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Before dawn, the Jiangdong Army's huge warship fleet arrived at Pengze Water Village. The fire in Pengze had just been extinguished, but the remaining smoke had not dissipated. The blue smoke curled up in the distance, and the air was filled with a pungent smell.

Sun Quan stood at the bow of the ship with his hands behind his back, staring at the burned wreckage of the warship in the water camp with a gloomy face. He was not furious. At this time, he had calmed down and could face the failure of this Western Expedition.

More importantly, Pengze's army and warships suffered little losses, but the warehouses and food and supplies were burned. Although it was heartbreaking, only the soldiers were injured and killed, which made Sun Quan feel a little relieved.

The big ship slowly landed, and Sun Quan got off the ship. Lu Fan, who had been waiting on the shore, immediately led a dozen officers to greet him.

Lu Fan knelt down and bowed respectfully to Sun Quan, "I paid homage to the Marquis of Wu. It was not good for me to guard the camp, which caused the camp to suffer heavy blows. I am willing to be punished by the Marquis of Wu."

"I will talk about the punishment later. General Lu can take the orphan to see the warehouse."

Sun Quan was not in the mood to punish his subordinates at this time. If he wanted to punish him, he should be punished by himself first.

Lu Fan could not understand the complex emotions in the lord's heart, but he understood the lord's meaning and would not punish for the time being. This is a language art. The so-called "not punish for the time being" is actually an implicit expression of not punish for the time being.

As long as you are not defeated badly, even if it is far-fetched, it will become an excuse for not punishing and will be left alone in the end.

And Lu Fan, who saved most of the ships and troops, would become a reason not to be punished.

Lu Fan felt a little relieved, and quickly stood up and led Sun Quan and the generals to the warehouse area behind the military camp.

The fire in the warehouse has been extinguished, dozens of warehouses that were burned to pieces are still emitting blue smoke. More than a thousand soldiers are busy sorting out the warehouse. Bags of unburned grain have been stripped out and piled up on the open space, like a small hill.

There were no burnt armor on the other hill next to it. The soldiers above were choosing one by one, picking out complete weapons and armor.

After walking around roughly, Sun Quan felt exhausted and turned around and said to everyone: "I want to rest when I go back to the boat. Everyone is very tired, so everyone should go and rest."

When they returned to the boat, the generals went to rest, not sleeping all night, and with the fatigue and tension for several days, Sun Quan's body was already a little tired. Despite this, he could not fall asleep.

He stood up, walked to the small window on the bulkhead, and stared at the direction of Chaisang from afar. During this expedition to Jiangxia, 60,000 troops set out, and nearly half of them were lost. Jiangxia also became a waste of water.

Although he cut off Huang Zu's head and could sacrifice his father's spirit in heaven, can his father really feel at ease?

When Sun Quan thought of Chaisang's defeat, he felt extremely ashamed. This was the worst failure since he took power. Although he could use the rebellion of the Shanyue tribe in China as a cover-up and he had to go back, deep down he had to admit his failure.

Sun Quan walked back and forth in the cabin with his hands behind his back, slowly recalling the reasons for the failure of this Chaisang Battle.

On the way back, many generals blamed the failure of the Chaisang Battle on the Jingzhou Army's use of tincture oil. They learned from a prisoner of war.

Sun Quan also did not deny that tinder oil had a great effect, especially on the morale of the military. However, Sun Quan did not believe that tinder oil defeated the Jiangdong Army. If Huang Zu used tinder oil, the Jiangdong Army would still win in the end, and the key was the people.

When he thought of people, he could not avoid Liu Jing. Although he did not want to think of this person at this time, Sun Quan knew very well that this time, he was actually defeated by Liu Jing.

Liu Jing's wisdom and tenacious resistance led him to defeat Yangxin County first, then the south of the city, Zhe general Pan Zhang, and finally defeated the top of the city, and the general Ling Cao was killed.

Thinking of the deaths of Pan Zhang and Ling Cao, Sun Quan felt a burst of pain in his heart. The colic was filled with a hint of regret. If he had followed Lu Meng and Zhou Yu's advice at the beginning and drove Liu Jing out of the way, there would not have been a later defeat, and neither Pan Zhang nor Ling Cao would have died.

After all, it was his Sun Quan's responsibility, which was the real person responsible for Jiang Xia's failure this time.

Sun Quan walked to the boat window again, stared at the bright color that appeared in the sky, and couldn't help but sigh.

At this time, Lu Su's voice came from outside the cabin, "Wu Hou, can Beizhi come in?"

Sun Quan was slightly stunned. How did he know that he had no rest, but Sun Quan nodded, "Come in."

The cabin door opened, Lu Su walked in, knelt down and bowed, "Su greeted the lord"

Sun Quan also sat down, waved his hand, "Please get up"

Lu Su sat up straight and smiled, "I think although the lord is tired, he is confused and will definitely not be able to fall asleep. In fact, I am the same, so I took the liberty to disturb him. The guard at the door said that the lord has indeed not rested."

Sun Quan smiled bitterly, "I'm afraid it's not just you and me, most people can't fall asleep. Now, when you calm down, you will feel the pain in your heart."

Lu Su pondered for a moment, "Are you sad for Pan Zhang and Ling Cao?"

“Not exactly.”

Sun Quan shook his head, his eyes a little sad, "Both Pan Zhang and Ling Cao have followed my brother for many years and made great achievements in Jiangdong, but I have not been able to use them well, resulting in their premature death. This is my fault. Not only that, the root of Jiangxia's failure this time lies in me. Respect, I want to write a letter of guilt to publicly announce it to Jiangdong, and give an explanation to the soldiers who fell into battle."

Lu Su was shocked and quickly persuaded him: "My lord must not be."

"Why" Sun Quan looked at him in confusion.

"If the lord is in power for many years and has a stable foundation, it is not impossible to commit suicide by chance. However, now the lord has not ascended the throne for a long time and the foundation has not yet been stable. If the lord openly blames him, it will greatly damage the lord's prestige and make some unfinished remnants ready to move again, which is not conducive to the lord's rule and the stability of Jiangdong. Please think about it."

Sun Quan walked a few steps behind his back, and he was persuaded by Lu Su. Lu Su made a lot of sense and he almost misunderstood. Thinking of this, Sun Quan turned around and asked, "How should I explain to the people of the Chinese people for the defeat of Chaisang this time?"

"Lord, the generals are all saying that the defeat of Chaisang is mainly due to the use of tincture oil by the Jingzhou army. The lord may as well agree with this statement and push the cause of failure to tincture oil. Then we also look for this tincture oil. Once we find it, it will inevitably boost morale and the people's hearts, and the shadow of this failure will be wiped out."

Just as Sun Quan was about to speak, Lu Su continued: "Secondly, the lord cannot be said to be defeated by Liu Jing, but by Jingzhou Army. We must downplay Liu Jing to avoid affecting the lord's prestige."

Sun Quan nodded. Lu Su thought it carefully and meticulously. He didn't expect that. He was in a little better mood and sat down and smiled, "Jing and Liu Jing have had several dealings. How do you think of this person?"

Lu Su also laughed, "I talked about this person just now. Gongjin said that he underestimated this person at first, thinking that Liu Jing would evacuate from the South Gate like an ordinary general, so he did not attack the South Gate, but he did not expect that he would actually see through the South Gate and go to the North Gate. This incident made Gongjin feel deeply hurt, and he thought he underestimated the enemy."

Sun Quan sighed, "Actually, I underestimated the enemy. I always thought that Huang Zu of Jiangxia was important, and Liu Jing was the next, so I was eager to destroy Huang Zu first, but Liu Jing got a chance to breathe. This is also my fault."

Lu Su lowered his head and said nothing. Sun Quan was a little surprised and looked at him, "Jing, did I say something wrong?"

Lu Su shook his head and whispered: "I personally think that Wu Hou did not underestimate the enemy, but was moved by his love for talents. But he did not think of the consequences of the second attack on Chaisang at that time."

Sun Quan was silent. Lu Su's words exposed his true thoughts. Why did he let Liu Jing go repeatedly? This was not his stupidity, but his great wisdom.

If there was no Liu Jing's letter of cooperation with the letter of resistance against Cao, if there was no Liu Jing's filial piety to Mrs. Sun, would Sun Quan let Liu Jing go?

As a ruler, Sun Quan would consider it more far-reachingly, because Liu Jing also had his long-term interests. If Liu Biao could not be destroyed, then the reconciliation of Sun and Liu and the joint resistance of Cao Cao was undoubtedly the best solution. The key to unlocking the obstacles to Sun and Liu's alliance was Liu Jing.

It was because he wanted to leave some room, so after the first capture of Chaisang, Sun Quan did not attack Xiazhi County and Yangxin County again, but how could he have never imagined that his thoughts of kindness made him pay a heavy price in the end.

Sun Quan never wanted to admit this, but Lu Su suddenly opened it. Sun Quan stood in front of the window with his hands behind his back, with a gloomy face and without saying a word.

Lu Su understood Sun Quan's mood. He thought about it all night before he mustered up the courage to come to find Sun Quan. He sighed and said, "Bei Zhi said this, but in fact he wanted to go to Chaisang for the Marquis of Wu."

Sun Quan still didn't say anything, but he was a little moved. It wasn't that he thought of the alliance between Sun and Liu again. That was the long-term view. He was worried that Jingzhou would take the opportunity to expand eastward. Jiangdong lacked troops and would inevitably have to dispatch a large number of troops to pacify Shanyue. In this way, the Western counties would have empty troops. If Liu Biao took the opportunity to expand eastward, it would be a little trouble.

But if they reconcile with Liu Jing, even if Liu Biao wants to expand eastward and Liu Jing disagrees, it will be difficult for the Jingzhou army to advance eastward.

Thinking of this, Sun Quan finally asked: "Do you think Liu Jing will agree to a settlement?"

Lu Su smiled slightly, "His affairs will not be simple either. As far as I know, because of the Tao family, there is a little crack in the relationship between Liu Jing and Liu Biao. At least Liu Biao is afraid of him. Now that Liu Jing annexes Jiangxia, his wings are gradually becoming stronger. In addition, he defeats the Jiangdong army, his reputation will definitely surpass Liu Qi and Liu Cong. Many people will consider him to inherit the governor of Jingzhou. Is the lord who believes that Liu Biao will really let his nephew replace him?"

Sun Quan laughed, "Jing is right. Liu Jing first got Jiangxia, and it takes time to consolidate his position. He will have to fight Liu Biao in secret. At this time, he also needs to stabilize us, so the reconciliation between the two sides will hit it off."

"So I asked to order me to go to Chaisang again, talk to Liu Jing about the exchange of prisoners of war, and then talk about the reconciliation between the two sides."

Sun Quan pondered for a long time and smiled faintly, "I will write a letter to support him as the Lord of Jingzhou, give it to him respectfully, and then send someone to Xiangyang to promote it. I think Liu Biao will be very interested."
Chapter completed!