In Jingzhou's Nanyang County, Liu Bei was sitting on the main seat in the main camp. Beside him was a scholar-looking person. This person was none other than Pang Tong, Pang Shiyuan.
There was another person kneeling on the ground.
This was Liao Hua, one of Liu Bei's lieutenants. He was kneeling on the ground because Liao Hua had failed to attack Fan City in the past few days.
The situation in Fan City had been stagnant for a long time.
"Milord. Please give this general one more chance. This general will climb the walls of Fan City and bring Zhang Yun's head to you!" Liao Hua knelt on the ground and respectfully said to Liu Bei.
"Chance, chance. How many times have I given you a chance? You've been fighting for a few days now. This is already the sixth day. Three days ago, you promised me that you would definitely take Fan City. But now? Fan City is still fine, but you, Liao Hua, have lost more than half of your men. What else do you have to attack Fan City? " Liu Bei was naturally in a bad mood. The attack on Fan City had been going smoothly at first. He had used Cai Mao and Kuai Yue's captives to lower the morale of the defenders.
Sure enough, after learning that Cai Mao and Kuai Yue's armies had been forced into the hinterlands of Shuchuan, the morale of the defenders in Fan City plummeted.
After learning that Zhang Yun wasn't willing to surrender, Liu Bei sent his men to attack the city.
For the next few days, Liu Bei had thought that he would be able to easily capture Fan City. However, it took him six days to capture it.
Liao Hua trembled when he heard Liu Bei's anger.
He gritted his teeth and said, "Since my subordinates are gone, this general will personally go into battle. If I'm lucky enough to take Fan City, if I can't, this general will come back to see you again!"
"My Lord, please calm down!" Pang Shiyuan comforted Liu Bei.
Pang Shiyuan turned to Liu Bei and said, "My Lord, it's not General Liao Hua's fault that we failed to take Fan City. It's because Zhang Yun's troops are all elites!"
Although Liao Hua had a battalion of soldiers, most of them were new recruits. On the other hand, although Zhang Yun had fewer soldiers, he had more than ten thousand elite soldiers from the Xiangyang Navy.
Therefore, even though Fan City's morale was low, Liao Hua did not gain much of an advantage.
"Hmph!" How could Liu Bei not know this reason, but he was very uncomfortable. Who liked to lose a battle?
"General Liao Hua, you can leave first!" Pang Shi Yuannian waved his hand at Liao Hua. Now that Liu Bei was angry, Liao Hua would be a hindrance if he stayed.
"Yes, this general will take his leave!" Liao Hua nodded and excused himself from the two men.
Just as Pang Shiyuan was about to comfort Liu Bei, a messenger ran in from outside the tent. "Reporting! Lord Sun Qian of Runan has sent a letter!"
"A letter from Sun Qian?" Liu Bei was interested. "Present it!"
Just as the messenger was about to hand the letter to Liu Bei, Liu Bei passed it to Pang Shiyuan.
"Military Advisor, take a look at it first!" Liu Bei's intentions towards Pang Shiyuan were obvious. He would do everything according to Pang Shiyuan's wishes. For Pang Shiyuan, he could sacrifice Sun Qian.
Pang Shiyuan did not refuse. He was now Liu Bei's second-in-command.
What was written in the letter was Sun Qian's promise to Liu Bei that he would stay in Runan and wait for the Lord's reinforcements to arrive. He also reported Pang Shiyuan while he was at it.
"Haha, Lord Sun Qian is really humorous. Even at this time, he did not forget to frame me!" Pang Shiyuan's eyes widened. It seemed that he wanted to kill someone with a borrowed knife. Killing Sun Qian would not be wrong.
In the end, between Sun Qian and Pang Shiyuan, one would die.
"Gongyou is too narrow-minded! Shiyuan, please do not take it to heart. "Liu Bei also echoed.
"How could I!" Pang Shiyuan sneered. How could he be angry at a dead person? "Milord. Sir Sun Qian should be fighting against the Yangzhou Army by now. Sir Sun Qian is truly a role model. He is willing to sacrifice himself to help Milord hold back the Yangzhou Army. A person like Milord should be greatly rewarded." Pang Shiyuan said to Liu Bei. "Milord." Liu Bei nodded. Liu Bei nodded.
On the surface, he was praising Sun Qian, saying that Sun Qian was loyal to the Lord and loved his country. In fact, he was trying to kill Sun Qian.
According to Pang Shiyuan's calculations, Sun Qian was probably fighting with the Yangzhou army by now. Sun Qian only wanted to wait for reinforcements to arrive. In addition, he had a grudge with Pang Shiyuan and was unwilling to come to Jingzhou. This would speed up Sun Qian's death.
With this kind of single-mindedness, Sun Qian's final result would be that he would not be able to wait for reinforcements and would die in battle.
If it was just this, some people might see that Pang Shiyuan was using someone else to do his dirty work, or it might affect Liu Bei.
But now, Sun Qian was willing to sacrifice himself to delay the Yangzhou army. This would lead to an explanation. Sun Qian was willing to sacrifice himself for Liu Bei.
This would put aside the fact that he was abandoned by Liu Bei.
"Haha! That's right! Gongyou is truly a national hero to me. It is my fortune to know Gongyou. Now that Gongyou is dead, I will naturally promote Gongyou to a higher rank!" "Haha! That's right! Liu Bei was not stingy. A dead person who did not have any children or family. So what if he was given a title and promotion? Even if he was given an emperor, he would not be able to be one.
"Your Excellency, General Guan wants to see you!" Outside the tent, a guard shouted.
"Second Brother?" Liu Bei subconsciously took back the letter.
"Let him in!" Liu Bei still let Guan Yu in.
"Big Brother!" Guan Yu entered the tent and shouted when he saw Liu Bei. "Military Counselor is also here!" Guan Yu nodded at Pang Shiyuan.
"Big Brother, when do you want my army to move out?" Guan Yu entered the tent and asked Liu Bei. It turned out that Liao Hua had been attacking the city for the past few days. Guan Yu was envious and wanted to attack the city as well.
"No hurry, no hurry!" Liu Bei did not speak, but Pang Shiyuan did. "Second General, your army is at the flank and rear, not to attack, but to defend!"
Pang Shiyuan said to Guan Yu.
"Defend? Who are we guarding against?! "Guan Yu didn't understand. They were attacking Fan City now.
"Of course, to defend against the people of Fan City!" Pang Shiyuan only said half of what he wanted to say. Also, Pang Shiyuan was much more cautious now. Guan Yu was Pang Shiyuan's backup. If there was a trap in Fan City, or if the Yangzhou Army moved, then Guan Yu's troops would be there to stop the Yangzhou Army. This would give the other two armies enough time to attack Fan City and take it.
If the Yangzhou Yangtze Navy camp was too big and Fan City could not be taken down, Guan Yu's army would be there to support the other two armies out of Fan City. Back to Xiangyang.
However, if the Yangzhou army did not move, Guan Yu's task would change again. He would be there to prevent the nobles in Fan City from escaping.
In Fan City, there were not only the Jian Family and the Kui Family, but also other nobles who depended on them. These nobles were worth a lot of money.
If they could take them down, Jing Province would not have to worry about military expenses for at least a few years.
"Yes!" Although Guan Yu was anxious, he was not as impatient as Zhang Fei. He also knew the urgency of the matter. He nodded. "Military Advisor, Yu understands!"
Guan Yu was about to leave. "By the way, Elder Brother, when will Mister Gong You return?" Guan Yu asked Liu Bei.
Guan Yu also knew that the Yangzhou army had moved to Runan. In Guan Yu's opinion, it was only a matter of time before they gave up on Runan.
Guan Yu only asked this out of concern for Sun Qian. Moreover, Jing Province was currently lacking talents.
"Gong You!" Liu Bei's expression was a little awkward, but he quickly adjusted.
"Milord, the order to retreat has been sent. Gong You should be on his way!" Pang Shiyuan said on behalf of Liu Bei.
"That would be for the best!" Guan Yu nodded and left.
Guan Yu did not doubt Pang Shiyuan's words. They did send the order to retreat to Sun Qian. However, Sun Qian was unwilling to retreat and fought to the death. In the end, he died in Runan.
Seeing Guan Yu leave, Pang Shiyuan turned to Liu Bei and said. "Milord, since the Yangzhou army has taken Runan, we should quickly take Nanyang County!" Pang Shiyuan said.
"You don't want Fan City?" Liu Bei frowned and asked.
"Yes, we can't defend it. We just need to get the provisions and money!" Pang Shiyuan smiled indifferently.
Pang Shiyuan did not know why he felt a little uneasy. There was a very important reason why they did not take Fan City. Pang Shiyuan and Liu Bei still wanted to keep Fan City to resist the Yangzhou army's icy peak. This was because Fan City could be used as a bridgehead and a buffer zone against the Yangzhou army.
Therefore, Pang Shiyuan and Liu Bei's army did not use any siege weapons.
One of them was the Stone Catapult.
Where did Liu Bei's Stone Catapult come from? Do you remember when Liu Bei's Stone Catapult attacked Yangzhou? At that time, Ma Jun was still under Liu Bei's command. In order to compete with him, Ma Jun did not hesitate to take out his Stone Catapult.
Although his Stone Catapult's range was not as long as Yangzhou's Stone Catapult, it was continuous.
It was even better than Yangzhou's Stone Catapult.
If Yangzhou's Stone Catapult was still used, they might not be able to match up to Liu Bei's Stone Catapult.
Unfortunately, Yangzhou's Stone Catapult had already been eliminated.
"Since Zhang Yun refuses a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit! Then don't blame us! " Pang Shiyuan's eyes narrowed, revealing a ferocious glint. With the Stone Catapult, Fan City's Stone Catapult would be difficult to defend.
… …
"Kill, kill, kill!" On top of Fan City, Zhang Yun was panting heavily after killing one of Liu Bei's soldiers who had climbed up the city walls.
Liu Bei's army had deployed their catapults. If it was a few days ago, Zhang Yun would have been able to hold on. But now, Zhang Yun could no longer hold on.
This was because the catapults, Jing Ran, and the siege chariots had arrived.
The entire Liu Bei Army seemed to be going all out.
Jing Ran and the battering ram were still fine, as long as Zhang Yun sent people out, they would be destroyed.
However, the catapults were simply too far away. They were several hundred paces away, and Zhang Yun was powerless to do anything about it. As long as one faction sent out enough troops, it would be useless. But if there were too many, Zhang Yun would not be able to hold on.
Therefore, Zhang Yun could only swallow this grievance in silence. He couldn't say anything at all. He was as sullen as he could be.
The more they fought, the smaller the number of enemies on the city walls. That was why Zhang Yun decided to take the field himself.
"General, let's move out!" In Fan City, there was a commoner's house. On the surface, it looked very ordinary, but one would know that it was a completely different world when one entered.
Inside, there were all elite soldiers. There was not a single one of them who was old or weak. This was not something an ordinary family would have.
Moreover, these people were emitting waves of killing intent. This was enough to tell that they were all veterans.
"General, if we don't move out, Fan City will not be able to hold on! Although Zhang Yun is strong enough, there is nothing he can do about the catapults of Liu Bei's army outside the city. Defeat is only a matter of time! "A captain on the side persuaded the leader.
"Yes, General, we can't hesitate anymore. This is a great opportunity. If we miss it, Fan City will be gone! If we do that, we'll be letting His Highness King of Han down! "Another person spoke up.
This was the Yangzhou New Army. They had entered Fan City less than half a year ago and were hiding in every corner of the city. There were close to twenty thousand of them. As long as this general raised his arm and gave the order, the twenty thousand soldiers in the city would be instantly restrained. Moreover, they were all elites wearing the armor and sabers of Yangzhou.
The general was also frowning. This person was none other than the Little Overlord, Sun Ce.
Sun Ce, the commander-in-chief of the Yangzhou Yangtze River Navy, actually personally entered Fan City. It can be seen that Sun Ce's courage has grown.
Sun Ce had long been bored of the Yangzhou Navy. Therefore, he had the time to enter Fan City. As for the Yangzhou Navy, Zhou Yu alone was enough.
Zhou Yu wasn't worried about Sun Ce's safety. This was because Sun Ce's martial arts were a level higher than before. Even if Lü Bu wanted to defeat Sun Ce, he would only have a 50% chance.
Sun Ce alone could take out Fan City, not to mention the twenty thousand soldiers by his side.
Sun Ce, who had always been impulsive, made a different decision this time.
Sun Ce frowned. His fists were already clenched. Sun Ce was also anxious. He hadn't fought for a long time. He couldn't wait to defeat Liu Bei and enter Jingzhou.
Sun Ce had been attacking Jingzhou for a long time. Wasn't it to avenge his father?
But now, his enemies were all dead. This made Sun Ce even more sullen.
Liu Biao died at the hands of Huang She. Huang She died at the hands of Liu Bei. Now, Sun Ce's hatred for Liu Biao was directed at Liu Bei. If he was late, Huang Zu would most likely die as well!
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