Chapter 183 - To me (1/2)
Chapter 183 To me
Translated by Gamer
“Not letting you shoot another arrow!” Sun Ce’s eyes twinkled. As a military commander, he knows the might of that iron arrow. It was an arrow that has surpa.s.sed the limits of people. Sun Ce has also surpa.s.sed the limit to become a supercla.s.s general. He knows exactly how terrifying that arrow is. The siege tower may be close to the wall but it is still at least a 100 feet away. Besides that, the siege tower was constructed with giant wood. That arrow did not only pierce but completely shattered the giant wood. The parts that were near the arrow became powder and the arrow went underground.
This kind of arrows can be shot by people! Sun Ce shuddered. Sun Ce cannot allow Huang Zhong to shoot another arrow. Fortunately, he knows that shooting arrows this way cannot be done often. It also requires a lot of air. As expected, Huang Zhong is panting heavily on the city walls.
Fighting the siege tower is more tiring than dueling with Lu Bu. Duelling with Lu Bu requires high mental concentration. On the other hand, penetrating the siege tower requires a huge force. If the force is too small, it would not be able to harm the colossus siege tower.
When Huang Zhong is pulling the iron arrows, all his veins were exposed. Now he is breathing heavily to replace his energy. His arms were also aching.
“Zi Jing, I will let you handle this!” Sun Ce patted Lu Su’s shoulder. The warm temperature coming from his hands made Lu Su restless.
“Milord!” Lu Su looked at Sun Ce.
“I am going!” Sun Ce’s eyes once again looked fanatical again. This time, it was not a crazed look but a look of excitement. A little while ago, he was confused and insane. That was why he was full of fury and headstrong.
Now he was sober. Jiangdong’s Little Conqueror is back.
“Jia!” Sun Ce prompted his horse to advance towards Wan Cheng.
“Dong Xi, quickly follow the lord!” Lu Su does not know why he is worrying about Sun Ce again. At first Lu Su does not feel any attachment to Sun Ce and calls him ‘lord’ just as a professional worker. He was one of Sun Ce’s men and Sun Ce is his boss. It was that sort of relations.h.i.+p. Now, Sun Ce is making Lu Su’s heart throb.
Sun Ce is impulsive and easily irritated. This is because that kind of genes is in his body. His father Sun Jian was such a person. During the coalition against Dong Zhuo, when no one was willing to save the Han Dynasty and when everyone was preparing to withdraw, only Sun Jian went to fight with Dong Zhuo.
Only Sun Jian made Dong Zhuo unable to sleep. It is even possible that Dong Zhuo moved to Chang’an because of Sun Jian. Dong Zhuo even wanted to marry off his daughter to Sun Quan, one of Sun Jian’s son to build a relations.h.i.+p. Unfortunately for him, Sun Jian did not take this offer. If they were to ally with each other, they would have no match under the heavens.
When Sun Jian died, Liu Biao was so happy that he did not sleep for 3 days. This is because the tiger would have eaten him and leave nothing left.
Inheriting his father’s courage, Sun Ce rose up to take over his mantle. This is why Sun Ce gave people the impression of brave but impulsive. If he was alone, Guo Jia would regard him as one of Cao Cao’s biggest threat. The thing that really scare Guo Jia is Sun Ce’s ability to recognize talents.
Sun Ce is not Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao may be a genius that is born once every 3 generations, but he is not able to tolerate his men.
Tian Feng and Ju Shou are both first-cla.s.s advisors. As they are also quite old, they are capable of predicting things quite far ahead compared to Guo Jia and Xun You. Unfortunately, the two of them are too upright. Every time Yuan Shao propose a stratagem, the two strategist would quickly correct him. Yuan Shao also knows that he is wrong but he is too prideful to admit it. The two strategist did not understand, or refuse to understand that and would always argue with Yuan Shao in front of others.
Making Yuan Shao lose face once or twice may be okay. After three or four times, Yuan Shao began to hate them.
Tian Feng came from Jizhou, Julu. They are full of knowledge and trickery. Unsatisfied with the monopoly and abuse of the eunuchs, he abandoned his home. After that, he was invited to help save the royal family joining Yuan Shao’s coalition against Dong Zhuo.
Using Tian Feng’s intellect, Yuan Shao defeated Gongsun Zan and surpressed Hebei. He then held absolute power over 4 provinces. He then advised Yuan Shao to become emperor and take political initiative but Yuan Shao refused.
About 4 years later, during the battle between Yuan and Cao, Tian Feng also proposed a firm and decisive strategy but Yuan Shao refused to expand anymore to the south. He then proposed another time. At that time Cao Cao is fighting with Liu Bei but once again Yuan Shao refused, this time because his son was ill. Yuan Shao missed a lot of opportunities. During the Battle of Guandu, Tian Feng proposed to build up defenses and strip away their food supplies while conserving their own. As a result, Yuan Shao locked him up in prison because he thinks Tian Feng is afraid of death. After 5 years of reign, Yuan Shao is defeated in Guandu. Feeling shameful, he executed Tian Feng.
Yuan Shao’s other advisor, Ju Shou, came from Guangping during the Three Kingdoms Era. From a young age, he is ambitious and likes strategy. At first Jushou was just a scholar and applied to become county magistrate at Jizhou. The ruler of Jizhou, Han Fu, gave him a military post. Soon, Yuan Shao captured Jizhou and Ju Shou defected to Yuan Shao.
When the Battle of Guandu began, Ju Shou proposed a certain victory strategy. His strategy was a war of attrition. Yuan Shao’s supply of food and soldiers were much more than Cao Cao. Just by holding on to their position, Cao Cao’s Army would eventually be in chaos. After that, Yuan Shao can effortlessly defeat Cao Cao.
From a certain point of view, Sima Yi used a similar method to defeat Zhuge Liang . But at that time, Yuan Shao is sn.o.bbish. How can he listen to this rubbish advice? At last, Ju Shou was also locked in prison.
Eventually, Yuan Shao is defeated and Ju Shou was arrested by Cao Cao. Cao Cao admired the merits of Ju Shou and treated him with respect but Ju Shou vowed to fight to the death.
Until the time Yuan Shao who controlled the 4 provinces of Hebei was defeated by Cao Cao, Guo Jia has never once considered him an obstacle to Cao Cao. He is just another dead person that is now in the grave.
Sun Ce is also not Gongsun Zan. Gongsun Zan was a sore loser that competed with Yuan Shao for Youzhou only to be defeated. He did not rise back up until they started to siege Yijing. He attempted to resist Yuan Shao using a highly defensive strategy.
But in this universe do you win by going on the defensive? No! Gongsun Zan can only burn to death in Yijing.
(TN: Some history said Gongsun Zan DID try to go on the offensive by laying an ambush and then charging out when they spring the ambush. Yuan Shao spotted the ambush and it failed.)
Sun Ce is also not Liu Biao, Tao Qian, Kong Rong, Zhang Lu and Liu Zhang. Liu Zhang is like a guard dog for his province. He has strong soldiers and plenty of land but he lacks ambition. On the other hand, Tao Qian is too old and lack the energy to go to war. His two sons are also ‘good-for-nothing’ (A/N: Not referring to their characters but ‘good-for-nothing’ as a leader. Just like Li Yu of Southern Tang who is not emperor material but a good scholar.) This is why Tao Qian only asked his two sons to continue the family name.
Zhang Lu and Kong Rong are both righteous but are ultimately using Taoist beliefs. They would be great teachers but terrible rulers. They are suitable for teaching but not suitable for war. Kong Rong is Confucius’ 20th generation son. From young he was ‘filial’ and honorable in the eyes of the world. (TN: Raw used KongRong Rangli, a phrase for the moral story of Kong Rong giving up bigger pears to his elder brothers while he took the smaller pears.)
Zhang Lu founded The Way of Five Pecks of Rice. It urges people to bring themselves up by being kind and gentle. In times of peace it would be admired by everyone and have disciples everywhere. However in times of chaos, people of pay attention to the one with has the biggest fist as the boss. (TN: Wiki said Zhang Lu’s grandfather founded it.)
Liu Biao and Liu Zhang never intended to conquer the land. On the surface, Liu Biao places priority in Jingzhou. However, Liu Biao did not have the final say in military affairs. That right belongs in the Cai, Jia, and Huang family. Liu Zhang also have a similar situation.
Because Sun Ce is in his prime, he can claim himself as a ruler. Even for verbal arguments he can endure the old people while making them die trying to tolerate him. Sun Ce is also ambitious. If he was not ambitious, how could he win Jiangdong? How else would he be willing to trade the Imperial Seal to Yuan Shu for horses and soldiers?