Summary: Things go well for the kingdom of Wu and its political leader … until they bite off more than they can chew.<br> <br> * <a href="http://www.3kingdomspodcast.com/2017/12/25/episode-139-chaos-in-the-south/#transcript">Transcript</a><br> * <a href="http://www.3kingdomspodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/ep_139.png">Map of Key Locations</a><br> * <a href="https://www.google.com/fusiontables/DataSource?docid=15T6qkLR7SIA46CH5Fob11JMuWcvPiVGwvzYoxo04">Graph of Key Relationships</a><br> <br> <br> <a id="transcript"></a>Transcript<br> <a href="http://www.3kingdomspodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/3kingdoms139.pdf">PDF version</a><br> Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms Podcast. This is episode 139.<br> Before we start, let me wish everyone happy holidays. This episode is being released on Christmas Day in the United States, and I would like to thank everyone for another wonderful year. The podcast has more listeners than ever, and I love reading all the comments I’ve been getting. We are in the home stretch. There are maybe another 20 or so episodes left, so the show is going to wrap up sometime in the coming year. When I first started this project, I wasn’t sure whether it would find an audience, but you guys have answered that question loudly, and your support has been instrumental in motivating me to keep going over the past three years. So thank you again, and I hope you have a wonderful holiday season.<br> Last time, we bade farewell to Sima Yi and Sun Quan. Sima Yi’s sons were now in charge of all the affairs of the kingdom of Wei, while Sun Quan’s son Sun Liang had stepped into throne of Wu. The Sima brothers decided this would be a good time to conquer the Southlands, so they marched 300,000 men to the borders of Wu and focused their attention on taking the key district of Dongxing (1,4).<br> On the other side, the imperial guardian of Wu, Zhuge Ke (4), assembled the officials to discuss a response. The general Ding Feng (4) said, “Dongxing (1,4) is one of the Southland’s most crucial locations. If it falls, then both the key cities of Nanjun (2,4) and Wuchang (3,1) will be threatened.”<br> “My thoughts exactly,” Zhuge Ke replied. “General, you will lead 3,000 naval troops and advance along the river. I will follow with three cavalry and infantry forces of 10,000 men each to back you up. When you hear a string of explosives, advance your troops, and I will follow with the main army.”<br> So once again, Dongwu was going up against Wei with a dramatic difference in numbers, in this case, 30,000 vs. an invasion force of 300,000. But hey, they’ve been there before. Ding Feng now set out with his 3,000 naval troops on 30 warships and made for the district of Dongxing (1,4).<br> <br> Meanwhile, the Wei vanguard led by the general Hu (2) Zun (1) had built and crossed a pontoon bridge. They were now on the shores of Dongxing, facing the big wall that Dongwu had built. The Wei forces laid siege to the two forts at opposite ends of the wall. The forts were well fortified and could not be taken quickly. But inversely, the Dongwu troops inside the forts also did not dare to go out and fight against the overwhelming numbers of the enemy. So Hu Zun had his men set up camp to prepare for a long stay.<br> It was the height of winter, and a heavy snow was falling. Hu Zun and his officers passed the time by holding a feast. Suddenly, scouts reported that 30 enemy warships were approaching. Hu Zun went outside to take a look and saw that the ships had pulled up near the shoreline, but each ship only carried about 100 men. Hu Zun scoffed, returned to camp, and told his men, “It’s no more than 3,000 men; no cause for concern.” So he just sent scouts to keep an eye on the enemy while he and his officers returned to their feast.<br> While the Wei forces were taking it easy, the Dongwu navy was gearing up for action. The general Ding Feng lined up his ships in a line across the water...
