Tiger Owl

Chapter 274 Intelligence Pressure
Cao Cao had already received a message from Shen Tong of the Imperial Academy via carrier pigeon. Shen Tong believed that the intelligence spies from Jichun Pharmacy had not betrayed him and that the information they provided about Queyue City should also be accurate.

Cao Cao trusted his subordinates in the Imperial Secretariat. Since they had made their judgment, there should indeed be no problem.

More importantly, Cao Cao figured out why the situation in Queyue City was different from the intelligence: Queyue City had waterways connecting it to the other side and strong support. When he received the intelligence, Cao Ren's army was still in Shucheng County, a thousand miles away from Queyue City.

After receiving the intelligence, Cao Ren headed west. The enemy was not stationary; it was very likely that when Cao Ren entered Jiangxia County, they would begin large-scale support for Queyue City. Waterway support was very convenient, and the support could arrive in a day.

This explains why intelligence differs from the actual situation; the situation changes rapidly, but the intelligence becomes outdated.

Cao Cao opened the copied message sent by pigeon, his brow furrowing slightly. "Three hundred thousand troops and twelve thousand warships? Is that all?"

He passed the message by pigeon to several strategists around him, and Xun Yu nodded, "This humble servant believes the contents of the message by pigeon are trustworthy."

"Why?" Cao Cao asked.

Xun Yu calmly replied, "Because the answer to the fourth question is very true. He couldn't find anyone from the School Affairs Office and had no contact with them. This is the School Affairs Office's rule of conduct: deep infiltration, cutting off all contact to prevent betrayal. If the intelligence station can't find anyone from the School Affairs Office, then that's correct."

Cao Cao pondered for a moment and said, "But the number of troops and warships is at least 50% more than I knew before."

Cheng Yu chuckled from the side, "This humble servant can explain the difference."

"Zhongde, please speak!"

Cheng Yu smiled slightly and said, "The number of troops and warships that the Prime Minister previously obtained were data from a non-wartime situation. But now that Western Chu has entered a wartime state, will the county troops and official ships of each prefecture need to be mobilized?"

Cao Cao nodded, he understood, "You mean, this includes local militia and government ships?"

"Exactly! The South is mainly a waterway, and it's quite normal for Gan Ning to have thousands of official ships and seventy or eighty thousand soldiers in so many counties under his jurisdiction. It's not surprising at all."

Although he understood, Cao Cao's mood was still somewhat heavy. Gan Ning's strength far exceeded his expectations, and his confidence in this southern expedition wavered, causing him some unease.

Back at the temporary prime minister's residence, Cao Cao summoned Xun You again.

"Gongda, have we underestimated our enemy?" Cao Cao's eyes revealed an undisguised anxiety.

Xun You pondered for a long time and said, "Gan Ning is not Sun Quan. He is more like Sun Ce. He is the founder of Western Chu and has supreme authority. In addition, he is determined, clear-cut, and wise. Moreover, he has no external restraints like Sun Ben. I can see from the attack on Queyue City that it is difficult for us to defeat him like we defeated Yuan Shao. However, we are not powerless. We can restrain him and then wait for Sun Ben to take Jiangdong. Then we can send some troops to Sun Ben to attack Yuzhang County from the east, while we exert pressure from the north. By attacking from both sides, we can gain the upper hand."

As Cao Cao's eyes gradually regained their luster, Xun You smiled slightly and said, "Moreover, Gan Ning has another weakness."

"What weakness?" Cao Cao asked urgently.

"Doesn't the Prime Minister think that Gan Ning's decision to place the capital in Chaisang is a bit unbalanced? Chaisang can be used to blockade waterways to enter the heart of Yuzhang County, but what about land routes? How can Gan Ning defend against the possibility of entering the heart of Yuzhang County from Danyang County or Kuaiji County? Will he then send troops to defend Nanchang County? On land, he will lose his advantage over the navy, and instead, we will have the advantage of cavalry."

Cao Cao nodded repeatedly, muttering to himself, "Top-heavy and unbalanced, that really is a small weakness that I didn't even notice."

Although Cao Cao sensed Gan Ning's strength and knew that breaking through Jiangdong was their key to victory, he did not rush to give orders to Sun Ben. He needed to consider the situation for a few more days, waiting for it to stabilize before making a final, rational decision.

In the blink of an eye, Sun Shangxiang had been living in the Gan Ning Mansion for almost three months. She had completely adapted to life there, living comfortably and happily. Moreover, through the passage of time, she had truly felt a sense of freedom and respect, something that couldn't be felt at the beginning but could only be gradually experienced through the little things in life.

There was no scheming or jealousy in this family, only mutual respect and consideration. Only a woman like Da Qiao could bring such precious family peace and tranquility to the family when she became the legal wife.

Of course, it was also related to her husband, Gan Ning. She discovered that when Gan Ning and Xu Wei shared a room, there were no maids in the room for the night. This was somewhat contrary to Sun Shangxiang's understanding, since maids were a must in any wealthy family.

"Yunqing, don't you have any maids to stay overnight?"

Finally finding an opportunity, Sun Shangxiang asked in a low voice. She and Xu Wei talked about everything, including intimate matters like sex, as long as they didn't discuss explicit sexual matters.

Xu Wei blushed slightly. "Shangxiang, why are you asking this?"

"I... I'm just a little curious, why are you different from other people?"

"My husband doesn't like it!"

Xu Wei whispered, "He said that sex is the most private matter between husband and wife, how can there be outsiders present? That's disrespectful to a wife."

"Respect?" This word was unfamiliar to Sun Shangxiang.

Xu Wei nodded gently. "We can all feel this respect. My husband never messes around with women other than us sisters. He never goes to brothels, doesn't keep mistresses, and doesn't treat women as trophies to be played with at will. In his words, this is not about morality, but about respect for his wife."

Sun Shangxiang nodded slightly, "It seems General Gan is truly remarkable!"

"So you admit he's not bad either?" Xu Wei asked with a smile.

Sun Shangxiang was a little embarrassed, "I didn't know before, and I believed the rumors that he was a pirate from the Yangtze River."

Xu Wei stared at Sun Shangxiang for a moment and said, "Yesterday, my eldest sister mentioned that you were originally one of our sisters."

Sun Shangxiang's heart skipped a beat. This was a secret hidden deep in her heart. When Sun and Gan formed an alliance, one of the most important clauses was that they would marry each other, with Sun Shangxiang marrying Gan Ning. In the end, the marriage did not happen because she refused, and the two sides had to cancel the marriage clause.

Over the years, Sun Shangxiang had never regretted it, but for some reason, after spending these past few months together, she began to feel regret.

She kept this secret and this regret deep in her heart, but unexpectedly, Xu Wei brought it up unintentionally.

Sun Shangxiang blushed, but a hint of sadness flashed in her eyes, and she lowered her head without saying a word.

(End of this chapter)