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The news of the fall of Jingkou was quickly spread to Jianye with the defeated soldiers and fleeing civilians, causing panic among the Jianye surname and the government and the people. No one expected that the war would come so quickly. Before they even prepared, Jingkou fell.

For ordinary surnames, the landing of the Han army in Jingkou meant that the war began, and immediately triggered a rush to buy materials. In just half a day, all kinds of daily necessities in only a dozen stores were sold out, and the prices of grain in the black market soared, with rice exceeding a thousand yuan.

In panic, there was even a two-way escape tide. Women, children and elderly people in the city rushed out of the city, preparing to escape from Moling County, while residents outside the city wanted to escape into the county town for refuge, causing the city gate to be crowded.

For officials and the army, the landing of the Han army in Jingkou meant that the connection between Jianye and Piling County was cut off, and Jiangdong was cut into two battlefields. Whether to retake Jingkou was caused strong debate in the court.

In the Jianye Palace Conference Hall, senior officials from Wu gathered together to discuss the next actions of the Jiangdong Army. They were divided into two factions, one was the young and strong faction dominated by Lu Meng, and strongly demanded to regain Jingkou and revitalize the morale of the Jiangdong Army.

The other faction is a conservative faction, led by Zhang Zhao and Cheng Pu, who advocated preserving their strength and fighting the main force of the Han army, rather than spending limited troops on a battle like regaining Jingkou.

Sun Quan sat on the side with a gloomy face. He didn't say a word or interfered with the arguments. His face was gloomy and no one knew what he was thinking?

"Why are military advisors and veteran generals so afraid of war?"

Lu Meng's voice was very high, and he could hear his anger in his heart. He said loudly to Zhang Zhao and Cheng Pu: "It's courage to fight! If we watch Jingkou fall, we don't want to take it back, but we have to accept failure, it will only make morale more depressed and the army more war-weary..."

Lu Meng no longer cared about etiquette because of his anger, which made Cheng Pu, who valued the superiority and hierarchy order, feel very dissatisfied. In Cheng Pu's opinion, Lu Meng was just a young man with a low level of experience, but he dared to denounce himself for fear of war, which made Cheng Pu very angry. He said coldly: "Please pay attention to the conversation between Governor Lu. This is not a military camp or a tavern. This is Jianye Palace. Please pay attention to your identity!"

"I'm talking about the truth!"

"Is the truth the truth that I am afraid of war?"

Cheng Pu snorted heavily, "I followed the first lord to attack the Yellow Turbans. When I was fighting on the battlefield, you were probably still numb. Do you know what war is, what courage is, and what fear of war is? What qualifications do you have to blame me?"

"You!" Lu Meng was so angry that he trembled all over and pointed at Cheng Pu and couldn't say a word.

At this time, Zhang Zhao smiled and smoothed out: "Governor Lu doesn't have to be angry. We just talk about the matter. Of course, I also hope to retake Jingkou, but things are not that simple. We must face reality and not act irritably."

Lu Meng ignored Cheng Pu and turned around and asked Zhang Zhao: "Military advisor, what reality do we need to face?"

"It's very simple. If we want to retake Jingkou, we must send troops. So, Governor Lu, how many troops do we need to send? Should we send troops from Jianye or from Wujun? If we send troops from Jianye, how can the Han army on the river outside Jianye City deal with it? If we send troops from Wujun, will the Han army in Kuaiji County take the opportunity to go north?"

"The military advisor is extreme. It is not necessary to use many troops to send troops to retake Jingkou. After all, Jingkou only has 10,000 enemy troops, so we only need to send 20,000 troops to deal with it. We can transfer 10,000 troops from Jianye and Wujun to attack Jingkou from north to south. Faced with our superior forces, Gan Ning can only choose to retreat."

"Then what?"

Cheng Pu sneered and asked, "Do we have to defend 20,000 troops in Jingkou to prevent them from attacking Jingkou again? If the Han army no longer attacks Jingkou and instead attacks elsewhere, will we send 20,000 troops to intercept?"

"If the old general thinks like this, we should not do anything. Just guard Jianye and let the Han army occupy Jiangdong."

Both sides were verbally quarreled and refused to give in. At this time, Sun Quan suddenly stood up, snorted heavily, turned around and left the inner hall from the side door. The hall suddenly became quiet. Zhang Zhao, Cheng Pu and others laughed and left the hall. Only Lu Meng and a group of generals were left in the hall. Lu Meng sighed, "Marquis Wu has his own decisions, we can't control it, we can just execute the orders!"

Everyone also felt that the Marquis of Wu had no intention of taking back Jingkou, so they had to follow Lu Meng and leave in depression.

When Sun Quan returned to the study, he immediately ordered: "Let General Zhang and Mr. Cheng come to see me!"

After pausing, he ordered again: "Come Governor Lu!"

Sun Quan did not want to retake Jingkou. He also knew that Jingkou was occupied, which meant that Wujun and Jianye had lost contact, and separated the entire Jiangdong into two battlefields. However, from the debate just now, he found that those generals who demanded to send troops to retake Jingkou were generally impulsive and simple to consider, which made him have no confidence in regaining Jingkou.

After a moment, Zhang Zhao and Cheng Pu walked into Sun Quan's study. Cheng Pu seldom involved in military and political affairs, and most of them were recuperating at home, but this time he might also realize that the situation was critical and took the initiative to participate in military and political affairs.

When Sun Quan saw the two of them coming in, he waved his hand and said, "No need to salute, please sit down!"

Zhang Zhao and Cheng Pu sat down. At this time, Lu Meng also walked into the study quickly. Sun Quan also asked him to sit down and said to them: "For me, don't argue anymore. You can express your opinions. We need to make a decision."

Zhang Zhaoxian said: "I reported to the Queen of Wu that I am not unwilling to take back Jingkou, but I think I should weigh the pros and cons and adopt the most effective response."

Sun Quan nodded, "The military advisor's words are in line with my wishes. The situation is complicated now, so we cannot act rashly, but Jingkou is a strategic place. Losing it makes us very passive. I also feel that we should be taken back as soon as possible, so I am in a dilemma. I want to hear the wise words of the military advisor and the veteran general."

Lu Meng had realized that Wu Hou came to him not to make decisions, but to make decisions, but to make decisions. He stopped talking and sat quietly beside him. Cheng Pu glanced at him proudly, and then Zhang Zhao said: "The old minister is not to give up Jingkou, but the main force of the Han army has not arrived. We cannot be held by the Ganning army too early. Once our army is trapped in Jingkou, and the main force of the Han army arrives at this time, Jianye lacks defense forces and the consequences are unimaginable."

Zhang Zhao also interfered: "General Cheng is right. Why did Gan Ning suddenly attack Jingkou? What is his purpose? I think it is not to cut off the connection between Wujun and Jianye. It is more likely to disrupt our deployment. When we advance, he withdrew. We retreated and he came back again. If this back and forth, we would fall into a big passive state. Therefore, I suggest that we remain calm for the time being and wait and see the main force of the Han army first. If the main force of the Han army enters Lishui from Wuhu, then we will immediately send troops to regain Jingkou. If the main force of the Han army does not go to Hu, but comes to Jianye, then we can order the Wujun army to go north and also regain Jingkou."

At this time, Lu Meng could no longer help saying, "If the main force of the Han army was divided into two groups, one went to Wujun and one came to Jianye, what should we do?"

"Then don't worry about Jingkou, Jianye and Wujun will deal with each other!"

At this time, Sun Quan nodded. He finally recognized Zhang Zhao's plan. He said to Lu Meng: "I understand the feeling of Governor Lu. If Jingkou is in trouble, no one will feel good. But we have to take the overall situation into consideration and consider our affairs. We are insufficient in our troops and fight with the weak and strong. In this case, we cannot fight against the enemy and cannot fight hard with the Han army. We can only concentrate our troops to deal with the main force of the Han army. Regardless of victory or defeat, our success or failure can only be achieved in one fell swoop."

Lu Meng stood up and bowed and said, "Abide by the orders of the Marquis of Wu!"

"Okay! Go and appease the generals and tell them why they cannot immediately take back Jingkou, calm their emotions, and strictly observe Jianye!"

"Abide by the orders!"

Lu Meng bowed and hurried away. Sun Quan said to Zhang Zhao again: "Moling is in chaos and the people's hearts are unstable. I have ordered General Xie to close the city gate and prevent people from entering and leaving. The military advisor must arrange the food rations to stabilize the people's hearts."

"Please rest assured by the Marquis of Wu, the old minister will make arrangements now."

Zhang Zhao also got up. At this time, there were only Sun Quan and Cheng Pu in the room. Sun Quan glanced at Cheng Pu and then said coldly: "I think it's strange. It seems that the Han army knows our army's deployment and accurately sends troops to Jingkou. I suspect that someone among the senior officials in Jiangdong secretly communicates with the Han army. The old general told me, who would this person be?"

Cheng Pu's heart jumped suddenly and hurriedly stood up and said, "I don't know who it will be, but I promised the Marquis of Wu that I will never betray Jiangdong."

"Yeah?"

Sun Quan said lightly: "I will feel relieved when the old general says this."

Cheng Pu quietly wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Maybe no one betrayed the information, but the Han army scouts were powerful, and Wu Hou was worried too much."

"I hope so too, but Jiangdong is in adversity, and it is inevitable that someone will betray Jiangdong for their own interests. Old general, we have to be careful!"
Chapter completed!