Chapter 11: Sun Quan's Defeat and Reflections on He Fei!

  "Report, General! We've captured another messenger from Xuzhou! A letter was found on him!" a soldier reported to Sun Quan.

  "Oh? Bring it here and let me take a look!"

  Upon seeing the letter, Sun Quan revealed a smile and handed it to Zhou Tai saying: "Yu Ping, Guangling's grain is insufficient. Chen Deng is currently gathering grain everywhere, awaiting reinforcements!"

  "Oh? Second Master, is this our chance?"

  "Bring the messenger here!" Sun Quan shouted loudly, and soon the soldiers brought the messenger over.

  Only one pale and thin man was brought over, as soon as he arrived in front of Sun Quan, he knelt down with a thud, wailing: "General, spare my life, spare my life! I have old and young at home, just to make a living, General, General, spare my life!"

  "Hmph, whether or not you're spared depends on General Sun's benevolence and your performance! General Sun has questions for you, answer truthfully!" Zhou Tai placed the long knife on the messenger's shoulder.

  "General Sun spares your life, spares your life, a lowly person... A lowly person will surely report the truth!" The messenger was frightened out of his wits and hastily kowtowed to beg for mercy.

  "Is Guangling short of grain and fodder? Chen Deng has sent troops everywhere to requisition supplies?"

  "Speak quickly, otherwise I'll take your dog's life!" Zhou Tai shouted.

  "Yes, yes...... General, since the Wu bandits...... No, no, after the Jiangdong army attacked Kuang Qi, the grain and grass in Guangling were not sufficient, and I don't know what reason, the grain and grass in Xuzhou have also been delayed. Now the soldiers in the city are all complaining."

  "Oh? Is this true?" Sun Quan looked at the messenger with doubt.

  "Great... sir, how dare I deceive you? ... knife, ... the knife is still on my neck. Have you taken a look at me? If there's military rations to eat, would I be in this state?"

  "Nonsense! How dare you question the general like this?! I think you don't want to live!" Finishing his words, Zhou Tai raised his long knife and was about to chop down on the messenger.

  "Slow! Yu Ping, stop him, take him down!"

  "Keep him here, this general still has use for him!"

  "Yes, Second Young Master!"

  "Bring him down!"

  "Second Master, this person......?"

  Yu Ping, Chen Deng has been operating in Guangling for a long time. There must be traps set up near the city walls. Now our army is resting in the open area ahead. You go and interrogate the two captured messengers separately to extract information about the terrain around Guangling so I can study it!

  "Yes sir, Second Master! Zhou Tai understands!" Zhou Tai cupped his hands and withdrew.

  Sun Quan led his army to the open space and ordered the generals to be on guard. He himself rested under a big tree, waiting for the result of Zhou Tai's interrogation.

  "See Second Master!"

  "Is Young Ping back? Any harvest?"

  "Second Master, this is the terrain of Guangling that the two of us have been discussing, as well as some defensive deployments by Chen Deng. Please take a look!"

  Sun Quan took over the intelligence obtained by Zhou Tai, looked at it, and referred to the map drawn by the secret agent.

  "Second Master? Are you in agreement?"

  Sun Quan smiled and said, "Yu Ping, this time you and I will make great achievements. It seems that the two of them are telling the truth. Let them lead the way and take us around Chen Deng's defense to directly attack Guangling City!"

  "Promise!"

  Zhou Tai immediately ordered people to bring the two envoys forward, leading the way ahead, while he and Sun Quan brought the large army rushing behind, targeting Guangling!

  The sky had just cracked dawn, and outside Guangling City, there was a piece of silence, quiet enough to hear the birds chirping.

  "Wen Long, you're up so early?"

  Lv Rui and Man Chong ascended the city wall, where they saw Chen Deng already dressed in armor waiting for them.

  "Master Hou, Bohning? You're both here?"

  "Yuan Long, it's so early, how can we two sleep peacefully? Yuan Long, has Sun Quan arrived today?"

  "Good, my two messengers did not release the carrier pigeons back, they must have fallen into Sun Quan's hands. Since that's the case, our army's fake message must also be known to Sun Quan. Whether or not Sun Quan sees through my plan, today, he will definitely come to Guangling!"

  "My lord, Sun Quan's army has entered our ambush circle and will soon arrive at the city!"

  "Ah? Pass on orders to all troops to get ready, wait for my signal to take action!"

  "Here!" Lv Rui and Man Chong exchanged a glance, Sun Quan had indeed arrived!

  "Yu Ping? Look, Guangling City seems to be lightly guarded?" Sun Quan saw that on the city wall of Guangling, only a few large flags were fluttering, and he vaguely saw a few soldiers patrolling. Seeing the defense of Guangling, Sun Quan's heart was excited for a moment. It seemed that Chen Deng had indeed taken his troops to collect grain, and the defense of Guangling was so empty. Chen Yu Long? I want revenge!

  "Second Master?" Looking at the excited Sun Quan, Zhou Tai called out and pulled him back to reality.

  Yu Ping sent men to dig under the city gate at night, and then the cloud ladder team prepared to attack Guangling.

  "Yes, Second Young Master!"

  Zhou Tai ordered his deputy to lead the troops to slowly approach the city of Guangling. "Prepare, throw ropes, and send someone to climb up!" The deputy quietly instructed the soldiers.

  With a clang, several ropes of Jiangdong Army hung on top of Guangling City.

  "Bo Ning, Lord Hou, we should go!" In the quiet night sky, such a clear voice was heard, Chen Deng knew that the Jiangdong army was approaching!

  Three men walked out of the arrow tower on the city wall and looked into the distance. Sun Quan's army had already entered the encirclement!

  "Hurry up!" The deputy general, holding a long sword, urged the soldiers to climb the city wall.

  Just as they were about to climb up the city wall, the rope was suddenly cut off! "Ah! Ah! Ah!" The soldiers of Jiangdong Army who were climbing the city wall fell from a height of tens of meters and were smashed to pieces!

  "Throw!" Chen Deng gave the order, and the soldiers hiding on the city wall quickly picked up the huge stones in their hands and threw them down.

  "Fire!" Chen Deng gave another military order, and the crossbowmen and archers rushed out, shooting fiercely at the enemy army below the city.

  The castle tower suddenly lit up with torches, illuminating the entire Guangling City!

  "We've been tricked! We've been tricked!" The Jiangdong army near the city tower realized they had fallen into a trap and hastily scattered in all directions, but unfortunately, many became souls under the arrows.

  "Yu Ping!" Sun Quan also saw the change in Guangling City, his vanguard was completely annihilated!

  "Hahaha, Jiang Dong Sun Zei, you've fallen into my family's Taishou's trap! The reinforcements from Xu Du have already arrived in Guangling, you're all going to die!" The two messengers shouted loudly, snatching the weapons from the guarding soldiers and charging towards Sun Quan.

  "Go die!" Zhou Tai swung his big knife and beheaded the two men!

  "Run quickly, we've been ambushed!" The Jiangdong army was thrown into chaos and scattered in all directions.

  "Hold steady! Hold steady!" Sun Quan drew his long sword and beheaded a fleeing soldier!

  "Charge!" Chen Deng gave the order, and the Dan Yang warriors burst out of Guangling City to attack the Jiang Dong army. The Jiang Dong army had been marching urgently all night and was already very exhausted. When they encountered the Dan Yang warriors, they were even more unable to withstand them. Many people didn't even have a chance to engage in battle before turning around and running away!

  "Second Master, look!"

  Following Zhou Tai's pointing direction, Sun Quan found that there were fires in the northwest and northeast of Guangling, and troops came out to kill. Was it not just Xucheng? Did Xuzhou also send reinforcements?

  "General, our left flank is trapped!"

  "General, our right army has encountered a field of caltrops! Many soldiers' feet have been pierced and the right army is in disarray!"

  "General, a large number of cavalrymen are attacking from behind and we can't hold them back!"

  Cavalry? Only to see a cavalry team of about 500 people, exceptionally brave, has already killed the central army!

  "Second Master?" Seeing so many cavalrymen, Zhou Tai was also stunned. To think that Gong Sun Zan's White Horse Army had only three thousand men, several hundred cavalrymen were a lot for the Jiangdong army!

  "Hurry, pass on the order to the whole army, drop the baggage and retreat westward!" Sun Quan reined in his horse and led his personal troops in a frantic dash to the west.

  "Brothers, protect the second master, kill your way out!" Zhou Tai also led his personal soldiers to cover Sun Quan's retreat.

  "Second Master! Be careful!" Zhou Tai supported Sun Quan from behind with one hand.

  "Yu Ping?" Sun Quan looked around in a fluster, this was a small river, and on the other side to the west was the Huai River waterway, where there were boats waiting to pick them up.

  With the support of his personal bodyguards, Sun Quan dismounted and prepared to rest. Sitting on a large stone by the river, Sun Quan counted the soldiers around him; out of an army of 20,000, fewer than 200 were now following him!

  Looking at Sun Quan's disheartened appearance, Zhou Tai advised: "Second Master, victory and defeat are common occurrences in the military. Today's army is just a motley crew of Jiangdong's aristocratic families. Our defeat today is not your fault, General. Tomorrow, wait for me to train a new army in Jiangdong, and then we will rise again to avenge this defeat!"

  "What Young Ping said makes sense!"

  "General, it's bad! A cavalry troop is chasing after us!"

  Before Sun Quan could catch his breath, Zhang Liao led a cavalry charge in pursuit. "This...?"

  "Second Master, hurry up and cross the bridge! Young Ping is holding off the enemy with his men!"

  "Really?"

  "Second Master, hurry and run!"

  "Protect the young lord!" Sun Quan mounted his horse and crossed the small bridge with over a dozen of his personal guards.

  Ka-cha! Just as Sun Quan had crossed the small bridge, Zhou Tai cut off the only bridge across the river.

  "Charge!" Dianwei led the cavalry in pursuit, and at first, they launched a cavalry charge against Zhou Tai's army.

  Zhou Tai's personal troops were defeated by the cavalry before they could even form a battle line. Over 100 horsemen surrounded Zhou Tai in the center.

  "Halt!" Dian Wei ordered the soldiers in the central army to stop, seeing that Zhou Tai had many knife wounds on his body, yet his fighting spirit was not diminished, it was really interesting.

  Dian Wei jumped off his horse and came before Zhou Tai, asking: "Who are you?"

  "Jiujiang Zhou Tai!"

  "You also seem like a man of honor, why not surrender to our army and I'll ensure your achievements are preserved?"

  "Fart! I, Zhou Tai, was born in a humble family, but I am also a man of loyalty and righteousness. How can you expect me to betray my lord and seek glory for myself? What a ridiculous idea!"

  "Alright! Let me see you off!" Dian Wei leaped into the air and flew towards Zhou Tai.

  Zhou Tai was stunned, this fatty's movements were so agile! Zhou Tai had not yet reacted when Dian Wei's twin halberds arrived in front of him.

  Zhou Tai hastily took up his sword to resist. With a fierce cry, Zhou Tai fought through the night, exhausting himself. His physical strength was no match for Dian Wei's, and with one thrust from Dian Wei, Zhou Tai's large sword flew out of his hand. In an instant, a bloody scar appeared on Zhou Tai's abdomen.

  "I'll fight you!" Zhou Tai drew his sword and charged at Dian Wei.

  "It's interesting!" Dianwei wielded a pair of halberds and fought Zhou Tai.

  Both sides exchanged blows, dozens of rounds, Zhou Tai was hit by Dian Wei's spear again, but he continued to fight fiercely. Dian Wei didn't notice that Zhou Tai had retreated to the riverbank.

  With a loud crash, the two of them used all their strength and exchanged another blow, both flying backward.

  How can this person have such endurance? Dian Wei saw Zhou Tai, secretly marveling at him. If it were any other general, they would have definitely died from exhaustion long ago. Yet Zhou Tai still had the ability to resist?

  With a splash, Zhou Tai took advantage of Dian Wei's inattention and leaped into the river.

  "Grandma's been cheated!" Tianwei shouted loudly.

  "General? Are we still chasing?"

  "Chase? You jump into the river? Retreat, return to Guangling!"

  "See Master Hou!"

  "Has evil arrived? Has Sun Quan ever been captured?"

  "Your Lordship, I am incompetent and failed to capture Sun Quan." Then, Dian Wei recounted his encounter with Zhou Tai.

  Nai Nai's, it turned out that they had encountered the invincible Xiao Qiang Zhou Tai, and indeed he was a master of withstanding knives. Despite being abused to such an extent, he still protected Sun Quan and escaped!

  "Lord Hou, this matter is not entirely the fault of evil coming. Jiangdong also has many capable people. Sun Quan's escape back to Jiangdong was the will of heaven!" Man Chong advised from the side.

  "Hmm, evil has come, get up, don't blame yourself. If Sun Quan were killed by you, there would be no one left in Jiangdong!"

  "Thank you, Lord Hou!"

  Today's weather is fine and sunny! Another good day, come out and exercise, breathe some fresh air.

  "Master Hou, Magistrate Chen has sent someone to invite Master Hou to the main hall for a discussion!" Diao Chan slowly walked over and handed Lu Rui a piece of silk cloth.

  "Alright, got it!" Chen Deng was certain that he had something important to attend to. After bathing and changing his clothes, Lü Rui arrived at the main hall.

  "Is Bening here too?"

  "Your Lordship!"

  "What is Yuan Long looking for us two about?" Seeing that Man Chong had also arrived, Lü Rui was even more certain that this matter concerned the Cao army and not his personal affairs with Chen Deng.

  "Master Hou, Bohning, please come forward and take a look!"

  "This is a secret report sent back by the scout. According to this, the Jiangdong army's route of advance, they will be landing here. Yuan Long wants you two to go and take a look!"

  "Alright, Manchong is willing to travel with Yu Long!"

  "This lord will also go with Yuan Long to take a look!" Afterwards, the three of them prepared some dry rations and brought their personal troops out of Guangling City.

  After several days of traveling, the three finally arrived at the place where Sun Quan landed, and there were still some anchors left by the Jiangdong army.

  "This must be where the Eastern Wu forces landed!"

  "What place is this?" Chen Deng asked a military advisor who was familiar with geography.

  "Return, sir, this place is called Hefei, it belongs to Yangzhou Prefecture. Sir, please look, that over there is the city of Hefei!"

  Hefei? Is this the Hefei that later became a stronghold of Wei State? Isn't it just a broken city? Lv Rui thought to herself.

  "Isn't that Shou Chun, the administrative center of Yangzhou?" Man Chong pointed at a distant city and asked the military advisor.

  "Exactly, Master Man, there is Shou Chun!"

  "Yuan Long, look at this place. To the south is the Yangtze River, and nearby are many rivers, with a treacherous terrain that is suitable for defense. However, if the Jiangdong army relies on its naval advantage to occupy this place as a landing point, they can launch surprise attacks on our Yangzhou and other counties in the north, enter Xuzhou and Huaiyang in the east, and reach Yuzhou and other counties in the west!"

  "Yes, what Bó Níng said is reasonable. However, after a long period of war, Hefei City has been devastated and there are no strong troops stationed here. We should petition the Duke of Si Kong to rebuild Hefei City and strengthen its defenses against the bandits from Jiangdong."

  "What Yuan Long said is absolutely right!"

  "What if the Jiangdong army relies on its naval advantage and suppresses the city of Hefei?" Lü Bu asked, rubbing his own head, inquiring of the two.

  "Huh?" The two exchanged a glance and suddenly realized.

  "Marquis Hou is indeed wise! With only one city, it's probably impossible to stop the Jiangdong army. Our army should build a new city with the old city as mutual support, and Xuchang will be as solid as gold!" Chen Deng said with a stroke of his palm.

  "Yu Long was just being polite, I'm just having a sudden whim!" Alas, you two have stolen the patent again, this is your suggestion.

  "Hmm, according to Yibo Ning's opinion, we can build a new city at the foot of the small mountain in the west to block the army from Jiangdong!"

  "Bo Ning, Yuan Long disagreed, Yuan Long thought that a new city should be built on the eastern waterfront to block the Jiangdong army!"

  "What...?" The two people had differing opinions.

  "Yuan Long, Bo Ning, according to your views, I think it is reasonable. Following the suggestions of Bo Ning and Yuan Long, we can build two new cities, He Fei East City and He Fei West City, which will be interdependent with the old city of He Fei. How can the Jiangdong army cross this place?"

  "Marquis's words are quite right, we quickly return to Guangling, write a memorial and present it to the Minister of Works!" The three men returned to Guangling after scouting out the surrounding terrain.

  "Master Hou, your luggage is packed and ready!"

  "Alright, Diao Chan, let's put our luggage on the carriage. Once Bo Ning arrives, we can set off!" Old Cao invited Man Chong and Lü Yi to bid farewell to Xu Du. Gongsun Zan was surrounded by soldiers in Yi City, and it seemed unlikely that he would be able to hold out.

  "Lord Hou?"

  "Is Benning here? Let's bid farewell to Yuan Long and return to Xudu!"

  "Yes, Lord Hou."

  "Housekeeper, where is Lord Chen?" Seeing that Chen Deng was not in the mansion, Lü Rui asked the housekeeper in puzzlement.

  "Mr. Chen has gone outside the city, if you two gentlemen want to see Mr. Chen, it's necessary to go outside the city."

  Man Chong and Lü Rui arrived at the outskirts, where Chen Deng was attending a funeral.

  "Yuán Lóng?" Today isn't a day for ancestor worship, is Chen Deng here to pay his respects?

  "Yuán Lóng, zhè shì...?"

  Translation: "Yuan Long, what is this...?"

  "Your Lordship, come pay respects to the deceased!" Lü Rui saw two names on the tombstone.

  "What is the relationship between these two and Yuan Long?" Seeing Yuan Long so sad, Lü Rui was puzzled in her heart, had someone close to him died?

  "Lord Hou, Bo Ning, these two men were envoys of the Yuan Long Sect who were killed by Sun Quan. They sacrificed themselves for justice, allowing Guangling to be preserved. We have come specifically to pay our respects!"

  "So that's it!" No wonder there was only a name on the stone tablet and no other inscription, it turned out to be a new tablet.

  Man Chong and Lü Rui then also paid their respects at the tombstone of the messenger, representing the people of Guangling in paying their respects to the two men.