People in the Three Kingdoms: Starting from Preaching

Chapter 569 No choice
Sun Quan's attitude towards Zhou Yu was very complicated. Deep down, he was extremely wary of Zhou Yu. As a monarch with an unstable foundation, facing an important minister like Zhou Yu who had great prestige and talent, Sun Quan would naturally feel a sense of oppression, which made him very uncomfortable.

If possible, he was actually not willing to always rely on Zhou Yu, the loyal minister left by his brother, but would rather promote talents himself. For example, Lu Su was a very suitable candidate in his opinion.

If nothing unexpected happened, the Wu Kingdom could stabilize itself, he would consider internal struggles. However, the situation in the world did not even allow Wu and Shu to have room for internal struggles. External threats directly determined their life and death. Things like being too successful and shocking the ruler were no longer worth considering. On the contrary, Sun Quan could only put all his hopes in Zhou Yu's hands.

But even so, Zhou Yu was unable to turn the tide, and Wu and Shu were inevitably doomed.

Of course, Sun Quan was disappointed and dissatisfied with this.

You, Zhou Gongjin, were able to assist Sun Ce in establishing the state of Sun Wu, so why can't you defend the territory of Great Wu for me, Sun Quan, today?

Zhou Lang's clever plan brought peace to the world, but in the end this was the result.

When he was in the rear, seeing that there was no movement from the Changsha front line, Sun Quan was anxious and sleepless for many nights, and he cursed Zhou Yu in private.

Zhou Yu's performance really disappointed him. The situation he expected was definitely not what it is today.

But after arriving at the front line, Sun Quan could no longer utter the blame and scolding he had prepared.

Seeing Zhou Yu's haggard and emaciated appearance, he realized that he was just an ordinary person with flesh and blood. Even if he had some extraordinary wisdom, he was far from being able to change his fate.

After all, the opponent in front of them is the Yellow Turbans. The gap in strength between the two sides is so huge that it is natural that they cannot defeat them.

"Gongjin, don't blame yourself. It's not easy for you to lead the army until now. How can I blame you? It's meaningless to talk about the past in this situation. It's better to prepare for the decisive battle and overcome this hurdle before you can talk about the future."

At this point, Sun Quan could only sigh, help Zhou Yu up again, and let the rest of the ministers stand up as well.

Seeing Sun Quan being so tolerant, Zhou Yu felt both guilty and moved. In the end, he could only nod his head and say, "No matter what the outcome of this battle is, Zhou Yu will definitely do his best."

"That's great. I'm waiting for good news from Gongjin." Sun Quan forced a smile. Although he said nice things, he was very pessimistic in his heart.

Even someone as confident and proud as Zhou Yu did not dare to say that he would definitely win when he made up his mind before the battle. Instead, he only dared to say that he would do his best. This subconscious statement actually better illustrates Zhou Yu's true expectations of winning or losing.

He looked at the other people around him and saw that they were all silent. He was afraid that they, like Zhou Yu, had lost hope of winning.

From the generals above to the soldiers below, everyone has lost confidence in a war. Then the war is over before it even begins. This situation is somewhat despairing.

But Sun Quan didn't say much, because even he himself didn't have any extravagant hopes for it.

He didn't even know how many of these people were bent on fighting to the death, how many were planning to surrender when they saw that the situation was not favorable, or even whether some were planning to kidnap the monarch and seek credit from the Yellow Turbans.

The Wu and Shu states had already been destroyed. Unlike the Han Dynasty, they did not have so many loyal and righteous people willing to live and die with the country. At this juncture, the people below had already had different thoughts, and this was something that neither Liu Bei nor Sun Quan could control.

They knew what the outcome would be if the war broke out, but they had to fight because there was nothing else they could do. Sun Quan was still okay, but Liu Bei was even more miserable. Wu at least had Zhou Yu in charge, but Shu was really in a state of talent decline.

After the armies reunited, Liu Bei realized that the only person he could rely on in the entire Shu army was Huang Zhong, who was seriously injured and had not yet recovered!

In the last battle, Huang Zhong was injured by Zhao Yun and has not recovered yet. Now he is just struggling to welcome Liu Bei. His condition is still very weak. But even so, Liu Bei had to let Huang Zhong take charge of the overall situation of the Shu army despite his injury.

In the past, at least there was Wei Yan who could be employed, and at worst Liao Hua could be used to fill the position, but now Liu Bei looks around and can no longer see any talented people who can be of great use.

This powerless and sad situation made Liu Bei even more resentful.

However, now he didn't even have time to be sad. After the Wu and Shu armies were fully assembled, Sun Quan soon led Zhou Yu, Lu Su and others here to discuss the war immediately, leaving him no time to even breathe.

"Emperor Liu, please cheer up. Although our army has gathered now, we do not have enough food and grass. I am afraid we do not have any more time to waste. We have to fight a decisive battle with the Yellow Turbans as soon as possible!" Sun Quan stepped forward, saluted Liu Bei, and began to persuade him in a heavy tone.

Liu Bei was showing his concern for Huang Zhong by asking him about his health, but he could only stop for now and responded to Sun Quan: "Don't worry, Emperor Wu. I am ready for a decisive battle."

Sun Quan nodded and said, "That's great. How about we discuss military affairs first?"

Liu Bei's expression gradually became serious, and he said: "That's exactly what should be done. There is no way out for you and me. Our survival depends on this day!"

Their army had only just assembled, but both Liu Bei, Sun Quan, Zhou Yu and Xu Shu knew that they had no time left. All they could do now was to start a war immediately. The longer they delayed, the more disadvantageous it would be for them.

Soon, Wu Shu built a simple camp. A high platform was erected, and several people climbed up to look at the Yellow Turban camp in the distance.

Seeing this, everyone's expressions became even more solemn, because at this moment the Yellow Turban camp was filled with extreme silence and quiet, as if they were completely unaware of the joining of the Wu and Shu armies.

Xu Shu sighed and said helplessly: "Looking at the Yellow Turbans' movements, they don't seem to be planning to take the initiative to attack. Perhaps our army can only attack the camp by force."

Zhou Yu stepped forward and nodded: "The enemy is well aware of our predicament and knows that we can only actively seek a fight. They will not give up the advantage of the camp. This battle will be very difficult for our army."

At this point, Zhou Yu couldn't help but think of his risky attack more than ten days ago, and the result of that attack still made him feel scared.

Although there were only tens of thousands of troops last time, and the strength is twice as much now, Zhou Yu still does not have much confidence, after all, the Yellow Turbans also have more troops than last time.

Sun Quan worriedly asked, "Then how should our army attack?"

Zhou Yu glanced at him and said in a deep voice, "Your Majesty, there is no room for tactics in this battle. We can only attack head-on."

(End of this chapter)