I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 211 You're Not Happy Even When You Actually Come
Cai Mao and Zhang Yun led the Jingzhou navy to blockade the Han River, completely severing the connection between the Jiangdong soldiers on both banks.

Gan Ning and Jiang Qin led the Jiangdong navy to fight, but because they attacked upstream from downstream, they were repeatedly defeated by Cai Mao and Zhang Yun. Gradually, they dared not fight against Cai Mao and Zhang Yun, and only dared to sneak up at night to quietly transport the soldiers from the east bank back to the other side.

Upon realizing this, Cai Mao and Zhang Yun immediately ordered their navy to attack. They not only defeated Gan Ning and Jiang Qin again, but also caused a large number of Jiangdong soldiers to fall into the Han River and struggle to swim towards the shore.

The soldiers trapped on the east bank, seeing that they could not cross the river, gradually dispersed, becoming groups of defeated soldiers who fled towards Jiangxia.

Liu Miao's army, which was in Yicheng, also seemed extremely alarmed. They didn't even bother to take their food and supplies with them and retreated south until they reached Maicheng before stopping and hastily targeting Jundu.

Such a dismal performance shocked everyone in Xiangyang.

What happened to Liu Miao's supposed unstoppable momentum?

What happened to Liu Miao defeating Huang Zu?
How come Liu Miao's army was completely routed with just a slight move by Cai Mao, and was driven all the way from Xiangfan to the banks of the Yangtze River?

However, defeating Liu Miao was ultimately a good thing, and Liu Biao held a banquet in Xiangyang to reward the army.

Cai Mao, in particular, took all the credit for himself—

"We didn't dare to fight Liu Miao before because we were afraid that he had defeated Huang Zu."

"Now that I think about it carefully, what other achievements did Liu Miao have besides defeating Huang Zu? According to the soldiers who escaped from Jiangxia, it was just that a storm happened that day, which led to Huang Zu's death at Liu Miao's hands. So it can't be considered Liu Miao's true ability!"

Cai Mao even speculated: "Yuan Gong ordered his son Yuan Tan to attack Jiangdong, and Liu Miao himself must be terrified! Perhaps his sudden attack on Xiangfan was only because he received news that Jiangdong had fallen, and he was so desperate that he came up with the idea of ​​crossing the river to attack Fancheng!"

After thinking about it for a while, Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue also felt that what Cai Mao said was not without reason.

I've never heard of Liu Miao winning any major battles, and since Yuan Shao promised to send troops to attack Jiangdong, he definitely wasn't lying to them.

Now that Liu Miao has suddenly launched an attack, only to suffer a sudden defeat, there might really be some change happening in Jiangdong!
"Now is the time to recapture Jingzhou!"

During the banquet, while everyone was celebrating Cai Mao's victory, Liu Qi, Liu Biao's eldest son, suddenly stood up and made a suggestion.

"Now that Liu Miao has retreated and something has happened in Jiangdong, his morale must be low, and his generals will have no will to fight! This is the perfect opportunity to completely defeat Liu Miao and recover Jingzhou!"

Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue both looked at Liu Qi with great interest, and then revealed intriguing smiles.

Cai Mao stared at Liu Qi with a half-smile, and this eerie atmosphere made Liu Qi's scalp tingle.

However, Liu Qi still insisted on sending troops at this time!
It's not that he was really impatient to recapture Jingzhou.

Instead, Liu Qi wanted to take this opportunity to completely control Nanjun, Jiangxia, Jingnan and other places, so that he would no longer be restricted by the scholars of Jingzhou such as Kuai Liang, Kuai Yue and Cai Mao!

Previously, Liu Qi would never have dared to do this.

But now, with Liu Miao's large-scale invasion of Jingzhou, which triggered a large-scale uprising of tenant farmers in Jingzhou and destroyed the original structure of Jingzhou, Liu Qi saw hope!
Liu Qi wants to use the land that Liu Miao has already loosened to plant his own seeds!
Now, as long as Liu Biao nods in approval, Liu Qi is confident that he can defeat Liu Miao and completely take control of Jingzhou.

Liu Qi looked at Liu Biao with renewed hope.

Last time, Liu Biao refused him, perhaps because he feared the power of the powerful clans in Jingzhou.

But this time! With this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Liu Qi believed that Liu Biao must understand what he wanted to do!
Liu Biao wore a double-beamed official hat, a black robe, and a purple sash at his waist, with jade rings and cloud-shaped ornaments adorning the sash. He quietly looked at Liu Qi.

After a moment of silence, Liu Biao spoke: "Indeed, we should recover the other counties and prefectures of Jingzhou as soon as possible."

Liu Qi looked pleased.

"In that case, let Generals Cai and Zhang send their troops as soon as possible."

Instantly, Liu Qi's heart turned ice-cold! So much so that Liu Qi couldn't remember anything that happened afterward, and forgot how he got back to his room.

"Dong dong."

There was a knock on the door. Liu Qi opened the door listlessly and carefully wiped it before he saw that the visitor was Yi Ji, a fellow townsman and confidant of Liu Biao.

"Why did Ji Bo come to this?"

Yi Ji said, "I've come on behalf of Liu Jingzhou to say a few words to the eldest son."

Liu Qi looked dejected: "At this point, what is there left for me to say to my father?"

"Now that he knows he's in trouble, my father has no intention of saving himself. Does he really want to die on his sickbed like this?"

After Liu Qi finished speaking, he realized that his words had been a bit harsh, but he couldn't take them back, so he could only keep his words bottled up inside and brood over them.

“What the eldest son wants to say, the lord already knows.”

How could he possibly know?

"Does the eldest young master think his plan is clever?"

Liu Qi's eyebrows shot up: "What do you mean, Uncle Ji?"

"If you lead troops to reclaim the lands conquered by Liu Miao, does that mean those lands will belong to the eldest son?"

"Unless you can do what Liu Miao did and completely suppress them, forcing them to bow down, who would willingly cut off their own flesh to give to you? It's like if someone suddenly entered your house and wanted to take your things, would you just stand by and watch them do it?"

Yi shook his head, even pointing out Liu Qi's shortcomings without any appreciation—

"You are just an average person. You don't know how to defeat the enemy, nor do you know how to protect yourself. You often do things based on enthusiasm alone, which could easily lead to your downfall if you are not careful."

"At the banquet just now, when the eldest son said he wanted to seize Nanjun and Jingnan, the scholars of Jingzhou all had strange expressions."

"If Liu Jingzhou really agrees to the eldest son's request, does the eldest son think he can accomplish this great task alive?"

Yi Ji now appears to be an elder reprimanding a junior, rather than a subject lecturing his monarch.

"Now that Jingzhou is at a critical juncture of life and death, the eldest son should be thinking about a way out, not blindly advancing!"

Liu Qi was initially confused, but after hearing Yi Ji's next words, he was shocked and asked, "Why would Uncle Ji say such a thing?"

“Hasn’t Cao Cao and Liu Miao already withdrawn their troops? How could Jingzhou still be in a life-or-death situation?” Yi Ji shook his head.

Seeing this, Liu Qi understood.

The person who said these words was not Yi Ji, but his own father, Liu Biao.

"Jingzhou is still in a life-or-death situation? How could that be..."

Liu Qi was in a state of utter confusion. He carefully sorted out his thoughts, trying to find something from the slightest clues...

However, no matter how hard Liu Qi racked his brains, he couldn't figure out where the crisis in Jingzhou lay.

After Yi Ji left, Liu Qi immediately drove away to see his recent friends.

Although this person was not well-known, Liu Qi always believed that this person could definitely solve his confusion!
"Boom!"

"Kongming! Kongming! Are you there?"

It was already late at night when Liu Qi kept knocking on the door, waking up all the neighbors on both sides.

A neighbor came out looking displeased: "What time is it? What are you doing knocking on the door?"

Liu Qi didn't bother to apologize, because he already had a bad feeling.

"May I ask where this family has gone?"

"The Zhuge family? Zhuge Xuan died a few days ago, and it seems his son and nephew went elsewhere."

"elsewhere?"

Liu Qi quickly asked, "Where is 'elsewhere'?"

"how could I know?"

Frustrated and disappointed, Liu Qi could only return to the house and continue racking his brains...

the other side.

Cai Mao and Zhang Yun had already assembled their troops and continued their pursuit southward.

"That brat Liu Qi is getting more and more ambitious. He actually dares to dream of taking control of Jingzhou using this opportunity. Humph!"

Zhang Yun also disliked Liu Qi: "This boy does resemble Liu Jingzhou in his youth somewhat; he is far too upright."

"Ha. Liu Biao was upright back then to gain fame, but Liu Qi's uprightness is about cutting off our flesh!"

Cai Mao held Liu Qi in utter contempt.

"If it weren't for us, his father would have been killed by the rebel army long ago. How could he have become the governor of Jingzhou? This kid is not only ungrateful, but he also wants to push his luck. If he really becomes the governor of Jingzhou, then we are afraid we won't have a good life either!"

"If his father hadn't been a sensible man who didn't let him interfere in Jingzhou affairs, he would have been dealt with long ago... Humph!"

Zhang Yun echoed this sentiment by shaking his head, then reminded Cai Mao, "The most urgent task is to drive Liu Miao out of Jingzhou as soon as possible!"

“Drive him away? If Liu Miao really bumps into me, I’d like to cut off his head so I can claim credit with Lord Yuan!”

Cai Mao had completely let his guard down around Liu Miao.

Instead of worrying about Liu Miao, we should think about how to take this opportunity to further strengthen the clan and make the Cai family even more powerful!

The army marched all the way to Dangyang, where the land suddenly opened up on both sides, revealing an open space.

"What is this place?"

Cai Mao inquired of the soldiers around him.

"Advance! This is Changbanpo, Dangyang!"

Cai Mao clicked his tongue in amazement: "It's a pity you arrived a little late."

"If we catch up with Liu Miao here, we might be able to wipe him out in one fell swoop and force him to completely cut himself off from Jingzhou!"

Zhang Yun also remarked that the roads here were smooth and indeed suitable for large-scale military operations.

"If Liu Miao were here, he would surely be slaughtered without leaving a single one alive!"

Cai Mao was still immersed in the excitement of defeating Liu Miao when he suddenly failed to notice that a dark mountain seemed to have appeared out of nowhere in the previously empty distance!
Liu Miao stood in the center on a swift horse, accompanied by Zhou Yu, Sun Ce, Zhou Tai, Chen Wu, Lu Yi, Lü Meng, Taishi Ci, Huang Zhong, and others.

"Gongjin's strategy of luring the enemy deep into our territory is indeed brilliant."

Liu Miao then turned to Sun Ce: "This battle has brought all of Jiangdong's warhorses together in one place. Bo Fu, don't let me down!"

"Here!"

While Cai Mao and others thought Liu Miao had fled in haste, the Jiangdong soldiers who had previously been scattered in Nanjun and Jingnan had all gathered in Dangyang.

With the three armies assembled and the generals ready to fight!
This was the first time Liu Miao had gathered all his forces for a decisive battle!
"Cai Mao, Zhang Yun, you should truly feel honored to face such a lineup..."

Liu Miao was very curious.

He was eager to see how Cai Mao and Zhang Yun would manage to defeat Zhou Yu, Sun Ce, Lü Meng, Lu Yi, Taishi Ci, Huang Zhong, and then add Cheng Pu, Gan Ning, and others...

However, the more Liu Miao thought about it, the more frightened he felt.

"Was I too cruel to them?"

(End of this chapter)