Treacherous Path to Shu

Sangokushi v33 is now done, hurray! Before I comment on it, here's a small status update:

I still can't find the vol 7 raws for Zero so there's nothing I can really do there, unless someone's kind enough to buy it and scan it themselves. If not, I'm sure it'll eventually show up a couple months down the road. I've also received Historie v7 cleans from a kind helper so I'm going to dedicate this week in finishing that. Next week, I'm going to get started on Sister Generator (1-volume oneshot collection by Samura), and once that's done, I'll come back to do more Sangokushi.

Now, going back to Sangokushi, there are two things I wanted to comment on, and they both take place in chapter 208 "The Two Suns." In the letter that Sun Quan sends to Cao Cao, the manga simply has Cao Cao inferring that Sun Quan's also beset by some trouble from his promise to not pursue Cao Cao if he retreats now. In the actual novel, Sun Quan's letter makes no such promise. Instead, he reminds Cao Cao how Wu is still under threat whether or not Cao Cao backs out on his disastrous campaign, which finally convinces Cao Cao to swallow his pride and withdraw.

The second, and more important, thing I wanted to comment on was Zhang Zhao's suggestion at the very end. His plan can be summarized in two main points: A) tie Liu Bei down in Shu by having Liu Zhang turn on him  B)combined forces of Zhang Lu and Sun Quan quickly overwhelm Jingzhou.

However, even after thinking about his plan for some time, I still don't think it makes any sense. Let's start with part A of his plan. There's no way Shu would ever turn on Liu Bei willingly. The first problem is whether Liu Zhang will even believe in Sun Quan's warning letter. If the vast majority of his retainers warning him against Liu Bei wasn't enough to convince him, why would he believe in a letter sent by the diplomatically distant Sun Quan? Secondly, it's quite unlikely that Shu would actually attack Liu Bei. If Shu's too weak to even handle Zhang Lu alone, which is why they invited Liu Bei in the first place, why on earth would Shu willingly fight Liu Bei? In the story (minor spoiler ahead), Shu is only forced to turn on Liu Bei when Liu Zhang reads Zhang Song's secret letter and realizes he has no choice but to fight. But there's no way in hell Zhang Zhao could have predicted this in advance. Also, Zhang Zhao is seriously underestimating Liu Bei if he thinks Liu Bei will just hesitate and fail to prioritize either front.

Now let's move to part B. Wu should know that Liu Bei still left a sizeable garrison in Jingzhou, under the capable hands of Zhuge Liang, Zhao Zilong, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei. That's pretty much an all-star lineup there. Unless Zhang Zhao has a brilliant follow-up plan, I don't think they can overwhelm Jingzhou quickly enough before Cao Cao intervenes again. Sure, Wu's strong enough to fend off Cao Cao's massive army, but that's only because of Wu's naval superiority. Conquering Jingzhou's going to be a matter of numerous sieges and land battles. Remember when Sun Quan and Zhou Yu tried it just before the latter died?

In short, I'm not saying it's impossible for Wu to capture Jingzhou, but I just don't see them pulling it off before Cao Cao intervenes and Zhang Zhao's plan doesn't significantly increase Wu's chances of success. Well, that's enough analysing from me.

Feel free to tell me if you agrees or disagree with my opinion.

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