Chapter 406 (1/2)

No matter what happens, Sun Quan was still Sun Ce’s little brother. He had personally raised and watched his brother grow up ever since his father died. At that time, Sun Quan was only a few years old. No matter what, Sun Ce did not want to strike out against Sun Quan.

“Brother gave me twenty thousand men?” Sun Quan was stunned. Sun Quan had been waiting anxiously in his own personal home outside the Wu residence. He expected one of two outcomes when Zhang Zhao reported his intentions to Sun Ce.

The first outcome was his brother allowing him to go to war. The second was his brother putting him on house arrest while bringing misfortune to the other n.o.bles that helped him. Sun Quan trembled in fear as he regretted his rash desire for military power.

He never expected his brother to agree and even provide more troops than he asked for. Jianye only had thirty thousand troops left. Giving Sun Quan more than half of the remaining troops would heavily influence the safety in Jianye. Of course, Sun Ce had also taken into account that Jiangdong was safer than last time as his foundation was already secure.

“Yes. Marquis Wu gave us twenty thousand men!” Lu Su confirmed Sun Quan’s question with a complicated expression. He was certain that Sun Ce or one of his advisors could see that Sun Quan was unwilling to resign himself to Sun Ce’s rule. Yet, Sun Ce had still treated Sun Quan so generously. Lu Su sighed. As an outsider, he cannot interfere in someone else’s family matters.

“Zhongmou. Since Marquis Wu has given us twenty thousand men, we would have a total of fifty thousand men. This is enough to capture Linhuai and Tuzhong.”

“Hahaha!” Sun Quan laughed. He has finally obtained military power. He could now attack Yangzhou and break away from his brother’s shadow.

“Zijing! With this fifty thousand men, we will take Yangzhou and secure our foundation.”

“Taking Yangzhou with fifty thousand men?” Lu Su did not dare to destroy his friend’s dreams. Last time, he attacked Lujiang with a hundred thousand men only to end up completely routed. Lu Su believed Sun Quan was the more worthy Lord. However, this was not because of Sun Quan’s military leaders.h.i.+p. He was certain that Sun Ce was better at military affairs which is why he did not have much hope that Sun Quan could capture Yangzhou.

“Then let us go quickly!” Lu Su replied to Sun Quan. He did not have any confidence that he could help his friend take Yangzhou. However, retaking Linhuai and chasing away the Liu Mang’s Army is still something that is possible.

“s.h.i.+ye. It is already late today. We should rest early and then set out tomorrow.” Sun Quan said as he restrained his excitement.

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“Ignorant Zhang Liao! Bingzhou barbarian! You simply got Linhuai by luck! You have no real ability!”

“Truly! Zhang Liao only got our Linhuai by mounting a sneak attack! He has no skill at all! Are all those from Bingzhou so useless?”

“You guys must not know. This Zhang Liao is not even a Han. He is actually one of the Bingzhou barbarian invaders! His mother is someone who was stolen away and then saved after she got pregnant. I wonder, who is the father?”

“Haha! Of course it’s one of the barbarians!” The veterans of Qin Feng’s Army ridiculed Zhang Liao as a greeting.

“General. Let us attack!” Zhang Hu and Ge Jun could no longer endure listening to such slander and wanted to attack right away. Even though they and all the other soldiers were asking to fight, the slandered person himself remained calm.

“There is no hurry.” Zhang Liao waved his hand as he continued to observe the enemies on the wall.

“Argh! I cannot take it anymore! Brothers! Follow me out to attack!” Zhang Hu could not endure this. Even he as a deputy general would not feel good about the general being insulted like this. At the end of the day, they were still the Xiliang Cavalry, a fact ignored by Qin Feng. He would prefer to disobey orders to attack.

“Come back here!” Zhang Liao yelled as he scowled.

“Come back? Hmph! You don’t have any face to feel anything even though you are insulted like that. But the Xiliang Cavalry still needs their face!” Zhang Hu replied rudely while in anger.

Zhang Liao did not bother arguing with Zhang Hu. He simply narrowed his eyes and asked. “Are you prepared to violate military orders?”

“You!” Zhang Hu glared back. Zhang Liao’s eyes was full of killing intent. He has hated the Xiliang Cavalry for a long time but he was a man with principles. He would not harm the Xiliang Cavalry on purpose. However, if Zhang Hu dared to disobey orders, Zhang Liao would not spare him. “So what if I disobey orders? I’d rather die than let people insult me like this!” Zhang Hu resolutely wanted to disobey orders in his anger.

“Zhang Hu!” Ge Jun knew this wouldn’t end well and quickly pulled back his friend. He knew that Zhang Liao was a strict but fair person. If Zhang Hu were to disobey orders, he would definitely be killed.

“Ge Jun! Don’t stop me!”

“Zhang Hu! I won’t stop you but do you want the Young Master to be alone? Do you want to die here?” Ge Jun shouted back angrily and slapped Zhang Hu. “The General have already said that he has a plan! Open your eyes and look at Tuzhong. Do you see those walls and the moat? Do you want to use the lives of our brothers to overcome that?” The cowardly Qin Feng had heavily fortified the city. Attacking without a proper plan would cause a lot of casualties just like when Sun Ce attacked Wancheng. Right now, Zhang Liao only had ten thousand men including the Black Flag Army. It was not enough to capture the city.

“Phew.” Zhang Hu breathed out as he regained his thoughts. There were still many enemies on the walls. If he were to attack, he would waste the lives of his men and it would be questionable as to whether he could manage to scale the walls. Not only would it be a futile effort. He would even implicate his family that is still living in Shouchun.

“Quickly apologize to the general!”

“General. I was impulsive!” Zhang Hu may have calmed down but he still felt unwilling.

Zhang Liao coldly looked at Zhang Hu for a while and then shouted something that made the others stunned. “Men! Arrest him!”