Although the current team is much worse than Cao Cao who came later, and even Liu Bei who came to Shu.
But for Liu Bei today, it's already very good.
After all, now is not the time when the world is divided into three parts, and talents from all walks of life have already found their destination.
Even Cao Cao now only has Xiahou Dun and Le Jin.
Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Cao Chun, Cao Xiu and his gang are probably just adults now and have not yet started their business with him.
As for Sun Jian?
Now there are only four generals, Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, Han Dang, and Zu Mao, who are far worse than Liu Bei.
With such a foundation, I am afraid that even Yuan Shao will not be able to compare with him in a few years.
Everyone gathered together.
Liu Bei coughed and looked at Chen Mu.
Although the official position of the Prime Minister is higher than that of the Governor, and Liu Bei is still the eldest brother, he takes the chief position and does his duty.
But this battle was initiated by Chen Mu, so we still had to wait for him to speak.
Chen Mu understood in his heart and said loudly: "Everyone, the Yellow Turban thief Xu He is already the last Yellow Turban force in Qingzhou. After he is defeated, Qingzhou will be completely peaceful. From now on, we will sit back and relax and concentrate on governing the place. So this battle
We have to fight, we can’t do it without fighting.”
Starting from Luoyang in November last year, Guan Yu pacified Qi in February, attacked Sima Ju of Gaoyuan, Zhang Rao, Guan Cheng and others in Beihai in April and May, and then Taishi Ci pacified Donglai in July.
Fighting all year round.
The logistical pressure was not small. Fortunately, just like when Xia Houyuan attacked Sima Ju and Xu He and plundered their baggage, Chen Mu also plundered the supplies of powerful people from various places to subsidize the military.
After more than half a year of this, we not only managed to maintain military expenditures, but also liberated a large amount of land for the people, making the territory much more stable.
As long as Xu He is defeated, the entire Qingzhou will be completely peaceful, and there will no longer be any Yellow Turban forces.
You know, in the original history, after the collapse of the Yellow Turbans in 184, Qingzhou was the largest home base of the Yellow Turbans besides the Taihang Mountains.
Especially in the 190s, warlords were separatist in various places, but there were no warlords in Qingzhou? It was because there were too many yellow turbans here.
Although there was Kong Rong, he was just a scrapper. He was beaten by the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou and couldn't take care of himself. He even lost his government office. He fled everywhere and was in a very embarrassed state.
Now Chen Mu comes in advance to clean up the messy situation here? So in the future, it will be the same as Yuan Shao started in Jizhou and Cao Cao started in Yanzhou? Liu Bei also has a revolutionary base of his own.
Hearing Chen Mu's words? Liu Bei echoed: "Maintaining local stability is our responsibility. If you have any methods to deal with the enemy, why don't you tell us?"
"In my opinion, should we treat the situation with courtesy first and then attack with force? Let Sima Ju go to the city to lobby? It's best to resolve it peacefully."
Jushou offered his opinion.
If it were two years ago, there would be no possibility of negotiation between the army and the Yellow Turbans.
Like when he attacked Sima Ju before, even if Chen Mu had a plan, the court would not allow it, but would force him to attack? The Yellow Turban thieves must be killed completely.
But Liu Hong's attitude has softened a lot in the past two years. For the sake of the stability of the world? Bandits from all over the country will agree to surrender, such as Zhang Yan.
Zhang Yan occupied the Taihang Mountains and frequently attacked counties in Jizhou and Bingzhou, with millions of troops.
Although it is not impossible to attack? But they are hiding in the Taihang Mountains to fight guerrilla warfare with you? As disgusting as brown candy? It is impossible to annihilate them.
Under this situation, Liu Hong had no choice but to appease Zhang Yan, and named Zhang Yan the title of "General of the Lieutenant in Peace", with jurisdiction over the vicinity of the Taihang Mountains, and allowed him to have the power of the prefect.
Therefore, recruiting and surrendering the Yellow Turban thieves is already a possibility.
Chen Mu nodded and said: "I sent several letters of persuasion to surrender before, but they all came to nothing. If I ask Sima Ju to go, I'm afraid it will be difficult to succeed, but I have to try every method. What if I succeed?"
Zhang Fei yelled anxiously: "If you ask me, it's better to fight in. He will be scared when the troops are approaching the city. What are you still wasting time here?"
Jushou smiled and said: "Third general, please be patient. Attacking the city is a bad idea, but annihilating the enemy in the wild is the best way. If we really need to fight, in order to avoid excessive casualties of our army, the best way is to lure the enemy out of the city."
That’s all.”
"Yes, Gong Yu's words are the right thing to do."
Chen Mu deeply agreed with Ju Shou's words, but Zhang Fei was still impatient.
After all, I have been fighting with Liu Bei for decades, and I have gradually become rough and fine. Only in the middle and late stages did I have the wisdom to do the two more intelligent things of breaking the bridge over water and explaining Yan Yan. At other times, I did bad things because of my reckless temper.
The situation is not small, and it needs to grow slowly.
Liu Bei remembered that Zang Ba was a Taishan bandit before, so he asked: "Xuan Gao, do you have any good ideas?"
Zang Ba thought for a while and said: "I have been on Mount Tai for many years. The environment of Mount Tai is such that if they escape to Mount Tai, I still have something to do. But now I am afraid that I can't do anything to defend the city."
"Then it seems that we can only fight a tough battle."
Liu Bei nodded.
Hard battles are siege battles. He followed Lu Zhi and Dong Zhuo and fought many such battles. He was rich in experience. However, siege battles were head-on battles and the casualties to himself were also high.
Both Chen Mu and Liu Bei hoped to reduce the number of dead people, but when there was no other way, they could only do this.
Jushou looked at Chen Mu, his heart moved, and he said with a smile: "Zi Gui must have a good plan."
"There is a way."
Chen Mu shook his head: "It's just that we have to force Xu He out of the city first."
Liu Bei remembered the ruthlessness of his fourth brother, and said suspiciously: "My fourth brother doesn't want to flood Changguo again, or burn down the county. This time is different from the Yellow Turbans. There are many innocent, old, weak, women and children in Changguo.
I can't do this."
The corner of Chen Mu's mouth twitched slightly for a while, and he assured: "What are you talking about, brother? I have followed him through life and death, and fought countless battles. When have I ever been so cruel to the people?"
"It really won't be flooded or burned?"
Liu Bei was doubtful.
"Absolutely not!"
"Okay, what are you going to do?"
"Throwing stones to ask for directions."
“What does it mean to ask for direction by casting stones?”
Everyone is curious.
Chen Mu laughed: "Of course it's a literal stone-throwing. Let's rest for two days. After the camp is set up, we will send Sima Ju to persuade them to surrender."
"Then let's do this for now."
Liu Bei nodded, determined the first step plan, and announced the adjournment of the meeting.
After the meeting ended, Liu Bei called Chen Mu into his tent.
The tent was not big, just an ordinary soldier's tent. There was not even a table, only a small table with a lamp.
The two sat opposite each other, and Liu Bei said: "Fourth brother, tell me honestly, what are your plans?"
When he thought that apart from the Yellow Turban thieves, most of the people in the city were ordinary people, Liu Bei felt that he must not let his fourth brother act recklessly.
Otherwise, he would feel uncomfortable after winning the battle and losing so many people.
Chen Mu said helplessly: "Brother, you want to know?"
"You must tell me."
Liu Bei's attitude was firm.
"All right."
Chen Mu thought for a while and said: "I recently improved the catapult with some students from Taishan Academy who like to invent, increasing the range and power. I plan to use the catapult to attack and throw stones every day to force Xu He to retreat to Mount Tai."
Why is Xu He more difficult to deal with than Sima Ju?
Because the county seat is not his hometown.
Just like Zhang Yan's movement across the Taihang Mountains, Xu He could retreat to Mount Tai at any time if he couldn't defeat the army.
According to the report from the spies, Ma'anshan behind the Chang Kingdom had long been managed like an iron barrel by Xu He, with forts built everywhere and a large amount of grain and grass stored.
Once the army attacked, they would hide in the vast Mount Tai.
Although the Taishan Mountains are not like the Taihang Mountains and stretch for thousands of miles, spanning You, Hebei, Bing, Si, and Yu, they are still a mountain range. Not to mention hiding 200,000 people, even a million people are more than enough.
Therefore, Xu He didn't feel bad at all about losing Banyang County in Changguo. As long as the mountains were there, there was nothing the officers and soldiers could do against him.
Because of this, Liu Bei was puzzled: "Aren't we afraid that Xu He will retreat to Mount Tai? Why should we force him to go out of the city to defend the mountain? In that case, I'm afraid we may not be able to capture him in a year or two."
Chen Mu said confidently: "Didn't Zang Ba say there is a way? When Xu He enters the mountain, let Zang Ba do it according to his method."
Liu Bei was speechless.
Good guy, I think you have no choice at all.
I thought my fourth brother had a good idea.
I didn't think it was a bad idea.
You must know that although Zang Ba is familiar with the terrain of Mount Tai, knowing the terrain and whether he can penetrate it are two different things.
Xu He retreated to the mountain stronghold, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack. I'm afraid it won't be so easy to go up the mountain.
It's just that Liu Bei himself thought about it for a long time and couldn't come up with any strategy. He felt that this might be the last resort.
After all, whether it was a strong attack or pressure from catapults, Xu He would eventually retreat to the mountains.
The ending is the same, the only difference is that the casualties caused by storming are high, while the casualties caused by catapults are small.
Finally, we still have to look at Zang Ba.
Thinking of this, Liu Bei could only sigh: "This is the only way."
"Brother, don't worry."
Chen Mu saw his sad face and comforted him with a smile: "There is really nothing we can do, so we will just surround the mountain. Nowadays, everything in Qingzhou is waiting for reconstruction, and the people have been allocated fields. As long as the weather is good and there are no floods or droughts, there will be enough food.
The rebel army is trapped in the mountains. Even if they harvest spring grain, the 200,000 people will not last long. At the latest, early next year, their food will be exhausted, and they will finally have to surrender."
"I just hope that Xu He can understand the current situation and not resist stubbornly."
Liu Bei nodded and said, "It's already getting late. Fourth brother, please share the same bed with me and sleep together."
Chen Mu had long been used to it, so he said: "Then I won't go back to my tent."
The two brothers blew out the lamp, lay on the bed and talked some more before falling into a deep sleep.
The next day was another busy day, and the camp was finally set up.
Wooden fences were built around it, and various fortifications began to be slowly built. In the distance was Mount Tai, and groups of soldiers cut down trees from the mountains and transported them to the camp.
Xu He watched helplessly as the officers and soldiers were building fortifications and preparing siege equipment, but he did not dare to stop them or go out to fight.
The reason is simple: he is short of manpower.
Although Xu He gathered a crowd of 200,000 people, there were only 60,000 people with actual fighting strength, and they were divided into two counties.
In Chang State, he only arranged 40,000 troops, and the other 20,000 were in Banyang.
Last night he issued an order for Banyang's people to withdraw into the mountains, so now there are only 40,000 people in Changguo City, which is 10,000 less than the official army.
At the beginning, the great sage Zhang Jiao had more than 200,000 available troops, but he was defeated steadily by the imperial court's elite army of only 30,000 to 40,000 troops. What's more, now he still has fewer people and more people on the opposite side.
Therefore, Xu He did not even think about leaving the city. He was even considering escaping from the west gate with his troops and meeting Ban Yang's people on the mountain.
At this time, Sima Ju had also received orders and was preparing to enter the city with his lobbyists.