Gou writes entries in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 119 Gan Ning’s triumphal return
As time passed by, Sun Ce's expression became more and more solemn.
There is no other reason. The attrition of troops in Lujiang Shangjiang is too serious.

At the beginning of the battle, the two sides were evenly matched, and Lujiang Shangjia even had a slight upper hand because of his superb personal martial arts skills.

But as we get to the back, as the soldiers trapped in the camp cooperate more and more tacitly, it becomes a little difficult for Lujiang Shangjia to fight.

Moreover, once Lujiang Shangjia is injured, his personal combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced.

On the other hand, although many people in the trapped camp suffered injuries, they were mostly minor injuries, and they didn't pay much attention to personal bravery in the first place.

Every attack and every defense is done with the cooperation of several people, so even if one of them is injured, the impact on the whole is not that big.
At the very least, teammates can perfectly protect their injured companions.

The most important gap is equipment.

Sun Ce could see that although the soldiers in the trapped camp were fully armored, the weight of the armor did not bring much burden to them.

Moreover, the opponent's armor was surprisingly hard, and even the swords, spears and stabs of Lujiang's armor were unable to cause penetrating damage to these armors.

The only ones who caused effective damage to the soldiers trapped in the camp were actually those soldiers in the army who used hammer and ax weapons.

Relying on brute force to injure the enemy in the armor.

On the other hand, although Lujiang's upper armor was also fully armed, only the breastplate was made of a single piece of plate armor, and the rest was made of chain mail, and the entire set of armor weighed fifty or sixty kilograms.

He usually wears nothing, but in such a long-term continuous combat situation, the heavy armor consumes a lot of physical strength.

The Lujiang Shangjia relies on the strength of its individual soldiers, but once its physical strength is exhausted, it will be fatal.

Moreover, the full set of armor on Lujiang Shangjia was not as comprehensive as the protection of the trapped camp. Many soldiers were injured in vital parts and immediately lost their combat effectiveness.

The military duel lasted for a full hour, and the sky was already getting slightly brighter.

"Ming Jin." Sun Ce watched the elites he had carefully cultivated fall one by one, and finally called out unwillingly.

Both sides opened up their own formations, and out of the [-] soldiers on the Lujiang River, less than [-] could stand.

Looking back at the trapped camp, although only more than 600 people were still standing, among those who were injured and fell to the ground, only about 100 people had truly lost their combat effectiveness.

If the battle continues, the winner will definitely be in the trapped camp.

Sun Ce was suddenly discouraged because the enemy camp sent by the enemy was not the most elite force under Liu Xuan.

But his ace, Lujiang Shangjia, was still defeated.

"Liu Xuan, you win, I quit."

Sun Ce raised his hand to signal the soldiers behind him to retreat.

He also slowly retreated to prevent Liu Xuan from attacking at this time.

Liu Xuan stared at Sun Ce who was slowly retreating, his mind spinning.

Now is a good time to attack. Sun Ce's army failed in the duel and morale was low.

But then I thought about it, my total military strength was only 8, while Sun Ce had [-].

After the combat power of the trapped camp and Lujiang Shangjia canceled each other out, only the Three Thousand Tigers Battalion on our side truly had an absolute advantage in combat power.

Once 10,000+ people fight in the city, their own ordinary soldiers will definitely not take much advantage.

It would be better to let Sun Ce withdraw from Jianye on his own initiative.

"Sun Ce, I will give you one hour. After one hour, the whole army will attack."

This is tantamount to directly urging Sun Ce to leave quickly and not to take away too many things.

One hour is not enough time to gather the troops, arrange tasks, arrange family members and other matters.

At dawn, as Sun Ce's army completely left Jianye, Liu Xuan entered the Jianye Mansion, and the battle officially came to an end.

Liu Xuan won the victory and sent out an army of [-], with less than [-] losses. It was a great victory.

Although Sun Ce was defeated and retreated to Jianye, his losses were not great. The [-] soldiers suffered less than [-] casualties.

Although losing Jianye is equivalent to losing the entire northern Yangzhou area,

But compared to the hasty retreat after losing troops and generals, this result is considered acceptable.

Anyway, the aristocratic families in Jianye City have decided to give up on Sun Ce. It is estimated that even if he stays in Jianye, there will be inevitable troubles in the future.

Liu Xuan remembered that Sun Ce was assassinated by Xu Gong's retainers in history.

If the internal fighting with Jianye's aristocratic family continues, there will probably be a lot of assassins that need to be guarded against in the future.

The only ones injured were the aristocratic families in Jianye City.

The aristocratic families involved in the rebellion in the secret letter were wiped out by Sun Ce's personal guard camp, and even the aristocratic families that usually did not cooperate with the Sun family's policies also suffered.

The children of the family were killed and the family property was confiscated.

Liu Xuan stood on the southern city tower of Jianye with his hands behind his back, watching Sun Ce's troops disappear into the morning light, feeling quite emotional in his heart.

Sun Ce, the arrogant little overlord of Jiangdong, the two began to fight openly and secretly from the first day he took control of Guangling.

After the Battle of Jiangshui and the Battle of Jianye, Liu Xuan completely surpassed the Sun family and became the largest force in Jiangdong.

"My lord, the city defense matters have been sorted out. Sun Ce's army has all withdrawn. There may still be some spies left, so there won't be any trouble for the time being."

Jia Xu said from the side,
"However, all the properties of the aristocratic families in the city and Jianye's treasury were emptied and taken away by Sun Ce."

Liu Xuan was a little surprised,

"How could Sun Ce move so fast in one hour?"

Jia Xu smiled meaningfully,

"My Lord, Sun Ce seems to be a reckless man, but he is very thoughtful. We have all been fooled."

"Oh? How do you say this?"

"Sun Ce proposed a duel in the military formation not just because he wanted to fight our army head-on. The reason behind it may be that he wanted to delay time."

"The casualties of hundreds of people in Lujiang Shangjia were bought in exchange for enough time to transport property out of the city. This should be another reason why Sun Ce proposed a military battle."

With the delay of this duel and the hour given by the Lord to leave the city, it would be enough to transport some belongings out of the city.

Liu Xuan chuckled and shook his head.
"It doesn't matter. The most important thing I lack now is money. In any case, the way the military battles took place, our army also lost a lot of lives. We can make more money. It would be a pity if the soldiers who have been trained so painstakingly die." .”

"Furthermore, Sun Ce has cleaned up the aristocratic families in the city for us, so the little property should be regarded as a reward for his hard work. If we really have to do it, these aristocratic families are so intertwined that it is difficult to avoid leaving any trouble. It will be troublesome to clean up. .”

Jia Xu nodded and replied: "My lord is right. Now Jian Ye City is like a clean house. My lord can arrange it however he wants." "Send scouts to follow and see where Sun Ce will retreat. Liu Xuan ordered,

"It's not enough to wipe out Jianye. I need to wipe out the entire Yangzhou."

Jia Xu said: "It has been arranged, but according to Jia Xu's estimation, Sun Ce should retreat to Fuchun."

“How come you see?”

"Fuchun is Sun Ce's hometown, and the Sun family is also the largest family in Fuchun. Moreover, Fuchun is far enough away from Jianye, and there is an outlet to the sea to the east. It can be attacked, retreated or defended. Even if Sun Ce cannot see the situation clearly, his subordinates Some people can see this and will definitely suggest him to retreat to Fuchun."

Liu Xuan deeply agreed, "If this is the case, Sun Ce has nothing to fear."

Jia Xu asked: "Why did my lord say this? Although Sun Ce was defeated and retreated to Jianye, his troops did not suffer much loss. There were still more than 4 people in Jianye, plus [-] people in Wujun and Kuaiji counties. The Sun family at least still had One hundred thousand people.”

Liu Xuan smiled. Although Jia Xu had an insight into people's hearts, he still had little understanding of running an army and fighting a war.

He said: "It may not be a good thing for Sun Ce to have an army of one hundred thousand. Since I have captured Jianye, the Wu Commandery nearest to Jianye must be captured."

"In this way, the most prosperous northern area of ​​Yangzhou is under my control. If Sun Ce retreats to Fuchun, the only area he actually controls is the barren Kuaiji County."

"If you want to support 10,000+ troops with the economy of a county, unless Sun Ce has an industry as large as mine in Guangling. Otherwise, he will not be able to support so many troops."

Jia Xu suddenly realized and saluted Liu Xuan: "What my lord saw is indeed a side that Jia Xu did not consider. Yes, he wanted to support an army of [-] people with the power of one county. Even if Sun Ce took away a lot of money from Jianye, he would still support it." In less than a few years, not to mention that the south of Kuaiji County is where the Shanyue barbarians live. The army needs to go out frequently to defend against Shanyue attacks, which consumes more money and food."

Liu Xuandao: "Since Sun Ce has made so much money, let's give him some problems to earn back the money."

Time is like water, half a month flies by.

Liu Xuan has completely taken control of Jianye, and the 2000 troops have not returned to Qu'a. Now there is no need for troops to be stationed in Qu'a, and only [-] people are left to maintain public security.

Liu Xuan struck while the iron was hot and sent Lu Bu to lead the Tiger Battalion and [-] soldiers to attack the nearest Wu County. However, as soon as the army was reorganized and ready to set off, Wu County officials sent envoys to Jianye. Wu County gave up resistance and surrendered to Liu Xuan.

It turns out that after Sun Ce conquered Wu Commandery with Lujiang Shangjia, he returned to Jianye to resist Liu Xuan's attack before he could completely eliminate the remaining forces of the former prefect Xu Gong.

Sun Ce also only sent Sun Chun, his direct deputy general, and several thousand people to guard Wu Commandery.

Liu Xuan captured Jianye, and the news came that Sun Ce had retreated to Fuchun. Sun Chun, who was guarding Jianye, faced internal and external troubles, so he abandoned his son and ran away, and he also withdrew the Wujun garrison to Fuchun.

Wu Commandery was again controlled by Xu Gong's men.

However, facing Liu Xuan, Xu Gong's subordinates also knew that they were no match. When they heard that Liu Xuan was going to attack Wu County, they took the initiative to surrender.

Liu Xuan gave extremely high treatment to the Wujun prefects who took the initiative to surrender. Not only did he not remove their official positions, he also allowed them to participate in local industrial upgrading.

This reward made the prefect of Wu County overjoyed. You must know that the current industry in Guangling County makes the entire Han Dynasty jealous.

It's just that without Liu Xuan's skills, you can't learn them from other places.

Now Liu Xuan plans to copy the development model of Guangling County in the Jiangdong area. As the local prefect, he can participate in it, and the benefits he can get in the future are limitless.

When other nearby counties heard about this, they took the initiative to surrender. Although these places were previously under the rule of the Sun family, Sun Ce could not place his own people and troops in each county. Most of them let the original officials and generals He will continue to hold his original position and only need to report to Jianye regularly.

The Sun family was defeated and Liu Xuan came to power. For the prefects and magistrates of these counties, it was just a change of superiors, and the surrender was completed easily.

By the end of the summer of 201 AD, the entire northeastern region of the Yangtze River, with Fuchun as the boundary, and the most prosperous counties in the north were all under the rule of Liu Xuan.

As expected by Jia Xu, Sun Ce's army retreated directly to Fuchun.

The two armies are thousands of miles apart and have no plans to start another war for the time being.

In September, Liu Xuan returned to Guangling because Gan Ning, who was campaigning against Japan in the east, sent a fast ship to send a message that the fleet from the east campaign was about to return to Guangling.

Gan Ning and his three thousand navy set out in early spring. It has been more than half a year now, and there is finally news.

Liu Xuan, Zhao Liniang, Gan Yingying and others stood at the pier of Guangling Port, looking at the sails in the east gradually extending out of the sea, feeling quite excited.

Gan Yingying was the most excited, looking straight at the fleet in the distance, looking forward to it.

For Liu Xuan, this fleet was sent out to conquer Japan. He was naturally looking forward to the outcome.

The figure of the fleet gradually enlarged. Ten fighting ships went to sea, and five came back.

Gan Ning stood at the bow of the boat, his hands wrapped with cloth strips, his face a little solemn.

Liu Xuan's heart sank. Did the Eastern Expedition fail?
As the fleet approached, Gan Ning saw Liu Xuan and Gan Yingying at the dock. His face became more relaxed and a smile appeared on his face. Before the ship could reach the shore, Gan Ning held the side of the ship with one hand and jumped from the tall fighting ship. down.

"Gan Ning has met my lord."

"Yingying, are you okay?"

"Yeah, everything is fine with me," Yingying couldn't help tears in her eyes. She walked over to help Gan Ning's arm, "Where is brother, why are you injured?"

Gan Ning touched Gan Yingying's head and smiled: "It's a skin injury, it's okay."

Liu Xuandao: "Just come back. The sun is scorching here. Let the brothers settle down before returning to the county government."

In Guangling County Mansion, Gan Ning took out the map of Asian waters given by Liu Xuan and placed it in front of Liu Xuan's case.

Pointing to the map of the Japanese Kingdom, he said: "My lord, Gan Ning led his army to the east this time. Fortunately, he lived up to his command. The entire fleet safely arrived at the Innu Kingdom at the southernmost tip of the Japanese Kingdom. Within one month, he broke through the Imperial Palace of the Innu Kingdom, killed its royal family, and beheaded Kill two thousand soldiers of the Quannu Kingdom, and surrender the rest."

Liu Xuan looked at the place pointed by Gan Ning. It was the southernmost island of the Japanese country, which should be Kyushu Island.

Gan Ning continued to move his finger to the location of Shikoku Island and said,

"After three months, our army, under the guidance of Han merchants, crossed the sea and landed in Xizhi country, destroyed its royal family and plundered its treasures,"

"From now on, there will be no more Japanese troops on the two islands. I will be led by my deputy general and lead [-] soldiers to garrison the two islands to prevent the Japanese on the islands from rebelling."

After listening to Gan Ning's report, Liu Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that the eastward expedition to Japan was going smoothly, and he conquered Kyushu Island and Shikoku Island in one go.

But seeing the injury on Gan Ning's hand, Liu Xuan said,
"From what you heard, there wasn't much resistance in conquering the second Japanese island. So where did the injury on Xingba's hand come from?"

When Gan Ning heard this, his face became serious again.
"This is why I led the army to see the Lord."

Gan Ning said, stretched out his hand to untie the cloth strips wrapped around his hand, revealing the wound inside, and stretched his hand in front of Liu Xuan,

"Lord, look, this wound was bitten by a Japanese."

Liu Xuan looked at Gan Ning's wounds, his eyes were shocked, and he looked at Gan Ning in disbelief and said,

"Are you sure it was a bite?"

Gan Ning nodded: "It was indeed a bite. All the brothers who got off the boat with me were killed. Gan Ning only saved his life thanks to his brothers who risked their lives to save him."

(End of this chapter)