Chapter 371: A series of black hands
On the Han River, a Jingnan fleet sailed upstream.

The autumn is tiring, and the green on both sides of the river is turning yellow.

When they were about to pass Yuliang Island, two fleets appeared from behind the sandbar.

One group of warships was mainly responsible for the horizontal interception, while the other group of boats was mainly responsible for sailing around Yuliangzhou and going downstream to attack the rear.

The Jingnan fleet, whose flagship is a large transport ship.

Something unexpected happened, and many young men who were about to be taken to Guanzhong as hostages appeared on the deck.

Kou Feng was older and of noble status, and was accompanied by several guards holding shields.

He quickly climbed up to the chamber and asked, "Uncle, is Liu Zhennan going to rebel against the Grand Marshal?"

"Hurry up and take the boat, and go if you can!"

Liu Mi looked furious, with his sword drawn, commanding the sailors and archers on the ship. He lowered his voice and said to Kou Feng, "We must not fall into the hands of the enemy."

Kou Feng's eyes narrowed and he nodded seriously.

He was not only the nephew of Changsha Liu, his grandmother was the sister of Emperor Huan, the eldest princess of Yiyang. Luohou Kou's family had been intermarried with the noble families of Jingzhou for generations, and had great influence.

In terms of bloodline alone, if Kou Feng was adopted into the Liu family, his legitimacy would be much higher than that of Liu Fu, Liu Biao, and Liu Zhang. These people were only from the royal family, and were not even as good as the Grand Marshal from the royal family of the Chen Dynasty.

Kou Feng was decisive. He slid down the wooden ladder to the deck and immediately said to the head of the guards, "Get in the cabin!"

At this time, other soldiers shouted loudly and organized other young men to enter the cabin.

Some young men in the cabin had already started to take off their brocade robes and put on the worn-out coarse cloth short coats that had been prepared, and even changed their straw sandals.

Kou Feng was no exception and made a plan before setting off.

It was thought that the Jingzhou army would take action in the remote area south of Hanjin, but no one expected that they would take action under the nose of Xiangyang City.

After changing their clothes and disguising themselves, these young men either took small boats and headed straight for the west bank, or landed on Yuliang Island, or paddled hard and went downstream in an attempt to break out.

On Lumen Mountain, Pang Tong, Xi Zhen and a dozen other scholars and officials climbed up to overlook the naval battle.

The Jingzhou navy performed as usual and refused to board the ship for hand-to-hand combat.

Use bows and crossbows to suppress the enemy at close range to facilitate the fire ships to approach.

In no particular order, thirteen large transport ships in Jingnan were set on fire one after another, and the soldiers and sailors on board jumped off the ship to escape one after another.

Then the warships of the Jingzhou Navy left the fleet, and each warship was accompanied by several small boats.

Most of the small boats also floated downstream, and the sailors on the boats used long forks to stab the struggling figures on the water, or shot them with bows and crossbows.

Pang Tong looked at it for a long time and couldn't help but sigh.

Liu Qi opposed the killing of these hostages, but his opposition was not decisive.

The human resources and resources of the four counties in southern Jing are more abundant than those in northern Jing, accounting for more than half of the current Jingzhou.

Excluding the uncontrollable counties of Nanyang and Nanxiang, the four counties in southern Jing now account for two-thirds of Jingzhou for Liu Biao and Liu Qi!

If southern Jing was taken away by the Kingdom of Changsha, Liu Biao would go crazy, and the scholars in northern Jing would also go crazy!

Liu Qi's personal opinion is meaningless at this moment.

Even Pang Tong himself would be pushed forward by the surging public opinion.

Therefore, even though Wu Chen, the tower ship Sima in General Fu Bo's mansion, was born in Changsha, he resolutely carried out Liu Qi's orders... But Wu Chen should never have accepted the invitation to the banquet.

As expected, before the banquet even started, Wu Chen was stabbed to death in the courtyard by several Jingzhou scholars.

Even though Wu Chen was wearing inner armor, he still couldn't avoid the fatal sword from behind.

Wu Chen died, and the navy in General Fu Bo's mansion fell into the hands of Pang Tong. It was that simple.

On the west bank of the naval battlefield, at the Eagle Tower, Liu Qi stood on the tower with a blank expression, his hands behind his back.

Liu Biao's beard was half white, and he was in a very good mood today. He smiled and said, "This is a scholar. Do you know why your father indulged Pang Tong?"

"..."

Liu Qi remained silent. His infantry Sima Wenpin was forced by Liu Bei to lead his troops to turn against Liu Bei. Now the tower ship Sima Wu Chen was falsely accused of collaborating with the enemy, and his head was sent to Yingtai, creating a fait accompli.

Seeing his eldest son's appearance, Liu Biao chuckled with great pride: "The ones that father fears are Pang Degong and Sima Hui. Pang Tong is just a child. He is impatient, eager for quick success, and good at taking shortcuts. Such a person is actually easy to deal with. Just cater to his preferences, use him, let him show his strengths, and he will be loyal to you. He is not like Pang Degong and Sima Hui, who are kind-hearted but cruel, and difficult to guard against."

Liu Biao raised his hand and patted Liu Qi on the shoulder: "Pang Tong has cut off his own retreat. From now on, it will be difficult for him to unite the people of Jingnan. This is your opportunity, and also your father's opportunity."

Liu Qi looked up in surprise: "Father's chance?"

Liu Biao looked calm, but still couldn't help smiling: "How could there be no loyal and righteous people under Wu Chen's command?"

Liu Qi suddenly realized and said, "Killing the children of each family today will make the blood feud difficult to eliminate."

"It's blood feud only if these young men are alive. If they are all dead, where is the blood feud? The dead cannot be resurrected, and their parents and brothers also have to consider their own situations. How can they die for the dead?"

Liu Biao looked at the large and small warships of the navy that were hunting and killing people like they were catching fish, and added: "Only by killing them will the Grand Marshal value my children and grandchildren."

Liu Qi looked at Liu Biao with his mouth half open. He didn't expect that his father could be so open-minded.
It seemed as if he knew him in his childhood and youth, an optimistic, open-minded, sunny and handsome man.

The father and son were both speechless. After a moment, Liu Biao raised his hand and patted Liu Qi on the shoulder: "Go and do what you want to do. As for the rest, I can't interfere."

Liu Qi was confused, and Liu Biao stretched out his arm and pointed to the shore.

Liu Qi suddenly realized and when he turned around, he saw Liu Biao walking towards the other side of the stairs with a Qiong stick.

Liu Qi didn't dare to delay any longer. He immediately ran to the nearby stairs and rushed down, shouting to Wang Wei: "Go to the shore quickly! Rescue the people who fell into the water!"

Wang Wei instinctively looked up, but when he didn't see Liu Biao, he immediately said, "Yes!"

He turned around, drew his sword, shouted at the guards around him, and sent out military officers to mobilize the troops stationed nearby.

On the Lumen Mountain on the east bank, Pang Tong saw Liu Qi coming forward to rescue the remaining members of the Jingnan fleet, and he smiled slightly.

He had no choice but to play the bad guy. If Liu Qi could help the scholars in southern Jingzhou, it would naturally be beneficial to the overall unity of Jingzhou in the future.

When Pang Tong was about to open his mouth to praise him, Xi Zhen, who was standing in armor and holding a halberd, suddenly pointed at the house on Yuliang Island and shouted, "Brother Shiyuan, look at Yuliang Island!"

Xi Zhen had very good eyesight, and everyone looked where he pointed, and saw that more than thirty naval officers on Yuliang Island had broken into the door and were fighting with Sima Hui's students with swords.

Even though Sima Hui's students were skilled in swordsmanship, they did not have bows and crossbows, long-pole weapons, or armor to protect themselves.

After fighting for three or four breaths, these soldiers were defeated head-on.

Even if he swung his sword with all his might, he could not withstand the heavier and more ferocious ring-handled sword; nor could he withstand the spears and halberds that stabbed at him, let alone the bows and crossbows that shot at him at close range.

Within a dozen breaths, this group of rioting naval officers and soldiers began to set fire.

Pang Tong looked at this with bloodshot eyes, knowing that his beloved friend, Mr. Water Mirror Sima Hui, must have been killed!

He was a little unsteady on his feet, so Pang Lin and Xi Zhen beside him hurried forward to support Pang Tong.

Pang Tong's vision went dark. He lay flat on the ground and opened his mouth to remind someone, but he was too weak to make any sound.

Xi Zhen listened attentively, then looked at Pang Tong in shock: "Brother, are you worrying too much?"

Seeing that he had guessed it, Pang Tong nodded anxiously, his eyes fell on the brave and strong Xi Zhen, and he raised his hand to grab Xi Zhen's sleeve.

Xi Zhen understood and immediately turned to look at Xi Zhen: "Seventh brother, bring more people and go to Pangdegongzhuang quickly. Be sure to be vigilant against the random soldiers' attacks!"

Xi Zhen was stunned, and bowed: "I obey your command!"

(End of this chapter)