Tiger Owl

Chapter 86 The Second Grandson Divides the Family
Zhou Yu had no choice but to put aside the matter of Taishi Ci and bowed again, saying, "The scouts I sent out discovered that a large number of warships loaded with supplies arrived in Shouchun a few days ago. There were three batches of supplies, each time with thousands of warships. It is clear that Cao Cao is supporting Sun Ben."

"Did the fleet all come from the Central Plains?"

"Exactly!"

Sun Quan's gaze turned serious. The conflict with Gan Ning was merely a matter of gaining or losing a city or a territory, but if Sun Ben turned against him, it would mean life or death.

"We must take back Danyang County as soon as possible!"

Sun Ben's control of Danyang County has always been a thorn in Sun Quan's side. Unlike the counties north of the Yangtze River, Danyang County is separated by the Yangtze River. If the counties north of the Yangtze River are the outer garment of Jiangdong, then Danyang County is the flesh and blood of Wu County. It is completely seamlessly connected with Wu County and can be easily invaded from any place, making it impossible for Sun Quan to defend against.

Zhou Yu suggested, "Reporting to Lord Wu, the best course of action right now is for us to take the initiative, storm into Danyang County, catch Sun Ben's army off guard, and drive him out of Danyang County completely. Otherwise, Sun Ben will never give up Danyang County on his own initiative."

Sun Quan knew that it was best to strike first, but he wasn't ready to completely turn against Sun Ben, or rather, the cost of turning against Sun Ben was too high for him to bear.

Sun Quan paused for a moment before saying, "Let me think about it some more!"

Zhou Yu sighed inwardly, bowed, and said, "This humble servant will take his leave now!"

Just then, a guard reported from below the hall, "Reporting to my lord, Military Advisor Zhang has arrived!"

"Summon him in immediately!"

Sun Quan then said to Zhou Yu, "Gongjin, don't rush to leave. Listen to the strategist's opinion."

Zhou Yu stood silently to one side.

Soon, Zhang Zhao entered, bowed, and said, "Greetings, my lord!"

Sun Quan said with great concern, "Just now, Commander Zhou brought me some important news. Cao Cao sent thousands of ships of money and supplies to Sun Ben and began to support him. I am very worried about Danyang County. Commander Zhou advised me to take Danyang County first. What do you think, strategist?"

Zhang Zhao said slowly, "We must take Danyang County, but the timing is not right now."

Zhou Yu, standing nearby, couldn't help but ask, "What do you mean by 'the timing isn't right,' strategist?"

Zhang Zhao sighed and said, "Commander Zhou may not know yet, but Cao Ren has led 50,000 troops south to Guangling County, and Yue Jin has led 5,000 vanguard troops to Huaiyin County."

Zhou Yu's heart sank. He knew that Cao Cao would not sit idly by and watch them take Guangling County. Cao Cao had ordered Cao Ren to lead a large army to garrison Xuzhou, ready to march south at any time, and now he had indeed come.

Zhou Yu immediately said to Sun Quan, "Lord Wu, Guangling Commandery only has Xu Kun's 20,000 troops, which I'm afraid cannot withstand Cao Cao's fierce army."

Zhang Zhao continued, "The timing is wrong here. Cao Cao's army is marching south, and it is by no means the time for a civil war to break out. Moreover, there must be a connection between Cao Cao's army marching south and Cao Cao's support for Sun Ben. I suggest that Lord Wu not rush to make a decision and wait and see for the time being."

Sun Quan nodded and immediately said to Zhou Yu, "Gongjin, you can go to Jingkou immediately. If the situation in Guangling County becomes critical, you can take over Xu Kun's army across the Yangtze River."

"Yes, sir!" Zhou Yu hurriedly left.

Watching Zhou Yu leave, Zhang Zhao whispered to Sun Quan, "My lord, you must prepare for the worst and divide the country with Sun Ben across the river."

Sun Quan was startled, "Is it that serious?"

Zhang Zhao nodded. "Cao Cao won a great victory at the Battle of Guandu. It's only a matter of time before he takes over Hebei. Cao Cao is now going to make his move on the south. Sun Ben is part of his plan. He's using Sun Ben to contain us. His real target is Liu Bei and Liu Biao in the west. At this time, my lord must focus on internal development and take over Danyang County as soon as possible. Only then will we have iron ore resources, which will allow us to smelt iron and expand our army."

One of the most important reasons why Sun Quan was so eager to reclaim Danyang Commandery was its iron mines. Although Kuaiji Commandery also had some iron mines, the quantity was too small, and the main source of iron ore was still Danyang Commandery.

"Does the strategist have a way to retake Danyang County?"

Zhang Zhao pondered for a moment and said, "Let's wait and see! I estimate that Cao Cao will make arrangements soon."

Cao Cao's 50,000-strong army marched south with unstoppable momentum. Three days later, the vanguard arrived at Gaoyou County, where the county magistrate opened the city gates to welcome Cao Cao's army. Guangling County was originally Cao Cao's territory. Jiangdong only seized Guangling County by taking advantage of Li Shu's rebellion. Guangling County connects the Yangtze River and the Huai River, directly threatening Xuzhou. Of course, Cao Cao would not give Guangling County to Jiangdong.

Gaoyou County is only a little over 100 li away from Guangling County. At present, Guangling County only has Xu Kun's 20,000 troops, which is not enough to resist the southward advance of Cao Cao's 50,000 elite troops. The situation is critical, and Sun Quan immediately ordered Xu Kun to lead his troops back to Jiangnan.

It was clear that Guangling Commandery was beyond saving. Sun Quan did not want to lose 20,000 troops, so he had to cut his losses and abandon Guangling Commandery. Xu Kun's 20,000 troops had just withdrawn when Cao Ren led 50,000 troops to attack Guangling County. The county magistrate, Song Kuan, led the army and civilians to surrender.

Meanwhile, Jia Xu arrived in Shouchun and met Sun Ben once again.

The two men sat down in the main hall of the military headquarters. Sun Ben said very humbly, "I will always remember Cao Cao's support. Please tell Cao Cao that I am willing to go through fire and water for him!"

Jia Xu waved his hand and laughed, "Cao Cao is currently focused on conquering Hebei and Hedong, and has no time to attend to Jiangdong. Therefore, Cao Cao needs to support a force loyal to him. Originally, he considered supporting Gan Ning, but Gan Ning is unruly and has repeatedly disrupted Cao Cao's overall plans. Cao Cao has lost faith in him. Granting him a title is just fulfilling a previous promise, and there will be no more such titles in the future."

On the contrary, General Sun and Cao Cao are related by marriage, and Cao Cao hopes that General Sun can become the ruler of Jiangdong. I mentioned this to you in Nanchang before. Now Cao Cao is beginning to provide substantial support to you, but the prerequisite is that General Sun must obey Cao Cao's strategic plans without compromise. Can General Sun do that?

Sun Ben was deeply moved and choked up as he said, "Lord Cao treated me like one of his own, how could I not repay his kindness!"

Jia Xu nodded. "General Cao Ren has already taken Guangling County. Lord Cao has decided to split Guangling County. The area south of the Huai River will still be called Guangling County, while the area north of the Huai River will be merged with Xiapi County to form Xiapi County. The new Guangling County will be entrusted to you."

Sun Ben was overjoyed. He had wanted Guangling Commandery before but had not obtained it. Now Cao Cao had actually given it to him.

"I am deeply grateful for Lord Cao's kindness!"

Jia Xu then slowly said, "Lord Cao still needs to appease Sun Quan, so he is considering exchanging Danyang Commandery for Lujiang Commandery. You should prepare to withdraw your troops from Danyang Commandery!"

Sun Ben was truly unwilling. Danyang Commandery was his stronghold. He had been the Commandant of Danyang since the time of Liu Yao and controlled Danyang Commandery. Later, he reached an agreement with Sun Ce, in which Sun Ce would exchange Yuzhang Commandery and Luling Commandery for his Danyang Commandery. It was only because Yuzhang Commandery had a large population and abundant resources that Sun Ben reluctantly agreed.

But now the population of Lujiang County has been almost completely taken away. Exchanging Danyang County for Lujiang County would be a huge loss for him.

Jia Xu stared at him sharply, "This is Cao Cao's decision. Do you think it's my idea?"

Helpless, Sun Ben could only sigh and say, "Since it is Cao Cao's arrangement, I will naturally obey, but I have three small conditions."

"Say it!"

"First, my son Sun Ande is back with me, and he no longer needs to be a hostage."

"can!"

Jia Xu readily agreed, then said, "Let's move on to the second condition."

"My second condition is that the imperial court grant me the title of Marquis of this county!"

Gan Ning was granted the title of Marquis of Wuchang County after only one year, which greatly displeased Sun Ben. He felt extremely resentful that he had only reached the rank of Pavilion Marquis.

"General, are you dissatisfied with Gan Ning being granted the title of Marquis of a County?"

“That’s absolutely right. I’ve been roaming the Jianghuai region for nearly ten years, but I’m only a pavilion marquis, not even a township marquis. Why can Gan Ning be made a county marquis in just one year? I’m not convinced!”

Jia Xu said calmly, "Gan Ning has his reasons for being enfeoffed as a county marquis. If General Sun wants to be enfeoffed as a county marquis, you need to show results and let Cao Cao see your abilities."

What do you need me to do?

“I don’t know either, but at least you can defeat Gan Ning, that’s the bare minimum. For example, there’s still a piece of land in Lujiang County that Gan Ning still controls. Cao Cao can’t help you with that, you’ll have to deal with it yourself.”

Sun Ben nodded silently.

Jia Xu then said, "Now, state your third condition!"

"My third condition is that Lujiang County has too few people, and I hope that some people can be relocated from the north to Lujiang County."

What a coincidence! Runan County suffered a major disaster this year, and hundreds of thousands of people fled to Xuzhou for food, giving our lord a huge headache. Wouldn't it be perfect to relocate these hundreds of thousands of people to Lujiang County?
Jia Xu nodded, "These two conditions aren't too demanding; I can agree on behalf of my lord."

Sun Ben bowed and said, "I will follow the strategist's orders at any time!"

(End of this chapter)