Chapter 239: Yu Ce's Friendship, Zhou Yu's Reconsideration However, after Sun Ce learned of Zhou Yu's whereabouts, he abandoned his troops and headed towards Wuhu County with dozens of guards. The geographical location of Wuhu during the Eastern Han Dynasty was roughly the same as that of later generations, but it was not located on the river, but rather inland. As soon as Sun Ce arrived here, he saw dozens of large and small boats docked on the riverside, including the tower ship that Zhou Yu had used to help him sail south a few years ago. This tower ship was also Zhou Yu's favorite. He always liked to cruise on the river and play the piano. Seeing the ship docked here, Sun Ce's eyes suddenly became red. He was not sad about the annihilation of his navy, but he was sad about his brother Zhou Yu's defeat here, with only these few soldiers left. How must he feel? If Zhou Yu had not joined his army, with his abilities, how could he have been in such a miserable state? Therefore, the moment he saw the ship, he ordered someone to inform the generals to come. Since the defeat that day, Han Dang, Deng Dang, Lu Meng and other generals had been here with Zhou Yu. When they heard that Sun Ce was coming, they were all shocked and hurried out to greet him. But the moment they saw Sun Ce, he stepped forward anxiously and said: "Generals, where is Gongjin now?"

Looking at Sun Ce's face, the generals felt ashamed. It can be seen that he cares so much about Zhou Yu, Han Dang bowed and said in a deep voice: "My lord, the governor is resting in the mansion now!" "After the defeat that day, the commander-in-chief fainted. When he woke up, he cried out that he was ashamed of his lord and vomited half a liter of blood." "We know that it is difficult for us to continue our journey with the governor in this state, so we will stay here to rest." When Sun Ce heard Zhou Yu vomiting blood, he stared with wide eyes and said anxiously: "Where is Gongjin now? Take me there quickly!" Upon hearing this, everyone took Sun Ce all the way into the city and went to the county government, where they saw the county magistrate standing with his hands hanging down, waiting. However, Sun Ce didn't even look at him and walked straight into the mansion. But as soon as he got here, he saw Zhou Yu wearing only a single layer of clothes and clothes, looking at the map on the table with a pale face. While watching, he couldn't stop coughing. Seeing that his face was pale and no longer as high-spirited as last year, Sun Ce felt a lump in his nose and a blockage in his throat. He was silent for a long time before he called out hoarsely, "Gongjin". Perhaps Zhou Yu was so absorbed in what he was seeing that he did not even hear the sound. He was still concentrating on looking at the picture, making notes from time to time. When Sun Ce saw this, his eyes immediately moistened. He walked towards the hall, knelt down in front of Zhou Yu and said: "Gongjin, if this is the case, why bother with official business?" As he called out, Zhou Yu raised his head blankly, his eyes dazed as he said: "Brother Bofu? Cough cough cough, why are you here?" In a trance, there was no longer the spirituality in his eyes, but only confusion about the reality and dreams. Seeing his expression, Sun Ce grabbed his hand and said with concern: "I heard that my dear brother had a heart attack and vomited blood and lay in bed. Is this true?"

As he said this, he seemed to remember something and turned around and shouted at everyone: "If you knew Gongjin was so ill, why did you let him worry about all these things?" "You guys are doing this, are you trying to tire Gongjin to death?" All the generals bowed their heads as he shouted at them. Only Han Dang bowed his head and said: "My lord, it's not that we didn't try to stop him, it's just that Gongjin insisted on doing so, and we had no choice!" "Fortunately, the Lord came in person, otherwise Gongjin would not have wanted us to inform the Lord!" It turned out that when the army was defeated that day, Zhou Yu looked at his troops being attacked from both sides, and he felt anxious and worried. With so many thoughts in his mind, he almost fainted on the spot. Fortunately, everyone fought to the death and managed to protect Zhou Yu. Zhou Yu was so desperate when he saw that all the troops in the rear were annihilated that he fainted. It was not until he woke up that he saw the remaining people around him and vomited blood in grief and anger. The crowd forcibly carried him into the mansion before they could calm down. After waking up, Zhou Yu asked everyone to bring the map to him. When everyone objected, Zhou Yu used his status as the commander-in-chief to pressure them, and everyone had no choice but to let it go. Seeing that Sun Ce was blaming him, he told him the whole situation. Seeing that Zhou Yu was already sad, Sun Ce turned back and cried to Zhou Yu: "This is because I am sorry for my younger brother. How can my younger brother betray me?" "Get up quickly, don't look at it anymore, and go to the couch to rest!" As he said that, he grabbed Zhou Yu's wrist and pulled him up. Zhou Yu was reluctant to leave when he saw this, but he was pulled up by Sun Ce's strength. He walked while smiling and said: "It's just a minor illness, cough cough cough. It's not a cold. I'm not a poor and weak person, how could I fall ill like this?" "Brother, there is no need to do this. I am thinking about state affairs. Let's discuss it and then you can rest!" But as he said this, Sun Ce pulled him without even turning his head. Seeing Sun Ce's determined back, Zhou Yu suddenly stopped in his tracks. Seeing this, Sun Ce turned around and angrily shouted: "Zhou Gongjin, how dare you disobey my order to take a rest?" But when he turned around, he saw Zhou Yu's eyes were red and his lips were moving, but he didn't say a word. Seeing this, Sun Ce's eyes welled up with tears, and he forced a smile and said: "Brother, stop acting like a little girl!" The words came out just like the first time they met. Zhou Yu's nose twitched, and he lowered his head with a hoarse voice, crying: "Yu has failed my brother's trust! Yu has failed my brother's trust!" Men cry differently from women. Many times they can’t howl out and the sound gets stuck in their throats. Until I was shaking all over and could no longer howl or cry. But at this moment, his voice trembled and tears could not stop flowing down. He felt guilty for the trust Sun Ce had placed in him. In fact, he has been under more pressure than anyone else these days. On the one hand, he has to face the guilt of his own defeat which led to the deaths of several generals; on the other hand, he has to bear the sadness and rethink a defensive strategy for Sun Ce! He originally thought that he could handle it, but when he actually met Sun Ce, he couldn't hold it anymore.

The more Sun Ce did this, the more guilty he felt! While crying, I suddenly felt a pain in my waist and burst into tears. Sun Ce couldn't stop crying when he saw Zhou Yu like this, but he kept smiling and said: "She was just like a girl, crying like this, people would think she was someone's daughter getting married!" "If handsome Zhou Lang behaves like this, he will surely be laughed at in the future!" Zhou Yu was originally feeling sad. When he heard this, his heart ached and trembled. He raised his head and said, "Brother, why do you have to tease me like this? I feel guilty!" Sun Ce, however, didn't care at all when he saw this. He became even more amused and pointed at Zhou Yu's snot that was about to fall and said: "You are getting uglier and uglier, and you still don't wipe your tears. Are you short of salt and have to eat this?" Zhou Yu was a refined man and disliked such topics the most. However, Sun Ce was a humorous person and often made jokes about these things. Seeing him mocking him for wanting to eat snot, Zhou Yu took a deep breath, took out his handkerchief, and blew it out fiercely. With a hoarse voice, he glared at Sun Ce and said: "If I had known you were such a person, I would never have become so close to you!" When Sun Ce saw this, he was glad that he had stopped crying. He put his arm around his shoulders and said: "You and I are brothers, bound together for three lifetimes. If you don't associate with me, who else can you associate with?" As he spoke, he took him in his arms and walked towards the couch, pressing him onto the couch and saying: "Just call me brother and lie down. We'll talk another day if you want to talk about when!" Zhou Yu was pressed down on the couch by him and had no choice but to lie back and let Sun Ce cover him with the quilt. After waiting like this until Sun Ce sat down beside the couch, he asked about the current situation. The two have known each other since childhood, and although they have similar interests, they have different personalities. Sun Ce is rough but meticulous, and he is a thoughtful person. Even if Sun Ce doesn't say it, he knows how much pressure Sun Ce is under now! But men love to show off their strength, just like he did just now. He knew that Sun Ce was also showing off his strength, so he took the initiative to ask about it. The reason why Sun Ce came was to confirm that Zhou Yu was okay. Although he had some emotional fluctuations just now, his ability to withstand pressure was much stronger than Zhou Yu's. Seeing that he had stabilized Zhou Yu's emotions, he no longer concealed it and directly told him the current situation. Simply put, since Zhou Yu's defeat, Qin Zhen has remained inactive. Only Zhao Yun and Xu Sheng went south and captured Lingyang. As for Jiang Qin, after his defeat that day, he took dozens of his brothers into the mountains and retreated towards Jing County. Zhou Yu listened to these situations and sighed again: "Now that things have come to this, I have failed my brother's trust. Ahem. I have failed General Ling, General Chen, and Dong Yuandai!" As he said this, his expression darkened and he looked full of guilt. Seeing this, Sun Ce shook his head firmly and said to Zhou Yu: "Gong Jin often told me that victory and defeat are common in the military!" "Although you are the commander-in-chief, I appointed you as my general. Although you are responsible for the defeat, the deaths of the others have nothing to do with you!" "There is no war without death, why should you be so worried?" To be honest, it would be a lie for Sun Ce to say that he was not sad when he heard the news of the death of these generals!

But after years of fighting in wars, even if his heart wasn't as hard as stone, at least he could face the issue of life and death squarely. Especially in the Battle of Shouchun, Song Qian and Chen Wu were killed, and Zhou Tai's whereabouts were unknown. If he had really been blaming himself, then there would be no need to fight this battle! Therefore, seeing Zhou Yu blaming himself like this, he had to give him some advice. No one's words would be as useful as Sun Ce's. After listening to them, Zhou Yu nodded and asked Sun Ce what he thought now. Sun Ce then told Zhou Yu the plan proposed by Zhang Hong and Chen Duan. After hearing this, Zhou Yu coughed and nodded: "Mr. Zhang and Chen Zizheng are both from a certain country. If we defend in this way, the main force of Liu Bei's army will most likely break through from Fanchang!" "Brother, if you lead the troops to garrison there yourself, you should be able to stop Liu Bei's troops." "But this strategy neglects two points, and Qin Zhen will definitely seize the opportunity to break through them one by one!" Upon hearing this, Sun Ce hurriedly asked Zhou Yu where he was. Seeing that Zhou Yu was coughing, he poured him a bowl of water. Zhou Yu moistened his throat with water and continued his analysis: "First, Liu Bei has appointed Liu Fu as the governor of Yangzhou, so Yuzhang Hua Xin must obey Liu Bei's orders!" "After our army defeated Taishi Ci at the beginning of this year, this man went south to Yuzhang and took over more than 10,000 soldiers and horses from Liu Yao's former army." "If our army blocks the enemy's front, Liu Bei might use Taishi Ci as a detachment to attack Kuaiji from Yuzhang!" "Secondly, this plan only considers Liu Bei's landing, and does not take into account Guangling's troops!" "Liu Bei and Chen Deng are close friends. If he sees a dangerous place occupied by our army, he will probably break through from the north and south!" "If our army blocks the river mouth, Liu Bei may join forces with Chen Deng to attack our rear from Guangling." "If we don't take these two things into consideration, our army will be able to protect the front, but the rear will be pressed by the enemy, and we will be defeated in the long run!" Taishi Ci and Chen Deng have always been potential helpers to Liu Bei, but Zhang Hong and Chen Duan did not take this into consideration in their haste. Now that Zhou Yu mentioned this, Sun Ce realized the loophole in his defense and asked hurriedly: "Then according to Gongjin, how should I deploy my troops?" Zhou Yu heard this, thought for a while, and then said: "This is not difficult. We just need to rule by law. Now that our navy has been lost, we are no longer able to block the river." "However, Zhongli Xu's troops in Kuaiji still have four seagoing ships and more than a thousand soldiers and horses." "Many of my Jiangdong men are familiar with water. We can give them two thousand soldiers and horses, and mobilize the merchant ships of the Wuzhong nobles to go to Dantu to prevent Chen Deng from going south." "Order the troops stationed at Heqi to be withdrawn, and their 4,000 men to be stationed in the mountains of Damo County." "With these two strategies, even if Liu Bei mobilizes two armies, it will be difficult for him to advance." Damo County is the later Quzhou City, which was the only way for troops to march from Yuzhang to Kuaiji in this era. Zhou Yu ordered his men to guard here and completely block the entrance to Kuaiji. Upon hearing this, Sun Ce nodded in agreement and was about to go down to pass on the order. But when Zhou Yu saw this, he coughed violently again and said: "Wait a minute, brother. I have another plan that may force Liu Bei's troops to retreat!"

Seeing how excited he was, Sun Ce quickly stepped forward to pat him on the back and said: "Don't worry, my dear brother. Just tell me what you have to say. I will definitely support you!" As he said this, Zhou Yu shook his head and said: "Brother may not agree to this plan. I want you to send an envoy to the north to ask Lu Bu to raid Jiujiang County!" As soon as these words came out, Sun Ce froze on the spot, and said awkwardly: "My dear brother, I want you to send Lu Bu to help!" This matter is just like what Zhou Yu said, he is a little reluctant to agree! (End of this chapter)