Lian Po's momentary lapse in judgment caused the Qin army to lose control.
The Qin army was already a mix of races and factions. The soldiers did not have much faith in Wu Qi, who had suddenly been appointed governor. Otherwise, Fu Jian would not have arranged for Fu Rong to accompany Wu Qi to Shou Yang.
The soldiers paid even less attention to Lian Po, the main general. In addition, the sudden removal of Murong Chui and Yao Chi caused the Qiang and Xianbei soldiers to be dissatisfied. After leaving the main camp, they naturally became more unbridled.
By the time Lian Po realized that something was wrong, it was already too late.
As an old general and a famous general, Lian Po had rich experience in military management. He knew that the more basic a soldier was, the more they liked to form cliques. If he forcefully suppressed them, it would only backfire and cause the situation to spiral out of control.
The only way was to continue indulging them and win over the hearts of the people.
In ancient times, there were many generals who intentionally allowed their soldiers to pillage and burn in the cities. Even some famous generals had this habit as a reward and benefit for their soldiers.
Between benevolence and victory, Lian Po chose the latter.
The Qin soldiers were very satisfied with Lian Po's "tact," and their resistance towards this main general was slightly alleviated. However, without restrictions, he became even more unbridled.
Everywhere the army passed, the people were plunged into misery and suffering, and the common people were filled with grievances.
Even bandits were not so cruel when they entered the cities. The people who had always lived in the south had never suffered like this. While they were fearful, their resentment also sprouted in their hearts.
As for those refugees who had fled from the north, they could not help but think of their previous lives as fugitives. This time, they had nowhere to run and were forced into desperate straits.
Although Lian Po could not bear it, he was powerless and could not stop them. In the end, even the soldiers of the mutant army followed suit.
As the main general, Lian Po could only restrain the fifty thousand soldiers of Handan City. Because of this, the soldiers of Handan City had a lot of complaints about their commander.
"Not worried about scarcity, but about inequality."
This time, Lian Po was in a difficult situation.
As the army advanced, the reputation of the Qin army's cruelty spread like wildfire within the borders of Yu Province. When the people at the front heard the news, they were so frightened that they evacuated the cities and fled deep into the mountains.
Before they left, the commoners hid the food. If they couldn't hide it, they simply destroyed it with fire. No matter how cowardly a person was, when forced into a desperate situation, he or she would burst out with courage.
Other than escaping into the mountains, there were also some valiant soldiers who were ruthless towards the Qin soldiers who were left behind. More and more Qin soldiers who went out and never returned.
The further south the army advanced, the more difficult it became.
At first, the Lian Po Tribe transported large amounts of rations to the main camp. In the middle of the war, even their own rations had to be gathered from all over the place.
The morale of the army suffered a heavy blow.
If this continued, Lian Po's troops would probably need the headquarters to provide them with provisions. This made Lian Po, who cared a lot about his reputation, extremely ashamed. He clenched his teeth and refused to open his mouth to the headquarters.
In order to gather more rations, the marching speed became slower and slower.
On the eleventh day of the campaign, Lian Po's troops finally passed through Yuzhou and entered the territory of Jingzhou. The Yuzhou of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was far from the entirety of the Yuzhou of the Three Kingdoms period. It was only the southern part of the Yuzhou.
In comparison, the Jing Province was the size of ten Yu Provinces.
When Lian Po's army entered the Jing Province, it was like a fish entering the sea. Lian Po also secretly heaved a sigh of relief. As long as Huan Chong's troops were defeated, the bitter days would be over.
But the moment the army reached Jingzhou, Lian Po received a piece of bad news. "The thirty thousand soldiers that Fu Rong sent to Jingzhou have long been annihilated by Huan Chong's troops."
… …
Why would the thirty thousand Qin soldiers stationed in Jingzhou be suddenly annihilated? The story started from the night Ouyang Shuo learned that Wu Qi was appointed as the temporary Governor by Fu Jian.
That day, Ouyang Shuo and Jia Gao discussed until late at night. One of the plans was to deal with the thirty thousand Qin soldiers in Jingzhou.
Ouyang Shuo knew that once these thirty thousand Qin soldiers were reformed by Wu Qi, they would be a disaster. On the contrary, before Wu Qi came into contact with this army, this army was just a pile of mud.
The historical battle of Fei River had already proved how unreliable this Qin army was.
Therefore, Ouyang Shuo visited Xie Shi that night and asked Xie Shi to give the order to Huan Chong to attack the Qin army in Jingzhou and annihilate them to prevent future trouble.
At that time in Eastern Jin, the Huan family that Huan Chong belonged to was a large family that could compete with the Xie family. Huan Chong himself was an experienced old general. The hundred thousand soldiers under him had all been on the battlefield and were not weak.
While they could not compare to the Northern Legion Army trained by Xie Xuan, Huan Chong could fight against Xie Xuan in the east and west. This meant that these hundred thousand soldiers were very strong.
Huan Chong received the order and initiated the attack. The thirty thousand soldiers in Jingzhou were naturally defeated.
… …
After receiving the news, Lian Po was silent. For the first time, he felt a sense of unease. Before reaching Jingzhou, Lian Po had sent a liaison officer to Jingzhou to get in touch with the three Qin soldiers and set up a meeting point.
The liaison officer had been gone for a long time and did not return, which had already made Lian Po suspicious.
Now that the truth was out, Lian Po began to take Huan Chong's troops seriously for the first time.
Of course, it was just a little.
According to the information provided by Fu Jian, Huan Chong's troops were only a hundred thousand strong. Lian Po was confident that he could defeat Huan Chong's troops with just a hundred and fifty thousand mutants, much less two hundred and fifty thousand.
The battle power of the two was not even on the same level.
Huan Chong's defeat of thirty thousand Qin troops was not enough to make Lian Po feel fear. Back in the headquarters, Lian Po had seen for himself what kind of trash the so-called one million Qin soldiers were.
"That's good. Isn't this more interesting?"
Looking at the center of Jingzhou, Lian Po was full of confidence. The only thing that Lian Po was worried about was that his lord had sent someone to deliver news that Eastern Jin also had a mutant troop heading south.
However, Lian Po did not know anything about the number of mutants, the composition of the troops, or the leader of the troop. On the way south, the Qin army did not meet with any obstructions. This made Lian Po very confused.
"Even if you are fast, how fast can you be?" Lian Po muttered to himself.
If Lian Po knew that the one hundred thousand soldiers from Eastern Jin's camp heading south were all cavalry, and that they were rushing to Jingzhou under the leadership of Ma Chao, he would not be so confident.
In view of Lian Po's' outrageous' actions in Yuzhou, Ma Chao's troops had arrived at Jingzhou six days earlier.
After Huan Chong's troops stationed in Jingzhou had annihilated the thirty thousand Qin troops, they did not stop and immediately headed north to meet up with Ma Chao's troops.
Four days ago, the two armies had already met up victoriously.
In such a crucial battle, four days was enough to change the course of the battle. The moment Lian Po's army set foot on the land of Jingzhou, a large net had already been secretly laid, waiting for the prey to take the bait.
Lian Po's momentary lapse in Yuzhou had changed the outcome of the battle.
Originally, Ma Chao was only following the king's orders to delay Lian Po's army. He did not expect Lian Po's army to seek their own death by committing outrageous acts in Yuzhou, giving Ma Chao's army a chance.
After meeting up, Ma Chao and Huan Chong hit it off and prepared to give Lian Po's army a big gift.
…
On the twelfth day of the battle, Jiangxia County, Jingzhou, the outskirts of Anlu City.
Jiangxia County was a place one must pass from Yuzhou to Jingzhou, and Anlu City was the county seat of Jiangxia County. Further south of Jiangxia County was Nanping County, which was also the site of the famous Battle of Red Cliffs.
Anlu City was built along the Yi River, and was considered a strategic location.
If Lian Po's army wanted to enter the center of Jingzhou, Anlu City was a place they must pass through.
Twenty miles north of Anlu City was a dense forest with hills on both sides, and there was only one main road in the middle.
Around eleven in the morning, Lian Po's army marched on the mountain road in a majestic manner, winding along the mountain road. It was a magnificent sight to behold.
"General, the terrain here is narrow, making it the easiest place to set up an ambush. Could it be a trap?" The deputy general asked.
Although Lian Po was old, his body was still strong. Riding on a tall horse, he had the demeanor of an experienced general. Hearing the deputy general's question, he stroked his beard and smiled, "The enemy is still a few hundred miles away, how could there be an ambush?"
"I was thinking too much," the deputy general said embarrassedly.
At this moment, an unforeseen event happened.
Thousands of flags suddenly rose from the hills on both sides, and the sound of rumors and shouting could be heard. Looking into the distance, there were shadows of countless soldiers hidden in the bushes and trees, causing one's expression to change.
"Not good, there's an ambush!" Lian Po was shocked.
Just as he said this, countless arrows rained down from the hills on both sides. The enemy's ambush caught Lian Po's army off guard.
In an instant, Lian Po's army had suffered heavy casualties.
"Get into formation, archers, counterattack!"
Lian Po was indeed an experienced general. He knew that the mountain road was long, and it was impossible for him to charge out of the mountain road. Only by facing the enemy in battle would they have a chance of survival.
The 150,000 mutant army was still calm. After all, they were elites handpicked from the various territories. However, the 100,000 Qin soldiers were in a worse state. They were suddenly ambushed and immediately panicked.
Although there were mutant liaison officers restraining them, they were not as easily defeated as they were in history. As for an immediate counterattack, it was impossible for them to do so.
It was already a great improvement that they were not fleeing like rats.
However, the counterattack of Lian Po's army was obviously weak. After all, one was at the top, while the other was at the bottom. There was naturally a huge difference that could not be made up for.
Seeing this, Lian Po looked at the hills on both sides. Because the road was too long, he could not determine how many enemies were hidden in the bushes.
Perhaps there were only tens of thousands, or perhaps hundreds of thousands.
Lian Po guessed that this army was definitely not Huan Chong's troops. They did not have the guts to do so. The only possibility was that the lord had told him about the mutant army from East Jin's camp heading south.
"Fine, the brave will win in a narrow path."
Lian Po gritted his teeth and made up his mind. He ordered his troops to go up the mountain and charge in the opposite direction. They could only be beaten up passively on the mountain road. Only by charging to the top of the mountain would they have a chance of winning.
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