Chapter 597: Yuan Shao: We haven't even started fighting, and we've already lost one hundred thousand troops?

Jizhou Border.

Julu Commandery.

Yuan Shao, Zhang Yan, and Tadun held an alliance meeting here.

According to the original plan, the personnel meeting here should have included Huchuquan as well.

But that scoundrel Huchuquan had his own ideas.

He rejected Yuan Shao's invitation to the alliance and instead led one hundred thousand Southern Xiongnu troops south on his own, intending to attack Yanmen Commandery at the northern end of Bingzhou.

This resulted in Yuan Shao, along with Tadun and Zhang Yan, having only three hundred thousand troops under their command.

Compared to the number of Gu Yi's army, they held no advantage.

After all, Gu Yi had brought a full three hundred and ten thousand troops on this northern expedition.

Aside from the fifty thousand troops handed to Zhang Liao and Xun You to go to Yanmen to defend against Huchuquan.

Subtracting the losses suffered by the two generals Zhang He and Zhang Xiu while defending against Budugen, the front line still possessed over two hundred and fifty thousand troops.

Moreover, the majority of these soldiers were battle-hardened elites.

If they were to engage the three hundred thousand troops of Yuan Shao, Tadun, and Zhang Yan on the plains, the likely victor would be Gu Yi's two hundred and fifty thousand troops.

However.

The three men, Yuan Shao and his allies, held expectations in other areas.

Although the three parties now added up to only three hundred thousand troops.

But one must not forget.

Budugen, who was already on the front line attacking Jiuyuan Commandery, still possessed one hundred thousand Xianbei cavalry!

At this moment, Yuan Shao had not yet received news of Budugen's defeat.

He mistakenly believed that their actual troop strength was four hundred thousand.

Under such circumstances.

Whether it was Tadun, Zhang Yan, or Yuan Shao himself.

The powerful pressure brought by Gu Yi.

Automatically diminished significantly.

At this moment, the three were holding their alliance meeting.

The so-called alliance meeting was just to say some polite words and go through the motions.

After all.

The main reason Yuan Shao, Tadun, and Zhang Yan could come together was the connection of interests.

If there were no interests, why would there be so many disputes in the world?

There are always some people who think that whenever interests are mentioned, it's a so-called conspiracy theory.

In reality, these people are likely flowers grown in a greenhouse, never having been beaten by society.

Or they have significant character flaws, feeling that everything should go according to their wishes, otherwise it's a conspiracy theory.

How should I put it? It is precisely because of interests that disputes arise in this world.

Interests do not necessarily refer purely to money; for example, emotional aspects, official career and politics, and power—these are all called interests.

If Gu Yi were just an ordinary commoner, Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, Sun Ce, and others would naturally not have disputes with him.

But since Gu Yi was already sitting at the card table.

Then his ultimate goal must be to eliminate all these competitors.

Otherwise, the one who would be eliminated would be him.

Just like Sun Ce.

The reason he betrayed Gu Yi earlier and turned to form an alliance with Liu Bei, Liu Biao, and others was precisely because his potential interests had been harmed by Gu Yi.

If Gu Yi were to unify the south.

Sun Ce's ultimate fate would either be to be completely incorporated by Gu Yi or to be confined in Chang'an as a wealthy man.

But in either case, Sun Ce would lose the qualification to contend for the world.

For him, this was absolutely unacceptable.

Therefore.

The only choice left for Sun Ce was to betray Gu Yi.

And what about Gu Yi?

For the traitor Sun Ce, he would naturally want to kill him quickly.

He would not be like some spineless male lead who, because of Sun Shangxiang, would treat the traitor Sun Ce like an ancestor.

And after Sun Ce passed away.

Would Sun Shangxiang dare to make trouble with Gu Yi?

Naturally, she would not dare!

The Sun family did not consist only of Sun Ce.

Besides Sun Ce, there were Sun Shiwan, Sun Yi, Sun Kuang, and others.

Even for the survival of these people, Sun Shangxiang had to serve Gu Yi well.

Therefore.

Not only would Sun Shangxiang not have the guts to make trouble with Gu Yi, but she would have to work even harder to coax Gu Yi.

Among this, interests were naturally at work.

If there were no conflict of interest between Sun Ce and Gu Yi, he would have no need to rebel against Gu Yi.

But when an irreconcilable conflict of interest is encountered, one must make trade-offs and weigh the pros and cons.

And now.

The alliance of Yuan Shao, Tadun, Zhang Yan, and others was exactly the same.

If they allowed Gu Yi to expand further.

I fear it wouldn't be long before they were picked off one by one by Gu Yi.

And for Gu Yi.

The alliance formed by Yuan Shao and the others played right into his hands.

Rather than picking them off one by one, Gu Yi preferred to launch a large-scale campaign to completely crush these guys.

Both sides knew the other's purpose.

Therefore.

This alliance meeting of Yuan Shao and the others entered the main topic directly after the polite words.

I have to say.

With the help of Ju Shou, Yuan Shao's strategic planning was actually quite good.

It could be described as a sow wearing a bra—one set after another.

It's just a pity that Yuan Shao encountered Gu Yi.

Otherwise, at this time in original history, he would have already become the strongest warlord in the world.