I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 70 Crossing the River (Part 2)

Zhu Zhi arrived at the southern camp first by land. He saw that it was heavily guarded, completely different from the unprepared northern camp, and knew that the other side had already taken precautions.

"First, launch a feint attack on the weak point on the east side."

Some soldiers rushed forward, but a hail of arrows rained down, and Zhu Zhi ordered them to retreat in no time.

"We still need to wait for the ships to arrive before we can take over this camp!"

When the pass is narrow and narrow, the attacking army cannot set up its formation at all, while the defending army only needs a few dozen men to hold the camp. It is truly a case of one man holding the pass against ten thousand!

Especially if the naval advantage is not as good as the enemy's, the soldiers and supplies of Jiangdong will be continuously transported to the main camp, and sooner or later they will be exhausted and then annihilated!
Therefore, the real key to this battle was naval warfare!
Zhu Zhi did not rush to attack, but instead ordered his soldiers to set up camp in place and dig trenches.

When Jiang Qin arrived with his troops, he saw that Zhu Zhi had not attacked and immediately came to find Zhu Zhi: "Why is the captain not leading the troops to attack? Is it because you are afraid of the enemy's strength?"

Afraid?
Zhu Zhi seemed to see right through Jiang Qin at a glance, and couldn't help but laugh out loud:

"You dark-faced young man, back when I faced tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turban rebels, you were probably still fishing on the shore of Chaohu Lake. Now you dare to say that I'm afraid of a mere few hundred soldiers guarding the opposite camp?"

"I think what you really want to scold me for is why I didn't obey Governor Zhou's order to attack the enemy camp, right?"

Jiang Qin was exposed, and his face turned red. Fortunately, his face was always as red as the bottom of a pot, so to onlookers, it just looked like Jiang Qin was looking for a secluded place to defecate.

"Come! Sit down! Young man! You've just fought a battle, aren't you tired? Look at the soldiers behind you, many of them are so exhausted they're sticking their tongues out. How are you going to fight later?"

Jiang Qin looked behind him and saw that the usually strong men were now all panting with their tongues hanging out.

Jiang Qin shook his head helplessly: "Let's rest here!"

Then he sat down on the rock opposite Zhu Zhi and looked Zhu Zhi up and down.

Zhu Zhi took off his iron helmet and stepped on it, brushing the dust off his clothes as he said, "I heard you used to be a river bandit?"

"So what?"

Jiang Qin was clearly displeased, thinking that Zhu Zhi was looking down on him.

"Look at you, you're clearly got the makings of a tiger general, but you're behaving like a leopard?"

Zhu Zhi looked up and made sure there was no sound from the opposite camp before continuing to Jiang Qin: "What's done is done, what's there to cover up? Back then, Marquis Changping Wei Qing was just a servant in the Marquis of Pingyang's household, and Marquis Guangping Wu Han also made a living by trading horses. Do you think later generations would think they were of lowly status?"

Jiang Qin then realized that he had wronged Zhu Zhi, but out of pride, he stubbornly refused to apologize.

“When I was young, I was a county official. Later, I was recommended as a filial and incorruptible official and recruited by the state government. Later, I served under the Marquis of Wucheng and led troops in battle.”

Jiang Qin looked at Zhu Zhi strangely, clearly not understanding why he was saying these things to him.

"Actually, there were many people like me back then, but now only one of us, Cheng Gong, and Gongfu remain."

Zhu Zhi pulled out a handful of grain from somewhere, poured some into his own mouth, grabbed a handful and gave it to Jiang Qin, then swallowed it after chewing it a few times with water.

Jiang Qin was no delicate person either. The morning's fighting had already exhausted him, so he ate the provisions in one go to replenish his strength.

Seeing that Jiang Qin was straightforward in his work, Zhu Zhi continued to laugh heartily.

"Young man, what is your name?"

"Jiang Qin, courtesy name Gongyi."

"Then I'll call you Gongyi."

Regardless of whether Jiang Qin agreed or not, Zhu Zhi called out Jiang Qin's courtesy name: "Gongyi, do you know how we civil officials managed to stay by the side of Marquis Wucheng until the end?" Jiang Qin shook his head.

"It's because we know that if we're going to lead troops into battle, we should study military strategy books properly!"

Zhu Zhi pointed to the tired soldiers behind Jiang Qin: "Military law says: the strong go first, the tired come later."

“We were watching from behind when you were fighting this morning… Although you were brave and fierce, you were ultimately just charging forward with a bandit mentality.”

"You were so exhausted back then, and now you have to fight again after a long march. Do you really think your men are made of iron?"

Jiang Qin frowned. Although he felt that Zhu Zhi's words made sense, he still retorted, "But the Commander-in-Chief's orders to us were to attack the main camp..."

"No!"

Zhu Zhi's ears twitched, and he immediately got up and put the iron helmet back on his head.

"As a general, one must always understand the true meaning of military orders."

"It is true that Governor Zhou's order is to attack, but it is not really to have us force our way in. Rather, it is to draw the attention of the defending troops on land so that we can attack from behind."

"If it's a feint attack, it should look like one. Otherwise, if we kill all our soldiers here, do you think that counts as carrying out military orders?"

As they spoke, Zhu Zhi had already dressed himself.

“I had already ordered my soldiers to dig trenches, making the garrison in the camp think that I was going to launch a surprise attack through tunnels. In this way, the enemy would not let their guard down on the land. Doesn’t this count as fulfilling the commander-in-chief’s order?”

Zhu Zhi stepped forward and patted Jiang Qin on the shoulder: "You were once a bandit, and I was once an official, but now that we are both generals under Lord Liu, let me give you some advice: study more, especially military books. Become a general capable of leading independently as soon as possible, so that you will not fail your lord or your soldiers!"

"You and your men rest here for a while, eat some dry rations to replenish your strength. I'll go first this wave!"

When Jiang Qin saw Zhu Zhi finally leading his troops to attack the main camp, he felt ashamed but also somewhat respectful.

"Having an elder in the family is like having a treasure."

"At the time, I thought these veteran soldiers under Sun Jian were nothing special, but only today do I realize how valuable they are!"

Jiang Qin decided—to study! To study intensely!
Until I had exhausted all the experience and knowledge of these veterans, until I was able to stand on my own, I was still learning from them diligently!

With these veterans and experienced soldiers, my own troops will eventually become a strong army!
Not long after Zhu Zhi left, a disturbance broke out in the opposite camp.

Clearly, the ships on the river had already sailed over, and the heavy armored soldiers rammed the ferry again with their warships!
Seeing that his soldiers had finished their rest and preparations, Jiang Qin immediately led his troops into battle!

The battlefield, which was originally close to being balanced, has completely turned into a one-sided situation with the addition of Jiang Qin!

With attacks from both land and water, they quickly captured the southern camp and took all the defenders prisoner!
When Zhou Yu later met Jiang Qin, he praised him, saying, "Gongyi's deployment of troops just now was perfectly timed; he is truly a talented general!"

Jiang Qin blushed again, but his dark face perfectly concealed his embarrassment, making him appear calm and composed.

However, after praising him, Zhou Yu ordered Jiang Qin to quickly lead his troops to rest and recuperate.

"Today's victory is merely due to having the advantage of being the first to act."

“Hengjiangdu and Niuzhu must have already received the news and will come to drive them away.”

"Only the naval battle tomorrow can determine the outcome of this battle and decide whether our lord can cross the Yangtze River and take control of Jiangdong!"

(End of this chapter)