Li Su took the lead and said respectfully: "Lord, give me a detailed return. In February, Yuan Shu sent generals Zhang Xun, Lei Bo and Chen Lan to lead the army to take the initiative to fight against Cao Cao, Lu Bu and Sun Jian, trying to keep the enemy out of the national gate, but in the end he was defeated by the coalition forces. Zhang Xun and Chen Lan died in battle one after another, and Lei Bo was also beheaded and displayed in public in anger by Yuan Shu."

With his trip to Jiangnan, Li Su has gained high trust from Ma Yue. Now he has taken over diplomacy from military advisor Jia Xu (actually, he is a lobbyist, intimidating weak forces around him when necessary, etc.), intelligence spy, etc.

"Yeah." Ma Yue said in a deep voice, "What's the situation now?"

Li Su said: "Now the three coalition forces of Cao Cao, Lu Bu and Sun Jian have formed an encirclement of Shouchun. However, there are nearly 50,000 elite troops in Shouchun City, while the three coalition forces have only 40,000 troops. According to the strength of the two armies, it seems unlikely that the coalition forces will capture Shouchun in a short time."

Jia Xu suddenly asked: "Zi Yan (Li Su's name is a prose), has Huainan entered the rainy season?"

Li Su said: "When returning to the military advisor, Huainan had already entered the rainy season half a month ago."

Jia Xu said: "Once Huainan enters the rainy season, the roads will be muddy and difficult to move around. In addition, the Huai River, Ying River and the Yangtze River flood almost every year, and roads and bridges may be blocked. In this way, the food, grass and supplies of the coalition forces will not be able to be provided. Shouchun is Yuan Shu's old nest, and there must be a large amount of food, fodder and supplies in the city. It should be no problem to hold on for a year or two."

Ma Yue said: "Wenhe means that the coalition forces can only fight quickly?"

"It's not a coalition." Jia Xu said, "It's Cao's army that must fight quickly! If Yuan Shu cannot be destroyed in this battle, General Lu Bu will definitely not participate in the second siege. Sun Jian will also face Liu Yao and Wang Lang's attack and cannot send troops. In this way, Cao's army will have to face Yuan Shu who has recovered, and Chen Ji of Nanyang and his lord threaten Cao Cao's side at all times. If this is the case, Cao Cao will probably not find another opportunity to destroy Yuan Shu."

Ma Yue said: "If the battle is quick and decisive, how likely is the coalition army to win?"

Jia Xu said: "If the two armies set up their stance to fight head-on, the coalition's chances of victory will be zero! But the lord should not forget that the coalition has top military advisors such as Guo Jia, Xun You, Cheng Yu, Chen Gong, and Xu Shu, while Yuan Shu has only Jin Shang and Ge Xiang under his command. Therefore, Xu thought that the coalition would win in the end."

"I understand!" Ma Yue slapped the table and said in a deep voice, "In other words, the battle of Shouchun will be decided within one month. Once Yuan Shu is defeated, the Cheng Empire he has worked hard to manage will collapse overnight. Chen Ji of Nanyang, Liu Yao of Danyang, Liu Xun of Lujiang, Wang Lang of Kuaiji, Xu Gong of Yuzhang and others will be respectful and fight on their own. At this time, the time for Cao Cao and Sun Jian to divide Yangzhou is coming."

Jia Xu said: "The lord is wise."
Chapter completed!