Tiger Owl

Chapter 280 Changes in Jiangdong
The sounds of battle cries shook the heavens on the river. More than a hundred warships of the Jiangdong Army, led by Ling Cao, were engaged in fierce fighting with Han Dang's army. Arrows rained down, drums thundered, and battle cries shook the heavens. Bottles of kerosene collided in the air, and flames blazed on the river. Soldiers covered in flames screamed as they jumped into the river.

Although Han Dang's army was traveling on civilian ships, their numbers outnumbered the enemy five to one. While they were unable to completely defeat the enemy, they successfully held them off, creating an opportunity for the landing soldiers.

Thousands of civilian ships, carrying 20,000 Cao soldiers, rushed to the opposite bank. A large number of defensive fortifications were built on the shore, making it as solid as a rock. Unfortunately, they are gone now. All the fortifications are empty, with no soldiers guarding them.

Cao Cao's 20,000 troops successfully occupied the opposite bank and soon occupied Jiangning County.

At this time, the fierce battle on the Yangtze River gradually came to an end. More than half of the more than one hundred warships had been lost. Ling Cao saw that the enemy's main force had landed, and his two thousand troops were reduced to only six hundred men. There was no point in continuing to fight, so he might as well hurry back to report the news.

The remaining fifty-odd warships quickly retreated westward to Niuzhu to report the news.

Han Dang's army lost two thousand men, and eight thousand troops landed immediately. Soon, Sun Ben and Xun You's dozen or so warships also arrived and landed on the south bank.

Ships continued to shuttle back and forth on the Yangtze River, transporting five thousand warhorses across the river, along with a large amount of supplies.

Cao Jun did not attack Dantu, but instead turned around and headed straight for Niuzhu. At the same time, the Yue army of Sanwan Mountain also marched north and attacked Niuzhu.

Although Niuzhu was a strategic location for dealing with enemy ships on the river, it offered little advantage against enemies attacking from land.

Lu Meng urgently led 40,000 troops to prepare for a pincer attack from two armies.

With 40,000 against 60,000, Lü Meng had no confidence whatsoever, but the arrow was already on the bowstring, and he had no choice but to fight.

Dark clouds hung low, banners fluttered, spears stood like a forest, and three armies faced each other silently.

Suddenly, the war drums sounded loudly, their thunderous roar echoing through the heavens. Yue Jin and Han Dang led 30,000 troops in a preemptive attack. At the same time, Zu Lang led 30,000 Yue soldiers to attack the Jiangdong army.

Suddenly, Lü Meng saw something, and his pupils contracted sharply. He saw countless cavalry appear, surging towards them like the Qiantang River tide.

"cavalry!"

At that moment, Lü Meng suddenly realized that the enemy army he was facing was not Sun Ben's army, but Cao Cao's army; Cao Cao's army had come to attack.

Lu Meng was utterly desperate. He brandished his sword and shouted fiercely, "Soldiers of Jiangdong, let's fight them to the death!"

...........
As expected, the Battle of Niuzhu resulted in a crushing defeat for the Jiangdong army. Their commander, Lü Meng, was killed in action, and the 40,000-strong Jiangdong army was completely overwhelmed by Cao Cao's cavalry, ultimately leading to their annihilation. Nearly 30,000 soldiers surrendered.

Although the warships of Jiangdong were still sailing on the Yangtze River, the entire Jiangdong region had completely changed.

The presence of Cao Cao's army in Jiangdong could no longer be concealed. Everyone knew that this was not Sun Ben's army, but Cao Cao's army. Officials from various counties surrendered without resistance, local troops eagerly joined, and powerful clans firmly pledged their support. They provided Cao Cao's army with real money and grain, contributed their own farmhands, and offered their hidden weapons and armor. In just ten days, the number of surrendered soldiers and able-bodied men from Jiangdong who joined Cao Cao's army reached 80,000. Soon, Cao Cao's army's total strength reached 180,000, completely surrounding Dantu County.

It is clear to anyone with discerning eyes that the Jiangdong regime is doomed and the death knell for the Sun family regime has been tolled.

On the thirteenth day of the siege of Dantu County, Cao Cao's third son, Cao Zhi, set off from Guangling County, landed at Jingkou, and appeared in the besieging army camp. He officially assumed the position of commander-in-chief of the southern expedition against Jiangdong.

Carrier pigeons also continuously took off from Dantu County and flew towards Chaisang.

When news of the dramatic changes in Jiangdong reached Chaisang, the atmosphere there became extremely oppressive, as if the situation were dire.

That morning, Gan Ning convened an important military and political meeting to discuss countermeasures.

"Bu Sima, why don't you tell everyone?"

Gan Ning's voice was low as he said to Bu Zhi, "In less than a month, Jiangdong is facing disintegration. Why did it happen so quickly?"

Bu Zhi sighed and slowly said, "This has to start from the founding of Jiangdong. During Sun Ce's era, the country was established with the help of the Huai-Si Group, including Lü Fan, Zhou Yu, Sun Ben, Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, Taishi Ci, and myself, etc. Sun Ce's ideas for establishing the country were similar to ours: suppressing the powerful families in Jiangnan, emphasizing military merit, and valuing the scholars in the north. The turning point was the rebellion of Chen Yu, the governor of Yangzhou. Chen Yu's supporters were the major powerful families in Jiangnan. After Sun Ce quelled Chen Yu's rebellion, he began to severely crack down on the major powerful families in Jiangnan. Xu Gong, the governor of Wu Commandery, was a victim of this purge."

Finally, as everyone saw, Sun Ce was assassinated, and Sun Quan succeeded to the throne. Sun Quan was able to ascend to the throne only because he had the support of the major aristocratic families in Jiangnan. At the same time, he also reached a compromise with the Huai-Si Group in order to ascend to the throne. He promised to make Sun Ce's son his heir after he ascended the throne, which is how he gained the support of the Huai-Si Group.

However, after he came to power, he immediately went back on his word, broke the agreement reached with the Huai-Si Group, refused to establish Sun Ce's son as his heir, and at the same time, he suppressed the Huai-Si Group, split from Sun Ben, demoted Taishi Ci, marginalized Zhou Yu, dismissed Lü Fan from his position as military advisor, forced Zhang Hong to leave, replaced Cheng Pu with Lü Meng, and persecuted me under the pretext of my niece's affair.

At the same time, the Jiangdong Group was given important positions, and key figures such as Gu Yong, Lu Ji, Yu Fan, Xu Kun, Zhu Huan, and Lü Meng began to rise to high positions.

The Huai-Si Group had a strong sense of identification with the Jiangdong regime and was very united, which enabled Sun Ce to take over the four counties of Jiangdong in just one year. The Jiangdong Group, on the other hand, always prioritized the interests of their families over those of the Jiangdong regime. They generally identified with the imperial court because the court represented order, which was exactly what local powerful families needed most.

Therefore, when Cao Cao, representing the emperor, came to conquer Jiangdong, the powerful families of Jiangnan all demanded surrender. This was the fundamental reason for Sun Quan's defeat and death. The foundation of his rule was the Jiangnan powerful families who were loyal to the court. When Cao Cao's army entered Jiangnan, this foundation collapsed instantly, and his regime was finished.

After Bu Zhi finished speaking, everyone fell silent. After a long while, Gan Ning slowly said, "Bu Sima's analysis is very insightful. We must learn from the lessons of Jiangdong. The most urgent task is to resolve the current crisis and seize the opportunity to recruit the anti-Cao faction in Jiangdong, especially the Jiangdong navy. The Jiangdong navy's logistics port is Jingkou, but Jingkou has fallen. The Jiangdong navy has become a rootless duckweed. Zhou Yu is unwilling to surrender to Cao Cao, which is our opportunity. We must win over this army."

At this moment, Lu Su stood up and said, "I have a deep friendship with Gongjin, I will go and persuade him!"

Gan Ning was overjoyed and smiled, saying, "I will discuss the details with the strategist later. Next, I want to tell you all that I am preparing to launch an offensive against Cao Cao's navy and completely destroy all of Cao Cao's warships on the Yangtze River. This way, as long as we blockade the Yangtze River, we can prevent the Jiangbei army from moving south. Then we can concentrate our forces to deal with Cao Cao's army in Jiangdong. This may be our only chance. I have been thinking about it for a long time. We don't have much time left. We must deal with the Jiangbei navy before the fall of Jiangdong."

(End of this chapter)