Chapter 221 - Wolves offer sheeps warfare (1) (1/2)
Chapter 221 Wolves offer sheeps warfare (1)
Translated by Gamer @ endlessfantasytranslations.com
Jiangdong, Huiji started to make large movements. Meanwhile, Anhui and Jingzhou were also not idle. Kuai Liang was quite happy as he had made a good deal! Not only did he rescue Huang She but he also managed to obtain the ballistae. Although it was not the blueprint, it does not matter. The important thing is that he managed to obtain 22 wars.h.i.+ps from the Lu Bu’s Army. They would need time if they were to go back and make the ballistae. However, he now has s.h.i.+ps that could be deployed immediately.
Another important thing is the Lu Bu’s Army gave him the information that they do not want to be on the Yangtze River. Kuai Liang a.s.sumed this as to the reason they sold the wars.h.i.+ps. The Lu Bu’s Army is going north and not south!
North is the place where Cao Cao and Yuan Shao are fighting at. It is at the Central Plains. These two are not people that Liu Biao wants to fight against. Now that Lu Bu is going north, Lu Bu would clear out the threat for him.
Kuai Liang also believed that they hated each other. Lu Bu chased Yuan Shao out of Hebei and Cao Cao chased Lu Bu out of Xuzhou. Lu Bu also gave everybody the impression of someone who seeks revenge. This is why Kuai Liang believed everything Lu Bu had said.
The wars.h.i.+ps and Huang She was sold for 50,000 gold and 6,000 craftsmen! However, Kuai Liang felt that it was worthit as Jingzhou was now more powerful than Jiangdong. The gold can be obtained from selling salt and iron. Jingzhou’s navy also had more than 15,000 craftsmen. After deducting 6,000 craftsmen, they still had 9,000 craftsmen! The Lu Bu’s Army now had 6,000 craftsmen and was still less than Jingzhou! If Lu Bu needed craftsmen for s.h.i.+ps to go to Shouchun and fight with Old Cao, why not do it?
Jingzhou had to pay Zhang Xiu of Wancheng to fight with Cao Cao. Now there are people who wants to fight with Cao Cao without being paid any money. Why would they not be happy? Kuai Liang wants to go back and tell Liu Biao to cut off the support money to Zhang Xiu. There was barely any progress despite the amount of money and provisions used up. There was also news that Zhang Xiu wanted to surrender to Cao Cao. However, Cao Cao took Zhang Xiu’s aunt as a concubine and angered Zhang Xiu. Otherwise, Wancheng should belong to Cao Cao now.
(TN: Zhang Xiu was also the one who made the surprise attack on Cao Cao, which caused the death of Dian Wei.)
The supported provided all these years might end up raising a hungry wolf instead.
“Brother Zi Rou, after we part today, we do not know when we might meet again!” Yang Hong smiled in a way that seemed sad. Yang Hong was very good in acting otherwise he would not be able to stay in Yuan Shu’s good graces.
(TN: Zi Rou is the courtesy name if you didn’t already know. No, his courtesy name is not Subzero.)
“Brother Yang Hong, do not say that, this time I will go back and inform my Lord. There is a chance for me to come back here to sign an alliance contract. At that time, we will meet again. When that time comes, Brother Yang Hong, be sure to receive me!” Kuai Liang has completed his objective and was in a good mood. He became intimate with Yang Hong as both completed their profitless business transaction and build relations.h.i.+ps.
“Worry not Brother Zi Rou. At that time, Yang Hong will certainly welcome you!” Yang Hong pretended to be sad but was actually very happy. Alliance? Impossible! Our Lord Lu Bu is anxiously hoping that you two will kill each other. Also, the alliance is just to scare off our lovable Little Conqueror!
“I will take my leave here!” Kuai Liang said as he boarded the wars.h.i.+ps. The s.h.i.+ps were originally Gan Ning’s s.h.i.+p. They were now flying Jingzhou’s flags. The troops inside were also Jiangxia troops and the ballistae were already prepared. Gan Ning’s navy also showed the Jingzhou Navy how to use the ballista. The Jingzhou Navy also had talented soldiers who mastered the use of the ballista in 1 or 2 days.
“Master Zi Rou, we are ready to set sail!” A Jingzhou navy general came over to Yang Hong and Kuai Liang and cupped his fist. The anchor was already pulled up and the sails were already open. The s.h.i.+p was ready to leave Anhui City. This general’s name is Deng Long. He was one of Huang Xu’s generals. Although not as good as Gan Ning and Su Fei, he was still a rare water general. The guards that came over was Deng Long’s navy.
“We shall meet again!” Kuai Liang nodded his head and slowly left the sh.o.r.e. After they were gone, Yang Hong started to smile again.
Yang Hong knows that Jingzhou has dispatched their navy to take the twenty s.h.i.+ps is not to become familiar with the s.h.i.+ps but to go to Jiangxia from the other side and set Zhou Yu’s back on fire. With the power of the ballistae, Zhou Yu would take severe losses and when the battle escalates further, it would be easier for Lu Bu’s Army to finish them off.
Chen Gong’s stratagem was to use Lujiang and Yangzhou as a foothold, and to leave a few neighbours. These neighbours should not be allied with or offended. Weapons can be sold to the neighbours to help them fight better. Since Yangzhou is in the middle of the battlefield, it is not good to help anybody. If Lu Bu has helped Liu Biao to defeat Sun Ce, Lu Bu would have the strongest navy and would not want to hand over Jiangdong. That would cause their alliance to stop. The Jingzhou navy was also big and would be able to block Lu Bu’s way. Besides that, Lu Bu would also need to worry about Cao Cao.
Help Sun Ce? That was even worse. Liu Biao is a sheep and Sun Ce is a wolf. The sheep has horns that can hurt you but would never kill you! However, the wolf was different. The wolf is a carnivorous creature that eats meat. By helping Sun Ce, Sun Ce would attack Lujiang after defeating Liu Biao to obtain Lujiang as a springboard to fight at the Central Plains. The Lu Bu’s Army and the Sun Ce’s Army also still have hatred with each other.
The most important thing is that the Lu Bu’s Army needs time to build the army. Time was needed to recruit soldiers and train them. Gan Ning would also need new recruits. Although they have their secret weapon, the quality of the soldiers was still terrible.
In politics, there needs to be a stable environment. The stable environment was needed to obtain provisions. If there are insufficient provisions, soldiers could not be sent to war. The Lu Bu’s Army urgently needs time. Even Jiangdong, Jingzhou and Cao Cao has sufficient protection at their rear. For example, the Jiangdong Army has lost 100,000 soldiers at Anhui but they can still go back to Jiangdong and mobilize another 100,000 soldiers. This was not something Lu Bu is able to do.
At the government office of Anhui, a strong looking general was looking straight at Liu Mang.
Liu Mang drank a cup of tea, while eating snacks and reading a book. The books were brought from Liu Mang’s and had a lot of knowledge within it. Liu Mang was someone who studied finance and tries to understand the contents of the books by exploring and imitating paragraphs (TN: The long and fancy way of saying self-study). Liu Mang then raised his head and looked at the general.
“Why are you angry!” Liu Mang looked at Gan Ning and laughed. The Gan Ning that was like a water dragon and a big headache for Sun Ce, was glaring at Liu Mang like an offended wife for two hours.
“I do not dare!” Gan Ning quickly said but his expressions betrayed him. His mouth was stiff and had eyes that seemed to say ‘You owe me money!’