I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 198 All of Jiangxia
Seeing that the offensive from Jiangdong was getting stronger and stronger, Huang Zu immediately took out his bow and arrow and locked onto Sun Ce's position.

"Oh!"

The bowstring vibrated, leaving a trail of raindrops in the air, and the arrow flew towards Sun Ce. But just as it was about to reach Sun Ce, it began to plummet, finally crashing to the ground without causing any damage.

"hateful!"

Rainy weather makes weapons like bows and crossbows too lethal!
However, the next moment, Huang Zu's pupils shrank, and he subconsciously picked up the iron-boned bow in his hand to block. Then he felt his tiger's mouth go numb, and the bow in his hand slipped out of his grasp.

Sharpshooter!
Huang Zu looked up and, sure enough, saw Taishi Ci holding a bow and arrow, pointing it at him. There was even a faint smile on Taishi Ci's lips, as if mocking Huang Zu's weak and feeble arrow just now.

When it comes to cooking, just practice more!
Huang Zu was furious! But then another arrow came flying, forcing Huang Zu to hastily lower his head.

"There's one more person!"

Huang Zhong, several hundred paces away, regretfully put away his bow and arrows: "In the end, it was still too far."

If he had been a hundred paces closer, Huang Zhong was confident that his arrow would have pierced Huang Zu's skull!

Huang Zu was terrified to see that both Taishi Ci and Huang Zhong, two skilled archers, were present and could effectively threaten him with their bows and arrows!
Just as the two armies were clashing in front, another loud noise drew the attention of everyone present.

The three-story-high warships of the Jingzhou navy finally collapsed with a crash of a strong wave.

The ship, nearly three zhang tall, was a colossal object, but even such a behemoth, after falling into the river, remained lifeless.

"Clang."

Upon witnessing this scene, some soldiers from Jingzhou finally dropped their weapons.

do not fight!
How else to fight?
Even the heavens seem to be on Jiangdong's side. How can we fight this war?
More and more soldiers from Jingzhou began to surrender.

Because they were born and raised on the Yangtze River, they know how terrifying the Yangtze River can be.

If you fall into the Yangtze River, you will truly become a wandering ghost, never to find peace again!

Seeing this, Huang Zu also abandoned his last shred of pride—

"withdraw!"

At this point, persisting is pointless!
Huang Zu gathered the remaining soldiers on the shore and led them overland towards Xiakou.

The road was already muddy, but Huang Zu dared not stop for a moment, riding his horse and constantly being jolted, wanting to return to his old lair.

After running for dozens of miles, the outline of the Xiakou camp finally came into view before Huang Zu.

The camp was silent, which pleased Huang Zu, who even burst into laughter!

"Why is the general laughing?"

"I laugh at Liu Miao's lack of wisdom and Zhou Yu's lack of strategy! They were so focused on the naval battle that they completely forgot to send an army to capture Xiakou and cut off my retreat!"

As Huang Zu approached the camp and was about to verify his identity, he heard a voice with a Hedong accent coming from the gate—

"Huang Zu! Open your eyes and see who's in this camp!"

Huang Zu looked up and realized that it was Xu Huang standing on the gate!
Huang Zu's body swayed precariously for a moment.

It wasn't that Jiangdong didn't intend to attack Xiakou, but rather that Xu Huang acted too quickly, having already pacified and taken Xiakou for himself!

Huang Zu stared blankly at Xu Huang, completely unprepared even as the soldiers above began firing arrows. It was only thanks to his personal guards that he noticed and quickly pulled Huang Zu's horse away; otherwise, Huang Zu might have met his end on the spot!

Huang Zu, escorted by his personal guards, arrived at a nearby fortified village and begged the owner of the local powerful family to open the gate so that they could go and take refuge there.

But the other party absolutely refused to open the door—

Now that Liu Miao has defeated you, Jiangxia will be Liu Miao's territory. How could I possibly offend Liu Miao and accept you at this time?

Su Fei, who was standing beside Huang Zu, immediately burst into a tirade upon hearing this: "You bastard! How did you curry favor with the prefect when he was in power? How much land and how many slaves did you illegally buy and sell with his help? And now you're telling me this? Do you really think Liu Miao will let people like you off the hook when he arrives?"

No matter how much Su Fei tried to persuade him, the other party refused to open the door out of fear of Liu Miao.

At this moment, light cavalry could be seen chasing after them from afar.

Only then did Huang Zu seem to regain his strength, as if in a final burst of energy. He dismounted his warhorse and looked up at the sky.

The rain stopped.

The sunlight finally melted the dark clouds, turning them into scattered specks of gold.

Camphor tree, Lycoris radiata flower.

Egrets in flight, bluebirds singing.

It was only then that Huang Zu realized that Jiangxia, which he had ruled for several years, was not entirely composed of the filth of powerful and influential families.

Rather, it's more accurate to say that the scenery of Jiangxia is breathtakingly beautiful, no wonder Sima Xiangru described it in his "Zixu Fu": "The mountains are winding and lush, towering and lofty; the peaks are jagged and uneven, obscuring the sun and moon; they intertwine and crisscross, reaching the blue clouds; the ponds and pools flow down to the rivers. The soil is stained with cinnabar, azurite, ochre, orpiment, white clay, tin, green, gold, and silver, a dazzling array of colors, shining like dragon scales. The stones are red jade, rose quartz, lustrous and precious stones, black and white jade, and craggy rocks."

At this moment, the pursuers behind them finally caught up.

Sun Ce, Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, Han Dang, Zhu Zhi...

The sight of so many familiar faces made Huang Zu chuckle awkwardly: "They really are a bunch of evil spirits from the underworld. Are they determined to chase me all the way to the Yellow Springs?"

Sun Ce and his men had already sustained wounds after a fierce battle.

But at this moment, they felt no fatigue or pain; they just stared intently at Huang Zu, their burning gazes seeming to melt him completely!

Sun Ce dismounted and drew Sun Jian's ancient sword.

"Do you have any last words?"

Huang Zu looked up at Sun Ce—

"I asked your father the same question back then."

"He and I exchanged some righteous words, saying that the Han and the traitors are irreconcilable enemies... Ha."

Huang Zu seemed somewhat disdainful of Sun Jian. "Since he speaks that way, then I'll say something more eloquent—"

Huang Zu took off his iron helmet and touched his neck, where his throat had been chafed raw by the leather strap.

"You can't win."

Even if you seize Jingzhou, you will still have Lord Yuan.

"Evil will not prevail over good! You will all just wait and see, and then offer your necks for slaughter!"

"In time, someone will avenge me, just as you are avenging your father now!"

Sun Ce gripped the hilt of his sword and nodded to Huang Zu: "Alright! I'll be waiting!"

"But now, I need to borrow something from you to offer as a sacrifice to the spirit of my deceased father in heaven!"

------

Liu Miao and Zhou Yu also arrived at Xiakou by boat.

Xu Huang had already tallied up the baggage, and upon hearing that many of the armors and weapons were cast in the first year of the Jianhe era, which was several decades ago during the reign of Emperor Xiaohuan, he couldn't help but sigh.

"Jingzhou is truly rotten to the core!"

Even a border general like Huang Zu could abuse his power for personal gain to this extent; it's unimaginable how shocking it must have been in Xiangyang and the heart of Jingzhou.

Liu Miao also began to have doubts at this point.

He had previously wondered why Liu Biao, after acquiring Jingzhou, began to feign death, constantly seeking to have his northern territory protected, and even remained indifferent during the Battle of Guandu, failing to seize the opportunity to launch a surprise attack on Cao Cao's rear...

You might call Liu Biao a coward, but he was the one who single-handedly entered Jingzhou.

While Liu Biao wasn't exactly cowardly, his subsequent actions were the worst possible outcome.

It wasn't until he saw the equipment from Xiakou that Liu Miao couldn't help but wonder, "Could it be that Jingzhou is all show and no substance these days?"

Despite having 100,000 armored soldiers, making him the second most powerful warlord after Yuan Shao, his inner workings have been hollowed out by treacherous officials.

It wasn't that Liu Biao was unwilling to lead his troops into battle, but rather that he feared that if he went into battle, he would make a huge mistake, making everyone realize that Jingzhou was not a hedgehog, but rather a chubby little pig.

Liu Miao casually picked up a ring-pommel sword and discovered that this weapon was even more extraordinary, bearing the inscription "Made in the ninth year of Yongyuan"...

"Good heavens! Could this knife have been used by Ban Chao to fight the Xiongnu?"

Liu Miao shook his head repeatedly and threw the knife back.

"It seems Jingzhou is even worse than we thought!"

"Gong Jin!"

"Here!"

Zhou Yu also knew what Liu Miao wanted him to do—

Take advantage of his illness and kill him!
Now that we have achieved a military victory, we must maximize the fruits of that victory!
"Pass down the order—"

"Taishi Ci, Xu Huang, you two go and attack Jiangling!"

"Here!"

"Zhu Huan, immediately lead your troops across the river, make contact with Gan Ning and Jiang Qin, and occupy the land north of Jiangxia!"

"Here!"

"Cheng Pu, Huang Zhong, go and take Changsha!"

"Here!"

"Huang Gai, Han Dang, and Zhu Zhi, the three of you go and take Wuling, Lingling, and Guiyang!"

"Here!"

"Bo Fu and I will lead our troops north and besiege Xiangfan!"

If you hesitate, you will lose!
The payment of supplies, the sorting of household registrations, and even the act of Sun Ce and others paying tribute to Sun Jian—all of these must be postponed!

Since the invasion is as fierce as fire, it should be carried through to the end, turning Jingzhou into a raging inferno!
"As for our lord..."

"I stayed behind at Xiakou to coordinate the allocation of grain and supplies with Zijing."

Liu Miao was quite docile, no longer the fierce and ruthless man he once was.

I can't do things like charging into battle.

If they were to force their way to the front lines, it would force the generals to divert some of their troops to protect themselves.

Now is the time for the entire army to launch an attack, and Liu Miao does not want his willfulness to prevent any battlefield from achieving a swift victory.

Zhou Yu breathed a sigh of relief and immediately laughed, "I thought my lord was going to force me onto the ship like before."

"Nonsense, back then, besides me, who among you had the ability to trick all the soldiers into boarding the ship and getting them to sail into the turbulent Yangtze River?"

"Similarly, now that I'm gone, aren't you all capable of quickly taking over the entire Jingzhou?"

Neither is correct nor incorrect.

When he was needed, Liu Miao knew he had to step up himself.

When you don't need yourself, isn't it nice to sleep with your wife in your arms?
Just then, Zhou Tai appeared, beaming with excitement as he boasted to Liu Miao, "My lord! Huang Zu's wife and daughter have been found!"

Liu Miao immediately spat and cursed Zhou Tai—

"Roll it dry and let it shine!"

(End of this chapter)