My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 438 The Death of Zhou Chong
In open field battles, Sun Ce might not be willing to exchange prisoners, but defending a city would require much lower morale from his soldiers. With the city walls protecting them, their fighting spirit would be more likely to recover as the battle progresses.

Huan Jie found this reasonable, so he summoned the envoy from Kuai Yue.

Upon hearing this, the other side immediately looked troubled, since Kuai Yue only wanted to exchange the upper-class prisoners from both sides, without mentioning the lower-class soldiers.

"This... my Grand Commander did not mention these things, so it is really difficult for me to make a decision."

"In that case."

Sun Ce suddenly interjected, "Then there's no use for you staying in Linxiang. Why don't you go back and report to your Grand Commander, ask for his opinion, and then come back to discuss it?"

Huan Jie nodded in agreement: "Bo Fu's words are exactly what I meant. You can go back and tell your commander-in-chief."

Seeing Huan Jie's resolute attitude, the envoy from Kuai Yue had no choice but to take his leave.

Sun Ce insisted on exchanging all prisoners of war between the two armies, clearly because he valued the more than 5,000 soldiers. He could exchange over 2,000 for over 5,000, and as the defender of the city, he would be making a huge profit. It's no wonder that Kuai Yue only demanded the exchange of high-ranking prisoners, while remaining silent about exchanging soldiers.

After the envoy from Kuai Yue returned, he reported to Kuai Yue.

Kuai Yue laughed and said to Cai Mao beside him, "De Gui, it seems that Mao Gui and the others will have to suffer some injustice for the time being."

Cai Mao understood Kuai Yue's meaning. Even if he were the commander-in-chief, he would definitely not agree to exchange prisoners, as this would be too disadvantageous for the Jingbei army.

Originally, the defenders were the ones who sent 5,000 able-bodied men into the city, and in return, they only managed to exchange 2,000 men for themselves. Even if we calculate the casualties as 1:2 between the attackers and defenders, they would still lose more than 7,000 men. Not to mention that the advantage of a fortified city like Linxiang is far more than just 1:2.

"it is good."

Cai Mao's reaction pleased Kuai Yue, who immediately ordered, "In that case, De Gui, you should speed up and reach the walls of Linxiang within three days to build fortifications for the army."

"Here!"

Cai Mao stood up, cupped his hands, and said, "This humble general obeys the order."

*
When Cai Mao arrived at Wangcheng, the city was deserted. Not only had the houses been burned down, but the city gates had also been deliberately damaged.

Cai Mao was furious, but there was nothing he could do.

The enemy is knowledgeable in military strategy, so naturally they wouldn't leave Wangcheng intact for us.

Wangcheng is only a few dozen miles away from Linxiang. If it falls intact into Cai Mao's hands, it can be used as a forward base. It can not only store a large amount of food, military equipment and other supplies, but also house wounded soldiers.

Fortunately, no matter how much damage was done to Wangcheng, the city walls remained intact, which was because Sun Ce and his men did not have time.

"Leave three thousand able-bodied men to thoroughly clean up the city and build warehouses and houses without fail."

Cai Mao gave an order, rested in Wangcheng for only one day, and continued on to Linxiang.

At noon the following day, Cai Mao's army arrived outside Linxiang City, facing Linxiang across the river.

At this time, Cai Mao was positioned east of the Xiang River, north of the Liu River, and southeast of Linxiang City.

Cai Mao gazed at the city wall of Linxiang, which was over three zhang high, and did not rush to cross the river. Instead, he first set up camp on the north bank.

At this moment, Sun Ce, who was on the city wall, saw this scene and sighed with regret.

He has selected three thousand elite troops and two hundred cavalry, who are waiting at the east gate.

If Cai Mao dares to cross the river, he will give him a surprise.

Cai Mao stationed his troops east of the Xiang River, only to find that the surrounding mountains and forests had been completely cleared of trees. This was one of the few suggestions that Zhang Xian and Huan Jie had adopted from Sun Ce several months earlier.

In this way, if Cai Mao wanted to build a camp, in addition to the timber transported with the army, he would have to travel dozens of miles to the Yuchi Mountain around Wangcheng to cut down trees.

As a result, Cai Mao's progress was greatly delayed. By the time Kuai Yue led the main force and hundreds of ships of various sizes to Linxiang four days later, the camp was less than a quarter complete.

After understanding the situation, Kuai Yue did not blame Cai Mao. Such a scorched-earth policy was common practice. Unless the other side had no war experience at all or there was no time to spare, it was impossible to leave the trees in the suburbs for the attacking side.

After disembarking, Kuai Yue ordered additional manpower to cut down trees, and ordered the rear guard to stop at Baqiu and Wangcheng, and not to continue advancing for the time being.

Two more days passed, and the camp north of Linxiang was finally completed, facing Linxiang City across the Liushui River.

The following day, with a forward base in place, the Jingbei army began crossing the river.

Unlike the time of Cai Mao, this time the fleet on the Xiang River and Liu River stretched endlessly, numbering two to three hundred warships of various sizes. These warships were fully equipped with bows and crossbows, capable of covering a distance of forty to eighty meters from the shore.

Meanwhile, some warships had a deep draft, clearly carrying heavy loads, and were likely elite armored vessels, ready to use their water mobility to outflank the troops leaving the city.

Cai Mao appointed Huang Zhong as the vanguard and Wen Ping as the support, while Cai Yan crossed the Liushui River downstream to encircle and outflank the enemy, thus officially beginning the river crossing operation.

Just when Cai Mao's entire army, and even Kuai Yue, thought that the Jingnan army would not be able to leave the city to harass them, the bugle call to send troops sounded from the city walls.

**
A major battle had just ended. Although Cai Mao successfully crossed the river, he was ambushed by Sun Ce from both sides, which broke through his two formations and caused hundreds of casualties.

This victory was much smaller than the Battle of Wangcheng, but it boosted the morale of the people of Linxiang far more than the previous one.

Sun Ce, with only three thousand men, moved freely among tens of thousands of enemy troops and even defeated two enemy formations. This was even more morale-boosting than the great victory announced in the proclamation.

The morale of the troops in Linxiang soared, while Cai Mao's side looked grim.

The two battles that were defeated by Sun Ce were actually flanked by Cai Yan's flanking maneuvers.

They were not the main force, but only the troops protecting the flanks of the main force, yet they were defeated by Sun Ce in one fell swoop, so fast that Huang Zhong and Wen Ping could not come to their aid in time.

Without the support of the fleet and the threat from Huang Zhong and Wen Ping on the flanks and rear, Cai Yan would probably have lost only a few hundred men in this battle.

Cai Mao was both angry and anxious about this, but there was nothing he could do. He had assigned this task to Cai Yan because it was relatively easy, but who could have imagined that Cai Yan was also eager to make a name for herself and rushed in too recklessly, giving Sun Ce an opportunity to strike.

Fortunately, the damage was not serious. Huang Zhong and Wen Ping also helped cover it up. In a sense, Cai Yan did indeed complete the task of covering the flanks, and in the end, she still reported her achievements.

With the battle at Liuhe River coming to an end, Kuai Yue, who had been observing the entire situation from the watchtower, did not punish Cai Yan. Instead, he rewarded Cai Mao for his meritorious service and wiped the blame from his previous offense, thus redeeming Cai Yan through meritorious service.

In the days that followed, the Jingbei army continued to cross the Liushui River and began to build fortifications south of the river.

During this period, Sun Ce launched several attacks, and each time he gained some advantage, disrupting the Jingbei army's fortification rhythm and slowing down their progress.

These sporadic attacks resulted in over a thousand casualties for the Jingbei army and the burning of more than ten construction sites. The fortifications, which should have been completed by April, were delayed by Sun Ce for more than half a month.

By mid-May, with the large fortifications completed and numerous siege weapons in place, Sun Ce could no longer launch attacks easily.

This also means that the Jingbei army's formal siege of the city is about to begin.
“Zhou Boyuan, I respect you as a renowned scholar of the Huai and Si rivers and have been very tolerant of you, but I am not without principles!”

In the Zhou residence in Shuxian County, Liu Xun stood before a bed, his face contorted with rage: "Will you write this letter today or not?!"

Zhou Chong was now almost out of breath.

The elite offspring of the family line were all captured and killed by Dong Zhuo in Luoyang, and his younger brother was far away in Luozhong and could not return.

Now that he is in Shuxian County, he is like a shield for Liu Xun.

What have I, Zhou Chong, done in my life?

Zhou Chong turned his gaze to Liu Xun, and looking at the other man's fierce appearance, he found it laughable.

Liu Xun was also from a prominent Shandong family and a descendant of the Han imperial family. How come I never realized he was such a fool?

"Are you going to write it or not!?"

Enraged by the contempt and disgust in Zhou Chong's gaze, Liu Xun rushed forward and grabbed him by the neck.

The reason Liu Xun was so anxious was that Shucheng was about to run out of food.

The prolonged drought has already depleted the food supplies of the people of Shuxian County, and now, even Liu Xun's inner treasury is empty.

Previously, Jingzhou would occasionally send some grain to relieve the immediate crisis, but since the mutiny in southern Jingzhou at the end of last year, in which they rebelled against Liu Biao's rule, Jingzhou has stopped sending grain.

Firstly, Jingzhou was about to launch a major military campaign involving 100,000 troops, so they had to cut costs and increase revenue.

Secondly, given the critical juncture, Liu Biao and even the entire upper echelons of Northern Jingzhou did not want to provoke Liu Bei and his son Liu Feng.

But this put Liu Xun in a very awkward position.

Even though he had desperately stockpiled food, his remaining supplies were now completely exhausted.

Liu Xun then set his sights on the wealthy families in the city. This was not because he was showing mercy to the common people, but because the common people would not have survived to this day.

However, the current situation truly lived up to the old saying: even the landlords had no surplus grain. Unable to scavenge any more food, Liu Xun finally came up with an idea: to force Zhou Chong to write a letter to Zhou Yu requesting grain.

This led to the scene where Liu Xun forcibly entered Zhou's residence and forced Zhou Chong to write a letter to Zhou Yu.

By this time, Zhou Chong was so light he was practically skin and bones, and Liu Xun lifted him up with almost no effort. However, Zhou Chong, utterly powerless, turned pale, his collar gripped tightly by Liu Xun, which tightened around his neck.

"animals..."

Zhou Chong managed to utter a few words.

At this moment, Zhou Chong's eyes were filled only with disgust and hatred for Liu Xun.

Shucheng, which was originally a superior county, is now devoid of civilians, with corpses of the starving littering the ground and piles of bones everywhere.

The people in the city had already eaten everything they could last year, and in the end, they resorted to cannibalism, to the point that there are hardly any living people left in Shucheng today.

Apart from a few wealthy families, only the prefectural government and military camps still had living people.

In stark contrast, the neighboring Jiujiang and northern Lujiang, thanks to the generous disaster relief efforts of Liu Bei and his son Liu Feng, not only did no one starve to death, but they also built a large number of water conservancy projects, irrigating even more fields.

All of this is because of Liu Xun.

Zhou Chong hated Liu Xun so much that he wanted to eat his flesh raw, drink his blood, pull out his tendons, and grind Liu Xun's bones to dust.

Liu Xun frowned slightly; not having heard clearly, he could only lean closer.

"Liu... Zitai, you really deserve to die, I'll be waiting for you down there."

Upon hearing Zhou Chong's insults and curses, Liu Xun flew into a rage and couldn't help but smash Zhou Chong's head hard with the hilt of his knife with his left hand.

Zhou Chong was already on his last legs; even if Liu Xun hadn't made a move, he would have died. He couldn't possibly withstand this heavy blow and died on the spot.

When Liu Xun saw that Zhou Chong had died, he was dumbfounded. He just wanted to force Zhou Chong to write a letter to Zhou Yu asking for grain, but why did this old man want to die?
Liu Xun felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar. Zhou Chong was no ordinary person. He was the previous head of the Huai Si Zhou family. Although he had never served as one of the Three Dukes like his ancestors, he had served as a high-ranking official with a salary of two thousand shi (a unit of grain).

If it weren't for Dong Zhuo tricking all the elite members of the Zhou family into going to Luoyang and slaughtering them all in one go, when would Liu Xun ever have a chance to be in charge of Lujiang?
If that weren't the case, Zhou Chong would have remained in Shucheng the whole time. Why would Liu Xun have waited until he was completely desperate to force him to do so?

Liu Xun stood there dumbfounded for a long time until his confidant came forward to ask him, at which point he uttered three words in a daze.

"Oh no, this is terrible..."

**
Wu County, Wu Prefecture, Yangzhou.

Liu Feng's Left General's Mansion was filled with numerous documents coming and going every day, managing the assets and workshops in the entire Yangzhou, as well as Xuzhou and Yuzhou.

It was already June, and the summer harvest was extremely busy in various places. After the summer harvest, the even busier summer sowing season would begin.

On this day, Zhuge Liang suddenly sent an urgent document to the inner chamber.

Liu Feng was somewhat surprised; the urgent document that Zhuge Liang had chosen must have been of great importance.

"Kongming, what happened?"

Zhuge Liang delivered the document to Liu Feng before replying, "Urgent report from Guanzhong."

"So fast!?"

Liu Feng's face darkened, and he immediately opened the silk scroll and began to read it.

As he feared, the information recorded on the silk scroll was indeed news of Cao Cao's great victory over the allied forces of Li Jue and Guo Si and his capture of Chang'an.

Regarding Cao Cao's movements, Liu Feng had always placed them in his top-tier intelligence intelligence, even above Yuan Shao's second-tier intelligence. Currently, the only ones ranked first in Liu Feng's intelligence network were Cao Cao and Liu Biao, Liu Feng's next primary target.

Cao Cao launched his campaign in early March, first appointing Cao Ren as the main general with 6,000 troops, and it took them half a month to capture Tong Pass. He then appointed Cao Ren, Yue Jin, and Yu Jin as generals to sweep through Guanzhong.

In mid-April, the three generals successively captured Huayin, Zhengcheng, Linjin and other counties, and approached Chang'an.

In late April, Cao Cao officially led his troops into battle. Within ten days, his army arrived outside Chang'an and stationed itself on Baling, causing a stir in Guanzhong.

A series of defeats left Li Jue, Guo Si, and others in Chang'an in a state of panic. Although they dared not go out to fight, where in Chang'an was there any food left? More importantly, Chang'an was a giant city of that era, with a circumference of sixty-five li. To defend such a massive city, one would not be able to hold it down without tens of thousands of people just for the city walls.

(End of this chapter)