Chapter 147

Before departure, Liu Ye tried to persuade him once more, urging Liu Xun to leave behind a sufficient garrison to properly defend Wan Cheng. Regarding Sun Ce's conspiracy, Liu Ye felt utterly helpless.

Liu Xun originally intended to march with his entire force, but unable to withstand Liu Ye's earnest pleas, he finally left behind several thousand troops.

Sun Quan led five thousand troops setting out from Jiangdong. Following Sun Ce's instructions, he had long since laid an ambush at Shangliao. Moreover, Sun Quan knew that he was meant to be the final straw that would break Liu Xun's army. After two days, he rendezvoused with Liu Xun's forces, and the two armies joined together to advance as one.

Along the way, Liu Xun dared not be negligent. After all, the words of both Liu Ye and Li Miao still echoed in his ears, and Liu Xun was terrified of what might happen if Sun Ce were to trick him. Therefore, he ordered scouts to retrieve the latest battle reports from Jiangdong and Jiangxia, making sure they were delivered directly to his hands at the earliest possible moment so he could plan his next steps.

However, Liu Xun was certainly not foolish; he kept this matter strictly concealed from Sun Quan. As for Li Miao, Liu Xun no longer held much guard against him. Li Miao was sandwiched right in the middle of his thirty thousand troops; if he showed any untoward intentions, he could simply be executed on the spot. Afterward, they could brush it off by claiming that swords and spears have no eyes on the battlefield—who could say otherwise?

Yet for several days, the intelligence received consistently reported that Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin were leading a vanguard in a surprise attack, while Sun Ce's main army was also on the march toward Jiangxia. Only then did Liu Xun's heart gradually settle in his chest, and the heavy stone that Liu Ye had placed upon his heart finally fell to the ground.

Although Liu Xun was an incompetent ruler, anyone would grow annoyed hearing someone nagging them about the same thing day in and day out. Naturally, they would begin to doubt whether the other person was right. Liu Xun was just like that; he knew Liu Ye was talented, but he coveted the wealth of Shangliao even more. It would be a lie to say he was completely unmoved after Liu Ye tried to dissuade him two or three times; he simply kept ignoring it out of pride.

Yet now Liu Xun had firmly decided: no matter what Liu Ye said, he would pay it no heed. Just look at the current situation—could Sun Ce possibly still have any intention of attacking Lujiang when his thirty thousand troops were already sailing upstream?

Inside the command tent, Liu Xun summoned everyone to discuss the matters of the advance. In another day, they would reach the territory of Shangliao, and they had to make preparations.

The autumn morning was somewhat biting with chill. Liu Xun was full of vigor. He recalled how back in the day, he had merely been a minor deputy general under Li Su, lacking renown, neither proficient in literature nor martial arts. But Liu Xun excelled at flattery and bootlicking, so after Sun Ce captured Lujiang, Li Su did not hand Lujiang over to Lü Fan according to their agreement, but gave it to Liu Xun instead.

Initially, Liu Xun enjoyed peace and stability after taking Lujiang. However, Li Su—the convenient adoptive father of their young friend Li Miao—subsequently embarked on a series of disastrous blunders. He took the Imperial Seal that Sun Ce had acquired during his travels outside and declared himself emperor, trading it all for years of warfare and ultimately the ruined city of Jiangting.

For the specific details, one need only look at our young friend Li Miao.

Meanwhile, Liu Xun had stayed out of the fray, taking the opportunity to declare independence and become a warlord in Lujiang who was neither too big nor too small. Yet Liu Xun felt stifled; the figures around him were all fierce tigers, and being caught in the middle made it truly difficult to conduct himself. He dared not fight, yet neither did he want to avoid fighting; either way, it was agonizing.

This campaign was nominally his very first military expedition, so Liu Xun could not afford to be anything less than cautious, even sending scouts ahead to gather intelligence at Shangliao.

"My lords, what are your views on tomorrow's battle?" Liu Xun asked with a calm smile, speaking slowly.

"My lord, logically speaking, the scouts sent to reconnoiter Shangliao should have returned long ago, but they have yet to come back. Could something unexpected have happened?" Liu Ye dropped a bombshell as soon as he spoke.

Indeed, by all rights, given the current schedule, the scouts should have returned long ago. Since they still hadn't returned, could it be that Shangliao had already made preparations?

Had they been silenced?

Liu Xun furrowed his brows in deep thought, devoid of the panic others might expect. After a moment, he said, "Ziyang makes a valid point. That being the case, our army should accelerate its pace and strive to arrive outside the walls of Shangliao early tomorrow morning."

"Pfft!..." Liu Ye wanted to weep. *Damn it, my point was that you should send more men to scout properly!*

"What do the rest of you think?" Liu Xun still decided to seek the opinions of the others.

"Governor, in Hong's view, the failure of the scouts to return could be attributed to two possibilities. First, perhaps the scouts were killed by someone, which means the Shangliao troops have already detected our movements, and there may be an ambush waiting. Second, perhaps the scouts simply did not want to return, or having entered Shangliao city, they are truly enjoying themselves too much to come back." Yang Hong kept Li Miao's words firmly in mind and wanted to do his utmost for Liu Xun. However, making a mountain out of a molehill over just a few scouts would undoubtedly outweigh the gains. If it delayed the optimal time to advance and allowed Shangliao to complete its defensive fortifications, there would be nowhere left to cry even if they wanted to.

"Then what is your meaning, Master Yang Hong?" Liu Xun looked at him with interest.

"Governor, in my opinion, the issue raised by Brother Ziyang cannot fail to be guarded against, but we must not be overly rigid. If we delay the optimal time for the advance, it will undoubtedly cause even more casualties. Therefore, Governor, you should first dispatch a few more scouts to lead the way and probe the path, while the main army follows behind, and decide our next moves only after coming within a few miles of Shangliao."

"Master Yang Hong's words are entirely reasonable," Liu Xun said with a smiling nod. Liu Xun was no fool; the approach suggested by Yang Hong was undoubtedly the most prudent.

"General Sun, what do you think of Yang Hong's words?" Liu Xun asked, turning to look at Sun Quan who was seated to one side. Li Miao had also been observing Sun Quan for a long time. This was the future founding emperor of the Wu Kingdom who would gather talented individuals in Jiangdong. Sun Quan truly looked just as he was described in historical texts—extremely handsome and extraordinarily striking. All those famous figures of Jiangdong, whether Sun Ce, Sun Quan, Zhou You, or even Zhang Hong and Zhang Zhao, were handsome men. Li Miao even felt a twinge of jealousy; considering his own fine appearance, he was still a virgin... Li Miao shook his head. *Ahem, my thoughts are wandering.* Moreover, Li Miao discovered that Sun Quan truly had brown hair and green eyes, making him look as though he bore some natural anomaly.

*Utter nonsense about anomalies!* Li Miao silently cursed inwardly. These ancient emperors always liked to fabricate facts. Either someone had stars descending from the heavens the moment they were born, or the room would be filled with fragrance. Even Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty, had supposedly slain a white serpent to start his rebellion...

In any case, the more mystical it sounded, the more they wrote it that way. Li Miao naturally understood that this was the inevitable product of a feudal society, where ignorant commoners firmly believed in such things. As for Sun Quan's supposed anomaly, Li Miao could easily explain it away.

*The green eyes must mean his old man didn't know which foreigner he hooked up with, passing down maternal genes or causing a genetic mutation. As for the brown hair, that's even easier to explain—it's clearly because Sun Ce disliked this younger brother of his and didn't give him enough food, leading to malnutrition,* Li Miao maliciously speculated to himself.

"General, I dare not presume to make rash inferences," Sun Quan replied, knowing well how to advance and retreat. Compared to Li Miao, in the eyes of Liu Xun of Lujiang, he was even more of an outsider. Liu Xun might even suspect him of wanting to reap the spoils without putting in any effort. Therefore, he could not voice his own opinions; the clearer he made his views, the more likely he was to arouse suspicion in others. Thus, Sun Quan took a sip of tea and said with casual detachment, "However, I believe Master Yang's words are indeed very sensible."

Liu Xun then looked toward Li Miao at the side. "And General Li? Please share your thoughts as well."

Li Miao coughed twice, stood up, and cupped his fists. "Governor, Master Yang Hong's words are entirely correct. Only when we reach the gates of Shangliao city will we truly know the situation. Since we are now merely a day's march away from Shangliao, having built nine-ren of earth for a terrace, how can we abandon the effort when only one basket is left to finish it?"

"Since we are now so close to Shangliao, we might as well make one final push, arrive at Shangliao tomorrow, and launch our attack," Li Miao continued. As he finished speaking, he looked straight at Sun Quan and noticed that Sun Quan did not make a single movement, remaining as quiet as could be. By all accounts, Sun Quan should at least have shown a hint of joy. A thought stirred in Li Miao's heart—truly, Sun Quan's depth of mind was unfathomably profound!

Liu Ye let out a helpless sigh of resignation. Judging by the current posture, there was no stopping Liu Xun today. Since individuals with ulterior motives like Sun Quan and Li Miao both supported Yang Hong's view, Liu Xun would undoubtedly agree.

Furthermore, Liu Ye had to admit that Yang Hong's method was anchored in being "prudent." Even he, Liu Ye, knew that argument was airtight. Yet how many times had he offered counsel to Liu Xun, and when had it not been met with a closed door?

Liu Ye finally made up his mind. If Liu Xun suffered defeat this expedition, he would no longer concern himself with Lujiang, but would head straight for Yanzhou to join Cao Cao.

Just as Cao Cao was locked in a standoff with Li Shao, perhaps with his own talent, he could achieve considerable merits in this campaign.

Sure enough, Liu Xun gritted his teeth, pondered for a moment longer, and finally made up his mind.

"We shall follow your counsel, but..." Liu Xun paused, pondering deeply before saying in a low voice, "For tomorrow's very first battle of the siege, who can shoulder this major responsibility?"

The group fell into a silence.

The troops of Shangliao were fierce and valorous, and the city possessed deep moats and a high wall situated in precipitous terrain, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. A siege battle was bound to be extremely arduous, and the initial engagement was essentially a suicide mission. It would certainly suffer heavy casualties among their subordinates because the morale of the defenders at Shangliao would peak during the first battle. The opening siege engagement would undoubtedly be a grueling task—typically a thankless one that required great effort for little reward.

This was unlike a pitched battle between two armies, where the generals would first engage in single combat and then deploy their formations and soldiers for battle, leaving room for victory or defeat. A siege, however, required human lives to fill the gap, and even the commander's life might be laid to rest right there.

Who could go? Who dared to go?

Just as everyone was left speechless, Li Miao stepped forward. "If my lords agree, then I, Li Miao, am willing to lead an army first."

"You?" Liu Xun never expected that Li Miao would be the one to request battle for the vanguard. *"Are you capable of it?"* was the remaining half-sentence Liu Xun left unsaid.

Li Miao smiled, his expression as gentle as a spring breeze. "What is this? Does the Governor still doubt me and General Taishi?"

"Ah?" Taishi Ci was taken aback, cursing inwardly, *This damned Li Miao, why did he drag me into this again?*

Liu Xun sighed, and as he looked at Li Miao, his gaze softened considerably.

Indeed, because Li Miao had come from Jiangting, Liu Xun had never shown him any special favor; at best, it was merely mutual exploitation. Yet now Li Miao was actually willing to shoulder this heavy burden, so he might as well let him go. Liu Xun had no reason to suspect otherwise.

"Since General Li is willing to shoulder this heavy responsibility, I have nothing more to say. Let it be as you suggested: you and Taishi Ci shall lead the assault first. Regardless of the outcome, it will be a major achievement." One had to hand it to Liu Xun; militarily speaking, he was still quite generous to his soldiers, actually declaring that success or failure alike would be treated as a great merit.

"Since that is settled, then it's a deal."

Li Miao revealed a cunning smile. Indeed, attacking the city first meant facing the attacks of the defending soldiers. But what if Shangliao was completely empty of people?

Liu Ye was instantly startled. In his view, Li Miao volunteering for the vanguard must have a purpose of his own. Thus, Liu Ye also requested assignment: "My lord, I am willing to assist General Li." In truth, Liu Ye mainly wanted to see what kind of mischief Li Miao was up to.

Li Miao squinted slightly, sneering incessantly. Liu Ye was entirely like an ant trying to stop a chariot; matters having reached this point, Liu Ye could no longer prevent Liu Xun's rout.

And he, Li Miao, would provide Liu Ye with an even broader space for development. In his heart, Li Miao was already calculating how to win Liu Ye over to his side.

Li Miao had already realized it clearly just moments ago: the disappearance of the scouts was no coincidence, the enemy forces must have laid an ambush, and even the five thousand Jiangdong troops in their rear were likely enemies.

The first wave of attacking soldiers would thus avoid the enemy's surprise raid, fighting the enemy back-to-back right beneath the city walls. Li Miao's purpose was by no means to save troops for Liu Xun, but rather to buy himself time to escape. Given Sun Ce's capability, he would not give Liu Xun a chance to make a comeback; if he was going to do it, he would certainly do it thoroughly!

"Ziyang?" Liu Xun asked, somewhat puzzled. What difference would it make to bring a strategist along on a siege? But thinking of Li Miao's shrewdness, Liu Xun immediately understood: it was better to be safe than sorry. He nodded vigorously and said, "Good, good, good! General Li, since Ziyang is willing to lend you a hand, let him accompany you."

"Very well," Li Miao feigned reluctance, though inside he was blooming with joy. First sending off Taishi Ci, and now sending off Liu Ye—*I really ought to thank you properly, Governor.*

Yet at the mere thought of the stubbornness of these two fellows, Li Miao's cheek twitched. How was it that even wanting to win over these two characters left him without ten percent confidence?...

Under Liu Xun's orders, the three armies continued their march. On the second day, the reports brought back by the scouts stated that the gates of Shangliao city were tightly shut, but judging by the cooking smoke rising within the city, there should be upwards of ten thousand troops stationed there. Liu Xun's heart was greatly set at ease. Before dawn had fully broken, he ordered the army to cook their meals. Once finished, Li Miao, Taishi Ci, and Liu Ye led a force of ten thousand men to take the vanguard and attack the city, while Liu Xun, Liu Xie, Sun Quan, and others looked on from before the walls of Shangliao.

Because they were so close, when Li Miao and the others launched their assault amid earth-shattering battle cries at the city gates, the soldiers atop the city walls offered not the slightest resistance. After perfunctorily rolling down a few boulders and logs, they all retreated from the ramparts and fled. Liu Xun immediately felt a mixture of doubt and suspicion, while Sun Quan behind him wore a cold sneer.

Just at that moment, a minor officer who had gone to assault the city alongside Li Miao came stumbling back, running and shouting all the way.

"My lord! My lord! There are only a scattering of dozens of soldiers in Shangliao city—it is practically completely empty!"

Liu Xun was instantly dumbfounded. Even if they were running away, they couldn't possibly have fled this cleanly.

Of course, if the Shangliao troops had received word of Liu Xun's march, it would have been impossible for them to clear out so thoroughly within just these few days. Liu Xun's stupefaction was still somewhat understandable, yet his brain simply couldn't process it anymore.

Naturally, Liu Xun could not know that the moment Sun Ce sent out his second letter, he had already arranged for an envoy to arrive at Shangliao.

Although the Shangliao clans frequently encroached upon Jiangdong's territories, due to Sun Ce's tough stance upon taking office, Shangliao had long since dared not push Jiangdong too hard, usually keeping it to minor frictions. Therefore, the Shangliao clans naturally felt no fear and welcomed Sun Ce's envoy into the city, treating him with fine food and wine while asking what purpose the envoy truly had.

Putting on a pretense and maintaining a stern expression, the envoy said, "General, today Governor Liu Xun of Lujiang sent a letter to our Jiangdong, stating his desire to form an alliance with us to attack Shangliao."

The leader of the Shangliao clans turned pale with shock. Although their city had deep moats and high walls, compared to a behemoth like Lujiang, whether they would win or lose was truly a foregone conclusion. If Lujiang truly set its mind on crushing them, they naturally would not be able to hold out.