Chapter 280

That same day, Xu You took the opportunity of catching up on old times to find Yang Hong, the chief strategist under Lord Yuan Shu.

While drinking and chatting, Xu You said to Yang Hong, "Speaking of which, Bi'e (Yang Hong's courtesy name)! I heard that your lord, Brother Gonglu, had a battle with Su Xuan in Nanyang last time, and that Brother Gonglu even paid a huge amount of wealth and grain because of it. Is that true?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Hong's face darkened slightly, and he looked at Xu You with some dissatisfaction, asking, "Xu Xu Ziyuan, are you here to humiliate me and my lord on purpose?"

"Haha! Naturally not!"

Hearing this, Xu You hurriedly laughed and smoothed things over, saying, "I was just curious, that's all."

"Besides, I also want to learn more about General of the Vanguard Su Xuan!"

"After all, this person seems very mysterious, and the strength he has shown so far is also very formidable!"

"My lord is quite wary of this Su Xuan and wants to learn more about him in advance, so as to better limit his development, right?"

Hearing Xu You's explanation, Yang Hong's expression softened, and he nodded, saying, "That is true!"

"Xu Ziyuan, you don't know how brutal this Su Xuan is! And how powerful his troops and generals are!"

"In that battle a few months ago, my lord sent the great general Ji Ling and his 30, 00 elite troops, plus Sun Sun Jian and his 20, 00-plus elite troops, to attack the small city of Xinye;"

"And the result? They didn't even get to touch the city walls much before they were soundly defeated. Both Ji Ling and Sun Sun Jian were captured in a single battle!"

"The whole thing took less than half a day;"

"Furthermore, the vast majority of the tens of thousands of troops were also captured by him!"

"Afterward, that Su Xuan even sent an envoy to my lord to negotiate peace and made my lord pay to ransom the people;"

"For this, my lord spent a massive amount of wealth and grain to ransom General Ji Ling, Sun Sun Jian, and the fifty thousand troops!"

"My lord was in a foul mood for a long time because of it!"

"From this, one can see how terrifying the combat power of Su Xuan's army is!"

"Since then, my lord hasn't had any friction with him!"

"He has been thinking of ways to strengthen the army and prepare for war, intending to take revenge in the future."

Speaking of this, Yang Hong still felt a lingering fear.

He also felt dread toward Su Xuan, always feeling that his own lord might not necessarily be able to defeat Su Xuan in the future!

"Perhaps I should seek a way out early? Find a way to establish a connection with Su Xuan sooner?"

Yang Hong even thought to himself.

After seeing Su Xuan's terror, he did not think other warlords would be Su Xuan's match.

Even Lord Yuan Shao, perhaps, could not.

"Really?"

Xu You listened, looking astonished: "It's not like I haven't seen Su Xuan's army attacking cities before; they are indeed much stronger than the troops hastily trained by the current warlords, but surely there's a limit?"

"How could they be as strong as you say?"

Defeating Ji Ling and Sun Sun Jian in one battle, capturing them, and taking nearly 50, 00 troops along with them.

Why does it feel like listening to a myth?

If you said they wiped out 50, 00 troops in one battle, he would believe it.

But to capture the vast majority of them directly.

Is it that Ji Ling and Sun Sun Jian are too useless, or is Su Xuan too terrifying?

Shouldn't it have been a fight to the death, resulting in mutual destruction?

Why did they surrender so easily?

I don't understand!

"Hehe!"

Yang Hong listened and sneered: "I indeed did not see the process of that battle with my own eyes, but I did ask General Ji Ling and the others;"

"The combat power displayed by Su Xuan's army at this alliance absolutely cannot be compared to before!"

"As far as I know, Su Xuan's army expanded by more than 100, 00 troops in the past few months;"

"Either he only brought a small number of elites this time, and the rest are just newly recruited troops;"

"Or, Su Xuan is hiding his true strength!"

Ji Ling would not lie to him; he is not that kind of person.

"Hiss!"

Xu You listened, gasped, stroked his beard, and pondered: "New recruits? They don't look like it! Can new recruits form military formations?"

"Rumor has it that Su Xuan obtained the military formation martial arts inheritance of his ancestor Su Wu. I didn't believe it before, but now it seems it is indeed true!"

"If it's just hiding his strength, that's actually better. If these are really all new recruits, then it's even more terrifying!"

"It means that Su Xuan only spent a few months training a strong army that is far more elite than the armies of the various warlords;"

"This efficiency, this method of training troops, is simply terrifying."

He felt he had to remind his lord to pay more attention to Su Xuan and raise his threat level by several notches.

"Indeed!"

Yang Hong nodded with a complex expression: "That is why I said this person is terrifying!"

"Of course, I actually lean more toward the idea that what he brought this time are the troops he organized and trained when he was suppressing the Huang Jin rebels, which only became the strong army of today after years of training;"

"It's just that he was hiding his strength before!"

Yang Hong was not very willing to believe in the rapid training of an army.

Because that would be too terrifying.

If it were true, who among the warlords in the world would be his match?

Perhaps, if given a few years, Su Xuan could train a million elite troops and sweep across the entire world, right?

"Oh? Why?"

Xu You asked, full of curiosity.

"Hehe!"

Yang Hong smiled slightly: "I wonder if Xu Ziyuan still remembers how Su Xuan broke through Si Shui Pass?"

"Hmm?"

Xu You was stunned for a moment, frowned slightly, and said: "I heard that Su Xuan followed Hua Xiong's defeated troops and took advantage of the situation to enter the pass, breaking it through trickery;"

"No warlord saw it, could there be some secret in this?"

He hadn't thought about it carefully before, but now it seems there are indeed many doubts here!

What the warlords know is all what Su Xuan told them.

Only Su Xuan's own army knows the truth.

"Hehe!"

Yang Hong listened and immediately replied with a light laugh: "How can there be so many coincidences in this world?"

"The defender of Si Shui Pass was Hu Zhen. I know a little about this person; he is not a capable man, but he is not a fool either;"

"How could he not understand the principle of breaking a city by tailing defeated troops?"

"Unless he was certain that Su Xuan could not reach the pass before Hua Xiong's defeated troops entered, he shouldn't have been stupid enough to open the gates directly."

"But the accident happened, which only proves one thing: he far underestimated the speed of Su Xuan's army's raid and underestimated the combat power of Su Xuan's army."

"Su Xuan's iron cavalry possesses a raid speed far beyond ordinary imagination, successfully tailing Hua Xiong's remnants into the pass within the time Hu Zhen thought they couldn't arrive! "

"Only then does everything make sense!"

"Therefore, Su Xuan's army must have hidden its strength, rather than being so-called new recruits. What does Xu Ziyuan think?"

For a moment, Yang Hong felt his intelligence had taken the high ground; the more he analyzed, the more he felt his analysis made sense.

At this moment, he felt he had grasped the truth.

"That makes sense!"

Xu You's eyes lit up, and he nodded solemnly: "Looking at it this way, your deduction, Bi'e, should be true!"

"Su Xuan's army has greatly hidden its combat power; apart from taking Si Shui Pass, they have been doing the bare minimum!"

"Otherwise, with the combat power of his troops and the strength of Zhao Yun at the Heaven-Human Realm, wouldn't Hu Lao Pass have been broken already?"

"This person is too cunning; he is deliberately preserving his strength. Bi'e, this is not good news for your lord!"

"You must know that your lord currently occupies Nanyang Commandery, which belongs to Jingzhou, and directly borders Su Xuan's territory;"

"Even Runan is adjacent to Jingzhou;"

"With such a cunning and strong enemy on the side, if you don't take the opportunity of the anti-Dong campaign to weaken Su Xuan's strength as much as possible, then after the campaign ends, your lord will definitely not be Su Xuan's match, and there will inevitably be a great defeat!"

"You should be clear that Su Xuan will absolutely never give up Nanyang!"

"The reason he didn't completely take Nanyang before and drive your lord out was out of consideration for the anti-Dong strength, fearing criticism and attacks;"

"But after the anti-Dong campaign ends, the situation will be completely different!"

Xu You felt that Su Xuan's strength was likely even more powerful than he and Lord Yuan Shao had previously estimated.

Therefore, Su Xuan must be weakened.

But they cannot act themselves; they can only rely on Lord Yuan Shu.

"Indeed!"

Yang Hong frowned, but the next moment he thought of something, looked at Xu You, couldn't help but look him up and down, and then asked: "Xu Ziyuan! You came to find me on purpose today and brought up the threat of Su Xuan; you did it on purpose, right?"

"Tell me! What are you trying to plot against me and my lord?"

This Xu You is deliberately plotting against him, deliberately stirring up trouble!

"Oh?"

Xu You looked at Yang Hong with slight surprise: "Bi'e is indeed wise! You actually saw through my purpose so easily!"

"Not bad! I do hope you can persuade your lord to target Su Xuan and weaken him!"

"Because my lord, Lord Yuan Shao, also feels the threat of Su Xuan!"

"He hopes to weaken him as much as possible, lest he become a great enemy of my lord in the future..."

"But this matter is also something your lord must do!"

"After all, my lord's foundation is in Jizhou, and Su Xuan cannot threaten my lord for the time being;"

"Instead, the foundation of your lord, Bi'e, is in Nanyang and Runan, adjacent to Jingzhou, and you will have to face the threat of Su Xuan directly after the anti-Dong campaign!"

"With the strength Su Xuan has shown now, after the anti-Dong campaign ends, it is impossible for him to honestly guard his current territory without moving;"

"At that time, the first person he will attack is your lord;"

"So, I am not plotting against you and your lord, but rather it is mutual benefit and win-win cooperation;"

"Because Su Xuan is a common enemy we must all face."

"What do you think?"