The winter nights in the south of the Yangtze River are equally cold, but without the heavy snowstorms in the north of the Great Wall and in western Xinjiang, the melting moonlight shines like a veil on the courtyard and rocks, and everything around becomes a little hazy. (Baidu Search Literature Museum)
Under the moonlight, the handsome young man's voice was like water, moving smoothly and without joy or sadness.
"Brother wants to go to the Central Plains to fight for supremacy. There are three problems that need to be solved urgently... If the army wants to go north, it must have a way to go. Now there are enemies blocking the road in Huainan and Xuzhou. If the road cannot be opened as soon as possible, everything will be lost. If you want to open it, Roads are based on strength. The population of Jiangdong is limited, and there are many wastes waiting to be renovated. If we want to start from scratch, farmland construction, and production resumption, it will take only three to five years to see the results..."
Zhou Yu sighed softly and said: "The hussar generals are marching across the northern part of the Great Wall, and they are invincible. The generals under their command are also competing for the lead. Although the Hulu used cunning tricks to trap Gongsun Zan, but judging from their momentum, it is difficult to have a bigger attack this time." as.”
Sun Ce wanted to hear Zhou Yu say it all in one breath, but when he heard this sentence, he couldn't help it. He frowned and asked, "Gong Jin thinks Wang Pengju will definitely win?"
"It's hard to say." Zhou Yu's answer was somewhat ambiguous.
Seeing that Sun Ce frowned, he further explained: "Yu has been in Jianghuai for a long time, and he doesn't know much about the border fortress, so he dare not make any rash conclusions. But it is said that this time the Xianbei tribes have eliminated their feuds and joined forces to fight against the enemy, including Liu Yu. Xu You played a great role in mediating. Liu Yu has passed away, but Xu You is still in the Xianbei camp. He has experienced the Hebei War and served as Liu Xuande's military counselor. He should know the risks of a decisive battle for the entire division."
"Gong Jin means..." Sun Ce pondered for a moment, then raised his head and looked directly at Zhou Yu, intent on seeking confirmation, but with a strong sense of reluctance in his tone: "Hu Qi will withdraw from the border to avoid the Qingzhou Army. Edge?"
Compared with Wang Yu's consecutive battles, which scared away hundreds of thousands of barbarian troops, he would rather hear the news that the two armies fought in a certain execution and the Hussars won a complete victory.
Although the latter is surprising, it is commonplace after all. To repel hundreds of thousands of barbarian cavalry, the hussar army itself cannot be completely unscathed, and it is impossible to return to the Central Plains without stopping and fight again. This leaves Jiangdong with room for progress. time.
If it's the former...
Xianbei and Wuhuan launched such a big battle that even Gongsun Zan, the frontier fortress of the Great Wall, was trapped by them, and in the end they didn't take any advantage. Even his hometown was stabbed hard by Zhao Yun, and then he became so gray. Retreating away? The failure to cause enough consumption to the Qingzhou Army was one of the reasons. More importantly, they mobilized troops purely to help Wang Yu, right?
If Xianbei retreated, Gongsun Zan would have been saved by Wang Yu. He was so arrogant and arrogant that he could not show any signs of it. At Jieqiao that day, Gongsun Zan gave the remaining soldiers of Yi Cong to Wang Yu. On the one hand, It is a feeling of shame towards an old brother, but on the other hand, it also means to repay the favor.
Therefore, after the Hebei War, the Gongsun Army still remained independent. It went its own way, but no one made an issue of the Battle of Jieqiao.
This time, Gongsun Zan lost his troops and generals. From any point of view, it was impossible to continue to maintain independence. If Xianbei retreated, for Wang Yu, the purpose of the Northern Expedition would have been successfully achieved.
With the addition of a general who can act independently under his command, Northern Xinjiang will no longer have worries, and he can concentrate all his efforts on managing the Central Plains. Compared with these benefits, with his strong military power and record, he has the reputation of directly scaring away hundreds of thousands of barbarian cavalry. The big shock can almost be ignored.
"Of course." Zhou Yu was well aware of Sun Ce's unwillingness and dissatisfaction, but he did not mean to be roundabout, but said straightforwardly: "Hu Qi's tactics are inherently better than guerrilla warfare. Previously, he could use Qingzhou to extend his troops.
on the front, conduct probing attacks across the board, and now all probing attacks are being carried out in several places.
Frustrated, if they continue to entangle, they will end up with a short attack. Even without Xu You's advice, the Xianbei people's fighting spirit will not be too high. In fact, this will be beneficial. With the restraints of Xianbei and Wuhuan, Wang Yu can win even if
There is no peace in Youzhou and Northern Xinjiang. It is safer to decide the outcome than to decide the outcome in one battle."
Regarding the situation in northern Xinjiang, Zhou Yu was far from what he said. He only knew a little bit, but had worked hard. It is an exaggeration to say that he was more confident than Wang Yu and Gongsun Zan, but compared to Zhuge Liang and others in Qingzhou
His understanding of civil and military affairs is equally profound.
Before the Battle of Youzhou, the Xianbei alliance was only temporary. If this battle was won, these people might soon have another internal conflict in order to compete for the results. However, if they retreat without success, they would face the aggressive hussars.
, they can only unite closely together.
"Wang Qiaoqi's character is a bit... eccentric. He seems to have an unreasonable hatred for the barbarians. That's why he and Gongsun Zan hit it off at first sight in Suanzao that day, and they became friends. The Xianbei people saved their strength and retreated, maybe he will pursue them.
Fight, in this way, the main force in Qingzhou will be contained for a longer period of time, which is beneficial to our army."
Zhou Yu continued his analysis: "Of course, these are Yu's personal opinions and speculations. They may not necessarily be true, but the general direction should be correct. In short, our army does not need to be too pessimistic, nor can we take any chances.
Be wary of arrogance and impetuosity, and prioritize improving yourself..."
As he said that, he looked at Sun Ce, slightly worried.
According to the sworn brother's past temper, the more brilliant Wang Yu's achievements, the more violent the restlessness in his heart will be. That somewhat meaningless battle was one of the manifestations of this emotion.
Zhou Yu can make a very responsible conclusion. As long as Sun Ce's mentality does not change, there will be no hope of winning against Wang Yu.
Fortunately, after that battle, Sun Ce's sharp edge has softened a lot, and he is more able to listen to opinions when encountering problems. But those are the states when facing people or things other than Wang Yu, and Zhou Yu is not the same.
Determine whether the sworn brother will fall into his old ways when he looks at Wang Yu's light again.
"...So, Gong Jin, you also support continuing to attack Jiangxia and increase his strength?" After a moment of silence, Sun Ce dispelled Zhou Yu's concerns with a rhetorical question.
"Jingzhou was least affected by the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Although there were frequent wars afterwards, it never experienced a major war. Moreover, after Liu Jingsheng took over, he adopted a political strategy of ruling by doing nothing, and local powerful people received great preferential treatment.
Over the past few years, the wealth accumulated has been far greater than before. Because of this, Jingzhou has shown a trend of being unable to expand and being able to defend itself in recent years."
Putting his worries aside, Zhou Yu was obviously in a much more excited mood and spoke much faster: "If our army wants to grow rapidly, it must take Jingzhou's money and food!"
War requires resources, which come from two sources: self-production and external plunder.
Zhou Yu is not blindly eager for quick success, but it is too late to rely on his own development. Development requires land and population. Jiangdong is very rich in land, but population is a big problem.
The inherent population of Jiangdong is very small, otherwise the Han Dynasty would not have encircled Yangzhou so large-if you look at the map alone, the area of Yangzhou can be larger than that of Yan, Yu, Qing, and Xu combined.
More than enough.
It can be seen from this that Yangzhou is a vast and sparsely populated place. At present, the territory occupied by the Jiangdong Army is less than half of Yangzhou, and the territory in the Jianghuai area belongs to Yuan Shu.
In the words of celebrities and ministers, population is usually a burden, because one more person means one more mouth to feed.
But when it comes to actual governance, everyone knows that a place with a larger population will be more prosperous and easier to develop, because one more person means one more labor force and one more tax!
Increasing the population is also a difficult and simple proposition. In troubled times, it is very simple. Just take out some food and implement some good governance, and you can gather a large number of refugees. But if there are no refugees, the population alone will multiply and increase.
It will take a long time.
Of course Zhou Yu will not fail to see the benefits of recruiting refugees, and Sun Ce will not be stingy with money and food. But the problem is that after they pacify Jiangdong, there will no longer be large groups of refugees in the Jianghuai area.
The establishment of Sui'an and Linhuai counties has absorbed many homeless refugees in a short period of time. In line with the yearning for Qingzhou's New Deal and the current situation of poverty, not only refugees, but also many poor people have joined the migration
Qingzhou is too far away, but Sui'an is near my hometown. When I settle down in the future, it will be convenient for me to visit my ancestors' graves and worship their ancestors.
Although Jiangdong is only one step behind, it is at a comprehensive disadvantage in this battle for population.
Judging from the current situation, if we adopt the suggestions of Zhang Zhao and others and focus on development, the gap between Jiangdong and Qingzhou will only become wider in three to five years. Therefore, external plunder is the right way.
"Where does the plan come from?" There is no need for Zhou Yu to explain the necessity of attacking Jiangxia. What Sun Ce is worried about is that the progress of the attack is too slow. The previous battles were fought so smoothly, but only a few counties were captured. If the battle continues like this, until
When Wang Yu returns to Gaotang, Jiangdong's army may not be able to capture Shangchang City.
Zhou Yu slowly said eight words: "Three families are divided into thorns, and we can do it within the year!"
"Three families divided?" Sun Ce's heart suddenly trembled.
To put it bluntly, Zhou Yu's countermeasures were not complicated at all. He couldn't take it, so he summoned a few helpers. The helpers Zhou Yu was interested in were obviously Cao Cao and Yuan Shu. If these three families join forces to face Jingzhou, it will be overwhelming.
No matter how hard Liu Biao defended, he couldn't resist it.
The only problem is the distribution of benefits after the war, and whether he can persuade the other party to join the alliance. Then there is Sun Ce's own psychological barrier.
If the Hu people are like wolves in temperament, Sun Ce is like a tiger. In his military career, he rarely joined forces with anyone and always worked alone. When the three families were divided, he not only had to ask others for help, but also
He also had to carve out a large chunk of his profits. For Sun Ce, this was a problem that was difficult to face calmly.
Zhou Yu said in a deep voice: "Jiangdong's strength is inferior to that of Jingzhou. The reason is to use the weak to attack the strong, but the strong cannot defend. Even if there is a strategy, there is no way to use it. If you want to win quickly, there is no other way."
Sun Ce took a deep breath, suppressed the flames in his heart, and asked: "Cao Cao is a traitor, will he agree to help? Although Runan can lead to Jingzhou, it is a long way, after all, will Yuan Shu be willing to send troops?"
"Cao Cao sent a letter with the intention of strengthening contact with his lord and conquering Jingzhou together. This letter is just asking for directions. It is not difficult to unite with him, it just requires some bargaining. Gu Yuantan is quick in thinking and eloquent.
He is a good candidate for the mission..." At this moment, separated by distant time and space, the two wise men Zhou Yu and Guo Jia resonated.
"Guo Fengxiao has decided to advance westward, and now his plan is almost complete. Instead of continuing to take the risk of turning against his purpose and designing to consume Ma Teng, it is better to change his strategy and make it more favorable to Ma Teng, so that he can become a fighting force against Qingzhou. But in this way
, advancing westward will not achieve full success, and we must find another way out. Considering the current situation, Jingzhou is also Cao Cao's only way out!"
With a smile on his face, he said confidently: "Although Yuan Gongli has a well-known family, his temperament is like a vulture or a jackal. If you ask him to take the initiative to provoke Qingzhou, of course he would not dare, but he and Liu Biao are already on the same page.
There is an old grudge, the alliance between Cao and Sun is broken, Jingzhou is in danger, but if the Lord doesn't mention it, how can he sit back and watch?"
Zhou Yu's voice lowered: "Yuan Jiujiu is so happy for his success, and he has always had the wrong idea. If everything goes well, the Lord's road to the north may be opened..."
"Kill two birds with one stone?" Sun Ce's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Killing two birds with one stone!" Zhou Yu nodded and smiled.
"How lucky is Ce with Gong Jin's help?" The gloom on Sun Ce's face cleared away, he patted Zhou Yu on the shoulder and laughed and said: "Gong Jin said he had three concerns before, but now he has two, but what is the last one?
?”
"There is no other way but to fight against the Qingzhou cavalry."