Super Cultivation System of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1142 Fierce Fight

Liu He had already explained the characteristics of Sun Ce's martial arts to many generals, including Liu Zheng. In order to restrain the situation in which his "Divine Bravery" stunt increases his martial arts by 20 point every 1 rounds, Liu He asked his generals, especially those whose martial arts were not as good as Sun Ce, to avoid fighting with him for a long time.

After Liu Zheng fought with Sun Ce for forty or fifty rounds, he found that Sun Ce became more and more courageous as the battle went on. He also agreed with what his father said.

Therefore, he always fought with Sun Ce for a while, then rode away, made a circle, and then fought again. After repeating this several times, although Sun Ce always had the upper hand, he could never do anything to Liu Zheng, which made Sun Ce very angry, but he could do nothing about it.

In order to avoid a fire in his backyard, he left several veteran generals in Jingzhou and Yangzhou when he went to Hanzhong this time. Huang Zhong and Lu Bu also had other arrangements. As for Jiang Qin, Pan Zhang, Gan Ning and other generals, they were either leading their troops to attack the 4,000 Han troops, or following Sima Yi's army to attack Lingnan. There was also Zhou Tai who was responsible for protecting Zhou Yu.

Therefore, even if he wanted to mobilize other generals to help him encircle Liu Zheng, there was no one available. Thinking of this, Sun Ce felt indignant. After all, there were too few generals under his command. At the moment, he was only fighting on two fronts, Lingnan and Hanzhong, and his manpower was already stretched to the limit. Liu He had fought on three fronts at most, and all three sides had top generals in charge.

"Humph, as long as Hanzhong is taken, Yizhou will be within easy reach. Add in Jiaozhou captured by Zhongda, and we may be able to compete with Liu He by then."

This thought became stronger and stronger in Sun Ce's mind, making him attack Liu Zheng more fiercely.

From the initial raid on Shen's camp to Sun Ce and Zhou Yu's pursuit of Liu Zheng, several hours passed in the blink of an eye, and the eastern sky gradually turned white.

Although the 4,000 Han troops relied on their more skilled training and better equipment and food to delay the 15,000 Jiangdong soldiers for several hours, the defensive formation of the Xianzhen Camp they learned was sophisticated, but they themselves were not heavy armored infantry after all.

Under Zhou Yu's personal command, the Jiangdong troops attacked fiercely until now and finally found a flaw.

"Youping, go and lend a helping hand to the lord." Zhou Yu said to Zhou Tai beside him.

Zhou Tai had long been fed up with Liu Zheng's escape tactics, but he was still a little hesitant at this time.

Zhou Yu did not wait for him to speak, and continued: "Don't worry about me. It is only a matter of time before the formation is broken. However, Liu Zheng's horse has better endurance. If he wants to escape, the lord may not be able to catch up. Liu Zheng himself is the key to this battle, so we can't delay."

Hearing what he said, Zhou Tai said no more. He swung his halberd, urged his horse forward, and rushed straight towards Liu Zheng to kill him.

"Report..."

There was a commotion behind him, which made Zhou Yu look sideways slightly, and Zhou Tai immediately stopped his steps that were about to rush out.

A scout came galloping and was stopped by Zhou Yu's personal guards when he was fifty steps away from Zhou Yu.

The scout quickly jumped off his horse, clasped his fists, and knelt down to salute: "Reporting to General Zhou, the enemy generals Meng Da and Fa Zheng, with 10,000 soldiers, suddenly appeared in Xicheng County an hour ago. They were originally dressed in cloth, disguised as farmers and merchants, and suddenly attacked. Our army in Xicheng County was caught off guard and was killed by them. Then they changed into military uniforms and attacked Shangyong."

Upon hearing the news, Zhou Taixian could no longer hold back.

"These enemy troops are so despicable. Xicheng County is located between Nanzheng and Shangyong. This move will cut off our army's retreat."

However, Zhou Yu did not seem to be in a hurry about the news. Instead, he slowly explained it to Zhou Tai.

"Haha, Hanzhong was previously under the control of the false emperor. It is not difficult to hide 10,000 people in such a small county town that attracts little attention. Our army is in a hurry and will naturally not search carefully. Moreover, the garrison left in Xicheng County is only a thousand people. It will be easy for them to seize the county town."

Zhou Tai did not understand the deep meaning behind his words, and asked anxiously, "There are not many defenders left in Shangyong City. Should we immediately inform the lord and send troops back to provide assistance?"

Zhou Yu's tone was extremely confident and firm: "Not necessary at all."

Then he said to the messenger beside him: "Go, pass this order to General Huang Hansheng who is stationed in the valley twenty miles away."

After the messenger left, Zhou Tai was stunned for a long time, and then he seemed to understand something.

"It turns out that the Lord and Gongjin had been prepared for this."

Zhou Yu looked at Liu Zheng not far away with a look of contempt: "It's just besieging Wei to save Zhao. The fake emperor Liu He relies on his large number of soldiers and generals and is best at using such tricks. How can I not be prepared? Not long after we left Shangyong, General Cheng and Lu Zijing led 5,000 soldiers and sneaked into the city a few nights ago to take over the defense of Shangyong. Shangyong City is strong and there is plenty of food and grass in the city. It is more than enough to hold out for one or two months."

He changed the subject and said with a hint of sarcasm: "However, what a pity. I originally thought that they would outflank our army from the rear. In this case, General Huang would become the oriole behind the mantis. What a pity."

Zhou Tai looked at Zhou Yu's magnanimity and could not help but admire him. "So, Tai, do you still want to help the lord capture Liu Zheng?"

Zhou Yu waved his hand and said, "No need. That little thief will run away soon. With the strength of our horses and infantry, we can't catch up with him."

Sure enough, not long after, a figure came running from the direction of Nanzheng, holding a command flag and shouting as he ran: "Governor Wu has ordered us to withdraw our troops back to the city!"

Liu Zheng and his 4,000 soldiers were obviously prepared for this. As soon as the order was given for the first time, they quickly broke away from the battle and retreated quickly in a neat and orderly formation.

Sun Ce did not pursue immediately, but turned around to look at Zhou Yu. Seeing Zhou Yu nodded to him, Sun Ce also sighed, not knowing whether it was regret or relief, and then he retreated with his army.

Zhou Tai was a little confused and looked regretful: "What a pity, we only need one move to defeat Liu Zheng."

Zhou Yu shook his head slightly and said with a smile: "Youping is honest after all. If we continue to fight, Wu Yi will lead his army out of the city and attack us in less than half an hour."

Zhou Tai was a little surprised: "Wu Yi came to Nanzheng in person?"

"Of course. In name, he, the governor of Yizhou, should have led the expedition this time. He just wanted to give Liu Zheng, the so-called prince, some experience. That's why the great governor Wu didn't go out in person in the first period of time. He has 20,000 troops under his command. Our army has been fighting all night and is already exhausted. If we get entangled by him, it will be difficult to escape."

Zhou Tai was even more surprised when he heard this: "Gong Jin even predicted this in advance?"

Zhou Yu looked as if it was a matter of course and asked Zhou Tai, "What's so difficult about this?"

When Zhou Tai was asked this question, he didn't know how to answer. His already dark face turned red, which made Zhou Yu laugh.

Sun Ce soon came to Zhou Yu.

"It's a pity that I let Liu Zheng escape. I need to practice my martial arts more diligently."

Zhou Yu smiled and said, "It's just a small matter. We have to rush back to Xicheng County as soon as possible. Otherwise, when Meng Da fails to attack Shangyong, he will retreat to Xicheng and defend the city. Our army will be in a dilemma. There are not many defenders in Xicheng now. Our army can take it back in one fell swoop, and then we can attack from both sides with General Cheng and others, and we can annihilate Meng Da in one battle."

Sun Ce nodded: "Gong Jin's plan, no matter how the battle situation changes, our army will be invincible, seconds, seconds."

By the time both sides withdrew their troops, it was already dawn. Sun Ce's troops had been marching for more than an hour, and the soldiers were already exhausted.

"Let's take a break. This place is less than 20 miles away from Xicheng County. It won't be too late for the army to rest for a while before continuing on its journey."

Zhou Yu had no objection to Sun Ce's proposal.

This night battle seemed fierce on both sides, but the actual casualties were very small. The only thing was that the exhaustion was real. Upon hearing the order to rest, the army immediately stopped and the soldiers came to the side of the road, some sat down to rest, some drank water.

"My Lord, drink some water."

Zhou Tai unscrewed the water bag and handed it to Sun Ce respectfully. Sun Ce took it and had just taken two sips when he heard shouts and screams coming from afar.

"Capture the Jiangdong kid alive!"

"The great Han general Zhang Liao is here. Those who surrender will not be killed!"

Sun Ce stood up suddenly, staring at the direction where the sound came from, with a fierce look in his eyes, but he didn't seem to be very surprised.

"Gongjin, it's just as you expected."

Zhou Yu also drew his sword and mounted his horse: "General Huang should be here soon. Let's meet the famous Zhang Wenyuan."

(End of this chapter)