Chapter 169: Analyzing The Lessons
Inside the official residence of the Marquis of Wu’s Manor, Sun Quan was silent for a long time before asking Lv Fan in a hoarse voice: “Chief Clerk, why has this situation occurred?”
Lv Fan said slowly: “This subordinate is actually also part of the War Faction. This subordinate’s opposition to going on a campaign differs from the civil officials’ idea of seeking stability, because too many things here are taken for granted. For example, transporting grain and supplies from the Yangtze River to Jiangcheng County for supply seems easy when looking at the map, but in reality, Jiangcheng County is still three li away from the Yangtze River. Unloading the grain and then transporting it into the county town requires a large number of laborers and carts.
But distance is still a small problem. The key is that the enemy will not let you succeed in supplying so easily. The enemy also has warships. As long as they charge up and shoot a few arrows, with several people shot down by arrows, the other laborers will all be scared and run away. This subordinate has experienced this kind of thing, especially since everyone likes to use fire, and grain and fodder are afraid of fire. It is really difficult to succeed in supplying unless the army itself carries a large amount of grain and supplies, or our navy first destroys the enemy’s warships.”
Sun Quan let out a long sigh and said: “The Chief Clerk is right. Doing anything is not as simple as imagined, especially on the battlefield where situations change in an instant. The enemy army will absolutely not let us do things smoothly and obediently.”
“That is exactly the reason. To win this battle, this subordinate believes we must learn Gan Ning’s tactics.”
“What tactics?”
“First clear the river, concentrate the navy to completely eliminate or suppress the enemy’s warships, then seize the strategic location Niuzhu, establish a logistics supply base, and then concentrate troop strength to compete with the enemy army. This subordinate has studied Gan Ning’s campaigns, as well as various battle tactics in Lujiang Commandery, Changsha Commandery, and Jiangxia Commandery, and they basically all follow this pattern, but it is very effective.”
Sun Quan nodded silently. At that time, they had thought supplying was too simple and had not cleared the river in time. If they had first used the navy to eliminate the enemy army, the result would probably have been completely different. It was indeed his own momentary rashness and lack of thorough consideration.
At this time, Lv Fan said again: “We failed for another reason: the reinforcements did not arrive in time. After the enemy sent out 30,000 troops to fight us in a major battle, their 20,000 reinforcements quickly arrived, but our reinforcements did not arrive. Marquis of Wu, think about it: why were no reinforcements sent to fight at that time?”
Sun Quan naturally knew the reason and said after a long pause: “We only have 80,000 troops in total. Taking out 30,000 troops to go on a campaign, and if we sent another 20,000 reinforcements on campaign, we would only have 30,000 troops left, and subtracting 20,000 navy troops, Dantu County’s troop strength would only be left with 10,000. What if the Cao Army came to kill us at that time?”
“The problem is here. Sun Ben only has 60,000 troops, yet he dares to take out 50,000 to fight us desperately. We have 80,000 troops, yet we dare not take out 50,000 to fight Sun Ben desperately. It is not that we lack Sun Ben’s boldness, but that the bottom lines of both sides are different. Sun Ben dares to bet all 60,000 troops on the table because Danyang Commandery is not his base. His base is in Jiujiang Commandery, so he has no scruples at all. Even if he is defeated, he can still retreat back to Jiujiang Commandery. But we cannot. We must leave troops as a safeguard. That is the gap between the two sides.
80,000 against 60,000—on the surface, our troop strength has the advantage, but our bottom lines are different. We must leave troops as a safeguard, and our navy cannot go ashore, so the actual available troop strength is 50,000 against 60,000. We are at a disadvantage.”
Cold sweat broke out on Sun Quan’s back: “In that case, we might lose?”
“This subordinate just wants the Marquis of Wu to understand the reality.”
Sun Quan asked anxiously: “Is there no other way?”
“There are two ways. The first is to immediately conscript a large number of soldiers to increase troop strength to over 100,000. The second is to beg Gan Ning to send troops to help. The first way requires a year to train the army and also to ensure that Sun Ben does not come to attack us during that year.”
At this point, Lv Fan looked at Sun Quan meaningfully.
Sun Quan immediately understood. Conscripting soldiers was obviously too late. The fastest and most effective way was still to seek aid from Gan Ning.
“So the Chief Clerk advised me at the time to seek aid from Gan Ning!”
Lv Fan nodded. “It is just that seeking aid requires getting over one hurdle. This subordinate was worried that the Marquis of Wu could not accept it, so this subordinate did not insist.”
“You mean Lujiang Commandery?”
“Exactly!”
Lv Fan simply spoke openly and sincerely: “Whether we seek aid or not, Gan Ning will definitely seize this opportunity to capture Lujiang Commandery. No matter how unhappy we are, he will occupy Lujiang Commandery. So the Marquis of Wu must accept this hurdle of Lujiang Commandery in his heart and be mentally prepared to lose Lujiang Commandery.”
Sun Quan was silent for a moment and said: “If I give Gan Ning a batch of grain or a batch of salt, can he give up on Lujiang troops and directly send troops to Danyang Commandery?”
Lv Fan shook his head. “The Marquis of Wu still does not understand this subordinate’s meaning. This subordinate’s meaning is that no matter whether we seek aid or not, no matter whether Sun Ben sneak attacks south or not, Gan Ning will attack Lujiang Commandery. This is a nailed-down matter. He is even willing to fall out with us for this, abolishing the alliance treaty between both sides. This is their established strategy and has nothing to do with us seeking aid.”
“I understand!” Sun Quan finally sighed.
Lv Fan said again: “But I advise the Marquis of Wu not to let Gan Ning send troops to Danyang Commandery. Inviting a god is easy, but sending the god away is difficult. Does the Marquis of Wu understand?”
Sun Quan nodded. “I fully understand. Let me think about it!”
Lv Fan took his leave and left. Sun Quan paced back and forth in the hall with his hands behind his back. He was considering the matter of Huang Zu. Only now did he realize that falling out with Gan Ning over Huang Zu was actually unnecessary. Huang Zu had become a rural rich man with no army to protect him. Sending a few assassins could solve him, and bringing his head back to Jiangdong to mourn his father.
His dispute with Gan Ning was actually more about saving face. Gan Ning had considered the big picture and not killed Huang Zu, yet he himself had lost the Gan-Sun alliance treaty over a matter of personal pride. Now it seemed truly unwise! Lacking a big-picture view.
At this time, the guard reported from below the hall: “Reporting to the Marquis of Wu, Strategist Zhang requests an audience!”
“Let him in!”
Not long after, Zhang Zhao hurriedly entered the official residence, bowed, and saluted: “Greetings, Marquis of Wu!”
“What is the situation outside now? Is it very noisy?” Sun Quan asked with some concern.
Sun Quan was very worried that the civil officials would erupt in dissatisfaction, since the vast majority of civil officials had opposed sending troops, and defeat proved their opposition was correct.
Zhang Zhao shook his head. “It is very quiet outside now, quiet to the point of being a bit frightening. There is no sound at all, as if everyone is holding their breath.”
“Why is it like this?” Sun Quan was somewhat puzzled.
Zhang Zhao knew full well, but he was somewhat hesitant to speak. Sun Quan saw Zhang Zhao’s hesitation and said: “Strategist, speak directly if you have something to say. This is not the time to save face.”
Zhang Zhao considered for a moment and said: “There are actually three situations here. The first is those officials who originally supported Sun Ben. They will privately gather to celebrate Sun Ben’s victory, but in public they remain silent.
The second type are those who waver and have unstable positions. At this time, they cannot see through the situation and dare not easily take sides, so they also remain silent. This type of official is actually the most numerous.
The third type of officials are those who previously strongly advised the Marquis of Wu not to send troops, but the Marquis of Wu did not adopt their opinions, leading to the final defeat. They are dissatisfied in their hearts and now stand by coldly watching, so they will not express any opinions either. These three situations interwoven together have caused the entire Jiangdong Officialdom to fall silent now.”
