Han Xiang

Chapter 517

As the head of the Sun family, Sun Bi was questioned like a child by Sun Quan, but he could only respond in a low voice.

There was no other way. As the rumors of Zhou Yu's murder were not dispelled, Sun Bi's life became difficult every day. He still expected Sun Quan to vindicate his innocence.

Today's defeat is really unexpected. No one thought that Zhang Liao would dare to break into the camp with a few hundred people, let alone 10 people.

Sun Ben's little thought of preserving his strength was the same as that of most of the generals who participated in this expedition.

Everyone is for himself, just like a plate of loose sand.

Defeated as a matter of course.

When Zhang Zhao saw Sun Bi being reprimanded by Sun Quan, he quickly stepped in to smooth things over.

"Lord, please calm down. Xiaoyaojin's ships were limited just now. Boyang was discussing ferrying with me and wanted to send the soldiers to the north bank of Shishui. It's a pity."

"understood."

Sun Quan flicked his sleeves and interrupted, frowning and looking at the south bank, frowning and snorting: "Is Zhang Liao sick? Isn't he a general of Cao Cao? Why are you willing to sacrifice your life for Long Xiang? And he sells it out so thoroughly, I really can't figure it out."

"Ugh"

Zhang Zhao sighed: "I can't figure it out. Zhang Liao doesn't look like a weakling. Long Xiang is so scheming. He must have used some deceitful means. However, after our defeat today, the morale of the army will definitely be hit hard. I don't know how long it will take to recover." , it seems that Hefei cannot be captured in a short time.”

"Strange." Sun Quan stood on the bow of the ship, turned around and looked at the south bank, and muttered to himself in confusion: "The pursuers in Hefei are far less than us, but why do our people only know how to run?"

After hearing this, Sun Ben couldn't help but slander, thinking that you, as the master, took the lead and ran away first, and you still expect your subordinates to continue to work hard?

Who do you think you are?

"As the so-called defeat is like a mountain, soldiers without morale are still lambs to be slaughtered. It's all because Zhang Liao was not stopped in time and let him cut down the Chinese army's big flag, otherwise Long Xiang would not have the opportunity to take advantage of it." Zhang Zhao pinched Bearded and shaking his head.

Sun Quan frowned and murmured: "I remember asking Pan Wengui to block it. It seems like he couldn't block it."

"That Zhang Liao is like killing a god. Pan Wengui can't stop it alone. I'm afraid that only Bo Fu can fight if he is reborn. Besides"

Zhang Zhao's words stopped abruptly, and Taishi Ci, who was as famous as Sun Ce, could not speak anymore.

However, Sun Quan had already heard the implication, and he regretted forcing Tai Shi Ci to rebel so early, otherwise he would have had generals who could stop Zhang Liao.

But in the eyes of savvy politicians, the success or failure of a war is not as important as the stability of their dominance.

Sun Yi had a tendency to threaten Sun Quan. Sun Quan thought that it was right to strike first, but when he saw 10 people running like cattle and horses, he felt very uncomfortable, so he turned around and asked Zhang Zhao.

"Mr. Zhang, you have been in battle for a long time. Can you estimate today's casualties based on the scene in front of you?"

"Well?" Zhang Zhao looked at Nan'an and thought for a while, then said slowly, "Fortunately, Hefei doesn't have many war horses, and we retreated on our own initiative instead of fighting to the death. The final casualties shouldn't be too many, but there will be thousands of people."

"Did we only lose a few thousand people?"

Sun Quan stroked his purple beard and nodded slightly, and suddenly said whimsically: "Then when we get back to the ship to rest for a few days, can we make a comeback?"

Sun Ben secretly cursed a fool, saying to himself that if you don't know how to lead troops, then don't lead them. Do you have to kill 10 people to feel at ease?

Zhang Zhao hastily cupped his hands and advised, "My lord, we'd better discuss this matter from a long-term perspective. Firstly, the morale of the army is damaged and morale is hard to recover. It is difficult to organize another battle in a hurry; secondly, Longxiang's victory is gaining momentum, and he is already prepared for Jiangdong; In the end we left in a hurry, and the siege equipment was left behind, and it will take time to redo it."

"Long Xiang is so cheap!"

Thinking that the equipment was of good workmanship and good materials, and that it cost Jiangdong a lot of manpower and material resources, Sun Quan couldn't help but slap the side of the ship with his palm.

Suddenly he looked at Zhang Zhao and asked: "Mr. Zhang, do you think Long Xiang will use our equipment to attack Jiangdong City?"

"Counterattack Jiangdong?"

Zhang Zhao was taken aback for a moment, then quickly shook his head and gave the answer: "My lord, don't worry, as long as we don't occupy the city of Huainan, Long Xiang's equipment is useless, and Hefei doesn't even have a decent warship. How can he take it?" Go to the other side of the Yangtze River?"

"What Mr. Zhang said is true. We have the Yangtze River. Let alone Longxiang, even Cao Cao is not afraid."

At this time, Sun Quan regained some confidence. As for whether to occupy several Huainan cities, he decided to wait until the defeated army was assembled.

After all, the Jiangdong navy suppressed him and he was not afraid of occupying several cities along the river. If Long Xiang dared to send troops to attack, Sun Quan planned to send the navy to harass him.

Sun Quan was comforted by Zhang Zhao, and his heavy heart improved a lot. However, no warship came to rescue him for a long time, and his relaxed heart tightened again.

Song Qian rushed to Chaohu by land to report the news, which was much faster than the water transport ship. Unfortunately, when he arrived at Chaohu, he bumped into Lei Xu who was waiting.

In the end, he failed to contact the warship and escaped even though he was injured.

Although Lei Xu could stop Song Qian who was on land, he couldn't stop the warships from coming to meet him by water. There were always boats coming and going between Chaohu Lake and the camp outside the city, so even if there was a slight delay, he could still get information.

Not long after Song Qian escaped, Chaohu warships lined up in a long queue and sailed to Shishui, deliberately keeping a distance from Lei Xu's troops.

Liu Fu was very greedy when he saw the warships, but robbing the ships with infantry was like a dream, so he could only accompany Lei Xu to harass the enemy to board the ships, hoping to snatch a few single ships in times of chaos.

In April, the weather was neither too hot nor too cold, and 10 people ran and fought on the south bank of Shishui, just like running a large marathon, exhausting the physical strength of both chasing parties to the limit.

Around dusk in the afternoon, Long Xiang, Zhang Liao, Xu Chu and others joined forces with Lei Xu downstream of Shi Shui.

Regardless of whether the Jiangdong soldiers know how to swim or not, they have all jumped into the water at this time, because those who don't jump into the river have already slept on the bank forever.

The warships initially met on the south bank of Shishui River, but dozens of them were robbed by Lei Xu and others, so they changed their strategy to meet in the middle of the river. As a result, some people successfully boarded the ship, some were ferried to the other side, and some were swept away by the water.

Ironically, the biggest casualty that day was the Jiangdong troops who were drowned by Shi Shui and were proficient in water warfare.

The battle of Hefei, which lasted one day, ended hastily with the setting sun.

While Long Xiang ordered people to clean up the battlefield, he also asked the rangers to follow the enemy troops to prevent Sun Quan from making a comeback later.

Jiangdong soldiers ran for a day, crossing the river in batches and moving in batches. All battalions and units were separated during the movement. Finally, they wandered around Chaohu Lake for three days before arriving at Ruxukou to regroup.

After Lü Meng counted the number of people, there were only 4000 left. Ling Tong and five generals were killed in the battle, Pan Zhang was missing, and many people, including Song Qian and Zhou Tai, were injured.

In just one day, such a high number of casualties and the loss of many generals were completely beyond the expectations of Zhang Zhao and Sun Quan.

Seeing Sun Quan's sullen expression, Lu Meng asked for instructions in a low voice: "It's quite chaotic today. Many people should have left and not returned. Do you think you should continue to wait, or..."

"What are you waiting for? Waiting for Longxiang to make a joke?"

After Sun Quan retorted, he said with a stern face, "I don't want to stay for a day, so I'll go back to the other side of the river to rest."

"Do you want to garrison troops in Liyang?"

Lu Meng meant to remind him well, but he saw Sun Quan's face was gloomy, so his voice became quieter and quieter.

(End of this chapter)