Wei Xiaobao's Three Kingdoms Adventure

Chapter 144 Let Jiang Ling as promised

Without waiting for Zhou Yu to catch his breath, Guan Yu ordered Zhou Tai to lead his troops to recapture Huyang and Zhonglu, two ports north of Wulin Port. At the same time, he ordered Ling Cao, Lü Fan, and Chen Bai to lead the navy, and Huo Jun and Li Yan to lead the archers, to attack Jiangjin Port from both land and sea.

At the same time, Guan Yu and Zhang Liao led the cavalry to attack Jiangling and blocked Zhou Yu's way back to Jiangling.

After Zhou Yu was defeated at Wulin Port, he adjusted his strategy in a timely manner and increased land defense.

Huo Jun and Li Yan's archers were defeated and almost wiped out after being ambushed by Gan Ning and Taishi Ci on the shore of Jiangjin Port.

The two then fled back to Xiangyang.

Jiangjin Port was short of troops and was about to fall after holding out for a few days. Zhou Yu decided to retreat to Jiangling to rest and then retake Jiangjin Port.

So Zhou Yu, Huang Gai, Gan Ning and Taishi Ci joined forces and prepared to retreat to Jiangling.

At this time, Guan Yu and Zhang Liao had already ambushed on the road that Zhou Yu and others had to pass, and Wei Xiaobao was also in the formation.

When Zhou Yu reached the narrow pass, he saw the treacherous terrain ahead and the unusually quiet forest, with not even a bird in sight. He said to the others, "Guan Yu is a master of strategy, and with Zhuge Liang's guidance behind him, I'm afraid there might be an ambush here."

Gan Ning and Taishi Ci, both of whom had fought against Liu Bei's army before, volunteered to fight: "I am willing to lead our troops to test the waters."

Zhou Yu led Taishi Ci and an elite cavalry unit to the battle.

Guan Yu and Zhang Liao saw the enemy troops entering the ambush circle and were about to attack, but were stopped by Wei Xiaobao.

Wei Xiaobao said, "Brother, Zhou Yu is a very cautious man. He would never have exhausted his troops to such an extent in Wulin Port before fleeing back to Jiangling. The troops below are no more than a thousand men, and they are definitely not Zhou Yu's main force."

Guan Yu observed carefully and found that the enemy's marching team was indeed not long. They all passed through the pass in just a quarter of an hour.

Seeing that there was no fighting ahead and Taishi Ci had not returned, Zhou Yu ordered Gan Ning to continue leading a team to test the situation.

Guan Yu recognized the pheasant feathers on Gan Ning's head and said to Zhang Liao, "Wenyuan, take a group of cavalry and follow Gan Ning. When a fight breaks out here, you will be responsible for stopping him."

Zhang Liao took the order and left.

After two attempts, Zhou Yu felt a little relieved and ordered the entire army to advance.

Soon after entering the pass, there were sudden shouts from the hillsides on both sides, and huge rocks and logs fell one after another.

Zhou Yu hurriedly ordered the entire army to disperse and find a hiding place.

Guan Yu and Wei Xiaobao had already led their troops into the battle, and a fierce hand-to-hand combat ensued between the two sides.

Zhou Yu's cavalry had already passed the pass with Taishi Ci and Gan Ning. Although he had more than 10,000 soldiers around him at this time, most of them were naval archers, and they were no match for Guan Yu's army in close combat.

Gan Ning heard a loud noise behind him, and while sending someone to inform Taishi Ci, he returned to rescue Zhou Yu.

Zhang Liao suddenly appeared and blocked Gan Ning's way.

When Gan Ning robbed Zhuge Liang's military supplies, Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao and Wei Xiaobao went to pursue him. Gan Ning had only fought with Zhao Yun. When he saw Zhang Liao at this time, and saw that he had only a few soldiers with him, he did not take him seriously.

The cavalry of the two armies fought each other for several rounds, and Gan Ning was already feeling frightened.

Although Zhang Liao's soldiers were few in number, they were elite. After several surprise attacks, their formation remained intact with almost no casualties.

Gan Ning knew that he had encountered a strong enemy and began to think of retreating.

Zhang Liao also noticed that Gan Ning suddenly stopped moving forward, so he ordered his troops to take the initiative to attack.

The cavalry of both sides engaged in a melee, and Zhang Liao also found Gan Ning in the chaos.

Gan Ning took out a short bow and prepared to launch a surprise attack on Zhang Liao, but Zhang Liao's hidden weapon knocked the short bow out of his hand.

Zhang Liao had seen Gan Ning's archery skills firsthand and had made preparations. Gan Ning's surprise attack failed and he had no choice but to turn his horse and flee.

Zhang Liao chased closely behind him, and seeing that Gan Ning had nowhere to escape, suddenly a group of people came from the front, and it turned out to be Taishi Ci.

Zhang Liao led his troops deep into the enemy's territory alone and did not dare to engage Taishi Ci, so he could only watch Gan Ning escape.

Zhou Yu built a defense line in the narrow pass and was able to barely suppress Guan Yu and Wei Xiaobao more than ten miles away.

Huang Gai saw that there was no way forward, so he said to Zhou Yu, "General, it may be difficult to reach Jiangling this time. It would be better to retreat to Lukou Port and make plans."

Zhou Yu said nothing and waited for a long time, but Gan Ning and Taishi Ci still did not return.

Huang Gai came to persuade him again: "General, if we continue to waste time, the enemy will pursue us from Jiangjin Port, and I am afraid we will all be buried here."

Zhou Yu said, "If we don't go to Jiangling, won't we be ignoring Zhongmou?"

Huang Gai said, "General Sun is blessed by heaven, and with Taishi Ci and Gan Ning by his side, even if we cannot hold Jiangling, we can safely retreat to Chaisang."

Zhou Yu looked at Guan Yu's troops ahead and said, "With Liu Biao dead and Liu Cong young and weak, this was a golden opportunity for us to seize Jingzhou. Now we've ended up in this situation, and I really can't accept it!"

Huang Gai said, "After General Sun was killed in Jingzhou, General Sun Ce endured humiliation and served under Yuan Shu, ultimately conquering Jiangdong. Now we have Chaisang Commandery and the ports of Jiujiang and Lukou. Why should we worry about our ability to make a comeback?"

Zhou Yu sighed deeply and had no choice but to order a retreat.

Wei Xiaobao discovered that Zhou Yu was trying to escape, so he wanted to chase him.

Guan Yu said, "There's no need to chase him. The priority is to attack Jiangling first."

Guan Yu had anticipated that Zhou Yu would flee to Lukou Port if he was blocked, and had already led Ling Cao to join Zhou Tai in intercepting him by water.

Zhou Yu had no intention of continuing the battle, so he had to take a detour to Jiujiang.

In the end, Zhou Yu drifted on the river for more than half a month before escaping back to Chaisang.

During this half month, Jiangling was also captured by Guan Yu, and Sun Quan, Gan Ning, Taishi Ci and others fled back to Chaisang.

When Cai Mao learned that Guan Yu had occupied Jiangling, he hurriedly sent Kuai Liang, Kuai Yue and Yi Ji to take over the government affairs of Jiangling.

Guan Yu did not stop them, but simply stationed his troops outside Jiangling City.

Kuai Liang, Kuai Yue and Yi Ji were worried all day long in the city.

That night, the three of them gathered together again to discuss countermeasures.

Kuai Liang said, "How can I allow others to snore beside my bed? Guan Yu has stationed a large number of troops outside the city, and his intention to seize Jiangling is obvious."

Yi Ji said, "The young ruler is weak, and the Cai Mao siblings are controlling the affairs of Xiangyang. If this continues, Jingzhou will fall sooner or later. Since Liu Bei assisted the emperor, he has gained great popularity among the court and the people. Why don't we take this opportunity to choose another wise ruler?"

The brothers Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue were startled at first, then looked at each other and remained silent.

After a long pause, Kuai Liang spoke up, "What Ji Bo said is quite true. However, joining Liu Bei at this time will inevitably be seen as scheming, and is not what a gentleman should do."

Yi Ji nodded and said, "Regardless of who will rule Jingzhou in the future, Jiangling will be extremely important. The three of us are managing Jiangling. We must neither betray our trust nor offend Guan Yu outside the city. We can only wait and see what happens."

At this time, Guan Yu was planning to go to Jiangling City to borrow food.

Wei Xiaobao recalled the time when he lent food to Ma Teng and said to Guan Yu, "Brother, if we use the excuse of withdrawing the troops, we should be able to borrow some food."

Guan Yu shook his head: "Jiang Ling is already prey, what excuse do we need?"

(End of this chapter)