Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Upon hearing this news, Man Chong was also in a dilemma.

When news of the imperial court's brilliant victory in Yangzhou reached Jiangling, all the generals in the camp offered their congratulations, except for the commander-in-chief, Man Chong, who became increasingly sullen.

The imperial court launched a six-pronged attack, with the navy even reaching Chaisang. Meanwhile, he had been waiting outside Jiangling for nearly three months, yet the city remained unconquered, and he hadn't even fought many decisive battles. The campaign against Wu was the largest and most widely deployed war in the history of the Great Wei, and his 60,000-strong army's attack on Jiangling had yielded no progress. Among the various commanders of the imperial court, Man Chong thought he was about to sit alongside Xiahou Ru, who had suffered a major defeat at Jiangxia!
Today, the Shu army has set out and joined forces with the Wu army at Xiling. This news has obviously made the already precarious situation at Jiangling even worse.

Xiahou He not only sent out as many as ten teams of messengers to deliver messages, but his camp outside Xiling City was abandoned by the Shu army without even being attacked. The entire army marched eastward more than ten miles ahead of the Shu army.

His force consists of 4,000 cavalry, including 1,000 elite central cavalry and 3,000 light Xiongnu cavalry. How can they possibly compete with the Shu infantry for camps on the plains?
Man Chong, who had led troops for many years, did not blame Xiahou He. Instead, he hurriedly sent out a message from his own camp, ordering General Fei Yao's troops, who were stationed in the southwest of Jiangling, Bailizhou, Lexiang and other places, to quickly abandon their camps, cross the river and head north towards their own camp.

This is also a helpless move.

The Wei forces were the attacking side, and it was already quite an achievement to suppress the situation with 60,000 troops against more than 40,000. However, if they were to fight 100,000 with only 60,000 troops, and the opponent was Zhuge Liang himself, Man Chong would not have such blind confidence.

The most urgent task is to get Fei Yao's troops back to Jiangbei, so as to prevent them from being cut off from the Yangtze River by the Shu and Wu armies and trapped in Jiangnan without being able to return.

All the hard work of March has been for naught in a single day.

Even a man as resolute as Man Chong couldn't help but let out a long sigh. He wanted to continue the encirclement, but the objective circumstances no longer allowed him to do so.

Zhuge Ke has been staying in Man Chong's military tent these days, acting as a military advisor in his capacity as General of Annan, and he has no complaints about it. After all, he has no troops to command here, and being given some real position and not being placed under house arrest like a useless person is already a sign of the Great Wei's trust in him.

After Man Chong issued the military order, Zhuge Ke sat solemnly in his tent, and carefully cupped his hands in greeting:
"General, I have something to report."

“Speaking of which,” Man Chong nodded slightly, but his expression showed that he had no interest.

Zhuge Ke said, "General, you have served in office for more than forty years. I don't need to elaborate on the conflicts between Wu and Shu over the years. You are naturally well aware of them. Wu and Shu have always been able to share weal and woe, but when external crises are temporarily set aside, the two countries will start fighting each other. The Xiang River Alliance, the crossing of the Yangtze River in white robes, the Battle of Yiling, and so on are all examples of this."

"Since the General and the Rear General have completely cut off the land and water routes between Jiangling and Xiling, the Shu troops' eastward advance could not have been permitted by my father and Sun Quan. They must have come without permission. General, this place is Jingzhou. For the past twenty years, Liu Bei, Sun Quan, and others have been fighting endlessly for Jingzhou. Today, the Shu Kingdom has come without the permission of Wu. Their true intention is not to send troops, but to occupy Zigui, Xiling, Jiangling, and other places!"

"In my humble opinion, since the General has already ordered the Rear General to retreat the entire army to the north of the Yangtze River, the siege of Jiangling by the Great Wei has effectively been lifted. It will take the Shu army more than two days to reach Jiangling. The General might as well... perhaps lead the troops slightly north and station them around Dangyang to observe the situation. If the Wu and Shu armies attack, the General can advance and retreat freely, or annihilate them in open battle with the help of cavalry. If they do not attack, then you can sit back and watch the internal strife between Wu and Shu!"

Zhuge Ke continued speaking passionately, but when he bowed to Man Chong again to offer his advice, Man Chong coldly asked:
"Zhuge Yuanxun, now that reinforcements from Jiangling are on their way, are you willing to return to Jiangling to find your father? It doesn't matter to the Great Wei whether you are here or not. If you are willing to return, I can do you a favor and be lenient with you a little."

Zhuge Ke quickly bowed. Faced with Man Chong's subtle probing, he felt as if a knife was hanging over his neck, and he couldn't resist. He respectfully said:
"The Mandate of Heaven rests with Wei, not with Wu or Shu. Even if I am foolish, how could I not know the Mandate of Heaven? Since I have submitted to Great Wei, I am a loyal subject of Great Wei, serving only Great Wei. I hope the General will no longer doubt me!" Zhuge Ke had a point. Great Wei had taken Yangzhou; taking Wuchang was only a matter of time. What hope did Wu have left? Long before Zhuge Ke voluntarily opened the city gates and surrendered, he already knew that Wu's end was near!
Man Chong shook his head slightly and sighed softly: "I don't know if you are truly foolish, or if you are just pretending to be stupid in front of me."

"This..." Zhuge Ke was puzzled for a moment and asked with a look of doubt, "This humble general really does not understand the general's meaning."

Man Chong slowly rose from his seat, straightened his robes, then walked to the tent flap with his hands behind his back. Looking at the clear blue sky outside, he stroked his beard and said:

"You just told me to retreat to Dangyang, which is the proper course of action from a military perspective. Since the conditions for siege and attack are no longer available, we should retreat and shorten our supply lines as the enemy is about to lift the siege and launch a counterattack."

“Going to Dangyang is no problem.” Man Chong slowly turned around, his sharp gaze fixed on Zhuge Ke’s eyes: “But you’ve said something wrong.”

"With Wu in complete disarray, and the Shu army sending troops to relieve Jiangling on its own, do we still need to pay attention to Sun Quan, who is still in Wuchang? Sun Quan is indiscriminately bestowing rewards at the last minute. Whether the Shu troops come to Jiangling or not, does he really have the final say?"

“Yuanxun, this is not twenty years ago. You pride yourself on your wisdom, how can you still not understand the situation? Once Wu and Shu join forces at Jiangling, it will no longer be a matter between the Liu family and the Sun family, nor between Shu and Wu. What are Liu Shan and Sun Quan? It will be a matter between Zhuge Liang and Zhuge Liang, your own father and your own uncle!”

"The merger of the two Zhuge Liangs is a foregone conclusion!"

After Man Chong finished speaking, Zhuge Ke was immediately stunned as if struck by lightning.

It wasn't that Zhuge Ke was too dull to see it, but rather that he had always been a subject of the Wu Kingdom, and his uncle and father had always maintained a clear distinction and high moral character, which had been the case for decades, making it impossible for anyone to think in this direction.

Now, all military and political power in Shu is in the hands of Zhuge Liang. The 50,000 troops of Wu in Jiangling and Xiling are under the command of Zhuge Jin, and even the Crown Prince of Wu, Sun Deng, is in Zhuge Jin's camp!

Zhuge Ke mentally repeated Man Chong's words, then looked at Man Chong with trembling lips:

"General, are you saying that my father and uncle will join forces?"

Man Chong sneered: "Brothers, why distinguish between you and me? If the two of them were to have the slightest thought, the entire Yizhou and half of Jingzhou could be under the Zhuge family at any time! Zhuge Kongming has 50,000 troops, Zhuge Ziyu has 50,000 troops, and a total of 100,000 soldiers are gathered in Jiangling. The situation in the world is changing so much. The court really didn't give Zhuge Ziyu the title of Prince before!"

Upon hearing Man Chong's words, Zhuge Ke was somewhat dazed.

Did I join Wei too early? (End of Chapter)