Chapter 44 Liu Wu: Look, that’s Cao Mengde!
Chapter 044: Liu Wu: Look, that’s Cao Mengde!
Jiangdong, Jianye Water Fort.

It was already dark at this moment, but there were torches all over the river, almost illuminating the dark surface of the river on the east side of the river.

"kill!"

"Raise the sail! Raise the sail!"

"Take over! Take over quickly!"

On the mighty river, shouts of killing echoed in the dark night. Countless large and small boats were traveling back and forth, practicing battle formations. No matter how rough the river waves were, the soldiers on the boats were walking as if on flat ground. They were the Jiangdong Navy.

Even Cao Mengde, who occupied eight states and dominated the north, had to abandon his 800,000 troops and flee north in panic when faced with the Jiangdong navy!
On the Yangtze River, the Jiangdong Navy is the real overlord!

On the high fortress on the shore, Zhou Yu held up a fire and looked at the Jiangdong navy on the river. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief: "The situation on both sides of the river is unclear now. As long as Jiangdong has this navy, the six counties of Jiangdong will have the confidence to protect themselves."

Since the Battle of Chibi, the situation on both sides of the river had gradually become clear, but after Xiling in the north of the river was captured, the situation changed again.

Now, seeing that war has broken out again in Jiangbei, the Sun and Liu families are seemingly being dragged into the confrontation with Cao Cao again. Even Zhou Yu feels a little uneasy.

Now, all Zhou Yu can do is to train the navy day and night so that Jiangdong will have more confidence to resist the enemy in the upcoming major changes.

"The commander-in-chief is worrying too much." Taishi Ci on the side disagreed: "If Cao Cao wants to attack Xiling, we in Jiangdong can just watch the fire from the other side of the river. Even if the fire comes over here, it will only be another Battle of Red Cliffs."

Taishi Ci spoke passionately and eloquently, but Zhou Yu's frown never relaxed... Fight the Battle of Red Cliffs again? But can Jiangdong continue to win this time?
"Report!"

Suddenly, a soldier came running over: "Reporting to the commander-in-chief, the Marquis of Wu has arrived at the water fort!"

The Marquis of Wu is here?

Zhou Yu was startled and quickly led Taishi Ci down from the high place and hurried to the central army in the water stronghold.

The tent was brightly lit, and Sun Quan was looking at a map of both sides of the river.

"Greetings, Lord Wu!" Zhou Yu and Taishi Ci saluted Sun Quan.

"No need to be polite." Sun Quan turned slowly and said without further ado: "The spies have reported that Cao Cao's southern expeditionary army has left Xiangyang and is getting closer to Xiling. Cao Aman is about to attack Jiangbei again."

Cao Aman is about to attack Jiangbei again!

Zhou Yu and Taishi Ci were both shocked. This thief Cao was so quick.

Both of them were a little dazed. Cao Cao suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Chibi. They thought that Cao Cao would not use troops on both sides of the Yangtze River for at least a few years. However, not long after, the main force of Cao Cao's army came so quickly.

"Gongjin, what do you think?" Sun Quan's eyes fell on Zhou Yu.

Zhou Yu slowly walked to the picture of the two banks of the Yangtze River. His thoughts raced: "Cao's army is marching southwards. It is impossible that they are coming just for the small Xiling. Their intention is to go to Jiangdong."

"Cao Cao is now strong and Xiling is weak. I'm afraid Xiling will lose more than it wins in this battle..."

Sun Quan listened quietly. How could he not be clear about the two points Gongjin made?

In the Battle of Red Cliff, Cao Cao's 800,000-strong army was burned to ashes by a huge fire in Jiangdong, leaving Cao's forces in Jingxiang unable to recover, and its control over Jingzhou in name only. Cao Cao wished he could eat the flesh and sleep on the skin of Jiangdong to avenge his great hatred.

Now Cao Cao's army is conquering Xiling. As long as Xiling City is under his control again, Cao Cao will certainly take advantage of the situation and go downstream to attack Jiangdong. Not only Sun Quan can see this, but many civil and military officials in Jiangdong are also aware of this.

"But as Lu Zijing said before, this may also be an opportunity for Jiangdong!" Zhou Yu changed the subject.

Sun Quan's eyes flickered, and he took a step forward: "According to Gongjin's wishes..."

Zhou Yu: "The commander of Xiling is extremely brave and knowledgeable in military affairs. Previously, he defeated Cao Ren's army of 30,000 with a small force and captured Cao Ren alive on the battlefield. His morale is high now."

"According to the spies' report not long ago, after Cao Ren's army was annihilated, Jiangling was left empty and Liu Bei took advantage of the opportunity to occupy it. Cao was furious and he sent another 50,000 of his 80,000 main forces to attack Jiangling directly. In other words..."

"Cao Cao only has 30,000 troops to conquer Xiling this time!"

"Moreover, with the 10,000 Shanyue we sent to support Xiling, the outcome of this battle is highly uncertain."

Zhou Yu looked at the word [Xiling] on the map with a burning gaze: "If Cao Cao wins this battle, the Eastern Wu can lead the army across the river and beat the fallen dog, and then continue to implement Lu Zijing's strategy and make friends with Xiling."

Sun Quan frowned. It would be satisfying to beat Cao Cao, a drowned dog, but if Cao Cao left today, he would definitely come back another day. Simply driving him away would not be a long-term solution.

Zhou Yu's voice continued: "If Cao Cao wins..."

Having said this, Zhou Yu stopped and looked at Sun Quan.

Sun Quan was stunned, and his eyes looked at [Xiling] on the map again.

His thoughts were churning...

Xiling,

Xiling!

In an instant, Sun Quan's eyes lit up!

He seemed to understand something. His hand holding the long sword at his waist trembled constantly. He vaguely saw a great strategy to stabilize the Jiangdong country and even allow Jiangdong to move north smoothly.

"Somebody come!"

Sun Quan tried his best to suppress the trembling in his voice: "Quickly recall Cheng Pu, Huang Gai and the other twelve generals!!"

……

In Jiangbei, the sky in the east was already turning pale and it was daybreak.

"The whole night! This kid really didn't come out."

"The Cao thief's army is approaching, and he doesn't even think about leaving the city to make arrangements to resist the enemy?"

"Squatting is a very strenuous job...hiss! My old waist!"

"Alas, this night has been a waste of time."

Outside Xiling City, twelve figures were crouching stealthily behind a mound. They were the Twelve Generals of Jiangdong.

Yesterday they wanted to meet the commander of Xiling, but the commander made a request that they could not agree to. With no other choice, the twelve generals could only prepare to return to Soochow.

But thinking that they were now only separated from this old friend by a city, yet could never meet him, the old generals of Jiangdong became more and more unwilling to accept this, and finally came up with a bad idea to wait for this old friend outside the city.

The weather was cold at that time. The twelve veterans stayed outside the city all night, feeling the cold wind, but they never saw the other side leave the city.

Cheng Pu helplessly lay down on the mound: "The cold wind this night made my bones ache, but it's a pity that I didn't even see the shadow of that boy."

"Bone pain?" Han Dang beside him gloated, "Isn't it the hidden injury from that kid's halberd on Shenting Ridge that year?"

Cheng Pu sneered: "Don't blame me. I remember that you were knocked off your horse nine times by that guy, and you got on the horse nine times to fight again. You were even more embarrassed than me."

Han Dang was furious: "Don't slander me. How can I, Han Yigong, be so useless? The one who was knocked off his horse nine times by that brat was obviously Zhou Gongjin!"

The two men's argument attracted other generals as well:
"That's right! I, Zhou Tai, testified for Duke Yi. It was indeed Zhou Gongjin who was knocked off his horse nine times. I asked him about it later, but he refused to admit it. Gongjin was good in everything except that he was too weak and too concerned about his reputation."

"In that battle, I, Huang Gongfu, did not dodge and was stabbed six times by that guy with his halberd. Blood was pouring out, but fortunately, none of the wounds were vital."

"Gong Fu was lucky. He got one less stab than I did."

"I remember that among all the brothers, Zhou Tai was the only one who suffered less from that boy's vicious attack. He only broke a rib."

"Bullshit! I didn't mean to use too much force, otherwise, not only would your ribs be broken, but your neck would also be broken!"

Behind the earth mound, the twelve generals of Jiangdong compared their wounds suffered in the battle at Shenting Ridge. In that battle, everyone was bruised and injured, but no one died.

But all the generals who participated in that battle knew that no one died not because of their superior martial arts, but because the brave young general showed mercy and did not want to ruin everyone's lives. In the battle of Shenting Ridge, they lost with conviction, but they also felt ashamed of their loss. They were known as the Twelve Generals of Jiangdong, but they could not even defeat a young man together.

This battle left a deep impression on them, and they have been thinking about the Battle of Shentingling all these years. They wanted to meet the brave young general of the past not for revenge, but more to resolve the knot in their hearts from that year.

But now...

Behind the mound, the voices of the crowd gradually became lower.

call! ~
The cold wind blew past the few people. Zhou Tai hesitated and said, "Everyone, we have been waiting for that guy outside the city for a night. Now... what should we do?"

Continue to wait?

The generals were silent. They knew that the commander of Xiling had no intention of seeing them right now, so waiting any longer would probably yield no results.

Moreover, they came out without the knowledge of Marquis Wu this time. If they delay returning to Jiangdong, I am afraid that Marquis Wu will really punish them.

But they still felt unwilling to leave like this.

"Generals!"

When the twelve generals were in a dilemma, a soldier suddenly ran over from the shore.

The soldier came running over, holding a piece of silk in his hand: "The Marquis of Wu has issued an order, ordering the twelve generals to return to Jiangdong as soon as possible to discuss matters!"

Did Marquis Wu know that he and his men had come to Xiling?

The generals' hearts skipped a beat. Cheng Pu took the silk, read it quickly, and then passed it to all the generals.

"It is indeed the order of Marquis Wu, and it has Marquis Wu's seal on the back."

"The Marquis of Wu ordered us to return to Jiangdong as soon as possible."

"Could it be that something big happened in the army?"

Cheng Pu sighed and said, "Everyone, the Marquis of Wu has issued an order for official business, so we should return to Jiangdong as soon as possible."

The order from the Lord of Jiangdong is right before their eyes. As long as the twelve generals still consider themselves subjects of Jiangdong, they must obey the order. Naturally, the generals understand this principle.

They took one last look at Xiling City in the distance and sighed in their hearts, thinking that they would never be able to meet their old friends from Shentingling again.

"Let's go back to Jiangdong."

This time, they did not hesitate any longer, turned around, walked towards the shore and boarded the boat.

The cold wind was howling and the river was roaring against the shore.

The boat carrying the twelve generals slowly sailed away from the shore and headed towards Jiangdong.

Boom! ~
Suddenly, there was a strange sound from the shore, like thunder roaring across the earth.

"No, there is movement on the shore!" Zhou Tai exclaimed.

Is there any movement? What is it?
The Jiangdong generals who were about to enter the cabin subconsciously turned their heads to look...

Outside the originally peaceful Xiling City, a yellow dust fog suddenly rose into the sky, as if an invisible yellow dragon was rushing straight towards Xiling!

In the smoke and dust, several large flags were faintly visible, with a huge word "Cao" written on them!

The expressions of the Twelve Generals of Jiangdong suddenly changed:
"Thief Cao! It's the army of thief Cao that's marching south that's coming to attack us!"

……

On the west gate tower of Xiling City, the atmosphere was tense and murderous.

All the soldiers guarding the city looked outside the city nervously...

Wow! ~
Outside the city, a strong wind was howling, blowing away the yellow dust rising into the sky, revealing the true appearance of Cao Cao's army heading south.

The black mass of soldiers pressed towards Xiling City like a sweeping dark cloud!

The flags are fluttering in the wind and gathering like a tide.

The long spears are like a forest, and the swords and halberds are like a mountain.

The army formation is tight and the march is as turbulent as raging waves!

The footsteps of tens of thousands of Cao's elite troops rose and fell as they moved forward, hitting the ground in unison, as if they were beating a huge cowhide drum, the sound like thunder.

The armor clanged and was covered with marks of swords and arrows.

The blade was cold and filled with a bloody and tragic smell.

They are the elite troops under Prime Minister Cao.

Conquer the Central Plains and annihilate the heroes.

He fought a great battle in Hebei and captured four states.

The nine counties of Jingxiang were defeated without a fight!

Even though they encountered enemies on the river at Chibi and suffered heavy losses, they are now fighting back!
In an instant, murderous aura rose to the sky.

It was like a huge wild beast, baring its huge fangs towards Xiling City!

On the Xiling City Wall, the soldiers defending the city swallowed hard as they looked at the overwhelming and murderous army of Cao Cao outside the city. Their hands holding the weapons were already soaked with sweat.

"Is this the elite of Cao's southern expedition army?"

"Can we really defend Jiangling City?"

"Why are you panicking? I heard from General Wei that the Cao army coming this time is only 30,000 strong, just like the 30,000 troops Cao Ren led last time. They are both 30,000 soldiers. If you can repel Cao Ren, you can definitely defeat Cao Cao!"

Not long ago, Liu Wu defeated Cao Ren's 30,000-strong army and captured Cao Ren alive on the battlefield, which greatly boosted the morale of the soldiers defending Xiling City. Even at this moment, as long as Liu Wu is there, many soldiers are still very confident in defending Xiling City.

Lu Xun stood aside, listening to the soldiers' discussions and looking at the endless Cao army outside the city, his face turning pale.

Cao Cao's 30,000 troops must be elite. How could they be compared with Cao Ren's 30,000 troops?
In addition, Cao Cao has many brave generals under his command, so the difficulty of this battle is probably far beyond previous imagination!
Although the lord had analyzed the difficulty of this battle for everyone late last night, Lu Xun still couldn't help but feel panic when he really faced Cao Cao's army and their almost suffocating momentum.

He subconsciously looked at the figure in front of him holding a painted halberd...

Liu Wu stood with his hands on the city wall, looking coldly at the Cao army below the city that was almost overwhelming the entire Xiling City.

Boom! ~
Cao Cao's army continued to advance towards Xiling City, getting closer and closer. The terrifying murderous aura that soared into the sky almost made people breathless.

Under the banner of the central army, Cao Cao stood on his horse. He looked up at the Xiling city tower and almost immediately saw the figure standing there with a spear in his hand.

Just at this moment, Liu Wu also noticed the mighty figure riding a horse under the banner of Cao's army!

boom! ~
There was a strong wind on the top of the city, which made it almost impossible for Lu Xun to open his eyes.

"Bo Yan."

Suddenly, Liu Wu's voice sounded beside Lu Xun, almost drowning out the sound of the howling wind.

Lu Xun was stunned: "My lord?"

Woo~
Liu Wu pointed his halberd at the central army outside the city, and his words were faintly like thunder and lightning: "Look, the place where the big banner of the central army of Cao's camp is, is where Cao Mengde is..."

(End of this chapter)