Tiger Owl

Chapter 166 Sneak Attack on Danyang
In Danyang Commandery, the deputy general guarding Niuzhu is named Chen Feng. Although he is not very famous, he is very senior. He was originally a subordinate of Wu Jing, and later followed Sun Ben. After Sun Ce raised his army, he followed Sun Ce and fought in the north and south for many years, but he is still only a captain.

Chen Feng's unsuccessful career was not due to Sun Quan's disdain, but rather to a significant personal flaw: his excessive drinking. He repeatedly violated military regulations regarding alcohol consumption, angering Sun Ce and thus losing any opportunities for promotion.

After Sun Quan succeeded to the throne, he promoted generals several times, but Chen Feng was not on the list. He harbored resentment from then on. Just then, Sun Ben secretly sent someone to win him over, and Chen Feng did not hesitate to join Sun Ben.

That morning, a man dressed as a farmer came to the military camp, saying he was a relative of Chen Feng and had important business with him.

Chen Feng hurriedly walked out of the camp and immediately recognized the farmer as one of Sun Ben's spies in Danyang County. He quickly brought the farmer into the camp.

Upon arriving at the main tent, the farmer handed Chen Feng a letter hidden in his hair.

"Everything I wanted to say is in the letter, and I have nothing to add."

Chen Feng nodded, ordered his personal guards to give the farmer five taels of silver, and then saw him out.

After the farmer left, Chen Feng opened Sun Ben's letter and read it carefully. He then burned the letter and went to the commander's tent.

Niuzhu has 12,000 troops stationed there, with General Ling Cao as the commander-in-chief and Chen Feng as the deputy commander. Chen Feng came to the main tent and handed a new duty roster to Ling Cao, saying, "This subordinate has slightly revised the duty roster. Please take a look, General."

Ling Cao glanced at the duty roster and laughed, "You arranged it last night, why are you arranging it for yourself tonight and tomorrow night? That's too tiring!"

"General, I have some family matters to attend to the day after tomorrow. I'll switch with someone else for the next two days and then ask for a day off."

Ling Cao chuckled, "Missing your wife, huh? I understand! I understand! That's settled then, you make the arrangements!"

Ling Cao immediately signed the new duty roster, but he didn't notice the barely perceptible sneer that flashed across Chen Feng's face as he looked at him.

As night fell, a faint white mist hung over the Yangtze River. Two hundred large warships sailed secretly through the fog. They had clearly practiced this many times and could maintain their distance even in the fog, thus avoiding a collision.

Two hundred warships bypassed the two river islands of Hengjiangjin and Danglikou, where Eastern Wu had garrisoned troops and sentry posts.

The fleet of warships headed straight for the southeastern defense of Niuzhu, which was the defensive position of Chen Feng's army.

This fleet was Sun Ben's army, with a hundred soldiers on each large warship, totaling 20,000 troops, and their target was Danyang County.

Sun Ben had been preparing for this operation for a full year. From the day he was unwilling to leave, he dreamed of how to make a comeback.

Sun Ben had been waiting for an opportunity. When he heard that Cao Cao was leading a large army north to Youzhou, he knew that his chance had come. By the time Cao Cao returned, the die was cast.

Although Sun Ben had Cao Cao backing him, he was not Cao Cao's puppet. He had his own dreams and pursuits; he wanted to become the ruler of Jiangdong.

Taking over Danyang County was just his first step. Next, he would annex the entire Jiangdong region while he still had support. In a few years, he would have no chance at all.

Sun Ben stood on the lead ship, his eyes fixed on the south. At this time, they were only a mile from the south bank, but he could not see anything.

General Liang Hui whispered, "My lord, could this be a trap?"

"Shh-"

Sun Ben stared intently at the south, and just then, three fires appeared on the south bank.

Sun Ben was overjoyed and straightened his back, ordering, "The entire army, advance at full speed!" Sun Ben's army landed, and Chen Feng knelt on one knee to salute, saying, "I am willing to die for the general!"

Sun Ben quickly helped him up and said with a smile, "You've been my subordinate for a long time. Since you're willing to follow me, I will definitely not treat you unfairly!"

Chen Feng was deeply moved and immediately changed his words, saying, "Thank you for your kindness, my lord!"

Sun Ben then asked him, "How is the situation at the main camp?"

"The main business is very quiet, there's no movement at all!"

Sun Ben nodded. "Are your men able to follow orders?"

"Please rest assured, my lord, my three thousand brothers have followed me for many years and are absolutely loyal to me!"

Sun Ben readily agreed, "Then let's prepare to attack!"

The camp was very quiet, and all the soldiers were fast asleep. There were two armies on duty today: one was the 3,000 troops under the command of Deputy General Chen Feng, stationed on the east side, and the other was the 2,000 troops under the command of General Zhao Guang on the west side. The remaining 7,000 troops were all fast asleep.

Just then, the alarm bells blared, "Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!"

The urgent and piercing alarm bells jolted the soldiers awake. Five thousand soldiers awoke from their dreams and ran out of their barracks in terror, plunging the camp into chaos.

At this moment, Commander Ling Cao rushed out of the main tent and ran into Chen Feng, who had just stormed into the camp. Ling Cao was unaware that Chen Feng had betrayed him and shouted, "General Chen, what's going on?"

Chen Feng pointed behind him and shouted, "General, watch out behind you!"

Ling Cao turned around, but there was nothing behind him. He suddenly realized something and was about to turn back when he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He slowly looked down and saw that Chen Feng's spear had pierced his chest. He pointed at Chen Feng, "You—you—"

Ling Cao couldn't utter a single word and died instantly, his eyes still fixed on Chen Feng, unable to close them in death.

Chen Feng roared, "Lord Wu has betrayed me! I'm rebelling today!"

At this moment, Sun Ben led 20,000 soldiers into the camp. The Jiangdong soldiers had no way out and knelt down to surrender.

Sun Ben captured the strategic location of Niuzhu without bloodshed, taking more than 10,000 Jiangdong soldiers prisoner. The commander-in-chief, Ling Cao, was killed by the traitor Chen Feng.

Jiangdong has 20,000 troops stationed in Danyang County. Apart from 12,000 troops at Niuzhu, a strategic location for crossing the river, the other 8,000 troops are deployed in a relatively scattered manner. These 8,000 troops are mainly responsible for defending against attacks on county towns by the Yue people. They are distributed in various county towns, ranging from 2,000 to several hundred men.

After Sun Ben captured Niuzhu, his army continued to advance south, sweeping all before them. Danyang County was originally Sun Ben's stronghold, where he had deep roots and appointed most of the officials. In order to stabilize Danyang County, Sun Quan's regime did not replace these officials, which resulted in future troubles.

Wherever Sun Ben's army passed, the counties opened their gates to welcome the royal army, rewarding them with rice and meat. In just a few days, all the counties, including Jiangcheng, Hushu, Jurong, Danyang, Moling, and Shicheng, surrendered. On the fifth day, the army marched to Wanling County, the capital of the prefecture. Tens of thousands of troops were at the city gates. Wu Jing, the prefect of Danyang, led three thousand men out of the city and surrendered to Sun Ben.

With the surrender of Wanling County, it means that the most important northern region of Danyang Commandery has been occupied by Sun Ben. The remaining southern region is mountainous, but it is no surprise that it will also surrender to Sun Ben.

In less than ten days, as many as 20,000 soldiers from all sides enthusiastically signed up to join the army. With the addition of 20,000 who surrendered, Sun Ben's army increased from 20,000 who landed to 60,000 in just ten days.

However, Sun Ben did not rush to attack Jiangdong. He was very experienced and knew that if the army was unstable and rushed to attack, it would be easy to be defeated. He was stationed in Wanling County and began to reorganize the 60,000 troops, aiming to quickly transform them into a fighting force.

(End of this chapter)