♂?，，
Thanks for inviting me to read books and Yu Lan's reward, haha.
———
Zhou Da Commander, Zhou Yu.
Liu Feng let out a sigh of relief, history had not undergone any fatal changes after all, and he could now sit peacefully by the riverbank in Xia Kou fishing and reading, smiling as he watched Jiang Dong's beauty Zhou Lang capture Cao Zhi.
Xu Shu was like he had been injected with a stimulant, his gloomy face suddenly lit up, but he didn't seem as completely at ease as Liu Feng. He then asked again: "How many troops did Eastern Wu bring this time?"
"About 30,000 naval soldiers."
"There are only thirty thousand..." Xu Shu furrowed his brow again, pondering for a moment before saying: "Although the troops and horses are somewhat fewer, if we only defend and don't attack, they can barely be used. Right, are these thirty thousand Wu soldiers commanded by Zhou Yu?"
Sun Quan shook his head: "Wu Hou only appointed Zhou Yu as the left commander, and also appointed Cheng Pu as the right commander, leading a separate force of 10,000 soldiers to assist Zhou Yu. Wu Hou himself led an army of 20,000 soldiers, staying in Chaisang as a reserve force."
Xu Shu's eyebrows revealed a few points of worry, Liu Feng saw it clearly and asked: "Mr. Yuanzheng, is there anything wrong with the way Wu Hou uses his troops?"
"Sun Quan appointed the veteran general Cheng Pu as Right Protector of the Army, clearly not trusting Zhou Yu to command the army alone. In a battle that concerns survival and defeat, what is most feared is that the commander's power will be restricted and unable to control the three armies. Sun Quan's move was motivated by too much consideration for his own interests, but lacked overall consideration."
Xu Shu's words made Liu Feng somewhat surprised. In his impression, Zhou Yu had been good friends with Sun Ce since childhood. When Sun Ce pacified Jiangdong, he made great contributions, and the two of them married Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao respectively, making them relatives by marriage.
After Sun Ce's assassination, the newly enthroned Sun Quan was in an unstable position and owed his stability to Zhou Yu's public support. So why would Sun Quan be wary of someone as loyal as him?
"Sir, isn't Wu Hou always claiming to treat Zhou Gongjin as an older brother? Now that it's come to this critical moment, why is he suddenly distrusting him?" Liu Feng really wanted to know the inside story.
Xu Shu stroked his beard and said, "Zhou Yu was able to become close friends with Sun Ce, so their personalities and temperaments must have been very compatible. They were both bold and confident in their actions. After Sun Ce's death, Zhou Yu immediately led troops into Danyang to show support for the Marquis of Wu, which naturally helped to solidify his position. But think about it - Zhou Yu, an external general, took it upon himself to lead troops here without first obtaining the consent of his superior. Could any powerful and wise ruler turn a blind eye to this?"
Xu Shu's words are like a sharp surgical knife, cutting through the superficial surface of events, dissecting the entangled flesh and blood, and hitting the facts hidden beneath layers of false appearances.
At this time, Liu Feng felt a sense of profound gain. He suddenly realized that in an era of intrigue and deception, the relationships between people were far from being simply black-and-white distinctions of friend and foe, superior and subordinate. Just as military strategy says, "virtual and real, false and true", if one cannot see through phenomena to discover the essence like Xu Shu did, how can he open up a bright future for himself in this political group?
"It's like that, it seems this war is getting more and more complicated." Liu Feng's excited mood gradually calmed down after being pointed out by Xu Shu.
"Haha, it's nothing, I was just overthinking." Sun Qian's relaxed laughter broke the tense atmosphere of their conversation.
"Gong Yu Shu, what's your opinion?"
Liu Feng knew that Sun Qian had followed Zhuge Liang on a mission to Eastern Wu this time, and more than half of them had seen Zhou Yu. As for the view on Eastern Wu's expedition this time, it might be more substantial than their empty comments here.
"At the time of Chaisang, Kongming also said that although Wu Hou was young in years, his power and strategy were extremely heavy. He appointed Cheng Pu as the right commander, which indeed had the intention of restricting Zhou Yu. However, from my point of view, with Zhou Yu's character and way of doing things, this so-called restriction would not affect his command of the army."
"What's so special about this Prefect Zhou?" Xu Shu's eyes gleamed with curiosity.
"Four words can be used to describe getting along with Zhou Gongjin," said Sun Qian with a faint smile.
Sun Gan was reluctant to speak directly and had a bit of an intention to tease them.
Liu Feng's understanding of the Three Kingdoms was mostly limited to a novel, which described Zhou Yu as narrow-minded and overly competitive, portraying him in a rather unflattering light. Liu Feng knew that there must be some fictional elements to this portrayal, for if Zhou Yu were truly such an unpleasant person, how could he have won the admiration of the heroes of Eastern Wu and achieved his legendary accomplishments?
At this time, he was eager to know what the real Zhou Yu was like, and urged: "Gong Suzhong, stop selling Guan Zi, what are the four words."
Sun Qian burst out laughing and this time did not hesitate, straightforwardly saying the word: "Like a spring breeze."
Like being bathed in spring breeze!
In an instant, a string of vivid adjectives emerged in Liu Feng's mind: handsome and elegant, refined and courteous, approachable and humorous... When combined, they formed the phrase "as gentle as spring breeze", which was already a high praise, quite different from the image he had imagined earlier.
"I've only heard of 'a wrong note, and Zhou Lang is considerate', I thought this Director Zhou was a refined and elegant person, but Gong Yu said that being with him was like a spring breeze, which is somewhat beyond my expectations." Xu Shu also seemed to be in disbelief.
Sun Qian stroked his green beard, with a confident expression: "After all, what kind of person is Zhou Gongjin? It will be clear tomorrow. If the young master and Yuan Zhi do not believe it, they can wait and see."
On that day, the news of Dongwu's troops spread throughout Xia Kou. The dark clouds that had been shrouding the city suddenly seemed to be blown away by the east wind, and the dense cloud cover finally cracked open, allowing sunlight to squeeze through the gaps, bringing a glimmer of hope.
According to Liu Bei's order, the Liu family army in Xiangyang would be under Guan Yu's command when he was not around. Now that Guan Yu is commanding the navy north of Xiangyang and has no time to divide himself, he sent someone to convey the message, with Xu Shu temporarily taking charge of laboring the troops as well as keeping watch on the Xiangyang front.
Although the two houses have formed an alliance, as Liu Qi feared, the old feud between them cannot be resolved overnight. Therefore, Xu Shu ordered Zhao Yun to strengthen his vigilance in the south of Xiakou while also sending a message to Liu Qi in the water camp south of the city, asking him to order his naval forces to secretly prepare for any unexpected situation.
They had been busy all night, and by the time the sky was still dark, Xu Shu met with Liu Feng, bringing a large batch of high-quality cattle, sheep, wine, and vegetables that had been prepared overnight, waiting at the dock bridge of the water fortress, looking east and waiting for the arrival of the Eastern Wu army.
When the first ray of dawn, like a pair of eyes that had just opened, pierced through the thin fog at the horizon and embroidered warm golden lines on the excited and anxious facial contours, Liu Feng, with his exceptional eyesight, suddenly pointed eastward and exclaimed excitedly: "They're coming! The Eastern Wu's naval forces are coming!"
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