Sun Ce was so shocked by the news that he wondered if Liu Biao had gone mad. Jiangxia was a very important strategic position like Fancheng. Without Jiangxia, they would have no way of stopping the Jiangdong Army.
“Milord, they are not exactly giving away the whole of Jiangxia. They are keeping Chibi and Shiyang!” Zhou Yu reminded Sun Ce.
“Chibi and Shiyang?” Sun Ce frowned. These two were strategic spots that stopped others from going towards the southern region of Jingzhou and Changsha.
“Haha. There is no need to worry. Liu Biao is too used to naval battles. We cannot pa.s.s through these two areas through water but we can still advance by land.
Xiakou was a unique place built around water. After pa.s.sing through Xiakou, there is dry land. Although Chibi and Shiyang stood in the way, that is only true for the water route.
“Haha. After this, we can advance and the Southeast of Jingzhou will be ours!” Sun Ce thought to himself. His land troops were quite powerful as well. Although they still lost to Yangzhou, it must be said that even Cao Cao could not guarantee victory against Yangzhou’s land troops.
On the other hand, Jiangdong was much more experienced compared to Jingzhou in this area.
“Gongjin. Has Liu Biao gone crazy? Why does he want to attack Yangzhou? Didn’t they become allies?” Sun Ce was worried that this might be a trap as Liu Biao intended to trade away Jiangxia to destroy Yangzhou.
“Milord does not need to worry about this. Liu Biao’s intentions are genuine!” Zhou Yu laughed with disdain and then told Sun Ce about what happened at Jingzhou. Liu Biao’s actions at Xiangyang and the fact that Liu Mang escaped could not be kept hidden. It would be impossible to keep such big movements hidden.
Liu Biao got cuckold. Naturally, he would go to war against the culprits. Even if he could endure his anger, if he didn’t take any action, he would be mocked when this incident gets revealed. It was the same for Zhang Xiu. Zhang Xiu would not have rebelled and even offered his aunt to Cao Cao had the man been less blatant in his actions.
As Liu Mang had escaped from Jingzhou, Liu Biao was afraid that Liu Mang would come back. That was why Liu Biao decided to strike first. He had no other options.
“Is Liu Mang just like Cao Cao?” Sun Ce asked with suspicion. Everyone knew that Cao Cao liked other people’s wives but Liu Mang had never shown such track record. Although Sun Ce hated Liu Biao, he also felt sympathy for Liu Biao when he found out that Liu Biao’s wife got impregnated by others.
In the past, Sun Ce would have immediately lend Liu Biao some troops to quickly have Jingzhou and Yangzhou fight each other. However, he was now more cautious. He asked Zhou Yu if there was a chance that this might be a trap. After all, Jingzhou and Yangzhou had only formed an alliance a short while ago. It was too fast for the alliance to be broken.
“There is such a possibility.” Zhou Yu agreed.
“Then should we reject their proposal?” Sun Ce felt a bit disappointed since Jiangxia was already placed right in front of him.
“There is no need to reject them.” Zhou Yu shook his head. That was like showing others that Jiangdong is afraid. On top of that, they would also miss a very good opportunity to easily obtain Jiangxia. It was not so bad when they had Lujiang as a buffer but now Lujiang belonged to Lu Bu and the cunning Chen Gong.
As for Jiangxia, they could defeat Jiangxia last time when it was commanded by Huang Zu but now the enemy general had changed. The enemy general now was Wen Pin. More importantly, the enemy strategist Zhuge Liang was a major headache. Now Jiangdong was the one suffering a string of defeats. They would definitely regret it if they were to throw away this opportunity. As for the risks, there can be no great rewards without risks.
“Then what should we do?” Sun Ce asked. He too, was unwilling to let go of this opportunity.
Zhou Yu then gave his advice. First, they would let Jingzhou through and see if they really attacked Yangzhou. Then only would they lend troops. Once Yangzhou is destroyed, they would take out Liu Biao’s letter. Since they had done as promised, Liu Biao would not be able to deny them Jiangxia.
“Wonderful! Let us do it that way!” Sun Ce nodded. This way, they can obtain Jiangxia with as little risk as possible. They would be able to react in time, minimizing their losses if Jingzhou and Yangzhou were plotting to attack Jiangdong. On the other hand, if Jingzhou and Yangzhou really end up fighting each other, Sun Ce would only profit.
****
“Hmph!” Wen Pin snorted coldly when he read the letter.
“What’s wrong? Did the Little Conqueror refuse?” Zhuge Liang asked as he fanned himself with his feather fan.
“He is letting us through but he is good at scheming.” Wen Pin said as he handed the letter to Zhuge Liang.
It is said that Sun Ce was willing to let them through and lend troops but the troops would be late as they needed to allocate provisions.
It was obvious from the phrasing that late could mean never until Jingzhou left Xiakou.
“Haha. It is inevitable for them to be cautious!” Zhuge Liang shook his head.
“They want Xiakou without doing anything?” Wen Pin was unwilling. He worked hard for the safety of Liu Biao and Jingzhou but now they are giving Jiangxia away to the enemy.
“General. There is no need to get angry. Although the Jiangdong Army is not moving, they are letting us through. In that case, we cannot give them Xiakou. However, we can give them a few strongholds at the front of Xiakou. This should be enough to show them our sincerity.”
“Alright. Let us do it this way.” Wen Pin sneered. He wanted to show Jiangdong that they could defeat Yangzhou without help. At that time, Jiangdong would not be able to take Jiangxia as well because the condition was for them to send troops and help.
Soon, warships started moving out of Xiakou and headed towards the Lujiang River. Only a few small ships that belonged to Jiangdong were seen along the way but they did not interfere at all.
“Liu Biao’s Navy are really setting off?” Sun Ce asked as he listened to the reports from one of his subordinates. Jiangxia’s actions could not be hidden from Jiangdong at all.
“Milord, this is true. Hundreds of warships are heading towards Lujiang.”
“Hundreds of warships?” Sun Ce thought to himself and calculated. Due to the presence of the ballista, the ships now can carry about three hundred people per ship instead of eight hundred. With a hundred warships, the total would be thirty thousand troops. However, Jiangxia’s navy had a total of seventy thousand troops. So where did the other forty thousand troops go?
“Did you really see a hundred ships?” Sun Ce asked again.
“Yes Milord. There are only a hundred ships!”
Sun Ce felt uneasy. Where could the other forty thousand troops go? This was a large number. It was too large for them to be left behind even if it was for defense. He started to think there was a trap. “Have the soldiers be on full alert!” Sun Ce ordered.
“Wait!” Zhou Yu stopped him. Putting the soldiers on alert would certainly prevent a sneak attack but it would quickly drain the soldier’s strength.
“Let me ask first. What is the banner flying above the warship?” Zhou Yu asked.
“The banners are Wen and Zhuge.” The officer replied.
“Then it must be Wen Pin and Zhuge Liang.” Sun Ce felt excited since Wen Pin was coming out to command. This was a good opportunity. If he could defeat the enemy’s three thousand men then he could capture Wen Pin and Zhuge Liang together. However, Sun Ce quickly gave up on this idea since his army would probably suffer heavy losses in doing this.
“Did you see the banners Huo and Li?” Zhou Yu continued to ask.
“No. I did not see them.” The officer shook his head.
Zhou Yu was referring to Huo Jun and Li Yan. Since their banners weren’t seen, they were probably sitting out from this battle.
“Did you notice anything special from the Jiangxia navy?”
“Anything special?” The officer thought for a moment and then replied. “Their armor seemed fine as though made with first cla.s.s woods.”
“I understand now.” Zhou Yu nodded while the others were still confused. “Milord. These Jingzhou Navy are Liu Biao’s personal troops from Xiangyang!” The Xiangyang Navy can be divided into two groups. One belonged to Cai Mao while the other belonged to Liu Biao. As Liu Biao was afraid that Jiangxia would rebel, he had his own soldiers placed there. As these troops were all close relatives of someone important, they were all given first cla.s.s goods. These are the ones being dispatched this time.
“They used the Xiangyang Navy? What about the Jiangxia Navy?” Sun Ce asked. The Jiangxia Navy now worked under the command of Huo Jun and Li Yan. They fought for their hometown which is why they fought so fearlessly, giving no end of troubles to Jiangdong.
“Milord, if it was you, would you give away Jiangxia?” Zhou Yu asked back.
“I won’t.” Sun Ce immediately replied without even needing to think. They fought for Jiangxia to chase Jiangdong out of Jiangxia. However, they were now asked to fight Yangzhou and once they won, Jiangxia would be given to Jiangdong. If the Jiangxia Navy found out about this, they would definitely rebel. That was why they could not be dispatched. With this, Sun Ce finally understood why forty thousand troops were left behind.
“Gongjin. Let us go and see how this Jingzhou Navy fights their battles!” Sun Ce felt comfortable after his worries were eased. Both Jingzhou and Yangzhou were his enemies so it was great to watch both sides kill each other. He also needed to make sure that Jingzhou and Yangzhou were really fighting each other instead of faking it. This information would determine Jiangdong’s actions in the future.
“Milord. You have forgotten to do one thing.” Zhou Yu said to Sun Ce.
“I have forgotten something?” Sun Ce was confused.
“Milord. We have been Yangzhou’s neighbors for so long. Don’t you think we should inform them of this?” Zhou Yu said with a smile.
“Hahaha! Yes! We should! Men! Send a letter to Lujiang and tell them their acquaintance from Jiangxia is paying them a visit!”
“Yes!” The messenger quickly left. Did Sun Ce have any good intentions? Of course not. Yangzhou was simply at a disadvantage due to having a smaller navy. He did not want Yangzhou to be crushed too quickly and without doing much damage to Jingzhou. The best would be for both Yangzhou and Jingzhou to more thoroughly destroy each other.