Chapter 240 Cao Cao and Sun Jian Fight Against Xu Zhao

Lin Mu came to Juzhang County to see how the military arrangements were. However, what surprised Lin Mu was that there were none! Juzhang County seemed to be like Dongye County in normal times, with no preparations for the coming war.

Generally speaking, when a city faces the threat of war, it will definitely set up some iron thorns, horse hole traps, tripwires, etc. not far from the city wall, but Lin Mu did not see any traces of these. There is a problem!

However, although there was no preparation for war, the native pedestrians were very anxious, walking in three steps and two steps, looking hurried.

Lin Mu approached the South Gate and prepared to pay the entrance fee. The entrance fee of the Han Dynasty city was not expensive. Depending on the prosperity of the city, it was between a few and dozens of copper coins, which ordinary people could afford.

However, at this time, there were only twelve old soldiers guarding the gate listlessly, six people in each row, bored, with worn-out armor on their bodies and worn-out boots on their feet. Even the guy they were eating with was a worn-out iron spear, looking like they were underpaid.

He quietly threw five copper coins into the copper coin box with the word "five" engraved on it, and walked into Juzhang County openly.

Lin Mu took a closer look at these veterans and found that some of them were disabled soldiers with missing arms and legs, and they were still on a mission to defend the city. This made him speechless. Did Xu Zhao even mobilize all the soldiers in Juzhang County?

He had to find the base of the Night Shadow Department and get the latest intelligence.

Soon, Lin Mu found a restaurant called "Night Color Tavern" in the south city. Looking at the newly made plaque, Lin Mu smiled slightly. With the support of the huge financial resources of the territory, the base of the Night Shadow Department has begun to be fully laid out. Not bad!

Lin Mu walked into the tavern. The restaurant is not big, with only twelve seats, four rows and three columns. The counter is on the right hand side of the door, with an antique style.

There were no customers in the wine shop in the evening. It seemed that Juzhang City was a bit loose on the outside and tight on the inside, but that was not right. If it was tight on the inside, heavy soldiers should be sent to guard the city gates, strictly restricting entry and exit, and patrol soldiers would constantly patrol the city to prevent it from being captured by the enemy from the inside.

Wine shops usually receive drinkers or rangers. Now there is no customer, so Juzhang County has changed.

As soon as Lin Mu appeared, a middle-aged shopkeeper wearing a cloth hat came over and asked with a smile: "General, are you going to drink or eat?"

Lin Mu was dressed in a military uniform, and it was okay for some merchants to call him General.

Lin Mu did not answer immediately, but looked around and said: "I drink, drink hometown wine!"

The shopkeeper's expression tightened when he heard it, and he asked quickly: "What is the wine of your hometown?"

"No regrets wine!" Lin Mu said softly, with a hint of nostalgia.

"Sir, please come this way. The hometown wine is ready!" The shopkeeper looked happy and hurriedly took Lin Mu to the back hall.

"Today, the commander of the 77th Tianjia asked us to pay attention to the guests who drink hometown wine and no regrets wine. If they appear, bring them to the back hall. It seems that this person is the one the commander is waiting for." The middle-aged shopkeeper thought to himself.

When he arrived at the back hall, the shopkeeper knocked on the door gently, and a question came from the door: "What's the matter?"

The middle-aged shopkeeper immediately said respectfully: "Sir, the guest who drinks hometown no regrets wine is here! Just outside the door."

"Oh, good, you go down, I will be next." Another voice came from the door.

"Yes!" The middle-aged shopkeeper walked away tactfully. He is a member of the Yellow Division of the Night Shadow Division and knows the rules.

After the middle-aged shopkeeper left, Lin Mu pushed open the door, and Tianjia 77 inside the door came up and said in surprise: "The lord is finally here! The recent intelligence of Kuaiji County has been summarized, just waiting for the lord to check it!"

The Night Shadow Department does not have too many etiquette, only the rules of doing things. When they meet their superiors, they will not go through a lot of etiquette before talking about things, but directly get to the point!

"Good! Thank you for your hard work. Everything happened too suddenly recently. The brothers of the Night Shadow Department must have been running around every day. After this Xu Zhao incident is over, reward everyone well!" Lin Mu took a intelligence document from Tianjia 77, patted his shoulder and said in a deep voice.

"This is what we should do!" Tianjia 77 said with a smile.

"Okay, wait a moment, I will check the recent intelligence first and see what the situation is like in other places." After Lin Mu finished speaking, he sat down and immersed himself in the intelligence.

Tianjia 77 was waiting beside him.

The Qiankun Zimu Book Pages are very limited. Even the Night Shadow Department, an important intelligence agency, cannot be equipped with pages, and can only report intelligence in a primitive way.

This intelligence is a summary of the intelligence in Kuaiji County, that is, the Kingdom of Nanzhao.

Lin Mu quickly looked at the front, and there are three points that are very worthy of attention:

First, Sun Jian. At this time, Sun Jian's identity was actually the Sima of the Wu County of Yangzhou and the lieutenant of Fuchun County. He led his own 400,000 troops and marched on a giant ship from the sea. He is currently stationed outside Yuyao County, facing the defenders in Yuyao City.

Sun Jian's fleet has developed rapidly. As a super-powerful general, Sun Jian is not only a general of the army, but also has unique insights into the construction of the navy. He is a genius.

Second, Cao Cao. Lin Mu already knows Cao Cao's identity, but Cao Cao's troops shocked him, reaching a million. Cao Cao's force is composed of half infantry and half cavalry, and is currently stationed outside Zhuji City.

Third, Wang Lang, the county magistrate of Pingdu City, Yuzhang County, Yangzhou, sent 400,000 troops to besiege Wushang City.

…

After seeing the information of these three famous and important figures in the history of the Three Kingdoms, Lin Mu was more certain that Xu Zhao was a huge temptation, making them swarm in like sharks smelling blood.

Coupled with the Taiping Sect, Kuaiji County was really going to be in chaos.

Lin Mu sighed in his heart. He originally thought it was an ordinary military action to suppress the rebellion of Longting. He was going to use this local merit to strengthen his political and military status, thus paving the way for the later Yellow Turban Rebellion. Now it has turned into a weakened version of the later Han princes' crusade against Dong Zhuo, [Princes crusade against Xu Zhao]!

The princes are: Cao Cao, Sun Jian, Wang Lang, Lin Mu, and Zhang Jue of the Taiping Dao.

…

In addition to the military actions of these big men, the Night Shadow Department also found out that most of the city guards of Nanzhao Kingdom (Kuaiji County) have been withdrawn to guard three important fortresses connecting to the outer counties: Yuyao City, Zhuji City, and Wushang City.

These three cities are all important roads connecting to the outer counties.

Yuyao City, located in the north of Nanzhao State, is connected to Wu County in the north. It is also the only city connected to Wu County. Other cities are blocked by high rivers.

Zhuji City, located in the west of Nanzhao State, is connected to Danyang County in the west. It is also the only passage between Nanzhao State and Danyang County.

Wushang City, located in the southwest of Nanzhao State, is the only important road connected to Yuzhang County.

…

The marching routes of Cao Cao, Sun Jian, Wang Lang and others are arranged according to the external passages of Nanzhao State.

Among them, Sun Jian attacked the important road of Yuyao City. If Sun Jian broke through this city, he could march straight in, attack Juzhang City and Yan County City in the east, attack Shangyu City in the west, and then attack Xu Zhao's old nest Shanyin City.

The attacker of Zhuji City is Cao Cao. If Cao Cao breaks through Zhuji City, he can go directly north, bypass the west of a huge lake [Jinghu Lake], and directly attack Shanyin City located north of Jinghu Lake.

As an attacker on the southwest route, Wang Lang, after breaking through Wushang City, could go north and bypass the east side of Jinghu Lake, and directly attack Shangyu with Sun Jian, and then attack the final target Shanyin City; if he went south, he could attack Taimo City, Zhang'an City, Shanxian City, Houguan City, Dongye City and other cities to recover lost territory.

All three parties have their own advantages. Cao Cao is the closest to Shanyin City; Yuyao City, which Sun Jian attacked, is located on the edge of the [Han Yao River], and it is necessary to use ships and navy. Sun Jian has this advantage; and Wang Lang's advantage is that after breaking through Wushang City, it is flat on all sides, and he can directly conquer a large number of cities and lost territories and gain merits.

...

These three parties should be connected, otherwise they would not station troops in important fortresses at the same time, jointly put military pressure on Xu Zhao, and jointly handed over the [Crusade Manifesto] to Xu Zhao, in the name of the world's orthodoxy, to punish the disloyal thieves!

Such a rebellion in Yangzhou must have caused the governor and other high-ranking officials to be blamed by the Dragon Court. However, the actions of Cao Cao, Sun Jian and others gave the Yangzhou high-level officials a shot in the arm and a signal of unspoken rules: You don't have to be afraid, you don't have to spend the money in your pockets, as long as we go out we can handle it, but we have to choose the treasures first.

The current local government of the Han Dynasty is full of corruption. The county magistrate, the prefect of a county, and the governor of a state hate the war, because once the war starts, it consumes manpower, material resources and financial resources, which are all taking money out of their pockets. Of course, they are unwilling.

The behavior of Cao Cao and others now is a win-win for them! Why not do it? Just give them the name of orthodoxy. After the war, the city property, official positions, etc. of a county can make them a lot of money.

Cao Cao and Sun Jian both went to war with their own troops. They had great autonomy in the merits, items, etc. they obtained. Although some of them might be confiscated by the government after the war, how could they hand over the most important items? They all held them in their hands.

Interests move people's hearts. What super princes like Cao Cao and Sun Jian want to get must be very important to them, otherwise, how could they sacrifice their own troops for a rebellion in a county.

Using oneself to predict others, the behavior of Cao Cao and others is exactly the military action that Lin Mu wants to plan.

Lin Mu is thinking about how to share a piece of the pie with them in this crusade and maximize the benefits when his strength has not fully reached their level.

Lin Mu touched the order of the county lieutenant in Juzhang County in his arms, frowning and thinking.

It is unknown how many soldiers are left in the county lieutenant camp in Juzhang County. If there are still many, then as long as Lin Mu implements the decapitation plan, kills the county lieutenant's senior officials, and then shows the order, there must be a great chance to subdue the county lieutenant camp soldiers.