The rain was pouring down, and Sun Quan in the camp was in a state of confusion. He was about to capture the city, but the plan failed because of the heavy rain.
Just when he was feeling depressed, his personal guard came in with medicine and soup. He opened the curtain and saw the water column outside the door. Suddenly, he had an idea and hurriedly ordered, "Send Lü Fan and Jia Hua here quickly."
When the two entered the tent, Sun Quan said, "The sky is not on my side, giving Cao's army a chance to catch their breath. If we wait until the weather clears, it will be extremely difficult to attack the city. We need to find another good strategy."
Lu Fan frowned and said, "It is the rainy season now. With the weather in Huainan like this, it may be difficult to send troops."
Sun Quan sneered and said, "I have a plan. It will be easy to conquer Shouchun."
Lu Fan asked, "My lord, what good plan do you have?"
Sun Quan's eyes were slightly stern, and he said slowly: "When the Grand Commander conquered Shouchun, do you two generals still remember how Cao's army recaptured the city?"
"This matter has shaken Huainan, and the whole world knows about it. How can I..." Lu Fan was speaking when his face suddenly changed drastically and he exclaimed: "My lord, are you going to..."
"That's right!" Sun Quan nodded slightly and clenched his fist, saying, "If we don't take Shouchun, we won't be able to enter the Central Plains. Last time, I was tricked by the thieves. This time, I will use Cao's trick to take down his city. This is the law of reincarnation!"
Lü Fan hurriedly advised: "The Cao army flooded Shouchun earlier and lost the support of the people. If you use this plan, I'm afraid it will not be appropriate."
"If Cao Cao can be drowned, why can't I be drowned?" Sun Quan shouted, "How many Jiangdong men have died in Shouchun? Compared with the tens of thousands of people in Huainan, what difference does it make? Liu Qi has taken Guanzhong and will break through the Central Plains. If we don't advance, the situation will be disastrous!"
Jia Hua clasped his fists and said, "My lord, you are right. Recently, more than half of the troops have been killed and wounded, and many generals have been thinking of retreating. If we had used this strategy earlier and saved our troops, we would have entered the Central Plains long ago."
Sun Quan looked at the two men and said, "You two generals are my trusted confidants, so this plan will only be discussed with you two. Jia Hua needs to guard the central army, so Zi Heng can only lead the troops. Jia Hua will select 1,000 trusted confidants from among his guards and disguise them as civilians to dig the dam. This matter must not be leaked."
Seeing that Sun Quan trusted him so much, Lu Fan also knew that this matter had a great impact. He clasped his fists and said, "My lord has ordered me to fight to the death. However, once the dike is dug, the water will be difficult to control. The troops in the camps outside the city must evacuate as soon as possible."
Sun Quan smiled and said, "Ziheng, go and prepare. I will call all the generals to discuss matters later. I will tell them that the rainy season is approaching and we cannot attack the city. We need to withdraw our troops overnight."
Lü Fan took the order and left. Just as Jia Hua was about to pass on the order to go to the tent, Sun Quan waved his hand and said, "Don't be anxious. If we retreat now, Cao's scouts will find out and they will be on high alert."
Jia Hua asked in confusion: "How long do we have to wait for the notification?"
Sun Quan stood up, walked slowly to the table, and calculated calmly: "It will take two hours for Lü Fan to reach the river bank, one hour for 500 people to dig the river channel, and more than an hour for the flood to reach here. We should raise the tent at three o'clock in the morning and move the camp at dawn. The baggage should be withdrawn first, and the elite soldiers should be left behind. When the flood arrives, we can withdraw the troops!"
Jia Hua clasped his fists and said, "My lord is wise. As soon as our army retreated, the floods flooded Shouchun. Cao's army will be caught off guard. Let them also taste the feeling of being flooded."
"As the saying goes, retribution will come true. This time, Cao the thief will suffer the consequences of his actions!"
Sun Quan stood in front of the camp gate with his hands behind his back, feeling the cold wind blowing in through the crack in the door, with an air of someone who was in control of a strategic plan.
Lü Meng had sent someone to report the news, successfully crossing the river to the north and bribing local officials in the coastal areas. His troops were gathering to prepare to attack Tan County.
Whether or not Shouchun could be captured was no longer important at this point. As long as Cao Ren's troops were trapped in the city, Lu Meng could take over Donghai County while Xuzhou was empty.
After Cao Ren's army was annihilated, the Jiangdong navy could then head north to take Pengcheng, and then join forces with Zhou Yu's troops, leading their own army to follow. With three routes moving together, Xuzhou would be in their possession.
…
Chang Diao led his troops to the upper reaches of the Huai River, where the Nancha River flowed toward Shouchun, which was exactly where Cao's army had dug the river embankment.
It was almost four o'clock in the morning when Cao's army reached the shore in the rain. Most of the torches were extinguished by the rain, and they did not dare to risk crossing to the other side in the flickering light. Chang Diao divided his men into three teams, which took turns digging the riverbank on the east bank.
While they were busy, Lü Fan led his troops and quietly arrived from the west bank. In order to avoid being discovered by Cao's army, Lü Fan went around the Nancha River bank and saw a fire beside the river bank. He thought that Cao's army was prepared and frowned.
He ordered his soldiers to hide in the distance and quietly came to the shore with ten guards. However, he faintly heard a series of tinkling sounds and was startled.
Looking closely, I saw many people on the other side of the river waving shovels and digging the river embankment.
"Hiss—" Lü Fan was startled and frowned, "Could it be that the Marquis of Wu doesn't trust me enough and sent another group of people to dig the dike?"
Thinking of his own advice just now in the tent and Sun Quan's unhappy expression, Lu Fan sighed inwardly, and immediately called the soldiers in the distance over, ordering them to take action immediately and not slack off.
As the Wu army lit torches and started to fight, the Cao army on the opposite side was also stunned. They raised their shovels and pickaxes and were on guard, but they saw that the other side was just busy digging the embankment without any weapons in their hands.
After a brief moment of surprise, Chang Diao shouted excitedly, "What are you digging for?"
Cao's army saw that there were only ordinary people on the other side of the river, with only shovels but no bows and arrows. As the two sides were facing each other across the river, they did not pose a threat, so they all attacked again.
"Boss, what's going on?" The centurion who was resting in the back was confused.
Chang Diao sneered and said, "This must be because the people in Huainan could not bear the oppression of the Wu army, so they secretly organized people to dig the Huai River and drown all the Wu dogs."
The captain laughed and cursed, "Sun Quan is a fickle villain. Last time he attacked Hefei, he was defeated by General Zhang at Xiaoyaojin. This time he came to besiege Hefei again, but was defeated by you. If you can drown Sun Quan, you will become famous in one battle!"
"It's too early!" Chang Diao smiled with his eyes wide open, but he said, "It all depends on you brothers. Everyone will get a share of the reward after the success. Add another 500 people, work harder, and don't lose to those mud legs."
When the captain received the order, he immediately went to the rear to pass the message. All the Cao soldiers cheered and stood up. They crowded to the shore to dig, vying with each other, making the scene very lively.
"Speed up, there must be no mistakes!" When Lu Fan heard the cheers from the other side, he thought they were trying to steal the credit, so he grabbed a shovel and started digging.
People from both sides worked hard to dig the river embankment on the east and west banks. Under the dim firelight, shovels were waved, and the sound of iron tools and rain created a harmonious labor scene.
The river bank, which would have taken at least an hour to dig, was dug open by the concerted efforts of two teams, who competed with each other. In less than a meal's time, they had dug a hole ten feet wide.
The surging river water hit the embankment, washing away the remaining earth and rocks. The stone gate left in the middle was useless, like an isolated island that was instantly submerged by the torrent.
Boom—
The surging waters of the Huai River poured down again, overflowing the channel of the Nancha River, spreading to both banks, and rushing towards Shouchun.
"Well done!" Chang Diao looked at the people on the other side of the river, told the soldiers to step back, and laughed, "Bi Yan'er is unpopular, God will punish him, go back to the city and give orders."
Cao's army waved their shovels and cheered as they left. They all knew that with this flood, the Wu army would be wiped out, the siege of Shouchun would be lifted, and they would no longer have to worry and work hard to defend the city.