books44 Chapter 221 The Moral High Ground
Chapter 221 The Moral High Ground
However, later on, all the soldiers in the self-governing area remembered one sentence: You can only earn respect from others if you respect them.
When the last Yanzhou army passed through Chenliu, the entire Yanzhou region, including Chenliu and Zhongmu, which originally belonged to Yuzhou, was peacefully taken over by the autonomous region.
On June 11th, in the year 2191 of the Yellow Emperor's reign, Chen Er officially announced to the world that Yanzhou had been incorporated into the Northern Autonomous Region. The world was shocked upon hearing this, but also felt that it was only natural.
Of course, Yuan Shao, who had retreated to Hulao Pass, had another very important matter to attend to: he had not yet gone to Luoyang, and the army in the self-governed area behind Hulao Pass had not yet withdrawn.
Not only did they not withdraw, but they also continued to reinforce their troops. After a stalemate of half a month, Yuan Shao finally gave up Hulao Pass. Faced with the self-governed army with a large number of warships, Hulao Pass could no longer play its original defensive role.
Rather than confronting the self-governing region's army here, it would be better to take advantage of the current unstable cooperative relationship with the self-governing region and gather all the troops in Luoyang.
To enhance their influence in Luoyang, control the Luoyang arsenal, and find a way to control Yongzhou, making it their rear base.
That damned little emperor still won't agree to let the Luoyang arsenal replenish his weapons and ammunition. Does he really think he's so easy to bully?
The thought of the news Xu You brought back made Yuan Shao want to curse. That damned Liu Xie really thought he was the emperor.
Yuan Shao said to Xu You, "Does the emperor really think that he can stop me with his ten thousand men?"
"I believe that the emperor and his ministers feel that the army of King Chen Er of Wei is holding our army back," Xu You analyzed.
Yuan Shao said to Xu You, "Our self-governed territory has a large number of warships and transport ships. The Yellow River and the Wei River pose no obstacle to them. They can cross the river from any calm spot."
"Does my lord mean we should abandon Hulao Pass?"
“That’s right. We’ll just abandon Hulao Pass and hand it over to Chen Er in exchange for the withdrawal of the self-governing troops behind Hulao Pass. I know Chen Er wants to use me to control the emperor and help him hold off those guys from Xiliang.”
"If that's the case, why don't we fight for more benefits for ourselves?"
Yuan Shao was actually well aware of Chen Er's intentions. Otherwise, Chen Er could have easily defeated him with just one or two troops. But a person is truly useless if they no longer have any value to others.
Xu You knew this was the best solution, and he nodded in agreement with Yuan Shao's suggestion.
On June 23, Yuan Shao declared to the world that he had come to serve the emperor and was a loyal subject of the Han dynasty, while Wei King Chen Er, as a supporter of the Han dynasty, was there to better protect His Majesty the Emperor.
He decided to hand over Hulao Pass to the army under King Chen Er of Wei to strengthen the defense of the Sili region.
These words shocked all the warlords in the land. Was Yuan Shao courting death?
Of course not. Some discerning people, such as Liu Bei and Sun Quan, saw it very clearly: the self-governed area had the advantage of water, and the river did not pose a significant obstacle to the army in the self-governed area.
Even without Hulao Pass, one could freely enter the Sili region. For Yuan Shao, Hulao Pass was a useless asset, even less so than a useless asset.
At least chicken ribs have some meat in them, but Hulao Pass is completely useless to Yuan Shao. Occupying Hulao Pass is just a waste of his precious troops.
Chen Er laughed after receiving Yuan Shao's statement. This Yuan Shao had changed; now he was resorting to such unscrupulous means. Yuan Shao's statement undoubtedly placed Chen Er on the moral high ground.
This also put him and Chen Er in the same "camp," and if Chen Er were to attack Yuan Shao, it would be disloyalty to the empire and a rebellion.
As for Yuan Shao, with his absolute advantage, if he doesn't interfere in his own territory, he will soon become the next Gongsun Zan, and Liu Xie and his followers' dreams will be shattered.
"My lord, I believe that after Yuan Shao controls Luoyang, he will soon retreat into the Yongzhou region, using Hangu Pass to clear Niwu Pass."
"The front line serves as a shield to consolidate our strength and enhance our strategic depth," Tian Feng analyzed.
Chen Er smiled and said, "Isn't that exactly what we wanted?"
After saying that, Chen Er, Tian Feng, Gao Shun, and the others exchanged smiles: "That's right, that's exactly what we hope for."
The day after Yuan Shao announced the handover of Hulao Pass, the troops in the self-governed area between Hulao Pass and Luoyang immediately set off for Hulao Pass. Their mission was to hand over Hulao Pass to the Yanzhou army.
The original mission was to coordinate with the attacking forces outside the pass to attack Hulao Pass after receiving orders from above. Now that the handover was being carried out peacefully, Huangpu Song, who was in charge of the team, was naturally very happy.
He had only one cavalry division and two infantry regiments that were active-duty regular troops; the rest were drawn from reserves and local garrison forces, which were good enough to deter the enemy.
If we were to launch a real attack, only those two infantry regiments would be able to engage in direct combat. As for cavalry, you can't exactly send them to attack a city.
When Huangpu Song received the news that the Yanzhou Army was going to hand over Hulao Pass, he breathed a sigh of relief. The lives of countless young men had been saved, and they would soon be able to live a happy and fulfilling life again.
Huangpu Song ordered all soldiers to go to Hulao Pass to take over the defense with the highest morale. He stressed that the Yanzhou army should not underestimate the soldiers in their own jurisdiction. Even the reserve soldiers were better than the regular main force!
Indeed, this was the case. In terms of equipment and training, the reserve forces in the self-governed area were better than the main forces of the standing armies of most lords. This was Chen Er's confidence, as he could send all the standing armies to the battlefield without worrying about the safety of the rear.
When Huangpu Song led his troops into Hulao Pass, Yuan Shao had already withdrawn all his troops from Hulao Pass, and the two sides did not hold a ceremony as expected.
Instead, each side occupied one side of the road, leaving less than two meters in the middle. It was so easy to point a rifle at the other side's soldiers by simply pointing it at their noses.
Snapped!Snapped!Snapped!
The troops from the self-governing region marched past the Yanzhou army in neat formations; their drill training was no secret.
However, there are probably only a handful of organizations in the entire country that can achieve the same level of unity among tens of thousands of troops as the self-governing army, and this naturally does not include the Yanzhou army.
Watching the troops from their own region march past, Yuan Shao and the generals and strategists of the Yanzhou army had to admit that their army was indeed inferior to theirs. Look how orderly their troops were! Everyone present understood what such an orderly formation meant on the battlefield.