Tiger Owl

Chapter 248 Forgive and forget
The negotiations between Lu Su and Lü Fan ultimately ended in failure. Although Lü Fan's attitude was sincere and earnest, the negotiations themselves were inherently flawed. Sun Quan's attitude was wavering, and he did not allow the Western Chu army to be stationed in Danyang County, which made it inevitable that the negotiations would not yield any results.

Lü Fan took his leave in disappointment, but the day before he left, Gan Ning met with him, and Lü Fan's attitude and sincerity moved Gan Ning.

"Lü Fan pays his respects to the Marquis of Chu!"

Lü Fan bowed respectfully, with Lu Su accompanying him.

Gan Ning smiled and said, "Please sit down, Chief Secretary Lü!"

As Lü Fan sat down, Gan Ning laughed again, "Does Chief Secretary Lü still hold a grudge about what happened back then? I robbed the Nanchang armory right under Chief Secretary Lü's nose, making him lose face!"

Lu Fan shook his head. "I was a little annoyed at the time, but it was a small matter. After so many years, I have long forgotten about it."

"Actually, Chief Secretary Lü doesn't know the truth. If Chief Secretary Lü wants to know, I can talk to him about it."

"the truth?"

Lu Fan was taken aback. He did have some questions in his mind. How did Gan Ning know there were weapons inside? The sign there said it was a granary. And how did Gan Ning know there was a secret door there that even he didn't know about?

"Lord Chu, I am all ears!"

Gan Ning then smiled slightly and said, "I am the magistrate of Chaisang County appointed by the imperial court. The prefect of Yuzhang Prefecture at that time was Hua Xin, so of course I went to see the prefect."

"Ah! It's Hua Xin." Lu Fan suddenly realized.

Gan Ning smiled and nodded. "He had already secretly pledged allegiance to Cao Cao. He knew that I was also appointed as the county magistrate by Cao Cao, and he wanted to help me. But at that time, he was just a nominal prefect and had no real power. So he could only point out a clear path for me."

"I see, it was Hua Xin, no wonder."

Lu Fan finally felt relieved. He had always regarded the warehouse incident as a disgrace to his incompetence. Although many years had passed and the feeling of shame had faded, the traces were still there. Now, Gan Ning's explanation made him finally understand the truth. With Hua Xin's help, it was no longer a disgrace.

"Thank you, Marquis of Chu, for telling me the truth. I am finally at peace!"

Gan Ning smiled. "I told you the truth with a purpose."

"What is the intention?" Lü Fan's heart tightened slightly again.

"What I want to tell Lord Lü is that if Jiangdong is ever destroyed, my doors will always be open to you, and this place will always be your escape route."

Lu Fan stared blankly into Gan Ning's eyes, which were filled with sincerity and expectation. Lu Fan was suddenly moved and nodded gently, "Thank you for your kindness, Marquis of Chu!"

Lü Fan got up to take his leave. Gan Ning saw him off at the gate of the general's mansion. Lü Fan left without returning to the VIP hotel. Instead, he went directly to the dock, where his men were already waiting for him.

Lu Su escorted him all the way to the boat. Lü Fan pondered for a moment and said, "Please tell the Marquis of Chu to prepare for the worst and to build fortifications and deploy heavy troops at the various passes between Yuzhang and Danyang counties to prevent any unforeseen events."

"I see!"

Lu Su nodded slightly. Both Lu Fan and Lu Su understood that the forces surrendering in Jiangdong were too great, and their voices as anti-Cao Cao faction had become somewhat insignificant.

As the ships sailed away, Lü Fan stood at the stern and waved to Lu Su. Gazing at the towering walls of Chaisang and Lu Su's upright posture, Lü Fan suddenly understood why Bu Zhi had surrendered to Gan Ning. At the border between Jiujiang and Lujiang counties, a Cao army of 30,000 men was marching swiftly along the official road, followed by thousands of wagons laden with provisions.

The commander of this army was Zhang Liao. They crossed the border between the two prefectures and headed straight for Shuxian, which was fifty miles away.

The Battle of Jiangbei finally began. Cao Ren devised a three-step plan: first, to take Shuxian; then, using Shuxian as a springboard, to seize the entire Lujiang Commandery; and finally, using Lujiang as a base, to seize Jiangxia Commandery. The entire three-step plan took two months. Cao Ren had learned from his mistakes, and this time he was determined to proceed steadily and thoroughly, making sure to fully control the occupied territories before moving on to the next step.

This plan received Zhang Liao's full support; the last defeat at Jiangxia was because they left too hastily.

Three days later, Cao Cao's 30,000 troops arrived in Shuxian. Zhang Liao encountered no resistance along the way, and even saw very few civilians. Zhang Liao knew the reason, of course: most of the people had been evacuated to Jiangnan.

Thirty thousand Cao troops besieged the city. The gates of Shuxian opened, and County Commandant Lin Fang led several officials out of the city to surrender. Gan Ning gave all officials the freedom to choose: if they wanted to go to Jiangnan, they could go south by boat; if they did not want to go south, they could stay and continue to serve. Moreover, as long as they treated the people well and maintained order, they would not be held accountable when Lujiang County was recovered in the future.

County Commandant Lin Fang was a local. He chose to stay and successfully got his wish. Zhang Liao immediately appointed him as acting magistrate to continue maintaining order in the county.

Zhang Liao led his army into the city, and although he was mentally prepared, the scene before him still stunned him. The main streets of the county town were deserted, with no one in sight. Every household had its doors and windows closed, and the shops were empty, making it look like a ghost town.

"Where is he?" Zhang Liao asked in surprise.

“They’ve all left, almost all gone!” Lin Fang sighed, then added, “There were originally 60,000 to 70,000 people, but now there are less than 5,000 left, mostly the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the disabled who can’t walk.”

This result caught Zhang Liao completely off guard. He frowned deeply, "How could this happen?"

“General, the people of Lujiang County have changed several times. The people of Shuxian County are almost all from Xuzhou. They all fled here when Prime Minister Cao massacred Xuzhou.”

"what?"

Zhang Liao's heart skipped a beat. Back then, to avenge his father, the Prime Minister led a large army all the way into Xuzhou, killing countless people and massacring countless cities. Most of the people of Shuxian County had fled from Xuzhou. No wonder!

Lin Fang said bitterly, "The immigration officers are spreading the story of Prime Minister Cao's massacre of cities back then. Our city was the first city Cao's army attacked from Hefei, so it was bound to be massacred. The people were terrified, and almost all of them fled in just a few days."

Zhang Liao sighed deeply. He knew in his heart that even if Cao Cao's army did not massacre the city, Gan Ning would definitely make up all sorts of stories to frighten the people in order to mobilize them to migrate. These ordinary people could not withstand such fright.

"Order the army to enter the city!"

Zhang Liao's army set up camp inside the city.

However, there was no food or supplies in the city, and the warehouses were empty. The food they carried could only support the 30,000-strong army for half a month, and Zhang Liao also had to provide relief to the starving people.

Zhang Liao ordered a census, which revealed that there were still more than 3,000 households, including 2,000 in the city and 1,100 in the countryside outside the city. The people were all in dire need of food.

Helpless, Zhang Liao wrote to Cao Ren, demanding that Cao Ren immediately send out grain supplies.

News of Cao's army's occupation of Shuxian also flew to Chaisang via a carrier pigeon hidden in the countryside outside the city.

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[I need to ask for another break. My mother is eighty years old and has developed a tumor under her armpit. She plans to have it surgically removed via minimally invasive surgery. I've been a bit busy these past few days, so I apologize. I'll update as usual this afternoon.]

(End of this chapter)