The Wu people retreated, and the flagship led by Xu Sheng retreated first.
How could Gan Ning allow him to retreat so easily? Gan Ning, who was rising, led Yan's army to pursue and kill him for more than 20 miles. It was not until he received Yan Liang's order to withdraw his troops that he returned to the upper reaches in relief.
At the cost of more than 70 warships and almost half of his troops, Xu Sheng managed to escape back to Chaisang.
At this time, Lu Su, who had retreated to Chaisang first, was joining Sun Yu's troops, with 15,000 soldiers and horses, trying to surround and kill Zhang Liao's 1,000 light cavalry.
It's a pity that in the last battle of Chaisang, the Wu army almost lost almost all its cavalry. The only remaining cavalry was assigned to Cheng Pu's Shouchun Corps. The only cavalry Lu Su could mobilize was only two hundred, and there were only 200 cavalry at his disposal.
Not elite cavalry.
Without a considerable number of cavalry, although Lu Su had an absolute advantage in military strength, with more than 10,000 infantry, he was unable to defeat Zhang Liao.
Zhang Liao, who was very good at commanding the cavalry, gave full play to the mobility of the cavalry. In just a few days, he almost swept through the countryside near Chaisang.
Everywhere he passed, whether farmland or houses, were burned to the ground by his force. However, according to Yan Liang's instructions in advance, he showed mercy to the people in the villages and let them live.
There are two reasons why Yan Liang was merciful. First, massacring the people would arouse the Wu people's revenge mentality, which would in turn make them unite against him.
Next time, tens of thousands of rural people will inevitably flee to Chaisang in panic after losing their houses and fields.
As a result, in addition to the more than 10,000 troops in Chaisang City, tens of thousands of new mouths will be added. At that time, the pressure on the Wu people will be doubled.
After nearly burning Chaisang's farmland and learning that Lu Su had returned to his army, Zhang Liao retreated to Lukou.
When Lu Su reacted and planned to send troops to block Zhang Liao's return, Zhang Liao had already led a thousand light cavalry and left.
It was nearly dusk, and Lu Su stood on the top of the city holding his sword, with a gloomy and solemn look on his face.
Looking around Chai Sang, at the lingering smoke, the veins on Lu Su's face were twitching slightly, and an indignation that turned from embarrassment to anger was burning in his chest.
"Regardless of the gains and losses of a city or a land, he only burned my grain fields. This Yan Liang has such a strong view of the overall situation. I was confident that I could see through this person, but I didn't expect that I still miscalculated..."
In addition to being angry and regretful, Lu Su secretly sighed in his heart. In his heart, he was becoming more and more afraid of Yan Liang.
Just as Lu Su was lamenting, he saw that the navy commanded by Xu Sheng had returned from the water camp in the north of the city.
Lu Su looked up and was surprised to find that half of Xu Sheng's battleship was missing. His already gloomy heart was immediately cast by a heavy shadow.
He had a vague premonition that Xu Sheng's attempt to stop the enemy would probably fail again.
Not long after, a group of soldiers and horses rushed into Chaisang City. After a while, Xu Sheng, who looked ashamed, boarded the city dejectedly.
"The general returned in defeat, please ask the governor to punish him." Xu Sheng cupped his hands and said with shame.
Lu Su's heart skipped a beat, and as expected, the ominous premonition became clear.
He frowned secretly, but pretended to be indifferent. He waved his hand and said: "Winning or losing is a common thing for soldiers, get up."
Xu Sheng breathed a sigh of relief and straightened up.
Lu Su asked Xu Sheng how he could be defeated. Xu Sheng gritted his teeth in hatred when he mentioned this.
"Going back to the Governor, the general was fighting at par with Gan Ning. He originally wanted to retreat when the situation became clear, but the traitor Ling Tong suddenly led his army to kill him. The general was caught off guard, which is why he suffered this defeat."
Ling Tong!
Upon hearing this familiar name, everyone in the city, including Lu Su, all changed their faces, and anger instantly appeared on every face.
Lu Su also gritted his teeth secretly and sighed in a deep voice: "My lord treated Ling Tong well, but I didn't expect that he would actually help the tyrants to commit evil. This man's conduct is really shameful to the world."
"Back then, the Ling family and his son did not hesitate to shoot the righteous old general in order to gain credit. This shows the character of this person." Xu Sheng said bitterly.
When Xu Sheng mentioned this, Lu Su suddenly remembered what happened back then.
He recalled how he had bravely stepped out on the flagship and argued for an all-out attack regardless of Han Dang's life.
At that time, Lu Su understood Sun Quan's intentions and stood up to worry about the public. It was precisely because of his performance that Sun Quan trusted him more and entrusted him with the post of governor of the Western Front.
Lu Su knew in his heart that the Ling family and his son were just following orders and could not bear much responsibility for Han Dang's death.
But he had not excused the Ling family and his son before, and now he would not stand up to explain to Ling Tong, who had become a traitor.
At the moment, Lu Su could only follow Xu Sheng's anger and said with a livid face: "About Ling Tong, I will definitely report it to my lord and ask him to make a decision."
Xu Sheng and other generals were satisfied.
At this time, Sun Yu said: "Zijing, now the farmland along the Chaisang line has been destroyed by Yan Liang. I'm afraid there will be no harvest this autumn. Our situation will probably be very unfavorable, but we have to figure out how to deal with it."
Sun Yu's words made everyone fall silent.
I think they finally took advantage of the opportunity when Yan Liang was in the Central Plains and had no time to spare, so they worked hard to build Chaisang City. The purpose of building Chaisang City was to re-immigrate to Chaisang and cultivate the fields.
Who would have thought that more than half a year of hard work would be destroyed by Yan Liang in just a few days. The generals not only hated Yan Liang, but also felt worried in their hearts.
Seeing that there is not much grain stored in Chaisang City, they are waiting for the grain collected from the autumn harvest. Now the grain from the autumn harvest is gone, and tens of thousands of people have fled into Chaisang City. The mouths of these tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians are terrible.
They are all waiting to eat.
At this point, Lu Su had no choice but to sigh: "At this point, there is no other way. I will write a letter immediately and send someone to Moling to ask for the Lord's salvation."
From Lu Su down, Sun Yu and other generals all shook their heads and sighed.
…
Three days later, Moling City.
In the lobby of the military mansion, Sun Quan's face was ashen, and his blue eyes were filled with endless anger.
Sun Quan held Lu Su's memorial letter tightly in his hand. His chest rose and fell violently, as if the flaming anger was about to burst out of his mouth.
Snap!
Sun Quan suddenly slapped the case and shouted sternly: "Come here, send troops to Ling Cao's house quickly and capture all Ling Cao's clan. I will charge them all with collaborating with the enemy and kill them on the spot."
As soon as these words came out, all the officials present were horrified.
The veteran Zhang Zhao hurriedly said: "My lord is angry, I don't know what happened. Why did my lord suddenly want to kill the Ling family?"
"See for yourselves." Sun Quan angrily threw Lu Su's memorial down the stairs.
Zhang Zhao picked up the crumpled silk book and gathered around with Yu Fan and several other colleagues to take a look. Only then did he know the bad news that Lu Su lost the battle of Chaisang and that all the newly opened grain fields were destroyed by Yan Liang.
.
In his memorial, Lu Su also mentioned how Ling Tong fought for Yan Liang, resulting in Xu Sheng's defeat.
Only then did everyone realize that Sun Quan was angry with Ling Cao and other Ling clan because of Ling Tong's surrender.
Zhang Zhao, who was waiting to be persuaded, saw that Sun Quan was angry because of this incident, so he shut up and just shook his head and sighed.
When the other ministers saw that Sun Quan was in a rage, no one dared to touch the bad luck, and most of them remained silent.
The soldiers under his command were immediately ready to deliver the order.
At this moment, Yu Fan stood up and said, "In the battle of Wuping, Ling Tong was surrounded by heavy siege, so he had no choice but to surrender. Now Ling Tong is working for Yan Liang. Although he owes the lord a great kindness, he is not as guilty as his family."
, my subordinates think that the master’s plan to kill the Ling clan seems to be a bit excessive.”
Yu Fan was an upright person and ignored Sun Quan's anger. He openly spoke out and dared to say that Sun Quan's actions were "too much."
Sun Quan was immediately furious and said sternly: "Ling Tong betrayed the Lord and surrendered to the thieves and killed me, the son of Jiangdong. If I don't kill Lingcao's clan, how can I order the generals?"
Yu Fan was not afraid of Sun Quan's wrath and said sternly: "Although Ling Tong is guilty, Ling Gongde has always been loyal to his lord. The previous time he was sick and knelt down outside the military mansion to plead guilty to his lord. If he still wants to be executed,
Their clan, that will chill the hearts of Jiangdong’s fathers.”
Ling Cao was a native of Wu County. Although he was not one of the most powerful families in Jiangdong, he was also a powerful native. Yu Fan was also an indigenous scholar in Jiangdong. Naturally, he had to defend Ling Cao, both emotionally and rationally.
His words "chilling the hearts of Jiangdong's fathers" sounded to Sun Quan as a vague threat to him.
Sun Quan was in a state of anger when he was aroused by Yu Fan's strong words. He became even more furious and cursed: "You Yu Fan, how dare you use the people of Jiangdong to threaten me? Come on, kill this guy."
Blow me out."
"My lord, my subordinates' loyal words are offensive to my ears. I hope my lord -"
While Yu Fan was still waiting for his words, the tiger soldiers from the left and right troops had already advanced fiercely and drove Yu Fan out.
Sun Quan was furious and his face was still red with anger. He suddenly drew his sword angrily and said sternly: "Yan Liang's dog thief has bullied people too much. I have made up my mind. I will mobilize all my troops from Jiangdong and go to Chaisang to fight Yan Liang."
Fight to the death!"
The power of power and anger was growing. Even veteran ministers like Zhang Zhao were intimidated by Sun Quan's power. They knew that Sun Quan sent troops out of anger, but no one dared to persuade him.
…
Fankou Camp.
Yan Liang, who burned Chaisang farmland and defeated Xu Sheng's army, did not choose to take advantage of the victory to attack, but calmly returned to Fankou.
The strategic goal has been achieved. Even if the army is forced to march, with more than 10,000 troops, Chaisang cannot be conquered. Yan Liang will not do such a useless feat.
Yan Liang, who returned to Fankou, estimated that Sun Quan would probably mobilize a large number of troops to retaliate after hearing about Chaisang's defeat, so he reinforced the Fankou camp and sent people to Xiangyang to urge Huang Yueying to speed up the construction of carriages and ships.
A few days later, Siwen Cao Xizuo sent the latest information about Jiangdong to Yan Liang.
Chinese army tent.
When Yan Liang saw the information about Sun Quan's large-scale military campaign, his calm expression did not change at all, as if he had expected this.
Ever since he captured Jiangxia, Sun Quan was like a nasty fly, coming to harass him again and again, which made Yan Liang intolerable.
Yan Liang would not make the mistake of Liu Bei in history and continue to indulge the Bi Yaner. Now that the lord has raised an army, that guy just suits Yan Liang's wishes.
When Yan Liang saw another piece of information, he couldn't help but frown slightly.
After a moment of silence, Yan Liang sighed, "I didn't expect Sun Quan to be so vicious. Come on, please invite General Ling Gongji."
