Three Kingdoms: Jiangdong is no longer a rat

Chapter 165 Chaos in Wucheng
It is worth mentioning that Langdu, who assisted the assassin, was not a member of the Sun family.

Sun Ben only knew that this was a person who could be easily turned against, so he provided the information to the assassin.

As for the source of the information, only Wu Jing and Sun Ben knew it.

After making the decision to assassinate Zhu Zhi, they immediately summoned all the generals and spread the news that Zhu Zhi had been killed by Yan Yi. Then they ordered all the soldiers to wrap their heads with white scarves and advance quickly towards Wucheng under the banner of revenge for Zhu Zhi!
Zhu Zhi had extensive connections within the Sun clan and held a high reputation. Upon hearing the news of his death, the generals were enraged and filled with hatred for Yan Yi. They vowed to exterminate the entire Yan clan to avenge Zhu Zhi.

Wu Jing's army was immediately in high spirits, and they charged towards Wucheng with murderous intent, burning, killing, looting, and taking civilians as slaves, advancing at a rapid pace.

This is clearly an act of looting carried out openly under the pretext of "Zhu Zhi's death."

But this time, not a single veteran Sun general stood up to oppose it. Everyone knew that if Wucheng was captured, Wu Jing, who had been extremely emotionally unstable recently, might massacre the city.

The news of Zhu Zhi's death had a huge impact on the Sun family. Anyone who dared to say anything to obstruct them would immediately become the target of public condemnation.

In just one day, Wu Jing's army advanced thirty miles and was less than twenty-five miles away from Wucheng.

In a panic, Yan Baihu hastily sent a letter to Yan Yi and immediately abandoned Yuncheng. He transferred all the Yuncheng defenders to Wucheng and conscripted soldiers from the Yan and Xu clans, as well as civilians and slaves from inside and outside the city. He managed to gather 11,000 troops and relied on the camps and forts on the western front of Wucheng to hold out, attempting to slow down Wu Jing's advance.

This deployment was a decision Yan Yi made based on the Battle of Qiantang. If Yan retreated to the city, they would immediately lose their manpower and become isolated. Wu Jing, with his advantageous location, would then be able to easily intercept any reinforcements and then use his method of abducting civilians to capture Wucheng.

As long as the Yan family could form an interception on the western front, they could recruit soldiers from all the villages and towns in Wucheng and get some reinforcements.

Although the people of Wucheng were dissatisfied with the Yan family, this dissatisfaction had been alleviated to a certain extent by Yan Yi's actions in the past two months. However, Wu Jing's brutality had already been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and it was clear who was better and who was worse.

Aside from those who fled Wucheng to avoid the war, the vast majority of those who remained were loyal to the Yan family. Driven by the Yan family's generous rewards, the interest in protecting their land, and their hatred of Wu Jing's army, some chose to join the Yan family's army to resist Wu Jing.

As a result, Wu Jing's army encountered the most stubborn resistance since the capture of Yongping.

To protect his legacy, Yan Baihu was truly desperate. He immediately summoned the clan leaders and elders of the various Wucheng clans to the Yan residence, placing them under strict surveillance. Any signs of trouble would be immediately executed! He then personally led his clan's troops to the front lines.

The armies of Wu and Yan engaged in a brutal battle in an area of ​​25 miles west of Wucheng.

Although Wu Jing's army was clearly stronger than Yan Baihu's hastily assembled troops, the defenders, occupying the advantageous terrain and fighting desperately, also caused considerable trouble to the attacking soldiers.

But it was merely a nuisance. In the face of absolute power, all resistance was futile. The defenders retreated steadily, forced to within fifteen miles west of Wucheng. Even the connection between Wucheng and White Tiger City was severed.

It was in this advantageous situation that Wu Jing received the news of Wang Lang's defeat and the order from Xu Gong to be the governor.

Wu Jing and Sun Ben were furious at Wang Lang's defeat, wishing to crush him to ashes! If Wang Lang hadn't given them the illusion that he could hold Yan Yi back for a while, how could they have gone all the way, even at the cost of killing Zhu Zhi?
They have experienced this terrible feeling of being held back by stupid teammates twice in just a few days!
First, Zhu Zhi's defeat dampened their spirits. Just as they finally gathered their spirits and, despite the enormous risk, were determined to kill Yan, Wang Lang dealt them another blow. Wu Jing was furious! The fact that Zhang Zhen wasn't killed on the spot was a blessing from his ancestors.

Facing Sun Ben's repeated inquiries, he glared with his red eyes and said, "The opportunity for battle is fleeting. We cannot hesitate. Send a letter to Yuan Shu immediately and have him use the imperial seal he holds to issue the imperial order to attack Wucheng. Pass on my military order: the army must accelerate its advance towards Wucheng. We must besiege Wucheng before the enemy reinforcements arrive!"

Sun Ben nodded solemnly. The only way to break the impasse now was to conquer Wucheng. Having already taken this step, he could only continue with determination. If Heaven forsakes me, I will defy it. If Heaven blocks me, I will kill it!

He pondered for a moment, then brought up the topic he'd tried so hard to avoid, yet couldn't: "Uncle, we haven't seen Zhu Zhi's body in Qiantang yet. If Zhu Zhi isn't dead, what should we do?"

Wu Jing was silent for a long time, a wave of regret welling up inside him. Looking at Sun Ben, a rare glimmer of kindness shone through his eyes. "I'm old, and near death. If Zhu Zhi hadn't died, I would have given everyone an explanation. You're still young, with a bright future ahead of you. You absolutely must not get involved in this matter. Remember my words: you know nothing about this matter, understand?"

Sun Ben's whole body trembled, his eyes gradually became moist, and he knelt heavily in front of Wu Jing.

That night, Zhang Zhen rushed back to Wu County and told Xu Gong a story with exaggerated details.

Xu Gong was furious, and even with his good composure, he couldn't help but kick over a table in anger.

Because of the Han Empire's deep-seated prestige in his heart, he held high hopes for the governor's order. He believed that with control over most of Wu Commandery and the influence of Liu Yao, he could gradually stabilize the situation in Jiangdong. However, he was unprepared for Wu Jing's slap to strike so swiftly that it nearly stunned him.

"Rebellious ministers and traitors! Rebellious ministers and traitors!"

Xu Gong put his hands behind his back and paced back and forth in the room in anger, with a fierce murderous intent gradually gathering in his eyes.

He summoned Li Yi and ordered, "Send the provincial governor's orders to Zu Lang, Wang Lang, Xu Zhao, Han You, Pan Hu, Fang You, and Su Ang, ordering them to lead their armies to attack Wu Jing immediately!"

Li Yi was startled and said cautiously, "My Lord, it will be difficult to mobilize these people with just the governor's order. Especially Wang Lang, who was just defeated by Yan Yi. I'm afraid..."

This remark immediately hit Xu Gong's sore spot, and he said angrily, "Go!"

Li Yi shrank his neck, dared not say anything more, and turned away.

Xu Gong stopped him again and said in a deep voice, "Quickly mobilize all the troops. I want to personally lead an expedition against Wu Jing!"

Li Yi agreed with this point very much. Seeing that Wucheng was in imminent danger, if no troops were sent to rescue it, the situation in Wujun might collapse at any time.

In fact, after Yan Yi promised him many benefits, he wanted to persuade Xu Gong to send troops. However, Xu Gong blindly hoped to receive the governor's order, trying to re-establish the authority of the Han court and convince others with his orders. Now, he was slapped in the face, right?
Just when Wucheng was in chaos, Yan Yi was riding in a carriage to inspect the village.

(End of this chapter)