Chapter 344

Chapter 344

Can a strategist not ascend the throne? Volume 10: The World in Chaos, the Time of the Deer Hunt Chapter 344: Clash in the Middle

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Can a Strategist Not Ascend the Throne?

Chapter 344: Clash in the Middle

The principle of striking while the enemy is weak has always been true, and Zhou Yu is currently the drowning dog that can be targeted.

Thinking of the three stalemated battlefronts in Xuzhou, Liu Bei’s last bit of reluctance to use Sun Ce’s death to strike at Zhou Yu has completely disappeared.

“Send a message to Tan, order him to send troops for reinforcement!”

Thus, Zhou Yu, who is already in a state of unease, will face a swift joint attack from him and Guan Ping.

Once Zhou Yu’s forces are annihilated, Liu Bei can march on Sheyang without any worries.

He held Chen Gui’s hand and said, “Thanks to your guidance, we were able to successfully lure Zhou Yu into the trap.”

Chen Gui denied, “My lord should say, thanks to that commander Zu Lang from Jing County who caused Sun Ce’s death, we have this opportunity. But now is not the time to discuss this, please act quickly to change the situation in Xuzhou. If Qiao Yan gets the chance to move north, our troubles will be truly great.”

This impending pressure made Chen Gui sigh, realizing that the Grand Marshal’s current position was not gained by mere luck.

The shock from last year’s dual-front war in Youzhou and Yizhou has not yet subsided, and this year, troops are stationed in Luoyang aiming for Yanzhou and Yuzhou, while personally overseeing Xuzhou and Yangzhou, with ambitions to conquer both regions.

Who would have thought that she originally started in Bingzhou…

From the County Marquis of Leping County to galloping across the world, it only took a little over ten years.

Thinking of where their current pressure comes from, Chen Gui couldn’t help but feel a bit emotional.

But now is not the time for reflection, better to deal with Zhou Yu first!

Their army is advancing from Huaiyin towards Sheyang, with Zhou Yu chasing from Huaiyin. This head-on attack must be swift, otherwise, Zhou Yu might retreat southwest back to Yangzhou or break free and return to Huaiyin, prompting Jia Xu to send reinforcements.

Unfortunately, the Xuzhou front is flat terrain, with no place for an ambush.

If Zhou Yu is more inclined to return to Yangzhou, he certainly won’t cross the Chao River to the southeast while heading south.

Their window for action is very limited.

“General Zhang!”

Hearing Chen Gui’s call, Zhang Fei, who felt he had vented his anger by provoking Zhou Yu earlier, quickly rode over.

“Please, General Zhang, start switching the front and rear troops. This time, we must fight hard to strike Zhou Yu’s forces.”

In a plain battle, the true strength of two armies is most evident.

Zhou Yu is not to be underestimated, even if they can defeat him, they will surely suffer significant losses.

The only advantage they have now is—

Their massive attack on Sheyang, under the reconnaissance of Jia Xu’s scouts, looks more like Huaiyin has fallen into their hands. Thus, on flat terrain unfavorable for interception, Jia Xu should prioritize fortifying Sheyang’s defenses rather than engaging in battle outside the city.

But who would have thought that in this hundred-mile journey, they would suddenly turn back to deliver a head-on strike to Zhou Yu.

Liu Bei, hearing Chen Gui’s arrangements for Zhang Fei, laughed, “Han Yu, why only arrange for Yide and not for me?”

Chen Gui cupped his hands, “Please, my lord, save your strength for breaking Sheyang. Let General Zhang earn some merit first.”

“But, General Zhang—”

Chen Gui raised his voice, “Don’t let young General Guan beat you to it.”

At sixteen or seventeen, one is already of age to fight in this era.

The recently deceased Governor of Yangzhou, Sun Ce, started his campaigns at this age, as did Lu Lingju, whom Qiao Yan stationed in Liaodong, and Guan Ping, currently stationed in Huaiyin.

Upon receiving Liu Bei’s urgent message, he immediately mobilized all remaining cavalry in the city, sent an urgent report to Guan Yu at Lianshui Military Camp, and headed southwest towards Huaiyin.

Although he was to join Liu Bei in a joint attack on Zhou Yu, Guan Ping, having been in the military camp for a few years, had learned many military tactics.

From Liu Bei’s brief instructions, he clearly understood that his task of cutting off Zhou Yu’s retreat must include seizing the main escape route.

That is, while Zhou Yu’s forces are fully withdrawn from Huaiyin, he must use his cavalry to capture this crucial Jianghuai stronghold.

This is far more significant than quickly joining forces with Zhang Fei!

However, he didn’t know that shortly after he left Huaipu, another force arrived near the city and witnessed his departure.

Zang Ba, upon receiving the scout’s report, quickly turned to Lu Su, “Master Zijing, what should we do now?”

Lu Su pondered for a moment.

Due to his mission north to Langya Kaiyang to contact Zang Ba, he couldn’t receive timely updates on the situation south of the Huai River, and could only judge based on the original situation.

Zhou Yu being surrounded in Huaiyin by Zhang Fei and Liu Bei’s forces was an earlier event, so the current dispatch of Guan Ping’s forces from Huaipu suggests two possibilities.

One is that Liu Bei is struggling in the battle there, willing to abandon Guan Ping as Guan Yu’s backup support, sending him south to assist.

The other is that Zhou Yu is on the brink of collapse, and it’s time to finish him off.

The former is unlikely.

Despite the number of generals Qiao Yan assigned to Xuzhou, the actual troops deployed are few, making it hard to overwhelm Liu Bei’s central forces, so…

It must be the latter.

“We’re not too late!” Lu Su replied to Zang Ba, “Please, General, immediately enter Huaipu under the prefecture’s order, leave some to guard, and we’ll cross the Huai River to join the battle.”

Zang Ba still had doubts, “In the current situation, with Liu Bei’s young subordinate in Huaipu already heading south, is there really a chance for a counterattack in southern Xuzhou?”

Even though Lu Su himself wasn’t sure if his guess was correct, he spoke with certainty, “Have you not heard of giving up to gain? Liu Bei’s central forces are the strongest, and if we don’t lure them into a trap, how can we completely sever their limbs?”

“Moreover, General, your current position is exactly that of the mantis stalking the cicada, with the oriole behind.”

Zang Ba replied, “Alright, I’ll follow your advice.”

Having decided to support Qiao Yan, he couldn’t afford any change in stance now.

First, take Huaipu!

Huaipu, just left by Guan Ping and not yet re-secured by Guan Yu, was soon met by Zang Ba’s forces from the north.

This Langya garrison commander, known as the Taishan bandit, though not explicitly supporting Liu Bei before, was always grouped with Liu Bei due to his geographical location.

As soon as Guan Ping’s orders arrived, Zang Ba claimed to have received Liu Bei’s orders and Wang Lang’s notice to take over Huaipu and then head south for support, which didn’t raise the guards’ suspicions.

They thought their imminent victory had finally made Zang Ba act to secure his position in Xuzhou, or else he’d be in trouble once Liu Bei pacified southern Xuzhou.

“So he’s going to cut off Zhou Yu’s retreat…” Zang Ba, hearing the guards’ full disclosure, felt even more that Lu Su was right, now was the perfect time for his “oriole behind” move.

“Aren’t you too, General?” The guard, having let in more than half of Zang Ba’s troops, suddenly grew wary upon hearing Zang Ba’s insightful remarks.

At that moment, he spotted a familiar face in the crowd.

Upon closer look, it really was an acquaintance.

“Master Zijing, why are you here!”

Since Lu Su was captured by southern Xuzhou last year, Liu Bei had repeatedly proposed exchanging hostages, but no deal was reached. The north had assumed that unless they…








The southern region has been reclaimed, otherwise, Lu Su would most likely not have returned. Yet, at this moment, he appears here, truly a surprise… or not!

The soldier was suddenly startled.

This is a shock without joy!

If Lu Su had indeed been exchanged back and convinced Zang Ba to fully serve Liu Bei, this matter should not have been hidden from them. At the very least, Lu Su’s return should have been announced to the people of Xuzhou!

Now, whether he is friend or foe is hard to say.

But before he could shout out this warning, he felt a sharp pain in his chest, stabbed from behind.

The other guards on the Huai Pu city walls also couldn’t react in time before noticing something was wrong.

Before Guan Ping left to support the south, only a hundred elite soldiers were left here, unable to cope with such a sudden attack.

The defending soldiers were quickly replaced by Zang Ba’s Taishan troops.

They then took out the reserve armor from the government storehouse, rearming their own troops. After leaving Zang Ba’s subordinate Yin Li and five hundred soldiers to guard the city, the rest of the troops quickly headed south.

Meanwhile, Jia Xu in Sheyang received news of Liu Bei and Zhang Fei’s attack and the arrival of reinforcements from Yang Province.

Who came from Yang Province doesn’t matter, in any case…

“The encirclement is complete, how will those caught in it escape?”

Jia Xu looked north, a subtle smile appearing on his face.

Now, let’s see what effect this double-edged sword can have.

But Liu Bei’s army, unable to see this from above Xuzhou, didn’t know that behind Guan Ping’s reinforcements to Huaiyin, Lu Su and Zang Ba’s troops were chasing, nor that on the other side in Sheyang, Han Dang, Jiang Qin, and Wen Pin, after a brief meeting with Jia Xu, almost didn’t stay and headed north, soon to meet their forces.

Looking only between Huaiyin and Sheyang, all they could see was Zhou Yu’s army about to face their pincer attack on this plain.

Zhang Fei, eager for battle, moved his most elite cavalry to the rear, now the front after turning around, ready for a big fight.

If Zhou Yu could escape under such circumstances, it would be a huge embarrassment!

As Liu Bei’s vanguard reached the Chao River boundary, about to enter Sheyang’s alert zone, Zhang Fei received the order to attack.

Turning the long dragon-like formation completely was not easy, but after informing about the river slowdown, the turn wasn’t so hard.

Zhang Fei led the skilled archers and chariots out first.

This sudden turn of battle was not a face-off but a premeditated encounter!

Cavalry charge was undoubtedly the most effective.

Zhou Yu watched the dust rising ahead with a calm face.

At this moment, he couldn’t ponder whether his decision, influenced by Qiao Lan and Qiao Ting’s persuasion, was right or wrong.

Nor could he dwell on whether the mention of Sun Ce’s last words hinted that some speculations should not be pursued.

He had to follow Jia Xu’s plan to smoothly return to Yang Province after pacifying Xuzhou, to find the answer in his heart.

Now, he needed to face the impact of Liu Bei’s army.

“You better not have lied to me,” Zhou Yu suddenly said.

Qiao Ting, riding alongside, calmly replied, “You may not believe my words, but you should believe that the Grand Marshal would not harm Jiangnan.”

Ending the Xuzhou conflict before this year’s spring planting, through such an intense battle, was good for both Xuzhou and Yang Province.

Even though Zhou Yu, at the center as bait, was in the most danger and least trusting of Qiao Yan, they still had to push this situation.

Qiao Ting added, “I wouldn’t joke with my life.”

Qiao Yan allowed her and her sister to quickly withdraw from the dangerous tasks of intelligence and agitation, ensuring they wouldn’t be used as marriage pawns but as movers in the world’s affairs, a true act of a confidant.

But it wasn’t her time to die yet!

She still had to officially inscribe her name in the Leping Qiao family’s ancestral records!

Zhou Yu asked no more, signaling his subordinates to protect this special envoy, and gave the order to face the oncoming Zhang Fei.

Distinguishing friend from foe drained much of his energy, and accepting Sun Ce’s death added to his fatigue, but that didn’t mean he would fall behind in Zhang Fei’s attack!

His current exhaustion was merely personal, not reflective of his vanguard’s state.

His feigned pursuit and retreat had placed shield bearers and archers at the front without alerting the enemy, making it seem like he wanted to withdraw from the Xuzhou conflict.

When Zhang Fei’s cavalry and chariots charged across the flat Xuzhou land, Zhou Yu’s eyes regained their calm.

Neither he nor his troops needed to ponder their future after Sun Ce’s death, only to—

Defeat their opponents!

At the first clash, Zhang Fei realized something was wrong.

Zhou Yu’s defense was too solid.

The arrow rain on the plain, though lacking the speed from high city walls, still had the interference of high-angle shots and precision from shield gaps.

For Zhang Fei, who expected to disrupt the enemy with chariots at first contact, this was bad news.

What made him feel the situation was off was when he tried to flank Zhou Yu’s marching troops, the slow advance of Zhou Yu’s forces finally showed its advantage.

Zhou Yu’s cavalry intercepted him precisely before he could achieve his goal, engaging in fierce combat.

Even with reinforcements following, turning the brief block into two streams colliding, one thing couldn’t be stopped—

At this moment, a terrible guess arose in Zhang Fei’s heart.

Zhou Yu’s slow march wasn’t due to his dilemma over Sun Ce’s death but was a trap to lure them in!

His spear quickly fended off the surrounding cavalry, and in the melee, he spotted the thin young general Zhou Yu, calmly withdrawing a depleted infantry unit and bringing up a fully armored spear unit.

These actions gradually formed a distinct barrier in the midst of the intermingling forces.

With the sound of shields hitting the ground, this barrier of shields and spears seemed to instantly take root.

Rooted in this wilderness.

Zhang Fei couldn’t retreat now!

Turning away, even at a distance, the positioned archers would surely inflict heavy damage.

But he couldn’t advance either!

If he could disrupt these Yang Province troops, the advantage would be his, but with this barrier formed, he was already at a disadvantage.

Just then, Zhou Yu’s loud shout amidst the battle noise was clearly heard by Zhang Fei.

“Disrupting our morale, sowing discord in the alliance, it’s this Yan man Zhang Fei! Who will take his head and offer it to Sun Lang? I promise him a captain’s position!”