xymnovel Chapter 59 Our army has been defeated, our army has been defeated.
Chapter 59 Our army has been defeated, our army has been defeated.
Yuan Yao felt a little embarrassed.
Not long ago, he had made a promise to Hua Xin that he would defend the Yangtze River and prevent the Jiangdong Army's navy from entering Yuzhang.
As a result, Zhou Yu slapped him in the face in less than a month.
Zhou Yu pulled off a clever maneuver. On the surface, he was wary of the threat from Lujiang and kept his naval forces at bay. In reality, he had a large number of rolling logs prepared in advance and placed under the ships for transport to the front lines by land, instantly seizing the initiative on the battlefield.
Of course, this is not without its costs. Even disregarding the enormous costs of transportation itself, only small boats can be used for this purpose, and the number of such boats would not be very large.
But who made the anti-Sun alliance's navy weaker?
Having realized this, Yuan Yao faced a new choice.
What should he do?
Should they continue to draw troops from Huainan to regain control of Penglize, or should they accept defeat and admit that the Battle of Yuzhang is irreversible?
Lu Yi, who had just joined Yuan Yao's forces, immediately suggested, "We should leave!"
Unlike Yuan Yao, Lu Yi had been by Hua Xin's side all this time and was very clear about the true nature of the anti-Sun coalition.
Whether Penglize falls or not does not change the overall trend of this battle. Huang Zu on the main battlefield is no match for Sun Ce, and the outcome of this battle was already decided long ago.
Now, with Zhou Yu significantly increasing the speed of the attack, and the combined water and land assault, a minor defeat could turn into a major defeat, and a major defeat into a crushing defeat.
Yuan Yao naturally trusted Lu Yi's judgment. He hadn't originally planned to fight Sun Ce to the death, and the failure of the anti-Sun coalition was expected. He just hadn't expected it to happen in this way.
However, the specific route is quite particular.
Taking advantage of the arrival of the Jiangdong navy, we can definitely make a quick getaway and bring all of Zhong's troops back safely.
However, Yuan Yao was definitely unwilling.
The reason is simple.
population!
While clearing out the powerful clans of Haihun and Shangliao, Yuan Yao once again acquired a large number of hidden servants and households. Given Yuan Yao's personality, and with Huainan in dire need of manpower, he naturally wanted to take all these people with him.
But as anyone who frequently smuggles people knows, people aren't something you can just move around easily. Getting them to travel such a long distance from Yuzhang to Huainan is even more difficult.
Although Yuan Yao had ships before, their transport capacity was limited, and they prioritized transporting money and grain. In addition, the matter of population was quite sensitive, and forcibly taking people would definitely offend Hua Xin, so they had to wait until now.
If they wanted to take these people away now, they would face the risk of the Jiangdong Army watching them with predatory eyes.
"I have a plan," Lu Yi suggested to Yuan Yao. "Now that things have come to this, Nanchang is unsustainable and will fall sooner or later. Why don't we suggest that Lord Hua move his troops to Chaisang? With a large army protecting him, Zhou Yu will not dare to act rashly."
Yuan Yao's eyes lit up. What a great idea!
As is well known, the purpose of the anti-Sun Ce encirclement was not to defeat Sun Ce, but to make everyone believe that they could defeat Sun Ce, thereby giving them the courage to persist in resistance and to disgust the enemy.
Since the situation in the Battle of Yuzhang is dire, it's better to make a drastic decision, abandon the large area south of Pengli Lake, and concentrate the remaining forces in Chaisang to the north.
Chaisang was located west of Poyang Lake, with Lujiang County to the north across the Yangtze River and Jiangxia County a few dozen miles to the west, making it extremely important.
In this way, even if Sun Ce obtained Yuzhang, he would only have won face and would not have completely eliminated the anti-Sun coalition, making it difficult for him to achieve substantial rule.
Incidentally, the population that Yuan Yao was so concerned about could also be brought to Chaisang under the pretext of not leaving it to aid the enemy, and then, by accident, transported across the border into Huainan.
Yuan Yao was overjoyed and immediately praised Lu Yi, saying, "Boyan, you are truly my Shang Yang, Chao Cuo, and Zhufu Yan!"
Lu Yi: "Thank you... Huh?"
Before Lu Yi could react, Yuan Yao continued, "Also, regarding the Lu family of Wu County, there's something I need to be honest with you..."
This naturally refers to the Golden Knife Strategy.
Half an hour later, Lu Yi walked out of Yuan Yao's tent, looking utterly dejected.
Well, Lu Yi himself doesn't know how he feels right now.
He was definitely angry. To be schemed against like this, especially since it involved the Lu family, which he valued most, with Lu Ji and others arrested and in critical condition, how could he not be furious?
But what about the other side?
Yuan Yao earnestly expressed his high regard for Lu Yi, stating that he had resorted to this desperate measure to lure Lu Yi up the mountain, and that he was willing to marry his only sister to Lu Yi for this purpose, showing his utmost sincerity.
More importantly, after understanding the ins and outs of the Golden Knife Scheme, Lu Yi had to admit that the scheme was extremely clever, a pinnacle of intrigue, and that his defeat was not unjust.
At this moment, Lu Yi understood what Liu Ye had felt before. Although he still had some reservations, reason told him that he had no choice but to board Yuan Yao's ship.
Yuan Yao was not surprised at all.
Later, as Zhou Yu's navy entered Yuzhang County, the situation of the war became increasingly clear.
Yuan Yao was very straightforward, telling the allied forces that the Jiangdong army's combined land and water attack was already in place, and they could not match it. They should consider retreating as soon as possible.
The allied commander-in-chief, Huang Zu, was furious. He denounced Yuan Yao for undermining morale, stating that he had just achieved a series of great victories and was about to strike at Sun Ce's heartland, and that retreat was absolutely not an option.
Huang Zu even blamed Yuan Yao, saying it was all his fault for not holding Penglize, otherwise they would have won the battle long ago.
Yuan Yao was speechless. He wanted to tell Huang Zu that his small victory was all a deliberate feigned defeat by Sun Ce to lure him into a trap, but he knew that it was impossible to convince such a stubborn old man as Huang Zu.
Forget it, good advice is useless against a damned devil.
Fools have their luck, but idiots don't.
Yuan Yao left with a dark face and went to Chaisang ahead of time to make arrangements. In order to prevent any accidents, he also specially ordered Huainan to send another batch of reinforcements.
A few days later, the great battle began.
Sun Ce launched a general offensive against the anti-Sun coalition forces stationed in Qiyang. The two sides committed more than 20,000 troops in total, which should have been a battle of the century.
But in reality, the battle lasted for less than two hours.
Because some members of the anti-Sun Yat-sen coalition betrayed them.
Liu Ji, son of Liu Yao, the former governor of Yangzhou, made a crucial move at the last moment, launching a surprise attack from the rear and setting fire to the enemy, which threw the allied forces into chaos and led to their defeat in a single battle.
Ultimately, the anti-Sun coalition suffered more than 6,000 casualties in this battle, a truly disastrous defeat.
Even so, it was only because Yuan Yao appeared in time to provide support and stop the Jiangdong army's pursuit.
To be fair, Guan Yu's reputation was really effective in Jiangdong. After the Battle of Hefei, it was so great that it could stop children from crying at night. As soon as the banner with the character "Guan" appeared, the Jiangdong army would stop and dare not pursue him.
After the crushing defeat at Qiyang, the anti-Sun coalition was too weak to fight any longer and scattered and fled back to their respective homes. Even Huang Zu was too ashamed to fight any longer and simply ran away. Only Hua Xin's Yuzhang army had nowhere to go, so they had no choice but to follow Yuan Yao's plan and go to Chaisang to hold their ground.
The disastrous consequences of the Battle of Qiyang soon became apparent.
With the anti-Sun alliance falling apart, Sun Ce gained a decisive advantage. He relentlessly pursued the fleeing enemy, refusing to let Hua Xin's remnants escape easily.
Yuan Yao was in a real bind. If things continued like this, even if Chaisang could be saved, the population he cared about most would likely suffer a significant loss.
Although he had already sent reinforcements from Huainan in advance, the Zhong family's army was outwardly strong but inwardly weak, so it was best to avoid fighting if possible.
Unfortunately, the initiative on the battlefield was in the hands of Sun Ce.
At the end of June in the fifth year of Jian'an, Yuan Yao led a large number of refugees from Haihun to Liling. Due to their slow march, they were finally overtaken by Sun Ce's vanguard while crossing a small river.
The situation instantly descended into chaos.
At the critical moment, the generals were protecting Yuan Yao and planning to retreat ahead of time, while Guan Yu rode Red Hare and wandered around, trying to find another opportunity to behead him. Suddenly, he felt a tremor in his heart and looked to the north.
At the same time, Lü Meng shouted loudly to Yuan Yao, "Reinforcements! Our reinforcements have arrived!"
Yuan Yao quickly turned around and saw thousands of people coming from the north, with the leader carrying a flag with the character "Ji" and a flag with the character "Liu".
Liu Ye?
Yuan Yao was taken aback. Liu Ye's mission was to stay behind and guard Wancheng. Why did he come to provide support in person?
The next moment, a general suddenly appeared from the reinforcements, riding alone. He had a leopard's head, round eyes, a swallow's chin, and a tiger's beard. As he accelerated forward, his voice was like thunder.
"I am Zhang Yide, come and fight to the death with me!"
It took Yuan Yao a full three seconds to react, and then he was overjoyed.
It's Zhang Fei!
If that's the case, then wouldn't that large banner with the character "Liu" be—
On the other side, Liu Bei spurred his horse forward and spotted the red-faced, long-bearded figure in the distance.
Immediately afterwards, Liu Bei also saw the situation in front of him. He saw countless civilians blocking the river, while the Zhong clan's army was desperately covering their crossing.
Liu Bei gasped, his heart surging with excitement, his understanding of Yuan Yao was once again refreshed.
"By leading the people across the river, Yuan Shifu was truly a benevolent and righteous gentleman!"