The Nameless of the Common Clans

The various princes in the Central Plains suspended their weapons, but Sun Ce from Jiangdong had no intention of ending the war after annexing Lujiang without loss, occupying Hefei, and sharing Jiujiang with Cao Cao.

Sun Ce tried to cross the river several times to attack Guangling, but was defeated by Chen Deng. With Le Jin occupying Shouchun, it became more difficult to continue to attack Xuzhou. Therefore, Sun Ce set his sights on Jingzhou. Now that Jiangdong was determined, Xuzhou could not rush. Moreover, even if he occupied Xuzhou, with Sun Ce's current strength, even if he occupied Guangling, it would be difficult to defend it against Cao Cao's counterattack. Therefore, he listened to Zhou Yu's advice and gave up attacking Xuzhou and turned his attention to the land of Jingxiang.

If Jiangdong wanted to attack Jingxiang, Jiangxia was the only place to pass. In December of the first year of Hanping (the first year of the Han Dynasty), Sun Ce led his army to Shaxian. After hearing the news, Huang Zu quickly raised his troops to fight. At the same time, Liu Biao also sent his nephew Liu Tiger General Han Xi came to help, and the two sides started a battle on the river. Logically speaking, Huang Zu had an advantage by occupying a favorable position upstream. However, the navy east of the Yangtze River was too strong. Zhou Yu ordered his general Ling Cao to cross the river to sneak attack Xiakou and take Xiling directly. Huang Zu quickly sent Han Xi to guard Xiakou, but was defeated by Ling Cao. Dao sneak attack and repulse, Han Xi himself was killed by the Ling Cao formation among the rebels.

Xiakou was captured by Ling Cao, and Ling Cao led his army directly to Xiling. Huang Zu heard the news and wanted to lead his army back to Xiling to defend it, but Sun Ce refused to let go. The two sides fought a bloody battle on the river, and Huang Zu was defeated in the end. , retreated to Anlu, Sun Ce seized a large number of supplies and warships and then landed, and joined forces with Ling Cao to capture Xiling. At this point, Sun Ce captured most of Jiangxia. After occupying Xiling, he raised his troops again and entered Anlu.

Huang Zu did not dare to challenge, but refused to defend the city. Liu Biao quickly sent troops led by Liu Pan and Wenpin to rescue them, but they were intercepted by Sun Ce and led by generals Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin. The two sides were at a stalemate for a while, but overall He said that in this battle, Jingzhou will suffer some losses. Not only because of the previous defeat, Sun Ce sent troops to capture Jiangxia this time. Jiangdong's civil and military forces were all out. It can be said that he assembled the most elite troops in Jiangdong. As for Jingxiang, Wenpin and Liu Pan were also good, but after all, they had just suffered a defeat. If you lose the battle, your morale will be inferior.

Luoyang, the General's Mansion.

"My lord, if Sun Ce wins Jiangxia, he will only be separated from Nanjun by the Han River. With the advantage of Jiangdong's navy, he will be able to capture Nanjun within a few years." Xun You frowned and looked at Chen Mo. , To the advantage of Jingxiang, Sun Ce can plot against Bashu to the west, and attack Nanyang to the north. No matter how he fights, Sun Ce will become a great prince who can stand alongside the three heroes of the Central Plains. This is definitely not the outcome that Chen Mo and the others want to see. .

Chen Mo looked at the battle report on the desk, frowned and nodded. Of course, Chen Mo didn't know how Sun Ce fought in this battle. Chen Mo was not proficient in fighting on the water, but judging from the information recorded in the battle report, Sun Ce's battle was The performance in the game has been quite eye-catching.

"The former child has become a formidable enemy!" Chen Mo knocked on the table and looked at the crowd and said: "If Jiangdong and Jingzhou are unified, our army in the south will be threatened in the future."

Not talking about the grievances between Chen Mo and Sun Ce, just looking at the terrain, if Sun Ce wins Jingzhou, he will definitely move north to Nanyang. With the power of Jiangdong and Jingxiang, if they form a unified force, although Lu Bu is brave, it will be difficult to compete. The first person to bear the brunt of winning Jingzhou is Chen Mo. If Sun Ce and Cao Cao join forces, Chen Mo will be alone. This is something Chen Mo never wants to see.

"It's just that our army wants to support Liu Biao. Luoyang is also far away from Jingzhou, so it may be difficult to break the siege of Jingzhou." Yang Xiu said thoughtfully.

"Sun Ce is so powerful now that he needs someone who can suppress him and break his invincible momentum." Li Ru twisted his beard and smiled and said: "My lord, why don't you ask Fengxian to lead his troops south? With Fengxian's courage, he can suppress Sun Lang ”

Chen Mo nodded, he did have this intention, but only if Lu Bu was willing to take action. Chen Mo had nothing to gain from Lu Bu now. He looked at Li Ru and said, "Wen You, although I have friendship with Lu Bu, I asked him to take action before. For myself, but this time I am helping Liu Biao, I’m afraid..."

Chen Mo asked Lu Bu to restrain Cao Ren before. It was a friendship between the two and they were equals. But this time he asked Lu Bu to attack Sun Ce, which was a bit of an order. Chen Mo knew Lu Bu quite well, and he was a very proud man. people, If you ask Lu Bu for help as a friend, Lu Bu will help, but if you say it in a commanding tone, then Lu Bu will definitely feel unhappy. This is a strange existence who is unwilling to be inferior to others but has little ambition to make progress. He can only Come coaxed.

"Ru and Lü Bu still have some affection. How about Ru go to Nanyang as an envoy to persuade Lü Bu to send troops?" Li Ru stood up, bowed and smiled.

At first, Li Ru and Lv Bu were both disciples of Dong Zhuo. Although what happened later made the Xiliang military commander quite dissatisfied with Lv Bu, it had been so long, and in Li Ru's view, Lv Bu was actually being used. On the other hand, he doesn't have much prejudice against Lu Bu. In addition, Chen Mo and Lu Bu have a good relationship, so he is not afraid that Lu Bu will be unfavorable to him.

"Okay, by the way, help me send him fifty war horses. There is no source of horses in Nanyang. Feng Xian is good at riding and fighting, so he can't live without good horses." Chen Mo nodded and smiled.

In addition, Chen Mo also wrote a letter and dragged Li Ru to take it with him. There were already many letters exchanged between the two parties, but it was not surprising. Chen Mo had put a lot of thought into winning over Lu Bu, but the time had not come yet. Now if he If Lu Bu was rashly taken under his command, Liu Biao and Cao Cao would probably be alert and even unite, which would be unsightly.

"Here." Li Ru agreed with a smile, stood up and left, preparing to go to Nanyang.

Sun Ce!

Chen Mo nodded at the table, and his mind could not help but recall the passionate young man of the same age as himself outside Yique Pass ten years ago. At that time, he just thought that this young man was a material for a brave general. Who would have thought that more than ten years later, he would become a person who could change the situation in the world.

"My lord, in addition to Jingzhou, there was also unrest in Shuzhong. After Liu Zhang became king, Zhao Wei led the Shuzhong clans to revolt and tried to overthrow Liu Zhang, but he was defeated and died." Xu Shu showed Chen Mo a bamboo slip: "It's just that our army has not arranged many spies in Shuzhong, and the Shu Road is difficult to travel, so this news was sent just now."

Chen Mo nodded when he heard it. Shuzhong is a country surrounded by four barriers, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the news is blocked. If possible, Chen Mo naturally wants to plan Sichuan and Shu. However, after several deductions with everyone, he wants to capture Sichuan and Shu. It will take at least five or six years, and he must go on a personal expedition. The unique terrain of Shu also makes it very likely that the generals who enter Shuzhong will breed the heart of encircling the land and becoming king.

It is not easy to attack this place, but it is too easy to defend. As long as a few checkpoints such as Jianmen are sealed, it will be difficult for outsiders to break in. No matter who is sent to fight, it is not reassuring. After all, people's hearts are the most fickle, especially when there are enough conditions.

Therefore, to conquer Shu, Chen Mo must lead the expedition in person, but the situation in the Central Plains will obviously not give Chen Mo five or six years to lead the expedition in person. Therefore, Chen Mo's deployment in Shu has always been to let Zhang Lu in Hanzhong contain Liu Zhang. At least before the Central Plains is not settled, Chen Mo will not spend energy to conquer Shu.

However, it is necessary to plan and deploy in advance. Chen Mo looked at everyone and said, "You can send more spies to Shu. In addition, Shu is not like the Central Plains. The roads there are closed and the administration is probably more outdated. You can secretly look for talented but unsuccessful people in Shu to win them over."

The closed environment of Shu has made the aristocratic families in Shu more powerful. After all, in the Central Plains, the succession of aristocratic families is very fast. Families like the Yuan family and the Yang family, which have three officials for four generations, have only survived for more than a hundred years. In Shu, there are many families that existed in the pre-Qin era, which has also made the entire structure of Shu more rigid and bloated. It is difficult for talents from poor families to get promotion opportunities. In the previous deduction process between Chen Mo and everyone, they all agreed that if they could have some people in Shu who secretly supported Chen Mo, it would be much easier to enter Shu.

Now that the situation in the Central Plains has fallen into a three-way stalemate, Chen Mo also thinks that Shu can be used as an alternative. If the stalemate continues, if Shu is expanded as the rear, it can also give him more capital to play games with Yuan Shao and Cao Cao.

"Yes!" Xun You and Xu Shu nodded. Now that the situation in the Central Plains is unclear, it is not a bad idea to find a suitable place to expand from other directions.

"In addition, how is the progress of the Black Mountain Army now?" Chen Mo rolled up the bamboo slips on the table and asked while tidying up.

Before the war with Yuan Shao, Chen Mo had begun to migrate people from the Black Mountain Army. The purpose was to make the Black Mountain Army no longer self-sufficient. The more mountain people of the Black Mountain Army moved away, the more the Black Mountain Army relied on Chen Mo. At the same time, most of these mountain people were the families of the Black Mountain Army soldiers. After the people of the Black Mountain Army moved out, the Black Mountain Army was almost controlled by Chen Mo.

After the previous battle with Yuan Shao, banditry broke out in Jizhou. It was the Black Mountain Army's credit that Yuan Shao could no longer gather troops to attack, giving Chen Mo more time to manage Henei.

If this step is successful, then the Black Mountain Army can be used freely next. Zhang Yan is indeed a talented general.

"My lord, since the fourth year of Jian'an, our army has migrated nearly 10,000 households from Taihang Mountain. Even if there are still people under the Black Mountain Army, I am afraid there are less than 1,000 households. According to the lord's previous plan, we can indeed try to negotiate with Zhang Yan about complete surrender." Xu Shu bowed.

Now Chen Mo's plan for the surrounding areas has basically ended. Ma Teng, Han Sui, and the Black Mountain Army, which troubled Chen Mo in the early years, can no longer have an impact on Chen Mo. Next, if Chen Mo goes on another expedition, he does not have to worry about the safety of the rear, and can go all out to advance into the Central Plains.

"No rush." ​​Chen Mo thought: "In the current situation, it is not us who should ask them to join us, but they should come to us on their own. If we take the initiative to ask them, it will make them not understand the situation. We can continue like this."

"Yes!"