I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 191 Gan Ning, but only a county magistrate
Outside Exian County.

Huang Zujun had already led a large army to provide support, but unfortunately, when they arrived at the city, their scouts discovered that E County had already fallen.

"Liu Pan is brave but lacks strategy; it was unwise to trust him so easily."

Although Huang Zu had a dignified appearance, he was obese and was already panting from the journey. When he heard that E County had been captured, he cursed twice and was about to lead his troops back to Xiakou.

"General!"

No sooner had the military order been given than a man arrived on light cavalry. Upon seeing the man's appearance, Huang Zu's face was full of displeasure: "Gan Ning, what brings you here?"

Gan Ning wore bird feathers in his hair, bells on his body, and a piece of crimson Shu brocade draped over his back, making him exceptionally flamboyant.

Upon arriving at Huang Zu's side, Gan Ning did not dismount but immediately said to Huang Zu, "E County is the eastern gateway to Jingzhou! How can we give up so easily?"

Huang Zu was displeased: "Although we have lost E County, we still have Xiakou!"

"That's wrong!"

Gan Ning's warhorse swayed from side to side, clearly eager to try.

"Even if we still hold Xiakou, the Jiangdong navy can still advance directly to Xiangyang via the Han River!"

Gan Ning continued to advise Huang Zu.

"The Jiangdong soldiers were only able to capture the city because they took advantage of the city's defenders' panic! If we counterattack now, taking back E County will be a piece of cake!"

Huang Zu looked at Gan Ning with a cold eye.

Gan Ning was a chivalrous knight-errant by birth and had a coarse and vulgar nature, so he was not respected by Huang Zu.

When Gan Ning met Huang Zu, he was so eager to go into battle that he didn't even dismount, which made Huang Zu even more disgusted with Gan Ning.

"After all, he's a bandit by origin and knows nothing about military affairs!"

Huang Zu immediately pointed out Gan Ning's shortcomings, causing Gan Ning's face to darken.

"If Liu Miao really dares to enter the Han River, let alone reach Xiangyang, he will probably be discovered as soon as he arrives in Anlu, and find himself in a situation where he can't take care of everything!"

"As long as we station our troops at Xiakou, Liu Miao will naturally not dare to make a move easily! Do you understand?"

Huang Zu's words immediately drew praise from the surrounding staff.

"Gan Ning, you come from a humble background and probably haven't read many books. How dare you be so insolent in front of the prefect?"

Gan Ning clenched his fists, and his warhorse, which had been eager to fight, became dejected and slowly turned back towards his main camp.

“Those who come from bandit backgrounds can never be respectable.”

Huang Zu shook his head unconsciously as he watched Gan Ning's retreating figure.

If it weren't for Liu Biao's request, he wouldn't have been willing to take in a bandit like Gan Ning who had neither virtue nor morality.

"Once we get back, let him go wherever he wants to be a county magistrate. It's better than him causing trouble in my camp."

After making this decision, Huang Zu never looked at E County again and turned back to Xiakou.

"Besides, Liu Pan lost E County, so why should I risk my life to clean up his mess? Humph!"

Gan Ning returned to the camp, his expression remaining gloomy.

Once they reached a secluded spot, Gan Ning suddenly drew the short knife from his thigh and slammed it heavily into a wooden stake: "Damn it! Huang Zu is utterly senile; how can we possibly achieve anything by following someone like that!"

Gan Ning sat on the ground, pulled out his short sword, and vented his anger by hacking at a clump of weeds in front of him.

"Xingba, you went to see General Huang again?"

At this moment, a voice suddenly rang out, which immediately alerted Gan Ning, but he relaxed after seeing who it was.

The visitor was Su Fei, a rare friend of Gan Ning in Jiangxia.

Su Fei sat opposite Gan Ning: "I told you long ago that General Huang is getting old and much more stubborn than before. When you meet him, you should be extremely respectful. How could you just ride a warhorse and loiter in front of him?"

Gan Ning snorted coldly: "I have been very respectful! If it were before, I wouldn't care whether he agreed or not, I would have led my men to charge up and take the city!"

Gan Ning took a short blade and drew a map on the ground.

The Yangtze River flows from west to east, but at Mubu Mountain it takes a detour, arching up like a steamed bun.

Gan Ning pointed his curved knife sharply at each side of the "cornbread": "Xiakou, Exian!"

"These two places are the most important gateways to the east of Jingzhou."

Afterwards, Gan Ning placed the knife at "Xiakou" and made a deep cut in the northwest direction.

"This is the Han River."

“In the past, Xiakou and Exian protected the Han River from the front and back, and also protected Xiangyang. Now Huang Zu has just handed over Exian like this. Do you think he did anything humane?”

Gan Ning spat again: "Huang Zu is old too! He's getting senile!"

"Just you wait! Once the Jiangdong navy enters the Han River from here, Jingzhou will be doomed sooner or later!"

Su Fei looked at the map, but had a different opinion from Gan Ning.

"Xiakou is situated on high ground on the south bank of the Yangtze River, allowing for constant surveillance of the waters. How could Liu Miao so easily exploit this weakness?"

"Moreover, just as General Huang said, if Liu Miao really dares to go in, we can cut off his retreat from Xiakou and trap all the Jiangdong soldiers who go in in this waterway!"

"Tsk!"

Su Fei's words not only failed to resonate with Gan Ning, but instead fueled his anger: "You don't understand! You understand nothing!"

"War is never a one-off deal!"

"Have you studied Liu Miao? Have you studied how he conquered Wu Commandery? This guy took advantage of the water network of Jiangdong and the convenience of Taihu Lake, and had his navy constantly harass the wealthy households on the shore, so that Liu Yao and Xu Gong could not concentrate their forces to fight on one front!"

"What if Liu Miao doesn't send the main force of his navy into the Han River? What if he just sends small groups of naval troops to harass the rear? Hmm?"

Gan Ning kept slashing at the "Jingzhou" map on the ground with his short sword: "Come here, come there, Jingzhou will collapse sooner or later! Do you know that?" Su Fei frowned, studied the map on the ground for a while, and then shook his head at Gan Ning.

"Xingba, what you're describing is the fighting style of bandits, not the fighting style of a regular navy..."

Why are you still talking about these things?

Gan Ning was finally speechless with anger: "I don't care if it's a bandit's fighting style or a regular fighting style, as long as it can win, then it's definitely a damn good fighting style!"

"And who told you that Liu Miao wasn't a bandit? Look at what Liu Miao did in Jiangdong? Rob the rich to help the poor? Acting on behalf of Heaven? Isn't that what bandits do? Why don't you understand?"

Seeing that Gan Ning was getting more and more agitated, Su Fei quickly reassured him, "Understood! Understood!"

"But right now, General Huang clearly doesn't want his soldiers to die because of Liu Pan's mistake. What can you do?"

"Ancestor Banban!"

Gan Ning then realized, "Damn it! Those soldiers aren't even from Huang Zu's family, yet he's so reluctant to part with them?"

"Why isn't it General Huang's? Xingba, don't forget, the soldiers under General Huang's command were all recruited by him himself."

"Grass!"

Gan Ning cursed, but then lowered his head.

He was originally a river bandit, but later felt that there was no future in being a lone river bandit, so he wanted to seek an official position.

But once he entered officialdom, Gan Ning discovered that the corruption there was no less than that in the underworld!

For example, right now, even though we're guarding Jingzhou together, we still insist on dividing it up as yours and mine, which is even less righteous than the bandits on the road!
Su Fei couldn't bear to see Gan Ning like this.

“I have actually recommended you to General Huang many times, but he always refuses to give you important positions because of your bandit background.”

“Now that you have repeatedly contradicted General Huang in the army, he must hate you to the bone. Xingba, if you continue to stay in the army, your life may be in danger.”

Seeing that Gan Ning was not angry, Su Fei continued, "I would like to recommend you for the position of county magistrate in Zhu County. What do you think?"

Gan Ning kept pulling out his short sword and then plunging it heavily into the ground.

After repeating this several dozen times, Gan Ning finally gripped the short knife in his other hand and stopped fiddling with it.

"You have a point."

"I really can't stay under Huang Zu's command any longer!"

------

Chaisang.

The troops in Jiangdong gradually assembled.

Apart from Wu Jing stationed in Huainan and Yan Baihu remaining in Wu County, all the other generals gathered together.

Zhou Yu, Sun Ce, and Taishi Ci.

Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, Han Dang, Zhu Zhi, Jiang Qin, Huang Zhong, Xu Huang, Zhu Huan.

There were also Lu Su, Zhou Tai, Chen Wu, Lu Yi, and Lü Meng, who served as palace officials in the tent.

With such a lineup, let alone Liu Biao, even if Liu Xiu's ancestor came, Liu Miao would dare to challenge him!
However, Liu Miao did not make reckless micromanagement decisions just because things were going well.

Liu Miao left the overall military mobilization to Zhou Yu, without interfering himself.

Upon arrival, Zhou Yu did not lose his composure and immediately set his sights on Xiakou, which was guarded by Huang Zu, but instead focused on the currently weakly defended Jiangbei, namely Xiling, where the Jiangxia Commandery was located.

"Our lord is renowned for his prowess; the best course of action would be to subdue the enemy without a fight!"

To pacify Jiangdong and to punish Yuan Shu.

Liu Miao is no longer an unknown figure.

If one can use their reputation to intimidate others, it is naturally better than diverting troops to attack.

However, Zhou Yu had already warned his generals in advance: "According to Pang Tong, the officials in Jingzhou have always been closed-minded. And our lord does not have a good reputation among the powerful clans and scholars, so we should not have too high hopes."

This displeased Liu Miao!
He actually feels pretty good about himself!

So many officials in Jiangxia, surely not one of them submitted to him?

Taishi Ci then handed Liu Miao a list—

"My lord, the commander is right."

"These county magistrates and chiefs are mostly from powerful families in Jingzhou. There are ten counties in the north of Jiangxia Prefecture, three of which have magistrates surnamed Cai, two surnamed Kuai, and two surnamed Huang..."

Liu Miao was quite optimistic: "Aren't there still three left?"

"Of the remaining three county magistrates, two are renowned scholars in Jingzhou and are students of prominent families."

Liu Miao persisted, "Isn't there still one left?"

"The remaining one is a military officer under Huang Zu, named Gan Ning."

"Oh, so you're one of Huang Zu's men... huh?"

Liu Miao glared at Taishi Ci: "What did you say his name was?"

"Gan Ning, Gan Xingba."

Taishi Ci also advised, "My lord, you should give up."

"Those who are transferred from the army to become county magistrates are mostly the commander's confidants, and they will not help them."

"Who said that!"

Liu Miao looked at the name on the roster: "It's Gan Ning! Send someone to give it a try!"

(End of this chapter)