After learning that the four surrounding counties were very dissatisfied with him and began to recruit troops to expand the army, Yuan Shu began to feel that there were some things that needed attention, even though he looked down upon these people.
Yan Xiang and Yang Hong kept suggesting that he should immediately break through the encirclement of the four surrounding counties and open up a wider living space, otherwise he would be surrounded sooner or later. Yuan Shu also viewed this problem in this way, and his initial goal was to attack Luoyang and overthrow it.
Liu Bei's tyranny.
So he held a military meeting to discuss how to attack.
At the meeting, everyone reached a unanimous conclusion that the attack on Yingchuan County should be put last, otherwise it would immediately arouse Liu Bei's vigilance. Yuan Shu should not directly conflict with Liu Bei at the moment.
Yuan Shu was a little unhappy about this, but thinking about the proud soldiers under Liu Bei's command, he had to agree with this view.
So they decided to attack Chen State, Pei State, and Nanyang County.
Yuan Shu coveted Nanyang County because Nanyang County was the richest, but Yan Xiang did not suggest this.
"Nanyang County is the land of the great Han Dynasty. Although it is rich, it is of great significance and has many wealthy families. Once it is attacked, it will definitely cause a reaction from the Luoyang court."
This reason was accepted, so Nanyang County was also temporarily excluded.
Then only Pei Guo and Chen Guo are left.
These two things don't matter. Yuan Shu and others made an evaluation and thought that the Chen State was richer than the Pei State. However, it was said that the Chen State's Prime Minister Luo Jun was quite capable, and the Chen King Liu Chong was good at riding and shooting, and he was a guy with some fighting ability.
During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Chen State also faced many dangers, but they were saved with the joint efforts of these two people. Therefore, both Yan Xiang and Yang Hong believed that Chen State was not easy to attack, and they should choose Pei State, a soft persimmon, to attack.
Yuan Shu recognized that Pei Guo was a soft persimmon, but he also believed that Chen Guo should be his meal, because he was really short of money now. It was not easy to raise an army of 30,000 people. He needed to expand his own army.
Territory and get more resources.
By capturing these two counties, he can increase his troops by at least 20,000. Then, he can launch an attack on Yingchuan County and Nanyang County. After swallowing these two counties, he can directly attack Luoyang to challenge Liu Bei.
This is what Yuan Shu planned.
Yan Xiang and Yang Hong didn't know Yuan Shu's psychological expectations, so they began to help Yuan Shu plan how to annex Pei State. However, at the same time, these two people also repeatedly warned Yuan Shu that he could not harm the king of the clan, and could only capture him at most, and then pay tribute.
Wait for it.
Fan Pi, the Prime Minister of the State of Pei, was not a very talented person, and his official reputation in the State of Pei was not good. As a Confucian scholar, he had no experience in fighting, so he was the kind of soft persimmon that is easy to control.
Although he was allowed to recruit 5,000 troops for defense, he did not have many capable men under his command to carry out this somewhat difficult task, and Yuan Shu planned a surprise attack.
Fan Pi also lacked the sense of crisis. He felt that with the permission and deterrence of the imperial court, coupled with an army of 5,000 people, Yuan Shu would not dare to act recklessly.
But the question is, is Yuan Gongli a person who follows rules and is afraid of getting into trouble?
The boss of the world, the second child, the third child, Yuan Gongli has only suffered losses at the hands of Liu Bei, and has never been afraid of anyone else, let alone a mere county guard. He is planning to fall out with the Luoyang court, and he will care about other people.
?
So Yuan Shu's army, led by Zhonglang General Zhang Xun and Colonel Ji Ling, directly attacked Xiangxian County, easily defeated the unprepared Xiangxian County, defeated Fan Pi's army, captured Fan Pi, and then killed him.
The unlucky Fan Pi didn't last even a day.
The state of Pei was unable to resist Yuan Shu's army and was occupied by Yuan Shu. The king of Pei, Liu Cong, who was in poor health, was frightened and died of fright.
Yuan Shu looted the warehouses and arsenals of Pei State, occupied Pei State, and won the surprise attack.
On the other side, Yuan Shu also sent an army to attack Chen State. This army was led by Zhonglang General Sun Jian and was responsible for attacking Chen State, which was more closely guarded.
Because Chen State's Prime Minister Luo Jun was more vigilant and had experience in dealing with the Yellow Turban Army, Sun Jian led his army into Chen State and approached Chen County. He was discovered in advance, and then encountered strong resistance from Chen King Liu Chong and Luo Jun.
They stayed in Chen County and did not go out to fight. They also sent people to the Luoyang court to ask for help, trying to hold off until Liu Bei came to help.
Sun Jian led his troops to surround Chen County, cutting off traffic inside and outside Chen County, and cutting off the woodcutting and mining roads, leaving the county without any replenishment.
Before the war, although Chen Guo was prepared, they did not think that Yuan Shu had the courage to actually go to war. They believed that under the threat of the Luoyang court, Yuan Shu did not dare to act recklessly, so they did not carry out the highest level of war preparations.
So when we learned about Yuan Shu's surprise attack, it was already too late.
At this time, the city did not have enough food and material reserves, and it was full of people, so consumption was huge. However, within three to five days, there was already a shortage of food and materials in the city.
Chen Wang Liu Chong was like a fiery man and could not bear the humiliation. He went to the city gate and scolded Yuan Shu for his ambition and asked him if he really wanted to rebel against the Han Dynasty. He received no answer. Instead, Sun Jian sent someone to mock him as a coward, which made him even more angry.
Afterwards, Liu Chong decided to go out of the city to fight to the death with Sun Jian.
Luo Jun firmly stopped him and asked Liu Chong to wait for Liu Bei's reinforcements, but Liu Chong also had his own opinions.
"There is not much food in the city. In a few days, we will be chewing bark and eating grass. By then, people will be panicked and the army will lose its combat effectiveness. Once the reinforcements are delayed, we will be trapped here. It is better to take advantage of the fact that the soldiers have sufficient physical strength.
, fight to the death, maybe there is still a way to survive."
Luo Jun thought about it and couldn't help but think that what Liu Chong said was reasonable, so he decided that Liu Chong would lead his troops out of the city to fight to the death, and he and the county would live or die together.
If Liu Chong wins, it will be good. If Liu Chong dies in battle, he will never survive alone.
Liu Chong did a pre-war mobilization, letting the soldiers have enough food and water, and equipped them with all the equipment they could, and then went out of the city to die with Sun Jian. Sun Jian was overjoyed. The thing he was least afraid of was death, and the thing he feared most was turtle shells.
, he was also worried that something would change in Chi Ze, who would have thought that the other party would take the initiative to leave the city.
The results are self-evident.
Liu Chong was indeed brave. He personally led the cavalry to attack Sun Jian's position. He rushed left and right, bent his bow and arrows, and shot several of Sun Jian's guards to death. Sun Jian was asked by his guards to retreat a little.
To avoid sharp edges.
But Sun Jian didn't want to.
Liu Chong was brave, wouldn't he Jiangdong Tiger be brave?
So Sun Jian led his guards to launch a counterattack and attacked Liu Chong head-on. Liu Chong was eventually defeated and was besieged by Sun Jian's men, and was finally killed by Sun Jian himself.
When Liu Chong died in battle, Chen's army could not hold on any longer. Their numbers were still small after all. Although they had the cooperation of the troops at the top of the city, they were still unable to resist and were eventually annihilated.
Seeing the defeat of the army and the death of Liu Chong, Luo Jun was heartbroken. In Sun Jian's ultimatum, he decided to open the city and surrender in exchange for the fact that Sun Jian could not harm the people in the city.
Sun Jian agreed.
So Luo Jun ordered the city gates to be opened. After Sun Jian's army entered the city, Luo Jun stood on the top of the city and stabbed himself to death. Then he fell to the bottom of the city and fulfilled his promise.
This happened on August 21, the sixth year of Zhongping.
In fact, Liu Chong and Luo Jun were still too anxious and not calm enough. As long as they persisted for a few more days, they would see reinforcements from Chenliu County.
The people they sent out have arrived at Chenliu County and met Zhang Miao, the governor of Chenliu County.
At this time, Zhang Miao also requested reinforcements from Liu Bei. After Liu Bei considered it, he sent Ma Teng, who was promoted to captain, to lead a battalion of elite troops who had been reorganized and trained to arrive at Chenliu County to cheer for Zhang Miao.
At that time, Chenliu County could provide at least 6,000 men. After learning about Yuan Shu's attack on Chen State, he was indeed prepared to send troops to support Chen State - he still understood the truth of lips dying and teeth cold.
So he handed over all his troops to Ma Teng, and Ma Teng led the troops to Chen State to support Liu Chong and Luo Jun. However, after three days of marching, Ma Teng got the news that Chen State had been conquered.
Liu Chong died in battle, Luo Jun committed suicide, and Chen State was invaded by Yuan Shu. The person who carried out this task was Sun Jian.
After learning the news, Ma Teng was a little surprised. He immediately sent people back to Luoyang to inform Liu Bei of the incident, and then stationed troops in Fugou County to prevent Yuan Shu's army from attacking Chenliu County.
After Yuan Shu swallowed up Chen State and Pei State one after another, he temporarily lost the ability to make progress. He needed enough time and energy to digest these two counties and expand his military strength.
It was during this period that news spread that Yuan Shu attacked Chen and Pei and killed two clan kings in succession. Everyone who heard the news was shocked.
On the one hand, they realized that Yuan Shu was quite capable; on the other hand, they noticed that Yuan Shu was completely unruly.
After killing your relatives in the Han Dynasty, do you want to correct the chaos and attack Liu Bei, or do you want to destroy the Han Dynasty and become the emperor yourself?
Yuan Shu's ambition was gradually exposed with his atrocities, which aroused panic and hostility from surrounding states and counties.
When the think tank under Yuan Shu learned about this matter, they were frightened.
They had agreed beforehand that they could not harm the clan king, but could only capture them. They must save their lives and ensure their safety, otherwise something bad would happen.