Sun Ce’s expression was gloomy as Han Dang was heavily injured by the ballista. Even someone at the Refinement Stage like Han Dang could not withstand the might of the ballista’s arrow, especially if they have already grown old.
There were also other injured generals kneeling before Sun Ce. These were all the generals that were just defeated in battle.
“Speak! How did this happen?” Sun Ce asked coldly. Although it was only Han Dang’s fleet that were routed, the losses in the past few days had added up. Even Sun Ce and the large Jiangdong Army could not continuously endure such defeat.
“Milord! The enemy was too fierce and deceitful! General Han Dang fell into an ambush!” A 1000-men commander reported.
“The enemy is fierce? How come you have never said that the enemy is fierce during the past few years? In the past we have always been pressuring the enemy and now you say we lost because the enemy is fierce?” Sun Ce replied coldly as he kicked the man. The 1000-men commander staggered and fell but he did not dare to resist.
“The enemy is deceitful? Do you not know that all is fair in war? Speak! What was the situation like?” Sun Ce’s expression struck fear into the heart of the 1000-men commander. He then gave his answer out of fear.
As it turned out, Han Dang was too conceited. Zhou Yu and Sun Ce had already taught Han Dang how to fight but the man was too stubborn to listen. He was too obstinate in his old ways and used the old way of fighting. He attempted to use superior numbers to swarm the enemy only to be shot at by the ballista. By the time Han Dang could react, it was already too late.
Sun Ce sighed. He truly had nothing to say regarding this. Han Dang have always been loyal to the Sun Family. Unfortunately, Han Dang’s good intentions turned into a harmful event while Han Dang himself got injured. If he were to punish Han Dang at this point in time, the other loyal veterans might also be disillusioned.
“Men. Accompany me to Han Dang’s camp.” Sun Ce ordered his guards. Although he hated Han Dang a little, he still needed to pay the man a visit. Han Dang’s arm was almost shot off, and was only joined together by a bit of flesh. It was definitely very frightening sight so Sun Ce would need to console Han Dang. Sun Ce himself did not know whether to laugh or cry at this. With Han Dang in this situation, he could no longer lead the troops. That would mean there was one less obstinate generals in his way. On the other hand, it would also mean that there was one less warrior at Refinement Stage in his army.
After visiting Han Dang, the distressed Sun Ce returned to his tent. He was thinking of a countermeasure when he heard a laugh. Sun Ce immediately became angry. Why was someone laughing so loudly while he was so worried? It is definitely a provocation.
He was about to curse at the culprit when he saw that the culprit was his sworn brother Zhou Yu.
“Gongjin. Why are you so happy?” Sun Ce was puzzled. When the Lord is distressed, it was normal for his subjects to come running over to solve his problems. However, when he was distressed, he has to hear his subjects laugh happily. On top of that, this subject happened to be his sworn brother.
“Haha! Wait a moment. Let me finish laughing.” Zhou Yu said and continued to laugh. By the time he finished laughing, Sun Ce’s expression had already darkened.
“Milord. I laughed because of a good news.” Zhou Yu cupped his fist towards Sun Ce.
“Good news? What news is that?” Sun Ce could not understand. They had only just suffered defeat and Han Dang was seriously injured. Zhou Yu would not purposefully mock him at this point in time.
“Of course there is good news. Milord. Why are we sending so many troops to fight against Jingzhou?”
“This is to march towards Xiangyang and take Jingzhou! One reason is to avenge my father and the other is to conquer the world!” Sun Ce replied.
“Then Milord. What should we do first in order to march towards Xiangyang and capture Jingzhou?” Zhou Yu asked again.
“We must defeat the Jiangxia navy and occupy Jiangxia!” Sun Ce replied quickly. With Jiangxia blocking their way towards Jingzhou, they had to capture Jiangxia first.
“Then what if I told you that Jiangxia is already ours?” Zhou Yu asked with a smile.
“Impossible!” Sun Ce immediately replied. What sort of joke is this? The Jiangxia Navy had seventy thousand men on high alert while the Jiangdong Navy only had sixty thousand at most. If they do not defeat the Jiangxia Navy, they would not be able to obtain Jiangxia. That is unless Liu Biao simply gave away Jiangxia for free.
“Haha. Milord, this is why I said there is good news! Liu Biao is really giving away Jiangxia to us!” Zhou Yu said to Sun Ce.
“What!?” Sun Ce was in disbelief but Zhou Yu did not seem to be lying.
“Milord. Please take a look at this. Bring him over here!” Zhou Yu said and then clapped his hands. A few soldiers then brought along a civil official along with them.
“Who is this?” Sun Ce asked. He had never seen this civil official before.
“Following the orders of my Lord, the Lord Governor of JIngzhou, I am here to Master Sun Ce of Wu.” As half of Jiangdong’s land was within Yangzhou and Xuzhou, Sun Ce did not have the position as Lord Governor of Jiangdong.
The civil official was an envoy sent by Liu Biao.
“Liu Biao’s envoy. Why did he sent you? Go back to Jingzhou and tell your Lord that my Jiangdong Army is coming for his head to take revenge for my father!” Sun Ce immediate showed a hostile att.i.tude.
Zhou Yu sighed and stopped Sun Ce. “Milord. Liu Biao had already sent his envoy. How about we listen to him first?”
And so, Sun Ce listened to the envoy’s words after being persuaded by Zhou Yu. The envoy wanted the Jiangdong Navy to move away and allow the Jingzhou Navy to pa.s.s through Huangzhou to attack Yangzhou. They also wanted Jiangdong to help with the attack. Jiangdong will then obtain the whole of Jiangxia as payment.
Sun Ce took a deep breath. Even though he was bold, he would not just barter with an entire region, much less a vital region like Jiangxia. Especially when that region is so important that countless deaths were made in those waters just to obtain it.