Tiger Owl

Chapter 167 Jiangdong Submits
News of Sun Ben's capture of Danyang County quickly spread to Jiangdong, causing an uproar in the Jiangdong court and among the people. No one expected that Sun Ben would suddenly launch an attack in the autumn and winter season of October, let alone that General Chen Feng would surrender to Sun Ben and Commander Ling Cao would die tragically.

Sun Quan was extremely anxious. He immediately mobilized his 80,000 troops from various locations to Dantu County, preparing to concentrate his forces for a decisive battle with Sun Ben.

Inside the official residence, Sun Quan paced back and forth in the main hall like an ant on a hot pan. He never dreamed that Danyang County would be lost so suddenly, which made him extremely anxious and furious.

Zhang Zhao sighed and said, "Lord Wu, we have to face reality. Sun Ben's attack on Danyang County this time must have been premeditated and prepared for a long time. We can tell from Chen Feng's surrender that he had obviously turned Chen Feng against him long ago."

Sun Quan said bitterly, "Isn't Cao Cao supposed to maintain stability in all directions? Since Sun Ben is his dog, why doesn't he care about him at this crucial moment?"

Zhang Zhao continued to explain: "I heard that Cao Cao went north to attack Youzhou, so Sun Ben seized this opportunity to try to create a fait accompli, and Cao Cao had no choice but to acquiesce in the end."

At this moment, Lü Fan said coldly, "What's the use of saying all this now? The problem has arisen, and we need to find a way to solve it. Since Sun Ben was able to launch a surprise attack and seize Danyang County, we can do the same to take it back."

Zhang Zhao sighed, "Danyang County is his stronghold; it won't be easy to take it!"

Sun Quan angrily said, "The war hasn't even started yet, why is the strategist so disheartened?"

Zhang Zhao shook his head. "I'm not saying anything discouraging. I just want Lord Wu to see the seriousness of the problem and not to rush into an attack, lest Sun Ben defeat us. Once we are defeated, it will be difficult to take back Danyang County. We must face reality, stay calm, see the enemy's strengths and our weaknesses. Only by knowing ourselves and our enemy can we succeed."

Zhou Yu, who had been silent all along, slowly said, "Lord Wu, what Military Advisor Zhang said makes sense. If we fail again, we will never be able to take back Danyang County. Now is not the time to be emotional. We cannot use troops in a fit of anger. We must calm down first."

Sun Quan took a deep breath. "Alright! We can't just do nothing. Tell me, what should we do now?"

Zhang Zhao hurriedly said, "The most urgent task now is to send people to Danyang County to gather intelligence. How many troops does Sun Ben have? What is the attitude of the people and noble families of Danyang County towards him? In addition, our navy must be dispatched to cut off the connection and supply between Danyang County and Jiujiang County."

Sun Quan nodded. "General Zhou, I'm entrusting the naval expedition to you."

"Your subordinate obeys!"

Just as Zhou Yu was about to leave, Lü Fan suddenly said, "Lord Wu, we should ask Gan Ning for help!"

"What?" Sun Quan was stunned.

Lü Fan sighed and said, "Although I despise this man, as the Chief Clerk of Jiangdong Army, I have to consider the bigger picture. If we want to take back Danyang County, we can only reach a reconciliation with Gan Ning and ask him to send troops. Only in this way can we defeat Sun Ben."

"no!"

Sun Quan flatly rejected Lü Fan's suggestion, saying, "I cannot set aside my dignity, and if I ask him for help, his help will inevitably be an attack on Lujiang County, which I cannot agree to. Chief Clerk, do not mention it again."

Lu Fan could only give a wry smile. "Since Lord Wu is so resolute, I will not bring it up again."

Sun Quan added to Zhou Yu, "You lead 30,000 troops to approach the north bank. If the enemy's forces are not large, you can directly attack Jiujiang County. I don't believe they can abandon Jiujiang County."

Sun Quan wanted to relieve the siege of Wei by attacking Jiujiang Commandery, forcing Sun Ben to withdraw his troops from Danyang Commandery.

Zhou Yu immediately led 30,000 troops and hundreds of warships toward Jiujiang County. Unexpectedly, Cao Cao's army, which had been silent all along, suddenly moved out. Le Jin led 30,000 troops into Jiujiang County and stationed them in Hefei County.

Although Jia Xu was furious that Sun Ben had launched a surprise attack on Danyang County without his consent, he would not allow the Jiangdong army to land in Jiujiang County. The fact that Le Jin led 30,000 troops into Jiujiang County indicated that Cao Cao's army had begun to intervene.

Zhou Yu dared not rashly advance into Jiujiang Commandery, as the situation had changed drastically. He urgently sent someone to report to Lord Wu and request instructions on the next course of action. At the same time, Jia Xu's men arrived in Dantu County and delivered a personal letter from Jia Xu to Sun Quan.

Sun Quan handed the letter to Zhang Zhao, his face extremely grim.

"what happened?"

"Strategist, take a look for yourself! Things are more complicated than we imagined!"

Zhang Zhao opened the letter and read it carefully. Jia Xu's tone was very tough and straightforward. He said that if Jiangdong dared to enter the north bank of the Yangtze River, Cao Cao's army would cooperate with Sun Ben to directly attack Jiangdong.

"This"

Zhang Zhao was speechless, but continued reading. Jia Xu instructed them to resolve the matter of Danyang County only on the south bank of the Yangtze River, and that Cao Cao's army would not interfere. However, if the Jiangdong army dared to attack the north bank of the Yangtze River, it would be considered as a declaration of war against Cao Cao's army.

"This Jia Xu is too arrogant and unreasonable!"

Sun Quan sighed and said, "What reason can the powerful possibly have? We have no choice."

Zhang Zhao paused for a moment and said, "Now is not the time to act rashly. We cannot contend with Cao Cao's army. Let's withdraw Zhou Yu's troops back to Jiangnan!"

Sun Quan walked to the window with his hands behind his back, looked up at the sky, and sighed deeply, "This is too humiliating!"

Zhang Zhao advised, "Lord Wu, you must bow your head when necessary. Cao Cao is about to completely destroy the Yuan clan and unify the north. Next, he will inevitably march south with a large army. Lord Wu cannot hope that he will march south from Jiangnan! As we analyzed before, Cao's army will definitely march south from Xiangyang. At this critical moment, we cannot shift the blame to the east!"

Sun Quan sighed again, nodded and said, "The strategist is right. We really can't shift the blame eastward. I will order Gongjin's army to retreat south right away!"

Zhou Yu received Wu Hou's order to withdraw his troops. Left with no other choice, he ordered the warships and army to retreat to Jingkou.

Hundreds of warships slowly retreated eastward under the watchful eyes of Cao Cao's scout ships.

In a pavilion on the north bank, Jia Xu stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at the Yangtze River. At that moment, a soldier came to report, "Reporting to the military advisor, the Eastern Wu navy has withdrawn eastward!"

Jia Xu sneered. He saw through Sun Quan; they were terrified of Cao Cao's army attacking Jiangdong.

There is a pharmacy called Houchengfang in Wanling County. It is not well-known and ranks only in the middle among the twenty-odd pharmacies in Wanling County.

However, this place is the intelligence point of the Yuzhang Army in Danyang County. It was just established two months ago. The manager is named Han Ying, who is about forty years old and is also a doctor. He bought this pharmacy that was for sale and began to collect intelligence on Danyang County for the Yuzhang Army.

Normally, Danyang County doesn't have much important intelligence. It mainly collects information on the number of troops stationed there, the situation of the main general, the defense status of the city walls in various counties, and then the price situation, the living conditions of the people, etc. These are all public intelligence, which can be understood at a glance.

But today was different. Han Ying rushed back to the pharmacy from outside, carrying his medicine box. He had just received important intelligence: two days ago, Sun Ben sent troops to occupy Niuzhu and began a full-scale invasion of Danyang County.

Han Ying wrote two identical urgent intelligence reports, tied them to the legs of the carrier pigeons, opened the pigeon coop, and the two pigeons immediately took off and flew towards Chaisang.

(End of this chapter)