The Three Kingdoms: Rise to Power Starting with Intercepting Liu Bei

It was late December, nearing the beginning of January.

The weather is warming up slightly, and the warm sunshine shines directly on the towering mountains.

With Liu Bowen's assistance, Cai Mao commanded the reinforcements that had already arrived to launch an attack.

This sudden attack caught Shi Xie's army off guard, and they were unable to organize an effective counterattack in time.

"Ugh, damn it, where did they come from? How can they possibly launch a counterattack?"

On the city wall of Nanping, Shi Du, a general under Shi Xie, looked at the vast army outside the city and was furious. He had never imagined that so many Jingzhou troops would appear outside the city.

Where the hell did these people come from? It's utterly baffling.

"General, the brothers are almost at their breaking point! Quickly order the city abandoned! The Jingzhou army is returning to reinforce!"

Just then, a lieutenant suddenly tackled Shidu to the ground. Before Shidu could understand what was happening, his mind went blank, and he immediately stared wide-eyed. Just as he was about to get angry, he heard the soldier who had been standing behind him as a human shield fall to the ground dead from an arrow wound.

Shidu was immediately struck by a cold sweat.

"Damn, that was close! I almost got hit by a stray arrow!"

Shidou, trembling, wiped the cold sweat from his brow and turned to the lieutenant who had saved him, saying:

"Yes, yes, quickly order the brothers to abandon the city and evacuate; we're heading back to Jiaozhou!"

Shi Du was a distant relative of Shi Xie. He had no special talents and only became a general in the Jiaozhou army through connections. Apart from being a big and strong man, his martial arts skills were mediocre at best.

When Zhou Yu and Sun Quan learned that he was the commander of the Jiaozhou army, they made no attempt to hide their disdain.

"withdraw!"

The deputy general immediately ordered the remaining brothers to evacuate Nanping.

As soon as the Jiaozhou army withdrew, the Jingzhou army responsible for attacking the city immediately sensed something was wrong and reported it to their commander, Cai Mao.

Cai Mao, who was directing the siege with Liu Bowen in the rear, also noticed something amiss on the walls of Nanping. Pointing into the distance, he said in a low voice:

"Lord Liu, do you think the Jiaozhou army is preparing to abandon the city and flee?"

"Hehe!" Liu Bowen stroked his long beard, his shrewd eyes gleaming, as if he had everything under control, and said unhurriedly:

"According to the information I have, the commander of the Jiaozhou army, Shi Du, is a good-for-nothing who knows nothing about military operations. Under our army's orderly attack, he only has this one way to go, so it is not surprising that he abandoned the city."

Liu Bowen had long learned of Shi Du's situation from the Black Ice Guard, and he dared to make such a judgment because he believed that Shi Du was not capable of being of great use.

"Then we..."

Cai Mao's eyes lit up, but before he could finish speaking, Liu Bowen interrupted him:

"General Cai, inform your troops to split into two. One main force will continue to pursue the Jiaozhou army, with our naval forces providing assistance. The other force will leave behind a few garrison personnel and you will personally lead it to the Yingpu area, which is the real tough spot."

"Here you go!"

Cai Mao's expression hardened; he naturally understood the meaning behind Liu Bowen's words.

Although the Jiaozhou army was easily defeated, Zhou Yu and Sun Quan were not unknown figures. They also had connections with Jingzhou, which was not a good thing.

It's nothing more than a blood feud between the two sides, the kind that they wouldn't get together unless absolutely necessary.

It took Cai Mao less than a day to launch the attack and capture Nanping, eliminating several thousand of the Jiaozhou garrison while suffering two to three thousand casualties on his own.

Although the casualty ratio was close to 1 to 2, this was a siege battle, so the result was still acceptable.

···········

Just as the Jingzhou army occupied Nanping, Cai Mao led his troops to reinforce the Yingpu Cantuan.

The situation in Yingpu is also far from peaceful.

The Jingzhou army in Jiangxia camp suddenly launched a surprise attack, with countless arrows raining down on Sun Quan's army like locusts. Then, a large number of soldiers, protected by shield bearers, launched a massive attack carrying makeshift siege ladders.

In an instant, smoke filled the air, and the sounds of clashing metal swords echoed incessantly.

Faced with the sudden attack, Sun Quan and Zhou Yu were clearly well prepared and organized a well-organized counterattack shortly after the enemy launched their attack.

For a time, the battle raged back and forth, reaching a stalemate.

"Gongjin, it seems Liu Biao's reinforcements have arrived, but why would they risk fighting on two fronts?"

On the city wall, Sun Quan, dressed in armor and holding a sword, looked at the army outside the city carrying the banner of the Jingzhou army. His brows were furrowed and his words revealed great surprise.

They were clearly surprised by the sudden appearance of the Jingzhou army outside the city.

"I don't know!"

Zhou Yu, dressed similarly and protected by shield soldiers, shook his head repeatedly.

He was also surprised by the sudden appearance of the Jingzhou army, clearly not expecting this.

"What do we do?"

Seeing the Jingzhou army outside the city that outnumbered them several times over, they were clearly somewhat panicked.

He didn't bring many troops with him when he invaded the four counties of Jingnan, while the enemy outside the city numbered at least tens of thousands; otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to launch an attack.

They have Jingzhou troops here, not to mention the Nanping area.

Hearing the tremor in Sun Quan's voice when he asked the question, Zhou Yu didn't say anything. Who wouldn't be afraid when facing an attacking force that outnumbered them several times over?

Hearing the tremor in Sun Quan's voice when he asked the question, Zhou Yu didn't say anything. Who wouldn't be afraid when facing an attacking force that outnumbered them several times over?

"We can only hold our ground for now and send a signal to wait for reinforcements from Shidu!"

Zhou Yu thought for a long time but couldn't come up with a good solution. In the end, he said something pointless and placed his hopes on Shi Du, who was stationed in Nanping.

In their previous battle plans, they had agreed that if either side needed support, they could simply send a message through layers of smoke, and the other side would immediately dispatch a large army.

This was a right that Zhou Yu fought for for themselves, since the Jiaozhou army outnumbered their own troops!

"Okay, this is fine!"

Sun Quan was clearly somewhat reluctant. He was still worried about putting his own safety in the hands of others, fearing that Shi Du would not send troops to support him.

Meanwhile, the Jingzhou army generals outside the city, facing the small city of Yingpu, left no room for retreat and directly ordered their soldiers to intensify their siege, hoping to conquer it in a short time.

In an instant, a large number of soldiers, armed with weapons, charged towards Yingpu without fear of death. Even several simple battering rams were deployed, clearly indicating their intention to break through Yingpu in one fell swoop.

Seeing the increasingly fierce offensive of the Jingzhou army, Zhou Yu and Sun Quan, who were supervising the battle from the city wall, became more and more anxious, urging their soldiers to fight bravely against the enemy around the wide passageway on the city wall.

Sun Quan, already tense, trembled slightly with his hands gripping his sword, and staggered as if he were about to fall to the ground.

"Zhongmou, are you alright?"

Seeing Sun Quan in this state, Zhou Yu quickly stepped forward to help him up and kindly inquired about his condition, fearing that something might have happened to him, as he was the only hope for the Sun family.

As a friend of Sun Ce, Zhou Yu naturally did not want to see Sun Quan get into trouble.

"No, it's nothing!"

Sun Quan broke free from Zhou Yu's support, indicating that the other party did not need to be so nervous, as he could still hold on.

Seeing Sun Quan's forced composure, Zhou Yu sighed silently, his eyes flickering, lost in thought.