I Have a Date with a Thousand-year-old Female Corpse-Chapter 1938 - 1940: Rising and Falling

The young man’s eyes brightened, and he asked, "Do you have any basis for what you say, sir?"

"Although Northern People are tall and sturdy, with stronger combat capabilities than us Southern People, the South excels at water warfare, with waterways crisscrossing everywhere, making both troop movements and battles primarily water-based. Among Northern soldiers, most are not accustomed to water, and can’t even stand steadily on ships, let alone engage in fierce battles."

Upon hearing Zhu Geliang’s words, the young man retorted, "If that’s the case, then you must have already made other preparations, right? Otherwise, he wouldn’t dream of confronting our Jingzhou’s nearly four hundred thousand troops with his one hundred thousand soldiers."

"Given the current situation in Xuzhou, even if Li Muyun made preparations in advance, it definitely wouldn’t exceed three months. I ask you, can soldiers trained in just three months be of any significant use?"

Seeing everyone nodding, Zhu Geliang continued, "However, the forty thousand troops in Jingzhou are too dispersed, and Li Muyun’s army is making a rapid advance. Now, the only forces that can resist his one hundred thousand elite soldiers are Jiangxia’s eighty thousand soldiers and Jingzhou’s one hundred twenty thousand navy. The rest are just scattered troops; with Li Muyun’s infamous reputation, they wouldn’t dare to assist in battle, let alone muster the courage to shout support."

At this point, Zhu Geliang couldn’t help but sigh deeply.

"Why do you sigh, sir?"

Zhu Geliang smiled slightly, shook his head but said nothing. Although a heavy fog hung over the river, Zhu Geliang still turned his gaze to the northeast, where Shiyang City lay. He silently lamented in his heart, "Huang Zu, oh Huang Zu, even if Li Muyun can’t defeat you, he will still deal you a heavy blow. As for you, just be the stepping stone for my lord to unify the Nine Provinces."

After Huang She left Shiyang City, Zhao Yun found Li Muyun at the dock in Shiyang City. At this moment, you were observing the twenty Ge Ships and two Tower Ships brought by Huang She.

"Lord, Huang Zu ordered his son Huang She..."

"Zilong, how many times have I told you, in our Xuzhou, we don’t stand on ceremony with such official tones. Speak plainly, or it will make Greedy for Money rack his brains."

Zhao Yun smirked and said, "Huang Zu’s intentions seem a bit strange. Now he just gazes at us across the river, and no sparks have flown yet, yet he sends his son over to negotiate. Is his brain caught in a door or something?"

You suddenly laughed heartily, pointing to the twenty Ge Ships and two Tower Ships in front of you, "Do you know how many people these ships can carry?"

"About forty thousand or so."

With a nod, you pointed to the opposite riverbank, "They say Huang Zu is a crude man, but looking at him now, it seems his mind works quite well. He even dares to play tricks with us. This is too little firepower to start a fight, and it’s a pity not to fight. Tsk tsk, this is quite a clever idea."

Eyes wide open, as if enlightened by your words, Zhao Yun immediately understood and said, "Could it be that this negotiation from Huang Zu is fake, and he actually plans to trick us into boarding the ships, and then ambush us on the river?"

Looking at Zhao Yun, you asked, "Can you come up with a strategy now?"

Zhao Yun fell silent.

You seemed not particularly interested in attacking Jiangxia, instead focusing more on training Zhao Yun, as if this were merely a practice battle for Zhao Yun.

"If you’ve thought of a plan, just execute it. For now, I’ll leave these one hundred thousand elite soldiers to you."

Upon hearing these words, Zhao Yun, who was deep in thought, suddenly raised his head, staring at you and asking, "Lord, where are you going?"

"Me? Where can I go? I’m not going anywhere, just standing here on the city wall, acting as your flagpole, hahaha."

Of course, Zhao Yun wouldn’t believe you. The situation in Xuzhou had just stabilized, and they had just added Yangzhou City. This battle with Jingzhou should be swift, yet you’re so relaxed, as if on an outing. At the same time, Zhao Yun found himself puzzled because from what he knew of you, you always prioritized caution. Sending only one hundred thousand elite soldiers to Jingzhou was already highly risky, and now the army is garrisoned in Shiyang City, which seemed a waste of time—wait, a waste of time!?

Suddenly enlightened, Zhao Yun felt a moment of clarity and immediately shouted to his subordinates, "Zhang Long, Zhao Hu, Wang Chao, Ma Han!"

"Present!"

"Pfft—" Drinking water, you sprayed a soldier in front of you, almost choking him due to Zhao Yun’s shout. The combination of these four names was indeed too incongruous.

"Take your men, each select a warship, and then go practice naval warfare in the river!"

"Huh?" The four who received the order were dumbfounded. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

One of them, trembling slightly, looked at Zhao Yun, "General, it’s the dead of winter, and in half a month it’ll be the New Year. If we die, we die on the battlefield, but we can’t have the soldiers freezing to death in the water."

"Yes, General. Though it hasn’t snowed in the South this year, if it does snow, the brothers will all turn into popsicles!"

"Get moving! I’m telling you to practice controlling the ships and also get the soldiers accustomed to the swaying of the ships. We can’t have these people who just learned to swim being seasick to death on board!" Zhao Yun paused, glance at you, and seeing you raise three fingers to him, he understood immediately and added, "Five days from now, you’ll lead the charge to capture Jiangxia!"

"Understood!"

Relieved to hear it was only naval practice, the officers exhaled their long-held breath, yet upon hearing they would attack Jiangxia in five days, everyone busied themselves in preparation, while you leisurely sauntered over to Zhao Yun, patting him on the shoulder and saying, "Well done, I thought you were going to say four days."

"By saying an extra day, it gives the enemy a false sense of time." Zhao Yun looked at you with a respectful gaze, "Compared to you, brother-in-law, I’m still too inexperienced. So, brother-in-law, who’s coming?"

You suddenly gave a mysterious smile and said, "Take a guess?"

"All seven city guardians of Xuzhou are busy with military affairs and can’t find the time to come. And ordinary generals can’t meet your requirements. Upon thinking about it carefully, only Elder sister fits the bill."

Snapping your fingers, you smiled, "Bingo! You’re right, but no prize!"

Your answer confirmed Zhao Yun’s thoughts, but out of habit, Zhao Yun still asked another question, "Brother-in-law, aren’t you worried?"

"Worried? The ones who should be worried are our enemies."

As you spoke, the smile on your face suddenly gave Zhao Yun a chill.

The next afternoon, on the surface of Chang River, there was a merchant ship sailing, and not far ahead was Hanyang Dock. When the merchant ship arrived at the dock, about ten people disembarked, led by none other than Zhu Geliang.

Upon reaching the ground, Zhu Geliang looked up to the sky, which was clear, with sunlight sparkling off the river surface. Habitually glancing in the direction of Shiyang, he seemed to vaguely see a few small black shadows, and couldn’t help but exclaim, "Why are there other merchant ships sailing at this time?"

A fishing boat was docked nearby, and the boatman, hearing Zhu Geliang’s words, nervously said, "Sir, those are enemy forces training. I heard the ships were even sent by our own people."

"Training?" Zhu Geliang widened his eyes and quickly turned to ask the boatman, "Are you sure they are training?"

The boatman showed a fearful expression and said, "Last night I went out to fish, thinking the soldiers on the other side would be asleep, but I didn’t expect them to still be training, and they surrounded me. Those men looked fierce, just like the Evil Ghosts from the Underworld! Luckily, a fair-faced Young General appeared later and spared my life."

"A fair-faced Young General?" Zhu Geliang muttered.

The young leader beside Zhu Geliang frowned and said, "Sir, that person should be Zhao Yun. Could it be Zhao Yun has seen through your plan?"

Staring in the direction of Shiyang, Zhu Geliang’s expression shifted several times before sighing, "Li Muyun, oh Li Muyun, I still underestimated you."

"Sir, what do we do now?"

Zhu Geliang paused, immersed in thought, and then urgently instructed the young man by his side, "No! This must be a decoy! You, immediately inform Huang Zu to prepare for battle and to hold Jiangxia City at all costs, not giving the enemy any chance to exploit! Surely, you’ve left a backup plan; this attack on Jiangxia’s main force is likely not led by Zhao Yun but another army, which might have already crossed the river!"

"If those men have already crossed the river, then Jiangxia is in grave danger!" The young man urgently instructed his subordinates, "Protect the gentleman to Mianyang; I will personally go to Jiangxia!"

With these words, the young man swiftly turned, jumped aboard the merchant ship, and set sail towards Jiangxia City.