si-mexico Chapter 231 The Great Collapse of Huai and Si Rivers! Liu Ye: Brother Xun, let's catch the badg
Chapter 231 The Great Collapse of Huai and Si Rivers! Liu Ye: Brother Xun, let's catch the badg
On the river
Sun Ce was dressed in rags, with three holes in his armor, and the handle of his Phoenix Spear was broken in half.
Sun Quan, Yu Fan, Zhang Hong, and others standing nearby were in no better shape.
Sun Quan, in particular, had lost a large front tooth, causing him to speak with a slight lisp.
At this moment, Sun Ce had less than three thousand defeated soldiers left behind.
Of the 20,000 elite troops, as many as 80% perished at the gates of Guangling!
Of course, some chose to surrender, but whether they died or surrendered, this battle was an unprecedented defeat for Sun Ce.
"Chen Deng! You just wait!"
"When I conquer Guangling again, I will surely take your life!"
Sun Ce's eyes were filled with resentment.
What he didn't know was.
Historically, he had also been defeated by Chen Deng twice. (Around 199 AD, on the eve of the Battle of Guandu)
It's just that the losses weren't as severe as they are now.
In addition to the loss of troops, the death of General Ling Cao cast a shadow over Sun Ce's heart.
Ling Cao's son, Ling Tong, was only seven years old.
The thought of Ling Tong crying and begging for his father after returning to Jiangdong filled Sun Ce with shame.
Sun Ce and his party only breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Zhou Yu leading troops to meet them from the direction of Chaisang.
Seeing Sun Ce's miserable state, Zhou Yu was also shocked and said:
"Bo Fu, what exactly is going on?"
"Didn't I tell you before the battle that it didn't matter whether we could take Guangling or not, as long as we adopted an offensive posture?"
Sun Quan quickly lowered his head, not daring to look Zhou Yu in the eye.
Fortunately, Sun Ce was a responsible person. He did not blame his second brother Sun Quan for the defeat, but took all the responsibility upon himself.
Zhou Yu sighed softly.
Those who died in this battle were all elite soldiers from Jiangdong, not the kind of conscripted soldiers who were just there to fill the ranks.
It will probably take two or three years for them to recover from this.
But how powerful will Cao Cao become in two or three years?
Even Yuan Shao in the north, upon receiving the battle report of the Battle of Guangling, would probably look down on Sun Ce, believing that Sun Ce was not qualified to be the main force restraining Cao Cao.
It can be said that this battle was a complete loss!
If I had known this would happen, I would have been better off robbing Huainan.
But now, if we send troops to Huainan again, it will be too late.
Unless Cao Cao was a fool, he would have seized the opportunity to attack Huainan after annexing Runan and Nanyang.
Presumably, it's already on its way.
……
Zhou Yu's guess was correct.
Upon receiving the message that "Runan City is safe and sound, and those who surrender can reunite with their families," the 200,000-strong army under Ji Ling and Yang Hong instantly collapsed!
Of the 200,000 troops, 150,000 were from Runan or Yuzhou!
Yuan Shu is dead, his hometown has been occupied, and his family is in Cao Cao's hands. What's the point of fighting now?
Despite Ji Ling and Yang Hong's best efforts to prevent these soldiers from deserting, it was to no avail.
In just three days, only a little over 50,000 of the 200,000 troops had fled.
These more than 50,000 people were ambushed by Zhao Yun, Xiahou Yuan, and Taishi Ci on the only road to Huainan!
finally.
Only a little over ten thousand defeated soldiers followed Ji Ling and Yang Hong to Huainan.
By combining the troops of Yuan Yao and Yuan Yin, as well as the portion of Yuan Shu's garrison left in Huainan, they managed to gather a total of 40,000 men.
Who dares to believe it!
Once upon a time, the Zhong family dynasty had an army of over 300,000, but now its military strength has dwindled to just over 40,000!
Moreover, the unrest continues to escalate.
As mentioned earlier, after Yuan Shu declared himself emperor, Huainan had become a miniature version of the Warring States period.
The rebel generals under Yuan Shu, various mountain bandits and local powerful families, all rose up together.
But none of us are fools.
To put it nicely, they call it "a gathering of heroes"; to put it bluntly, it's "a battle of weaklings."
Even if all the forces in Huainan united, they would still be a rabble and no match for Cao Cao's army!
In this situation.
Whether to surrender to Cao Cao's army or fight back became a dilemma that these weaklings in the Huainan region had to consider.
……
Lujiang County
On the city tower of Lujiang's main city
Liu Xun, a former general under Yuan Shu and a relative of Liu Ye, a member of the Han imperial family, led 30,000 troops to occupy the area.
Liu Xun felt lost about what to do in the future.
But he was, after all, a member of the Han imperial family, and he wasn't as clueless about the situation as those mountain bandits and outlaws.
"My lord, I've heard that Cao Cao's army is planning to march towards Huainan!"
"Our Lujiang will inevitably be targeted by Cao Cao's army sooner or later. What should we do?"
Several of Liu Xun's generals tentatively asked him questions.
Liu Xun dared not reveal his true thoughts on the spot, so he gave a few perfunctory words and hurriedly returned home.
He was terrified that if he answered poorly, his subordinates would betray him.
In the Huainan region, under Yuan Shu's rule, chaos reigned, internal strife was rampant, and the people's hearts had long since turned cold.
Loyalty and righteousness? That has become an even more ethereal and elusive concept.
Moreover, these generals, like Liu Xun, were originally subordinates of Yuan Shu.
He just doesn't hold a higher position than Liu Xun, so he's temporarily standing up for himself alongside Liu Xun.
Although they were said to be ruler and subject, they were just colleagues two or three months ago, so there was no question of loyalty between them.
Seeing that Liu Xun remained silent, several of his generals seemed to be deep in thought.
Among them, some were inclined to surrender to Cao Cao, while others were inclined to go south and join Sun Ce.
There are a few who intend to remain independent, but this is clearly impossible.
When the night is deep and quiet
The personal guard suddenly reported to Liu Xun:
"My lord, an old friend is requesting an audience outside the city."
"Old friend?"
Liu Xun looked puzzled and then ordered his personal guards to secretly bring the old friend into the city.
"Brother Xun, how have you been?"
The old friend took off the black robe he was wearing; who else could it be but Liu Ye?
"Ziyang! What are you doing here?"
Liu Xun's face showed both surprise and delight.
Liu Ye was five years younger than him, and the two were from the same clan, so Liu Ye always called Liu Xun "Brother Xun".
"If I hadn't come, your future would have been uncertain."
Liu Ye chuckled, picked up the teapot from Liu Xun's table, poured himself a glass of water, and acted as if he were one of the guests.
This reminded Liu Xun of his childhood when he climbed trees with Liu Ye to pick fruit and caught badgers under the moonlight.
"Brother Xun, I'm not going to waste my breath on you."
"Quickly surrender to Cao Sikong."
"Cao Sikong has promised you that as long as you surrender, he will grant you a proper title and fiefdom of the Han Dynasty."
"If you still want to lead troops into battle in the future, you can command your troops and achieve great things."
Liu Xun hesitated and said:
"Ziyang, does Cao Sikong mean that I should hand over Lujiang?"
Liu Ye nodded and said:
"That's right, but I'm willing to negotiate with Cao Sikong on your behalf to get you other land."
"However, Lujiang must be placed under the direct jurisdiction of Minister Cao."
"Because Hefei, south of Lujiang, is a vital strategic location!"
"Cao Sikong plans to build a city there to defend against enemies from the south."
……