Chapter 338

Guards rushed over to protect Sun Ce with their lives,

"Lord, the battle is going poorly; you should retreat first."

Sun Ce also knew that this was not the time to be impulsive.

He turned his horse and fled toward the rear.

Huang Zhong hurriedly nocked an arrow to his bow and shouted,

"Sun Ce, watch out for the arrow!"

"Twang!"

The sound of the bowstring came.

Sun Ce hurriedly ducked,

But the iron arrow still struck Sun Ce's right arm!

Sun Ce let out a muffled groan and retreated with his soldiers!

Sun Ce's army scattered all the way. Huang Zhong and Zhang Fei led their troops in pursuit.

Sun Ce's army fled to the Pan River, near Jingdezhen, before they stopped. Upon counting, there were only six thousand men left!

Few were killed; most had run off without a trace.

Following the main force made them too big a target, so many soldiers ran in all directions.

Sun Ce's arrow wound was not serious, but his mood was extremely depressed.

This crushing defeat could signal that Yuzhang was about to be taken by Liu Bei!

"Damn big-eared thief!"

Suddenly, dust rose in the rear, and several thousand troops caught up.

A round-faced general stepped out and roared,

"Sun Ce, dismount and surrender immediately!"

Sun Ce frowned,

"And who are you!"

The round-faced general laughed heartily,

"Say my name and I'll scare you! I am the great general under Lord Liu Xuande, Xing Daorong!"

Sun Ce frowned,

"Never heard of you!"

Xing Daorong was furious. How dare these remnants and defeated soldiers look down on him!

"I will take your life in three moves!"

Sun Ce was even more furious. Could any Tom, Dick, or Harry bully him now?

Sun Ce spurred his horse and charged at Xing Daorong!

With a loud clang,

The two horses crossed.

Xing Daorong's expression changed drastically. This Sun Ce had more strength than him; he was another tough nut to crack!

Sun Ce frowned; having been shot by Huang Zhong earlier, he could not exert his full strength.

Dong Xi, Ling Chao, and others hurriedly spurred their horses to charge at Xing Daorong.

Xing Daorong hurriedly turned his horse and shouted,

"Brothers, Sun Ce couldn't beat me in a duel, so he actually brought several great generals to gang up on me. That's too much!"

"Cover me and attack!"

The soldiers fired a volley of crossbow bolts at Sun Ce's side!

Sun Ce had never seen anyone so shameless!

Sun Ce's troops had been fleeing for so long that they were already like birds startled by the mere twang of a bowstring. After fighting for a short while, they scattered again.

After another half day of pursuit,

Sun Ce looked at the three thousand or so stragglers, feeling bitter!

"I regret not listening to Zhou Gongjin's words and abandoning Yuzhang directly; then I wouldn't have suffered this defeat."

Zhen Jiang Qin cupped his hands,

"Lord, our foundation is still there; we can just regroup."

Sun Ce lifted his spirits,

"I built the foundation of Jiangdong with three thousand troops; this is just one defeat."

Ling Chao cupped his hands,

"Lord, the road to Pengze Water Base has been cut off, and the road to Kuaiji has also been blocked. Our army can only cross the mountains and retreat to Danyang Commandery."

Sun Ce nodded,

"So be it, that's all we can do."

Geyang City was burned to the ground by Cheng Pu, who led ten thousand troops to retreat into Kuaiji Commandery to guard Dingyang City.

Huang Zhong moved east from Geyang City and built a fortress at Shangrao.

Zhang Fei, Wei Yan, Taishi Ci, and others led their troops back to Nanchang City.

"Lord, we failed to pin down Sun Ce. Please punish us."

Liu Bei laughed,

"You defeated Sun Ce's main army and have already performed a great service. I don't have enough time to reward you."

"Sun Ce is valiant; it's normal that you couldn't pin him down."

Xing Daorong cupped his hands and said,

"Lord, Sun Ce, Zhen Jiang Qin, Dong Xi, and that Ling Chao ganged up on me, which is why I couldn't capture Sun Ce. Please punish me too."

Everyone was stunned; this Xing Daorong could really spin a yarn.

Liu Bei nodded,

"Fine, I'll punish you by having you duel Zhang Yide until you win!"

Zhang Fei laughed,

"Big Brother is wise!"

He had long wanted to teach this Xing Daorong, who bragged without batting an eye, a lesson!

Xing Daorong's face fell,

"Lord, have mercy!"

Everyone laughed heartily.

A few days later,

Lu Xun sent news,

Zhou Yu, seeing that Sun Ce had been defeated and retreated to Danyang Commandery, also led the naval forces back to Jiangdong. The emptied Pengze Water Base was occupied by Lu Xun.

With this, the entire Yuzhang Commandery was taken by Liu Bei.

He transferred a group of talented people from Jingzhou and began to govern Yuzhang.

As for Jingzhou,

After Cao Cao learned of Sun Ce's situation, he also withdrew his troops in batches.

Zhuge Zhang Liang did not gain much of an advantage either.

Liu Bei ordered Zhuge Zhang Liang to lead troops to guard Xiangyang, Gao Shun to guard Wancheng, and Li Yan and others to assist them.

Wen Pin was transferred to be the Administrator of Jiangxia Commandery, with Deng Zhi as the Commandery Assistant.

After more than half a year of military operations, Liu Bei controlled the entire Jingzhou in one fell swoop and also acquired Yuzhang, the most populous commandery in Yangzhou.

It is equivalent to the three provinces of Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi today!

His prestige was even greater, and many commoners of the Han Dynasty felt that Liu Bei seemed to have a chance to touch the throne.

Netizens in the live broadcast room also exclaimed,

"My Brother Bei has really come a long way from being a small peddler!"

"Indeed, looking back at Brother Bei's experiences, no one could have done better than him."

"Ding Yuan Shao is bedridden, Sun Ce suffered a crushing defeat and lost the great commandery of Yuzhang, and Cao Cao was blocked by the village scholar and didn't gain any advantage!"

"When will Brother Bei declare himself Emperor? I'm ready to scatter flowers."

"Just now, our Xia Kingdom received system rewards again. Having Brother Bei in our generation makes us a generation that can just lie flat!"