I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 71 Warfare is based on deception
Liu Miao, who was in the rear, boarded the ship early. When he saw Jiang Qin lead his troops to capture the arrow tower, he knew that it was only a matter of time before he could take Danglikou. So he ordered Zhou Tai to sail the ship back to Liyang.

The first thing Liu Miao did upon returning to the camp was to have Lu Jun inventory the valuables as a reward and send them to Zhou Yu.

"Gongyi's soldiers are all former river pirates. They haven't undergone rigorous training and are just holding on by sheer willpower. The war isn't over yet, so we can't let them lose their willpower."

Not long after, news came that Zhou Yu had led his army to capture Danglikou, which greatly pleased Liu Miao.

While in the camp, Zhou Tai watched as Liu Miao once again ordered the rewards for this battle to be promptly transported to the front lines. He clicked his tongue in amazement: "Fighting is truly wonderful! You earn so much! And so quickly!"

Lu Meng, standing to the side, said: "The art of war says: 'Therefore, killing the enemy is driven by anger; taking the enemy's spoils is driven by greed. In chariot warfare, if you capture ten or more chariots, reward the first to capture them and change their flags. Mix the chariots together and ride them. If you are good at supporting your soldiers, then you will be able to defeat the enemy and become stronger.'"

"In the current battle to cross the river, we must ensure speed and efficiency. We must make the soldiers forget their fatigue and advance as quickly as possible. That is why we must reward the soldiers without sparing any expense to achieve the goal of defeating the enemy."

Just two days ago, Lü Meng was a crude young man, but today he is able to explain military strategy in great detail, which is truly impressive!
Lü Meng then asked Zhou Tai, "This is a military treatise we read five days ago. Have you already forgotten it?"

Zhou Tai coughed awkwardly a few times, his embarrassed state clearly telling everyone that he had indeed forgotten what he had just learned a few days ago, let alone mastered it like Lü Meng.

"Hahahahaha."

Seeing Zhou Tai stumped by a question from a child like Lü Meng, Liu Miao teased him, "Youping, if you don't study hard, Ziming might really become your superior in the future, and you'll probably have to obey him!"

I thought Zhou Tai would be motivated by shame and become stronger, but to my surprise, Zhou Tai said indifferently, "If my lord wants me to obey, then I will obey. Even Cheng Gong and Gong Yi obeyed the younger commanders, didn't they? Since that's the case, what do I have to be ashamed of?"

Seeing Zhou Tai's "I'd rather die than study" attitude, Liu Miao immediately used his tried-and-true method—adding more homework!

"Tonight's reading reflection, 800 words!"

Zhou Tai's eyes widened: "We're at war today, and you're already reading military books?"

"You're not the one fighting the war, so why shouldn't you read it?"

Liu Miao completely ignored Zhou Tai's donkey-like wailing and waited until evening to continue reading the two's "homework".

Today, Zhou Tai and Lü Meng read "The Art of War: The Chapter on Military Maneuvering".

Whether they copied each other's homework or not, they both added extra annotations to one particular sentence—

"So the army is established by deception, moved by advantage, and changes are achieved by division and combination."

To win a war, one must use strategy, take interests as the goal of action, and use dispersion and concentration as means of change.

After reading the two students' work, Liu Miao not only gained a deeper understanding of military strategy, but also gained a better grasp of the changes in the strategy and tactics when Zhou Yu attacked Danglikou today.

"The division involves Jiang Qin's troops, skilled in naval warfare, launching a surprise attack on the enemy; Han Dang's troops, skilled in archery, suppressing the enemy; and Cheng Pu and Huang Gai's troops, skilled in frontal combat, charging the enemy. When attacking the southern camp, the various armies will attack from both land and water, combining their forces into one force."

"Gongjin is able to understand the principles of division and unity; how could we possibly lose this battle?"

However, when Liu Miao thought of the phrase "warfare is based on deception," he immediately felt that Zhou Yu was too honest in his battles. So he immediately summoned Lu Jun and gave him some instructions.

The next day.

Just as Zhou Yu was about to send troops out from Danglikou, Lu Jun suddenly arrived by boat. The large ship he was on was in a deep draft and was obviously full of cargo. This puzzled Zhou Yu, who asked, "Supplies were sent last night, why are there more goods being sent today?" "It was my lord who ordered me to send them. He said that the purpose of the contents would be clear to the commander-in-chief at a glance."

As soon as Zhou Yu boarded the ship, he smelled a strong odor of ink.

Upon seeing the contents of the cabin, Zhou Yu seemed to have a telepathic connection with Liu Miao, immediately realizing what Liu Miao wanted him to do.

Zhou Yu couldn't help but laugh: "My lord actually had such a plan! Very well! If we can subdue the enemy without fighting, that would be the best outcome!"

Inside the cabin were some newly made military flags and banners!

However, unlike the flags Zhou Yu currently holds, these flags all bear a single, gleaming character—Yuan!

It was simply because of the urgency that these military flags and banners were not made in the conventional way. Instead, Liu Miao had people tear off silk and write large characters on it with ink.

Zhou Yu immediately ordered his men to replace the flags on all military camps and ships with the military flags bearing the character "Yuan" that Liu Miao had sent!

Jiangdong across the river...

Upon hearing that Danglikou had been seized, Zhou Xin, the prefect of Danyang, rushed to Niuzhu overnight.

When Zhou Xin learned that it was Liu Miao who had attacked him, he was furious: "How dare a lecherous scoundrel who lives under someone else's roof attack my Danyang?"

Zhou Xin immediately ordered his soldiers to take boats to Danglikou to observe the size of Liu Miao's army and prepare to surround and annihilate them!
But when the soldiers returned, they all looked panicked: "Prefect! This time, it's not Liu Miao who's attacking Jiangdong, but Yuan Shu!"

"Is there such a thing?"

Zhou Xin didn't believe it.

Although he knew that Yuan Shu was coming, he figured that Yuan Shu probably wouldn't march into Jiangdong so soon, so he went by boat to check it out himself.

When they reached a point about a mile from Danglikou, they saw flags fluttering everywhere, all bearing the character "Yuan," and Zhou Xin immediately became frightened.

Seeing that the flags were all made of silk, Zhou Xin was even more terrified.

"Using silk to make military flags—the only people in the world who could afford such extravagance are probably the two Yuan brothers!"

"Having heard that Chen Wen has passed away, could it be that Yuan Shu has indeed acted swiftly and decisively, and begun his attack on Jiangdong?"

Zhou Xin became increasingly frightened as he thought about it. After returning to Niuzhu, he ordered the camp to remain closed and not to engage in battle with the "Yuan army".

When Zhou Yu heard that Zhou Xin had closed the camp, he was overjoyed: "These silks that my lord sent have become more precious than gold because they only have one word written on them!"

Now or never!
Zhou Yu immediately ordered the entire army to attack, leading the army to attack Hengjiang Ferry. In just half a day, they captured the water island!
Thus, when the natural barrier of the Yangtze River formed by Likou, Hengjiangdu, and Niuzhu completely collapsed, Zhou Yu's military might was already pointing directly at Jiangdong!

When Zhou Yu captured Hengjiang Ferry, Zhou Xin saw clearly the troops under Zhou Yu's command and confirmed that they were not Yuan Shu's army. Only then did Zhou Xin regret his actions, saying, "I have fallen for the enemy general's treacherous scheme!"

But it was too late for regrets, because with two continents captured, Zhou Yu had only one last thing to do—to get ashore!
(End of this chapter)