Tiger Owl

Chapter 170 Zhang Zhao's Mission
"The strategist believes that the second type of people are the most numerous. Why?" Sun Quan asked with some unease.

This is actually the reason why Zhang Zhao found it difficult to talk about this issue. He didn't want to say it outright and wanted to gloss over it, but Sun Quan still realized it, which shows that he knew what was going on.

Zhang Zhao sighed inwardly; it seemed there were some things he had to say.

Zhang Zhao tried to be tactful: "Lord Wu, please forgive my bluntness. Sun Ben is essentially still a member of the Sun family of Jiangdong. Therefore, for many Jiangdong officials, there is no moral impropriety in pledging allegiance to Lord Wu or to Sun Ben."

But it's different with Gan Ning. Surrendering to Gan Ning isn't just morally questionable; more importantly, it creates a conflict of interest. Gan Ning has his own interest group that will compete with the Jiangdong group for profits, while Sun Ben basically has no interest group around him.

Sun Quan sighed and pointed out the crux of the matter: "In the end, it's because I lack prestige. If it were my elder brother Sun Ce, this problem wouldn't exist."

Sun Quan was self-aware and hit the nail on the head in one sentence: the root cause was that Sun Quan himself lacked prestige and was not enough to command the respect of the people.

Zhang Zhao didn't want to delve too deeply into this issue, so he immediately changed the subject, "I just ran into Chief Secretary Lü, and from what he said, he still insists on asking Gan Ning for help?"

Sun Quan also turned back from the unpleasant topic. He nodded and said, "Chief Secretary Lü believes that there are several reasons for our defeat. First, our tactics were wrong. We should have launched a naval battle first to destroy the enemy's warships before sending troops. Second, we lacked sufficient troops, but it is too late to recruit troops now. Therefore, he suggested that we ask Gan Ning for help."

Zhang Zhao said, "Actually, I have discussed the issue of annihilating the enemy's warships with Governor Zhou. He told me that the main problem is that Niuzhu has a special terrain with a natural bay that can be defended by both land and water. If our warships rush in, they will be attacked by the enemy on both banks, especially by fire. Once several large ships are burned, the bay will be blocked, and the warships behind will not be able to enter."

Therefore, to destroy the enemy's navy, we must first send troops to seize both banks, or patiently wait for the enemy warships to come out on their own. Commander Zhou is currently using the latter option. The enemy warships will eventually emerge from the bay. Once they move out, our navy will cut off their retreat and annihilate them.

Sun Quan nodded. "Then, does the strategist agree to ask Gan Ning for help?"

"I agree in principle, but the other side might take the opportunity to seize Lujiang County. Can Lord Wu accept that?"

Sun Quan sighed and said, "I couldn't accept it before, but now I've figured it out. Even if I don't accept it, the other side will still attack Lujiang County, and Lujiang County will still be lost."

"It would be better to directly request reinforcements, asking Gan Ning to continue attacking Jiujiang Commandery, forcing Sun Ben to return to reinforce Jiujiang Commandery. Then we would have an opportunity in Danyang Commandery."

Zhang Zhao frowned and asked, "Why ask Gan Ning to attack Jiujiang Commandery instead of directly attacking Danyang Commandery? We could easily launch a pincer attack from the east and west and completely crush Sun Ben's army!"

Sun Quan shook his head. "I originally thought so too, but Chief Secretary Lü reminded me that it's easy to invite a god but hard to send him away. Once Gan Ning's army enters Danyang County, it will be very difficult to get them to retreat back to Yuzhang County."

These words made Zhang Zhao feel truly ashamed; he hadn't even considered the problem of inviting trouble.

Sun Quan then worriedly said, "Actually, I'm also very worried about Gan Ning's army entering Jiujiang Commandery. What if he refuses to retreat?"

Zhang Zhao needed to make up for his mistake in judging Danyang County. He pondered for a moment and said, "Jiujiang County is different from Danyang County. Cao Cao's army will not interfere in Danyang County, but Cao Cao's army will definitely intervene in Jiujiang County. Whether it is political pressure or military pressure, Cao Cao's army will put pressure on Gan Ning."

"What's the reason?"

“Lord Wu, once Gan Ning occupies Jiujiang Commandery, he will break the balance in the south that Cao Cao has been maintaining. Cao Cao will definitely intervene. Gan Ning will never engage in military conflict with Cao Cao so early, allowing us and Liu Biao to reap the benefits.”

"But if Gan Ning doesn't attack Jiujiang County, how can he resolve the crisis in Danyang County?"

Zhang Zhao said confidently, "As long as Gan Ning proposes the condition of withdrawing from Jiujiang Commandery, I think Jia Xu will definitely agree. He will put pressure on Sun Ben in Cao Cao's name." Sun Quan walked a few steps with his hands behind his back and said, "Could you please ask the strategist to go to Chaisang in person?"

In the past few days, Gan Ning made a special trip to Wan County, Lujiang Prefecture to inspect the war preparedness, inspect the grain and supplies warehouses, and review the morale. Finally, Gan Ning went up to the city wall and looked out over Sun Ben's army camp, which was more than ten miles away to the east of the Wan River.

Gan Ning then asked Xu Shu, who was standing nearby, "How many people are in the enemy camp?"

"There are approximately six thousand people!"

Gan Ning nodded. At this moment, a personal guard stepped forward and presented Gan Ning with a message sent by pigeon. "General, this was just received."

Gan Ning opened the pigeon message and read it. It was a message from Lu Su. He had just received a message from the Jiangdong liaison station that Zhang Zhao was on behalf of the Marquis of Wu to go to Chaisang.

As expected, it happened. Gan Ning already knew that the Jiangdong army and Sun Ben's army had fought a battle in Jiangcheng County. On the surface, it was a draw, but later the Jiangdong army abandoned Jiangcheng County and retreated in a panic. In reality, the Jiangdong army was defeated.

It seems that the pressure in Jiangdong is too great, and Sun Quan is still determined to seek his help.

Xu Shu, standing nearby, asked, "Reporting to the general, we are ready. We can launch an attack at any time. As long as the general gives the order, I guarantee that we will annihilate the six thousand enemy troops on the other side today."

Gan Ning smiled and said, "I just received a message by pigeon. Zhang Zhao has been sent as an envoy to Chaisang. He is probably here to ask for help. Let's wait a little longer. I will send troops after I have reached an agreement with Zhang Zhao. Please wait patiently for my news."

Zhang Zhao arrived quickly. Ten days later, he arrived at the Chaisang County dock, where Lu Su personally came to greet him.

When Lu Su was in Jiangdong, he and Zhang Zhao belonged to the Huai-Si Group and had a good relationship.

Zhang Zhao, accompanied by Lu Su, entered the city by carriage.

Although it was Zhang Zhao's first time in Chaisang, he had no interest in sightseeing. Zhang Zhao said to Lu Su with concern, "You should know that Sun Ben attacked and occupied Danyang County, right?"

"I know some of the details, but not the specifics. I heard that the Jiangdong Army hastily withdrew from Jiangcheng County. Why?"

"They've run out of food!"

Zhang Zhao gave a wry smile and explained, "The generals all insisted on sending troops, including Zhou Yu. Chief Secretary Lü and I opposed sending troops hastily because the supplies were not ready. But the generals said that we could supply Jiangcheng County directly from the Yangtze River. Wu Hou acted rashly and agreed to send troops."

Lu Su nodded. "Resupplying from the Yangtze River sounds simple, but it's very difficult to implement."

“Who says otherwise? Sun Ben isn’t stupid. Would he let us resupply with food? His warships kept harassing us, causing resupply to fail time and time again. In the end, we had no choice but to retreat. This defeat dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the Jiangdong army. Wu Hou had no choice but to send me to ask your army for help. Zijing, you must help me with this matter.”

Lu Su nodded. "Let's have a good talk first, and then I'll report to General Gan. As for what Military Advisor Zhang mentioned, I will do my best to help!"

The way he addressed Zhang Zhao by his official title also implied that his efforts were in accordance with official business.

(End of this chapter)