People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 445 I Can’t Sleep

In Jianye, in the Wu imperial palace, Sun Quan was pacing back and forth in the hall. Below him, a group of ministers headed by Zhou Yu and Zhang Zhao all had solemn expressions. The atmosphere in the hall was silent, and they seemed to be waiting for some news.

It was not until a long "report" sounded from a distance that the silence was completely broken.

Everyone in the hall turned their heads in unison and looked towards the source of the sound. Then a soldier hurried into the hall, not even having time to catch his breath, and immediately began to report.

"Your Majesty, we have just received confirmation that the fleet is indeed owned by Xuan Xia!"

When this voice came out, Sun Quan was stunned for a moment. The anxiety and uneasiness he had just felt disappeared, replaced by a feeling of helplessness and heaviness, and of course a bit of bitterness that it was just as he expected.

The ministers in the hall looked at each other and shook their heads.

Although Zhou Yu looked grim, he calmed down after taking a deep breath and continued to ask the soldier, "Have you found out what the Xuanxia fleet is doing?"

The soldier immediately responded: "General Zhou, after our inquiry, we found out that this fleet was ordered by the Xuanxia court to explore the islands near the coast of Shenzhou to make friends with the tribes and small countries near the coast. It has been sailing near the coast for a year and has made friends with dozens of tribes and small countries."

As soon as these words were spoken, there was an uproar in the hall. The ministers immediately began to talk to each other, most of them with expressions of disbelief, and of course some were worried.

Sun Quan sat down with a heavy face. He certainly knew what this meant.

Xuan Xia intended to establish foreign alliances for the sake of justice of China. Although this made Sun Quan feel a little uncomfortable, it was not a big deal. After all, those who established alliances were small countries or tribes, which he was too lazy to even take a second look at.

What really worried him was the fact that this fleet had been sailing for a year, which was enough to show that the other fleet was mature enough.

Although they claimed that they were just an ordinary fleet of Xuan Xia, as long as they changed the military flag, couldn't the so-called ordinary fleet be transformed into naval warships at any time?

This naturally made Sun Quan feel uneasy.

Zhou Yu's heart tightened even more, because according to the reported information, this fleet had several giant ships of over a hundred meters, thirty or forty medium-sized ships of dozens of meters, plus many smaller boats, forming a fleet of nearly a hundred ships, with nearly a thousand crew members.

This scale is not small and can be regarded as a small navy.

Zhou Yu calmed down and continued to ask: "If it is the Xuanxia fleet, how dare they stop at the coast of Wu!"

The soldier hesitated for a moment after hearing this, but said, "They stopped at the coast just to trade with the people along the coast to replenish supplies. Our county and township officials along the coast were afraid of their power and did not dare to act rashly. In order to maintain local stability, we cooperated with them. By the time we knew their identities, they had already completed the transaction. Now it's time to prepare to set sail and leave."

Sun Quan's face suddenly changed, and the anger in his eyes almost turned into substance: "What? What do the local officials do? The enemy is so openly attacking our coastal areas, and they do nothing, and they even allow the enemy to profit in Wu. Damn it!"

The hall was quiet for a while, and soon all the ministers began to sigh.

Zhou Yu shook his head and asked the soldiers to step aside for the time being. Then he stepped forward and saluted Sun Quan.

"Your Majesty, it's not easy to blame the local authorities for this. The Xuanxia fleet is based on the sea, and even if the local authorities send troops to suppress it, they will not be able to do anything. Once the Yellow Turbans are angered, they will be provoked to invade the coastal counties. Acquiescing to the fleet's transactions can at least reduce the possibility of trouble. A few traded materials are actually irrelevant to the overall situation."

"How ridiculous! Even if it's difficult to fight on land, our Wu Kingdom still has a navy. How can we not deal with it?" Sun Quan didn't seem to accept Zhou Yu's excuse. He let the enemy's forces come to his territory so brazenly and got through it safely. This made Sun Quan feel despised.

The Xuanxia fleet does not take Dongwu seriously at all, otherwise how could they dare to be so arrogant.

Zhou Yu also felt the arrogance of the Xuanxia fleet and sighed, "They are so bold, they must have something to rely on. After all, naval battles are different from river battles. The ocean is vast. As long as the Xuanxia fleet is qualified, they can easily escape the pursuit of our navy."

At this time, other ministers also stood up to agree, and Sun Quan finally calmed down after hearing the advice.

All the training of the Eastern Wu Navy was based on the combat scenarios of the Yangtze River. It would be difficult to achieve any results by rashly going to fight at sea.

Just as Zhou Yu said, the sea is really too big. With such a vast space, as long as the enemy doesn't want to fight, the Eastern Wu navy will basically have no chance of catching up.

"Dongwu only has the navy as a weapon against Xuanxia, ​​but now Xuanxia also has a fleet. Dongwu has lost even this last advantage. How can we fight the Yellow Turbans in the future? If the navy cannot achieve success, who among you can help me resist the Yellow Turbans?"

After all, Sun Quan was young, and he found it difficult to control himself due to his anxiety, so he began to vent his anger on many of his ministers.

Zhou Yu and Zhang Zhao both sighed in their hearts when they saw this.

Throwing problems and responsibilities onto subordinates is obviously not what a wise ruler does, but considering that Sun Quan is young, they can understand it to some extent. It's just that he was a little flustered after receiving the news suddenly.

Zhang Zhao said: "The Yellow Turban fleet only has dozens of ships and nearly a thousand crew members. The scale is completely incomparable to our army. If there is a naval battle in the future, our army will definitely have the advantage."

Sun Quan disagreed and snorted, "But this fleet set sail a year ago. Now a year has passed. Who knows how many new ships the Yellow Turbans have built? As for the crew, if the Yellow Turbans are willing, they can form a navy of thousands or tens of thousands. At that time, will my Dongwu navy still have an advantage?"

After hearing this, Zhang Zhao was speechless. This was indeed a problem.

Zhou Yu could only helplessly say: "Your Majesty, don't be too pessimistic. The construction of a navy is not just about ships and soldiers. The training and combat system of naval warfare is different from that of land warfare. Only proficiency can be called a strong army. In this regard, the Yellow Turbans are definitely not as good as our Dongwu. I can guarantee that in the future, our army will never suffer a loss in naval battles!"

At this point, Sun Quan finally felt relieved and he still trusted Zhou Yu's abilities.

However, he could only feel a little relieved. Whenever he thought about the current situation, he couldn't help but sigh.

The young Sun Quan looked at all the gentlemen in the room, but he still felt insecure in his heart. As long as Xuan Xia from the north was still beside his bed, he would never be able to sleep peacefully.

"Now that Wei has been destroyed and Cao Cao has been captured, the Three Kingdoms Alliance has lost one leg. Can Wu and Han really hold up the situation just by relying on us?

Today, the Xuanxia fleet came to Dongwu to show off its might. It doesn't matter if I suffer some humiliation. I am just worried about Xuanxia's covetous gaze. "

After Sun Quan finished speaking, everyone looked heavy-hearted.

Xuan Xia has even prepared a fleet for a naval battle, so how long will it take for the decisive battle to go south?
(End of this chapter)