Mythical Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1335: Chapter 1288: Zhou Yu’s Intentions

[I’m just afraid Liu Xuande won’t give us enough time to prepare. Although it’s difficult for us to know the real situation under Liu Xuande’s rule, from the decrees he has issued, I can feel our gap is widening.] Zhou Yu felt a slight bitterness in his heart.

However, Zhou Yu would never tell Sun Ce about this. Even if he did, Sun Ce would only cause trouble. Sun Ce’s intelligence is only suitable for fighting; for other matters, it’s best not to involve Sun Ce, or else he will just add to the chaos.

Actually, by now, Zhou Yu was beginning to doubt the source of Chen Xi’s wisdom, the mastermind of Liu Bei’s political strategy.

It’s not that Zhou Yu is arrogant, but because he himself comes from an aristocratic family, and since childhood, he has had a love for various classic books, excelling in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Moreover, his father, who was one of the Three Dukes, fully supported Zhou Yu’s studies. Over the past twenty years, Zhou Yu feels he is no less than anyone else.

After all, not to mention other things, when it comes to intelligence, Zhou Yu’s mind is undoubtedly among the best of his time. Besides, he has a natural hunger for learning and works exceptionally hard. It should be impossible for there to be such a large gap even if a person with extraordinary talent appears.

Simply put, Zhou Yu is confident that if he were to replace Li Ru back then, Dong Zhuo’s power during the campaign against him by the Eighteen Feudal Lords would not be weaker than when Li Ru served as the mastermind. However, if he replaced Chen Xi, Liu Bei’s faction would not have reached the current level.

These are the differences between the two sides, and it’s the simplest inference. As long as one puts themselves in the other’s shoes and goes through a simulation, they will find an enormous disparity, something that, in theory, should not occur.

Zhou Yu knew very well that his talent should already be approaching human limits. Even if Chen Xi has reached the extreme of human capability, it’s impossible for such a gap to exist.

Fortunately, reality is more unscrupulous than fiction, and reality, once it happens, is deemed reasonable. So Zhou Yu can only conclude that his previous estimation of the limit was not the real limit. Of course, the idea of innate knowledge has already been dismissed by Zhou Yu.

Given the possibilities, there are only two: either I miscalculated, or the opponent is a deity in human form. Why choose the option that is disadvantageous to oneself? If the latter is true, then there’s no point in acting; victory or defeat is already decided.

”What are you thinking about?” Sun Ce waved his hand in front of the slightly distracted Zhou Yu, asking to bring Zhou Yu’s attention back.

”I am thinking about how to mobilize the troops. It seems that before engaging in battle at Jiaozhou, we need to lead an army to the south bank of the Yangtze River first,” Zhou Yu said calmly, not showing the slightest worry, as if he had indeed been thinking about this problem earlier.

”The south bank of the Yangtze River?” Sun Ce raised an eyebrow, a look of delight on his face. ”Hahaha, let me personally lead the troops there. I’ve long wanted to face off against Guan Yu. If it weren’t for you holding me back, I would have gone already.”

”Not only do you need to lead troops there, but I also need to accompany you,” Zhou Yu sighed and said, ”However, if you want to face Guan Yu, you should still be a bit cautious.”

”Don’t worry, don’t worry. Although he’s formidable, I, Sun Ce, am not easy prey. As long as I’m careful, it won’t be a problem.” Sun Ce proudly patted the armor on his chest.

”Let’s hope so,” Zhou Yu said helplessly. ”Liu Xuande dispatched troops to Youzhou to divert Yuan Tan’s focus, intending to join forces with the Xianbei to jointly attack from both sides, aiming to quickly eliminate the Northern Yuan Clan.”

”For us, Liu Bei eliminating the last enemy in the north is not good news. Once he is no longer hindered by the north, he can focus entirely on dealing with us. However, the Northern Yuan Family is merely subsisting at this point, so we only need to divert some of their attention.” Zhou Yu explained to Sun Ce.

Sun Ce, completely indifferent, looked at Zhou Yu, barely interested in why they needed to confront Guan Yu or Guo Jia, only eager to spar with some supreme masters.

”As for the authenticity of the Qu Clan Agricultural Book, it has been verified, but Yangzhou itself is vast with a sparse population, and food is plentiful, so there’s no urgency now. We should first divert some of Liu Bei’s attention, and Cao Mengde’s side will also intervene after spring plowing stabilizes,” Zhou Yu took a look at Sun Ce’s expression and explained it roughly.

Actually, Zhou Yu is not averse to agricultural reform, but compared to the north, where land is relatively scarce, the southern regions do not lack land. Hence, the fervor for agricultural reform isn’t as intense as that of Cao Cao’s.

Moreover, Zhou Yu’s arrangements are not simply to prolong the Northern Yuan Clan, but more to conceal his true strategic intentions.

While Zhou Yu holds little regard for Soldier Rebellion, he believes there’s no regional inspector of a province in the Late Han that wasn’t a competent person. Zhou Yu doesn’t believe that Soldier Rebellion has no apprehension about them, and he wouldn’t be surprised if the other side was prepared for Sun Ce’s invasion.

Although Zhou Yu doesn’t know of the historical attempts by Sunx Quan to seize Jiaozhou only to be thwarted, Zhou Yu is not one to be careless. To take Jiaozhou while other northern factions remain unresponsive requires some ingenious strategy.

The northward move by Sun Ce and Zhou Yu to deal with Liu Bei and draw his side’s attention is the quickest way to reassure Soldier Rebellion. Once assured, Zhou Yu trusts that Pang Tong and Jiangh Qin will quickly bring the battle in Jiaozhou to a conclusion.

It’s not that Zhou Yu has much concern about Pang Tong’s efforts; what truly worries Zhou Yu is dealing with Guan Yu, who serves under Liu Bei, on the opposite side of the Yangtze River. Zhou Yu is very clear that compared to the northern Feudal Lords, their generals are relatively scarce.

Not to mention compared with Liu Bei, even compared with Cao Cao, Sun Ce’s side has a significant shortage of generals. Fortunately, compared to northern ground battles, southern naval battles dominate, which requires more focus on command and mobilization rather than the general’s personal combat power.

Therefore, in the south, the requirements for generals are more about better commanding warships and possessing excellent ships. Genuine naval duels are rare, except for Inner Qi Manifestation Generals who are extremely confident, who might choose to leave the combat zone for one-on-one duels, but others would never attempt it.

Of course, even for Inner Qi Manifestations who have substantial confidence, they wouldn’t engage in combat within the warzone. Because against vessels with the inherent Cloud Qi and enhanced nurturing, controlled by skilled personnel, Inner Qi Manifestation is also quite fragile and can be killed if surrounded.

The biggest issue currently for Eastern Wu is not the lack of a sufficient number of Inner Qi Manifestation Generals, but the absence of excellent warships. Flat-bottom boats work fine on the Yangtze River, but at sea, they would capsize at the first wave.

[This northward battle, the real objective isn’t just to distract Liu Bei’s attention, but to complete our army!] Zhou Yu thought silently to himself, feeling a bit heavy inside.