Chapter 185: Abandoning The Plan
Gan Ning paused the troop deployment plan formulated by Pang Tong. Deploying troops is not like going shopping for vegetables on the street where a small mistake doesn’t matter. From the recent Dongting Lake Baqiu County base to Jiangling, it’s a voyage of seven or eight hundred li. Without logistical supply and without a base for docking, any single mistake would have a fatal impact on tens of thousands of officers and soldiers.
Especially since the carrier pigeon letter had not been received and an obvious problem had arisen, Gan Ning was even less likely to rashly deploy troops. Jiangling was not something that absolutely had to be attacked.
“Clarify the situation before considering whether to deploy troops!” This was Gan Ning’s final order to Pang Tong.
The Jiang’an Inn in Jiangling County was the Yuzhang Army’s intelligence point in Jiangling. The shopkeeper was named Wang Jiang’an, about forty years old. Although he was an intelligence scout, he was extremely low-key. Every day, he grasped the trends in Jiangling City from the mouths of guests.
Zhuge Liang led twenty thousand troops to station in Jiangling County, and the intelligence was immediately sent out, but the carrier pigeon was intercepted. Wang Jiang’an only learned on the second day that there were more than a dozen eagles in the sky hunting pigeons, so he vaguely guessed that his carrier pigeon letter had not been sent out.
Wang Anjiang was truly troubled. Although he knew there was an intelligence point in Xiangyang, he did not know where it was.
The only way was to send a subordinate back to Chaisang, but that would take at least half a month. He worried that by then the situation in Jiangling County would have changed again.
Just when Wang Anjiang was at a loss, the contact person sent by Pang Tong arrived in Jiangling County. The contact person was named Tang Kun. He did not come from Chaisang, but from Xiangyang City. He was the intelligence head in Xiangyang City.
According to the intelligence internal affairs regulations formulated by Pang Tong, there was no connection or contact between various intelligence points. This was also to prevent the situation where one falls and the whole pot is lost. But this time the situation was special, so Pang Tong could only notify the Xiangyang intelligence point to investigate the situation in Jiangling.
Tang Kun arrived at the inn, and a waiter came up to greet him. “Sir, are you staying at the inn?”
Tang Kun glanced around; there was nothing unusual, so he asked, “Is your Shopkeeper Wang here?”
Wang Anjiang, who happened to be at the door, hurriedly came forward to greet him. “I am the shopkeeper. Sir, what can I do for you?”
“You are Shopkeeper Wang Jiang’an?”
“That’s right!”
Tang Kun smiled. “Someone recommended me to find you to buy a few jin of perch!”
This was the passphrase for their intelligence point. Wang Anjiang’s expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly smiled. “No problem! No problem! I know a shop that sells perch. Let’s talk inside.”
Wang Anjiang brought Tang Kun to the shopkeeper’s room in the backyard. The two sat down, each taking out their bronze token and placing it on the desk.
Tang Kun then explained, “My surname is Tang. I am the head of the Xiangyang intelligence point. I received the strategist carrier pigeon letter instructing me to come to Jiangling to check the situation. What happened here in Jiangling? Why has all communication been cut off?”
Wang Anjiang sighed and said, “The enemy sent a formidable figure, Liu Bei’s strategist Zhuge Liang. He used more than a dozen eagles to hunt down both of my carrier pigeons. I have intelligence, but I can’t send it out, and I don’t know the other intelligence points.”
Tang Kun nodded. “This time I brought a carrier pigeon. Give me the intelligence, and I’ll send it to Chaisang.”
Wang Anjiang hurriedly waved his hands. “You can’t send carrier pigeon letters inside the city. There are more than a dozen eagles circling in the sky over the city every day.”
“I understand. I’ll go outside the city to send the carrier pigeon letter, as far from Jiangling as possible.”
The next afternoon, Pang Tong finally received the carrier pigeon letter from Jiangling. He immediately reported it to Gan Ning.
Gan Ning read the carrier pigeon letter and fell into contemplation. Zhuge Liang had actually led twenty thousand troops to occupy Jiangling. Of course Gan Ning knew what they were planning to do. This was Liu Bei preparing for the journey to Bashu.
After a long silence, Gan Ning said to Pang Tong, “Let’s hold a simple military affairs meeting!”
Soon, several high officials all arrived at Gan Ning’s official residence. Gan Ning passed the carrier pigeon letter to everyone. Lu Su nodded and said, “Very unexpected! Jiangling County has actually already been occupied by Liu Bei. General, should we still…”
Gan Ning shook his head. “I’ll share my thoughts. If you think they’re inappropriate, you can oppose them!”
Gan Ning slowly continued, “First of all, Jiangling is not crucial to us. Capturing Jiangling does not mean we can seize Nan Commandery. Failing to take Jiangling does not mean we won’t have a chance in the future. More importantly, it is not realistic militarily. We are too far from Jiangling, with no foundation and no supply. If the army goes on a distant expedition, it can only win and not lose, and cannot afford too many setbacks. Any slight mistake would cause major losses to the army, so I suggest temporarily canceling the plan to attack Jiangling.”
Xu Shu also expressed his support. “I fully support the general’s suggestion. With Zhuge Liang defending the city, we won’t have many opportunities. He is my close friend, and I know him well. He can be called a once-in-a-century military genius who devises strategies in the tent and decides victory thousands of li away—that describes him. He anticipated early that we would attack Jiangling and first cut off our intelligence. With such a person who foresees the enemy guarding Jiangling, if we hastily attack, defeat is certain!”
Pang Tong and Jiang Wan both agreed with Gan Ning’s opinion. They all knew Zhuge Liang, and giving up the fight for Jiangling was the wise choice.
Lu Su thought for a moment and said, “Since the middle strategy won’t work, let’s choose the lower strategy: cut off the Han River passage and protect Jiangxia Commandery from Cao Army invasion.”
Gan Ning nodded. “That’s it. Order Huang Zhong’s army to also station in Jiangxia, with Huang Zhong serving as Jiangxia Defense Envoy to strengthen the defense of Jiangxia Commandery.”
Liu Bei had just crossed the Han River when Cao Cao’s army struck. The hundred thousand strong army used three thousand cavalry as the vanguard, advancing unimpeded. Counties surrendered one after another without any resistance. Three days later, the Cao Army occupied Wancheng and continued pushing south.
That evening, the Cao Army arrived at the north bank of the Han River. There was a large river island in the Han River outside Xiangyang City—that was Yuliang Island. The key to crossing the Han River was whether they could smoothly occupy this Yuliang Island.
Currently, Yuliang Island was garrisoned by Liao Hua leading three thousand men. Liao Hua came from a great clan in Nanyang Commandery and was a commandant under Jingzhou’s Liu Biao, a mid-to-low level official. When Liu Bei was in Xinye, he secretly won over a large number of mid-to-low level generals and officials, and Liao Hua was one of them. After Liu Bei occupied Nanyang Commandery, he decisively defected to Liu Bei and became one of Liu Bei’s direct generals.
Liao Hua had already sensed the massive army on the north bank. The enemy was about to cross the river, making him truly nervous. At that moment, a soldier came to report, “General Liao, the lord has sent someone with a letter!”
“Bring him up!”
Soon, the messenger was brought up. He was Liu Bei’s personal guard, holding a command arrow. He said, “By the lord’s password, General Liao is to withdraw immediately!”
“Ah! Abandon Yuliang Island?”
The personal guard nodded. “The lord is also withdrawing south. Orders for General Liao to follow immediately and withdraw to Jiangling.”
“I understand. We’ll withdraw right away!”
Liao Hua immediately led his three thousand troops to abandon Yuliang Island and withdraw to the south bank of the Han River, while setting the pontoon bridge ablaze.
