With Sun Ce's more than 20,000 elite soldiers and strong generals, he was able to conquer an almost undefended city in one fell swoop. Sun Ce also captured more than 30,000 refugees from Jiujiang in Lujiang and stragglers after Yuan Shu's fall. So Sun Ce reorganized on the spot.
After removing the old, weak, sick and disabled, the army was suddenly expanded by more than 10,000 people.
In the first battle of Sun Ce's army, not only did he not suffer any losses, but he also gained more than 10,000 troops and horses in addition to one county. Regardless of whether these troops can fight now, in terms of scale, there is no doubt that Sun Ce's army
The son became very powerful.
Sun Ce had given up secret operations at this time. After taking Lujiang, he quickly appointed Li Shu as the prefect of Lujiang and assigned him 3,000 troops to guard Wancheng. The rest of the troops moved to Wu to prepare to capture the equally empty Shicheng and Wuhu.
Waiting for the city.
When Sun Ce's army and horses reached Shicheng, Cao's army, which was ordered to stop the war with Jiangxia, retreated to Nanchang five days later under the intervention of Zhang Jia and other generals. Twenty thousand soldiers and horses went out. When they retreated, they were chased and beaten by Huang Zu.
The remaining 8,000 people came back alive, and more than half were lost.
At this time, Deng Ai was stationed in Nanchang. Not only did he send an urgent message to Xudu, but he also ordered all troops and horses in Yangzhou to mobilize urgently and take action to move closer to Lujiang and Danyang to surround Sun Ce who had officially rebelled against Cao Zhi.
Therefore, the prefects of various counties in Yangzhou and the main generals of various ministries took active actions. Lu Su led his troops in Jiujiang to encircle Lujiang, and Zhou Cang of Liyang took the lead in sending troops to Wuhu, and together with Pu Hu of Jingxian County who arrived later, they blocked the Wuhu area.
Sun Ce's offensive momentum, Qu'a, Du Yi, and Yuan Yue were also in grief after hearing the news of Mi Heng's life and death, but Du Yi could still see the overall situation clearly and was the one who took the overall situation seriously. He immediately sent troops and did not reinforce the Danyang line.
However, in Moling, Liyang mobilized troops and advanced to the border of Wu County, pretending to attack Wu County. This frightened Zhu Zhi, the prefect of Wu County, and immediately mobilized troops to defend. Du Yi's move effectively contained those who stayed behind in Wu County and Kuaiji.
Sun Ce's troops then sent more troops to Sun Ce's front line, effectively containing the enemy. The generals of Moling's troops who had stationed heavy troops also rushed to help. When they went out to fight, Yangzhou's largest navy, under the leadership of Jiang Qin, even went up the river.
Go down and head straight towards Yuzhang.
But Liu Xun, the prefect of Lujiang who was fighting in Yuzhang at this time, was shocked when he heard that his hometown had been lost. Regardless of Deng Ai's orders and obstruction, he led his remaining troops to return to Pengze at night, hoping to go to Wancheng to retake Lujiang.
But as soon as Peng Ze came out, he encountered Sun Ben. Sun Fu ambushed and intercepted him. Liu Xun was defeated and fled to Haihun, where he asked Deng Ai for help.
Deng Ai sent Lu Jun with 5,000 naval troops to come to the rescue. Sun Ce changed his strategy at this time and marched into Haihun to join forces with Cheng Pu and others. Liu Xun and Lu Jun were defeated and fled, and wanted to return to Nanchang.
At that time, Liu Xun escaped halfway. Sun Ce also obtained more than 2,000 soldiers from Liu Xun, more than 100 warships, and the city of Shangxiao. It can be said that the victory was brilliant.
But at this time, Sun Ce could no longer stop. When he stopped, Yangzhou and Xudu's troops and horses were adjusted into position. He could only be surrounded all the way. Now he could only go all out, march eastward to Yuzhang, completely occupy the entire territory of Yuzhang, open up Lujiang, and Yuzhang.
Only the four counties of Zhang, Kuaiji and Wu can point their swords at Jiangxia, and if they retreat, they can defend Changsha and other places.
Therefore, Sun Ce left the Yangzhou soldiers and horses on all sides to resist the frontal counterattack, and personally led Zhou Yu, Lu Meng, Cheng Pu, Sun Quan, Han Dang, Huang Gai, Dong Xi, Ling Tong and other generals to take advantage of the victory to attack Pengze and approach Nanchang.
In this process, what surprised Sun Ce the most was that his greatest gain was that before attacking Haihun, his soldiers and horses received the most valuable information in the battle during the journey between Danyang and Yuzhang.
A batch of strategic materials - gunpowder, and finished black powder.
Sun Ce laughed wildly at this, and he was full of good premonitions about the future. With a weapon that could compete directly with Cao Zhi, who else could he be afraid of? So, he stepped up his attack.
At this time, Deng Ai still didn't know that the last batch of gunpowder secretly manufactured by Mi Heng in Yuzhang had been intercepted by Sun Ce, because the order to transport this batch of things to Xudu was directly issued by Cao Zhi. In order to keep it secret, the recruitment and transportation of gunpowder
Cao Zhi directly contacted Mi Heng and Deng Ai to issue orders. Cao Zhi skipped Mi Heng and issued orders to Deng Ai. He could also skip Deng Ai and directly issue orders to the people he thought were appropriate to recruit the gunpowder.
But it was this confidentiality mechanism that made the whole thing go in a bad direction and happened by coincidence. It also made Sun Ce's good luck reach its peak. Even he himself was not sure that the incense stick moved the gods.
How lucky he was.
At this time, Deng Ai, who had no control over Sun Ce's luck, had already seen Sun Ce's full intention. He put aside his impatience and immediately decided to abandon Nanchang and Yuzhang, break through Pengze, and fight with the nearest Danyang defenders.
They would make plans after meeting together. But once the decision came out, not to mention that it was difficult for Hua Xin to accept it, the local generals in Yuzhang were all dissatisfied. They had governed and guarded Yuzhang for so many years, but just handed it over to others? They said nothing.
Yes, they were all determined to fight to the end, and many people shouted that Cao Zhi of Xu Du would definitely send troops to rescue them, and that as long as they persisted, they would win.
When Deng Ai heard this, he was so angry that he whipped several generals on the spot for talking nonsense, and asked them how long it would take to send troops from the nearest Yuzhou to here? How long would it take to send troops from Xudu to here? How can you rely on the thousands of troops you have now?
, will you hold on until that day?
Deng Ai has been really exhausted recently. Cao Zhi gave him the responsibility to govern the huge Yangzhou, and he was now in such a state that he even wanted to commit suicide. He also encountered these unrealistic generals who were messing around. If he hadn't seen
At this time, when it was time to hire people, he was ready to kill a few with his sword.
Everyone was speechless at Deng Ai's question. They sent troops from the nearest Yuzhou city and rushed to Yuzhang to relieve the siege. They marched non-stop, and the urgent march would take ten days at the fastest. They could not reach Xudu in less than a month. They were like this.
Facing the powerful Sun Ce with tens of thousands of troops, it is impossible for a remnant army to persist for a month. Not to mention that behind them there is Huang Zu who is chasing after the victory. They are the ones being surrounded now. They hope that Deng Ai can temporarily deal with the predicament.
The adjusted plan to counter-encircle Sun Ce's army would take a long time for the situation to emerge, and they simply could not afford to wait.
Maybe they waited until the largest reinforcements in Yangzhou, Jiang Qin's navy, broke through the encirclement and attacked Yuzhang. They didn't even have any scraps of meat left. Moreover, they had to take Yangzhou's current state pastor, Deng Ai, to accompany them.
Sacrifice together, I believe that if no one is in charge of Yangzhou affairs, they will soon be eaten away by Sun Ce or Huang Zu like a loose sand.
Many people are calming down, thinking that they can only survive now if they abandon Yuzhang, break out of the siege and encircle the surrounding corps.
Most of the people quickly gave up their original stubborn ideas under Deng Ai's persuasion and agreed to integrate their troops and prepare to break out. Hua Xin said nothing and had no shame in facing the people of the world. He finally understood how stupid he was.
He actually brought Yuzhang into such a situation. He felt ashamed of Yuzhang's elders, Yangzhou, and even less appreciated by Cao Zhi, so he decided not to leave. He wanted to live and die with Yuzhang.
At this time, Zhuge Jin stepped forward to reassure Hua Xin, saying that their retreat this time was only to temporarily abandon Yuzhang, and they would still take back Yuzhang in the future after escaping from Sun Ce's encirclement.
Hua Xin was very moved by the young man Zhuge Jin's relief. He patted Zhuge Jin on the shoulder and said, "If I had listened to you earlier, I would not have made Yuzhang where he is today. In fact, you are more suitable to sit down than me."
Prefect of the county, Yuzhang will definitely be more prosperous in your hands!" After saying this, Hua Xin sighed. He also knew that it was meaningless to say this at this time. Whether Deng Ai and his gang could break out of the encirclement alive was a matter of two minds.
thing.
In the end, Hua Xin insisted on not leaving, and asked Deng Ai to tell Cao Zhi and Xu Du officials the whole story.
People don't want to suffer from him, being implicated by this matter, and ruining his future. He just wants to do something in the end of his life that is worthy of these subordinates who have not been with him for a long time. He is under the influence of Jiuquan, and he has a clear conscience.
In the end, Deng Ai and others had no choice but to leave in tears. Hua Xin, who was left behind, began the most painful journey of clearing the country, preparing to leave an empty city and leave Sun Ce with nothing.
Sun Ce garrisoned in Jiaoqiu and had already received the battle report from the western front that Deng Ai was leading his troops to break through. He looked at the black smoke rising from Nanchang City from a distance and soon knew what Hua Xin, who was left behind, was doing. He paid attention to Yu who was beside him.
He translated: "Hua Xin is well-known in the world, but he knows that he is no match for me. If he does not surrender early, the golden drum will shake in the future, and when the war begins, harm and aggression will be inevitable. You go to the city first and take my
Tell him what you mean. Tell him not to do Qingye's foolish behavior again. The people of Nanchang are innocent. As long as he surrenders, I will not massacre the city!"
Yu Fan was ordered to go to the city, met Hua Xin, and explained his interests. Hua Xin saw that the hard work of countless generations was about to be reduced to ashes, and it was really difficult for him to do it. Besides, Sun Ce threatened that if he insisted on clearing the country, he would massacre the city.
Hua Xin was a great Confucian, how could he watch innocent people suffer death because of his actions? So, after some ideological struggle, Hua Xin surrendered the city.
When Nanchang fell into the hands of Sun Ce, the breakout battle led by Zhang Jaw was extremely fierce. What Deng Ai and his subordinates lacked most now was time, and Cao Zhi, who received a series of sad battle reports and intelligence, was not the most
Short of time?
When Cao Zhi and his army left Xiaopei and entered Liangcheng, they received increasingly bad news, including the movements of Sun Ce's army and horses, Liu Xun's stupidity, Ni Heng's death, the war between Hua Xin and Huang Zu, and Sun Ce's overall
Plans emerge.
Letter after letter, paragraph after paragraph, every word in it touched Cao Zhi's heart. He was no longer obsessed with beauty, and directly sent people to send Du family to Xudu. But he decided not to move forward or to be in a hurry.
Then he returned to Xudu. He immediately summoned the civil servants and generals around him to reassess the situation in Yangzhou and decide his direction of travel.
At this time, Xun Yu, Jia Xu and others who also received the news also sent urgent letters. After confirming the authenticity of the news, they were already making suggestions for Cao Zhi.