The Rise of the Song People of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 139

Sun Ce, Liu Pan, and Huang Zu's armies continued to be anxious. Now the way forward was blocked by Sun Ce. Even with Kuai Liang as a counselor, there was no good solution.

Suddenly news came from Nanjun that Cai Mao of the West Route Army was defeated by Zhou Yu, and [-]% of the [-] troops were lost. Liu Biao's nephew Zhang Yun was captured alive. Liu Biao was afraid that Zhou Yu would go north and approach Jiangling, so he ordered the East Route Army to retreat to Nanjun first.

Let Huang Zu retreat to Jiangxia and monitor Sun Ce's movements at any time!

Liu Pan and Huang Zu were shocked when they received the news. Cai Mao's army on the West Road was defeated like this?
Although Cai Mao had various problems, he was considered to be well versed in military affairs, and with the help of Wenpin, the number one general in Jingzhou, he lost so badly.

This defeat can be said to have damaged Liu Biao's vitality. If the Eastern Route Army made any mistakes again, Jingzhou would not be unwilling to change its hands, and it would completely allow Sun Ce to gain a foothold in Jingnan.

And the key thing is that if Liu Pan and Huang Zu can get this news, then Sun Ce will definitely get this news too. The news of Cai Mao's West Route Army's defeat will definitely destabilize the three armies of the East Route Army.

Under the current situation, the top priority for Liu Pan and Huang Zu is how to retreat!

Sun Ce would not let Liu Pan and Huang Zu retreat so easily. With the momentum of a big victory, they took advantage of the momentum to pursue and eat the entire East Route Army. Sun Ce could go straight to Huanglong and seize Nanjun to control Jingzhou.

The greatest knowledge of leading troops is not ambushes, encounters, or the command of two opposing teams, but how to retreat.

In ancient wars, it was a great achievement to safely and completely withdraw the army from a moment of crisis!
Zhuge Liang died in Wuzhangyuan, counted defeat before counting victory, and frightened Sima Yi away after his own death. This is the ability to make the army retreat safely in a crisis.

And Liu Pan and Huang Zu must not have the ability of Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi, but there is a capable man Kuai Liang in their army!

Liu Pan respected Kuai Liang very much and asked Kuai Liang: "Mr. Zirou (Kuailiang's courtesy name is Zirou), will our army retreat overnight?"

Kuai Liang came out to plan and said: "No! Our army will be honest tomorrow. We will bury the pots to cook first, and then break camp and head north!"

"A few dozen miles north of Jun, there is a river that is a tributary of Dongting Lake. It is called Junshui. Thousands of soldiers and horses can be ambushed on both sides."

"Tomorrow if Sun Ce pursues him, General Huang Zhong can lure Sun Ce to Junshui, ambush him on both sides, and attack him halfway."

"Whether Sun Ce falls for it or not, our army will return to Jiangxia safe and sound."

Everyone in the Jingzhou Group was convinced by the resourcefulness of Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue. Liu Pan and Huang Zu followed their advice and made their own preparations.

In Sun Ce's army, just as Liu Pan, Huang Zu and others had guessed, a special messenger also came from Sun Ce's army. News of Zhou Yu's victory reached Changsha after a few days.

Lu Su personally rushed to Sun Ce's army overnight and reported the news to Sun Ce. At the same time, Lu Su analyzed: "My lord, now that Gong Jin has defeated Cai Mao, it is expected that Liu Pan, Huang Zu and others will also receive the news. Retreat in the near future! This battle must be won!"

Sun Ce looked at the map but said, "Zijing, if our army launches a full-scale pursuit, can we counterattack Nanjun with the power of a big victory?"

"Master is not allowed!"

After Lu Su first expressed his opposition, fearing that Sun Ce would be impulsive, he quickly said: "Master! Now is not the time for our army to attack Jingzhou in an all-round way. Liu Biao has been in charge of Jingzhou for a long time, and he has won the support of the local wealthy families."

"If we attack Liu Biao in an all-round way now, it will be our army that will be dragged down."

"Now our army should use the momentum of great victory to gather the Jingnan nobles, send troops to deter the Wuxi barbarians, and stabilize Jingnan."

"When our army has gained a firm foothold in Jingzhou, it will be time to nibble on Liu Biao."

When Sun Ce heard Lu Su's plan, he agreed in his heart, smiled confidently, and said to the generals: "In this case, our army will drive Liu Biao's dog out of Changsha!"

"Tomorrow everyone will say that I will fight together and beat the dog in the water!"

The next day, as expected by Lu Su, Liu Pan and Huang Zu did not send out troops in formation. Instead, they organized their troops grandly and retreated to the north slowly.

Sun Ce led the whole army, seeing Liu Pan and Huang Zu retreating to the north in an orderly manner, for a moment he was afraid of being deceived and dared not make any moves.

After Lu Su saw this phenomenon, he immediately advised Sun Ce: "My lord, quickly order and lead troops to attack. This is a bluff by the enemy!"

As soon as Sun Ce heard Lu Su's words, he immediately ordered Chen Wu and Lu Meng to lead thousands of troops each to attack Liu Pan and Huang Zu's allied forces.

Kuai Liang, who was in Liu Pan's army, saw that Sun Ce had sent thousands of troops, and his expression changed slightly. He was not sure whether Sun Ce was a fool and wanted to charge into the battle, or whether there was a capable person in Sun Ce's army who saw through his plan.

But fortunately he still had a backup, Kuai Liang ordered Huang Zhong and Gan Ning to take [-] soldiers and horses to resist the incoming army, and the main force continued to retreat to Junshui with food, grass and luggage.

The two partial divisions fought together again and fought continuously for a month. They knew the basics. Even though Liu Biao's army's individual soldiers were not superior in quality at the beginning, after a month, all the new recruits were dead, and those who survived were promoted to veterans.

The shortcomings of the Jingzhou army were gradually smoothed out in actual combat. The advantages of the soldiers were gone, and the generals were very important.

But Chen Wu and Lu Meng were no match for Huang Zhong and Gan Ning. As soon as the two generals fought, they knew they were not on the same level. The young Lu Meng was almost beheaded by Gan Ning's Jiuqu Tao.

Sun Ce saw that the two forwards Chen Wu and Lu Meng were not successful in the first battle, so he gritted his teeth and led the entire Chinese army to attack. This time, he hit Liu Pan and Huang Zujun's "seven inches".

In fact, during the one-month confrontation, Liu Pan and Huang Zu were not afraid of Sun Ce and fought each other, but now the strategic goal has changed, and they all want to retreat to the north.

Withdrawing troops is not that easy. Food, grass, baggage, etc. are all backlogged in the camp. It is necessary to take all these things away, which is the most difficult thing.

Otherwise, if you don't eat for three days, no matter how elite the army is, it will collapse and flee. It will be hundreds of miles from Xiajun in Changsha to Jiangxia, and it will take several days to travel.

When Liu Pan and Huang Zu saw Sun Ce's entire army pressing up, they had no choice but to stand up and fight Sun Ce. It was another pitched battle.

After a fierce battle, both sides lost more than a thousand corpses each. After cleaning the battlefield, Sun Ce was resting on the spot five miles away, as if he would kill you even if he died.

Kuai Liang gritted his teeth, thought for a long time, and said to Liu Pan: "Young master, let the soldiers go first with ten days of food and grass. The rest of the equipment is not needed, and it is set on fire. Follow the plan and withdraw to the north. Otherwise, it will be difficult for our army to leave. .”

Following Liu Pan's order to rest for an hour, he abandoned the heavy luggage and set it on fire, leaving Huang Zhong, Gan Ning and a team of broken queens behind. According to the plan, Liu Pan and Huang Zu led the army to retreat northward.

Liu Pan's whereabouts were naturally hidden from Sun Ce's eyes. Sun Ce ordered half of the army to rescue supplies, and the other half of the army entangled Liu Pan and Huang Zu. However, Huang Zhong and Gan Ning led thousands of rear troops to cling to them regardless of casualties.

Huang Gai and Gan Ning had few soldiers. Although they had two top warriors, the casualties they incurred were huge, and they could no longer withstand it, so they began to break through to the north.

The remaining baggage, food and fodder that were burned naturally became the spoils of Sun Ce's army!

(End of this chapter)