Tiger Owl

Chapter 273 Four Questions
Gan Ning did not expect the Inner Guard to handle the case so efficiently this time. In just three days, they found the people from the School Affairs Office and wiped them all out.

Gan Ning praised Wang Xiaoman highly, and Wang Xiaoman said a little embarrassedly, "This time, the other party made a mistake. Shen Tong did not trust Wang Yao, the owner of the pharmacy, and sent someone to monitor him. As a result, we discovered the monitor and followed him to Shen Tong's residence."

Gan Ning nodded. "Well done!"

After a pause, Gan Ning asked again, "What did you find when you searched his residence?"

Wang Xiaoman's expression turned serious. "This subordinate has carefully examined their plans. They are indeed here to assassinate our lord. They have devised three plans, and their sights are even set on our lord's family."

Gan Ning's face immediately darkened, and he asked coldly, "Did Cao Cao's orders include assassinating my family?"

Wang Xiaoman quickly shook her head, "I have also found Cao Cao's order. The order only states that the lord himself must be assassinated. Assassinating the lord's family members is just a means for them to disturb the lord's mind. The ultimate target is still the lord himself."

Gan Ning's expression softened slightly, and he asked again, "Wasn't a new intelligence scout coming to make contact? Was he also shot dead?"

"No, this person is not among them. He must have come alone. I suspect he is just here to deliver mission instructions."

Gan Ning nodded. "Once this person appears, arrest them all. We can't let any escape!"

"Follow the order!"

Wang Xiaoman bowed and left.

Gan Ning walked to the window with his hands behind his back and silently looked towards the north of the river. Cao Cao should be dozens of miles away from him. He actually sent someone to assassinate him. Gan Ning felt that Cao Cao didn't have many cards left to play.

The following morning, Wang Yao also learned of Shen Tong's assassination. He immediately breathed a long sigh of relief, and from then on, he no longer had to suffer from sleepless nights.

Another half month passed. As usual, Wang Yao sat behind the counter, picked up a cup of tea, and was about to drink when a soft voice suddenly rang in his ears, "May the flowers bloom and the moon be full!"

He jolted awake, turned his head, and saw a very young man standing in front of him, his gaze sharp as a knife. Only then did he realize that the person he had been waiting for had arrived, and he hurriedly stammered, "The moon is full and the flowers are in full bloom, please come with me!"

He quickly invited the young man to the backyard. As he turned around, he casually placed the teacup in his hand on the upper right corner of the table. This was a pre-arranged signal to the guards in the main hall that Cao Cao's contact had arrived.

The two entered the shopkeeper's room one after the other. Wang Yao closed the door and waved his hand, saying, "Please sit down!"

The young man sat down calmly and asked, "Has anyone from the School Affairs Office come looking for you?"

Wang Yao's heart skipped a beat, and he nodded. "He came four days ago. He told me the new password, and then I haven't seen him since."

The young man nodded, took out a silver box from his pocket, placed it on the table, and pushed it towards Wang Yao. "This is your task. After you complete it, send a message by pigeon to Jiangbei."

"I see!"

The young man stood up and said, "I'm leaving. I hope you complete your mission as soon as possible!"

As soon as the young man stepped out, more than a dozen guards rushed up to him, pinned him to the ground, tied his hands behind his back, gagged him with a rag, and finally put a bag over his head.

The young man saw him off through the side door. Wang Yao walked out of the room and handed the silver box to Li Qun. "He came to deliver a mission. This is the new mission he gave me."

Half an hour later, Li Qun handed the silver box to Wang Xiaoman. Wang Xiaoman carefully examined the flat silver box and found that it was a single piece without any gaps. He smiled and said, "You are really cautious!"

He drew his sharp dagger and slowly cut the silver box open along its edge. Inside, the box was empty, containing three neatly folded strips of paper with serial numbers written on them.

Wang Xiaoman dared not open the note herself, so she went directly to Pang Tong. Pang Tong opened the note and found four orders from Cao Cao, each with a task. The first task was to determine how many ships the Western Chu army had: how many warships and how many civilian ships? And how many of those were warships with a capacity of two thousand shi or more?

Secondly, it is necessary to understand the sentiments of the military and government, especially how many civilian officials are war-weary and how many officials want to surrender.
The third task was to find out the total number of troops in the Western Chu army. The last task consisted of only one sentence: to cooperate with the mission of the School Affairs Office.

These were not top-secret intelligence; Cao Cao might have been completely unaware of them, but they were common knowledge among the officials of the Military Advisor's Office.

Pang Tong then reported the latest situation to Gan Ning. Gan Ning pondered for a moment and said, "The number of troops and warships has increased by 50%. As for the war-weariness among civil officials, let's say it exists, but it's not strong. The pro-war faction in Chaisang is in the lead."

"What about the School Affairs Office?"

Gan Ning sneered and said, "Let him say that he can't contact the people in the Imperial Academy, and that the people in the Imperial Academy have all gone into hiding, giving Cao Cao a glimmer of hope."

Pang Tong nodded, "Understood, I will arrange it immediately!"

Cao Cao was no longer in Hefei, but in Xunyang County. His hundreds of thousands of troops, nearly two thousand warships, and a large amount of grain and supplies had been transferred from Hefei to Xunyang County.

At Zhang Liao's suggestion, Xunyang County was reorganized on a large scale. The small county with a city wall circumference of only twelve li was transformed into a large city with a city wall circumference of thirty-five li, with tall and majestic walls.

However, the city had very few inhabitants, with only a few hundred households and less than three thousand people, crammed into a small area in the southwest corner of the city. The vast county town became the garrison of more than 200,000 troops, turning it into a veritable military city.

Twenty miles from the county seat lies Beipengli Lake. In the northwest corner, a lake bay covering tens of thousands of acres has been transformed into a naval camp. Wooden stakes have been driven in, and a water fortress has been built. More than 1,800 warships are moored inside the water fortress, while tens of thousands of naval troops are encamped on the shore. The area is heavily guarded, and the naval commander, Yu Jin, has made the water fortress's defenses watertight. There is virtually no chance of launching a surprise attack on the water fortress.

That morning, Cao Cao inspected the naval camp, surrounded by hundreds of generals and strategists.

Why is the boat chained up?

Cao Cao looked at the large ships that were all chained together and asked in confusion, "If Gan Ning's army uses fire to attack, won't none of our warships be able to escape?"

Yu Jin bowed and said, "Reporting to the Prime Minister, the interlocking ship chains can withstand the ups and downs of the lake, which is very beneficial for training soldiers. Moreover, the ship chains are not fixed but flexible, so they can be easily removed. I have set up special soldiers to manage them. If the enemy launches a fire attack, we will quickly remove the ship chains at the beginning of the attack, so as not to affect the evacuation of the ships."

Cao Cao accepted Yu Jin's explanation and nodded, "In that case, keep the ship chains intact!"

After a pause, Cao Cao asked again, "Have you spotted any scout ships on the other side recently?"

Beipengli Lake connects to the Yangtze River, and their confluence is very wide, spanning nearly a hundred miles. The Western Chu army's warships on the Yangtze River could easily sail into Beipengli Lake, and scout ships could come too easily.

Yu Jin shook his head. "Reporting to the Prime Minister, no scout ships have approached!"

"Is it that there is none, or that no one has been found?" Cao Cao continued to press.

Yu Jin hesitated for a moment, then finally said, "This humble servant can guarantee that there are no scout ships within three miles of the water fortress!"

Cao Cao nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

They then visited the water fortress and military camp. Cao Cao was very satisfied. Although Cai Mao and Zhang Yun were spineless and despicable, they were quite skilled in naval affairs.

Just then, a messenger stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and presented a copy of a pigeon message. "Reporting to the Prime Minister, we have just received a pigeon message from Chaisang!"

(End of this chapter)