My father-in-law Guan Yu, I persuaded Liu Bei to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang at the beginn

Chapter 101: Can a dog change its habit of eating shit? Xiao He: I can stop the Jiangdong navy without even a single boat!
"I still don't quite understand what you mean, Ziming. Please speak frankly."

Sun Quan had not yet fully understood what he meant, so he hurriedly asked again.

Lu Menghuan glanced around and confirmed that there were no ears or eyes around before he lowered his voice to explain.

"My Lord, you have agreed to Liu Bei's terms, but you can bargain a little. You can agree to send 5,000 families of the surrendered soldiers first as a token of your sincerity. The other 4,000 families of the surrendered soldiers will be sent after Liu Bei returns General Cheng."

"As long as Liu Bei can make some concessions and agree to our proposal, then this plan can be implemented."

"We can take advantage of the battle between Liu Bei and Liu Cong in Baqiu and sail our warships into Jiangxia under the guise of delivering the families of the remaining 4,000 surrendered soldiers. In reality, these families are all disguised as our soldiers."

"This way, our navy can march openly to Xiakou without Liu Bei being on guard and without withdrawing his navy to intercept us."

"Once we reach Xiakou, our army will suddenly accelerate, marching day and night up the river straight to Baqiu. We will surely be able to strike Liu Bei by surprise!"

"Guan Yu's navy was caught off guard. If we and Liu Cong attack from both the east and the west, we will surely destroy them!"

Lu Meng became more and more excited as he spoke, revealing his amazing masterpiece.

Sun Quan suddenly understood, and the mystery in his heart was solved.

"Ziming, your plan is to take advantage of the Big Ear Thief's rampant greed and kill him by surprise!"

"Brilliant, brilliant! This plan is truly as brilliant as Zhang Liang's!"

"Now it seems that your wisdom and strategy, Ziming, are even better than Gongjin's. You are truly the wisest general in Jiangdong!"

Sun Quan praised loudly and laughed heartily:

"Liu Bei, Liu Bei, you have Xiao He, who is cunning and treacherous, but I have Zi Ming, who is resourceful and resourceful!"

"Ziming's plan, even if Xiao He is really a disciple of an immortal, I don't think he will be able to see through it!"

He kept patting Lu Meng's shoulders, his eyes full of joy, as if he had found a priceless treasure!
Listening to Sun Quan's almost exaggerated praise, Lu Meng couldn't suppress the curve of his lips, and for a moment he even felt a little elated.

The next moment, Lu Meng took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

"However, in order to demonstrate sincerity, to make Liu Bei agree to our terms, and to lull him into complacency, you must initiate some major military action."

"My lord, after Commander Zhou recovers from his injury, you can lead the army north and besiege Hefei. This will show your resolve to seize Huainan. This will let Liu Bei know that our main forces have been withdrawn from Chaisang. He can then rest assured and mobilize all his naval forces to Baqiu to fight Liu Cong to the death."

"In this way, this plan can truly be considered flawless!"

Sun Quan agreed deeply and nodded in praise:
"Ziming, you've thought it through carefully. Xiao He shouldn't be underestimated. If we don't start a fight, it's really hard to deceive him."

"Okay, okay, everything will be done according to Ziming's plan!"

Sun Quan had made up his mind. The gloom on his face disappeared and he felt extremely relaxed, as if a huge stone that had been pressing on his heart had finally fallen to the ground.

He jumped up and walked to the map, stroking his purple beard and glancing at the location of Ba Qiu, with a sneer of determination on his lips.

"Liu Bei, I'll give you tens of thousands of men, so you can be arrogant and proud for a while, what's wrong with that?"

"The bones you ate will soon be vomited out twice as much!"

"Hehe~~"

...

The next day, the messenger brought Sun Quan's reply and set off north to Xiangyang.

Two days later, Sun Quan set out to return to Moling, and ordered Zhou Yu, whose injury had slightly recovered, to lead the main force of the Jiangdong army back east, heading north from Ruxukou to Chaohu Lake, and then attack Hefei.

To ensure that the plan would not be leaked, Sun Quan did not even reveal the truth to Zhou Yu.

When Zhou Yu learned that Sun Quan had to exchange tens of thousands of people with Liu Bei in order to save Cheng Pu, he naturally felt humiliated.

However, there was no good way to rescue Cheng Pu. Although Zhou Yu was filled with anger, he could not oppose Sun Quan.

In desperation, Zhou Yu could only persuade Sun Quan not to use troops against Hefei, but to conserve his strength and wait for Cheng Pu to return before going to war against Liu Bei and attacking Xiakou for the third time.

However, Sun Quan rejected Zhou Yu's advice on the grounds that he had made another alliance with Liu Bei and did not want to break the alliance a second time and be laughed at by the world.

Zhou Yu, whose repeated persuasion failed, had no choice but to hold back his anger and lead his troops north to Hefei.

At this point, there were only more than 6,000 Jiangdong troops stationed in Chaisang, and they no longer posed a threat to Xiakou.

In the north of Jing, after Cao Cao withdrew his troops, Liu Bei led his main force to temporarily retreat to Xiangyang.

A few days later, Lu Su presented Sun Quan's bargaining response to Liu Bei.

Soon after, spies from Jiangdong reported back that Sun Quan had returned to Moling and Zhou Yu had led the main force of the Jiangdong army into Chaohu again.

Sun Quan's sincerity was sufficient as he withdrew the troops from Chaisang and mobilized all his forces to attack Hefei.

Liu Bei was a generous person and not the kind of person who would not give in even when he was right. After much deliberation, he accepted Sun Quan's proposal and made concessions.

Lu Su felt relieved and immediately rushed back to Moling to bring Liu Bei's reply to Sun Quan.

Sun Quan was also very happy. Within a few days, he gathered the first wave of 5,000 surrendered soldiers and their families and sent them to Xiangyang overnight.

...

Jiangling City, a secret room in the provincial capital.

Liu Cong, Kuai Yue and Cai Mao were having a secret discussion.

"Sun Quan is willing to turn hostility into friendship and actively invite us to form an alliance. This is truly a blessing from heaven, lord."

"My lord, I believe you should ally with Sun Quan. Immediately mobilize the Jiangling navy and march eastward. Recapture Baqiu at all costs and defeat the Big Ear Bandit's navy!"

Cai Mao slammed the table and shouted, with excitement written all over his face.

Liu Cong looked at the secret letter from Sun Quan in his hand, but his brows were deeply furrowed, and there was no joy on his face.

On the contrary, there is some worry.

"I have three concerns. First, the Sun family and my father have a grudge against each other. The two families have been at odds for over a decade. Now I am forming an alliance with my mortal enemy. Will this action be criticized?"

"Secondly, Sun Quan's conditions for an alliance require me to cede the three counties of Jiangxia, Changsha, and Guiyang. If I agree to such a humiliating condition, how can I face the people of Jingzhou?"

"Third, the Sun family has coveted Jingzhou for a long time. If we join forces with them to deal with Liu Bei, wouldn't that be like shutting out a tiger at the front gate and letting in a wolf at the back gate?"

"If Sun Quan attacks us after we defeat Liu Bei, how can we be a match for him with only three counties?"

Liu Cong raised the secret agreement in his hand and expressed his concerns.

Cai Mao was stumped by the question for a moment and had to turn around and look at Kuai Yue.

Kuai Yue, who had been leisurely sipping tea, slowly put down the tea bowl in his hand.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Lord Jingsheng once fought against Cao Gong for over ten years, yet didn't my lord surrender to him? Now, for the greater good, why not ally with Sun Quan?"

Kuai Yue downplayed Liu Cong's first concern.

Then he raised his head, looked at Liu Cong and said:
"As for the last two concerns of your lordship, I believe they are simply asking for trouble."

"My Lord, your purpose in forming an alliance with Sun Quan is to defeat Liu Bei, recapture Xiangyang, and open up a route north so that you can surrender to Cao Gong and submit to the imperial court, not to seize control of Jingzhou."

"If that's the case, my lord, why should you care about the opinions of the people of Jingzhou, and why should you be afraid of inviting a wolf into your house?"

"Anyway, after you surrender to Cao, Jingzhou will be yours. How to deal with the aftermath and how to deal with Sun Quan are matters for Cao to consider. They have nothing to do with you."

Kuai Yue's words left Liu Cong speechless.

After being stunned for a while, he could only let out a bitter sigh.

Kuai Yue's words were harsh, but they were an indisputable fact.

You have already surrendered to Cao, and will live the rest of your life in Xudu as a rich man. Why are you still worrying so much?
"Therefore, everything my lord does now has only one purpose, which is to defeat Liu Bei and recapture Xiangyang!"

"Now that Liu Bei has defeated Cao Cao and Sun Quan, his strength has grown by leaps and bounds. He has now attacked Baqiu, cutting off the passage of troops and food supplies from the southern Jing counties to Jiangling!" "If we can't join forces with Sun Quan to defeat Liu Bei's navy and recapture Baqiu, let alone recapture Xiangyang, I'm afraid that without the support of the southern Jing counties, we will even be in danger of holding Jiangling."

Kuai Yue made the interests involved clear and then said firmly:
"So, my lord, we have no choice now. To save our lives and to maintain our hope of submitting to Cao Gong in the future, we must ally with Sun Quan and mobilize our navy to recapture Ba Qiu!"

Liu Cong was silent.

After a long time.

Liu Cong waved his hands and said helplessly:

"Well, I have handed over the military and political power of Jingzhou to you two. Do whatever you say."

Cai Mao and Kuai Yue looked at each other and smiled knowingly.

Liu Cong changed the subject and asked:
"But I heard that after Guan Yu defeated the Jiangdong army, his navy has greatly increased in strength. Even if we form an alliance with Sun Quan, are you sure you can win? Can you defeat Guan Yu?"

This statement came out.

Cai Mao's face lit up with pride, and he snorted coldly:

"Guan Yu only used deception to defeat the Jiangdong navy. It's not a great feat and not worth mentioning."

"I'm not exaggerating, Mao. Even in a land battle, I would be wary of Guan Yu. But in a river battle, Guan Yu is nothing more than a traitor in my eyes!"

Kuai Yue also looked confident and sneered:

"In terms of naval warfare, with the exception of the late Huang Zu, no one in Jingzhou can match Degui."

"Besides, we have the Jiangdong navy attacking from both east and west."

"My lord, rest assured, Degui will undoubtedly win this battle!"

The gloom on Liu Cong's face finally dissipated, and he no longer hesitated, waving his hand and saying:

"Since that's the case, then let's follow your plan. As soon as possible, mobilize the Jiangling navy and march eastward to recapture Baqiu!"

...

North of Xiangyang City, Shuiying.

Liu Bei stopped his horse at the trestle bridge and watched a boat carrying Lu Su and Cheng Pu sail away.

Guan Yu from Xiakou reported back that Liu Bei had sent the families of 5,000 surrendered soldiers from Su Fei's army.

News also came back from Huainan that Zhou Yu had led tens of thousands of Jiangdong's main forces and landed at Xiaoyaojin, launching another attack on Hefei.

This time, facing the Jiangdong Army led by Zhou Yu, Zhang Liao did not dare to lead his 800 cavalry to take the initiative to attack. He wisely chose to stay in the city and not come out.

Nearly five months later, war broke out again in Hefei.

Since Sun Quan sent the first wave of his family members as promised, and the main force of Jiangdong also attacked Hefei as promised, Liu Bei naturally kept his promise and let Cheng Pu return to Jiangdong.

Considering that Cheng Pu was a fellow townsman from Youzhou, Liu Bei personally left the city to see Lu Su and Cheng Pu off on their journey home.

"Whether Sun Quan will deliver the remaining soldiers' families as promised is hard to say, but it is a fact that the threat to Xiakou faced by Jiangdong has been temporarily lifted."

"Yesterday, a spy reported that Cai Mao had mobilized all of Jiangling's navy and marched eastward, clearly intending to recapture Baqiu and open up a passage northward from the Jingnan counties."

"My lord, I think we should stick to our original strategy. While Cao Cao and Sun Quan are too busy to take care of Jingzhou, we should attack Jiangling from both sides, destroy the three thieves Liu Cong, Cai Kuai, and take Jingzhou in one fell swoop!"

Xu Shu's reminder sounded beside him.

Liu Bei's heart trembled slightly, and the fighting spirit was ignited in his eyes.

After returning to Xiangyang, he discussed with Xiao He, Zhuge Liang and other advisers and formulated a strategy to capture Jiangling.

On land, Zhang Fei and Xu Shu led 10,000 to 20,000 troops south from Xiangyang, through Dangyang, and directly to Jiangling.

By water, Liu Bei led the main force of the infantry south to Xiakou, and joined forces with Guan Yu's navy, totaling 35,000 soldiers and horses. They advanced both by land and water, and headed straight for Jiangling via Baqiu.

Finally, the two armies met at the foot of Jiangling City and completed the encirclement of Jiangling.

Judging from the current situation, the time to capture Jiangling has clearly arrived.

Moreover, Cai Mao had already taken the initiative to launch an attack on Ba Qiu. The arrow was on the string, and he had no choice but to take action.

"Military Advisor Kong Ming, Military Advisor Bo Wen, I would like to follow Yuan Zhi's advice and attack Jiangling from two directions according to the original plan. What do you two think?"

Liu Bei did not make a decision on his own, but turned his gaze to the two military advisors on his left and right.

Xiao He said nothing.

How many brain cells were burned out and how much hair was pulled out in the Battle of Xiakou? It was my duty, there was nothing I could do about it.

Now that I have returned to Xiangyang, with Zhuge Liang here, why should I bother myself with the hassle of fighting for it?

It’s time to let Wolong take over for a while so I can fish for a few days in peace…

"Capturing Jiangling is imperative. Liang also agrees with Yuanzhi's opinion and will advance in two directions as originally planned, but..."

Zhuge Liang changed the subject and pointed his feather fan towards the east:
"Bo Wen once said that Sun Quan treated loyalty and trustworthiness as dirt. His shameless act of crossing the river in white clothes also confirmed Bo Wen's judgment of Sun Quan."

"I'm a little worried. What if our army launches an all-out attack on Jiangling and engages Liu Cong in a fierce battle? Sun Quan, seeing the potential for profit, breaks his alliance and invades Jiangxia again. What will we do then?"

This statement came out.

Liu Bei and Xu Shu's expressions changed slightly.

Xiao He, who was originally planning to slack off, suddenly became alert.

Zhuge Liang was right to worry. Sun Quan was a man who would never change his bad habits. One must never have any illusions about him.

His previous negotiation for peace and alliance was simply to rescue Cheng Pu. If he really believed that Sun Quan could mend his ways and sincerely form an alliance to fight against Cao, then he would not be worthy of being a time traveler.

"My lord, Kong Ming is very worried."

Xu Shu also nodded repeatedly and said:

"Although our navy now has 18,000 men, it is still outnumbered by Cai Mao's Jiangling navy. Even with General Yunchang's naval prowess, we need to concentrate all our forces in one battle to have a chance of victory."

"If Sun Quan breaks his alliance again and attacks Xiakou with his navy again, should we withdraw our navy and return to resist?"

"If we don't return, Sun Quan's navy could pass Xiakou without attacking, and march westward to capture Baqiu. Together with Liu Cong, they could attack our navy from both east and west. The consequences would be disastrous."

"If we withdraw too few troops, they will not be enough to stop the enemy. If we withdraw too many troops, the Baqiu side may not be able to defeat Cai Mao."

“What a dilemma…”

Xu Shu sighed softly and frowned.

Zhuge Liang gently waved his feather fan, his thoughts racing, thinking of a strategy to have the best of both worlds.

Liu Bei also stroked his thin beard and frowned.

The strategy of capturing Jiangling seemed to be stuck here for a while because of Zhuge Liang's reminder.

Xiao He could no longer slack off, so he had to rack his brains again to think of a countermeasure.

"We must guard against Sun Quan's navy advancing westward to attack our army, but we cannot withdraw the Baqiu navy."

"That means we'd better stop the Jiangdong navy without using any navy. That's a bit difficult..."

Xiao He muttered to himself, and suddenly, a thought flashed before his eyes.

"My lord, I have thought of a way to stop the Jiangdong navy without sending a single ship back to Xiakou!"

　I revised this chapter again and again, which took me an extra hour or two. It's a bit late.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)