Chapter 696-Dark Clouds Hung Over
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
Before leaving the City Lord's Manor, Ouyang Shuo was ready to ask for a person from Cao Cao, so he sincerely said, “Prime minister, for this navy mission, we only lack a general. Please fulfil my request."
As he spoke, Ouyang Shuo gave a deep, sincere bow.
Cao Cao rubbed his beard and smiled widely, “Navy general? Who do you want?"
The meaning in his eyes could not be grasped.
This was Cao Cao; his thoughts were hard to grasp, and no one could guess what he was thinking.
"Mister Jia Xu is a talent. If you can fulfil my request, it would be for the best." Ouyang Shuo would not be courteous.
Before Cao Cao even said anything, Jia Xu who stood at the side tensed up; his heart was close to falling apart. He did not expect that Ouyang Shuo would be such a shameless person.
He did not succeed in inviting me, so this time, he actually used his power for his own gain, Jia Xu cursed in his heart.
When Ouyang Shuo saw this reaction, he did not budge. To recruit someone, you had to act shameless and do everything you could.
"Ehhh." when Cao Cao heard this request, he did not say anything and slowly brushed his beard. He looked at Ouyang Shuo and Jia Xu with his eagle-like eyes as if he wanted to deduce whether the two had anything private going on.
Jia Xu smiled awkwardly. He also knew that his Lord was a person filled with doubts. When he boarded the boat, the Lord had probably seen him talking to Ouyang Shuo.
Now that this had happened, it was truly a case of jumping into the yellow river; he could not wash it off.
At this very moment, Cheng Yu stood up to calm the situation; he smiled and said, “Lord, I do feel that player Qiyue Wuyi's request is reasonable. The voyage squadron is the key to victory, so it needs a smart strategist to ensure the win."
As he spoke, Cheng Yu gave Cao Cao a look.
When Cao Cao saw it, he obviously understood.
The meaning behind Cheng Yu's words were obvious; he was asking Cao Cao to use this chance to add a few men into the voyage squadron. As for whether there were other considerations within all this, it was hard to guess.
If there were too many strategists involved, conflicts would unavoidably arise.
It was similar to how Cheng Yu and Jia Xu were both beside Cao Cao, and the number one strategist was still undecided.
Hence, if there was a chance, Cheng Yu did not mind sending Jia Xu away.
This was not a despicable act but an act to gain power.
"If Qiyue Wuyi did not choose him, I would have wanted to follow along.” Cheng Yu joked.
"That would not work." Cao Cao laughed too, who knows what balancing act he had done in his heart. In the end he agreed, nodding, “Ok, let Wen He follow you out."
"Thank you, prime minister!" Ouyang Shuo was delighted.
"Wen He, you need to do your best to assist Qiyue Wuyi." Cao Cao personally instructed, his eyes exceedingly sharp.
Jia Xu's face was black, but he had no choice but to accept the situation, “Yes, Lord!"
As the dust settled, Ouyang Shuo faced Jia Xu and sincerely said, “Thank you, sir!"
Jia Xu's was expressionless and nodded his head tensely.
"I hope you all come back with a huge victory!" Cao Cao laughed once more.
When Ouyang Shuo saw this, he could not help but feel some panic rise in his heart. This fellow was extremely special, regardless if he was happy or angry, he would just smile. If one saw this often, they could not help but feel anxious.
"Yes!"
In the end, Ouyang Shuo bowed together with Jia Xu and left.
……
In the main hall, only Cao Cao and Cheng Yu remained.
"Zhong De, what do you think Wen He and Qiyue Wuyi spoke about on the ship?" This sentence sounded like he was talking to himself but also seemed like a question. The smile on his face had long disappeared.
When Cheng Yu heard this question, his heart jolted, and he chose to remain silent.
"Oh?" Cao Cao was not going to let him off, turning around and asking again.
Cheng Yu's expression was rock solid as he stammered, “Should be some casual conversation!"
In the end, Cheng Yu was a more righteous person and did not use this chance to shoot Jia Xu down.
"Probably!"
Cao Cao's tone contained uncertainty. He got up and left the hall, leaving Cheng Yu alone inside.
The huge main hall instantly fell silent.
After leaving the Lord's Manor, Ouyang Shuo returned to the barracks to meet with Bai Hua and the others to discuss some matters.
"This time, it seems like Caiyun Zinan, Qin Feng, and the others chose this camp for other reasons. After I leave, do not put down your guard against them."
Ouyang Shuo always felt that something was weird about them choosing the Cao Cao Camp.
"Do not worry, we will ensure that they cannot jump up." Feng Qiuhuang was still so confident.
Ouyang Shuo nodded, “That's great, Jiangling will depend on you all."
"You must be careful also!" Feng Qiuhuang demanded.
When Wufu, who was standing at the side, saw this exchange, a weird expression appeared on his face.
"I will."
Ouyang Shuo was really quick. After speaking some details, he left.
Next, he started to move and organize the troops.
During this strike, apart from the voyage squadron, the three thousand Divine Martial Guards would also follow. Apart from that, Ouyang Shuo also brought the 1st division of the city protection legion.
He had the feeling that this would not be a smooth journey.
The major general of the 1st division was Zhao Si Hu, a young general that Ouyang Shuo rather liked. He was an old member of the army, going through many battles and growing in maturity.
That afternoon, the army sneakily left Jiangling and headed down the river.
At the same time, other powers acted.
Jiangling City, player’s camp.
3 PM, Caiyun Zinan, Qin Feng, and Yuan Ping had gathered together.
"That person has already left Jiangling, is that news reliable?" Caiyun Zinan asked.
Qin Feng nodded, “Absolutely, my men saw it themselves."
"Good, he's courting death." Yuan Ping had a gloomy expression, gritting his teeth.
"Let's not talk about him. We need to quickly settle Jiangling City."
"Do not worry, everything is going smoothly." Yuan Ping could not hide his excitement.
"Do not be happy too early. Bai Hua and Feng Qiuhuang are not easy to deal with."
"Those two women, can they flip the heavens?" Yuan Ping said with arrogance.
Caiyun Zinan did not say anything more and simply said, “Just follow the plan and be careful."
"Well said!" Qin Feng nodded.
The three of them talked for an hour before leaving.
After Ouyang Shuo left, Jiangling City was destined to not be peaceful.
……
Red Cliff, sea fortress camp.
A week ago, the fire was extinguished, and the Wulin Camp was turned into ruins.
After the battle, Zhou Yu's Army turned this place into their camp.
With that, these two strongholds of Red Cliff and Wulin were taken over by the Sun Liu Alliance Army. One east and one west, locking down on this portion of the Changjiang.
Currently, the Sun Liu Army did not guard these two places, the navies of Xiong Ba, Zhan Lang, and the other players did.
During this battle, Xiong Ba and Zhan Lang both rolled the dice and decided to each bring 20 thousand navy troops, and they were the greatest elites of their territory.
Even after deducting the sailors, their overall numbers exceeded the voyage squadron. Apart from that, there were some random navies for them to lead. Xiong Ba took the role of main commander, and Zhan Lang took the role of deputy.
The alliance army numbered around 50 to 60 thousand, approaching the numbers of the Sun Liu Alliance.
As a result, Zhou Yu allowed them to defend Red Cliff.
In the water fortress tent, a conversation was taking place.
"You say, will the old fox really come?" Zhan Lang asked.
Xiong Ba smiled, “He definitely will."
"You're so confident?"
"We are the same type of person, I understand him." Xiong Ba explained.
Who knows what Zhan Lang was thinking, but he did not ask any further, “After being the prey for so long, it's time for us to be the hunter for once. This time, we cannot let the old fox escape."
"However cunning a fox, it cannot escape a hunter's trap!"
Haha!
The two looked at each other and laughed, filled with confidence.
Naturally, Ouyang Shuo did not know that so many people were plotting against him.
Onboard Dragon Head, he was discussing the specific battle plans with Zheng He and Jia Xu the.
Jia Xu was introducing the navy situation of Zhou Yu, “The enemy navy has Lu Su as the admiral, under him there's Lu Meng, Ling Tong, Zhou Tai, and Gan Ning. They have around 15 thousand men."
"All elites, ah!"
Ouyang Shuo was awed, Shanhai City had lacked navy generals all along. Acquiring Zheng He, Shi Lang, Yu Dayou, and Alvaro had basically settled the fleet admiral level.
Now, they only lacked chief general level generals. Without a doubt, Lu Meng, Ling Tong, Zhou Tai, and the like were good enough.
Just thinking about this made Ouyang Shuo look forward to it.
"Mister, do you think under such circumstances the Lu Su Army will still go against the current to attack Jiangling City along with Zhou Yu's Army? Or will they retreat to Red Cliff?"
"That might be possible." Jia Xu nodded, “However, after the Battle of Red Cliff, the Lu Su Army has already left. Based on the time, they have crossed half the path. Hence, even if they started to return when they got the news, it'll still take a period of time. If we are fast enough, we can chase up to them before they reach Red Cliff."
Naturally, Jia Xu did not say these words randomly.
It was currently winter, and it was the northwest wind, which was great for the voyage squadron. Jia Xu was perceptive; he noticed that the speed of the voyage squadron was faster than that of Lu Su's Navy.
Especially with the help of the wind, their speed would be even more shocking.
"That's great. Send down the orders, do not rest and chase. We must destroy them before they rush back to Red Cliff."
"Yes, my Monarch!" Zheng He accepted the order.
With that, making use of the night and going along with the northwest wind, the voyage squadron was like a ghost, flowing along the river.
The golden dragon flag fluttered in the night sky.