Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Chapter 695 Preemptive Strike
Cao Rui had previously given a ten-day deadline. After Cao Zhen, Man Chong, Xin Pi, and the four cabinet ministers worked together to complete the plan to mobilize the Wu army, Cao Rui set off eastward on April 8.

Wen Qin's 5,000 elite cavalry and 5,000 light Xiongnu cavalry remained in Fancheng. This cavalry force of 10,000 men was commanded by Wen Qin and placed under the command of Man Chong.

Five thousand soldiers from the Central Army, five thousand Liaodong cavalry, and five thousand Wuhuan and Xianbei followers, totaling fifteen thousand cavalry, accompanied the emperor back to Shouchun.

On the same day, Sun Quan also traveled by boat from Wuchang to Jiangling, where he met Zhu Ran and Zhuge Jin, who had gathered their troops there.

"Your subject Zhuge Jin (Zhu Ran) pays respects to Your Majesty!" At the dock south of Jiangling City, Wu General Zhuge Jin, Governor of Jingzhou, and General of Chariots and Cavalry Zhu Ran, Governor of Qingzhou, knelt to greet him at the same time. Sun Quan, who was several feet away, had not yet stepped down from the stairs of the ship.

"Ziyu, Yifeng, rise." Sun Quan walked up to the two and gestured for them to rise. "This time, we forced the Wei army to retreat, preventing them from achieving any merit, all thanks to your efforts!"

After the two stood up, Zhuge Jin cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty appointed me as the Governor of Jingzhou. This time, the Wei army came from afar and looted many counties in Jiangbei. They also abducted all the people in Dangyang, Zhijiang, Huarong and Jingling counties. I estimate that there are more than 10,000 people."

"This is my fault!" Zhuge Jin said, then lowered his head, his eyes looking sadly at the ground.

Regardless of whether Sun Quan blamed him or not, the incident occurred within Zhuge Jin's jurisdiction, so a show of remorse was necessary. Along with Zhuge Jin's apology, Zhu Ran also bowed and apologized, stating that the looting of Jiangling by the Wei army was due to his incompetence as General of Chariots and Cavalry, and requesting Sun Quan to resign from his post to appease the people.

Sun Quan, of course, did not take such words seriously.

The loss of over ten thousand civilians was certainly not a good thing for the country, but it was merely a numerical loss. In other words, Sun Quan and the ministers of Wu had long anticipated that the area north of Jiangling, a major riverside town of Wu, could become a war zone at any time, and the abduction of its people by Wei was a very regrettable event.

After all, Sun Quan had always presented himself as benevolent and righteous, and he despised Cao Cao's actions, which were ostensibly to relocate people but in reality to oppress them. Those people were unwilling to leave their homeland, and there was nothing that could be done about it.

Sun Quan put his arms around the shoulders of the two men on either side: "The Wei army has come from afar to attack. Ziyu and Yifeng were able to defend the city and force the enemy to retreat. I am too busy rewarding you to blame you."

"Yi Feng, I have come to your territory today. Why don't you invite me into the city to rest?" Sun Quan looked at Zhu Ran with a hint of teasing.

"Your Majesty, I am filled with trepidation..." Zhu Ran had barely uttered a few words when Sun Quan stopped him again: "Let's go, let's enter the city first."

"Yes." Zhu Ran became even more cautious.

Wen Qin's 20,000 cavalry attacked Jiangling at the end of January. At that time, the armies in various parts of Jingzhou were not just observing and deploying like Wen Qin and the Wei court. What also affected the Wu army's reaction speed was the Wu court's reorganization of the generals and troops in Jingzhou!

Indeed, the policies that Sun Quan began implementing in Yangzhou last year have finally reached Jingzhou after the start of the new year.

Sun Quan believed he had no conflicts with his generals, so he started by recruiting the major generals first, rather than the ordinary generals with only a hundred or so troops. Last year, he recruited the troops of Quan Cong, Zhang Cheng, and Sun Shao in Yangzhou, and this year it was the turn of the major generals of Jingzhou.

There were four important generals in Jingzhou of Wu: General Zhuge Jin, stationed in Wuchang; General Sun Huan, stationed in Jiangxia; General Zhu Ran, stationed in Jiangling; and General Bu Zhi, stationed in Xiling.

The four men collectively commanded over 14,000 troops, which constituted a significant portion of the fighting strength of the armies led by the four generals.

The year had just passed when the troops that had been nominally taken over by the imperial court last year but were still under the control of Quan Cong and Sun Shao were ordered to be relocated. Quan Cong's troops were placed under the command of Sun Shao, and Sun Shao's troops were placed under the command of Quan Cong. The families of the troops were also transferred to various counties in Jiangnan to farm and became ordinary farmers.

When this news reached Jingzhou, it encountered even greater resistance than in Yangzhou.

Hu Zong and Lü Yi, whom Sun Quan sent to Jingzhou to handle this matter, also found themselves in trouble.

Hu Zong arrived in Wuchang first, while Lü Yi arrived in Jiangling first.

Zhuge Jin in Wuchang was cooperative and willing to hand over his troops, but on the condition that they be exchanged with Sun Huan's troops in Jiangxia. His reasoning was that Wuchang was closer to Jiangxia, and the soldiers there were more accustomed to the nearby battlefield and environment. If there was an emergency, they could react quickly without harming the country's military strength.

Sun Huan seemed to have reached some kind of agreement with Zhuge Jin, and also insisted on maintaining military strength, holding the same view as Zhuge Jin. Moreover, Sun Huan also suggested that after exchanging troops, the families of the two troops should also exchange their garrison locations to prevent the troops from being too far away from their families and weakening their fighting capacity.

To be fair, both requests seem reasonable. One of the reasons why the vassal system was so effective in encouraging soldiers to fight to the death was that the families of the vassals were stationed on the front lines with them. If they didn't fight bravely in defense, their families and wives behind the city would perish. Who wouldn't risk their lives?
However, from the perspective of the Wu Kingdom's court, it seemed somewhat like they were paying lip service while secretly going against the grain.

The situation in Jiangling was even worse. According to Zhu Ran and Bu Zhi, both Jiangling and Xiling had only been under the rule of the Great Wu for about ten years, dating back to the time when Guan Yu, who had occupied Jingzhou, was defeated and killed. These were newly conquered territories, and the two believed that only their troops would be willing to fight to the death to defend them. Moreover, Jiangling and Xiling had faced numerous crises in the past decade; if morale were low, the military defense of these two places would be even more difficult.

Objectively speaking, Zhu Ran and Bu Zhi did not do anything wrong; they were just stating practical facts based on actual combat capabilities.

But Zhuge Jin and Sun Huan were not wrong, and Zhu Ran and Bu Zhi were not wrong either, so who was wrong?

Wouldn't that make Sun Quan the one in the wrong?

This is actually a chain reaction that occurred after Quan Cong's troops and Sun Shao's troops were exchanged at the beginning of the year.

If the Yangzhou troops had been treated the same way as last year—nominally under the court but actually still under the command of their generals—the four would have been willing to comply. However, given this year's changes, their combat effectiveness would be affected.

Upon receiving the messages from Hu Zong of Wuchang and Lü Yi of Jiangling, Sun Quan was furious and was preparing to personally resolve the problem of the Jingzhou generals' feigned compliance.

Only a few days later, war broke out.

The Wei army's 20,000 cavalrymen were already lingering around Jiangling City. The 20,000 cavalrymen were boundless. When Wen Qin, just like when he had reviewed the troops before, ordered the 20,000 cavalrymen to be divided into 20 groups and swept past Jiangling City from west to east, everything in the city became quiet.

Lu Yi, who was always arrogant because of Sun Quan's favor, stopped mentioning any threats or inducements and kept quiet. He locked himself in the post station and stayed there all day, pretending to be dead. He only started to show himself again when he heard that the Wei army had retreated.

With the Wei army already here, there's no time to discuss disbanding troops. If an attack were to break out now, Lü Yi had reason to believe that Zhu Ran, who had always opposed him, might actually behead him in public.

Lu Yi knew Sun Quan's character well; he would never make things difficult for a renowned general with outstanding achievements in defending a city during wartime.

With the retreat of the Wei army, the previously unresolved issue of disbanding the troops was put back on the agenda, and Lü Yi first wrote a letter to Sun Quan to complain about it.

After Sun Quan, Zhuge Jin, and Zhu Ran entered the general's mansion in the city, the three had just taken their seats and hadn't exchanged more than a few words when Zhu Ran stood up and knelt before Sun Quan, kowtowing repeatedly, which startled both Sun Quan and Zhuge Jin.

"What's wrong with Yi Feng?" Sun Quan asked, puzzled. "What exactly happened? Why can't you just explain? Why are you acting like this?"

Zhu Ran remained silent, kowtowing in place, while the sound of sobbing echoed loudly in the empty hall.

Helpless, Sun Quan had no choice but to stand up and walk to Zhu Ran, then squat down in front of him: "Yi Feng, raise your head and look at me! What has happened?"

Zhu Ran, with tears streaming down his face, looked up at Sun Quan with a choked voice and said, "Your Majesty has commanded me to guard Jiangling for many years. For more than ten years, I have never failed Your Majesty's expectations. I have always considered myself Your Majesty's right-hand man and am ready to serve Your Majesty to the death in Jiangling, to repay Your Majesty's kindness over the past decades."

"But since the beginning of the year, after the school official Lü Yi arrived in Jiangling, he has questioned me more than ten times under the pretext of disbanding the troops! His words were full of sarcasm and interrogation, and he often accused me of being disloyal to His Majesty..."

“Yi Feng…” Sun Quan was stunned by Zhu Ran’s sudden attack and was at a loss for words, not knowing how to persuade this important Wu general in his fifties.

Zhuge Jin knelt on the mat, quietly watching Zhu Ran's performance. Although Zhuge Jin's face remained expressionless, he had already begun to admire her in his heart.

Zhu Yifeng is indeed a national general! He takes the initiative and strikes first! Two days ago, Zhu Ran had privately told Zhuge Jin to observe his success or failure. Unexpectedly, before Lü Yi could complain to Sun Quan in person, Zhu Ran started crying and began to complain about Lü Yi while wiping away tears.

That was truly amazing.

Before Sun Quan could even offer any advice, Zhu Ran suddenly ripped open his robe, revealing more than ten long scars on his chest and abdomen.

“Your Majesty,” Zhu Ran pointed to an old scar on his chest near his shoulder, “this is a scar from when Cao Cao attacked Ruxu in the 22nd year of Jian’an. I was shot by a stray arrow from the Wei army on the city wall. The arrow almost pierced through my body.”

(End of this chapter)