The main force of Huainan heading north was defeated. Zhang Liao and Gao Shun saw that they could open up the southward route via Guangling, and secretly observed the waterway and navy situation in Guangling along the way.
At the same time, there was also good news in Xunyang. It turned out that Yuan Shu had "gradually" released the Sun Zhou people and Sun Jian's old tribe, so that Sun Ce could not leave Xunyang immediately.
Especially at the end, Sun Ce's mother, Mrs. Wu, and his brothers and sisters were all still being held hostage, and they were like hostages, making him restrained.
However, just three months later, after the news of Ji Ling's defeat reached Shouchun, Yuan Shu was suddenly eager to get the jade seal!
He directly asked Sun Ce to exchange his jade seal for his mother, Mrs. Wu, his two brothers Sun Kuang and Sun Yi, and his six-year-old sister, leaving only his second brother Sun Quan as a hostage.
Originally Sun Ce didn't want to agree, but Zhou Yu persuaded Sun Ce to agree - he seemed to have different ideas.
Although he didn't say it clearly, Zhou Yu had sorted through it himself before, and the faces of the counselors around Yuan Shu flashed through his mind one by one, but he couldn't find the mastermind of this conspiracy.
Until Zhou Yu had an idea, a face of someone who was in Shouchun, but was not one of Yuan Shu's men appeared in his mind!
A young man with purple hair and blue eyes who still has a childish look. Although his face is immature, his eyes are very mature...
"Yuan Shu is now blocked in his southern and northern expeditions. He is eager to ask for the jade seal at this time. He must be desperate. If we refuse him, we are likely to become the target of his anger. The 'trapped beast' can do anything." Zhou Yu said.
"But what should Zhongmou do?" Sun Ce scratched his head and asked.
Sun Quan was fourteen years old at this time and was actually fifteen years old. He was not yet old enough to be given the "Biao Zi". However, because he was precocious and had already been promoted to "Xiaolian", he had already been given the "Biao Zi".
"Yuan Shu held Zhong Mou hostage simply to keep him as a hostage, and judging from the current situation, it would be good for us to stay in Xunyang first," Zhou Yu said.
He had expected that Ji Ling's northern expedition to Xuzhou would probably be fruitless, but he didn't expect that it would fail miserably!
And judging from the eagerness to ask for the jade seal, Yuan Shu's mentality was indeed about to collapse... As a result, Zhou Yu also had some other ideas.
"No! I promised Mr. Bai..."
"You promised Mr. Bai half a year! It's only three months now, and if the situation changes in the future, we can go down the river and go straight to Wancheng, and then take Wancheng with us to go to Mr. Bai. Wouldn't it be even better?
?" Zhou Yu persuaded.
Wancheng was Liu Xun's temporary headquarters in Lujiang. Now after Shucheng was captured, Liu Xun moved the headquarters back to Shucheng - this move made Zhou Yu very disdainful.
Although Shucheng is more prosperous, has a larger population, and is closer to the Central Plains, Wancheng is more important in terms of geographical location.
Wancheng is located to the north of the Yangtze River, and you can enter the river from the "Wankou" to the south.
Wankou is to Wancheng, just like Guazhou is to Guangling, and Chaohu is to Hefei.
In history without the White Rabbit Effect, Sun Quan's 100,000-strong army attacked Guangling in the north but failed and then returned, and three times he used 100,000-strong troops to attack Hefei, but they also failed and returned.
Although Guazhou and Chaohu were not mentioned, now that we have touched Guangling and Hefei, we can know that these two ports were captured by Soochow, and they were captured very easily.
If Guangling and Hefei could not be captured later, it would be impossible to defend a single port hanging near the enemy's heroic city, so they always retreated directly to Jiangdong.
Opposite Guazhou is Jingkou, opposite Chaohu is Ruxukou, including "Wankou" on the west side, they are the three major strategic points between Yangzhou and Huainan from west to east.
As for Jingkou further east...
At this time, the Oriental Pearl Tower of later generations was still underwater, and the delta had not yet been flushed out. The river was too open and it was close to the mouth of the sea. It was impossible to start a water battle here with current technology.
Of course, in a strategic sense, Wancheng is worse than Hefei and Guangling. Once Hefei is captured, Shouchun is in sight, and the Central Plains is close at hand. But once Guangling is captured, all the way to the Xiapi defense line along the Huaihe River is
It's all under control.
Wancheng is located at the southern foot of Dabie Mountain, in the Tianzhu Mountain area. The waterway ends from the north of Wancheng, and the north and south are separated. The only way to go north is through the stone pavilion, the stone road, and the majestic pass along the road.
Sitting here, although it is powerless to attack, it is enough to protect itself, and unlike Xunyang, which was controlled by Qichun, the cultivated land in Wancheng is sufficient and fertile.
In history without the White Rabbit effect, Lu Meng captured Wan County six years after the Battle of Chibi. From then on, Cao Wei failed to regain it until the fall of Soochow.
Of course, because the waterway north of Wancheng was cut off, Soochow was unable to go north from there.
If Liu Xun continues to use Wancheng as his headquarters and focus on defense, Zhou Yu will not be able to defeat Wancheng. At most, he will touch Wankou, which is meaningless. But now that the main force of Lujiang has moved back to Shucheng, Zhou Yu feels that he can fight for it.
Maybe we can capture Wancheng.
Sun Ce didn't seem very smart, but his strategic layout was very accurate. After looking at the map, he understood the importance of Wancheng, but he still didn't trust Sun Quan.
"Zhongmou has always been very smart, so maybe we don't need to worry about him," Zhou Yu explained.
"He is still a child!" Sun Ce obviously did not understand what Zhou Yu meant.
"But now we can only accept Yuan Shu's request, otherwise a madman can do anything... You can be more open-minded. At least Zhongmou is the one chosen to stay in Shouchun, which is the most beneficial to us." Zhou Yu said.
Sun Ce rolled his eyes, obviously not interested in Zhou Yu's statement.
However, according to what Zhou Yu said, the exchange of "hostages" was agreed.
Unexpectedly, Yuan Shu actually proposed that he would first send the people to Qi (qi two sounds) Chuncheng, and then ask Sun Ce to pass through Chengji, consume the best manpower, and directly send the jade seal back to Shouchun, and then Yuan Shu would notify Qichun.
People ask for it!
Qichun is close to Xunyang and is nominally a county in Jiangxia County. However, because it is close to Lujiang River, it is now actually controlled by Yuan Shu.
Unlike Xunyang, Qichun's guard Lu Mian, like Ji Ling and Qiao Rui, was a die-hard loyalist to Yuan Shu.
And although Xunyang is now in Lujiang County, Yangzhou, and Qichun is in Jiangxia County, Jingzhou, they are very close to each other, especially Xunyang Ferry, which is almost directly within the influence of Qichun, and Sun Ce is only stationed there.
In Xunyangdu, other cities in the county are not under its jurisdiction.
It is precisely because of Qichun's control that Yuan Shu is not worried about what Sun Ce might do while searching for Yang.
At first, Sun Ce resolutely distrusted Yuan Shu, but later, under Zhou Yu's guidance, Sun Ce also made a corresponding request - Sun Quan must also be in Qichun to confirm everyone's safety before Sun Ce will hand over the jade seal.
Yuan Shu probably felt that even a few hostages could not be lost in Qichun City, so he sent his trusted Chen Lan and Lei Book to send Sun Quan and others to Qichun City. As for escorting the Jade Seal, Yuan Shu could not trust anyone...