Chapter 549

"Yes!"

Jia San bowed and accepted the order.

At the same time, the Xuanjia Army led by Huang Zhong and the Green Dragon Battalion led by Zhao Yun, with the assistance of the Jiangxia Navy, invaded the commanderies of Lujiang and Jiujiang respectively.

On the Jiujiang side, because Sun Ce had led the majority of his main force to attack Lujiang, it was relatively empty.

Coupled with the terrifying combat power of the Green Dragon Battalion and the regular Jiangxia Navy.

They were unstoppable, like a hot knife through butter.

In just two days, Zhao Yun and his men took seven cities and occupied nearly half of Jiujiang.

Afterward, Zhao Yun and the others had no intention of stopping and continued to capture territory in Jiujiang.

Huang Zhong's side was also very smooth; in less than a day, they had already advanced to the outskirts of Wanxian, where they happened to run into Sun Ce's army, which was attacking Wanxian, forming a standoff.

"Damn it! This is Su Xuan's Xuanjia Army? How could they appear here at this time?"

"Could it be that he also wants to take Lujiang Commandery?"

Sun Ce said with resentment.

Originally, he was about to take Wanxian, but now that the Xuanjia Army had appeared, did he still have a chance to take it?

I'm afraid it's difficult!

The troops he brought out this time were only 40,000.

Furthermore, he knew very well that the combat power of his troops compared to Su Xuan's Xuanjia Army was likely a huge gap, and there was simply no chance of winning.

"Retreat!!!"

Thinking of this, Sun Ce ordered an emergency retreat without hesitation.

"Father, should we pursue?"

Huang Xu, who was beside him, asked hurriedly.

He had long heard of Sun Ce's reputation as the Little Conqueror and really wanted to test his skills against him.

Su Zhan, who was beside him, was also eager to try.

Seeing the two of them full of fighting spirit, Huang Zhong shook his head with a smile: "Alright! Don't even think about pursuing!"

"Our main purpose this time is to take the two commanderies of Lujiang and Jiujiang;"

"As for that Sun Ce, the Lord intends to spare him and drive him toward Wu Commandery, letting him contend with Liu Biao, so don't pursue this time!"

"First take Wanxian, and then gradually take the entire Lujiang!"

He knew the plans of his Lord and the various military advisors.

They wanted to use Sun Ce, this fierce tiger, to stir up the situation in Yangzhou and let Sun Ce cleanse the clans and powerful families in the commanderies south of the Yangtze in Yangzhou.

Preparing for the Lord to take this Jiangdong land in the future.

Keeping this person was still useful, so naturally, he couldn't kill him.

"Is that so! What a pity!"

Huang Xu and Su Zhan both looked regretful upon hearing this.

"Hahaha!"

Seeing this, Huang Zhong couldn't help but laugh loudly: "What's there to regret? If you want to fight Sun Ce, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future! Just wait patiently!"

"Besides, you are still young; are you afraid there won't be any battles to fight in the future?"

"Let's go! Go to the foot of Wanxian city and call out to see if we can persuade the Lujiang Administrator, Lu Kang, to submit to the Lord!"

As he spoke, Huang Zhong led his army to turn around and arrived within an arrow's distance outside the city, sending someone to call out to the city: "My General is Huang Zhong, Huang Hansheng, the commander of the Xuanjia Army under King Qian. Is the Administrator Lu Kang in the city? My General invites you for a chat."

"Hmm?"

Lu Kang, who was on the city wall, had originally been leading his army to resist the fierce attack of Sun Ce's army.

As a result, reinforcements suddenly arrived, easily repelling and scaring off Sun Ce's army.

Lu Kang initially thought it was Sun Ce's trick, but soon confirmed it wasn't.

The arrivals were King Qian Su Xuan's troops.

For a time, Lu Kang's emotions became complex.

King Qian's troops appearing in Lujiang at this time certainly couldn't be for sightseeing.

That must also be for this Lujiang Commandery.

But regarding Su Xuan, Lu Kang's thoughts were also quite complex.

Hostile and resentful? Not quite.

After all, Su Xuan had indeed brought a good life to the local people in Jingzhou.

For an official like Lu Kang who was dedicated to the welfare of the people, he admired Su Xuan and felt a strong resonance.

But Su Xuan's New Policy had harmed the interests of many clans, feeling as if it were targeting the clans, and his Lu family was also a major clan!

Naturally, this made Lu Kang feel a bit of dislike toward Su Xuan again.

However, now was not the time to think about these things; he didn't seem to have many choices.

He had heard the shouting outside the city; they were clearly prepared to use courtesy before force, and he couldn't not respond.

He immediately replied: "I am the Lujiang Administrator, Lu Kang. I accept your General's invitation!"

"However, please go back and tell your General to first retreat five miles, and I will naturally leave the city for a chat."

"Good! I will pass on the message!"

The messenger immediately responded and rode back to Huang Zhong's side to report the situation.

In fact, with Huang Zhong's hearing, he had easily heard Lu Kang's words.

But he still waited for the messenger to finish before waving his hand: "In that case, pass on my order to have the army retreat five miles. Su Zhan, you stay and join me in meeting this Lujiang Administrator, Lu Kang!"

"Yes!"

Immediately, Huang Zhong led the army to retreat, while Huang Zhong and Su Zhan stayed in place to wait.

When Lu Kang saw the army outside the city retreat five miles, he nodded with satisfaction, took two personal guards out of the city, and soon arrived opposite Huang Zhong and Su Zhan.

He cupped his hands toward them: "Lujiang Administrator Lu Kang, greets General Huang! I wonder what business the General has in inviting me here?"

Huang Zhong smiled faintly upon hearing this: "Administrator Lu is too polite! I am a soldier, and I like to speak directly, so I won't beat around the bush!"

"I imagine that with your wisdom, Administrator Lu, you can guess that our Xuanjia Army came here for Lujiang;"

"I wonder if Administrator Lu is willing to submit to my Lord?"

Dealing with such a smart person, Huang Zhong knew that relying on schemes and such was meaningless.

It was better to be direct; it showed more sincerity, didn't it?

"This..."

Lu Kang was indeed stunned upon hearing this; clearly, he hadn't expected Huang Zhong to get straight to the point.

This caught him off guard, but fortunately, his mentality was very stable, and he quickly adjusted, immediately cupping his hands: "General Huang is joking! Both I and King Qian are subjects of the Great Han; isn't it a bit much to talk about submission?"

"Hehe!"

Huang Zhong shook his head with a smile: "Administrator Lu is not being honest! Are you trying to deceive me because I don't understand?"

"Nowadays, in Chang'an, the Emperor has passed away. In this world today, there is no longer an Emperor, and the Great Han has officially entered the era of warlord kings!"

"Who will ultimately hold the world in the future is still unknown, but don't you think it's a bit self-deceiving to say that everyone is a subject of the Great Han?"

"Does Sun Ce treat you as a subject of the Great Han?"

"Does Yuan Shu treat you as a subject of the Great Han?"

"The times have changed! I am not here to persuade you, nor do I think I have the eloquence to persuade you!"

"I am just laying out our position clearly. If you, Administrator Lu, agree to submit to my Lord, not only can Lujiang be spared from a war, allowing the many people of Lujiang to avoid the suffering of war;"

"At the same time, my Lord will certainly not treat you poorly, nor will he treat the Lu family behind you poorly. I hope Administrator Lu will consider it carefully and give me an accurate answer as soon as possible!"

"Whether it is war or peace, it is all up to you to decide!"

Unless he was senile or truly not very bright, he didn't believe Lu Kang couldn't understand that the Emperor no longer belonged to the Great Han.

Lu Kang was clearly not stupid.

Hearing Huang Zhong's blunt words, his expression became slightly unpleasant.

Clearly, Huang Zhong's direct style made him very uncomfortable.

But he understood that Huang Zhong's words had already made his position clear.

Fight?

To be honest, he couldn't even resist Sun Ce, let alone the Xuanjia Army, which was clearly even more terrifying at a glance.

It seemed the Xuanjia Army only had 15,000 men, and even with the few thousand Jiangxia naval forces, it was only 20,000-plus people.

But the combat power was completely not in the same concept as Sun Ce's army!