My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 465 Capture of Jingling
Sun Ce knew that Lexiang, which had originally been insignificant, had suddenly become important in Liu Feng's plan. However, even so, it could not change the fact that Lexiang had low city walls, no moat, and was located on a plain, making it easy to attack but difficult to defend.

However, he resolutely volunteered to go and guard Lexiang.

Sun Ce made this decision for two reasons. On the one hand, he hoped to take this opportunity to make great achievements and prove his ability. On the other hand, he also wanted to protect the thousands of former Sun Jian's troops under his command.

In chaotic times, only by making contributions can one gain a foothold in this ever-changing situation, and these thousands of Sun Jian's former subordinates are the foundation for his own achievements.

If it weren't for Yuan Shu returning his father's old troops in previous years, how could he have achieved such a sweeping victory in Jiangdong within a year?

After more than a year of frequent contact with Liu Feng, Sun Ce had developed a clear and profound impression of his lord.

Liu Feng had a deep and discerning gaze, lofty aspirations, a grand vision, and a heart far beyond that of ordinary people.

In Sun Ce's eyes, Liu Feng was by no means a narrow-minded or jealous person. He even felt that Liu Feng did not care about his merits, but rather encouraged him, and never hesitated to use him.

His previous experience as an envoy to Linxiang further solidified Sun Ce's belief in this idea.

It was this trust and understanding that prompted him to make up his mind and take on the seemingly thorny hot potato of Lexiang without hesitation.

After hearing Sun Ce's self-recommendation, Taishi Ci and Zhao Yun exchanged a glance, their eyes revealing a hint of approval.

Both men were inclined to agree to Sun Ce's request, and both felt that Sun Ce was the best candidate at the moment.

After all, the four thousand veteran soldiers under Sun Ce were all former subordinates of Sun Jian. These men were seasoned warriors with considerable fighting prowess, and under Sun Ce's leadership and command, their combat strength and loyalty were trustworthy. More importantly, these men were nominally under Zhang Xian of Linxiang City, so even if they suffered losses in battle, they wouldn't be too distressed. And if these men could achieve meritorious service, Liu Feng, who was always generous, would certainly not be stingy with rewards.

After a moment's consideration, Taishi Ci immediately nodded and agreed, "Very well, Bofu has such lofty ambitions, I am willing to grant your wish."

He hesitated for a moment, then slowly said, "These four thousand men of yours are all brave warriors from Jingnan, most of them are well-versed in water and skilled in maneuvering boats, moving on the water as if on flat ground. In that case, I will allocate an additional five hundred sets of leather armor, three thousand pieces of long and short weapons, two hundred crossbows, and fifty thousand arrows. Finally, I will also allocate one hundred warships and fifty transport ships to you. Are you satisfied with this arrangement?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Ce secretly pondered that the military equipment and supplies in front would undoubtedly greatly enhance the combat power of his troops, giving them a greater advantage on the battlefield; while the warships behind would provide him with an escape route in case of danger, ensuring that he could calmly retreat by water at critical moments.

From these arrangements, Sun Ce deeply felt that Taishi Ci had absolutely no intention of using him as cannon fodder, and his gratitude grew even stronger. He immediately knelt down, performed a deep bow, and said gratefully, "I am deeply grateful to my lord and general for not abandoning me. I will repay you with my life. As long as I am here, Lexiang will never fall into enemy hands."

Seeing this, Taishi Ci quickly stood up, walked briskly to Sun Ce's side, and helped him up with both hands. He said earnestly, "Bo Fu, why do you say such things? Lexiang is important, but how can it compare to your safety? In his letter, the lord specifically instructed that Lexiang should not be defended to the death. How can I sacrifice your life for Lexiang? If that were the case, why would I have specially arranged ships for you? If Lexiang can be defended, please defend it for me; if it cannot be defended, please make sure to protect yourself and do not take any risks."

Sun Ce was filled with gratitude and excitement after hearing Taishi Ci's heartfelt words.

Taishi Ci personally escorted him back to his seat, and the friendship between the two seemed to have deepened even further.

Once the defense problem of Lexiang was solved, the arrangements for everything else became clear and straightforward.

The area of ​​Gong'an was still under the jurisdiction of Xu Ding's troops.

On Zhao Yun's side, Xu Ding led the remaining troops to garrison Jiangling City, while Dong Xi led troops to garrison Jinxiang to provide support from the center, and the rest of the main force embarked on the journey back east.

However, Zhao Yun and Xu Ding's troops were only temporarily stationed here. After Zhou Yu successfully captured Xiakou, he would immediately lead the main force westward to relieve them.

Zhou Yu's troops fought many fierce battles in the early and middle stages of the war and successfully captured the extremely fortified stronghold of Xiakou.

Although the army's overall losses were not too severe, the soldiers were exhausted from continuous battles. This rotation of troops provided a good opportunity for them to garrison in Jiangling and rest properly.

Meanwhile, on the opposite bank of Jiangling City, there is a large force led by Kuai Yue, which needs to be kept under constant watch.

With Zhou Yu's exceptional talent and the formidable strength of the troops under his command in Jiangling, even if Kuai Yue launched an attack, they would be able to handle it with ease. Not only would they not be at a disadvantage, but their chances of winning would far exceed those of the enemy.

The troop deployment process went very smoothly.

After arriving in Lexiang with three thousand laborers, Sun Ce immediately began to strengthen the city's defenses.

The group had a clear division of labor: some were responsible for digging trenches, some were busy diverting river water to serve as a moat, and some were raising and reinforcing the city walls.

Although Lexiang City is not large in area, the amount of work involved in strengthening its defenses is considerable.

Fortunately, Sun Ce's main force had four thousand men, and with the addition of these three thousand laborers, there could be four to five thousand able-bodied workers available for rotation.

Taishi Ci also allocated a large amount of supplies to Sun Ce's troops, including a considerable amount of meat and grain.

Dong Xi's naval forces were also busy fishing on the river, which greatly improved the soldiers' rations, raising them several levels. Moreover, Sun Ce was generous and magnanimous, and he would generously distribute all the spoils and valuables captured in each battle to his soldiers.

This is why these soldiers were willing to participate in the labor service without harboring any resentment.

Thanks to everyone's efforts, the defenses of Lexiang became stronger day by day.

Meanwhile, Pan Zhang's troops under Taishi Ci and Zhao Yun left Jiangling ahead of time, leading Liu Qi, Pang Tong and others to Shaxian to meet up with Liu Feng.

When Taishi Ci's troops arrived at Shaxian, three exciting pieces of good news came in succession.

The first piece of good news was that Jia Kui's troops downstream had arrived. This force was well-equipped and had been resting and recuperating for a long time. Although there were many new recruits among them, they had been trained and were quite capable in combat, and were fully ready to be put into battle.

The second piece of good news came from the upper reaches of the Han River. Gan Ning's advance was unstoppable, capturing important strategic locations such as Zengshan, Hengsangkou, Zhukou, and Yangkou in succession, and the vanguard of his army had already advanced to Zhangshan.

However, due to limited troop strength, Gan Ning temporarily spared Jingling City.

The city of Jingling was also short of troops, but the local gentry and powerful families were loyal to Liu Biao. They gathered two or three thousand men as their own and mobilized two thousand able-bodied men to defend the city. They chose to ignore Gan Ning's attempts to persuade them to surrender.

Gan Ning's forces were insufficient, so the matter had to be temporarily shelved.

The third piece of good news is that Xiakou has been successfully captured, the defending general Lü Jie has been killed in battle, and more than half of the three thousand garrison troops in the city have been killed or wounded, making the battle extremely fierce.

Fortunately, Zhou Yu's casualties were not high, numbering less than a thousand. This impressive casualty ratio was ultimately due to Liu Feng giving Zhou Yu ample time to prepare and providing him with new siege weapons such as cannons and catapults.

Once Xiakou is captured, the Han River will be completely blocked.

In this way, the entire Yangtze River basin, except for Yizhou at its source, fell into Liu Feng's hands.

Once all the armies had gathered, Liu Feng convened a meeting, gave a pep talk, and then immediately led his army northward into the Han River.

Zhou Yu left 3,000 elite troops to garrison Xiakou, while the remaining 10,000 or so went west to Jiangling to take over the defense.

Liu Feng personally led the entire Vanguard Army, Pan Zhang's Wanlan Army, Jia Kui's troops, and the naval forces of Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin northward into the Han River, heading towards Xiangyang. At the same time, because all his elite troops had been deployed, Liu Feng also wrote to Liu Bei, requesting him to allocate a force of 10,000 men to be stationed on both sides of the Yangtze River, remotely guarding Jiangdong.

**
As dawn broke, the dull sound of war drums, like rolling thunder, echoed and reverberated across the land.

Outside the city, the besieging army surged like a black tide, with countless soldiers carrying ladders and pushing siege engines, advancing step by step toward the city wall.

Due to time constraints, apart from a small number of artillery pieces accompanying the army, there were no counterweight catapults. However, even these few artillery pieces were enough to suppress the archers on Jingling City.

On the city wall, the soldiers guarding the city hid behind the battlements, gripping their weapons tightly. Sweat dripped from their foreheads, and their faces were pale, but they had no time to care.

"Fire arrows!"

At a command, arrows rained down from the city walls, striking the enemy troops rushing towards them.

However, the arrows were of varying strength, and some fell to the ground halfway there. In addition, the attacking soldiers raised their shields to block them.

In an instant, a rain of arrows struck the shield, producing a dense "bang bang" sound.

The siege engine slowly approached the city wall, its massive ram pounding against the city gate again and again. Each impact caused the gate to creak painfully, as if it were about to collapse at any moment.

The siege ladders were quickly erected, and the attacking soldiers shouted as they climbed them.

The defending soldiers, under the command of their officers, fought back fiercely with boiling oil and boulders. The scalding oil poured down, causing the soldiers on the ladders to scream in agony.

Huge rocks rolled down the city wall, smashing the soldiers below the ladders and leaving them bloodied and mangled.

On the battlefield, shouts and screams were intertwined, and blood dyed the earth red.

Standing on the high platform, Liu Feng looked at the soldiers lying dead and wounded in the distance and sighed in his heart that this was truly a case of "one general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand."

Jingling City stubbornly refused to surrender, but its location was extremely important. If it could not be captured, not only would the subsequent supply fleets be threatened by the city, but at a critical moment, the garrison here could also block the Han River.

This could bring utter destruction to Liu Fengjun.

Therefore, Liu Feng had no choice but to harden his heart and, at the cost of casualties, attack and destroy the city.

Pan Zhang brandished his long sword and roared loudly, inspiring the soldiers' morale.

Clad in two layers of heavy armor, he had already reached the front line. If it weren't for the officers below holding him back, he probably would have already rushed to the front line to try and scale the city walls.

Pan Zhang's reputation in this life is much better than in his previous life.

Firstly, Pan Zhang is now a meritorious official who followed the emperor, a trusted confidant promoted by Liu Feng, and someone who has been taught and guided by him for a long time. He has made considerable progress and is far less greedy than he was in his previous life.

Although he still lived a luxurious life, enjoyed himself, and loved wealth, Liu Feng bestowed various rewards upon him and issued numerous warnings, which prevented Pan Zhang from committing the heinous act of robbing and killing his own wealthy soldiers again.

Pan Zhang was already quite capable of leading troops. In the original timeline, even such a scoundrel could lead an elite army that was unparalleled in Jiangdong. In this life, the troops led by Pan Zhang were obviously even more elite, and his reputation in the army also rose accordingly.

Therefore, seeing Pan Zhang on the front line inspired them, his Wanlan Army soldiers seemed to be on drugs, fearless and once again launched an attack on the Jingling city wall.

In comparison, the generals defending the city were far inferior.

Looking at the Wanlan Army, which surged like a tide, clearly layered yet undulating, the garrison commander of Jingling felt a sense of fear. His command and response became hesitant and erratic, and before long, a dangerous situation arose on the city wall.

This brutal siege has only just begun, yet it seems to have already reached its end.

Soon, Liu Fengjun became the first soldier to scale the city wall, followed by a continuous stream of Wanlan soldiers.

Immediately afterwards, the soldiers of the Wanlan Army surged up the city wall like a raging tide, their figures spreading rapidly across the wall with an unstoppable momentum.

In just half an hour, the Jingling garrison was defeated like a withered leaf swept by a gale, collapsing like a mountain.

The city walls were now completely occupied by Liu Feng's soldiers, who were dressed in red uniforms. Victory flags fluttered in the wind, and their forces began to rapidly expand towards the city.

When the gates of Jingling were flung open and Liu Feng's army poured in like a flood, the outcome of the battle was already decided.

Originally, the people of Jingling City believed that the end of the world had come. They were all terrified and could only hide in their homes, trembling and waiting for their unknown fate, their hearts filled with despair.

However, to the great shock of the people, after Liu Feng's army entered the city, they maintained strict military discipline and did not commit any offenses.

Not a single soldier dared to break into civilian homes. They simply controlled the city's main thoroughfares in an orderly manner, pursued the fleeing enemy, confiscated the weapons of surrendered soldiers, and sealed up the records in the treasury.

The people lived in constant fear until the next day, when no soldiers broke into their homes. They gradually realized that the situation was quite different from what they had imagined, and their hearts were filled with doubt and relief.

Of course, Liu Feng's benevolence towards the people does not mean that he was weak and easily bullied, nor does it mean that the local gentry and powerful families of Jingling could be forgiven like the common people.

(End of this chapter)