Reborn in the Three Kingdoms, I stole Liu Bei's uncle

After Zhou Yu received the news that the civil unrest in Yuzhou had been quelled, he already knew the final outcome of the war.

To be honest, he was somewhat surprised by the way Liu Yu handled the situation. In his impression, Liu Yu had always been known for his benevolence, so how could such a large-scale killing occur?

However, he had to admit that Liu Yu's way of handling the matter was currently the fastest and most effective.

If Emperor Liu was really burdened by his fame, he would not have achieved such good results without using drastic measures.

He set up this situation just to see how much Liu Yu valued his reputation.

If he really wanted to preserve his reputation and focus on appeasing the people, Yuzhou would probably still be in chaos at this time.

There was a hint of admiration in Zhou Yu's eyes.

It seems that Uncle Liu is stronger than he imagined.

Zhou Yu took a look at the information and threw it aside.

"Bofu, within two days, there will be news of the defeat."

"Why is Gongjin so sure?"

"The most powerful strategy for conquering Yuzhou is not the two armies, but the use of two armies to invade Yuzhou and cause civil strife in Yuzhou. Now that the civil strife has been quelled by Emperor Liu, it is impossible to conquer Yuzhou with just these two armies."

Sun Ce nodded slightly when he heard this. From what he had learned so far, in a one-on-one hard power collision, it would be difficult for Yuan Shu's current troops to crush Liu Yu's army.

If the plan is well managed, the most that can be achieved is a standoff between him and Liu Yu in Yuzhou.

But an expedition deep into the enemy's rear and with a small force on a long distance would not last long.

"Gongjin's words make sense, what should we do now?"

"After these soldiers retreat, they will certainly be reprimanded by Yuan Gonglu. We don't need to intervene in this matter. We can just wait and see what happens."

In the plan to capture Yuzhou, Zhou Yu set up a very important link, which was to let Sun Ce lead the troops to fight. Unfortunately, although Yuan Shu accepted the suggestion, he politely declined Sun Ce's expedition.

The reasons are simple and a bit perfunctory, which makes people anxious, but there is nothing they can do.

Now that they have led their troops to battle and returned in defeat, I wonder if Yuan Shu will feel some regret.

Zhou Yu was not concerned about this issue. What he cared about was Yuan Shu's future plans.

After this battle, although Yuan Shu was unwilling to give up Yuzhou, he could only watch Liu Bei completely occupy Yuzhou.

After Yuzhou was occupied, Yuan Shu had few options left. His wisest choice was to occupy Yangzhou.

Although Yangzhou's land is not as fertile or populous as Yuzhou and Jizhou, it has the advantage of being large in size, with dense rivers, towering mountains, and easy to defend but difficult to attack. If one can gain a foothold here, one can also achieve something in this era.

But Zhou Yu was not optimistic that Yuan Shu could successfully occupy this place.

The Yuan family has a weak foundation here and does not have much to rely on.

Sun Ce, on the other hand, was just the opposite. He had deep roots here and had a large number of supporters in Danyang and Wujun.

If Yuan Shu's plan shifted to Yangzhou, Sun Ce only needed to seize an opportunity to leave Yuan Shu to achieve success.

The situation in Yuzhou was just as Zhou Yu had expected. After Liu Yu had pacified the internal troubles, he quickly launched an attack. After only two days, Yuan Shu's army was driven out of Yuzhou.

Yuzhou regained its peace. Yuan's disciples and former officials finally understood that Yuan Shu's time in Yuzhou was over. Facing an opponent like Liu Yu, he had no chance to regain control of Yuzhou.

……

……

Looking at the battle report sent from Yuzhou, Yuan Shu's face became extremely ugly. Some time ago, the situation in Yuzhou was still very good. He did not expect that after just a period of time, he would be defeated and retreated from Yuzhou in embarrassment.

Yuan Shu carefully read the battle report again, and finally he could no longer hold on and collapsed on the couch.

"Lord."

The civil and military officials below exclaimed in surprise when they saw Yuan Shu's appearance.

They were about to step forward, but Yuan Shu waved his hand to indicate that he was fine.

Yuan Shu suppressed his anger, looked at everyone and asked slowly:

"The war in Yuzhou has been a complete failure. What should we do next? Everyone, please share your thoughts."

Yan Xiang was the first to speak up and said, "Uncle Liu took over Sili and Yuzhou with the power of the emperor. His generals are brave and his soldiers are strong. Uncle Liu is resourceful. Now we have no chance to take back Yuzhou."

"Xuzhou has a convenient geographical location. Tao Qian is old and confused, and the administration is chaotic. It was originally a good place. Unfortunately, Cao Mengde of Yanzhou is eyeing Xuzhou covetously, and Liu Huangshu is also paying attention to this place. If we attack Xuzhou rashly, not only will we fail to achieve our goal, but we may also fall into the quagmire of war. Therefore, the time to capture Xuzhou is not ripe yet."

"After all the calculations, there is only one place we can go, Yangzhou."

"Yangzhou has a vast expanse of fertile land and a strategic location. My lord, as long as you take over Yangzhou and manage it for a few years, you can still achieve great success."

The plan to capture Yangzhou was repeatedly mentioned in Yuan Shu's camp. Deep down, Yuan Shu looked down on Yangzhou.

He was born in Luoyang, a prosperous and wealthy place with abundant resources and a good population. After leaving Luoyang, he occupied Nanyang and Yuzhou. These two places were also located in the center of the world, with large populations and fertile lands.

Who would be interested in a barren place like Yangzhou? To put it nicely, Yangzhou is a vast land of fertile land. To put it bluntly, the reason why it has such a large territory is entirely because it is barren and sparsely populated.

"Sir, what you said makes sense. Let me think about this matter."

After saying this, he picked up a glass of wine, drank it, and looked around at everyone.

"Do you have any other opinions?" Yuan Shu asked indifferently, looking somewhat uninterested.

Seeing this, Yang Hong understood what Yuan Shu was thinking. He stepped forward and said, "My lord, as long as we occupy Yangzhou and manage it for a few years, this land will be enough to support a million soldiers."

"Liu Jingsheng of Jingzhou has no ambition and keeps himself at bay. When the time comes, the lord will send three armies from Nanyang, Lujiang, and Yuzhang, and Jingzhou will surely be easily taken. As long as Jingzhou is taken, the lord of the Han Dynasty will have one of the three worlds. Why worry about not accomplishing the great cause?"

When Yuan Shu heard the word "great cause", he instantly became interested.

"Now that I have lost many soldiers and generals and am fleeing from Yuzhou in a panic, do I still have a chance to achieve great things?"

Yang Hong consoled him, "My lord, do you still remember that Emperor Gaozu was defeated in nine out of ten battles, abandoned his wife and children, and fled in panic like a stray dog. In the end, he won the world in a battle at Gaixia. It was not for his care that he achieved a great cause. Compared with Emperor Gaozu's defeat today, your defeat is nothing."

"You are right, sir. My resolve is weak. Okay. I will follow your advice and attack Yangzhou."