Chapter 66: No Return Road

  Fan Cheng was lost, and he had no face to go back to Xiangyang. Huang Zu thought about it and could only go up to Yan Shan, first hiding here for a while, testing Liu Biao's attitude before making further plans. Under duress, Huang Zu turned his head and crossed the Xiang River, rushing into Yan Shan to take temporary refuge.

  Gan Ning exerted himself to resist Sun Jian's attack, but unfortunately, he was outnumbered. Seeing that Huang Zu had already escaped, Gan Ning led his remaining hundred or so brothers to retreat as well. Unlike Huang Zu, he had long felt that Fan City could not be defended, so he directly crossed the Xiang River and went upstream to Xiangyang. After inquiring about Huang Zu's whereabouts, he also rushed towards Mount Mian.

  A large group of people entered Yanshan, and Long Fei and others became even more cautious. Fortunately, Huang Zu set up his camp on the middle of the mountain, and did not go to the top. Long Fei finally let out a sigh of relief: "With Huang Zu here, it will soon be lively around here, just watch! Sun Jian must kill Huang Zu!"

  Gan Ning returned to Yanshan, feeling even more depressed. This time, he could be said to have saved Huang Zu's life. However, not only did Huang Zu not reward him, but he also shifted the blame for the defeat onto Gan Ning's shoulders. He said that Gan Ning had not seriously implemented his own plan, giving Sun Jian an opportunity to take advantage of it. Moreover, before setting out on the expedition, Gan Ning had already caused chaos among the troops, resulting in his army being almost completely annihilated. His fellow officials even ridiculed him with cold smiles and hot taunts, calling him a "pirate with brocade sails".

  Gan Ning could no longer bear it. His subordinate, Pan Zhang, whispered to him: "Brother, we saved his life, but he still pushes the blame of defeat onto us. I think we can't stay here any longer!"

  "That's right! Old Three is absolutely right!" Zhou Tai exclaimed loudly: "This bird is too timid, it's not a thing. Rather than living in such a muddle, it's better for us four brothers to have come ashore on the Yangtze River back then!"

  "Right, big brother! Liu Biao is not as great as the rumors say. He doesn't even look at us with respect. Why should we still risk our lives for him? It's better to go and surrender to Sun Jian or Yuan Shu!"

  Gan Ning also had the intention to retreat. After listening to Pan Zhang and Zhou Tai's words, he turned his head to look at Jiang Qin, who was standing aside without saying a word: "Fourth brother, what do you think?"

  Jiang Qin was the youngest of the four, but he was recognized as a wise strategist. The four were originally all pirates on the Yangtze River. Gan Ning gathered them under his command and they became sworn brothers. The four took Gan Ning as their eldest brother, Zhou Tai as second, Pan Zhang as third, and Jiang Qin as fourth. Each of the four had their own strengths: Gan Ning was generous and meticulous in his work, with exceptional martial arts skills. Zhou Tai was hot-tempered but incredibly strong, able to lift a small boat by himself. Pan Zhang was an excellent swimmer, able to hold his breath underwater for four or five miles. Jiang Qin was clever and had a keen eye for people, never making a mistake in the things he observed. The four also had eight hundred brothers under their command, all of whom were good men who were absolutely loyal to them.

  Jiang Qin shook his head: "Sun Jian is now in a precarious situation both internally and externally. Even if he took down Fan City, it would only be a temporary reprieve. As for Yuan Shu, he's just a withered bone in the tomb. This man has grand ambitions, but he's jealous of others' talents and abilities. We can't go to him!"

  "What's the point? Are we going to stay here?" Zhou Tai plopped down on his butt: "This place is too humiliating! I think it's better if we go back and continue with our business, waiting for a better opportunity!"

  "General Gan! General Gan!" Gan Ning recognized this as one of Huang Zu's guards. He rushed in hastily, anxiously saying: "General Gan! The governor has summoned you to the main tent for a meeting, Sun Jian is coming to pursue us!"

  Sun Jian captured Fan City, seized Huang Zu's supplies and provisions, and was overjoyed. He ordered a feast to reward the three armies, and just as they were eating, scouts came to report that Huang Zu had not gone to Xiangyang but was retreating to defend Yan Mountain. Sun Jian burst out laughing: "Huang Zu is a foolish child who doesn't know life or death, he actually dares to stay outside the city, brothers, after we finish our meal, we'll attack Yan Mountain and capture Huang Zu!"

  "Great......!"

  Huang Zu had just set up his camp when Fancheng was already in an uproar. Sun Jian personally led 20,000 troops to attack Yanshan, leaving behind Cheng Pu's 3,000 soldiers to guard Fancheng. Huang Zu was now so frightened by Sun Jian that he did not dare to fight back. The various generals also suggested that Huang Zu continue to retreat, and it would be best to return to Jiangxia. Huang Zu sneered: "We are in the west, Sun Jian is in the east, and there is Xiangyang in the south. If we return to Jiangxia, do you say we should go north or west?"

  That man stopped talking. Someone else suggested sending someone to Xiangyang for help. Huang Zu immediately went to do it. At the same time, he invited Gan Ning to come over. Although Huang Zu didn't like Gan Ning, he still appreciated Gan Ning's bravery. To be honest, if it wasn't for Gan Ning taking the initiative to cut off the enemy today, his own troops wouldn't have been able to retreat back to Yanshan either. As soon as Gan Ning walked into the big tent, Huang Zu immediately came forward and grabbed Gan Ning's hand: "Gan General, now that Sun Jian is coming again, what do you think we should do?"

  Pan Zhuang glanced at the generals in the big account: "We are all thieves, what do we know about fighting! Last time almost wiped out the whole army, this time listen to the various generals and masters!"

  "Right!" Zhou Tai also followed with: "My elder brother is just a Sima! You say how to fight, we'll follow your lead!"

  "Don't talk nonsense!"

  "Haha... " Huang Zu forced a smile: "You two are joking, I also listened to the words of a little man and offended Gan Zongbao. As long as you all work together to defeat Sun Jian, I guarantee that everyone will be promoted to general!"

  "General, it's not necessary!" Gan Ning said: "Sun Jian is coming with a strong momentum, and our army has already lost its morale. We can't fight hard against him. We can send people to set up defenses on this Ink Mountain, and send out small troops to harass them. As long as Sun Jian can't attack us, we still have a chance!"

  Huang Zu nodded, dropped Gan Ning's hand, and turned to glare at the civil and military officials in the big tent: "Did you all hear that? Why aren't you hurrying to do as General Gan said? Go quickly!"

  Since ancient times, whether it was the era of cold weapons or the current era of guns and artillery, attacking from below has always been a difficult task. Firstly, the mountain is steep and densely forested, making it unfavorable for cavalry charges. Secondly, the slope is quite precipitous, making it somewhat difficult even for infantry to climb. According to Gan Ning's orders, many logs were placed on the mountain, which could be easily pushed down to solve the problem. Sun Jian led his troops in a charge three or four times but was defeated each time. As the sky grew dark, Sun Jian became extremely enraged and ordered another charge; if that failed, they would burn the mountain. Sun Jian's army shouted as they charged up the mountain again. The Jingzhou soldiers continued to counterattack calmly, throwing down large logs and boulders from the top of the mountain.

  Long Fei saw clearly, somewhat strange: "In the morning, Huang Zu was still a fool, how did he become clever in the afternoon and even knew how to use terrain to dance with Sun Jian? Let's go take a look at who is commanding!"

  Four people sneaked to the waist of the mountain, only to see Huang Zu's big flag fluttering high above the main tent, with a gentle breeze blowing by. More than a dozen generals were drinking and chatting with Huang Zu. On the front battlefield, a small flag was so insignificant that it didn't even have an official name on it. Huang Zhong took a closer look and pointed at Gan Ning: "It's him! My lord, take a look, his name is Gan Ning!"

  Huang Zhong told Long Fei about Gan Ning's situation and his own views on Gan Ning. As soon as he heard Gan Ning's name, Long Fei was overjoyed. This was a treasure! Gan Ning was one of the main generals of Eastern Wu, and if he could be won over to his side, it would be like adding wings to a tiger. Thinking of this, Long Fei began to calculate in his mind how he could poach Gan Ning.

  Sun Jian's soldiers had climbed halfway up the mountain. Although Gan Ning and his men held a geographical advantage, they were short on time and hadn't fully prepared their defenses. Sun Jian sent out two groups of cavalry to attack from both sides. After Gan Ning's rolling logs and thunder stones were used up, Sun Jian finally climbed halfway up the mountain: "Kill! Not one will be left, kill them all for me!"

  The two armies engaged in a fierce battle. Gan Ning led the Jingzhou army to resist with all their might. Although he and his men were brave, others were not of one mind with him, and when Sun Jian attacked, some turned around and ran away. A small Sima could not stop the fleeing soldiers.

  Sun Jian struck at Gan Ning with a heavy blow, and Gan Ning raised his sword to meet him. Gan Ning was originally a businessman on the river, and the desperate struggle on land was not Sun Jian's opponent, and several times it was a narrow escape. Just as Sun Jian was about to strike Gan Ning, an arrow suddenly flew from somewhere and shot directly into Sun Jian's chest, with five inches of the arrowhead exposed on his back.

  Sun Jian suddenly fell to the ground, Gan Ning lost his opponent. Before he could think clearly what was happening, Pan Zhang immediately shouted loudly: "Sun Jian is dead! Sun Jian was shot dead!" Huang Zu's soldiers only wanted to retreat, but when they heard the shout, they were shocked. And Sun Jian's army had been killing quickly and fighting at a critical moment, but when they heard the news of Sun Jian's death, they were stunned on the spot.

  Long Fei, Zhao Yun, Dian Wei and Huang Zhong jumped out from their hiding place and rushed to the side of Sun Jian. They cut down anyone who dared to approach Sun Jian's body, whether they were from Sun Jian's army or Huang Zu's army. Long Fei quickly searched Sun Jian's body back and forth and found a square-shaped hard object in a bag at his waist. He opened the bag and saw the Imperial Seal. Overjoyed, Long Fei exchanged the real seal with a fake one and whistled loudly. The four of them then quickly retreated to the rear mountain.

  All this happened before Gan Ning's eyes, and he thought it was Sun Jian's men coming to seize the body. He was about to go forward when Zhao Yun used his spear to force him back. Zhou Tai, Pan Zhang, Jiang Qin and others also rushed up, but were blocked by Dian Wei and Huang Zhong. They all considered themselves masters, but they couldn't even withstand a single combination of moves from these few men. Long Fei finished what he had to do and left, turning his head to look at Gan Ning as he departed, smiling and saying: "If you have any business, come find me in Chang'an - my name is Long Fei!"

  Four people came quickly and left quickly. By the time Sun Ce, Huang Gai, and Han Dang received the news and rushed here, Gan Ning had already ordered someone to take away Sun Jian's body. Sun Ce was furious and led his army in a fierce attack. The Jingzhou soldiers were already inclined to retreat and fled in all directions after being attacked fiercely. Charging into Huang Zu's tent, Sun Ce chopped and killed wildly, and if it weren't for Huang Gai and Han Dang holding him back with all their might, Huang Zu would have died under Sun Ce's sword.

  The Battle of Yanshan ended in just one afternoon. The battle was extremely brutal. Sun Jian's army, seeking revenge, did not spare a single captive and slaughtered them all. Of the 50,000-strong army led by Huang Zu, less than 8,000 escaped with Gan Ning back to Xiangyang. Jiangxia Governor Huang Zu was captured, while the rest of his generals were either killed or wounded, with some still missing. However, Jingzhou did not come out empty-handed, at least they had Sun Jian's corpse. Gan Ning didn't say that Sun Jian wasn't killed by them, as long as they had Sun Jian's corpse, they had a bargaining chip.