After receiving Sun Ce's order, Taishi Ci began to be confused about the situation.

Sun Ce did not give him a clear order, but gave him two choices: local battles in Youzhou, or moving to Qingyan. This made him uncomfortable and didn't know what to do. Later, it was the military plan that Meng Jian guessed Sun Ce's intention. For Sun Ce, these two plans had their own advantages and disadvantages and were comparable, so he handed over the choice to Taishici, and Taishici decided which plan was more feasible based on the actual situation. The reason why he did not consult Taishici first and then make a decision was that the order took too long, and it would take nearly a month to go smoothly, which might delay the fighter's opportunity. The second is that he trusted Taishici and believed that he could make the most advantageous choice.

Taishici was grateful for it. As a surrendered general, he had no other requests to get Sun Ce's trust except to repay his loyalty.

After repeatedly discussing with Meng Jian and Zhuge Jin and referring to the opinions of the Liaoxi County School Priest Bingyuan, Taishici decided not to go to Qingyan and fight in Youzhou. In his reply to Sun Ce, he gave three reasons: First, the cavalry was familiar with the terrain and climate of Youzhou, and did not need to spend time to adapt. Second, it was better to lift the firewood from the bottom of the cauldron and take the initiative, and control the initiative in his own hands. Third, he fought in Yanzhou. Once there were police in Youzhou, it would be difficult to return to help in time.

While sending the report, Taishi Ci prepared 5,000 war horses to send to the Central Plains. The war was imminent, and casualties were inevitable. Sun Ce was easy to replenish everything else, but war horses were the weakness. With these 5,000 war horses, even if there were major casualties, they could quickly recover their vitality.

He handed over the rear to Zhuge Jin and Bing Yuan. Taishi Ci led his troops to fight and ordered the Du Liao general Gongsun Du to cooperate in the battle. The water source was very important in the grassland. Gongsun Du followed the Great Liao River to sweep the northern part of the grassland. He had few troops and less than 10,000 people, but he was well-equipped and carried a large number of horses and dried food mainly composed of dried fish and bread. Even if he was not replenished in the middle, he could maintain a two-month trip.

Taishici himself walked along the Yu River, passed Liucheng, passed Bailang Mountain, and came all the way to Baitan Mountain.

Before leaving, Taishi Ci accepted Zhuge Jin's suggestion and sent a message to the grassland tribes through the mouth of Zhongshan merchants that this Western Expedition was to punish those who were benefactors of the King of Wu, but sent troops to assist Liu Bei and Yuan Tan in the battle. From now on, no merchant was allowed to trade with these tribes. Those who violated the orders would be killed without mercy, and those who reported the position of the tribe would be rewarded. The army then arrived, and any tribe who had entered the frontier to help the battle would be destroyed and killed without any matter. Those who led troops to help the battle would not only get spoils, but also get commercial discounts.

The merchants in Zhongshan went to and from the grassland and had contact with various tribes. The news was the most informed. After receiving Taishi Ci's order, they quickly sent people to spread the news. The grassland was suddenly in panic. The tribes that accepted Liu Bei's invitation and sent cavalry to assist were suddenly panic. What they were most worried about was not Taishi Ci himself, but the tribes around them. No matter how cruel Taishi Ci was, they only had more than 10,000 cavalry, and they could escape if they could not beat him. It was difficult for the tribes around them to get rid of them. In order to compete for the grassland, it was common for the tribes on the grassland to take poison behind their backs. Now Taishi Ci is rewarded with heavy rewards, so why aren't they crazy?

For a time, everyone in the grassland tribes were in danger. Some gathered people to pay attention to everyone around them and were ready to fight at any time. Those with weaker strength sent letters to the tribe members who had already entered the suburbs, asking them to withdraw quickly. Although it was not good to offend Liu Bei, it was even worse to offend Taishi Ci, as it was possible that the tribe would be deceased.

When Taishi Ci led his troops to Baitanshan, the Wuhuan soldiers gathered in Shanggu in Ji County and the Xianbei soldiers had already fled on a large scale. Tian Yu could not control them and had to report to Guan Yu. Guan Yu reported to Liu Bei again, forcing Liu Bei to temporarily put down Zhongshan and rush back to Youzhou.

As soon as Liu Bei arrived in Zhuo County, Guan Yu told him a piece of news. Under the guidance of Yan Rou and others, Taishi Ci had just slaughtered two Xianbei tribes, which caused another wave of fear. After the news reached Shanggu, the Xianbei people were eager to return home and had a conflict with Tian Yu who led their troops to stop him, and almost killed Tian Yu.

Liu Bei sighed to the sky.

Gan Ning leaned on the railings, looked at the coastline in the distance, and breathed a long sigh.

He had already led his troops into the Yellow River and cut off Dong Zhao's retreat, but Ji Ling was frustrated and suffered serious losses, delaying the fighter plane. Time froze, and the water volume of the Yellow River dropped sharply, making it no longer suitable for ships to sail, so he had to retreat back to the Bohai Sea.

The return of failure made him full of resentment towards Ji Ling. However, he had no choice but to deal with Ji Ling.

Bu Zhi walked over and handed Gan Ning a glass of wine. Gan Ning took it, looked at the rippling wine in the glass, and smiled bitterly. "Yanzhou is fighting fiercely, and Youzhou Taishici must be invincible, but I can only sit here and drink. Zishan, think of a solution quickly. We can't always be the baggage lieutenant for others."

Bu Zhi turned around and leaned against the railing, raised his head, looked at the battle flag flying on the high mast, took a sip of wine, tasted it, and then said: "The Governor is right, I am thinking about this problem too. The sea boat is too big, the water is too deep, and the battle into the inland river is too limited. If this problem is not solved, not only can we only watch from the wall now, but we will not be able to go too far from the shore when we go out to sea for an expedition in the future."

"Yes, yes." Gan Ning nodded repeatedly, turned around, and looked at Bu Zhi. After all, he was a scholar and thought far. He only thought about what was happening in front of him, but Bu Zhi considered the future expedition. He had a sense of crisis. If he didn't take it seriously, he would have to be the deputy general for Bu Zhi. But what book should he read? There was really no direction for the moment. If he asked Bu Zhi, would he tell me?

"The advantage of sea ships is that they are large in size, not only stable, but also carry more people and materials, especially weapons." Bu Zhi turned his head and looked at the warship carrying giant stone throwers, and raised his eyebrows gently. "Only with such heavy ordnances, we can attack the city. This is the advantage of sea ships and the disadvantage of sea ships."

Gan Ning deeply agreed. Everything has its advantages and disadvantages. The larger the sea ships are, which is conducive to sea navigation, but they are becoming increasingly unfavorable to inland river combat. Not only is it difficult to pass through the Yingshui, Rushui and other water systems, but even the narrow parts of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River became difficult. The last time he tried to attack Yizhou, he could not solve this problem and had to give up in the end.

"If the navy is expanding its scale, it may have to treat the difference between inland river operations and maritime operations. After all, the types of ships are different, so it is difficult to take into account both. However, large ships have the benefits of large ships. If large ships cannot enter the inland rivers, heavy ordnance will not be used."

Bu Zhi nodded. "Yes, the ship's problem cannot be solved, but we can try to solve the problem of heavy ordnance. If the size of the stone thrower can be reduced a little and installed on a medium-sized warship, it can enter the inland river to fight. But if you cannot leave the ship, the meaning of doing so is still limited. After all, not all cities are at the edge of the water. Once the range exceeds the line, the stone thrower becomes a decoration. So I think the key is to solve the problem of the stone thrower landing and moving."

Gan Ning pondered for a while and felt that this idea was a bit problematic. The reason why the giant stone thrower is powerful is that it has a large size. If the volume is reduced, its power will be smaller. What is the point of moving even if it can move ashore? It is both small in size and can move, and it must ensure its power. This is simply contradictory.

"Can there be such a way?"

"Not yet, but I think we can at least try this direction." Bu Zhi turned around and raised his cup to Gan Ning. "General, have you ever thought that we might be able to build a naval wood school, recruit some craftsmen to solve problems for the navy."

Gan Ning frowned slightly and pondered for a moment. "The solution is a good idea. Huang Dajiang is a very suitable candidate. She was the host of the sea boat. Cai Mao wanted to do a sea business and would definitely support it, but can the king agree?"

"Whether it's OK, let's try it. The governor can write to the king and tentatively speak out. We might as well consider a temporary solution now."

Gan Ning was interested and urged Bu Zhi to say quickly. Bu Zhi smiled knowingly. He knew that Gan Ning had been anxious these two days, and as long as there was a way to get him to join the war, he would definitely accept it. "Governor, it is not easy for us to get ashore, but the pirates are all small boats, so it is very easy to get ashore. If they can be recruited and let them cooperate with us in the battle, the enemy will not defend, and they will clamor forward. If the enemy has a guard, they will lure them to the beach. If we attack them with a painful blow, will we solve the problem?"

Gan Ning was very surprised. "There are still pirates in Bohai Sea? I have swept through it several times. Even if there are, they are still some thieves who are not as good as the weather."

"Governor, don't forget that Yuan Tan entered Qingzhou, and Xu and Shen gave up almost all the cities in the west, plains, and Jinan's aristocratic families responded to Yuan Tan. What should the people do? Even if there are not many people who have entered the sea, there are still more than 10,000 people."

Gan Ning suddenly realized and slapped Bu Zhi's shoulder with a palm. He was so excited that this palm was quite powerful. Bu Zhi was not wary of it and was almost slapped away by him. His face was deformed because of the pain. Gan Ning was embarrassed and hurriedly held Bu Zhi. "I'll help you rub, I'll help you rub."

"Forget it, I'm afraid you will be crippled." Bu Zhi was so amused that he pushed Gan Ning's hand away. "I'll go back and find a nurse to help, you don't have to worry about it. You'd better think about how to recruit those pirates." He paused and said, "Governor, don't blame me for not reminding you. Yuan Tan returned to Jizhou, and the two governors Xu and Shen would not let go of those repeated Qingzhou families. In the past, they didn't want to arouse the resistance of Qingzhou people. Now that there is such a good reason, they will never be ruthless."

Bu Zhi said while holding the bulkhead and entering the cabin. Gan Ning woke up like a dream. Yes, what to do to fight Jizhou? Qingzhou is right next to his mouth, so why not eat first? Bohai County is tidal flats, and there are not many water systems that can be used. There are dozens of rivers of all sizes in the north of Qingzhou, and there are several rivers that can allow sea boats to enter and exit. Jishui and Luoshui are good choices. If you can gather some pirates and enter Qingzhou, the harvest will definitely not be small.
Chapter completed!