Chapter 166: Sudden Change 2
by AfuhfuihgsSudden Change 2
The messenger who came from Jingzhou was sent by Fan Zhun.
Fan Zhun had compiled and sent me information about Wei Yan’s Lingling front, Yi Yan’s Wuling army front, and Guan Yu’s Fancheng and others.
The letter the messenger brought was quite long. It seemed to have almost everything happening throughout Jingzhou written down.
After passing the greeting at the beginning, the first person mentioned was Wei Yan. Wei Yan, who was facing Zhou Fang in Lingling County, was faithfully fulfilling his role.
Perhaps because he had been burned once by Lu Xun, Wei Yan did not underestimate Zhou Fang and dealt with him cautiously. Thanks to that, he was able to block Zhou Fang who came out of the castle to attack. Like Zhou Huan, Wu’s aggressiveness was a notch above others, although they were defending due to lack of forces.
Zhou Fang, who had dealt a blow to Cao Zhen and Xiahou Shang with just 5,000 troops against over 30,000 in the original history, couldn’t inflict much damage on Wei Yan.
Looking at the situation, it was closer to Wei Yan barely holding Zhou Fang back rather than Zhou Fang enduring Wei Yan’s attacks. As expected of Zhou Fang, who succeeded Lu Xun as Wu’s commander-in-chief.
‘Anyway, Wei Yan is doing well, and next is Yi Yan?’
Like Wei Yan who was meeting expectations 100%, wouldn’t Yi Yan be the same? Yi Yan was said to be able to block even Lu Xun. It would be difficult for Zhuge Jin to match him. And he has more troops too.
However, I soon frowned. It was good that he had recaptured Gongan Castle at first. But that was close to a strategic retreat.
The real battlefield was the Wuling army. Since the Wuling locals who would cooperate with us from the inside were completely swept away, Yi Yan chose the path of gradually tightening from the outskirts.
‘But he lost?’
It’s not that he suffered a great or complete defeat, but it says he was pushed back in local battles.
‘I know Luo Tong is an outstanding talent, but to the extent of surpassing Yi Yan?’
There’s a possibility that Luo Tong is an underestimated figure in later generations due to being on Wu’s list of early deaths. However, Yi Yan is an ace-level figure of the mid to late Shu Han period in the original history.
“Is there a messenger from the Wuling army among the messengers?”
There wasn’t just one messenger. At the beginning of the letter, Fan Zhun stated that he had bundled messengers sent to him from each front and sent them.
Sure enough, one messenger stepped forward.
“Yes, General. I was in General Yi’s army.”
“It says General Yi was pushed back in local battles. It mentions the exploits of someone named Liu Chan as the reason. Is there anything you remember about that person?”
Upon hearing the name Liu Chan, the messenger shuddered slightly as if just the memory made him shiver.
“He was truly a bizarre person. He goes around with his hair disheveled, and when the battle begins, he howls towards the sky and then sings loudly. When he sings, those around him follow and sing along as they charge… No matter how thick we make our formation, he breaks through, so he’s truly a monster like no other.”
Ah, right. Now I remember.
When he became crippled due to an injury, he cut off his own leg saying what’s the point of living if his leg won’t straighten, and the more absurd story was that his leg actually straightened after that.
He was one of Wu’s representative old warriors who went to the battlefield even after turning 70. He lived his whole life without knowing defeat, and only experienced defeat right before his death, dying a heroic death.
“General Yuan Chin was wounded and retreated because of that person, and General Yi also suffered setbacks a couple of times. He is a person of great valor.”
“Was this Liu Chan under Zhong Yao?”
“No. He seemed to be commanded by someone called Luo Tong.”
Luo Tong was someone who had been Lu Xun’s subordinate officer. If Luo Tong is commanding, it means Liu Chan was also under Lu Xun.
And Luo Tong and Liu Chan have something in common. Both of them were good at speaking frankly and were not favored by Sun Quan.
Lu Xun was gathering talented people under him who Sun Quan was wary of and not employing.
‘Come to think of it, Cheng Pu, who I was also keeping an eye on, is said to be under Lu Xun.’
Luo Tong, Cheng Pu, Liu Chan… No matter how you look at it, they were talents who should have been at the forefront long ago if it weren’t for Lu Xun.
Just as I had brought out talents like Wang Ping and Ma Chong early, who would actively play a role in the late Han period, Lu Xun was also nurturing hidden dragons all over Wu.
‘As expected, is excluding Lu Xun the starting point for conquering Wu?’
Since history has changed, we can’t just expect the early death jinx to follow, so we have no choice but to cut him off directly.
Yi Yan is having quite a hard time, but while he may be at a disadvantage in battles, he’s pushing forward with an overall advantage on the front itself.
Wu’s resistance is unexpectedly strong, but it’s not something beyond imagination or expectations. At this rate, it’s a level that can be settled smoothly if I finish up Xiagu and go to support Lingling County and the Wuling army.
However, the next content was exactly that something beyond imagination.
[The Grand General has left Fancheng with his troops to attack Wancheng.]
“What?”
Feeling as if I might have misread, I carefully read it again.
But the letters weren’t going to change shape now. What I saw remained the same.
“Who is the messenger from Fancheng?”
“It is me, sir.”
“Did the Grand General really march towards Wancheng? Is that true?”
“Y-Yes, that’s right.”
Perhaps because I pressed too strongly, the messenger stuttered in his reply. But I had no room to care about his state of mind.
Having confirmed it was really true, I quickly read the rest of Fan Zhun’s letter.
The letter explained why Guan Yu had undertaken the attack on Wancheng with his army.
‘Xuchangs troops headed towards Yiyang and Jiangxia? Saying it’s a move wary of my exploits? What nonsense is that… There’s a mountain range blocking the way, how could I march north with this force!’
Cao Biao of Xuchang coming out wasn’t all.
‘Meanwhile, Xu Huang came out of Wancheng saying he’d hold back Guan Yu?’
There is a way to go to Nanyang or Yiyang from Fancheng without passing through Wancheng. It’s the path that goes through Biyang County southeast of Wancheng.
Considering that in Jingbei now, the main forces of Han and Wei are stationed in Fancheng and Wancheng respectively, using Xinye County in between as a kind of borderline, it’s not that long a distance.
But it wasn’t reason enough to come out of Wancheng just to escort Cao Biao. Even if Guan Yu really aimed to raid Cao Biao, it wouldn’t be too late to move after confirming Guan Yu’s army had moved. Because Wancheng is closer to Biyang County.
‘Did he judge it would be too late if Guan Yu used ships to come up the Yu River?’
I couldn’t fully grasp the situation with just a few written words and a messenger’s testimony, without actually seeing the situation in Jingbei myself.
But I was intuitively certain of one thing.
‘This is Sima Yi’s trap.’
No matter how I think about it, this isn’t normal military operation. Guan Yu may have judged this to be a golden opportunity to defeat Xu Huang and take Wancheng, bringing Luoyang within reach, but I was gripped by an ominous feeling I couldn’t shake off.
The old snake coiled up in Luoyang kept bothering me.
‘If this is really some kind of scheme plotted by Sima Yi, what he’s aiming for is undoubtedly Guan Yu. If Guan Yu dies, he must know that Liu Bei will certainly seek revenge.’
When everyone else predicted that Liu Bei would shrink back if Guan Yu died, only Liu Ye predicted revenge. And that Liu Ye had once argued with Sima Yi that they should push all the way to Yizhou when Cao Cao occupied Hanzhong.
Perhaps because of that, Liu Ye was now in Luoyang with Sima Yi.
‘Will Xu Huang in Wancheng really fight Guan Yu?’
I’m not sure about Xu Huang’s intentions, but there was something else to be wary of.
It was Sima Yi’s lightning-fast maneuvers that were beyond compare.
‘If, really if Guan Yu dies by Wei’s scheme…’
Then it’s all-out war until either Han or Wei is erased from the map.
If that happens, wouldn’t it be right to retreat from here?
Occupying Xiagu Castle is something that can be done in a day or two. And if we capture Sun Deng alive, he can be used as the best card to block Wu.
However, if by chance Sun Deng really dies in a fight to the death, then we become mortal enemies with Wu as well.
The clear future of reclaiming Jingzhou that had seemed so transparent suddenly fell into an opaque fog.
The clear offensive and defensive battle between the Jingzhou expeditionary force and the Wu army turned into a complex three-way battle with Wei’s intervention.
Biting my lips in anxiety, I sent out the messengers and summoned the generals.
It was to share my thoughts with them and discuss what we should do from now on.
Was it because I called them too hastily, or was it purely fortuitous timing?
It was right when we were in the middle of our meeting that an envoy arrived from Xiagu Castle.
“They want to have talks?”
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