Three Kingdoms: Jiangdong is no longer a rat

Chapter 143 Wu Jing's Fury

Just as the armies of Han and Xu were in a stalemate, dust filled the southeast direction of the fortress, and another group of brave soldiers arrived, led by Ge Ju, a general under Xu Zhao.

Han You was shocked, his momentum dropped sharply, and he was speechless.

Xu Zhao glanced at him and sneered, "Lord Han, will you withdraw your troops?"

Han You's face turned pale and blue, and he was silent for a long time. Suddenly, he sighed and softened his tone: "Mr. Xu, you and I have both fallen into Yan Yi's trap!"

Xu Zhao cursed the cowardly rat inwardly and said calmly, "What do you mean by that?"

A trace of hatred flashed in Han You's eyes, and he said in a deep voice, "Yan Yi is a treacherous man. His heart is as treacherous as the abyss, and his actions are as cunning as a fox and a rat. Don't trust him. Two days ago, I risked my life to stop Zhu Zhi for him, and lost many soldiers and generals, but he didn't even say a word of thanks! It's just like that. Now that he wants to borrow your power, he will naturally treat you well. Once Xu loses his usefulness, he will immediately abandon you. I hope you will learn from my previous experience."

Xu Zhao was silent for a moment, then sneered, "The Master said, 'If you are generous to yourself and lenient with others, you will avoid resentment.' Didn't Lord Sheng teach you this?"

Han You was furious, wishing he could kill Xu Zhao with a single blow. He suppressed his anger and said, "If Qiantang falls into Yan Yi's hands and he becomes powerful, where will we be able to survive in the future? Our two families should be in the same boat, but Mr. Xu has gone the other way and is helping Yan Yi. Why is that? I swear, within three years, you and I will be dead and without a burial place."

Xu Zhao knew this truth, but given his friendship with Yan Baihu, he couldn't possibly betray his loyalty and go against the Yan family. And after Zhu Zhi's defeat, he concluded that he was no match for Yan Yi, and that confronting him would only lead to him following in Zhu Zhi's footsteps. Instead, leveraging his good relationship with Yan Baihu and tying himself to Yan Yi's interests was the best way to avert the crisis.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but secretly curse Han You for being stupid. He knew that this man was trapped between Wu Jing and Yan Yi and would surely die. He had to stay away from him from now on. He immediately said in a cold voice: "Yan Yi attacked Qiantang, and you couldn't sit still. Wu Jing annexed Danyang and Wujun, nearly twenty cities, and aimed at the entire Jiangdong. Why didn't you mention it? Don't hide your thoughts from me. It's obvious that you want to go to Qiantang to reap some benefits. With only three or four thousand men and horses, you will die if you go. For the sake of Lord Sheng, I advise you with good advice. There are some things you can't touch. Retreat immediately!"

Han You's face was as gloomy as water. He knew it was impossible to persuade Xu Zhao, and he was filled with resentment. But the situation was not favorable, and no matter how reluctant he was, he could only order the troops to withdraw temporarily and set up camp on the west bank of the Zeshui River. Like a cat that smelled fish, it refused to leave.

Xu Zhao looked down upon Han You more and more, and ordered the entire army to set up camp on the east bank of Zeshui River, confronting Han You's army across the river.

That evening, Yan Yi's messenger delivered a reply letter agreeing to the alliance. Xu Zhao was overjoyed and kept a closer watch on Han You's army. Yan Yi withdrew most of the troops stationed in the northwest and north of Qiantang, returning to Qiantang, leaving only a small number of troops to garrison.

Wu Jing, whom Xu Zhao mentioned, had also received Yan Yi's letter at this time and was summoning all the generals to discuss in the military tent.

The content of the letter was very simple. To sum it up in one sentence, it threatened Wu Jing to withdraw his troops by threatening Zhu Zhi's head.

As early as the morning, Wu Jing had learned the news of Zhu Zhi's defeat. He was so angry that he overturned a table on the spot and scolded Zhu Zhi harshly, but he still felt unsatisfied.

His original plan was to welcome Liu Yao to Qu'a, use him as a hostage to control Yangzhou, and then slowly conquer the surrounding areas. However, he could not resist the persuasion of Zhu Zhi and Sun Ce, so he had to lead his army south early and advance like a mad dog towards Wucheng, hoping to link up with Zhu Zhi and then take Wujun and Kuaiji into his possession.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the army arrived at Guzhang, Zhu Zhi himself was captured by the enemy and all of his 7,000 soldiers were killed.

Wu Jing's heart was filled with regret whenever he thought of Zhu Zhi's name. It was precisely because of Zhu Zhi's plan that he had been forced to abduct civilians and attack the city several times, ruining his reputation to the extreme and becoming the target of everyone in Jiangdong's war.

He didn't dare to think about how this incident would be recorded in history books in the future, and he often woke up from nightmares.

He'd paid such a heavy price, and just as he was about to sweep across Wu Commandery, Zhu Zhi suddenly called it quits, leaving him alone to face the disgruntled gazes of his entire army. Zhu Zhi was the one who came up with the idea, and he ruined the situation. Why are you blaming me? Damn, I'm the one who's supposed to take all the blame, right?

Wu Jing was both angry and aggrieved. He felt like a fool and had been fooled by the idiot Zhu Zhi.

He couldn't help but think of the Battle of Qin, Zhao and Fanwu four hundred years ago.

At that time, the Qin army had just won a great victory in the Battle of Changping, killing 400,000 Zhao troops. It was in high spirits and tried to capture Handan in one fell swoop and destroy the Zhao State.

So the Qin State "raised a large army to attack Zhao"!
Just one big word is enough to show that the Qin State launched a war of annihilation this time. The splendor of its army and the number of its soldiers are beyond imagination.

At that time, the Qin army was divided into two routes. One route advanced northward from Ye and Pingyang in the south of Zhao State, aiming for the Zhang River and the Zhao Great Wall defense line in the southern suburbs of Handan. The other route advanced eastward from Shangdang and Taiyuan Commandery, sweeping across Zhao State's northwestern territory, attempting to quickly approach Handan and join forces with the Qin army in the south to attack Handan together.

Looking at his battle plan, it is very similar to Zhu Zhi's plan.

But in the end, Li Mu led his army to attack Fanwu, defeated the northwestern Qin army in one battle, and cut off one arm of the Qin army. The situation was reversed in an instant, and eventually the southern Qin army had to retreat.

Compared with the negative impact of Zhu Zhi's defeat on the overall situation, it is so similar!
Learning from history, we can foresee victory or defeat. Wu Jing couldn't help but feel deeply worried. He was now the southern Qin army.

What made Wu Jing even more anxious was that because he was busy with military affairs and had no time to take care of other things, Liu Yao was gradually won over by Xu Gong, who was already preparing to inspect Wu County and summon the heads of various counties to discuss the future situation of Yangzhou.

One wrong step leads to all wrong steps!

Zhu Zhi's defeat dealt an unimaginable heavy blow to Sun's entire plan.

Now, Wu Jing is in a dilemma and has no way out.

If they continued their advance towards Wucheng and threatened the Yan clan, Xu Gong would certainly not sit idly by, and he would then face the Yan-Xu coalition alone. However, if they withdrew their forces, the Sun clan's reputation and military might would suffer a severe blow, weakening their ability to deter neutral forces like Zu Lang, Wang Lang, and Zhou Shu.

Things were in such a mess that Wu Jing felt deeply exhausted. He could no longer look three times in a row. Now he could only solve the most urgent matters one by one.

After summoning all the generals to the central tent and seating them, he asked in a hoarse voice, "Yan Yi wants to threaten our army with Jun Li's life to withdraw. What do you think should be done about this?"

The generals' faces were all grim. Given Zhu Zhi's status and connections within the Sun family, how could he choose? This was simply a death sentence!

If they continued to attack Wucheng, Zhu Zhi would surely die. If they could successfully capture Wujun later, that would be fine; victory would cover everything. If they failed, how would the other generals view them? Their spit alone would drown them!
But if they chose Zhu Zhi and withdrew their forces, leaving half of Danyang in ruins, what would that mean? Who would take the blame?

Hence, everyone fell silent, their eyes on their noses and their noses on their hearts, sitting like an old monk, only glancing at Wu Jing from time to time.

Wu Jing was so angry that he was shaking. You want me to take the blame again, right?
(End of this chapter)