Chapter 63 Leaving Xiangyang

  Sun Jian hastily left Yuan Shu's camp and returned to his own barracks, where he immediately ordered his troops to rise up. The 30,000 soldiers he had brought from Changsha had been reduced to less than 20,000 after several major battles, and with only these 20,000 men, it was impossible to compete with Yuan Shu. Therefore, Sun Jian hastily left, leaving behind all unnecessary things, and set out from Luoyang, heading south towards Changsha.

  When Yuan Shu came to his senses, Sun Jian had already left. Yuan Shu could only sigh and sent someone to write a letter to Sun Jian, hoping that he would return to Nanyang for the sake of their family ties. Sun Jian coldly laughed several times and discarded Yuan Shu's letter in the wilderness. From Luoyang heading south, after passing by Wan City, the road splits into two paths: one leads to Yiyang and the other to Fan City. Both roads lead to Changsha, but with different conditions - one is a water route and the other is an overland route. To get to Changsha from Yiyang, you have to cross the Yangtze River at Zaoyang; taking the Fan City route allows you to sail down the Xiangjiang River to reach Changsha.

  "Master, which way shall we go?" Cheng Pu asked: "A few days ago, there was news that Liu Biao sent Huang Zu to block us at Yiyang. If we go to Fancheng, it is very likely that we will encounter the army of Xiangyang's Liu Biao on either side, neither of which is advantageous for us!"

  "Marching by water route is good!" Han Dang said: "Our army has been fighting continuously, the soldiers are exhausted, and running so far, if we encounter Huang Zu it will be even more dangerous. From Fancheng to take a boat, as long as we are careful enough, we should not meet the Jingzhou water army, and walking this way is also faster. Even if Yuan Shu sends troops to pursue us, we can shake them off!"

  Sun Jian nodded: "Right! Let's go to Xiangyang. If Liu Biao doesn't come out of the city, that's fine. But if he dares to come out, let him not return!"

  Long Fei and his team had already passed Tongguan, and in two more days they would arrive at Chang'an. Along the way, there were constant messages from Luoyang, especially paying attention to Sun Jian's movements. On the day Sun Jian left Yuan Shu, Long Fei became somewhat restless. He wasn't worried that Hei Bing would be unfavorable to himself, but rather he had become interested in the jade seal in Sun Jian's hands, and also Jia Xu's plan to steal the dragon and phoenix was about to be implemented.

  Long Fei found Jia Yu, and Jia Yu took out the fake jade seal made by someone and put it in front of Long Fei. It really looked like that, he had never seen a jade seal before, so he could only draw a picture according to the description in the classics and let the craftsman make it. But then again, how many people under the sky have seen the jade seal? As long as they see the words "Receive the order from heaven, forever prosperous", everyone thinks it is the jade seal.

  "This thing may be a fake, but if it's placed two thousand years later, it'll still be an antique, hahaha..." Long Fei joked.

  Jia Xu said: "Regardless of whether it's true or false, as long as everyone thinks it's true then it's true. When is the lord preparing to set out? I heard that Sun Jian has already arrived at Wan City. Based on my speculation, he must be heading towards Fan City, passing through Xiangyang and taking the Xiang River back to Changsha. The lord can wait for him outside Xiangyang!"

  "In that case, go to Xiangyang and bring back Second Brother, Huang Da Ge and Dian Wei!"

  Sun Jian's army left Wan City, and the first target was Deng County, which is the intersection of Nanyang and Xiangyang. Both Yuan Shu and Liu Biao had heavy troops stationed here to prevent each other from launching a surprise attack. The soldiers on Yuan Shu's side were easy to persuade, they didn't receive orders from Yuan Shu, and seeing Sun Jian coming fiercely, they could only open the road. However, Liu Biao's Jingzhou army was different, Sun Jian was still one of Yuan Shu's generals, and suddenly attacking was an attack. The Jingzhou army fought to the death, and a fierce battle broke out between the two sides. Unfortunately, the Jingzhou army had not experienced war, how could they fight against these people who just came down from the battlefield? In the morning, Sun Jian defeated the Jingzhou army, captured 3,000 soldiers, killed 1,000, and took down the entire Deng County.

  Liu Biao learned that Sun Jian had not left Yiyang, but was marching towards Xiangyang. He was anxious like an ant on a hot pot. Kuai Yue said: "My lord, Xiangyang is the key town of Jingzhou Province, and it must not be lost. Please quickly send someone to ask General Huang Zu to return to the army and defend Xiangyang together, so that Xiangyang can be guaranteed to be safe."

  Kuai Liangdao said: "Even if Huang Zu returns to the army, it may not be effective. Sun Jian wants to borrow a road from Xiangjiang and go downstream to return to Changsha. We should take precautions as soon as possible!"

  Cai Mao sneered: "Go downstream? Ridiculous! Are my 30,000 naval soldiers vegetarians? Don't they even ask around to see who dares to look down on my naval soldiers in Jingzhou?" Cai Mao made a fist at Liu Biao: "Brother-in-law, rest assured, I'll arrange the troops right away and transfer all the ships east of Xiangjiang to Jiangxi. Let's see how Sun Jian gets out of this!"

  Sun Jian conquered Deng County and marched straight to Fan City. The defenders of Fan City surrendered without a fight, and Sun Jian obtained a large amount of grain and fodder, so he regrouped his troops in Fan City. Scouts reported that Cai Mao, the commander-in-chief of Jingzhou's water army, had already moved all the ships on the east bank of the Xiangjiang River to the west bank, and dispatched 10,000 soldiers to defend the river, making preparations. At the same time, Huang Zu, who was originally in Yiyang, was returning with his troops, preparing to attack from two sides.

  "Despicable Liu Biao! Does he really think that this small Xiangjiang River can block my way?" Sun Jian slapped his palm on the table: "Pass down my military order, starting today, prepare to build more wooden rafts to cross the river!"

  Sun Jian was originally from Wu County, and had been the governor of Changsha for many years. Many of his generals were southerners, and naval battles were not a problem for them. To say nothing of the Xiangjiang River, even if it were the Yangtze River in front of them, these people would have a way to cross it. The water army led by Cai Mao in Jingzhou was considered elite, but to those who had experienced life-and-death battles, they were just babies who had never been on the battlefield.

  In three days, a thousand wooden rafts were built. Each raft could hold twenty or thirty people. The small rafts were connected together to form large ones, and the large rafts floated on the surface of the water, connecting with each other like a flat land. With a loud order from Sun Jian, Sun Jian and his son Sun Ce led the charge at the front, Cheng Pu and Han Dang protected the two wings, Huang Zhong led the archers closely behind, trampling on the floating bridge built with wooden rafts, shouting and charging towards the west of the river.

  Due to the obstruction of the wooden rafts, Cai Mao's naval forces were divided in two and suppressed by Huang Gai's archers. The advantage of the naval forces was not evident at all. Cai Mao hastily ordered his men to shoot arrows, but they were blocked by Cheng Pu and Han Dang on both sides with their shields. The narrow Xiangjiang River, only a few hundred meters wide, was instantly crossed. Sun Jian and his son Sun Ce charged forward like fierce tigers, attacking the Jingzhou army that was defending the riverbank.

  Jingzhou's chief general, Zhang Yun, was Liu Biao's nephew and deeply trusted by him. He handed over the defense of Xiangyang to him. Zhang Yun had a close relationship with Liu Biao's second son, Liu Cong, who married the niece of Liu Biao's wife, Cai. Cai was also the sister of naval commander Cai Mao. Therefore, Zhang Yun and Cai Mao were somewhat acquainted. After discussing, they decided that Cai Mao would guard the Xiang River with warships, while Zhang Yun defended the shore with infantry. If Sun Jian dared to come, as soon as he crossed the Xiang River, the two would attack him from both sides and capture him alive.

  They thought it was okay, but overestimated their own strength. Sun Jian used Huang Zhong's 5,000 archers to hold down Cai Mao's naval forces, while the remaining 20,000 troops launched a fierce attack on Zhang Yun. From the start, Zhang Yun was somewhat overwhelmed, and as soon as the two armies clashed, the soldiers of Jingzhou had never seen such ferocity before, and in an instant, more than 200 people fell under Sun Jian's butcher knife. Seeing blood, Sun Jian's army became even braver, while the Jingzhou soldiers turned around and ran away. Zhang Yun couldn't stop them and could only follow suit, fleeing into Xiangyang City. Sun Jian's army besieged the city, and Cai Mao's naval forces were powerless and had to retreat.

  Liu Biao did not expect that Sun Jian would be so brave and powerful, and in one battle he was beaten to the point where he had no strength to fight back. He could only order the city gates to be closed tightly and defend Xiangyang to the death, waiting for Huang Zu's reinforcements. Sun Jian arrived at the foot of Xiangyang City and shouted loudly at the defenders on the wall: "Liu Biao, you are just a turtle hiding in its shell! You were defeated in one battle and dare not come out. When I capture Jingzhou, I will chop your body into ten thousand pieces!"

  No matter how much Sun Jian provoked, Liu Biao just closed the door and refused to come out. Huang Zu's reinforcements had already arrived in Xinye and would soon return to Xiangyang. Cheng Pu suggested that Sun Jian immediately board the ship and retreat back to Changsha, but Sun Jian smiled and said: "Jingzhou has no one, take down Xiangyang, then go downstream, Jiangling and Jiangxia will be taken in one breath, and Yuan Shu will not dare to underestimate me!"

  "Right! This Liu Biao is a useless coward. Letting him be the governor of Jingzhou is not as good as letting father do it!" Sun Ce said immediately.

  "Sir, I still have some concerns!" Cheng Pu said again: "Xiangyang City has high walls and thick walls, it is not easy to take down with our current strength. If Huang Zu occupies Fancheng, our grain and grass will be cut off and we cannot hold on for long. It is said that Liu Biao has appointed Han Xuan as the governor of Changsha, if we don't return early, this Han Xuan will be firmly established and it will be very unfavorable to us!"

  "We have Jingzhou, what can he do with just Changsha?" Sun Ce was unconvinced.

  Sun Jian smiled and nodded in approval: "My son's words are extremely correct. As long as we capture Xiangyang, Jingzhou will fall into our father-son hands. Pass on my military order to attack Xiangyang again!"

  Watching the flames of war engulf Xiangyang City, Long Fei held back his warhorse and let out a sigh of relief: "Fortunately, Sun Jian hasn't left yet. If he had boarded the ship, we wouldn't have been able to catch up with him! Let's go, take a look from the mountain!"

  Yan Mountain is the highest mountain on the north side of Xiangyang, and from here you can see the situation in Xiangyang at a glance. Sitting on top of Yan Mountain, Long Fei, Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong, and others looked at the movement below. Sun Jian was attacking Xiangyang, his soldiers were brave and fierce, and it seemed that they had already climbed up to the city wall. The Jingzhou army, in order to protect their homeland, even if they were afraid, had to go out and fight, putting life and death aside, and the rest were unnecessary. As a matter of fact, the Jingzhou army's madness managed to withstand Sun Jian's army's several fierce attacks, repelling them.

  Sun Jian's face was filled with anger, constantly urging the soldiers to continue their attack. He even led the charge himself, rushing towards the head of Xiangyang City. Zhao Yun nodded: "This Sun Jian is indeed a leader who leads by example!"

  "Humbug! This is a rustic fellow!" Long Fei said: "As the commander-in-chief, one should control the entire battlefield from his own position. Being the first to charge into battle can only be done by a common soldier. To win a thousand miles away through strategic planning in the tent is the talent of a general. Someone like Sun Jian at most can only be a captain of a hundred men! The imperial court of Great Han actually made him a general, what a joke!"

  "What can I do? What kind of official can I be?" Dian Wei interrupted.

  Long Fei looked at him: "You! Your martial arts are better than Sun Jian's, your bravery is stronger than Sun Jian's. If I were the emperor, I would definitely make you a cavalry captain!"

  "Haha... " Dian Wei grinned foolishly, knowing that a Riding Deputy was higher than a Hundred-Man Commander, which meant he was stronger than Sun Jian.

  The battle of Xiangyang was in full swing, when suddenly flames shot up into the sky from Fancheng, which is separated from Xiangyang by a river, causing both the Jingzhou army and Sun Jian's army to pause in surprise.