jdhmnovel Chapter 418 Give it a try and turn your bicycle into a motorcycle
Chapter 418 Give it a try and turn your bicycle into a motorcycle
Like generals lead like soldiers; Guan Xing, who was good at taking risks, naturally led a group of ruthless people who dared to think and act.
Therefore, upon hearing Guan Xing's outrageous remarks, Shen Yi was not shocked at all. Instead, he leaned closer and asked with curiosity, "Tell me more about it."
Guan Xing pulled him to sit down on the bedside, put his arm around his neck and said, "The biggest difficulty in recapturing Jiangling is not Cao Ren but Sun Quan and his group of officials. After the news of Lu Xun's capture is sent back, these Eastern Wu officials will definitely split into two factions, one surrendering to Liu Bei and the other to Cao Cao, and they will engage in fierce competition. After all, everyone wants to make contributions and get the new master to look up to them."
"On the other hand, Sun Quan had only two choices in this situation: either completely give up and let things do as they pleased, stay in his residence and watch the two factions fight it out, and follow whoever wins."
"Either wait for the best price and use the remaining bargaining chips to negotiate with Cao Cao and Liu Bei, and go with whoever offers the highest price to maximize your interests."
"No matter what choice Sun Quan makes, the situation in Jingzhou is extremely unfavorable to us, because I am worried that Sun Quan has lost control of the situation. If Sun Quan really loses control of the situation, he is very likely to be coerced by his subordinates into doing things against his will."
"For example, if he wanted to surrender to Cao Cao, but the faction in the city that wanted to surrender to Liu Bei won a great victory and held a knife to his throat to force him to surrender to Liu Bei, and vice versa, then if you were Sun Quan, what would you choose?"
Shen Yi smiled wryly and said, "General, the way you're saying that makes it sound like Sun Quan has a choice."
Guan Xing turned around and said, "That's right. If such a situation of the inferior overthrowing the superior really occurs, Sun Quan will have to be dragged away even if he is unwilling. The problem is that in Jiangling City at present, the faction that surrenders to Cao Cao is much stronger than the faction that surrenders to Liu Bei. First of all, the officials of Eastern Wu surrendered to Cao Cao once during the Battle of Red Cliffs. They have no psychological burden in surrendering to Cao Cao. Moreover, Cao Cao still holds the emperor and controls the moral authority. If he issues an edict in the name of the emperor, the officials of Jiangdong will definitely follow him without hesitation."
"Secondly, the gentry of Jingzhou are all traitors who betrayed my father. They certainly do not want my father to return to Jingzhou, so they will definitely stand firmly on Cao Cao's side. In this case, the forces of the surrendered Liu faction in Jiangling City will be too weak. Therefore, I must rush to Jiangling as quickly as possible to support the surrendered Liu faction and let them know that they are not fighting alone and that their reinforcements are behind them."
Shen Yi pondered, “The general is right. And the idea of retaking Jiangling by crossing the river in white is exciting. The problem is that this plan is too risky and too difficult to implement. If we are discovered on the way, we will be surrounded.”
“Nanchang is over a thousand miles from Jiangling. And since you are launching a surprise attack, you can’t bring many troops. Once you are discovered, you will have nowhere to escape.”
Guan Xing laughed and said, "But there's still hope for success, isn't there? If there's hope, we have to give it a try."
"This is my plan: select three thousand elite soldiers to form a caravan guard, and have Geng Shang lead them through the Wu army's blockade. Geng Shang frequently travels between Jiangdong and Jingzhou and is familiar with the sentry officers along the way. He should be able to deceive the Wu army sentries and successfully lead me to Jiangling."
"Secondly, although the Eastern Wu strengthened its defenses at the outposts along the way after the White-Clad Crossing, that was before. The current Wu soldiers and even the officials along the way may not have such a strong sense of responsibility. Tens of thousands of Eastern Expeditionary troops have been completely annihilated, so what are they, as mere sentries, still holding on for? Right?"
“It’s not just Sun Quan and his key officials who are affected by Lu Xun’s capture; the lower-ranking soldiers and civilians will also be affected, and they will abandon their duties and start to slack off. In this case, you can easily spend some money to make the sentries turn a blind eye, so I think it’s worth a try.”
Shen Yi continued, "Even if what you said is true, you can't go in person. What if you get recognized? I bet you have quite a few acquaintances in Jiangling."
If Guan Xing is recognized on the road, it will be troublesome. Sun Quan may not let him go just because Guan Xing is his son-in-law. Don't forget that Guan Xing is not only Sun Quan's son-in-law, but also the mortal enemy who destroyed the Sun family's three generations of foundation.
Sun Quan is a cold-blooded animal who can even use his own sister, so how could he possibly care about Guan Xing, his son-in-law?
On the contrary, if Guan Xing were captured and presented to Cao Cao as a pledge of loyalty, Cao Cao would probably be laughing in his dreams.
Even if Guan Yu was a great fighter, he was already approaching sixty and about to be buried. How old was Guan Xing?
From an age perspective, capturing Guan Xing is far more valuable than capturing Guan Yu.
Guan Xing said, "I've considered that too, but after I killed a child by riding my horse when I was thirteen, my father sent me to Chengdu. I haven't seen Mi Fang for five or six years, so she might not recognize me. If even Mi Fang, who watched me grow up, can't recognize me, then there's no point in expecting anyone else."
Young people grow up quickly, their appearance changes almost every year, and it is indeed difficult to recognize them after many years.
Guan Xing continued, "But we must be prepared for the worst. What if Mi Fang has sharp eyes? So I plan to disguise myself as a caravan servant and never speak to anyone unless absolutely necessary."
"Besides, even if Mi Fang or others recognize me, so what? As long as Geng Shang uses the name of the caravan to bring me into Jiangling City, I can unite with the Liu faction in the city to quickly seize the city and control Sun Quan. You should know that Sun Quan's remaining troops are in Chaisang and Yiling. There are not many garrison troops in Jiangling City. As long as my three thousand men enter the city, I will definitely be able to turn Jiangling City upside down."
Most of the time, the most elite troops of the imperial court were stationed at the border rather than in the capital. Sun Quan did not have many troops in Jiangling to begin with, and he transferred most of his troops to Lu Xun to participate in the eastern expedition. Therefore, Jiangling at present is very likely to be as empty as Jianye was back then.
Shen Yi replied, "But Sun Quan isn't a fool. Would he fall into the same trap twice?"
"If I were Sun Quan, upon receiving news of Lu Xun's capture, I would immediately order Zhou Tai to abandon Chaisang and lead the army back to reinforce Jiangling. After all, Jiangling is Sun Quan's biggest bargaining chip right now. Compared to Jiangling, whether Chaisang is defended or not is no longer important. Why bother attacking Chaisang when we're already prepared to surrender?"
"I dare not say more about Sun Quan, but as long as he transfers 5,000 troops from Zhou Tai back to reinforce Jiangling, I'm afraid what you're doing will be more likely to end badly."
Guan Xing laughed and said, "But it's worth taking a gamble, isn't it? What if we succeed?"
"Even if Sun Quan really transfers Zhou Tai back to Jiangling and traps me in the city, do you think my three thousand soldiers can't break out? Jiangling has high walls and thick walls, so it's not easy to attack into the city from the outside, but it shouldn't be that difficult to attack from the inside out."
"There are only two possible outcomes: success or failure. If we successfully capture Jiangling, we will definitely face an attack from the Wei-Wu allied forces. However, Jiangling was built under my father's supervision, and I know best how strong its defenses are. As long as we take the city and mobilize the people, I am confident that we can hold out until Your Majesty and my father come to our aid."
"If I fail, I will break out of the city gates and fight guerrilla warfare outside the city, taking the opportunity to harass the supply lines of the Wei and Wu armies and keep them from having a peaceful time. If I really can't win, I will retreat to Jingnan or Yiling, and then retreat back to Bashu along the Yangtze River. If I can't go to Jingnan or Bashu, I will just go to Dabie Mountain again."
Shen Yi asked, "Even if everything goes as you wish, how will you solve the problem of weapons? You can't just stuff a lot of weapons into the caravan, can you? Otherwise, the sentries along the way will confiscate them on the spot."
Guan Xing said, "If we can't transport weapons, we can transport farm tools. The caravan will definitely be transporting goods, right? This time, let's use farm tools as goods. Once we get to Jingzhou, we can find a blacksmith to forge the farm tools into weapons. I believe that Geng Shang has such channels."
"Farm tools are made of iron, so turning them into weapons is just a side effect. Even if they can't be turned into weapons, so what? Who says you can't fight with a shovel?"
Shen Yi sighed helplessly, "So, General, you've already made up your mind, right?"
Guan Xing nodded emphatically.
Shen Yi continued, "Then let's do it, but we can't use Geng Shang. He's now the magistrate of Linru County appointed by you, and everyone knows he's surrendered to the Han. Taking him there to make connections would be like introducing ourselves. Let's take Yu Yang instead, or have Geng Shang recommend someone reliable."
Guan Xing nodded and said, "That makes sense. Immediately send an order to Geng Shang to come to Wushang to see me. Also, select three thousand elite troops from each army. I want absolutely elite troops, the kind that can take on ten men each."
"After you've done all that, you should also prepare yourself, lead the army to attack Nanchang under my banner, and draw everyone's attention to me."