Chapter Eighteen: Preparations Before Striking

  Time passed quickly, and Yuan Shu's camp also started to bustle. Because they were going to set out, all the soldiers and generals got up early to prepare. Now they may have already finished preparing.

  Lü Meng was left to guard the main camp and supervise the soldiers in their continued running and combat drills. Sun Ce and several other generals mounted their horses and galloped towards Yuan Shu's camp, to bid farewell to his army.

  Zhou Yu bid farewell to Sun Ce and continued on his journey with his attendants, heading for the residence of his uncle, Dan Yang Governor Zhou Shang.

  Making preparations for the independence of Jiangdong Army and establishing an intelligence force soon. In this way, when Sun Ce took office in Jiujiang, he could directly have his own intelligence system.

  Little did they know that man proposes but God disposes. Another year and a half passed by. However, in the meantime, they exchanged letters and had someone to keep in touch with each other, so it wasn't too nostalgic after all.

  As the troops marched on, half a morning soon passed. Yuan Shu was a man who liked to show off his pomp and circumstance. His vanguard alone used 108 large and small flags of all kinds to clear the way. As for adding other drummers and trumpeters, it was even more exaggerated with as many as two thousand people.

  The procession marched forward with a blowing and beating sound, but it didn't look like an expeditionary army, rather like a folk wedding procession, relaxed and lively.

  In the first month of May on the lunar calendar, the temperature had already risen quite high. The crowd stood under the commander's platform (we were not trusted officials, just low-ranking officials at the level of Sima and Xiaowei, and did not have the qualifications to stand on the commander's platform to review the troops.) There was also a bit of a scorching feeling, and even more sympathy for those soldiers carrying large flags.

  Finally sent away the numerous troops of Yuan Shu to defeat. Sun Ce and others stood under the stage, Ji Ling's cold eyes occasionally glanced at Sun Ce.

  Sun Ce naturally wouldn't bother with him, but pretended not to see. He looked at the troops sliding away into the distance like a lazy snake with great interest.

  Such a team without morale, can win the battle, unless Yuan Shao and Cao Cao's troops are piled up with sand, which is almost collapsed when stepped on. I really admire the courage of Ji Ling and others, who dare to take such a team of civilians to the battlefield.

  This is war, not farming, and it's all about manpower. No wonder, in this era, wars are mainly decided by the single combat of military generals. If they win, these ordinary people will be used as porters. If they lose, they will be used as substitutes to block the pursuing troops.

  Yuan Shu's carriage disappeared from the sight of the crowd who came to see him off.

  Sun Ce then bid farewell to Chen Yu, the newly appointed governor of Yangzhou, and returned to his own military camp to train his troops.

  If they had to wait for all the soldiers to set out, plus the rear army's heavy baggage camp, it was likely that they would not finish until tomorrow. The crowd walked hastily, but no one saw the complex and inexplicable gaze of Chen Yu behind them.

  Sun Ce returned to his own military camp, it was already past noon, and the soldiers had all eaten and gone to rest.

  Sun Ce and his men hastily finished their meal, each returning to their own military tent. Han Dang yielded the central command tent to Sun Ce and had a smaller one set up beside it for himself, living next door to Sun Ce.

  Sun Ce looked at Han Dang's military map for a while. The current map is too simple, and Sun Ce's memory of modern maps is not very clear either. There was no way, the crossing came too suddenly, and Sun Ce really didn't have any preparation. It was just a general direction.

  Seeing Xuzhou, I couldn't help but think of Tao Qian: "This old Tao Qian is really too petty. In the past, didn't Old Sun Ce poach Zhang Hong from his territory? For so long in Jiangdu, Old Sun Ce has only won over this one great talent, which should be enough to give him face."

  "You can't attract talent yourself, that's because your charm value is not enough, and there's no way to do it. It's really funny, actually sending someone to drive me away."

  "If it weren't for following Zhang Liao's opinion to surrender to Yuan Shu in order to achieve great things, I would really like to play a trick on him. Fortunately, my old man sent Zhu Zhi to support him with troops when he was attacking Dong Zhuo, despite the tense military situation at that time."

  This is the real deal, abandoning the boat after crossing the river! This old man who has lived for decades has already become a seasoned veteran. Thinking about it, this guy doesn't have many good years left, so I won't bother with him anymore.

  The future still belongs to our young generation!

  In the afternoon, after everyone had rested, they came to Sun Ce's large tent again to discuss future strategies. Before that, Sun Ce had to teach them to sing our new military song twice more, so the tent was filled with majestic singing voices once again.

  After singing twice, Sun Ce gave them a piece of paper with the lyrics written on it. He told them to copy it themselves, and everyone immediately rushed into a crowd.

  Sun Ce looked at them with a smile and said, "What's the hurry? Can't you just take turns? I've never seen you guys so desperate to grab something, not even when it comes to grabbing wives! Alright, alright, one by one, no need to rush. Let's line up according to rank and age, show some quality. We're civilized Jiangdong soldiers."

  At first, everyone ignored Sun Ce, but after the words were spoken, they finally took effect. Everyone quieted down and foolishly smiled at Sun Ce, as if only smiling like this was what civilized soldiers did.

  Sun Ce couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time: "You're all a bunch of idiots! There aren't any big girls or young wives here, do you need to smile so ambiguously? Civilization isn't about pretending, it's about natural refinement from within. What a bunch of fakes. Alright, hand over the lyrics to General Yi first, in order, okay?"

  Among the crowd, Han Dang was the only one who remained calm and sat on one side without participating in the scramble.

  He smiled complacently and said, "The young master is here, so there's no need to worry. You bunch of kids are fighting over this, wasting your energy, sweating profusely, but in the end, it's just benefiting the onlookers. So no matter what time it is, you must see things clearly, don't become the snipe and the clam that struggle with each other, only to benefit the fisherman who is watching from the side. Haha..."

  As he spoke, he reached out and took the paper that had been crumpled up in Chen Wu's hand, smoothed it out on his desk, and began to copy it.

  Sun Ce couldn't help but exclaim: "Yi Gong, you're truly a talented general! No matter when, you never forget to educate your juniors. You're indeed a veteran general who has been in the army for many years."

  Han Dang sighed after hearing Sun Ce's praise: "Alas! These were all taught to us by General Breaker of Barbarians in the past. Thinking back, we followed the general together, just like you all... Alas, it pains me to think of the general!"

  Everyone fell silent involuntarily. At this time, Chen Wu led the singing of "Jing Zhong Bao Guo", and when they sang to the back, the people in the account could not help but shed tears again.

  The most heartbreaking moment is not losing, but missing!

  When everyone had finished copying, Sun Ce spoke up: "Yi Gong, listen to me, I have a plan. Let's discuss it together. I think we should take advantage of Yuan Shu not being here and lead the troops outside for some real and semi-real combat training. What do you all think?"

  Everyone's eyes lit up at the same time and immediately became lively. It seems that they are all a group of warmongers.

  They all asked, "Young Master, where are you from?"

  "How to fight? Young master, just give orders, we will definitely charge forward and not fall behind the brave warriors of Jiangdong."

  It seems that having a mature leader in a team is indeed necessary! When facing things, being calm and considering all aspects is important. If everyone were to be like these young rascals, rushing around like a swarm of bees, people would get dizzy from the commotion.

  "Alright, all of you go and prepare. We will depart after a full breakfast tomorrow morning at dawn. Chen Wu (Zi Lie), you, Deng Dang, and Lü Fan, the three of you take some men to the rear general's camp to meet with the military supply officer and have him prepare enough supplies for us for one month, which we can use along the way. Make sure to stock up on swords, spears, bows, arrows, shields, and armor. Discuss and arrange this among yourselves. Also, ask him to prepare a warhorse for each of us. Alright, go take care of your tasks. I will discuss our plan of action with General Yi Gong again."

  Everyone left in a lively manner: "Now it's good, everyone has become a cavalryman, and can let the horses run wildly. Woo woo..."

  "It's been two years since I last rode a horse."

  "It's still up to the young master to come up with a solution, once he does, we can leave the camp. Haha"

  "It's been almost a year since I've been stuck in this camp, people are getting depressed."

  "Zi Lie, you didn't have a beard before, how did it just grow out now?!"

  "Go die, I'm just saying this. Your Sun Bohai is still hairless."

  Looking at this group of boisterous men, Sun Ce smiled wryly. Without such vitality, it would be impossible to fight with passion as a commander with a gloomy and depressed mood! It's just that you have to control the degree, if you become impulsive, it's easy to make mistakes.

  Sun Ce turned to Han Dang and said: "Uncle Han! Come on, let's get rid of them. These guys are really making a ruckus, chasing them away will make things much quieter."

  Let's discuss this, my plan for this time is to let the troops practice along the way, dividing them into two teams, A and B, taking turns as infantry and cavalry. One team attacks and one team defends, and the number of people on both teams can be constantly adjusted to adapt to various tactics in different situations, mainly with actual combat as the purpose. Practice mutual attack and defense drills between cavalry and infantry under different circumstances."

  Han nodded in satisfaction, "The young master can just call me Yigong! No need to be polite, the young master's idea is really wonderful. In this way, we can explore various tactics in different situations with one exercise."

  "Very good, very good. It's a novel way of training troops. But can General Yuan allow us to move freely? Will Governor Chen disagree with our casual exit from the camp?"

  "Brother Han! Bo Fu has obtained Yuan Shu's order, allowing us to move freely between the provincial capitals. Now that Yuan Shu himself is heading north to Yan Province, as long as we don't rebel against him on both sides of the Yangtze River, no one will be able to control us."

  "Brother, you've done well. This way we can train all the way and find various terrains to drill the soldiers thoroughly. It's been over a year since everyone had this kind of training opportunity. This time I will definitely turn them back into an elite army! Restore my Jiangdong military prestige! Haha."

  Sun Ce fell silent for a moment, then continued: "Uncle Han, training troops is important. Actually, my ultimate plan was to suddenly cross the river and eliminate Zu Lang's bandits in Jiujiang after completing our military training, so as to test the results of our training through actual combat."

  Han Dang stared blankly, gazing deeply at Sun Ce: "Ancestor? This gang is not easy to deal with! I heard they have three to five thousand cavalry, and they occupy the mountain, making it easy to defend but hard to attack. The government troops have surrounded them several times, but failed to capture them, instead allowing them to grow stronger."

  Moreover, I heard that there are several high-ranking wandering knights in Zulang Stronghold, and their martial arts skills are quite impressive. Moreover, with so many of us crossing the river, it's a bit too noisy. I'm afraid they might have already taken precautions, which would make it difficult for us to take action against them."

  "It's them, those wandering knights."

  Sun Ce thought, "At that time, our sentries did not make a sound and were killed by Zu Lang, leading to the destruction of our entire army. The culprits should be them."

  "These men are truly in their primitive form, a special forces unit! If they can be used well, they will definitely play a huge strategic and tactical role in future battles. They must be subdued."

  "In Sun Ce's impression, the Zhejiang area did not have very high and steep mountains. Moreover, in later generations, even higher and more dangerous peaks could be climbed by people. These small hills are nothing but a challenge to one's wits."