The Xiahou brothers finally met each other. Xiahou Yuan complained a little, "Why did you shoot arrows at us?"
Xiahou Dun explained awkwardly, "When I heard this movement, I thought it was Jingchu's cavalry. By the way, why do you only have one horse? Where are the others?"
Xiahou Yuan smiled bitterly and explained what had just happened to Xiahou Dun and Xun You.
"I led the troops to charge towards Liu Jun's left wing. Zihe went to the right wing. He should be here in a moment."
Xun You then smiled bitterly and said, "What a Pang Tong, but he can still have such a method."
"Sir, can we counterattack and recapture the horses?"
Seeing Xiahou Dun's ardent expectations, Xun You really couldn't bear to defeat him.
"I'm afraid Liu Jun is already well prepared. We'd better wait for Cao Chun and then withdraw our troops."
Xiahou Dun said angrily, "Oh! Those are more than 20,000 Youzhou horses!"
At dawn, Pang Tong returned to Liu Jun's camp, and with him came more than 24,000 war horses!
Sitting down in front of Shuai An, he asked, "How's it going?"
Zhou Yu smiled and replied, "Our army suffered 15,000 casualties, and Cao's army also left 10,000 corpses. However, Huo Jun has occupied Hefei, and Huainan is ours!"
Pang Tong frowned, "Cao's army, who was eager to return, was still very powerful. Our army was fully prepared but still suffered such casualties. Fortunately, the casualties of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry made up the difference."
Seeing this, Zhou Yu asked, "What was the result of your victory?"
"Humph." Pang Tong chuckled with some pride, "The tiger and leopard cavalry suffered more than 4,000 casualties, and our army captured more than 24,000 war horses!"
"Twenty-four thousand horses? Then our army can have another 20,000 cavalry?"
"How did the military advisor do it?"
"This, this is simply unbelievable."
Hearing the surprise of the generals, Pang Tong, who was sitting in front of the commander's desk, smiled brighter and brighter. The wrinkles on his face were squeezed together!
After all the generals laughed, Zhou Yu asked aloud, "Commander, what should we do next?"
Pang Tong joked, "Zhou Gongjin, Zhou Gongjin, you are testing me again. Listen to your orders!"
The generals suddenly became serious and acted as if they were listening carefully.
"Huo Jun, I will give you 20,000 people, and you can garrison Lujiang!"
"I will obey your orders!"
"The rest of you will follow me to Shouchun!"
"promise!"
On April 13, Xiahou Dun withdrew his troops from Hefei, and Liu Jun captured Hefei and completely occupied Huainan!
On April 20th, Liu Cong received the good news!
"Hahaha! Okay, great, Pang Tong did a great job. Not only did he capture Huainan, he also captured more than 24,000 horses from the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry! I was able to form a cavalry again!"
Liu Cong, who was sitting on the main seat, was extremely happy. He smiled and handed the good news in his hand to Xing Daorong, "You all should take a look."
After everyone read the news, Jiang Wan cupped his hands and said, "Congratulations, my lord, you can conquer Qingxu directly after taking Huainan!"
Liu Cong nodded, "Yes, with Huainan, there is room for both advance and retreat. Take a look, how will the merits of this battle be judged?"
Everyone immediately started talking. After the discussion, Kuai Yue said, "My lord, the first achievements in this battle should be made by Zhou Yu, Lu Su and others."
Jiang Wan continued, "My lord, what the Minister of Hubu said is right. Zhou Yu first went to Langya, then defeated Zang Ba, and then led more than 100,000 people to go south. Then he conquered Shouchun and settled the battle in Huainan. Zhou Yu was the first to do it.
without."
"Yes." Liu Cong nodded and said, "Pass on the solitary order and grant Zhou Yu the title of General Pingdong. In the name of the Emperor, I grant Zhou Yu the title of Tinghou of Shu County!"
Zhou Yu was a native of Shu County, Lujiang, so it was most appropriate for him to be named Tinghou of Shu County.
"Huainan was changed to Yangzhou, with Shouchun as the administrative seat, and Lu Su as the governor of Yangzhou! Huo Jun was appointed to guard Lujiang. The remaining appointments will be arranged later."
"Jia Pangtong is the Marquis of Wu'an, and the others will each have their rewards."
"My lord is wise!"
After talking about the rewards, it’s time to talk about the next arrangements. "I think Cao Cao will definitely lead his troops south in an attempt to recapture Huainan. Therefore, Huainan must be heavily defended. How is the recruitment of the 100,000 new soldiers in Jiangdong?"
Li Hui, the Minister of War, came out and replied, "My lord, the recruitment has been completed a long time ago. Our army's policy towards soldiers is enough to attract people to join the army."
"Okay, hand over these 100,000 troops to Pang Tong immediately, so that Cao Cao will have no hope of retaking Huainan!"
Shangshu ordered Jiang Wan to ask again, "My lord, what are the arrangements for Zhang Liao and Li Dian?"
Liu Cong thought for a moment and said, "Let's take it back to Xiangyang first."
These two men were Cao's veteran generals and would never surrender. Liu Cong thought of using them and Cao Cao in exchange for some benefits.
In Liu Cong's view, no matter how powerful Zhang Liao and Li Dian are, they are just two generals. In war, the competition is about comprehensive national strength!
"Your Majesty, Cai Jing would like to see you."
"Cai Jing?" Why did Liu Biao's former and current housekeepers suddenly come to see him?
"Call in."
"promise."
"My Lord!" Cai Jing fell to his knees as soon as he came in, "My Lord, he passed away!"
Liu Cong sat there stunned for a moment, then his eyes widened and his pupils dilated sharply!
"I saw my father a few days ago. His body didn't look strange. Why today, today..."
Tears blurred Liu Cong's eyes, and his hand pointing at Cai Jing began to tremble.
"I want to imitate King Zhuang of Chu!"
"If I take you as my heir, how will you treat your elder brother a hundred years from now?"
"Cong'er, starting from today, Jingzhou is yours!"
"Remember, you are the Marquis of Chu now!"
…
Thinking of Liu Biao's support for him and Liu Biao's sincere teachings to him, Liu Cong could no longer suppress his tears and cried, "Father, father... the child is unfilial... father!"
The veterans of Liu Biao's era, such as Kuai Yue, were also wiping tears secretly. To be fair, Liu Biao was really good to them.
Jiang Wan walked up to Liu Cong in a few steps and said, "My lord, I express my condolences. The top priority is to deal with my old lord's funeral affairs as soon as possible."
Liu Cong wiped his tears and said, "Gu Fang Cun is in chaos, Gong Yan is in charge here."
"promise."
Liu Cong almost didn't have the strength to walk. He had never experienced father's love in his previous life. In this life, it was Liu Biao's selfless support that allowed him to secure his position as the Lord of Jingchu.
Sun Shangxiang was still taking care of her baby in the backyard. Seeing Liu Cong's appearance, she handed little Liu Chang in her arms to Ping'er and hurried over.
"Husband, what's wrong with you?"
Xing Daorong, who was supporting him on the side, also had a sad look on his face, "Madam Qi, my old master has passed away, and I am deeply saddened."
Sun Shangxiang took Liu Cong, waved his hand to Xing Daorong and said, "Go down."
"Husband!"
After all, Sun Shangxiang was a woman, and she was not strong enough to lift Liu Cong up completely. Liu Cong stumbled and fell to the ground.
"Husband, get up quickly." Sun Shangxiang knelt on the ground and dragged Liu Cong, but he couldn't move it.
Liu Cong raised his head and looked at Sun Shangxiang, "Xiangxiang, father...father..."
Sun Shangxiang also cried, and hugged Liu Cong, "Husband, you still have us, and you still have children. My father-in-law is sixty-nine years old, which can be considered a long life."
"Husband, you are the lord of Jingchu. Don't be so depressed. The deceased has passed away. You should continue to forge ahead while you are still alive."
Liu Cong suddenly thought of something, raised his head and exclaimed, "Mother!"