Overlord!

Chapter 249 Jiangdong Three Armies
After watching the cavalry, Sun Ce went to observe the naval drill.

Jiangdong Navy is invincible in today's world.With Jing Yang's unification, no one can compete with Jiangdong's majestic army.Within Kyushu and beyond the four seas, the navy can gallop freely.

Even if they only rely on the existing fleet, Jiangdong Navy can reach anywhere they want to reach.

Lu Xun, another governor of Jiangdong, was among this navy. However, because he was too young and was not a general in the army, he only served as a team leader, so Sun Ce did not receive him alone.

After watching the naval drill, Sun Ce turned to Zhang Zhao and asked: "Chang Shi, how is the situation of the three armies reorganizing now? In Jingyang and Yangzhou, are the armies ready for the northern expedition at any time?"

In the former General's Office, there were Bing Cao, Kai Cao, Ma Cao and other Cao Cao who were in charge of Jingyang's military affairs. Zhang Zhao now serves as General Fenwei and concurrently serves as the Chief of the Former General's Office. In fact, he is Sun Ce's prime minister and oversees the two states of Jing and Yang on Sun Ce's behalf. of military affairs.

General Fenwei was also the No.1 Jiangdong general under Sun Ce, followed by Zhang Hong's General Zhaoyi, then Jiang Qin's General Yingyang, and finally He Qi's partial general.

Today, there are only four people with the title of general in Jiangdong, and as we all know, Jiang Qin's General Yingyang rose to the position of commander of the pro-army army entirely because he was a direct descendant of Sun Ce.

The real power in the army is a few generals.

Zhang Zhao introduced: "Now all the generals are reorganizing their troops, accumulating valleys and training troops. After returning from Jingzhou, the wounded and retired soldiers have been resettled, and the various ministries have recruited new soldiers to fill up their positions."

"Now the total number of the army is 3000. Among them, 4000 are navy. There are [-] warriors, [-] knights, [-] archers, and [-] officers."

Sun Ce nodded, the total number of troops was already extremely large.

You must know that this is a strong professional army with a recruitment system, which means that Jiangdong has a strong army of [-] including archers and crossbowmen, as well as [-] cavalry!

Jiangdong's problem now is not a shortage of war horses, but the inability to select enough qualified knights in Jiangnan.

After all, under the recruitment system, the first thing to do is to ensure the combat effectiveness of soldiers. It is better to have a shortage than to overfill.

The 4000-strong naval force is not a complete water force. It can go down to the shore and form an array, defeat the enemy with strong bows, crossbows, halberds and swords, and besiege the city.

It can be said that these long-trained naval forces may be more powerful than the apprentices of most princes.

With the territory of Jingyang and Yangzhou, raising [-] to [-] soldiers is already a heavy burden, so after the capture of Jingxiang, the three armies were streamlined once, and some wounded and weak soldiers were eliminated before they were reduced to such a size.

During this period of time, the generals have been reorganizing their troops, selecting elites, and training the three armies.

But although the number of people has decreased slightly, the strategy has actually improved rapidly.

After all, after the three ministers sorted out taxes and taxes a year ago, they doubled the pay for the three armies and officials.

Now an ordinary soldier's salary is enough to support a family of parents, wife and children.

If the wife has dozens of acres of thin farmland at home, plants hundreds of mulberry trees, and works hard to weave and weave, the family will surely become middle-class quickly.

Those who have a permanent property have perseverance. The soldiers have such an property in Jiangdong, as well as their wives and children, and their fighting spirit and military discipline are far beyond the ordinary.

Zhang Zhao continued: "Now most of the navy is patrolling the Huaihe River, and more than two thousand people are stationed in the Hanjiang River under the command of Gan Ning."

"In addition to the cavalry equipped with dragon and bird assault cavalry, they are stationed in Xiangyang, Zhongli, and Huaiyin counties."

"The disciples and soldiers were divided into Jiangxia, Lujiang, and Guangling. Ten thousand soldiers were stationed in Nanjun and Jiangxia under the command of General Zhaoyi Zhang Hong to fight against the rebellious general Lu Meng. Five thousand soldiers were sent to suppress Jingnan, and generals from the side were used to congratulate Qi. Five thousand of the governor's troops were stationed in Guangling, and thousands of other troops were stationed in various counties to guard the key roads and stabilize the south of the Yangtze River."

There are actually many counties in Jiangnan that need to be deterred. Whether it is Poyang, Luling, Kuaiji, or Wuxing, they all have far-reaching frontiers.

But fortunately, He Qi had recently defeated Shanyue and was even promoted to a partial general because of his success. In recent years, he didn't have to worry about Shanyue continuing to rebel.

That's why the General Mansion dared to use only a few thousand troops to pacify the south.

What's more important is that as the south of the Yangtze River gradually became peaceful, the government has been promoting production. In terms of policy, it does not establish a land system, and in terms of taxation, it is light on corvee and thin on taxes. It also encourages teaching farming and mulberry farming and developing water conservancy.

The whole of Jiangnan has benefited greatly from this. Everything is prosperous, the people are prosperous, and the economy is prosperous.

In this peaceful and harmonious situation, the probability of rebellion in recent years is not high.

After listening to Zhang Zhao's introduction, Sun Ce asked: "If this is the case, during the Northern Expedition, the elite soldiers of Jiankang, the independent governor, would be able to fight in person, and the number of available soldiers would be about [-]?"

Zhang Zhao nodded and said: "If all the fleets and divisions are mobilized to launch a three-pronged northern expedition, the number of available soldiers will be no less than [-]."

With [-] professional elite soldiers, the scale is already extremely impressive.

Don't look at the large number of princes, who claim to have a hundred thousand armor and millions of followers.

But just looking at Liu Biao's decline and fall, we know how big this water level is.

After the [-] main force was destroyed, he was unable to recover from the fall. All counties and counties fell one after another, and local governors and generals rebelled one after another.

If he was given a few years to recuperate and regroup, he might be able to put down the rebellion and restore military strength.

But once the enemy army presses the border and does not give him a chance to breathe, he will have no choice but to linger and defend Nanjun.

Even Yuan Shu, one of the top princes in the world, lost 3 people to Sun Ce and Liu Bei, and 2 people to Cao Cao. His vitality was severely damaged immediately, and he no longer had the strength to conquer the east and west.

If the 4 people in Jiangdong's Northern Expedition could defeat Cao Cao's 2 troops all the way, they would have been able to advance all the way and hit Cao Cao with a cold gleam on his back, like a deadly blade in front of his throat.

If these 4 people can kill Cao's army of 4 to [-] people, it will directly determine the situation in the world.

Similarly, if 4 of the 2 people were destroyed by Cao's army, the Northern Expedition would probably end in a disastrous defeat.

Historically, it took Li Jing three months to pacify Jiangnan, and he only used less than 4 troops.

These 4 people supported Sun Ce's ambition of the Northern Expedition and even wiped out the world's hegemony!

Sun Ce then asked: "Do the ministries have enough food and grass? Have the prefectures and counties delivered food and grass to the front line?"

The intention of Jiangxi's Northeast Expedition cannot be concealed.After all, Jiangdong unified Jingyang. If not attacking Cao Cao, where else could he attack?Are you going upstream and attacking the dangerous Shu region?Or go deep into Baru and attack Jiaozhou?
Even if Jiang Dong claimed that he had no hostility towards Cao Cao, Cao Cao would not believe him.

Therefore, covering up is meaningless and will only delay our preparations for war.

Zhang Zhao immediately introduced: "We have begun to transport supplies to the front line. The Shouchun and Zhongli front lines are supplied by Shaopi Tuntian, so the materials are sufficient." "The Huaiyin front line, Hangou has also connected with the Huaihe River and the Yangtze River, and Jiankang grain and grass have been transported by water. Delivered.”

"Only the Jingxiang area is recuperating and supplies are still insufficient."

"In addition, we need to supply [-] troops for the Northern Expedition, and relying solely on the army to transport food is already insufficient. Jingyang and Yangzhou have recruited more than [-] civilians and are transporting food and grass. After the war begins, they will each recruit more than [-] more."

Using [-] civilians to support [-] troops for conquest is definitely not enough under ordinary circumstances.

The biggest advantage of Jiangdong is its water conservancy. Most of the routes of the Northern Expedition are transported by water ships.

Even like Huaiyin on the far right, there was Hangou to transport grain before the troops were sent out, and there was Sishui to transport grain after the troops were sent out.

The main direction of attack along this road is to go up the Surabaya River and capture Tapi.

If the advance goes smoothly, we can continue to attack Pengcheng from Xiapi, and then take advantage of the weakness to advance into Shanyang and Lu and cut off Cao Cao's right arm.

The middle route is to advance from Shouchun and Zhongli, attack Runan and Liang, and seize the Cai and Ru lands of the Yuzhou Governor's Department.

There is no need to say more about the west route. The troops leave Xiangyang and march north to Nanyang, then threaten Ruying and connect to Luoyang.

There are only a few roads in the Northern Expedition, and they are almost played openly.

Our own deployment has not yet been completed. Once the deployment is completed, Cao Cao will be in a state of being attacked from both sides.

Sun Ce asked thoughtfully: "How do you think Cao Cao will break this situation?"

Zhang Zhao said: "The first step is to build the foundation, appease the three states, and win the hearts of the people. Fu Gai saves chaos and punishes violence, which is called a righteous soldier; relying on the strength of the masses is called an arrogant soldier. The righteous are invincible, and the arrogant are invincible. Destroy first.”

"What Cao Cao did before was cruel and unkind. We will punish the people and punish the rebels, and the righteous soldiers will fight against them. They will be invincible. If one man raises his arms, the whole state will raise his voice. The land of Yanzhou and Yuzhou can be watched by the wind. also."

Sun Ce nodded slightly, the righteous man is invincible and the explanation of later generations is not the same.

The current invincibility does not mean invincible, but it means literally.There are no enemies.

If Cao Cao is cruel, then the Northern Expedition of Jiangdong General will be like Chen Qingzhi's Northern Expedition under the Wei Emperor Yuan Hao. Chen Qingzhi was really invincible. He swept 30 Wei troops with 47 troops, fought 32 times, and attacked [-] cities, and defeated them all. , indomitable?
Obviously this is not the case, otherwise Chen Qingzhi would also be a famous general in the martial arts temple, and he would not be unknown.

The key is that when the righteous troops arrived, the enemy cities surrendered one after another, and the army's fighting spirit was low, so they all surrendered without a fight.

But Sun Ce was not so optimistic and said: "Cao Cao was indeed brutal and indiscriminate in his killings before, but since the founding of the People's Republic of China, he has been assisted by counselors such as Xun Yu, Ren Jun, and Mao Jie, and has changed his tyrannical attitude. He cultivates and fights to serve. He has a military appearance, keeps cattle and horses to support the people, he is also meritorious, strictly enforces laws and disciplines, cultivates himself in the fields, regulates customs, advocates frugality, and promotes talents."

"It has achieved peace under its rule, and has received considerable help from powerful men. Yanzhou and Yuzhou are its fundamental places, and there is a local wealthy Chen family in Xuzhou who are our enemies and swear to the death to assist Cao Cao."

"We hope that when our righteous master comes, the enemies will be waiting for the wind to descend. I'm afraid it won't be easy."

Of course, it's not entirely impossible.

People are not so hot that they forget hatred easily.

There are probably a large number of heroes in Yanzhou and Xuzhou who still remember the shame of their father and brother and want to avenge their father.

If Cao Cao defeated his opponent on the battlefield, maybe these soldiers and people would recognize him.After all, a general will inevitably die in battle. His skills are inferior to those of others. Death on the battlefield can be considered heroic. If there is no shame, it can be considered a proper place to die.You can write a note on the tombstone that father and brother are celebrating the death of the country and will not be humiliated until death.

But Cao Cao went on a massacre after the war, led beasts to eat people, and dug and robbed graves.How many fathers and brothers were ashamed of this and their bodies were exposed in the wild.Every trace of hatred is recorded in the hearts of ordinary people, but they have never had the opportunity to avenge themselves before.

If Cao Cao is defeated and loses his troops and generals, I am afraid that his power will be shaken even more tragically than Liu Biao's.

After hearing Sun Ce's words, Zhang Zhao continued: "Cao Cao has the idea of ​​establishing a foundation, but he may not be able to achieve immediate results. After all, he has a lot of misdeeds and has long lost hope in the Central Plains. Therefore, I think he will stick to the front and will not Dare to order the army to march straight in. Otherwise, as soon as the righteous army arrives, the whole state will be boiling and the territory will be destabilized."

Sun Ce asked: "You think Cao Cao will isolate himself from the war?"

Zhang Zhao shook his head and said, "I thought Cao Cao wouldn't even stand firm."

It's not that Zhang Zhao's strategy is so amazing that he can deceive the enemy's plot like Guo Jia.

But the current general trend of the world is so powerful, just like Cao Wei occupied Huainan, he must be prepared for Sun Quan's Northern Expedition.

There are some roads that, even if everyone can see them clearly, you still have to walk as a prince.There are not too many tricks and tricks that can take shortcuts and affect the general trend of the world.

Sun Ce was slightly surprised and asked, "Could Cao Cao take the initiative to attack Yuan Shao?"

Could it be that the Battle of Guandu was ultimately initiated by Cao Cao?
Cao Cao took advantage of a long period of recuperation and took the initiative to attack Yuan Shao, who had just pacified Hebei and would not have time to reorganize his army in the future?
Jia Xu, who was standing aside, immediately asked: "Why is the general so sure that Cao Cao will attack Yuan Shao instead of attacking us?"

Sun Ce was really stunned at this. He had been relying on the dangers of mountains and rivers for too long and was used to attacking his opponents by himself. He never thought that his opponents would attack him.

Sun Ce immediately asked: "You think Cao Cao will attack my county?"

Jia Xu said: "If Cao Cao is in the same situation, he must go south first and then north. If he can defeat my army, he can calmly go north to deal with Yuan Shao. If he can destroy my [-] soldiers, he will have nothing to worry about."

Shiyi asked: "When Yuan Shao becomes a powerful enemy, will Cao Cao turn against us and make him suffer from enemies from both sides?"

Jia Xu was very convinced and said: "Cao Cao still can't believe that Liu Biao is sitting on the guard. He is worried that he will attack Yingchuan. How can he trust me, Jiangdong, to watch the success or failure of him and Yuan Shao?"

"It makes sense." Sun Ce quite agreed with Jia Xu's views. Cao Cao was not the kind of mediocre person who would pin his hopes on his opponent's stupidity.

Historically, when the Battle of Guandu had already broken out, he still found time to go to Xuzhou to defeat Liu Bei first, which shows that he was accustomed to taking the initiative.

Jia Xu continued: "Although Yuan Shao has great ambitions, he is late to see things happening. Now that his three armies have not been raised, he will not move lightly. If Cao Cao attacks Huainan, Yuan Shao may not attack behind Cao Cao. If it is the other way around, it will not be the case."

"Moreover, Jiankang, where the general is based, is far away in the south of the Yangtze River. It is far away from the front line. Yecheng, where Yuan Shaozhi is based, is very close to the Yellow River."

"With Cao Cao's skill in fighting, he will attack our territory in order to break the situation."

There are indeed dangerous mountains and rivers in Jiangdong, but Cao Cao's current ambition is not to conquer Jiangdong directly.

As long as he defeated Jiangdong's army on a battlefield and shocked Jiangdong, who was so shocked that he did not dare to go north, it would be enough to stabilize the situation, and then go all out to the north to defeat Yuan Shao.

(End of this chapter)