Chapter 27 Section 3 Judgment decision

Just as Sun Quan called a meeting of ministers, Cao Cao sent someone to deliver a letter to Sun Quan.The letter said in a threatening tone: "I followed the order of the emperor to carry out the conquest. After entering the south, Liu Cong has surrendered. Now I lead an army of 800,000 people and plan to compete with the general in Jiangdong!" Cao Cao tried to force Sun Quan Surrender without a fight.Sun Quan passed the letter to the ministers, and many people panicked.A man named Zhang Zhao said: "Cao Cao held the emperor hostage and conquered the Quartet in the name of the court at every turn. Today we are going to resist him, which is untenable in principle. Besides, what we can use to resist Cao Cao is mainly It is the natural danger of the Yangtze River. At present, Cao Cao has occupied Jingzhou, and deployed thousands of warships and a large number of water troops captured by Liu Biao on the river. He commanded all the land and water troops and went eastward along the river. In fact, he has occupied the natural danger of the Yangtze River Half. In terms of the number of troops, our army can’t even compare with Cao Cao. Therefore, the best policy at present is probably to make peace with Cao Cao.” Some ministers and generals agreed with Zhang Zhao’s opinion, and some disagreed. Agreed, there was a lot of discussion.Only Lu Su sat on the side without saying a word.Sun Quan got up to go to the bathroom, but Lu Su chased him out.Knowing that Lu Su had something to say, Sun Quan waited for him under the eaves.Sun Quan shook Lu Su's hand and asked, "Zijing (Lu Su's character), do you have anything to say?" Lu Su said bluntly, "I think the opinions of Zhang Zhao and others are to ruin you. To make peace is to surrender. If you want to surrender to Cao Cao, I, Lu Su, can do this, but you can't do it anyway. If I surrender to Cao Cao, I can at least be a county magistrate Officer, if you surrender to Cao Cao, what will be the result? I hope you can carefully consider and make a decision as soon as possible, and don't listen to Zhang Zhao's arguments!" Sun Quan couldn't help sighing after hearing Lu Su's words: " The claims of Zhang Zhao and others disappointed me very much. Your analysis of the overall situation is completely consistent with mine."

Although Sun Quan fully agreed with Lu Su's opinion, the issue of peace and war had too much to do with Jiangdong's safety, so he had to make up his mind: fight, because he is afraid that Cao Cao's army is strong, and he is not sure of victory; And unwilling, so I still can't make a decision all of a sudden.Lu Su saw what Sun Quan was thinking, and suggested that he recall Zhou Yu, the top general of Soochow, from Poyang (now Boyang County, Jiangxi Province) to discuss countermeasures. When Zhou Yu saw Sun Quan, he immediately proposed to hold a meeting of ministers to discuss the plan of peace and war in depth again.At the meeting, Zhou Yu analyzed in detail the situation of the enemy and us at that time and the full possibility of defeating Cao Cao.Zhou Yu pointed out that Cao Cao’s use of troops this time has four major disadvantages: first, the north is not completely unified, and Ma Chao and Han Sui still occupy Liangzhou (now Gansu Province), threatening Cao Cao’s rear; second, most of Cao’s army is from the north. People are not good at water warfare. They abandoned the northern army's specialty in cavalry warfare, and ran to the boats to compete with us. How can they win? Third, the weather is cold and the horses lack fodder; Soldiers in the region rush to fight in the rivers and lakes. They are not accustomed to the water and soil, and they will definitely get sick.Zhou Yu finally concluded: "The above four points are all taboos in using troops, but Cao Cao has to take this risk. If you want to capture Cao Cao alive, today is a great opportunity!" Zhou Yu proposed that as long as Sun Quan allocated tens of thousands of elite soldiers, Stationed in Xiakou, he promised to defeat Cao Cao.

After listening to Zhou Yu's analysis, Sun Quan finally made up his mind. He drew out his saber, cut off a corner of the table in front of him with a click, and said sharply, "From today on, who dares to say that Cao Cao should be surrendered?" It’s the same as this table!” The plan to unite Liu Kangcao was decided in this way. In order to strengthen Sun Quan's confidence and relieve his worries, Zhou Yu went to see Sun Quan again that night, and said to him: "Cao Cao boasted in the letter that he had an army of 800,000 people by land and water, but in fact, the number of troops he brought from the north was no more than fifteen." 60,000, and after a long period of fighting, they are already exhausted. The newly recruited troops of Liu Biao are no more than 70,000 to 80,000 at most. A sick army commanding half-hearted soldiers, although there are many people, what is there to be afraid of!"

Zhou Yu's words really dispelled Sun Quan's worries about Cao Cao's large number of troops.Sun Quan immediately selected 30,000 soldiers and generals, warships, grain, grass, and various military supplies, and handed them over to Zhou Yu; appointed Zhou Yu and Cheng Pu as the left and right governors, and Lu Su as the lieutenant of the Zan Army, and asked them to lead the troops and join Liu Bei's troops. , went west together, and joined forces to fight against Cao Cao.