Chapter 674: One Year! The Battle between the Two Pastures!
The world is filled with swords and sabers, and everyone is ready to fight.
Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan confronted each other in Jizhou. Yuan Shao was extremely restrained and waited for a perfect opportunity.
Gongsun Zan continued to try and pressure Yuan Shao's army, but he never found an angle that would allow the Youzhou cavalry to charge and kill.
Before Cao Cao and Liu Bei had a fierce battle on the battlefield of Yanzhou, they entered the stage of fighting for food and grass. Everyone was waiting for the decisive battle when the food and grass were almost exhausted.
Sun Jian of Jiangdong prepared his army and began to prepare to enter Danyang County. Before that, Zhou Yu had already rushed to Danyang County in person to meet his cousin, Zhou Shang, the prefect of Danyang County.
The most prominent time for the Lujiang Zhou family was naturally when they had three consecutive generations of officials. Zhou Yu's father was once the magistrate of Luoyang, which was a very important position. The magistrate of an important area in the capital was automatically promoted one level.
After Zhou Yu's father passed away, Zhou Shang was the most prominent official of the Zhou family in Lujiang and the prefect of two thousand stones.
Although Zhou Yu was not Zhou Shang's biological son, Zhou Shang thought highly of Zhou Yu and praised him as the unicorn son of the Zhou family, saying that it would be Zhou Yu who would bring prosperity to the Zhou family.
Seeing Zhou Yu coming, although Zhou Shang knew that Zhou Yu must be Gongzi Chu's lobbyist, he still cordially welcomed him in.
Zhou Yu openly hoped that Zhou Shang would surrender to Prince Chu and offer Danyang County to him. Upon hearing this, Zhou Shang simply said, "Since ancient times, those who surrendered with their land could become vassal states.
Does Prince Chu want me to be a subject or a vassal? "
The meaning of this sentence is to ask if he can still be independent. There is no need for Zhou Shang and Zhou Yu to go around in circles. He can just say directly: "Gongjin, the most difficult thing in the world is to lead the land to surrender!
I am the prefect of two thousand stones. What position can be assigned to me in Yangzhou?
Are the officials who follow me willing to join Prince Chu?"
Zhou Yu heard this and said in a deep voice: "Uncle, these are not problems. It is impossible for everyone in this world to benefit.
Looking ahead and behind is not what a wise person does.
You are the governor of Danyang County, not a puppet controlled by the nobles. Besides, wouldn't the Danyang nobles be willing to surrender to Prince Chu?"
Zhou Shang looked at Zhou Yu and smiled, “It seems that you really approve of this Master Chu, and you even said such words.
But haven't you always wanted to go north to the Central Plains to compete with heroes from all over the world?
I'm afraid Master Chu can't fulfill your wish, right?"
Zhou Yu also smiled and said, "Who can predict the future?
Today's Jiangdong has neither Huaisi nor Jingchu, and is even worse than the Wu Kingdom during the Qingji period of the Zhou Dynasty. It is too far away to go north to the Central Plains now.
Even if Prince Chu has the ambition to defend his territory, the general trend of the world is like the Yangtze River flowing eastward. How can anyone go against it?
After defeating Sun Jian, does Yuan Shu want to fight?
Does Liu Biao want to fight?
In order to defend Jiangdong, we must defend the Yangtze River. In order to defend the Yangtze River, we must defend the Huai River. If we have the Huai River, the west will feel unsafe.
After all, if you go from west to east, overlooking Jiangdong and going downstream, you can attack. That means you have Jingchu and occupy Nanyang and Xiangyang.
When that day really comes, there are some things he will have to do even if he doesn’t want to.”
Zhou Shang couldn't help but burst out laughing when he heard this. He was sure that his nephew had never said these words to Master Chu.
Zhou Yu knew what his uncle was laughing at, but he also knew very well that Master Chu knew all this.
Now we are just stuck here, with no good solution, and we can only muddle through.
Zhou Shang finished laughing and said, "In that case, then uncle will submit to Prince Chu, but before that, there are some things I need to do."
Zhou Yu knew what it was all about. It was nothing more than exiling or beheading those who were unwilling to submit to Prince Chu.
This is standard procedure. This is the reason why every time a place is occupied, a large number of scholars flee.
Zhou Shang acted quickly. Danyang County quickly changed its flag and recognized Luo Chu as the governor of Yangzhou. It did not recognize Sun Jian's title of governor of Yangzhou appointed by the Chang'an court.
Zhou Shang's statement soon spread among the counties in Jiangdong. The scholars in Jiangdong and Jingzhou called the battle between Sun Jian and Luo Chu the "Battle between the Two Pastors."
Behind Luo Chu were the local gentry of Jiangdong and the scholars who had immigrated from there and were optimistic about him; behind Sun Jian were Yuan Shu of Runan in Yuzhou and his own team.
Who will become the master of Jiangdong?
Most people are optimistic about Luo Chu and not optimistic about Sun Jian.
The gentry are very determined when defending their land, just like the first generation of nobles who would die if they were defeated and perish if they abandoned their land. Their fighting power is quite strong.
After Zhou Shang decided to surrender, Luo Chu set out from Wu County and came to Danyang County. He came to inspect the elite troops under Zhou Shang's command, the Danyang soldiers!
The reputation of the Danyang Army was already well established during the Zhou Dynasty when the State of Wu attacked the State of Chu, but it was not called Danyang County at that time.
Historical books call it: "This is a place with dangerous mountains, strong people, fond of martial arts and warfare, with noble spirit and strength, and a large number of elite soldiers."
In the wars of the Han Dynasty, Danyang soldiers were always the focus of mobilization. Whether they were going north to fight against the Huns or going south to wipe out the Shanyue barbarians, Danyang soldiers were always present.
Tao Qian, the former governor of Xuzhou, was able to control Xuzhou by relying on the powerful fighting power of thousands of Danyang soldiers. However, he died in the chaos, and the Danyang soldiers either died in the chaos or fled.
Zhou Shang also had a force of about 3,000 Danyang soldiers. After Luo Chu arrived in Danyang County, he said proudly: "The 3,000 Danyang soldiers are all brave and valiant, and they can fight against more than 10,000 soldiers without retreating or being defeated!
If Sun Jian really dares to attack, I will let him see what Jiangdong Iron Wall is like."
Luo Chu looked at those fierce soldiers, with fierce and unruly eyes, and knew that they were definitely the elite among the elite.
There are two points to be considered elite: first, good physical fitness, and second, fearlessness of death. With good physical fitness, one can accomplish various combat objectives, and only by not fearing death can one withstand extremely high combat losses.
In the era of cold weapons, an army that could withstand 30% of casualties would always win a battle against an army that could only withstand 10% of casualties.
The Suwang Temple Army, the best in the world, is so strong because they can fight to the last man. Three thousand men can be used as ten thousand or even twenty thousand men.
It is often recorded in the history books of the Western Regions that "Marquis Wushuang sent out 2,000 soldiers from the Temple of God to fight against more than 10,000 cavalrymen. The enemy was routed, and he rushed a thousand miles to kill their leader."
The reason why the brave warriors are known as the strongest army in the world is also because they can withstand extremely high combat losses!
Of course, these Danyang troops could not reach the level of the Warriors and the Temple Army, but Luo Chu knew that this would be one of his trump cards to defend Jiangdong in the future.
Now the importance of elite troops is gradually being recognized.
The Xiliang warlords are so stupid, but with the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, they are living quite comfortably now.
As time passed, people gradually knew what happened back then. The reason why Wushuang Hou Luokong was defeated so easily by Dong Zhuo was because Dong Zhuo had an elite army called the Flying Bear Army under his command, and the commander was none other than Li Jue, who now occupied Guanzhong.
However, this Flying Bear Army was annihilated by Wushuang Hou's earth-shattering Heavenly Punishment before they could show their power. In the chaos of the defeated army, no elite troops were of any use.
But even if the Feixiong Army has not seen it, everyone in the world has seen with their own eyes how powerful the Xiliang Iron Cavalry is once its number exceeds 10,000. In addition, there are Gongsun Zan's White Horse Volunteers, who are all the elite in the world. Once they enter the battlefield, they will cause great headaches.
At the banquet, Luo Chu praised: "Duke Zhou Shang, if you want to defend Jiangdong, but you don't have such an elite army under your command, then defending Jiangdong is just empty talk.
It is an honor for Chu that you are willing to serve and have such a strong army."
Zhou Shang bowed and said, "Sir, you are the ruler of Jiangdong. All the Zhou family in Lujiang admire you. If you were not in such an important position, hundreds of thousands of people in this county would not be willing to give you up. When you issued the order to recruit talented people, I would have resigned and left."
Zhou Shang spoke so politely because after reviewing the army, Luo Chu still appointed Zhou Shang as the governor of Danyang.
This showed that Luo Chu had no intention of replacing him for the time being, which made Zhou Shang feel a little relieved. After all, his status and position were too high. A prefect with a salary of two thousand stones was not to be underestimated in today's world.
He took refuge with Luo Chu, but it was not easy for Luo Chu to arrange a suitable position for him. In Yangzhou, except for the position of governor, it was not easy to find a position higher than that of prefect.
He guessed that Luo Chu would wait until the battle with Sun Jian was over before making any plans, and Zhou Shang also felt that it was best to maintain the status quo for now.
Luo Chu raised the wine jar and clinked it with Zhou Shang from a distance. After drinking, he said, "Lord Zhou Shang, Sun Jian is leading his army to enter Danyang County. You have guarded Danyang for many years, so you will still lead the army to resist.
The state will lead the Wujun army to support the rear. As for logistics and food, there is no need to worry, as they will all be undertaken by Wujun. Soldiers who have made contributions will be rewarded according to regulations, and soldiers who died in battle will be given pensions one by one.
We must defeat Sun Jian's attempt to enter Danyang and Wu counties and safeguard the peace of Jiangdong."
Zhou Shang bowed and said in a deep voice: "I obey your command!"
The situation in Jiangdong counties was tense, and many powerful people led their soldiers to surrender. Among them, there were quite a few who were obviously brave generals. For example, there was a man named Zhou Tai, who was born with supernatural powers. Luo Chu was very happy when he saw him.
In Luo Chu's opinion, with Zhou Tai's talent, it might not be impossible for him to become a general capable of defeating thousands of enemies as long as he is trained.
Jiang Qin, who came with Zhou Tai, was also a powerful general. This surprised Luo Chu quite a bit. He no longer lacked civil officials and counselors under his command.
In terms of domestic affairs, there are Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong, in terms of foreign affairs, there are Zhang Hong and Lu Su, in terms of military strategy and tactics, there is Lu Su, in terms of military talents, there are Zhou Yu and Lu Su. What we lack now are those brave generals who can lead the army into battle.
You know, even Han Xin and Han Wumu had a group of old brothers of Emperor Gaozu as generals to lead troops and execute his orders. Even his great uncle Luo Xiao, who was so powerful, also had a group of Taiping Army commanders to execute his orders.
Now that we have these powerful generals, with a little bit of coordination, we can greatly enhance our combat effectiveness.
Sun Jian just felt that everything was not on his side, and he truly felt what it meant to be full of constraints.
When he led a group of generals and soldiers who had followed him in battles across the country into Danyang County, what he saw were three thousand elite Danyang soldiers and the Wu County army supporting them.
There were so many flags flying above the military camp that no one could count them.
This battle is going to be difficult!
————
Because the First War of the Xia Dynasty lasted for a long time, both sides experienced numerous emergencies and political and military events during the war.
The "Battle of the Two Pastors" was a local war that took place during the Great War of the Xia Dynasty, in an effort to gain dominance over Jiangdong.
The result of the war was that Luo Chu thwarted Sun Jian's strategic goal of entering Jiangdong, forcing Sun Jian to adjust his strategic direction and turn his efforts to the Central Plains, which also affected the strategic goals of Xuzhou and Jingzhou.
A single move can affect the entire body, which had a significant impact on the First War among the Xia people, which lasted for several years.
The impact of the "Two Pastoral Disputes" on the war situation cannot be ignored during the First War of the Xia Dynasty. ——"History of Wars in the Late Eastern Han Dynasty"
(End of this chapter)
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