Liu Xiu is undoubtedly a person who takes the overall situation into consideration. He knows that with the strength of his family, he is far from Qin Hao's opponent, so he formed the Southern Han Alliance with Liu Ji and willingly succumbed to Liu Ji.
The Southern Han Alliance is the largest anti-Qin force in the world today, and as the leader, Liu Ji is naturally the biggest leader. However, this leader is obviously not easy to do. After all, he must always be on the front line of the fight against Qin.
It was precisely because Liu Jiding was in front to attract Qin Hao's firepower that Liu Xiu could hide behind and take advantage of the opportunity, and Jiangxia was one of the benefits that Liu Xiu reaped.
Liu Xiu, who had tasted the benefits, wanted to continue to take advantage of the situation, but Liu Ji gave up.
As members of the Nanhan Alliance, those who contributed did not reap the benefits, but those who paddled did. Why are you, Liu Xiu, so showy?
Therefore, not long after Sun Jian withdrew his troops, Liu Ji sent an envoy to urge Liu Xiu to march to the north of Jing.
Liu Xiu didn't pay attention to it at the time, but after occupying Jiangxia, he realized after Deng Yu's reminder that the Southern Han Alliance had faced its greatest crisis due to uneven divisions.
After the Southern Han Alliance was established, hundreds of thousands of troops attacked Qin in five directions. Their momentum shocked the world, but so far, they have not achieved great results along the way.
The Shu Kingdom was blocked by Yiling and could not advance even an inch. The Tang Kingdom only occupied half of Wuxiang County and was blocked by Yue Fei. The three families of Yang, Ma and Han suffered heavy casualties in Hetao.
At present, among the entire Southern Han Alliance, only the Chu State, which occupied Jiangxia, can be considered to have truly benefited from this dispatch of troops, and it can be said to be the leader.
The original intention of the establishment of the Southern Han Alliance was to resist Qin. However, the Chu State did not contribute much to resisting Qin, but took advantage of the opportunity to gain so much. Naturally, other members would feel unbalanced.
At this thought, Liu Xiu realized that if he did not contribute, the attack on Qin might end in vain, and the alliance might even fall apart.
Therefore, even if it was to maintain the anti-Qin alliance, Liu Xiu had to give up Wu's attack on Qin, otherwise once the anti-Qin alliance split and Shu retreated, no one would be in front to help him block Qin Hao.
It has to be said that Liu Xiu's calculation was indeed brilliant. At least he got real benefits. As the leader of the Southern Han Alliance, Liu Ji also gained huge reputation for forming the alliance, but these were all invisible benefits.
On the other hand, the benefits of sex were not much gained, and Liu Xiu took advantage of them severely.
Under Liu Xiu's personal command, 50,000 Chu troops marched parallel to Nanjun via waterways. They were soon informed by Han Shizhong, the navy general on the border.
"Send the news of the Chu army's invasion quickly and let the county magistrates prepare to defend."
After saying this, Han Shizhong raised his head, his eyes full of determination, and said in a deep voice: "Although I have only five thousand naval troops under my command, it may not be possible to completely block the Chu army, but I can still do it by delaying it for ten days and a half.
Send an order to the whole army to defend the water stronghold. We are about to have another fight with Liu Xiu."
"promise."
At the junction of Jiangxia and Nanjun, Qin general Han Shizhong defended the water village with 5,000 naval troops and launched a fierce battle with Liu Xiu's 50,000 Chu troops.
After half a month of fierce fighting with the Chu army, the Qin army's water stronghold was finally breached by the Chu army. General Su Can was killed by Chu general Chong Heihu. The navy commander Han Shizhong led two thousand remaining troops to flee to Jiangling.
After the Chu army successfully ascended the road in Jingbei, they divided their troops into three groups to capture the counties. They defeated four counties in less than ten days. According to this posture, it would probably take less than half a month for the three armies to meet at the foot of Jiangling City.
Yiling, inside the Qin army camp.
When they learned that Nanjun was attacked by Liu Xiu, the generals of the Qin army were shocked.
After the Sun and Huang families joined forces, they had the upper hand against Chu, so Qin Qiong transferred the troops from the east to the west to fight against the Shu Han.
But neither Qin Qiong nor Lin Xiangru expected that the Japanese pirate rebellion and Shanyue's rebellion would benefit Liu Xiu, and he would eventually win without a fight and easily occupy Jiangxia.
Liu Xiu's victory this time was inexplicable, and it was too sudden. Qin Qiong had no time to prepare. By the time he reacted, Jiangxia had already been occupied by Liu Xiu.
After Liu Xiu occupied Jiangxia, he was not done yet. He then set his sights on Qin's Nanjun. However, at this time, Nanjun's military strength was very empty. It was undoubtedly very difficult to withstand the offensive of 50,000 Chu troops.
"Grand Governor, 50,000 Chu troops are attacking, and Nanjun is in danger."
Lin Xiangru's eyes were full of solemnity, and he said in a deep voice: "Once Jiangling falls, our army's food route will be cut off, and it will be attacked by Chu and Shu from both sides. I'm afraid there will be a danger of the entire army being annihilated.
Grand Governor, Yiling can no longer be defended, so we should withdraw our troops quickly to preserve Jingbei."
Of course Qin Qiong knew the importance of Jiangling, but the importance of Yiling was also self-evident.
Yiling is the only dangerous place between Jing and Yi, and it is also the last defensible place. The vast plain behind Yiling is completely undefendable. Once the Shu army breaks through Yiling, the entire northern Jing will be under threat from the Shu army.
But once Jiangling fell, the Qin army would face a flanking attack, and the entire army might even be wiped out, Qin Qiong had already made a decision in his heart.
"Withdraw the troops, but we cannot withdraw immediately. If the Shu army is aware of our army's intentions, they will definitely join us in large numbers. It will be difficult to withdraw our troops by then."
Qin Qiong stood up and said in a deep voice: "Immediately send an order to the general and guard Meng Gong, asking him to defend Jiangling for a month to buy time for the governor."
"A month?"
The generals exclaimed one after another, and Yue Yun stood up and said: "Captain, the Jiangling garrison is only three thousand. Even if five thousand new soldiers are added, it is only eight thousand. How can it be possible under the attack of fifty thousand Chu troops?"
Last for a month?"
The total number of Jingzhou garrison was only 80,000, but they had to face three Southern Han armies. The strength was too tight, so before the war, Qin Hao urgently expanded the army by 100,000, of which 70,000 were given to Jingzhou.
With the addition of 70,000 new soldiers, the pressure on Jingzhou has been reduced a lot. However, the new soldiers are still new soldiers after all. They can only be used to defend the city and cannot be used in field battles, so the crisis in Jingzhou has not been resolved.
After hearing Yue Yun's words, Qin Qiong thought for a moment and said: "Don't worry, I will send a letter to the Xiangyang Governor's Office via flying pigeons, asking the Governor of Qin Zheng to send reinforcements to the generals."
In Jiangling, guards Meng Gong and Han Shizhong stood side by side on the city tower, looking at the crowds of Chu troops below the city, their faces full of solemnity.
"Report..."
At this moment, Huo Jun ran over with a serious face and reported: "General Qi, the reinforcements sent by the Governor were intercepted by the Chu army and suffered heavy casualties."
"What?"
Han Shizhong exclaimed, while Meng Gong looked bitter and smiled bitterly: "I know Liu Xiu will not let our reinforcements reach Jiangling easily."