Three Kingdoms: The Kingdom Cannot Be Partial

Chapter 239 This is His Majesty's strategy, do not ask.
"The people of Shu are actually sneaking across to Jiangnan at this time? Is your information accurate, my lord?" Fu Yi, son of Fu Shiren, was astonished at the Wuxia Pass.

Those who looked equally astonished as Fu Yi included Sun Huan's younger brother, Sun Jun, as well as renowned scholars from Jingzhou such as Deng Xuanzhi, Pei Xuan, and Li Su.

Pan Jun then summoned his personal guard commander.

The Imperial Guard Commander, with a stern expression, replied:
"Your Excellency, gentlemen, this is what I have personally witnessed. In the mountains more than thirty miles upstream, two or three thousand Shu people are traversing mountains and valleys, clearing forests and making a path. Their destination... is probably our Great Wu's Iron Chain Pass!"

Upon hearing Pan Jun's words, Fu Yi, Pei Xuan, Deng Xuanzhi, and the others looked even more astonished. However, their astonishment was not so much out of fear or panic, but rather out of bewilderment.

Sun Jun looked at Pan Jun and asked in confusion, "I heard that Liu Shan, the ruler of Shu, personally visited Jiangzhou a few months ago. First, he removed Li Yan, the governor of Jiangzhou, and then he went to Baidi, where he gave a grand speech to the three armies and made a show of attacking Wu."

"However, after that, Wu and Cao Wei remained deadlocked in Jingbei for more than two months. Even after His Majesty defeated Cao Xiu at the Canglang River, the Shu people did not make any move."

"Why didn't the Shu people take advantage of that time to launch an attack and plunder our Great Wu? Instead, they only launched an attack when Great Wu and Cao Wei had already ceased hostilities and were able to focus on dealing with Western Shu?"

Upon hearing this, Fu Yi was taken aback at first, then suddenly seemed to realize something, and smirked:
"Could it be that the ruler of Shu, like Cao Pi, is also enraged and ashamed?"

"Cao Pi...is enraged?" The crowd was initially taken aback, but in the next instant, they all looked enlightened.

Back when the Wu Kingdom and the Shu Kingdom were locked in a fierce battle at Yiling, almost everyone in Wu believed that Cao Pi would definitely take advantage of the conflict between Wu and Shu to interfere.

It can be said that the dangers faced by the Great Wu at that time were almost comparable to those of the Battle of Red Cliffs. If they were not careful, they would be divided and devoured by the Wei and Shu kingdoms.

Unexpectedly, even after the Battle of Yiling was over and Liu Bei fled to Baidi, Cao Pi did not take any effective action.

What the ministers of Wu did not expect was...

Cao Pi seemed to be enraged by the missed opportunity, and after Wu and Shu ceased hostilities, he launched a large-scale southern expedition with more than 200,000 troops from the Central Plains and the Huai and Si River regions.

In the end, all talk and no action, or rather, no action at all, Cao Pi's imperial boat was swept away by a storm, and Cao Pi almost drowned and became fish food. In the end, he looked at the great river and sighed, then withdrew his troops and returned north.

Clan member Sun Jun echoed:

"How similar is Shu today to Wei in the past?!"
"This is the will of Heaven; the destiny belongs to our Great Wu, not to Wei and Shu!"

Upon hearing this, all the garrison commanders echoed his sentiments.

Everyone has just received the imperial decree of promotion and reward from the emperor. How could the mandate of heaven not be in Wu?
At that moment, Pan Jun suddenly shook his head and slowly spoke:

"Do you all remember the message we received last month?"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

Although Poon Chun didn't explicitly say which news it was, everyone present understood what he was referring to.

Last month, a spy lurking in Shu brought important news: the Shu ruler had left Baidi City, seemingly preparing to return to Chengdu to preside over the first grand court celebration after the great victory of the Northern Expedition, and to take this opportunity to change the era name.

Since Bu Zhi and Zhuge Jin's defeat, the people of Wu have been in turmoil.

Especially after Liu Shan personally went to Baidi to mobilize the Han army, Wuxian, Zigui, and Xiling all entered a state of highest combat readiness.

The saying "A man must not remove his armor, and a boat must not release its sails" is not an exaggeration at all.

This extremely tense state continued until the beginning of the twelfth lunar month.

At that time, the kingdoms of Wu and Wei ceased hostilities, and Liu Shan, the ruler of Shu, abandoned Baidi and returned west.

With peace reigning over the land, the tense atmosphere among the soldiers and officers on the border eased. Especially after they vaguely guessed that the Supreme One would ascend the throne and become emperor, many of the Wu soldiers indulged in drinking and merrymaking, and were complacent and unaware of the dangers ahead.

Fu Shiren's son, Fu Yi, finally realized what Pan Jun meant, and was utterly astonished.

"What you mean, my lord, is..."

"Was it a deliberate leak by Liu Shan that he abandoned Baidi and returned to Chengdu?"
"The aim is to lull us into a false sense of security, to make us believe that Shu has ceased hostilities, and then to feign an attack on one side while secretly advancing on another?"

Without hesitation, Pan Jun nodded slightly.

Indeed.

"At first, I also thought that perhaps the war between Wei and Wu ended too suddenly, and Liu Shan did not have the opportunity to invade Wu, so he had no choice but to abandon Baidi and return west."

"However, now, we have suddenly discovered that several thousand elite troops from Shu have emerged from the Southern Mountains."

"It is now known that Liu Shan's ambition to invade Wu has not died. His so-called abandonment of Baidi and return west was nothing more than a strategy to deceive the enemy."

“Gentlemen.

"When Your Majesty was fighting Cao Xiu in Xiangfan, everyone was afraid that Liu Shan would lead the Shu people to invade the east, so the soldiers were ready to fight at any time."

"Since the news of Wu and Wei ceasing hostilities and Liu Shan abandoning Baidi and returning west reached Wu County, our Wu border guards have lost their will to fight and their defenses have become lax, which is exactly what Liu Shan desires."

"If I am not mistaken, Liu Shan not only did not return to Chengdu, but more likely, he never left Baidi City."

"Liu Shan didn't return to Chengdu?" The generals were even more astonished and looked at each other speechlessly.

According to information they received from spies, Liu Shan had never returned to Chengdu even once since he personally led the Northern Expedition.

Therefore, after receiving news of Liu Shan's return to the west, no one suspected that Liu Shan was using a feint, a strategy of feigning an attack while secretly advancing.

After all, the news that the officials of Shu Han had discussed the matter of changing the era name and decided to change it in the new year had already been sent to Wu by spies several months earlier.

Everyone knows just how important Guanzhong and Chang'an were to the Shu Han state.

Liu Shan personally led the Northern Expedition, recovered Guanzhong, and returned the capital to Chang'an. His power and prestige were unparalleled. No matter how you look at it, it was perfectly normal for him to return to Chengdu or Chang'an to offer sacrifices to Heaven and his ancestors and show off his military might during the transition between the old and new dynasties.

But now... he hasn't returned west? Has his ambition to invade Wu never died?

Many officers and soldiers showed slightly different expressions.

Pan Jun frowned slightly upon seeing the expressions on the faces of his generals.

It's unclear when exactly, but the name Liu Shan has acquired a certain intimidating quality.

When Liu Shan was in Baidi, the entire army was on high alert.

When Liu Shan abandoned Baidi and returned west, the entire army rejoiced, as if they had been granted a great blessing.

This is not a good sign.

After a moment, Pan Jun's brows relaxed:

“Gentlemen.

“Since the Shu people have come to raid, it is impossible for them to send only two or three thousand men eastward.”

"In the next day or two, once the Shu army in the mountains is ready, tens of thousands of troops from Jiangzhou and Baidi will likely arrive one after another."

"I predict that the elite troops of the Shu army must be in Jiangnan, while their main force must be in Jiangbei."

"My army at Wuguan should be divided into three routes."

"All the way north, controlling the northern entrance of the Iron Chain Pass."

"The route leads south, controlling the southern entrance of the Iron Chain Pass."

"The remaining route will stay behind to guard Wucheng and oversee the overall situation."

At this point, Pan Jun looked at Liao Shi, Pei Xuan, and Deng Xuanzhi:

"Shize, Yanhuang, and Daoyi, the three of you will lead 6,000 troops to control the northern entrance of Tiesuo Pass."

He then looked at Sun Jun, Fu Yi, and Li Su:
"Ziyuan, Gongyi, and Zijing, the three of you will lead 8,000 troops to take charge of Nankou."

"Open the bag and lure the Shu army soldiers who are clearing the mountain into the ambush!"
"I will lead an army of six thousand to garrison Wucheng."

Following the example of the Han Dynasty's Jiangguan Pass, the Eastern Wu set up several iron chains across the Yangtze River to prevent the Han navy's ships from sailing eastward downstream.

The massive iron chain, over two hundred steps long and weighing hundreds of thousands of kilograms, spans the great river at both ends and is nailed to the huge iron pillars cast into the rocks on both banks of the river.

The so-called Iron Chain Pass refers to two checkpoints located on the north and south banks of the Yangtze River, specifically responsible for guarding the iron pillars.

As long as the Iron Pillar is held, the Han army will be unable to overcome the Hengjiang Iron Chain. And as long as the Hengjiang Iron Chain is not lost, the Shu army will be able to stop at Wuxian even if it launches an eastern expedition.

South of the Yangtze River.

Among the mountains.

Fu Kuangzheng followed Lai Xi's example in capturing the city, leading more than two thousand elite armored soldiers to cut through the mountains and take a route, aiming directly at Wu's Iron Chain Pass.

However, unlike Laixi, the two thousand elite soldiers led by General Fu Kuang of Andong carried not only swords, spears, halberds, armor, helmets, and necessary provisions, but also more than sixty small warships.

Cutting through mountains to forge a path was already slow, and bringing boats made the journey even slower.

Liu Yin, the Commandant of the Expeditionary Forces under Fu Qian, came with Fu Kuang this time, somewhat puzzled:
"General Andong, we are not assisting the army in taking the Wu army's Iron Chain Pass."

What's the use of bringing boats?

"If we place boats upstream of the Iron Chain Pass and sail down the river, why not just go downstream directly?"

"If we place boats downstream of the Iron Chain Pass, how can these small boats, sailing upstream, possibly compete with the Wu army's naval fleet?"

Fu Kuang shook his head and remained silent.

After a moment, he continued, "This is His Majesty's plan. Don't ask, even if you ask me, I don't know. And don't make wild guesses. Whatever you guess, don't say it. When the time comes, you will naturally know."

Upon hearing that it was another scheme devised by His Majesty, the officers and soldiers' confidence suddenly soared, and they repeatedly agreed without asking any further questions.

Unless the emperor suffers a crushing defeat, their blind faith in him will not diminish.

(End of this chapter)