The strongest devouring system in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 164 Yuan Shu is dead

"Is anyone unwilling? Do you think we're fools? We should have surrendered long ago in this situation." Ji Ling and the others who rose to power by flattery looked at Zhang Xun as if he were an idiot. Other generals with real strength looked helpless. What else could they do but surrender? They couldn't fight any longer. Surrendering sooner might get them better treatment.

"surrender!"

Yuan Shu was dead, and the last remaining main force of Chen Jun's army surrendered. Everyone understood that the final moment had arrived.

August 1, 2190, marked the beginning of a new month, and it also seemed to herald the arrival of a new era.

Yuan Shu died, and the State of Chen surrendered under his dying wish. This state established by Yuan Shu lasted only one month before it was destroyed.

Gao Shun led three legions south. Under the threat of Xin Sheng, the remaining forces of Chen State quickly surrendered. The forces left behind, led by Jin Shang, surrendered without any resistance. Of course, Jin Shang's surrender was not a surrender; he was a person who pledged allegiance.

Gao Shun led the autonomous region's army all the way to the river before stopping. They did not continue to advance towards the south bank of the river, since that was still Sun Ce's territory. Chen Er did not have any intention of going to war with Sun Ce at the moment, because his army was not large enough.

When the news of Yuan Shu's death reached Sun Ce's ears, Sun Ce originally planned to immediately send troops to seize the spoils of victory. However, persuaded by his friend Zhou Yu, he did not send troops immediately.

Because Sun Ce had no confidence at this time that he could defeat Chen Er's army. The thought of the strength of Chen Er's army made Sun Ce feel a little scared. He decided to listen to his friend and focus on developing his own forces first.

With the surrender of Yuan Shu's forces, Yuan Shao found himself in an awkward situation: his Yan Province was about to be surrounded on three sides by Chen Er, with only the western side remaining under Gongsun Zan, who had a good relationship with Chen Er.

However, Gongsun Zan has now become someone Yuan Shao can win over, because Chen Er has almost controlled half of the empire's territory, and the remaining warlords have no chance of success.

They had to take down Chen Er first. Even if Gongsun Zan and Chen Er had a friendly relationship, they probably had other ideas by now.

This matter must be handled swiftly. Upon receiving news of Yuan Shu's death and Chen's surrender, Yuan Shao immediately dispatched Xu You as his envoy to reach an agreement with Gongsun Zan on a defensive alliance. It would be too late to regret it once Chen Er had completely taken control of Yu and Yang provinces.

"This matter must be implemented as soon as possible, otherwise it will be too late for us to regret it once Chen Mingde has truly taken control of Yu Province," Yuan Shao said to Xu You.

Although Xu You was somewhat of a villain, he still possessed wisdom and foresight, and naturally understood the situation they would face after Yuan Shu's death.

This is different from the four-front war zone we faced before. This time, there's an enemy on three sides, which poses a much greater threat than having three different enemies on three sides.

"My lord, I understand. I will definitely bring back good news from Luoyang this time."

After Xu You left, Yuan Shao summoned one of Yuan's loyal followers and secretly instructed him on some matters. There was no one else around, and no one knows what they discussed.

Just over half a month later, a merchant from the Yuan family suddenly appeared in Jiaozhou, far in the southwest. No one knew who it was, but they actually managed to do business in Jiaozhou. There was no good business to be done in this place, which was the most honest thought in the hearts of the people of Jiaozhou.

At that moment, Andre came to report that something had happened.

"what!"

Upon receiving Andeli's report, Chen Er's first reaction was, "Is today April Fool's Day?" He then flew into a rage and shouted, "They're all useless! How did the arsenal recruit people? Weren't there supposed to be strict screenings? What's with this guy today?!"

"Reporting to my lord, we have found out that the thief is named Yuan Chen. He joined the factory a year ago and, due to his talent, was transferred to the ammunition assembly team. After comparison by Factory Director Andeli and Madam Ying, the missing technical drawings were confirmed to be the ammunition assembly drawings. Our technology has been leaked."

Xun Yu reported to Chen Er, who then summoned Hu An and Li Zhong. He said to the two men, "Hu An, immediately send a company from my personal guard to work with Li Zhong's intelligence department to thoroughly investigate all the workers in the arsenal. No matter who it is, we must investigate them and absolutely prevent such incidents from happening again."

"Yes, my lord!" As the head of the intelligence department, Li Zhong had a heavy responsibility on his shoulders at this time. On the one hand, he had to find out as soon as possible what spies might still be in the arsenal, and on the other hand, he had to bring back Yuan Chen, who had escaped, as soon as possible, otherwise their losses this time would be huge.

"It's been leaked before it's even officially deployed. I don't want this to happen again." Chen Er said to everyone, "Once Fengxiao returns from the south, immediately have him set up a security department. Its main function is to protect our internal security, including the personal safety of officials and the security of departments like the arsenal. Officials and members of important departments must be vetted by the security department before taking up their posts, and only those who pass the vetting process can take up their posts!"

"Yes, my lord, we understand!"

The leak of technical information will directly affect whether Chen Er's army can maintain its advantage. The leak of the fixed-loading paper bullets will once again bring the musket loading speed of other forces back to the same starting line.

"My lord, we must be prepared. If the data is not recovered, our greatest advantage will be lost forever," Xun Yu said to Chen Er.

Chen Er shook his head and said to everyone, "No, for us, our greatest advantage is not leading in a particular technology, but more importantly, leading in overall R&D level and industrial productivity."

"Even if the enemy has mastered some advanced technologies, they cannot achieve our production capacity without a complete industrial system."

“Yes, my lord is right. Right now, no other power in the world has an industrial capacity that can compare with our autonomous region,” Xun You, who knew more about this matter, stood up and said.

"Yes, in terms of industrial strength, our autonomous region is many times ahead of other warlords, especially since we have successively built several new arsenals in various parts of Jizhou."