Volume 1 Jiangdong Fengyun Chapter 68: Lu Su's Plan
"What? Write a letter to Zhou Yu? Will he deliberately let us go because of his friendship with you?" Bai Tu said in surprise.
The idea that Lu Su gave to Bai Tu was that Lu Bu should lead a hundred cavalrymen from Bingzhou to harass the grain route south of Lujiang. With Lu Bu's ability to lead a hundred cavalrymen who move like the wind and in an orderly manner, as well as Lu Bu's personal bravery, an enemy ten times their number would not be able to do anything to him, and an enemy dozens of times their number would not be able to catch him.
At this time, Sun Ce's troops who were attacking Shucheng had already approached Shucheng in the front, while the central army was still on the way, which might delay the central army commanded by Zhou Yu.
It's not about how long Lu Bu can hold Zhou Yu back with a hundred cavalrymen, but about taking the opportunity to send a letter to him!
"Gongjin and I are friends of gentlemen, so naturally I will not delay official business. Moreover, when persuading someone, using friendship to persuade will have the worst effect. We must truly put ourselves in the other person's shoes, understand what the other person wants, analyze the situation for the other person, and take advantage of the situation to get the best result." Lu Su said.
Bai Tu thought for a moment and then asked, "What do you think Zhou Yu wants?"
"Assist Sun Ce and take control of Jiangdong." Lu Su said without hesitation.
"Then what good will it do him if he lets me go back?" Bai Tu still didn't understand.
"If I were Gongjin, I should understand that the most advantageous thing for Sun Ce now is to quickly conquer Lujiang, and then use the merit of conquering Lujiang and... the imperial seal that the Sun family may have, to exchange for an opportunity for Yuan Shu to support his attack on Jiangdong. If the lord dies directly in Huainan and the situation in Jiangdong is deteriorating, Yuan Shu only needs to send a trusted general and a letter of instruction to command the four counties of Jiangdong. Why take the risk of letting the tiger go back to the mountain?" Lu Su analyzed.
Bai Tu also understood Lu Su's meaning.
"If it were Yuan Shu, he might not be able to think so deeply, but Gongjin's words... what I can think of, he can definitely think of it, even if there is no letter, he will find a chance to let it go. Now I am just making this tacit understanding more tacit.
Moreover, the lord brought so many weapons to defend the city. If we were only 60% or 70% sure before, we are now 80% or 90% sure!" Lu Su said.
Sun Ce and Zhou Yu's goals were to "quickly conquer Lujiang" and "manage Jiangdong". If Bai Tu was sent back, both goals would be feasible. Otherwise, not only would there be greater casualties in Shucheng, but it would also fulfill Yuan Shu's wish.
But Lu Bu frowned and insisted, "I don't agree!"
The reason why Lu Bu was willing to come was because he thought that if he only brought the white map, he could come and go in Huainan unless Yuan Shu mobilized a large army and surrounded him tightly.
"My lord, you can work with General Lu to contain Liu Xun and Gongjin. I will take these with me to Shucheng to meet Governor Lu." Lu Su said, pointing to the city defense equipment.
Lu Bu thought this was a good idea, but Bai Tu disagreed.
"Foster father, I must come to save Governor Lu this time, and Zijing is also here for..."
Bai Tu was halfway through his speech when he noticed that Lü Bu looked impatient and was clearly not convinced. He then remembered what Lu Su had said, so he changed his words and said, "Besides, it is actually more dangerous to attract the enemy's attention in the rear. As long as my foster father succeeds , we will only have to face Sun Ce's front army in Lujiang."
Seeing this, Lu Su added, "And there is one more important thing, that is, when we retreat to Jiangdong, we must not go through Wancheng. When General Lu pretends to conduct guerrilla warfare in the south of Lujiang, he must take a detour to Jiujiang... Before leaving, my lord also asked the governors Gan and Chen to bluff in the Wuhu area, right?
Yuan Shu is short of troops in Huainan now . When he finds out something has happened in Lujiang, he will surely realize that the lord is just bluffing. Then we might as well make a fake play real and open a gap in Liyang... Although it is not enough to stand firm in Huainan, it is more than enough to take us back."
Liyang is a county in Jiujiang County, next to the Yangtze River. In later generations, the Southern Liang and Northern Qi negotiated peace here, so it was renamed "He County". It faces Moling on the opposite bank across the river.
The "retreat" that Lu Su planned for Bai Tu was to make a real move while pretending to be strong after leaving Lujiang... and take advantage of the fact that Yuan Shu believed that the navy in Moling was just bluffing, and pick up Bai Tu near Liyang!
This plan was a bit risky. After all, Jiujiang was Yuan Shu's base camp. Taking a detour through Liyang was equivalent to passing by Yuan Shu's doorstep.
But what Lu Su said made sense. If they returned along the same route, Liu Xun in Wancheng would not remain indifferent.
As for how to inform Chen Gong that “the fake play has become real”?
As the governor of a province, Bai Tu could naturally contact the governor of Wu County when he arrived in Shucheng, the seat of Lujiang County. This was one of the reasons why Bai Tu had to come in person.
After making Lu Bu realize that the situation on his side was also very dangerous, he agreed to Lu Su's plan and acted separately with Bai Tu and others.
At the same time, Lu Bu had already made up his mind that if Bai Tu and Lu Su were blocked in Lujiang and couldn't get out, he could just make another trip.
With Bai Tu's current reputation, even if they wanted to kill him, they would find some tricks, such as killing him from illness or grief a few months after the city was captured. It is unlikely that they would kill him directly.
Lu Su did not come alone, he brought more than 20 farmhands with him, and drove a horse-drawn carriage, pretending to be a caravan.
After splitting up, Lu Su and Bai Tu traveled day and night and arrived outside Shucheng two days later...
Although Sun Ce set out much earlier than Bai Tu, most of his troops were infantry, who could not compare with Bai Tu's light boats and fast horses. It would take a few more days for the vanguard to arrive.
Liu Xun also deliberately made things difficult for Sun Ce. He withdrew most of his troops before Sun Ce's army arrived, leaving only a few thousand men outside the city for show, giving Lu Kang the opportunity to send people out of the city again to replenish the wooden beams!
When Bai Tu and his group were not far from Lujiang City, they were noticed by scouts and soldiers guarding the city. However, even though they were a team of dozens of people, Shucheng had no intention of taking the initiative to attack and simply stayed inside.
It was not until Lu Xun came out and started shouting "Grandpa"... "Grandfather" at the foot of the city that the captain of the city gate recognized Lu Xun's identity. He then reported to Lu Kang and opened the city gate.
"Mu Baizhou! You... shouldn't have come!" This was the first thing Lu Kang said when he saw Bai Tu after he learned the identity of the person who came with Lu Xun.
Compared to Lu Kang, who was full of worry, Bai Tu smiled more openly: "Grandmaster Lu, what you said is wrong. You are entrusted by the court and are in charge of Lujiang, so you are determined to defend it to the death. I am the governor of the state appointed by the court. Doesn't my responsibility have less than yours as a grandmaster?"
"It is precisely because Baizhou Mu has greater responsibilities that he should be more cautious. Now Baizhou Mu is diligently repairing weapons and armor in Jiangdong , waiting for an opportunity to attack Yuan Ni, and this is living up to his responsibility!" Lu Kang taught.
Although Bai Tu was the governor and Lu Kang was the prefect, Lu Kang was so old, and... Lu Kang was not only a prefect, he was also awarded the honorary title of "General of Loyalty and Righteousness". In terms of rank, he was a middle-ranking two thousand stones, which was half a level higher than the ordinary two thousand stones. In theory, the rank of the Nine Ministers was not lower than that of the governor.
"Don't worry, Mr. Lu. I have a perfect plan. I just need to weaken Sun Ce's edge. Then I will make sure you and I return safely." Bai Tu said confidently.
Lu Su was a little troubled beside him - this "perfect plan" was clearly what I thought of! What you thought was that if it didn't work, there was also a "father" to take you back!
