Tiger Guards

Chapter 619 Coming out in full force
The second day of the tenth month in the fourth year of Jian'an.

As the solar term of Beginning of Winter approaches, Sun Ce personally led over ten thousand elite troops upstream along the Yellow River.

With the north wind blowing, all 122 warships of Sun Ce's army turned their sails to take advantage of the wind.

His flagship was a three-tiered, five-masted warship with sails raised to the maximum extent on both the main and auxiliary masts, allowing the warship to maintain a speed comparable to that of the surrounding warships.

These hundred-odd warships were linked together, with a distance of about thirty paces between each other and a distance of about twenty paces between each other, arranged in rows of three, resembling a long dragon.

His army was divided into three combat groups: the front, the middle and the rear. The commander of the front was Lieutenant General Cheng Pu.

As they sailed, Cheng Pu turned his head to look north, observing the Liyang Water Fortress that was being expanded on the north bank, where the flags and outlines of large warships could be seen.

Cheng Pu gazed around for a long time, looking northeast, and couldn't help but miss his hometown.

Sun Ce, with his central army group in tow, had no time to enjoy the cold wind in the command room or on the magpie platform. Instead, he stayed in the cabin studying the map, occasionally scribbling military symbols on the leather map with an easily erasable charcoal pencil.

"My lord, we are about to sail into Baimajin."

Inside the magpie chamber, a military officer bent down and stuck his head into the cabin, shouting at Sun Ce.

Sun Ce simply nodded without responding.

He had already investigated all the crossings along the Yellow River, and since Zhang Yang had abandoned most of the counties in Yanzhou, there were no officials or powerful figures in any region who were deliberately sabotaging or obstructing them.

Sun Ce continued to study the map, contemplating various possible scenarios for the war.

Zhang Yang was insignificant. Sun Ce had only one goal: to find a strategic location that could block the rebel forces of Lü and Zhao, forcing them to launch a strong attack, and then use defense to wear down their morale and fighting spirit.

As long as the offensive of the Lü-Zhao rebels is stopped and the defensive line is maintained, the morale of the allied forces as a whole can slowly rise.

After all, Zhao Ji suppressed the morale of the allied forces as a whole, something that even Sun Ce himself could not avoid, let alone the vast number of officials and soldiers from all sides.

In other words, Zhao Ji was arrogant and proud, and at the same time, he was in a competitive relationship with Lü Bu.

Otherwise, if Zhao Ji led his light troops in a surprise attack, it's almost safe to say that he could have traveled unimpeded from Luoyang to Xudu, because no one would dare to stop him!

As the warship fleet gradually arrived at Baimajin, Sun Ce's arrogant and fierce generals disdained to build water fortifications and were not afraid of Gan Ning's troops who had previously roamed the Yellow River basin.

If Gan Ning dares to come, Sun Ce will not be able to defend or counterattack using the water fortifications; he will definitely launch a full-scale attack to annihilate Gan Ning.

They weren't even afraid of Zhao Ji's land attack... because no matter how powerful Zhao Ji's arrows were, they would have a hard time piercing the ship's planks.

No matter how fierce Zhao Ji's knights were, they couldn't possibly leap onto the deck on horseback.

Therefore, it was the naval warships that gave Sun Ce the confidence to confront Zhao Ji.

To maintain this naval advantage, Sun Ce has begun collecting large timbers from the deep mountains of Jiaodong, planning to build more and larger warships.

In Baima City near Baima Ford, Sun Ce established a temporary frontline command center.

His follow-up troops, led by Sun Ben, Xu Kun, Zhou Yu, Li Shu, and Taishi Ci, have already entered Cangting and are ready to set sail at any time to go upstream and participate in the battles of Chenliu and Xingyang.

Only by capturing these two places can we have the opportunity to besiege Luoyang.

We don't need to annihilate Lü Bu, but if we can fight the Lü-Zhao rebels to a standstill this year, we can break free from the suppression of Zhao Ji in terms of morale.

Next year, the fifth year of Jian'an, will be the time for the decisive battle against the Lü-Zhao rebels... In fact, blocking the Lü-Zhao rebels and preventing them from going east or south is itself a victory.

This war has become a matter of life and death for all parties involved.

Sun Ce didn't know what others thought, but if he didn't want to submit to Zhao Ji and live in his shadow for the rest of his life, then he could only fight back with all his might and strive for a chance to contend for the world!

In Baima City, the people had already been slaughtered once by Cao Ren after the city was breached, and now the few remaining people had all fled, leaving the city completely empty.

Sun Ce's central army soldiers poured into various parts of Baima City, collecting usable building materials to repair the collapsed city walls and construct various defensive fortifications.

Their work efficiency wasn't very high, because after nightfall they would definitely return to their warships to avoid a sneak attack by light cavalry from the Lü Zhao rebels. Sun Ce inspected the ruins of Baima City; he had seen many abandoned cities like this.

Fortunately, the remains left over from the massacre in Baima City had been cleaned up and buried by prisoners sent by Zhao Ji when he withdrew his troops. Therefore, there were only burned-down houses in Baima City, but no large areas of collapsed skeletons.

However, regardless of whether the wells in White Horse City are new or old, no one dares to drink from them.

Therefore, the first thing Sun Ce's army did upon entering the city was to begin digging new wells near the northwest corner of the city.

The closer to the northwest corner, the cleaner the underground water veins are, and they will not be contaminated by other wells in the city used for burying corpses.

When Cao Ren massacred the city, he had no intention of killing people and filling wells. It was the men and women of the city who chose to jump into the wells, faced with the choice between being humiliated and killed and jumping into the wells.

Whether it's the army or any other organization, when they breach a city and carry out a massacre, they show absolutely no mercy.

At that point, killing you with a quick and decisive blow would be a sign of pity.

After all, humans are thinking beings and are often very curious.

Normally, they are restrained, and even if their behavior is violent, there is still a certain order and moral bottom line to speak of; but when they break through the city and massacre the city, after completely breaking the restraints, they are even more brutal than tigers and leopards!

Cao Cao's army was skilled at massacring entire cities, and Sun Ce's army was no less experienced in this regard.

Therefore, the first thing to do upon entering the city was to dig fresh, clean, reliable, and safe wells.

This was experience accumulated during the previous crossing of the river to conquer Jiangdong, and it had become a traditional behavior and collective understanding of Sun Ce's army.

As Sun Ce was inspecting the progress of the well excavation, a military officer rushed over: "My lord, a scout reports that Zhang Yang, the governor of Yanzhou, has abandoned the city and fled. Liu Bei has divided his troops to occupy Chenliu and captured more than 13,000 soldiers, men and women from Yanzhou. He has also led the majority of his troops across the Honggou Canal to pursue Zhang Yang's defeated army."

"This is a rebel trick."

Upon hearing this, Sun Ce's expression became decisive, and he laughed heartily: "The news of Liu Bei's defeat is not far off. Order all the troops in Cangting to set off immediately upon receiving the order!"

"Here!"

The military officers responded loudly, unconcerned about whether Liu Bei was defeated or victorious.

Since we've already deployed troops, we must fight to the bitter end!
Sun Ce paced back and forth, then turned to look at a messenger specializing in Hebei: "Immediately go to Ye City and tell Yuan Shao that there should be no delay. Please send troops as soon as possible to join me in conquering Hanoi!"

Only by capturing Hanoi can the anti-Zhao coalition establish a foothold and force the Lü-Zhao rebels to come to Hanoi for a decisive battle.

Only by taking advantage of the terrain and city defenses can we wear down the morale of the Lü-Zhao rebels.

As for attacking Luoyang or Hulao Pass... well, Sun Ce had no interest in that.

With Lü and Zhao abandoning Chenliu, they have essentially given up Yanzhou and the Central Plains. Therefore, it is highly likely that they will abandon Xingyang next.

This was definitely not Zhao Ji's idea; it must have been Lü Bu's.

Lu Bu did this to shrink the defensive line. Shortening the supply lines and other such things were secondary. The key was that this way, he didn't need to divide his troops to guard various strongholds, and Lu Bu could concentrate more mobile forces.

Clenching your fist and making it bulge out clearly means you're about to punch someone hard.

Given the obvious situation, Sun Ce really didn't want to fight a battle meticulously planned by Lü Bu before he could address the weakness in his cavalry.

If Liu Bei wants to fight, then let Liu Bei, Liu Biao, Liu Xun, and the others fight.

Perhaps these people had reasons to fight, but Sun Ce truly did not.

He mobilized all his forces not to fight the Lü-Zhao rebels for a short time, but to help the allied forces stabilize the war situation.

Only by getting bogged down in a prolonged stalemate can he gain the advantage of coming from behind.

(End of this chapter)