Early the next morning, Sun Ce convened the generals to discuss the matter, and after having a New Year's dinner together, he announced that he would march into Runan, striving to repel the invading Hulu as soon as possible, restore peace, and avenge the dead people.

Sun Ce stayed in Lujiang for more than half a month, claiming that he wanted to recruit and suppress the bandits, but he did not take the initiative to attack. He left Shucheng without firing an arrow, and after leaving Shucheng, he followed the steps step by step, and there was no sign of rushing to fight, and the generals had some opinions in their hearts, but no one would say it. The ambush was successful last night, and the main forces of Zheng Bao and Zhang Duo's troops were annihilated in a battle, and finally breathed a bad breath. Now that he is about to officially launch an attack again, he is in a good mood and agrees with a bang.

Sun Ce ordered Cheng Pu to be informed and asked to receive the prisoners. Zheng Bao, Zhang Duo and others were beheaded for public display, and the other thieves were dealt with by Cheng Pu. The main force of the two strongest bandits and water bandits has been wiped out by most of them, and the bandits and water bandits in Lujiang have become a plate of scattered sand, and it is more than enough for Cheng Pu to be responsible for the finish, so there is no need for Sun Ce to bother.

In order, under the light of the morning sun on the first day of the new year, the army marched out of camp and marched towards Runan.

Considering that the opponents were all cavalry, coming and going like the wind, and once attacked, the infantry would not have time to set up the formation, Sun Ce sent out most of the personal guard cavalry and let them perform the function of scouts. Every 50 people are a team, each with a chief and deputy captain, once the enemy situation is discovered, they will send two horsemen to report back, and take turns to change to ensure that the information can be transmitted quickly and reliably. This is also to allow them to warm up before the battle, and if they encounter a small group of scouts from the opponent, they can immediately enter the battle without asking for instructions and ensure victory.

Sun Ce himself was not idle. Under the protection of the Bai Yu soldiers led by Yan Xing and Ma Chao, accompanied by Guo Wu, Chen Wu and others, he focused on the cavalry, but temporarily handed over the command of the main force of more than 10,000 foot soldiers to Guo Jia.

A day later, Sun Ce arrived at Yingkou and received a message from Sun Ben: the 3,000 cavalry entering the country had gone east, and they were now in the area of Qi County in Peiguo, and it looked like they were about to enter Xuzhou.

Sun Ce secretly screamed badly. He didn't know what Liu He and the others wanted to do, but he knew that Tao Qian didn't get along well with the Xuzhou family, and his control was not as good as him. Chen Deng's father and son are upright and attached to Yuan Shao, and Tao Qian can't do anything with them. Once these cavalry entered Xuzhou, the situation in Xuzhou would be even more difficult than that of Runan, and Tao Qian would suffer internal and external troubles, and he might even be defeated as a result.

Sun Ce discussed with Guo Jia and decided to lead his own guards to catch up with him and contain Liu He and the others, so that they would not dare to divide their troops to attack and harass everywhere and reduce the damage. Guo Jia led the main force of infantry to follow up, and then asked Xu Kun, Sun Ben, and Wu Jing to set off from their respective stations and assemble on the border of Xuyu to cooperate with the Xuzhou army to encircle and annihilate the 3,000 cavalry.

The plan at the strategic level has been decided, and the situation at the tactical level, especially at the short-handed level, is changing rapidly and cannot be predicted, so it can only be decided by Sun Ce on the spot. Sun Ce also has talent in this area, Guo Jia has confidence in him, just reminding him not to put the cart before the horse, don't treat yourself as a fighter, and be brave.

Sun Ce agreed, and immediately set off with a total of 1,500 people from the Yicong battalion, Bai Yushi, and personal guards. For the sake of safety and to facilitate supplies, he did not rush to cross the Huaishui, but traveled eastward along the south bank of the Huaishui, first entered the Jiujiang Realm, passed through Shouchun and Xiquyang, and ate in the counties along the way, reducing the burden of baggage and advancing lightly.

Wu Jing received the news and ordered the county pavilions along the way to prepare for the reception, and personally rushed to Dangtu to meet Sun Ce.

Compared with Cheng Pu, Wu Jing, the Jiujiang Taishou, did a more difficult job. Jiujiang Taishou Zhou Yu is a celebrity, and he gets along very well with the heroes of Jiujiang. Zhou Yu's brothers were killed, Jiujiang was occupied by Wu Jing, those people were very unhappy, although they did not oppose it openly, they refused to take the initiative to cooperate, and secretly organized a rebellion. There are no big mountains in this area, but there are a lot of waters, nearly a hundred large and small, and in summer, when the rain is a lot, they are connected into a piece, a radius of hundreds of miles, those people row boats, shuttle through the reeds that are dense in the vertical and horizontal waves, not to mention the conquest, whether they can go around after entering is a problem.

Wu Jing was very distressed, and half-jokingly said to Sun Ce that he had known that this Jiujiang Taishou was so difficult, so he had listened to Sun Ce's suggestion to stay in Pingyu. It's only been a little over a year, and his hair is half white.

Sun Ce knew that this area was not easy to govern, the terrain was low and dusty, and the swamps were all over the place, and until later generations, there were a series of lakes such as Weishan Lake, Hongze Lake, and Gaoyou Lake. Moreover, the primeval forest is dense, and fierce beasts such as tigers and leopards can be seen everywhere, and it is not a piece of cake to hide a few gangs of thieves.

However, with the experience of governing Wu Hui first, Sun Ce was not in a hurry. The thief is only the end, and the family is the strongest. The thieves were either robbed of land by the family and had to be turned into a ruin, or they were funded and supported by the family and even directly controlled by the underworld. If you control the family and the powerful, the thief will become a source of water, a tree without roots, and it will be much easier to caress or suppress it when the time comes.

Of course, Wu Jing's hard work has something to do with his own lack of ability, otherwise he would not have suggested that Wu Jing stay in Pingyu at the beginning.

"After this battle, you should go back to peace."

Wu Jing shook his head again and again. "Forget it, it's not easy for Pingyu. You have been renovating for so long and have put so much thought into it, but as soon as Yuan Shao came, almost the entire Runan was shaken. ”

"It's just a few clowns, it's not a problem. It's better to jump out, and I'm going to clean them up when I jump out. This kind of fool who knows everything about Mount Tai is not qualified to survive in troubled times. ”

Wu Jing shuddered. Sun Ce looked calm and light, but he heard Sun Ce's murderous aura. Both father and son of the Sun family like to kill, but they are slightly different. Sun Jian is forced to kill in a hurry, regardless of the consequences. Sun Ce can endure and easily not kill, but he either doesn't kill, and when he kills, it is not one or two, but directly destroys the door. This time, the Runan family responded to Yuan Shao and just gave him a chance, and he didn't know how many people he would kill at that time.

"Is there a family that doesn't have a relationship with Yuan Shao?"

Wu Jing thought for a moment. "There is one, from whom I have borrowed food."

"Who?"

"Lu Su. He is a native of Dongcheng, and when he was conquering Quanjiao and Fuling bandits, I passed through Dongcheng, and the military rations were tight, so I borrowed grain from him. ”

Sun Ce looked at Wu Jing. "Since there is such a person, why doesn't Uncle recruit him?"

Wu Jing smiled bitterly and spread his hands. "I don't want to. But Lu Su refused to attach to Yuan Shao because he couldn't cling to it, so he simply waited and watched, and he might not be willing to give in to me. When he lent me food, I wanted to invite him into the curtain to express my gratitude, but he politely declined. ”

Sun Ce didn't say anything more. What kind of person Lu Su is, Wu Jing didn't see his ambition at all, and regarded him as an ordinary hero who wanted to cling to Yuan Shao but couldn't, Lu Su naturally regarded him as an ordinary person, how could he be willing to condescend. Heroes cherish heroes, not everyone can see it, only when he meets someone like Zhou Yu who he can see, he will reveal his heart. Now that Zhou Yu is too busy to leave, let me complete this historical mission.