Zhang Ti proposed: “Send Commander of the Flying Cavalry Wu Yan to meet the enemy at Jiangling; Commander of the Flying Cavalry Sun Xin to Xiakou; I volunteer to take command of a camp at Niuzhu, together with the General of the Left Shen Rong and General of the Right Zhuge Xing, ready to lend help at any point.”
The Ruler of Wu approved his dispositions and felt satisfied that he was safe by land. But in the privacy of his own apartment he felt miserable, for he realized that no preparations had been made against an attack by water under the Wei leader Wang Jun.
Then the favorite eunuch Cen Hun asked the Emperor why he bore a sad countenance, and Sun Hao told him of his dread of the enemy navy.
“The armies of Jin are coming, and I have deployed troops for general defense. Only the water front, by which Wang Jun and his several thousand battleships sail east along the tide, makes me feel so worried.”
“But I have a scheme that will smash all Wang Jun's ships,” cried Cen Hun.
“What is it?” asked the Ruler of Wu, pleased to hear this.
“Iron is plentiful. Make great chains with heavy links and stretch them across the river at various points. Also forge many massive hammers and arrange them in the stream, so that when the enemy's ships sail down before the wind, they will collide with the hammers and be wrecked. Then they will sail no more.”
Blacksmiths were soon at work on the river bank welding the links and forging the hammers. Work went on day and night, and soon all were in place.
As has been said Du Yu was to attack Jiangling, and he sent General Zhou Zhi with eight hundred sailors to sail secretly along the Great River to capture Yuexiang. There they were to make an ambush in the Bashan Mountains and a great show of flags along the bank and among the trees. Drums were to be beaten and bombs exploded during the day and many fires lighted at night to give the appearance of a great army.
So Zhou Zhi sailed to the Bashan Mountains.
Next day Du Yu directed the army and the marine forces in a simultaneous advance. But the navy of Wu, under Sun Xin, came up, and at the first encounter Du Yu's army retired. Sun Xin landed his marines and pursued. But in the midst of the pursuit a signal bomb sounded, and Sun Xin was attacked on all sides by the Jin troops. He tried to retire, but the army he had been pursuing, Du Yu's force, turned back too and joined in the attack. Wu's losses were very heavy, and Sun Xin hastened back to the city. But the eight hundred Jin soldiers of Zhou Zhi mingled with the Wu army at the ramparts and so entered the gates. The Jin soldiers raised signal fires on the walls.
This maneuver amazed Sun Xin, and he said, “The northern troops had surely flown across the river into the city.”
Sun Xin made an effort to escape, but the leader of Jin, Zhou Zhi, unexpectedly appeared and slew him.
A fleet of the ships of Wu had accompanied Sun Xin. The Admiral Lu Jing, saw on the south shore, in the Bashan Mountains, a great standard bearing the name of Jin Commander Du Yu. Lu Jing became alarmed and landed to try to escape, but the Jin General Zhang Shang soon found and slew him.
At his position at Jiangling, Wu Yan heard of these defeats and knew his position was untenable, so he fled. However, he was soon captured and led into the presence of the victorious general.
“No use sparing you,” said Du Yu, and he sentenced the prisoner to death.
Thus Jiangling was captured and all the counties along the River Xiang and River Yuan as far as Huangzhou, which surrendered at the first summons.
Du Yu sent out officers to soothe the people of the conquered counties, and they suffered nothing from the soldiery. Next he marched toward Wuchang, and that city also yielded. So the glory of Du Yu became very great. He then summoned his officers to a council to decide upon attacking Jianye.
Hu Fen said, “A whole century's rebellion will not be reduced completely. The time of the spring rise of waters is near and our position is precarious. We should do well to await the coming spring.”
Du Yu replied, “In the days of old, Yue Yi overcame the powerful state Qi in one battle in Jixi. Our prestige is now high and success certain, easy as the splitting of a bamboo, which seems to welcome the knife after the first few joints have been overcome. We shall meet no great opposition.”
So Du Yu gave orders to the various leaders to move in concert against the city of Jianye.
