Chapter 153: The Sun-Liu coalition forces conquered Xiangfan and continued to march north! The sky of the Central Plains collapsed!
Chapter 153: The Sun-Liu coalition forces conquer Xiangfan and continue to march north! The sky of the Central Plains has collapsed!
The land of Xiangfan was actually an important town where Cao Mengde stabilized the north and the Central Plains.

From Xiangfan, you can go up the Han River to Hanzhong, and go north up the Bai River to Nanyang, which leads to the Central Plains. The saying that Xiangfan is the gateway to the Central Plains is by no means an exaggeration.

But now,
The Cao army stationed in Fancheng was heading towards the Jingzhou warships with their heads down and empty hands...

"Don't crowd, don't crowd!"

"Be quiet, all of you! Get on board one by one!"

"If you dare to be restless again, you will all get back into the water and soak!"

"The ship ahead is full of prisoners. Send the big ships behind to come over, quickly..."

Amid the shouts of the soldiers from southern Jing, the captives from Fancheng were loaded onto boat after boat.

Xiangyang was not so bad, after all, it was located at high altitude and was not flooded, and there was plenty of space to accommodate Cao's prisoners of war.

But the entire city of Fancheng was submerged in water. In such a large and fortified city, only a circle of walls were left where people could stand. The rest of the city had no place to stand at all.

The Jingzhou navy could only send large ships to take the captives from Fancheng to Xiangyang for resettlement.

call! ~
A strong wind blew up from the Han River.

Mighty and powerful,

The wind blows harder and harder.

Whistling past both banks of the Han River...

On the top of the city walls of Fancheng and Xiangyang, two big flags fell down from the city walls, then struggled in the strong wind and were blown into the Han River, flowing eastward along the surging river.

Wow! ~
Two large banners with the word "Liu" on them slowly rose from the city walls of Xiangyang and Fancheng respectively, flying freely, announcing to both sides of the Han River that the land of Xiangfan had a new master.

The surface of Han River,

On a large ship loaded with soldiers from Jingzhou, Cao Ren looked at the large banners with the word "Liu" rising almost simultaneously on both banks of the north and south banks, his eyes welling up with tears.

From today on, this important city of Xiangfan, the gateway to the Central Plains, will belong to Liu Zilie.

"The loss of Xiangfan has opened the door to the Central Plains. I, I... I have really failed the Prime Minister!" Cao Ren felt a pang in his heart and he covered his face and cried.

Prime Minister Cao had so many trusted generals under his command, but he chose me to garrison Xiangyang. This showed how much trust I had in him.

But how long has it been?
Fancheng was lost, Xiangyang was lost, and he even became Liu Zilie's prisoner for the third time. How would Cao Zixiao face Prime Minister Cao again in the future?

Behind Cao Ren, Yu Jin, Man Chong, and Lu Chang all bowed their heads in silence...

Xiangfan was a big city, with an army of 60,000 and four generals leading the troops, but they just defended the city and did not even go out of the city to fight in the field.

But even so, Xiangfan was still lost.

Liu Zilie only fought one battle from beginning to end, and he captured Xiangyang and Fancheng with great ease!
shame!

How could this be a shame for Cao Zixiao alone? This was a shame for all the soldiers in Xiangyang!

Liu Zilie...

These three words were like a red-hot iron, deeply engraved in the hearts of these people.

Thinking about the Battle of Xiangfan from beginning to end,
Thinking of Liu Wu's brilliant plan to use the power of heaven and earth to flood Fancheng,
Yu Jin could only sigh: "This man really has unpredictable abilities..."

In the heart of Han River,

On the commander's ship, the "Liu" battle flag was flying high.

Wei Yan was reporting the situation in Xiangfan to Liu Wu: "Now Xiangyang and Fancheng are completely controlled by our army..."

"The flood in Fancheng has not yet receded. All the prisoners of Fancheng have been transferred to Xiangyang and separated from the soldiers in Xiangyang for custody. A total of 50,000 prisoners have been captured!"

"There are countless officers and captains captured. Cao Ren, Yu Jin, Man Chong, and Lu Chang are all under heavy guard, so there is absolutely no danger of them getting lost."

Fifty thousand soldiers!

Capture Cao Ren, Yu Jin, Man Chong, and Lu Chang alive!
Gulp! ~
Mr. Fengchu, who was listening in, took a big gulp of wine and suppressed his excitement: "Zilie, we caught a lot of big fish in Xiangfan!"

"These four generals are all capable generals under Cao Cao, and each of them is capable of defending a region."

"Now that I've been captured by you, Zilie, I'm afraid that when Prime Minister Cao finds out, hehe..."

Pang Tong was gloating: "He's going to have a headache again!"

Liu Wu: "What worries Cao Mengde is Cao Mengde’s own headache..."

"The most important thing right now is to control these tens of thousands of prisoners. I'll trouble you with this matter, teacher."

Feng Chu said solemnly: "Don't worry, Zilie."

Liu Wu nodded and slowly turned towards the lower reaches of the Han River: "Although Xiangfan has been pacified, we have not yet eliminated all the traces left by Cao Mengde..."

……

"kill!"

"Crossbowmen! Release! Release!!"

"Damn it, do you think that just having a few ships makes you a navy? What a joke!"

"Brothers, let's show these landlubbers what a navy is!"

Somewhere over thirty miles away from Fancheng, in the vast ocean, the sound of shouting and killing could be heard.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh! ~
A dense rain of arrows was fired from the warships of Jingzhou towards the warships of Cao’s army on the opposite side.

"what!"

On the warships of Cao's army, large numbers of soldiers fell like stubble of weeds.

Sticky, boiling blood flowed out from the wound where the eagle feather arrow had pierced, spreading all over the deck.

From the pile of corpses that were getting colder and colder, a few feeble wails could be heard occasionally, but they were soon drowned out by even louder shouts and scoldings...

"Fight back! Fight back!"

"Shoot it back! Shoot it back now!!"

"Are you all a bunch of crossbowmen just wooden stakes?!"

The archers of Cao's army wanted to fight back, but the enemy's warships were too flexible.

Wow! ~
As the waves surged, the warship from Jingzhou on the other side swung slightly to one side with an agility that was not in line with its size...

Tuk-tuk-tuk! ~
Most of Cao's arrows hit the side of the ship, and the rest all shot into the water. The Jingnan soldiers on the ship almost missed any of their arrows!
"I dodged it, and I dodged it again!"

"These pirates are so damn slippery!"

There was a lot of cursing on Cao's warships, and this was not the first time.

The Jingzhou navy on the opposite side was too flexible. Not only did they attack from different distances, but they were also always able to turn their bows in a fraction of a second, causing the attacks of Cao's warships to fail time and time again.

These soldiers from southern Jing don't look like they are fighting on the water. Even if they were fighting on land, they probably wouldn't be so steady and agile!
Several large ships from Jingzhou slammed into Cao's warships.

Boom! ~
The Jingzhou warship sank with great force, and the collision immediately caused the Cao army warships to shake, and the Cao army soldiers on the ships fell to the deck.

The soldiers in southern Jing walked as if on flat ground, with arrows raining down from their hands non-stop!

Whoosh whoosh whoosh! ~
A wave of arrows directly suppressed the opponent, forcing him to lie on the deck, not daring to stand up or raise his head.

"kill!"

"These bastards are useless!"

The soldiers in southern Jing shouted and screamed, and jumped onto Cao's warships.

Poof! ~
Ding ding...Puff! ~
"Kill! Kill back!"

"Get up, get up quickly... ugh!"

"Get them off the boat!"

The sharp blade flashed with cold light and pierced into the throat and abdomen of Cao's army.

The cold blade swept past, and several heads of Cao's army rolled neatly on the ground.

Spears and halberds were raised together, like a dense forest filled with murderous intent, pressing towards the place where Cao's soldiers were most densely packed on the ship!
The Cao army on these warships still wanted to resist, but the enemy had too much experience in naval warfare.

The collision just now knocked them to the ground, and before most of them could get up, the swords of the Jingzhou navy had already slashed at them.

Cao's army was unable to organize an effective counterattack and could only watch helplessly as the Jingzhou navy killed and rampaged on their own ships.

In just a moment, the "Cao" flags on those warships were torn off, and they turned around and joined the team attacking Cao's warships.

This scene was witnessed by Xu Huang himself.

His expression was extremely ugly, and he waved his sword in anger: "Go ahead! Go ahead!"

"Any ship that dares to retreat will be killed!"

"cut!"

Xu Huang screamed loudly and gnashed his teeth...

After the Battle of Xiling, all the Cao army generals who had experienced that battle spread the news of Liu Wu's strength.

When it comes to Liu Zilie, all the generals of Cao's army are in awe and fear of him.

Only the five best generals who had not participated in the Battle of Xiling were eager to fight against Liu Zilie.

Xu Huang was no exception. He thought he would be able to have a thorough fight with Liu Wu this time, but he didn't expect that he couldn't even deal with one of Liu Wu's generals?
What qualifications does he have to fight Liu Zilie?
"General, if we continue to fight like this, we will lose too much!" The deputy general ran over in a hurry: "The ships of the Jingzhou navy are too big, and the navy is experienced in combat. They can move freely on the water."

"Our people are no match for the Jingzhou navy. The last Battle of Red Cliff was..."

Xu Huang's face turned pale with anger: "Shut up!"

"Although Gan Xingba's navy is large, I can clearly see that the soldiers on board are few and far between, only a few thousand..."

"This beast only relies on the navy, what is there to fear?"

"If you dare to disrupt our army's morale again, you will be killed!"

Boom, boom, boom! ~
The sound of war drums rumbled loudly, and Cao's warships tried their best to move forward.

But every time they moved forward, the enemy's warships would always surround them from all directions, forcing Cao's army to retreat.

Even as time went on, Cao's warships retreated faster and faster.

As I watched, I felt a little exhausted!

But Xu Huang was already blood-thirsty: "Push forward! Push forward again!"

"Don't retreat! Attack again! Attack again!!"

Cao's army's strength is not in the water, so if they continue fighting like this, they will inevitably suffer heavy losses.

The deputy general standing by was so anxious that sweat was dripping from his forehead, but he didn't dare to speak. General Xu Huang had made it clear that if he dared to speak again, he would lose his head!
But if we continue to waste time like this...

The deputy general turned his head impatiently, and suddenly a large shadow appeared in his sight.

He was stunned. That was...

"General! Liu, Liu Zilie is coming! That's Liu Zilie's main navy!" The deputy general shouted in panic, startling Xu Huang so much that he turned around suddenly. He looked around,
In the distance, dark shadows were overwhelming and rushing towards Cao’s ships!
Warship!

They're all warships!

The densely packed masts block out the sky.

There were ships stretching for thousands of miles, with no end in sight. Leading the ship was a gigantic building ship, rising and falling like a giant beast in the river, looking down on all directions.

The big flag with the word "Liu" on it fluttered in the strong wind, overlooking both sides of the Han River!

The deputy general swallowed hard and said, "Liu, Liu Wu! Liu Wu is the only one in the Jingzhou navy who dares to use the "Liu" character on his banner. That must be Liu Zilie's ship..."

"Once Gan Xingba and Liu Zilie's navy attack from both sides, it will be difficult for us to escape!"

"General Gongming, retreat quickly!"

retreat?

There are only a few thousand people on the opposite side. Do I have to retreat with 20,000 people in front of Liu Zilie and lead thousands of soldiers under his command?

absurd!

Xu Huang's face was as cold as ice: "The situation of the battle in Xiangfan is unclear now. I will follow the Prime Minister's order to support Xiangfan."

"Now that my reinforcements have not yet arrived at Xiangfan City, we are retreating in panic just because we encounter a few thousand enemy troops? Wouldn't this make people all over the world laugh at us?"

"I have delayed the important event in Xiangfan. How can I explain this to the Prime Minister?"

The deputy general opened his mouth and said: "But this Liu Zilie navy..."

Xu Huang interrupted the deputy general and said, "No problem! I think Xiangyang and Fancheng are still holding on, and there are only a few thousand enemy troops ahead."

"Before Liu Zilie's army arrives, we will break through Gan Xingba's thousands of troops and head straight to Xiangfan. Then we will join forces with Cao Ren, Yu Jin, Lu Chang and others to form an army of 80,000. Then, haha..."

"The one who should run is Liu Zilie!"

Xu Gongming's plan was very sound, but the deputy general looked behind Xu Huang and suddenly widened his eyes: "Jiang, Jiang, it's Jiangdong..."

Koto?

Xu Huang was stunned: "What Jiangdong?"

"It's the Jiangdong Navy!" The deputy general looked extremely terrified, and finally finished his words tremblingly: "The Jiangdong Navy is coming to attack us!!"

Before he finished speaking, Xu Huang's face was already gloomy, "You are playing tricks on the commander-in-chief. Do you really think that I dare not enforce military law?"

The deputy general was almost crying. He pointed tremblingly behind Xu Huang and said, "It's the Jiangdong Navy. It's really the Jiangdong Navy!"

Xu Huang finally realized something was wrong, and he turned around again in a hurry.

In Xu Huang's sight, Gan Ning's Jingzhou Navy warships were still visible, but behind Gan Ning's warships...

Another fleet that was no less powerful than Liu Wu's main navy was marching towards the direction of Cao's warships!
call! ~
The sails are fluttering and gathering like clouds.

Wherever the navy passed, it was like a dragon creating ripples in the water, with a mighty and majestic voice!
On the huge warship rushing in the front, the two large flags with the words "Jiangdong" and "Sun" were so shocking.

It's actually the Jiangdong Navy?!

Xu Huang's heart went cold: "Sun Zhongmou, it really is Sun Zhongmou who is here."

The navy of Jingzhou and the navy of Jiangdong attacked from the front and back, and the army surrounded him. With only 20,000 soldiers, wouldn't they be wiped out?

But, how could Jiangdong join forces with Liu Wu again?

When Liu Wu attacked Jingnan before, Sun Quan wanted to stab Liu Wu in the back. How come the two families formed an alliance in the blink of an eye? This...

not good!

Hefei!!
Xu Huang shuddered suddenly, and he suddenly realized that it didn't matter why the two families formed an alliance now. What mattered was that once the two families joined forces, Hefei would definitely not be at peace.

If Liu Wu and Jiangdong leave Hefei and take Huainan, the navy of Jingzhou and Jiangdong will join forces and follow the Huai River into the Central Plains...

Hefei is in danger!

Xuchang is in danger!!
"Withdraw! Withdraw quickly!" Xu Huang's face turned pale. The matter of Xiangfan was no longer the most important thing at the moment.

He must hurry back to Xuchang and see the prime minister!
"withdraw!"

"Get out!"

On Xu Huang's ship, the messengers were waving flags frantically.

The warships that were fighting with the Jingzhou navy all breathed a sigh of relief. Naval warfare was not the Northern Army's forte. More importantly, the main force of the Jingzhou navy was about to join forces with the Jiangdong navy to encircle them:

"General Gongming has ordered the army to retreat!"

"Turn around! The warship turns around!"

"Hurry! We must evacuate before the two naval forces surround us."

"Suppress the other side first, don't let them come over!"

While Cao's warships were still frantically turning around, Xu Huang's warships had already filled up their sails and were speeding towards the shore like an arrow.

"Jiangdong Navy", on a ship with a battle flag bearing the character "Sun".

Sun Quan looked at the rapidly retreating warships of Xu Huang and blurted out: "Oh no! Xu Gongming is trying to escape!"

This ruler of Jiangdong had just captured Man Chong alive and tricked Xiangyang City into opening. He was thinking about capturing another general under Cao Cao so that Liu Wu could send him back to Jiangdong with more troops...

But who would have thought that Xu Huang, one of the five best generals, would actually flee without fighting?
"It doesn't matter..." Liu Wu shook his head. He did not take the boat with the big banner with the character "Liu" on it. Instead, he took the same boat with Sun Zhongmou: "It doesn't matter if Xu Huang escapes. It's enough to leave his 20,000 soldiers behind."

Although Liu Wu has no shortage of soldiers at the moment, he still has too few veteran soldiers who are good at fighting. Naturally, the more veteran soldiers like those under Cao Ren, Yu Jin and Xu Huang, the better.

Wow! ~
bang~
The sound of boats echoed endlessly on the Han River, and finally reached the shore.

"Quick! Get ashore!"

More than a hundred guards hurriedly escorted Xu Huang to shore. Just as they were about to run forward, the deputy general grabbed Xu Huang's arm and said, "General, our 20,000 soldiers..."

What's wrong with 20,000 soldiers?
Xu Huang looked back in shock, his face instantly turning grim.

Two mighty naval forces, one in front and one behind, had surrounded the remaining boats and 20,000 soldiers of Cao's army on the river, and the 20,000 Cao's troops could no longer get out.

In addition to anger, Xu Huang actually felt an indescribable sense of relief. Fortunately, he ran fast, otherwise, he might have been trapped inside.

The deputy general was at a loss: "General Gongming, we should go back to rescue now..."

"Stupid!" Xu Huang yelled at the deputy general, "We only have a boat in front of us, what can we do? Are we going to send ourselves back to be their captives?!"

"What's more important is that the [Jiangdong Navy] and the [Jingzhou Navy] have joined forces! With these two navies joining forces, let alone 20,000 soldiers, even if we have another 100,000 or 200,000 soldiers, we are no match for them on this water!"

The deputy general gritted his teeth and said, "Do we really want to abandon these 20,000 soldiers and return to see the Prime Minister empty-handed?"

Leaving behind 20,000 soldiers, he returned to see the Prime Minister empty-handed...

Xu Huang hesitated.

Xiangfan was not rescued and the 20,000 soldiers in Wancheng were also lost. How could he face the prime minister?

Moreover,

All the generals in Cao's camp said that Liu Zilie was cunning. They just saw that although Gan Xingba had a large number of ships, there were only a few thousand people. How could they be sure that the two fleets were not bluffing?

If he was really bluffing, wouldn't it be a joke if I ran away now?

Xu Huang's footsteps slowly stopped, and he subconsciously turned his head to look...

At this moment,

The river was surging, and several large ships were surrounding the shore.

Xu Huang saw it clearly. On the leading ship, a man was standing high on the deck.

The man with blue eyes, purple beard and a strange appearance was none other than Sun Quan, Marquis of Wu from Jiangdong.

It is indeed Sun Zhongmou, this must be the Jiangdong Navy!

"Let's go!" The last bit of doubt in Xu Huang's heart completely disappeared, and he ran forward with his personal guards without hesitation.

If Sun Zhongmou comes, Liu Wu must be there too.

All the generals in Cao's camp were in awe of him, but they had no idea how impressive he really was.

Xu Huang couldn't help but look back again.
I saw another person standing beside Sun Quan.

The man was wearing a cloak, he was very young, his eyes were bright and captivating, and he looked very heroic!

Apart from Liu Zilie, who else could be the young man who is qualified to stand on equal footing with the Marquis of Wu in Jiangdong?

This man captured the Prime Minister alive.

Cao Zixiao was captured twice.
Seize Jiangbei!
Occupy Jingnan!
He maneuvered in all directions and joined forces with Jiangdong...

Even though Xu Huang was in a hostile relationship with Liu Wu, he couldn't help but say to himself: "As expected of Liu Zilie, he is a real hero!"

Despite his admiration, Xu Huang's pace became faster and faster.

Not far ahead, there were horses that Cao's army had prepared before boarding the ship.

Xu Huang jumped onto his horse.

Xilulu! ~
The horses turned around on the spot, and Xu Huang inadvertently looked towards the bow for the third time. Just one glance...

boom! ~
In an instant, Xu Huang was struck by lightning and became completely dumbfounded.

Beside Sun Quan and Liu Wu, there were again a few faces that he was very familiar with.

Lu Chang!

Full of favor!

The ban!

Cao Ren!!
That’s right, it was Cao Ren and Cao Zixiao in person!

After Liu Wu and others were reorganized in Xiangyang, they led all the navy to support Gan Ning. When passing by Fancheng, Liu Wu did not see the lonely figure and thought that Cao Zixiao had committed suicide.

Just send someone to investigate.

It turned out that I fainted from hunger...

Xu Huang was completely dumbfounded at this moment.
All the main generals of Xiangfan were standing there.

Xiangfan, Xiangfan is finished?!

Xiangfan was guarded by 60,000 soldiers and four generals. It was over just like that? ! !
Now that Xiangfan has been broken, Hefei is in danger!
Central Plains, Xuchang...

Xu Huang's heart was broken. He didn't dare to think any further: "Sun and Liu joined forces, Xiangfan fell! Yu Jin, Cao Ren and other generals were captured..."

"The sky is falling!"

"Quick, quick! Return to Xuchang!"

(End of this chapter)