Chapter 111: Straight To The Point
Guo Jia smiled and said: “Lord may not care about the alliance between Sun and Gan, but I pay more attention to it. I specially studied the details in the alliance treaty and found that Gan Ning took the initiative to propose the alliance. This is very interesting. I was wondering, why does Gan Ning want to ally with Jiangdong?”
Nearby, Cheng Yu stroked his beard and smiled: “He is afraid that the two Suns will join hands to deal with him!”
Guo Jia nodded. “At first glance, this possibility does exist, but if we think carefully, what would he have to do to trigger the two Suns to join hands? I think there is only one possibility: he annexed Lujiang Commandery.”
Cheng Yu smiled faintly: “This is interesting. The foundation of the Sun-Gan alliance is that Gan Ning’s army does not cross the Wanshui River.”
Guo Jia laughed: “Zhong De got it right in one grab! He saw the essence at once. Since Gan Ning does not plan to cross the Wanshui River, why worry about the two Suns joining hands? What is the point of the alliance?”
Cao Cao said thoughtfully: “Then what does Feng Xiao think is Gan Ning’s true purpose in proposing the alliance?”
Guo Jia said slowly: “Since Gan Ning stops at the Wanshui River and does not plan to annex Lujiang Commandery, it means he is turning around. This subordinate infers that he is very likely to attack Changsha Commandery.”
Cao Cao suddenly realized, “Liu Biao!”
Guo Jia nodded. “Exactly right. Changsha Commandery is Liu Biao’s base, with his nephew Liu Xin serving as Prefect of Changsha. Once Gan Ning attacks Changsha Commandery, it means directly confronting Liu Biao. Liu Biao and Jiangdong have no enmity of killing father.”
Cao Cao finally understood and nodded. “Gan Ning is worried that Liu Biao and Jiangdong will ally, putting him under attack from the front and back, so he took the first step to ally with Jiangdong.”
Cheng Yu added: “Perhaps Gan Ning is worried that the four families will join hands to plot against Yuzhang!”
Cao Cao gave a thumbs up. “Right! The four families join hands to plot against Yuzhang.”
Guo Jia smiled faintly: “Now we are back to Lord’s previous question: should we send troops to help Sun Ben recover all of Lujiang? May I ask Lord, what was our original intention in supporting Gan Ning? Wasn’t it to have Gan Ning tie down Sun Ce and Liu Biao for us, preventing the two from taking advantage of our campaign against Yuan Shao to invade Xuchang while we are away? Now with Sun Ben tying down Jiangdong, who will tie down Liu Biao?”
Cao Cao suddenly understood. Gan Ning attacking Changsha is the best way to tie down Liu Biao!
“I understand. I will reject Sun Ben’s request for troops and let him solve it himself.”
Seeing Guo Jia steal the spotlight, Cheng Yu felt somewhat unwilling and continued to add: “Lord might as well promise Gan Ning that if he takes Changsha, he can be appointed Prefect of Changsha.”
Cao Cao clapped his hands and laughed. “This plan is brilliant. Without spending a single soldier or grain, we tie down Liu Biao. Imperial Uncle Liu has great ambitions but will be powerless.”
Guo Jia smiled without speaking.
………..
These days, Gan Ning’s high officials and generals from various places have arrived in Nanchang County one after another.
Early in the morning, Gan Ning gathered all the more than twenty important high officials in Nanchang for a meeting, including six colonels and high officials from each commandery.
Gan Ning first reported to everyone the situation of the alliance with Jiangdong.
“After allying with Jiangdong, it means our strategy will shift towards Jingzhou, specifically towards the Jingnan Four Commanderies. So our next target is Changsha Commandery. But attacking Changsha Commandery means direct confrontation with Liu Biao. To prevent Liu Biao from allying with Jiangdong, putting us under attack from both front and back, we took the first step to ally with Jiangdong and removed the hidden danger.”
“May I ask Lord, when do we plan to attack Changsha Commandery?” Prefectural Assistant Cui Zhouping of Wuchang Commandery asked.
“Planned for the second half of the year. We still need to do a lot of preparation, including transporting money and grain supplies, drilling troops, and collecting intelligence. Changsha Commandery is just our first target; our overall goal is the Jingnan Four Commanderies, so we must prepare fully. I plan to take the Jingnan Four Commanderies in three to four years. If preparation is sufficient, it will be faster.”
Gan Ning smiled again: “Once we take the Jingnan Four Commanderies, I will only concurrently serve as Prefect of Yuzhang Commandery, and the prefects of other places will be appointed from among you all.”
The atmosphere in the hall immediately livened up, with expectation on everyone’s face.
At this time, Taishi Ci asked: “May I ask Lord, if we shift our military force to Changsha Commandery, will Sun Ben take the opportunity to advance west and drive us out of Lujiang Commandery?”
Gan Ning nodded. “General Taishi, this question is very timely. Let me explain to everyone. According to our intelligence, after the defeat at Wan County, Sun Ben showed no signs of recruiting troops. Instead, he sent troops to seize the salt field in Guangling Commandery, indicating that Cao Cao’s support for Sun Ben is also limited. Sun Ben lacks the funds to recruit soldiers, which is why he seized the salt field.
Currently, Sun Ben’s army has 40,000 men: 20,000 in Jiujiang Commandery, commanded by Han Dang, which is his main force firmly under his control and will not be moved to Lujiang Commandery; 5,000 in Guangling Commandery, commanded by He Qi, mainly to occupy the salt field; and 15,000 in Shu County, previously commanded by Sun He. It is said that Sun He had a contradiction with Xu Qian, so Sun Ben had his brother Sun Fu serve as Prefect of Lujiang Commandery. Nominally, Xu Qian commands the army, but actually it is in the hands of his brother Sun Fu.
So at least within two years, Sun Ben has no ability to attack Wan County. Even if he reinforces and attacks, we have no fear at all. We have a large amount of fire oil and can fully defend Wan County.”
…….
After the meeting, Taishi Ci found Gan Ning. “This subordinate wants to talk with Lord!”
Gan Ning nodded with a smile. “Let’s talk in my official residence!”
Arriving at the official residence, Gan Ning invited Taishi Ci to sit and had his subordinate serve tea.
Taishi Ci said: “Regarding the attack on Changsha Commandery, this subordinate has a suggestion!”
“Speak!”
“This subordinate suggests that when attacking Changsha Commandery, we divide our forces into two routes.”
“Tell me the details!”
Taishi Ci walked to the wall, where a huge map of the Yangtze River line was hung.
Taishi Ci pointed at the map with a wooden rod and said: “Jiayu County in Wuchang Commandery has been built. It is only 200 li from Dongting Lake and will be our most important navy logistics base. This is of course our northern route of attack, but what this subordinate wants to say is the southern route.”
Taishi Ci pointed again to the Yichun-Jianchang line in the south and said: “The southern route will strike into Changsha Commandery by land route. The enemy’s main army will inevitably defend the northern route, leaving the interior empty. We strike from the abdomen, occupy Liling County, which is only 200 li from Changsha County.”
Gan Ning smiled faintly: “Does General Taishi mean to lead troops on the southern route?”
Taishi Ci’s face flushed red. He clasped his fists and said: “I beg Lord to agree!”
Gan Ning nodded. “This is actually my idea. I have Shen Mi stationed at Wan County. He is better at defending cities than going on campaigns.”
Taishi Ci was overjoyed. “This subordinate will certainly not fail Lord’s trust.”
Gan Ning smiled without speaking. Taishi Ci had defeated Liu Xin several times and was Liu Xin’s nemesis. How could he not use him for the campaign against Changsha Commandery?
…….
Gan Ning then received Zhao Yun. During this time, Zhao Yun had been drilling troops in Chaisang. Of course, Zhao Yun would also participate in the attack on Changsha Commandery. Liu Xin had a fierce general under him, the veteran Huang Zhong, and Gan Ning was counting on Zhao Yun to deal with Huang Zhong.
“Does General Zi Long have any difficulties in Chaisang?” Gan Ning asked with concern.
Zhao Yun bowed and said: “No difficulties, but this time this subordinate came to Nanchang County to learn in detail about the military fields. Many of this subordinate’s men mentioned the military fields, and this subordinate does not fully understand them. I want to see them in person.”
Gan Ning happily said: “Why not go with me, Zi Long? I can inspect the actual situation myself as well.”
