In fact, Sun Deng died earlier than Zhuge Jin.

But in order not to affect the morale of the troops on the front line and to avoid chaos, Sun Deng gave special instructions before his death:

Before His Majesty's decree comes back, he must keep the news of his death a secret, which is the legendary secret of mourning.

Although Sun Quan had seen strong winds and waves, when he suddenly received the news of Sun Deng's death, he was still shocked to the point of being devastated. He even felt a sense of fear in his heart and his hands and feet were cold.

the reason is simple.

Not only are most of Wu's troops now on the north bank of the river, but even he, the emperor of Wu, is also on the north bank of the river.

The sudden death of Prince Sun Deng, who was originally guarding the rear, left the entire rear feeling truly empty.

If someone is plotting evil in Jianye at this time, the consequences will be simply unimaginable.

Thinking of this, Sun Quan immediately held back his tears - this was not a sad moment!

"Someone is coming!"

"His Majesty?"

"Immediately send an order for the whole army to retreat!"

"Here!"

"Also, take my warrant and go to Jingzhou to meet the general..."

When Sun Quan said this, he suddenly paused again, his expression a little uncertain.

Finally, he looked at the legacy of the prince that he had been holding in his hand and was reluctant to put it down, and finally relaxed and said:

"Have someone take my order and ask the general if he wants to withdraw his troops."

"Here."

After everything was arranged, Sun Quan seemed to have been drained of all his energy and energy, and his body suddenly slumped down.

Sun Quan, who had officially entered the age of hearing loss, finally truly looked like an ordinary old man.

When he was attacking Hefei, Wang Ling used his fine cavalry to attack the grain roads in an attempt to cut off the army's retreat.

Under the emergency situation, clan relative Sun Shao took the initiative to stay behind. Although he blocked the thieves, when he retreated from the camp, he was still entangled by the fine cavalry of the Wei army.

Sun Shao had few soldiers and only infantry, so his formation was almost overwhelmed.

Sun Shao was forced to personally lead his bodyguard into battle, and then he barely managed to stabilize his position. However, in the chaos, he was stabbed by the Wei cavalry's halberd and injured.

After returning to the ship, although they tried every means to treat him, he eventually bled to death.

Sun Shao's death dealt a certain blow to the morale of the army.

Therefore, after Sun Quan learned that Quan Cong had withdrawn from Shouchun and that Zhuge Ke would not be able to capture Lu'an in a short period of time, he urgently summoned the two of them to Chaohu.

Unexpectedly, just after he stabilized the morale of the army, Sun Quan received the news that Sun Deng had died of serious illness.

The heavy blow of losing two relatives in succession made him unable to bear it anymore.

Sun Quan trembled and sat down on his couch, and once again spread out the memorial written by Sun Deng:

"...Lu Xun was loyal and diligent to his time. He was born and worried about his country. He served as a public servant and had the reputation of being a bandit..."

He originally wanted to order Lu Xun in the west to retreat immediately, but he changed his mind at the last moment because of what Sun Deng said in his memorial.

At this time, Sun Quan still had a glimmer of hope in Lu Xun.

I only hope that he can be "loyal and diligent in his time" as the prince said, and capture Xiangyang to relieve himself of his worries.

It can also be said that Sun Quan was still unwilling to give in at this time.

This time, the whole country's troops marched northward, and so many people died. If they had not returned without success, it would have taken the Wu Kingdom many years to recover.

Thinking of the internal and external troubles in the future, when Sun Quan urgently withdrew his troops and returned to Jianye to take charge of the overall situation, he could only treat a dead horse as a living horse doctor and let Lu Xun, who was far away in Jingzhou, take action according to the situation.

After all, although Dongfang did not capture Shouchun, it finally frightened the thieves.

If Lu Xun could really cooperate in capturing Xiangyang from the west, he would have achieved his goal this time.

Sun Quan's idea was very good, but he didn't expect that he had just arrived at Ruxukou and Jingzhou and sent someone again to deliver urgent news:

General Zhuge Jin died of illness in the army.

Sun Quan, who was standing on the boat, swayed when he heard the news, and his eyes suddenly turned black.

He couldn't care less about maintaining the imperial demeanor in front of all the soldiers, so he collapsed on the ship's deck and shouted sadly:

"Heaven will destroy me, Wuhu!"

Zhuge Ke, who was following him, also burst into tears when he learned that his master had died of illness:

"The adults are seriously ill, but the children cannot take care of them. It is really unfilial..."

For a time, all the officers and men in the army were in panic, and the army had no fighting spirit.

Quan Cong, who temporarily led the military on behalf of Sun Quan, had no choice but to lead his army by boat to leave Chaohu and return to Jianye.

As Sun Quan returned to Jianye, news that Prince Sun Deng died of illness finally began to spread.

At this time, Lu Xun, who had been hiding since the Wu Kingdom sent out troops, finally appeared in the army led by Bu Zhi.

"Come on, General?"

Lu Xun's sudden appearance surprised Yi Yi Zhi:

"Why are you here? Your Majesty..."

Lu Xun raised an arm, signaling Bu Zhi not to continue:

"Let's talk inside."

He immediately took the lead and headed towards the handsome tent.

Seeing Lu Xun's appearance, Bu Zhi frowned slightly, then followed him.

When the two came to the tent, Lu Xun turned around, faced Bu Zhao who was following behind, and asked seriously:

"General Bu, a few days ago I only asked you to retreat to Bian County (i.e. the border of Wei, Wu and Jingzhou) to wait for orders. Why did you retreat directly to Dangyang?"

Lu Xun nominally had the right to take charge of everything west of Zhangyu.

But in fact, in order to ensure the stability of power in Jingzhou and prevent Lu Xun from becoming dominant, Sun Quan took great pains in personnel arrangements.

He allowed Bu Zhao to lead an army alone and garrisoned Xiling (that is, Yichang City, not far from Yiling). He also guarded against Ji Han and Wei State, and obeyed his orders directly and was not controlled by Lu Xun.

Lu Xun is a representative of the Jiangdong clan, while Bu Zhi is from the Huaisi Group.

Just like Ji Han in the early years, the outside veteran faction, the Jingzhou faction, the Dongzhou faction, and the Shu area faction who entered Shu earlier, all fought together and fought openly and secretly for the right to speak for the benefit of their own factions.

Even now, faced with the gradual rise of the Yongliang wealthy families, the newly incorporated Guandong aristocratic families are willing to put down their status and seek a place in Jihan.

In the State of Wu, the Jiangdong Native Group and the Huaisi Nanxia Group were the two most important forces in the Sun Wu regime.

Naturally, it is impossible to be selfless, put aside prejudices and selfishness, and work together to build a beautiful Wu.

In order to prevent Lu Xun from getting into trouble with General Bu Zhi, Sun Quan placed the kind-hearted Zhuge Jin in Jingzhou.

Zhuge Jin had a good relationship with Lu Xun, and also made friends with Bu Zhi in his early years, traveling around Wuzhong.

It can be said that over the years, it is precisely because Zhuge Jin coordinated between Lu Xun and Bu Zhi that the two have always been able to live in peace.

Now that Zhuge Jin suddenly died of illness, Lu Xun inevitably spoke in a bad tone when the military situation was urgent and he was not obeying his military orders.

Although Bu Zhi's official position is not as good as Lu Xun's, his qualifications are much older than Lu Xun's. Naturally, it is impossible to show weakness at this time:

"General, it's not that I don't want to obey your orders, but His Majesty hastily sent someone to deliver news about the death of the prince."

Bu Zhao stared at Lu Xun closely, "Your Majesty's letter to me mentioned that the Wu Kingdom's rear was empty, so he had already led his troops back to Jianye, just in case."

"Now that the general (i.e. Zhuge Jin) has passed away suddenly, people in Jingzhou are in turmoil. I am taking this action just in case."

Lu Xun did not listen to Bu Zhi's explanation and just asked:

"Has Your Majesty ever issued an order to allow the general to withdraw his troops?"

Bu Zhao didn't answer in silence.

Naturally, Sun Quan had no explicit intention to give in to Bu Zhao and retreat, but how could Bu Zhi not know His Majesty's concerns after following Sun Quan for so many years?

"Since Your Majesty has not given in to the retreat of the infantry general, then the infantry general must still obey my orders."

Lu Xun's tone became stern:

"I can tell General Bu that nothing unexpected happens in Jingzhou! Now I want General Bu to return to the north immediately as planned."

Bu Zhi continued to remain silent.

Seeing this, Lu Xun took a deep breath, softened his tone and said:

"General Bu, this time the troops of the Wu Kingdom marched northward, the cost was incalculable, and many supplies were borrowed from the Han Dynasty."

"If we return without success this time, Dawu will be defeated and will be unable to use its weapons again for at least a few years."

"Now that the power of the Han Kingdom is growing day by day, the Wei thieves have divided their capitals to rule. The strong ones are getting stronger, and the weak ones are getting weaker. It is not yet known how long the three kingdoms can maintain their power as a tripartite."

"Based on the current situation in the world, the best thing is to unite with Wei and resist the Han, and let the Han and Wei thieves fight to the death; the next best thing is to unite with the Han to destroy Wei, and try our best to swallow up the territory of Wei and strengthen Wu."
To be continued...