Chapter 22: The Battle of Changban Slope

  When they arrived outside the city, they saw a sea of refugees. When they saw Liu Bei and his men, they cried out to them for help, asking Liu Bei to rescue them.

  Liu Bei said to the refugees: "Fathers and mothers, fellow villagers, don't worry, take your time to speak. Whatever problems you have, I, Liu Bei, will definitely help you solve them."

  As soon as he finished speaking, someone in the crowd shouted: "Liu Xiangsheng is wise and righteous, we will follow you wherever you go." As soon as he finished speaking, several people echoed his shout: "Right, Liu Xiangsheng will not abandon us, let's follow Liu Xiangsheng."

  The crowd was stirred up, and tens of thousands of people knelt down, crying out to follow Liu Xuande. Liu Bei was moved by the trust of the people, his eyes filled with hot tears, saying: "Thank you for your trust, I, Liu Bei, will never betray your trust, and will never abandon you."

  Zhuge Liang was puzzled in his heart, why would Lord Liu be so impulsive and irrational.

  "Your Excellency, taking the civilians will hinder our military actions and put them in danger." Liu Bei said loudly: "No one should persuade me, I would rather have the civilians abandon me than I abandon them!" The civilians were moved to tears, and his officers were also deeply moved.

  The person who stood up and shouted first in the crowd, Zhao Yun felt familiar. He suddenly remembered the person he saw that day in the village, and his heart was shocked. He called a few of his trusted subordinates to whisper a few words, and they went with him.

  Liu Bei finally led the civilians away. Zhao Yun was in charge of the rear, constantly monitoring Cao's army movements. At this time, his confidant came over and whispered something in his ear. Zhao Yun was shocked, his face ashen. After a long silence, he asked: "What about that person?" His confidant made a throat-slitting gesture. Zhao Yun nodded and said: "Rotten to the core." The confidant nodded in agreement.

  Liu Bei led the refugees to Xiangyang and asked Liu Cong to accept them, but seeing so many people, Liu Cong thought that Xiangyang could not accommodate them and refused to let them in. Liu Bei continued to plead, but Cai Mao and Zhang Yun went up to the enemy tower and ordered the soldiers to shoot down randomly, killing and wounding countless refugees.

  Wei Yan, the leader of Jingzhou's army, could not bear it any longer and led his men to seize the city gate, intending to let Liu Bei enter the city. Wen Ping led his troops to attack, and both sides engaged in a chaotic battle, resulting in many civilian casualties.

  Zhuge Liang suggested: "The terrain of Jiangling is dangerous and important, occupying Jiangling will have a way to deal with Cao's army." Liu Bei agreed.

  They bypassed Xiangyang and continued to advance towards Jingmen.

  Zhoa Yun had already clashed with Cao's army several times, following Zhuge Liang's strategy, constantly harassing the Cao army and slowing down their advance as much as possible. However, the Cao army was too numerous, and Zhao Yun could not withstand them, so he retreated. The vanguard of the Cao army advanced rapidly and finally caught up with a large group of civilians in Yicheng.

  Cao Jun was blocked by a large crowd of people, the ancient road to Xiangyang was narrow, with steep cliffs on both sides, and there were too many people, making it impossible for the army to pass through.

  Cao Jun threatened the civilians, telling them to clear the road. The civilians slowly dispersed to both sides, clearing a path. Suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted: "The Cao army has killed people!" Then wooden clubs and stones flew out of the crowd, mixed with crossbow arrows. Several soldiers were knocked off their horses immediately. The soldiers, under attack, hastily counterattacked, and the scene was chaotic. Seeing that things were not going well, the Cao army commander immediately ordered a retreat.

  Cao Jun's military discipline was very strict, and he did not dare to casually kill or injure the civilians. The Cao army generals faced with this situation also did not know what to do, they could only send people to report to Cao Cao while slowly following the movement of the civilians.

  Cao Cao received the report and was also in a dilemma, asking his subordinates what to do.

  Liu Ye said: "It's impossible, unless the Prime Minister orders to kill all the civilians, otherwise it's impossible to catch up with Liu Bei on the Xiangyang ancient road. The Prime Minister will not do such a thing out of benevolence. The only way is to send troops across the Han River, bypass Zhongxiang, and go straight to Lengshui and Longsangpo. However, the distance is too far, it's hard to say whether we can intercept Liu Bei."

  Cao Cao said with a sigh: "It can only be like this. Liu Bei, that hypocritical and deceitful villain, is even more ruthless than me."

  When Cao's army finally arrived at Changban Slope, Liu Bei's troops had already boarded the ships and retreated under the escort of Liu Qi. Only a small number of civilians followed Liu Bei to Jiangxia, while the rest were sent back to Xinye by Cao Cao for resettlement.

  No more brutal battles on Changban Slope, the people also returned home. However, after this ordeal, there were still thousands of civilians who died along the way, and the property losses were countless.

  The result is good, at least much better than what Lu Xun described.

  Standing on the boat, looking at the distant Changban Slope, Zhuge Liang thought of his brother's repeated emphasis on not bringing the civilians along and wondered: "How did he have such foresight? Since leaving home, his changes are too great. Lord Liu's behavior is also somewhat strange, being so impulsive. The situation with the civilians is also abnormal, how did they gather in Xinye County?"

  Zhao Yun usually doesn't talk much, now he talks even less, truly becoming taciturn.

  As there was no loss, with Liu Bei's arrival in Jiangxia, the army had more than 7,000 people. Adding Liu Qi's more than 15,000 horses, after Cai Mao and others defected and Liu Cong's mother and son were killed, more than 4,000 Jingzhou soldiers also joined Liu Qi. Liu Bei finally had the capital to unite with Eastern Wu.

  As Cao's army entered Jingzhou, the situation in Eastern Wu also became tense.

  Yueyueshan Villa was no exception, production continued as usual, meals were eaten and dances were danced.

  Zhuge Jun saw the prospects of Jinji Lake real estate and bought many vacant lots by the lake, planning to develop a resort villa area after the Battle of Red Cliffs.

  Huang Yueting was originally worried that the war would affect business, seeing his carefree appearance, she also put down her mind and focused on managing the internal affairs.

  Zhuge Jun saw that production was proceeding smoothly and launched two more products. One of them is called Huang Yueying and Sun Shangxiang's Joy and Blush.

  Watch the genuine content at the first time!