Chapter 169: Losing both the lady and the troops, a great shame! I have the advantage of to ! Finally, my hope is shattered!
The flagship docked.

Liu Bei and Xiao Fang got off the boat and reached Yangxin Pass.

"My lord, there were less than 2,000 soldiers in the enemy camp, and we have wiped them all out."

"I have interrogated him. Zhou Yu led 8,000 main forces to Chaisang City under the cover of darkness last night."

Gan Ning, who was still full of murderous intent, came forward excitedly to report.

Liu Bei smiled, stroked his thin beard and sighed:
"Every thought of Zhou Yu is indeed under your control, Jinglue."

"He really did escape with the main force. It seems that Chaisang must have been captured by Han Sheng and Aliang!"

Liu Bei made the final decision and Chaisang had been taken.

Gan Ning and other generals were all greatly encouraged.

Gan Ning bowed again and said with emotion:

"My lord, what are we waiting for? Let's go downstream and head straight to Chaisang to pursue Zhou Yu!"

Liu Bei had exactly this intention, so he immediately ordered some troops to stay at Yangxin Pass to clean up the mess, and the rest of the troops to board ships and pursue in the direction of Chaisang City.

"Zhou Yu has been gone for a night, and pursuing by water is too slow."

"I expect Han Sheng and his men have few soldiers and will definitely hold on to Chaisang, allowing Zhou Yu to land and attack the city."

"My lord, you can send..."

However, Xiao Fang came up with another plan.

Liu Bei gladly accepted it.

...

North of Chaisang City.

More than a hundred warships, carrying 8,000 Jiangdong navy troops, finally arrived at the Chaisang waters before dawn.

Zhou Yu came to the bow of the ship with the help of a cane and looked towards Chaisang City.

The flag on the top of the city wall had been changed to Liu Bei's flag, announcing the change of ownership of this gateway to the east and west of the Yangtze River.

Zhou Yu frowned and clenched the crutch in his hand.

When the fleet approached the water camp, they saw that the water camp still had his Zhou flag and the figures of Jiangdong soldiers could still be seen, indicating that the water camp had not been occupied by Liu's army.

"The old man Huang Zhong's troops should not exceed 5,000, so he dare not divide his troops to seize the water camp."

"That's good. It saves me the trouble of attacking the water camp."

Zhou Yu's expression then warmed up a little, and he immediately ordered all the ships to dock immediately.

Warships sailed into the water camp, and eight thousand Jiangdong soldiers, feeling uneasy, silently disembarked and went ashore.

"Greetings to the Governor. You are finally back!"

Chen Wu, who was waiting on the shore, bowed and greeted him with a mixed expression of joy and sorrow on his face.

The moment Zhou Yu saw Chen Wu, he felt a bad premonition.

"Chen Zilie, why are you here if you are not following Bo Fu in Hulin?"

Zhou Yu suppressed the ominous premonition in his heart, but his voice was slightly hoarse.

Chen Wu's face flashed with shame, he bowed his head and said:

"Reporting to the governor, I am following the orders of my lord to escort the Qiao father and daughter to Chaisang."

Zhou Yu's heart skipped a beat.

As expected.

Earlier, when Sun Ce was on his way to Hulin, he captured Wan County and took control of Qiao Xuan and his daughter who had moved back to their hometown.

Sun Ce said that something happened to Qiao Xuan on the way to the south, and the family was separated. The eldest daughter Da Qiao and his wife He were missing, so Qiao Xuan had to take his second daughter Xiao Qiao back to Wancheng first.

So Sun Ce had no choice but to send someone to send Qiao Xuan and Xiao Qiao, father and daughter, to Chaisang and ask him to "take care of" them.

What Zhou Yu did not expect was that Chen Wu did not arrive earlier or later, but just happened to arrive in Chaisang at the critical moment when Huang Zhong launched a sneak attack on Chaisang.

"Then...what about Mr. Qiao and his daughter?"

Zhou Yu suppressed the uneasiness in his heart and asked calmly.

"Commander-in-chief, Mr. Qiao and his daughter, they—"

Chen Wu hesitated to speak, his face becoming more and more ashamed.

Zhou Yu's face darkened and he shouted:
"What happened to them? Tell me!"

Chen Wu was shocked, and knew he couldn't hide it, so he could only half-kneel on the ground with shame on his face.

"I had just escorted Mr. Qiao and his daughter to Chaisang and was sending them to the Governor's Mansion when we were attacked by the enemy. The army rushed into Chaisang."

"I saw that the situation was not good, so I wanted to escort Mr. Qiao and his daughter out of the city, but I was a step too late, and the enemy rushed into the mansion first."

"The enemy leader called himself Xu Chu, and his martial arts were comparable to Lu Bu. I was defeated and forced to flee."

“Mr. Qiao and his daughter…they were unable to escape and fell into the hands of the enemy.”

When Chen Wu spoke of his shame, he lowered his head deeply and did not dare to look Zhou Yu in the face.

Zhou Yu's body swayed slightly. He held on to the crutches with both hands and tried his best to steady himself, and forced himself to stand upright.

Although his body was able to hold on, his eyes were instantly filled with bloodshot, and the flames of shock and anger burst out of them.

Chaisang fell, Han Dang died, and more than half of the troops were lost...

Now, even the woman he wanted to marry was in the hands of his enemy!

Zhou Yu never dreamed that after the battle of Eshan, he would experience such a great humiliation again!
"Don't worry, Commander. Liu Bei has always been strict in military discipline and has strictly ordered his troops not to harass the people."

"Mr. Qiao is a well-respected scholar, and Xu Chu is Liu Bei's military advisor, Xiao Fanghu. We dare not harm the lives of Mr. Qiao and his daughter, and will definitely treat them with courtesy."

"Once the governor recaptures Chaisang, he will be able to rescue Mr. Qiao and his daughter safely."

Chen Wusheng was afraid that Zhou Yu would get angry, so he hurriedly spoke to comfort him.

Upon hearing that Xu Chu was actually Xiao Fang's bodyguard, Zhou Yu's eyes suddenly widened and the blood in his chest suddenly surged up.

Thinking of how Xiao Fang had seen through his plans time and time again, and how he had been schemed by that country bumpkin step by step until he was in a state of humiliation.

Now even the woman he wanted to marry was abducted by Xiao Fang's guards!
If Chaisang cannot be recovered, won't Xiao Qiao fall into Xiao Fang's hands in the future?
The more Zhou Yu thought about it, the more hateful he became. He felt that at this moment, his dignity was smashed to the ground by Xiao Fang and ruthlessly stepped on.

"How can I, a great man from Jiangdong, be humiliated by that country bumpkin?"

Zhou Yu suddenly roared in anger, drew his sword, and shouted:
"All troops, listen up! Attack the city immediately!"

"I want to recapture Chaisang. I want to kill all the enemy troops, leaving no one alive!"

The drums and trumpets sounded.

The 8,000 Jiangdong troops who landed had no time to catch their breath and rest before they left the water camp and headed towards the nearby Chaisang North Gate.

On top of the city.

Huang Zhong and Zhuge Liang were standing side by side on the city wall.

More than 2,000 soldiers of Liu's army were on full alert, ready to fight to the death.

In addition to defending the other three gates and the troops left in the city, two thousand soldiers were the limit of what Huang Zhong could use to guard the north gate. "Zhou Yu arrived really quickly."

"Eight thousand versus two thousand, General Huang, are you confident?"

Zhuge Liang frowned slightly and looked back at Huang Zhong.

Huang Zhong held a long sword in his hand and said proudly:

"It's only four times the enemy's strength. I've encountered more dangerous situations before. Why should I be afraid now?"

"Master Zhuge, please retreat to the tower first, lest you be hurt by the arrows. I will not be able to explain to the lord and the military advisor."

"Leave this to me."

Seeing Huang Zhong so confident, Zhuge Liang retreated into the city wall.

Outside the city, the horn sounded.

Under Zhou Yu's command, eight thousand Jiangdong soldiers rushed towards the north gate like a tide.

The siege begins.

Countless ladders were thrown onto the city wall. The Jiangdong soldiers, anxious to recapture Chaisang, scrambled to climb up as if they were injected with chicken blood.

Sharp arrows from below the city flew up to the top of the city like locusts, suppressing the soldiers of Liu's army so much that they dared not show their heads.

Huang Zhong ran along the city line with a sword in hand, encouraging the soldiers to fight to the death and resist the enemy.

Logs rolled down, rocks fell, and ladders were overturned.

At every moment, there were soldiers from Jiangdong having their heads smashed by flying stones, crushed into pulp by wooden stakes, or thrown off ladders and smashed to pieces.

And at every moment, there were soldiers of Liu's army who were shot to the ground by the rain of sharp arrows and fell among the corpses of their companions.

The siege entered an unprecedentedly fierce moment, and the two sides seemed to have reached a stalemate.

at this time.

Suddenly, several smoke signals appeared in the direction of the city, spreading across the cities in the southeast, northwest, and northeast of Chaisang.

Then, shouts of killing and the sound of war drums suddenly rose up.

It seemed as if in an instant, countless soldiers and horses started to riot at the same time in the entire Chaisang City.

Inside the tower.

Zhuge Liang had noticed the riot in the city and his brows furrowed.

The scene he didn't want to see still happened as expected.

In the previous battle, although they annihilated a thousand defenders in the city, Chaisang City was an important town in Jiangdong after all. In addition to more than a thousand soldiers, there were also many people loyal to Sun Ce.

Once Zhou Yu launches a large-scale attack, these latent forces will surely rise up in chaos and cooperate internally and externally.

This is also the reason why Huang Zhong only used two thousand soldiers to resist the enemy, but left enough soldiers in the city.

It is to suppress these rioters!

These rebel soldiers are nothing to be feared and it should be no problem to suppress them. However, the smoke and fire rising from all over the city can easily shake the morale of the army.

really.

At the north gate, the soldiers of Liu's army, who were fighting desperately, became demoralized and lost their composure when they saw the flames in the city.

Once the army's morale is disrupted, its power of resistance will naturally weaken.

The Jiangdong army took advantage of this opportunity to launch a fierce attack, and soon some soldiers began to climb to the top of the city wall and engage in close combat with Liu's army.

"The scoundrels in the city can't cause any trouble, so don't panic!"

"Drive the enemy out of the city for me!"

Huang Zhong shouted loudly to suppress the wavering morale of the army.

He waved the long sword in his hand wildly, constantly chopping down the enemy soldiers who climbed up to the top of the city wall.

However, the soldiers did not know the true situation in the city, and the beacon fires in the city could not be extinguished in a short period of time, so their morale and fighting spirit continued to decline.

The situation has begun to slide in an unfavorable direction.

Jiangdong Central Army outside the city.

"Governor, there's a fire in the city. There's a fire in Chaisang City?"

Chen Wu pointed in the direction of the city and shouted excitedly.

Zhou Yu smiled coldly, as if he had anticipated the flames in the city.

"Chaisang is an important town in Jiangdong. There are many powerful people who are loyal to Bofu, and there are more than just the one thousand soldiers who were destroyed."

"Before I left Yangxin Pass, I had already ordered my light cavalry to return to Chaisang first and secretly made an agreement with these powerful people. When I attacked the city, they would set fire to it and start a rebellion, thus disrupting the enemy's morale with the help of both internal and external forces."

"These powerful people are obedient and started the rebellion as promised."

A long-lost confidence appeared on Zhou Yu's pale face, and he revealed the mystery.

Chen Wu suddenly realized, but he was still suspicious:
"I have heard that many of the powerful families in Jiangdong are dissatisfied with the lord."

"These Chaisang tyrants are actually willing to obey the governor's orders?"

A cold light flashed across Zhou Yu's eyes, and he snorted coldly:
"Because I told them that if they dare not rise up and respond, Bofu will kill them all after he takes back Chaisang in the future!"

"What do you think? Are they more dissatisfied with Bofu, or more afraid of Bofu's blade?"

Chen Wu's doubts were gone, and his face was filled with admiration. He cupped his hands and exclaimed:

"It turns out that the governor had already laid out a brilliant plan to recapture Chaisang when he was at Yangxin Pass."

"The governor has a perfect grasp of the people's hearts and minds in Chaisang."

"With the governor's brilliant plan, it will be easy to recapture Chaisang!"

Zhou Yu's eyes were filled with murderous intent, and he pointed with his whip:
"I think Huang Zhong will not be able to resist and will escape from the south gate."

"Chen Zilie, lead the central army to go around the south gate and kill the fleeing enemy!"

"I want to see the head of that old bastard Huang Zhong, to avenge Han Yigong!"

Chen Wu gladly accepted the order and was about to ride away on his horse.

"Uuuuuu——"

At this moment, a solemn and hollow horn sounded suddenly from the west of the city.

Zhou Yu was startled and looked towards the west anxiously.

At the end of the field of vision, rolling dust and fog swept along the south bank of the Yangtze River like a storm.

In the dust and fog, flags with the word "Zhang" on them and the figures of countless cavalrymen were looming.

"cavalry?"

"Commander-in-chief, it's Zhang Xiu's Xiliang cavalry!"

Chen Wu, who was originally in high spirits, was suddenly shocked.

The whip in Zhou Yu's hand fell out of his hand, his mouth opened wide, his eyes bulged, and his whole body seemed to be frozen, stiff on the horse.

(End of this chapter)