Wang Yang said urgently:
"Both land and naval forces withdraw from the gorge! The land army follows the shore, the fleet heads east downstream!"
Kong Changyu turned another cup upside down:
"Gorge mouth breached! Land and naval forces pursue!"
Watching from the side, Tao Rui felt his fighting spirit surge and blurted out:
"This is our chance! Destroy his fleet first! Then combine our land and naval forces to crush his land army!"
Yet Li Jingxuan's sharpness instead subsided. Looking at the cups and plates on the table, he said uncertainly:
"This man is cunning and full of schemes. He may be trying to lure me deep into his territory..."
Tao Rui glanced at Wang Yang and said:
"That cannot be the case. Who would abandon every dangerous pass just to bait an enemy? Wang Yang's forces ahead of us have been defeated and their momentum broken. Now is the time to strike hard at their heels and shatter their spearhead in one blow!"
Xue Shao also said:
"From the defeat of his River-Cutting Army to his abandonment of the gorge mouth, this was not his design. The situation simply made holding it impossible. We may let his land army slip away a little, but we absolutely cannot release his fleet! If it returns intact to Tiger Fang, his land and naval forces can support each other, creating another stalemate whose outcome remains uncertain."
Guo Wenyuan agreed as well, urging Li Jingxuan to make up his mind and pursue their victory.
The Prince of Badong exclaimed, "Well, well!"
"How rare! Doesn't Master Guo always preach caution, saying a thief ought to have a guilty conscience?"
Guo Wenyuan bowed and replied:
"I do believe a thief ought to have a guilty conscience, but excessive caution is a bane in warfare. Excessive