My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 458 Good news comes frequently
There were reasons why Gan Ning distributed the resources in this way.

During a night raid, more people are not necessarily better; rather, coordination and initiative are more important.

Because visibility is poor at night and communication is easily lost, good teamwork and unwavering will are the greatest chances of winning.

Gan Ning had just scouted Zhang Yun's troops a few days ago. Although the enemy was on guard, the entire army, from top to bottom, did not really believe that the Yangzhou navy would go up the Han River to attack them in Hanchuan.

In fact, Zhang Yun was not entirely incompetent; his considerations were based on sound reasoning.

Zhang Yun believed that as long as Huang Zu's fleet remained, it could contain the Yangzhou navy. Moreover, the Yangzhou navy was small in number and would find it difficult to divide its forces to attack him while confronting Huang Zu, especially since Xiakou City was still in the hands of the Jingzhou army.

Zhang Yun's judgment was not wrong, but even without considering that the information gap prevented him from obtaining the results of the decisive battle on the Yangtze River earlier than the Yangzhou army, the more important thing was that as the commander of an army, how could he relax his military discipline and vigilance for such a reason?
The root cause here is that being a general is too arduous.

Most famous generals suffer from numerous injuries and illnesses, the root of which lies in their ability to endure hardship.

Wu Qi sucked on a sore from a soldier's wound, and thus fought seventy-six battles, large and small, winning sixty-four of them without a single defeat.

Despite being a prince, Li Shimin led from the front and narrowly escaped death.

It wasn't that they didn't want to enjoy life, nor were they truly fearless; rather, they knew that only in this way could they motivate their soldiers and maintain strict military discipline.

Strict military discipline cannot be achieved with just a word from a general. Without Liu Feng's efforts to improve the soldiers' treatment and emphasize fair rewards and punishments, and without extraordinary prestige, the soldiers will only outwardly comply but inwardly defy you. If pushed too far, they might even stage a mutiny.

Zhang Yun was undoubtedly incapable of enduring hardship, lacked exceptional prestige, and even his background was far from admirable. Furthermore, this wave of reinforcements consisted only of second- or third-line troops, and had undergone two expansions; therefore, this outcome was entirely predictable.

That night, Gan Ning personally led his troops to set off first, dividing his forces into four groups. The main fleet of four hundred ships, including various warships such as large warships and open-faced vessels, went first. Five miles from the naval camp, the two thousand warriors dispatched by Zhou Yu landed first, and then rushed to reinforce the battlefield.

Following this were three fleets, each with a hundred small boats, which Gan Ning deployed at the enemy's weakest point to serve as the vanguard.

The last fleet of a hundred ships was a fire-attack fleet, piled high with straw and coal.

After having a meal, Gan Ning's troops set off first.

The moonlight was beautiful that day, shining on the Han River, making it sparkle like the moon palace descending to earth.

The river flowed under the moonlight, making a sound like a jade rabbit pounding medicine.

By the time Gan Ning's troops arrived at the outer perimeter of Zhang Yunshui's camp, it was already midnight.

Gan Ning stood at the bow of the ship, wearing double-layered heavy armor, with a short sword at his waist and two short halberds in his hands. His eyes were like torches as he stared at Zhang Yun's naval camp, which was faintly visible in front of him.

The camp was sparsely lit, and the garrison had clearly become lax; only a few watchtowers could be vaguely seen with the figures of patrolling soldiers.

Gan Ning's soldiers used torches as signals to issue orders directly from the masts, completely unafraid that the enemy naval force would discover their incursions. Having reached this position, even if Zhang Yun's troops discovered the enemy attack now, it would be difficult for them to leave their camp in time to intercept them.

Unfortunately, even after Gan Ning had deployed his troops, the Xiangyang army's naval camp remained completely still. Clearly, the soldiers on the watchtowers were either slacking off and asleep or simply not on duty.

Because of the upstream current and the fact that it was the high-water season with strong water pressure, even though the wind was from the southeast, the boats were still not moving very fast.

Gan Ning followed behind the fire ships, watching them slowly sail towards the naval camp, and he was also sweating bullets.

Due to the use of fire, these small boats, despite their small size, had extremely high carrying capacity and deep drafts, making them vulnerable to any mishaps. Even if they couldn't get out of camp to intercept the enemy once discovered, they still had some defensive measures in place.

Although the fire attack was inevitable regardless of its success, a successful fire attack would make subsequent night raids much easier.

Therefore, this time the fire attack ships were different from the previous ones. Each ship was assigned a full five soldiers, one of whom was in charge of steering and four of whom were rowing, in order to increase the speed of the ships.

"who!?"

Just as the fire ships were less than 100 meters from the Xiangyang army's fleet, the Xiangyang sentries on the lookout tower finally spotted them.

However, instead of issuing a warning immediately, he shouted loudly at the burning ships in the distance.

"ignition!"

Gan Ning acted decisively, shouting orders to the fire ships ahead. At the same time, he snatched a powerful bow from his personal guard, drew the bow, and fired an arrow like a meteor, striking the sentry in the throat.

The sentry didn't even have time to scream before collapsing onto the watchtower.

Then, one by one, fires ignited in the night, illuminating the entire surface of the water.

The soldiers of Gan Ning's army rowed with all their might, and dozens of fire ships, carrying enormous kinetic energy, plunged headlong into the formation of ships. Meanwhile, the soldiers of Gan Ning's army on the fire attack ships jumped into the water and swam towards the small rescue boats behind them.

"Brothers, tonight's battle must be swift and decisive, using speed to defeat slowness, and we must not linger in the fight."

Gan Ning roared, "Whoever kills Zhang Yun will be the one with the greatest merit! Whoever captures Zhang Yun alive will be rewarded with an additional hundred taels of gold! All officers below the rank of captain will be promoted three ranks!"

"Here!"

With generous rewards, every soldier in the Gansu-Ningxia army strives to be the best.

Gan Ning's ships rushed past the fire ships.

Gan Ning shot off the ropes of the water fortress's gate, which opened immediately. Gan Ning then took the lead and rushed in with a small boat.

As soon as they landed, Gan Ning ordered his men to set fire to the tents and supplies and to attack the patrol team, while he himself led his personal guards toward Zhang Yun's main tent.

Just as Gan Ning had predicted, the Xiangyang army collapsed almost immediately upon contact.

For a time, soldiers couldn't find generals, and generals couldn't find soldiers.

Many Xiangyang soldiers who spent the night on the boats immediately untied the reins, intending to escape from the water camp.

A moment later, shouts of battle erupted from the gate of Lu Ying's camp, clearly indicating that the two thousand warriors under Zhou Yu's command, whom they had previously left behind, had arrived at the battlefield.

This exacerbated the chaos within the Xiangyang military camp.

It wasn't that there were no generals or officers who wanted to gather the defeated troops and come to stop them; it was just that this part of the Xiangyang army had just been expanded twice and was simply no match for the veterans under Huang Zu and Cai Mao.

In a face-to-face battle, they might have continued fighting due to training. But now, suddenly attacked at night, with the enemy setting fires and killing people throughout their land and naval camps, reorganizing a counterattack under these circumstances would be a significant test for the officer team.

Unfortunately, most of Zhang Yun's officers were greedy and incompetent; otherwise, the security measures wouldn't have been so ineffective.

Gan Ning and his elite generals divided into groups of a hundred and charged in all directions, their primary targets being officers who were gathering troops. Wherever Xiangyang County began to assemble, they would charge in unison, determined to crush the enemy.

Just as Gan Ning had predicted, Zhang Yun was unable to organize a decent defense, let alone launch a counterattack.

By the time dawn broke, many ships had already set sail and left the camp, hoping to take the opportunity to escape.

Just as Gan Ning had predicted, some of these ships sailed upstream and some downstream, only to run into the well-prepared forces of Zhu Huan and Chen Wu.

Although the two ships did not have many large vessels, both of them were equipped with flanks, making it easy for them to deal with the large ships of the Xiangyang army.

The battle lasted until the morning before coming to an end. Zhang Yun intended to surrender, but he was not recognized by Gan Ning's soldiers and was immediately stabbed. He is now seriously injured and it is unknown whether he can survive.

The rest of the troops, except for a few thousand who broke out from the land, all surrendered.

In this battle, Gan Ning captured more than 10,000 prisoners, destroyed more than 1,000 warships of various sizes, burned hundreds of ships, and killed, drowned, or burned thousands of people. Even the thousands who broke through on land might not have been able to escape.

Hanchuan is surrounded by vast marshes, connected only by a single land route.

Gan Ning has the advantage of a navy; as long as he doesn't want to let the enemy go, these thousands of men are nothing more than turtles in a jar.

Gan Ning originally wanted to continue pursuing the remnants of the defeated army, but he suddenly remembered Liu Feng's teachings and thought about how Zhu Huan and Chen Wu had obeyed his orders and cooperated with him. He immediately changed his mind.

After summoning Zhu Huan and Chen Wu, Gan Ning praised the two highly, and then ordered, "Xiu Mu and Zi Lie, this morning there were still several thousand remnants of soldiers heading north along the main road, presumably trying to escape to Anlu. You two should head north along the Han River, surround and intercept them, and do not let those several thousand remnants escape."

Zhu Huan and Chen Wu were immediately pleasantly surprised. They had long heard of Gan Ning's domineering reputation, and they really did not expect that he would share the credit, especially such an effortless and easy achievement.

The two tentatively declined, but to their surprise, Gan Ning lost his temper. They immediately dared not be modest anymore and accepted the order to leave.

After seeing Zhu Huan and Chen Wu off, Gan Ning sat in the cabin, racking his brains about how to write the victory report.

This document was not only for reporting the victory, but also for initially outlining the contributions of each unit. In addition to Zhu Huan and Chen Wu, the two thousand warriors aided by Zhou Yu were also extremely useful.

**
Sun Ce and Huan Jie went to the prefectural government together.

Zhang Xian was quite surprised by Huan Jie's visit. Although the war had temporarily subsided, there were still countless affairs to attend to in the prefectural government. Huan Jie had been busy dealing with these complicated matters and had not visited the prefectural government for quite some time, except when Zhang Xian summoned him.

However, Zhang Xian trusted Huan Jie a lot, and upon hearing that the other party had come to visit, he immediately invited him into his bedroom to meet him.

Huan Jie led Sun Ce into the bedroom, where Zhang Yi was standing beside Zhang Xian, serving him.

Zhang Yi was indeed filial, but not to the point of being inseparable from Huan Jie. The reason he was here was because someone reported that Huan Jie had arrived, and that he had brought Sun Ce with him.

"Boxu, you've arrived."

Zhang Xian's health has improved considerably. Although he is still unable to handle government affairs, he is at least much better off than before when he was bedridden.

Zhang Yi, who was beside him, also hurriedly stood up and, pretending not to know, bowed to Huan Jie: "Lord Huan."

Huan Jie first bowed to Zhang Xian, then returned the bow to Zhang Yi, and then solemnly said, "I have come specifically for the sake of your lifelong reputation, Lord Huan!"

Zhang Xian was taken aback, never expecting Huan Jie to say such a thing.

What does Bo Xu mean by this?

Huan Jie stepped forward, bowed to Zhang Xian again, then flicked his sleeve and pointed at Sun Ce, saying, "My lord, Sun Bofu came a thousand miles as an envoy, disregarding his own safety, and stayed with us to face the crisis in Linxiang amidst the flames of war. Now that the fighting has subsided and the Jingbei army has only just withdrawn from the city, instead of considering how to deploy troops to pursue the Jingbei rebels, you have taken away Bofu's military power. Are you not afraid of being ridiculed by all discerning people in the world? How will you explain this to the Left General?"

A flicker of shame crossed Zhang Xian's eyes. He was fiercely independent and intolerant of injustice, but it was precisely this very nature that made him acutely aware of how outrageous his actions had been. Beside him, Zhang Yi looked flustered, opening his mouth several times to speak, but then stopping himself.

"My lord, I have just received a message."

Huan Jie then said, "General Zuo's great victory at Zhouling has defeated the two major naval forces of Jingbei. Now, on the Yangtze River, only the sails of the Yangzhou navy remain."

"What!?"

Zhang Xian and Zhang Yi's expressions changed drastically. If Zhang Xian's feelings were a mixture of surprise and shame, Zhang Yi's were a mixture of surprise, fear, and guilt.

"Is this serious?"

Zhang Xianyou confirmed in disbelief, "The Jingbei navy has tens of thousands of soldiers, seasoned veterans of many battles. Huang Chengde is a prominent general in Jingzhou and Xiangyang, and many of his generals are heroes from our state. The Yangzhou navy is only newly established. Can it really be...?"

Zhang Xian didn't finish his sentence, clearly indicating that he was having some difficulty choosing his words.

"My lord, the Yangzhou army has already reached the outskirts of Baqiu City."

Huan Jie continued, "Now the Jingbei army is in a dilemma. Bo Fu originally intended to use the elite troops of Linxiang to follow and attack, thus slowing down the enemy's march. In this way, we can cooperate with the troops of Yangzhou to annihilate the Jingbei army on the shore of Dongting Lake."

"This……"

Zhang Xian looked embarrassed, and vaguely understood Huan Jie's intention. He was naturally worried that General Zuo would punish him for his actions of crossing the river and then turning his back on the bridge.

Zhang Yi suddenly knelt down with a thud and kowtowed to Zhang Xian, saying, "It is all my fault for being unfilial. I was worried that the retreat of the Jingbei army was a ruse and a trap, so I removed Bo Fu from his military command."

"You! You're so foolish!"

Seeing his son come to the rescue, Zhang Xian took the opportunity to shift the blame onto the other party, and immediately declared: "In that case, I would like to ask Bo Fu to select elite troops to go out of the city and pursue them. We must leave Kuai Yue and the other thieves in Jingnan and avenge the innocent people and civilians they have slaughtered."

Sun Ce was overjoyed, and when he saw Huan Jie quietly nod at him, he immediately accepted the order and said, "Rest assured, Lord Prefect, I will do my best to report to you, the Chief Clerk, and the people. I will never fail your trust."

Zhang Xian feigned great joy and immediately instructed Zhang Yi to write down the order and use the imperial seal.

Huan Jie then escorted Sun Ce out of the bedroom, watched him leave, and then returned to his own bedroom.

(End of this chapter)