchun City, all the gentry and nobles within would be doomed, and their families would also be implicated.

Therefore, Yuan Shu was not afraid of betrayal. He had deeply bound everyone to his own power, giving him enough confidence to deal with Lü Bu.

This kind of tempering in dire straits can actually enhance the cohesion of his entire team, leading them to completely embark on the path of replacing the Han dynasty.

Either you win and become a founding hero, or you fail and become a corpse left to rot in the wilderness.

Even if they fail, the family will erase their information, never mention it to outsiders, and never let their descendants know.

When the world was in chaos, they sought refuge in the Jianghuai region, where they died amidst the chaos of war and disease.

Therefore, Lü Bu focused on besieging the city and preparing for the flood; in order to succeed in one fell swoop, he issued military orders to Liu Ai and Liu Bei to collect grain.

With the grain supplied by Xu and Yang provinces, Lü Bu will surely be able to kill Yuan Shu.

As for the grain in Yuzhou... this is the imperial court's last emergency grain, and Lü Bu cannot touch it.

Even if the front lines run out of food and a retreat is necessary, only the elite troops will be able to obtain limited rations to keep them from starving.

Only by holding these strategic emergency food supplies could Yuan Shao's radical and adventurous ideas be dispelled.

After receiving their official appointments from the court, the brothers Liu Xun and Liu Xie intensified their efforts to annex the two commanderies of Huainan.

The powerful clans of Huainan also actively sought to attach themselves to and align themselves with them, as relying on Liu Xun, who had also experienced betrayal, was clearly safer than following Lü Bu.

If you align yourself with Lü Bu now, you're sure to end up in a bad situation.

Shouchun City is a meat grinder; if you get too close, Lü Bu will throw you into it.

Each family's troops are accumulated little by little; how can they be easily destroyed?
Some powerful figures would rather lead their troops to abandon their well-established estates than leave Lü Bu, lest they be forcibly conscripted by the imperial court.

For example, Lu Su had previously been appointed by Yuan Shu as the magistrate of Guangling East City.

Dongcheng is located in the southwest corner of Guangling County, and is a protruding part that is incorporated into Jiujiang County. It is considered to be the area under Yuan Shu's actual control.

Lu Su's place of origin is also quite interesting. He was a local wealthy family in the eastern part of Guangling, but his family was only considered to be of humble origin. His father and grandfather did not even hold the positions of county magistrate, official, or scholar.

Having experienced the Yellow Turban Rebellion in his youth, he practiced swordsmanship and horsemanship, befriended local heroes, distributed his wealth to help the poor, and recruited refugees, keeping them as his henchmen. Now, seeing that Yuan Shu's power was waning, he led more than three hundred households of his followers to migrate south. The old and weak pushed the carts ahead, while Lu Su personally led more than three hundred well-equipped followers in formation, slowly following behind.

As he expected, the new prefect Liu Xie, upon hearing the news, dispatched troops from the prefecture to pursue and suppress him.

The hastily rebuilt county troops were also wavering in their stance. They rushed over but did not see any valuables or supplies. Instead, they saw Lu Su leading more than three hundred people in an orderly manner along the road.

How could the county soldiers possibly take on a tough task that offers no reward?

They could only try to intimidate Lu Su and his men by taking advantage of their power; if that didn't work, they could extort some money.

Unexpectedly, Lu Su formed a battle formation and erected shields in the road. These troops were all carrying bows and crossbows, which made the county soldiers even more hesitant to take risks.

Lu Su remained unmoved by either soft or hard tactics, and the county soldiers, seeing that they could not gain any advantage, could only watch as Lu Su's troops disappeared from sight.

After shaking off the entanglement of the county soldiers, Lu Su quickly crossed the Chu River, joined his family and entourage, and arrived at the north bank of the Yangtze River that night. The next day, he crossed the river to Moling in Danyang County to seek refuge with Zhou Yu.

Zhou Yu had previously served as the magistrate of Juchao under Yuan Shu. When his army passed through Dongcheng, they ran out of food and planned to borrow some grain from Lu Su, a local powerful figure.

Lu Su had two granaries at home, and he casually pointed to one and gave it to Zhou Yu.

This bold and unrestrained personality suited Zhou Yu's taste perfectly, and the two hit it off immediately, almost to the point of swearing an oath of brotherhood.

Lu Su's journey south across the Yangtze River was partly influenced by Zhou Yu's invitation to him.

However, Lu Su was quite famous among the younger generation, and even Liu Ye wrote a letter hoping that Lu Su could come and join him.

Lu Su rejected Liu Ye. Liu Ye was a descendant of a royal prince, and was skilled in swordsmanship at a young age. In addition, he was outstanding in appearance and was a young talent. Many people around him also attached themselves to Liu Ye.

But they are still quite young, and their momentum is too slow to build.

After Liu Xie, the new prefect, took office in Hefei, he only recruited Liu Ye as a subordinate official of the prefecture... It was Liu Ye's idea to send troops to pursue Lu Su.

However, no one expected that Lu Su had already prepared a plan, decisively abandoning his family business and having a proper evacuation plan.

The newly formed county troops lacked the ability to execute orders, which led Lu Su to lead his troops to flee.

Between the Yangtze and Huai rivers, there were many small, powerful families like Lu Su who had gathered hundreds of households.

Therefore, Liu Ye didn't care much about Lu Su; he had bigger goals.

To gain a stronger voice in the spoils distribution, one must annex as many powerful clans as possible before Lü Bu and Yuan Shu's decisive battle.

If one hesitates or is slow, one will not be able to quickly gather strength.

After Lü Bu wins, forget about dividing the spoils... they'll most likely become targets of Lü Bu's purge!

It wasn't that Liu Ye underestimated Lu Su, but rather that there were too many people like Lu Su. Young heroes like Lu Su, who came from humble backgrounds and lacked influence among the scholars of Jianghuai, were not worth Liu Ye's much effort.

Before a violent collision occurs, no one knows the other's true abilities.

Which big or small tycoon or general doesn't have a resounding reputation?
One cannot judge someone's talent simply based on their reputation, nor can one judge them based on the number of their followers.

Official positions are ultimately limited. Liu Ye himself was only a county clerk, not even a full-fledged clerk. Where would he get so many official positions to appoint others?

The fact that the new prefect Liu Xie was able to recruit the eighteen-year-old Liu Ye as his deputy clerk already shows that he highly values ​​Liu Ye.

It was already quite remarkable that Liu Ye dared to scheme against Lu Su, and there was nothing he could do about it if he failed.

If Liu Xie had been given a month or two to reorganize the county troops, and if the county troops had a higher level of discipline, then Lu Su would not have been able to get away so easily.

If they are successfully intercepted, they will have to change their attitude and serve the new prefect.

They might also be killed by Liu Ye or Liu Xie for not kneeling properly or speaking too loudly, thus losing their followers.

For impoverished families like Lu Su's, there was no problem of assimilation when they were annexed.

In short, in the first confrontation between Liu Ye and Lu Su, these two friends on the surface, Lu Su emerged unscathed.

The advantage of young strategists like Zhou Yu and Lu Su over other generals and warlords lies in their sharper judgment and execution.

If they sense something is wrong, they are willing to abandon their ancestral property and are determined to fight the local troops... so they can often avoid the suffering of being annexed.

With the complete collapse of Yuan Shu's power, the scholars from humble backgrounds in the Huai River region, who had been suppressed by Yuan Shu and traditional powerful families, began to emerge.

As for Jiang Ji, who will have a huge influence in the future, he is currently just a nine-year-old child who is taking refuge in Hefei with his clansmen and fellow villagers to avoid the retaliation and burning and killing by the Chen State's chaotic soldiers.

(End of this chapter)