The Duke of Shu Han began guarding Jingzhou in place of Guan Yu.

Chapter 54 News of Guan Ping

Although Liao Hua successfully drove Pan Zhang out of Zuotang City on the northeast bank of the Lishui River through a night raid.

But Pan Zhang did not retreat after his defeat.

He killed deserters in battle, pacified the defeated army, and used the advantage of the navy to cover the remaining troops as they crossed the southwest bank of the Li River.

Night battles are inherently difficult to inflict heavy casualties due to poor battlefield visibility and communication.

So, as long as a general has outstanding prestige and the means to manage his subordinates effectively, then he can command them to obey orders.

It is not necessarily the case that they will be defeated in one battle.

Pan Zhang was clearly one of the best, and he eventually succeeded in gathering three thousand men.

Afterwards, they established a water fortress and built camps, confronting Liao Hua across the river.

This stance clearly indicates an intention to continue blocking Liao Hua's southward advance.

At this time, Liao Hua learned from the prisoners in the city.

Pan Zhang had previously occupied this place, not only to block my own troops.

More importantly, it was to cover Zhu Ran, another of Sun Quan's subordinate generals, as he went west to reinforce the Linyuan and Hanshou line.

Whether it was helping Sun Jiao besiege Xi and Fan's troops;

Or assist Bu Zhi in blocking Zhao Lei's troops in Hanshou.

None of this is good news.

However, Pan Zhang's troops still stubbornly held their position on the southwest bank of the Li River.

To cross the Li River, they still need to fight across it.

……

"Do you have any token to prove that you are Commandant Xi's brother?"

On this day, a young enemy spy was suddenly discovered during a search of the city.

However, when the man was brought before Liao Hua, he claimed to be Xi Hong, the younger brother of Xi Zhen, the Northern Commandant of Lingling.

Crucially, this person also claimed to have information about Guan Ping's whereabouts.

"Hiding amidst the chaos of battle, the token has long been lost."

Faced with swords and axes at his feet, Liao Hua questioned them.

The young man who called himself Xi Hong was somewhat timid.

But her speech was still fairly fluent.
"So that Registrar Liao may know."

“I have a cousin, Xi Zhen, whose courtesy name is Wenxiang. In the sixteenth year of Jian’an, he followed the King of Hanzhong into Shu and became the Prefect of Guanghan in Yizhou.”

"When Xi Wenxiang was in Xiangyang, his reputation was second only to Pang Tong (Pang Shiyuan), the Phoenix Chick, and above Ma Liang (Ma Jichang), the White-browed Ma."

"Xi Wenxiang has a younger sister who was once married to Pang Lin, the younger brother of Fengchu."

"But in the thirteenth year of Jian'an, Cao Cao marched south to Jingzhou, and my wife and I were separated. To this day, my cousin's whereabouts remain unknown..."

Xi Hong went on and on about many interesting anecdotes and stories about local people in Xiangyang.

As Liao Hua listened, he began to believe most of it.

Because of the Xi family, the Pang family, the Ma family, and the family from which Liao Hua came from.

All of them are common surnames in Xiangyang.

Only those from the same county could recount these trivial anecdotes in such detail.

So they untied Xi Hong on the spot.

After the two were seated, Xi Hong recounted his experiences.

It turns out that Guan Ping and Zhao Lei's defeats had caused unrest among the people of Linyuan.

Therefore, Xi Hong advised his brother to feign submission to Sun Quan as a delaying tactic.

Afterwards, he went to see Sun Quan as an envoy, and traveled east to the time of Zuo Tang.

However, they unexpectedly learned Guan Ping's whereabouts from one of Pan Zhang's soldiers.

"Where are they? What are the casualties?"

After confirming that Xi Hong's background was reliable, Liao Hua finally couldn't help but ask further questions.

Upon hearing this, Xi Hong looked around, picked up a twig, and drew a simple topographical map on the sand.

"There is an island at the mouth of the Yuan and Li rivers, with the Li River to its north, the Yuan River to its south, and Dongting Lake to its east."

"To its due west is a branch of the Li River that flows into the Yuan River, making it surrounded by water on all sides, like an isolated island."

"General Guan's three thousand remaining troops are currently trapped on this island by Ma Zhong, a subordinate of Pan Zhang!"

At this point, Xi Hong threw away the branch, stepped forward, and cupped his hands in greeting:
"Ma Zhong only had a little over a thousand naval troops. General Guan was exhausted and his horses were worn out, and he had also lost his boats, which is why he was trapped!"

"If we can rescue these three thousand men and join forces with the Tang army, our military strength will surely crush Pan Zhang on the other side of the river."

"Moreover, when they arrived at the Linyuan and Hanshou line, they still held their own against tens of thousands of enemy troops besieging the city!"

Xi Hong spoke with great enthusiasm, but Liao Hua stared at the simple diagram on the ground.

He was silent for a long time.

As time went on, Xi Hong inevitably became uneasy:

"Does Registrar Liao suspect that I have already defected to the enemy and is here on orders to trick you?"

Liao Hua then looked up and said frankly:

"To say I have no doubts would be to lie to you." "But I believe the military intelligence you reported is not false."

As he spoke, Liao Hua picked up the twig that Xi Hong had casually discarded and continued to add lines to its simple drawing.

As you draw:

"I have personally witnessed the complexity of the river network on the west bank of Dongting Lake."

"After Guan and Zhao were defeated, they broke out in two separate routes. Zhao was forced to go to Hanshou in the west."

"If General Guan goes east, the only place where he can secure a foothold is in Tang."

"If it is impossible to make Tang, then to escape the pursuers, the only option is to plunge headlong into the complex network of rivers."

"Only in this way can we slightly repel the enemy, but we will also completely cut off all communication with the outside world and be completely cut off from all news."

At this point, Liao Hua stopped writing and looked up, saying:
“These all correspond to the military intelligence we had previously gathered.”

Upon hearing this, Xi Hong felt relieved and couldn't help but admire the meticulousness of this Registrar Liao.

But what puzzled him even more was: "If that's the case, why not save them?"

Liao Hua: "It's not that we won't save them."

"But if we go to rescue them, we will have too few soldiers and will be blocked by Ma Zhong's navy."

"If there are too many, Tang will be left vulnerable, making it easy for Pan Zhang to seize the opportunity and cut off the army's supply lines."

"In that case, even if we can rescue those three thousand soldiers, we will still have to face Pan Zhang, who controls the city, and we will have to attack the city again."

"Even if we eventually join forces and cross the Li River, the delay will be too long. Can your brother and Fan Zhou hold out?"

Xi Hong really wanted to shout out a loud "Yes!"

But he came from Linyuan and knew all too well how dangerous the situation there was.

If we really go to rescue Guan Ping, Lin Yuan might not be able to save him in time.

You can only choose one of the two.

So let's think about it this way.

The news that Guan Ping was trapped on the island...

Perhaps Pan Zhang deliberately leaked it to force Liao Hua to be distracted?
That's why I was able to find out so easily!

The more Xi Hong thought about it, the more convinced he became that this was the truth.

He couldn't help but feel frustrated on the spot.

I thought that this risking my life to deliver important military intelligence would earn me a great merit.

Unexpectedly, this actually helped the enemy to use a delaying tactic!
Seeing this, Liao Hua said:

"Xi Jinping need not blame himself. This is a well-intentioned strategy."

"Even without you, the enemy general would have had someone else deliver this message to my ears."

"After all, I am the chief clerk of the Marquis. If I were to stand by and watch his eldest son die, wouldn't I be failing my lord?"

Xi Hong understood Liao Hua's subtext and exclaimed in surprise:
"Does Registrar Liao not intend to rescue General Guan?"

But Liao Hua tilted his head slightly and sighed:
"Use expediency when necessary."

"I believe that you, my lord, can understand my difficulties."

Xi Hong had nothing to say about this.

After all, his elder brother was in Linyuan, and the gains and losses of Linyuan were indeed related to the overall situation.

It's not a good idea to oppose it, either from a public or private perspective.

Since Liao Hua had already made up his mind, and Xi Hong was ashamed of being manipulated by the enemy, he naturally did not want to fall behind:

"I am taking the liberty of leading a troop of soldiers to the east to keep an eye on Ma Zhong for the registrar!"

"If there is an opportunity to rescue General Guan, I will do my best to do so."

"If there is no way to save them, then do your best to protect the eastern flank of the army, so that when the chief clerk crosses the river to attack Pan Zhang, Ma Zhong will come upstream to harass him!"

Liao Hua already admired this young man from the same county, and now that he was encouraged to be bolder, there was nothing wrong with it.

Therefore, he was appointed as a military deputy commander and led a group of elite crossbowmen to garrison the lower reaches of the Li River.

Afterwards, Liao Hua intensified his preparations for the battle.

They also consulted local elders familiar with meteorology and hydrology, and prepared to cross the river to attack Pan Zhang on a sunny day when the water level was low.

During this period, logistical supplies were continuously transported up.

Liao Huachu did not notice anything unusual at first.

But the day of the final assault was drawing ever closer.

During his routine inventory of military supplies, he suddenly discovered that, apart from the fact that the dead cannot be brought back to life, there were other things to consider.

The military equipment and provisions lost in the previous battles have all been replenished in full.

Even slightly more!

But upon closer examination...

Starting from the day he crossed the Yangtze River to the south, it lasted for ten consecutive days.

The resources transported from Jiangbei never stopped for a single day.
This is both delightful and surprising!

(End of this chapter)