Volume 3: The Land of Jingchu Chapter 323 Big Event
"Huang Zhong! You disappoint me so much!" Liu Pan said with great sorrow.
The loss of Rongling is not unacceptable, after all, it is not an important town in Changsha, but...what the hell is this record?
Originally Liu Pan hoped that Huang Zhong could hold out in Rongling for a while, or even blunt the enemy's edge, but what is happening now?
The battle between defending the city and attacking the city was a one-to-one one?
Huang Zhong was an honest man after all. He did not do anything special to embellish the battle report, but only seriously analyzed the reasons for the defeat.
However, Liu Pan 's attention was obviously not on the "ladder" Huang Zhong mentioned, nor on the enemy's bows and crossbows.
Instead, my heart is filled with this “one to one”!
"Governor, it's not General Huang's fault. It's the army of the General's Mansion that..." Upon hearing this, Wei Yan was about to explain for Huang Zhong.
Liu Pan interrupted directly: "You were not able to transport grain well before, but I didn't punish you yet! Isn't it General Huang's fault? Then you are the one who held us back?"
"I..." Wei Yan was annoyed.
"What do you mean? You dare to argue with Shangguan... Come on, take him out and beat him with fifty military sticks!" Liu Pan said angrily.
Huang Zhong knew that Liu Pan disliked him at the moment, so in order to avoid making things worse, he moved his lips but did not open his mouth to plead for mercy.
"Hmph!" Wei Yan seemed ready to sacrifice himself, and he deliberately stiffened his neck when he was dragged out by Liu Pan's personal guards.
Liu Pan was even more furious when he saw this. Huang Zhong interrupted at the right time and said, "General, I was not able to defeat the enemy in Rongling this time. However, the military appearance and armaments of the General's Mansion should not be underestimated. What's more difficult is that their army has an engineering battalion that specializes in manufacturing military equipment and a battalion responsible for treating wounded soldiers... All kinds of logistical personnel make the enemy army a whole..."
Han Xuan interjected with a strange expression: "In other words... the enemy army has a lot of miscellaneous soldiers?"
Huang Zhong: ...
"They are not miscellaneous soldiers! Although they did not go directly to the battlefield, they played an important role in the battle." Huang Zhong was also helpless. What kind of comprehension ability did these people have?
Huang Zhong has vaguely realized that the military system of the General's Mansion is changing, and this change is even causing changes in the war mode!
However, Liu Biao's subordinates always valued civil officials over military officials, and even most of the troops were led by literati. Naturally, Liu Pan would follow suit.
If it was Lu Zhi during the reigns of Emperors Huan and Ling, a great scholar and famous general, it would be fine. Even if it was Cai Mao, who was at least well-versed in the art of war, however... there were even many cases in Jingzhou Prefecture where laymen commanded experts.
Among the military generals, only Wen Pin could be considered to be reused, but he usually only sat at the bottom of the list, lower than Cai Mao, Kuai Yue and others, and even lower than famous scholars such as Han Song.
As for Huang Zhong, Liu Biao might have forgotten who he was. Any all the merits and demerits of Liu Pan.
Also under Liu Pan's command, the most valued officials were Han Xuan, Jin Xuan, Zhao Fan and other civil officials who had little knowledge of military tactics but were better at governing a place or balancing local forces.
Huang Zhong was highly regarded because he was "particularly good at fighting", but it was not easy for him to be ranked last among Liu Pan!
However, after listening to Huang Zhong's analysis, Liu Pan and others thought that the old man was just looking for excuses because he couldn't save face...
Liu Pan interrupted with a wave of his hand: "The soldiers in the general's mansion are well-equipped, well-trained, and brave in battle. I know that."
Huang Zhong heard this, twitched the corners of his mouth, and could only agree helplessly in his heart, knowing that Liu Pan did not listen to him at all.
However, Liu Pan did not treat the only capable fighter among his subordinates too harshly because of this defeat. His anger had already been vented on Wei Yan anyway. On the other hand... Liu Pan also had good news.
"Does Han Sheng feel that he is unable to defeat the powerful forces of the General's Mansion?" Liu Pan asked in a calm tone with some joy.
Huang Zhong wanted to refute when he heard this. If he was really given more power and the General's Mansion provided him with such a huge investment, allowing him to make his own decisions on everything from recruiting and training soldiers to fighting battles, he might not be afraid of the General's Mansion !
Just looking at Liu Pan's expression, he didn't seem to be criticizing, but rather seemed very interested, so he patiently continued to listen.
"Han Sheng, don't worry. As long as we can keep the general's mansion in Jingnan, when the situation changes next year, Jingzhou will be as stable as a rock... These traitors will get their retribution in the future!" Liu Pan said with some satisfaction.
Liu Pan obviously knew something, but he didn't seem to intend to share the information with Huang Zhong. He simply told him the result.
It's not that Liu Pan didn't trust him, but even Liu Pan had no say in the matter and just got the news.
Naturally, there would be no more complications. In order to boost morale, he mentioned it to several core aides in Jingnan and Huang Zhong, the main force who was to lead the troops, and also told them to keep it secret.
However, Huang Zhong still analyzed some situations by himself, such as "next year will bring a turnaround" and "rebellious officials and traitors will be punished"...
It sounds mysterious and obviously doesn't seem like something Jingzhou Prefecture itself is going to do, but more like some changes have occurred externally!
So after leaving the prefectural governor's mansion, Huang Zhong deliberately inquired about the recent news from other places...
After all, Huang Zhong was just an ordinary general. There would be no special person to inform him of news that had nothing to do with him. Naturally, his source of information for other news was just "inquiries."
After asking around, Huang Zhong actually heard about two major events. One of them was that Master Liu Qi defeated the navy of the General's Mansion several times in Jiangxia...
If this news were spread to the world, it would not be a big deal.
Liu Qi only won a few small victories in Jiangxia, pushing Sun Ce and Zhou Yu back to the southern part of Jiangxia. Moreover, the Jiangxia battlefield was only one-third of the battle between Jing and Yang...
It was just because this was a matter of vital importance to the Jingzhou Prefecture, and... Liu Biao seemed to have some other ideas, so he emphasized the publicity. Even the people of Changsha knew about Liu Qi's bravery and fighting skills.
Huang Zhong's first reaction to this was surprise, and at the same time he finally understood why Liu Pan was so dissatisfied with his performance before - it's easy to make mistakes when comparing goods!
Huang Zhong had only met Liu Qi a few times and had never even spoken to him, but he had faced off against Sun Ce and Zhou Yu head-on.
Before, when Sun Ce and Zhou Yu were stationed in Chaisang for training, Liu Pan, who occupied southern Jing, led several attacks.
However, Huang Zhong had just sent his son to Jinling, and he took the initiative to attack, and Liu Pan was personally supervising the army, so Huang Zhong just worked but did not put in any effort. In the end, Liu Pan was defeated in a few battles and returned in disappointment.
Based on Huang Zhong's understanding of Sun Ce and Zhou Yu, as well as his previous experience of the quality of the General's Army...is Liu Qi really going to make a big splash, or is there something fishy going on?
But no matter which possibility it was, Huang Zhong had no say, and he thought that what Liu Pan said had nothing to do with the matter.
Unless Liu Pan and Liu Biao were so imaginative that they thought Liu Qi could win again and again, pacify Jiangxia in three months, conquer Jingnan in half a year, and sweep across the General's Mansion a year later...
In comparison, the second piece of news was what truly "shocked the world" - Cao Cao defeated Yuan's army in Yanjin and almost forced Yuan Shao to stay south of the Yellow River!
