Chapter 154 Escape
After resting for seven or eight days, Yuan Shu's army in Jiangdu actually began to retreat under the close supervision of the Xuzhou Army and Yangzhou Army.
The first to leave was the Qiao Rui Department. The remaining five or six thousand people began to retreat in the first wave. Also leaving were the wounded from various departments. The Xuzhou Army was more polite and only sent out cavalry to observe.
The Yangzhou Army stopped pretending at all, and the small boats followed behind the fleet. They even occasionally dared to get close to observe the waterline of the fleet and spy on the people on board.
In the past, how could Yuan Shujun have tolerated this anger.
But the first batch of Qiao Rui troops to retreat had no morale and were lifeless, so they just let him go.
It turned out that the unforgiving Yangzhou army was even more energetic. They rocked the boat and followed them all the way, following the Qiao Rui troops to Liyang.
From then on, Yuan Shu's army began to withdraw troops continuously, thousands of people each time.
Soon, there were only three to four thousand people left in Jiangdu.
This number is a number analyzed and speculated by the Xuzhou Army and the Yangzhou Army, and is assisted by intelligence. There is generally no error.
Moreover, Jiangdu City is so small that there is no way to hide many soldiers and horses.
Even if there are one or two thousand more people, what's the use?
Thirty thousand people can't defeat the 10,000 Xuzhou Army. Isn't it sheer luxury to expect one or two thousand people to fight back and kill the Xuzhou Army?
After seeing Yuan Shu really withdraw his troops, peace returned along the Yangtze River, and the focus shifted from Jiangdu and Dantu to Liyang and Niuzhu.
Under the advice of many advisers, Liu Yao also began to send elites drawn from the front line back to the Niuzhu defense line to prevent Yuan Shu from sneaking into Niuzhu.
Sure enough, just as Liu Yao and others expected, Li Yang's Yuan Shujun did not remain honest for long and secretly launched a large-scale offensive, dispatching a total of 20,000 people to attack Niuzhu.
Fortunately, Niuzhu's defense line was still strong, and generals Fan Neng and Zhang Ying were not careless and successfully repelled Yuan Shu's army's sneak attack.
Liu Yao was overjoyed, and at the same time he began to mobilize Dantu's troops to reinforce Niu Zhu. After all, the reinforcements on the other side were likely to be as many as 25,000 to 35,000 people, and Niu Zhu only had 10,000 people. The huge disparity in military strength makes it difficult to feel at ease.
After the reinforcements arrived, the Niuzhu defense line also stabilized. Yuan Shu's army on the other side saw that the Niuzhu defense line was impregnable and had no chance to take advantage, so he stopped again.
At first glance, it seems that the entire Jiangdong has returned to peace, and all forces are turning to recuperate.
Within the Xuzhou Army, a meeting was also held because of the problem in Jiangdu.
Should we take advantage of the secret passage to recapture Jiangdu?
To be honest, even Liu Feng is still a little undecided on this issue.
At present, Yuan Shujun has the intention to abandon Guangling, otherwise it would be impossible to leave only a few thousand people, and the army would go home directly.
Thousands of people guarding Jiangdu can only be too cautious and not enterprising enough.
Since we can't make progress, what's the point of preserving such a small town in Jiangdu?
The biggest role of Jiangdu is to use it as a foothold to open a gap in Guangling, and then plot Guangling City and even Guangling County, and then stabilize the Tangyi counties.
Now that Yuan Shu's army has retreated, Tangyi and other counties have sent congratulations to Xuzhou's army, as if they were loyal ministers and filial sons.
In the next battle at Guangling City, the Xuzhou Army took the initiative to attack with a small number of enemies and backed the city. The record of defeating the first part of Yuan Shu's army in the first battle was fully fermented at this time.
The news that the main force of Yuan Shu's army has withdrawn undoubtedly proves the authenticity of the previous news.
As a result, in addition to Jiangdu, the three counties of Tangyi, Yuxian and Hailing were completely panicked.
How exciting it was to sit on the wall in front of me, but how panicked I felt at this moment, not to mention that they were leaning more towards Yuan Shujun in the wall riding in front of them.
The three counties of Tangyi hurriedly sent envoys to Guangling County to explore Xuzhou's military situation.
Liu Feng directly stated that he would not care about the past suspicions. Although these counties initially waited and watched and did not directly side with the Xuzhou Army, Liu Feng said that this was understandable.
As long as they obey the state government and pay their taxes honestly from now on, the Xuzhou Army can forget the blame.
Therefore, these counties raided the county warehouses and collected 110,000 yuan, 600 shi of grain, and dozens of pigs and sheep to be sent to Guangling City, so that Liu Feng could reward them all to the Xuzhou army.
For Jiangdu, everyone wants to recover it. Firstly, it can unify the state and secondly, it can also form a complete defense depth.
Otherwise, twenty miles outside the city of Guangling is the enemy's territory, which is not safe in any way.
But if we really want to take action, everyone is a little reluctant.
Yuan Shu's army has withdrawn. Now it is troublesome and dangerous to attack Jiangdu. More importantly, it is easy to attract Yuan Shu's army back. Isn't this a shield for the Yangzhou army?
What's more important is that Yuan Shu's army only left three to two thousand men, and they didn't look like they were defending Jiangdu.
Maybe after some time, the other party will even give up Jiangdu on its own initiative.
After all, for Yuan Shu, Jiangdu is also an isolated city surrounded by siege.
If the military strength is superior, it will naturally be a bridgehead to expand the territory, but now being beaten by the Xuzhou Army, it has suddenly become a desperate situation seeking death.
At the end of the discussion, I still felt that I should be cautious and not touch Jiangdu for the time being. There is a secret passage anyway, and I don’t know how my old father is doing as we wait for news from the north.
Besides, Yuan Shu might really give up Jiangdu, so wouldn’t the Xuzhou Army make a profit?
One night after all parties thought the world was at peace, the gate of Jiangdu City suddenly opened, with people holding titles and horses bound in hooves, and a large number of reed rafts were pushed out from the water gate, with war horses standing on them. Those who were tied to the back of the boat, with soldiers standing on it, would row the oars themselves.
Thousands of people and horses quietly set out from Jiangdu and crossed the river.
At the ugly time, in Dantu City on the other side, a group of heroes gathered together to do something big.
These people gathered in a private house near the city gate of Dantu's north gate. They were all strong and fierce-looking, and they were all evil young men or knight-errants from the countryside. At this time, they were attacked by a burly and strong man. Gather here.
The sky was far from bright at this time, but these heroes had already gotten up, and each of them looked excited. While eating the cold meal prepared last night, they discussed in a low voice. Next to them, their respective weapons were placed. It was obvious that the important thing they were going to do after dawn was not serious.
As the sky gradually became brighter, the gate of Dantu City slowly opened.
People inside have to go out of the city to do business, while farmers outside have to go into the city to sell vegetables and fruits.
It looked like a peaceful start to the day.
A caravan suddenly came from a distance, attracting the attention of the soldiers guarding the city.
However, these county soldiers were not on any alert, but their eyes were shining, and they just felt that they had good hair growth today.
The city gate checkpoint is not set directly at the city gate like in later TV series. Once something happens, the city gate will not have time to react.
After all, only important towns have such things as hanging doors. Although Dantu is a small place close to the sea, it doesn’t even have a moat, so it is naturally impossible to have a hanging door.
Therefore, the city gate checkpoint is set one hundred meters away from the city gate, and all personnel must pass the inspection here before entering the city gate.
After the caravan approached, they stopped and lined up.
The old soldier's eyes became brighter and brighter as he looked at the deep ruts.
Just when the caravan was about to approach the checkpoint, a carriage at the front suddenly lost control. The horses went crazy and rushed towards the checkpoint, heading straight towards the city gate.
The coachman on the car pulled the reins and shouted to get out of the way.
When the caravan saw it, two knights galloped out, one on the left and one on the right, and they circled around respectively, trying to get to the front of the carriage to help the coachman control the crazy horse.
The soldiers in front of the city gate immediately dispersed and moved to both sides of the city gate.
With just enough food for a month, who dares to risk his life to stop the crazy carriages and horses?
Unexpectedly, the car stopped in the city gate. The two riders took their bows and shot at the county soldiers beside the city gate.
Several county soldiers inside the city gate were caught off guard. They were all hit by arrows and fell to the ground, unable to resist.
The county soldiers on both sides of the city gate hurriedly looked for bunkers while shouting warnings.
“Enemy attack! It’s the enemy!”
"Close the city gate quickly!"
The other county soldiers of the Yangzhou Army finally realized that what was coming was not a caravan but an enemy.
While shouting to remind his comrades, he wanted to escape back to the city as a group and close the city gate.
As soon as the two knights attacked, they started attacking both inside and outside the city at the same time.
A large amount of dust was raised in the distance. It was obvious that enemies were coming to help. The men and horses of the caravan also drew out the weapons hidden in the cars. After killing the soldiers at the checkpoint, they rushed towards the city gate.
Many county soldiers originally poured out of the city, wanting to reinforce the city outside and at the same time carry away the carriage inside the city gate so that the city gate could be closed.
But at this time, fires were burning everywhere in the city, making the county soldiers panic and confused, thinking that the enemy troops had entered the city. At the same time, dozens of heroes suddenly appeared at the gate of the city. These people cooperated with the outside and welcomed the caravan outside the city. More than a hundred people relied on the city gate to defend, which was not the result of just a few hundred county soldiers. Can be broken through.
When the distant army arrived, the county soldiers dispersed in a hurry. At this point, Dantu County successfully changed hands.
Seeing that he had captured Dantu so easily, Sun Ce was immediately overjoyed.
He swept away the sullen feeling he had suffered in Guangling and said with great enthusiasm: "Send a letter to Li Yang and ask them to rush for reinforcements. I want to capture Qu'a and capture Liu Yao alive."
"Yes, "Lord!"
The generals around him responded in unison, and then led their troops to clear the city.
Sun Ce went to meet the heroes inside.
These heroes were all from Dantu County. They had gone to Li Yang to defect to him before. Because they were from Dantu, they were specially selected by Sun Ce, comforted them with kind words, and sent them back again.
This time, they achieved great success. They suddenly launched an attack in the city, set the houses on fire, and caused turmoil. Then they cooperated with Sun Ce's army to seize the city gate.
Sun Ce invited them in front of them and rewarded them heavily on the spot.
The hero at the head was named Sun Liang, and he was Sun Ce's distant relative. When he saw Sun Ce, he bowed his head and bowed.
Sun Ce stepped forward and helped him up: "A strong man dared to take extraordinary risks and opened the way for our army to seize the door. He has achieved special honors and his merits cannot be rewarded without special rewards. I would like to worship you as the military commander of Qu. Today All the heroes who have done the righteous deeds have been incorporated into the army, and they are still your subordinates. You can appoint officials according to their merits, and the policies will be correct."
Sun Liang was overjoyed and hurriedly kowtowed to Sun Ce: "Thank you, general. ! The general's kindness will never be forgotten, and he will die for the general! ”
Sun Liang was just a son of a good family. Although he had a small fortune, he had no way to advance.
In the past, Sun Jian was his idol, so when Sun Ce raised the banner of the Sun family in Liyang, he abandoned his family and business and ran to Liyang with his cronies to join Sun Ce.
When Sun Ce comforted and persuaded him to return, although he followed Sun Ce's advice, he still felt a little awkward. Especially after returning, Sun Liang had to hold back when faced with friendly or malicious inquiries from his fellow villagers and neighbors.
But everything was reported at this moment.
General Sun actually named himself Qu Junhou. This is a mid-level officer.
Sun Liang's best hope is to become a village commander. After all, for him, this is already a three-level promotion. If he had stayed in Liyang and not returned to his alchemy disciples, even if he had some courage and brought along several close followers, he would have only become a corps commander at most.
Not to mention that General Sun also gave himself the right to report his meritorious service. He could arrange official positions for several of his younger brothers. When they entered the army, he did not have to worry about being ignored by his subordinates.
It’s really worth it to come back!
After Sun Ce appeased Sun Liang and others, he entered Dantu.
All the houses in the city that were just set on fire have been put out, and the people have hid in their houses and dared not come out.
Sun Ce had a relaxed look on his face and told the secretary beside him: "Quickly write a notice to calm the people and inform the people that my Sun family is back and will do nothing with the people, so that the people don't have to worry and can go about their business."
Sun Ce crossed the river on a moonlit night and captured Dan Tu, which was like a bomb that once again caused a huge whirlpool in Jiangdong, which had just calmed down.
Liu Yao, who was in Qu'a, was shocked. He could hardly believe the report of the scout cavalry. He sent out several waves of cavalry in succession, but the news they came back was the same.
Dantu has fallen, and it is Sun Ce’s banner that is flying on the city.
“How is this possible?”
Liu Yao really lost his temper this time. Although he knew rationally that these things were true, he could not emotionally convince himself to accept them.
Why did he let Sun Ce's son enter Jiangdong when he was clearly on guard against everything?
What’s worse is that Dantu is less than twenty miles away from Qu’a, even closer than Jiangdu to Guangling.
As soon as he received the news, Qu'a immediately closed the city gates and enforced martial law throughout the entire process. At the same time, Xue Li and Zuo Rong, who were riding on Moling, and Niuzhu's defense line, asked them to quickly mobilize their elite troops to come back and block Sun Ce first. .
Kequ'a currently only has 2,000 people, so it's okay to cooperate with the young men in the city to defend the city. If they go out to fight in the city, it would be better to surrender directly to Sun Ce.
"Ming Gong, Qu'a is no longer a comprehensive place and we cannot stay for a long time."
Xu Shao was recovering from illness. He was shocked to hear the change and had to get up to attend the court meeting. He had originally discussed it with Liu Yao and planned to Go to Xuzhou and talk to Liu Xuande to see if we can become allies.
Only because of physical inconvenience, it was difficult to set off. Secondly, I heard that Liu Bei was not in Tancheng, so I delayed him. Before I could set off, I caught up and was attacked by Sun Ce.
After he learned that Sun Ce had captured Dantu and had no less than 3,000 troops, he immediately urged Liu Yao to leave the city or leave one general behind. In short, Liu Yao had to leave as soon as possible.
Otherwise, it would be terrible if Sun Ce surrounded Qu'a.
Xu Shao didn't think that a mere two thousand county soldiers could withstand Sun Ce's wolf-like and tiger-like Sun Jian tribe.
If Sun Ce dared to attack Qu'a regardless of the cost, then Liu Yao would only be captured or commit suicide.
Although escaping Qu'a will shake up the entire Wu County and have a bad impact, there is always hope of a comeback.
For the current plan, we can only choose the lesser of two evils.
Although Liu Yao lost his composure, he had a strong character. Even if the person who persuaded him was Xu Shao, he was still unwilling to retreat.
What's the difference between leaving Qu'a at this time and being a bereaved dog?
Xu Shao looked at Sun Shao and others with his eyes.
The latter all reacted, swarmed up, and started admonishing.
Sun Shao was the first to express his support for Xu Shao: "Ming Gong, a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. Shao thinks that what Xu Gong said is true, and for the current plan, we should take the long term."
Teng Dan Zhengse advised: "That's right, Mr. Ming. Even for the sake of the scholars and people in the six counties of Jiangdong, you should leave Qu'a. Sun Bofu is ambitious and is the son of Sun Wentai. The matters discussed by Wang Tongyao of Jingzhou and Zhang Zi of Nanyang in the past cannot be Don’t be careful.”
As soon as Teng Dan said these words, everyone present remembered the glorious achievements of the butcher Sun Wentai.
Whether it is Wang Rui, Wang Tongyao or Zhang Ziyi, which one is not a famous person in the world?
But didn’t the butcher just chop it off without any hesitation?
Sun Bofu, a little beast who was only twenty years old, had already forced the head of the Lu family, Lu Kang, a famous Jiangdong scholar, to death in Lujiang. He looked like a Sun Jian alive. Who dares to bet that he would not dare to kill Liu Yao? ?
Even if he didn't want to kill Liu Yao, Yuan Shu behind him had long wanted to kill Liu Yao.
"Ming Gong, we should head west quickly. Zuo Rong and Xue Li are not harmonious with each other. Without Ming Gong to mediate, how can we assemble a large army to counterattack Dan Tu and drive Sun Ce into the sea?"
Teng Zhou even used the overall situation to persuade.
Liu Yao was actually very panicked at this time. Being strong is strong, who would not hesitate to die?
He looked up to the sky and sighed: "In that case, I can only go west temporarily, but who should guard this song?"
Everyone present avoided Liu Yao one by one. sight.
Liu Yao himself really wanted the virtuous people present to come forward and volunteer to guard Qu'a until he returned with reinforcements.
But the reason why the virtuous people present are virtuous is that they are obviously self-aware, and if you Liu Yao don’t want to die, do we just want to die?
Of course we have to go together.
Seeing that no one was willing to stand up, Liu Yao sighed in his heart, but he had no intention of blaming him, he was just a little worried and couldn't just let Qu A go.
At the critical moment, Xu Shao rescued Liu Yao: "Qu Asima Zhao Fan is quite brave and can be used for a long time. It is better to leave him to defend the city."
Liu Yao thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.
At noon that day, Liu Yao left Qu'a from the west gate with 500 personal guards, walked through Jurong, rushed to Moling, and met Xue Li.
At the same time, Sima Zhao Fan, the remaining army commander, led 2,500 county soldiers to guard the city.
Sun Ce didn't know how many troops there were in Qu'a at this time, so he didn't dare to act rashly.
Taking down Dantu is a sure win, so we just send out scouts to investigate the surrounding situation.
If Sun Ce knew that there were only 3,000 people in Qu'a City including Liu Yao's tribe, he would probably directly besiege the city and block Liu Yao in Qu'a City.
After Liu Yao ran away, the news continued to ferment and began to spread in all directions.
Guangling County has also received the news.
When Liu Feng heard that Sun Ce actually crossed the Yangtze River secretly and attacked Dantu, he immediately realized that there must be something wrong with Jiangdu. He quickly sent out reconnaissance cavalry to Jiangdu for investigation.
At the same time, the generals gathered to hold a meeting to discuss the matter.
(End of this chapter)