“Haha! That Jiangdong General is at his end!” Warships slowly approached Xiakou. These warships were tattered from battle.
Jiangxia was now a battlefield between Jiangdong and Jingzhou. Both armies fought defiantly but neither side was able to obtain a decisive victory. Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang seemed evenly matched as they both used all kinds of strategies to fight.
Two generals laughed as they got off a warship. These two were Zhuge Liang’s subordinates, Huo Jun and Li Yan. Huo Jun’s brother Huo Dun once gathered a few hundred men to fight for Liu Biao. After Huo Dun’s death, his position as leader of this few hundred men was inherited by Huo Jun.
As for Li Yan, he was a competent civil official from Nanyang. Both he and Huo Dun should never have met but they now stood on the same stage because of Zhuge Liang.
Initially, Liu Biao hired Zhuge Liang to show the others from the Lumen Academy. After all, Zhuge Liang had the prestige of being the famed Sima Wei’s disciple. However, Zhuge Liang was more formidable than rumored. The declining Jiangxia navy was now able to fight back against Jiangdong.
When Zhuge Liang heard of these two, he already had expectations of them and was not disappointed. Both of them were generals commanding over ten thousand men. Li Yan was also in charge of Zhuge Liang’s guards. Both of them now already had high positions. For that reason, they were grateful to Zhuge Liang. Only Zhuge Liang would actually make use of them.
That day, the two of them were ordered to fight at Sanjiangkou. They managed to destroy several ships. Li Yan also almost managed to kill Han Dang with the ballista. Jiangdong’s strength came from their veteran generals but now, these generals were old. Zhuge Liang exploited this weak point.
Veterans are usually arrogant and proud while young generals would not have opportunity to command the troops. Jiangdong Army’s veteran had won many battles so Zhuge Liang took advantage of the man’s arrogance. Now Sanjiangkou was half abandoned by Jiangdong.
“Generals. The Military Advisor asks you two to see him.” A messenger said just as the two generals were discussing as to where they were going to have fun for the night.
“The Military Advisor is looking for us?” Li Yan shared a glance with Huo Jun. Zhuge Liang would not go looking for them without good reason. In fact, it was normally them who went to Zhuge Liang to ask for advice.
The two generals quickly wiped away their bloodstains and went towards the camp.
“General Li Yan and General Huo Jun is here.” The guard informed Zhuge Liang when Li Yan and Huo Jun arrived.
Zhuge Liang was looking at a wooden scroll. He earned his fame because he was a studious person who never neglected to read.
The two generals greeted Zhuge Liang while cupping their fist.
“You are here.” Zhuge Liang did not bother to put the wooden scroll down. “How was the battle today?”
“Report. Our army defeated Han Dang’s army and sank numerous of their ships. Li Yan had managed to injure Han Dang but we were unable to confirm the enemy general’s death.” Huo Jun replied.
“What about our losses?” Zhuge Liang asked.
“We loss one large ship, three small ships and four hundred men.” Li Yan replied.
“Good. You all did very well.” Zhuge Liang praised expressionlessly.
Li Yan and Huo Jun were happy but acted humble. “These are all because of the Military Advisor’s guidance. We do not dare to take credit.”
“No need to be humble in front of me.” Zhuge Liang shook his head. “At the rate we are going, we could have recaptured the whole of Jiangxia for Jingzhou. It is a pity…” Zhuge Liang sighed helplessly.
“Military Advisor. Did something happen?” Li Yan asked.
“Take a look at this letter from Jingzhou.” Zhuge Liang picked up a letter from the table and handed it over to the two generals.
“How could this be?” Li Yan was the first to shout after reading the letter. Huo Jun was also confused. “Military Advisor. Could this be a fake?”
“A fake? Look at the seal. Do you still think this is a fake?” Zhuge Liang told them. When they looked at the seal, they found out that it was really Liu Biao’s orders.
“Why would the Lord do this?” Huo Jun could not understand. The letter told them to ally with Jiangdong and attack Yangzhou. After defeating Yangzhou, they are to withdraw from Jiangxia. But then Jiangdong was their sworn enemy while Yangzhou was their ally.
Zhuge Liang shook his head silently.
“Military Advisor. Even if we are willing to do this, the other soldiers will be unwilling!” Li Yan was anxious. They had been at battling against Jiangdong for the past few days so they suffered casualties. The soldiers were naturally filled with hatred. This is especially true for the soldiers that actually lived in Jiangxia. They would not be able to give an explanation to their own troops that have died and the Jiangxia Army.
“Explain things to them? Soldiers are supposed to follow orders without question!” Zhuge Liang replied. “Either way, this decision is not up to us.”
As soon as Zhuge Liang finished speaking, a messenger came in saying that Wen Pin was requesting to see him.
“Come. Let’s go to the Grand General’s camp.” Zhuge Liang said and started to walk away before he was stopped by Li Yan.
Li Yan approached Zhuge Liang and asked quietly. “Military Advisor. Should we do it?” The last time the order to attack Yangzhou came due to Pang Tong, Zhuge Liang had almost rebelled. So why is he not acting now?
“Do what? Just follow orders. Right now, we need to follow the governor’s orders as we are part of the Jingzhou Navy.” Zhuge Liang gave a vague reply which confused Li Yan. If Zhuge Liang was being loyal to Liu Biao, why did he say governor’s orders instead of the Lord’s orders?
Wen Pin’s camp was not that far away from Zhuge Liang’s so they quickly arrived on foot.
“The Military Advisor, General Huo Jun and General Li Yan have arrived.”
“Come. Enter quickly.” Wen Ping said as he sat down on the main seat.
“Yes.” Zhuge Liang and the others entered the camp. Looking around, Zhuge Liang saw other generals there. It was as though they were all waiting for him. “Grand General!” The three of them greeted Wen Pin.
“Dispense with the courtesies. Come and sit.” Wen Pin now treated Zhuge Liang with respect as Zhuge Liang brought victories to Jiangxia. On top of that, he still felt guilty from his previous misunderstanding.
“Thank you General.” Zhuge Liang and the others thanked Wen Pin and then sat down.
“I will skip all the formalities. Military Advisor, have you received the secret order from Jingzhou?” Wen Pin went straight to the point.
“I have already read through it.” Zhuge Liang nodded.
“What do you think?”
“It’s bad!” Zhuge Liang replied. Wen Pin also nodded. It was a stupid order. Not only do they have to ally with Jiangdong. They even had to take a submissive position by giving Jiangxia away.
“I also think so. Should we write a letter to the Lord to have him reconsider?” Wen Pin suggested.
“What for?” Zhuge Liang asked back. “As military officers, our job is to solve the governor’s problem and listen to his orders. Besides that, I am sure General Wen Pin knows why the governor gave this order.”
Wen Pin sighed. His Wen Family were also n.o.bles. Naturally he would be able to learn about what happened at Xiangyang. With what happened to him, it would be even stranger if Liu Biao did not want to attack Yangzhou.
“But we should fight Yangzhou on our own. Why must we ally ourselves with Jiangdong?” Wen Pin said out of impulsive anger. He actually knew why they could not do this. Sanjiangkou, Wuchang and Huangzhou currently belonged to Jiangdong. Without defeated Jiangdong, they would not be able to cross. Even if they could cross over to attack Yangzhou, they would be isolated.
Zhuge Liang simply laughed.
“Military Advisor. If we obey orders, how are we going to mobilize the Jiangxia Navy?” The Jiangxia soldiers had very high morale in the past few days because of the alliance with Yangzhou. With Yangzhou’s powerful navy, they would be able to defeat Jiangdong and take back their hometown much faster. Yet the situation has reversed. Not only do they have to fight Yangzhou, they had to give away Jiangxia.
Wen Pin was certain that these soldiers will tear him apart if he were to announce this to them without any proper explanation.
“Since we can’t use them, we might as well don’t use them.” Zhuge Liang said.
“Don’t use them? What do you mean?”
“Grand General. How much military strength does Yangzhou’s navy have?”
“I do not know. They should have about ten thousand men but I do not know about their military strength.” Wen Pin shook his head. They had never fought against Yangzhou’s navy before so he would not know. However, he was able to make a guess as both they and Yangzhou had fought against Jiangdong before.
Zhuge Liang laughed “Ten thousand men? Grand General. Your information is outdated!” Zhuge Liang walked towards the map in the camp. “Yangzhou’s Navy now only have about eight thousand men!”
“Eight thousand? Where did the other two thousand go?” Wen Pin asked.
“Grand General. Do you know Guangling?”
“Do you mean Xuzhou?” Wen Pin asked. He had went to Xuzhou before and knew of that large place.
“The northern part of Guangling is currently under Yuan Shao’s men. However, in truth it is actually under Liu Mang. That is where the remaining two thousand… or rather, five thousand navy troops are!”
“Five thousand troops?” Wen Pin’s eyes glinted. Yangzhou’s Navy had grown a lot in such a short time.
“Yes.” Zhuge Liang nodded. “Yangzhou’s navy now has three thousand new troops. On top of that, their commander have also changed.”
“Their commanding officer changed? Gan Ning has left?” Wen Pin asked. He knew of Gan Ning as the man used to be one of Jingzhou’s officers. Gan Ning used to be a n.o.body and a pirate. If he had stayed in Jingzhou, he would probably still have to call Wen Pin his general. Yet the moment he left for Yangzhou, his career soared. In one battle, he send thirty thousand of Jiangdong’s elites swimming in the Yangtze River despite being heavily outnumbered.
Gan Ning was the one that changed how navy battles were fought by using ballistas. Wen Pin was vigilant towards Gan Ning but if Gan Ning had left, then this was a happy occasion.
“Yes. Gan Ning had not been seen at Lujiang’s waters for some time now.” Zhuge Liang nodded.
“Then who is their new commanding officer?”
“Lu Xun!” Zhuge Liang replied.
“Lu Xun? Who is that?”
“Lu Xun is from Wu. If you do not know him, you may know his grandfather Lu Kang!”
“Lu Kang?” Wen Pin furrowed his brows. Lu Kan was famous as he was one of the rare few that took care of the common people. The Lujiang that he governed had developed well and the people were happy. It was not inferior to Jingzhou’s Xiangyang.
It was a pity that Lu Kang was ultimately defeated by Sun Ce. At that time, Yuan Shu was short on provisions and requested thirty thousand provisions hu worth of provisions from Lu Kang. However, Lu Kang saw Yuan Shu as a traitor and refused. He also started to prepare for war. Yuan Shu was furious. He sent Sun Ce to attack Lu Kang. Lu Kang defend the city with his men. His troops that had went on vacation all returned to help defend the city as well the moment they heard that Lujiang was under attack. Lu Kang defended the city for two years before it fell. Lu Kang also died with his family in the city. It had only been several years since Lu Kang’s death.
“So his grandson is just a child?” Wen Pin muttered before he realized he had said something wrong. Lu Xun should be about Zhuge Liang’s age so insulting Lu Xun for his age would be like insulting Zhuge Liang.
“Military Advisor. My mistake.” Wen Pin awkwardly said to Zhuge Liang.
“General. There is no need for that.” Zhuge Liang did not care that people question him because of his age as long as he had strength.
“Could this Lu Xun be like the Military Advisor?” Wen Pin thought to himself for a moment before thinking otherwise. How many people could actually be like Zhuge Liang? Lu Xun must be an ignorant child. Although Yangzhou had many generals, only a few of them were famous. Gan Ning had left leaving behind all the nameless scoundrels.
It was as though Zhuge Liang knew what Wen Pin was thinking of. “So General, when we attack Yangzhou, the only thing obstructing us is Sanjiangkou and Jiangdong’s territories. As long as they give way, the Yangzhou Navy should be easy to reach. If the Jiangdong enemy helps as well, we would not need our whole army. We can just leave these Jiangxia Army behind.” Zhuge Liang said. He was saying that the only real obstruction in fighting Yangzhou was Jiangdong. However, if they were going to ally with Jiangdong then this would not be a problem. With so many soldiers, there was no need to take the ones that came from Jiangxia with them. After all, it was impossible to make them fight against their fellow men while allying themselves with the enemies occupying their home.
Wen Pin furrowed his brows. With the Jiangxia Army unavailable, he could only take thirty thousand men with him. Amongst these troops were ten thousand of Liu Biao’s elites. These elites were all loyal to Liu Biao so Wen Pin was ordered to ensure that these elites do not suffer disastrous losses even if he had to sacrifice four hundred thousand worth of front line soldiers. Because of this orders, these elite troops were usually just spectators. Wen Pin did not allow them to go out and fight.
Now that the Jiangxia Army could not act, he would have no choice but to use them.
“Are you still hesitating?” Zhuge Liang asked. “If you continue to hesitate and allow the Jiangxia Army to find out about this, not only will you fail the task given the Lord but also cause those troops to rebel!” When that happens, Wen Pin would need to dispatch troops to quell the rebellion. How would he still have enough manpower to accomplish his mission? That was why things needed to be settled quickly. If Yangzhou was already captured, these soldiers would have no choice but to swallow their anger.
“Alright. I will listen to your advice.” Wen Pin stood up and threw away his caution. So what if those troops were Liu Biao’s elites. Troops were used for war! If he add up all of the available troops together including his and Zhuge Liang’s, he should be able to gather up thirty five thousand men. This was already considered a large force at the Yangtze River. On the other hand, Yangzhou only has eight thousand men.
“Once the General gives the order, we can break into Lujiang.” Zhuge Liang said to Wen Pin with a smile. Meanwhile, Li Yan noticed that Zhuge Liang’s smile looked strange.