Chapter 47 Crossing
Chaisangkou, Zhou Yu’s water camp.

In the early morning, the river was filled with fog, blending with the smoke from cooking.

As usual, Zhou Yu was reading military books.

It was better than in the north. The military books Zhou Yu handled were all made of paper, not heavy, bulky and inconvenient bamboo slips.

However, the papermaking skills in Jiangdong were far inferior to those in the north before the chaos, so he used ordinary bamboo pulp paper.

Without the bleaching process, it is just the most common bamboo pulp paper, and its texture is more like burnt ephedra paper money.

Jiangdong also has better quality mulberry and hemp paper, but the output is scarce and the price is high.

Only cheap bamboo pulp paper could be used by the military and then destroyed after use; but important personnel files, military rosters, and the like were still carried on bamboo slips.

The entire Chaisangkou defense line is centered on the Chaisang Camp on the south bank, and there is the Xunyangkou Water Fort on the north bank.

These two water camps in the north and south form the throat of the Yangtze River waterway, while Qichun upstream is the front teeth of the Jiangdong defense line.

A fleet was arranged to patrol between Qichun and Chaisang day and night.

These patrol fleets can go downstream as well as upstream with the help of southeast winds, so the patrol efficiency is high.

Because of the fierce confrontation with Jingzhou and the fact that manpower was extremely precious, there were no military settlements or beacon towers near Qichun.

Jiangdong has no shortage of land for military settlements, so there is no need to encroach on and oppress Huang Zu.

Large armies rely on boat transportation for conquest, and there is no shortage of food and fodder supplies, which can be carried from the rear, so there is no need to station them at the front line.

Therefore, the Chaisangkou camp was only responsible for blocking the invasion from Jingzhou, acting as a barrier to ensure that the production order in the rear was not disrupted; after the strength in the rear was accumulated, it would gather strength to fight a decisive battle with Huang Zu and Liu Biao.

Thanks to Sun Ce, Jiangdong now has no shortage of capable generals.

As for Jingzhou, it was able to pacify the four southern counties in recent years by relying on sieges and forced the Changsha prefect Zhang Xian to die of illness. It lacked experience in bloody battles and large-scale wars.

Cao Cao, who occupied the Central Plains, was held back by Hebei. Now that the army in Jiangdong is strong, as long as Jingzhou is captured, he can fight a decisive battle in Jianghuai and compete with Cao Cao for the Central Plains!

Even though Sun Ce was assassinated, the soldiers of Jiangdong Army still had high morale and had beautiful visions for the future.

As Zhou Yu was sorting out military documents, Song Qian came over with a plate of bamboo slips of military documents in both hands: "Central Guard General, urgent delivery."

Seeing that it was a bamboo slip, Zhou Yu frowned slightly in confusion. Huang Zu's spine had been broken upstream, and the Jingzhou side upstream had also deployed troops along the line. If there was any danger, he should be the first to get it, not the rear.

He still reached out and picked up the bamboo slips, which were entangled with a hemp rope, the knot of which was wrapped with clay, and stamped with Sun Quan's "Seal of the General Who Suppresses the Enemy".

Naturally, bamboo slips official documents could not be stamped to prevent counterfeiting, and had to rely entirely on mud seals.

The seal is damaged, the legitimacy of the official document is lost, and the messenger is held accountable, which is a serious crime.

Zhou Yu broke the mud seal, opened the bamboo slips and read them, frowning again, and just said to Song Qian: "Prepare a fast boat, I want to go back to Kuaiji."

"Here!"

Song Qian turned and left. Zhou Yu then said to the chief clerk, "Go and invite General Pinglu to come."

Soon, General Pinglu and Marquis of Guangde Xu Kun arrived at the central military meeting hall, and Zhou Yu went out to greet him personally.

Xu Kun was thirty-five or thirty-six years old, at the prime of his life.

He had the title of county marquis bestowed by the Xudu court, and his resume and foundation in Jiangdong were stronger than Zhou Yu's. Even his title of general was recognized and appointed by the Xudu court, which made him far more prestigious than Zhou Yu, the Central Guard General in Jiangdong.

Xu Kun walked half a step ahead of Zhou Yu into the hall with a clear conscience. As soon as he sat down, he took the bamboo slips handed to him by Zhou Yu: "Lord Xu, the envoy from Xudu has arrived. He said that he wanted to summon the sons of the generals, county governors, and captains to come to the court as hostages on behalf of Cao Gong."

This is a big deal. Handing over the hostages is equivalent to fully relying on the Xudu court.

Xu Kun read the official document and said with a smile: "It seems that something has changed in Kuaiji."

There was disdain in his smile, and Zhou Yu naturally understood that Xu Kun was laughing at the possibility that Zhang Zhao, the Chief Clerk, and others were advocating and pushing this matter.

Xuzhou has been stabilized. As the current leader of Xuzhou people in Jiangdong, Zhang Zhao naturally wants to return to his hometown to live. It would be worthwhile to be able to be exiled to the Xudu court as a two thousand stone official, spend a dozen years there, and then return to the court to become a minister.

Last year, Sun Fu communicated with Cao Cao through letters. After being intercepted by Sun Quan, Sun Quan took Zhang Zhao to interrogate Sun Fu personally. After Sun Fu confessed, Sun Quan killed Sun Fu's close confidants and his followers in the army, and deprived him of his troops.

The punishment was very severe, but it did not seem to scare Zhang Zhao.

Seeing Zhou Yu was serious, Xu Kun also stopped smiling and said, "The guard will go ahead. If it doesn't work, I will return in person and tell Zhongmou about the hardships my uncle and Bofu went through in starting their business."

"This matter is still under discussion. You summoned me back now just to end the hopes of Zhang Zibu and others. Why would you bother Lord Xu to travel back and forth?"

Zhou Yu stated that although he did not participate in Sun Jian's entrepreneurship, he was by no means a surrenderist.

The Huaisi elders are all entrepreneurs, and now they have a strong army.

Even if Sun Quan wanted to surrender, the Huaisi elders might still support Sun Yi, the governor of Danyang County.

Only people like Zhang Zhao pretend to be ignorant even though they know the truth. Can they just rely on others just by saying so?
Since Sun Ce defeated Huang Zu, Zhou Yu has been stationed in Ba Qiu on the side of Dongting Lake. After Sun Ce was assassinated, Zhou Yu had to withdraw and took charge of military affairs as the Central Guard General.

The reason why he came to Chaisang camp temporarily was naturally to investigate the intelligence from Jingzhou and plan the next war.

This war must be won, it is a battle for Sun Quan to establish himself.

As long as we win and fight well, many bad comments inside and outside the country will disappear.

Just like this time when Cao Cao sent people to ask for hostages, when Sun Quan's military prestige increased, why would Zhou Yu need to run back to debate with Zhang Zhao and others?
Seeing Zhou Yu's statement, Xu Kun thought for a moment and said, "It seems that Kuaiji still cannot do without the guard. The guard has only been in Chaisang for a few days and such a thing has happened." "If this gets out, it will only make people laugh."

"Others are afraid of Cao Cao, but I am not."

"Thinking back to the time when Dong Zhuo was defeated, among all the princes, only my uncle made great achievements. Cao Cao had 30,000 strong soldiers, but they were destroyed in one battle. Without the help of the Qingxu Yellow Turban Army and the righteousness of the court, how could he have the foundation he has today?"

Others were afraid of the Yellow Turban Army, but Xu Kun was not.

"With the help of Lord Xu, I will be able to convince Zhang Zibu when I go to Kuaiji."

Zhou Yu expressed his opinion again, saying: "Jingzhou still needs Xu Junhou to conduct a cautious investigation. It is better to gain nothing than to arouse the vigilance of Liu Jingsheng and Liu Xuande."

The news of Yuan Shao's illness had gradually spread. Cao Cao had stationed his troops in Chenliu since the first month of the year, apparently intending to take advantage of Yuan Shao's serious illness, death, and the turmoil in Hebei to expand his victory.

Yuan Shao and Liu Biao were allies, and Liu Biao was very likely to support Liu Bei, the governor of Yuzhou, to go out of Wankou and counterattack the Central Plains to resolve the predicament in Hebei.

As long as Liu Biao supports Liu Bei in sending troops, it will be a perfect time to attack Huang Zu!
Xu Kun agreed without hesitation. This kind of thing was an instinctive operation for him. Why did he need Zhou Yu to make detailed arrangements?
After the two men finished their discussion, they summoned the main officers on the south bank and handed over the command in public. Zhou Yu then sailed down the river on a speedboat.

In order to arrive as quickly as possible, he chose a long, slender sailboat with large sails, many oars, and an eight-person stern oar.

When sailing downstream and against the wind, the sails were folded, and the navy rowed hard, making the boat go very fast.

In the afternoon, Zhou Yu arrived at Wankou by boat.

Wankou is the mouth of the Wanshui River. The Wanshui River is on the north bank. Going upstream against the Wanshui River is Wancheng, an important city on the north bank.

When Sun Ce captured Wancheng and expelled Liu Xun, he planned to manage the north bank and clean up the mess left by Yuan Shu.

As a result, Sun Ce was assassinated, and Li Shu, the defender of the north bank, rebelled and killed Yan Xiang, the governor of Yangzhou appointed by Xu Du.

Immediately, Sun Quan and Zhou Yu sent troops to destroy Li Shu, and were recognized by the court in Xudu, and were named General Suppressing the Enemy and Governor of Kuaiji County.

The worst thing for Sun Quan at the moment is the lack of a legitimate or reasonable title to accommodate the loyalty of all parties in Jiangdong.

For example, Sun Ce, after inheriting the title of Marquis of Wucheng, was further conferred the title of Marquis of Wu by the Xudu court because he fought back against Yuan Shu who proclaimed himself emperor.

The title of Marquis Wu already had the influence to gain the loyalty of the people of Jiangdong.

This is where the problem lies. Sun Ce was very generous. When he was awarded the title of Marquis of Wu, he immediately gave the title of Marquis of Wucheng to his fourth brother Sun Kuang.

After Sun Quan took over power, Sun Ce still had a son, Sun Shao, so Sun Shao was the Marquis of Wu.

The only title that Sun Quan can boast now is the General Suppressing the Enemy; Sun Jian was the General Destroying the Enemy, Sun Ce was the General Suppressing the Rebellion, and Sun Quan was the General Suppressing the Enemy... There is an obvious inheritance relationship.

No matter how embarrassed the court of Xudu was, it would not easily grant the title of marquis, such as Marquis of Wu, Marquis of Yue, Marquis of Chu, to Sun Quan.

Looking back, Sun Quan was the General Suppressing the Rebellion and the Prefect of Kuaiji County; Xu Kun was the General Suppressing the Rebellion and the Marquis of Guangde; and Sun Ben was the Prefect of Yuzhang County and the Marquis of Duting.

Xu Kun and Sun Ben followed Sun Jian since they were young. Both of them were generals and county governors under the rule of the Han court. They also held titles. Why would they submit to another Han county governor and general, Sun Quan?
Even if Sun Quan had ten times the courage, he would not dare to abandon his official position in the Han Dynasty.

Jiangdong is actually not stable now.

You can also mobilize all the generals and county governors to submit a petition to Xu Du, recommending Sun Quan to be the governor of Yangzhou or something like that.

However, Liu Fu, the legitimate governor of Yangzhou, had achieved remarkable results in managing Huainan. When Jiangdong dared to submit a petition to persuade him to ascend the throne, the court in Xudu turned against him and deprived Sun Quan and others of their legal right to rule Jiangdong.

Zhou Yu also saw through the situation and placed his hopes of breaking the impasse on Huang Zu.

When Sun Ce crossed the river to start his business, he did not follow him; later when Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor, Sun Ben fled to Jiangdong.

After a year, seeing that Yuan Shu was really a powerless force, Zhou Yu led his people across the river to join Sun Ce.

After crossing the river, Sun Ce collected two thousand pieces of music for Zhou Yu; he tried to elevate Zhou Yu's status by using their childhood friendship, which caused dissatisfaction among many people.

When he was fighting against Huang Zu, he recommended Zhou Yu to concurrently serve as the governor of Jiangxia County and the acting guard general.

If it weren't for his status as the Central Guard General, Zhou Yu would not have been able to suppress the veteran generals of Huai and Si.

Not only did Sun Quan need military prestige to suppress his internal forces, Zhou Yu himself also needed a victory to prove that Sun Ce's choice back then was correct.

Just as Zhou Yu was pondering the various variables of the Jiangxia battle, the Black Bear Fleet, flying the battle flags of Sun and Xu, set sail upstream.

However, Zhou Yu's boat was in the middle of the river, and when the two sides passed each other, they were a full six or seven miles apart!

The Yangtze River is so vast!
As a result, since the Black Bear Fleet entered the Yangtze River, it has never encountered any other fleets.

In order to better take advantage of the water current, oncoming ships will sail in the central area of ​​the river.

It is easier for the boats going upstream, as everyone is sailing with sails hoisted and the speed of the boats is roughly the same. If you can't catch up, you just can't catch up, so naturally you won't encounter them.

The only difference is that the Black Bear Fleet dares to sail at night, while most fleets will dock to rest at night.

The closer they get to downstream, the more aware the fleet becomes of avoiding nighttime winds and waves.

There is not much silt or land accumulated at the mouth of the Yangtze River, so typhoons after the summer often blow to Yuzhang and Chaisang areas.

Visibility is poor at night, and once a typhoon hits us, there is no time to avoid or lower the sails.

In this way, the Black Bear Fleet sailed unhindered all the way, passed through the Chaisang defense line at night, and entered the territory of Jingzhou.

(End of this chapter)