Chapter 296: Breakdown Of Negotiations
The marriage alliance did not succeed, the withdrawal negotiations did not take place, and Jia Xu left early the next morning.
Gan Ning, however, had no mind to attend to these matters; the autumn harvest season had arrived, and his Jiaozhi Rice could also be harvested.
Rice fields everywhere were being harvested in full swing, and the three thousand mu experimental field was the same; more than a hundred farmers were sweating profusely as they harvested the new rice.
Surrounded by dozens of officials, Gan Ning stood on the field ridge, inspecting the harvesting of the rice in the experimental field.
The supervisor smiled obsequiously: “Reporting to the Marquis of Chu, this Jiaozhi Rice is very suitable for our land and climate here; it has a short growth period, yields sixty percent higher, and most importantly, it can be planted in two seasons—it’s simply a treasure for farmers.”
“How many farmers have registered for seeds to plant?”
“More than seventy thousand households, but we can only select twenty thousand; there aren’t enough seeds. The rest will have to wait until the year after next to plant, or plant autumn grain next year.”
Gan Ning nodded and turned to Jiang Wan: “Future matters will be handed over to Chief Clerk Jiang. We must ensure the new rice is successfully promoted comprehensively!”
Jiang Wan immediately bowed and said: “Please rest assured, Marquis of Chu. I will personally oversee the new rice; in three years, it will certainly be successfully promoted comprehensively!”
At this time, Jia Xu had already returned to Hefei and reported the detailed process of the negotiations, finally presenting the meeting memorandum to Cao Cao.
“Chancellor, regarding Hanzhong, this subordinate feels there is indeed this possibility. If Liu Bei eliminates Zhang Lu, then Hanzhong…”
“I understand!”
Cao Cao interrupted him: “What I care about now is not Hanzhong, but the marriage alliance!”
Cao Cao’s tone suddenly rose sharply, revealing thick dissatisfaction: “Who dares to refuse my Cao Cao’s daughter, and even make her a concubine? Simply ignorant of the height of the heavens and the depth of the earth.”
At this point, Cao Cao coldly ordered: “Notify General Xiahou in Jiangdong to prepare to launch the campaign to conquer the west.”
Cao Cao had been hesitating during this period; he was considering whether to attack Yuzhang Commandery. There is actually a land route passage between Jiangdong and Yuzhang Commandery, but it is too difficult, and Cao Cao preferred to stabilize Jiangdong and focus his energy on developing Jiangdong.
But Gan Ning was clearly also eyeing Jiangdong. With the army north of the river no longer able to threaten Gan Ning, Cao Cao wanted to use the marriage alliance to stabilize Gan Ning, buying him time to fully control Jiangdong.
But now the marriage alliance had failed, Cao Cao had no choice; he could only proactively attack and preemptively block Gan Ning’s designs on Jiangdong. He appointed Xiahou Yuan as General Who Conquers the West and commander of the Jiangdong Army, appointed Xun You as strategist, and the third son Cao Zhi was appointed as Governor of Yangzhou and Prefect of Wu Commandery, supervising Wu Commandery, Guangling, Danyang Commandery, and Kuaiji Commandery, while also responsible for coordinating logistics for the western expedition army.
There are three routes to attack Yuzhang Commandery from Jiangdong: one is the Yangtze River waterway to the north, the most important passage, but it is currently impassable. The remaining two land routes: one goes through southern Danyang Commandery along the Zhe River, passing through She County to enter Yuzhang Commandery.
The other route goes through Kuaiji Commandery, passing through Damo County to enter Yuzhang Commandery. Both land routes go through mountainous areas with rugged and bumpy roads, but Cao Cao had no choice: either wait for Gan Ning’s army to come by water route, or proactively attack.
Sun Ben’s mission was to take the southern line, that is, through Kuaiji Commandery from Damo County into Yuzhang Commandery. He received four wan troops allocated by Cao Cao, including two wan troops led by He Qi and another two wan Jiangdong surrendered troops led by Great General Pan Zhang, plus one wan troops commanded by Han Dang, totaling five wan army, including large amounts of money and grain supplies.
Sun Ben personally led the army to arrive at Damo County, preparing to use Damo County as a logistics transfer point to capture Yu County in Yuzhang Commandery three hundred li away; Yu County was the true logistics supply base he wanted.
In the temporary government office, Sun Ben gazed at the map, discussing operational plans with Strategist Wei Jing and several great generals; He Qi was also among them.
The matter of He Qi’s secret surrender to Cao Cao had not been made public; on the surface, he was still Sun Ben’s subordinate. But previously, He Qi had not shown loyalty, his attitude was ambiguous, and he had disobeyed orders several times when troops were mobilized, making Sun Ben extremely annoyed with him.
However, although Sun Ben was quite dissatisfied with his previous ambiguous attitude, He Qi had firmly controlled his two wan subordinate troops, so no matter how dissatisfied, Sun Ben could only hold his nose and accept it.
Sun Ben said slowly: “I have received news that Xiahou Yuan has stationed fifteen wan army in Qiantang County; She County in Danyang Commandery has only a few thousand troops, and there are only several thousand mules and horses for transporting money and grain supplies. At this transport pace, even by year’s end, they won’t be able to prepare grain and fodder supplies for fifteen wan army. Xiahou Yuan is so lax, clearly hoping I will take the lead, letting Gan Ning’s army come to deal with us first while he observes the details of Gan Ning’s army.”
Sun Ben’s judgment received unanimous agreement from the crowd, except He Qi, whose eyes flickered but who said nothing.
“General He!”
Sun Ben’s tone carried dissatisfaction: “Do you not agree with my analysis?”
He Qi hurriedly bowed and said: “This subordinate dares not. This subordinate was just thinking: there is clearly the Zhe River for the water route, but they insist on taking the land route to transport supplies?”
“Then what is your opinion?” Sun Ben continued to ask coldly.
“This subordinate believes the general is right; Xiahou Yuan is indeed using us.”
The dissatisfaction in Sun Ben’s heart eased slightly. He turned back to ask Strategist Wei Jing: “May I ask the strategist, in this situation, how should we act?”
Wei Jing pointed at Yu County on the map with a wooden rod: “For us, Yu County is key. If we fail to capture Yu County, after our army enters Yuzhang Commandery, we will have no foothold, and logistics and all aspects won’t be supplied, ultimately leading to collapse without battle. So no matter what, we must capture Yu County in the eleventh month. Don’t use too many troops; five or six thousand is enough. Too many troops will provoke a strong counterattack from the enemy.”
“Then when do we launch a full-scale attack on Yuzhang Commandery?” Sun Ben asked again.
“End of the year or beginning of the next!” Wei Jing smiled.
Sun Ben nodded and turned to look at Pan Zhang: “General Pan, are you willing to take on this vanguard mission?”
Pan Zhang immediately bowed and said: “This subordinate is willing to accept the mission!”
After the marriage alliance failed, Gan Ning also realized that Cao Cao was about to strike at him from the land route. He began rapidly mobilizing and deploying troops, ordering Zhao Yun, Taishi Ci, and Ding Feng to jointly lead eighty thousand to head south to Nanchang, preparing to meet the enemy army’s land route attack.
In the official residence, Gan Ning stood at the sand table, eyes fixed tightly on Yu County, and said solemnly to the three strategists: “Sun Ben coming from Damo County has no people or supplies along the way; he must have a foothold in Yuzhang Commandery to supply his army, just like when we attacked Changsha Commandery by land route and had to first capture Liling County. Sun Ben will inevitably first capture Yu County as his foothold in Yuzhang Commandery; Yu County is key.”
Lu Su said from the side: “Xiahou Yuan is stationed in Qiantang County but delays in sending troops, probably waiting for Sun Ben to move first to draw our army’s main force, then he will lead his army to kill into Yuzhang Commandery from the Zhe River.”
Xu Shu also said: “Cao Cao’s intention is very clear: to use our hand to eliminate Sun Ben, while Sun Ben wants to use this opportunity to seize southern Yuzhang Commandery and Luling Commandery, gain a foothold, and finally aim for Jiaozhou.”
Gan Ning nodded lightly and looked at the contemplative Pang Tong: “What is Strategist Pang’s view?”
Pang Tong smiled slightly: “We can turn their scheme against them!”
