Chapter 164 This plan is similar to Han Xin's. I am convinced! Unfortunately, the traitor is too smart! I want to get married in Jiangling!
Seize Xiakou, defeat the invading enemy, kill Liu Bei...

These stimulating words instantly aroused Han Dang's nerves, making him lose his temper.

Originally, he thought that Zhou Yu kept him alone because he wanted to get angry with him and express his dissatisfaction with his overstepping of authority during the military meeting just now.

But I didn't expect that Zhou Yu would say such explosive words.

"Capture Xiakou?"

"Liu Bei's army is several times larger than ours. We were able to stop the big-eared thief at Yangxin Pass, and it was already a stretch to hold Chaisang. How could you capture Xiakou?"

Han Dang immediately put down the tea bowl, his excited eyes full of doubt.

Zhou Yu smiled, limped over to get the map and spread it out in front of Han Dang.

"General Yigong, please take a look. If Liu Bei attacks Chaisang with all his might, his Xiakou city will be empty of troops."

"If you go south along the Xiushui River, cross the Mufu Mountain, and then go west along the Lushui River, you can enter the Yangtze River from Lukou and appear in the upper reaches of Xiakou."

"Yu's strategy was to station the main force at Yangxin Pass to attract the big-eared bandit to lead the entire army to attack, but he sent a special force to take the land and water route, bypassing Liu Bei's army unexpectedly and appearing in the upper reaches of Xiakou."

"Then this surprise force will cross the river at night, and we can attack Xiakou unexpectedly in one fell swoop!"

"Once Xiakou is lost, Liu Bei's retreat will be cut off by our army, and all his food and military supplies will be cut off. Even a million-strong army will be defeated without a fight!"

"Then I will mobilize all the main forces in Yangxin Pass and pursue them all the way up the west river. Even if I cannot kill Liu Bei, I can at least annihilate his main forces in one fell swoop!"

"Once Liu Bei's main force is destroyed, we will take advantage of the situation and advance westwards into the heart of Jingzhou. We will surely be able to cut off the Yangtze River in one fell swoop!"

"By then, not to mention Jiangxia County, even the four counties of Jingnan will be within easy reach, and we can even take over Jiangling!"

"The great revenge of General Gongfu can be avenged, the shame of the defeat in the battle of Eshan can be washed away, Bofu can seize Jingzhou, and the hegemony of the Yangtze River can be achieved!"

"What do you think of my plan, General Yigong?"

Zhou Yu had a confident smile on his face, and his tone became more and more excited as he spoke. He pointed at the map and laid out his plan to turn the tide.

Han Dang suddenly jumped up, veins bulged on his forehead, bloodshot eyes, and gradually a flame of surprise and joy ignited in his eyes.

After staring and thinking for a long time, Han Dang suddenly slapped the map.

"Great! This plan is truly ingenious and beyond comprehension!"

"That big-eared thief thought that he was strong and we were weak, and that we would just retreat and defend. But he never expected that we would dare to divide our forces and launch a surprise attack on him at Xiakou!"

"He is from the north and doesn't know the topography of Changsha. He certainly doesn't know there is such a mountain road that can take the land route from Chaisang to Xiakou!"

"Brilliant! This plan is truly a brilliant one that achieves a surprise victory. Han Xin's use of troops is just like this!"

Han Dang was full of praise and exclaimed endlessly.

Then he showed some shame on his face, bowed to Zhou Yu, and said with an apologetic smile:
"Gongjin, I have a bad temper. I hope you can be more magnanimous and not hold it against me, an old soldier, for the things I have done to you these days."

At this time, Han Dang was obviously impressed by Zhou Yu's wisdom and his attitude made a 180-degree turn.

Zhou Yu was also quite surprised. He didn't expect Han Dang to be so disgraceful and take the initiative to apologize to him.

Looking at Han Dang, whose attitude had changed drastically and who was sincerely convinced, an imperceptible smile flashed across Zhou Yu's eyes.

Then he hurriedly supported Han Dang and said lovingly:
"General Yigong, your words are too kind. I cannot accept your apology."

"Although we were defeated at Eshan, it was mostly because there was a spy in our army who leaked the secret of General Gongfu's false surrender to Liu Bei, which caused our army to suffer heavy losses and General Gongfu to be killed by Liu Bei."

"But it was my fault. I didn't expect such a shameless traitor to be among our army."

"General Yigong and General Gongfu are like brothers. They may have some resentment towards me, but I can understand that."

Zhou Yu pretended to be magnanimous, but in fact he was quietly hinting to Han Dang that Huang Gai's death was not due to a miscalculation on my part, but was caused by a spy in my army.

When Han Dang heard this, he immediately flew into a rage and said angrily, gritting his teeth:
"So there is such a traitor in my army. If I knew who he is, I would tear him into pieces with my own hands and avenge him!"

At this time, Han Dang had completely shifted his complaints about Zhou Yu to the so-called "spy".

Zhou Yu's expression immediately became serious, and he said:

"So today, the plan that I have made with the old general is between you and me. The old general must not tell anyone else, lest the traitors in our army learn of it and tip off Liu Bei."

"When Liu Bei's army attacks, I will lead the main force westward to Yangxin Pass to attract Liu Bei's attention."

"General Yigong led 5,000 elite soldiers and left the city in the name of the rear army, heading south to Lukou."

"Let's attack from both sides and kill Liu Bei by surprise, and avenge the defeat at Eshan!"

Han Dang was filled with passion and laughed:
"Don't worry, Gongjin. Your plan is brilliant. The big-eared thief would never have thought of it even in his dreams if he had no spies to tip him off."

"This time, I will definitely take Xiakou!"

The two looked at each other and laughed.

...

Five days later.

Liu Bei led an army of more than 50,000 soldiers and sailors, and a thousand warships, from Xiakou, and sailed eastward along the river, heading straight for Chaisang.

Two days later, in the evening.

The gates of Chaisang were wide open, and Zhou Yu led 10,000 Jiangdong defenders out of the city, boarded boats and entered the river, heading upstream to Yangxin Pass.

In Chaisang City, a carriage was heading towards the north gate along the main street.

Inside the carriage, Lu Xun was holding a letter in one hand and looking at a copy of "Zuo Zhuan" in the other.

"Military Advisor Xiao is truly a genius. He was able to come up with this coded letter to conceal our secrets..."

Lu Xun was full of admiration.

Given that Sun Ce had already become suspicious of Lu Xun, in order to protect this undercover agent, Xiao Fang took advantage of his free time to develop a set of coded letters to communicate with Lu Xun via correspondence.

"Zuo Zhuan" is the code book.

Therefore, even if the letter was obtained by Sun Ce, without the code to decipher, he would not be able to find any flaws and naturally would not be able to suspect Lu Xun.

The letter in Lu Xun's hand was Liu Bei's personal letter, informing him that Liu Bei would mobilize all his troops to attack Chaisang City, and ordered Lu Xun to evacuate as soon as possible and return to Jiangdong. Otherwise, once Chaisang City was broken, Lu Xun would unfortunately become a "captive", and this undercover agent would not be able to continue.

"From the tone of the letter, it seems that the lord is determined to take Chaisang City."

"But Chaisang City is so strong, Zhou Yu and Han Dang will lead their troops to Yangxin Pass to block the lord's army from advancing eastward."

"I wonder what means the lord will use to quickly defeat Chaisang..."

Lu Xun was thinking and guessing all the way, and at the same time ordered the coachman to drive out of the north gate so that he could board the ship at the ferry and evacuate Chaisang first according to Liu Bei's instructions.

The carriage was moving along when it suddenly stopped by the roadside.

Lu Xun lifted the curtain of the carriage and looked outside, and saw a group of people passing by and heading towards the south gate.

Judging from the flags, they should be Han Dang's troops.

"Shouldn't Han Dang be going to Yangxin Pass with Zhou Yu? He should have gone out of the north gate to the ferry to board the boat. Why did he go through the south gate?"

"Could it be that there are too many people at the North Gate, blocking the road, so we have to go through the South Gate?"

Lu Xun murmured to himself, feeling somewhat suspicious.

Suddenly, a familiar figure walked over from the team in front. It was Liu Zan from Kuaiji.

"Liu Zhengming, where are you going?"

Lu Xun stretched out his hand to stop the military commander.

Liu Zan also recognized Lu Xun, so he came closer and said:

"We will naturally follow General Han and head to Yangxin Pass to stop the Jingzhou troops."

"Boyan, where are you going now?"

Lu Xun did not answer, but asked curiously:

"Since you were going to Yangxin Fort, shouldn't you go out of the north gate and board the boat at the ferry? Why did you go to the south gate instead?"

Liu Zan smiled bitterly and sighed:

"I don't know either. It should only take half a day to go from Chaisang to Yangxinsai, but the higher-ups want us to carry ten days' worth of dry food. Don't you think this is unnecessary?"

"Alas, I am just a small military commander. How can I know what the superiors are thinking? I just have to follow their orders."

Liu Zan complained a few words, and when he saw his men walking away, he hurriedly said goodbye to Lu Xun and ran after them.

Looking at Liu Zan's receding back, Lu Xun frowned, with deep suspicion in his eyes.

"You should have gone out of the city through the north gate, but you chose to go the longer way through the south gate..."

"It's only a half-day walk, but you have to carry ten days' worth of dry food..."

Lu Xun's thoughts raced, and he remained silent.

After a long time, he suddenly thought of something, and hurriedly retreated into the carriage, searched for a map, and leaned over it to read it quickly.

"From Chaisang to the south, it takes ten days to walk from here to here..."

Lu Xun gestured on the map for a moment, his face suddenly changed, and he blurted out:
"Could this be another of Zhou Yu's strategies? Is he going to make a feint to the east and attack the west, and then launch a surprise attack on Xiakou via land and water?"

Lu Xun lay down on the ground and looked at the map again, examining and comparing it carefully, and couldn't help but take a breath.

"I stationed my main force in Yangxin Pass to attract the main force of the lord to attack, but secretly ordered Han Dang to lead 5,000 elite soldiers to take the land and water routes out of the Yangtze River, attack Xiakou, and cut off the retreat of the lord's army..."

"What a brilliant plan to deceive the world by making a feint to the east and attacking in the west. This Zhou Gongjin's wisdom is truly unfathomable!"

Lu Xun slapped the map and broke out in a cold sweat.

At this moment, he finally understood why Han Dang's troops had to leave Chaisang from the south gate and why they had to carry ten days of dry food.

Because this army of 5,000 people was not going to Yangxin at all, but would take ten days to cross the Mufu Mountain and appear behind Liu Bei without anyone noticing.

"If Zhou Yu succeeds with this plan, once Xiakou falls, wouldn't the tens of thousands of our lord's main forces be defeated without a fight? The consequences will be disastrous!"

"No, I have to write a letter immediately to warn my lord!"

Lu Xun did not dare to delay for a moment and immediately wrote a coded letter.

Afterwards, he ordered his confidants to disguise themselves as fishermen and rush up the river to Jiangxi to inform Liu Bei.

...

On the Yangtze River, Zhou Yu had already boarded the flagship, stood with his hands behind his back, and watched Chaisang City gradually disappear into the distance.

"Commander-in-chief, I heard that the Lord captured Wan County on the way to Hulin, and is now sending Mr. Qiao and his daughter to Chaisang Road."

"The governor really won't wait to meet the young lady from the Qiao family before leading the army to Yangxin County?"

Jia Hua beside him reminded with a smile.

As Zhou Yu's confidant, he obviously knew that Zhou Yu was interested in taking the daughter of the Qiao family.

"Bofu is thoughtful. It's rare that he still remembers this."

Zhou Yu was touched, and then sneered:

"Miss Qiao can't run away. After I finish this battle, I can go back to Chaisang and marry her. How can I let personal interests take the place of public ones and delay the plan to defeat Liu?"

Jia Hua said "Oh", then he smiled and said:
"At that time, the governor not only defeated Liu Bei and defended Chaisang, but also won the beauty home. It can be said to be a double happiness. I would like to congratulate the governor in advance."

Hearing Jia Hua's congratulations, Zhou Yu's mouth corners slightly raised.

"This time, we are not just defending Chaisang. I want to arrange this wedding in Xiakou or even Jiangling~~"

Jia Hua was stunned, unable to understand the hidden meaning behind Zhou Yu's words, and looked confused.

Zhou Yu turned around and looked towards Xiakou, but a hint of playful sneer flashed across his eyes.

(End of this chapter)