Three Kingdoms: Fusion of Entries, Change of Destiny

Chapter 50: The Conflict Between Yuan Shu and Liu Biao
In the third year of Chuping, the chaos in the world became more and more serious.

In Chang'an, Guanzhong, Dong Zhuo was killed by Wang Yun and Lu Bu, and an even greater turmoil was brewing quietly in the dark.

North of the Yellow River, Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan fought at Jie Bridge, starting a full-scale and protracted war.

There can't be two tigers in one mountain. In the land of Hebei, only one prince can have the last laugh.

In the Central Plains south of the Yellow River, Cao Cao was fighting a fierce battle with millions of Yellow Turbans from Qingzhou.

Cao Cao's battle with the Yellow Turban Army seemed very "difficult".

After initially defeating Sima Ju and Xu He by means of a "surprise attack", Cao's army seemed to be running out of strength, and there was no news of any major victory in the battles with the Yellow Turban Army.

Moreover, Cao Cao began to borrow food, money, and people from everywhere. It seemed that he was at the end of his rope and was just "struggling to hold on."

As the leader of one of the two major alliances of princes in Guandong, Yuan Shu,
Finally, I couldn't hold back the restlessness in my heart.

Begin to stir up trouble in this chaotic world.

At this time, Yuan Shu had occupied the wealthy areas of Nanyang County in Jingbei, Yingchuan County in Yuzhou, and Runan County.

He had an army of 100,000 men under his command, and had generals like Sun Jian, Ji Ling, Zhang Xun, and Qiao Rui serving him.

Among all the princes in Guandong and even in the entire Han Dynasty, he has the greatest influence.

As a legitimate son, Yuan Shu was arrogant in nature. He looked down on Yuan Shao, who was born a concubine's son, from the bottom of his heart.

Before this, upon hearing that Yuan Shao had taken Jizhou, he sent people to ask Yuan Shao for thousands of war horses.

At that time, Yuan Shao was preparing to fight Gongsun Zan.

Besides, Yuan Shao himself was short of war horses, so how could he agree to give Yuan Shu thousands of war horses?

I refused it outright.

When Yuan Shu learned of this, he flew into a rage and cursed, "Yuan Shao, you bastard, have no respect for status and no regard for human ethics!"

From then on, the two brothers turned against each other completely, and the alliance they once had vanished into thin air under the impact of power and desire.

Just at this time, news came that Liu Biao wanted to attack Nanyang and recover the entire Jingzhou.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shu became even more furious and immediately ordered Sun Jian to attack Liu Biao.

After Sun Jian obtained the imperial seal in Luoyang, he thought about leaving the coalition forces and returning to Jiangdong to develop.

But what Sun Jian never expected was that Yuan Shao secretly revealed the news that Sun Jian had obtained the jade seal to Liu Biao.

So when Sun Jian passed through Jingzhou, he was ambushed by Liu Biao and was severely punished.

Fortunately, Yuan Shu sent troops to rescue him in time, and Sun Jian was able to save his life.

From then on, Sun Jian obeyed orders from Yuan Shu. Although he felt unwilling, he had no choice.

After receiving Yuan Shu's order, Sun Jian summoned Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, Han Dang, and others to discuss the matter: "That bastard Liu Biao once blocked my way home, forcing us to submit to Yuan Shu's army. If we don't avenge this, when will we?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Only Cheng Pu frowned and advised, "My lord, the brothers Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao are both treacherous and cunning. Don't trust them. If we send troops this time, they might plot something bad behind our backs."

Sun Jian waved his hand and said, "This is a personal vendetta between Liu Biao and me. I am only sending troops under Yuan Shu's orders. I never expected Yuan Shu to truly help me. As long as he doesn't cause trouble, that's all that matters."

Seeing that Sun Jian had made up his mind, Cheng Pu said no more.

Sun Jian then ordered his generals, "Gongfu, prepare warships, weapons, and provisions. We will march out to attack Liu Biao tomorrow!"

"Yes!" Huang Gai clasped his fists, accepted the order, and turned to leave.

……

Here in Jingzhou,

The spies stationed by Liu Biao in Nanyang got wind of Sun Jian's army and reported every move of Sun Jian's troops to Liu Biao in detail.

When he learned that Sun Jian was coming to attack him,

He immediately ordered Huang Zu's troops in Jiangxia to be the vanguard to fight Sun Jian, while he himself led the main force of Jingxiang as support and was ready to fight.

Huang Zu, the governor of Jiangxia, was a member of the Huang clan of Anlu, Jiangxia.

In history, he seemed to be born specifically to target the Sun Wu forces.

Historical records show that

In the battles against Sun's army, he was almost always at a disadvantage and was defeated repeatedly.

However, thanks to Liu Biao's defensive strategy, Jiangxia was extremely strong and never fell into the hands of the Sun family.

And what's even more amazing is that
Not only did Sun Jian die at the hands of Huang Zu,
Even Sun Jian's nephew, Xu Kun, an early famous general of the Sun Wu camp, died at his hands.

The Eastern Wu general Ling Cao also died at the hands of Huang Zu.

There shouldn't be much controversy in saying that he is the nemesis of Sun Wu.

...In Jingzhou, Huang Zu had already discovered Sun Jian's movements.

He had ambushed his archers by the river early on, waiting for Sun Jian's warships to dock.

Sure enough, not long after, Sun Jian's warships slowly approached. As soon as they touched the shore, Huang Zu immediately gave the order: "Shoot!"

In an instant, thousands of arrows were fired at Sun Jian's warships like a rainstorm.

Sun Jian and others hid in the boat, listening to the dense sound of arrows hitting the planks, and no one dared to show their heads.

After Huang Zu's archers had finished shooting their arrows, Sun Jian waved his hand and said, "Go ashore!"

Huang Zu saw that he could not stop Sun Jian from landing, so he decisively ordered the retreat to the camp, intending to defend it to the death.

After Sun Jian's army successfully landed, Cheng Pu and Huang Gai split into two groups and attacked Huang Zu's camp.

At the same time, Han Dang led his troops around Huang Zu's camp and launched a surprise attack.

Under attack from three sides, Huang Zu's army was unable to take care of both ends, its formation was in chaos, and it was ultimately defeated.

Huang Zu had no choice but to abandon Fancheng and flee to Dengcheng.

After defeating Huang Zu, Sun Jian ordered Huang Gai to guard the ships while he personally led his troops to pursue Huang Zu.

When Sun Jian arrived at Dengcheng, Huang Zu did not retreat inside the city, but led his troops out of the city to fight.

Before the two armies, Huang Zu sent his deputy general to challenge.

The deputy general Zhang Hu was quite courageous. He pointed his sword at Sun Jian and shouted, "Sun Jian, little boy, do you dare to fight me?"

Han Dang, one of Sun Jian's men, galloped out and shouted, "Thief, wait till your grandfather takes your life!"

The two men fought with swords and guns.

Zhang Hu was originally a bandit from Jiangxia. Later, Liu Biao sent Kuai Yue and Pang Ji to persuade him to surrender. Since then, he has been under Huang Zu's command, guarding Jiangxia together.

Zhang Hu was quite brave and fought with Han Dang for thirty rounds before he gradually lost the upper hand.

Chen Sheng, another general under Huang Zu, was a good friend of Zhang Hu.

Seeing that Zhang Hu was about to be defeated, he rode out without saying a word.

Sun Ce, who was beside Sun Jian, saw another general rushing out of Huang Zu's formation and actually wanted to attack Han Dang two on one, so he immediately drew his bow and shot an arrow, whoosh, which hit Chen Sheng in the throat.

Mr. Chen fell off his horse without even a grunt.

Suddenly Zhang Hu heard the sound of a bowstring,

Then out of the corner of his eye he saw Mr. Chen fall from his horse.

He was horrified and distracted.

Han Dang spotted his weakness and chopped him down from his horse with one blow.

Huang Zu lost two generals in succession, causing great chaos in the army and weakening its formation.

Upon seeing this, Sun Jian waved his hand and led Cheng Pu and others to attack Huang Zu's central army directly.

Huang Zu was unable to resist at all and was killed by Sun Jian's army. He fled in disarray and finally managed to escape with his life by mixing in with the deserters.

Sun Jian pursued the enemy all the way to the Han River like a gust of wind sweeping away fallen leaves.

After Huang Zu escaped by chance, he crossed the river to meet Liu Biao.

Upon seeing Liu Biao, Huang Zu fell to his knees and said, "My lord, Sun Jian is incredibly brave and unstoppable. Our army has been severely defeated!"

When Liu Biao saw Huang Zu covered in wounds and in a miserable state, he couldn't help but feel a little afraid of Sun Jian's bravery.

In a panic, he quickly sent someone to invite Kuai Liang to come and discuss countermeasures.

Soon, Kuai Liang arrived.

Liu Biao hurriedly asked, "Mr. Kuai, Sun Jian's army is at its peak. What should we do now?"

Kuai Liang pondered for a moment and said, "Sun Jian has won consecutive victories, his army is sharp, and he is currently unstoppable. In my opinion, we should first hold Xiangyang firmly and avoid his attack.

Send another person to ask Yuan Shao for help. Once Yuan Shao's reinforcements arrive, the threat from Sun Jian will be eliminated."

But Cai Mao objected: "Sun Jian's troops are at the gates. If we hold our ground, won't we be waiting for death? Besides, Yuan Shao is too far away. Who knows how long it will take for him to send his troops?"

After saying this, Cai Mao turned to Liu Biao and bowed, "My lord, please allow me to lead my troops out of the city and fight Sun Jian to the death!"

After hearing what the two said, Liu Biao was hesitant for a while.

He paced back and forth in the hall, thinking for a long time, and finally chose Cai Mao's plan:

"Okay, Cai Mao, I order you to lead 10,000 soldiers out of Xiangyang City, deploy your troops at Xian Mountain, and fight Sun Jian to the death!"

(End of this chapter)