Chapter 318: The Princes Arrive
Yuan Shao, Sun Ce, and Liu Bei were all much richer than Cao Cao, but they did not have enough food, and they also attached great importance to the training of their soldiers, so they would not provide Cao Cao with much food.
But Liu Fan is different.
Unlike Jingzhou and Yangzhou, Yizhou has never suffered much war and food has always been abundant.
And the soldiers of Yizhou...
Cao Cao had learned from some intelligence that his fighting power was truly beyond words.
After all, Yizhou was too isolated, with continuous mountains blocking its way, and it was almost cut off from the outside world. It had limited knowledge of the changes in Tianze and the rule of the princes.
Times have changed, but Yizhou is still standing still, so it is normal that the combat effectiveness of its soldiers is relatively weak.
"The soldiers of Yizhou don't need to be too strong, they just need to defend Yizhou." Cao Cao said lightly.
In Cao Cao's eyes, Liu Fan was the most suitable ally.
They are not threatening at all, but they have certain strength and financial resources, and can provide him with great help.
Mao Jie also nodded.
To some extent, these princes who are neither weak nor strong are the best allies.
"My lord, the most urgent task now is to take over Huainan first. Yuan Gonglu is more difficult to deal with than we thought." Mao Jie said.
Cao Cao looked at the various intelligence in his hands with a slight headache: "This Yuan Gonglu is a child of a noble family after all, how come he behaves like a bandit leader?"
Cao Cao's attack was unstoppable.
Resistance in various places was almost negligible, the people had no loyalty to Yuan Shu, and the soldiers had no desire to fight.
But what gave Cao Cao a headache was that after attacking all the way, many problems arose in the retreat.
A large group of bandits were harassing his food supply under the banner of Yuan Shu's army.
These people usually hide in the mountains, and it is too difficult to encircle and suppress them, so they come out to harass us from time to time.
Cao Cao had thought about setting an ambush, but there were too many bandits and they were connected with each other and exchanged information, so this phishing attempt was not very effective.
"My lord, we have already taken over half of Lujiang, and the other half of Jiujiang is yet to be taken."
"We'd better put these bandits in the rear aside for the time being and deal with them after we capture Shouchun," Mao Jie suggested.
He really didn't have a better solution for this matter.
Yuan Shu's personal charm and the power of his talent were indeed disgusting and excessive, turning the entire Huainan area into a den of thieves.
It just so happens that this place is full of mountains, lakes, swamps and dense forests, which is a perfect habitat for these bandits. Even Cao Cao and other princes can't do anything to them.
The quality of these bandits is indeed too high, and they are so smart and cunning that they cannot be dealt with in normal ways.
The reason for this situation was largely due to the evil deeds done by Gan Ning.
During the two years when he was the Pirate King in the Yangtze River, Gan Ning trained his younger brothers a lot, which greatly improved the combat capabilities of the pirates in the Yangtze River area, especially in the middle and lower reaches.
This not only caused considerable trouble to Sun Ce, Liu Bei and others, but also greatly enhanced the strength of Yuan Shu, who was known for his loyalty.
Although Yuan Shu was not very capable, these pirates and bandits all trusted and supported him. In their hearts, Yuan Shu's prestige was almost second only to Gan Ning.
Even Mao Jie couldn't think of a suitable solution to this guerrilla tactic.
Neither coercion nor inducement worked. They didn't have that many soldiers nor that much money, so they could only grind slowly. But the prerequisite was that the people's hearts had to be on their side, otherwise, these bandits would be endless.
But thinking about the state of the people under his rule, Mao Jie couldn't help but feel a headache. Although the reform progressed smoothly due to Tian Ze's coercion, it would take two or three years to see the results.
If the bandit problem in Huainan remains so serious, I'm afraid their efforts will not be of much use.
But on the bright side, if next year's plan is successful, the worst that can happen is that this piece of land will be given to Sun Ce as a replacement, killing two birds with one stone.
The four princes had already decided on the plan to divide the Huainan area.
Yuan Shu occupied Lujiang, Jiujiang and parts of Xiapi and Guangling.
Xia Pi went to Yuan Shao, Guangling went to Sun Ce, most of the southern part of Lujiang went to Liu Bei, and the rest went to Cao Cao.
The remaining Jiujiang was divided equally among Cao Cao, Yuan Shao and Sun Ce.
It was not distributed according to the strength or contribution of the four parties, but was directly divided almost equally.
Although it was a little unfair, it was the most appropriate distribution plan for the current situation. They no longer had the energy to argue about it.
Soon, the four princes arrived at the city of Shouchun together.
Looking at the towering Shouchun City, Cao Cao couldn't help but shake his head slightly.
"It's a pity that such a magnificent city fell into the hands of Yuan Gonglu."
Since Yuan Gonglu became rich, he was much more successful than Cao Cao in the beginning. If Cao Cao had such a foundation, I'm afraid he could have taken over the entire Central Plains and even the south.
"My lord, such a magnificent city deserves to be yours." Mao Jie said with a smile.
Shouchun City is adjacent to Yuzhou, so it was naturally taken over by Cao Cao, who was the closest to it. This was agreed upon beforehand.
"Okay, it's almost time, Yuan Benchu is getting impatient, let's go."
After saying this, Cao Cao took Mao Jie and others and went straight to Yuan Shao’s army’s camp.
In the big camp, Yuan Shao, Liu Bei and Sun Ce had already been waiting there. After a few pleasantries, the four princes quickly got to the point.
"Everyone, this attack on Yuan Shu is just a side trip. Our main purpose is to negotiate the details of our four-party alliance and the issue of coordinated operations in the future." Yuan Shao first set the tone.
As the former leader of the alliance to fight against Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao had experience, qualifications and strength, and was naturally the undisputed leader. He was pushed to the position of leader by Cao Cao and others, and became the great leader Yuan.
However, the current leader Yuan does not have the same ulterior motives as he did when he fought against Dong Zhuo in the past. Instead, he really wants to defeat Tian Ze.
Similarly, although there are fewer members in the alliance today, even without Liu Fan, there are only five princes, but their quality is much higher than the eighteen princes in the past, and the weakest one only controls a state.
Moreover, the five princes were working together. After all, the situation had come to this point. If they continued to fight among themselves, it would be all over.
Overall, the current anti-Tian alliance is much stronger than the former anti-Dong alliance.
"However, before that, I have a request for you, and I hope you will agree." Yuan Shao bowed to everyone.
"Leader, please speak."
Seeing Yuan Shao so serious, Cao Cao and others looked at each other and vaguely guessed what Yuan Shao wanted to say next.
"In this battle, Yuan Shu's defeat is inevitable. However, Yuan Shu is still my brother and the legitimate son of the Yuan family. After his defeat, can you spare his life?"
"I promise to keep him in good care, and he will never be your enemy in this life."
"I beg you all!"
(End of this chapter)
