Tiger Owl

Chapter 285 Night Raid on the Water Village
Inside the government office, Gan Ning gazed at a newly made sand table in front of him. The sand table depicted Xunyang County and Beipengli Lake, a bay containing a water fortress and a military camp on the shore.

This was another Battle of Red Cliffs, but it was completely different from the historical Battle of Red Cliffs.

After gazing for a long time, Gan Ning slowly said to the three strategists beside him and Zhou Yu, who had just arrived: "Judging from our strength, we are no match for Cao Cao on land, that is beyond doubt. However, our advantage on water far surpasses that of Cao Cao. Therefore, our goal is not to defeat Cao Cao's army, but to completely destroy Cao Cao's warships and their naval power."

This is different from the historical Battle of Red Cliffs, where Cao Cao's army was completely annihilated by land and sea. However, this is not realistic on land now. Even if they attack the naval camp, hundreds of thousands of troops from Xunyang County, which is only a dozen miles away, will immediately come to their aid and surround them instead.

Therefore, destroying all kinds of ships on the water is the most realistic and achievable goal. Moreover, without warships, even if Cao Cao's army has millions of troops, they will not be able to cross the Yangtze River.

Zhou Yu was very interested in this sand table and studied it repeatedly, his eyes showing amazement. This sand table was indeed a powerful tool for decision-making.

Soon, Zhou Yu turned his gaze away from the sand table, pondered for a moment, and asked, "If we destroy Cao Cao's warships, will it affect the situation in Jiangdong?"

"Of course it will have an impact, but I don't know to what extent."

Gan Ning was telling the truth. Cao Cao's army in Jiangdong had grown to nearly 200,000 men and had become an independent force. They had occupied all of Jiangdong's land except for Dantu County and had ample supplies. The major defeat in Jiangbei would not have a substantial impact on them.

It will only have an impact on Cao Cao's political decisions.

Zhou Yu finally made up his mind, "Please give the order, Marquis of Chu, when shall we take action?"

Gan Ning slowly said, "Three days from now, we will take action at the first watch of the night. Military Advisor Lu will discuss the specific action plan with you in detail."

…………

Inside the temporary prime minister's residence in Xunyang County, Cao Cao was discussing matters concerning Jiangdong with several strategists.

Cao Cao was well aware that Dantu County was difficult to attack, especially after being equipped with a large amount of oil, which made the siege extremely difficult. Since the surrender of Jiangdong was an absolute advantage, Cao Cao decided to use the means of subduing the enemy without fighting to finally resolve the issue of Jiangdong.

Cheng Yu stroked his beard and said, "Prime Minister, a long-term siege is also a solution. Under a long-term siege, the soldiers' morale and fighting spirit will gradually crumble. In addition, if we open the south gate, a large number of soldiers will secretly desert after a few months. In the end, their morale will be completely destroyed, and Jiangdong will have no choice but to surrender without a fight."

Xun Yu also said, "Military Advisor Cheng is right. Destroying morale is the most effective way. We can build large catapults to drop leaflets into the city and tell the soldiers that as long as they surrender voluntarily, they will not only be safe but also receive a great reward. As long as soldiers voluntarily leave the city to surrender, Jiangdong will be completely finished."

Cao Cao nodded repeatedly. He glanced at Jia Xu, who had just returned and was standing aside in deep thought. Thinking that Jia Xu was the strategist who understood Jiangdong best, he smiled and asked, "What are your thoughts, Wenzheng?"

Jia Xu smiled and said, "Sun Quan and the Jiangdong regime have one major weakness: they always have illusions about negotiation and always think that negotiation can solve everything. In response to this weakness, I have two strategies."

"Tell me more about it!" Cao Cao said, intrigued.

Jia Xu calmly said, "I'll start with the best strategy. Our negotiations boil down to two main points. One is the legitimacy of the Jiangdong regime—Jiangdong wants to preserve itself, but we won't allow it to exist. The other is the negotiation of military, financial, and administrative power. In fact, I think we can allow Jiangdong to exist, and we can give them administrative and financial power. We only want military power. Prime Minister, once we get military power, Jiangdong will be like a fish on a chopping board." Cheng Yu and Xun Yu exchanged a glance, both showing a hint of disdain. The core of Jia Xu's plan was one word: deception. Just like how he deceived Jiangdong with the seven-year agreement before, this time it was still deception—deceiving Jiangdong into giving up military power, making their own credibility and reputation unimportant.

Cao Cao noticed the glances from Cheng Yu and Xun Yu, so he dismissed them and then asked Jia Xu, "I would like to know your worst strategy, sir!"

Jia Xu remained silent for a long time, then said in a low but exceptionally clear voice, "Assassinate Sun Quan!"

.........

As night fell, Cao Cao stood with his hands behind his back in front of the hall. He was still considering Jia Xu's suggestion, which was somewhat unethical. It seemed that Xun Yu's method would be more appropriate: use leaflets to undermine the will of the Jiangdong army and make them surrender voluntarily. Not all generals were resistance fighters, and the Jiangdong aristocratic families must have their own sons in the army.

"Use the powerful families of Jiangdong!" Cao Cao finally realized.

Just then, the sky in the distance suddenly turned red. This change was so obvious that Cao Cao clearly felt it as well. He was startled. The place where the sky was dyed red was the water fortress of Pengli Lake. Cao Cao felt a sense of foreboding and immediately ordered the guards beside him, "Go and find out if something has happened at the water fortress."

The guards rushed out, and Cao Cao, feeling agitated, paced back and forth in the hall. He had already guessed that something had likely happened at the water fortress.

At this moment, flames raged within Cao Cao's naval camp. Five darting warships crashed through the camp's palisade, creating a wide passage. More than three thousand warships and fighting vessels then stormed into the camp through the passage. Zhou Yu led over eight hundred warships to take charge of the western side of the camp, while Gan Ning personally led two thousand five hundred warships to take charge of the central and eastern parts of the camp.

It was only the first watch of the night. Most of Cao Cao's naval soldiers were in their camps on land. Although there were soldiers on duty on Cao Cao's warships, and they removed the ship chains in an emergency, it was not very effective. The warships could not go ashore or leave the water fortress. All the routes out of the water fortress were blocked. The water barriers that were originally meant to prevent the enemy from leaving instead prevented Cao Cao's warships from escaping.

Incendiary bombs struck Cao Cao's warships with precision, and flames quickly spread, setting Cao Cao's warships ablaze on the water. Nearly two thousand of Cao Cao's warships were ignited without exception.

Yu Jin, the commander of the navy, stood on the shore and knelt down in despair. He never dreamed that his navy would be so fragile, like a painting that could be easily torn to shreds by the enemy.

The vast difference between naval and land tactics completely overturned Yu Jin's understanding. Although his scout ship spotted the enemy attack from three miles away, what could he do? He could neither deploy an ambush nor lead his troops to retreat, leaving him helpless and only able to watch as the enemy navy stormed into the water fortress and burned all the warships.

The raging fire completely engulfed all of Cao Cao's warships in the water fortress. Gan Ning and Zhou Yu's combined fleet was retreating rapidly. Zhou Yu stood on a warship, watching the raging fire in the water fortress with a complicated expression. He never dreamed that Cao Cao's warships would be destroyed so easily.

"Why is it so easy?" Zhou Yu muttered to himself.

Lu Su, who was accompanying him, smiled faintly and said, "When Cao Cao moved his warships from Chaohu Lake to Bei Pengli Lake, we knew that Cao Cao had made a huge mistake. He forgot that Pengli Lake and the Yangtze River are one. We can intercept his fleet in the Yangtze River and destroy his fleet in Pengli Lake as well. The reason why we did not act immediately is that we have been waiting for the right time."

"Is the time right?"

Zhou Yu muttered a couple of sentences, then suddenly realized, "You...you are waiting for a change in Jiangdong."
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[Something came up at home today, so I'll be taking a break for one update. Updates will resume as scheduled this afternoon.]

(End of this chapter)