Tiger Owl

Chapter 205 Tracking Down the Whereabouts
Xu Shu asked, "General, just how big are the enemy's giant catapults?"

Gan Ning nodded. "According to the intelligence we have, the enemy's giant catapult is five zhang tall and the launching rod is ten zhang long. We cannot build such a huge catapult at present."

Xu Shu pondered for a moment and said, "This humble servant is considering how the enemy will transport such a massive catapult."

"It is said that the goods were transported from Xuchang to Xiangyang, then from Xiangyang by land to Jiangling, and then from Jiangling by the Yangtze River to Yiling."

At this point, Gan Ning suddenly understood what Xu Shu meant. "Does Military Advisor Xu mean that transportation is the Achilles' heel of this kind of catapult?"

Xu Shu nodded. "Such giant catapults have appeared before, but none of them had a good ending. This was because of transportation problems. They required a long planning period, requisitioned a large number of mule carts or boats, and were easily attacked by enemy forces. They were also easily damaged and required a large group of craftsmen to maintain them."

Pang Tong also said, "I believe these giant catapults are not intended to deal with Yiling County. They were transported from Xuchang and their target should be us, or more precisely, our warships on the Han River. The narrowest point of the Han River is at Zhangshan, where the water is only one li wide, which is right within the range of these catapults. If they use incendiary bombs to attack our warships, I'm afraid our warships will not be able to go north to blockade the Han River. We must try our best to destroy these 150 catapults."

Gan Ning slowly said, "One hundred and fifty catapults are not a big problem. I invited you all here not to discuss how to destroy these one hundred and fifty catapults, but to discuss how to deal with the changing nature of warfare. There will only be more and more fire battles in the future. How should we deal with this? Everyone, please speak up! Does the strategist have any ideas?"

Gan Ning looked at Lu Su, who pondered for a moment and said, "I have also been considering a question during this period of time: if Cao Cao launches a major offensive in the south, will he take the Xiangyang route or the Hefei route? If he takes the Xiangyang route, Cao Cao's army will definitely take Jiangxia County first, then Lujiang County, and then directly face Chaisang, or connect with Jiujiang County and Guangling County, so that he has many points of attack."

However, if we go through Hefei County, I estimate that Cao Cao's army will also capture Lujiang and Jiangxia counties. These are all land battles. They have a large army, coupled with powerful fire attacks, and we definitely cannot withstand them. But no matter how powerful Cao Cao's army is north of the Yangtze River, they still have to cross the Yangtze. No matter how well their land army is concealed, their warships must be assembled. Therefore, I believe our next strategy is naval warfare. Naval warfare has two aspects: first, strengthening ourselves, and second, weakening the enemy. We must proceed on two fronts, strengthening ourselves while also finding ways to weaken the enemy and destroy as many of their ships as possible.

Jiang Wan said, “Military Advisor Lu is right. No matter how we blockade the Han River, the enemy will still attack from the east, making it impossible for us to defend against them. We must be prepared to lose the two counties north of the river. I suggest that we plan ahead and start transferring resources and people to the south now, especially salt. We should start mining salt mines by increasing production tenfold to ensure we have a ten-year safety stockpile as soon as possible. In addition, we should also increase our purchases of sea salt from Jiangdong to meet our daily needs.”

Gan Ning nodded and said to Jiang Wan and Bu Zhi, "You two should discuss the details, formulate a plan, and start transporting the population and resources back to the south bank of the Yangtze River as soon as possible, and then consider how to resettle them."

Jiang Wan and Bu Zhi nodded silently together. Gan Ning then said to Lu Su, "Strengthening ourselves and weakening the enemy are the two routes that the Military Advisor's Office will be responsible for. You will draft a detailed plan and implement it after approval."

Although the military and political council did not specifically discuss the matter of 150 giant catapults, it does not mean that Gan Ning did not attach importance to it. On the contrary, it was precisely because Gan Ning saw the destructive power of the giant catapults that he convened this military and political council meeting.

After the meeting, Gan Ning kept the three military advisors behind.

Inside his official residence, Gan Ning smiled at Lu Su and the other two and said, "Now I need to discuss with the three of you how to deal with these 150 giant catapults. Who would like to speak first?"

Xu Shu perked up and quickly said, "Let me say a few words first!"

"Military Advisor Xu, please!" Xu Shu already had an idea, and he immediately said, "First, we need to determine the current location of these 150 catapults. I estimate that they will not be used against us too soon, but will be deployed after Cao Cao's army marches south in large numbers. So the first step is to find their hiding place, and then we can find a way to destroy them."

Pang Tong smiled slightly and said, "Actually, it's not difficult to find them. Just follow the rules they used when they came to Yiling County and look for their traces. If they are transported back to Jiangling County by boat, someone will definitely see them unloading. If they are transported back to Xiangyang by cart, someone will also see them along the official road. As long as we look for their traces, we will eventually find their hiding place with a high probability."

The Jiang'an Inn in the east of Jiangling County remained calm and low-key. After Zhuge Liang went to Bashu, eagles no longer circled over Jiangling County, and the Jiang'an Inn resumed its intelligence transmission.

Shopkeeper Wang Jiang'an received a mission via pigeon message, requiring him to investigate the transfer of 150 giant catapults in Jiangling.

When these 150 giant catapults arrived in Jiangling, they caused a sensation throughout the city. Many people lined the streets to watch the spectacle as they were transported through the city by thousands of large carts. Wang Jiang'an witnessed this firsthand, so when the mission mentioned 150 giant catapults, he immediately knew what it meant.

It was that mule cart convoy that was full of catapults in early August.

Wang Jiang'an quickly gathered his three men and assigned them tasks. The first task was to confirm whether the batch of catapults had returned to Jiangling County. It wasn't difficult to confirm; they could simply ask at the dock and the city gate.

Wang Jiang'an had long discovered that as long as he was willing to spend a little money, many people were very willing to tell him all sorts of 'trade secrets'. In many cases, it was difficult to distinguish between trade secrets and military secrets.

In the afternoon, the three men returned.

The porters who went to the dock brought accurate information: "Several laborers told me that the batch of large catapults was transported back five days ago. They participated in the unloading, but they didn't know which warehouse it was transported to. It should still be on the banks of the Yangtze River."

The two men who went to the south and north gates also found out what was going on: "None of the shops near the gates saw those large catapults return, so they definitely didn't come back."

Another worker in charge of inquiring about the mule caravan said, "That mule caravan carrying thousands of catapults went north a long time ago. It was only three days after they arrived that no new mule caravans were added."

Wang Anjiang summarized the intelligence gathered by his three partners: the catapults were in Jiangling and stored in a warehouse along the river; they had not been transported back to Xiangyang.

The next day, Wang Anjiang sent a message via pigeon to Chaisang.

(End of this chapter)