Volume 2: The King's Way Chapter 177: Shouchun Incident
"Gongsun Zan was defeated faster than expected..." Bai Tu muttered to himself helplessly after receiving the news.
Originally, according to his cowardly spirit in Yijing, he should have no problem surviving until next year. However, Gongsun Zan suddenly regained his former bravery... which brought his defeat forward a lot!
Although the final battle was fought very brilliantly, if Gongsun Zan had the choice, he would probably prefer this way of death, as Yuan Shao almost died at his hands. However... this battle caused Yuan Shao to suffer greater losses than when Gongsun Zan was defeated in history, but it also made Yuan Shao's situation much better.
During the decisive battle of Yijing, the Black Mountain Army in Hebei...or rather, the Black Mountain bandit Zhang Yan, and Gongsun Du in Liaodong, were persuaded by Gongsun Zan to join forces to fight against Yuan Shao.
After Gongsun Zan was killed in battle, all parties were inevitably severely damaged in the chaos of fighting.
It was not surprising that Gongsun Zan personally took action. Firstly, he was a martial artist and was very brave. When he saw Lu Bu at Hulao Pass, he dared to fight with him. Secondly, Gongsun Zan had already become alienated from the army. Only if he took command of the army again could he boost morale. Otherwise, even the White Horse Volunteers would not risk their lives for him.
However, Yuan Shao was now rich with four states and Qing, Ji, You and He had people, food and horses. He was rich as a behemoth. Now that Gongsun Zan, the great enemy, was gone, he could recover quickly even if he suffered some casualties.
After all, the Black Mountain Army was just a civilian uprising army, and it was said to have some relationship with the Yellow Turbans. They appeared in the Taihang Mountains in Hebei after the Yellow Turban Rebellion was suppressed.
He claimed to have gathered a million people, which was considered good among the "bandits" in various places, but he was quite a watery person. In terms of war potential, he certainly could not be compared with Yuan Shao who controlled four states.
Liaodong is still a bitter and cold place today. Even though it is known as a "holy place for refuge from disasters", many people and talents from the Central Plains moved to Liaodong during troubled times, but it can only be considered as a new start.
Both families had suffered a serious blow, and they would probably have to hide and lick their wounds for a long time.
In this way, it is just like in history when Cao Cao was out of battle and found that the Qiang people kept coming to help, he was actually very happy - these people "making trouble" by breaking up into small groups and occupying the terrain could still be considered a diversion, but if they all ran out... they could just be destroyed!
Yuan Shao did not suffer a loss this time. While he suffered heavy casualties, he gained a more stable Hebei.
Just as Bai Tu was lamenting the defeat of Gongsun Zan, the official seal suddenly vibrated. After taking it out, he found that it was Hefei Ji who had important matters.
Without caring about anything else, Bai Tu hurried to Cheng Ji's mansion first.
Although Yuan Shao, who is far away in Hebei, has now become the most powerful prince, he has no impact on Bai Tu for the time being. After all, there are Guanzhong and Central Plains in between. The matter of Hefei Ji is more important - this is the highest level of "warning"!
When I arrived at Cheng Ji's mansion, I first discovered that Hefei Ji was not pulling the stone lock in the martial arts field today.
As soon as he entered the central hall behind the martial arts arena, Bai Tu was surprised to find that in addition to Hefei Ji, there was also an unfamiliar Cheng Ji.
Normally speaking, this is not the first time that Bai Tu has seen Cheng Ji visiting, but... this person is not a translucent figure, but a real entity!
"Who are you?" At first, Bai Tu thought he had discovered an alien concubine, but looking at the expressions of this person and Hefei Ji, he felt that they were not the same.
Hefei Ji's face was full of anger at this time, while Cheng Ji, who Bai Tu didn't know, looked a little embarrassed. It could be seen that she was usually dressed very elegantly. Unlike Hefei Ji, Xiaopei Ji, and Qu'a Ji, she was a bit like Jinling Ji who had recovered initially, but her eyes were not as dull as Jinling Ji's.
But now he also looks dejected...
Could it be that... Cheng Ji ran away?
Bai Tu's heart couldn't help but jump. If Cheng Ji really ran away, I'm afraid something big would happen!
The last time a city girl ran away was after the battle of Hulao Pass, when Dong Zhuo set fire to Luoyang and forced the people to travel west to Chang'an, and Luoyang Ji ran away from the city...
"Something happened in Shouchun!" Hefei Ji said seriously.
"What did Yuan Shu do?" Bai Tu asked in surprise.
You know... even when Cao Cao was causing trouble in Xuzhou, Pengcheng Ji did not run away!
Cao Cao also grasped the measure and controlled the situation to the safety line where Cheng Ji could escape.
"That Yuan Shu has gone crazy... He forcibly extracted eight times the manpower, and then sent officers into the city to rob the people of their property, and even... burned, killed and looted." Shouchun Ji said painfully.
The mood of the city princess will be affected by the mood of the local people.
Before Shouchun Ji could finish, Bai Tu had already called out to Taishi Ci, "Immediately, notify all camps to prepare for battle!"
At the same time, the corresponding information was also transmitted to Guangling City and Wancheng through Hefei Ji.
Shouchun Ji also talked about what had just happened. There was no sign before, or it was intentionally hidden from Shouchun Ji. This morning, Yuan Shu's army suddenly showed its fangs to Shouchun, which was under his rule...
Although the inner city was protected by the mysterious power of Cheng Ji and it was difficult for Ji Zao's soldiers to enter, but... Yuan Shu had assembled thousands of grassroots officers who charged directly into the city. The combat effectiveness of the ordinary city defense forces was so strong that even Bai Tu could fight several of them alone. Even if they wanted to, they could not stop the grassroots warriors who were as fierce as wolves and tigers.
Shouchun City was instantly caught in a planned looting. Shouchun Ji contacted Yuan Shu but received no response. When she first wanted to leave, she was stopped by Zhong Ji...
It was not until the afternoon when Yuan Shu's main force had begun to evacuate Shouchun that Zhong Ji disappeared from Cheng Ji's Mansion, and Shouchun Ji also immediately left and came to Hefei Ji's Mansion.
Because Cheng Ji "ran away from the city" and came to Hefei immediately, Bai Tu learned the news relatively quickly. Yuan Shu had just left Shouchun, and two quarters of an hour later, Bai Tu was already in front of the reviewing platform.
Looking at the hastily assembled soldiers, Bai Tu said with a gloomy face: "Everyone present here is from Jiangdong and Huainan. In order to save the people of Huainan from the dire situation, we came to Hefei during this hot and dry time...
But just now, I met Shouchunji...
"The beastly behavior of Dong the thief in Luoyang is now repeated in Shouchun. I know... in this weather where the sun has already set but there is still no coolness, the forced march is very tiring, but... now countless people in Shouchun are crying and bleeding under the rampage of Yuan the thief's bandit army. Can you endure it?"
When Bai Tu mentioned Shouchun Ji, many military officers who were born in Huainan, or even whose families were in Shouchun County, began to look unnatural.
"No, no, no!" Upon hearing the news brought by Bai Tu, the generals from Jiangdong and Shouchun all shouted.
Especially the latter, there was .
Bai Tu's previous assembly order did not avoid the surrendered troops remaining in Hefei.
Normally speaking, although the surrendered troops in Hefei were abandoned by Yuan Yin, even if they had been incorporated, Bai Tu would not mobilize this part of the troops when conquering Yuan Shu unless it was necessary. After all, there was a greater risk of rebellion than other troops.
However, after hearing the news from Shouchun, Bai Tu felt that it was impossible for them to turn against them, and they would only be more eager to go back - but many grassroots generals came from the Shouchun area.
Bai Tu also knew that there was no time to waste, so he immediately gave the order: "Foster father! Take all the cavalry and rush to Shouchun at full speed. Those who cause chaos will be killed immediately even if they surrender! We must restore order in Shouchun as quickly as possible!"
"Yes!" After Lu Bu stepped forward to receive the order, he immediately left with the generals of all levels of the cavalry.
"Jiang Qin, lead your troops to stay in Hefei on my behalf, and the rest of the troops should follow me immediately!" Bai Tu ordered.
This time, Bai Tu really "led the charge" and did not even take a carriage. He marched quickly with the soldiers in his armor...
Bai Tu's training during this period has yielded some results. Although he holds the title of "General of Chariots and Cavalry", he is still wearing wooden and stone armor, and his promotion is not as fast as Lu Lingqi's, which is a bit embarrassing, but... at least he can feel that he is not far from breaking through to the Gilded Level.
At this time, Bai Tu's wooden and stone armor played a motivating role - even Bai Tu, who came from a "literary" background, followed the forced march, so what could others complain about?
For a moment, the sergeants and squad leaders in the army also tried their best to keep up and motivate the Ji-made soldiers under their command.
In the era of cold weapons, forced marches were the easiest thing to reduce morale, so long-distance raids were so difficult. Anyone who could successfully carry out a forced march would become a "famous general" whose name would go down in history.
The same is true in the cold weapon era of Cheng Ji's world. Not only is there a limit problem with Ji-made soldiers, but the wooden and stone armor does not have infinite power. Most of the armor of sergeants and squad leaders are not loaded with additional BMW engines.
However, with Bai Tu's "leading by example", especially the grassroots generals in Huainan, who are already eager to return home, they are marching steadily northward!
Even after dark, they walked forward with torches, and no complaints reached Bai Tu...
Bai Tu is not worried about any fraud. Cheng Ji can choose not to say anything, but she will not assist in lying. This is the basic principle.
Yuan Shu's current main force should have left when Shouchun Ji came to Hefei City. Before that, Zhong Ji had been restricting Shouchun Ji's actions - as a princess of the dynasty, Zhong Ji's authority over the Ji Mansion in Shouchun City was higher than that of Shouchun Ji.
It was not until Zhongji and Yuan Shu left together that Shouchunji was able to escape and instantly came to Hefeiji.
However, Bai Tu understood that the tragedy in Shouchun had just begun...
Before Yuan Shu left, at most he simply looted some "big targets" and took away those that were easy to take away. Judging from the situation in Shouchun at that time, it is almost certain that the only difference between Yuan Shu and Dong Zhuo when he burned Luoyang was that he would not take the people with him to the north.
After all, his food supply was not that abundant!
In addition to the main force, there must be other troops that will leave one after another and have the opportunity to plunder one after another.
Yuan Shu would certainly use this as a "welfare" to win the trust of those non-direct troops, not to mention that some of the troops would simply take the opportunity to become bandits.
The people of Shouchun are now being drained of their bones and marrow, so Bai Tu directly let Lu Bu go there first!
The distance from Hefei City to Shouchun City is less than 200 miles, and there are even closer small counties or garrison fortresses along the way, but the main central army is in Hefei.
In history, when Cao Cao was chasing Liu Bei in Dangyang, the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry could travel 300 miles a day. Bai Tu believed that the Bingzhou Cavalry led by his adopted father would not be much behind, and they should be able to arrive at dawn if they traveled all night.
As for the main force of the numerous infantrymen, Bai Tu would also try to bring them to Shouchun within three days...
It can be imagined that when Yuan Shu fled, many troops were probably in chaos. At this time, not only Shouchun City, but also the countryside that Yuan Shu had no time to search carefully must have been in chaos. Lu Bu's elite cavalry was small in number, so he could only rescue Shouchun City first. In order to restore and maintain the order in several counties around Shouchun, Bai Tu's main force had to arrive!
