Chapter 388 A desperate move
In a corner of the hall, the young Sun Quan watched this scene, worry flashing in his eyes.
If it is small, it may not be better if it is big.
Sun Quan was very smart, but because he was too smart, he always looked at everything from a purely profit perspective, and gradually grew into an almost emotionless political machine.
At this moment, seeing that so many civil and military officials opposed it, he instinctively worried about his brother's situation.
However, Sun Ce remained calm.
Zhou Yu was also as steady as a rock.
Everyone was in an uproar, but after a long time without any response from Sun Ce and Zhou Yu, they slowly calmed down.
You know, although Zhang Zhao was gone, there was still Zhang Hong, an important minister, but there was no doubt that Sun Ce and Zhou Yu were still the ones in charge under Sun Ce's rule, especially in foreign wars.
Everyone also realized that something was wrong. They exchanged glances with each other and finally looked at Cheng Pu, the most veteran general in the army except Zhou Yu.
"My Lord, what do you think?"
Sun Ce heard this and smiled faintly: "Demou, do you think I am qualified to be the master of the world?"
In the calm, an aura of heroism and majesty dominated the scene. Everyone lowered their heads unconsciously, not daring to look directly at the young man in front of them who looked down on the world.
Cheng Pu said without hesitation: "Of course he deserves it! Among all the heroes in the world, only you, my lord, can lead the army!"
Cheng Pu was absolutely loyal and respectful to Sun Ce.
In terms of martial arts, he could last at least dozens of rounds even at the hands of Lu Bu and Zhao Yun, and he is undoubtedly the second best among the princes in the world.
Of course, apart from Lu Bu, Cheng Pu did not realize that there was a monster hidden among the princes.
Moreover, Sun Ce was not a foolish and immoral person like Lu Bu. His wisdom, charm, ambition and courage were all top-notch in the world.
The most important thing is that Sun Ce is only in his twenties.
Even if the Overlord were alive, he would be no more than this!
In Cheng Pu's mind, Sun Ce is comparable to the former King of Western Chu. Maybe his martial power is slightly inferior, but his character and talent are even better. He is undoubtedly the number one hero in the world.
Sun Ce heard this and continued to smile: "Demou, do you think I will lose to Yuan Benchu?"
"My lord, you are a man of great talent and strategy, how could you lose to Yuan Benchu?" Cheng Pu said without hesitation.
"Then, Yuan Benchu dared to risk his life to fight Tian Chengshou. Should I, Sun Bofu, retreat at this moment and launch a surprise attack on him just for the mere land of Xuzhou?"
After hearing Sun Ce's words, Cheng Pu remained silent.
Seeing this, Sun Ce slowly stood up and looked down at everyone in the audience.
"I, Sun Bofu, single-handedly built the foundation of Jiangdong. I can afford to win and lose, but I hate to do those shameful things."
"Let alone Xuzhou, even if the entire Central Plains were emptied, my Jiangdong soldiers would not take a single step. I, Sun Bofu, would never do such a despicable thing as to launch a surprise attack on my allies!"
As soon as this remark came out, the scene was suddenly silent.
The civil and military officials who had originally wanted to seize Xuzhou no longer dared to say a word. They all stood trembling in fear, not daring to move an inch.
On the side, Sun Quan saw this scene and his eyes flickered with stars as he looked at Sun Ce.
As a true man, this is what you should do!
At this time, although Sun Quan was somewhat influenced by the thoughts of the Jiangdong soldiers, he had not yet completely gone astray.
Especially after Zhou Yu realized the role of Yuan Shu, he began to pay attention to Sun Quan's education, and taught him personally by words and deeds, and the situation improved slightly.
The ideas that Zhou Yu instilled in Sun Quan were very clear.
The strongest enemy they face now, Tian Ze, takes a completely different path from the Cao Cao in history.
The former follows the kingly way, while the latter follows the hegemonic way. Cao Cao seemed powerful, but in fact, because he took the path of fighting to support the war, he destroyed the north, suffered heavy population losses, and was short of soldiers and food, so his overall strength was not that strong.
In addition, there are many border problems to deal with, so Jiangdong still has a good chance of holding on.
Sun Ce and Sun Quan, one attacking and one defending, cooperated well with each other.
But now facing Tian Ze, taking the steady and cautious approach is no longer feasible.
In terms of foundation and development, Jiangdong cannot even compare to Tianze, and if it continues on the old path it will only wait for death.
Especially after seeing the advantages of the navy under Tian Ze, Zhou Yu became more aware of this.
It is simply impossible to hold on to Jiangdong, which is tantamount to seeking death. Only by using offense as defense and uniting with the princes to defeat Tian Ze can there be a chance to break the deadlock.
Therefore, Zhou Yu, the actual helmsman of Jiangdong, has undergone some subtle changes in his attitude towards his subjects.
He was no longer prepared to take it slow with Sun Ce, but to take drastic measures to cure the problems of the Jiangdong aristocratic families as soon as possible.
What Sun Ce just said was to establish his authority.
No one present dared to refute or respond.
The generals were passionate and most of them were die-hard followers of Sun Ce. After this stimulation, they didn't care which camp they were in and changed their stance immediately.
After all, they still have some dignity. The moral level of this era has not experienced too many low-level behaviors, so it is not low.
And the civil officials.
Those who were able to stay were either very loyal to Sun Ce or had very flexible bottom lines. Zhou Yu had already done the work for Zhang Hong, the head of the civil officials, so naturally, others did not dare to say much.
By single-handedly overturning the advice of his civil and military officials, Sun Ce's prestige was evident and consolidated once again.
"Since everyone has no objection, let's consider how to fight the next battle," Zhou Yu said.
"I'm sure everyone understands the significance of this battle. It's a matter of life and death."
"Cao Cao had less than 50,000 soldiers left in Yanzhou and Yuzhou. Yuan Shao had less than 20,000 soldiers left in Xuzhou, almost emptying his family's resources."
"Liu Bei is also sending a large number of troops to the northern part of Nanyang to fight Tian Ze in Sili."
"Therefore, we only need to leave behind 30,000 to 50,000 troops to defend Yangzhou." Zhou Yu said in a deep voice.
At this moment, Zhou Yu felt sincere admiration for Yuan Shao.
Yuan Benchu is indeed a role model for the world! His spirit and vision are truly astonishing.
Yuan Shao's move was not only a desperate move, but also demonstrated his complete trust in Cao Cao, Sun Ce and other princes, and resolved the problem of ties between the princes.
In the past, when Sun Ce sent troops, he had to consider the safety of Jiangdong.
No matter how great the threat from Tian Ze is, we have to leave behind 100,000 soldiers just in case.
After all, Jiangdong is the foundation. If we fail to defeat Tianze, we may be defeated in the future. If we lose Jiangdong, we will be gone.
Yuan Shao's move, coupled with Cao Cao's close follow-up and Liu Bei's reputation for benevolence, made the external threat to Jiangdong almost zero.
Zhou Yu naturally decided to go all out.
This is your last chance, why not give it a try! If you are going to fight, why not fight big!
There were more than 10,000 soldiers in the counties and prefectures of Jiangdong. Ten thousand elite soldiers were left behind to prevent rebellion by scoundrels, and a small number of elite soldiers were arranged to suppress the southern barbarians.
By this calculation, only more than 30,000 soldiers are needed, and the remaining troops can all move north.
(End of this chapter)
