Chapter 227 Zhou Yu's Killing Move, Kong Ming Crosses the River As the naval battle was unfavorable, Qin Zhen wanted to replace the general to fight against Zhou Yu. On the other hand, Zhou Yu also led the navy back to the Pengli Lake water fort. In this battle, the Jingzhou navy suffered heavy losses, and the Jiangdong navy also suffered considerable losses. If the war goes smoothly and Huang Zu's navy is completely wiped out, then these losses will naturally be acceptable. However, Gan Ning's interruption caused Zhou Yu's tactics to fail, and even killed many Jiangdong soldiers. After a rough calculation, they found that they had lost at least 500 soldiers and dozens of ships. Although a great victory was achieved, Ling Cao's death made Zhou Yu feel depressed. So he returned to the big tent and summoned all the generals to confess his crime: "Today, you all worked hard. We wanted to annihilate the Jingzhou navy in one battle, but unexpectedly, the enemy escaped." "I didn't think it through, which led to General Ling's death in battle. It's all my fault!" When the generals saw Zhou Yu like this, they couldn't help but look at each other with complicated feelings. Today's battle was supposed to be a big victory. Even if we don't get a complete victory later, it will still be a small victory.

If others achieve such a victory, we should at least issue a victory report, even if we don't sing their praises. He would never be like Zhou Yu, who took the blame on himself. While thinking, Jiang Qin stepped forward and advised Zhou Yu: "Victory and defeat are common in the military. General Ling's death in battle today is not the fault of the governor!" "It is true that there is no mercy on the battlefield, and there is no need for the governor to feel so sorry!" As soon as he spoke, Lü Meng, Han Dang and others all tried to persuade him: "Yes, this is not the governor's fault, why should you feel so sorry!" Zhou Yu listened to everyone's words, the sadness on his face did not fade, and he asked again: "I am not close friends with General Ling. I wonder if the general has any family?" Upon hearing this, Jiang Qin hurriedly replied: "There is still a son, ten years old, named Ling Tong. He lost his mother at a young age, and there is no one else in the family!" When Zhou Yu heard this, he became even more sad and said: "This is why I feel guilty. The general fought with my army but died in vain, leaving this child here alone. How can he survive?" "And pass on my military order to take Ling Tong into my family to raise him." "Order your lord to take the general's coffin back to his hometown for a grand burial. Do not let the soldiers' morale be ruined." When everyone heard this, they all bowed their hands and accepted the order, praising Zhou Yu's virtue. After Zhou Yu won over the people's hearts, he asked about the specific reasons for the failure today. In fact, up to this point, most of the generals were kept in the dark. Only Zhou Yu knew that it was because an enemy general shot and killed Ling Cao that they were able to turn the tide and win. But he still didn't know who this general was and how he appeared. Now when he asked this, everyone naturally shook their heads and said nothing. Seeing this, Lu Meng stepped forward and bowed: "Commander-in-chief, the military situation in Jingzhou is unclear. It is useless to ask now." "Fortunately, we have captured a general today. Why not bring him up for questioning?"

When Zhou Yu heard this, he suddenly remembered something and ordered his men to bring the captured generals into the camp. It turned out that the prisoner was Chen Jiu, a general under Huang Zu. During the battle during the day, Chen Ju and Deng Long were ambushed. Deng Long was still fighting desperately, so Chen Ju jumped into the water to save his life. As a result, he saved his life, but was captured by the Jiangdong navy and taken all the way to Pengli Lake. As soon as he entered the military tent, he fell to his knees and begged for mercy loudly. It was also because Huang Zu was unpopular that all the generals, except Su Fei, were unwilling to serve him. Now, once captured by the enemy, the natural thing for them to do is to beg for mercy and save their lives. When he behaved like this, all the generals in Jiangdong laughed, and even Zhou Yu was amused and said: "How can you be so cowardly? I haven't ordered you to be killed yet, so why are you asking for mercy?" When Chen heard this, he immediately lowered his head and said: "Because I heard that one of your generals was shot dead by Gan Ning today, I am afraid." "I hope the general will understand that Gan Ning and I are not from the same army." "Even if I kill your general, it has nothing to do with me. General, please have mercy on me and don't kill me to vent your anger!" It would have been fine if he hadn't said this, but as soon as he said this, everyone's smile disappeared. Only Zhou Yu heard Gan Ning's name and asked curiously: "This Gan Ning you mentioned is not one of your troops, so whose army does he belong to?" Upon hearing this, Chen hurriedly recounted Gan Ning's identity and background to Zhou Yu. But one thing was omitted, that is, the fact that Gan Ning had already defected to Liu Bei. This could be a coincidence, because Qin Zhen tried to win over Gan Ning in private, and only a few people knew about the whole thing. In Jingzhou, apart from Huang She, only Huang Zu knew about this. For Huang Zu, it didn’t matter to him whether Gan Ning surrendered to others or not, because he was not his man anyway. Based on this knowledge, Huang Zu did not tell anyone else. Therefore, in the eyes of his generals, Gan Ning was still the general of Jingzhou. Facing Zhou Yu's question, Chen did not understand what he meant, so he argued with Gan Ning, and finally added: "You don't know, Commander, this man started out as a bandit and betrayed his master, so he has never been valued by our army, and we don't even bother to associate with him." "The shooting of your general today was entirely his own decision. It has nothing to do with us!" "I am willing to surrender, and I hope the general will show mercy and spare my life!" After hearing his remarks, the generals were filled with contempt, thinking that no matter how bad Gan Ning was, he still saved the navy of Jingzhou. In order to avoid getting himself involved, this person is actually making such an argument. How shameless! Zhou Yu listened, stroking his chin, and said with interest: "So, Gan Ning is not valued in Jingzhou right now!"

"But if that's the case, why did this person still act like this today?" "Although this person is abandoned by others, he is determined to make achievements, so he came here today to show himself!" Chen said, hesitating for a while, and then said in a deep voice: "In addition, Qin Zhen's contribution should also be attributed to this. General, you may not know that Qin Zhen is now in our army!" "The reason why our army is opposing your army this time is because this person has deceived Envoy Liu!" "We didn't want to send out troops, but this person urged us to do so. If it weren't for this person's urging, we wouldn't have been defeated today!" Chen certainly had no good feelings towards Qin Zhen, the culprit, so he simply pushed all the blame onto Qin Zhen. When Zhou Yu heard this, his eyes instantly became sharper: "General, you just said that Qin Zhen, the military advisor of Liu Bei's army, is in Jiangxia?" He actually didn't know about Qin Zhen's whereabouts, because they didn't even know that Qin Zhen had been sent to Jingzhou, let alone that Qin Zhen was now in Jiangxia! Compared with Gan Ning's information, Qin Zhen's current news in Jiangxia is obviously more important! While thinking, he continued to ask about Qin Zhen's movements, including what Qin Zhen had experienced in Jingzhou during this period. Chen knew some of these things, but not others. But in order to show his sincerity, he told Zhou Yu everything in detail. After asking this for a long time, Zhou Yu had Chen Ju escorted out of the camp. He looked at everyone and said in a deep voice: "I have fought with Qin Zhen several times. I thought that our army would be able to succeed when it arrives in Jiangxia this time." "I didn't expect Qin Zhen to go to Jingzhou in person!" "From this perspective, Gan Ning might have been won over by Qin Zhen. The reason why our army was defeated this time is probably due to this man!" Originally, he thought that the responsibility for Ling Cao's death this time was on him. But now that he heard that Qin Zhen was staying in Jiangxia, he knew that this time it must be Qin Zhen who was interfering again! When he thought of this, he felt so angry that his teeth itched. It seemed that since he met Qin Zhen, every time he was about to accomplish something, Qin Zhen would interfere. This time was even more so, as not only did it thwart his tactics, but it also led to the death of his general Ling Cao. If Chen hadn't told this matter now, he would probably still be kept in the dark! Even a clay figure can have tempers. Even though Zhou Yu had an extraordinary demeanor, he was still filled with resentment in his heart. "If you don't know about this, that's fine. Now that Qin Zhen is here, our army must defeat the Jingzhou navy no matter what!" "We must not let this person escape again and become a threat to our army!" When the generals heard this, they were also encouraged. If only Huang Zu was here, even if they won, there would not be much actual results. But if we can keep Qin Zhen in Jiangxia, that would be a great achievement! But how to keep Qin Zhen was a problem. Han Dang stepped out and said: "Commander-in-chief, even so, Qin Zhen is a man of extraordinary wisdom and strategy!" "With this person here, it will be difficult for our army to win, let alone capture him." When all the generals heard this, they were all stunned, except Zhou Yu who laughed and said: "If we talk about Liu Bei's army, Qin Zhen is the leader, and the others are just so-so." "The only person I should worry about is Lu Zijing!"

"Qin Zhen is here right now, most likely to trap our army here, hoping to break through the blockade of Chaohu Lake and attack our army from both sides!" "But this man has neglected one thing. Although Zi Jing knows about military affairs, he has rarely been in battle." "Qin Zhen is here, and Liu Bei's navy is led by Lu Su alone. Our army may take this opportunity to defeat Liu Bei's army first, and then march westward to defeat the Jingzhou navy!" "Pass on my military order and report the situation here to the Lord immediately." "Have the lord mobilize the troops of Chungu to withdraw the defense of Chaohu Lake, and make it look like our army has lost this battle. This will make Lu Zijing think that the time to send troops has come, and he will lead his troops to attack Chaohu Lake." "Also, my lord, please send 10,000 troops westward and station them here." "The rest of you, prepare your troops immediately, and march out of the water stronghold tonight to ambush in the North Lake first." "If Qin Zhen stops this time, it will be fine. But if he intends to be attacked from both sides, I will destroy his entire army here!" When the generals heard the order, they all responded and went out of the tents to carry out the order. That night, after winning a battle, Zhou Yu once again deployed his troops and divided them into two halves, with one part remaining on the south bank and the other ambushing on the north side of Pengli Lake. It should be said here that Pengli Lake is the Poyang Lake of later generations. In later generations, as the terrain changed, the north side of Pengli Lake gradually disappeared and turned into land. But in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Pengli Lake stretched across the Yangtze River from north to south, with large lakes on both banks. Zhou Yu's move was to hide the dark under the lamp. On the surface, the water fort was set up on the south bank, but in fact the troops were hidden on the north bank. If the Jingzhou army set their sights on the water fort on the south bank, whether it was a surprise attack or a fierce attack, their retreat would be attacked by Zhou Yu. Compared with the north bank, the waterway on the south bank is relatively narrow and long. As long as he blocks our retreat, no matter how many troops come, we will be defeated! This is also the reason why Zhou Yu chose this place as the main battlefield. When outnumbered, this is his trump card. However, he didn't know that the battlefield he was arranging was seen by one person. And this person was Zhuge Liang who left Qin Zhen. The reason why this happened is just a coincidence. Because after Qin Zhen saw Huang Zu's troops that day, he was on guard against Zhou Yu's attack. In order to coordinate with Jiangxia, he directly ordered Zhuge Liang to set out from Jiangxia and rush to Lujiang by water. As a result, they encountered Zhou Yu's troops heading west. Fortunately, Kong Ming was alert and knew that the Jiangdong navy had already taken control of the Yangtze River. As soon as he left Jiangxia, he separated from Wang Can and others, disguised himself as a scholar, took two guards and hired a fishing boat to head south. Although they encountered the Jiangdong fleet on the way, they did not attract the attention of the Jiangdong navy.

When we got to the outside of Pengli Lake, we suddenly saw a lot of boats in the distance. The fisherman who was rowing the boat stopped immediately and said in surprise: "Strange, strange, this Pengli Lake has always been home to only bandits, never seen so many soldiers and officers here!" When Zhuge Liang heard this, he was surprised and asked quickly: "Are you saying that there was no checkpoint here before, but there is one now?" The fisherman saw this and nodded directly, and reminded: "That's right. I see you are quite young, so you should go to the east to study." "But there is a checkpoint ahead. We can still pass it, but your identities are unknown!" "You may as well disembark from here. If you are going to Jiangdong, stop at the south bank. If you are going to Lujiang, go to the north bank." "I don't know where you want to go, sir. I'll take you ashore!" When Zhuge Liang heard this, he pondered for a while and said: "Thank you for your reminder, old man. We are from Shuzhong. Because of the chaos in our hometown, we want to seek refuge in Jiangdong." "I hope you can take us across the lake and drop us off on the south bank!" After hearing this, the fisherman led Zhuge Liang and others eastward, and told every checkpoint they came across that they were people heading to Jiangdong to seek refuge. The Jiangdong soldiers heard that they wanted to go to Jiangdong and did not make things difficult for them. They let them pass all the way and allowed them to reach the east bank of Pengli Lake. The two guards were naturally puzzled by this and asked Zhuge Liang: "Sir, we originally wanted to go to Lujiang, so we should go to the north bank. Why did we land on the south bank?" When Zhuge Liang heard this, he explained to the two of them: "This place is occupied by the Jiangdong army. If we go to Lujiang, we may be captured by the enemy." "So if we want to reach the north bank, we must first go south and cross the checkpoint before we can be safe!" After listening to them, the two men felt that what Zhuge Liang said made sense, so they said no more. After walking for half a day, they came across a fishing family who said they were heading north to visit relatives and had rented a fishing boat. After crossing the Chu River, it was already dark, so the three of them rested on the shore for the night. But just in the second half of the night, we suddenly heard unusual movements on the river, and saw countless boats on the river heading north and entering the Pengli Lake in the distance. Seeing this, the two guards were surprised again: "Don't the Jiangdong navy need to rest? Why do they have to act like this in the middle of the night?" Only Zhuge Liang saw this and narrowed his eyes and said: "The enemy has just fought a great battle today, and they should rest and recuperate at night." "To act this way must be the enemy's plan!" (End of this chapter)