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

Chapter 168 You can’t escape even if you have wings! Xiao He: Use the same trick against Sun Quan to make all his plans come to nothing!

after one day.

On the pretext of supervising the transportation of grain and grass to Kuaiji County, Sun Quan personally led 4,000 of his own troops, including generals Chen Wu, Jia Hua, and others, and stationed in the water camp south of Wu County and on the north bank of Songjiang River.

The important task of defending Wu County was entirely handed over to Lu Xun and Ji Qi, who led 6,000 Shanyue soldiers.

The next day, the news that Liu Bei led an army of 50,000 from Moling and marched towards Wu County was brought by spies.

After receiving the intelligence, Sun Quan openly ordered Lu Xun to speed up the construction and reinforcement of the city defenses, pretending to be determined to fight to the death and defend Wu County.

Secretly, Sun Quan raced against time to requisition warships and plunder food supplies in preparation for fleeing north by sea.

Wu County, Lu Prefecture.

"I didn't expect Xiumu to surrender so easily to Liu Xuande. What charm did this man possess that could cause Xiumu to switch sides in just a few days?"

Gu Yong looked at the secret letter in his hand, sighing with admiration and surprise in his eyes.

That letter was a secret letter that Zhu Huan sent to Lu Xun by his confidant who arrived in Wu County first.

In the letter, Zhu Huan bluntly stated that he had surrendered to Liu Bei, and praised Liu Bei as a true wise leader, and persuaded Lu Xun and others to also submit to Liu Bei.

Lu Xun was reluctant to make a decision on his own, so he invited Gu Yong to discuss the matter.

"During the battle of Chaisang, I was forced by the situation to go to the north bank and feign surrender on behalf of Han Dang, but I personally spoke with Liu Xuande."

"Putting aside the identity of his enemy, Liu Xuande has quite a bit of the spirit of Emperor Gaozu and can indeed be called a wise leader of the time."

"Compared to the brutality of Cao and Sun, Liu Xuande is kind and righteous. This is truly precious in these troubled times."

Lu Xun recalled that encounter and praised Liu Bei highly.

Gu Yong looked at Lu Xun's words and saw some clues in his mind, so he lowered his voice and asked:
"Bo Yan, from what you said, have you already made up your mind? Do you want to follow Zhu Xiumu's example and betray Sun and join Liu?"

Lu Xun suddenly raised his head and looked at Gu Yong in surprise. He obviously didn't expect this good friend to be so straightforward and directly expose his implied meaning.

He looked embarrassed for a moment, not knowing how to proceed.

"When Sun Ce conquered Jiangdong, he slaughtered countless heroes from Jiangdong. In fact, it wasn't just your Lu family. My Gu family also had children who died under Sun Ce's butcher knife."

"I, Gu Yong, am just like you. I served the Sun family because I was intimidated by their military might and wanted to protect my family."

"You saw Sun's attitude the other day. He, like his brother Sun Ce, sees us, the Jiangdong nobles, as ants, ready to be sacrificed at will."

"How could I, Gu Yong, lead my entire Gu clan to die for such an unkind, unjust, and shameless ruler?"

The more Gu Yong spoke, the more indignant he became. He no longer hesitated and vented all the resentment that had been hidden in his heart for many years to Lu Xun in one breath.

After hearing Gu Yong's angry speech, Lu Xun breathed a sigh of relief.

It should be said that when he had a conflict with Sun Quan that day, he had already lost hope in Sun Quan and had the idea of ​​cutting ties with Sun Quan and surrendering to Liu Bei.

This letter from Zhu Huan prompted him to make the final decision.

However, he could not decide the affairs of the 6,000 Shanyue soldiers alone; he also had to convince Gu Yong.

This was the purpose of his inviting Gu Yong here today.

Judging from Gu Yong's statement, it was obvious that he had already intended to betray Sun Quan. Was there any need for him to persuade him further?

At that moment, Lu Xun bowed and said seriously:

"To be honest, Brother Gu, I have long wanted to submit to Lord Xuande, but I am worried that I won't get your support."

"Since Brother Gu also has this intention, are you willing to follow Xun and submit to Lord Xuande, and find a way out for our families?"

Gu Yong also bowed and said solemnly:

"Since Boyan has made up his mind, I, Gu Yong, will follow him!"

The two smiled at each other.

The plan of abandoning Sun and returning to Liu was thus finalized.

Next, the question is how to surrender.

"We have six thousand soldiers and horses, and Wu County is in our hands. Boyan, do you plan to launch a mutiny, raid the water camp south of the city, and capture Sun Quan in one fell swoop as a token of your surrender to Lord Xuande?"

Gu Yong raised his hand and pointed towards the south of the city, a hint of coldness between his brows.

Lu Xun shook his head and said:
"Sun Quan and I are still lord and subject, so I don't want to do anything too extreme."

"Furthermore, he entrusted Wu County to us for garrisoning, yet he moved his forces to the water camp south of the city. This clearly shows he's wary of us. If there's any sign of trouble, I suspect he'll be ready to cross the river and flee to Kuaiji County."

"Instead of that, why not wait until Lord Xuande's army arrives, surrender the city on the battlefield, and let Lord Xuande deal with him."

Gu Yong thought about it and nodded in agreement.

The two men made their decision, and at nightfall, Gu Yong left the city, carrying the sincerity of surrender, and rushed north to meet Liu Bei.

...

Thirty miles north of Wu County is Yuting.

On the east bank of Juqu Lake (today's Taihu Lake), nearly 50,000 soldiers of Liu's army camped along the lakeshore to facilitate water supply nearby.

Inside the Chinese army's tent.

Gu Yong had already met with Liu Bei and presented him with a handwritten letter from Lu Xun, expressing the sincerity of the various noble families in their surrender.

"Lu Boyan's surrender this time shouldn't be fake, right?"

Liu Bei looked at the letter in his hand. Although he was happy, he did not believe it easily and remained cautious.

Lu Xun, Gu Yong and others commanded more than 6,000 Shanyue soldiers, who were the elite of Sun Quan's remaining 10,000 troops.

If this army were to turn against them, Jiangdong's last resistance force would collapse.

Destroying Sun Quan was like crushing fire.

Wujun and Kuaijijun can be taken within ten days, and the entire Jiangdong territory will be recovered!
Such an ending is naturally worth celebrating.

However, given Lu Xun's previous record of false surrender, Liu Bei was more cautious and did not choose to believe it easily this time.

"Bo Yan pretended to surrender to Lord Xuande because he was intimidated by the power of the Sun family. To protect the Lu family, he had no choice but to serve them."

"But Zhou Yu and Sun Quan both regard us Jiangdong heroes as insignificant ants and grass, ready to be killed and sacrificed at will."

"Bo Yan and Yong have now come to their senses and are unwilling to be buried with such a shameless, unkind and unjust ruler as Sun Quan!" "This time, Yong is willing to stay as a hostage and guarantee his life. Boyan and Yong are sincerely submitting to Lord Xuande!"

Gu Yong expressed his feelings sincerely and generously, and then bowed deeply to Liu Bei.

The doubt on Liu Bei's face gradually disappeared. He was obviously moved by Gu Yong's sincerity. He looked at Xiao He again.

Xiao He smiled and nodded slightly.

People like Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who were willing to sacrifice their lives to join Liu Bei simply because of his personal charm, are ultimately a minority.

Whether the majority of people will surrender or not depends on the current situation.

At that time, Sun Quan was still stronger than Liu Bei, and the life and death of the Lu family was still in the hands of Sun Quan. Lu Xun's surrender went against the trend and was naturally very suspicious.

But now that Sun Quan's downfall is a foregone conclusion and the Lu family is no longer threatened by Sun Quan, under such circumstances, Lu Xun's surrender is a natural and reasonable act.

Of course, Xiao He had no reason to doubt anymore.

Seeing that Xiao He also confirmed that Lu Xun was sincere in his surrender, Liu Bei's doubts disappeared, and he immediately stood up and helped Gu Yong up.

"Bo Yan and you have your difficulties, I know for sure. Let's not talk about the past and just let it go."

"Taking Wujun and Kuaijijun is secondary. The greatest achievement is to gain the allegiance of Jiangdong heroes like Boyan and Yuantan!"

"Yuan Tan, you don't have to stay here as a hostage. Just go back to Wu County and tell Boyan that I look forward to drinking with him again and discussing world affairs!"

Liu Bei patted Gu Yong's shoulder and laughed proudly.

Gu Yong felt relieved and exclaimed with joy:
"Bo Yan is right. Lord Xuande has the spirit of Emperor Gaozu, and his magnanimity and broad-mindedness far surpass Sun Quan's. He is truly a wise ruler!"

"I, Gu Yong, and all the heroes of Jiangdong have finally found a wise leader."

"My Lord, please accept my greeting!"

As he said this, Gu Yong bowed again.

Liu Bei laughed heartily and hurriedly helped Gu Yong up, and comforted him.

Then he ordered a banquet to be set up in the tent to welcome Gu Yong and asked about the current situation in Wu County.

"Sun Quan must have become suspicious of us, so he ordered us to lead the Shanyue troops to relocate to Wu County, while he himself led 4,000 of his own troops and retreated to the water camp south of the city. If there was any sign of trouble, he could escape south across the Song River."

"Bo Yan's idea is to wait until the lord's army reaches the city, then we can switch sides in the middle of the battle. The lord can then lead a large army to attack the water camp, perhaps we can capture Sun Quan before he escapes across the river."

Gu Yong explained the situation in Wu County and Sun Quan's current situation one by one.

Liu Bei nodded slightly, then looked at Xiao He and Lu Su to ask for their opinions.

Lu Su naturally also approved of Lu Xun's strategy and agreed that they should not rush to launch a mutiny so as not to alert the enemy.

Xiao He did not express his opinion, but asked:
"Yuan Tan, has Sun Quan behaved unusually recently since he moved to the water camp?"

"Abnormal behavior?"

Gu Yong frowned and recalled for a while, then said:

"After Sun Quan moved his base to the water camp, he dispatched troops to gather ships. He has now assembled approximately thirty large ships, including more than ten seagoing vessels."

"In addition, he also forcibly requisitioned all the food and fodder stored in the counties near Wu County and brought them to Shuiying."

"And the men and women of his Sun clan, as well as the families of Zhang Zhao, Chen Wu, and other direct subordinates, were all taken into the water camp..."

Listening to what Gu Yong said, Xiao He's brows gradually furrowed. He stood up and walked to the map, staring at it with his hands behind his back without saying a word.

Liu Bei saw the clue and immediately became alert. He stepped forward and asked:
"Bo Wen, is there something suspicious about Sun Quan's actions? Do you see anything?"

Xiao He pondered for a moment, then his eyes suddenly focused and he slapped the map with his palm:
"My lord, Sun Quan is trying to get away!"

Liu Bei was stunned.

Lu Su, Gu Yong and others were all stunned.

"Sun Quan surrendered Jiangdong to Cao Cao because he knew he couldn't stop his lord's army, so he wanted to join Cao Cao to save his life."

"Now that Moling has fallen and Zhou Yu has been killed by the Lord, with the Lord's army approaching, how can Sun Quan have the courage to fight the Lord with less than 10,000 soldiers?"

"Doesn't he understand that stubborn resistance is futile and will only lead to his fate being like Zhou Yu?"

"Since he knows it all, why is he still pretending to fight to the death in Wu County?"

Xiao He turned around and looked at Liu Bei, asking a series of questions.

After being reminded of this, Liu Bei immediately realized that something was wrong and nodded.

"Military Advisor, your words make sense. At this point, how can Sun Quan have the courage to fight me?"

"Because he had no intention of fighting the lord at all!"

Xiao He sneered and pointed at the map:
"I suspect Sun Quan's move to the water camp has two purposes."

"One is to send troops up Jiangxi and into Juqu Lake. When our army reaches Wu County, they can dig up the lake embankment and flood our army. This will not only inflict heavy damage on our army, but also buy time for them to gather food, fodder, and ships."

"Secondly, once he has gathered enough ships and military supplies, he will definitely go down the Song River to the sea, then take the sea route north to Huainan to surrender to Cao Cao!"

Xiao He's words exposed Sun Quan's plot.

There was an uproar in the tent.

Liu Bei, Lu Su and the others were all shocked. They all jumped up and looked at the map.

Gu Yong's face was filled with shock, and he froze in place for a moment.

"I see. No wonder that blue-eyed man is gathering sea vessels. It turns out he wants to abandon Jiangdong and flee to join Cao Cao by sea!"

"Before he fled, he actually planned such a vicious scheme, hoping to drown our army with the water from the Quze Lake!"

Liu Bei took a deep breath and looked at Xiao He with a thankful look:
"Fortunately, Bo Wen, you are as perceptive as a sniper. You were able to deduce Sun Quan's intentions from the clues Yuan Tan brought."

"Otherwise, not only would I have been able to escape from him, but I would also have been severely injured by his vicious scheme. The consequences would have been disastrous!"

Xiao He raised a hint of sarcasm at the corner of his mouth, sneered and bowed:

"My Lord, let's use a trick on him and make Sun Quan's schemes come to nothing!"

(End of this chapter)