While Liu Qi was stirring up the situation in Guanzhong, Cao Cao also led his troops to Shouchun, preparing to take over the land north of the Yangtze River and put pressure on Eastern Wu.
Two hundred thousand troops were transferred from Qingzhou and Xuzhou, and with the addition of the navy trained in Xuanwu Lake, they falsely claimed that they had five hundred thousand troops and advanced both by land and sea.
When Cao Cao first arrived in Shouchun, he mobilized all troops. Xiahou Dun, the governor of the east, and Cao Ren, the governor of the west, led the central army and deployed troops from the Huai River to the Yangtze River. They connected to Hefei in the west and Guangling in the east, with camps stretching for hundreds of miles to protect Ruxu.
The Eastern Wu army was afraid of the remaining power of Cao's army and wanted to use Zhang Liao's victory over Sun Quan to intimidate the Wu army and force them to retreat.
Unexpectedly, Zhu Huan, the defender of Ruxu, took advantage of the situation and pretended to be defeated and afraid to fight. When Cao Ren's vanguard arrived, he set up an ambush outside the water stronghold and defeated Cao's army.
Cao Cao was furious and personally led his troops to Chaohu to fight the enemy. He also transferred Cao Ren to Liyang to put full pressure on the Wu army.
Sun Yu sent troops to support, but ambushed Zang Ba in Xiang'an, and the troops returned in defeat. Zhu Huan was unable to hold on alone, and the Ruxu Water Fort was lost. He led the remaining troops to retreat to Niuzhu.
Cao's army had won a great victory in Hefei years ago and had long been determined to defeat Wu's army. Now Cao Cao had taken Ruxu and was marching straight to Jiangdong along the river, which greatly boosted their morale.
Xun You said: "The Prime Minister has greatly boosted the military power, and the people of Soochow are in fear. We can put pressure on Sun Quan again, return Lujiang, and have a hunting party in Jiangxia. Together we can destroy Liu Qi, divide the land of Jingzhou, and form an eternal alliance. Sun Quan will surely be suspicious and give up the alliance with Liu Qi, and then we can avenge Jingzhou."
"That's exactly what I meant!" Cao Cao stood by the river with his hands behind his back, facing the river breeze, and ordered someone to send another letter to Sun Quan.
When the news reached Jianye, the whole country of Eastern Wu was shocked. Sun Quan hurriedly summoned civil and military officials to discuss the matter, and sent people to Chaisang to transfer Zhou Yu to lead the troops to resist Cao's army.
Zhang Zhao pointed at Lu Su and said angrily, "I have said before that the Marquis of Wu and Liu Biao have a feud that killed their father, so how can they form an alliance through marriage? The best strategy is to destroy Liu and take Jingzhou together with Cao. Cao Cao hates Liu Qi to the core, and you are persuading the Marquis of Wu to form an alliance with him, angering Cao Cao. With 500,000 troops approaching the river, where is Liu Qi, and where is Jingzhou's support?"
Yan Jun sneered, "I heard that Liu Qi was planning to seize Guanzhong, so I went to Wuguan in person. But the truth is that greed is like a snake swallowing an elephant. Guanzhong and Jingzhou are separated by mountains and rivers. If I encounter setbacks, not only will I fail to advance, I am afraid that Jingzhou will be shaken, and I will be in trouble."
"Little brat, how can you understand the general situation?" Zhang Zhao was so angry that he blew his beard and glared, "Relying on the geographical advantage of Nanyang and winning a battle by chance, you think you are invincible. You don't know the height of the sky and the depth of the earth. You will definitely be destroyed. My lord, you have inherited the foundation of your father and brothers and you have to protect Jiangdong. You must not bring disaster upon yourself because of this lunatic and bring disaster to Jiangdong."
Cheng Pu clasped his fists and said, "Don't worry, my lord. You don't need Liu Qi's support. I am willing to lead the troops, cross the river and head north to defeat Cao Cao."
Zhang Zhao stroked his beard and sneered, "Mr. Cheng, you are so arrogant. Have you forgotten the battle of Hefei a few years ago? Even Zhang Liao couldn't win, let alone Cao Cao coming in person? You are trying to hit a rock with an egg. You are overestimating your own ability."
Cheng Pu was furious and said, "We have followed General Sun to establish our country and have fought hundreds of battles, big and small. Why should we fear Cao? You surrendered without fighting and even did it openly in court. Do you know the word shame?"
Zhang Zhao was furious: "Cheng Pu, you... you are a warrior, how can you know the general situation of the world? Why do you always humiliate yourself?"
Cheng Pu sneered, "You corrupt officials are responsible for the loss of power and humiliation of the country. You are traitors and rebels. All the great events in the world are ruined by you corrupt scholars." Zhang Zhao's prestige in Jiangdong was comparable to that of Cheng Pu. Being insulted in person by him, Zhang Zhao became angry and rolled up his sleeves, shouting, "My lord, I want to fight him to the death."
Zhang Hong and others hurriedly stopped him and pulled Zhang Zhao to the back. Cheng Pu stood there with his arms folded. In the past, they respected his age, but today he refused to give in.
Zhang Hong clasped his fists and said, "My lord, for now, it is better to follow Cao Cao's wishes and return Lujiang. Cao's army can attack Jiangxia from Lujiang, and we can take Xiakou by water, and together we can attack Liu Qi and seize Jingzhou."
Huang Gai shouted, "Don't worry, my lord. We are willing to fight to the death. We can cut off our heads and bleed, but we will never give up our territory and ask for peace."
Zhang Zhao jumped up and shouted, "Have you forgotten the battle of Hefei?"
This sentence made the generals furious, but they could not refute it. Sun Quan's face was so gloomy that water seemed to drip out.
Seeing that the two sides were arguing, Bu Zhi stepped out and said, "With Jiangdong's strength, we may not be able to fight against Cao's army. It is better to go to Jingzhou for help and see what Liu Qi thinks. If he is willing to give up Guanzhong to help Jiangdong, it shows that he wants to unite with us, and we can complete the marriage contract to fight against Cao's army together. If he only seeks personal gain and stands by and watches, hoping to reap the benefits, we can ally with Cao and attack Jingzhou."
Zhuge Jin also clasped his fists and said, "My lord, since the two families have already decided on an in-law relationship, if we go back on our word now, we will be laughed at by the world. I am willing to go to Jingzhou again and borrow troops from Liu Qi."
Sun Quan glanced at Lu Su and saw that he was standing there with his eyes on his nose and his nose on his heart, without saying a word, and did not argue with Zhang Zhao.
Everyone was complaining. Just as Zhou Yu had expected, these people were short-sighted and only wanted to live in peace. Their stopgap measures were nothing more than drinking poison to quench thirst.
Sun Quan's face became increasingly gloomy. The three of them had already discussed the pros and cons of this matter. There was no need to say more. Resisting Cao Cao was the only way out, while allying with Cao was like courting disaster.
Even if Jingzhou was taken, it would only be to strengthen Cao's army. Cao Cao had the Jingzhou navy, occupied the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and had troops from Huainan downstream. The situation would be even more serious than it is now.
Most people agreed with Zhang Zhao's approach and advised Sun Quan to immediately send people across the river to negotiate peace, otherwise hundreds of thousands of troops would cross the river and the land of Jiangdong would be reduced to ashes.
The defeat in the Battle of Hefei was still fresh in people's minds. Although Zhang Liao had been transferred away, the Wu army's fear of Cao's army had already been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and their morale was extremely low.
After half an hour of discussion, the situation became one-sided. Although Cheng Pu and Huang Gai insisted on meeting the enemy head-on, Zhang Zhao and others seized on the precedent of the Battle of Hefei and kept mocking and ridiculing them. The generals could not argue with each other and were about to start fighting again.
Lu Su finally spoke up and said, "Cao's army does not have enough warships and dare not cross the river yet. You can order Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin to lead the navy to defend along the river and wait for the arrival of the commander-in-chief before discussing it."
Sun Quan suppressed his anger and asked everyone to leave, leaving Lu Su and Zhuge Jin behind. His face was livid: "I have led Jiangdong for nearly ten years. I believe that the people are loyal to me, and I have a strong army and sufficient food. I can compete with the heroes of the world. Now we are facing the enemy, and everyone wants peace. Am I worse than the dying Liu Qi?"
They had initially discussed joining forces with Liu to fight against Cao, and now it had reached the most dangerous moment. Whether the decision was correct depended on this one move.
Zhuge Jin said: "Cao Cao did not avenge the defeat in Nanyang, but instead led his troops to invade the south. This is because Liu Qi is so powerful that the people of Jingzhou fought desperately, which made Cao Cao feel fearful, so he came to bully Jiangdong. If Liu Qi knew about the situation just now, I am afraid he would also intend to take Jiangdong."
Lu Su sighed, "In the past, the general who fought against the rebellion started his business as a lieutenant at a young age, swept across Jiangdong, and Cao Cao took the initiative to seek peace through marriage. This is also the reason. If Bo Fu had not met with the disaster, with his extraordinary talent and courage, would Cao Cao dare to look at Jiangdong squarely?"