Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 130 124. Sharing the Pressure
"..."

Sun Quan's face was uncertain. At this moment, he was in a dilemma, just like Cao Cao in the Battle of Hanzhong.

Sun Quan knew that he had very few troops left, and it would be unrealistic to fight the Han army in Jiangxia again.

Sun Quan was unwilling to retreat. He had gone through so much trouble to finally recover the Jiangdong territory "since ancient times". Now, only over a year had passed and the territory was gone before he could even warm up to it. Sun Quan was unwilling to just give up!
Sun Quan looked grim, as if he was constipated or had eaten three kilograms of "snow" from Dongting Lake, and was unable to make a decision.

The ministers in the hall also fell silent. From a rational point of view, it would be better to let Sun Shao stay in Jiangxia. If Sun Shao managed to hold it, he would have a bridgehead for the counterattack against Jingzhou in the future. Moreover, if Sun Shao could keep the Han army in Jiangxia, Cao Wei might intervene and force the Han army into a panic.

It was a pity that Sun Quan had not yet received the news of Cao Wei's fierce attack on Fancheng, otherwise he would not have hesitated. A detachment of the Han army's navy was about to capture them.

"...Let Gongli withdraw. Shuwu has already fallen into the hands of the old villain Liu Bei. How can I let Gongli fall into danger again?"

Sun Quan finally figured it out. It wasn't that he really felt sorry for the Sun He clan members, but Jiangdong really didn't have the extra energy to manage other places.

After two great defeats at Yiling and Dongting Lake, Jiangdong had lost only one tenth of its troops. Now it had to concentrate all its energy just to pacify the local people and guard against Cao Wei. How could it have the time to dream of counterattacking Jingzhou?
It would be better to simply release Jiangxia, withdraw Sun Shao and the surrounding county troops back to Chaisang, and heavily defend Chaisang, the important town entering Jiangdong by water, to recover our strength first.

"The king is wise."

When the ministers in the hall saw that Sun Quan had made the decision, they flattered him and asked the messenger to inform Sun Shao without mentioning anything else.

In Yong'an, two groups of envoys from Feng Xi arrived one after another. The first one was to report the victory of the Battle of Dongting Lake, and the second one was to report his next itinerary to Liu Bei.

"...In this battle, the Eastern Wu suffered heavy casualties, and all the large and small boats were damaged. The Wu generals Ling Tong, Xu Sheng, Zhu Huan, Zhu Yi... and others were captured alive."

Liu Bei remained silent as he looked at the victory report written by Feng Xi in his hand.

Was this battle fought well? Of course it was. Although Liu Bei was not good at strategy, he knew that Feng Xi had defeated the last remaining force of the Eastern Wu in this battle, and the fall of the Eastern Wu was only a matter of time.

But Liu Bei was not happy either. It was not because he was jealous or afraid of Feng Xi's ability, but because of a fear of time that is unique to the elderly.

Ever since hearing the news of Cao Cao's death, Liu Bei has been in a state of anxiety and worry. His stubborn behavior in the Battle of Yiling was also a manifestation of this emotion.

Liu Bei wanted to prove that he was still one of the protagonists on the stage of the times.

Unfortunately, the fire in Yiling and the arrow woke Liu Bei up from the pain.

If Feng Xi had not arranged it in advance, it would be a big question whether he could escape. He thought that he had been a soldier for half his life, and had fought against cunning politicians like Cao Cao for half his life, so he was more or less a tough guy.

It was a pity that the path of coercion that he had carefully planned was burned to pieces by Lu Xun's fire, and Ma Zhong's arrow made him realize that he might not really be suitable for the current stage.

Maybe I am really old, and the stage now belongs to young people like Lu Xun, Cao Pi, and Feng Xi.

Feng Xi would probably be shocked to see Liu Bei's current appearance, even though he was full of energy before the Eastern Expedition.

Liu Bei is now hunched over, with gray hair and beard, and wrinkled skin on his face. If it weren't for the imperial robe, he would have looked like an ordinary old man. The last breath of anger in Liu Bei's heart also dissipated because of the Battle of Yiling. He knew that he might have been eliminated by this era. It was not that the carriage of the times had left him behind, but that he could not keep up with the times.

Liu Bei's anxiety is no different from that of the elderly in the 21st century, except that the object of his anxiety is different.

Elderly people in the 21st century find that life around them has become an information age. They used to do everything in person, but now they can do it with a tap on a screen. They used to know "confidential information" through various channels, but now they can see it all over their mobile phone screens...

This sense of gap will make them stubborn and try to prove that they are not out of date, just like Liu Bei before.

"Ugh……"

Liu Bei sighed deeply. Although Yun Chang's revenge had been taken, Pan Zhang, Ma Zhong and other murderers had been killed, and most of Jingzhou had been recovered, it did not affect Liu Bei's feeling of exhaustion.

"Xiu Yuan did a great job...very good."

After a long while, Liu Bei could only say this one sentence, and he didn't know what to say anymore.

"Your Majesty, Commander-in-Chief Feng also hopes that Your Majesty can send troops from Guanzhong, just to force Zhang He to return to defend Guanzhong. After all, the three counties of Shangyong are being held back by Zhang He, which may be disadvantageous to the war in Fancheng."

The military officer who came to report saw that Old Liu was a hero in his twilight years, but still gritted his teeth and whispered to Liu Bei the news brought by Feng Xi's second messenger.

Liu Bei already knew most of the content of the second piece of news, which was nothing more than Cao Wei's three-pronged attack on Fancheng. However, Feng Xi hoped that Sichuan could help contain Zhang He in Guanzhong so that he would be under less pressure.

"Draft an imperial edict and send it to the Prime Minister. Specify all matters concerning Fancheng and Dongting Lake. Let the Prime Minister handle it and relieve Xiu Yuan of some of the pressure."

Liu Bei nodded when he heard Feng Xi's request to share the pressure. Feng Xi's Jingzhou and Sichuan had to work together. Jingzhou was under a lot of pressure now, and it was time for Sichuan to share the pressure.

Under Liu Bei's order, the eunuch quickly drafted the imperial edict, which was sent to Chengdu by a messenger at full speed.

In Chengdu, Zhuge Liang was shocked after receiving Liu Bei's imperial edict and Feng Xi's battle report. He quickly summoned Zhao Yun, Xu Jing, Qin Mi, Liu Ba and others to discuss the matter.

"Feng Xiuyuan is truly so terrifying that he actually fought another decisive battle with the Eastern Wu after the Battle of Yiling and completely defeated them."

The first person to express his feelings was naturally Zhao Yun, who was also a military commander. Feng Xi's expedition to the east was really like the Crouching Dragon emerging from the abyss in the past, advancing triumphantly all the way and making the Eastern Wu dizzy.

"Now His Majesty has asked us to arrange for the troops in Sichuan to be dispatched to put pressure on Guanzhong, so that Zhang He must return to defend the area and relieve the pressure in the Nanyang area. But I wonder who in Sichuan can take on this important task?"

Xu Jing stroked his beard. Zhao Yun and Zhuge Liang, one a civil official and one a military official, were stationed in Chengdu and they definitely could not leave. Before, it was an emergency and they might have to sacrifice the foundation of the country. Now, it would not be appropriate to go through Hanzhong to pretend to attack Guanzhong.

"I have a candidate. If he goes, he will be enough to threaten Cao Wei and his status will be high enough. Besides, I think he also wants to go out for a walk."

Zhuge Liang gently waved his feather fan, smiled silently, and thought of the most suitable candidate for the feint attack.

(End of this chapter)