The Rebellious Officials and Traitors of the Late Han Dynasty

Chapter 364: Lu Meng Crossing the River in White Clothes
In Nanping, the young Sun Quan had an old look on his face and a hint of old age on his body. He did not look young and energetic at all. The army was defeated all the way, Wujun, Kuaijijun, Linhaijun, and now Jian'anjun.

Sun Quan still had some hope before, but with the emergence of Xiahou Yuan and the capture of Silla County, Sun Quan's route back to the south was cut off.

How could Sun Quan not be worried when tens of thousands of troops were besieged in the tiny place of Nanping? If it were not for Zhou Yu's support, Sun Quan would have been destroyed by Cao Cao long ago.

But now it seems that I am not far from death.

"My lord." Zhou Yu, Huang Gai and others walked in.

"Is there any news about Zishan?" Sun Quan asked hurriedly.

Now he can only place his hope on the Cavalry, hoping that they will come to support him.

"News came from Moling that the cavalry generals Zhang Liao and Gan Ning led a large army on land and sea to attack Wuhu and other places, but they withdrew quickly." Zhou Yu said with a wry smile.

He knew in his heart that pinning his hopes on Qin Shou was a wrong decision. The other party's main focus was on the north. Going to war with Cao Cao now would be more costly than gaining.

The reality was just as he had guessed. The other side only sent a small force to harass Cao Cao and did not mobilize the Xuzhou troops to join the attack.

A beautiful woman and meaningless tribute could not impress the Cavalry Army, let alone change the decision made by Qin Shou himself.

"This damn Qin Shou has already taken control of the north. The three Yuan brothers are bound to be defeated. Why doesn't he come to rescue us now?" Sun Quan was furious.

He had no other choice now. His troops were out of ammunition and food. If he didn't find a way out, he would surely die.

"Gongjin, what should we do now?" Sun Quan looked at Zhou Yu and asked hurriedly.

Zhou Yu smiled bitterly and said, "My lord, Xiahou Yuan has already captured Silla. We have lost the chance to retreat to Jiaozhi. Now there are only four options before you. First, surrender to Cao Cao, second, surrender to Liu Bei, third, surrender to the imperial court, and fourth, I have been trying to find out where to go. I have heard from the locals that there is a large island a few hundred miles southeast. It is rich in resources and has a large population. It can be used as the foundation for your career."

Zhou Yu put Liuqiu last, actually he looked down on Liuqiu. At that time, Liuqiu was still a wild land, so Zhou Yu put Liuqiu last.

Sun Quan glanced at Zhou Yu, thought for a moment, and said, "Gongjin, do you know how big the Liuqiu are?"

Zhou Yu shook his head and said, "I don't know how big Liuqiu is, but I know that if you go to Liuqiu, many soldiers will not go there."

Sun Quan nodded and said, "Then we should move all the people here to Liuqiu, marry off the women of marriageable age in the city to the soldiers, and let them settle down in Liuqiu. I think the soldiers will definitely support us in going to Liuqiu."

After hearing this, Zhou Yu didn't know what to do for a moment. The Sun Quan in front of him was really not simple. He actually came up with such a plan. He was obviously unwilling to fail.

"It only takes a few days to reach the Central Plains from Liuqiu. As long as we capture Liuqiu, we can attack the Central Plains at any time." Sun Quan looked a little excited.

He seemed to have found a way to deal with Cao Cao.

Use Liuqiu to harass the Central Plains.

After listening to this, Zhou Yu nodded and had no choice but to agree. There was a real reason for this. Sun Quan was now at his wit's end and placed his only hope on Ryukyu, hoping that Ryukyu could help him restore his strength.

"General Huang, immediately relocate all the people along the coast. We must not let Cao Cao know about the Liuqiu incident." After Zhou Yu left, Sun Quan took immediate action and asked Huang Gai to start relocating the people.

"Yes." Huang Gai was an old minister of the Sun family, so he would not let anyone ruin Sun Quan's plan. He immediately led his men to the seaside, personally piloted the warship, and headed for Ryukyu. Following Sun Quan's order, the army began to relocate the people, collect ships, and prepare to take the people to Ryukyu to set up camp.

Neither Qin Shou nor Cao Cao had expected that Sun Quan would actually use this trick. Of course, even if these people knew, they probably wouldn't have the energy to care about it.

Now Cao Cao and Qin Shou are both desperately trying to seize territory. In their minds, Sun Quan is just a clown who cannot influence the overall situation at all.

One was busy seizing the land of Hebei, while the other was preparing to plot against Jiangxia, and thus curbed the naval warships of the Cavalry Army upstream.

In Chaisang, Xiahou Dun got off the warship with a pale face. He was from the north and seldom saw the river. Although he had been in Chaisang for some time, he still could not adapt to the bumps on the river.

However, for the sake of Cao Cao's hegemony, he could only try his best to adapt.

Next to him was a general who had just joined Cao Cao's army, named Lu Meng. Seeing that Lu Meng had some wisdom, Xiahou Dun brought him with him, preparing to train him seriously.

"Ziming, the lord is preparing to seize Jiangxia, but Jiangxia's Huang Zu is brave and good at fighting. It will not be easy to take him down!"

Xiahou Dun showed worry on his face.

He had just gone to Jiangxia to spy on Jiangxia's situation.

Huang Zu has been stationed in Jiangxia for many years. The navy under his command is elite and has many warships. It is not an easy task to capture Jiangxia.

Lu Meng thought for a moment and suddenly said, "General, if we attack Jiangxia, Huang Zu alone will find it difficult to resist the lord's troops. At this time, he will definitely ask for help from Jingzhou. In this case, if the reinforcements are ours, can't we easily capture Jiangxia?"

"Disguise as Jingzhou army? Is it possible? It may be difficult for our troops to cross Jiangxia!" Xiahou Dun hesitated.

If they could pretend to be the Jingzhou army and attack from the east and west together with him, he might be able to win easily, but Huang Zu was not a fool and would definitely patrol the river.

It is not an easy task to send an army of tens of thousands of people upstream.

"General, Huang Zu is watching us, but there are two types of ships that he won't watch: merchant ships and passenger ships. What if we let our soldiers pretend to be merchants and civilians, go upstream first, and wait for an opportunity to move eastward?"

There was a gleam in Lu Meng's eyes.

"Crossing the river in white clothes?" Xiahou Dun's eyes lit up when he heard it.

Although Jiangdong was plotting to seize Jingzhou, in fact, the two sides had not yet fallen out. At this time, there was no ban on passing merchant ships, but they would be allowed to pass after a thorough inspection.

There is certainly no problem in crossing the river in this way, but once the news spreads, the impact will be quite bad. Will anyone still trust the caravan people in the future?

"General, we have no other choice." Lu Meng quickly explained.

"Ziming, I leave this matter to you." Xiahou Dun made the decision immediately.

"Yes." Lu Meng was overjoyed and agreed immediately.

(End of this chapter)