My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 153 Bo Fu Attacks Dantu

On Yuan Shu's side, the atmosphere was gloomy and filled with sighs and lamentations.

The Xuzhou army, on the other hand, was overjoyed, with drums and gongs beating loudly.

Liu Feng personally went out of the city to greet the triumphant generals and soldiers outside the south gate.

This battle not only shattered Qiao Rui's forces and dealt a heavy blow to Yuan Shu's personal guard, but also forced Sun Quan's army to retreat without achieving anything, making it a resounding victory.

"Teacher, you never miss a shot, not even the most heavily armored soldiers can escape your divine archery. You are truly a reincarnation of Li Guang."

Liu Feng stood at the city gate, holding Taishi Ci's hand and praising him repeatedly. On the city wall, he had personally witnessed Taishi Ci charge forward several times, killing enemy mid-level officers with a single arrow, causing great chaos in Yuan Shu's army.

Then, Liu Feng grabbed Zhao Yun's hand and said, "Uncle Zilong commanded from the center and today we have achieved a great victory at Qiao Rui. You deserve the greatest credit!"

Liu Feng also spoke highly of Xu Sheng: "Wenxiang commanded with composure and calmness today, already showing the demeanor of a famous general. He will surely become a great man in the future."

Liu Feng then showered Pan Zhang and Zhou Tai with praise: "Wen Gui and Youping are truly tigers and wolves. Amidst a vast army, they can charge through enemy lines, slaying generals and seizing flags as easily as taking something from a bag. Even the ancient evil Lai could not have been more formidable than them!"

The generals were very pleased with Liu Feng's praise, and they all expressed their humility.

Only Liu Feng knew that he wasn't exaggerating. He had seen everything clearly from the city wall that afternoon's battle was a foregone conclusion. The reason the victory was so easy and decisive was simply because these generals were so capable.

Zhao Yun, Taishi Ci, Xu Sheng, Pan Zhang, Zhou Tai.

On the other side, there wasn't a single warrior who could withstand a few moves from these people, let alone when they all charged in together.

If Qiao Rui had dared to launch a counterattack with the central army at the last moment, turning defeat into victory would have been a pipe dream. However, it might have boosted morale and allowed their side to hold out until Sun Ce's army arrived to reinforce them. Retreating then would undoubtedly have been much more respectable. Why did they end up in such a tragic state, with over 1,100 dead and nearly half of their army wiped out?

But does Qiao Rui dare to do that?
He dare not.

Even if Qiao Rui himself was not afraid of death, he was afraid that if he really fought back, he might be killed and his flag taken by this group of fierce people. Wouldn't that mean he would lose even more miserably?

If it were an ordinary general, Qiao Rui wouldn't have had such concerns.

This is the objective threat posed by powerful warriors.

This battle was arguably the biggest battle Liu Feng had ever seen. The "Dragon Gate Formation" he had set up in Ju County before didn't count; it was just to scare Xiao Jian, and in the end, no real battle took place.

When Pan Zhang and Zhou Tai took off their armor, their bodies were covered in dark red sweat and blood from the enemy that had seeped in through the gaps in their armor.

Fortunately, the armor was quite protective; several arrows pierced through it, but only grazed the skin, causing no serious injury.

The Xuzhou army achieved a great victory and reaped extremely rich rewards.

Putting everything else aside, the nearly two hundred sets of iron armor alone made Liu Feng grin from ear to ear.

With these iron armors, Pan Zhang's Rushan Camp was able to continue expanding.

Liu Feng had an idea, but he didn't know if it was feasible.

He wanted to expand Rushan Camp to a thousand soldiers in one go, so that everyone was on par with the first-class soldiers, not just the first-class soldiers.

In the future, when rotations are implemented, soldiers who have retreated to rest can transfer their iron armor to the reserves. In this way, soldiers can take turns resting, while the armor can be used continuously, effectively doubling the number of armors. Moreover, iron armor is less prone to damage and less susceptible to damage than leather armor, making it seem very suitable for this tactic.

However, although the field battle was a great victory, new problems began to plague Liu Feng.

The wealth in Guangling Prefecture's treasury was used up before the war even started, and it was all used to reward the soldiers.

Now that the Xuzhou military post office has won a great victory, we can't not reward them, can we?
Even though the Yuan Shu army we faced was somewhat weak and incompetent, it was still a great victory, and we must give them reasonable rewards and punishments in order to maintain morale.

It can only be said that some are happy while others are sad. Liu Feng is troubled about how to reward his soldiers, while Liu Yao and his men on the other side of the river are celebrating and gloating.

"Is it really such a resounding victory?"

Sun Shao was somewhat incredulous. This was an army of ten thousand, and more than half of them had already been lost?
"really."

Even Liu Yao's usually stern face showed a hint of joy as he nodded solemnly to Sun Shao, while instructing his attendants to pass the silk to everyone so they could examine it one by one.

"Congratulations, Fang Bo! Congratulations, Fang Bo!"

After reading it, Sun Shao, Teng Dan, Teng Zhou and the others were overjoyed. They then left their seats together and knelt down to congratulate Liu Yao.

Liu Yao also smiled, a rare occurrence, and stood up to help everyone up: "You are all my right-hand men, why should we be like this? Yuan Shu has acted perversely and tyrannically, causing the people to lose their support, and naturally the morale of the army is unstable. Without a united army, how can we fight? This crushing defeat is only to be expected."

"In that case, the crisis in Dantu can be resolved."

Sun Shao's face was full of joy; everyone had been extremely nervous lately.

Jiangdu is right across from Dantu, separated only by a river.

Yuan Shu's 30,000 troops gathered in Jiangdu, forming a camp stretching for several miles. Who wouldn't panic in that situation?

It looks like they're attacking Guangling now, but if they come to attack Dantu, it's just a matter of changing direction. These days, Sun Shao can't even sleep soundly, fearing that Yuan Shu's army will cross the Yangtze River.

Currently, Dantu has only 6,500 soldiers and Qu'a has 4,500 soldiers, totaling only 11,000 men.

Two thousand of them were elite troops drawn from the Niuzhu defense line, while the other five thousand were three thousand given by Xue Li and two thousand by Zuo Rong.

With only 11,000 troops, it would be quite a challenge to stop Yuan Shu's army.

Now things are much better. Yuan Shu's army has suffered heavy losses and is likely to withdraw soon, so Dantu is safe.

Liu Yao also breathed a sigh of relief. Although he was worried that the Xuzhou army was too powerful, he was in a great mood now and didn't want to worry about it anymore.

Finally, Liu Yao announced to the public: "You have all worked hard these past few days. Tonight, I will host a banquet to entertain you all. Please enjoy yourselves and relax after days of hard work."

"However, we must remain cautious at the Dantu front and not let our guard down until Yuan Shu withdraws his troops."

Sun Shao and the others all beamed with joy and agreed in unison.

Liu Yao was in high spirits and even hosted a banquet, while Yuan Shu's situation was quite different.

Upon receiving the report, Yuan Shu almost wanted to tear Yang Hong, who had sent it, apart alive.

"Useless idiot! Useless! Moron!"

Yuan Shu roared, "What kind of battle did Qiao Shengde fight? Even a pig could have commanded it and done a better job. Eight thousand against six thousand, and he still had his main camp to rely on. How did he manage to fight like this?"

"Qiao Shengde fought a bloody battle and was said to have been wounded in more than a dozen places. He had to be carried off by his personal guards."

Yuan Shu was acting like a madman, spitting all over Yang Hong's face, but Yang Hong still had to clean up Qiao Rui's mess.

Qiao Rui was a local gentry and powerful figure in Jiujiang, and he and Yang Hong were from the same hometown.

People from Jiujiang, including Yang Hong, were happy that Yuan Shu supported local powerful figures like Qiao Rui and Zhang Xun in leading troops, and they spared no expense in providing them with money and provisions.

Yuan Shu was aware of the thoughts of the gentry in Jiujiang. Instead of offending them, he deliberately relinquished military power to them, thereby extracting more resources from the hands of the gentry and powerful families in Jiujiang.

Of Yuan Shu's original army of over 50,000, only about 10,000 were from the Sun family army, while the remaining 40,000 were Yuan Shu's personal guard. Half of them were controlled by local gentry from Jiujiang, represented by the military generals Qiao Rui and Zhang Xun.

The other half was controlled by elders from Nanyang, such as Ji Ling and Chang Nu.

With the addition of Sun Quan's army, which he relied on, a stable triangular framework was formed, demonstrating that Yuan Shu was quite adept at balancing power.

Yuan Shu now regrets it, wondering if he has been too focused on political maneuvering and neglected the ability of his generals to command troops.

Thinking of how capable Sun Ce was, and how the generals of the Sun family army each possessed unique skills, yet the generals under his own command were all incompetent and useless, Yuan Shu couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

He just couldn't understand why no talented people in the world would serve him.
Even Sun Wentai's son was always thinking about owning a piece of land so he could break away from his own command.

"Where is Bo Fu?"

Yuan Shu was furious: "He just watched Qiao Rui's army be defeated?"

Yang Hong had no choice; he didn't even dare wipe the spittle off his own face, yet he still had to clean up the mess left by Qiao Rui and the others at the front lines.

“Sun Bofu and his men were also tied down by the defenders in Xuzhou. Although they rushed to Qiao Shengde's aid regardless of casualties, they were still a step too late.”

Yang Hong didn't shift the blame to Sun Ce. Firstly, Qiao Rui and Sun Ce had a good relationship, and secondly, Sun Ce was indeed a capable fighter. In the hearts of the scholars of Jiujiang, he was considered a backup option, and there might be cooperation in the future. It wouldn't be good to make the relationship too strained now.

Most importantly, the loss was too crushing, and the blame can't be completely shifted. "They're all useless! Absolutely all of them!"

Yuan Shu was incompetent and furious. That was a full 10,000 troops, and nearly half of them had been wiped out. The remaining 6,000 men were simply unusable without significant replenishment and reorganization.

How to rectify this?

We still need money, grain, and goods!

Did Yuan Shu really get his money and supplies so easily?
That's what he got in return for selling out all sorts of power.

Or were the gentry and powerful families benevolent and kind, showering him with large sums of money and grain?
"My lord, Sun Ce has another strategy to present."

Yang Hong took out Sun Ce's memorial from his bosom and handed it to Yuan Shu.

Yuan Shu snatched it away and began to read it.

"Still want to fight Dantu?"

Yuan Shu sneered, "If you can't even take Guangling, do you think Dantu is so easy to take?"

Seeing that Yuan Shu had calmed down, Yang Hong advised, "Sun Bofu's words make some sense. We didn't expect him to attack Dantu, so Liu Yao certainly didn't. In this light, Sun Bofu's strategy does have its merits."

Yuan Shu fell silent and began pacing around the main hall.

After a long while, he finally made up his mind: "Since Bo Fu is so willing, let them give it a try."

After calming his anger, Yuan Shu regained his composure.

Between Liu Bei and Liu Yao, the former is stronger and the latter weaker. Why would one abandon the weaker party to entangle with the stronger? Furthermore, if Bo Fu (Liu Yao) could truly cross the river and sweep across Jiangdong, wouldn't taking all six commanderies of Jiangdong be far superior to taking half of Guangling?
Since Sun Ce is so confident, let him give it a try.

However, Qiao Rui's troops must be withdrawn to Shouchun for reorganization, which I believe Bo Fu should be able to understand.

Soon, Yuan Shu's decision reached the front lines.

Although Sun Ce was dissatisfied with Yuan Shu's demand to withdraw the Qiao Rui tribe, he could also make good use of the Qiao Rui tribe in this action plan.

As for Jiangdu, Yuan Shu also demanded that Sun Ce guarantee that even if the crossing of the river failed, Jiangdu would still be defended.

Sun Ce thought the other party was talking nonsense.

On the Yangtze River, Liu Yao had the upper hand. If it weren't for the other side's tacit approval, how could they have traveled so easily between Liyang and Jiangdu by water?

Unless Yuan Shu completely abandons the idea of ​​crossing the river and also requires Liu Yao's consent, a falling out between the two sides is inevitable.

How can Jiangdu be defended once Liu Yao cuts off the waterway?
How to resupply supplies?

Relying solely on land routes would be far less efficient.

Moreover, given the fighting strength of the Xuzhou army, how many people should be stationed in Jiangdu? At least one army of four thousand men should be left. Otherwise, it would be better not to leave any. If something really happens, there won't even be time to rescue them.

Therefore, Sun Ce had already decided to abandon Jiangdu.

If he could successfully cross the river and establish a foothold in this battle, Yuan Shu would be too busy rewarding him to blame him for a mere Jiangdu.

If he still can't cross the river this time and is blocked by Liu Yao, then Sun Ce will be oblivious to the trouble and let Yuan Shu curse him as he pleases.

After obtaining Yuan Shu's consent, Sun Ce was greatly encouraged and, full of vigor, invited everyone to discuss his plan.

"We will lead the way with the Shengde troops, and leave Jiangdu by boat in a grand manner, retreating to Liyang. Then we will secretly hide our elite troops in Jiangdu."

As Sun Ce spoke, he demonstrated on the table: "In Liu Yao's opinion, if we want to hold Jiangdu, we must leave at least one army, four thousand men. With these four thousand men, we can cross the Yangtze River and attack Dantu."

"Four thousand men launched a surprise attack on Dantu?"

Wu Jing's eyes widened, and he shook his head repeatedly: "Too dangerous, too dangerous."

Sun Ce explained, “Uncle, the four thousand men are only responsible for seizing the gate. Your uncle and cousin will provide support afterward. We will make a legitimate retreat in the early stages to lull Liu Yao into a false sense of security. During the final retreat, we can turn back the next day and, together with reinforcements from Liyang, head straight for Dantu. Finally, we will launch a three-pronged attack to conquer Dantu.”

Sun Ce's plan was risky, but it did have its merits; he made the most of a waterway.

He clearly divided his troops into several groups, taking advantage of Liu Yao's belief that Yuan Shu would not abandon Jiangdu, thus creating a disparity in troop strength.

When the number of troops withdrawn from Jiangdu reached four thousand, Liu Yao would have thought he was completely safe. But it was precisely at this moment that Sun Ce made his move.

In addition, if the last batch of troops withdraws at a well-timed turnback, then the force besieging the city could very well be tens of thousands of soldiers.

Dantu is not a fortified city. As long as Yuan Shu's army can successfully land, there is a good chance of capturing it.

There are two main problems. One is how to hide the troops under Liu Yao's nose, a problem that Sun Ce has already solved.

The second problem is how the Jiangdu garrison, which has had all its ships transferred, will cross the river.

Sun Cejun also has a solution to this problem.

Several months ago, when Sun Ce obtained his father's troops from Yuan Shu and rushed to Liyang to help his uncle and cousin, his first large-scale crossing of the river to launch a fierce attack on Niuzhu was a plan devised by his aunt.

At that time, Sun Ce was troubled and worried because he did not have enough ships to transport siege equipment across the river. His aunt, who was also Xu Kun's mother, suggested that he could use reeds to make rafts to cross the river.

Those carrying people can row themselves, while those carrying siege equipment can be tied to the back of the ship.

Sun Ce was overjoyed upon hearing this and acted according to his aunt's plan. He successfully crossed the Yangtze River, but unfortunately, after several days of fierce fighting, he still failed to capture Niuzhu and was defeated by Fan Neng and Zhang Ying. He had no choice but to retreat back to Liyang.

Although the plan failed then, it can be repeated now.

This is the famous story of exchanging a jade seal for armor and crossing the Yangtze River on reeds.

In this way, the two biggest problems were solved.

For a moment, the tent was quiet.

Apart from Qiao Rui, everyone present was a member of the Sun family. And everyone there, including Qiao Rui, was very concerned about Sun Ce's safety.

After listening to what Bo Fu had said, everyone had to admit that his plan was quite risky, but it did indeed have a high probability of success.

Sending four thousand elite soldiers to attack Dantu was still too risky.

"Bo Fu, why don't we change our plans?"

Sun Ben was the first to speak, and everyone's eyes immediately turned to him.

“Although Jiangdu is a small city, it can still hide one or two thousand people. We can leave six thousand people in Jiangdu and send the rest back to Liyang. Then we can put pressure on Niuzhu and force Liu Yao to redeploy the troops that were withdrawn from Dantu to Niuzhu. In this way, I estimate that Dantu will only have two or three thousand people at most, which is not a concern.”

At this point, Sun Ben paused for a moment, then added hesitantly, "But after you make your move, I'm afraid there won't be any reinforcements for the next two or three days."

Wu Jing objected: "No, I still think it's too dangerous. Bo Fu carries the heavy hopes of the Sun family, how can he go to such a dangerous place?"

Seeing Wu Jing's objection, Sun Ben did not argue, but simply fell silent again.

Sun Ce remained silent, not because he had any objections to Sun Ben, but because he was weighing in his mind whether Sun Ben's improvements or his original ideas were better.

After much deliberation, Sun Ce had to admit that Sun Ben's suggestion was correct. Indeed, Sun Ben's improved version was better, had a higher probability of success, and was safer for him.

After all, if they fail, it's naturally easier to escape across the river while being pursued by 10,000 people than to escape while being pursued by thousands.

Moreover, in the improved version, Sun Ben and his men would have to risk crossing the river to launch a strong attack on Niuzhu, putting pressure on the Niuzhu defense line in order to prompt Liu Yao to transfer his elite troops back to the front line as soon as possible, which was also a dangerous task.

Qiao Rui and Xu Kun looked at Sun Ce, waiting for him to make a decision.

They both respected Sun Ce. Xu Kun was a bit better, having followed Sun Jian in his campaigns, and had a broader perspective. Qiao Rui, on the other hand, simply regarded Sun Ce as the commander-in-chief.

“Uncle, what my cousin said is exactly what I was thinking.”

Sun Ce stood up, looked down at everyone present, and a confident smile appeared on his handsome face: "Uncle, cousin, and Shengde, my mind is made up, there is no need to persuade me anymore. My Sun family has a long-standing reputation in Jiangdong, and the people of Jiangdong are all willing to submit to us. As long as I can successfully cross the river and occupy Dantu, they will flock to me."

Sun Ce slowly turned around, looking out of the tent, leaving everyone with a profound silhouette and a faint echo: "It's time for my Sun family to tell Jiangdong that he has returned."

(End of this chapter)