Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

With the end of the war on September 28, the situation outside Fancheng north of the Han River temporarily reached a new balance.

Sun Quan personally went to the naval dock east of Fancheng, condescended to carry the unconscious Quan Cong back to the ship on his back, which touched the generals of the Wu army deeply and restored some of their gradually declining morale.

The next day, at noon on the 29th, in the Wu King's military tent in the Wu army camp in Yuliangzhou, Quan Cong, who had been unconscious for nearly a whole day and night, lay on Sun Quan's couch. He seemed to smell the strong smell of medicine in the air, and his breathing gradually became heavy. He also seemed to feel the bitter taste of the medicine remaining in his mouth, and he gradually woke up with a frown.

Yesterday, he led his army to a defeat, and his eldest son Quan Xu also died in Fancheng. This made the arrogant Quan Cong unable to bear it any longer. He vomited blood and fainted due to anger.

After waking up, Quan Cong looked a little pale. He turned his head to look at the edge of the couch. After calming down, he found that it was the King of Wu, Sun Quan, who was personally boiling medicine in front of a pottery jar in front of the stove. He stared at the fire while stirring the herbs in the jar with a long-handled wooden spoon.

Hearing the noise from the bed, Sun Quan turned to look at Quan Cong and said calmly, "Is Zihuang awake? Doctor Xu came to the tent this morning and said that Zihuang should wake up in two hours. His medical skills are superb, and he is indeed accurate."

"Your Majesty, I..." Quan Cong was dazed and opened his mouth to utter a few words, but was stopped by Sun Quan.

As Sun Quan poured the medicine into the ceramic bowl, he said, "Zihuang, there is no need to say more. Doctor Xu said that Zihuang's lung meridian was injured, so he should talk less and nourish his qi."

"Here." Sun Quan walked to the couch with the medicine in his hand and placed the ceramic bowl on the small table beside the couch. He said calmly, "Let it cool down for a while, then Zihuang can take the medicine."

Seeing Sun Quan's expression, Quan Cong's tense emotions suddenly burst out like a flood. Tears flowed from his eyes and he said in a hoarse voice: "I am guilty, I am guilty!"

As Quan Cong spoke, he supported himself on the couch with his hands and tried to stand up and kneel. Sun Quan quickly raised his hand to stop Quan Cong and said:
"It's okay to lose several thousand soldiers. It doesn't affect the overall situation. A general should take good care of his body. Zihuang is so sad. Do you want me to lose more soldiers and generals? The past events of Zhou Gongjin and Lu Ziming are still vivid in my mind. Zihuang must pay attention to it."

Sun Quan held Quan Cong's shoulders with his powerful arms, and pulled a small pillow from the side, helping Quan Cong to lean back, and then slowly laid him down.

Quan Cong calmed down his breathing, looked up at Sun Quan who was close at hand, and asked with all his strength: "May I ask Your Majesty, how many casualties have been suffered? How long have I been unconscious? What is the current situation?"

Sun Quan turned his head away and stirred the medicine in the bowl on the table, saying softly, "Right General Bu Zhi's troops lost 1,500 men, Pan Jun's troops lost about 1,000 men, Wu Shuo's 5,000 men lost 1,500 men, and Zi Huang's 8,000 men suffered the heaviest losses, more than 2,000 men. Fortunately, Sun Huan and Zhang Liang responded in time on the east and west sides yesterday, and they had camps to rely on, so most of them were able to survive."

"As for the whole thing... I have sent an envoy to Fancheng, offering a thousand gold coins to ask for his body. Zihuang, just wait for the envoy to return. I have done everything I can."

After Sun Quan finished speaking, he handed the bowl of medicine, which had cooled down a little, to Quan Cong. Quan Cong wanted to thank him again, but was stopped by Sun Quan's suddenly sharp eyes. He dared not say anything more, raised his hand to take the bowl of soup, and drank the soup mouthful by mouthful with a slight tremor.

After a long while, Sun Quan took the empty bowl and put it aside. After sighing, he looked at Quan Cong and said softly:

"After yesterday's defeat, the troops have no intention to fight. I have asked Sun Huan to lead 10,000 troops to station at Yukouwu. Since Fancheng is temporarily unavailable and Xiangyang is too crowded to attack, I am afraid that the battlefield here will remain stalemate."

"Yukouwu is located on the river bank, and Yuliangzhou lies across the Han River. This morning, I transferred Bu Zhi's troops to Xiangyang. Yukou, Yuliangzhou, and Xiangyang are in a stalemate with the Wei army. There is no danger for the time being. Let's see how the situation develops."

After taking the medicine, Quan Cong seemed to feel better. He said, "Your Majesty, I made a mistake in leading the troops to fight yesterday. Please punish me. I will be dismissed from my post and let the court judge my crime."

Sun Quan shook his head slightly. "We lost yesterday because of the battle. Zihuang's command and dispatch were not wrong. I talked with Pan Jun, Bu Zhi, Cai Sheng, Zhu Ju, Wu Shuo and other generals one by one last night. The collapse of the battle situation was caused by the Wei infantry's attack. They were very brave and powerful, and it was not the fault of the generals. Moreover, the two armies were in a stalemate, and we returned across the river intact. It was a blessing, and we must not discourage the soldiers."

"I have already announced to all the generals last night that yesterday's retreat was due to the battle. All the generals have worked hard and have done nothing wrong. Zihuang, as the chief general, has also done nothing wrong."

Quan Cong heard Sun Quan's words of comfort and started to cry again. How could a minister not die for such a king? Even if Quan Cong died for his country, he would not have any resentment in his heart.

Quan Cong shed tears silently. Sun Quan, who was sitting beside him, did not try to dissuade him. Instead, he looked out of the tent silently, looking as if he was troubled.

After a long while, Quan Cong wiped the tears from his cheeks and asked in a low voice: "Considering the current situation in Xiangfan, how long do you plan to stay here?"

Sun Quan said: "You can stay as long as you need to."

"Although Wu and Han are allies, they are just at peace with each other and have never attacked Wei at the same time. Since the young Cao Rui ascended the throne, Wei has won many victories on the battlefield in the past few years, reversing the decline of Cao Mengde in his later years. If Wu and Han can no longer work together to move north, I, Liu Chan, and Zhuge Liang will probably be defeated one by one." Quan Cong was silent for a few moments: "Yangzhou, Jingzhou, Yizhou, Jiaozhou, these states are still not as powerful as the Central Plains. But I ask Your Majesty not to worry. The combat power of the Wei army's east and west wings in this battle is comparable to that of the Great Wu army, and there is nothing special about it. Only the last Wei army to arrive has the strongest combat power, the most abundant armor, and the highest morale."

"Your Majesty, please allow me to train an army like that for you! If we can train 20,000 such elite troops, with the help of the shipping power of the Yangtze River, in Wuchang, Jiangling, Ruxu, and Guangling, the Great Wu will be able to compete with the Wei Kingdom on land!"

"Twenty thousand..." Sun Quan shook his head slightly: "If Zihuang has this intention, he should just stay in the camp and take good care of his health. Zihuang, a general should focus on the present, and a commander should plan for the long term. Try your best!"

After saying that, Sun Quan shook Quan Cong's hand vigorously, then stood up and walked out. Quan Cong looked at Sun Quan's back, not knowing what he was thinking.

More than ten miles away in Fancheng, the Wei army stationed there was different from the generally depressed Wu army, and their morale was even higher.

The so-called military spirit or morale actually has two meanings.

One is at the general level.

The general is the courage of the soldiers. The tactics that soldiers execute on the battlefield are determined by the general. The general's psychological state and judgment on the battlefield will greatly affect the combat effectiveness of the soldiers. If the general knows that the general situation is not favorable to his side, he will be more conservative and cowardly in specific command.

The second is at the soldier level.

Although ordinary soldiers cannot access the command information of their generals, and may not be able to understand it even if they do, some things are self-evident.

The army had stayed in Deng County, north of Fancheng, for so many days. Now that they had advanced and the Wu army had retreated, the troops were able to enter the city and station there. From any perspective, the soldiers would only be encouraged and motivated. The situation of the Wu army on the other side was exactly the opposite. They were originally attacking the city outside, but after the battle, they were taken to the south of the Han River by the navy. This was not a good thing in any way.

These are all issues that the commander-in-chief must seriously consider.

Near noon, the envoys of the Wu army came to the city of Fancheng to look for the Wei army, but they were scolded and sent back by Lu Shi, who was in charge of the defense of the east side of Fancheng. The envoys were not even allowed to enter the city.

When Xu Shu learned about this, he called Lu Shi back to the government office in the city to ask him about it. Lu Shi started to explain with a lot of reason:

"Mr. Xu, Wu Gou sent an envoy to ask for Quan Xu's body, but I scolded him back. Quan Cong has a son. I have been under siege for nearly 20 days, and more than 500 soldiers have been killed or injured. Which one of them is not someone else's son?"

Xu Shu took a deep breath, trying to calm down his anger at Lu Shi. "That's true, but they are envoys from the enemy after all. If Wu sends someone again, General Lu must bring the envoy to report to me. If there are other matters in the army, you must also report them and ask for orders. No matter how you acted under Zhao Boren before, now that you are under my command, you must follow my rules. I didn't explain it to you yesterday, so this matter is over, and you must not do it again."

"Yes, sir." Lu Shi bowed, then lowered his head and stood still, looking not in a good mood.

"General Lu, please go." Xu Shu waved his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Xu, I'll take my leave now." Lu Shi then turned around and strode away.

Qian Zhao, who was sitting nearby, did not speak during the conversation between Xu and Lu, but after Lu Shi left, he started laughing:
"Commanding troops in battle is like this. You have to take care of everything, big or small. Yuanzhi needs to worry a lot. I slept well last night, but when I came here this morning, I learned that Yuanzhi was busy most of the night. He was really overworked."

"It's okay." Xu Shu said calmly, "There is enough to enjoy here, so don't worry about me."

"Before Lu Shi came, I discussed several military strategies with Brother Qian. Do you have any suggestions?"

Qian Zhao shook his head slightly: "Although I am the General of Zhenxi, Yuanzhi is the commander-in-chief appointed by His Majesty. I will not say anything here as I am about to retire. My retirement letter was sent to Xuchang this morning by Yuanzhi's envoy. I will just wait for the court's reply here."

Xu Shu nodded slightly: "Brother Qian, you have a noble character, which is rare. Then I will call all the generals here and assign them one by one."

"Very good." Qian Zhao smiled and said, "Yuanzhi, please do as you wish." (End of this chapter)