Tiger Owl

Chapter 186 The Western Retreat to Yiling
Liu Bei never intended to capture Xiangyang. He was just putting on a show, luring Liu Qi's army to Xiangyang, and then having Zhuge Liang take over Jiangling in preparation for retreating west to Bashu.

Everything proceeded according to Zhuge Liang's pre-arranged plan, even the arrival time of Cao Cao's army was within Zhuge Liang's expectations.

Of course, Liu Bei's army was not just putting on a show in Xiangyang. He seized all the warships in Xiangyang and sent them to Jiangling to transport grain and supplies.

At this moment, Liu Qi found him and asked, "Second Uncle, what's going on? Why are we retreating south?"

Liu Bei sighed and said, "Cao Cao's army is coming. They have already reached the north bank of the Han River and are expected to cross the river tomorrow. If we don't retreat now, it will be too late."

Liu Qi's expression changed drastically; he had never expected Cao Cao to come.

"Then Nanyang Prefecture—"

Liu Bei nodded. "Nanyang County has fallen. The enemy's army of 100,000 is no match for us. I was planning to tell you about it tomorrow or the day after, but I didn't expect Cao Cao's army to arrive so quickly."

"An army of 100,000!" Liu Qi's eyes showed fear.

Liu Bei sighed, "Actually, it's not just 100,000 troops, but also 50,000 troops in Xiangyang. If I'm not mistaken, Cai Mao has already surrendered to Cao Cao, which is why Cao Cao's army was able to strike so precisely. We are facing an army of 150,000."

"Then... what should we do?" Liu Qi's voice trembled.

Liu Bei pondered for a while and then said, "We have considered several options. If we can take Xiangyang, then we can hold Xiangyang and fight against Cao Cao. This is the best strategy and the best possible outcome. But if we cannot take Xiangyang, we can only retreat to Jiangling and defend it..."

"Jiangling won't do!"

Liu Qi blurted out, "Jiangling can only fight with its back to the river, not defend the city with its back to the river. Otherwise, we will eventually run out of food and die."

"The middle strategy of defending Jiangling was my suggestion, but the strategist opposed it. He agrees with you that without external support, we will eventually run out of food and perish."

"What's the worst option?" Liu Qi was almost in despair.

Liu Bei glanced at him and laughed, "Young master, you don't need to be so desperate. You can surrender to Cao Cao and become a wealthy man, it shouldn't be a problem!"

“How could I possibly surrender to Cao Cao, that traitor who usurped the Han throne? Wouldn’t that bring shame upon my ancestors?”

Liu Bei nodded. "That's what I thought too, which is why we drafted the worst possible plan: to retreat from Nan Commandery!"

Liu Qi's eyes lit up. "We can cross the river to Wuling County!"

Liu Bei shook his head. "Wuling County is all mountainous terrain with a sparse population and meager arable land. It cannot support our tens of thousands of troops. We are considering retreating to Yiling County first. If Cao Cao stops attacking us, then we will use Yiling County as our base to look for opportunities to counterattack Cao Cao."

Liu Qi suddenly had an idea. "Second Uncle, we can retreat to Sichuan and Chongqing! Once we reach Yiling, we can take the Three Gorges route directly into Sichuan and Chongqing, wouldn't that be better?"

Liu Bei, feigning reluctance, sighed and said, "How could Liu Zhang of Bashu possibly allow us to enter Shu? It's too difficult."

“It’s not difficult!”

Liu Qi said excitedly, "My father said long ago that Liu Zhang is weak and has no popular support. He has no virtue to occupy Bashu. Sooner or later, Bashu will be lost. But Second Uncle is benevolent and righteous all over the world. The people of Bashu will definitely welcome Second Uncle to enter Shu with drums and gongs and establish the Great Han Jianye in Bashu. Second Uncle, this is an opportunity!"

Despite his thick skin and cunning nature, Liu Bei was still somewhat ashamed by Liu Qi's sincere words. He nodded and said, "I don't know either. We can only take it one step at a time. Let's retreat to Jiangling first and then discuss it with the strategist!" Liu Bei led 60,000 men south at a rapid pace, retreating towards Jiangling County.

The next morning, Cao Ren's army of 100,000 crossed the Han River and arrived at the city of Xiangyang. Liu Cong led his officials out to surrender to Cao's army.

Cao Ren accepted the surrender politely and comforted Liu Cong. He then ordered his deputy general Zhang Liao to take over the enemy's army, and all 50,000 troops surrendered to Cao's army.

After listening to Cai Mao's report, Cao Ren frowned. "Military Advisor Cai, how come there are only 50,000 troops?"

Cai Mao sighed and said, "Liu Biao has ruined them all. Originally, there were more than 200,000 troops, but Huang Zu took away 100,000, leaving 150,000 troops. In the Battle of Changsha, 30,000 were lost, and in the Battle of Jiangxia, 20,000 were lost. Then Liu Bei took away 20,000, and Liu Qi took away 30,000. In the end, there were only 50,000 troops left."

"Where are the ships? I haven't seen any warships from Jingzhou."

Cai Mao dared not tell the truth, so he could only vaguely say, "The warships are all concentrated in Jiangling."

Cao Ren was about to explode, but he held back and said coldly, "You are the military advisor of Jingzhou, and you didn't leave the Prime Minister a single ship. You should think about how you're going to explain this to the Prime Minister!"

Cao Ren turned and stormed off in a huff. Cai Mao was truly embarrassed and quickly chased after him to explain, "In the battle of Changsha, almost all of our warships were lost."

Three days later, Cao Ren left 20,000 troops under the command of Yu Jin to garrison Xiangyang, while he personally led 130,000 troops and tens of thousands of grain carts in a grand march towards Jiangling.

This was something Cao Cao had repeatedly instructed Cao Ren to do: occupying Jingzhou was a minor matter; eliminating Liu Bei was the greater priority. No matter where Liu Bei fled, Cao Ren was determined to hunt him down and kill him completely.

At Jiangling, Liu Bei led an army of 60,000 to begin their westward retreat. They originally had nearly 90,000 troops, but Liu Bei reorganized his army, removing those soldiers whose families were in Jingzhou and who were unwilling to go to Bashu, and finally obtained an army of 60,000.

These 60,000 troops were all willing to follow Liu Bei to Bashu. Of course, Liu Bei also promised that once he gained a foothold in Bashu, he would bring all the soldiers' families to Bashu to share in the wealth and prosperity.

However, through this reorganization of the army, Liu Bei cleverly disbanded Liu Qi's army and incorporated it into his own. Liu Qi was appointed as the chief clerk and became the third most important figure in Liu Bei's army. Liu Qi himself was very satisfied. Another person, Liu Xin, swore allegiance to Liu Bei and also became a general under Liu Bei.

Liu Bei didn't get Zhao Yun and Huang Zhong, but he did get Wen Ping and Liu Xin, so it can be said that he lost one thing but gained another!

The 60,000-strong army was divided into two groups, one traveling by land and one by water. Thousands of ships of various kinds were fully loaded with a large amount of grain and supplies, as well as 10,000 guards, and traveled along the Yangtze River. Wen Ping was in charge of the group. Liu Bei personally led 50,000 troops by land. The two armies marched in a grand procession to Yiling County.

Nanjun was a vast region. Not only did Yiling County belong to Nanjun, but most of the Three Gorges area also belonged to Nanjun. It wasn't until Yufu County that it belonged to Bajun, which was also Fengjie County.

Upon seeing the arrival of Liu Qi, the eldest son of the Yiling County magistrate, he immediately left the city and surrendered.

As per the pre-arranged plan, Zhuge Liang and Guan Yu led 20,000 troops to garrison Yiling County, blocking Cao Ren's army from pursuing them and protecting Liu Bei's army as they marched west.

Yiling County is strategically important, as it cuts off the official road to the west. To pursue Liu Bei's army, it is necessary to capture Yiling County.

However, taking Yiling County was no easy task. This strategic city was easy to defend but difficult to attack, which was also a strategic location that Liu Bei was unwilling to give up. Holding Yiling County meant that he had left a wedge in Nan Commandery.

Three days later, Cao Ren's army caught up with them at Yiling County.

(End of this chapter)