Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 539. Crossing the River
In the past two days in Guangling City, Jiang Ji seemed to have fallen ill due to overwork. Several officials went to visit him and saw that Jiang Ji looked haggard and his voice was hoarse. It seemed that he was really ill due to the accumulated worries day and night, so they decided not to disturb Jiang Ji any further.

Fortunately, Jiang Ji, with a hoarse voice, told them that he had already arranged the defense line along the river before he fell ill, and asked them to take care of the miscellaneous affairs in the city.

These officials felt relieved after hearing this. After all, they were good at handling some miscellaneous matters. If they were really asked to mobilize troops, let alone whether they could do it, wouldn't they be held responsible if something went wrong? Now Jiang Ji's words were like taking the responsibility back on himself, which made them feel much more relaxed.

The army in Guangling City received the order and immediately went to Xu Yi's previous camp, ready to take over Xu Yi's position and defend against the Han army.

However, no one realized that the camp where Wang Ji once stayed was now completely ignored, and became a big hole in the originally solid Guangling defense line.

The Han army on the other side of the river seized the opportunity and, with the assistance of the Yangtze River Navy, crossed the river directly from Jiangcheng and forced their way to the border of Guangling.

Under the command of "Jiang Ji", the Wei army turned Wang Ji's camp into a no-man's land, giving the Han army an opportunity to take advantage of it. However, this was normal. The Wei army in Guangling City only knew to replace Xu Yi, and Wang Ji and Xu Yi were transferred to Hailing. Except for Jiang Ji himself, no one would be responsible for the camp on the other side of the river.

But unfortunately, Jiang Ji has been dead for several days, and his body is still buried in the basement of the granary.

Xu Sheng led an army of 20,000 with some surrendered generals from Eastern Wu and crossed the river first, attacking the Wei army facing Dantu across the river in the east.

"Oh no! The Han army has crossed the river! Go and inform Lord Jiang!"

These Wei troops were quite conscientious and immediately realized that if the Han army had landed in Jiangbei, the defense line that Wei had carefully prepared for more than ten years would soon be destroyed.

They sent out fast horses to report the news to Guangling City immediately. However, of course, the news fell on deaf ears and did not cause any reaction in Guangling.

Xu Yi and Wang Ji were completely unaware of this matter, and had not received any orders for support; Guangling was also completely silent, with no new orders, as if they had just let things go their way. The messenger who had delivered the message that day also disappeared, and had never returned to the army since then.

The Guangling defense line was broken one by one by the Han army because everyone was strangely indifferent.

The 10,000 troops sent from Guangling to replace Xu Yi were the first to bear the brunt of the attack. The supplies they brought were not enough. Jiang Ji promised to tidy up the warehouses in a few days and send people to deliver the supplies after counting them. However, when the Han army arrived, those promises naturally could not be fulfilled.

And in fact, Guangling City did not take any action, as if it had forgotten about this matter from the beginning.

"Send another hundred people to break out tonight while the Han army is not paying attention. If Lord Jiang doesn't send reinforcements, we will be wiped out!"

The 10,000-strong Wei army was originally small in number and short of supplies, and they could only eat porridge for the past two days. Then they were besieged by 20,000 Han troops. It was a gesture of loyalty that they could hold out for two days.

However, loyalty cannot be eaten, nor can it be used to defeat the Han army, so the Wei army could not bear it anymore and could only gamble their lives again. They sent envoys for help again to ask Jiang Ji in Guangling for reinforcements.

Unfortunately, the last time the Wei army was able to send a letter to Jiang Ji, it was because the Han army had not yet surrounded them, so there was still space to contact Guangling. But now Xu Sheng’s 20,000 troops have surrounded 10,000 Wei troops on the banks of the Yangtze River, making it impossible to escape. How can a mere hundred people break through?

That night, these hundred men were shot to death by the Han army. No one survived, let alone report the news to Jiang Ji.

As the Han army in Dantu also began to cross the river, and the Yangtze River Navy began to assist Xu Sheng in the attack on the river, the 10,000 Wei army was finally unable to resist, and after losing 2,000 and holding out for five days, they surrendered to the Han army.

There was no other way. With no outside help and no food inside, they were surrounded by the Han army and outnumbered. How could they fight? They had persisted for five days under such circumstances, which was considered to be worthy of the Wei Dynasty. Xu Sheng called the chief officer of the Wei army and asked him why the Wei army was so weak. It turned out that they had been drinking hot water for two days and had almost no food to eat. Wouldn't the army's morale be broken?
"General, since we have already surrendered to the Han Dynasty, I am willing to serve the Han Dynasty and trick them into opening the gate of Guangling City."

The commander of the Wei army was also extremely angry at this time. Jiang Ji sent him here, but he didn't do a good job of defense, didn't give him supplies, and then he pretended to be dead when he asked for help. He was loyal to Wei, but he was not done with Jiang Ji.

"Okay, since you are prisoners, just follow the navy to Jiangnan and don't worry about Guangling."

Xu Sheng waved his hands and ignored the good intentions of the Wei army commander, which made the other party even more angry.

"Humph, the Han army is so arrogant. Go ahead. It's best if you and that damn Jiang Ji both lose. No one survives."

The Wei army commander cursed both sides in his heart, and was taken across the river by the Yangtze River Navy to be taken to Jiaozhou, Yizhou and other places as immigrants. It happened that there were relatively few Han people in those places, and these Wei soldiers were unfamiliar with the place and couldn't even run away. Aren't they the best strong laborers? When the time comes, they can also reproduce for the Han Dynasty and open up wasteland.

As for their original families, they would have to wait until the Han army liberated their hometown in the future. These were part of "guarding the world" and it was not Feng Xi's turn to worry about them now.

Xu Sheng spent a day handing over the thousands of prisoners to the Yangtze River Navy, and immediately joined the Han army that crossed the river from Dantu and headed straight for Guangling City.

Forty thousand troops marched towards Guangling. Naturally, such a movement could not be hidden from the eyes and ears of Guangling. Those officials were all scared to death and went to ask for an audience without caring whether Jiang Ji was bedridden or not.

At this point, there is someone in charge, whether it is Jiang or Zhan, and these little minions have no say in the matter.

When they arrived at the prefect's mansion and were brought into the mansion, they found that there was a person sitting in the upper seat whom they did not recognize at all.

"Who are you? Where is Mr. Jiang?"

Naturally, some bad-tempered clerks stood up and scolded them harshly. They didn't recognize the man in front of them. His expression was full of military manners. It was obvious that he was not a high-ranking official. Only these clerks with extraordinary vision dared to act like this.

"My Lords, I am Deng Ai, a military officer under the command of the Han Grand Commander Feng Xi. I am here to take over this city under the command of the Grand Commander."

Needless to say, the person who came was Deng Ai. Now, the entire Guangling army had been transferred away by him using Jiang Ji's military token, and the remaining people were naturally his own people.

"What?! You...you...where is Lord Jiang Ji?!"

The officials in the hall were all stunned and pointed at Deng Ai in disbelief.

"Haha, the Lord Jiang you're waiting for has already gone down to meet Cao Pi. Are you guys also in a hurry to meet them?"

Deng Ai stood up suddenly, with murderous aura all over his body.

(End of this chapter)