My father-in-law Guan Yu, I persuaded Liu Bei to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang at the beginn

Chapter 151: How could I surrender to Cao Cao just to survive? Zhou Yu: I would rather surrender to Liu Bei than to Cao Cao!

"Impossible! General Huang is a veteran of many battles and has at least 5,000 elite soldiers at his command. How could he have lost Nanling in just three days?"

"This is impossible, impossible--"

Zhou Yu was in a panic and ignored the pain in his heart. He pushed away Lu Su's support, stumbled over, and snatched the urgent report from the soldier.

When he hurriedly opened the silk book and looked at it anxiously for a few seconds while holding it tremblingly, he felt as if he had fallen into an icy abyss and was frozen in place.

Sun Quan, who was in a daze and stunned, suddenly reacted, jumped up, rushed forward and snatched the silk book from Zhou Yu's hand.

After taking a few glances, Sun Quan, like Zhou Yu, froze in place.

The master and his servant seemed to have lost their souls and fell into a trance.

The silk book in Sun Quan's hand fell out of his hand.

Lu Su, Zhang Zhao and others hurriedly picked it up and came forward to take a look.

Nanling fell, Huang Gai was beheaded, and the entire army of 5,000 soldiers was annihilated...

Those cruel words, like bolts from the blue, struck the heads of the people in Jiangdong.

After a brief silence, the tent exploded into panic.

"General Huang was the only one left among the three veteran generals. How could he have died at the hands of Liu Bei?"

"Wasn't Gan Ning, the Jinfan thief, a commoner in our Jiangdong army? How come he became such a formidable figure under Liu Bei's command?"

"The key is that our army only has over 15,000 people, and now we've lost 5,000 in one battle. Isn't this adding insult to injury?"

"It seems that Liu Bei can't be stopped. What should we do..."

All kinds of pessimistic and frightened discussions were heard one after another in the tent, and the atmosphere of terror was madly pervasive.

"Gongjin, my Lord Commander of Zhou, you promised me that you would stop the big-eared thief!"

"Tell me, what should we do now?"

Sun Quan, who was in a daze, finally exploded and questioned Zhou Yu loudly in excitement and anger.

Zhou Yu was awakened by the shock, but he gritted his teeth and bowed, saying:
"I never promised my lord that I could stop Liu Bei's army. I simply said that even if it meant risking my life, I would fight to the death for the Sun family's legacy!"

Sun Quan was speechless. His complaints were blocked by Zhou Yu and he couldn't even utter them.

What they said was the truth.

When you asked him to come out of retirement, he did say that he would repay Sun Ce with his own death and would be loyal to the Sun family until his death.

But they have never promised with confidence that they can stop Liu Bei for you and protect your Jiangdong base.

Zhou Yu changed the subject and continued:

"As for my lord's question about what to do next, having reached this point, we can only withdraw all our forces to Moling, relying on its strong defenses and with the three counties of Danyang, Wu, and Kuaiji as our backup, to defend Moling to the death."

"As long as we can hold out until the Shanyue new army is trained, we will have a chance to hold Jiangdong and force Liu Bei to retreat."

Sun Quan said nothing, but there was obvious distrust in his eyes.

I trusted you time and time again, and gave you opportunities time and time again, but you repaid my trust with repeated defeats, until you were defeated by Liu Bei at your doorstep.

Now you ask me to retreat to Moling again, how can I trust you?

What if we can’t hold it?
If Moling is lost, the people of Jiangdong will lose their morale, and my Sun family's foundation will be destroyed!
"My lord, from Xiakou to Nanling, we have lost countless battles, whether offensively or defensively. In which one have we ever defeated Liu Bei?"

"Retreating to Moling is still very dangerous, I think it's absolutely not feasible!"

Zhang Zhao saw Sun Quan's attitude and decisively stood up to oppose Zhou Yu.

At this time, Zhou Yu suffered another defeat, and Huang Gai, the pro-war faction, also died. His back obviously straightened a little.

"Zi Bu's words make sense. Defending Moling will only lead to death. If the city is taken, won't I die without a burial place?"

Sun Quan nodded repeatedly and asked anxiously:
"Then according to Zi Bu's opinion, what should I do?"

Zhang Zhao took a deep breath and bowed, saying:

"My lord, the situation is hopeless. With our current strength, we can no longer resist Liu Bei, nor can we defend Jiangdong."

"I still say the same thing, surrender to the court, surrender to Cao Gong."

"Only in this way can the lord and the Sun family be saved, and Jiangdong be spared from the ravages of war and the devastation of all lives."

Zhang Zhao brought up the old matter again and urged him to surrender to Cao.

Zhou Yu's expression suddenly changed, as if he had been given a shot of chicken blood, and he said anxiously:

"Zhang Zibu, why are you so stubborn and still trying to persuade our lord to surrender to Cao?"

"My lord is the son of Duke Wentai and the ruler of Jiangdong. How could you surrender to the thief Cao just to survive—"

boom!
Sun Quan suddenly slammed the table, interrupting Zhou Yu's passionate speech.

Then he jumped up, paced around the tent with his hands behind his back, and fell into silence, weighing the pros and cons.

Zhou Yu's heart skipped a beat, and he felt an ominous premonition.

Sun Quan's attitude clearly showed that he had been persuaded by Zhang Zhao and that he had once again begun to think about surrendering to Cao.

This time, I am more determined than when I was in Moling!
"My Lord, you must not—"

"enough!"

Sun Quan shouted at Zhou Yu again and stopped abruptly.

Everyone's eyes were focused on Sun Quan.

They knew that their lord had already made his decision. After taking a long breath, Sun Quan sighed helplessly:
"Zi Bu is right. I have less than 10,000 soldiers now. The new Shanyue troops are just a drop in the bucket. The Big Ear Bandits' 70,000-man army will be arriving at Moling any day now."

"With my own strength, I am no match for the Big Ear Thief. Continuing to fight will only lead to my death."

"As the ruler of Jiangdong, even if I don't consider myself, I must consider the lives of the thousands of people in Jiangdong."

"I have made up my mind. I will follow Zi Bu's plan and submit Jiangdong to the imperial court and to Cao Gong!"

Zhang Song breathed a sigh of relief, feeling completely relieved.

Zhou Yu clenched his fists, his pale face turned red in an instant, and endless disappointment burned in his eyes.

Just as he was about to persuade him, Sun Quan raised his hand to stop him and sighed:
"Gongjin, there's no need to persuade me any further. I know you don't want to surrender to Cao Cao, and I don't want the legacy my brother created to be handed over to Cao Gong."

"But the situation is over. It's beyond your and my ability to reverse it. If we continue to persist, I'm afraid that your Zhou family and my Sun family will both follow in the footsteps of the Cai and Kuai families."

"If you truly care about the friendship between you and my brother, then you should hold on to Zheqi Pass and try to hold off the big-eared thief as long as possible, buying enough time for Cao Gong to return south and cross the river to take over Jiangdong!"

Say it.

Sun Quan bowed to Zhou Yu and said almost pleadingly:
"Gongjin, I beg you to put aside your personal honor and disgrace and fight for a way out for our Sun family and the people of Jiangdong!"

Everyone's eyes turned to Zhou Yu.

Zhou Yu frowned deeply, and clenched his fists until they made faint noises.

Sun Quan's words and actions seemed to be begging him, but in fact they were forcing him into a corner with no choice.

As the lord, you have begged me so humbly. What else do you want?

Do you really disregard Sun Ce's feelings and the life and death of the Sun family, and insist on disobeying your master's orders and fighting Liu Bei to the death?
If this is true, wouldn't you, Zhou Yu, be a disloyal and unjust person?
"Gongjin..."

Lu Su wanted to persuade him, but he didn't know where to start. He could only shake his head and sigh.

The atmosphere was deathly silent.

After a long time, Zhou Yu let out a long breath and loosened his clenched fists.

"Since the Lord has made up his mind, what else can I say? I will obey your orders."

He still chose to give in.

Sun Quan breathed a sigh of relief, secretly delighted, and immediately praised Zhou Yu for his "deep understanding of righteousness."

The decision to surrender to Cao was thus made.

Sun Quan immediately sent Lu Fan to cross the river at night to inform Xu Huang, who was stationed at Ruxukou on the north bank, of his decision to surrender Jiangdong, and then he rode north to Tongguan to meet Cao Cao.

Sun Quan then left Zhou Yu in command of the remaining 10,000 troops to defend Zheqi Pass, trying to buy as much time as possible for Cao Cao to return south and take over Jiangdong.

In order to prevent someone in Jiangdong from refusing to surrender to Cao and taking advantage of the situation to cause chaos, Sun Quan rushed back to Moling overnight to take charge.

When it was dark, those who should have left had already left, and only Zhou Yu and Lu Su were left in the tent.

"Gongjin, are you truly willing to follow him and surrender to Cao Cao?"

Lu Su couldn't help asking, but he didn't call Sun Quan "Lord" but used the word "he".

"The one who understands me is Zi Jing."

Zhou Yu sighed, then snorted coldly:
"I would rather surrender to Liu Bei, a relative of the Han Dynasty, than follow that foolish and cowardly man and surrender to Cao Cao, that Han traitor!"

When these words were spoken, Lu Su was shocked.

From what Zhou Yu said, it seems that he is intending to surrender to Liu Bei?
Before he could react, Zhou Yu turned around and bowed:
"Zi Jing, you and I are close friends, and we share the same aspirations. I doubt you would be willing to surrender to Cao."

"Since that's the case, please ask Zijing to go to Nanling and meet Liu Xuande. Tell him that I, Zhou Yu, am willing to lead 10,000 soldiers to surrender and help him capture Moling without bloodshed and take over Jiangdong in one fell swoop!"

"I have only one condition: after this is accomplished, the lives of the Sun family must be preserved!"

Lu Su was shocked and looked at Zhou Yu in disbelief. He couldn't believe that these words could come from Zhou Yu's mouth.

Your handsome Zhou Lang was defeated by Liu Bei in a series of battles. Not only did he lose a leg, but he also lost his reputation for life.

How could you, as proud as you are, put aside your hatred and dignity and surrender to Liu Bei?

"I might as well tell you the truth, Zijing. If I had a choice, I would definitely never surrender to Liu."

"But tell me, between surrendering to Cao and surrendering to Liu, do I have any other choice?"

Zhou Yu saw Lu Su's doubts and could only honestly tell him his helplessness.

Lu Su suddenly understood and realized Zhou Yu's difficulties.

"Well, Liu Xuande is both a man of great talent and strategy, and he is also kind and righteous. He truly embodies the spirit of Emperor Gaozu. It is better to surrender to him than to that ruthless Cao Cao."

"Gongjin, you have such a broad mind and are able to think this through. It is truly commendable."

Lu Su's doubts were all resolved, and he said happily:
"Since Gongjin has made up his mind, Su should follow. I will set off for Nanling to meet Liu Xuande!"

Lu Su immediately took his leave.

Zhou Yu, leaning on a cane, personally escorted Lu Su to the riverside.

When Lu Su sailed up the river in a small boat and disappeared into the night, a hint of pride quietly appeared on Zhou Yu's lips.

"Liu Bei, you are just a mat weaver and shoe seller. Are you worthy of me, Zhou Yu, to bow down to you and be your vassal?"

Zhou Yu snorted coldly, turned around and shouted:

"Come here, quickly tell Xu Sheng, Kan Ze, Zhu Zhi, and Zhou Qiang to come to the main tent to discuss important matters with me!"

(End of this chapter)