My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 281 The Reality and Facts of Shouchun
"General, you flatter me. I am grateful for the high regard shown to me by Lord Xuande and Liu Zhengnan, and I regret that I could not have served them sooner. However, Yuan Gonglu has monopolized the Jianghuai region, treating the prefectures and kingdoms of the court as his private domain, levying exorbitant taxes and causing havoc in the local area. Now, fortunately, Lord Xuande has received the imperial edict and raised the righteous army of Xuzhou to save our Jianghuai region. It is like a long-awaited rain after a drought. How could I dare to aid the wicked and defy the heavenly army?"

"I already feel guilty for not coming to join you sooner, how dare I claim the greatest credit?"

Taishi Ci, however, grasped Zhou Yu's hand and said, "Gongjin, there's no need to be modest. The lord knows your exceptional talent. This time, it was also your strategic planning that successfully led General Sun into the trap."

Zhou Yu, with a sincere expression, declined, saying, "To be able to gain the general's favor and to be able to attach myself to the country so that Lord Xuande and Liu Zhengnan may know that I, Zhou Yu, have contributed to the country, is already enough. I absolutely cannot claim the first merit."

"Moreover, this merit does not belong solely to General Taishi; Generals Zhang and Xu have also made great contributions. General Taishi has attributed the credit to me, and I am deeply grateful, but how can I shamelessly accept it?"

Zhang Liao and Xu Huang, who were behind Taishi Ci, were both shrewd and had extremely high emotional intelligence, but there were still differences between the two.

Although Zhang Liao had high emotional intelligence, he was also proud and only used his high emotional intelligence on people he respected.

Later generations like Cao Cao and Cao Pi both greatly admired Zhang Liao. Cao Pi even considered appointing Zhang Liao as the commander of the Huainan war zone, an honor that no general from outside the Cao family had ever received.

However, Zhang Liao's health was already extremely poor at the time, making him unable to shoulder heavy responsibilities. In addition, due to the Cao family's unwritten rule that Cao Ren, Cao Zhen, and Cao Xiu were still alive and kicking, the resistance was immense, and ultimately, they were unable to break the record.

However, compared to Zhang He's miserable situation on the western front, Zhang Liao could have Cao Pi's envoys coming one after another even when he was sick.

As for Xu Huang, he was incredibly low-key. Many people didn't know that Xu Huang was present at the Battle of White Wolf Mountain, which allowed Zhang Liao to be enshrined in the Temple of Martial Arts. Not only was he present, but he was also Zhang Liao's right-hand man. Because of his merits in this battle, he was posthumously awarded the title of General Hengye.

Taishi Ci had just attributed the credit to Zhou Yu, yet Zhang Liao and Xu Huang remained calm and composed, seemingly unaffected. Had it been Pan Zhang or Gan Ning, they would likely have jumped up and angrily accused Taishi Ci of unfairness.

Now Zhou Yu has actually declined the credit for first place and instead praised Taishi Ci and others highly, which has earned him the favor of Zhang and Xu.

This long-distance raid successfully forced Sun Xiang to surrender and captured Chengde.

Although Taishi Ci's army suffered almost no casualties, it lost more than 400 horses, half of which were no longer suitable for war.

This was only because the roads were easy to travel, everyone cherished their horses, and there was no need for forced marches; otherwise, the losses would probably have been several times higher.

However, such a price was clearly worthwhile, as there were no more Yuan Shu's reinforcements in the Jianghuai region.

According to Zhou Yu's previous letter, Liu Xun of Lujiang had clearly developed ulterior motives and was plotting his own scheme.

Otherwise, even if his personal troops were not moved, why couldn't Yuan Shu's troops stationed in various parts of Lujiang be mobilized?

The fact that they forced local gentry and powerful families like Zhou Yu to come and provide troops clearly indicates that there was more to the story.

Taishi Ci and the other two were very friendly to Zhou Yu, and Liu Ye also watched with a smile. However, Sun Xiang, who was watching coldly from the side, hated Zhou Yu to the core.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Yu took the initiative to speak to him: "General Bolan, I have abandoned the darkness and turned to the light. In order to ensure the success of the matter, I had to deceive you. Now that everything is settled, I have come to apologize to you. Please forgive me."

Sun Xiang snorted coldly and ignored the other party.

Zhou Yu was not annoyed and continued, "General Bolan, now that we look at it, this ending may not be such a bad thing. Does the general really have to see rivers of blood and corpses strewn across the fields before he is satisfied?"

Upon hearing Zhou Yu's words, even though Sun Xiang deeply resented the betrayal and didn't want to pay any attention to him, she couldn't help but feel a chill in her heart.

Indeed, as the other side said, even if Zhou Yu hadn't betrayed them, facing such a large cavalry force in a surprise attack, the battle would have been more likely to end in defeat than victory. Moreover, defeat would have meant the complete annihilation of their army.

Sun Xiang fell silent, and Zhou Yu stopped trying to persuade her. Instead, he turned and invited Taishi Ci, Liu Ye, Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, and others into the city.

Upon entering the city, they happened to encounter Zhu Zheng and his group.

By this time, the city had settled down, and Zhu Zheng and the others dared to come out and move around, just in time to encounter Zhou Yu and Taishi Ci entering the city.

Zhu Zheng took the initiative to step forward and invited, "Generals, you have had a long journey. My humble abode has a few quiet courtyards. If you and Mr. Ziyang do not mind, you may stay at my home for a few days. What do you think?"

As soon as Zhu Zheng said this, the scholars and powerful figures around him all spoke up to invite him, describing the unique features of their own residences, hoping to attract Taishi Ci, Liu Ye and others.

To their disappointment, Taishi Ci did not accept their invitation. Instead, he, Zhang Liao, and Xu Huang went with Zhou Yu to live in the county government office.

Liu Ye walked behind with Sun Xiang. Sun Xiang didn't want to get too close to Zhou Yu, so Liu Ye stayed behind to take care of his feelings.

At this time, Liu Ye's image underwent a subtle change from his historical counterpart.

As the Xuzhou Group flourished, the status of Liu Ye and other scholars who were among the first to join it rose considerably.

In just over a year, Lu Su not only served as a military officer in charge of agricultural settlements, but also concurrently held the position of chief clerk of a prefecture and kingdom, and served as a military advisor in Liu Bei's General of the Cavalry.

Although Liu Ye's current status is slightly lower than Lu Su's, it's not far off; they're still at the same rank. Especially considering his position in Liu Bei's household, those in the know understand that this post is far more prestigious than any official position in the imperial court.

Didn't you see that Chen Deng, Mi Zhu, Chen Qun, and other governors of various prefectures and kingdoms were writing to Liu Bei every day, asking for a vacancy in the hegemon's office?

Intelligent people can see the current situation clearly.

Therefore, compared to his contemporaries in history, Liu Ye at this time not only became more magnanimous, but also much more humble, and knew how to take care of the emotions and feelings of others.

This was not a sudden change in Liu Ye; he had always possessed such abilities, but he was too arrogant in the past, and apart from people like Lu Su who he respected, he disdained to care about anyone else.

However, Liu Ye's ideals have now become higher and more ambitious, so this change is not surprising.

On the contrary, Sun Xiang was quite grateful to Liu Ye, especially since he readily agreed to her request and took good care of her troops. This goodwill reached a new level.

"Berlan, rest assured, I have ordered people to properly settle your men and provide them with food and firewood. I have also allocated two pigs and sheep. You can stay in the county office with peace of mind. If you have any other requests, you can send someone to inform me at any time."

Liu Ye settled Sun Xiang in the backyard of the county government office and took good care of her before parting, which moved Sun Xiang deeply.

Afterwards, Liu Ye left eight armored soldiers to guard the courtyard before taking his leave and heading to the main hall to find Taishi Ci and the others.

At this time, Taishi Ci and others were talking with Zhou Yu in the main hall.

"Gongjin, please finish reading this document first."

Not long after Taishi Ci sat down, he took out a piece of silk from his bosom and handed it to Zhou Yu.

After Zhou Yu opened it, he read it carefully.

The silk scroll contained a great deal of information, including the entire raid plan, as well as variables and contingency plans.

This deeply moved Zhou Yu, who never expected a plan could be devised in such a way.

He glanced up at Taishi Ci, only to see the other man sitting in his seat drinking tea. After noticing his gaze, Taishi Ci returned a faint smile.

Zhou Yu withdrew his gaze and continued watching.

The lower half of the silk scroll describes a plan to launch a surprise attack on Shouchun, with Zhou Yu as the main general, Zhang Liao as the vanguard, and Pan Zhang and Xu Huang as the follow-up, in an attempt to trick the city gates of Shouchun into opening.

The entire plan involved having Pan Zhang's troops re-equip themselves with the uniforms of Sun Xiang's troops, having Zhang Liao lead 800 elite soldiers to hide in Zhou Yu's army, and having Xu Huang lead a cavalry unit to follow far behind the main force. Once the operation was launched, they would immediately rush into the battlefield to reinforce the front.

After reading it, Zhou Yu felt that the plan had a pretty high success rate.

We have successfully dealt with Sun Xiang's troops and occupied Chengde County, while the surrounding counties are completely unaware of this.

As long as they acted quickly enough and arrived in Shouchun before the news spread, Yuan Shu would never have imagined that Liu Bei's army was already at the city gates.

Once Yuan Shu's army opens the city gates to welcome reinforcements, the matter will be settled.

Liu Bei's army is now among the top five in the world in terms of combat strength.

This was achieved through countless battles fought by Liu Bei after he took control of Xuzhou, and he has never suffered a defeat since.

Listing Liu Bei's opponents—Zang Ba's Taishan Army, Sun Family Army of Guangling, Yuan Shu's Army, Yuzhou Army of Liang, and Yellow Turban Army of Yingchuan—while none were top-tier forces, they were not unknown either. Sun Family Army, in particular, was a formidable force that forced the Xiliang Army to abandon Luoyang, flee westward in disarray into Guanzhong, nearly defeat Liu Biao, and was considered a pillar of Yuan Shu's army.

Before facing Liu Bei's army, Sun's army had only been defeated by the Xiliang army once. At that time, the Xiliang army had absorbed the elite central army of the Eastern Han Dynasty, including the Northern and Southern armies and the Xiyuan army, and had also emptied the armory of Luoyang. Its strength was undoubtedly the best in the world.

The fact that Sun Jian only suffered one defeat against such an army, and then fought even more bravely and successfully launched a counterattack, demonstrates that his personal bravery and command skills were indeed quite remarkable.

It's just that Sun Jian died early; otherwise, his military command ability would probably be no less than Cao Cao's, and he lived much earlier than Cao Cao.

As for Sun Jian's death in Xiangyang, it was purely due to his own impulsive courage in pursuing the enemy alone, not a defeat in battle.

Zhou Yu estimated that with the fighting strength of Liu Bei's army, as long as they could capture the city gate, victory would be assured.

However, there are also considerable risks involved. Although it seems that no word has leaked out yet, there is always a chance of something going wrong.

If something were to happen, I would be the one most in danger.

If Yuan Shu were to set any trap in Shouchun, he would be the first to fall into it.

After reading it, Zhou Yu did not rush to answer, but instead thought about it seriously for half an hour.

Taishi Ci and the others didn't urge him or chat idly. Instead, they drank their tea, giving him time and space to think quietly.

Half an hour later, Zhou Yu put down the silk book and said, "There are two gates on the south side of Shouchun, namely Elephant Gate and Sha Gate. Elephant Gate is located due south, with a bridge crossing the moat and a barbican. To its right is the Xiangguo City, a branch city within the city."

Zhou Yu first gave a brief introduction to the situation in the southern part of Shouchun.

He then continued, "If we want to seize Shouchun, attacking the city gates by force is a terrible strategy."

Taishi Ci, Zhang Liao, and Xu Huang all turned their gazes over at the same time.

Zhou Yu is incredibly bold, actually stating that the young master's plan is a poor one.

However, none of the three were simply martial artists. Instead of immediately refuting the other party, they chose to listen to the opinions of those behind them. However, the atmosphere in the hall inadvertently became a little cold.

Despite being watched intently by Taishi Ci and his two generals, Zhou Yu remained completely unconcerned.

Zhou Yu was extremely bold, and this was also part of his calculations.

He had long studied Liu Feng, after all, he had received a handwritten letter from Liu Feng a year ago, making them pen pals. Furthermore, Lu Su's letters repeatedly mentioned Liu Feng, the young master of Xuzhou, demonstrating Zhou Yu's considerable understanding of him.

During this process, Zhou Yu discovered that Liu Feng was exceptionally bold, had a great appreciation for talented people, and had a penchant for boldly promoting and employing newcomers.

Attacking Shouchun was indeed very risky, but fortune favors the bold. Zhou Yu was determined to achieve great merit, so if he was going to do it, he might as well do something big.

Indeed, in Zhou Yu's view, a surprise attack on Shouchun and a forced assault on the city gates were still too small a task.

Since they were determined to do something bigger, they should first tell Taishi Ci and the others about the difficulties; otherwise, how could they demonstrate their abilities?
"Generals, please take a look."

Zhou Yu asked for pen, ink, and silk. He sketched the terrain and buildings south of Shouchun City on the silk and continued, "Xiangmen not only has a barbican, but the inner and outer city gates are also equipped with heavy gates. Once they are lowered, the inside and outside will be cut off. Even if you are brave and skilled in battle, General, you will probably only end up as a turtle in a jar."

Zhang Liao felt a chill in his heart. He hadn't expected that the south gate of Shouchun would also have a barbican and a heavy gate.

If that's the case, then seizing the gate would truly be a perilous situation.

Zhang Liao was a man of the world. Luoyang was considered the best city in the land at the time. It had no defensive fortifications whatsoever. Almost all the city gates were equipped with heavy gates weighing thousands of pounds, with dragon-suppressing stones placed inside. Once they were lowered, they would weigh thousands of pounds and could not be opened by ordinary people.

Zhou Yu continued, "Shouchun City also contains an inner city and three branch cities: Jincheng, Xiangguo City, and Xuankang City. If we cannot capture these three cities, the garrison troops within them will have strongholds to rely on and can drive us out of the city at any time."

Upon hearing this, Taishi Ci and the other two couldn't help but nod slightly.

An ordinary castle has considerable dominance, capable of radiating influence over a radius of three to five miles. The entire city of Shouchun is less than 40 square kilometers.

These three branch cities, plus the inner city, probably cover most of Shouchun.

Faced with this situation, Liu Bei's army entering the city would probably find it difficult to even muster its strength.

If you have even a little more men, the enemy's ranged fire from the fortified city will come crashing down on you. How will you then gather your forces to launch an offensive?

The weapons that could be placed on the city walls were all heavy firepower: cannons, ballistae, and catapults. Even the strongest army would not be able to withstand the damage from being hit by these heavy weapons a few times.

After listening to Zhou Yu's explanation, Taishi Ci and the others realized that they had underestimated the situation.

Fortunately, they had Zhou Yu, an inside man who knew the ropes and was familiar with the situation; otherwise, their plan to seize the city would have turned into a suicide mission.

After a moment's thought, Taishi Ci took the initiative to ask, "In Gongjin's opinion, what should we do?"

"Since the general has asked, I dare not keep anything to myself. In my opinion, we should first conceal our identities, enter the city, and seek an opportunity to capture the Prime Minister's city."

Zhou Yu answered immediately, clearly having already made his decision.

"If we can capture Xiangguo City, we can use it as a base to attack the Elephant Gate and the Sand Gate. The Elephant Gate has a heavy gate, but the Sand Gate does not. Even if the Elephant Gate has the Dragon-Suppressing Stone, we can still break through the Sand Gate and welcome the reinforcements into the city."

Zhou Yu pointed to Xiangguo City and said, "The key to this plan lies in Xiangguo City. Only by taking it can the plan proceed smoothly."

Taishi Ci, Zhang Liao, and Xu Huang were all veteran generals with exceptional talent, and they quickly came to the same conclusion as Zhou Yu by looking at the map.

This city of Xiangguo is indeed the most important point.

But the same problem arose again: Liu Bei's army did not have that much time.

Even if one could hide in the wild for a while, it obviously couldn't be for very long.

Taishi Ci considered it for a moment and then raised the question: "Gongjin, Shouchun is where Yuan Shu is personally stationed, so it is unlikely that he will be as lax as he is in Chengde."

In fact, Chengde's side was not just lax, but practically working together from within and without to help Liu Bei's army conceal their whereabouts.

Taishi Ci was mainly implying that the people of Shouchun probably wouldn't have such good public support anymore.

Zhou Yu laughed and said, "General Ziyi, you may not know this, but although Yuan Shu is personally stationed in Shouchun, the discipline of Yuan Shu's army has always been lax, and Yuan Shu himself is even more dissolute, arrogant and extravagant."

"I once heard that this man saw a beautiful woman on the city wall and immediately ordered her to be abducted and taken to the harem. He also killed her family members to prevent her from returning home. His words and deeds are outrageous to both gods and men."

Zhou Yu was considered to have flexible bottom lines and relatively low moral standards, but after seeing Yuan Shu's behavior, he realized that his own moral standards were not only not low, but actually quite high.

Yuan Shu arrived in Jianghuai in just three or four years, and the once prosperous Jianghuai region began to show signs of decline. The number of starving people died every year. The people of Jianghuai gritted their teeth at Yuan Shu, wishing they could eat his flesh and sleep on his skin, but they were powerless to do so.

Moreover, this hatred was pervasive, reaching even the upper echelons of the Jianghuai region. Apart from a very few, such as Qiao Rui and Zhang Xun, who completely surrendered to Yuan Shu and were bound to him, the gentry, commoners, and powerful families throughout Jianghuai deeply resented him.

Only Yuan Shu, the Skeleton King, could treat everyone so equally. Even Dong Zhuo was much better than him, at least he had the support of the Xiliang army and the powerful clans of Liangzhou.

Taishi Ci nodded slowly, understanding that Zhou Yu was hinting at the will of the people.

"If my army were to hide outside Shouchun City, how many days could we possibly remain concealed?"

Taishi Ci asked directly.

Zhou Yu pondered for a moment, then assured him, "There will be absolutely no problem within ten days."

(End of this chapter)