Chapter 95 Is there no one who can stop Liu Bei? The strongest navy in the world? Then let him be a coward!

It was shocking enough that this Cai family member, who originally commanded the Fancheng water camp, suddenly ran back to Xiangyang with both ears broken.

Now Cai Xun actually said that Liu Bei attacked the water camp on the north bank and surrounded Fancheng with his army!

This sensational news caused an uproar in the mourning hall.

"What did you say? Say it to me again!"

Liu Biao suppressed his shock and shouted at Cai Xun.

Cai Mao also rushed forward, supported his cousin, and asked in surprise:

"Liu Bei was clearly in Wancheng, holding a full-moon party for his son, so how could he suddenly attack Fancheng?"

"Where's your ear? Who hurt you like this?"

Everyone's eyes turned to Cai Xun in astonishment, their eyes full of disbelief.

Cai Xun had no choice but to cry and tell the story of how he and the soldiers in the water camp got drunk, and how Zhang Xiu took advantage of the situation to attack the water camp, and how Wen Pin's troops approached Fancheng, forcing Liu Qi not to send troops to retake the water camp.

"That bastard Zhang Xiu cut off my ear and asked me to come back and tell my lord."

"He told the lord to cross the river and surrender to Liu Bei, otherwise he would rush into Xiangyang and kill the lord with his own hands!"

Cai Xun gritted his teeth and looked at Liu Biao with grief and anger.

Liu Biao staggered and took half a step back, his face once again frozen in a moment of surprise and astonishment.

"Yi Ji went to reward you? When did I send him to reward you?"

Cai Mao was completely confused and had no idea what was going on.

Cai Xun was stunned for a moment, thinking, if it weren't for you, big brother, to comfort us, would Yi Ji have paid for the wine and meat on that ship out of his own pocket?

Kuai Yue rolled his eyes a few times and suddenly shuddered.

"It must be that Yi Ji secretly communicated with Liu Bei, and under the pretext of rewarding the troops, he got our water camp soldiers drunk so that he could cooperate with Zhang Xiu to raid the camp with light cavalry!"

"That traitor Wen Pin must have sent his troops south from Xinye as agreed to stop the eldest son from sending troops to retake the water camp!"

"The reason why the big-eared thief retreated back to Wancheng and held a full-moon banquet for his son with great fanfare was to make us mistakenly believe that he was indulging in the joy of family life and had no intention of going south."

"Only in this way can he take advantage of our lowered vigilance and launch a surprise attack on Fancheng."

"This interlocking layout is to seize the Fancheng water camp and cut off Fancheng from the north bank of the Han River!"

"This plan must be the work of that country bumpkin Xiao Fang!"

Kuai Yue clenched his fists and finally deduced the truth in a helpless and angry tone.

The frustration is that this plan is so flawless that there is no way to guard against it.

He was angry because he, the best strategist in Jingzhou, once again failed to see through Xiao Fang's plan and was once again fooled by that country bumpkin.

The truth came out.

There was an uproar and surprise in the mourning hall.

"Liu Bei has reached the Han River. What should we do?"

"Is Fancheng going to be undefendable?"

"Is there really no one who can stop Liu Bei?"

"If Liu Bei crosses the Han River, what will happen to Xiangyang?"

All the celebrities and dignitaries in Jingzhou were terrified and talked about it a lot.

The atmosphere of panic finally descended over Xiangyang City.

"First it was Rang County, then Xinye, and now it's Fancheng..."

"Why can't I stop that mat weaver and shoe seller?"

"Why can't anyone see through that country bumpkin's trick?"

"Is it true that the Jingzhou that the emperor asked me to guard is going to be snatched away by Liu Bei?"

Liu Biao murmured to himself, his gloomy face twisted with grief, anger and unwillingness.

Amidst the panic, Kuai Yue was the first to regain his composure.

"My Lord, don't be discouraged. Liu Bei has only seized my water camp. He is far from threatening Xiangyang."

"The walls of Fancheng are high and thick. The eldest son has 10,000 elite soldiers under his command, and Wang Wei is assisting him. How can Liu Bei easily break through it?"

Hearing Kuai Yue's comfort, Liu Biao's gloomy eyes suddenly brightened up.

But then, Cai Xun's words shattered this ray of hope.

"My lord, the 100,000 hu of grain and fodder that were transported to Fancheng are still in the water camp and have not yet been transported to the city."

"I'm afraid all this food and grass has fallen into Liu Bei's hands. The food stored in Fancheng can only support one month at most."

"I am only afraid of the eldest son, he..."

Cai Xun's forehead was covered with sweat, and he hesitated and didn't dare to say anything more.

Liu Biao felt as if he had been hit on the head with a heavy blow. He suddenly felt dizzy and staggered to the ground before his eyes.

Everyone around was shocked and rushed forward to support Liu Biao.

"Qi'er only has one month's worth of food and fodder left. How can you defend Fancheng?"

"It seems that God wants to kill my son and Liu Biao—"

Liu Biao cried out to the sky and fell into despair again.

Cai Mao was also furious. He kicked Cai Xun to the ground and cursed:
"You useless thing, you lost the water camp, but you also lost the food and grass in Fancheng. You have delayed the lord's important business!"

"You have brought shame to our Cai family. How dare you come back to see me?"

Cai Mao was really panicked.

It was only a matter of time before Liu Qi was poisoned and died from the poison. These few days would not be a big deal.

The key is that Liu Qi is responsible for guarding Fancheng. If Fancheng is lost, Liu Bei’s next step will be to cross the Han River and capture Xiangyang.

The roots of his Cai family are all in Xiangyang.

If Xiangyang is lost, what will happen to the Cai family?

That's why he was so furious and wanted to chop Cai Xun, his incompetent cousin, to death on the spot.

"The only solution now is to urge the counties to dispatch their soldiers to Xiangyang."

"However, the Fancheng water camp was lost, and our Xiangfan navy warships all fell into Liu Bei's hands. Even if we had troops, we would not be able to cross the river to rescue Fancheng."

"The Jiangling navy is too far away to be deployed to Xiangfan in time. The only solution now is to order Huang Zu to lead the Jiangxia navy up the Han River to the north to provide assistance."

"As long as Huang Zu is willing to send troops, the danger of Fancheng will be resolved!"

Amidst the panic, it was Kuai Yue who first calmed down and offered a plan.

Liu Biao's eyes lit up and he saw hope again.

Huang Zu had tens of thousands of elite soldiers under his command, and the Jiangxia navy under his command was known as the strongest navy in the world.

"Yi Du's words make sense, they make sense." "Even if Liu Bei seizes my navy's warships, he has no navy generals or soldiers to use. As long as Huang Zu's navy arrives, he will be able to recapture the water camp and open up Fancheng to the grain route."

"Okay, okay, let's follow Kuai Yue's plan and quickly order Huang Zu to lead the Jiangxia navy north!"

"Hurry up, hurry up——"

Liu Biao seemed to have found a life-saving straw and issued the order without hesitation.

Cai Mao knew that Huang Zu would achieve great success in this battle and his reputation would increase greatly, but he did not dare to object anymore.

After all, the gain or loss of Fancheng is related to the survival of Xiangyang, and the survival of Xiangyang is related to the survival of the Cai family.

He can still tell which one is light and which is serious.

The panic of the celebrities in Jingzhou in the mourning hall finally calmed down a little.

Liu Biao also calmed down and regained some of his composure as the lord of Jingzhou.

"Liu Bei, I still have Huang Zu, the best general in Jingzhou, and I also have the most elite Jiangxia navy!"

"This time, I will never let you capture Fancheng again. I will never let my son die under your butcher knife!"

...

Fancheng.

An army numbering tens of thousands came in a mighty force from the north and arrived at the city of Fancheng.

Liu Bei personally led an army of more than 20,000 and joined forces with the Xinye Army led by Wen Pin. With an army of nearly 30,000, they officially besieged Fancheng and approached the Han River.

Inside the Chinese army's tent.

Generals Zhang Xiu and Xu Sheng reported to Liu Bei what happened in the battle at Shuiying.

Yi Ji, the most meritorious minister, also paid a personal visit to Liu Bei.

"So the hidden chess piece that the military advisor was talking about is actually Yi Jibo!"

"Under the pretext of rewarding the troops, he got the defenders of the water camp drunk and easily captured the warships... This plan was truly unpredictable. How could Liu Biao and his son possibly be on guard against it!"

Liu Bei, who understood the truth, was naturally amazed.

Then Liu Bei stood up and walked forward to help Yi Ji up, so that he could first praise and comfort him.

At this time Xu Chu also came to report, claiming that he had successfully received Huang Chengyan and his daughter, and also reported the capture of Huang She.

"Well, Zhongkang has done a great job this time!"

Liu Bei nodded with satisfaction and asked Huang Chengyan and his daughter to come into the tent to meet him.

A moment later.

The Huang father and daughter had been sitting in the tent, and after waiting for two days, they finally met Liu Bei in person.

What follows is the clichéd commercial flattery.

Huang Chengyan expressed his respect for Liu Bei, thanked him for helping him out, and expressed his willingness to lead the Huang family to support Liu Bei in seizing Jingzhou.

Liu Bei comforted him and expressed his admiration for Huang Chengyan.

Then Liu Bei ordered a banquet to be held, one to commend the merits of Zhang Xiu and others, and the other to entertain Huang Chengyan, a famous scholar in Jingxiang.

"My lord, after I captured the water camp, I also seized nearly 100,000 bushels of grain!"

"These grains were originally intended to be transported to Fancheng, but they were not delivered to the city in time and were all captured by our army."

"With these 100,000 hu of grain and fodder, our army can solve the problem of food and fodder on the spot."

Zhang Xiu brought another unexpected surprise.

Liu Bei was immediately surprised. He obviously didn't expect that in this battle, he would not only capture 300 warships, but also get such an unexpected surprise.

The surprises don’t end there.

"According to my prior investigation, the food stored in Fancheng is only enough for one month at most."

"Now that Liu Qi has lost this batch of food and fodder, his army will run out of food within a month. By then, his army will be in chaos without a fight. My lord, can you take Fancheng without bloodshed?"

Wen Pin followed up with another reminder.

Liu Bei was greatly encouraged and laughed:

"This is truly a pleasant surprise. It would be great if we could take Fancheng without a fight!"

"This is good news, so I should drink a full glass!"

Liu Bei was in great joy and drank the wine in one gulp.

The generals laughed and raised their glasses.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the tent became extremely optimistic, as if taking Fancheng would be a piece of cake.

"Lord Liu, I have something to say, but I don't know if I should say it or not."

Amidst the optimism, Huang Yueying suddenly spoke.

A hint of curiosity flashed across Liu Bei's eyes, so he smiled and waved his hand, indicating that she could say whatever she wanted.

Everyone's curious eyes were focused on the daughter of the Huang family.

"Although Envoy Liu has seized the naval warships of Fancheng, it will probably take some time to train a combat-ready navy."

"When Liu Biao hears that Fancheng is under siege, he will surely order my cousin Huang Zu to lead the Jiangxia navy up the Han River to the north."

"My uncle's Jiangxia navy is known as the strongest navy in the world."

"No one can defeat Envoy Liu on land, but a naval battle is completely different from a land battle. I'm afraid Envoy Liu will have to think of a strategy to deal with it."

Huang Yueying took her time to express her views.

Xiao Fang's eyes lit up and he couldn't help but nod slightly, secretly appreciating in his heart.

Huang Yueying is indeed the most talented woman in Jingzhou. For a girl like her, she can have such insight, which is really impressive.

However, Xiao Fang vaguely remembered that some unofficial history mentioned that although Huang Yueying was talented, she was an ugly woman.

But now it seems that although the daughter of the Huang family is not a peerless beauty, she has a pretty face and is not ugly at all.

Xiao Fang suddenly remembered that there was another unofficial historical record that said Huang Yueying was jealous of her beauty and talent, so the girls in the village made up a rumor that she was ugly.

I have seen with my own eyes today that this unofficial history is indeed a mixture of truth and falsehood. It is something that we should neither disbelieve nor trust completely.

"Miss Huang's reminder is very correct. The navy has always been our army's weak point. If Huang Zu leads the Jiangxia navy to the north, it will be very troublesome..."

Liu Bei nodded in agreement. While admiring Huang Yueying's talent, he also felt wary of her.

The optimistic atmosphere in the big tent suddenly became quiet.

At this time.

Xiao Fang withdrew his thoughts and smiled faintly:
"Don't worry, my lord. Although Huang Zu's navy is strong, I have my own way to make him hide in Xiakou and not dare to interfere in the Battle of Xiangfan."

　I typed the third chapter quickly today, so I’ll post it now.

　
(End of this chapter)