mtl008 Chapter 39 My dear Grand Commander Lü is back
Chapter 39 My dear Grand Commander Lü is back
Outside Jianye City, the Wu army camp.
With civil and military officials gathered in the command tent, after exchanging pleasantries, Zhang Zhao spoke first, informing Lü Meng of the situation.
"At present, the Guan family father and son have separated. Guan Yu is inside the city and Guan Xing is outside the city. The secret agents reported that Guan Xing has led his troops south, and his whereabouts and purpose are unknown."
“I suspect that Guan Xing wants to contact the Shanyue people. If he incites them to rebel, it could cause us a lot of trouble. In addition, I have ordered my son Zhang Cheng to return to Jianye to suppress Guan Xing. He should arrive tomorrow.”
After hearing the report, Lü Meng sat down at his desk, tapping his fingers on the table and sighing, "Guan Xing is just a minor ailment and not worth worrying about. The most important thing now is Guan Yu. We must drive this red-faced thief out of Jiangdong, or we will not be able to eat or sleep in peace."
Everyone echoed, "The Grand Commander is right."
Everyone present shared the desire to drive Guan Yu away, but they were all clueless about how to do it.
Guan Yu occupied Jianye City, but Lü Meng only brought back 30,000 men, which was clearly not enough.
Sun Shao asked hesitantly, "Has the Grand Commander already devised a strategy to defeat the enemy? Could you please share it so we can discuss it together?"
Lu Meng was stumped by the question and glared at Sun Shao with displeasure.
I called you here to discuss countermeasures. If I had a plan to defeat the enemy, why would I need to call you?
Lu Meng smiled wryly and said, "I just sent someone to check and found that Guan Yu has closed all the city gates, clearly intending to defend it to the death. Under these circumstances, we have no other choice but to launch a direct attack."
Upon hearing this, everyone lowered their heads, their hearts filled with bitterness.
Although they are all strategists with brilliant ideas, strategies require certain conditions to be implemented. Guan Yu has now closed the city gates, making it clear that he does not intend to accept your challenge. No matter how many tricks you have, they will be useless.
The current situation is like Zhang Zhao and Lü Bu being locked in the same room; all his schemes are no match for Lü Bu's punch.
They suffered, but Lü Meng suffered even more, for he knew all too well how formidable Jianye's defenses were.
Fortified cities like Jianye and Jiangling cannot be taken by brute force alone. The reason Jiangling was captured so quickly that day was because of the traitor Mi Fang who opened the gates. If Mi Fang had been a little more assertive and mobilized the people to actively defend the city, it would have been impossible for him to take Jiangling in a short time, at least not within three months.
Within three months, not only Guan Yu, but even Liu Bei had come from Chengdu to fight their way here.
Jianye no longer has Mi Fang to help them open the city gates. Not to mention Mi Fang, they don't even have a messenger to deliver messages.
That damned Guan Yu drove all the officials of Eastern Wu with a salary of 300 shi or above out of the city, but left their parents, wives, and children under the age of ten in the city as hostages. So, let alone those inside the city, even those outside the city might not be willing to help him wholeheartedly.
In other words, he now has to guard against Guan Yu inside the city, and also against his teammates outside the city stabbing him in the back for the sake of their families.
At this moment, Lü Meng finally understood how Guan Yu felt when he crossed the river in white robes—it was incredibly painful.
Lu Meng grew angrier and angrier, feeling increasingly aggrieved. He couldn't help but curse, "That damned Guan Yu! After his defeat at Maicheng, instead of returning to Chengdu, he launched a long-distance raid to attack Jianye. What was he thinking? How dare he?"
"A lone army venturing deep into enemy territory is a cardinal sin in military strategy. Even Han Xin wouldn't dare to do something like this, leading a small force to launch a surprise attack on the enemy's capital."
He was truly stunned by Guan Yu's counter-attack, and even now he still feels it's unreal.
Guan Yu was clearly at his wit's end that day, so how did he suddenly turn the tables and steal his hometown?
Zhang Zhao smiled wryly and said, "There's no point in saying more now. Let's think about how to defeat the enemy. What's the situation on the lord's side?"
Lu Meng sighed, "News from Shu says that Liu Bei is actively preparing for war and is ready to launch an eastern expedition at any time. Cao Ren in Xiangyang is also gathering a large army and exchanging messengers with Meng Da in Fangling, ready to march south at any time."
"It is no exaggeration to say that Jiangdong is currently facing a crisis even greater than that of the Battle of Red Cliffs. We may not be able to withstand a simultaneous attack from Cao Cao and Liu Bei. However, compared to the two of them, Guan Yu is in the most danger."
"Guan Yu is like a nail stuck in our heart. If we don't remove him soon, we'll be the first to die, even without Cao Cao and Liu Bei fighting him."
Zhang Zhao stroked his beard and sighed, "But you know how strong Jianye's defenses are. A direct assault is impossible. There's only one way to deal with this now: capture Guan Xing and Guan Ping, who are causing trouble in Jingnan, as soon as possible, and force him to negotiate with us by using the lives of Guan Yu's two sons."
Now, the only option left for them is to negotiate peace. If they don't negotiate, Jiangdong will surely die before Liu Bei.
The problem is that damned Guan Yu won't negotiate.
Therefore, the only solution Zhang Zhao could think of was to capture Guan Yu's son and force Guan Yu to the negotiating table.
Hearing this, Lü Meng had an even bigger headache. He rubbed his temples and said, "Capturing Guan Yu is no problem, but capturing Guan Ping will be difficult. On my way back, I received news that Xi Zhen, the Northern Commandant of Lingling and a subordinate general, along with his brother Xi Hong and Fan Zhou, an official of Wuling, have rebelled. They have swept through several counties in an instant and I estimate that they have already joined forces with Guan Ping."
This is the bitter fruit of their sneak attack on Jingzhou. When they crossed the river in white robes, the four counties of southern Jingzhou surrendered quickly, but after they left, the four counties of southern Jingzhou rebelled just as quickly.
The four commanderies of Jingnan were not loyal to Liu Bei, so why should they be loyal to Sun Quan?
Historically, Xi Zhen rebelled and refused to surrender to Eastern Wu even in death. Now that Guan Ping has gone to Jingnan, with Guan Ping's prestige and status as the young master of Jingzhou, plus Xi Zhen's influence as a local tyrant in Jingnan, Sun Quan can forget about sleeping peacefully.
Zhang Wen was startled and asked impatiently, "Is the information reliable?"
As soon as he said it, he realized he had asked a pointless question. The Eastern Wu had only taken Jingzhou a few days ago, so wasn't it normal for local officials to rebel?
However, this only made the already dire situation in Eastern Wu even worse. It seems that Eastern Wu, like a broken ship, cannot stay any longer and must prepare for its escape route as soon as possible.
Why not send someone to contact Zhang Liao and Zang Ba? If we can bring the King of Wei to Jiangdong, it will be a great achievement for us.
Thinking of this, Zhang Wen couldn't help but steal a glance at Gu Hui, and was surprised to find that Gu Hui was also looking at him. He couldn't help but smile slightly at him.
The two old foxes locked eyes, everything unspoken.
Lu Meng didn't notice the two's subtle movements, nor did he answer Zhang Wen's question. Instead, he said, "Then let's do as the strategist says. Prepare troops and provisions. When Zhang Cheng returns tomorrow, have him immediately lead troops to attack Guan Xing. Tell him that I want Guan Xing alive, and he must be alive."
Zhang Zhao nodded and said, "No problem, what about our side?"
Lu Meng said fiercely, "Of course we'll attack the city. We have to attack even if we can't take it. Besides, we're not entirely without hope."
"You must know that Guan Yu only leads bandits from the Dabie Mountains and newly recruited soldiers. Their fighting strength is limited. If we really fight, we may not lose to him. Please ask the strategist to prepare food and supplies, mobilize troops and laborers. The army will rest for two days before attacking the city."
The city definitely needs to be attacked; we can't just stand outside and watch the show because it's difficult to conquer.
“Okay.” Zhang Zhao readily agreed and turned to prepare, showing even more enthusiasm than Lü Meng.
He advocated surrender during the Battle of Red Cliffs, but now he advocates fighting to the death. The reason is simple: he is over sixty years old and about to die, and he doesn't want to be branded as a traitor who surrenders before his death.
A new day began, and Zhang Cheng returned from Ruxukou. The first thing he did upon his return was naturally to report to Grand Commander Lü Meng.
Lu Meng attached great importance to the attack on Guan Xing. He immediately transferred 5,000 of the 30,000 elite troops he had brought back and another 5,000 from the private soldiers of the aristocratic families, making a total of 10,000 to give to Zhang Cheng.
Zhang Cheng, without taking a break, mustered his troops and, along with his two lieutenants Zhou Xun and Zhuge Ke, pursued Guan Xing.