nycdaug Chapter 129 Irresponsible
Chapter 129 Irresponsible
"Yes, my lord, I understand." Having studied the map of the three states, Xun Yu immediately understood Chen Er's plan. He said to Chen Er, "I will definitely strive to secure more benefits for the autonomous region."
"I trust Wenruo with his work," Chen Er said with a smile.
On January 20th, in the year 2190 of the Yellow Emperor's reign, Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao joined forces and declared war on Xuzhou without any justification. On the 23rd, the court in Chang'an issued an edict condemning the two Yuans' tyranny and announced that the court would soon return to Luoyang, demanding that Yuan Shao cede Luoyang and Hulao Pass.
On the 25th, Yuyang declared that the actions of the two Yuans were extremely irresponsible, and that their reckless provocation of war was a crime against the people. The autonomous region would reserve the right to declare war on the two Yuans. The General Staff of the autonomous region also announced that it would reinforce Jizhou and Qingzhou with two full-strength armies within three days. At the same time, the autonomous region also issued a reserve mobilization order. Within half a month, all the armies of the autonomous region would be at full strength, and the total strength might reach as many as 500,000.
Moreover, just over a week ago, a military force from the autonomous region had quietly entered the Lu State frontline. Its sudden appearance near Lu State put immense pressure on Yuan Shao.
Furthermore, according to some news from Yuyang, it is said that Wei King Chen Er privately said that the actions of the two Yuans were playing with fire, and that they would get burned. In particular, he said that Yuan Shu, who possessed the Imperial Seal of the State, wanted to use Yuan Shao to expand his own territory, and that after occupying enough areas, Yuan Shu would presumptuously declare himself emperor.
However, these are all rumors. Few people in the empire truly took these rumors to heart. Many people thought it was a scheme by Chao to sow discord. Only Sun Ce, who knew that Yuan Shu was the real owner of the Imperial Seal, understood that Chen Er was trying to destroy his spirit!
Yuan Shao was furious. He hadn't expected that his cooperation with Yuan Shu would bring him so many enemies. Not to mention Chen Er in the north, with whom he already had a deep-seated hatred, Gongsun Zan actually wanted to interfere and even try to seize Luoyang and Hulao Pass. It was wishful thinking. Yuan Shao outwardly agreed to withdraw his troops and cede Luoyang as soon as possible, but in reality, he secretly strengthened Luoyang's defenses. They were too naive to think that Yuan Shao would give up a city for nothing.
Little did Yuan Shao know that his actions played right into Chen Er's hands. Dispersing Yuan Shao's forces and weakening the troops he had committed to Xuzhou was exactly what Chen Er wanted to achieve.
On January 27th, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu launched their war in the north and south of Xuzhou respectively. According to the pre-war plan, the autonomous region's army would send troops to Xuzhou after the fall of Rencheng, and their first target would be Rencheng. Even if Tao Qian held out until the end, he would not be able to take back Rencheng, because Chen Er could claim that it was a city he had recovered. Although it sounded a bit unreasonable, who cared about that? Strength was the only thing that mattered. Moreover, the messenger who came to ask for help had already brought back Chen Er's bottom line to Tao Qian. Compared to other options, when faced with a life-or-death decision, Tao Qian would make the right choice.
On January 28th, the Yanzhou army crossed the Si River and advanced on Rencheng. Rencheng's garrison commander, Zhang Lu, hurriedly requested reinforcements from Pengcheng. However, Tao Qian, who was facing a threat to the south of Pengcheng, still had troops to aid Pengcheng. He could only order troops to be withdrawn from Jiqiu, Donghai County, and other places to support Rencheng.
At the same time, he hurriedly sent an envoy north, saying that he had agreed to Chen Er's demands and that Rencheng and Licheng would be ceded to the autonomous region after the war, to be governed by the autonomous region. Tao Qian was already out of options; he only had Chen Er as his reinforcement in the north. Although Gongsun Zan was nominally on their side, everyone knew that Gongsun Zan could only hold back a portion of Yuan Shao's forces. Tao Qian had considered seeking help from Jingzhou, but Liu Biao, the King of Nanyang, was a self-reliant man, and it was too difficult to get him to provoke Yuan Shu. Tao Qian had no hope for him. Sun Ce, the Little Conqueror of Jiangdong, was worth considering, but Tao Qian had no relationship with Sun Ce and did not have much hope for him. Even the messenger he sent was just an ordinary official.
"Commander, what do you think the higher-ups are thinking?" Chen Bang asked.
"Chief of Staff, take a look at the geographical location of Rencheng, and then think about the relationship between our lord and that person in Yanzhou, and you'll understand," Li Ji said, pointing to the map.
Chen Bin stepped forward and looked at the map. He had studied this map more than a dozen times and knew the location of Rencheng very well. Chen Bin immediately said, "My lord is trying to plant a thorn in the back of the Yanzhou army."
"Moreover, my lord's move is also to contain the development of Yanzhou. Occupying Rencheng is equivalent to controlling the Sishui River basin. Located upstream, we only need a small number of warships to control the entire basin, and even Pengcheng is within our attack range. With the shipbuilding capabilities of our autonomous region, we can build a shipyard and a large number of inland river warships west of Rencheng within six months. At the same time, the navy's warships can also coordinate with the garrison of Rencheng from the southern estuary. In this way, Xuzhou will become the de facto controlled area." Li Ji spoke eloquently, completely unaware of Chen Bang's expression.
After Li Ji finished speaking, Chen Bang said helplessly, "Commander, I really think you shouldn't be a commander. You should be in the General Staff. I'm not a good enough chief of staff."
"Haha, this is what the legion commander told me before I came. Otherwise, how would I know these things?" Li Ji said modestly.
Chen Bang didn't bother to consider whether those words were true or false. He said to Li Ji, "In that case, the mission of my Seventh Army is extremely important."
“That’s right, the mission of my Seventh Army is to hold Rencheng firmly.” Li Ji said, “Our army now has three full-strength divisions, plus more than 35,000 troops directly under the army, which is more than enough to defend Rencheng.”
"Commander, I suggest that after our army occupies Rencheng, we should use one full-strength division to defend the city, and the other two divisions to camp outside the city as a defensive flank," Chen Bang said.
"Yes, that's the most reasonable approach. However, the three divisions should rotate every week, otherwise the division commanders will accuse us of favoritism," Li Ji said with a smile.
“That’s natural.” Chen Bang and Li Ji exchanged a smile.
Then he ordered the entire 7th Army to be ready to attack at any time, and also ordered the local garrison of Lu to prepare for battle, in case the Yanzhou army took advantage of the situation to launch a surprise attack on the autonomous region. Although this possibility was very low, it could not be ruled out. Who knew what Yuan Shao, who had always been at odds with the autonomous region, would do?
While Li Ji and other regional generals were making preparations, the Yanzhou army outside Rencheng had already begun its attack. The newly equipped Yanzhou army had strong firepower, with a full 15,000 flintlock musketeers, 20 or 30 Shenwu cannons, and a portion of the cold weapon-wielding siege force launching a fierce attack on Rencheng.