Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

The following day, in the pseudo-Wu palace in Jiangling City, the ministers gathered before the emperor for a military council.

Having been personally summoned by the emperor, Lu Xun, the Prince of Chencang, entered the city from Hanjin and introduced the geography and military overview of Xiling to his colleagues.

"..."

"In short, it is a foregone conclusion that the Shu and Wu armies are holed up in the Xiling area. They will inevitably wait for the Great Wei to attack, so the Great Wei should be extremely cautious."

"Your Majesty, I have finished speaking." Lu Xun bowed slightly.

Cao Rui nodded without saying a word.

Seeing that the emperor remained silent, Cao Zhen looked at Lu Xun with a serious expression: "Just now, the King of Chencang said that Xiling is a mountainous and narrow place, and that a large army would be of little use and would be difficult to maintain. It would be best to send only 50,000 or 60,000 troops on land."

"I know that the King of Chencang once led 50,000 troops to fight Liu Bei for Xiling many years ago, but now, with the strength of the Wei navy, why can you only send 50,000 troops? Can't you send more?"

Lu Xun pursed his lips: "So that the King of Hejian may know that I have already explained the geography of Xiling to you all. Xiling is located by the river, and all 40,000 naval troops should be mobilized. Including 50,000 to 60,000 infantry and cavalry, maintaining 100,000 troops will be no easy task."

"The only places that can be contested around Xiling are Yidao and Xiaoting, located in Jiangnan, a hundred miles from Xiling City. Both Yidao and Xiaoting are easy to capture. However, if these two places are captured, it will be necessary to besiege the vicinity of Xiling from the south, east, and northeast. The army has come from Wuhan and there are few oxen, horses, and carts for land transport. Too many troops would be more of a crowd than a benefit..."

Cao Zhen nodded, looked at Cao Rui, and cupped his hands, saying, "Your Majesty, I believe that among all the generals of the Great Wei, none is more familiar with the generals of Xiling than the Prince of Chencang. With 40,000 naval troops controlling the river and 50,000 to 60,000 infantry and cavalry besieging Xiling, the total force of several hundred thousand should be able to hold out."

"If we send out troops in this way, we should select the elite troops from among the various armies to continue westward."

Personnel matters are politics, and so are merits.

Lu Xun and Cao Zhen, working in perfect unison, explained the situation clearly. Both of them had just been granted the title of prince, so it seemed inappropriate to say anything that might be seen as vying for credit.

Cao Rui was silent for a few moments, then looked at Lu Xun: "I understand the principle that the battlefield is narrow and transportation is difficult, so more troops are useless. But should we choose 50,000 or 60,000? Wu and Shu should have 100,000 troops."

“Sixty thousand is acceptable,” Lu Xun replied.

"Sixty thousand..." Cao Rui said softly, "The Grand General has sixty thousand soldiers, and Man Zhengnan has fifty thousand. Of the one hundred and one thousand soldiers, sixty thousand should be selected to attack. Let's be swift and decisive. I will make the decision with you right here and now."

"Man Zheng Nan sent 20,000 troops, and I will send 40,000 troops here. We will select the elite troops according to this number."

“Liu Qing,” Cao Rui pointed at Liu Ye, “you are in charge of the Privy Council, and you will select personnel from the Manchu Southern Expeditionary Army.”

Liu Ye thought for a moment, then cupped his hands and replied, "I believe that five thousand cavalrymen should be selected from the Left Feathered Forest General Wen Qin's troops, ten thousand soldiers from the Guanzhong region under the Rear General Fei Yao's troops, and five thousand from the Manchu Southern Expeditionary Army headquarters. This would make up a total of twenty thousand."

"Good." Cao Rui knew the situation of Man Chong's army. Seeing that Liu Ye's words were mostly correct, he did not hesitate and continued to look at Cao Zhen: "40,000 soldiers, the Prince of Hejian will choose one or two."

Cao Zhen seemed to have already thought it through, and blurted out: "The 20,000 troops of the Wuwei and Yulin Right Army should be included, and the 10,000 infantry and cavalry of Yingzhou have performed quite well in previous battles, so they should also be included... I dare to ask Your Majesty, does Your Majesty intend to personally go to Xiling to supervise the battle?"

"The journey of a hundred li is only half complete at ninety. I have already reached Jiangling, but I should still go to Xiling." Cao Rui laughed and said, "Does the Prince of Hejian want to ask about the three thousand cavalry under my direct command?" "Yes." Cao Zhen nodded: "In addition to these three thousand cavalry, it would be good to recruit another seven thousand infantrymen from Huan Fan's army. This would bring the total to forty thousand."

“Alright.” Cao Rui nodded calmly: “There’s no time to lose. Let the Prince of Hejian organize the army today.”

“Minister Huang,” Cao Rui stood up and looked at Huang Quan, “Of the remaining 50,000 troops, the army stationed in Zhijiang will be directly under the command of the Imperial Court, and the 20,000 troops left in Jiangling will be under your command, Minister Huang, who will also oversee logistics.”

"Your subject will not fail in your command!" Huang Quan bowed deeply.

As military orders were issued from Jiangling City, the entire city became bustling with activity. Thanks to the repeated disruptions by Sun Quan and his son Sun Deng, the area around Jiangling City, apart from the thousand laborers left behind by Bu Chan, was almost deserted, resembling a no-man's land.

Man Chong, who was stationed in Zhijiang, continued to work diligently and conscientiously. Upon receiving the order from the Privy Council, he immediately expressed his agreement and replied to confirm which unit should remain in Zhijiang and which should be transferred back to Jiangling.

The undefended city of Yidao was easily captured by Lu Xun's navy, who then used it as a base for their advance. The several thousand Wu troops stationed at Xiaoting were easily driven out by Cheng Xi's Imperial Guard Right Army cavalry.

On August 30th, Cao Rui's army entered Xiaoting.

At this time, Lu Xun personally led the majority of his naval forces upstream along the river, arriving near the wide river surface west of Xiling City.

"The layout here is somewhat different from what Your Majesty described before..." Wang Jun climbed to the top floor of the ship and whispered to Lu Xun beside him.

“I see.” Lu Xun said with a calm face: “A city has been built on Gucheng Island, and so many fortifications have been set up along the Xiling River. It seems that they really intend to defend this place to the death… The scouting ship ahead seems to have returned. Go and ask about the situation at the gorge.”

"Yes," Wang Jun replied, jogging down the wooden stairs.

After about half a cup of tea's time, Wang Jun hurriedly ran up, accompanied by General Yue Lin of the warship.

"Why has General Yue come in person? What is the state of the army at the front?" Lu Xun asked with a frown, as the situation did not seem optimistic.

Le Chen, panting heavily, cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, this humble general led twenty ships to the bend in the river ahead. After passing the bend, we were surprised to find a naval camp behind the bend, with ships appearing in the distance, seemingly no fewer than our own."

"Moreover, I also looked through the binoculars. The gorge is about two hundred paces wide, and there are several-story watchtowers built on both sides of the mountain. There seem to be large ships anchored in the river, it seems..."

"Seems like what?" Lu Xun pressed for an answer.

Le Lin replied, "It seems there is something connected to the river, but it is too far away. I can only see the general outline and not clearly. Please make a decision, Your Majesty!"

Lu Xun also fell silent at this moment.

Xiling City was where he had been stationed for many years. Now, the Wu and Shu kingdoms had a combined force of 100,000 troops stationed there. Xiling City, Guchengzhou, and the entrance to Xiling Gorge were all heavily fortified, making it seem difficult to take over for the time being...

"Return to the ship," Lu Xun ordered. "I want to see His Majesty in person." (End of Chapter)