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

Chapter 145: Relying on verbal attacks to stop Liu Bei? Xiao He: Those who learn from me will live, those who imitate me will die. Zhou Yu is courting death!
Zhou Yu had tolerated Zhang Zhao for a long time.

When Cao Cao first marched south to conquer Jingzhou, Zhang Zhao strongly advocated surrendering to Cao and trying to persuade Sun Quan to give up Jiangdong and take the Sun family to Xudu to retire.

Fortunately, Sun Quan still had some backbone and ambition, and rejected Zhang Zhao's persuasion.

Who would have thought that when Chaisang fell and Jiangdong was in danger of extinction, Zhang Zhao would bring up the old matter again and try to persuade Sun Quan to surrender to Cao.

Zhou Yu could no longer bear it and finally exploded, his face torn and he drew his sword.

"Gongjin, don't be reckless!"

Lu Su was startled and hurried forward to hold down Zhou Yu's sword.

Zhang Zhao, however, showed no shame, and faced Zhou Yu's sword directly, asking sternly:

"I was entrusted by Bofu with the care of his son, so I must always consider the survival of my lord and the Sun family."

"If it weren't for the Jiangdong soldiers being completely defeated by a bunch of warriors like you, why would I resort to such a desperate measure?"

"I want to ask you, Zhou Lang, if you don't let our lord surrender to Cao, how will you stop Liu Bei's army? How will you protect Jiangdong? And how will you save our lord and the Sun family?"

Zhou Yu was actually speechless after being questioned.

There was no way, because he suffered crushing defeats time and time again and squandered all of Sun Quan's wealth.

The existing military force is only about 17,000 people at most, even if the remaining Cao troops are included, there are no more than 20,000 people at most.

If Liu Bei captures the Chaisang soldiers, his strength will surely be further enhanced, and the number of troops he will have marching eastward to Jiangdong will be at least 60,000 to 70,000.

The difference in military strength is three times.

What's even more fatal is that the navy was almost completely destroyed in the Battle of Chaisang, and Liu Bei's navy had an absolute advantage on the Yangtze River.

With such a huge disparity in strength, even Zhou Yu did not have absolute confidence that he could stop Liu Bei.

Sun Quan, who remained silent, had a hint of guilt in his eyes.

Obviously, the cruel reality before him made him want to surrender to Cao.

If he surrendered to Cao, he could save his life and keep his wealth and honor, but if Liu Bei conquered Jiangdong, he would really lose everything.

With a dark history of breaking alliances twice, could Liu Bei spare his life?
"Anyone who dares to speak of surrendering to Cao should be killed!"

An angry voice broke the silence in the tent.

Immediately afterwards, an old general with half white hair and beard rushed in with an angry look on his face.

"General Gong... General Gong Fu?"

Sun Quan hurriedly stood up to greet him, with a look of respect on his face.

The person who entered the tent was Huang Gai, the only surviving of the three veteran generals of the Sun family.

He originally went to Wujun to recruit soldiers, but after learning that Han Dang had also died in the battle of Chaisang, he hurried back.

When he was staying outside the tent just now, he heard clearly the argument between Zhang Zhao and Zhou Yu in the tent.

"My lord, you are the son of Lord Wentai, and you have the blood of a hero flowing in your veins!"

"Even if the enemy is strong and we are weak, we should still fight that big-eared thief to the death. How can we be so cowardly and live in humiliation, bringing shame to the heroic spirit of Wen Taigong in heaven and making the world laugh at us?"

Huang Gai started to lecture him, then angrily saluted:

"I, Huang Gai, and all the generals of Jiangdong are willing to risk our lives to fight to the death for our lord and repel the enemy!"

"My lord, please give up the thought of surrendering to Cao Cao, show the courage that a descendant of the Sun family should have, be determined to live and die with Jiangdong, and lead us to fight the big-eared thief to the death!"

Zhang Zhao was completely speechless.

What is Huang Gai’s identity? He is a veteran minister of the Sun family for three generations!

After the deaths of Cheng Pu and Han Dang, Huang Gai actually became the most senior person in Jiangdong.

Even though he was the head of the civil service and dared to contradict Sun Quan and confront Zhou Yu, he did not have the confidence to confront Huang Gai head-on.

"General Gongfu is right. My father was a hero of the time. How could I, Sun Quan, bow down to Cao Cao and live under his yoke?"

"I would rather live and die with Jiangdong and fight the big-eared thief to the death than live in Xudu!"

Sun Quan seemed to be aroused by Huang Gai. He slammed the table and expressed his determination passionately.

Zhang Zhao sighed and said with a bitter face:

"Since the lord is determined to fight Liu Bei to the death, Zhao naturally has no right to argue. I will advance and retreat with the lord."

"It's easy to show our determination, but with our current weakness, how can we resist Liu Bei?"

A bucket of cold water was poured on him, and Sun Quan's enthusiasm immediately cooled down.

"Ahem, Gongjin, General Gongfu, Zibu's concerns are not without reason."

Sun Quan immediately became timid again and looked eagerly at the two advocates of war:

"Given the current predicament our army is in, do you have any good strategies for repelling the enemy?"

Huang Gai misfired.

He is good at shouting and killing, but it is difficult for him, a mere warrior, to come up with a plan to turn the tide.

Zhou Yu frowned and remained silent for a while.

The disparity in military strength was too great, and he was like a cook without rice, unable to do anything.

"My lord, our army's biggest weakness right now is its lack of manpower. As long as we can get 20,000 to 30,000 brave soldiers, even if we can't defeat Liu Bei, we should still have a chance of holding Jiangdong."

Lu Xun, who had been watching from the sidelines, could not help but say:
"Laixun previously advised the lord to adopt a policy of appeasement towards the Shanyue people. This has been quite effective, and many Shanyue leaders have expressed their willingness to lead their troops out of the mountains and surrender."

"My lord, why don't you promise the Shanyue people land and the leaders of each tribe official titles and generous rewards to hasten their return."

"If we can subdue the Shanyue people, we can gain at least 20,000 to 30,000 elite soldiers. Combined with my current troops and the over 10,000 Cao troops, we should be able to keep Liu Bei out of the country."

Lu Xun offered a plan.

As a representative of the powerful families in Jiangdong, the other three families of the Lu clan are unwilling to see the Sun clan defeated.

After all, Sun Quan has compromised on power decentralization, and the power of the major clans in Jiangdong is expanding rapidly. It won’t be long before Jiangdong becomes Jiangdong for the people of Jiangdong.

If Liu Bei conquered Jiangdong at this time, he would certainly take back the power that Sun Quan had given away, and important positions such as prefect would definitely be given priority to people from Jingzhou. This was something they did not want to see.

Therefore, at this time, Lu Xun and other Jiangdong clans were tied to the same chariot with the Sun family, and naturally they had to do their utmost to prevent the Sun family's chariot from overturning.

Sun Quan was inspired by Lu Xun's plan and said without hesitation:
"What Boyan reminded me of is that I almost forgot that I still have the elite Shanyue people at my disposal."

"Okay, okay, let's do as Boyan said. As long as the Shanyue people are willing to come out of the mountains and surrender, and serve me, I will give them land, gold, silk, and anything else. It's all fine!"

Everyone felt like they had seen the light of day, and the sluggish atmosphere was immediately lifted.

"But even if the Shanyue people surrender, it will take some time to organize an army and send it to the front. I'm afraid that Liu Bei's army will soon arrive in Jiangdong, leaving us with insufficient time to pacify the Shanyue people."

However, Lu Xun was not optimistic and expressed his concerns.

The joy that had just bloomed on Sun Quan's face immediately faded, and his expression was replaced by worry.

Zhou Yu, who had been silent all this time, suddenly took a deep breath and bowed, saying:

"My lord, I have an idea. If the Sun family is not doomed, I might be able to use this to hold back the big-eared thief for ten days or half a month, buying enough time for you to persuade the Shanyue people to surrender."

Sun Quan was overjoyed and asked Zhou Yu for any good advice.

"That big-eared thief used this tactic to stop us back then. Let's give him a tit-for-tat fight and use the same tactic to stop him from going down the river to the east!"

Zhou Yu's gaze shot towards Chaisang, with a hint of playful sarcasm at the corner of his mouth.

...

Chaisang, the main hall of the county government.

"The new army assembled by Military Advisor Kong Ming totals approximately 18,000 men, including approximately 4,000 naval personnel and 130 newly repaired warships..."

Jiang Wan, the secretary who came from Xiangyang, was reporting to Liu Bei calmly.

The Battle of Fancheng, the Battle of Baqiu, the Battle of Jiangling, the Battle of Xiakou...

After one victory after another, countless Cao troops, Jingzhou troops and Jiangdong troops were captured.

Liu Bei selected the strongest of these surrendered soldiers from all over the country and sent them all to Xiangyang to be reorganized by Zhuge Liang.

Before this eastern expedition, Zhuge Liang had trained a group of people, and the 18,000 people sent by Jiang Wan were the second group.

"Well, I have to say that Military Advisor Kong Ming's ability to train troops is truly unrivaled in the world."

"With these 18,000 new troops, our Chaisang forces will total nearly 70,000, which will increase our chances of conquering Jiangdong."

Liu Bei was amazed and was obviously very satisfied with Zhuge Liang's military training results.

The generals also gained confidence greatly.

"Wolong's talent for training soldiers is unrivaled, not to mention in the world today, even in the past and present."

Xiao He also nodded in appreciation, then smiled and pointed eastward:
"The soldiers have rested and the people of Chaisang have been almost pacified. Now we have a new force, so everything is ready."

"My lord, there is no time to lose. Let us march eastward immediately and take Moling."

Liu Bei was filled with ambition and immediately gave orders for the army and navy to march eastward.

Just as the order was about to be passed down, a spy from downstream received the latest intelligence:

Sun Quan had reappointed Zhou Yu as the commander-in-chief, assembled a force of 7,000 soldiers and horses, and joined the remnants of the coalition forces retreating eastward at Nanling Pass.

Zhou Yu mobilized thousands of blacksmiths to build two iron chains that spanned the north and south banks of the Yangtze River, cutting off the Yangtze River.

Huang Gai, a veteran general from Jiangdong, led more than 5,000 elite soldiers to garrison Nanling City on the south bank where Suoji was located.

Cao's generals Xu Huang and Li Dian led 10,000 Cao troops to set up camp on the north bank, guarding the north bank and locking it.

Zhou Yu personally led the naval forces and cruised on the river.

The Jiangdong army then built an iron chain formation to block the river on the Nanling line.

Upon hearing this information, everyone in the tent was immediately surprised.

Xiao He couldn't help but laugh.

"Isn't this... isn't this Military Advisor Bo Wen's plan to block the river with iron chains?"

Liu Bei said it out loud and turned his gaze to Xiao He.

In order to prevent Sun Quan from breaking the alliance and sending his navy through Xiakou to attack Baqiu, Xiao He devised this plan and secretly built an iron chain blocking the river at Xiakou.

How come this iron chain moved hundreds of miles and appeared in Nanling downstream?
"My lord, Zhou Yu is a traitor, trying to imitate Advisor Bo Wen's plan of blocking the river with iron chains. He intends to use two iron chains to block our navy's eastward advance, thus compensating for his lack of manpower and the navy's weakness."

Fa Zheng came to his senses and exposed Zhou Yu's intention.

Liu Bei suddenly understood and frowned.

Zhou Yu is now using a tit-for-tat tactic!
Xiao He's iron chain formation blocking the river was no small matter. Zhou Yu had led 30,000 naval forces to attack for a month but still couldn't break through a mere inconspicuous iron chain.

What’s more, Zhou Yu built two of them this time!

"To break this iron chain formation, we can only break the bases of the chains on both sides."

"Although the walls of Nanling City on the south bank are not as high and thick as those of Chaisang, it is still a strong fortress. Huang Gai is a veteran who has been in many battles. Although he only has 5,000 soldiers and horses, I am afraid it will be difficult for our army to break it."

"As for Cao's camp on the north bank where Suoji is located, as far as Ning knows, the north bank is very mountainous. Cao's camp must have been built to block the mountains and occupy a strategic position, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack."

"My lord, Zhou Yu's iron chain formation blocking the river is difficult to break."

Gan Ning gave the details of the terrain on both sides of Nanling.

There was a lot of discussion in the tent, and the generals' originally high morale cooled down a little at this moment.

"Bo Wen, I never thought Zhou Yu would use your strategy to turn against us."

"As Xingba said, your iron chain formation is really hard to break."

Liu Bei stroked his thin beard and sighed, with a hint of fear between his brows.

Xiao He, however, looked disapproving and sneered:
"My lord, you are worrying too much. This iron chain formation was difficult for Zhou Yu to break before, but now it is as easy as pie for you to break it!"

(End of this chapter)