Traveling back in time to Liu Feng, starting with rescuing soldier Guan Yu.

Chapter 99: Raising an army of 100,000 to conquer Liu Feng

Upon hearing that Sun Quan intended to personally lead the army into battle, Lu Xun frowned slightly and clasped his hands in a fist, saying, "If our lord personally leads the army, our morale will surely be greatly boosted. However, our lord's safety is tied to the fate of Jiangdong, and war is fraught with danger; there may be unforeseen events. I, Lu Xun, am willing to lead the army south in your lord's stead and join forces with Lü Dai to attack Changsha."

"Boyan, there's no need to persuade me further."

Sun Quan turned around, a sharp glint flashing in his blue eyes.

"I have followed my father and brothers in battle since childhood, and I am very familiar with military affairs. This southward march is not out of greed for merit or recklessness, but to make the aristocratic families of Jingnan understand the situation. Jiangdong will never abandon them, and I want the aristocratic families of Jingnan to know that following Liu Feng will come at a price. Our army has been building up its strength in Jingnan for many days; how can we just hand it over? This battle must not only be fought, but it must be fought swiftly and ruthlessly!"

Sun Quan walked back to the map, his blue eyes sweeping over the four commanderies of Jingnan, his tone resolute.

"Ziming, Boyan, I am also knowledgeable in military affairs, so you two need not persuade me any further."

Lu Xun and Lü Meng exchanged a glance, then clasped their hands in a fist salute to accept the order.

Sun Quan looked out the window at the continuous spring rain, the eaves dripping water, which pounded against the bluestone slabs, as if the war drums were already beating ahead.

Jiangling City, the Grand Governor's Mansion.

The spring rain had just stopped, and the puddles on the bluestone slabs reflected the hazy sky. The day after Sun Quan visited Lü Meng to check on his health, he convened a military meeting in the main hall of the governor's mansion.

The walls of the main hall were adorned with a map of the entire Jingzhou region and a hydrological map of the Yangtze River. Lu Meng, who was ill, sat at the head of the table, his face ashen, yet he still forced himself to keep his back straight.

Lu Xun stood before the map, a long, thin bamboo whip in his hand. Generals Zhu Ran and Sun Huan stood on either side, their armor and weapons removed. Clearly, Sun Quan had already planned his strategy before setting off for Jiangling, and had ordered Zhu Ran and Sun Huan to return from their respective defense zones in advance.

Sun Quan stood with his hands behind his back in the hall, his blue eyes sweeping over the crowd, and went straight to the point: "I have decided to personally lead the army south along the Xiang River and take Linxiang City directly."

Zhu Ran, a veteran general from Jiangdong, frowned slightly, clasped his hands, and said, "My lord, Liu Feng's foundation in Jingnan is not yet stable. Our army will attack from two directions, Jiaozhou and Jiangxia, forcing him to be unable to attend to both ends. We will surely defeat Liu Feng. My lord only needs to remain safely in Jiangling to oversee the overall situation. Why must you personally lead the charge?"

Sun Quan raised his hand, signaling Zhu Ran that he didn't need to say anything more.

"Boyan's suggestion of attacking from two directions is indeed a prudent strategy, but it is not prudent enough."

Sun Quan walked up to the map and pointed to the location of Linxiang City.

"Liu Feng is a cunning and unpredictable military strategist. To deal with him, we must use overwhelming force, a swift and decisive battle, leaving him no room to maneuver. My mind is made up. I will leave Ziming to garrison Jiangling to guard against Guan Yu's troops in Xiangyang, Jingbei. Boyan will guard Yiling to block Zhang Fei's route out of Sichuan. I will personally lead the main army south to pacify Changsha in one fell swoop."

Sun Quan turned around, his green eyes sweeping over the faces of the generals in the hall. Suddenly, a cold smile appeared on his lips, and he said in a deep voice, "Where is Wen Ze?"

Outside the hall, a thin figure appeared in response.

Yu Jin was dressed in the Mingguang armor of the Eastern Wu style. The armor was brand new, and the shoulder armor still had unworn edges.

He had a thin face and a sorrowful expression between his brows. After being captured by Guan Yu after flooding the seven armies, he had been imprisoned in Jiangling City until Sun Quan arrived and he was taken out of prison.

At this moment, most of his beard had turned white, but his spine remained straight. After all, he was one of the Five Elite Generals of Cao Wei, and the military spirit in his bones had not been worn away by imprisonment.

"Your subordinate is here."

"I will return to you the more than 20,000 surrendered Cao soldiers who were originally imprisoned in Jiangling City."

Sun Quan took a tiger tally from the table and personally handed it to Yu Jin.

"These 30,000 men, I have cared for them for a long time, and they have never lacked food or clothing. Now I will still enlist them under your command to accompany me on my southern expedition."

Once we win this battle, I will grant you permission to return north and go back to your homeland.

Yu Jin accepted the tiger tally with both hands and remained silent for a long time.

The old general who knelt before Guan Yu outside Fancheng to surrender showed little emotion on his face at this moment.

Yu Jin simply gripped the tiger tally tightly, knelt on one knee, and said in a hoarse but heavy voice, "This humble general will do his utmost to serve you to the death."

Sun Quan nodded, then turned to the other side: "Zhu Ran."

"Your subordinate is here." Zhu Ran stepped forward and clasped his hands in greeting.

"You will lead 20,000 naval troops from Jiangxia southward along the Xiang River as the vanguard of the main army. You are most familiar with the Dongting waterway, so you will lead the way and strike the enemy first."

"This subordinate obeys."

"Uncle Wu".

A young general stepped forward in response. Sun Huan was a cousin of Sun Quan, and was only twenty-five or twenty-six years old this year. His face still had the sharpness of a young man. He was wearing silver armor and stood with his hand on his sword.

"You will lead 20,000 elite troops to accompany me, and at Jiangxia we will join Zhu Huan and Quan Cong's 30,000 troops to attack Linxiang by land!"

""

Sun Huan clasped his hands in a fist salute and said loudly, "This humble general will certainly not fail in his mission!"

Sun Quan's gaze finally turned to the southern end of the map: "Send an order to Lü Dai of Jiaozhou, instructing him to lead 8,000 detachments north from Jiaozhou to attack Lingling and Guiyang. There is no need to force the capture of the cities; the only purpose is to tie down Liu Feng's southern forces, preventing him from focusing all his efforts on the north."

Military orders were passed down one after another, and the generals in the hall received their orders in turn. Lu Xun stood in front of the map, his expression still as calm and cautious as ever.

After the generals had dispersed, he stepped forward and said in a low voice, "My lord, I have something to say."

Sun Quan turned around.

"This humble general has reviewed the recent military reports. In this campaign, our lord has drawn troops from multiple fronts, including Jiangxia, Yangzhou, and Hefei. The Hefei front has always been a place where Cao Wei has stationed a large number of troops. Although Zhang Liao has been transferred elsewhere, Cao Wei still has tens of thousands of troops stationed in Huainan. Now that nearly half of the troops have been withdrawn from the Hefei front, if Cao Wei takes the opportunity to invade the south, the heartland of Jiangdong may be in danger."

Upon hearing this, a smile appeared on Sun Quan's lips.

He took out a secret report from his sleeve and handed it to Lu Xun. "How could I not know what Boyan is worried about? Take a look at this."

Lu Xun took the secret report and unfolded it. His gaze swept over it, and his pupils narrowed slightly.

The secret report was sent back from Xuchang, and the sealing wax was pressed with a fish-shaped mark of the Eastern Wu spies.

The secret report was extremely brief.

Cao Cao died of illness in Luoyang a little over a month ago, and his heir Cao Pi succeeded him as King of Wei. In order to consolidate his power, Cao Pi has been replacing the generals of the Imperial Guards and purging the court officials who supported Cao Zhi in Xuchang in recent days. There are undercurrents in the Xuchang court, and it is unable to look south in the short term.

"Lord Cao is dead."

Sun Quan's voice was not loud, but it carried a long-suppressed sense of pleasure.

"Cao Pi has just succeeded to the throne and is busy reorganizing the court. He has no time to deal with Hefei. I want to take advantage of Cao Wei's inability to look south and concentrate my forces to crush Liu Feng in one fell swoop. Once Cao Pi has stabilized his position, Jingnan will be entirely in my hands."

Lu Xun returned the secret report to Sun Quan and said no more.

After the military meeting ended, Sun Quan stood alone in front of the map, his gaze sweeping south from Gong'an, along the Xiang River, across Dongting Lake, and finally settling on Linxiang.

His fingers tapped lightly on the city wall, his eyes gleaming with a deep light.

"Liu Feng,"

Sun Quan muttered the name to himself, "I want to see what you can use to withstand my 100,000-strong army."

In the south of Jiangling City, deep in a secluded alley, there is an inconspicuous silk shop.

The shop was small, and the paint on the door was peeling. During the day, only half of the door was open. The shopkeeper was an old man with gray hair and beard who spoke Mandarin with a Xuzhou accent.

There are hundreds or even thousands of such shops in Jiangling City, and they are inconspicuous.

That night, a solitary lamp was lit in a secret room in the backyard of the shop. A figure wearing a hooded cloak hurriedly pushed open the door and entered, lifting the hood to reveal Mi Fang's haggard and nervous face.

He took a silk scroll from the shopkeeper. The seal was stamped with a private seal, a mark that Mi Fang was very familiar with—the seal of his elder brother, Mi Zhu.

Mi Fang's hands trembled slightly as she unsealed the seal, unfolded the silk scroll, and began to read it by the dim light.

The letter was written by Mi Zhu himself.

Mi Fang's eyes reddened when she read the opening line, "My disciple Fang."

In his letter, Mi Zhu spoke earnestly, saying that the Mi family had served the Han dynasty for generations and had once devoted their entire fortune to helping the King of Hanzhong raise an army. Although Mi Fang was now trapped in Wu's camp, it was not too late for him to turn back.

Then, Mi Zhu mentioned his intention to marry Mi Fang's daughter, who was left in Chengdu, to Kou Wei, a general under Liu Feng. Kou Wei was a young and brave man who was deeply trusted by Liu Feng. If this marriage could be arranged, the Mi family and Liu Feng would become close relatives.

Mi Fang read the silk scroll three times in a row, her hands trembling more and more violently.

His year under Sun Quan was not easy.

Although Sun Quan treated him with reasonable courtesy, he was well aware of the cold looks and sarcastic remarks from the Jiangdong generals.

Whenever there was a military council, Mi Fang sat at the end of the table. He could only pretend not to hear the Jiangdong generals in front of him talking and laughing loudly, and occasionally a phrase like "selling out one's master for personal gain" would drift over.

Mi Fang carefully put away the silk book, tucked it close to her skin, and sat silently under the lamp for a long time.

The sound of the night watchman's clapper came from outside the window, once, twice, three times.

Mi Fang suddenly stood up, asked the shopkeeper for pen, ink, and silk, and began to write quickly by the lamplight.

The reply was short, containing only a few words.

"Sun Quan has assembled an army of 100,000 and will soon march south along the Xiang River to personally lead an expedition to Linxiang. We should request reinforcements immediately."

Mi Fang sealed the silk scroll and handed it to the shopkeeper, whispering, "Order the merchant ship to take the waterway, depart from Jiangling Ferry, detour through Jiangxia, and then sail south along the Xiang River to Linxiang to inform Liu Feng!"

The shopkeeper hid the silk scroll in the lining of the satin cloth and nodded. Mi Fang put her cloak back on and disappeared into the night.