Chapter 291: Cao and Yuan move together and advance towards Wujun In March of the fourth year of Jian'an, at the beginning of spring, the years-long struggle between the two heroes in Hebei finally came to an end. Because the secret letter sent by Gongsun Zan for help was intercepted by Yuan Shao, Yuan Shao led his troops to raise torches outside the city. When Gongsun Zan saw this, he mistakenly thought that reinforcements had arrived, so he led his troops to attack, but was severely defeated by Yuan Shao. This battle caused Gongsun Zan's troops to scatter, and he had no choice but to retreat into the city. After Yuan Shao gained the advantage, he ordered his men to dig tunnels with all their strength and burn the tower where Gongsun Zan was. Gongsun Zan had no way to retreat, so he strangled all the women in his family and then set himself on fire. But before he could die, he was beheaded by Yuan Shao's troops who rushed over. Thus, the great hero Gongsun Zan came to an end. After Gongsun Zan's death, his adviser Guan Jing realized that he had misled Gongsun Zan, so he rode his horse into Yuan Shao's army and died. Yuan Shao finally killed the two men and ordered the heads of Gongsun Zan and Guan Jing to be sent to Xu Du.

However, there was one thing that always confused Yuan Shao, because Gongsun Zan's wife and children were not seen in Gongsun Zan's army. Although he had many concubines, his two sons and his wife were nowhere to be seen. In order to wipe out the roots and destroy Gongsun Zan's bloodline, he ordered spies to search everywhere. After two days, they finally found out that before Gongsun Zan was defeated, a mysterious man came to visit him. After talking with him, Gongsun Zan gave him his wife and children and sent his White Horse Volunteers to escort him out. When Yuan Shao saw this, he wondered what kind of force would come to rescue his family? But before he could come up with an answer, news came from Yuan Tan, saying that he had received secret information from Liu Bei's army that Cao Cao might move the capital in the near future! When Yuan Shao heard this, he was shocked and hurriedly called his advisers to discuss the matter. After everyone discussed it, they figured out Cao Cao's strategic intentions and Liu Bei's goals. Cao Cao did not move the capital earlier or later, but chose to move the capital now. It was clearly a preparation for an active attack! If Cao Cao succeeded, even if they went south to capture Yanzhou, Cao Cao could still hold on by relying on the natural barriers of the Yellow River and Sishui Pass. This was obviously extremely against their interests, and also against Liu Bei's interests. This secret letter was sent in the hope that they could send a detachment to help stop Cao Cao from moving the capital! After knowing this, Yuan Shao naturally frowned and said in a deep voice: "Cao Aman is truly not a good son. Since I gained Hebei, I have repeatedly sent troops to help me." "How could I have thought that this person would be so ungrateful and act so recklessly." "Why are we moving the capital now? How can I let them succeed?" With a sneer on his face, he left Feng Ji, Jiang Qi and the others to continue to wipe out the remnants of Gongsun Zan, and personally led his troops towards Weijun. At the same time, in order to prevent Cao Cao from moving the capital, he ordered Bingzhou Governor Gao Gan, Weijun Ju Shou and others to make plans. He said that if Cao Cao really wanted to move the capital, he would send a surprise attack to Hongnong and intercept the emperor as he headed north. After receiving Yuan Shao's letter, in April of the fourth year of Jian'an, Ju Su, Gao Gan and others simultaneously sent troops to Hedong to intimidate Cao Cao.

At the same time, Cao Cao was naturally shocked when he learned of the actions of the north. He originally wanted to seize Hedong as a frontline base before Yuan Shao returned, but he did not expect Yuan Shao to take action first. Seeing that Yuan Shao had sent out a detachment of troops to intimidate Guanzhong, he sent Cheng Yu to lead his troops north to Mount Tai, intending to adopt the strategy of besieging Wei to save Zhao and to ease the pressure from the west. In addition, he personally led his troops northward, intending to defeat Yuan Shao's partial forces first and gain an early advantage. Dong Zhao, Xun Yu and others were in charge of moving the capital, preparing to go north to Guanzhong from Wugu Pass via Nanyang. But at this time, Guan Yu, who had been keeping his troops in place, suddenly led his troops to attack from Pingyu. For five consecutive days, they successively captured Liyang and Wufang and directly surrounded Shangcai City. Faced with this situation, Dong Zhao suggested that Xun Yu dispatch 3,000 soldiers and horses to escort the emperor westward first, with the officials following behind. However, Xun Yu refused on the grounds that Nanyang had not yet been settled and ordered not to move the capital. Seeing the usually gentle Xun Yu acting like this, Dong Zhao was at a loss as to what to do but send a letter to Cao Cao to discuss temporarily putting the relocation of the capital on hold. At this time, after a truce of nearly a month, Liu Bei's army once again entered the territory of Wujun. This time, Liu Bei's offensive was much more fierce than last time. Since Sun Ce was now trapped in Wujun, Qin Zhen suggested attacking from all sides to squeeze Sun Ce's living space. Using intermittent attacks, Sun Ce was forced into a state of being unable to focus on one thing while neglecting another. The so-called intermittent attack is to designate only one strategic target. In addition to this, there were no fixed tactics, no unified army, and each general was given autonomy, even at irregular times. To put it simply, this tactic is to shoot here and there. Make full use of the personal abilities of the generals so that Sun Ce cannot figure out when and where they will attack. This tactic is similar to the guerrilla warfare of later generations, but it is extremely dependent on the personal abilities of the generals. Coincidentally, the generals who are now surrounding Sun Ce are not ordinary generals. From north to south, they are Lu Su, Taishi Ci, Zhang Fei, Liu Ye and Wei Yan. Together with their main force, it represents almost half of their elite troops! This kind of lineup plus the advantage in military strength is definitely not something Sun Ce can handle! As this tactic was launched to various armies, Zhang Fei and Taishi Ci did not react for the time being, but Lu Su and Liu Ye took action first. First, Liu Ye led his troops northward, pretending to raid Wucheng in order to lure troops from the south to attack. He then used Wei Yan and Zu Lang to defeat Xu Kun, a general under Sun Ce, and occupied Shanyin. Later, Lu Su suddenly led his troops to raid the Dantu defense line and defeated Sun Ce's last naval general Zhongli Xu. Sun Ce was shocked by the breakthroughs from two directions. Following Zhou Yu's suggestion, he ordered Sun Ben to lead 5,000 soldiers to guard Youquan. In order to prevent Liu Bei's main force, he personally led more than 10,000 troops to reinforce Qu'a, but halfway through the journey, he was ambushed by Taishi Ci and had to retreat to Piling County. At the end of March, Liu Bei led his troops to land in Wujun and formed a siege with Taishi Ci's troops. After more than six days of fierce attack, Qu'a City fell and generals Xu Yi and Lu Fan were killed in the battle.

This news was like a bolt from the blue to Sun Ce. Xu Yi and Lu Fan were undoubtedly both capable men under his command. Especially Lu Fan, who rose from humble beginnings and had many military exploits over the years. But before he could enjoy a single day of happiness with him, he died in battle. Sun Ce could not help but feel sad. In the midst of sadness, Sun Ce no longer escaped. He mobilized his elite troops and garrisoned 20,000 troops in Piling. Piling County is what later became Changzhou City. However, unlike later generations, there were a large number of swamps outside Piling County at that time. Sun Ce stationed his troops here, and ordered Zhou Yu to lead 8,000 people to defend the city. He himself led 12,000 soldiers and set up camp on the seashore. The intention was to form a pincer attack to build the last line of defense for Wujun. After Liu Bei received the news, he joined forces with Taishi Ci and led a total of 40,000 troops to the city of Piling. On the third day of April, Liu Bei's army arrived and went straight to Sun Ce's camp to shout. After Sun Ce left, Liu Bei looked at Sun Ce in the camp and said with a smile: "It's been a long time since we last met. I hope you are doing well, Sun Lang. I have no deep hatred against Sun Lang." "In the past, we fought against the traitors together and we had a comradeship. Now Sun Lang only has half a county, why do you have to resist here?" "If you surrender as soon as possible and help the royal family, you will be rewarded with a title of nobility in the future!" At this time, Sun Ce had a lot more stubble on his face than before. Hearing this, he sneered: "Liu Xuande, as of now, our two families have become mortal enemies." "My skills are inferior to others, and I have no more words to say after being defeated to this point." "But if you want me to surrender, then there is no need to say anything. If you have a plan, just show it to me!" "If I lose again this time, you will be allowed to enter Wu County. This is my fate." "If you have no other options, leave now and stop talking nonsense!" After hearing this, Liu Bei knew that Sun Ce was determined to defend his city to the death, so he stopped trying to persuade him and simply ordered his troops to return to camp. Once inside the tent, he called everyone to discuss strategies for dealing with the enemy: "Now that our army has gained the upper hand, I originally wanted to persuade Sun Ce to surrender, but he is determined." "I wonder if you have any strategy to defeat the enemy?" As soon as he finished speaking, Taishi Ci stepped out and bowed, saying: "Mingsir, Sun Ce is an extraordinary warrior and also a brave man!" "If you are determined to defend it, our army will find it difficult to break through here!" "Why not send a detachment of troops here, and let the main force bypass Zhenze and attack Wuxian directly, perhaps we can force them to retreat!" Zhenze is the Taihu Lake in later generations. In fact, their main force can now bypass and head directly to Wu County. By threatening Sun Ce's lair, he forced Sun Ce to retreat. However, after he made his suggestion, Zhuge Liang shook his head and said: "General, your proposal is acceptable, but Wu County and this place are also in harmony with each other."

"Our army went around Taihu Lake and attacked, but there was no place to stand." "If Sun Ce attacks from both sides, our army will be in danger of being defeated!" Taishi Ci remained silent upon hearing this, while Liu Bei looked at Zhuge Liang and said: "In that case, does Kong Ming have a plan to defeat Sun Ce?" Zhuge Liang thought about it carefully for a while, then shook his head and said: "Our army has just arrived and we don't have a good plan yet, but if we can take over one place first, we can break their encirclement!" "Or we can use one army to guard against the enemy's surprise attack and attack this city with all our strength!" Liu Bei nodded after hearing this, then looked at Qin Zhen and said: "I wonder what the military advisor thinks of Kong Ming's intention?" But Qin Zhen saw this and smiled at Liu Bei and said: "If I follow my opinion, maybe I can combine your views." "Sun Ce is difficult to attack, our army may be able to bypass Wu County and attack him. His army is strong, and our army will win over the people's hearts!" "Because I saw today that Sun Ce looked very busy. If this man is like this, then we can imagine what the people under his command are like!" "The reason why Sun Ce was able to gather troops was because of his personal prestige!" "But the Sun family is not just Sun Ce, there are many other children." "How could they really follow Sun Ce to his death wholeheartedly?" "So we might as well send our navy into Zhenze, using ships as a base to persuade people to surrender along the way." "He only said that Sun Ce was a tyrant. Now he only has one county, but he still refuses to surrender. He wants to ask the young men of Jiangdong to attend Sun's funeral." "They also said that Sun Ce was the only one guilty of the Sun family, but if any of the Sun family members surrendered, they would be spared from death!" "In this case, there is no need for us to attack them, and Sun Ce will have a hard time winning the hearts of the people." "When the morale of their subordinates is dispersed, our army will advance along the road and destroy them here!" When Liu Bei heard this, he was overjoyed and ordered Lu Su to send 2,000 naval troops to Zhenze via Wuhu. Under his order, Lu Su hurriedly divided his troops into the lake and began to attack the enemy's heart according to Qin Zhen's plan. At the same time, Liu Bei transported the catapults in the rear to the county seat of Piliang. When Sun Ce saw that the main attack direction was set at Piling, he sent out his troops to intercept them. The two sides fought a fierce battle, and Sun Ce exchanged half of Liu Bei's army's catapults at the cost of two thousand soldiers. When Liu Bei saw this, he was naturally furious and wanted to attack Sun Ce's camp directly, but Qin Zhen dissuaded him: "What Sun Ce holds now is not a camp, but the city of Piling!" "If we destroy his camp, he can lead his troops to retreat into the city; if we destroy this city, Sun Ce will have no choice but to retreat." "If our army wants to defeat Sun Ce, we must first take down this city and cut off one of its arms!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Bei suppressed his anger and continued to organize his troops to attack the city. They spent several days making equipment, cutting down trees, and burning earth bombs. By April 8, the troops were fully prepared and they launched the first attack on Piling. On that day, the spring breeze was slightly warm, and more than 10,000 soldiers lined up outside the city, firing thousands of stone bombs at the county town of Piliang. Upon seeing this, Zhou Yu ordered his general Jiang Qin to charge with 500 soldiers and horses to destroy the siege vehicles, but they were stopped by Taishi Ci and returned with minor injuries. At midnight, Sun Ce organized a night attack, but was ambushed by Zhao Yun and retreated in defeat. By April 10, morale in the city had plummeted, and Liu Bei tried to attack the city using the ant-like siege method. They took the city wall at the first blow, their morale was greatly boosted, and they almost broke through the gate of Piliang. Fortunately, Zhou Yu prepared a large number of reserve troops and personally led them to reinforce. This led to the defeat of Liu Bei's army, which put him at a disadvantage in his first battle. In this way, the two sides remained in a stalemate for another three days, with each side winning and losing. But just as the two families were fighting in Piling, news came from the east. It is said that Zhang Fei defeated Youquan and captured Sun Ben, a general under Sun Ce! (End of this chapter)