Chapter 325

"Just now, Zhuge Zhang Liang, under Lord Liu Xuande, greatly defeated the Xiahou brothers in Xinye, annihilating forty thousand enemies, and sent one hundred thousand troops to conquer Sun Ce. Lord Liu Xuande values Changsha County and does not want Linxiang City to fall into the flames of war, so he sent me to persuade you personally."

The soldiers on the city wall were discussing. Liu Bei is now the master of Jingzhou, but this Han Xuan closed the city gates—what exactly does he want to do!

Han Xuan wanted to curse loudly, but Huang Zhong directly nocked an arrow.

"Whoosh!"

The iron arrow hit the wooden pillar on the city wall behind Han Xuan steadily, scaring Han Xuan so much that he couldn't speak for a while.

Huang Zhong shouted loudly,

"Deng Zhang Liang, Yang Ling, why don't you open the city gates and defect to Lord Liu Xuande? Do you want to follow Han Xuan to the end?"

Two captains looked at each other.

"Old General, don't worry; we will open the city gates right now!"

Han Xuan was enraged.

"Left and right, catch the two traitors!"

Several of his cronies wanted to catch people, but looking at the fierce eyes of the soldiers around them, they instantly didn't dare to move.

Deng Zhang Liang and Yang Fang shouted,

"Lord Liu Xuande is world-shaking and benevolent, and is the new master of our Jingzhou. Han Xuan goes against the heavens and wants to drag us down! Brothers, do you agree?"

The soldiers shouted in unison, "No!"

Soon, Han Xuan was controlled, the Linxiang city gates were wide open,

and Huang Zhong led troops into the city!

A few hours later, Liu Bei arrived with troops and sighed with emotion,

"Having an old man in the family is like having a treasure!"

Liu Bei appointed Yi Ji as Changsha Prefect, Zhen Jiang Wan as County Attendant, and heavily rewarded Yang Ling and the others who opened the city gates.

He also appointed Huang Zhong as General of Yangwu, responsible for the military of Changsha County.

Liu Bei met some talents of southern Jingzhou in Changsha County.

Pan Jun from Wuling County,

Liu Min from Lingling,

and drank and chatted happily with the Changsha County gentry, getting along harmoniously.

Han Xuan was directly beheaded by Liu Bei, and his family was sent to the Chile Plain—which is actually a good place!

Soon,

news came from Wuling County that Wei Yan, with the cooperation of Gong Zhi, successfully took Hanshou City, and Jin Xuan was shot to death by Gong Zhi.

Liu Bei called Pan Jun over.

"Chengming, I appoint you as Wuling County Assistant; go and perform well."

Pan Jun cupped his hands excitedly.

"Thank you, my Lord!"

Pan Jun was at odds with Guan Yu, but at the beginning, he did not surrender to Eastern Wu like Mi Fang and Fu Shiren. He was loyal and capable, so he could be used.

Wei Yan arrived in Changsha County and led ten thousand troops to secretly head to the Ding Yuan-Lu Corridor.

Liu Bei thought for a moment and let Taishi Ci lead six thousand elite infantry to assist him.

Yan Yan’s troops also arrived in Changsha County quickly.

Liu Bei took two counties in a short time and also killed two prefects who defended the city, directly shocking southern Jingzhou.

Lingling Prefect Liu Du was worried.

"What should I do?"

"Liu Bei is powerful; our army definitely cannot block him!"

This sentence instantly hurt a round-faced fat man.

That was the Lingling Great General Xing Daorong!

He shouted loudly,

"My Lord, why do you say that? That Liu Bei also has two hands and two feet. I don't fear him. As long as he dares to come, I will definitely lead troops to destroy him!"

Liu Du?? This bragging is about to break.

Liu Du’s son Liu Han Xian almost cracked.

"Xing Daorong, what do you think Liu Bei is? You lead troops to destroy him?"

Xing Daorong seemed to have received a great insult.

"Young Master, since I followed the Prefect, I have fought hundreds of battles, big and small. Have I ever lost? Which opposing main general wasn't killed by me in a few moves!"

Liu Han Xian had an expression of "I’m too embarrassed to expose you."

"Xing Daorong, those were just some useless bandits!"

"Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Gan Ning, Huang Zhong, and others under Liu Bei are all brave and good at fighting; you can't beat even one of them!"

Xing Daorong hummed, puffed out his chest, and raised his head.

"Young Master underestimates me too much. When Liu Bei comes, I only need five thousand troops to capture him alive!"

Xing Daorong felt that he could kill Lu Bu in one move and Liu Bei in three moves; what he lacked was an opportunity!

Everyone was numb.

Liu Han Xian cupped his hands to Liu Du.

"Father, our Lingling is easy to defend and hard to attack. Now Liu Bei is in trouble from both inside and outside, with Cao Cao in the north and Sun Ce in the east. As long as our army blocks Liu Bei for a few months, he will definitely withdraw!"

"At that time, we can send troops to other southern Jingzhou counties, hold the Yangtze River, and dominate southern Jingzhou alone."

Liu Han Xian was a newborn calf not afraid of a tiger and was also a pro-war faction!

Liu Du saw that his precious son and great general Xing Daorong were so confident, so he felt relieved.

"Good, then we will defend the city to the death and let Liu Bei return without success."

Xing Daorong waved his hand and said boisterously,

"My Lord, I only need three moves to take Liu Bei; why go to such trouble!"

Everyone dispersed.

Xing Daorong almost burst into tears; he was having too hard a time!

After learning the news of Lingling’s strong resistance, Liu Bei was not angry but happy. Liu Du and his son were still quite cooperative...

Guo Jia and the others were also very satisfied. After all, letting the Lord get stuck in the war vortex of southern Jingzhou also required people to cooperate.

This way, Wei Yan and Taishi Ci would have time to use the Ding Yuan River to cross the Luoxiao and Wugong Mountains at the junction of Gan and Xiang to raid Yuzhang.

What Liu Bei needed to do now was to drag out time and attract Sun Ce and Zhou Yu’s attention.

Three days later,

he led Zhang Fei, Yan Yan, E Huan, and others with an army of forty thousand, marching majestically toward Lingling!

Huang Zhong stayed behind to guard Changsha County and stabilize the situation.

Jiangxia Water Village,

Sun Ce and Zhou Yu won a small victory in a water battle today, destroying seven of Cai Mao’s Mengchong ships,

but the two of them couldn't be happy.

Zhou Yu looked at the intelligence in front of him, his brows tightly furrowed.

"My Lord, Liu Bei is too treacherous, letting Cai Mao drag us down while he himself went straight to take the four southern Jingzhou counties!"

Sun Ce smashed the table fiercely.

"In the past, Liu Bei also took Linxiang City with Wen Pin and went to E County by land, intending to raid our rear. He is doing it again?"

Zhou Yu was somewhat depressed.

"This is an open plot. Once Liu Bei occupies all four southern Jingzhou counties, he will bring the troops of the four counties to Jiangxia. Our army will be attacked from both sides and may not necessarily be able to block him."

Sun Ce and Zhou Yu looked at each other.

"We must defeat Cai Mao as soon as possible. Xiangyang only has twenty thousand troops stationed there. If we march on Xiangyang, Liu Bei will definitely be in chaos!"

Sun Ce shouted loudly,

"Pass the order down, transfer another ten thousand troops from Yuzhang. I want to kill Cai Mao and that brat Lu Xun!"

Unfortunately, Cai Mao had rich experience in water warfare and did not fight a decisive battle with them, always dragging the Sun army down, leaving Sun Ce and Zhou Yu with no major way for a time.

Lingling County seat, Quanling City,