I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 213 They Never Loved Jingzhou

The front.

The Jiangdong soldiers, wielding swords and shields and clad in heavy armor, advanced slowly. Their pace was not too fast, but they were like a mountain pressing down, suffocating the enemy!

The positions of the left and right wings.

They were lightly armored soldiers standing in rows, holding halberds and spears aloft.

The long spear in his hand stood upright, its sharp edge shining as brightly as a lake, making one dizzy just by looking at it.

Behind them was the noisiest cavalry unit.

There were more than two thousand riders in total.

This is the entirety of Jiangdong's cavalry strength.

If this were placed on the battlefields of Hebei or the Central Plains, these two thousand-plus cavalrymen, while impressive, would be far from being able to determine the outcome of a battle.

Unfortunately, this is Jingzhou!

Although the Jingzhou army on the opposite side also appears to have cavalry, they number at most a few hundred, which is not comparable to the Jiangdong side at all!
When Cai Mao and Zhang Yun saw Liu Miao's army suddenly surging in from all directions, they instinctively wanted to shout that they had fallen into a trap.

Despite the fear in the eyes of the surrounding soldiers, they still adhered to their instincts as military commanders.

"Liu Miao is nothing but a defeated general, why are you all afraid of him?"

"Follow me to kill the enemy! Whoever captures Liu Miao alive will be enfeoffed as a marquis and rewarded with a thousand pieces of gold!"

Such a generous reward gradually calmed the anxious soldiers of Jingzhou.

Taking advantage of the slightly higher terrain to the north, the soldiers of Jiangdong slowly formed their battle formation.

A semi-circular military formation appeared, indicating that Cai Mao and Zhang Yun intended to hold this position to the death and then send someone to Xiangyang to request reinforcements.

This scene was witnessed not only by Liu Miao and Zhou Yu, but also by other generals.

"At this point, are you still putting up a last-ditch resistance?"

Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, and other generals who were at the forefront snorted coldly and led their troops to press forward!
Taishi Ci and Huang Zhong each led archers to provide cover from the rear. When they were about three hundred paces away from the Jingzhou army, they roared, "Fire!!"

A dense rain of arrows shot head-on towards the Jingzhou army. They barely managed to raise their shields to block the arrows, but the heavily armored soldiers in front had already charged up to them and collided with the Jingzhou soldiers at the very front!
At this moment, the earth and sky suddenly trembled. It was as if Sun Ce had led his cavalry to flank the Jingzhou army from the rear, intending to completely break through the Jingzhou army!
The cavalry from Jingzhou rushed to respond, but in just one exchange, most of them perished.

Sun Ce slashed and thrust left and right, single-handedly knocking down more than ten Jingzhou cavalrymen, prompting the others to exclaim, "Is this the reincarnation of Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Western Chu?"

Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, and other generals were equally fierce, but they were unable to break through the enemy lines for a long time.

However, Taishi Ci and Huang Zhong, seeing that the two armies were already entangled, immediately ordered the archers to put down their bows and arrows, and drew their iron-hilted swords from their waists and stepped forward to help them: "I'll help you!"

Archers have always been the elite of the army, capable of drawing their bows at a distance and killing enemies at close range.

Taishi Ci and Huang Zhong were both fierce generals of their time. Together they charged into the enemy ranks and, surprisingly, they fought with the ferocity of cavalry, breaking through several holes in the Jingzhou defense line!
Seeing that the Jingzhou army formation was about to collapse, Xu Huang and Zhu Huan, leading halberdiers and spearmen on the left and right flanks, finally started to move.

The terrifying halberds and spears suddenly lowered themselves when they got close to the Jingzhou soldiers. The long wooden shafts created a safe distance for the Jiangdong soldiers, but the sharp blades on them brought great casualties to the Jingzhou soldiers!
As Sun Ce led his cavalry to fiercely attack the weak flank of the Jingzhou army formation, creating a hole, Zhou Yu immediately ordered: "Send a message to Jiang Qin and Gan Ning!"

A beacon was lit, and dozens of warships sailed downstream toward the ferry, clearly intending to cut off the last escape route for these Jingzhou soldiers!
"How could this be?"

Cai Mao and Zhang Yun stared at the battlefield in disbelief.

Today's Liu Miao army is completely different from the Liu Miao army that they defeated before!
Last time, Liu Miao's army had no fighting spirit whatsoever, and was even worse than third-rate militia! But this time, these fierce and valiant soldiers were more elite than the most elite soldiers they had ever seen in their lives!
"How dare Liu Miao trick me?"

As soon as Sun Ce led his cavalry to break through a gap, the Jingzhou army's originally orderly formation was instantly broken.

The soldiers at the front were terrified, fearing that enemy troops would attack from behind.

The soldiers in the middle were terrified, having to rely on their flesh and blood to face the cavalry that charged forward with the force of a mountain.

The soldiers in the rear were bewildered, unsure whether to rush forward to provide support or retreat with Cai Mao and Zhang Yun as quickly as possible...

"withdraw!"

Cai Mao and Zhang Yun were skilled in naval warfare but not in land warfare.

Seeing that even their army formation had been broken up, the two had no recourse but to retreat hastily.

But to withdraw, one must change.

Change inevitably leads to chaos.

And chaos...

On the battlefield, chaos means defeat!
Sun Ce was the first to spot Cai Mao and Zhang Yun's banners waving, and immediately led his troops to attack: "Cai Mao, don't run!!!"

However, the Jingzhou soldiers, who were gradually falling into defeat, were like the ebb and flow of the tide. Even though Sun Ce was driving the cavalry, it felt like he was drifting in a boat in a storm. He chased after them several times, but instead of catching up with Cai Mao, he got further and further away from them.

Cai Mao and Zhang Yun approached the ferry, only to find Gan Ning already waiting there for quite some time.

Gan Ning remained silent, simply standing there with his men, all clad in light armor and wielding short swords, waiting for them with amusement. Although Cai Mao and Zhang Yun still had dozens of cavalry and hundreds of infantrymen with them, upon seeing Gan Ning's appearance, they dared not approach. After a moment's hesitation, they mounted their warhorses and headed north by land, no longer daring to covet their ships.

Cai Mao and Zhang Yun continued north until they saw Wen Ping coming to their aid, at which point they cried out in panic, "General, save us!"

"How could the two generals have come to this?"

Wen Ping was greatly alarmed to see that Cai Mao and Zhang Yun had led tens of thousands of men out, but now only a dozen or so horsemen had escaped back to Xiangyang!

"Oh no! We've fallen for Liu Miao's trick again!"

Cai Mao and Zhang Yun had no time to explain to Wen Ping, because Sun Ce and his cavalry had caught up with them from behind, launching a fierce attack that gave them no time to catch their breath.

Wen Ping had no choice but to fight and retreat.

If he were still holding the camp, and if he still had tens of thousands of troops at his disposal, Wen Ping was confident that he could hold this place and not let Sun Ce get close to Xiangfan until the end of time!

But Wen Ping has arrived in haste, and as an infantryman, he is about to run into cavalry head-on. How can he possibly win?

In addition, the fleeing soldiers of Cai Mao and Zhang Yun continued to escape from the south, their cries of despair echoing throughout the land. This further dampened the morale of Wen Ping's army, making the already difficult battle even more dire.

Wen Ping retreated all the way to the vicinity of Xian Mountain, where he and the local garrison maintained the front line, preventing Sun Ce from taking advantage of the situation to break through Xiangyang in one fell swoop.

That being said, is there any difference between reaching Xianshan and attacking Xiangyang?

The people of Xiangyang first saw Cai Mao and Zhang Yun leading their routed troops into the city, and then the shouts of battle from Xian Mountain rushed into the city, immediately filling them with terror: "Liu Miao is coming! Liu Miao is coming!!!"

Of course, some people's faces were filled with anticipation, and they excitedly asked others, "Liu Miao is really here? He's really here???"

Liu Qi, who was still pondering Yi Ji's words in the city, was also greatly shocked when he heard the shouts of killing!

Liu Qi quickly ordered his servants to inquire, and when they heard that Cai Mao and Zhang Yun had been ambushed and defeated by Liu Miao, they immediately sat down on the ground and said, "So that's what it means, so that's what it means."

Muttering to himself, Liu Qi suddenly realized, "If Father had known this would happen, why did he send Cai Mao and Zhang Yun to lead the troops?"

Liu Qi immediately shouted, "Prepare the carriage! No! Prepare the horses! Hurry! I need to see my father!"

As Liu Biao gradually distanced himself from Liu Qi, Liu Qi's residence was no longer even next to Liu Biao's, but rather isolated far away in the south of the city.

Liu Qi rode his horse at full gallop, and the scene inside Xiangyang City was shocking to him.

Those wealthy and powerful families had already packed up their valuables, summoned their servants, and were riding in carriages heading towards the North Gate, trying to escape to Fancheng and Nanyang on the other side of the river as quickly as possible.

However, because these powerful families in Jingzhou lived such comfortable lives, sometimes a single family would have dozens of carriages to carry their valuables!

These carriages and horses were blocking the entrance, unable to move forward for a long time, which made Liu Qi's eyes widen in fury!

"What are you doing?"

Liu Qi, who was originally in a hurry to find Liu Biao, suddenly changed direction and began to reprimand these powerful and wealthy scholars.

"Xiangfan has not yet fallen, are you all in such a hurry to leave?"

"If Liu Miao were to suddenly arrive by boat from the Han River at this moment, and you were blocking the gates and failing to close them, would you be allowing Liu Miao to take advantage of the situation and break out?"

Some people recognized Liu Qi, but showed no respect whatsoever for the eldest son of the governor of Jingzhou.

"Liu Qi! We're leaving the city, you'd better get out of here right now!"

Liu Qi knew this person.

Not long ago, they were quite enthusiastic with me at a banquet, talking like brothers.

But now, his face is ferocious, like a man-eating beast!

"Liu Qi! We entrusted Jingzhou to you and your son, yet you cannot protect the territory and its people. What use are you then?"

"We're not going to look for you now, and you dare to stop us? Get out of here right now! Don't point fingers!"

You entrusted Jingzhou to my father and me?
Liu Qi felt a mix of sadness and amusement.

The administration and personnel of Jingzhou were all in the hands of those powerful clans. Liu Biao, as the governor of Jingzhou, did not even have the authority to appoint prefects at will.

Money, provisions, soldiers, and ships were mostly in the hands of people like Kuai Liang and Cai Mao. All Liu Biao could do was try to win over some commoners like Wen Pin and Huang Zhong, and send his nephew Liu Pan to Changsha to develop his power.

Liu Qi was even more miserable. In his daily life, let alone doing anything, even making a suggestion would be directly rejected or ignored... In such a situation, these powerful families and scholars of Jingzhou actually said that they had entrusted Jingzhou to him and his son?
Liu Qi's gaze gradually turned cold.

Looking at this long line of refugees, and seeing the money and provisions enough to recruit tens of thousands of soldiers and forge countless suits of armor and weapons being loaded into their wagons, he could only smile helplessly.

never mind.

By this time, Liu Qi was also exhausted.

As powerful families in Jingzhou, they themselves did not love Jingzhou. Why should an outsider like himself, who was being ostracized, love Jingzhou?
(End of this chapter)