After Sun Quan attacked Huang Zu and lost his great general Ling Cao, he withdrew his troops to purify the territory and pacify the bandits, always thinking of revenge.
Suddenly he heard that Liu Cong had risen in Jingzhou, and that Liu Bei's troops had defeated Cao Ren and recovered the entire Nanyang. He was skeptical and ordered people to find out the news in detail.
Cao Cao sent another envoy to Jianye, accusing Sun Quan of disobeying the emperor's order and ordering him to send troops to Jiangxia immediately to respond to the emperor's request.
At this time, Zhou Yu was training his troops in Chaisang, and Sun Quan was discussing countermeasures with Lu Su, Zhang Zhao and others.
Sun Quan said: "If we help Cao, Liu Biao and his son will die soon, Jingzhou will be captured by Cao Cao, and Jiangdong will be in danger; if we don't help Cao, my father's revenge will have to be avenged. What good plans do you two have?"
Lu Su said, "Jingzhou and Jiangdong are closely connected. I heard recently that Cao Cao built the Xuanwu Pond to train his navy. He must be planning to march south. After losing Jingzhou, he will attack Jiangdong. Liu Qi's resistance to Cao is like a snipe and a clam fighting each other. It is better to wait and see what happens and take advantage of it when the time comes."
Zhang Zhao sneered, "Cao Cao holds the emperor hostage and controls the north. He has more than a million people under his command. Liu Qi is ignorant of his own limitations. He will be killed if he dares to use his power. Last time, my lord did not send his son to the court. Cao Cao holds a grudge against him. If he disobeys orders again and makes enemies with Cao, who can stop him from sending troops on this pretext? If we send troops now, we can both take revenge and make friends with Cao. Why not do it?"
Lu Su said, "I think Liu Qi has risen suddenly and has taken Nanyang in half a month. He must be capable of doing something. It is better to keep our troops in place and wait and see what happens. If Liu Qi can really resist Cao, we should put the overall situation first, delay our plans for revenge, and work together to plot against Cao. If he fails, it is not too late to devise other strategies."
Zhang Zhao had always been dissatisfied with Lu Su because of his young age and carelessness. Hearing this, he said, "The Grand Commander is in charge of the army in Chaisang. He knows everything about the changes in Jingzhou. Why not let him make his own decisions? If he can send troops from Chaisang to Xiakou, he will be there in the evening and will surely defeat Huang Zu!"
"Mr. Zhang is right!" Sun Quan was at a loss for words and had to throw the problem to Zhou Yu.
Zhang Zhao stroked his beard with satisfaction. Zhou Yu had always advocated conquest, which was different from his opinion. But this time, in order to make friends with Cao Cao, he had to let Zhou Yu do as he wished.
When the messenger arrived at Chaisang to deliver the message, Lü Meng was overjoyed and said, "Gan Ning has been transferred to Nanyang. The rest of the generals are nothing to be feared. The dry bones in Huang Zu's tomb can be decided in one battle!"
Zhou Yu stood at the river mouth with his hands behind his back, looking towards the north in silence. After a long while, he slowly said, "The time has not come yet!"
Lü Meng was puzzled and said, "Now Jingzhou has mobilized all its troops to fight against Cao, and the territory is empty. If we take Jiangxia, we can march west, occupy Chuguan and take advantage of the Yangtze River. What is there to doubt?"
Zhou Yu said with emotion: "Liu Qi is soaring to the sky, Guan and Zhang are willing to sacrifice their lives, and Xu Shu and Wulong are helping. The outcome of the battle of Nanyang is hard to predict!"
Lü Meng laughed and said, "Liu Qi is a sick man. He has been oppressed by the Cai family for many years. He rose to power by chance, but it is only a flash in the pan. Jingzhou will be taken by the Cao family sooner or later. Why not take action now?"
While they were discussing, a scout came to report that Xiahou Dun's army of 100,000 was defeated in Bowang, and the entire army was wiped out and fled back to Xuchang.
Lü Meng was shocked and asked, "How could Liu Qi defeat Cao's army again?"
"Liu Qi? How can a golden fish stay in a pond..."
Zhou Yu sighed deeply, and a gleam of brilliance disappeared from the depths of his eyes. He ordered Lu Meng and others to continue training the troops and to strictly guard the water forts.
When he returned to Chaisang and came to the back hall, he smelled a strong aroma of wine and said helplessly, "Shi Yuan is drunk again!"
A man in the side room laughed and said, "The ruler of Jingzhou has appeared. My relatives and friends are all safe. The Han Dynasty has a successor. How can we not drink and celebrate?"
Zhou Yu came to the door, frowned slightly, and a bitter smile appeared on his handsome face. He sighed and said, "I heard that Crouching Dragon and Phoenix Child are equally famous. Phoenix Child is unrestrained and unruly, while Crouching Dragon is just a country boy. Are all the people in Jingzhou so crude and vulgar?"
There was a man in the room leaning on the table, drinking with his chest bare. He had a short face, scowl eyebrows, triangular eyes, two rat whiskers, and a strange smile on the corners of his mouth. He looked extremely wretched. It was Pang Tong, the Phoenix.
Years ago, Pang Tong traveled to Jiangdong and made friends with Lu Ji, Gu Shao and others of Jiangdong. When he returned, he passed by Chaisang and was detained by Zhou Yu. Although he did not participate in military affairs, he told Zhou Yu everything he knew about Jingzhou.
"Hahaha!" Pang Tong laughed and said, "Wolong is a genius, his elegance is not inferior to the governor, and even his piano skills are better than his!"
"Oh?" Zhou Yu narrowed his eyes slightly and walked over to sit opposite him. "How does Kong Ming's talent compare to yours?"
"Ten times more than me!"
Zhou Yu was surprised. Seeing Pang Tong's calm expression, he asked again, "Cao Cao has gathered 500,000 troops to take revenge and wants to take over Nanyang and Jingzhou. Liu Qi has less than 100,000 troops. What do you think of the outcome?"
Pang Tong took a sip of wine and asked, "What do you think of the victory or defeat of the battle between Yuan and Cao at Guandu?"
Zhou Yu laughed and said, "Yuan Shao is arrogant and conceited, and cannot employ people. Cao Cao is a treacherous hero of the time. How can they be compared?"
Pang Tong pulled his beard and said calmly: "The governor is familiar with military books. Hasn't he heard that arrogant soldiers will be defeated?"
Zhou Yu sat there in deep thought for a long time. He was awakened by Pang Tong's snoring when he realized that he was asleep. He got up and returned to the hall.
He immediately wrote a letter and ordered someone to send it to Jianye to report to Sun Quan that the navy had not yet completed its training and the ships were not ready, so they could not go out.
After he had arranged everything, he came back to ask Pang Tong about Wolong, but found that the room was empty. There was a note left on the table, which read: Every man has his share of responsibility for the rise and fall of his country!
Zhou Yu was disappointed after reading it, and angrily scolded: "Fengchu, you are such a scheming person! When you knew Jingzhou was going to be in chaos, you fled to Jiangdong. Now that you see Liu Qi rising up, you are drifting away again. You must pay me back ten times the wine one day."
In Jianye City, Sun Quan read the letter, stroked his beard and laughed, saying: "It is true that great minds think alike!"
He immediately ordered someone to invite Lu Su to come, handed him the letter, and said with a smile: "What Gongjin said really coincides with what Zijing said."
Sun Quan was happy because his inner thoughts were consistent with those of Zhou Yu and Lu Su, which greatly boosted his confidence.
This is like a student who has just entered higher education and finds out that his way of solving problems is the same as his teacher's. You can imagine how proud he is.
"This is also the wisdom of my lord!" Lu Su first praised Sun Quan before lowering his head to read the letter.
After reading it, he said: "The Central Plains is the land within the sea, and the two capitals are the places where the Han Dynasty started its business. If you want to achieve hegemony, you should do as the governor said and take Huainan as soon as possible. When Jingzhou's troops, horses, money and food are exhausted, it will be easy to take it."
"Although Gongjin likes war, he also knows the overall situation!" Sun Quan said with a proud smile: "Cao Cao is angry and has raised his army to Nanyang. The two armies are already at loggerheads. Cao Cao laughs at Liu Qi as a dog and a pig, which is just right for him to be the dog guarding the gate of Jiangdong. While the two tigers are fighting, I will take the opportunity to stabilize Huainan."
Lu Su nodded and said, "Now the two armies are annexing each other. If Liu Qi wins, Cao's army will be seriously injured. We can kill Cao Cao together to conquer Huainan and advance to the Central Plains. If Cao Cao wins, we can take advantage of the situation to divide the land of Jingzhou, rule along the river, and conquer Bashu in the west. Then the kingship can be established!"
Sun Quan stroked his beard and laughed, "Since ancient times, to guard the Yangtze River one must guard the Huai River. If we can get the land south of the Huai River, with the Yangtze River and the Huai River as the boundary, we can advance to the Central Plains, and retreat to defend the east of the Yangtze River. Then I can calmly deal with Cao Cao!"
After the two of them discussed it, Sun Quan sent someone to write back to Cao Cao, saying that the clan bandits were rampant in Jiangdong, and that the navy was not yet formed, so it was not enough to send out troops, so the date could be postponed.
He also strictly ordered all places to keep their troops in place, but secretly followed Zhou Yu's plan and mobilized troops in Niuzhu and Ruxu, waiting for the outcome of the battle of Nanyang before taking action.