My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 321 Extreme joy leads to sorrow
As soon as the formation was set up, Sun Ce's army launched an attack.

Chen Wu and Lü Fan were positioned on the two flanks, Han Dang was the vanguard, and the three Sun brothers served as the second vanguard. Encouraged by the sound of drums, the entire army pressed forward against Zhou Xin's Kuaiji army.

In terms of troop strength, Zhou Xin only had 12,000 men, while Sun Ce had nearly 20,000.

Zhou Xin's troops had traveled more than 20 li without having a chance to rest, while Sun Ce's troops had already eaten lunch and were waiting in comfort.

Furthermore, Sun Ce's troops possessed far superior battle tactics and experience compared to Zhou Xin's troops.

In fact, the outcome of this battle was already predetermined.

From the very beginning, Sun Ce's side launched a fierce and aggressive attack on their opponents.

Fortunately, Zhou Xin had a high reputation in Kuaiji Commandery, and he valued soldiers more than wealth, and was very kind to his soldiers.

In addition, the plundering nature of Sun Ce's army led the Kuaiji army to fight valiantly and manage to hold off one of Sun Ce's offensives.

At the start of the battle, the sun was already setting in the west.

Less than half an hour into the battle, it was already completely dark. Therefore, both sides had to call a retreat, and Zhou Xin's troops were fortunate to escape a major catastrophe.

Sun Ce's troops withdrew and returned to Gaoqiantun. The original village could not accommodate 20,000 people. In the afternoon, Sun Ce's army had already captured many farmers from the surrounding fields to serve as auxiliary soldiers and forced them to help build barracks.

Zhou Xin's troops had come from afar, and in order to save time, they did not bring any supplies such as tents, so the soldiers could only camp in the open air around the campfire.

It was already January, the coldest time of the year.

Zhou Xin was also helpless. He could neither advance nor retreat, and was almost caught in a spider web.

In the middle of the night, Yu Fan rode his horse from the Guling line to arrive.

"Brother Da Ming, we can't fight anymore!"

As soon as Yu Fan entered Zhou Xin's tent, he shouted for him to retreat.

"Brother Daming, we must leave before dawn!"

Although the soldiers did not have tents, Zhou Xin could not be without one; his large tent was pulled by five oxcarts and followed the column.

The battle during the day kept Zhou Xin from getting a good night's sleep.

He was quite displeased that Yu Fan had barged into the tent.

Yu Fan was the eldest son of the Yu family of Cixi, Kuaiji. He also had an older half-brother. His father was Yu Xin, the governor of Rinan Commandery, who was also from a powerful family with a salary of two thousand shi (a unit of grain).

But Zhou Xin was no ordinary person; he was the eldest son of the Zhou family of Kuaiji Mountain.

The Zhou family was in no way inferior to the Zhou family. The three direct descendants of the Zhou family in this generation all became prominent officials with a salary of two thousand shi (a unit of grain), and they were also close associates of Yuan Shao.

As the eldest son of the legitimate wife, Zhou Xin's teacher was Chen Fan.

Later, he was recruited by the Grand Commandant's office and passed the imperial examination with high honors.

This high ranking is equivalent to being in the top three or even first place in an assessment, and thus, he accumulated merits and was appointed as the governor of Danyang.

Zhou Xin was also a very capable person. He was well-read, knowledgeable in divination, and had a special skill in predicting calamities and anomalies.

This was a remarkable skill, which made Zhou Xin quite prestigious throughout the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Yu Fan may be exceptionally talented, but he is no match for Zhou Xin.

Zhou Xin looked at Yu Fan who had burst into the tent, then slowly got up and dressed.

"Zhongxiang, calm down."

Yu Fan was strong-willed and impatient, and his emotions were always on his mind; he never knew how to control his temper.

One of his most famous deeds was publicly mocking the emperor.

As everyone knows, the emperor especially loved to throw parties, and once he started, he would go wild. Moreover, he had a terrible drinking habit, and his biggest hobby was getting his ministers drunk.

The emperor's habit had actually caused conflicts with many of the ministers of Eastern Wu, but he just kept indulging in it.

On one occasion, the emperor threw another party, and Yu Fan was also present. For some reason, when Sun Quan offered him a toast, Yu Fan pretended to be drunk.

When Sun Quan carried his wine cup to the next table, he immediately sat up.

The saying goes, "When the leader offers me a toast, I pretend to be drunk."

This infuriated Sun Quan. Combining old and new grudges, he demoted Yu Fan to Jiaozhou and never pardoned him again.

It's a pity that Yu Fan lived to be over seventy years old, but he couldn't even return to his hometown in his later years and could only stay in Jiaozhou to teach and educate people.

Yu Fan dared to step on Sun Quan's face, let alone Zhou Xin's.

"Brother Da Ming, you are ignorant of military strategy and have rushed into battle. You have led our army into a dead end!"

Yu Fan didn't hold back and immediately retorted, "Right now, Heaven has blessed our Kuaiji, and both sides have reached a truce. If we don't take this opportunity to retreat, are you determined to annihilate our entire army at Gaoqiantun?"

Zhou Xin's face darkened, clearly feeling quite offended by Yu Fan's words.

But the events of the day were still vivid in his mind; Zhou Xin was actually a very kind person.

During his tenure as the governor of Danyang, he was highly respected by the people of Danyang. His departure was not due to defeat, but rather because Sun Ben and Wu Jing played dirty tricks.

Sun Ben and Wu Jing actually threatened the people of Danyang directly, and even used the threat of massacre.

At that time, Wu Jing directly ordered that anyone who dared to follow Zhou Xin should be killed without mercy.

This is a completely inhumane measure, yet Zhou Xin actually falls for it.

Upon learning of Wu Jing's order, Zhou Xin sighed, "Though I am immoral, what crime have the people committed?"

So they disbanded their army on the spot and returned to Kuaiji.

Therefore, although Zhou Xin was angry when Yu Fan sprayed him in the face, he began to reflect on his actions.

Yu Fan's actions attracted the attention of many military generals.

Dong Xi was originally among these people. In the original timeline, Dong Xi was also ordered by Wang Lang to counterattack Gaoqiantun. However, after arriving at Gaoqiantun, he actually led his troops to betray the country and surrendered to Sun Ce on the spot, which made Sun Ce very happy and praised him repeatedly.

When these people heard Yu Fan order Zhou Xi to retreat, their eyes lit up, and they all agreed with Yu Fan and began to persuade Zhou Xin to withdraw his troops.

This undoubtedly made Zhou Xi frown even more.

Amidst the puzzled gazes of the crowd, Zhou Xi sighed and said, "We have nowhere left to retreat to. Sun Bofu has already occupied Gaoqiantun. Unless we take this place, we can only retreat to Shanyin. If we retreat now and return to Guling, we will only be caught in a pincer attack by Sun's army. Moreover, the supplies stored in Guling will only last for ten days. After ten days, the army will run out of food."

"the most important is……"

Zhou Xin glanced at Yu Fan and said, "The magistrate's residence in Shanyin is only a hundred miles away from Gaoqian Village. If we retreat, how will the magistrate of Shanyin defend against the enemy?"

Shanyin is the seat of Kuaiji Commandery, and Wang Lang is currently in Shanyin. All the capable troops in Shanyin County have long been handed over to Zhou Xin, Yu Fan and others. Now, there are less than a thousand commandery soldiers and county soldiers in the entire Shanyin County.

Zhou Xin worried that if he retreated, Sun Ce would strike directly at the heart of the enemy and head towards Shanyin.

"Brother Daming! Gaoqiantun isn't an impassable natural barrier; we can just go around it."

Yu Fan, however, was furious at his lack of ambition and said, "No matter what, staying here is just waiting to die. If we leave now, we still have a chance to survive."

Gaoqiantun is indeed a strategic transportation hub, but it is also located on a plain, so it is not impossible to bypass it.

At this point, Yu Fan looked at the other generals and said loudly, "Brother Daming, Liu Zhengnan has already crossed the river. He may have already taken Wuxi. Sun Ce's base in Jiangdong is now only Wu County."

"What we need to do is buy time, because what Sun Bofu lacks most is precisely time!"

Zhou Xin felt he was somewhat persuaded by Yu Fan, and he hesitated before asking, "What about Guling?"

"I had already made arrangements before I came. I would hold out in Guling for two days, and then take the sea route to Shangyu."

Yu Fan laid out his plan: "So Sun's army north of the Qiantang River won't be able to cross over within two days. This is the last chance, Brother Daming."

Zhou Xin was stunned for a moment, thinking that he had been suppressed by Sun Jun during the day. If it hadn't been dark and he couldn't continue fighting, his Kuaiji County probably wouldn't have lasted more than an hour.

Finally, Zhou Xin made up his mind and listened to Yu Fan's advice.

Yu Fan was overjoyed: "Brother Daming, this is a brilliant move. We are government troops, while Sun Ce is a rebel army. Since the Southern Expedition has already crossed the river, he will inevitably head south sooner or later. Even if he does not head south in the short term, how dare that rebel Sun Ce attack Kuaiji?"

In the original timeline, Yu Fan was a staunch supporter of Sun Ce. Although he came from a prominent aristocratic family, he had the spirit of a warrior at heart. He was not only tall and robust but also possessed considerable martial arts skills.

When Sun Ce marched south, Yu Fan's father had just passed away, and he was at home in mourning. However, when he heard that Wang Lang was going to gather an army to resist Sun Ce, Yu Fan immediately took off his mourning clothes and ran to the prefect's mansion to persuade Wang Lang not to be an enemy of Sun Ce, and directly told Wang Lang to his face that he was no match for Sun Ce.

But when Wang Lang declared that even if he was no match for Sun Ce, he would fight Sun Ce to the death, Yu Fan spared no expense to recruit soldiers for Wang Lang and went to the front lines to resist Sun Ce.

Yu Fan has such a straightforward personality.

After Zhou Xin agreed to retreat, Yu Fan immediately persuaded the other side to regroup and quietly bypass the enemy under the cover of night.

Zhou Xin immediately followed Yu Fan's advice, determined the order of retreat with the various generals, and then began to make preparations quietly.

Originally, the soldiers couldn't sleep because they had no tents and it was freezing cold. They huddled around the campfire to keep warm.

Fortunately, the temperature in the south is slightly higher, so it's not freezing to death, but it's still extremely uncomfortable and makes you prone to getting sick.

Now, as soon as the officer called, everyone woke up.

By the time of 3:45 AM, Zhou Xin and Yu Fan had finished assembling their troops and quietly began marching under the cover of night, attempting to bypass Gaoqiantun and head east.

Zhou Xin and Yu Fan had no idea that Sun Ce had actually been sending people to monitor them all along.

Although the news didn't reach Gaoqian Village until the Kuaiji Army was fully prepared to set off, Sun Ce was not entirely unaware of it.

Because the information was inaccurate, Sun Ce did not know that Zhou Xin and his group were trying to escape. He had only prepared three thousand men in advance to prevent Zhou Xin and his group from launching a sneak attack.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Xin and his group not only didn't launch a sneak attack, but also tried to escape.

Sun Ce hurriedly ordered Chen Wu, Lü Fan, Han Dang, and others to wake up the troops and then send reinforcements, while he led three thousand soldiers to chase after them.

An army of tens of thousands cannot simply be moved at will.

Even though Sun Ce set off a full half hour later, when he broke out of the camp, he was still able to catch up with Kuaiji County and even intercept a considerable portion of it.

The Kuaiji army put up a fierce resistance, but firstly, they were already in retreat, and secondly, their fighting strength was far inferior to Sun Ce's army. After holding out for a quarter of an hour, the Kuaiji army collapsed.

This group totaled over two thousand men; over three hundred died in battle, over eight hundred escaped, and the rest were captured by Sun Ce's army.

Subsequently, Sun Ce continued the pursuit, and reinforcements from Lü Fan, Chen Wu, and others arrived one after another, resulting in a major defeat for the Kuaiji army.

Fortunately, the first half of the Kuaiji Army was unharmed, and more than 6,000 people evacuated safely.

The latter part suffered heavy losses, but more than 2,000 people still managed to escape. The remaining 3,000 or so were either killed or wounded, or captured by Sun Ce's army.

In comparison, Sun Ce's army only lost a little over three hundred men, which can be described as a great victory.

Sun Ce was not satisfied and wanted to continue pursuing Zhou Xin and Yu Fan to reduce the number of fresh troops in Shanyin County as much as possible.

Only in this way can the Sun family's next strategic move be made more advantageous.

If the Sun family can easily take over Shanyin County, the other counties in Kuaiji Commandery may lose their fighting spirit and cease their resistance.

Therefore, after the great victory, Sun Ce did not take the opportunity to withdraw his troops, but instead gathered his generals Han Dang, Lü Fan, Chen Wu and others to discuss the next steps.

Just as Sun Ce was enthusiastically arranging the mission, intending to eliminate Zhou Xin's Kuaiji army in one fell swoop on the way, a thunderclap exploded, shocking Sun Ce and his men into a nightmare.

"How could you have lost your fist?"

Sun Ce was utterly shocked, as he had entrusted the defense to Cheng Pu and Huang Gai.

They also have 2,500 men to defend Youquan County; there's no way they could have lost it so quickly.

Five days ago, the two sides had communicated, and the feedback from the other side was that everything was fine.

What kind of power could allow Youquan to be defeated in less than five days?

Sun Ce and the others' questions were quickly answered.

"The Yan brothers? Wang Sheng?"

Sun Ce's face was full of disbelief, and even obvious doubt.

He didn't believe the Yan brothers would dare to send troops, and he didn't believe they had the ability to seize Youquan County from Cheng Pu and Huang Gai.

Sun Ce's idea was both right and wrong.

The reason he is right is because the information was indeed unequal; the real main force behind the sneak attack was not the Yan brothers and Wang Sheng, but Zhou Yu.

You could say he was wrong, because the Yan brothers and Wang Sheng did indeed send troops, and quite a few of them.

Zhou Yu dispatched 7,000 troops, leaving only Yu Mi with 2,000 men to guard Yangxian.

The Yan brothers contributed 4,000 troops, while Wang Sheng, Zou Ta, and Qian Tong contributed a total of 6,000 troops.

In this way, Zhou Yu actually brought 17,000 men to attack Youquan.

Meanwhile, Youquan is also Wang Sheng's hometown. Although Wang Sheng has now been driven away by Sun Ce, and his sons and nephews have all been killed by Sun Ce.

But as the saying goes, even a centipede with a hundred legs doesn't die easily.

Wang Sheng is a local bigwig in the martial arts world. His family is the largest family in the area, and he himself is a famous figure in the martial arts world, widely trusted and loved by the locals.

Even in his current state, Wang Sheng still enjoys high prestige and popularity in the martial arts world.

Just a few letters were enough to make the city gates of Youquan City open in the middle of the night, which shows how high Wang Shengzhi's prestige was.

Of course, Zhou Yu's 50,000 troops, as well as the 200,000 troops that were conquering the south from the north, were also an extremely important asset, giving the gentry and powerful families in the city great confidence.

That night, Cheng Pu and Huang Gai were suddenly attacked, and the west and south gates of the city were opened at the same time.

Zhou Yu led the Yan brothers into the west gate, while Yu Mi led the powerful local gentry of Wucheng into the south gate.

We had been repeatedly informed beforehand that after entering the city, we would first besiege Sun Ce's army.

Looting the people is strictly prohibited, raping women is strictly prohibited, and killing innocent people without authorization is strictly prohibited.

These three lines are red lines; anyone who dares to violate them will be executed without mercy.

There was nothing that could be done about it; whether it was the troops of the Yan brothers or the troops of the powerful families in Wucheng, their military discipline was truly appalling.

Fortunately, Wucheng and Youquan are almost adjacent to each other, and both are under the jurisdiction of Wu Commandery. In the context of the Eastern Han Dynasty, where commanderies were like kingdoms, these were genuine hometown elders.

In addition, with Zhou Yu's repeated emphasis and pressure, You Quan was pleasantly surprised to find that he was not greatly disturbed.

Even so, on the second day after entering the city, Zhou Yu still killed a total of thirty-seven people. Among them, thirteen people robbed civilians, eleven people killed innocent people without permission, six people raped women, and the remaining seven people committed at least two of the crimes, or even all of them.

This shows how inhumane the military was during that era.

Although Cheng Pu and Huang Gai lost Youquan County, they did not betray Sun Ce.

The moment the internal uprising began, Cheng Pu and Huang Gai sensed something was wrong, assembled their troops, and even launched an operation to retake the city gates.

Strictly speaking, if it weren't for Zhou Yu and Yu Mi's troops, but only the Yan brothers and the powerful local strongmen of Wucheng, they would most likely have been driven out of Youquan.

Fortunately, Zhou Yu and Yu Mi successfully blocked the enemy in the end.

Yu Mi's troops had undergone two years of actual combat training in Niuzhu, and their strength was in no way inferior to that of the Zhou family's troops, far surpassing that of the troops of the Yan brothers and the powerful clans of Wucheng.

After Zhou Yu and Yu Mi entered the city, they immediately deployed their troops. This allowed them to fully utilize their numerical advantage when Cheng Pu and Huang Gai launched their counterattack, ultimately thwarting Cheng Pu and Huang Gai's plan.

Even so, Cheng Pu and Huang Gai fought for half the night until dawn. By then, most of Youquan had fallen into the hands of Zhou Yu's army, and even the last North Gate held by Cheng Pu and Huang Gai was attacked.

Left with no other choice, Cheng Pu and Huang Gai had to break out through the north gate in order to avoid being completely trapped in Youquan City.

Zhou Yu felt a little regretful. If the enemy hadn't left, then as long as he captured the North Gate, he could have trapped them and surrounded them.

Even though Cheng Pu and his men fled in a sorry state, Zhou Yu did not send troops to pursue them. Instead, he recaptured the north gate, closed the city gate, and cleaned up and pacified the city.

Cheng Pu and Huang Gai together had only 2,500 men, but they fought against Zhou Yu's 17,000 men for half a night, losing only 800 men. In the end, more than 1,000 men managed to break through the encirclement.

It is evident that the fighting strength of Yan Baihu and the powerful families of Wucheng was truly impressive.

After capturing Youquan County, Sun Ce's logistical supply lines were completely cut off. What's worse, Youquan was also a transit point for Sun Ce's continued southward advance, where he stockpiled a large amount of grain, military equipment, and other supplies transported from northern Wu Commandery.

Although Sun Ce had occupied Gaoqiantun at this time, there would be no shortage of food for the time being.

From a tactical perspective, Sun Ce's retreat route had been cut off by Zhou Yu, and he was caught in a pincer movement between the Southern Expeditionary Army and the Kuaiji Army.

(End of this chapter)