Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

As Guanqiu Jian's troops broke through the Wu army's defense line and entered Xiangyang from the west, which was unexpected by everyone in the Wu army, on the 23rd and 24th, there was great controversy within the Wu army in Xiangfan about the strategy here.

One faction was Zhuge Jin and Bu Zhi, who believed that after the Wei army came to rescue Xiangyang, it was meaningless and militarily unfeasible to continue besieging the city.

Due to the geographical environment of Xiangyang City, there is Ya Lake to the west of the city and Han River to the north of the city, so there are only two places where troops can be stationed, the south and the east of the city. However, due to the previous case of Wei general Niu Jin leading his troops to raid the dock in the east of the city, Zhuge Jin gathered most of his troops in the east of the city. The south of the city was empty and could not resist the Wei cavalry's advance.

At present, most of the Wu troops outside Xiangyang were gathered one to four miles east of Xiangyang City. They could not go any further because if they retreated any further, the Han River would be behind them.

They should have taken advantage of their naval superiority to continue to block the Han River upstream, station their troops at Yukou, and further stalemate with the Wei army, thus achieving a situation of locking down Xiangyang in reverse.

The other faction, consisting of Shi Yi, Sun Huan and Pan Jun, believed that the status quo should be maintained and pressure on the Wei army should continue to be maintained in both the north and south directions.

How could such a big policy be changed so quickly? Therefore, Sun Quan did not make a decision for two whole days.

Sun Quan had different concerns in his mind and could not express them openly to his ministers, who were divided into two factions.

It has been two months since Sun Quan sent out his troops from Wuchang in early September. As the war continued, his officials and generals became more and more focused on the war itself and forgot why they were fighting.

Sun Quan remembered it clearly.

He accepted the request of Sun Huan and others and led his army to launch a surprise attack taking advantage of the rising water level of the Han River. He had only two requests: either to capture Fancheng or Xiangyang, or to win the battle to create more momentum for his enthronement!
As the war dragged on, the situation became increasingly different from what Sun Quan had expected.

On the morning of the 25th, Zhao Yan and Guanqiu Jian's troops in Xiangyang City began to counterattack.

The battle started from the south of the city.

The south of the city was originally a place with weak defenses for the Wu army. Faced with the superior forces of the Wei army, the three remaining camps in the south of the city were all abandoned by the Wu army, and the 3,000 Wu soldiers also withdrew to the vicinity of Zhuge Jin's headquarters in the east of the city.

In the narrow area outside Xiangyang City, the space between the Wei and Wu armies was getting smaller and smaller. Zhuge Jin, the left general who led the Wu army here, also sent a letter to Sun Quan as soon as possible.

After reading it, Sun Quan said nothing and handed the letter to Shi Yi.

Shi Yi only took a quick look and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, our army is not much different from the Wei army outside Xiangyang City. The area is narrow and it is not a place where cavalry can be used. Our army should win!"

Pan Jun also said: "I second the proposal. General Zuo is now in a stalemate with the Wei army. We should send reinforcements to rescue them as soon as possible! After forcing the Wei army back to Xiangyang City, we should demoralize them!"

Sun Huan was not here, but guarding at Yukouwu in the north. As the Wei army's strength in Fancheng increased, the number of Wu troops stationed at Yukouwu and Jiangbei had reached 20,000.

After the two men finished speaking, Bu Zhi was not overwhelmed by their momentum, and said in the same firm tone: "Your Majesty, I don't understand what the point is of defending Xiangyang City! With the number of Wei army defenders, it is almost impossible to capture Xiangyang City."

"Yes, Minister, General Pan, at this time you are still talking about taking Xiangyang. Aren't you just deceiving yourself and others?"

Pan Jun was a good man and did not respond to Bu Zhi. Yi Que, who was standing beside him, responded with a frown: "Fancheng has already retreated. If Xiangyang retreats again, then what exactly did they fight for this time? Yuliangzhou or Yukouwu?"

Bu Zhi did not move his throat. He glanced at Sun Quan who did not respond, and tried his best to suppress his strong desire to refute. He cupped his hands and said calmly:

"Yes, Shangshu. The army has captured cities along the river and has reached Nanxiang County upstream of the Han River. This is a great victory that has not happened in more than ten years. It is worthy of praise!"

Snapped!
Sun Quan slammed the table with his right hand, stood up and said to them, "Don't argue anymore. I have decided that General Bu's troops will sail south to support General Zuo's troops. No matter what, we cannot retreat today! With the advantage of numbers, we must hold out against the Wei army today!" Bu Zhi's expression was gloomy for a moment. According to what he said, he had to follow Shi Yi and the others' wishes and insist on surrounding the city of Xiangyang?
Just as Bu Zhi was about to accept the order, Sun Quan added:
"After forcing the Wei army to retreat today, we will begin preparing to withdraw the troops outside Xiangyang City."

The meanings of the two sentences were completely different. Seeing that his ministers were all puzzled, Sun Quan sighed and explained:
"Since Xiangyang City is difficult to capture, we should not waste any more time in Xiangyang. We should use the navy to continue to block the Han River and gather troops in the north of the river to seek a decisive victory over the Wei army."

"I have made up my mind. Let's do it this way. No more words!"

"Yes, sir." Shi Yi, Bu Zhi and Pan Jun had no choice but to obey the order.

As ships loaded with Wu soldiers set out from Yuliangzhou and quickly arrived at the newly built dock four miles east of Xiangyang, the Wu army's military strength outside Xiangyang city became further strengthened.

In the vast wilderness southeast of Xiangyang, Guanqiu Jian led 5,000 dismounted cavalry and 3,000 Xiongnu light cavalry who did not dismount, and launched an attack on the Wu army from the south.

However, after several unsuccessful attacks on the Wu army camp, Guanqiu Jian began to hesitate. After withdrawing his troops, he called his younger brother Guanqiu Xiu to his side.

"A Xiu, go see Lord Zhao for me and tell him that Wu's army is heavily armed and a strong attack will only do harm and no good, so don't try it for now!"

"Yes, brother." Guanqiu Xiu took the order and left. A moment later, he arrived at Zhao Yan's camp on the west side of his own army.

That’s right, Zhao Yan was personally in the army, not defending the city.

The last time Niu Jin raided the dock, the Wei army attacked the Wu army from the east of the city.

However, as the number of fortifications, trenches, deer horns and other objects in front of the Wu army increased, it became extremely difficult to break through the Wu army's defense from the front, so Zhao Yan now led his troops to the southeast corner of Xiangyang City.

The armies of Zhao Yan and Guanqiu Jian attacked the Wu army almost from the south to the north, intending to drive the Wu army into the Han River in the north, but they were unable to do so for the time being.

"Zhong Gong also wants to retreat? I feel the same way." Zhao Yan rarely wore armor. After sighing, he said to Guanqiu Xiu:

"A Xiu, that's not right, you've already been crowned, right? What's your courtesy name?

Guanqiu Xiu bowed and said, "My Lord Zhao, my courtesy name is Shugong."

Zhao Yan said calmly: "Well, Shu Gong will tell Zhong Gong to lead the Xiongnu light cavalry to retreat first, and then the central army will retreat. I will lead the army to cover his rear!"

"Yes, I will pass the message on right away."

Guanqiu Xiu did not ask why, nor did he say anything more. It was not his turn to interrupt in such an important decision.

After hearing what Zhao Yan said, Guanqiu Jian led his army to withdraw from the south gate of Xiangyang in an orderly manner. When Zhao Yan was retreating, Zhuge Jin led his army to counterattack, but was forced back by the powerful crossbows and arrows on the city wall.

After the defeat in the first battle, Zhao Yan, Niu Jin, and Guanqiu Jian were not in high spirits. After nightfall, the three stood on the top of the city wall, looking at the Wu army camp in the east under the night sky. While they were silent, they found that the Wu army camp was getting brighter and brighter, with firelight constantly flowing in the camp, and there seemed to be lighted boats on the river.

"Is the Wu army going to withdraw?" Niu Jin asked doubtfully: "The Wu army's defense today is solid, and it doesn't look like they are going to withdraw at all!" (End of this chapter)