It rained heavily for three days before Lu Meng and his men finally felt relieved. More than half of the soldiers had been killed this time. If Cao's army attacked again, the consequences would be unpredictable.
Just as they were dispatching troops to patrol, a spy came to report that Cao Cao had left the camp and that his army was preparing to withdraw and would retreat within a day or two.
Huang Gai heaved a sigh of relief: "The Cao thieves have finally retreated. As long as the governor of Lu deploys the Huainan defense line, Jiangdong will be safe!"
Lü Meng said: "Cao Cao has many tricks. The commander-in-chief should learn from his previous experience. As long as his army has not retreated, we should not be careless."
The generals remembered that Zhou Yu was seriously injured and was confused by the retreat of Cao's army, so they all nodded.
Lu Meng ordered his men to continue monitoring the movements of Cao's camp. As long as Cao's army did not retreat, they would not relax for a moment. They would only reduce some patrol tasks to give the soldiers a break.
After finishing his military duties, Lu Meng prepared to rest early, but as he lay on the bed, listening to the heavy rain outside, he felt uneasy.
I don't know how long it had been, but I had just fallen asleep when I was suddenly awakened by a rapid knock on the door: "Ziming, get up quickly, something bad has happened!"
Lü Meng turned over and sat up, went down barefoot to open the door, and saw that it was Ding Feng, who was patrolling the camp tonight. He was soaked to the skin, and asked hurriedly, "What happened?"
"The flood is coming, retreat, retreat quickly!" Ding Feng pulled Lu Meng out.
"Shut up!" Lu Meng pushed Ding Feng away and said in a deep voice, "It has rained heavily for several days. Floods are inevitable. How can we talk about retreating so easily and disrupt the morale of the army?"
"It's not that the city is flooded!" Ding Feng said anxiously, "The city is flooded. It must be the Huai River that has burst its banks. If we don't leave now, it will be too late."
"What?" Lü Meng was shocked. "The Huai River burst its banks? How is this possible? How could the flood reach Shouchun?"
Ding Fengyan said: "This must be the intentional digging of the river by Cao's army to flood Shouchun City. The surrounding areas are flooded. General, hurry up and leave, it will be too late!"
Lü Meng suddenly changed his mind, looked up at the sky and shouted: "Cao thief, how dare you do such a shameless thing?"
Ding Feng cursed: "Cao is a ruthless villain. He slaughtered people in Xuzhou and ate human flesh. He would do anything to achieve his goal. What can't he do? Let's go!"
At this time, the government office was in chaos and the soldiers retreated in a hurry. Lu Meng got on his horse and left the government office in a daze. He saw floods rushing in the streets and people crying. The floods were already above his knees.
Huang Gai, Chen Wu and others were leading their troops to retreat, beating drums and gongs to call on the people to flee, but many people did not believe them and hid in their homes, not daring to go out.
The sparse torches were extinguished in the night wind and heavy rain, and everything fell into darkness. Lu Meng led his troops out of the city. A flash of lightning tore through the night sky, and all he could see was a vast ocean.
"Cao Mengde, you will not die well—"
Lu Meng clenched his fist and roared, the cold raindrops hit his face, but there was no response...
Lu Su looked at the soldiers fleeing in panic, and was stunned for a long while before he looked up to the sky and sighed: "Shouchun is no longer viable. Fortunately, only a wharf has been built on the waterway. We can build Hefei City on the spot and deploy defenses with Feishui as the boundary."
Huang Gai said angrily: "When the rain stops and the sky clears, I will take Shouchun back."
Lu Su shook his head and sighed, "The flood has passed through, leaving no one or animals alive. Shouchun has just experienced a bloodbath, and corpses are everywhere. There will definitely be a plague after the rain. The water flows from north to south, so Cao's army will benefit first. Moreover, the manpower and material resources of Jiangdong are not enough to support Shouchun after the disaster, so it is useless to take it."
Huang Gai was furious. Thinking of Cheng Pu's death, he felt a sense of grief. He gritted his teeth and said, "If it weren't for Shouchun, I don't know if I could have set foot in the Central Plains in my lifetime."
Lu Su said: "Jiangdong is better at defense. Retreating in order to advance is the long-term strategy. If we want to capture the Central Plains, only Gongjin can do it."
Huang Gai sighed and said, "From this it seems that there will be no more wars in Huainan in the near future. I want to go back to Jianye to mourn Cheng Gong and send him off for the last time. Then I will go to Chaisang to visit Gongjin. I hope he can recover soon. Then we will go to the Central Plains to avenge Cheng Gong."
Lu Su frowned and said, "Since Gongjin returned to Chaisang, there has been no news. This is really unusual. If it were in the past, he would have written to ask about the military situation. I was just about to write a letter to greet you, so I'll trouble General Huang to take it with him."
Huang Gai brought the letter back to Jianye and reported the military situation to Sun Quan. Upon hearing that Shouchun had still been lost, Sun Quan was shocked and furious, and cursed Cao Cao.
After burying Cheng Pu, he had just returned to the city when he suddenly saw a man in mourning clothes crying. It was Taishi Xiang, whom he had not seen for a long time.
Sun Quan's heart sank, and he quickly helped Taishi Xiang up: "My dear nephew, you look like this, could it be that Ziyi..."
Taishi Xiang cried, "Father is seriously injured. Despite the treatment, he still cannot be saved."
Sun Quan took two steps back, held his forehead with his hand and said with regret: "Losing two great generals in one month is like breaking my arm. It is heartbreaking. How unkind is heaven to Jiangdong?"
Huang Gai's eyes were red, and he tried hard to hold back his tears and asked, "Where is Ziyi's body now?"
Taishi Xiang replied: "I wanted to transport the coffin back to Jiangdong, but the wounds were rotten and festering, and the weather was hot, so I had to bury it in Xiakou."
"Xiakou is fine, that's fine!" Huang Gai took a deep breath, "At least Ziyi can still look at Jiangdong from afar, which can comfort his heroic soul."
Sun Quan sat there covering his face, thinking to himself that it was a close call. Fortunately Zhou Shan had not succeeded yet. If something unexpected had happened, not only would he have been ruined, but the people of Jiangdong would also have lost their morale.
After a long pause to calm down, Sun Quan looked sad and sighed: "Ziyi has made great contributions to Jiangdong. I will go to the river with you to offer sacrifices tomorrow. From now on, my nephew will stay in the mansion to learn literature and martial arts and carry on your father's aspirations."
Taishi Xiang was deeply moved and knelt down to express his gratitude. Sun Quan ordered someone to take him down to rest first and sighed endlessly.
Huang Gai sighed, "The heroes of Jiangdong are getting old, sick, or dead. There are only a few left. Bo Fu will not be lonely in the afterlife, right?"
Sun Quan frowned slightly and consoled him, "Old General, why should you be so discouraged? Lian Po is seventy years old and still able to kill enemies. You are the pillar of Jiangdong and the pillar of stability. I will continue my father and brother's work and still need your help!"
Huang Gai said, "The Huainan war cannot be led by anyone other than the Grand Commander. I don't know how serious his condition is. I plan to visit him in Chaisang to discuss military affairs. I hope the Marquis of Wu will grant me permission."
Sun Quan nodded and said, "I have been very concerned about Gongjin recently. Gongfu also expressed his regards for me. Now that Liu Qi has returned to Jingzhou and Xichuan has been settled, I am afraid that it will be unfavorable to Jiangdong. We need to make plans early."
Huang Gai thanked Sun Quan, hired a boatman, and sailed on the river to relax. The death of Taishi Ci made him even more depressed, and now only Zhou Yu was left with whom he could talk.
Sun Quan returned home and brought Taishi Xiang to visit Wu Guotai. The old lady personally comforted him and asked, "What symptoms did General Taishi have when he was dying? Can you tell me anything?"
Taishi Xiang replied, "My father was overwhelmed with pain and could not serve Jiangdong, so he vomited blood and died. He ordered me to return to Jiangdong and wait for the Marquis of Wu to send me."
"Alas, the dead cannot be brought back to life, so please don't mourn for them!" Wu Guotai sighed softly, "General Taishi has devoted half his life to Jiangdong and has been loyal to Bofu. His contribution is no less than that of Cheng Pu. Let's all mourn for him tomorrow!"
"That's exactly what I meant!" Sun Quan obeyed the order and led his civil and military officials to the riverside to pay tribute the next day.
The whole city had just held a funeral for Cheng Pu, and now they had to go through mourning for Taishi Ci. For a moment, the hearts of the civil and military officials in Jiangdong were covered with a layer of dark cloud, like the plum rain weather, which could not be dispelled.