Chapter 807: Sun Ce's Thoughts
In Shouchun City, in the Zhong Dynasty Palace, General Ji Ling spent half an hour to fully reveal his strategy to Yuan Shu.
Yuan Shu clapped his hands and praised: "My dear, you are worthy of being my general. This plan is impeccable. I will reward you generously after defeating the army of the princes this time!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty. This strategy was discussed with Yuan Huan, Yan Xiang and Shu Zhao. I dare not take all the credit." Ji Ling knelt down and thanked him;
Yuan Shu nodded and smiled after hearing this. He looked at the people mentioned by Ji Ling one by one and said: "You all have made great contributions. After this battle, I will reward you generously."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" After hearing this, several people hurriedly stepped out to thank him.
What they didn't notice was that among the court officials, a sinister look was sweeping towards them. That person was one of Yuan Shu's advisers, Yang Hong, Sikong of the Zhong Dynasty.
Ji Ling didn't know that he had accidentally offended this vengeful guy. Of course, even if he knew, he wouldn't care. Ji Ling was deeply trusted by Yuan Shu. He could be said to be a lone minister of the Zhong Dynasty, and he only cared about Yuan Shu.
Today's court meeting had solved the most important thing in Yuan Shu's heart, and Yuan Shu was relieved. Although he was disdainful of the various princes, Yuan Shu still had some concerns in his heart, especially about Huangfu Chaobo's Andong Army and Cao Cao's Yanzhou Army. As for the former, he had suffered twice in his hands. As for the latter, although Yuan Shu usually despised him, he also knew his cunning.
Thinking of this, Yuan Shu nodded to the eunuch beside him. The eunuch understood and immediately stepped forward and said loudly: "Officials, if you have something to report, please report it. If you don't, please leave the court!"
Just when everyone was about to leave the court, Yang Hong came out and said: "Your Majesty, I have a memorial to report!"
As he said this, Yang Hong took out a memorial from his arms, held it high above his head, and said: "Since the general said that the army of the princes is not a concern, the Shouchun Palace is too simple. In order to show the majesty of my emperor, I request Your Majesty to rebuild the palace..."
Yang Hong said a lot of things, which made Yuan Shu very happy. The Shouchun Palace was hastily rebuilt for Yuan Shu to become emperor. Yuan Shu originally wanted to rebuild the palace. Yang Hong just scratched his itch. When he heard Yang Hong's memorial, he didn't allow it. He immediately ordered him to take charge and prepare to renovate the palace.
Yang Hong was happy, but other civil and military ministers in the court were angry. Now that the external worries have not been eliminated, this villain is instigating the emperor to renovate the palace. This was originally the responsibility of Sikong, but it was indeed a bit wrong at this time.
Fortunately, Yuan Shu was not so stupid that he did not know the importance of the matter. He just ordered Yang Hong to make preparations first, select craftsmen, and purchase materials, and then he could start construction after the war. This made the civil and military officials stop thinking about protesting on the spot, but everyone was even more disgusted with Yang Hong, a guy who only knew how to flatter the emperor.
Seeing that the officials had nothing to report, the eunuch announced the adjournment of the court, and then everyone dispersed and left. As for the mobilization of troops and horses, since it had been decided, the specific arrangements would naturally be discussed by General Ji Ling and Taiwei Yan Xiang, and officials and generals would be arranged to execute them.
Two days later, Yuan Shu's troops began to mobilize and arrange.
General Le Ju and Li Feng each led an army of 10,000, plus the imperial guards led by Fu Ma Huang Yi, a total of 50,000 troops, crossed the Huai River, stationed in Xincai, and were responsible for commanding the southern cities of Runan to defend against the coalition forces of Huangfu Chao and Kong Ju.
Qiao Rui led 10,000 troops to Juchao, and together with Jiujiang prefect Yuan Huan's 10,000 soldiers, they were responsible for preventing Sun Ce's army from attacking Jiujiang. Ludong prefect Liu Xun led 10,000 soldiers to Liyang, responsible for preventing Sun Ce's army from attacking Lujiang from Niuzhu.
Liang Gang and Chen Ji led 40,000 troops to Xiapi, and together with Xiapi Xiang Yuan Yin's 10,000 soldiers, they defended Xiapi and stopped Cao Cao's army from going south.
General Zhang Xun led 10,000 troops, pretending to have 30,000 troops to station in Guangling, to confuse Sun Ce's army.
Ji Ling led Chen Lan, Lei Bo and several other generals, and led an army of 50,000 to cross the Huai River to the north with great fanfare,
making a sign of preparing for a battle with Huangfu Chaobo, and then quietly sailed south along the Huai River, hiding their whereabouts, and quietly sneaked into Gaoyou City. When Sun Ce's army attacked Guangling, they suddenly attacked and defeated his army under Guangling City. If possible, it would be best to capture Sun Ce in one fell swoop, and Jiangdong would be decided in one battle.
At the same time, the cities of Yuan Shu's forces began to strengthen their defenses and prepare for war.
At this time, in Danyang County, Jiangdong, Sun Ce was also ready to go north to start a war. Although Sun Ce had already issued a manifesto to break away from Yuan Shu and cross the river to fight the enemy, he did not send troops immediately, but first calmed down to consolidate his territory.
When Sun Ce left Huainan, he borrowed 30,000 troops from Yuan Shu, and added 20,000 old Sun Quan troops from Wu Jing and Sun Ben, a total of 50,000 troops to attack Danyang. After capturing Danyang, he surrendered tens of thousands of Danyang troops.
After announcing his separation from Yuan Shu, Sun Ce sent people to expel the officials appointed by Yuan Shu, and then began to reorganize the troops and reorganize all the nearly 100,000 troops in Danyang. After the reorganization, Sun Ce controlled all the 50,000 elite troops in his own hands, and then sent relatives such as Sun Ben to lead troops to control all the cities in Danyang.
After controlling the entire county of Danyang, Sun Ce had the energy to prepare for the battle of crossing the river to the north. Danyang has a total of 16 cities with a population of more than 600,000. After Sun Ce took control of all the cities, he arranged 3 to 5,000 troops to garrison each city, and Jianye arranged 20,000 troops, and Niuzhu, the largest port in Danyang, was defended by 5,000 infantry and 5,000 naval forces.
After arranging the defense of Danyang, Sun Ce began to prepare to lead his troops northward. He left the veteran general Cheng Pu and the newly joined Quan Rou in Jianye, his old nest, and personally led 50,000 troops, along with five generals, Huang Gai, Han Dang, Zhu Zhi, Lu Fan, and Lu Dai, to train troops day and night in the camp outside Jianye.
While training his troops, Sun Ce sent people to sneak into the counties in the north of the Yangtze River to gather information and wait for the time to send troops.
As he expected, at the end of May and the beginning of June, Huangfu Chaobo and Cao Cao began to gather troops and march to Huainan. At this time, the information about the mobilization of troops in the north of the Yangtze River was constantly transmitted to Jianye. Just as Sun Ce had expected before, the two counties of Lujiang and Jiujiang in Yangzhou were well defended by Yuan Shu's army.
In order to defend against Huangfu Chaobo and Cao Cao's army in the north, Yuan Shu sent several generals such as Ji Ling and tens of thousands of troops to Runan and Xiapi.
It was probably because they felt that Jiangdong's own army was still busy consolidating the territory of Danyang and had no ability to advance northward, so only Zhang Xun led 30,000 troops to station in Guangling County, which was close to Jiangdong.