Chapter 119 – Sun Ce's Begin His Counterattack (1)
Translated by Bloodfalcon, Edited by Krayto
"Finally, Wancheng city!"
The man who spoke is the one who is standing on a magnificent large ship balcony. He has the bearings of a hero and his sight is eyeing the place far in front of him.
That man is Sun Ce and he is currently seeing Wancheng city’s Navy main camp. On the Yangtze River, there are numerous ports such as Xiakou, Chibi, Hanyang County, Wulin and Wuhu. Therefore, their topography is very suitable to construct a big navy camp which can support 100,000 naval troops.
These big ports naturally were man-made. These river ports were so hard to make because the people did not understand the ways of water. Thus it is very difficult to expand the ports therefore river-ports cannot become a place to hold a lot of people.
The river-port that Sun Ce just saw is the port that was seized by Lu Bu, which connected Jiangdong to Wancheng city. That small port was actually enough to station all of Lu Bu’s navy force.
“Milord, greetings to you!” While Sun Ce is still in a daydream, beside him suddenly a young scholar appeared, then he bowed and said his greetings toward Sun Ce.
“Oh, Zijing, greetings to you too!” Sun Ce looked at this young scholar. He is wearing a long gown made of silk and is wearing a hat with a tassel, his appearance cannot be compared with Zhou Yu who is natural and had a free look, but he had an aura that emanated pure honesty.
That young scholar is Lu Su, he came from the Lu clan in Linhuaiguan. His appearance is big and tall; a frank and outspoken person. He loved to study the 6 basic arts of ancient learning, which was comprised of riding a war chariot, archery from horseback, rites, music, arithmetic and calligraphy.
This youth often come back to Linhuaiguan to become a teacher in his homeland. Zhou Yu recommended Lu Su due to his diligence and Sun Ce took note of Zhou Yu's recommendation and quickly recruited Lu Su while he is staying in Jianye.
“Zijing, are all of them ready?!” Sun Ce inquired. Sun Ce only brought 30,000 elite naval troops. The remaining 70,000 troops are Jiangdong's noble’s private soldiers. Although these private soldiers are numerous, they are at odds with each other, and have no coordination. So, these issue was handed to Lu Su to take care of.
This Lu Su really did not disappoint Sun Ce, under his arrangement, those noble private soldiers were already organized.
“Report to Milord, all of soldiers are already prepared, and ready to be deployed at any time to Wancheng city!” Lu Su nodded, both of his eyes are fixated toward his heroic young master. Lu Su, although very talented, his knowledge of civil and military affairs is not a match for his friend Zhou Yu, Zhou Gongjin. With Zhou Yu still lurking in Jiangdong, Lu Su will have a very hard time to showcase his talent.
This Lu Su is a very humble and honest person. His mind is straight and because of this trait, he had many broad-minded friends. He is also very friendly toward people and because of this, he discussed many things with Sun Ce’s younger brother Sun Quan in a very friendly manner. He found out that Sun Quan actually had the same capability as Sun Ce but currently he was outshone by Sun Ce’s brilliance.
When Sun Ce assigned Lu Su as his chief strategist against Lu Bu, Sun Quan was unwilling to release him, because he still wanted to learn more from Lu Su, but Lu Su actually accepted it without any hesitation.
Why is that? It is because he is finally being entrusted with heavy responsibilities. However, even though he was trusted with important duties, Lu Su did not put on airs and become arrogant. Instead he became much calmer.
Sun Ce or Sun Quan? When Lu Su bowed toward Sun Ce, his mind was preoccupied with Sun Ce and Sun Quan. Now that he has seen these two brothers, his mind is filled with trains of thoughts. Sun Quan is the one who hides a dagger behind his smile, his style is secretive is able to maintain composure under pressure and did not reveal anything on the surface. But Sun Ce, according to Lu Su, is a person who shows everything on the surface, his style is a fair person, and the person who cut down all of his adversaries by himself.
Can these two go hand by hand together? Lu Su truly doubtful, both of them are wise lords, but both of them are brothers. These two are bound to compete.
Lu Su has been thinking too much unconsciously and quickly shook his head to focus on the current matter.
“Milord, are you ordering to attack?!” Lu Su asked as if offering advice.
“Eh?!” Sun Ce was confused. Usually after the army recuperated, we attacked immediately to catch the enemy off guard. This is the basics of all basics for offense.
If the one who said it is Zhou Yu, Sun Ce will not feel very confused because Zhou Yu will immediately suggest to do a pre-emptive attack and reclaim control.
But the one who suggested it just now was Lu Su, making Sun Ce feel strange. Zhou Yu’s letter introducing Lu Su to Sun Ce was saying that Lu Su had big talents, and had a very calm demeanor, but insufficiently planned ahead.
What Lu Su’s excelled at was fortifying every step that his lord took, but he is unable to cut the path through.
“Now is not the time!” Sun Ce shook his head. Sun Ce suddenly found himself contradicting Lu Su’s proposal. The one who encouraged to attack was Lu Su, but Sun Ce himself wanted to slowdown and enjoy the attack.
Editor: For people who didn’t understand, because Zhou Yu introduced Lu Su as a passive and defensive person, Sun Ce was taken aback that he wanted to go on the offensive. This out of character advice made Sun Ce think that he was anxious and getting ahead of himself. So Sun Ce did the opposite.
“Not now?!” Lu Su wrinkled his brow. Sun Ce has misunderstood Lu Su. Although Lu Su is calm like water on the surface, that is only showing him that he did not have the ability to strike. Although an elephant only ate vegetables, he can still fight a tiger. What Lu Su has proposed to Sun Ce is seen as fortifying everything on every angle.
In front of them is Wancheng city is the naval HQ. It can hold more than 10,000 naval troops and it is quite good for naval battle. However, if this compared with Jiangdong, naturally Jiangdong’s naval unit is the strongest. As for Lu Bu’s Bing Province Heavy Cavalry, Lu Su has studied them. In his assessment, Bing Province Heavy Cavalry is the king of land warfare, but in naval battle, Lu Su just looks down upon them because their naval experience is zero and does have potential to even bite back.
A naval soldier not only needs to swim, but he also must be familiar with the ship rocking tendency, when to load ship and when to unload the ship in order to maintain the balance. This is the basic lesson for every naval soldier.
A person needs 2 - 3 years in order to learn about the ship. Therefore a fisherman is an ideal naval soldier.
Now, with the morale of Jiangdong’s soldiers at the max, they should be able to take down Wancheng city naval camp in one fell swoop. Jiangdong’s naval force is confident of their invincibility and now the decision to be initiative in offense or retreat lies on Jiangdong army’s decision. Bing Province Heavy Cavalry is a sitting duck in front of naval forces, the Formation Breaker is a heavy infantry. If they fall into the water, they are unable to stay afloat.
“Yes, do not too worry about it Zijing! I must give Uncle Lu a big gift!!!” Sun Ce’s eyes is flashing. Da Qiao’s death has touched his nerve. Blood debts need to be repaid with blood. Sun Ce has decided that Uncle Lu’s families must die in order to avenge Da Qiao’s death.
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Meanwhile at Shucheng County, Zhou clan’s mansion
“Milord got news!!!” Zhou Yi exclaimed. He is the head of Zhou clan in Shucheng, he is also Zhou Yu’s cousin. Since Zhou Yu become Sun Ce’s man, he did not have time to take care of his own clan, so he asks Zhou Yi to become the clan head.
If people asked who is Wancheng city’s most influential nobles it is definitely the Lu clan and Liu clan. But in Shucheng County, Zhou clan is the boss from the very start. Zhou clan which Zhou Yu belongs to, has been generations being an official in this Shucheng County. Starting from his great-great grandfather Zhou Rong and when Zhou Rong died, his title passed to his son Zhou Xing and after Zhou Xing died, it goes to Zhou Jing.
Finally when Zhou Zhong become the officer of the Han Dynasty, his title is Grand Commandant (Tai Wei) for a while. So, even though Han Dynasty fell, Zhou clan still held the glory because Zhou Yu now can be said to be incomparable under the sky.
So, even the relative Han Dynasty in Lujiang the Liu clan must give Zhou clan face because of that accomplishment along with Chen clan.
“Milord has return to main HQ, and currently he is stationed at Hulin, we can deploy soldiers at any time!”
“Is that so? Then it is the best!!!” Zhou Yi nodded. “Any news from Wancheng city?! Did those nobles comply with our request?!” What Zhou Yi concerns the most is this?
“Clan head, please be relieved. The person who I send to Wancheng city reported that when he arrived at Wancheng city, those nobles are following him like ducklings, rushing to be the first one to join crusade against Lu Bu. It seems Milord’s prestige is still deep rooted in the heart of Wancheng city populace!” Said one of Zhou clan’s juniors with smile.
“Is that right?!” Zhou Yi just replied casually. Milord’s prestige deep rooted in the hearts of people? Heh, stupid sentence. Perhaps this saying is only true for common people, but to these nobles? Hahahaha!!!! Zhou clan is a noble clan. A noble clan’s principle are, no friends forever only benefits forever. With Lu Bu pressuring those noble clans with fear and coupled with the news that Jiangdong army with 100,000 troops already above the river, those nobles would be crazy not to cooperate with them.
“Since everything is ready, then let’s begin, this time I will make the Zhou clan shines brighter in front of Milord!!!” Zhou Yi stood up and exclaimed.
Nearby junior also exclaimed “Yes!!!!? After this battle, our Zhou clan will become as big as the Sun clan in Jiangdong!!!”
Night arrived gradually.
In Wancheng city Administration Office, Lu Bu sat inside the office hall discussing official business, nearby Chen Gong is reporting to Lu Bu regarding Sun Ce's army movement.
“Wow, 100,000 troops? And Sun Ce also took command personally?! Hahahaha!!!!” Lu Bu, who has just listened to Chen Gong's reports; the corner of his mouth rose “This worthy nephew really thinks highly of this uncle eh?!”
Lu Bu previously had obtained intel that stated Sun Ce and his Jiangdong's army and Jing Province naval force are doing battle in Xiakou. Both sides are battling severely and the casualties amounted to at least tens of thousands.
Although Jing Province's foundation is solid, Lu Bu does not think Liu Biao can be Sun Ce's match. Once Jiangxia was conquered, the next target should be his Lujiang. But who would have thought that this Sun Ce abandoned Jiangxia and quickly go back to his main HQ to face Lu Bu quickly.
“Let Gao Shun await orders in Wancheng city along with Hanyang and his newly formed unit! Evidently we must face this Jiangdong's Little Conqueror in a little moment!” Lu Bu cannot underestimate Sun Ce. While Sun Ce is young he is able to lay a foundation in Jiangdong while when Lu Bu at Sun Ce's age he was still a registrar in Bing Province under Ding Yuan.
Chen Gong nodded. Lu Bu’s army and Sun Ce’s army must fight. After all, this is related to Lu Bu’s army survival, can they have a base in Jiangdong or not.
If Lu Bu is defeated, then there is no way out. They have offended 4 warlords, Cao Cao, Sun Ce, Liu Biao, Yuan Shao, it can be said that they are surrounded by enemies now. Just as Chen Gong about to say goodbye to give orders to Gao Shun and Liu Mang, there is an emergency report. It is written that Shucheng County is about to fall. Chen Deng's two familial generals died in battle and Chen Deng's current location is unknown.