Volume 3: The Land of Jingchu Chapter 345: Reunion
Before Liu Qi could even utter the word "surrender", he had already...
"Stop! You... ahem... the prince has already surrendered. Is this the morality of your general's mansion?" Wen Pin shouted with red eyes upon seeing this.
Sun Ce pretended not to hear and pulled out the anchor that was covered with "stuff" while saying viciously, "Humph! You are about to die, and you still dare to say that you are... stubborn? I'll teach you how to be stubborn!"
Morality?
Sun Ce was somewhat disdainful - when you were slandering our General's Mansion before, why didn't you think of our morality?
The surrounding Jingzhou troops were completely stunned and even gave way to Sun Ce. When Sun Ce shook off the blood on the anchor, they retreated and tried to avoid him...
Wen Pin's personal soldiers had already carried Wen Pin away, completely ignoring Wen Pin's orders.
The Jiangdong Army, which had also been patient for a long time, now rushed towards the "drowned dogs" with great momentum!
The Jingzhou army that had originally rushed into the city wall retreated fiercely, while the Jingzhou army outside did not know what was happening at first and trampled on each other for a while.
The Jingzhou army outside also realized that something was wrong - mainly because after Wen Pin started to order a retreat, they were chased and beaten by the Jiangdong navy!
However, all the ports along the way had been blocked by Zhou Yu in advance, and those that could not be defended... could just drive the ship away!
With no other options, Wen Pin still wanted to fight to the death, but... Sun Ce did not accept Liu Qi's surrender, no, he did not accept the surrender of his stubbornness, but he accepted the surrender of other soldiers.
Without the determination to die, there is no way to fight a desperate battle...
Wen Pin, who was so seriously injured that he could not even put on armor, could only escape under the protection of his personal soldiers.
This battle made the Jingzhou army in Jiangxia lose its backbone. In the following month, all counties and prefectures surrendered to the Jiangdong army!
Sun Ce, the little tyrant, obviously also knew the truth that "it is better to use the remaining courage to pursue the enemy than to seek fame by imitating the tyrant."
After Liu Qi's death, the Jiangdong Army launched attacks from all sides while making a lot of publicity. Not only did they quickly take back Qichun, but even the defense line originally established by Cai Mao in the northern part of Jiangxia was instantly torn apart.
The seriously injured Wen Pin was almost tied up by the Xiling County Magistrate who stayed behind to be presented to Sun Ce...
After leaving Xiling, Sun Ce's army headed directly north to join Zhao Yun's army. To the west, they reached Sui County and Zhangling in Nanyang, Yunshe and Zhangshan in Jiangxia... they were almost unstoppable!
The entire Jiangxia quickly took on the shape of a general's mansion. Zhao Yun and Zhang Xiu from Nanyang also joined forces with Sun Ce...
At this time in Nanyang, except for the line from Xinye to Xiangyang, which was still under the control of Jingzhou Prefecture, the rest had fallen under the control of the General's Mansion, and there were no longer any scattered third-party separatist forces.
Of the tens of thousands of naval troops left behind by Cai Mao a year ago, plus the new recruits recruited by Liu Qi this year, half were taken by the General's Office, and the other half were either killed in battle or scattered around the country. Only a few retreated westward to Nanjun!
If we count from the time when Sun Ce sent troops to Chaisang and fought a fierce battle with Huang Zu, although Sun Ce and Zhou Yu fought in Jiangxia for almost two years and had been fighting back and forth in the second half, but... the total casualties were not only controlled at 10%, but even taking into account the large number of prisoners captured by the Jingzhou navy, they still "made" a lot.
After the "fall" of northern Jiangxia, Yunmengze could no longer serve as a barrier for Nanjun. After Sun Ce and Zhao Yun reunited, they did not continue to fight to the death in Xinye and Xiangfan areas, but advanced by water from the northern part of Jiangxia along the Yunmengze water system, clearing the remaining small Jingzhou army water strongholds and water bandits in the complex terrain of Yunmengze, and advancing towards Jiangling in the south!
The southern army of Jingnan fought with the Jingzhou army in Changsha County and the northern part of Wuling County.
Although they won more battles than they lost, due to poor material transportation, cement and other materials could not keep up. In addition, Bai Tu’s top order to "take it slow and reduce casualties" actually delayed Liu Pan to Linxiang, the county town of Changsha.
Liu Pan's ability and level are average, but he has a brave general like Huang Zhong under his command. Originally, Chen Gong and Zhang Liao surrounded him but did not attack him.
After all, if we attack Linxiang, the general's mansion will suffer heavy losses.
However, after hearing the news of Liu Qi's defeat, Liu Pan immediately headed north...
It’s not that Liu Pan couldn’t wait to avenge his cousin after hearing that his cousin was dead, but he understood that once the battle situation in Jiangxia collapsed, the army of Nanyang and the general’s mansion originally in Jiangxia would bypass Yunmengze and march straight down from the north to Jiangling!
Jiangling is located at the southernmost tip of Nanjun, and together with Xiangyang, one to the south and one to the north, they are the two hearts of Nanjun.
Even before Liu Biao went to Jingzhou alone, Jiangling was the real "Jingzhou City" and also the "Yingdu", the capital of the Chu State in the pre-Qin period.
Changsha County is located in the northern part of Jingnan. The distance from the capital Linxiang to Jiangling is only 500 li...
It is easy to imagine that Xiangfan would probably not support Jiangling at this time. Once Jiangling was lost, could Liu Pan's 20,000 troops survive in Linxiang?
Instead of doing this, it is better to retreat to Jiangling. At least relying on the high walls and deep rivers of Jiangling City, they can still resist for a while - otherwise, they may not be able to wait until the situation changes!
That's right, after Dong Cheng learned the news, he strongly advocated sharing it with Jingzhou and Yizhou to calm people's hearts, so Liu Biao also knew what Xu Du was planning, and later revealed it to Liu Pan...
If it weren't for Liu Pan's "strange behavior" that made Chen Gong notice it and alerted the General's Mansion, and then the General's Mansion added responsibilities to the Wind-Catching Guard, it might not have been possible to discover Qu Yi so quickly!
Although Linxiang is the county seat and one of the largest cities in southern Jing, it cannot be compared with Jiangling.
Jiangling is located at the junction of the Han River and the Yangtze River. It is the terminal for cargo ships from Yizhou and Hanzhong leaving Sichuan. Its prosperity was comparable to that of Luoyang during its heyday. Even now, it is one of the most prosperous places in the world and the center of the "South" in a broad sense.
Moreover, Jiangling City "borders the Yangtze River in the south, the Han River in the north, controls Sichuan and Shu in the west, and connects to Hunan and Guangdong in the south", and has always been a battleground for military strategists.
In history without the "white rabbit effect", when Guan Yu flooded the seven armies in Xiangfan, killed Pang De, and captured Yu Jin, his support was Jiangling, and the person guarding it was Liu Bei's brother-in-law Mi Fang...
As a result, because Mi Fang and Fu Shiren both surrendered to Lu Meng who crossed the river in white clothes, Guan Yu suffered a bloody collapse and was eventually defeated and fled to Maicheng.
The surrender of Mi Fang and Fu Shiren was probably due to their fear of Guan Yu - the two of them were not good at supervising logistics, and Guan Yu had reprimanded them in a letter, otherwise... considering the terrain of Jiangling, even if the garrison was insufficient, they might still be able to hold out!
The surrender of the two was also humiliating, especially Mi Fang. After his surrender, he was humiliated many times by Yu Fan, the upright boy from Jiangdong.
Another person who was dissed by Yu Fan was Yu Jin. After surrendering to Guan Yu, Yu Jin was imprisoned in Jiangling and then taken back to Jiangdong.
But the difference is that when Yu Fan dissed Yu Jin, Sun Quan would stand up for him, but as for Mi Fang... hehe.
After Liu Pan evacuated, the Jingnan gentry in Linxiang directly opened the city gates to welcome the army from the General's Mansion. Originally, the Jingnan gentry and the Nanjun gentry had always been at odds with each other.
It was only at this time that Chen Gong learned about what happened in Jingbei. After all, with Liu Pan in the way, Chen Gong had very limited access to information...
After pacifying the gentry in southern Jing and keeping Shamoke behind to ensure Wuxi's retreat, Chen Gong also led his troops north, also chasing after Jiangling!
