My Father in Law is Lu Bu

Chapter 595

“Gongjin. Why has this Lu Xun Lu Boyan not give me a reply?” Sun Ce asked Zhou Yu.

“Milord. Do you insist on making Lu Xun surrender?” Zhou Yu did not understand the reason for Sun Ce’s actions. Lu Xun’s whole family had died due to Sun Ce’s actions. Why would he expect Lu Xun to surrender? “Milord. I believe Lu Xun will not surrender. We should quickly dispatch our men to subdue the Yangzhou Navy.

“Report! Milord! Governor! The Jingzhou Navy is dispatching people to receive the Yangzhou Navy’s ship. Their ships is starting to head this way!” The messenger said to Zhou Yu and Sun Ce.

At that moment, it was Jiangdong that was surrounding Yangzhou’s ships. Once Jingzhou approached, they would have to divide the new ships. This was something Sun Ce would not want so he would need to quickly make a decision. There was no time for hesitation.

“Persuade Jingzhou with good words. Try and stall for time.” Zhou Yu said to the messenger.

“Good! Since Lu Xun Lu Boyan is shameless… All soldiers! Prepare to…” Sun Ce gritted his teeth and was about to give the command to kill.

Suddenly, there was another report. “Milord! Governer! They have surrendered!”

“What?”

“The Yangzhou Army have surrendered!” The messenger shouted again.

“The Yangzhou Army have surrendered? Lu Xun has surrendered? How could this be?” Zhou Yu could not believe it. He may not know what kind of person Lu Xun is but he knew that Sun Ce was Lu Xun’s mortal enemy.

“Haha! The Yangzhou Navy finally surrendered anyway!” Sun Ce laughed heartily.

“Tell us what happened!”

“It is true. That Lu Xun is tied up. The one that brought him out is his deputy general!” The messenger reported.

Zhou Yu was contented with this explanation. He would not believe it if Lu Xun surrendered to Sun Ce. However, if Lu Xun’s deputy general betrayed Lu Xun then it would be reasonable. There were plenty of people that feared death.

Although Lu Xun did not surrender personally, the Yangzhou Army had still surrendered. This meant less casualties for Sun Ce.

“Come, Gongjin. Let us accept Yangzhou’s surrender!” Sun Ce’s mood was good. Although Lu Xun did not surrender, he was captured. Then there would be plenty of time to make Lu Xun swear allegiance to him.

When they walked out they heard Lu Xun shout angrily. “Let me go! You traitor!” They then saw a young general that was tied up.

“The Lord has arrived.” Jiangdong’s officers declared as he cupped his fist at Sun Ce. He initially thought he would receive the orders to kill Yangzhou’s soldiers but then the Yangzhou Navy suddenly surrendered.

“Yangzhou’s surrendered general, Yu Cheng and Wei Hong, greets Marquis Wu and the Governor.” Yangzhou’s deputy general knelt towards Zhou Yu and Sun Ce. His sincere attitude made Sun Ce feel satisfied.

“Traitors! You are a disgrace to the Yangzhou Army!” The young general spat in anger.

“This must be General Lu Xun Lu Boyan!” Sun Ce laughed. “How about you surrender to me as well?”

“Surrender? Haha. I will never kneel unless I am dead!” Lu Xun replied with disdain.

“Oh? Is that so? I remembered someone named Lu Kang said that to me. In the end, he was dead!” Sun Ce’s eyes glinted coldly.

“Sun Ce Sun Bofu! How I wish I could eat your flesh!” Lu Xun struggled to bite at Sun Ce but he was pressed onto the floor by his own men.

“Marquis Wu. This Lu Xun refuses to surrender so we will do it for him!”

“A wise man submits to the circumstances. The two of you have no fault!” Sun Ce laughed.

Someone then came out and informed Zhou Yu that the Yangzhou Navy have handed away their weapons. The Yangzhou Navy no longer had any fighting power. One of the reason the soldiers were reluctant to surrender was because they were fond of their ships. Once they surrender, the warships would belong to Sun Ce so the soldiers would no longer be able to sail on it. They hoped that after surrendering, Sun Ce would allow them to journey to Jiangdong aboard these new ships one last time.

Zhou Yu frowned at this but Sun Ce generously agreed. This is because the Yangzhou Navy have already given away their weapons and they no longer had any ballista arrows. They would not be able to resist at all. Besides that, Sun Ce and the others did not really know how to use the new warship yet.

“Report! Milord! The Jingzhou Navy is coming soon. Their General, Wen Pin, said that if we do not hand over the new ships, they would become hostile.

“Become hostile? Haha. They try and give me trouble even when I am not giving them any trouble! Let us see who becomes hostile first. Pass down my orders! Crush the Jingzhou Navy!” Sun Ce wanted to wipe out the Jingzhou troops and attack Jiangxia. Truthfully speaking, Yangzhou’s troops was of no interest to him because of Cao Cao. Cao Cao was about to conquer the North. When he attacks the South, Yangzhou would have to bear the brunt of the attack. That was why Yangzhou was not as appealing.

Leaving Yangzhou alone would buy him some time before he had to deal with Cao Cao. Meanwhile, Jingzhou was rich in resources and had the Yangtze River as a natural barrier. With it, Sun Ce would be in an invincible position. His navy would not lose to Cao Cao’s troops. There was also the fact that Liu Biao was Sun Ce’s mortal enemy.

Now that the Yangzhou Navy was dealt with, it was time to deal with the Jingzhou Navy. It would be a problem if Jingzhou was relying on their fortifications. However this time, they were all chained together like a fishing net. Jiangdong had also secretly dispatched more troops to outnumber Jingzhou’s troops.

“Kill! Kill!” There was shouting even before Sun Ce could finish giving the orders.

“What happened? Did they attack already? Wen Pin! You dare attack first?” Sun Ce reacted angrily.

“Milord. Something is wrong!” Zhou Yu shook his head. The sound of battle didn’t seem to come from Jiangdong’s troops. It was as though there was internal strife within Jingzhou’s ranks.

“Internal strife? Haha! That is good! The more they kill each other, the less of my men that will get killed!” Sun Ce laughed. He had planned to kill them but he never expected them to fight amongst themselves.

“Could it be Zhuge Liang’s subordinates and Wen Pin’s troops?” Sun Ce laughed. No matter what, Zhuge Liang would have to follow him or else he would have nowhere left to go. “Tell our soldiers to not interfere and let them finish fighting each other.” Sun Ce had guessed half of it right. The battle was indeed between Zhuge Liang’s men and Wen Pin’s men. However, he was wrong in that the battle was done for his benefit.

“Internal strife?” Lu Xun who was kneeling gave a meaningful glance to Yu Cheng and Wei Hong. It was a kind of secret command. Yu Cheng and Wei Hong nodded and then approached Lu Xun to do something.

“Oh! It is burning!” Sun Ce smiled as he looked at the huge flame.

“A fire?” Zhou Yu was dumbfounded as he looked at the Jingzhou Navy.

“Gongjin. You said that Jingzhou is having an internal strife. How many men do they have left?” Sun Ce laughed as he asked. The more casualties they suffered, the greater the advantage Jiangdong would have.

“Milord! Quickly dispatch the troops!” Zhou Yu suddenly shouted anxiously.

“Gongjin? Why not wait for them to finish up? That way we sacrifice less of our troops.”

“No Milord! We need to stop them from fighting!” Zhou Yu shouted again.

“Hm?” Sun Ce did not understand. Why would Zhou Yu want to stop Jingzhou from destroying themselves?

“Milord! There is a fire! Argh!” Zhou Yu shouted in exasperation and then gave his orders. “Officers! Go and suppress the rioters within the Jingzhou Army and extinguish the fire!”

“Fire?” Sun Ce finally remembered. Their ships were chained together so it would be a problem when the fire spreads here. They purposefully chose that day to attack Yangzhou because they were worried that the wind would spread the fire easier. If Jingzhou were to suffer from a fire attack, Jiangdong would suffer the same fate.

Meanwhile Wen Pin was also dumbfounded. Originally, he saw Jiangdong’s navy surround Yangzhou’s navy. He believed that Jiangdong wanted to keep everything for themselves. Wen Pin would not allow Jiangdong to keep Yangzhou’s powerful ships. If Sun Ce wants to keep everything for themselves, Wen Pin would fight.

Wen Pin thought of sending the Jiangxia troops to fight as the troops under his own direct command had suffered severe losses. If he were to lose any more of them, he would not be able to face Liu Biao. He never expected the Jiangxia troops to refuse to fight to the extent that they refused to leave the ship. This quickly provoked Wen Pin’s own troops who had already suffered severe losses and Liu Biao’s troops who have a higher standing than the Jiangxia troops.

Normally, that would be true. However, these soldiers were handpicked by Zhuge Liang. The moment one of Jiangxia’s men was executed, the Jiangxia troops were immediately provoked. Besides that, there was a secret that Wen Pin had found out. Wen Pin’s men found out that most of the ships were filled with oil, not soldiers.

To keep this a secret, someone had to be silenced. That action was seen and a fight broke out. The soldiers from Jingzhou and the soldiers from Jiangxia begun to fight. The soldiers from Jiangxia also started a fire. Wen Pin wanted to stop them but everyone was incensed. No one stopped to listen to him.

At this time, the Jiangdong Navy acted. Wen Pin turned pale. Initially, their numbers were about the same but how could they fight with this internal strife going on? Even worse, Wen Pin quickly found out by the number of soldiers Jiangdong had dispatched at once that Sun Ce had hidden plenty of troops on his ship.

Sun Ce and Zhou Yu wanted to wipe out both the Yangzhou and Jingzhou navies here so that they could easily retake Jiangxia. The new ships would also be theirs. As they were all chained together with an iron chain, Jingzhou could not escape even if they wanted to.

“What a good scheme!” Wen Pin said as he rubbed his head. He never realized that he was dancing within the palm of his enemy the entire time.

“Put out the fire! Quickly!” Wen Pin saw the Jiangdong troops try to put out the fire and laughed. “Hahaha! Burn! Let everything burn! You never expected this did you!” Wen Pin now wanted the fire to spread. From the moment the internal strife happened, he already knew that Jingzhou was finished. Now he only wished that Jiangdong would die with them. It was the only way their homes can be protected now.

“Men! Pass down my orders! Make the fire spread! Haha! Let us all die together!” Wen Pin shouted with a grim expression.

“Report! Milord! We cannot extinguish the flames!” One officer shouted towards Sun Ce and Zhou Yu.

“How can that be?” Sun Ce roared back as he looked at the flames that seemed to grow bigger as time passes.

“Milord! Jingzhou’s ships are full of oil! Milord! We have been fooled! This is Jingzhou’s strategem!” The officer wailed.

Sun Ce could not believe it because even Jingzhou themselves would be in a disastrous state from this stratagem. However, he received more reports such as how the Jiangxia Army’s ships were filled with flammables.

“Wen Pin! Wen Pin! Argh!” Sun Ce roared hysterically. If his messengers were correct, Sun Ce had fallen into Wen Pin’s trap.

It was a good plan. The whole of the Jiangdong Navy was here. Although Jingzhou would suffer severe losses, it would still be in a better state than Jiangdong.

“Zhuge Liang! That’s right! Men! Bring Zhuge Liang over!” Sun Ce gnashed his teeth. Jiangdong had fallen into a trap. Who could plan this besides Zhuge Liang and Wen Pin? Besides, it was also Zhuge Liang that had Jiangdong reinforce their troops.

Sun Ce was enraged. He wanted to kill Zhuge Liang.

“Not good! Zhuge Liang is missing!” One officer quickly reported.

“Missing? How? Where is Huang Gai?” Sun Ce could not believe it. Although Huang Gai was acting as Zhuge Liang’s servant, he was actually there to keep watch on Zhuge Liang.

“Milord. General Huang is here!” A few servant dragged Huang Gai over.

Huang Gai lacked the strength to move properly. He struggled to open his eyes and speak. “Milord. This general is incompetent for allowing Zhuge Liang to escape.”

It was Huang Gai’s strength that allowed him to even speak since he was drugged with enough medicine to knock out an ox.

“Now is the time!” At one side, Lu Xun also suddenly shouted.

“Huh?” Sun Ce turned around only to find that Lu Xun, along with Yu Cheng and Wei Hong, had killed his men, taken their weapons and cut out a path towards their own ship. The Yangzhou ship started to move. As most of Jiangdong’s men went to put out the fire, Yangzhou’s ship managed to escape the encirclement and headed towards the riverbank.

“The Yangzhou Army and the Jingzhou Army! I should have known that they were still allies! Liu Biao seriously threw away his own reputation just to conspire against me!” Sun Ce shouted. He believed that Yangzhou and Jingzhou planned this together to wipe out the entire Jiangdong Navy once and for all.

Poor Liu Biao not only got himself cuckold by Liu Mang. Now he was even misunderstood by Sun Ce. There was nowhere for him to pour his grievances.

“General. Did we really planned this with Jingzhou?” Even Wei Hong thought that both Yangzhou and Jingzhou planned this to wipe out the Jiangdong Army.

“No.” Lu Xun shook his head. He wasn’t too clear on the stratagem but he was certain that this wasn’t the case as Jingzhou had also suffered severe losses from this. If Liu Biao had the leeway to sacrifice so much, he would not have needed to participate in this plan to begin with.

“Who planned this?” Lu Xun contemplated as he read the letter again. It said “Surrender. Wait. Rebel. Escape.”

****

“Teacher look! It’s burning!” Wu Hui shouted loudly as he pointed at the ships. They had went ashore earlier and could not catch up to the ships without horses. That was why Zhuge Liang and his servant waited until it was dark to see the flames.

“Phew.” Zhuge Liang who was usually indifferent breathed out a sigh. Although he looked indifferent, he was actually nervous. If his plan failed, Jiangdong would obtain everything. Fortunately his plan succeeded.

“Wu Hui. Let us go.”

“Teacher. Where are we going?” Wu Hui stared blankly when Zhuge Liang walked towards the wrong direction.

“Of course we are going to Lujiang to see someone.” Zhuge Liang said without turning around.