Tiger Owl

Chapter 283 Cao-Sun Negotiations
Zhou Yu stationed his troops in Wuhu Town. The naval logistics base in Jingdong no longer existed. He wanted to attack the main camp in Liyang County, Jiangbei, but he found that his army's morale was low. If he forced a battle, he would suffer a crushing defeat.

Left with no other option, Zhou Yu had to withdraw his troops to Wuhu Town to consider his next move.

Zhou Yu is also confused now. He can't see the future. He originally went ashore to attack Cao Cao's army that was besieging Dantu, but he suddenly received an order that Wu Hou was negotiating with Cao Cao's army and that he was not allowed to make any rash moves that would disrupt the negotiations.

Zhou Yu was in a bad mood. His most pressing problem was that supplies had been cut off, and the food supplies would only last for a few more days. He needed to find a way to get more food.

That afternoon, just as Zhou Yu was about to go ashore, a soldier suddenly reported, "Lu Su, the military advisor of Western Chu, has arrived!"

Inside the council chamber, Zhou Yu finished reading the personal letter Gan Ning had written to him. Gan Ning was not asking him to surrender, but rather inviting him to garrison at Pengze to discuss how to jointly deal with Cao Cao's army.

Zhou Yu had enough emotional intelligence; he knew that Gan Ning wanted to recruit him, but he used a roundabout way: first cooperate, then surrender. Regardless of whether he could accept this approach, the urgent food shortage made it impossible for him to refuse.

He hesitated for a moment and said, "I can station myself in Pengze, but I need food supplies, urgently!"

"of course can!"

Lu Su paused, then cautiously said, "Gongjin, won't you ask more questions?"

Zhou Yu smiled faintly, walked to the porthole with his hands behind his back, and stared intently out the window. After a long while, his voice became extremely weary, "Zijing, you don't actually think I'm loyal to Jiangdong, do you?"

Lu Su's eyes widened in surprise. He never expected Zhou Yu to say such a thing. "But...but..." Lu Su was at a loss for words.

Zhou Yu said softly, “I was only loyal to Bo Fu and to the mutual respect between us. But after he was assassinated by a group of people, my heart turned cold. I was willing to be marginalized and forgotten by Sun Quan. All my service to Jiangdong was out of old affection for the cause that Bo Fu left behind. But after the Bu Zhi incident, that old affection has completely disappeared. I have seen through the true nature of Jiangdong and foreseen its fate long ago.”

Having said this, he turned back to Lu Su with a firm gaze and said, "Go and tell the Marquis of Chu that if he can defeat Cao Cao's army, I, Zhou Yu, am willing to serve him faithfully for the rest of my life; but if he cannot..."

Zhou Yu turned back to look at the river and sighed deeply, "Then I, Zhou Yu, will retire to the mountains and forests and never concern myself with politics again!"

That afternoon, Zhou Yu ordered the fleet to set sail, heading towards Pengze County in a grand procession.

Dantu County was the second capital of Jiangdong. It took a whole year to build. The city walls were extremely high and sturdy, the moat was deep and wide, and the city gates were made of cast iron. No matter how strong the battering ram was, it could not be broken open. Moreover, there were 1.5 million shi of grain, hundreds of thousands of guan of copper coins, and various supplies piled up in warehouses. These were all Jiangdong's solid assets.

There were still 80,000 troops inside the city, personally commanded by Lü Fan, who was the most determined to resist Cao Cao. Of course, the real military power was in Sun Quan's hands, and he could dismiss Lü Fan at any time if he wanted to.

However, Sun Quan's will was never controlled by Lü Fan. The foundation of his rule was the major clans of Jiangdong, and their attitudes determined his own. On the one hand, Sun Quan was coerced by the powerful peace faction and sent Zhang Zhao out of the city to negotiate. On the other hand, out of fear for his own safety, he appointed Lü Fan as the city's defense commissioner, leading 80,000 troops to defend the city against Cao Cao.

These two completely different attitudes reflect Sun Quan's inner conflict of gain and loss, but his true desire is that the besieging army will suddenly withdraw for some reason.

This was Zhang Zhao's third time leaving the city to negotiate with Cao Zhi, or rather, with Xun You. Cao Zhi had been hiding behind the scenes, while Xun You was the one pushed to the forefront.

“Military Advisor Xun, we both know in our hearts that if you could capture Dantu County, I wouldn’t have the chance to sit here at all, would I?”

Zhang Zhao spoke frankly, “We have enough food and strong city defenses to hold out for one or two years without any problem, but you cannot afford to drag this out. However, Lord Wu does not want to see the people in the city suffer from the siege, so I have come to you with the utmost sincerity to find a solution that can be accepted by both of us.”

Xun You stared at Zhang Zhao for a long time before smiling faintly: "Before we begin our formal discussions today, let me first address the question posed by Military Advisor Zhang or Marquis Wu last time. You questioned why we broke the seven-year agreement we reached earlier. The last clause of that agreement clearly states that if either of us substantially violates the agreement, then the agreement can be voided at any time."

Zhang Zhao sneered, "Is Strategist Xun implying that we have violated the agreement?" Xun You nodded slightly, "Article 3 of the agreement states that the total strength of the Jiangdong Army cannot exceed 80,000 men, but in reality you have 160,000, which is twice the amount stipulated in the agreement. Isn't this a substantial violation of the agreement?"

Zhang Zhao was stunned for a moment, then quickly explained, "But the agreement did not specify a timeframe for troop reduction. We plan to reduce the army to 80,000 within a year."

"As Zhang Junshi said, the agreement did not specify the time for troop reduction, but we determined the timeframe to be one month. We believe that one month is enough to disband 80,000 troops."

"Can."

"No buts!"

Xun You forcefully interrupted him, "It is precisely because of your substantial breach of contract that we have decided to abolish the agreement. This is our official response to Jiangdong!"

Zhang Zhao was speechless for a moment. They had deliberately left a loophole by not specifying a timeframe for troop reduction, but now they realized it was a trap set by the other side.

After a long pause, he sighed and said, "There's no point in arguing about this now. Let's continue to discuss how to resolve the current crisis!"

An hour later, Zhang Zhao took his leave. Their negotiations had made no progress, but both sides left room for maneuver, agreeing on a time for the next round of negotiations, and giving Xun You a buffer period by saying that he needed to report to the Prime Minister.

Xun You saw Zhang Zhao off and then went to Cao Zhi's tent.

Cao Zhi's main tent was the Plum Blossom Tent, consisting of one main tent and five secondary tents. There were also two beautiful concubines in the main tent.

Cao Zhi was very tall and handsome, and his two concubines looked at him with great affection.

His elder brother Cao Pi was in charge of guarding Ye City, so he followed his father on the southern expedition. This time, his father sent him to lead the Jiangdong war. He was the true supreme commander, and Xun You had to obey his orders.

"What did Zhang Zhao say?" Cao Zhi asked, his hands behind his back.

"The conditions they put forward were unrealistic. They demanded that we withdraw our troops, and in return, they were willing to be completely loyal to the court and the prime minister, who was essentially a second Sun Ben."

Cao Zhi sneered, "Once the fish are on the cutting board, they can only ask whether they should be made into soup or steamed."

"I proposed to him that Sun Quan could nominally retain the title of Marquis of Wu, but the army, finances, and the appointment and removal of local officials must all be handed over to us, but Zhang Zhao flatly refused."

"No consensus has been reached at all?" Cao Zhi asked again.

“We reached an agreement. I proposed that we open up the south city and allow the people to leave the city at will, and Zhang Zhao agreed.”

This was a vicious plan devised by Jia Xu to attack people's hearts. Once an opening was made, it would be like opening a bleeding wound in the human body, and the morale and will to resist of the soldiers, civilians and officials in the city would soon be completely exhausted.

This was also the method Bu Zhi used to attack Jiaozhi County, and it was very effective.

Cao Zhi smiled slightly and said, "This is a good idea. We will carry it out!"

(End of this chapter)