Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1170 Deadlock
The autumn sun was still very hot, so the deck was quite scorching at noon, but Ni Heng was lying on it basking in the sun, completely ignoring the strange looks from the soldiers around him.

Seeing Lu Xun's strange expression, Yuan Xi smiled and said, "He is a madman, so he has some personality. Let him be."

"Once the war starts, he will behave himself."

"Don't pay attention to him. The more you give him face, the more excited he will be."

Lu Xun thought to himself, "Brother, you know who Ni Heng is, but why do you want to bring such a person on the warship?"
Aren't you afraid that he might say something wrong during the battle and shake the morale of the troops?

Yuan Xi did not want to say more, he said to Lu Xun: "Ever since Ziyi returned to Huangxian to take care of his mother, it has been difficult to find a general who is good at archery in the navy."

"The Huang Zhong I'm asking Huang Zu for is an expert in archery. It would be even better if he could also excel in water warfare."

"During the battle in Jizhou, most of the troops in Jingzhou were transferred away. Cao Cao is too busy to take care of himself. He would not guess that I would dare to fight with such a small number of people now. This might be a great opportunity."

"The prerequisite is to capture Jiangling guarded by Hao Zhao, but at the same time we have to repel Wen Pin. These two are not easy to deal with."

"But I heard that Lord Xuande has transferred Guan Yu back. At least in terms of generals, the two sides are evenly matched."

Lu Xun said, "What a pity! If we can destroy the Wu Kingdom, the navy commander will no longer be a problem."

"Without General Taishi, it has been difficult to inflict effective damage to the Wu generals in the past two years."

"What a pity."

Yuan Xi said, "I will leave his son Taishi Xiang in the mansion to accompany my son Yuan Qian to study."

"If I conquer Jiangdong in the future, I will naturally need someone to take charge of Jiangdong. After much thought, I think Yuan Qian is the most suitable."

"But he is still young. Although he has Madam Wu, he still needs to learn about major matters. So I plan to let him and Taishi Xiang worship you as their master."

After hearing this, Lu Xun hurriedly responded solemnly: "Xun will definitely live up to the trust of the lord."

While the two were talking, Ni Heng rolled over on the deck again, but Yuan Xi and Lu Xun ignored him and continued talking in a low voice. The sound reached Ni Heng's ears, making him feel quite bored. He thought that the appearance of Jin State was not what he had expected.

Especially the King of Jin named Xionghu, there always seemed to be some strange meaning in his eyes when he looked at him, which made Ni Heng feel a little nervous. Could it be that the other party was using him as a sacrifice?
In the distance, dark clouds were rolling in the sky and rumbling sounds were heard from time to time. When Yuan Xi saw this, he asked Lu Xun to order the fleet to furl the sails and prepare for the heavy rain.

The autumn rain began to fall heavily and lasted for several days. Yuan Xi saw that there was no other way, so he ordered the fleet to set sail in the rain and head for Bachu to avoid wasting time.

A few days later, the fleet rushed to Baqiu. After Yuan Xi entered the city, he heard from the city guard that Huang Zhong, who was originally stationed in Baqiu, had led his troops to resist because he received news that Liu Cong's army had invaded the Jiangxia border.

After hearing this, Yuan Xi was afraid that Huang Zhong might be in danger, so he immediately ordered the ship to set sail and rush to Jiangling without stopping. The ship sailed for another two days and arrived dozens of miles downstream of Jiangling. He saw large pieces of ship debris and soldiers' bodies floating on the river.

Yuan Xi saw that most of the soldiers floating in the river were pierced with arrows, and there were also spears and swords left on their bodies. This showed that the enemies who killed them did not even have time to draw their weapons, which shows how brutal the battle was.

Lu Xun carefully identified them and said, "There are people and horses from all directions."

"It means that the war has already started in the front, and even Lord Xuande has joined in."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Xi ordered the fleet to advance at full speed to support Liu Bei and Huang Zhong.

At this time, the fighting upstream was in full swing. Liu Bei's navy attacked Liu Cong's army several times, but was blocked by Wen Pin. Huang Zhong's fleet on the side supported Liu Bei's offensive.

Huang Zhong is already over fifty years old, but still looks majestic. He has a strong body, broad shoulders, and a pair of strong and powerful arms. At this moment, he is holding a large ox horn bow, pulling the bowstring, aiming at the gap between the ups and downs of the boat, and when the boat is at the highest point, he releases his hand and shoots an arrow like lightning towards the bow of the opposite ship.

On the opposite side of Liu Cong's navy ship, several vanguards were giving orders, but they were caught off guard by an arrow shot by Huang Zhong, which hit a general in the heart. He covered the wound and took two steps, then fell headfirst from the bow of the ship into the icy river water.

When Liu Cong's army on the opposite side saw this, they also drew their bows and fired back. Huang Zhong saw that the momentum was fierce, so he had to crouch down and hide behind the side of the ship. Then he heard a continuous sound of "thumps", and dozens of arrows hit the side of the ship.

Huang Zhong leaned against the side of the boat, and heard shouts and screams coming from Jiangling City in the distance. He thought to himself that Liu Bei had even sent out Guan Yu, but still couldn't capture Jiangling City guarded by thousands of Cao's troops. Was that city so difficult to capture?

Standing outside the city, Guan Yu, with a gloomy face, ordered his soldiers to take turns attacking the top of the city wall.

One of his arms was bandaged and hung in front of his chest. He was injured by a stray arrow when he charged into battle the day before. Although he had taken some treatment, he could not charge into battle. This naturally had a significant impact on the attack on Jiangling. Although Liu Bei's soldiers fought hard several times, they were beaten back by the defenders on the city wall, and the situation was temporarily deadlocked.

This made Guan Yu have serious self-doubt. Jiangling was so difficult to capture, but he still thought he could capture Xu Du. Was it because he was not good enough, or was Cao's army too powerful?
While he was thinking, Liu Bei's army's charge on the city wall failed again. Under the enemy's attack of rolling stones and battering rams, they could not even touch the top of the city wall and retreated in embarrassment.

Guan Yu was angry, but helpless, so he had to lead his troops to retreat temporarily. He looked at the river behind him and saw that the Jiangxia army and Liu Cong's army were still attacking each other, and he couldn't help but hesitate.

Even with the Jiangxia Army as a distraction, he was unable to capture Jiangling. Without them, he would have been caught in the dilemma of being attacked from both sides.

But Jiangling City is located on the only way to the western part of Jingzhou, and it cannot be bypassed. Otherwise, once Cao's army cuts off the river waterway, logistical supplies will not be able to be transported at all.

Thinking of this, Guan Yu had to order his soldiers to retreat back to the boat, wanting to take the opportunity to attack Liu Cong's army together. However, when the Jiangxia army saw Guan Yu leading his troops over, they quickly withdrew from the battlefield and hid upstream.

Huang Zhong, who was supervising the battle at the bow, was also very depressed when he saw this. Over the past few days, he came to understand that the commanders of both Liu Cong's army and Cao's army were extraordinary. They would fight when they wanted to and march when they wanted to, without any delay and never let their own side find any flaws.

Moreover, the two armies cooperated with each other, attacking in turns like two fists, trapping Guan Yu's army and Jiangxia's army in Jiangling, unable to advance or retreat.

Although Huang Zhong was depressed, he did not dare to pursue further and had to call off the troops. When he was camping on the shore, he saw Guan Yu sailing over and said to Huang Zhong, "Thank you for your help, General."

Huang Zhong responded, "My lord was entrusted by the King of Jin to help the King of Hannan. As the two sides are allies, it is our duty."

"But Zhong came to help in a hurry, and the logistics did not catch up. In two days, the army will be short of food. I am afraid that we will not be able to fully support the general."

After hearing this, Guan Yu said, "Thank you for your reminder, General. I will go back and report to my lord and see if there is any way to capture Jiangling as soon as possible in the next two days."

When Huang Zhong saw Guan Yu going to the shore, he could not help but shake his head. He thought to himself, the battle had been going on for almost a month, and Jiangling City remained unmoved. This place had been easy to defend and difficult to attack for thousands of years. How could it be so easy to capture it?
Guan Yu returned to the shore, entered Gong'an City, and went to Liu Bei's mansion. Before he entered the door, he heard Liu Bei and Pang Tong arguing about something.

Guan Yu pushed the door open and walked in. Liu Bei turned around and saw Guan Yu, and hurriedly greeted him, "My second brother is here. Sit down and have a rest. You have worked hard today."

Guan Yu clasped his fists and said, "I am ashamed that my attack on the city today was fruitless."

Pang Tong said, "I miscalculated. I didn't expect Jiangling to be so difficult to attack."

"I just suggested to my lord that we attack Yiling by land from the south bank of the river to avoid the generals."

Liu Bei said, "I think it's too risky. The journey is 200 to 300 miles, and there are Cao's troops guarding Maicheng in the middle. If I don't care, Liu Cong's army and Cao's army will cut off my retreat at any time, and I won't be able to return."

Guan Yu said, "If you want to ensure the safety of the waterway, I am enough."

Liu Bei smiled bitterly and said, "But to attack Xiling, we still need a general to lead the army."

"If my second brother doesn't serve as the vanguard, who else in our army can do it?"

Pang Tong asked, "How about calling General Zhang back?"

Liu Bei listened, pondered for a moment, shook his head and said: "Now I am establishing a country in Changsha, and the foundation is unstable. Third brother and Yuan Zhi, one civil and one military, are just right to stabilize the situation. If I rashly transfer them here, if Wu takes the opportunity to attack, it will be troublesome."

Pang Tong was troubled because there were too few talented people under Liu Bei's command!
Only by annexing Liu Cong and absorbing the military generals of Jingxiang can we get back on the right track. Otherwise, there will be no way out of this small piece of land in Jingnan!
In fact, in Pang Tong's mind, the best option was to annex the State of Wu, but with Liu Bei's current strength, it was simply impossible to do so.

Pang Tong was very anxious. He knew that if the State of Jin defeated Cao Cao in Jizhou, it would be able to take over the Central Plains. He was afraid that the State of Jin would immediately turn around and attack the State of Wu. By then, Liu Bei would have even less opportunity to expand!

Guan Yu thought for a moment and said, "I think Huang Zhong, the lieutenant general in Jiangxia Army, has the talent of a great general. It is a waste to have him as a lieutenant general. Why don't you think of a way to recruit him?"

Pang Tong agreed and said, "General, this is a good idea. I also think Huang Zhong is an extraordinary person. If you are willing to invite him and offer him a high position, he will definitely come to join you because of his reputation."

Liu Bei hesitated and said, "He is Huang Zu's subordinate, but Huang Zu has now joined forces with the King of Jin. I am afraid it would be unfair for me to do this, right?"

Pang Tong said: "Huang Zu is only a guest general of the King of Jin now, strictly speaking he is not a subordinate. It is easy to get a lot of gold, but it is hard to find a general. If you miss this opportunity, I am afraid you will never find a suitable candidate again."

Liu Bei thought for a moment, then made up his mind and said, "Okay, tomorrow morning, the three of us will go to the other camp in person to show our sincerity!"

The next day, the three men led their troops out of Gong'an City and headed towards the Jiangxia navy camp. Less than ten miles away, they heard some noise on the river in the distance. All three were startled. Could it be that the enemy took the opportunity to counterattack?
(End of this chapter)