Tiger Owl

Chapter 47 Taking Nanchang
Cheng Zi also led several thousand troops to the East Gate, blocking Wang Xiaoman's dozens of men in the middle. However, Wang Xiaoman was holding Sun Fu in her hand, with her sword at Sun Fu's neck, which made Cheng Zi dare not make any rash moves.

Hundreds of soldiers aimed their crossbows at Sun Fu, but Wang Xiaoman was fearless. She grabbed Sun Fu by the hair, held him up in front of her, and used him as a human shield, with a sharp sword pressed against his neck.

Cheng Zi was so frightened that he quickly waved his hand, ordering his men to put down the crossbow bolts.

"Young general, how about we make a deal? I'll let you out of the city, and you release General Sun!"

"Okay! Open the east gate and let me out of the city first."

"If the east gate is not feasible, you can leave through the north gate."

Cheng Zi knew perfectly well that Gan Ning's army must be outside the east city.

Wang Xiaoman laughed and said, "If you don't go through the East Gate, you're not being sincere. I won't believe you!"

The two sides were deadlocked for a moment. Wang Ping looked anxiously at the city wall. His men had been up there for a long time, but there was still no movement.
Wang Ping was unaware that the bolts on the city wall and the iron pulleys of the drawbridge were all locked. Without a hammer, the soldiers could only use a steel file to chip away at the locks little by little.

As the lock was broken, the drawbridge was lowered with a crash, and the city gate opened. A large group of soldiers appeared in the dark city cave, led by General Gan Ning.

Upon hearing the loud crash of the suspension bridge hitting the ground, Wang Xiaoman immediately pulled Sun Fu to the side and ran. Wang Ping also led his soldiers to rush up, using their bodies to block the enemy and create a passage for Wang Xiaoman.

The balance was broken, and the enemy troops swarmed forward, attempting to recapture Sun Fu. Gan Ning also led his troops to attack, and a chaotic battle ensued.

In the chaos, "Thud!" An arrow struck Sun Fu in the shoulder, causing him to scream in pain.

"stop it now!"

Cheng Zi called out to his men, explaining that a volley of arrows had nearly killed Sun Fu, giving him a fright.

The enemy has already entered the city. At this point, a chaotic battle would only kill Sun Fu, and he would be unable to explain himself.

"Retreat! Retreat!" Cheng Zi shouted hurriedly, ordering the soldiers to retreat step by step, retreating more than a hundred paces.

At this point, the only option is to negotiate with the other side, offering to cede the city in exchange for Sun Fu's withdrawal.

The two sides have once again entered a stalemate.

Wang Xiaoman saw Gan Ning and excitedly shouted, "My lord, I've captured Sun Fu!"

Wang Ping also wished he could praise his brother to his lord. If Xiao Man hadn't captured Sun Fu, this siege would have failed.

Gan Ning gave him a thumbs up in approval. Wang Xiaoman scratched her head awkwardly and quickly pushed Sun Fu forward. Sun Fu was in a sorry state, with one foot bare, disheveled hair, and an arrow in his shoulder.

Sun Fu was quite handsome, but unfortunately, after being punched a few times by Wang Xiaoman, his handsome face was distorted and deformed, and his eyes revealed an undisguised fear.

Gan Ning glanced at him and asked coldly, "You are Sun Fu?"

Sun Fu was a pale-faced scholar who had always lived a life of luxury and arrogance. He had never encountered any setbacks in his life, and being captured for the first time in his life, he was truly terrified.

He saw a fierce-looking enemy general standing before him, his eyes extremely sharp. His legs trembled, and he forced himself to ask, "I am Sun Fu. And who are you?"

"I am Gan Ning from Chaisang!"

Sun Fu's eyes widened suddenly, and he exclaimed, "Weren't you in Haihun County?"

Gan Ning squinted and smiled, "What do you think?" In that instant, Sun Fu suddenly realized that he had fallen for a diversionary tactic.

Gan Ning smiled and said, "I'll make a deal with you. If you have your troops lay down their weapons and surrender, I can let you return to Eastern Wu."

Sun Fu hesitated for a moment, but Gan Ning snorted coldly, "If I lead 12,000 troops into the city, I'm afraid that in the ensuing melee, swords and arrows will have no eyes, and your life will be in danger. I'm doing this for your own good!"

Sun Fu looked at the dark mass of enemy troops and felt a chill run down his spine. He could only nod and say, "Okay, it's a deal!"

Sun Fu was unaware of the hardships of starting a business; in his eyes, it was nothing more than a few thousand soldiers, how could they be compared to his own life?

Gan Ning escorted Sun Fu to meet the enemy. Both sides held up torches and confronted each other on the central avenue, illuminating the street as if it were daytime.

Sun Fu shouted, "General Cheng, order the entire army to lay down their weapons!"

Cheng Zi's expression was very complicated, with anger flashing in his eyes. This Sun Fu was really foolish. He had already admitted defeat before even negotiating, making it impossible for him to negotiate.

Gan Ning shouted, "General Cheng, you are surrounded. If you lay down your weapons, I, Gan Ning, promise to let you and Sun Fu return to Eastern Wu."

Just then, shouts came from behind, and a soldier ran up to report to Cheng Zi, "Enemy troops have appeared behind us, about four or five thousand strong!"

Ding Feng led 5,000 men into the city from the north. Gan Ning did not send all of them to the east city at once, but instead split his forces into two groups: Ding Feng led 5,000 men to ambush outside the north city, while Gan Ning led 7,000 men to the east city.

When chaos broke out in the east city, soldiers from the north city rushed to help, which allowed Ding Feng to easily capture the north city.

“General Cheng, you are a smart man. You only have five thousand troops, while we have twelve thousand. If you do not surrender, you will be completely annihilated, and Sun Fu will not be able to return. Even if I let you go back, how will you face Lord Wu?”

Cheng Zi was surrounded from both sides, and his defeat was inevitable. He looked at the bound Sun Fu, thinking that if Sun Fu died, he would have no way to explain himself. He then looked at his panicked subordinates around him and sighed deeply. He ordered, "Order the entire army to lay down their weapons and surrender!"

Sun Fu and Cheng Zi were placed under house arrest. Soldiers took over Nanchang County, appeased all the surrendered soldiers, took over all the warehouses, and released all the more than 1,000 people who had been arrested.

Wang Xiaoman led his troops into the home of his former chief clerk who had betrayed him, beheading the father and son. Their betrayal resulted in the deaths of 120 of Wang Xiaoman's men, making him hate them to the core.

But the war was not over. There were still Han Dang's five thousand men. Gan Ning knew that Han Dang would definitely encounter He Qi, who had escaped back, and Han Dang would definitely rush back to support Nanchang City.

This creates a situation of besieging the city and attacking its reinforcements. The core of this strategy is to take advantage of the enemy's anxiety to come to their aid and ambush them on their way.

Gan Ning checked the map and found a large forest about 20 miles west of the city, right next to the official road, which was an excellent ambush site.

"General Xu, what kind of person is Han Dang?"

Xu Sheng bowed and said, "Reporting to my lord, Han Dang has an extremely strong sense of responsibility and is a man of his word."

"Be cautious?" Gan Ning asked again.

Xu Sheng laughed and said, "The cautious one is not Han Dang, but Cheng Pu. In the past, Sun Jian had four generals who were known as loyal, brave, cautious and trustworthy. The loyal one was Zu Mao, the brave one was Huang Gai, the cautious one was Cheng Pu, and the trustworthy one was Han Dang. Han Dang is not cautious. If he were cautious, he would not have gone to save Haihun County."

Gan Ning looked at the ambush site on the map and nodded, saying, "Success or failure hinges on this."

Gan Ning then ordered Wang Ping, who was slightly wounded, to lead two thousand soldiers to guard Nanchang County and watch over the surrendered soldiers, while he, Ding Feng, and Xu Sheng led ten thousand troops to the ambush site twenty miles west of the city.

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[Old Gao made a small oversight earlier. Most warships in the Three Kingdoms period could actually use both sails and oars, so there was no situation where they couldn't sail west for battle in winter. Old Gao was a bit naive and underestimated the wisdom of the ancients, so Chapter 34 has been revised.]

(End of this chapter)