Tiger Owl

Chapter 254 Intelligence Effect
With a heavy heart, Lü Fan arrived at the Western Chu Liaison Office in Jiangdong and found the supervisor, Song Kuan.

Song Kuan invited him to sit in the VIP hall, then had his men serve tea. He bowed and smiled, saying, "Chief Secretary Lü seems quite worried?"

Lü Fan sighed, "The negotiations between Jiangdong and Cao Cao have ended, and the formal signing will take place soon. How can I not be worried?"

Song Kuan pondered for a moment and said, "Actually, I've heard about it too, but cooperating to resist Cao requires the joint efforts of both sides. It won't be effective if only one side tries its best."

Lu Fan then slowly said, "Lord Wu has made it clear today that he will give you one last chance. If you are willing to hand over Bu Zhi to Jiangdong, Lord Wu will stop negotiating with Cao Cao and instead join forces to resist Cao Cao, and agree to allow the Western Chu army to be stationed in Danyang County."

"Was it Lord Wu who made this statement today?"

"Yes! Lord Wu also wants to make one last effort."

Song Kuan nodded. "I will send a message by pigeon to Chaisang first thing tomorrow morning to make sure that Lord Wu has given me the last chance."

"Send two pigeon messages to prevent any mistakes!" Lü Fan reminded.

Lu Fan returned to his residence, his heart filled with extreme anxiety. If he did not resist, Jiangdong would be finished. Thinking of the difficulties Sun Ce had faced in establishing his power, Lu Fan could no longer hold back. He immediately wrote several letters and sent them to various parts of Jiangdong.

After dinner, Gan Ning played with his son for a while before returning to his study.

Today, the first piece of false intelligence has been sent out by Jichun Pharmacy to Hefei. The so-called false intelligence is nine parts true and one part false. It is true that the Western Chu army has retreated south across the board, it is true that most officials and people have moved south, it is true that the government treasury is empty, and it is true that there are Western Chu troops stationed in Queyue City.

However, the number of troops was false; there were only six thousand people in the city. The commander in the city was also fake; the commander was Fu Tong. Fu Tong was indeed in the city, but he was only the deputy commander.

Gan Ning was reading when Xu Wei brought in tea and smiled, saying, "This tea isn't too hot, my husband can have a couple of sips right away."

"Why so urgent?"

"Because Military Advisor Pang has arrived, saying he has urgent business to discuss!"

"I see!"

Gan Ning embraced Xu Wei and kissed her gently, then drank the hot tea in one gulp before smiling and heading towards the central courtyard.

In the guest room, Pang Tong placed two red letter tubes on the small table. "These were received in the evening, and they all contain the same message."

Gan Ning took the letter tube, shook out two rolls of thin silk, and slowly unfolded them. Both contained the same content.

The negotiations between Jiangdong and Cao Cao have been completed and an agreement is about to be signed. Sun Quan has given the final conditions for cooperation against Cao Cao: in exchange for handing over Bu Zhi to Jiangdong, they will agree to allow them to station troops in Danyang County.

"You've crossed my line!"

Gan Ning shook his head. "I can't possibly agree to that."

"This subordinate has already asked Song Kuan to obtain the contents of the agreement between Jiangdong and Cao Cao as soon as possible."

Gan Ning smiled faintly, "Jia Xu's purpose was simply to prevent our two families from cooperating against Cao Cao; the terms in the agreement are actually meaningless."

"But these terms are meaningful to Jiangdong, at least Jiangdong is serious about them."

Gan Ning nodded. "You're right. These clauses will reveal Jiangdong's bottom line. Let's get them as soon as possible!"

"How should we reply to this message sent by pigeon?" Pang Tong asked again.

"I'll tell you that I refused outright and I will never hand Bu Zhi over to Jiangdong."

"Understood, Your Excellency. Also, I received another piece of news today regarding Jiangbei."

"What news?" Gan Ning asked, his gaze fixed on Pang Tong.

"Cao's army suddenly accelerated its military operations. Yesterday, 50,000 troops crossed the Wan River and captured Wan County that night."

Gan Ning sneered, "It seems the intelligence we provided worked." Gan Ning took two steps with his hands behind his back, then said, "Keep a close eye on Cao Cao's army's movements north of the river and report to me at any time."

"I understand the humble position!"

Pang Tong took his leave, and Gan Ning pondered for a moment before returning to his study.

After receiving the crucial military intelligence from Wang Yao, Cao Ren finally understood Gan Ning's deployment north of the Yangtze River. The entire north of the Yangtze River had been withdrawn, leaving only Queyue City on the east bank of the Han River, where 6,000 troops were stationed.

Cao Ren immediately changed his plans, leaving Yue Jin to guard Hefei, while he personally led an army of 50,000 to march rapidly westward. He also ordered Yu Jin to oversee the supply of provisions and ensure a continuous supply of food.

In just three days, Cao Ren led his army across the Wan River and captured Wan County.

Cao Ren did not continue westward but waited for the grain convoy to arrive.

Taking Wan County would mean capturing Lujiang Prefecture. Further west, there is only Xunyang County, which is small and has low walls, so it is not a threat.

Cao Ren stood on the city wall, his gaze fixed on the south. At this moment, Zhang Liao slowly walked to his side and said in a deep voice, "General, are you thinking of Queyue City?"

Cao Ren sighed and said, "I don't quite understand. When I suffered a crushing defeat in Jiangxia County, Gan Ning attached great importance to it and was willing to do anything to defend it. Why is he giving up so easily now?"

Zhang Liao smiled and said, "Times have changed!"

Cao Ren turned and glanced at Zhang Liao. "What do you mean by that?"

“Back then, Gan Ning spared no effort to protect Jiangxia County. He did it to protect the salt source. Jiangxia County was his only salt source. Now that he has taken Jiaozhou, he can directly boil seawater to make salt. With a new, large-scale salt source, the importance of Jiangxia County has been greatly reduced.”

Cao Cao suddenly realized, and gave Zhang Liao an approving look, "Wen Yuan really sees things clearly!"

Zhang Liao thought for a moment and said, "Actually, Xunyang County is very important. Chaisang is just across the Yangtze River from it. I think it is necessary for us to expand Xunyang County."

Is it really necessary?

Cao Ren hesitated for a moment. “Once we take Danyang County, we can go directly to Yuzhang County by land and won’t need to go by water anymore.”

"not like this!"

Zhang Liao shook his head and gave a bitter smile, saying, "I talked with General Yu Jin. He had been stationed in Pengze County for several months and was quite familiar with the situation in Yuzhang County. He told me that Yuzhang County and Danyang County are separated by many mountains. Although there are mountain paths, it is difficult to march, especially the transportation of food. Soldiers can only carry dry rations on their backs, and they may run out of food before they even leave the mountains. In fact, even if we capture Danyang County, we still have to transport food by the Yangtze River."

Cao Ren frowned, realizing that he had been presumptuous and didn't understand the terrain between Danyang and Yuzhang counties at all, assuming that they could go directly by land.

"And what's your opinion?"

"Expand Xunyang County to prepare for the future attack on Chaisang."

Cao Ren eventually accepted Zhang Liao's suggestion. He mobilized all the able-bodied men he could find in Lujiang County and transferred 10,000 troops from Hefei. Tens of thousands of troops and civilians worked together to build the city and expand Xunyang County, while also constructing a warship dock.

Meanwhile, the grain convoy escorted by Yu Jin had arrived, and Cao Ren led his army to continue marching towards Jiangxia County.

Now that Cao Ren knew about the Western Chu army's deployment in Jiangxia County, he wasted no more time and marched straight into Pozhu, capturing Qichun County, Zhu County, and Xiling County. His 50,000-strong army marched straight towards Queyue City.

This was also a major reason why Gan Ning was so eager to provide Cao Ren with intelligence. Time was running out, and he didn't want Cao Ren to waste too much time on the road. He hoped that Cao's army could enter the Battle of Queyue City as soon as possible. Only by making Cao's army suffer a crushing defeat could Cao Cao's southern expedition plan be ultimately affected. This was Gan Ning's last gamble.

It may not have much effect, but it's better than doing nothing at all.

The timing was extremely critical. Cao Ren's army had just arrived at Queyue City when Jia Xu received the so-called reply from Prime Minister Cao in Ye City, agreeing to the request that Cao's army would not provide Sun Ben with any military support.

However, just as Sun Quan received the full text of the negotiation agreement reached by both sides, the final showdown between the pro-peace and pro-war factions in Jiangdong began.

(End of this chapter)