(Thank you to the brothers who rewarded, voted, gave away chapters, and subscribed to the official version these days. The captain was very touched. Even if he endured a cold and a headache, he would insist on updating three times today)
In the afternoon, the battle ended.
Of the five thousand defenders of Xiakou City, three thousand were killed and more than a thousand surrendered. Only less than a thousand enemies from the Yangtze River Water Camp managed to escape and fled upstream.
In half a day, Yan Liang occupied this military fortress that controlled the two major water systems of the Yangtze River and Han River.
After capturing Xiakou, Yan Liang immediately ordered his troops to be divided to capture the important counties along the river belonging to Jiangxia. At the same time, he ordered Gan Ning to repair the water camps on both sides of Xiakou in order to prepare for the next counterattack by Huang Zujun.
During the layout, while taking stock of the battlefield, Yan Liang found out that Gan Ning had killed Huang Zu's general Su Fei on the battlefield, and that the unlucky boy who was shot into the water by Gan Ning was actually Huang Zu's eldest son Huang She.
Yan Liang immediately realized that this was a rare item that could be exploited.
In the evening, when everything had been assigned, Yan Liang sat high in the lobby of the prefect's mansion and issued an order to escort Huang She up.
Not long after, the disgraced Huang She was dragged into the lobby with a frame.
The unlucky Huang She still had a hole in his shoulder, which had only been roughly bandaged. Every step he took affected the wound, which made him grin slightly in pain.
Entering the hall, Huang She stared at Yan Liang, and it was clear from that look that his heart was filled with resentment.
"Come here, show me your seat to General Huang."
Yan Liang's attitude was much gentler than when he treated Liu Cong and Yuan Tan. He thought that Huang She and his wife Huang Yueying were of the same clan. His courtesy first and then the soldier could be regarded as a face to his wife. If Huang She didn't understand, then let's talk about it separately.
Already.
Huang She remembered Yan Liang's letter to his father, and recalled the scene his father described when he met him alone.
Various signs showed that Yan Liang still respected his father Huang Zu very much. Looking at Yan Liang's current gentle attitude, Huang She thought that this husband must be afraid of his father's reputation, so he did not dare to be rude to him.
When he thought of this, Huang She felt much more at ease, and in the blink of an eye, he regained some of the calmness of the eldest son of the Huang family.
"General Yan, you exchanged letters before, saying that you respected my father's reputation and wanted to live in peace with Jiangxia. Why did you go back on your word today and openly send troops to attack my city?"
There was actually a bit of questioning tone in Huang She's words.
Zhou Cang, who was next to him, immediately became angry and wanted to step forward and give him a good beating. Seeing that Yan Liang didn't say anything, he didn't dare to act rashly.
Yan Liang smiled and said, "Of course I respect General Huang, but your Xinzhou Mu sent people to Xiangyang, claiming that General Huang was a traitor, and asked me to send troops to help bring peace to Jiangxia. I have already agreed with Jing
Xianggong Sheng was an ally, but now Xianggong Jingsheng's body is still cold. I can't bear to betray the alliance, so I have no choice but to send troops to attack Xiakou."
In troubled times, the battle is about whose fist is stronger. But the strange thing is that even in such an era where force dominates everything, the princes often like to put a fig leaf on their military actions, euphemistically calling it "the teacher has the reputation".
As powerful as Yuan Shao, with absolute strength, before sending troops to destroy Cao, he would also issue a proclamation against Cao to declare to the world the "justice" of his troops.
Yan Liang deeply disdained this hypocritical method of taking off his pants and farting, but now that he wanted to take advantage of Huang She, he had no choice but to take out this fig leaf to satisfy Huang She's so-called moral values.
Huang She's arrogance suddenly dropped by half when he heard that Yan Liang had accepted Liu Cong's invitation.
After all, Liu Cong succeeded to the throne in front of his soul. According to traditional legal principles, no matter how much they doubted the authenticity of Liu Biao's death, they could not change the fact that Liu Cong was legally the shepherd of Jingzhou.
This is like Dong Zhuo deposing the Young Emperor and establishing Emperor Xian on the orders of the Queen Mother. Although the princes all knew that this was done under Dong Zhuo's coercion, most of the princes except Yuan Shao had to recognize the legitimacy of Emperor Xian...,
"The late grandfather's will was for the eldest son to inherit the position of state pastor. It was Kuai Yue and Cai Hao who tampered with the late grandfather's will. My father raised an army just to defend the late grandfather's last order. How can it be considered a rebellion?"
Huang She did not think about the authenticity of what Yan Liang said. Feeling guilty, he started to defend himself.
Yan Liang secretly laughed at him, saying in his heart that you, the Huang family, and your sons still have the nerve to laugh at me as a martial artist. With your little political consciousness, you are worthy of it.
While he was sarcastic in his heart, Yan Liang sighed on his face, "I didn't expect that Kuai Yue and Cai Mao would be so shameless and dare to tamper with Liu Gong's orders. In this way, I was deceived by Liu Cong."
Can’t do it?”
Upon hearing this, Huang She's face immediately surged with excitement, and he said yes again and again.
Looking at the hopeful look on his face, he seemed to think that Yan Liang would suddenly wake up and return the Xiakou City obediently.
After sighing, Yan Liang's expression suddenly became solemn, "Liu Cong is unfilial and unworthy of inheriting Liu Gong's legacy. As an ally of Liu Gong, how can I just sit back and watch my old friend's inheritance fall into the hands of that unfilial son?"
Liu Gong's inheritance can only be taken over by my ally, this general."
Huang She's expression changed drastically, but he didn't expect Yan Liang to say this.
Before Huang She could speak, Yan Liang said again: "In that case, General Lao Huang should write a letter to your Majesty now, stating my general's goodwill to him, and asking him to lead his army to surrender to me."
Only then did Huang She figure out Yan Liang's true intention.
Being invited by Liu Cong and being an ally are all just excuses. Yan Liang has only one real purpose:
Annex Jingzhou!
Huang She suddenly realized this, his face immediately became as pale as paper, and the anger between his brows was like fire.
In anger, Huang She shouted at Yan Liang: "Jingzhou is the Jingzhou of the Liu family. Even if Liu Cong is overthrown, my eldest son should inherit it. Why should it be your turn as an outsider?"
Huang She was impassioned and passionate, as if he was upholding the great justice.
Yan Liang's face gradually darkened, and the frightening murderous intent quickly gathered in his blade-like eyes.
Seeing the change in Yan Liang's expression, Huang She vaguely felt the strong sense of oppression. But relying on his father's reputation, he still managed to look generous.
"For the sake of Yueying, I am asking you to 'please' you. If you are wise, you can quickly write a letter of persuasion to surrender. Don't force me to turn against you."
Yan Liang's every word was like a blade, and he was already shooting the final shot at Huang.
"My Huang family are all tough men, and they want me to write a letter persuading my father to surrender. It's really a joke."
Huang She was upright and refused simply, with a bit of ridicule in his words.
Obviously, Yan Liang's previous performances made the eldest son of the Huang family think that what he was facing was just an ordinary prince.
If he knew how Yan Liang dealt with Yuan Tan, he would probably regret it.
At this moment, Yan Liang suddenly sneered. The laughter was full of irony.
Huang She was a little embarrassed by Yan Liang's smile, but he still looked generous and fearless.
The laughter subsided and Yan Liang snorted coldly, "What a loud tone. I want to see if your backbone is as hard as your mouth."
Huang She was stunned for a moment, not knowing what Yan Liang meant by his words.
"Slap him hard until he surrenders." Yan Liang gave the order loudly without giving him a chance to think.
Zhou Cang, whose hands had been itchy for a long time, strode forward and slapped Huang She's tender-skinned face.
Snapped!
The sound of the slap was clear and crisp, as loud as a wet whip hitting the flesh.
Zhou Cang's strength was so great. The slap in the face slapped Huang She until he vomited blood and fell to the ground...,
The eldest son of the Huang family had never been so humiliated before. Huang She, who recovered from his dizziness, struggled to get up, glared at Yan Liang and cursed: "You are such a common man, how dare you treat me?"
Before he finished speaking, Zhou Cang slapped him again with his backhand.
There was a whooshing sound, and another front tooth flew out, which made Huang She howl in pain.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
In the next minute, Zhou Cang fired his bow from left to right, and slapped the big-mouthed one hard. He slapped Huang She more than twenty times in one breath, until the proud eldest son of the Huang family was beaten until his nose was bruised and his face was swollen, and his skin was torn and bruised.
It looks ordinary.
"Stop fighting, I'll write, I'll just write."
Under the slaps and beatings, Huang She could no longer hold on and finally gave up.
Only then did Zhou Cang stop. The two slaps were already covered in blood.
Huang She was lying half-prone in front of the hall, but his face was covered in blood and swollen to the point where he couldn't tell who he was.
It seems that Mr. Huang's integrity is only worth a few slaps.
A disdainful sneer appeared at the corner of Yan Liang's lips, "Why do you think you are doing this? If you had already surrendered, you wouldn't have had to suffer this unnecessary pain. Come on, why don't you serve Mr. Huang quickly?"
Then he brought up the pen and ink he had prepared long ago. Huang She could only lie on the ground, endure the burning pain on his face, and wrote a letter of persuasion to surrender tremblingly.
Yan Liang took a look at the blood-stained letter and nodded with satisfaction.
"General Huang is indeed a person who knows current affairs. I like people like you, but General Huang still prays that your father is also a person who knows current affairs. How long your precious little life can survive depends entirely on your father's
On hand."
Yan Liang's words clearly meant that if Huang Zu refused to surrender, Huang She would be killed to vent his anger.
Upon hearing this, Huang She suddenly trembled with fear.
Yan Liang couldn't help but look at his bearish look again, and waved his hand to order him to be dragged off.
As soon as Huang She left, Xu You walked out of the side hall.
"My lord, this method is quite cruel. The big slap was so loud that even the old man was frightened."
Xu You walked forward with a smile.
Yan Liang sneered, "To deal with such pretentious people, how can we make them surrender quickly without resorting to ruthless means? Here is the surrender letter, take it."
Xu You took the bloody surrender letter and put it away carefully.
"Once Xiakou is lost, Huang Zu will definitely return to the army to take it back. That guy is the most arrogant. When he sees this letter of persuasion to surrender from his son, he will be in a rage. At that time, his subordinates will
We have the strongest navy in Jingzhou, so what do we have to fear?"
Xu You said, with a mysterious smile on his face.
Yan Liang also sneered and turned his eyes to the west, revealing strong confidence in his eyes.
Huang Zu, if you have the courage, come back and seize the nest. I will be waiting for you here. (You are welcome to come and your support is my biggest motivation.)