Chapter 347: A single battle shakes Jiangdong

On Sun Quan’s side, horses were leaping and men were shouting; it was a chaotic mess.

Sun Quan was already being surrounded by his Personal Guard and fleeing rapidly toward the rear, his army collapsing into total disarray!

The commander is the soul of the soldiers; once the commander flees, the entire army seems to lose its spirit and vitality.

In ancient warfare, it was effectively a clash of morale. Once one side loses all morale, it is essentially a declaration of defeat; in reality, the number of deaths might not be high, but the spirit is gone. ### CHAPTER 611

Once Liu Bei exerted his strength,

the entire defensive line seemed to explode with a boom, shattering instantly!

The rear guard, seeing the situation was dire, turned around and ran for their lives.

The clever soldiers also began to scatter in all directions!

Soon,

Sun Quan’s entire grand army was routed for miles!

Liu Bei’s soldiers pursued and slaughtered while shouting,

"Drop your weapons!"

"Kneel and you shall not be killed!"

Soldiers with nowhere left to turn threw down their weapons one after another, kneeling to beg for mercy.

Liu Bei’s reputation for benevolence and righteousness was known throughout the world. These soldiers did not fear being killed after surrendering; rather than turning to run and facing an uncertain fate, it was better to eat a few days of prison rations.

The incident where nearly ten thousand of Chen Wu’s men were released last time had spread throughout Jiangdong, and Liu Bei had even distributed grain and fodder to them. This matter was too rare, and everyone remembered it.

Liu Bei had his soldiers round up the surrendering troops while he led men to continue the pursuit of Sun Quan.

It would be best if he could kill Sun Quan,

but even if he didn't catch him, he could still crush him completely in this battle!

Over there, Yue Jin could no longer hold back and cursed loudly,

"Trash! Sun Quan is nothing but trash!"

This battle was fought too cowardly. Clearly, their side had not been at a disadvantage, yet because Liu Bei made a direct strike at the commander, they were defeated for no apparent reason.

Yue Jin sighed,

"If the Master were here, he would never have let Liu Bei win so easily! Sun Quan is a child unworthy of planning!"

He ordered several thousand men to cover the retreat while he led the rest to withdraw. This battle was already lost; bringing these soldiers back to Shou Chun was the most critical task.

Liu Bei did not have many troops and did not pay much attention to Yue Jin’s force. Seeing him retreat, he did not offer much obstruction.

Wei Yan led his troops to pursue Sun Quan’s routed soldiers. The goal this time was to crush Sun Quan; killing a few thousand more of Yue Jin’s troops was irrelevant to the overall situation.

The mountains and plains were filled with routed soldiers; everyone was running for their lives, not daring to stop.

On the ramparts of Wancheng,

Li Shu was dumbfounded. Sun Quan, who had been showing off his power just before, had actually been defeated by Liu Bei in a single battle.

"This defeat happened too quickly!"

He had previously worried that Liu Bei, with only twenty-five thousand men, might not be able to hold off the eighty-thousand-strong army of Cao and Sun. Now, it seemed his worry was superfluous.

"Lord Liu Xuande is actually this brave and skilled in battle!"

Li Shu had not had a personal realization of how Sun Ce had been defeated by Liu Bei several times before, but now he was truly impressed.

"Quick, open the city gates and follow me to pursue Sun Quan with Lord Liu Xuande!"

"Understood!"

The pursuit lasted for an entire day.

Liu Bei rounded up troops along the way and captured quite a few generals in the process.

Zhu Huan, Sun Shao, and Dong Xi, three great generals, were captured!

Under the desperate protection of Zhou Tai, Sun Quan escaped to the banks of the Yangtze River and boarded the warships Zhou Yu had brought to rescue him!

But there were many more soldiers without ships to receive them; every boat was packed to the point of bursting.

Zhou Yu made a decisive choice, ordering the warships to sail away from the shore. If Liu Bei’s army arrived, the consequences would be unimaginable.

The naval forces of Lu Xun, Gan Ning, and Xu Sheng were also rushing over. Once entangled, it would be a total catastrophe.

Soldiers shouted in despair from the riverbank,

but the warships ignored them and sailed toward the east.

Sun Quan stood on the ship, his face ashen and his body trembling. He had lost all confidence after this battle. Watching the desperate soldiers on the shore, his heart felt as if it were being sliced by a knife!

"Zhou Gongjin, I am not suited for war... It is I who have harmed so many Jiangdong soldiers!"

Zhou Yu sighed in his heart,

"Master, we still have tens of thousands of troops. If we only fight steadily, we can still hold off Liu Bei."

Sun Quan looked at the soldiers on the shore,

"Zhou Gongjin, what will become of these soldiers?"

Zhou Yu sighed,

"Master, they will become Liu Bei’s prisoners. However, Master need not worry too much; Liu Bei is benevolent and virtuous, and he will certainly not mistreat them."

Sun Quan smiled bitterly in his heart. Even his own top general, Zhou Zhou Gongjin, felt that Liu Bei was benevolent...

Sun He cupped his hands,

"Master, our Jiangdong soldiers have excellent swimming skills. Should we let them swim across the Yangtze?"

Sun Quan seemed somewhat hesitant,

"In this freezing weather, I fear it will be difficult for the soldiers."

In his heart, he still hoped the soldiers would swim back, but he could not bring himself to say it.

Sun He realized this and began ordering the soldiers to shout,

"Take off your armor and swim across the river!"

When Liu Bei arrived at the riverbank with his troops, he was surprised to find over a thousand men swimming in the winter water.

"Crossing the Yangtze in the middle of winter? The swimming skills of these Jiangdong soldiers are truly not bad."

More soldiers did not move; seeing Liu Bei arrive with his troops, they threw down their weapons one after another and knelt to surrender.

There were still three thousand troops who huddled together to resist to the death.

Liu Bei took a look and saw that the leaders were his old acquaintances, Chen Wu and Ling Cao.

Liu Bei drove his horse forward, shouted at the soldiers to back off, and yelled,

"Chen Chen Zilie, Ling Cao, everything is over. Do not make meaningless resistance and throw away your lives in vain!"

The soldiers all looked at Chen Wu and Ling Cao. Everyone else had surrendered; what was the point of continuing to fight?

Chen Wu and Ling Cao looked at each other, sighed deeply, and dropped their weapons.

Liu Bei had his soldiers take these prisoners back to assemble, while he drove his horse to where Chen Wu and Ling Cao were.

Chen Wu’s old face flushed red. He was already an old acquaintance of Liu Bei, and yet, in such a short time, he had become Lord Liu Xuande’s prisoner again.

Liu Bei dismounted, patted Chen Wu on the shoulder, and laughed heartily,

"It’s been over a year, Chen Chen Zilie, you’ve grown sturdier. You haven't gotten fat, have you?"

Chen Wu suddenly felt a wave of warmth. Lord Liu Xuande not only did not mock him but treated him like an old friend.

He cupped his hands,

"Lord Liu Xuande is looking younger and more heroic than ever."

Liu Bei looked at Ling Cao again,

"I heard of Ling Cao’s bravery and martial prowess back in Jingzhou. You were Sun Ce’s favorite vanguard general, a man of chivalry and courage, with bravery that topped the three armies."

Ling Cao cupped his hands,

"Lord Liu Xuande is too kind with his praise."

Being praised by the world-renowned Liu Bei, Ling Cao was quite moved inside.

In the original history, Ling Cao followed Sun Ce to attack Huang Zu and was shot to death by Gan Ning, which made his son, Ling Tong, a sworn enemy of Gan Ning.

Come to think of it, it was Liu Bei who recruited Gan Ning, which saved his life.

Liu Bei held both their hands,

"Alright, be guests in my army for a few days, and when the time comes, I will let you return."

The soldiers saw this and whispered among themselves,

"So the two generals have such a good relationship with Lord Liu Xuande, then what are we fighting for..."

0 ······Begging for flowers····· ·······

"Lord Liu Xuande is victorious in every battle; how could we possibly defeat him?"

"Isn't it better to be so harmonious?"

Just then, on the river to the west, hundreds of warships appeared; it was Liu Bei’s naval force. ### CHAPTER 612