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

Chapter 42: Sun Quan is too cowardly, he is the worst of the worst!

Give credit to Zhang Liao?
Xiao He casually responded with this remark, but it attracted everyone's attention.

"Bo Wen, are you saying that Sun Quan would be defeated by Zhang Wenyuan?"

Guan Yu put down the silk book, and a hint of surprise flashed across his Danfeng eyes.

Whether it was Liu Bei or Xu Shu, everyone had the same look in their eyes as Guan Yu.

"Well..."

Xiao He started coughing lightly.

If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have been so rude and would have just said this.

Since the curiosity of Liu Bei and Guan Yu has been aroused, an explanation must be given.

Xiao He rolled his eyes a few times and said:

"The Sun family is made up of military generals, and Sun Jian and his son Sun Ce are truly legendary generals. Their ability to lead an army is well known to the world."

"It's just that Sun Jian gave birth to a bunch of talented military commanders, but he also gave birth to an outlier like Sun Quan, who was gifted in political tactics but mediocre in commanding a force."

"For a man who can't lead an army like this, he must overestimate his own capabilities and lead an army to fight against a famous general like Zhang Liao. Isn't it only natural that he would be defeated miserably?"

After listening to the first half of Xiao He's analysis, everyone seemed to understand something and nodded slightly in agreement.

It is a well-known fact that Sun Quan was good at civil governance and had few military achievements in his life.

Everyone understands that if one soldier is incompetent, the whole army will be incompetent as well.

From this perspective, it is not impossible that Sun Quan failed to capture Hefei and returned in defeat.

But when they heard the words "returned in a miserable defeat", everyone was shocked.

Even if the Jiangdong Army is more powerful, they are still 40,000 bears.

It would have been fine if they failed to capture Hefei, but they were also defeated by Zhang Liao's 5,000 troops and ended up in a miserable defeat?
Even if Sun Quan was no good, he wouldn't be so shameless, right?

"Wenyuan is an exceptional martial artist, and has the potential to become a famous general. My brother and I both know this."

"However, Cao's army in Hefei only has a few thousand men, while the Jiangdong army has ten times as many. The difference in strength between the two armies is even greater than the disparity between us and Cao Cao."

"Bo Wen, did you really calculate that Wenyuan could not only defend Hefei but also defeat Sun Quan?"

Guan Yu expressed his doubts frankly.

Although the others did not say it explicitly, it was clear from their eyes that Guan Yu was expressing their thoughts.

"If someone else had led the army, there wouldn't even be a need for Zhou Yu. Even if someone like Cheng Pu and Han Dang had led the troops, the Jiangdong army would definitely not have suffered such a disastrous defeat."

"It's a pity that the commander of the army is Sun Quan. It's hard to say..."

Xiao He raised a hint of sarcasm at the corner of his mouth, then waved his hand:

"I'm just making a random guess, so it might not be correct. Don't take it too seriously. Let's discuss the details of the surprise attack on Deng County."

Everyone looked at each other and had to temporarily put aside their speculation and suspicion, and return their thoughts to the present.

After rounds of discussion, the entire surprise attack plan was finally finalized.

Xiao He also specifically suggested to Liu Bei that he send the surprise attack plan to Yicheng to listen to Zhuge Liang's opinions.

Zhuge Liang's reply was brief and concise, consisting of only one sentence:

Bowen's plan is perfect, ingenious and feasible!
With Zhuge Liang's approval, Liu Bei felt more confident and waited for Liu Qi's Jiangxia troops to move north.

Two days later, a large fleet of grain ships went up the river from Xiakou and entered the water camp on the south bank.

Inside the Chinese army's tent.

A small farewell banquet was held in the big tent.

Yu Jin, who was once a prisoner, now became a guest of honor, and Liu Bei sent him off with fine wine and delicious food.

Liu Bei was chatting and laughing, only recounting the old days, without mentioning a single word about the Battle of Han River, giving Yu Jin enough face.

Yu Jin felt ashamed and just forced himself to smile, but he was actually anxious inside.

On the one hand, he was naturally very happy that he could escape and say goodbye to his status as a prisoner.

On the other hand, he was ashamed to return to Cao's camp and didn't know how to face Cao Cao and his colleagues.

After finishing the last glass of wine, Liu Bei stood up and said with a smile:
"It's getting late. I'll take you on a boat to the north shore."

Yu Jin felt as if he had been pardoned. He temporarily put aside the worries in his heart and hurriedly stood up.

Liu Bei personally accompanied Yu Jin all the way to the pier.

"My Lord, three days' worth of dry food has been prepared."

Not long after they had gone, Jian Yong rode up on his horse and reported to Liu Bei. Liu Bei said nothing, but just waved his hand.

Jian Yong took his leave and left.

Yu Jin didn't take it seriously. He still kept his head down and walked forward with a heavy heart.

"Wen Ze, the preparations have been sent here. The boat is ready for you. Let's say goodbye now."

Liu Bei stopped on the bank and bowed slightly to Yu Jin.

Yu Jin hurriedly bowed deeply to Liu Bei, then followed Chen Dao down the slope and headed straight for the pier.

At this moment, as a military general, Yu Jin's natural sharpness prompted him to instinctively glance around and observe the strength of Liu Jun's water camp.

I saw dozens of grain ships parked along the pier, and many more grain ships were coming from the lower reaches of the Han River.

It looks like Xiakou should be sending food and fodder to Xiangfan.

The two Lius wanted to form a united front, and it was reasonable for Liu Qi to deliver food to Liu Bei, so Yu Jin did not think about it any further.

Just as he boarded the ship, he suddenly caught a glimpse of several soldiers coming out of the cabin of a nearby grain ship, complaining something like "I'm going to suffocate to death".

"Who asked you to come out? Go back now!"

Soon a lieutenant came out and yelled at those soldiers.

Several soldiers hurriedly got into the cabin again.

A hint of doubt flashed across Yu Jin's eyes, but for a moment he couldn't figure out what the doubt was about.

Before I could think about it, the boat had already set sail and left the ferry.

Yu Jin's thoughts also turned to the north bank, and his mood immediately became anxious and uneasy again.

"After all, I am the Prime Minister's loyal minister. I surrendered to Liu Bei only because I had no other choice. The Prime Minister, considering my hard work and great contributions, should not blame me. Otherwise, he would not have exchanged Xu Shu for me..."

Yu Jin's thoughts were surging, and he kept comforting himself.

With trepidation in my heart, I crossed the Han River and entered the Yu River, heading towards Cao Ying on the west bank...

When night fell, Yu Jin was standing in front of Cao Cao.

"Jin is incompetent and was no match for Guan Yu. My navy was completely annihilated. Please punish him, Prime Minister!"

Yu Jin half-knelt in front of Cao Cao to apologize, his face full of guilt, not daring to look up and look him in the face.

However, when he apologized, he only mentioned that he was defeated by Guan Yu, but he did not dare to mention that he knelt down and begged for surrender to Guan Yu.

"Yu Wenzhe, you——"

Cao Cao looked down at Yu Jin with disappointment, and his words of blame were almost about to burst out.

When the words were on the tip of his tongue, he swallowed them back.

Yu Jin has lost all the face he deserves, and now that he has been redeemed, what is the point in blaming and punishing him?
"You've suffered these past few days, get up."

Cao Cao reluctantly withdrew his complaints, but had to hold his nose and comfort Yu Jin to show his magnanimity as a lord.

Yu Jin breathed a sigh of relief and quickly expressed his gratitude.

Cao Cao was already annoyed and wanted to get rid of him.

At this time, Cheng Yu asked:

"Wen Ze, since you have returned from the enemy camp, have you noticed anything unusual there?"

Yu Jin's eyes rolled around, and after recalling carefully, his eyes suddenly moved.

"Before Liu Bei sent me on board, someone informed him that three days' worth of dry food had been prepared."

"Also, when I was at the ferry, I saw a number of grain ships arriving from Jiangxia. Seven or eight soldiers emerged from the granary of one of the ships, but were quickly rebuked by a captain."

"I didn't think much of it at the time, but now that I think about it, the granary should have been filled with food and fodder, so why were there so many soldiers? Furthermore, the ship had already reached the shore, so the soldiers should have been allowed to disembark, but why..."

Yu Jin muttered to himself.

Suspicion gradually appeared in Cao Cao's half-open eyes.

Cheng Yu suddenly showed a happy expression and bowed to Cao Cao:

"Prime Minister, Liu Bei has fallen into the trap and will definitely launch a surprise attack on Chaoyang in the next few days."

"Prime Minister, please dispatch another 50,000 troops to Chaoyang to set up an ambush, wait for Liu Bei to fall into the trap, and then annihilate his 30,000 troops!"

Cao Cao's half-closed eyes suddenly opened wide.

(End of this chapter)