Vol 8 Chapter 25 (2/2)

“Since Imperial Uncle is here, let us begin.” Huang Zu said as she bowed and saluted to me.

I nodded, and went to the 2nd seat to the left and sat down. Zhou Cang and Chen Gong went to the seats for the generals and officials and picked 2 slightly outer seats and sat down.

After they both sat down, Huang Zu scooped out a gourd of water from the pot and raised it in front of her, “Our side has achieved an overwhelming victory in the battle today. This is thanks to the bravery and strength of everyone present here today. Therefore, before we begin this meeting proper, I would like toast to everyone first to express the respect and thanks I have for everyone.”

When she finished, she raised her head and drank, and when she finished, she gave a long sigh as though she drank wine.

From her words, I could hear that she was very pleased with the outcome of this battle and couldn’t detect any alarm or dismay at all. And this sense made all the other generals at the meeting raise their eyebrows.

“Su Fei, I would like to give you another toast.” But this didn’t stop Huang Zu, and she even continued with another toast.

A general sitting in the 2nd row hurriedly raised her wine cup.

“The navy’s contribution has been the greatest in this battle. You delivered a heavy blow to the enemy and you bolstered our numbers. Very good, very good.” Huang Zu downed her water when she finished.

“Ah, un, yes.” The general called Su Fei stammered a reply, and drank her wine down to give herself a boost before she continued, “But I’m afraid that the navy will not be able to a.s.sist with city defence works as the sailors are more accustomed to fighting in the water and so we would be willing to guard the port–”

“Looks like you all know already huh.” Huang Zu nodded when she heard what Su Fei said and ran her hand down the gourd as she said so, clearing all the beads of water on the surface of the gourd.

She didn’t continue her explanation after she interrupted Su Fei and only raised her gaze to see everyone’s reaction, including Liu Qi and I.

As for what she said that we already know, it’s probably the matter of Jiangdong’s navy.

She looked from left to right, and from right to left again, and she nodded.

“Un, all of you know then.” She confirmed it and wiped her mouth before slapping her plate skirt with both hands, “I’ll be honest then. The information you all have heard is true. Jiangdong’s navy will probably be arriving at Jiangxia’s port by tomorrow or the day after. At that time, there won’t be a point to defending the city and we will seek to end it on the naval front.”

When Huang Zu finished, a ruckus broke out amongst the generals.

Liu Qi didn’t seem perturbed by this news and was very calm. Amongst the generals, Wen Ping and Yi Ji did not make any reaction or movement as expected. When Zhou Cang saw the people around her start arguing, she joined in as well. I bet she has no idea what everyone is arguing about.

“Everyone calm down!” Huang Zu roared out angrily and stood up with a calm expression as she slammed the table, making everyone silent.

She looked at all of us, and when she saw that n.o.body was speaking, she sat back down on her main seat.

“I understand how everyone feels but panicking won’t solve anything now.” She said as she placed the gourd on the table and extended her index finger which she poked the gourd with, “Right now, what we need to do is to prepare our naval defences.”

When Huang Zu finished, about half of the generals had difficult expressions on their faces.

“I understand that we are facing many difficulties but we must overcome them. If you have any countermeasures in mind, please do share them without holding back.” Huang Zu switched to a cross-legged seating posture from a seiza as she said so.

Perhaps this was her attempt to make herself seem more approachable, but personally, it just strengthens her thuggish image.

“Umm, I do have an idea.” Unexpectedly, that Su Fei general raised her hand and spoke up.

“Un,” Huang Zu nodded.

Su Fei stood up and spoke as she bowed and saluted respectfully, “The other side will be attacking upstream from downstream and will thus be going against the current. There are also many reefs downstream so they will be mainly using smaller boats in their attack.”

“Un un.” Huang Zu nodded, seems like she thinks what Su Fei says makes sense.

“If they are using small boats, our side’s large s.h.i.+ps can fire at them from afar but we will be unable to stop them from up close. To prevent this, we can send out a flotilla of light s.h.i.+ps and hinder the small boats. This will allow our large s.h.i.+ps to fire more volleys at the enemy, greatly reducing the other side’s naval strength. Thereafter, we can support the land battle with the large s.h.i.+ps’ cannons–”

“Very good!!” Even at this time, Huang Zu did not forget to interrupt as she slapped her plate skirt and a rare smile sppeared on her face.

“I’ll leave this to you then.” She threw out a command tally as she said so. The command tally rattled on the ground, making a clear sound in the tent. However, Su Fei did not run out and pick it up, and only continued to remain in her bowed position.

“… Is there a problem!?” Huang Zu’s face became stormy, and her stare at Su Fei was so harsh that even I was affected.

“Ah, about that. I may have always been a naval general, but I’ve only received training on how to command and steer large s.h.i.+ps. As for boats and light s.h.i.+ps, I’m afraid I’m unable to–”

“Tell me who, and I will deploy him or her to you.” Huang Zu once again interrupted her. At this, Su Fei paused for a moment before she continued.

“Only 1 person can do–”

“Who?”

“Gan–”

“No.”

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