Liu Biao felt a tightness in his chest, as if he had received a heavy punch.
If his wife was abducted by Yan Liang and had no choice but to be defiled by Yan Liang, Liu Biao still believed that, after all, in this troubled world, it is common for strong men to abduct wives and daughters and keep them as their own.
But his wife actually actively committed herself to the enemy, which was unprecedented.
This was a great shame for Liu Biao, even greater than losing Xiangyang.
"Is this...really true?"
Liu Biao asked again in a trembling voice, still holding on to a glimmer of hope that this was not true.
But Liu Cong said sternly: "That day when Yan Liang's husband sent his son out of the city, his mother was also present. It was his mother who told him personally that she would stay and not return to Jiangling with him. Many people saw this with their own eyes, so how could I dare to believe it?
Talking nonsense.”
Another bolt from the blue struck Liu Biao's fragile heart head-on.
The truth is so cruel, the city was taken over by others, and his wife also ran away with them.
A distinguished generation of celebrities, a descendant of the Han Dynasty royal family, a dominant prince, a figure that even Yuan Shao was afraid of, but now he suffered such unprecedented humiliation.
Liu Biao stood up unsteadily, gritting his teeth, veins gushing out on his old and haggard face, endless shame and anger erupting like lava.
Seeing his father's expression of grief and anger, Liu Cong felt a faint trace of guilt in his heart, but now that the matter had come to this, he could only show his full anger.
After shaking for a long time, Liu Biao suddenly shouted "Ah".
A bloody arrow spurted out.
In shame and anger, Liu Biao's blood rushed to his heart, and when he spurted blood, his whole body fell backwards.
"Father!"
Liu Cong screamed in surprise and rushed forward to help him. When he was able to catch Liu Biao, he was surprised to find that his father had fainted.
"Father. Father~~"
######
Fankou, Jiangdong Water Village.
In the big tent, the atmosphere was silent.
The man behind the case, Koto Mizuro, was holding the urgent report from Xiangyang, with a complicated look on his handsome face.
I'm angry, but also shocked.
Ling Cao, Cheng Pu, Dong Xi and other generals lined up on the left and right had gloomy expressions on their faces.
Xiangyang has been destroyed.
This is the content of that information.
The impregnable Xiangyang City was captured almost without blood by Yan Liang's soldiers in just one night.
Before that, the Xiangyang navy, which had made even Jiangdong a little afraid, was completely burned by Yan Liang.
Jingzhou Administrative Office, where Liu Biao's foundation lay, fell into Yan Liang's hands so easily.
And the Jiangdong navy, which they are proud of, has been attacking for a long time, but until now, they can't even capture a mere Xiakou.
Yan Liang's quick battle and his own side's long-term attack were so sharp in contrast, how could the Jiangdong generals not feel humiliated.
"What kind of ability does this Yan Liang have? He was able to capture Xiangyang so quickly when the navy was weak. This is really puzzling."
The man who sighed had a rosy face and a look of wealth. In addition to his wealth, he also had a hint of pride.
Zhou Yu snorted coldly, "Then Yan Liang, a northern general, has some ability in water warfare. It's just that mediocre people like Cai Mao are too incompetent. Why should Zijing be so surprised?"
There was a hint of contempt for Yan Liang in Zhou Yu's words.
Mizhouro has this self-confidence. He is convinced that when it comes to water battles, no one in the world can be his opponent.
Lu Su coughed a few times, "Cai Mao is indeed mediocre, but he still has some water warfare ability. I heard that Yan Liang recruited a water thief named Gan Ning from nowhere to lead the navy. This person actually took Cai Hao's water warfare.
The army was completely burned by fire, but among other things, Yan Liang's ability to recognize people is really impressive."
Unlike Zhou Yu, Lu Su made no secret of his praise for Yan Liang.
Although there was a proud look on Zhou Yu's eyebrows, he only snorted coldly and did not refute Lu Su's inference.
Obviously, although the Jiangdong commander-in-chief looked down upon Yan Liang, he did not dare to ignore his ability to recognize people.
At this time, General Ling Cao raised his hands and said: "Captain Zhou, now that Yan Liang has conquered Xiangyang, his next step will be to attack Jiangling. According to the last general's opinion, our army must break through Xiakou immediately and must capture it before Yan Liang."
Gangneung.”
As soon as Ling Cao said this, most of the Jiangdong generals excitedly asked for battle.
"It's good that you all have the desire to fight. I just think that the time has passed now and our army should not send troops to attack Xiakou again."
Lu Su sang against everyone.
When he spoke like this, all the generals showed displeasure, and they all stared at him, wondering why this guy who was a wealthy businessman acted so unhappy and always looked forward and backward.
Zhou Yu, however, did not show any displeasure. Instead, he asked seriously: "What do you think Zijing said?"
Lu Su just said casually and dissatisfied: "Although Yan Liang defeated Xiangyang, with his current strength, it is obviously unreasonable to want to annex the entire Jingzhou in one go. And Xiangyang's detailed work also stated in the intelligence that Yan Liang actually defeated Liu Biao
His son sent him back to Jiangling. According to Su, he wanted to show friendship to Liu Biao and call off his troops to make a truce in order to digest the fat fruits of victory in Xiangyang."
After a pause, Lu Su continued: "If our army attacks Xiakou at this time, we will not be able to divide the troops in Jingzhou. It will be equivalent to fighting Liu Biao's entire Jingzhou with our own strength. Besides, we are close to money and food now.
If we continue fighting like this, even if the generals are brave, Su will think it is not a wise move."
Lu Su's words silenced the displeasure of the generals present. Everyone had to admit that although this wealthy businessman was wordy, his words were not unreasonable.
Zhou Yu stood up and walked around the tent, lost in thought.
Lu Su's analysis, the situation in Jingzhou, and many other things came to mind over and over again.
Everyone fell silent, all looking at Zhou Yu, waiting for the young commander to decide whether to fight or retreat.
After thinking for a long time, Zhou Yu stopped and turned his gaze to the veteran who had been silent.
"Old General Cheng, you also heard what Zijing said. Do you have any opinion on whether to continue attacking Xiakou or retreat."
The person Zhou Yu asked was none other than Deputy Governor Cheng Pu.
Cheng Pu was a veteran of the Sun family for three dynasties and an absolutely loyal minister of the Sun family. In terms of qualifications, he was far from comparable to Zhou Yu.
During this attack on Jiangxia, although Sun Quan appointed Zhou Yu as the governor, he also appointed Cheng Pu as the deputy governor. His intention is self-evident.
From Zhou Yu's words, Cheng Pu heard that the young governor also advocated retreating. He pondered for a long time, and then silently said: "It is not up to us to decide whether to advance or retreat. Cheng thought that we should be the generals.
The pros and cons of the situation at hand should be stated to the lord, and then the lord will decide whether to attack or retreat."
Cheng Pu's words were wonderful. It seemed that the responsibility of retreating or not was passed on to Sun Quan, but in fact it was to safeguard the authority of the young master of Jiangdong and tell the generals on the front line, including Zhou Yu, that you should not forget that you are only subordinates.
In everything, he must obey the command of his young master Sun Quan.
Hearing this, Zhou Yu said: "Then I would like to trouble Lao Zijing to go to Chaisang and explain the interests to the lord, and let the lord decide whether to withdraw the troops."
"Surely you should obey your orders."
Now that the plan had been decided, the military meeting dispersed.
The crowd retreated, and only Zhou Yu remained in Nuo Da's military tent.
Zhou Yu glanced at the two harsh words "Yan Liang" on the silk book. His handsome face gradually turned hateful, and he murmured: "Yan Liang, I don't believe you have three heads and six arms. One day, I will let you
You know my reputation as Zhou Yu."
######
In the blink of an eye, more than ten days have passed, and Xiangyang City has emerged from the shadow of war.
Yan Liang relied on Man Chong's outstanding political skills and quickly settled the hearts of Xiangyang. His two wives also moved from Xinye to their new home in Xiangyang, and the right general's mansion was officially moved to Xiangyang.
In order to reward the generals, after the people's hearts were initially settled, Yan Liang used the power of the right general to open the government and promoted the generals under his command.
The four generals Wen Chou, Wen Pin, Gan Ning, and Wei Yan were all promoted to Zhonglang General, and Zhou Cang, Hu Cheer, and Liu Pi were respectively appointed as school captains.
As for civil servants, Xu You, Jia Xu, Xu Shu, Man Chong, Yi Ji, etc. were all assigned to work.
After Yan Liang moved his administrative office to Xiangyang, he continued to leave Wenpin to guard Wancheng, and Manchong was appointed as the new field order. He was stationed in Xinye and took charge of the farming affairs of Nanyang counties north of the Han River.
After the Battle of Xiangyang, excluding the lost soldiers and the captured soldiers, Yan Liang's troops had reached more than 35,000, of which the total number of cavalry also reached an astonishing 5,000.
After Yan Liang's power penetrated deep into the Jianghan Basin, the importance of the cavalry gradually weakened, while the importance of the navy became increasingly obvious.
Shortly after taking Xiangyang, Yan Liang asked Gan Ning to reorganize Cai Mao's navy and reduce the soldiers. On the basis of the original navy, he massively expanded the navy in preparation for the next move of the army into the Yangtze River.
While the internal forces were recharging their strength, news came that the Jiangdong Navy had chosen to retreat to Chaisang despite repeated attacks on Xiakou.
From the direction of Jiangling, news also came that Liu Biao was seriously ill. From this, it seemed that Liu Biao would not be able to mobilize his troops to move northward in a short time.
The threat from the south was temporarily eliminated. In the north, Cao Cao was busy cleaning up the princes in Guanzhong. Yuan Shao, who had been ill for a long time, seemed to be busy preparing for the throne of Wei after he became king and had no intention of looking south.
The temporary calm between the two enemies gave Yan Liang a rare moment to seize the opportunity to digest the fruits of victory.
On that day, Yan Liang was attending to official duties at his residence, when an attendant came to inform him that it was a young woman from Zhuge Ling who was seeking an audience. She claimed to be Kuai Cui's widow and wanted to collect her husband's bones and rebury them in the ancestral grave.
Zhuge Ling? Kuai Chui’s wife?
Yan Liang recalled the old events and suddenly remembered that this Kuai Kuai was probably the unlucky man who died under his sword when he attacked Xiangyang. After the war, he was buried roughly.
"Xu Shu once said that Zhuge Liang had a complex network of connections in Jingzhou, and his sister was married to the Kuai family. So, could this Zhuge Ling be Zhuge Liang's sister?"
His thoughts were whirling, and Yan Liang suddenly became curious, so he called for the woman to be brought in.
Not long after, I saw a slim woman in plain clothes slowly walking into the hall.
