"Gongsun Zan is defeated!"
It was already the beginning of the sixth year of Chuping when An Xiao sent news.
In the fourth year of Chuping's reign, Su Fan succeeded Tao Qian and officially became the governor of Xuzhou, although the court did not agree with Tao Qian's proposal.
But in fact, the local government no longer has the power to control the imperial court. If you do not have the ability to suppress the princes in various places, then the imperial court will not have any deterrent.
The localities are completely autonomous, just like during the Warring States Period.
After acquiring Xuzhou, Su Fan did not do anything except stationing his troops in various places in Xuzhou.
At most, they would just keep sending some grain and a small amount of weapons and equipment to Sun Jian.
The battle with Yuan Shu lasted for four years. The two sides fought countless battles in Yangzhou and were constantly fighting. In addition to being short of food, Sun Jian was also short of soldiers and armor.
He is not Yuan Shu, he does not have Yuan Shu's background, armor and equipment, and can quickly equip them.
Therefore, in the face of Yuan Shu's endless consumption, Sun Jian persisted for several years, but soon he could no longer support it.
Su Fan sent some grain, grass and weapons. As for the troops and horses, Sun Jian prepared them himself. Fortunately, in this era, there is no shortage of people. As long as there is food, a group can be brought in.
These days, there is a saying that a good man should not be a soldier.
However, if you don't join the army in troubled times, you won't be able to survive.
Besides, if you don’t surrender to the army, someone will forcefully recruit you.
In order to resist Yuan Shu's army, Sun Jian had no choice but to recruit troops desperately. Young men were recruited into the army batch after batch. They were sent to the battlefield without much training time.
Use the battlefield as training. After several wars, those who survive are veterans.
With Su Fan's support, Sun Jian reluctantly supported him. In the past few years, Su Fan also learned through the dark owl that the number of casualties on both sides was nearly a million.
Yuan Shu's strength was weakened by at least 30% to 40%.
As for Sun Jian, it's even more serious. Without Su Fan's support, I'm afraid he would have no choice but to go back to his hometown in Changsha.
Sun Jian in the south was in danger, and Gongsun Zan in the north was defeated again. This time, his vitality was severely damaged by his defeat.
Baima Yicong actually lost more than half.
"I guess Yuan Benchu is going to counterattack."
After receiving the news from the dark owl, Su Fan's top advisers, Cheng Yu, Guo Jiaxunyou and others came to Su Fan's government meeting hall.
"My lord, Gongsun Zan cannot be defeated. Once defeated, with the influence of the Yuan family, he will soon be able to control Youzhou. Together with Youzhou and Jizhou, Yuan Shao will become the first prince."
"With Yuan's call, I'm afraid all the places in the north will take the exam to Yuan Shao."
Everyone knows the influence of the Yuan family. Without the appeal of the Yuan family, Yuan Shao could easily capture the entire Jizhou.
Not to mention Yuan Shao's incompetence, he was considered a talented person among the princes of the late Han Dynasty. In the early stage, he was even more talented and strategist.
It was just his character flaws and lack of opinion when he met the master that led to his final defeat. Of course, his final defeat was also due to his pride.
The Battle of Guandu and the Battle of Chibi were both due to the arrogance of the lord, which led to the defeat of the greater number with less.
Yuan Shao had some abilities in the early stage, but without the support of the Yuan family, he could swallow up the entire Jizhou so quickly.
That's absolutely impossible.
Yuan's background allowed him to take a big shortcut.
"If Yuan Benchu captures Youzhou, several lands in the north will be swallowed up by Yuan Shao, and there is a great prince like Yuan Shu in the south. I am afraid that not many princes in the world will dare to resist."
What Cheng Yu said is indeed correct.
This is also the case in history, but it is a pity that Yuan Shu made a bad move and ascended the throne and proclaimed the emperor in advance. If Yuan Shu had not ascended the throne and proclaimed the emperor.
Yuan Shao unified the north, and Yuan Shu controlled the southern lands. The princes in the Central Plains would probably have little intention of resisting even Cao Cao.
When Yuan from the North and the South join forces, who can resist?
Even if there is a conflict between the two brothers, the elders of the Yuan family are still there, so they can wipe out the other princes first, and then the two of them can decide the winner.
So at that time, only the East China Sea Territory will have to fight alone.
Naturally, everyone feels the pressure.
"Gongsun Zan cannot be defeated!"
Xi Zhicai also said firmly.
"Then what do you think we should do? We can't send troops directly now!"
It is not impossible to send troops, but it will disrupt his layout. Once he really sends troops, Cao Cao will definitely stop him. At the same time, if Yuan is wise, he will definitely let Yuan Shu send troops to stop him.
In this way, Sun Jian will definitely be cultivated.
Su Fan is not afraid of Sun Jian, but if he recovers, it will cost him more to win over him in the future.
This is definitely not worth it.
It also conflicts with his previous layout.
"My lord, there is no need to send troops. General Guan Hai in Qingzhou has an elite force in his hands. He can go to Jizhou and attack Jizhou to slow down Yuan Benchu's attack speed."
"Guan Hai has a force of soldiers and horses, but there are only 50,000 elite soldiers. I'm afraid it's not enough."
Because the East China Sea Territory needed people, most of Guan Hai's millions of young and strong troops were sent back to the East China Sea Territory.
Su Fan asked Guan Hai to start implementing the strategy of elite troops.
Therefore, Guan Hai currently has only 200,000 troops under his command, of which 50,000 are elites and the rest are strong and powerful.
"There is no need to worry that General Hai really wants to fight Yuan Benchu to the death. My lord has forgotten that there is a yellow scarf in the Taihang Mountains."
Guo Jia said suddenly.
Dark lords are all over the world, and a few years ago they found information about the Taihang Mountains.
Of course, it was also the Yellow Turbans from Taihang Mountain that appeared in Jizhou and were noticed by the dark owl, so they sneaked in to investigate.
This survey is also a bit shocking. There are tens of millions of Yellow Turban soldiers and civilians in the Taihang Mountains.
Moreover, Zhang Jiao's two brothers were actually among them.
When Su Fan heard the news, he was a little surprised. No wonder he didn't hear anything about these two people after the Battle of Julu, and the court didn't follow up.
Unexpectedly, the two of them were hiding in the Taihang Mountains.
In history, it was Zhang Yan, but now it has changed. The two brothers Zhang Jiao command tens of millions of Yellow Turban soldiers and civilians, which is not a small force.
As soon as Guo Jia reminded him, Su Fan also remembered it.
The two Zhang Jiao brothers were not weak at all. They could fight back and forth with the army back then.
With the presence of these two people, the Yellow Turban generals were not as scattered as in history. At least those who were not captured by the army ran there.
Therefore, the power of the Yellow Turbans in the Taihang Mountains is not weak.
"So what Feng Xiao means is to ask Guan Hai to contact Taihang Mountain and ask them to send troops. However, Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao are not fools and will not send troops easily."
"That's natural, but there are tens of millions of Yellow Turbans in the Taihang Mountains, and the consumption of food is also huge."
"In recent years, the news from the dark owl is that the Yellow Turbans of Taihang Mountain often come out of the mountain to attack various places in Jizhou and rob food."
"It shows that they are also constantly short of food. This is used to lure them and they are not afraid of not moving."
"Well! That's okay."
Su Fan nodded when he heard this.
This chapter has been completed!