Tiger Owl

Chapter 111 A Straight to the Point
Guo Jia smiled and said, "My lord may not care about the alliance between Sun Quan and Gan Ning, but I am quite interested. I even studied the details of the alliance agreement and found that it was actually Gan Ning who took the initiative to propose the alliance. This is very interesting. I was wondering why Gan Ning wanted to ally with Jiangdong?"

Cheng Yu, standing nearby, stroked his beard and chuckled, "He's afraid the two Suns will join forces against him, isn't he!"

Guo Jia nodded. "At first glance, it does seem possible, but if we examine it carefully, what would he have done to trigger the alliance between the two Suns? I think there is only one possibility: he annexed Lujiang County."

Cheng Yu smiled slightly and said, "This is interesting. The basis for the alliance between Sun and Gan is that Gan Ning's army will not cross the Wan River."

Guo Jia laughed and said, "Zhongde's judgment is spot on! He saw the essence of the matter immediately. Since Gan Ning has no intention of crossing the Wan River, why is he worried about the two Suns joining forces? What's the point of forming an alliance?"

Cao Cao pondered for a moment and asked, "Then what do you think is Gan Ning's true purpose in proposing the alliance, Fengxiao?"

Guo Jia slowly said, "Since Gan Ning stopped at the Wan River and did not intend to annex Lujiang County, it means that he is about to turn around. I deduce that he is very likely to attack Changsha County."

Cao Cao suddenly realized, "Liu Biao!"

Guo Jia nodded. "That's right. Changsha Commandery is Liu Biao's territory, and his nephew Liu Xin is appointed as the governor of Changsha. If Gan Ning attacks Changsha Commandery, he will be going head-to-head with Liu Biao. Liu Biao has no blood feud with Jiangdong."

Cao Cao finally understood and nodded, "Gan Ning was worried that Liu Biao would form an alliance with Jiangdong, which would leave him vulnerable from the rear, so he formed an alliance with Jiangdong first."

Cheng Yu added, "Perhaps Gan Ning is worried that the four families will join forces to plot against Yuzhang!"

Cao Cao gave a thumbs up, "That's right! The four of them joined forces to plot against Yuzhang."

Guo Jia smiled slightly and said, "Now we're back to the question you asked me before, my lord: should we send troops to help Sun Ben recover the entire territory of Lujiang? My lord, what was our initial intention in supporting Gan Ning? Wasn't it to have Gan Ning restrain Sun Ce and Liu Biao, preventing them from taking advantage of our attack on Yuan Shao to invade Xuchang? Now that we have Sun Ben restraining Jiangdong, who will restrain Liu Biao?"

Cao Cao suddenly realized that Gan Ning's attack on Changsha was the best way to contain Liu Biao!
“I understand. I will refuse Sun Ben’s request to send troops and let him handle it himself.”

Seeing that Guo Jia had stolen the limelight, Cheng Yu felt somewhat resentful and added, "My lord, why don't you promise Gan Ning that if he takes Changsha, he can be appointed as the governor of Changsha?"

Cao Cao clapped his hands and laughed, "This plan is brilliant! We can restrain Liu Biao without losing a single soldier. Liu Huangshu has great ambitions, but he is powerless to do anything about it."

Guo Jia smiled but remained silent.

...........
In recent days, high-ranking officials and generals under Gan Ning from various places have been arriving in Nanchang County one after another.

Early in the morning, Gan Ning convened a meeting with all the twenty-odd important officials in Nanchang, including six colonels and high-ranking officials from various prefectures.

Gan Ning first informed everyone about the alliance with Jiangdong.

"After forming an alliance with Jiangdong, it means that our strategy will shift to Jingzhou, specifically to the four southern commanderies of Jingzhou. Therefore, our next target is Changsha Commandery. However, attacking Changsha Commandery means directly confronting Liu Biao. To prevent Liu Biao and Jiangdong from joining forces and leaving us vulnerable from both sides, we formed an alliance with Jiangdong first to eliminate the potential threat."

"My lord, when are we going to attack Changsha Prefecture?" asked Cui Zhouping, the Prefect of Wuchang Prefecture.

"We plan to take over the four counties of Jingnan in the second half of the year. We still need to make a lot of preparations, including the transportation of money, food and supplies, military training and intelligence gathering. Changsha County is just our first target. Our ultimate goal is the four counties of Jingnan. So we must be fully prepared. I plan to take over the four counties of Jingnan in three to four years. If we are well prepared, it will be faster."

Gan Ning then laughed and said, "Once we take over the four prefectures of Jingnan, I will only serve as the prefect of Yuzhang Prefecture, and the prefects of the other prefectures will be appointed by you."

The atmosphere in the lobby immediately became lively, and everyone's face was full of anticipation.

At this moment, Taishi Ci asked, "My lord, if we shift our military force to Changsha Commandery, will Sun Ben take the opportunity to advance westward and drive us out of Lujiang Commandery?" Gan Ning nodded, "General Taishi's question is very timely. Let me explain to everyone. According to our intelligence, after the defeat at Wan County, Sun Ben showed no signs of recruiting troops. Instead, he sent troops to seize the salt fields in Guangling Commandery, which shows that Cao Cao's support for Sun Ben was also limited. Sun Ben did not have the financial resources to recruit troops, so he seized the salt fields."

Sun Ben currently commands 40,000 troops, with 20,000 in Jiujiang Commandery under the command of Han Dang. This is his main force, firmly under his control and will not be transferred to Lujiang Commandery. Guangling Commandery has 5,000 troops under the command of He Qi, mainly to occupy the salt fields. Then there are 15,000 troops in Shuxian County, previously commanded by Sun He. It is said that Sun He and Xu Qian had a conflict, so Sun Ben appointed his younger brother Sun Fu as the governor of Lujiang Commandery. Nominally, Xu Qian is in charge of the army, but in reality, it is controlled by his younger brother Sun Fu.

Therefore, Sun Ben will not be able to attack Wan County for at least two years. Even if he reinforces his troops, we will not be afraid at all. We have a large amount of oil and can completely defend Wan County.

.........

After the meeting, Taishi Ci approached Gan Ning, saying, "This humble servant would like to speak with my lord!"

Gan Ning nodded and smiled, "Let's talk in my office!"

Upon arriving at the official residence, Gan Ning invited Taishi Ci to sit down and then had his men serve tea.

Taishi Ci said, "I have a suggestion regarding the attack on Changsha Commandery!"

"you say!"

“When I suggested attacking Changsha County, we should divide our forces into two routes.”

"Tell me more specifically!"

Taishi Ci walked to the wall, where a huge map of the Yangtze River was hanging.

Taishi Ci pointed to the map with a wooden stick and said, "Jiayu County in Wuchang Prefecture has been built. It is only two hundred li away from Dongting Lake. It will be our most important naval logistics base. This is of course our northern attack route, but what I want to talk about is the southern route."

Taishi Ci then pointed to the line of Yichun and Jianchang to the south and said, "The southern route will be to attack Changsha County by land. The enemy's main force will surely be defending the northern route, leaving the interior vulnerable. We can attack from the heart of the enemy, occupy Liling County, and then we will be only two hundred li away from Changsha County."

Gan Ning smiled slightly and said, "Does General Taishi mean you want to lead the troops along the southern route?"

Taishi Ci's face flushed red, and he clasped his hands in a fist and said, "I humbly request that my lord grant my request!"

Gan Ning nodded. "That's actually my idea. I'll have Shen Mi stay in Wan County. He's better at defending the city than at going on campaigns."

Taishi Ci was overjoyed, "This humble servant will certainly not fail the great trust placed in me by my lord."

Gan Ning smiled without saying a word. Taishi Ci had defeated Liu Xin several times and was Liu Xin's nemesis. How could he not use him when he was going to conquer Changsha?

...........
Gan Ning then met with Zhao Yun. During this time, Zhao Yun had been training troops in Chaisang. Of course, Zhao Yun would also participate in the attack on Changsha County. Liu Xin had a fierce general under his command, the veteran Huang Zhong. Gan Ning was counting on Zhao Yun to deal with Huang Zhong.

"Is General Zilong facing any difficulties in Chaisang?" Gan Ning asked with concern.

Zhao Yun bowed and said, "There are no difficulties, but this time I came to Nanchang County to learn more about Juntian. Many of my subordinates have mentioned Juntian, but I don't understand it well and would like to see it for myself."

Gan Ning readily agreed, "Why don't you come with me, Zilong? I can also take the opportunity to inspect the actual situation."

(End of this chapter)