My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 339: Falling into a trap
"Sun Fu has already left the city!?"

Zhou Yu was greatly alarmed upon hearing this.

Although Zhou Yu remained silent after Hua Zhong's instructions, he was secretly weighing the situation in his mind.

Hua Zhong's account was consistent with the intelligence he had received.

If Hua Zhong is trying to deceive me, then this is perhaps a bit too honest.

Besides this, there were two other very important factors that supported Zhou Yu's choice to trust Hua Zhong.

First, there are fewer than a thousand soldiers in Qiantang City. Even if they were to mobilize all their forces, they would hardly pose a threat to Zhou Yu.

Secondly, the Hua family has no need or reason to work so hard for the Sun family.

After a moment of contemplation, Zhou Yu immediately ordered, "Please invite Commandant Zhou and General Yu to come and discuss matters."

Soon, Zhou Bin and Yu Mi also arrived. Hearing what Zhou Yu said, they were quite excited.

"General, I am willing to be the vanguard and clear the way for the army!"

Zhou Bin, without hesitation, was the first to stand up and volunteer.

Although Wu Nan is a vast plain, it already has some rolling hills, and with its numerous marshes, reed beds, and dense forests, it is no less difficult to launch an ambush than the Central Plains.

Therefore, Zhou Bin's decision to volunteer as a pioneer was extremely risky.

But Zhou Bin was not afraid. He was not afraid of risks, but only of not having a chance to get ahead.

Zhou Yu was overjoyed. His preferred candidate was Zhou Bin, because Zhou Bin was not only quick-witted but also a skilled fighter.

If the enemy attacks Zhou Bin directly, then Zhou Yu will have time to adjust and counterattack.

If the enemy lets Zhou Bin go and instead ambushes Zhou Yu's main force, then Zhou Bin has sufficient ability and strength to return and reinforce the central army.

This is something Yu Mi might not be able to do.

"good!"

Zhou Yu praised loudly, "I am well aware of the Commandant's ambition and aspirations. In that case, I will make the Commandant the vanguard, prepare the troops and cook immediately, and set off at dawn."

Zhou Bin responded to the order and immediately left the main tent to organize the troops.

Then, Zhou Yu instructed, "General Yu, you are to lead the rear guard and escort the main force's provisions and supplies. There must be no loss."

Yu Mi immediately stood up to receive the order.

Finally, Zhou Yu said to Hua Zhong, "I trouble you, Mr. Hua Zhong, to accompany my central army."

Hua Zhong dared not refuse in the slightest and immediately nodded repeatedly.

As a result, the entire Zhou Yu camp sprang into action. Soldiers were awakened by their officers, and fires were lit to cook meals.

As soon as dawn broke, Zhou Bin's troops, having already eaten their fill, broke camp first and sped towards Qiantang.

A quarter of an hour later, Zhou Yu's elder brother Zhou Dao and his son personally led two thousand elite troops of the Zhou family to set off in pursuit of Zhou Dao.

Half an hour later, Zhou Yu personally led his army to set off.

Zhou Bin sped along the road ahead and arrived at the city of Qiantang in just two hours.

To Zhou Bin's surprise, the gates of Qiantang City were wide open. Although there were guards at the gates, residents were allowed to come and go as usual, and the city was as peaceful and stable as ever.

Zhou Bin was somewhat surprised and unsure of the situation.

His trusted general, Zhou Kan, stepped forward and asked, "Master, what should we do?"

Although Zhou Bin had been appointed as a commandant by Liu Feng, his trusted subordinates still called him "Master" and couldn't change it for a while.

After observing for a while, Zhou Bin decisively ordered, "You take two hundred men ahead and take control of the city gate. The rest of the troops will enter the city after you have taken control of the gate."

Zhou Bin's words were tantamount to asking Zhou Kan to take a risk, but Zhou Kan agreed without hesitation.

"Yes, master!"

Immediately, Zhou Kan selected two hundred men and drove straight towards the city gate.

After Zhou Kan and his men took action, Zhou Bin also led his large group into action. However, the remaining eight hundred men did not continue forward but stopped a short distance away.

This position would allow them to support Zhou Kan while avoiding ambushes by archers on the city walls.

The people at the city gate began to panic when they saw Zhou Kan appear.

Fortunately, the dozens of guards at the city gate reassured them, either allowing them to enter the city or simply clearing the way for Zhou Kan and his group.

When Zhou Kan arrived at the city gate, before he could even ask any questions, dozens of guards came forward to greet him. They were unarmed, and the leader of the guards bowed down to Zhou Kan: "Are you a warrior under the command of General Zheng Nan? I am Hua San, a member of the Hua family. I have been ordered by my family head to welcome the imperial army."

Zhou Kan was overjoyed and asked, "Where is your family head? Are there any guards in the city?"

Hua San respectfully replied, "The traitor Sun retreated from the west gate before dawn. Only a few hundred of my Hua family's men are maintaining order in the city. The head of the family is currently in the county government office taking stock of supplies in preparation for your inquiry, General."

Zhou Kan nodded and gave his deputy a wink.

The deputy immediately led a hundred men into the city, but found nothing wrong even after they reached the city wall.

The deputy stood atop the city wall and shouted down, "Commander, there's no problem."

"good!"

Zhou Kan immediately waved a flag to signal the rear. Upon seeing this, Zhou Bin, who was in the distance, was overjoyed and rushed over.

After receiving Zhou Kan's report, Zhou Bin ordered Zhou Kan to take two hundred men to capture the West Gate, while sending messengers to report back to the main force. He himself then led his personal guards to the county government.

Hua Zheng was already waiting at the entrance of the county government office.

Upon seeing Zhou Bin, Hua Zheng immediately bowed in greeting, but Zhou Bin stopped him directly: "Lord Hua, I am preoccupied with military affairs and have no time to speak with you. I only want to ask how long Sun Fu has been gone and whether he truly left through the west gate?"

Zhou Bin's behavior was actually quite impolite.

Hua Zheng, however, paid no attention to it and nodded instead, saying, "He must have gone out of the west gate. I have already sent people out of the west gate and the south gate to keep watch. Those who went out of the south gate have returned. There were no troops seen ten miles ahead of them, and there were no traces of large groups of people along the way. But those who went out of the west gate have not returned. I think Sun Fu must be heading to Yuhang."

"Hua Gong is a man of true wisdom and strategy."

Zhou Bin was overjoyed. Don't underestimate Hua Zheng's actions; they bought the Southern Expeditionary Army at least half an hour.

Zhou Bin immediately ordered the entire army to assemble and head west of the city, exiting through the west gate to pursue Sun Fu.

Zhou Bin earned his position through merit, and he wouldn't even glance at Qiantang County, which was merely offered to him.

Afterwards, Zhou Bin bid farewell to Hua Zheng and continued to chase after him after exiting the west gate.

At this time, Taishi Ci in Yuhang City also received news that an army of a thousand men was heading towards Yuhang.

Taishi Ci was very composed and sent out scouts from all directions, even scouting along the main road to Qiantang.

Firstly, Wu Jing had just suffered a similar heavy loss, and secondly, Taishi Ci had over ten thousand troops under his command, so he was naturally not as short-handed as Wu Jing. Therefore, Taishi Ci's troops discovered Sun Fu's forces from afar and then relayed the news back.

Taishi Ci acted decisively. Although it was too late to set up an ambush, he was confident that he could annihilate most of the enemy by giving them a head-on blow and then finishing them off with cavalry.

In the previous few times he took action, Taishi Ci patiently sat in charge of the overall situation.

This time, Taishi Ci was itching to go, so he said to Xu Huang, "Gongming, I will go in person this time. I will leave the city of Yuhang to you, the wise ruler, and Kong Wen."

Xu Huang solemnly clasped his hands in a fist salute: "Please rest assured, General, I will ensure that Yuhang is safe and sound."

Xu Zhao and Gao Dai also stood up at the same time and bowed to Taishi Ci: "We will definitely help General Xu to defend the city carefully, and there will be no mistakes."

Taishi Ci nodded in satisfaction and immediately led all six hundred of his cavalrymen, along with four thousand of his elite troops, to open the east gate and head straight for Sun Fu.

Sun Fu, who was already caught in the crossfire between Taishi Ci and Zhou Bin, was completely unaware.

Even after receiving a report from the rear guard that someone had followed him out of the city, he scoffed dismissively, "There must be spies from the Southern Expeditionary Army in Qiantang City. I captured them with just a little trick, which shows that the Southern Expeditionary Army is nothing special..."

Sun Fu originally wanted to boast, but he suddenly remembered that his elder brother had already surrendered, so he quickly changed the subject and said, "...He should not be underestimated, and the generals should be cautious."

Surrounded by Sun's trusted confidants, Sun Fu's veiled approach was somewhat convoluted, but everyone could guess the reason. They all remarked that the Southern Expeditionary Army was too cunning, and that it was fortunate that General Sun was quick-witted, otherwise they would have been targeted.

The atmosphere was quite pleasant. With Yuhang just over 20 miles away, everyone was quite relaxed, knowing they could arrive before dark.

Even the defenders weren't putting in much effort. Judging by their distance, they were at least 25 li ahead of the enemy. Unless the Southern Expeditionary Army had wings, there was no way they could catch up with them.

In fact, although Sun Fu's guess was wrong, his conclusion was correct.

Even Zhou Bin's troops, who were at the forefront, were still more than ten miles behind Sun Fujun.

There is a reason for this error: firstly, Zhou Bin's troops did advance faster than Sun Fu's; secondly, Zhou Bin's troops did not march at the normal pace that Sun Fu guessed, and their departure time was not much later than Sun Fu's.

So, despite their hurried pace, they actually managed to catch up with Sun Fu by several miles.

But barring any unforeseen circumstances, Zhou Bin would never catch up with Sun Fu, no matter how hard he tried, because Sun Fu would arrive in Yuhang City tonight.

But anything can happen unexpectedly, and Sun Fu also encountered an accident.
He never dreamed that Yuhang would be lost even earlier and more completely than Qiantang.

Even Wu Jing became Taishi Ci's prisoner.

After leaving the city, Taishi Ci led his troops at breakneck speed, traveling ten miles before choosing a battlefield.

To the right of this battlefield is a small river with a very small flow, only reaching the waist of an adult man, and a very slow current, which people can swim across.

However, this is still an obstacle, especially when you're wearing armor; it can be difficult to get past it.

Let alone iron armor, even leather armor is heavy, weighing at least ten kilograms. Once it falls into the water, it will take a lot of effort to get out.

If you run out of energy, then naturally you can only feed the fish.

To the left was a reed marshland. Taishi Ci sent men to investigate, and they found that it could easily hold three hundred cavalrymen.

After resting for a quarter of an hour, Taishi Ci began to order the deployment of troops.

Three hundred cavalrymen hid in the reeds, while another three hundred were stationed in a small grove on the opposite bank of the river, tasked with harvesting. The remaining four thousand infantrymen were divided into four columns. Except for the first column of one thousand who began to don their armor, the others ate their dry rations with water to replenish their strength.

Taishi Ci had originally considered whether to change into Sun Jun's uniform and launch a sneak attack, but after careful consideration, he decided to give up the idea.

Taishi Ci and Xu Huang's troops were all from the Central Plains, and the expanded Yuan Shu army also spoke the Jiangbei dialect, which was completely different from the soft Wu dialect, making it difficult to deceive Sun Fu's army.

If it were a surprise attack to seize the gate, that would be one thing, as they could always find a few people who understood Wu dialect to communicate with.

But this method is not very effective when marching in the wild, and it only makes people laugh.

Moreover, Taishi Ci is currently at ease, waiting for the enemy to tire themselves out. He is prepared to fight the unprepared, and he is fighting a battle of formations against a mere column. He has more than 4,600 men against less than 1,000. If he still loses, Taishi Ci will be so ashamed that he will want to find a rope to tie his own hands.

After the thousand people in the front row finished putting on their armor, they sat down again.

In Han Dynasty armor, breastplates were the most common type of single piece, followed by arm armor, then skirt armor, and greaves armor was the least common.

Therefore, sitting down after donning their armor was not difficult, because Liu Feng didn't have the resources to provide them with lower body armor; most people actually only had a breastplate.

Only a few elite soldiers wore full leather armor.

Another full half hour passed before Sun Fujun's vanguard appeared on the opposite side.

Taishi Ci immediately ordered the vanguard to don armor and the rearguard to don armor.

The first column, under the command of a captain and two lieutenant commanders, advanced towards Sun Fujun.

The second column also began to rise and don their armor, awaiting further orders.

Sun Fujun's vanguard also saw the Southern Expeditionary Army at this moment, but they did not know the situation like the Southern Expeditionary Army.

Sun Fujun's vanguard was caught in a dilemma, unable to guess whose army was in front of them.

Soon, the news reached Sun Fu, who was also stunned.

"Could it be that my uncle sent someone to meet us?"

Sun Fu asked tentatively.

Judging by the timing, this troop might indeed have been sent by Wu Jing. After leaving Qiantang, he immediately dispatched several messengers to Yuhang to deliver the message.

If we calculate the distance, once the messenger arrives in Yuhang, Wu Jing will immediately send troops to meet him, which means they will likely meet here.

The generals were overjoyed; if they encountered a reinforcement team, they would be much safer.

Sun Fu had just completed a forced march, covering more than 60 li from Qiantang to Yuhang. His army had covered more than 50 li, and their physical strength was greatly depleted. Their combat effectiveness was at most 20-30%, and many soldiers had fallen behind.

With friendly forces protecting us, we can all feel much more at ease.

Sun Fu was discussing sending someone forward to inquire.

Taishi Ci's side had already pressed forward, and Zisun Fu also realized that something was wrong.

If they were friendly forces, and there were no enemy troops chasing us, why would they line up in formation and armor to support us?

"Enemy attack!"

After realizing what was happening, Sun Fu immediately shouted: "The central and rear armies, don your armor! The vanguard, form ranks!"

Sun Fu's choice was actually correct; he wanted to use the vanguard to buy time for the central and rear armies.

As long as the central and rear armies are in full armor and arrayed, even if the vanguard is defeated by the enemy, they can still receive support from the two armies behind.

The problem is that all three armies under Sun Fu's command—the front, the middle, and the rear—are exhausted. Even if all three armies were deployed, they wouldn't be able to withstand the Southern Expeditionary Army, let alone the front army.

Upon hearing the order, the soldiers in the vanguard turned almost completely pale, their faces filled with despair.

(End of this chapter)