Yushugou-Hefei Battle -1: After the Showdown with Sun Quan
Zhou Yu introduced one man.
"This is the man I trust and entrust everything to. He may look rough on the outside, but his capacity and ambitions are vast—I've already pegged him as my successor."
"You're too kind. Long time no see, Kongming. Aren't you that cheeky little girl from back then?"
Pang Tong.
"I'd lost track of you. I caught bits and pieces of your exploits, but you were under Zhou Yu all this time?"
"Something like that. I heard about Soyang. Jingzhou too. Let's cut to the chase—Cao Cao won't actually mobilize his forces."
Pang Tong stuck to his guns, insisting Cao Cao was just testing Wu's resolve.
"No one's reported any real troop movements. But he will come."
Pang Tong laughed at Zhuge Liang's grave reply.
"That's the real Kongming—unwavering principles. Guess I tested you again. Fine, then we'll have to beat him back."
Cough—cough—
Zhou Yu's coughing worsened.
"Give me a moment. I'm not doing well."
At Zhou Yu's glance, Lü Meng supported him.
"Debate the strategies thoroughly and report back to me. The lord has made his decision—now we need a way to drive Cao Cao off."
Lü Meng and Zhou Yu opened the door and left, the latter propped up.
Pang Tong clicked his tongue at the sight.
"Genius dies young, they say. Tsk, Kongming, he's a genius on your level. That's why I serve him. Why'd heaven saddle a qilin like that with the face of an early grave?"
Zhuge Liang answered Pang Tong's lament.
"I couldn't read his face. Ordinary folk show ingrained habits in their speech and movements. Without deliberate training, no one pulls off Zhou Yu's act."
Pang Tong nodded, then turned to me.
"Alright, let's hear it. Word is, everyone went with fire—you alone chose water. Think you know why?"
The reason for water was simple.
This wasn't Red Cliffs. Fire attacks hinged on wind and weather. And even if Pang Tong rolled out the Lianhuan plan, I couldn't discount Guo Jia's existence.
It was just us, so I laid it out straight.
"Even with Lianhuan and Bitter Flesh tactics, the enemy's on high alert—and this isn't Red Cliffs. The whole premise is wrong. Fire? No. We need a water attack."
Pang Tong couldn't let that slide. He leaned in close.
"How the hell did you know about Lianhuan and Bitter Flesh? Lianhuan was my idea. You got spies blanketing the country or what?"
Shit.
No one had breathed a word of it.
I scrambled for an excuse in my head.
"Cao Cao's paranoid and meticulous, so I figured what'd need to come before any fire attack. That's how I landed there."
Would he buy it? Surprisingly, Pang Tong nodded easily.
Uncle Kongming—who could've jumped in—hung back, just watching with amusement.
Pang Tong grilling me must've been entertaining.
"Chain the enemy ships with Lianhuan, set 'em ablaze—they'd go up like tinder, right? But Bitter Flesh? What kinda nonsense is that?"
"Cao Cao's suspicious as hell. Someone's gotta light the fire, but he won't bite easy—that's why. Plus, Lianhuan won't work."
"Spill the reason. Cao Cao sucks at navy—he'd kill for training time. Iron chains kill the rocking, cut collision risks to nil. From his view, Lianhuan's a no-brainer upper strategy, no?"
I shook my head.
"Lianhuan succeeds only partially. Fire deals minimal damage, our momentum cracks, and we're one step from defeat."
Guo Jia was alive. Zhou Yu was frail. The board was way worse. And this wasn't Red Cliffs.
I doubled down.
"Water attack. Assuming naval battle 'cause their navy's weak? Wrong from the jump. Our army seizes Xuzhou fast—forces a dilemma on them."
"Which Xuzhou?"
Couldn't say the spot near where Huang Zhong took that arrow.
"Hefei. Right at Xiaopei's throat. Xiaopei—where the lord once held out, now a wasteland... Like Lu Bu fell to Cao Cao, our showdown's Hefei below it."
Pang Tong laughed.
"So that's why water? Never seen such a reckless brat."
"In war, sloppy defense loses harder than the attacker. That zone's wrecked by floods historically—if we grab the reservoirs, enemies get fire on their feet. We target Hefei's grain stockpiles."
The water plan's true aim: ruin the enemy's grain by soaking it.
Couldn't drown 'em like Salu Daijeop.
Soak the supplies. Starve 'em out.
"How d'you lure their massive army's grain to Hefei?"
"We force the dilemma. If Sun Quan musters real 50k-plus, we pull 30k, cross Yushugou, hug the Yangtze to Hefei."
Pang Tong jabbed the table map. His finger hit Jiangxia.
"Deep into Hefei along the Yangtze? Insane. Cao Cao's navy locks down the river. Crossing that far? Pure gamble."
I reached over, pointed above his finger.
"Not a straight charge. We take the Huai River zone, follow its waterway. Wu pushes on Shouchun—our army feints Hefei via Sishui waterway. Yushugou's there, right? Wu's natural fortress."
Just in case, I hammered it home.
"Don't need Shouchun breached. Tying down Cao Cao's army is the win condition."
I shifted my finger to Yushugou below Shouchun.
The famous Yushugou battleground. Where Sun Quan and Cao Cao clashed for supremacy.
"Sun Quan's main force makes noise from Shouchun—Cao Cao can't ignore that horde."
Uncle Kongming finally chimed in.
"A feint."
"Yes. Ever hear of the anvil-and-hammer tactic?"
The classic.
Sun Quan's army as the anvil—in fantry holding firm. Ours as the hammer—cavalry smashing down.
Slightly different vibe, but close.
"Hefei's terrain's weak to water. Low-lying."
Pang Tong stared holes through the map.
"You... spit it out. What's the angle? Enemy's got the numbers—this plan's suicide. Looks like we're the ones attacking, not defending."
"Exactly. No hunkering in cities. Swift, mobile strikes."
Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang's eyes widened.
Strike first, win.
Seize the initiative. Hefei's crossed by two rivers: Sishui and Jishui.
I made a V, pointing both.
"What happened when Lu Bu holed up in Hefei? Cao Cao dammed those rivers, burst 'em—flooded him out. We hit those zones fast."
Even Zhuge Liang stayed glued to the map, intrigued.
"See here, Tong. Cao Cao's done with his northern push. But he needs garrisons now—can't commit everything. Success here forces him to defend Xu Chang on two fronts: Wu and Shu."
Pang Tong scratched his head.
"If it succeeds! Gamble, Kongming. I love a bet, but not this pot."
If it's a gamble, all the more reason.
I knew their hand.
Guo Jia and Xun Yu had flooded Hefei against Lu Bu with those two rivers—so defenses there were ironclad.
But I spotted the hole.
"Enemy strategist Guo Jia visited Soyang once. I welcomed him properly, watched him close. Knowing Cao Cao's chief advisor is that freak lets me push this."
Military advisor: warhound, glued to Cao Cao's side with counsel.
Zero chance he sits out a mega-battle.
Their eyes darted. Guo who?
"Back then, Xun Yu and Guo Jia nabbed Lu Bu with Sishui and Jishui floods. We exploit those 'thorough' defenses."
Pang Tong prodded the plan's weak spots.
"Even if their advisor's sharp, any fool reinforces dikes, diverts the flow, right?"
"Spot on. Guo Jia's a genius—no way he lets Hefei drown. Troops camped on Sishui and Jishui nonstop, sluices controlling flow."
Dams. Multiple ones.
Smashing 'em? Dead simple.
No army needed.
"Hefei's rainy as hell historically. Heavy downpour day—float sharpened log rafts downriver."
Kongming and Pang Tong's eyes bugged out.
They got it.
Sishui and Jishui fed into Huai River, flowing to Yushugou—Zhang Lian greenlit it.
We'd gamed mock strategies at the academy now and then. Sima Hui would've slapped his knee and shot up straight.
"Current slams those logs into the sluices—they smash themselves. Like Cao Cao on Lu Bu: we hit from high ground, encircle."
This stabbed their blind side.
Attack. Only attack bridges the gap in this hopeless matchup.
Hand them initiative? Defeat's sealed.
That was my call.