It didn't take long before Jiangdong's army began to lurk into the city.
In order not to make the Han army suspicious, Xu Sheng specially asked the soldiers to enter the city in scattered numbers in the early stage. It was not until noon that the number of soldiers gradually increased. It is estimated that only about a hundred people have sneaked into the city so far.
Xu Sheng was unexpected to reveal his identity so early. But there was no way. It would be too naive for the defenders to sneak into the city once they discovered something unusual, so Xu Sheng had to take action.
"kill!"
The long queue extending from the city gate instantly transformed into a life-threatening Shura.
Although the Han troops checking at the city gate were shocked, the sight of the sword also aroused their survival instinct.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
The Han troops guarding the gate fought hard and shouted at the top of their lungs.
The nearby people who entered and exited the city gate fled in all directions. The Jiangdong Army who had successfully sneaked into the city before began to turn around and fight back. The Han troops on the city also came down from the stairs on both sides of the city gate.
There was chaos at the city gate.
"Dang Dang Dang"
This is the defender on the tower sounding the gold warning.
The huge bell rang through the sky, and the bustling Jiangxia City instantly became quiet.
In this silence, the sound of fighting at the east city gate became a bit alarming.
"Da da da"
A cavalry force of two thousand people appeared on the horizon outside Jiangxia City and rushed towards them.
Behind the cavalry was a surging army of infantry.
Ji Shu's heart was in his throat. He, Yueying, and Zhuge Jin stood on the top of the mountain and looked into the distance. As soon as he noticed the unusual commotion at the city gate, he ordered the cavalry to attack.
This is a relatively bad situation. Whether the city gate can be captured depends on whether Xu Sheng can persist after the cavalry arrives and Taishi Ci leads the army into the city.
If the capture of the city fails this time, we can only wait until the siege weapons arrive in the afternoon before forcibly attacking the city. By then, both the number of casualties and the time required to attack the city will be greatly increased, which will also add many variables to Jiangdong Army's plan.
······
The galloping cavalry rushed into the battlefield and broke the deadlock at the city gate, allowing Xu Sheng to successfully enter the city and once control the city gate.
But the Han army not only did not retreat, but rushed over more crazily. They also understood what it would mean to them once the city gate was lost.
The Jiangxia defenders were like frightened beasts, showing their fangs fiercely to the hunters.
Along the city wall, Han troops continued to gather at the east gate, and the arrow screen began to become denser. What was even worse was that Jiangxia City had prepared a lot of kerosene and paraffin wood.
The hot kerosene pours down from the city wall. This kind of "bathing" may make people feel the "refreshing" feeling of bathing in the lava.
Regardless of cost savings, or there was no general commanding the city tower, no one thought about defending the city. In short, the soldiers on the city just moved the wood and smashed it down. The heavy wood rolled down like rain.
The Jiangdong cavalry who rushed towards the city gate suffered heavy casualties and their offensive was blocked.
Many Han armies came up the streets of the city one after another, and the fighting became more fierce.
Xu Shengshen took the lead and fought hard at the front line of the two armies, killing them until they were covered in blood. Even so, they were gradually suppressed and returned to the city gate.
Xu Sheng was a little anxious. The infantry army was already close in front of him, but they could no longer hold on.
Suddenly, a troop of two to three thousand soldiers and horses rushed towards the rear of the Han army. This troop was also wearing Han army armor, but had a blue scarf wrapped around its shoulders.
The Han troops who came to the city immediately broke into chaos and turned into a melee. Only the Han troops on the stairs on both sides of the city gate were still charging downwards. This relieved Xu Sheng's pressure and Jiangdong's army stabilized their position at the city gate.
"Haha, Wen Xiang, I'm here to save you!"
Gan Ning took the lead, opening and closing with a broadsword, and was invincible.
Although everyone in Jiangdong believes that it is only a matter of time before Jiangxia is conquered, I am afraid that no general likes to lose a battle, right? Seeing Gan Ning bring reinforcements, Xu Sheng was happy and annoyed, and shouted loudly.
"I'm as stable as a rock. When will I need you to rescue me? Brother Xingba, you'd better take care of yourself, don't get stuck in the crowd and capsize!"
Gan Ning didn't care about him, and laughed loudly and said to a general wearing Han armor next to him.
"This kid is so stubborn! Su Fei, let's kill him together."
Su Fei has a Chinese character face with short beard on both sides of his cheeks. Although he is not handsome, he has a heroic aura. In response to Gan Ning's invitation, Su Fei snorted and jumped into the crowd. A long spear swam like a dragon. Han soldiers were constantly being shot away. In a moment, an empty path was cleared.
"good!"
Gan Ning and Xu Sheng couldn't help but cheer.
Not long after, Jiangdong's army finally rushed into the city.
"Xingba, Wenxiang, here I come!"
At a glance, he found a few people fighting hard in the crowd. Taishi Ci roared and began to arrange the soldiers to attack.
"Split half of your men to go up the city wall, control the towers, and cover the other brothers entering the city."
"Others, follow me and break through the enemy forces in front of you!"
"Pay attention to the Han soldiers with blue scarves on their shoulders. These are our own people."
The city gate was lost, Jiangdong's army swarmed in, and the rebels pressed again. The Jiangxia garrison finally collapsed. They abandoned the city gate and began to retreat into the city.
"kill!"
Jiangdong's army gained momentum and pursued them all the way.
The rebellious Han army stopped at the city gate to get out of the way and gathered to rest. Su Fei said to Gan Ning bitterly.
"After all, I have stayed in Jiangxia for four or five years, and I don't want to be too pushy."
Gan Ning nodded to express his understanding. He smiled and patted Su Fei on the shoulder.
Xu Sheng and Tai Shi Ci also came over, and they spoke one after another.
"Haha, if Xu Sheng can save the city gate, he must thank General Su for his help. I will treat General Su to a drink tonight."
"General Su doesn't need to blame himself too much. There are conflicts in the world, Liu Biao is weak, and Huang Zu is incompetent. Naturally, a good bird will choose a tree to roost. General Su has accomplished a great feat by quickly defeating Jiangxia this time. Just let the brothers rest aside. Leave the rest to me!”
After saying this, Taishi Ci bid farewell to the three of them, mounted his horse and rushed to the front to direct the battle.
······
The battle ended quickly after the city gate was breached, because Huang Zu, the governor of Jiangxia, ran away.
The morale of the Han army dropped to a freezing point. They completely gave up resistance and just fled westward.
"I chased him for ten miles and failed to catch up, so I led my troops back to the city to resume my life."
The speaker was Tai Shici. This time Gan Ning took the risk and went to the city to lobby Su Fei, while Xu Sheng was responsible for commanding the vanguard to lurk into the city, so Tai Shici had a much greater responsibility.
"We lost 4,000 soldiers and horses in this battle. 3,000 of them died in the fierce battle for the city gate. Afterwards, when they entered the street fighting and pursued Huang Zu, the enemy had no intention of fighting, so the losses were relatively small, which added up to almost 1 Thousands of people.”
"As for the soldiers and horses under General Su Fei, they have not yet been integrated into the military system, so there is no report yet."
"According to the current count, the Han army has about 6,000 killed. Huang Zu, the governor of Jiangxia, fled to Xiakou Port with 3,000 people. Except for the 3,000 people under General Su Fei who have surrendered, the Han army should still have 3,000 people. People were scattered and fled in all directions."
At this moment, Ji Shu and others had sat down in the prefect's mansion in Jiangxia City and were gathering around to discuss the military situation.
Su Fei waited for Tai Shici to finish speaking and clasped his fists to report.
"I have lost 500 brothers under my command, and there are still 2,500 left. Su Fei is bold and wants to ask the military advisor to return them to my command."
After Su Fei surrendered to the Jiangdong Army, it stands to reason that he should hand over the army for reorganization.
However, he helped Xu Sheng guard the city gate and allowed the army to enter the city smoothly, which was another great achievement.
Moreover, as far as the situation is concerned, he is the most familiar with the soldiers under his command, and naturally he can better display his combat effectiveness under his command.
Ji Shu nodded and agreed to Su Fei's request. He did not want to be too harsh on the meritorious officials and copied the method of dealing with the surrendered generals.
"General Su Fei is an old acquaintance of Brother Gan. He has made great achievements this time. I have no reason not to agree to this request. After we join forces with the lord's army to destroy Cai Mao's army, I will ask the lord for another request for General Su. reward."
Su Fei thanked him sincerely.
Ji Shu pointed to the hung map and continued to talk about the future deployment.
"In this expedition, our mission is to conquer the entire Jiangxia County as quickly as possible."
"So far, our army has conquered two cities in two days. It can be said that the results are fruitful! All the generals and soldiers have worked hard."
"But we can't let our guard down too much yet. There are also 1,000 defenders in Xiakou Port. After Huang Zu escapes there and gathers the remaining soldiers, he will probably gather about 6,000 soldiers and horses."
"Gan Ning listens to the order and orders you to lead an army of 15,000 to set out early tomorrow morning to conquer Xiakou Port. You must capture Xiakou Port before Cai Mao's army returns."
As long as Xiakou Port is captured and Chai Sang's navy is on the river to guard against the Jingzhou navy, there will be no other threats to the entire Jiangxia County. At this time, they can start to turn back and surround Cai Mao's army with Sun Ce, completing the most critical step in conquering Jingzhou.
Everyone looked at the map in front of them and couldn't help but feel relieved. There was only one Xiakou port left, and Gan Ning was definitely a sure bet.
"Take orders!"
Gan Ning answered Ji Shudao equally confidently.
"Haha, when I was under Huang Zu, he looked down on me when he saw that I was a water thief. I took refuge with him for 2 years. He appointed me as the commander but did not give me a single soldier. He only asked me to command 500 men under his command. Jinfan Army. I didn’t expect that it would be my turn to hunt him down today! Don’t worry, Ziyuan, I will capture Huang Zu alive and leave it to the lord to deal with.”
Ji Shu nodded. Liu Biao, Cai Mao, and Huang Zu were the masterminds of the ambush and assassination of Sun Jian. Naturally, it would be more appropriate to leave it to Sun Ce to deal with it personally. He turned his head and said to Zhuge Jin.
"Ziyu, Brother Gan, I'm afraid he may be too reckless sometimes. You go out with the army as his deputy and give him guidance at critical moments."
Why should Gan Ning be worried about dealing with Huang Zu? Zhuge Jin knew that this was because he had not had a chance to perform since he went out with the army, and Ji Shu wanted to give him some military merit.
Seeing that Gan Ning did not object, Zhuge Jin accepted everyone's kindness and thanked him with clasped fists.
"Take orders!"
