My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 435 Bo Fu Offers Advice
In this way, the Suizhou passage was completely outclassed by the Xiangyang passage in terms of military importance.

However, this does not mean that the Suizhou passageway is worthless.

This area is irrigated by the Yu River and includes several counties such as Sui County, Tang Township, Pinglin, Nanxin, and Yundu, connecting to the East Jianghan Plain. It is a well-known granary.

Once Yangzhou occupies Xiakou, it can recklessly invade the entire East Jianghan Plain, while Xiangyang can only watch helplessly as Yangzhou expands to the east, without any power to retaliate.

Unless Xiakou is recaptured or a large force is mobilized to bypass Nanyang County by land, traveling hundreds of miles further to rescue Sui County from the north, they can only watch helplessly as they slowly bleed out of the county.

However, this is only a temporary solution. Yangzhou has waterways and can completely rely on its logistical advantages to avoid battle and thus wear down the Xiangyang reinforcements.

Worse still, the waterway connection between Xiangyang and Jiangling would be cut off. The Yangzhou army could first seize the entire East Jianghan Plain, and then go upstream along the Yangtze River to attack Jiangling City in Nanjun, thus eliminating Xiangyang's wing.

In the end, Xiangyang was left with only a narrow strip of land along the Han River, waiting for the enemy to advance northward along the Han River.

This is why, even though the capital of Jiangxia Commandery was in Xiling City, Huang Zu did not stay in Xiling, but instead built a new city in Xiakou to defend it.

Based on this alone, Huang Zu was definitely not an incompetent fool; at least he had some strategic vision.

Liu Biao's decision to treat Xiakou as a bottom line was actually more of a reminder than a punishment.

Because if Xiakou were lost, Huang Zu would most likely not survive.

In the original timeline, Huang Zu lost to Sun Ce and Sun Quan many times, but always managed to escape. Only during the final battle at the Mian River, when Xiakou fell, did Huang Zu finally die in battle at the hands of Sun Quan.

This demonstrates the importance of Xiakou.

As long as Xiakou can be defended, Huang Zu will be fine.

Kuai Yue could naturally see through the trickery, but he was already satisfied with Liu Biao's statement.

As long as Xiakou remains in Huang Zu's hands, Kuai Yue's rear is very safe, and his logistical supplies can be replenished from Jiangling in Nanjun. He is not threatened with the annihilation of his entire army, and he even has the strength to fight. At worst, he can safely retreat across the Yangtze River.

At that time, whether to take some risks and retreat along the Han River back to Xiangyang, or to retreat to Jiangling for safety, are both options.

"I, the Grand Commander, hereby issue a proclamation to Xiakou, requesting that Prefect Huang not act rashly. He should simply guard the gates and defend the river. Prefect Huang will then have made a great contribution to this battle."

After much deliberation, Kuai Yue concluded that Liu Feng had only recently occupied Yangzhou, and his navy was no match for the Jiangxia navy.

The only flaw was that Huang Zu couldn't resist the urge to fight and was ambushed. Therefore, to prevent Huang Zu from going into battle, Kuai Yue went so far as to lure him with the promise of merit, showing that he was still somewhat worried about Huang Zu.

********
Meanwhile, in Linxiang City, after Zhang Xian woke up, Huan Jie immediately reported his actions to him.

Zhang Xian had lost his will to fight. His clan's general, Zhang Cheng, had been defeated and killed in a single battle, and his trusted confidant, Xiong Shang, had been captured. Only Qu Xiong had escaped back.

Recalling Sun Ce's advice, Zhang Xian felt a deep sense of regret.

“Bo Xu’s actions are excellent.”

Zhang Xian struggled to get up, and Zhang Yi quickly stepped forward to help him.

“Sun Jian’s son is indeed worthy of his reputation. I only regret that I did not heed his good advice before.”

Zhang Xian immediately declared, "Since Bo Fu is willing to stay and help me, Bo Xu can rely on his talent to secure this precarious situation."

"I will respectfully follow your instructions."

Before Huan Jie left, he advised Zhang Xian to rest more.

As soon as he stepped out of the mansion, Sun Ce came up to him: "Brother, how is Your Excellency's health?"

Huan Jie replied with a smile, "After taking the medicine, I can get up now."

Zhang Xian's current condition is a minor stroke, roughly equivalent to a choking attack in later generations, a prelude to a stroke. He must stay in bed and recuperate, which is why he temporarily entrusted the military power of the prefecture to Huan Jie.

Upon returning to Huan Jie's residence, he smiled and sincerely thanked Sun Ce, saying, "My lord was very pleased to hear of your suggestion, and I hope that you, Bo Fu, can offer more advice."

As early as ten days ago, Sun Ce had already predicted that the enemy at Baqiu would definitely try to seize Yiyang and Luo County.

Huan Jie had also followed his advice, abandoned the two places, and withdrew his troops back to Wangcheng, preparing to regroup and eventually retreat to Linxiang City.

As Sun Ce had predicted, the Jingbei army in Baqiu rested for eight days after capturing the city, and then dispatched two groups of two thousand men each to capture Luo Xian and Yiyang respectively.

As the Jingbei army drew ever closer, Huan Jie couldn't help but ask Sun Ce, "Bo Fu, should we withdraw the troops from Wangcheng back to Linxiang?"

Wangcheng now has 4,000 soldiers, 3,000 of whom were withdrawn from Yiyang. These soldiers are all county troops, well-trained and with good combat capabilities, so they cannot be wasted.

Unexpectedly, Sun Ce, who had previously been urging Huan Jie to withdraw his troops, suddenly changed his attitude.

"Brother, I think it's not necessary to withdraw the troops for the time being."

Huan Jie was greatly surprised and asked in bewilderment, "Didn't Bo Fu previously advocate for withdrawing the troops? Why has he changed his mind now?"

Sun Ce, however, said proudly, "The reason we withdrew our troops earlier was because Yiyang and Luoxian were no longer defensible. If we had not withdrawn, we would have wasted our strength and been taken advantage of by the enemy."

"The reason we changed our minds now is because the enemy of Bachau made a move."

Sun Ce invited Huan Jie to the map and said, “Brother, please look at the map. I previously advocated withdrawing the troops because I was worried that the enemy from Baqiu would drive straight to Wangcheng and cut off the connection between Linxiang and Yiyang. But now the enemy from Baqiu has actually taken Luoxian and Yiyang first, but dares not move on Wangcheng. It is clear that they are feeling guilty.”

Huan Jie nodded slowly, agreeing with Sun Ce's judgment, but then asked with a puzzled look, "Bo Fu, what do you mean by this?"

Sun Ce laughed, as if revealing his sharp edge: "The enemy general of Baqiu is both greedy and cowardly. If he had dared to drive straight to the city ten days ago, that would have been brave and fierce. If he had remained still as a mountain, that would have been cautious and steady. But he dared not drive straight to the city, and yet he couldn't help but divide his troops to Yiyang and Luo County now. This shows that he is indecisive and greedy for merit."

At this point, Sun Ce paused, looked at Huan Jie, and under the other's astonished gaze, Sun Ce said coldly, "The traitors can be defeated!"

Huan Jie was shocked and his heart pounded. He opened his mouth and it took him a long time to squeeze out the same words.

"Bo Fu, what do you mean by this?"

"Please give me three thousand elite troops, and I will surely defeat the enemy at Wangcheng."

Sun Ce said confidently, "If we're lucky, we can win a great victory; even if we're unlucky, we'll still gain something."

Huan Jie exclaimed in shock, "Is Bo Fu's statement true?"

Baqiu's defeat was devastating, and it was so sudden that there was no time to contain the news.

Therefore, morale in Linxiang was quite low, and the people were filled with fear and anxiety, which had been one of Huan Jie's biggest concerns for the past ten days. If Sun Ce could actually win a battle at Wangcheng, even if it wasn't a major victory, just beheading dozens and capturing a dozen or so people alive would greatly improve their own dire situation.

"How dare Ce'an speak such nonsense in front of my sworn brother!?"

Sun Ce cupped his hands and said, "I only ask that you allow me, my brother, to personally select elite troops and secretly advance to Wangcheng within three days. If the Jingbei army does not come, fine; but if they dare to come, I will surely send a proclamation back!"

"Good! Good!"

Huan Jie was greatly encouraged and stepped forward to take Sun Ce's hand, saying, "In that case, I'll leave it to you, Bo Fu."

Subsequently, Huan Jie appointed Sun Ce as commander-in-chief, selected three thousand elite troops, and sent them to Wangcheng, where they would hide during the day and move out at night, and take over the military command of the troops in Wangcheng.

After receiving authorization, Sun Ce immediately began selecting elite troops, all of whom were his former retainers who had followed his father north.

At the same time, Sun Ce also sent people to Wangcheng to order the garrison there to begin a large-scale withdrawal.

Three days later, most of the troops in Wangcheng had withdrawn, and Sun Ce had selected three thousand elite soldiers. With the help of Huan Jie, he opened the armory and took more than three hundred sets of iron armor and more than forty warhorses. They moved by day and went out by night to rush to Wangcheng.

********
While Sun Ce was selecting elite troops, a fierce argument broke out in Baqiu City.

The two sides in the dispute were Huang Zhong and Wen Pin on one side, and Cai Mao's two younger brothers, Cai Zan (courtesy name Mao Gui) and Cai Yan (courtesy name Wen Gui) on the other.

The focus of the argument between the two sides was Wangcheng.

After Cai Mao's successful surprise attack on Baqiu, he did not continue to attack Wangcheng as Kuai Yue had requested, but instead held his ground in Baqiu and observed the situation.

Later, when they discovered that Luo County was undefended and the garrison troops of Yiyang and Wangcheng were in a panic, and the city gates were tightly closed, Cai Mao finally believed Kuai Yue's words and began to regret his actions.

Therefore, Cai Mao summoned his generals to discuss the matter, intending to first capture Luo County and Yiyang to eliminate the threat to his flank.

At this time, Luo County was empty, practically a piece of meat on a chopping board, while Yiyang had several thousand soldiers and its city gates were tightly closed, indicating that it would take considerable effort to win.

Cai Zan and Cai Yan naturally hoped to get a share of the lucrative Luo County, leaving the bones to Huang Zhong and Wen Pin.

Although Huang Zhong and Wen Ping were also Liu Biao's confidants, they could only swallow their anger in the face of Cai Mao and the Cai family. Moreover, neither of them was afraid of the Yiyang garrison; their biggest worry was not getting any credit.

Therefore, the two sides agreed that Luo County would be taken by Cai Zan and Cai Yan, while Yiyang would be taken by Wen Ping and Huang Zhong.

As compensation, when the main army attacks Wangcheng, Wen Ping and Huang Zhong will serve as the vanguard.

Everyone had already made plans, but things went wrong because of Sun Ce.

Sun Ce first withdrew his troops from Yiyang, leaving the city virtually empty, which was then easily recaptured by Wen Ping and Huang Zhong.

At this time, the spies at the front sent back news that the garrison of Wangcheng had also begun to withdraw, and now Wangcheng was likely to become an empty city.

This displeased Cai Zan and Cai Yan.

Originally, Wangcheng was left to Wenping and Huang Zhong as compensation for the bones, but now the garrison of Yiyang and Wangcheng has all run away. In the blink of an eye, these two bones have turned into big fat meat.

How could Cai Zan and Cai Yan tolerate this?

The two immediately went to find Cai Mao, hoping to persuade him to change the arrangements and let them retrieve Wangcheng.

"Brother, this is not fair!"

As soon as he entered the tent, Cai Yan shouted loudly, "Those few thousand Jingnan troops in Yiyang have withdrawn, giving those two scoundrels a great achievement for nothing."

Luo County was completely undefended. Although it was still a merit, it certainly couldn't compare to a city like Yiyang, which was defended by thousands of soldiers.

Although the Jingnan army in Yiyang has now retreated, Huang Zhong and Wen Ping can also be said to have been defeated by themselves, which Cai Mao and the others cannot deny.

In this way, Wen Pin and Huang Zhong's contributions would be considered greater than those of the Cai brothers, which explains why Cai Yan was so angry.

"You chose Luo County, and now you're complaining about unfairness."

Cai Mao coldly looked at his two younger brothers: "Do you take my words as mere farts?"

Cai Zan and Cai Yan were both startled and quickly prostrated themselves on the ground, saying, "Brother, please calm down. We dare not."

Cai Mao was the elder brother, and from a young age he was the most talented and the most favored son among his elders. Therefore, Cai Zan, Cai Yan and other members of the same generation in the clan respected and feared Cai Mao.

Seeing that he was angry, the two of them immediately slid to their knees.

Seeing Cai Zan and Cai Yan obediently begging for mercy, Cai Mao's cold face finally warmed up: "The orders have already been issued, and now you're saying it's unfair? What can we do?"

In truth, Cai Mao was filled with both anger and regret. He regretted not listening to Kuai Yue's advice. Otherwise, Wangcheng would have already been captured, and he could have also contained the thousands of elite troops in Yiyang, thus further enhancing his military achievements.

When the Cai brothers came to complain at this time, they were actually walking right into his line of fire.

Cai Zan was more astute than Cai Yan. He discerned a deeper meaning in Cai Mao's words and boldly probed, "Brother, your previous order was to annihilate the Yiyang garrison. Now that the Yiyang garrison has successfully withdrawn, doesn't this also mean that Huang Zhong and Wen Ping failed to achieve their goal? Your decision to strip them of their authority to continue attacking Wangcheng is not without reason."

Cai Mao raised an eyebrow, thinking that what Cai Zan said actually made some sense.

Upon seeing this, Cai Yan quickly chimed in, "Elder brother, I think what Second brother said makes sense. It was clearly Huang Zhong and Wen Ping who were negligent and allowed the Jingnan army in Yiyang to escape. You did not punish them, but only deprived them of the right to take further action. This is already an act of leniency."

Cai Mao glanced at Cai Yan, pondered for a moment, and then asked, "Are you sure you can take Wangcheng?"

Upon hearing this, Cai Zan and Cai Yan became excited: "Brother, don't worry. The troops in Wangcheng have already withdrawn. Now it's just an empty city. How could the two of us not be able to take down an empty city?"

Cai Mao nodded. Even if he didn't trust his two younger brothers, he trusted Kuai Yue's judgment. Since Kuai Yue was certain that the Jingnan army wouldn't be able to retaliate, what did he have to worry about?

"Alright, since that's the case, then we'll do as you say."

Cai Mao immediately ordered Cai Zan and Cai Yan to lead their troops, totaling four thousand men, to attack Wangcheng.

Originally, Cai Zan and Cai Yan thought that bringing two thousand men from Luo County would be enough, but Cai Mao was worried about the reaction from Linxiang, so he ordered them to bring their entire retinue.

With 4,000 men defending Wangcheng, even if Linxiang launches a counterattack with its main force, it may not be able to break through the city in the short term. Meanwhile, Cai Mao, Huang Zhong, and Wen Ping can go to Wangcheng to provide relief at any time by going down the Xiang River.

Cai Zan and Cai Yan naturally obeyed orders and immediately mustered their troops to head to Luo County.

(End of this chapter)