Johime Three Kingdoms

Chapter 101 Exchange
The main force of Huainan heading north was defeated. Zhang Liao and Gao Shun saw that they could open up the southward route via Guangling, and secretly observed the situation of Guangling's waterways and naval forces along the way.

At the same time, there was also good news in Xunyang. It turned out that Yuan Shu had "gradually" released the Sun Zhou clan and Sun Jian's old tribe, making Sun Ce unable to leave Xunyang immediately.

Especially at the end, Sun Ce's mother, Mrs. Wu, and his younger brothers and sisters were all still being held hostage, and they were like hostages, making him restrained.

However, just three months later, after the news of Ji Ling's defeat reached Shouchun, Yuan Shu was suddenly eager to get the jade seal!

Sun Ce was directly asked to exchange his jade seal for his mother, Mrs. Wu, his two brothers Sun Kuang and Sun Yi, and his six-year-old sister, leaving only his second brother Sun Quan as a hostage.

Originally Sun Ce didn't want to agree, but Zhou Yu persuaded Sun Ce to agree - he seemed to have different ideas.

Although he didn't say it clearly, Zhou Yu sorted it out before, and the faces of the counselors around Yuan Shu flashed in his mind one by one, but he couldn't find the mastermind of this Yang conspiracy.

Until Zhou Yu had an idea, the face of a person who was in Shouchun, but was not under Yuan Shu's command, appeared in his mind!
A boy with purple hair and blue eyes, who still has a childish look. Although his face is immature, his eyes are very mature...

"Yuan Shu's current southern and northern expeditions have been blocked. He is eager to ask for the jade seal at this time. He must be desperate. If we refuse him, we are likely to become the target of his anger. 'Trapped beasts' can do anything." Zhou Yu said.

"But what should Zhongmou do?" Sun Ce scratched his head and asked.

Sun Quan was only fourteen years old at this time and was not yet fifteen years old. He was not yet old enough to be given the title "Biao". However, because he was a precocious man, he had already adopted the title "Xiaolian", so he had already taken the title "Biao".

"Yuan Shu held Zhong Mou hostage simply to keep him as a hostage, and judging from the current situation, it would be good for us to stay in Xunyang first," Zhou Yu said.

He had expected that Ji Ling's northern expedition to Xuzhou would probably be fruitless, but he didn't expect that it would fail miserably!

And judging from the eagerness to ask for the jade seal, Yuan Shu's mentality is really going to collapse... As a result, Zhou Yu also has some other ideas.

"No! I promised Mr. Bai..."

"You promised Mr. Bai half a year! It's only three months now, and if the situation changes in the future, we can go down the river and go straight to Wancheng, and then take Wancheng with us to go to Mr. Bai. Wouldn't it be even better? ?" Zhou Yu persuaded.

Wancheng was Liu Xun's temporary headquarters in Lujiang. Now that Shucheng was captured, Liu Xun moved the headquarters back to Shucheng - this move made Zhou Yu very disdainful.

Although Shucheng is more prosperous, has a larger population, and is closer to the Central Plains, Wancheng is more important in terms of geographical location.

Wancheng is just north of the Yangtze River, and you can enter the river from the "Wankou" to the south.

Wankou is to Wancheng, just like Guazhou is to Guangling and Chaohu is to Hefei.

In the history without the White Rabbit Effect, Sun Quan failed to attack Guangling with an army of [-] people and then returned. He also attacked Hefei with an army of [-] people three times, but also failed and returned.

Although Guazhou and Chaohu were not mentioned, since we have touched Guangling and Hefei, we can know that these two ports were captured by Soochow, and they were captured easily.

Afterwards, if Guangling and Hefei cannot be defeated, it is impossible to defend a single port hanging near the opponent's city, so every time they return directly to Jiangdong.

Opposite Guazhou is Jingkou, opposite Chaohu is Ruxukou, including "Wankou" on the west side, they are the three major strategic points between Yangzhou and Huainan from west to east.

As for Jingkou and further east...

At this time, the Oriental Pearl Tower of later generations was still underwater, and the delta had not yet been flushed out. The river was too open and was on the verge of entering the sea. It was impossible to start a water battle here with current technology.

Of course, in a strategic sense, Wancheng is worse than Hefei and Guangling. Once Hefei is captured, Shouchun is in sight and the Central Plains is close at hand. But once Guangling is captured, all the way to the Xiapi defense line along the Huaihe River is It's all under control.

Wancheng is located at the southern foot of Dabie Mountain, in the area of ​​Tianzhu Mountain. The waterway starts from the north of Wancheng and is separated from the north to the south. To the north, you can only take the land route of Shiting and Jiashi Road, and there are many roads along the way.

Sitting here, although it is unable to attack, it is enough to protect itself, and unlike Xunyang, which was controlled by Qichun, Wancheng's cultivated land is sufficient and fertile.

In history without the White Rabbit Effect, Lu Meng captured Wan County six years after the Battle of Chibi. From then on, Cao Wei failed to take it back until the fall of Soochow.

Of course, because the waterway north of Wancheng was cut off, Soochow was unable to go north from there.

If Liu Xun continues to use Wancheng as his headquarters and focus on defense, Zhou Yu will not be able to defeat Wancheng. At most, he will touch Wankou, which is meaningless. But now that the main force of Lujiang has moved back to Shucheng, Zhou Yu feels that he can fight for it. Maybe we can capture Wancheng.

Sun Ce doesn't look very smart, but his strategic layout is very precise. After looking at it on the map, he also understands the importance of Wancheng, but he is still worried about Sun Quan.

"Zhongmou has always been very smart, so maybe we don't need to worry about him." Zhou Yu explained.

"He is still a child!" Sun Ce obviously did not understand Zhou Yu's meaning.

"But now we can only accept Yuan Shu's request, otherwise a madman can do anything... You can be more open-minded. At least Zhongmou is the one chosen to stay in Shouchun, which is the most beneficial to us." Zhou Yu said.

Sun Ce rolled his eyes, obviously not interested in Zhou Yu's statement.

However, according to what Zhou Yu said, the exchange of "hostages" was agreed.

Unexpectedly, Yuan Shu actually proposed that he would first send the people to Qi (two sounds of Qi) Chuncheng, and then ask Sun Ce to pass through Cheng Ji, consume the best manpower, and directly send the jade seal back to Shouchun, and then Yuan Shu would notify Qichun Fang People ask for it!

Qichun is close to Xunyang and is nominally a county in Jiangxia County. However, because it is close to Lujiang River, it is now actually controlled by Yuan Shu.

Unlike Xunyang, Qichun's guard Lu Mian, like Ji Ling and Qiao Rui, was a die-hard loyalist to Yuan Shu.

And regardless of the fact that Xunyang is in Lujiang County of Yangzhou and Qichun is in Jiangxia County of Jingzhou, they are very close to each other, especially Xunyang Ferry, which is almost directly within the influence of Qichun, and Sun Ce is only stationed there. In Xunyangdu, other cities in the county are not under its jurisdiction.

It was precisely because of Qichun's presence that Yuan Shu didn't worry about what Sun Ce might do in Xunyang.

At first, Sun Ce resolutely distrusted Yuan Shu, but later, under Zhou Yu's guidance, Sun Ce also made a corresponding request - Sun Quan must also be in Qichun to confirm everyone's safety before Sun Ce will hand over the jade seal.

Yuan Shu probably felt that even a few hostages could not be lost in Qichun City, so he sent his trusted Chen Lan and Lei Book to send Sun Quan and others to Qichun City. As for escorting the Jade Seal, Yuan Shu could not trust anyone...

(End of this chapter)