Chapter 884 Pei County
In Pengcheng, the officials of the Xiangwu Army were cleaning the streets.
The Xu Yang coalition forces that had just arrived here were setting up camp outside the city. Only Chen Deng brought a group of civil and military personnel, and Sun Jian and other Yangzhou generals entered the city.
At this time, Lu Su, as the host, was accompanying everyone.
As soon as they entered the city, Sun Jian asked to see Pengcheng's city defense.
Xu and Yang are allied forces, but the Xuzhou Army must be responsible for Pengcheng's city defense, so Sun Jian's request to see Pengcheng's defense facilities at this moment is quite embarrassing for Lu Su.
He glanced at Chen Deng and saw Chen Deng smiling and nodding, so he agreed to Sun Jian's request.
Sun Jian's eyes were red and his hair was mixed with white strands. Everyone could see that he looked haggard.
What happened during this period was another blow to Sun Jian.
His maternal uncle, his youngest son, and the more than 10,000 troops he had trained so hard were all wiped out in Shouchun.
Sometimes Sun Jian would feel that he was too stubborn, and then God would not accept him, but would take away the people around him one by one.
From the Central Plains to Hebei, and from Hebei to Qingzhou, Sun Jian suffered tribulations all the way, but he finally cheered up in Yangzhou. After a few years of hard work, the situation reached the final moment.
Although Jiangdong now has some strength, in fact, whether compared with Xuzhou in the north or Jingzhou upstream, its real war potential is still far behind.
Sun Jian himself estimated that if he was given another five years, he could pull out 100,000 victorious troops from Yangzhou. But now that the time for the decisive battle has been advanced too early, what he can really bring out is actually 30,000 troops.
This was also Sun Jian's frustration when he quickly went to Yangzhou, that is, the foundation was not strong, and it was difficult to mobilize local resources by relying on the tentacles of the military government, so he could only compromise with the local families.
But even if Sun Jian acknowledged the current situation, there were still not many Jiangdong wealthy families who were willing to devote their troops to the north. After all, the Taishan Army had not reached Jiangdong.
There is no need to laugh at the short-sightedness of these Jiangdong aristocratic families. In fact, they can be considered rebellious if they can support Sun Jian against the Central Plains.
After all, as they know the strength of the Central Plains best, how come they don't know the gap between the north and the south? I can support you Sun Jian, but if you lose, your family will be confiscated and your family will be exterminated.
You can say that this support is not insignificant.
But the support only goes so far. The aristocratic family will not use the pieces of music until the last moment, and they may not even be used at the last minute. These are the capital for their family to settle down, and they are given away to Xuzhou?
Are the Xuzhou people the good fathers of their Jiangdong people?
Therefore, the 20,000 Yangzhou troops who came were basically Sun Jian's direct troops and the Jiangdong family tribe who were close to him.
As a hero in troubled times, especially one who has truly climbed up from the bottom among the heroes in the world, Sun Jian has an understanding beyond ordinary people.
Even though Shouchun had been captured at this time, Sun Jian still ignored all opinions and firmly led his army to follow Chen Deng northward because he knew what was most critical.
But supporting Chen Deng does not mean that Sun Jian is indifferent. Sun Jian must be well aware of the strength of Xuzhou Army and Pengcheng's city defense.
At this moment, under the introduction of Lu Su and others, Sun Jian and Chen Deng climbed onto the Pengcheng city wall together and walked through each wall one after another.
To be honest, Xuzhou soldiers did build Pengcheng's city defense very well.
The moat dug from Surabaya winds around the foot of the city wall. Each city wall has enough horse faces to provide more shooting positions for the shooting troops.
Then, Lu Su took the two of them to the warehouse.
Here, Chen Deng and Sun Jian were not disappointed either. The place was still well organized by Lu Su, with patrols in the distance, defenses nearby, and a water convoy on standby at any time.
As the so-called army is unstable without food, the most important thing in Pengcheng is warehousing, and looking at Lu Su's hasty arrangements, you can know his plan for the entire Pengcheng city defense.
So Sun Jian couldn't help but sigh to Chen Deng:
"Yuanlong, you can be said to be a pillar of strength."
Chen Deng also looked at Lu Su with admiration. He said to Lu Su:
"Zijing, it's really hard for you to be so considerate. I saw that Pengcheng's defenses were strong and its armor was well-equipped, so I knew it was right to leave Pengcheng to you."
Lu Su bowed humbly and hurriedly replied:
"Su dare not be greedy for this power. It is not possible for me, Lu Su, to do this. It all depends on the unity of our people in Pengcheng to protect the peace of Pengcheng. The Taishan Army is also the enemy of the bandits, and we, the people of Xuzhou, are our formidable enemies. , even if you have a lot of strength, you have to use a lot of strength.”
Chen Deng admired Lu Su more and more.
Sun Jian beside him also sounded envious and praised:
"This is a city in the mountains that can be broken, but a city in the heart cannot be broken. I feel relieved that everyone in Pengcheng is so united."
Sun Jian's words hit the hearts of Chen Deng and Lu Su.
Although both Chen Deng and Lu Su have a heroic temperament in their character backgrounds, they were both influenced by traditional Confucian values in their growing environments.
In the eyes of Confucian scholars, things in the heart are far more durable than things that can be seen and touched.
The walls of Pengcheng will fall down, and the food and equipment in the city will be exhausted, but as long as you have this city in your heart, it will be the most indestructible in the world.
As the children of the aristocratic family agree:
"What is the greatest in the world? Of course it is the principle. If it is not the principle, why is it still the fist?"
Chen Deng, who was standing next to him, saw that Sun Jian was very satisfied, so he took the opportunity to say:
"Wentai, Pengcheng is now fortified and lacks a peerless general like you to take charge. Why don't you lead the Yangzhou soldiers into the city?"
But Sun Jian didn't seem to hear what Chen Deng meant, but waved his hand boldly:
"No, since the establishment of a certain family, they have always fought in the field, and they only know how to fight in the field. The soldiers I trained are similar to mine and cannot display their true combat power in the city, so I will station the Yangzhou soldiers outside the city. , when the time comes, we can become rivals with Pengcheng.”
Chen Deng smiled and did not try to persuade him again. Only when Sun Jian came to the front, a hint of sadness appeared on his face.
……
After Chen Deng entertained the Yangzhou generals in the city, he stayed in the city the next day and established the shogunate in the city.
As for Sun Jian and others, due to heavy camp duties, they left the city after having breakfast.
After leaving the city, Sun Jian and others did not return directly to the camp. Instead, they rode directly to the outside of the city. They were accompanied by a scholar, who was Zhang Zhao, a famous scholar in Xuzhou.
When Sun Jian went south, he stayed at Zhang Zhao's home, and then he invited Zhang Zhao to go south to Jiangdong with him. Zhang Zhao was disliked by Xue Li, the Prime Minister of Pengcheng, and could not stay here any longer, so he joined Sun Jian's team.
Since then, Zhang Zhao has been the absolute core of the Huaisi faction in Sun Jian's shogunate, and participated in almost all of Sun Jian's important decisions.
Any group has different factions, not because of coincidence, but even if they only come from one place, they will be continuously refined into different groups.
Therefore, the essence of group struggle is never about geography or experience, but about interests.
Sun Jian's shogunate was filled with three groups, namely Huaisi warriors, Huaisi aristocratic family and Jiangdong aristocratic family.
Among the Huaisi warriors, they can be divided into Sun Jian's pro-subordinate faction and the ordinary Huaisi faction.
Among the three forces, the Huaisi warriors occupied the highest position of power. They generally had tribes and farms, and almost all of them were deeply bound to Sun Jian's interests.
The Huaisi family, like Zhang Zhao, all left their hometowns to join Sun Jian's team, so they had no one to help them and could only stick to Sun Jian's side to make suggestions.
Sun Jian has always relied on these two factions to suppress the Jiangdong family, but now there are different changes. That is, as the Huaisi sect's aristocratic families have been away from home for a long time, they inevitably begin to take root in the local area.
And when they are new to the place, they will inevitably have to establish a good relationship with the local Jiangdong family.
On the other hand, the Jiangdong families also need these Jiangbei people to become political allies.
So they began to tacitly unite and marry each other.
This trend was being seen by Sun Jian. Of course, he could not sit back and watch such a result occur, so he added Zhang Zhao to the list of expeditions because he was from Pengcheng and was familiar with the local situation.
However, Zhang Zhao was indeed familiar with geography, so when Sun Jian went out to inspect the situation around Xuzhou, he took Zhang Zhao with him.
Before every battle, Sun Jian always likes to take a small team to check the nearby geography.
Sometimes you can only know what it is when you see it with your own eyes. Listening to other people's stories is always a bit different.
As the commander-in-chief of the entire army, Sun Jian must have a full understanding of the battlefield where he is located, what mountains are nearby, and what rivers the march will encounter. Sometimes an oversight here may affect the outcome of a decisive battle.
However, Zhang Zhao persuaded Sun Jian several times, believing that although this kind of thing is necessary, it cannot always be done, because once the enemy discovers Sun Jian's pattern, they will definitely send troops to intercept Sun Jian.
And if Sun Jian died, this decisive battle would not have to be fought.
Of course, like most of Zhang Zhao's suggestions in the past, Sun Jian still respected them, but in fact he still went his own way.
Battlefield commanders like Sun Jian have their own beliefs and their own methods of doing things.
No one can change them with just a few suggestions.
If they are so easily changed, then they cannot be commanders on the battlefield.
In fact, sometimes battlefield decision-making is about metaphysics.
Judging from the war, those alive can argue that it would have been better to have done so at this time, but these are always the barking dogs of the loser.
Because in fact, even those who win the war are not sure which of their decisions has an absolute impact on the war.
A commander receives endless amounts of information during the entire war, and he needs to make corresponding decisions based on each piece of information.
Sometimes when encountering a difficult war, these people can't even sleep, so they have to stay up all night just to sort out a clear battlefield situation.
Therefore, to be a commander, you must have a good body and you must be able to endure.
At this time, your shogunate's staff will make suggestions in one way or another, but do you think what they make is right?
He may give you a dozen suggestions a day, but only a few are really useful. If you were the commander-in-chief, you wouldn't adopt them all.
And if it is this person who makes a suggestion, it just determines the key to victory or defeat, and you don't listen.
I'm sorry, not only will you lose a war, but you will also leave a stain on history as a stubborn one.
History only writes about this time when this aide was useful, but never tells people that all ninety-nine of the premise of this person may be wrong.
That's why a qualified commander must have strong self-confidence, and he must understand the situation on the battlefield better than anyone else.
He believes in every decision he makes and thinks he will win if he goes on!
Otherwise, this person cannot do this position well.
So stop looking at those failed commanders from the perspective of future generations, thinking that they failed because of their insistence on going their own way.
Do some people really think that they can succeed as long as they listen to others? In this case, the slave should be the most successful person in the world.
At this time, Sun Jian was in this state. He never felt that it was wrong to lead his troops out to explore the battlefield intelligence. He regarded it as his duty and the key to his victory.
Therefore, Sun Jian certainly could not foresee the danger at this moment. After all, if he encountered it, there might be no next time.
Xuzhou is the transitional area between the Central Plains and the Jianghuai River. Looking far into the distance, the land is flat and there are few hills. It is really a good place for heroes to use their weapons.
At this moment, Sun Jian felt very passionate in his heart, and he thought of Xiang Yu back then.
I recall that Xiang Yu led eight thousand Jiangdong disciples across the river. Regardless of the final success or failure, he left the most brilliant mark in history.
It was Xiang Yu's existence that finally made the people of the Central Plains understand the heroism of their Jiangdong children!
Today, at this place, he, Sun Jian, is also crossing the river, and it is also the decisive battle that will decide the world. But this time, he had 20,000 troops.
And this time, can I, Sun Jian, achieve the same feats as Xiang Yu?
But inexplicably, Sun Jian suddenly thought of his son, Sun Quan, who died in the battle.
It was this thought that directly defeated Sun Jian's newly rising ambition.
At this moment, Sun Jian only had one thought:
"I'm really not a good father."
Here, Zhang Zhao certainly didn't know that Sun Jian's mind was already racing with thoughts. He was introducing the nearby situation to a group of Yangzhou generals around him.
He pointed to the silver-like river to the west, which extended toward Pengcheng behind, five miles west of the city.
Zhang Zhao said:
"This is the Bian River. From here you can directly enter the chasm. When Xiang Yu and Gaozu were fighting over the chasm, it was because of this water that Pengcheng's baggage was continuously sent to the front line."
Then he said to Sun Jian:
"Lord, now the enemy is likely to move south from the Bian River. We should camp here and be the first to seize this waterway from the air."
Sun Jian nodded without comment, but pointed to a wider river in the northeast and asked:
“That’s Surabaya right there.”
Zhang Zhao replied without looking back:
"Yes, that's Surabaya."
Sun Jian touched his short beard and asked this question:
"If I remember correctly, Peixian County in the upper reaches of the Surabaya River is not only connected to the Surabaya River, but also connected to the Bian Canal."
Zhang Zhao nodded and admitted:
"Pei County is indeed the gateway to Pengcheng. From here, you can attack Pengcheng from both sides."
Sun Jian was thoughtful and asked:
"Who guards Pei County?"
Zhang Zhao recalled it and said, not sure:
"It seems to be Jiang Qin, the powerful general of the Xuzhou Army?"
So Sun Jian stopped asking.