Tiger Owl

Chapter 296 Negotiations break down
The marriage alliance failed, and the withdrawal negotiations did not take place. Jia Xu left early the next morning.

Gan Ning had no time to concern himself with these matters; the autumn harvest season was approaching, and his Jiaozhi rice was ready to be harvested.

Rice harvesting is in full swing across the country, including in the 3,000-mu experimental field, where more than 100 farmers are working hard to harvest the new rice.

Surrounded by dozens of officials, Gan Ning stood on the edge of the field, inspecting the rice harvest in the experimental field.

The manager said with a smile, "Reporting to Lord Chu, this type of Jiaozhi rice is very suitable for our local land and climate. It has a short growing season, yields 60% more, and more importantly, it can be grown in two seasons. It is simply a treasure for farmers."

How many farmers have registered to plant seeds?

“There are more than 70,000 households, but we can only select 20,000. We don’t have enough seeds, so the rest can only be planted the year after next, or we can let them plant autumn grain next year.”

Gan Ning nodded, then turned to Jiang Wan and said, "From now on, I'll leave things to Chief Secretary Jiang. We must ensure the successful and widespread adoption of the new rice variety!"

Jiang Wan immediately bowed and said, "Please rest assured, Lord Chu, I will personally oversee the new rice cultivation. Three years from now, it will definitely be successfully promoted and implemented!"

At this time, Jia Xu had returned to Hefei, reported the details of the negotiations, and finally presented the memorandum of the meeting to Cao Cao.

"Prime Minister, regarding Hanzhong, I believe there is indeed a possibility. If Liu Bei destroys Zhang Lu, Hanzhong..."

"I see!"

Cao Cao interrupted him, "Right now, I'm not concerned about Hanzhong, but about a marriage alliance!"

Cao Cao's voice suddenly rose, filled with deep dissatisfaction, "Who would dare refuse my daughter, Cao Cao's daughter? To want her as a concubine is simply outrageous!"

At this point, Cao Cao coldly ordered, "Notify General Xiahou of Jiangdong to prepare for the western expedition."

Cao Cao had been hesitant for some time, considering whether to attack Yuzhang Commandery. There was actually a land route between Jiangdong and Yuzhang Commandery, but it was too difficult. Moreover, Cao Cao wanted to stabilize Jiangdong and focus his energy on developing Jiangdong.

However, Gan Ning was clearly also eyeing Jiangdong. With the Jiangbei army no longer able to threaten Gan Ning, Cao Cao wanted to use a marriage alliance to stabilize Gan Ning and buy him time to completely control Jiangdong.

But now that the marriage alliance has failed, Cao Cao has no choice but to take the initiative and thwart Gan Ning's ambitions toward Jiangdong. He appointed Xiahou Yuan as General Who Conquers the West and Commander of the Jiangdong Army, appointed Xun You as Military Advisor, and appointed his third son Cao Zhi as Governor of Yangzhou and Prefect of Wu Commandery, in charge of the four commanderies of Wu, Guangling, Danyang and Kuaiji, while also coordinating the logistics of the western expeditionary army.

There are three routes to attack Yuzhang County from Jiangdong. One route is the Yangtze River waterway to the north, which is the most important passage, but it is currently impassable. The remaining two land routes are: one is to go through Zhejiang in the south of Danyang County, passing through Shexian County, and entering the territory of Yuzhang County.

Another route was through Kuaiji Commandery, passing through Damu County and entering Yuzhang Commandery. Both land routes passed through mountainous areas, with rugged and arduous roads. However, Cao Cao had no choice but to either wait for Gan Ning's army to attack by water or take the initiative to strike.

Sun Ben's mission was to take the southern route, which was to go through Kuaiji Commandery and enter Yuzhang Commandery from Damo County. He received 40,000 troops from Cao Cao, including 20,000 troops led by He Qi and another 20,000 surrendered Jiangdong troops led by General Pan Zhang, plus 10,000 troops commanded by Han Dang, for a total of 50,000 troops, including a large amount of money, food and supplies.

Sun Ben personally led his army to Damu County, intending to use it as a logistical hub to capture Yu County in Yuzhang Prefecture, which was 300 li away. Yu County was the logistical supply base he truly desired.

Inside the temporary government office, Sun Ben, along with his strategist Wei Jing and several generals, discussed battle plans while looking at the map. He Qi was also among them.

He Qi's secret surrender to Cao Cao was not made public. On the surface, he remained Sun Ben's subordinate. However, He Qi had previously acted disloyally, his attitude was ambiguous, and he disobeyed orders on several occasions, which greatly angered Sun Ben. Although Sun Ben was quite dissatisfied with He Qi's ambiguous attitude, He Qi had already firmly controlled his 20,000 troops. Even if he was dissatisfied, Sun Ben had no choice but to accept it.

Sun Ben slowly said, "I have received information that Xiahou Yuan has stationed 150,000 troops in Qiantang County, while Shexian County in Danyang Prefecture only has a few thousand troops and a few thousand mules and horses to transport money and supplies. At this rate of transport, it will be impossible to prepare enough food and supplies for 150,000 troops by the end of the year. Xiahou Yuan is so lax. Obviously, he wants me to go ahead and let Gan Ning's army deal with us first, so that he can observe the strength of Gan Ning's army."

Sun Ben's judgment was unanimously agreed upon by everyone, except for He Qi, whose eyes flickered but he remained silent.

"General He!"

Sun Ben's tone was tinged with dissatisfaction, "Do you not agree with my analysis?"

He Qi quickly bowed and said, "This humble servant dares not. This humble servant was just thinking, there is clearly the Zhe River that can be used for water transport, but they insist on transporting supplies by land?"

"And what do you mean?" Sun Ben continued to ask coldly.

"I believe the general is right; Xiahou Yuan is indeed using us."

Sun Ben's dissatisfaction subsided slightly, and he turned to ask the strategist Wei Jing, "Strategist, what should we do in this situation?"

Wei Jing pointed to Yu County on the map with a wooden stick and said, "Yu County is key to us. If we can't take Yu County, our army will have nowhere to land after entering Yuzhang County, and our logistics will be inadequate. In the end, we will fall into chaos without a fight. So no matter what, we must take Yu County in November. We don't need many troops, five or six thousand will be enough. Too many troops will trigger a strong counterattack from the enemy."

"When will we launch a full-scale attack on Yuzhang County?" Sun Ben asked again.

"The end of the year and the beginning of the new year!" Wei Jing said with a smile.

Sun Ben nodded, then turned to look at Pan Zhang. "General Pan, are you willing to take on this vanguard mission?"

Pan Zhang immediately bowed and said, "This humble officer is willing to accept the mission!"

After the failed marriage alliance, Gan Ning realized that Cao Cao was about to launch an attack on him by land. He quickly mobilized his troops, ordering Zhao Yun, Taishi Ci, and Ding Feng to lead 80,000 men south to Nanchang to prepare for the land attack.

Inside the official residence, Gan Ning stood on the sand table, his eyes fixed on Yu County. He said in a deep voice to the three strategists, "Sun Ben came from Damu County. There was no human habitation or supplies along the way. He must have a foothold in Yuzhang County to supply his army. Just like when we attacked Changsha County by land, we had to take Liling County first. Sun Ben will definitely take Yu County as his foothold in Yuzhang County. Yu County is the key."

Lu Su said from the side, "Xiahou Yuan is stationed in Qiantang County, but he is reluctant to send troops. He is probably waiting for Sun Ben to make the first move to attract our main force, and then he will lead his army from Zheshui County to attack Yuzhang County."

Xu Shu also said, "Cao Cao's intention is very clear: to use us to eliminate Sun Ben, while Sun Ben wants to take advantage of this opportunity to seize the southern part of Yuzhang Commandery and Luling Commandery, gain a foothold, and finally set his sights on Jiaozhou."

Gan Ning nodded slightly, glanced at Pang Tong who was deep in thought, and asked, "What are your thoughts, Military Advisor Pang?"

Pang Tong smiled slightly, "We can turn the tables on them!"

(End of this chapter)