Three Kingdoms: Let Yuan Shen be great again

Chapter 37 The Defense of Wancheng

At this moment, it's hard to say whether Yuan Yao's gamble of transferring most of his main force to Jiujiang in order to achieve a complete victory over Sun Ce's flanking force was right or wrong, but the cost of this move quickly became apparent.

According to the previous plan, a flexible defense tactic should be adopted in Wancheng.

The word "flexibility" means not being concerned about the gains or losses of a single city or place. If the defense line is lost, so be it, since there are seven or eight layers anyway. The focus should be on depleting and striking the enemy's manpower and seizing the opportunity to launch a counterattack.

The two most crucial aspects of this tactic are: firstly, maintaining the overall stability of the battle line to prevent it from collapsing; and secondly, ensuring that counterattacks are precise, ruthless, and decisive, seizing every limited opportunity to generate as much output as possible.

Now, the latter has basically disappeared, and the former is also in a precarious situation.

On the tenth day of the second month of the fifth year of Jian'an, after capturing Wankou, Sun Ce led an army of 20,000 to officially set foot on the land of Lujiang. Next, they only needed to travel less than 100 li upstream along the Wan River to reach the city of Wancheng.

But they hadn't gone far when the Jiangdong army saw the various camps and strongholds of different sizes blocking their way.

It looks rather rudimentary; let's launch an attack.

Hmm, this is a bit difficult to play.

Moreover, even if you win, it's all for nothing; you gain almost nothing.

Forget it, let's not fight it. It's not a big deal and it's not blocking the way, so let's just ignore it.

Wait! Why are there so many more behind this one?

No, we still have to fight.

Hmm, still not easy to beat.

Looking at the countless small fortresses in front of them, and thinking about having to deal with these things repeatedly, the Jiangdong army suddenly became somewhat irritable—except for Sun Ce.

Sun Ce: "That's interesting."

Sun Ce: "But not many."

Up to this point, the war is progressing in a relatively ideal manner.

However, things changed from there.

Because Yuan Yao sent his main forces to Jiujiang, the fighting strength in the Wancheng direction was naturally insufficient, making it impossible to take the opportunity to put pressure on the Jiangdong army and allow them to calmly consider ways to break the deadlock.

Sun Ce then proceeded unhurriedly, attacking one small fortress after another without any worries about the rear.

As a result, Zhong's army was the first to give up.

"No, if this continues, morale will completely collapse!"

Zhang Xun came to find Yuan Yao in a rage, extremely dissatisfied with the current battle situation.

It should be noted that in order to encourage the Zhong clan's army to fight against the Jiangdong army, Yuan Yao spared no expense, throwing away all the supplies he had extorted from Xuchang. Every soldier who participated in the battle was richly rewarded, and even if they died in battle, their families could receive compensation. He also set up very generous rewards for killing enemies, and for a time everyone was brave and eager to be the first to act.

But now, everyone is watching helplessly as Sun Ce breaches those camps one by one, and the people inside often cannot even hold out for half a day before being wiped out. It is inevitable that they will feel fear and their morale will decline rapidly.

At this point, a small number of elite troops should have been used to harass the Jiangdong army, preventing them from concentrating on their attack. This would not only have extended their defense time but also provided an opportunity to help the soldiers in the camp escape, thus preserving their own strength.

This is the true way to play flexible defense.

But right now, no one can do this. The gap in hard power is there. The Zhong army's counterattack is weak and ineffective, which has turned the front line into a tortoise shell defense, allowing the Jiangdong army to peel off its shell and bleed it dry one by one.

Zhang Xun said angrily, "Several strongholds already saw desertions yesterday. If we continue to sit idly by, the desertion problem will only get worse! We must strike immediately to turn the tide!"

Yuan Yao remained noncommittal.

Zhang Xun's words sounded reasonable. Although the number of people in each camp was small, the continuous capture of these camps without any counterattack would cause great damage to morale.

If this continues, everyone will only think that the Jiangdong army is invincible and that they will die if they continue to defend, and then they will all run away. At that time, even a hundred layers of defense will be useless.

On the other hand, some people hold a different opinion.

"Your Highness, you mustn't!" Yan Xiang hurriedly said, "This is clearly Sun Ce's trap to lure us in. He's deliberately provoking us, hoping we'll take the initiative to attack!"

Yan Xiang believed that the loss of morale could be recovered through other means, but if they listened to Zhang Xun, they would really be wasting their lives.

Moreover, Yan Xiang did the math: while the Jiangdong army was indeed brave and skilled in battle, the Zhong clan's army relied on their camps and terrain, and they were not so easy to bully. The current casualty exchange ratio was actually acceptable. If this continued for a long time, it would be Sun Ce, who was outnumbered, who would be the first to give up.

"It wasn't your son who died!" Zhang Xun roared. "And even if Sun Ce did it on purpose, so what? Are we definitely going to lose?"

Yan Xiang still objected: "General, do not act rashly. In my opinion, we should defend to the death."

The reason is that it was decided long ago that this battle would use the Tian Ji horse racing strategy. Wancheng, as a lower-class horse, should just obediently not give away any points, and there is no need to cause any trouble.

The two argued back and forth, one wanting to fight and the other wanting to defend, while Yang Hong remained out of the loop. In the end, Yuan Yao had to make the decision.

Yuan Yao: "..."

To be fair, Yuan Yao actually supported Yan Xiang and felt that they should stick to their original strategy and not come out.

However, the defense of Wancheng was not that simple.

Sun Ce made a huge mistake: he valued Yuan Yao strategically but underestimated him tactically.

This can be seen from the fact that he divided his troops into two groups, intending to take Huainan in one fell swoop.

The problem is that, as the attacker, Sun Ce has full initiative on the battlefield, and he can correct his mistakes at any time if the situation becomes unfavorable.

This is why Yuan Yao sent out all his elite troops, relying solely on the group of Zhong clan officials, who were all like insects, to resist Sun Ce.

The purpose was to create a false impression for Sun Ce, to make him continue to underestimate his enemy, and to make him feel that Huainan was on the verge of collapse and could be taken with a little effort—and it couldn't be called a false impression, because the Zhong family and their group were genuinely incompetent, not just pretending.

Therefore, Yuan Yao should not heed Yan Xiang's wise advice. Otherwise, while Wancheng would be safe, if Sun Ce found the war difficult, whether he turned to attack Jiujiang or recalled his detachment, Yuan Yao's plan would fail.

Of course, Yuan Yao couldn't say these things out loud. As the saying goes, if you're going to put on an act, you have to go all the way. He had to fully demonstrate his self-cultivation as an actor.

Yuan Yao said with a worried look, "Let's launch an attack. Even if it's a trap, we need to let the soldiers know that we are actively trying to find a solution. That way, if we are surrounded in the future, they will still have something to look forward to, and we can stabilize their morale."

Zhang Xun was overjoyed and immediately went to make arrangements for the battle.

After much discussion, the Zhong family quickly selected the generals to lead the troops into battle.

Chen Ce, who came from a bandit background and was appointed General Who Subdues Rebels by Yuan Shu, led a thousand men out to test the waters.

This is a great candidate—meaning you wouldn't feel sorry for the person even if they died.

However, Yuan Yao did not want the enemy to die in vain, so before setting off, he specifically pulled Chen Ce aside and instructed him that the symbolic significance of this battle was greater than its practical significance. If the enemy force exceeded five hundred, they should not engage in direct combat; if it exceeded one thousand, they should simply run away and not look back.

Chen Ce accepted the order and set off from Wancheng, arriving at the front line dozens of miles away in just half a day.

Just then, the Jiangdong army was attacking a camp of the Zhong clan. Following Yuan Yao's instructions, Chen Ce slowly and ostentatiously advanced forward.

However, the Jiangdong army's reaction exceeded Chen Ce's expectations.

They did not stop their attack, nor did they send any troops to intercept Chen Ce. Only one general led a dozen or so cavalrymen toward Chen Ce.

Upon seeing the general's figure again, Chen Ce was instantly enraged.

This man wore a silver helmet and armor, covered by a fiery red battle robe, and had a signature pine-patterned ancient sword hanging at his waist. It was none other than Sun Ce himself!

It turns out that Sun Ce actually planned to attack Chen Ce's thousand-strong army with just these twenty-odd men.

Chen Ce's face flushed instantly. He usually prided himself on his strength, and having been compared to Sun Ce by Yuan Shu, his fighting spirit was now at its peak: "I want to see just how valiant this Sun Ce is. Do you think I, the Little Sun Ce of Huainan, can't defeat him?"

Having said that, he spurred his horse and charged straight at Sun Ce with overwhelming force.

Seeing this, Sun Ce also accelerated his advance, and the distance between the two quickly shortened.

Chen Ce versus Sun Ce, a clash of titans, General Who Punishes Rebels vs. General Who Punishes Rebels—

"Bang!"

The two had barely exchanged blows when Chen Ce's weapon was knocked away.

Before he could react, Chen Ce suddenly felt dizzy.

It turned out that Sun Ce had lifted him off his horse and held him in the air!

"You dare call yourself the General Who Subdues Rebels?" Sun Ce sneered, slamming Chen Ce to the ground. "I, a true man, dare to be called equal to a scoundrel like you!"

After saying this, he drew his ancient sword and beheaded him with a single stroke.

Sun Ce is incredibly brave and terrifying!

This scene terrified Chen Ce's Zhong clan army, leaving them utterly demoralized.

"Croak! It's the Little Tyrant of Jiangdong! Everyone, back off!"