Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

On the same day that Cao Rui arrived in Deyang, the vanguard of General Guanqiu Jian, led by Shi Bao, also arrived outside Jiangyang City, the capital of Jiangyang County in Shu.

To put it more directly, Guanqiu Jian's army had already broken through the entire southern region and reached the southernmost tip of the Sichuan Basin.

The arrival of the 3,000 people from the Shibao tribe triggered a chain reaction in the already collapsing situation.

The most severely affected were those who retreated from the south to the north, all the way to Sun Deng's forces outside Jiangyang City.

Ma Zhong, the Shu Han governor of Yijiang, sat anxiously in the prefectural government office. Upon hearing that an envoy from the Wu army had entered the city, he did not receive him but instead slammed his fist on the table, angrily shouting:

"What? He wants to enter the city? No, absolutely not!"

Military advisor Chu Sui was stunned: "The commander-in-chief forbids the Wu soldiers from entering? The vanguard of the Wei army has already reached twenty miles outside the city. The morale of the Wu soldiers has dropped to the lowest point. If they weren't in a foreign land and dared not leave their posts, they would have already begun to flee!"

"I heard that three more officers in Wu's camp were killed today, saying that the morale of the army was unstable and that those who stirred up trouble were killed first."

Ma Zhong sighed deeply and began to explain in detail to his trusted military advisor:

"Chu Sui, let me tell you, Jiangyang City is not a large city to begin with, and it doesn't have much grain stored up. How can it possibly hold five or six thousand defeated soldiers from Wu? The key to defending a city is not the number of soldiers, but the unity of the people! My four thousand soldiers are already enough. If they enter the city, it will be harder for me to defend it!"

"Those incompetent bastards in Wu's army, if they wish to camp outside the city, I can allow them to use the city walls as cover. If not, then let them fend for themselves!"

Chu Sui was stunned for a long time before asking, "Then how should I speak to the Wu people?"

"How should I put it? To put it in my own words! What's hanging on your shoulders? Don't you have a head?"

"Yes, yes." Chu Sui shrank back in fright, bowed, and quickly left.

After leaving the main hall of the prefectural government, Chu Sui saw the Wu army envoys guarding the gate in the distance and secretly spat.
"Damn it! It's all Wu Gou's fault!"

Shu Han and Wu had previously pledged allegiance at Xiling, but allies need to be supported by strength.

When tens of thousands of Sun Deng's former troops were incorporated into the Shu army, and when 60,000 of Sun Deng's laborers were placed under the jurisdiction of Shu for land reclamation, Sun Deng, who commanded 10,000 troops, could be an ally of Shu Han.

When Sun Deng pacified the various barbarian tribes in Zangke Commandery and his paper army reached 30,000, Sun Deng could be an ally of Shu Han.

When Sun Deng led his troops into Jiaozhi County, causing chaos in half of Jiaozhou, Wei, Sun Deng could have been an ally of Shu Han.

But when Sun Deng led his troops like drowning dogs, chased by the Wei army all the way from Pingyi to the outskirts of Jiangyang, fleeing five hundred miles in two months... then Sun Deng was no longer worthy of being an ally of Shu Han.

Especially given that Shu Han itself was facing an uncertain future, where would it find any surplus grain and military supplies to provide to the remnants of the Wu army?

The grain was all requisitioned for key areas like Zizhong, Wuyang, and Guanghan!
Guanqiu Jian marched north from Dianchi County in September, and after capturing Wei County in October, he left a thousand men to guard the area and led seven thousand men to continue north.

Food, clothing, military supplies, and other necessities could be replenished in cities along the way and from spoils captured by the Shu army, but maintaining the army's combat effectiveness became the top priority for Guanqiu Jian's army.

The seven thousand troops who followed Guanqiu Jian north from Wei County were all from Jiaozhou. Although their combat strength had gradually improved through continuous marches and battles, their morale had been greatly affected by the long march and the fighting. We are Jiaozhou people ourselves, and have only served the Great Wei for a few years. Why should we fight to the death in the south for you? Besides, we have already earned enough merit in this campaign!

If it were an ordinary general, there might not be any good solutions.

But Guanqiu Jian was different. He was the Duke of Wenxi of the Great Wei, the Governor of Jiaozhou, and the General of the Army, with much higher authority.

Guanqiu Jian promised the title of Marquis within the Pass to all the officers of the 10,000 troops he had selected, who were at least 100 commanders and above. To be more specific, Guanqiu Jian promised 116 Marquises within the Pass to these 10,000 troops.

In addition to officers receiving titles and rewards, ordinary soldiers were also promised a ten-year exemption from taxes. Furthermore, Guanqiu Jian made an additional promise that he and the officials with salaries of two thousand shi (a unit of grain measurement) would not take a single penny of the spoils captured by the army; apart from the share handed over to the court, the rest would be distributed to the lower-ranking officers and soldiers.

This is what maintained the army's high morale.

Of course, from another perspective, the series of victories against Wu Jun also gave this Jiaozhou army, which was bound together by shared interests, a great deal of confidence in their ability to fight.

However, although such rewards were clearly excessive and a desperate measure taken in an emergency, they were not particularly excessive. From a military perspective, Guanqiu Jian believed that the emperor would not blame him for this.

After the Battle of Yiling, Liu Bei was defeated by Lu Xun in Jiangnan. Huang Quan, who was still in Jiangbei, was blocked by Wu troops and led 10,000 troops to surrender to Wei.

Among this army of ten thousand men, Emperor Wen of Han, Cao Pi, enfeoffed forty-two marquises and more than one hundred generals and officers.

Marquis was the title of nobility in the traditional sense during the Han Dynasty. County Marquis, Township Marquis, and Pavilion Marquis were all marquises.

Although there is only one rank between Marquis of Guannei and Marquis, it is as different as heaven and earth. Compared with the forty-two Marquises, what are the more than one hundred Marquises of Guannei that Guanqiu Jian has granted?
Previously, after Ma Zhong and Liu Zan returned north, as Guanqiu Jian led his troops from Wei County toward Pingyi City, the 'capital' of Zangke County in Wu State, Sun Deng also ordered Liu Zan to return and block Guanqiu Jian's attack outside Pingyi City.

Sun Deng's forces on paper looked impressive at the time, numbering around 15,000. However, upon closer examination, they were roughly half Wu soldiers and half Yi soldiers who were later conquered. Moreover, even the Wu soldiers were mostly from Yangzhou, thousands of miles away. Their arrival in the wild land of Zangke with Sun Deng was a desperate act for survival, and they could tolerate fighting the Yi people on ordinary days.

But when it comes to a fierce battle with the State of Wei, even the slightest loss can cause morale to collapse at an alarming rate.

With Pingyi City falling, Sun Deng naturally had to lead his troops north. In the words of Sun Deng's letters to Ma Zhong and the Shu Han court, this was a retreat.

Again and again... and it has become what it is today.

Given the attitude of their own commander towards the Wu people, Chu Sui, as a military advisor, naturally wouldn't give the Wu envoy a friendly look.

The envoy from Wu was none other than Meng Zong, who had been wary of Zhuge Jin and Bu Zhi back in Jiangling City.

After being verbally abused by Chu Sui, Meng Zong was almost unable to control himself and left Jiangyang City in a daze. He returned to his own camp and told Sun Deng about the incident.

Sun Deng's face turned deathly pale, and he almost burst into tears: "Is Heaven going to kill me?"

General Liu Zan advised from the side, "Your Majesty still has several thousand troops with you. The world is so vast, where can't we go? The Han Kingdom and the Wei Kingdom are still at war. We can either flee directly to the interior of Shu, or surrender to the Wei Kingdom and try, or hide in the mountains of Zangke, Bajun, and Fuling!"

Sun Deng sat cross-legged on the ground, muttering to himself, "I'm not going anywhere, I'll stay here. Everyone, I'm so tired..." (End of Chapter)