Chapter 89 The arrow is on the string
Midnight, Xiangyang.

In the backyard of the county governor's mansion, Cai Mao was about to go to sleep when his attendant said through the screen: "Master, Liu Zhennan sent an envoy to invite you."

"What's the matter that calls you so late at night?"

"I asked, but the messenger said nothing and just urged me."

Seeing this, Cai Mao patted the concubine from Wu beside him, but felt unsatisfied, so he laughed and patted her twice more with great force.

The concubine lay on the couch like a coquettish child, wriggling from side to side like a white and tender maggot baby. Another concubine helped Cai Mao get up and off the couch.

There were four maids in front of the couch, two of them were holding lanterns and two were waving large fans.

Seeing that Cai Mao wanted to change clothes, two maids holding fans brought him clothes.

After selecting the concubines, the maids changed Cai Mao's clothes.

On a hot summer night, Cai Mao, wearing a pair of wooden clogs, got into the car followed by a group of guards.

General Zhennan's Mansion.

When Cai Mao arrived, Liu Biao was sitting in front of the zither, with his sleeves rolled up and tied tightly around his cuffs, plucking the strings.

Every time the instrument was plucked, Liu Biao closed his eyes and put his ear close to listen to the sound.

Cai Mao took off his clogs outside the door, then stood in front of the door, slightly sideways, with his hands hanging down, waiting quietly.

Liu Biao played a piece of music casually, and then said to Wang Can beside him: "Take him away."

"Here."

Wang Can turned sideways and waved to the servant standing in the hallway. The two servants in blue clothes who were waiting there came forward and carefully carried away the long-tailed zither.

Wang Can also left with the two blue-clothed servants, and bowed slightly to Cai Mao as he left.

Cai Mao also nodded and bowed slightly as a greeting.

Then Cai Mao went in, and another group of servants came in with fruits and placed several plates of seasonal fruits on Cai Mao's table.

Liu Biao lay slightly sideways, with his left arm propped on the low square table. He sniffed a white peach in his right hand and said slowly, "In the battle of Bowangpo, Xuande traded the captives to the little thief Bai E. My son introduced these captives to Huang She. Degui, are you interested?"

"My lord, my family is well-off and has no shortage of wealth."

"You are content, but some people are not."

Liu Biao looked Cai Mao up and down and saw that he looked nervous, so he said, "My son is ignorant and was bewitched by the white goose thief."

As he spoke, Liu Biao took out a stack of silk books from under the table and handed them over. Cai Mao bent down and took them with both hands.

He spread it out and saw more than a hundred words on the silk book.

Liu Biao lowered his eyes to observe the changes in Cai Mao's expression. Cai Mao was shocked and said, "My lord, I also sent an envoy to Xi County and heard that the prince rejected the white goose thief."

"He refused many times, but he just couldn't refuse Yi Jibo."

Liu Biao looked up at the dark roof beams and said, "The rebellion of the two Yuans in Hebei has made Ji Bo very confused."

Cai Mao's heart trembled, and he looked up at Liu Biao cautiously.

He was really a little scared. The first thing Liu Biao did when he came to Jingzhou was to kill more than fifty commanders.

Among these commanders, which one is weaker than Cai Mao in terms of wealth and strength?

Everyone said that it was Cai Mao who planned this matter, but how could he have the courage to do so?

After Liu Biao finished his sigh, he looked down at Cai Mao and said, "I have ordered the Xuanchi navy to block the Han River, and Degui to mobilize the soldiers from Yicheng."

Cai Mao breathed a sigh of relief.

Xuanchi is located on the east side of Fancheng. It was originally low-lying, but after artificial excavation and construction, it became the garrison camp of the Xiangyang Navy.

When the visibility is good, you can see the fleet of warships in Xuanchi from the top of Xiangyang City.

As long as the Xuanchi navy intercepts the Han River, the rebel army will not be able to attack Caizhou directly.

Caizhou had its own forts and corner towers, and also had armed troops stationed there.

But how can this withstand the attack of regular soldiers?

In particular, the other side actually used captured Qingzhou soldiers!

I dare not imagine how he will face his ancestors once Caizhou is conquered.

Cai Mao did not dare to delay and immediately left the city overnight to rush to Yicheng to mobilize troops.

Take a boat from Yicheng Wharf northwards, covering more than 100 miles by water, and you will arrive in Xiangyang the next morning.

In the middle of the night, a huge fleet of boats drifted down the Han River.

Most of the Qingzhou soldiers are not familiar with water and do not know how to row a boat.

Therefore, the Nanxiang soldiers were responsible for rowing the bamboo rafts and small boats, while the Qingzhou soldiers could rest and recuperate on the boats.

At the front of the team, Black Bear observed the changes on both sides of the river.

He remotely controlled Lu Bu and Gao Shun to ride their Yin Gan horses on both sides of the river to disturb possible ambushes and spies.

In summer, the days are long and the nights are short, and the sky gradually becomes brighter at four o'clock in the morning.

At this time, the vanguard troops had traveled seventy miles by water and passed through Shandu County.

The black bear felt his heart tremble with fear. He raised his hand to touch the bronze mask on his face, then turned his head to look around.

There is almost no doubt that the food problem will be a problem for the people of Jingzhou.

Jingzhou can accept a destroyed Guanzhong, but will never tolerate its Hebei allies occupying Guanlong!
Hebei was entirely under the control of Guanlong, which was not much different from Cao Cao's unification of Hebei.

Either be a dog, a substitute and competitor for Liu Bei; or die.

There is almost no third way for me.

Nanxiang County alone cannot support itself.

He did not want to destroy Jingzhou, but only by establishing Liu Qi's rule could he obtain enough resources to deal with the heroes in Guanzhong.

As his mind was churning with thoughts, his emotions gradually calmed down.

Now, even if Liu Bei is standing in front of me, I must draw my sword and charge forward!

The sky gradually brightened, and after sailing for another thirty miles, the river became smoother and straight from east to west.

I saw warships blocking the river 20 miles downstream. The front row of warships had flags like a forest, and I didn't know how many rows were behind them.

In front of the warships, there are more than a hundred nimble small boats.

Black Bear stood up from his stool, squinted his eyes and looked into the distance, raised his hand to measure the distance, and said to the people around him: "Sure enough, Liu Biao is also worried about his stupid son."

"I wonder why they would block the river here?"

"Why not block them at Yuliangzhou or east of Xianshan?" If we did that, our side would not be able to detect it at all, and by the time the team reached the place where the Han River turns south, it would be too late to turn around and run.

The people on the left and right looked at each other in confusion. As for the tall warships of the Jingzhou Navy... they were more arrogant than black bears and did not take them seriously at all.

One person spoke up: "General Qu, perhaps the people of Jing want to persuade our army to retreat."

Someone else said, "They may be worried that our army will go ashore and harass Xiangyang."

Black Bear listened and nodded slowly, but said: "Now that things have come to this, we should make a concerted effort. If we retreat, we will die without a burial place."

Liu Biao did not dare to allow his troops to land near Xiangyang, so he deployed his navy upstream of the dock.

Looking towards the direction of Xiangyang Wharf, there are flags flying and troops stationed upstream of the wharf and on the huge sandbar close to the south bank.

Black Bear tilted his head to look at the battle flag of the "Henghai Xiaowei" erected in the middle of the ship, and said to the soldier holding the flag: "All troops, move forward!"

The soldier holding the flag leaned forward with the flag in his hand, stood at attention, and leaned forward again, repeating this several times. The surrounding boats that were about to be silted up gradually slowed down and began to move forward.

The black bear continued to look into the distance, observing the changes downstream.

As the distance got closer, he finally confirmed that the Jingzhou navy was deployed in a narrow part of the river, hiding the Xiangyang wharf and several huge sandbars behind them.

There are not many options left for our side, and a strong attack would be very disadvantageous.

Either go to the North Shore or go to the South Shore.

The south bank is the Longzhong Plateau, with undulating terrain and dense woods, which is very suitable for setting up an ambush.

However, our Qingzhou soldiers were almost unarmored, and would be at a great disadvantage if they were attacked by ambushes and close-range bows and crossbows.

The Qingzhou soldiers are here to fight a favorable battle, and they will not help you to tackle a tough problem.

If Liu Biao is given time to make contact, he will incite the Qingzhou soldiers to rebel.

Hei Se thought about it, and pointed his right hand like a sword, pointing to the south bank four or five miles away. Lu Bu, who was riding a horse on the south bank, immediately rushed over.

Sure enough, rows of archers appeared from the hills and woods, shooting arrows.

Lu Bu galloped on his horse, and with the Fang Tian Ji in his hand, he quickly blocked the attack and retreated safely.

After retreating to the shore, Lu Bu dismounted under the watchful eyes of the Qingzhou soldiers and pulled out the arrows from the armor of his horse as if nothing had happened.

He then jumped on his horse and made another tentative charge towards the hill.

The ambush of the Jingzhou army had been discovered, and the Qingzhou troops arrived at the south bank in an orderly manner.

After reaching the shore, they dragged the small boats and bamboo rafts ashore.

The small boats were placed at intervals, with bamboo rafts placed across them as wall panels, forming barriers for the camp in an orderly manner.

As for Lu Bu, he roams around the hills and ridges with his spear in hand. As long as he is alive, the Qingzhou soldiers can maintain their current stable state.

Soon, Gan Ning's troops reached the shore.

Gan Ning looked calm and didn't seem surprised at all.

He had been played by Liu Biao for so many years, and he only felt that Liu Biao had no ambition, but never thought that Liu Biao was stupid.

After going ashore and observing the surroundings, Gan Ning immediately raised his hand and pointed to a nearby earthen hill and said, "General Qu, we should first capture this hill to boost morale!"

The nearest ridge and mound was only about two or three miles away, and the two sides were very close.

At this time, Wang Wei also came ashore, looking very unnatural.

Gan Ning continued to say to Black Bear: "Jingzhou has many soldiers, our army cannot hesitate. After defeating the ambush in the mountains, we will use the soldiers from Nanxiang and Prince Liu Qi to defend the camp, and our army will attack Xiangyang directly."

Wang Wei said, "Xiangyang is a strong city and our army has no weapons. How can it be easy?"

Gan Ning glanced at Wang Wei and continued to plan for Black Bear: "Cai Mao is not important to the old thief. If our army advances lightly, he will definitely send troops to fight. Otherwise, how can he have the face to rule Jingxiang? If we defeat his army under the city, the old thief will negotiate peace."

Don't expect Gan Ning to have much respect for Liu Biao, as the best years of his youth were wasted at his hands.

It was not until he was thirty years old that he was kicked to Huang Zu.

If Liu Biao could be captured, Gan Ning would definitely twist off Liu Biao's head himself!
Wang Wei was silent, so Black Bear said, "Liu Biao has been keeping Cai Mao for more than a thousand days. Now it is Cai Mao's turn to be loyal to him. I agree with Xingba's statement. As long as Prince Liu Qi holds his ground, the Xiangyang navy will not dare to attack the camp. Once I defeat his army and kill his general, Liu Biao will restore order and set things right."

While they were talking, the troops accompanying Gan Ning began to put on armor.

In particular, Gan Ning's most elite personal guards received all the silver-gilt armor transferred by Black Bear.

Including the one on Gan Ning, there were a total of thirty-six pieces of silver-gilt Ming Guang armor. The rest were also wearing double armor, hanging swords, holding spears and lined up outside the camp.

In addition, two hundred-man teams attacked in coordination, wearing leather armor, holding shields at shoulder height in one hand and swords and spears in the other.

When Gan Ning saw that the three hundred-man teams had formed up, he led the three teams toward the southern ridge without waiting for the left and right wings to complete assembly.

At the ridge, Lu Bu had already rushed up and would occasionally rush out on his horse.

Every time you go in and out, you can gain something.

The ambushing troops of the Jingzhou army shot at close range, but they just couldn't penetrate the gilt Ming Guang armor on Lu Bu, so the morale of the heavy infantry under Gan Ning who were wearing silver-gilt Ming Guang armor was particularly high.

As long as they are not shot to death on the spot, they believe that the black bear can save them and cure them!

When more than 3,000 Qingzhou soldiers were setting up camp, they saw Gan Ning's 300 men leading the way, followed by five teams of 100 men advancing slowly behind them.

The ambush was intended to be a surprise attack. Once exposed, they would be unable to resist the heavy infantry's formation and forceful advance.

The ambush positions in the south were almost on the verge of collapse, with colorful battle flags planted on hills and ridges everywhere.

When Liu Qi and Yi Ji arrived at the shore, they saw that the morale of the Qingzhou soldiers who were eating dry food in the camp was high.

Soon, Gan Ning rode a captured horse, his armor stained with blood, and arrived in front of the camp carrying a head.

He was arrogant, tilted his head to look at Liu Qi, and threw it casually.

As if intentional, the head hit Liu Qi two steps in front of him, with a dull thud and a lot of blood splashing.

Liu Qi felt his face was a little cold, he raised his hand and wiped it, he saw blood stains on his palm.

Gan Ning dismounted, held a bronze seal in both hands, and knelt before Black Bear, saying, "Commander Qu, I have fulfilled your command and killed Captain Zhang Tong!"

Black Bear helped Gan Ning up first and asked, "Are you tired, Xingba?"

"It's just Zhang Tong. I can take him with just a stretch of my hand. Why would I bother?"

Gan Ning raised his chin and observed Liu Qi and others with a squint: "Cai Mao is colluding with the enemy. It seems that Zhang Tong is also an accomplice. He actually cooperated with the navy to set an ambush to block the road."

"The navy doesn't know the truth, so let's ignore it for now."

Black Bear looked at Yi Ji and said, "I will lead my troops eastwards. Please ask Lord Yi and the Young Master to guard the camp. Once I defeat the enemy, the situation will improve."

Liu Qi felt that Gan Ning was glancing at his neck just now, so he quickly expressed his opinion: "As you wish, Lord Hei."

(End of this chapter)