襄陽・樊城の戦い
Despite opposition from his chief civil clerk, Zhang Zhao, Sun Quan still appointed Ling Tong to lead the vanguard force, Lü Meng to be the naval commandant, and Zhou Yu as Front Commander to regulate the operation. The campaign had two main objectives: elimination of Huang Zu, who was responsible for the death of Sun Quan's father Sun Jian at the Battle of Xiangyang; and conquest of Jiangxia, which stood in Sun Quan's path to dominating Jing Province (covering present-day Hubei and Hunan).