Chapter 146 Chapter 23 Complacent and Compassionate

Cao Mengde wanted to straighten out the myriad of problems since the Southern Expedition. Kneeling in front of him were Mao Jie and Yu Jin, two naval commanders who had just taken over. They were waiting for his fate.He didn't seem to see their existence, and he was still thinking about his own thoughts. Jia Xu's plan to alienate Zhou Yu and Kong Ming seemed to have no progress. .Go back, there is a voice saying: Enough is enough for the prosperous Xudu and the four northern states that have been flattened.People in their fifties, what do they want to do, rest for the rest of their lives, recite poems and compose poems, hold a lamp in the wind, and be accompanied by beautiful women.There is the Zhen family, there is Diao Chan, there is Wen Ji, there is... loss of soldiers and generals, far away from the homeland, troubled by cars and horses, what is all this for?Go back, come, Jiangling can't stay long, go back!But another voice is lingering in my ears: The world knows what it can't do, but the princes are divided, the great country is torn apart, and the big man can just sit back and watch? Now that he has set the ambition of taking the responsibility of the world as his own responsibility, how can he know the difficulties? And retreat, fall short of success?

"Prime Minister, we are guilty, please let us go!" The voices of Mao Jie and Yu Jin interrupted his thoughts. Cao Mengde stood up, suddenly feeling confused in his mind, and then "buzzed", staggered a few steps, almost fell, the guards on the left and right rushed forward to help him, he realized that his old problem was about to commit again.He tried his best to stand firm and wiped his temples. He has never collapsed, let alone been defeated. He remembered that when Zhang Xiu rebelled, he was trapped in a corner of the city tower. , he had received five or six sword wounds on his body, and the blood stained his battle robe. He gritted his teeth and broke out of the encirclement with one hand protecting his injured arm.At that moment, the eldest son Cao Ang gave his young life to protect him.After that, just a few days later, he raised his unyielding head from grief and anger.

Cao Mengde walked towards Mao Jie and Yu Jin step by step, their heads lowered even lower. Without yelling, scolding, or letting go, he helped the two of them up one by one, patted their backs, and said slowly, "It's not your fault, it's because Kong Ming is so powerful. Besides, the two of you are right I’m not good at water warfare, if I could shoot so many arrows, fighting on water, all kinds of weapons and arrows are the leader!” "Cheng, where's Old General Cheng?" Cao Mengde suddenly thought of Cheng Yu. "It's setting up defenses on the river." The sergeant replied.

"Quickly call the general!" Cao Mengde ordered. The sergeant responded. After a while, Cheng Yu arrived. "General Cheng, I've been thinking about it for a long time. Connecting the main battleship together can overcome the problems of the warship shaking and the sergeant's seasickness, but I'm still worried that if Zhou Yu uses fire to attack, the consequences will be unimaginable." Cao Mengde said another question that he couldn't let go of. Cheng Yu said: "Prime Minister, don't worry, there are many mobile warships escorting the main warship, and there are many archers on the warships. Besides, it's winter and there will be no southeast wind."

"Multiple sergeants are sent to guard the warship day and night. Anyone who does not have a ship guard order will be executed immediately if he steps into the restricted area!" Cao Mengde said. Cheng Yu took the order and left. Looking at this loyal old general who followed him to conquer the north and south, Cao Mengde felt a pang of sadness in his heart.Take care of your life, yes, it's time to take care of your life. "Prime Minister, don't worry, I have a plan to defeat Soochow." Jia Xu said. Cao Mengde didn't say anything, but he meant to listen. Jia Xu said: "There are Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang in Jiangdong, and they are very difficult to deal with."

"I don't need to go into details." Cao Mengde interrupted Jia Xu, looking a little impatient. "You can send people to Soochow to feign surrender as an internal response." Jia Xu had no choice but to say bluntly. Cao Mengde thought for a long time before saying: "Who in the army can take on this great task?" Jia Xu said: "Cai Mao was killed. Cai Mao's relatives and relatives are in the army. Cai Mao's brothers Cai Zhong and Cai He are now lieutenants. The prime minister can send two people to go." "This..." Cao Mengde seemed very hesitant.

"Zhou Yu of Eastern Wu thought that the prime minister had killed Cai Mao. Now Cai Mao's younger brother went to vote for Eastern Wu. This is reasonable and will not arouse Zhou Yu's suspicion." Jia Xu explained. Cao Mengde had no choice but to follow Jia Xu's plan when he couldn't think of a better way. On January 138, Zhou Yu saw that Cao Jun's spirit was frustrated in the first battle, and he won more than 100,000 arrows without a single soldier. He was making up his mind to enter the army. The cold wave rises slowly, and the white bird descends leisurely.

Zhou Yu and others were looking upstream outside the stronghold, when they suddenly saw a small boat floating down from the upper stream like a leaf. In the blink of an eye, the small boat was moored beside the Dongwu water stronghold. Two people hurriedly jumped off the boat, crying, "Where is Zhou Dudu, Zhou Dudu is in charge of us." Zhou Yu called the two into the tent. The two cried and prayed and said: "Brother Cai Mao was innocently killed by Cao thief. We two want to avenge our brother, so we come to seek refuge with Zhou Dudu." Zhou Yu said: "It's rare to have such a loyal heart. I accept you." He also ordered people to reward them with some silver taels.

The two were secretly happy, thinking that Zhou Yu had caught the trick. Zhou Yu quietly called Gan Ning aside, and said, "These two people did not bring their young relatives with them, so there is no doubt that they are fraudulently surrendering. I am going to use the plan. Take good care of the two of you, and when the troops are dispatched, use them to kill the sacrificial flag." Lu Su went to see Zhou Yu and said, "The Cai brothers are probably deceitful in their surrender." Zhou Yu reprimanded: "My brother was killed, and he came to me to avenge my brother. This is a reasonable thing, so why cheat. You are so suspicious, how can you attract people from all over the world?"

After a while of robbing, Lu Su was puzzled and went to find Kong Ming.Kongming said: "Why is Zijing so incomprehensible? Cao Mengde's small skills, Gongjin can't understand it. Think about it, the river is far away, and it is difficult to communicate carefully. These two family members are in the Cao army, and they are driving a small boat on the river. Above, it is clear that we are here to find out about the military situation of Soochow, as an internal response." "Then why does Gongjin..." Kong Ming laughed loudly and said, "Gong Jin is just planning, and I need two people to report the news."

Lu Su smiled and said, "You and Gong Jin are really rare wise men in the world." That night, Zhou Yu was sitting alone in the tent, thinking about how to use the Cai brothers to pass false information to Cao Cao, and the old general Huang Gai came to visit. "The general came to visit late at night, so he must have good advice?" Zhou Yu said. Huang Gai said: "The enemy is outnumbered and we are outnumbered. It is not suitable to hold a stalemate for a long time. Why not attack them with fire?" Zhou Yu said: "I don't know how Cao Cao's warships are distributed. If they are connected together, it is better to attack with fire. If they are scattered on the river, the burning ships will clash left and right, and our army will also suffer." Huang Gai said: "I would like to go to the Beijun Water Village to see the truth, and then make a conclusion." Zhou Yu held Huang Gai's hand and said, "The old general is exhausted physically and mentally for Soochow, but it's a pity that there are too few people like you in Soochow." The next day, four generals, Huang Gai, Gan Ning, Zhou Tai, and Lu Fan each led a warship against the current. The speed of the boat was very slow. At dusk, they gradually approached Cao's fleet. The water village is quite magnificent, surrounded by swimming boats on the outside, and the inside cannot be seen clearly.