kingnovel Chapter 462 Sun Quan's Military Campaign
Chapter 462 Sun Quan's Military Campaign
"Getting back to the main point, Zhou Yu went to Sun Quan's side and told him that although Cao Cao was nominally the Chancellor of the Han Dynasty, he was a traitor to the Han Dynasty because he held the emperor hostage to command the other lords."
"With your talent and the foundation laid by your father Sun Jian and elder brother Sun Ce, you have sufficient troops to establish a foothold in Jiangdong. It is only right and proper for you to eliminate treacherous officials for the Han Dynasty."
"Besides, Cao Cao himself came here. How can we surrender? If you still don't understand, General, please let me explain it to you."
"Zhou Yu said a lot, analyzing the current situation and Cao Cao's situation, so no one said anything about surrendering at that moment."
"But Zhou Yu was worried that Sun Quan wasn't resolute enough, so that night he went to see him and analyzed the situation," for example, "they were all panicking because they only saw Cao Cao's letter saying they had 800,000 troops and water!!"
"But do they even know how much that actually is? They just spout nonsense and want to surrender to Cao Cao. Aren't these people just being ridiculous?"
"Let's analyze this now. Cao Cao's entire force, including Liu Biao's forces in Jingzhou, amounts to only about 150,000 to 160,000 men."
"Those people have been fighting for a long time and are already exhausted, while the newly acquired troops are from outside, and it's uncertain whether we can trust them."
"So, although there are many of them, there is nothing to fear! I only need 50,000 elite troops, which is enough for me to subdue the enemy. But Sun Quan is only willing to give 30,000, because if he sends them all, he can't control the surrender faction here."
"Therefore, Sun Quan officially appointed Zhou Yu and Cheng Pu as Left and Right Commanders, respectively, to join forces with Liu Bei to fight against Cao Cao. He then appointed Lu Su as Military Advisor to assist in planning strategies."
"These three are either close to him or have a good relationship with his brother, so he trusts them with confidence!"
"Now the Sun-Liu alliance is officially established. Liu Bei stationed his troops at Fankou, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Jiangdong army every day, like a waiting-for-husband stone!"
"Every day without fail, soldiers were sent to patrol the riverbank to keep watch for Sun Quan's army, fearing that their allies might not arrive. So when the soldiers spotted Zhou Yu's fleet, they didn't hesitate for a moment, immediately riding back to camp to report to Liu Bei."
"Upon learning of Zhou Yu's arrival, Liu Bei took a boat to meet him and discuss how to form an alliance!"
"So, when Liu Bei met Zhou Yu, he immediately asked him how many soldiers Jiangdong had?"
"But Zhou Yu's answer ultimately disappointed him. When he heard Zhou Yu reply, 'Thirty thousand men? Liu Bei thinks that's a bit too few. He himself has twenty thousand men. To send such a small force to fight against Cao Cao's twenty hundred thousand is like throwing an egg against a rock, isn't it?'"
But Zhou Yu confidently stated, "This is more than enough. General, watch me defeat Cao Cao's army."
Zhou Yu: Don't ask! Just trust me!
"After Liu Bei met Zhou Yu, he wanted to summon Lu Su and others to talk together, but Zhou Yu used military affairs as an excuse and told him to go find them himself! So Liu Bei led Guan Yu and Zhang Fei with two thousand men to follow behind Zhou Yu. These men were not under Zhou Yu's command!"
Zhu Baba of the Ming Dynasty: Such an extremely confident general is actually not easy to talk about.
General Judy, the Great General Who Conquers the North: It's normal to win with fewer troops; there are many examples of this in history, including myself!
Liu Biao of the Eastern Han Dynasty: This is so annoying! I'm still alive, and I already hear that Jingzhou has been taken over by me!
Late Eastern Han Dynasty
At this time, in Liu Bei's camp.
When everyone heard that the Battle of Red Cliffs had begun, they were suddenly reminded of the past, and no one expected that they would defeat Cao Cao.
Even Liu Bei himself couldn't explain his current state of mind. Go listen to these stories.
Despite being a descendant of royalty, he never imagined he would rise from a straw sandal seller to a figure who now holds sway over the world.
Especially in the early years, he moved around to many different places.
……
The Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty.
Upon seeing this, Zhu Di couldn't help but think of Li Jinglong.
Who could have imagined that with such a small force, he would eventually reach the gates of Nanjing?
Then he sat on the throne; the world is truly unpredictable.
I wonder if Zheng He has found Zhu Yunwen's bastard. If it weren't for him, Xue Fan, why would he pretend to be stupid?
How could it be that his descendants would say he ate pig excrement?
Zhu Di grew angrier the more he thought about it, but he couldn't find anyone to vent his anger on!
So they had no choice but to give up and continue listening to the live stream.
……
Suddenly, Ling Ke's voice rang out in the live stream: "I'm very curious about the movie I've seen before. Is Zhou Yu's horse really called Mengmeng?"
After a moment, he continued, "Not long after, Cao Cao set out from Jiangling to capture Liu Bei. In fact, Cao Cao's letter may not have been directed at Sun Quan."
"Regardless, the alliance between Sun Quan and Liu Bei is now formed, and the Battle of Red Cliffs is about to begin."
"So, in December of that year, the allied forces of Sun Quan and Liu Bei chose to go upstream and reached Chibi, where they encountered Cao Cao's army, which was crossing the river. The two armies faced each other, their eyes flashing with tension, and a great battle was about to break out."
"However, as a northern army, Cao Cao's army was not skilled in naval warfare. So at that time, Cao Cao's army was already plagued by disease. Moreover, the relationship between the newly recruited naval forces and the old troops was not good, making it difficult to integrate them, which led to low morale."
"One very strange thing is, where did the plague in their army come from? Why didn't anyone in Sun and Liu's troops get it? So some people speculated that these people already had the potential virus before entering Jiangling!"
"All I can say is that encountering this during a march is extremely difficult, and you could even say it's bad luck!"
"On the other hand, this point about Cao Cao's army matched what Zhou Yu had told Sun Quan, so when they went into battle, Cao Cao's army was defeated by Zhou Yu's navy."
"Therefore, Cao Cao had no choice but to lead his navy to the north bank of the Yangtze River, where his land forces would then join them. His warships would be positioned near Wulin on the north bank to train the navy, thus awaiting a favorable opportunity."
"Zhou Yu, on the other hand, moored his warships on the south bank of the Red Cliff, facing off against Cao Cao's army across the Yangtze River."
"Cao Cao's army was in a precarious situation. Zhou Yu had repeatedly provoked them, but Cao Cao had not taken the initiative to attack. At this time, a piece of news arrived that directly affected the subsequent outcome of the battle."
"It turns out that Cao Cao, because his northern navy was at a disadvantage in naval warfare, chained his ships together. This way, his soldiers wouldn't get seasick and could walk on them as if on flat ground."
"However, this method has a fatal flaw, which is obvious to both Zhou Yu and Huang Gai on the other side. So Huang Gai, a subordinate of Zhou Yu, offered a suggestion:
The current situation is dire; the enemy outnumbers us, making a prolonged stalemate difficult. Cao Cao's army has conveniently linked their warships together, end to end, which is disadvantageous to us. We can use fire to defeat them.
"So Zhou Yu sent Huang Gai to feign surrender. On the other hand, Huang Gai prepared dozens of warships and fighting ships, which were loaded with firewood and oil, disguised with red curtains, and decorated with flags. He also tied boats to the stern of the ships."
"On the day of the feigned surrender, a southeast wind was blowing, which was heaven's help! So when Huang Gai approached Cao Cao's army, he immediately lit the firewood, and dozens of ships caught fire at the same time. The burning fleet immediately took advantage of the wind and sped forward, rushing towards Cao Cao's camp."
Thus, in an instant, the water fortresses of Cao Cao's camp were engulfed in flames, and even the land fortresses were not spared. Cao Cao's army, already plagued by disease and weakened by continuous battles, had little fighting spirit, and countless men were burned or drowned.