The bravery was praised as a miracle by Zuo Xi, and he was heartbroken when he defeated the encirclement and rescued the anxious enemy. -------Song Xujun's "Jia Fu"
It is said that the fall of Changsha forced the middle route army sent by Liu Biao to retreat quickly. Liu Pan and Cai Mao led the army to quickly retreat to Jiangling, and then returned to Xiangyang in a straight line, for fear that Chen Long's army in Xinye would fight across the river and threaten Xiangyang's safety. Jin Xuan's troops were very close to Lingling and had just made contact with Xi Zhicai's defensive troops. Suddenly they heard that the Central Route Army was retreating. Cover the retreat of the main force.
Chen Long, Zhao Yun, and the two young planners met in Xinye to discuss a plan. Guo Jia believed that they should quickly return to Changsha from the Yangtze River channel opened by Huang Zhong, and then take Jiangxia by surprise, seizing Jiangxia as a base for coveting the Central Plains in the future, training naval forces, threatening Jiangdong, and annihilating Jingzhou.
Zhou Buyi believed that it was indeed necessary to immediately enter Changsha from the Yangtze River channel opened by Huang Zhong to rest and recuperate, but the target of the attack should be Wuling at the other end of the Yuanjiang River.
Chen Long was more inclined to follow Zhou Buji's suggestion, but he did not express his position immediately. Instead, he talked about the mastermind behind Huang Zhong's attack on the outskirts of Luoyang, and the two grievances in the heart of his mistress Zhang Ning.
Yuan Shu's great revenge for attacking Huang Zhong can only wait until the future to avenge him. Cao Cao is also far away in Qingzhou, so it is not the time for revenge. Only Tang Zhou, who betrayed Ma Yuanyi and the Luoyang Yellow Turban Intelligence Agency, was the target of Chen Long's revenge this time.
According to Chen Long's guess, Tang Zhou should be hiding under General Zhu Jun. Zhu Jun should be stationed in Luoshan County near Yiyang.
Luoshan County is not far from the retreat route of Chen Long's army to Jiangxia, so Chen Long decided to send special forces to scout near Luoshan County first. If they could find information about Zhu Jun's troops, or even find Tang Zhou, he would be there During the retreat, he led special forces to Luoshan County to kidnap Tang Zhou.
Suddenly, new field reconnaissance cavalry appeared in all directions, and Chen Long set a fifteen-day reconnaissance period. Taking advantage of these fifteen days of free time, Chen Long, Guo Jia, and Zhou Buyi decided to take the special forces to visit Sima Hui.
Let’s not talk about Chen Long’s visit to Mr. Shui Jing with the two conspirators, but let’s talk about Xi Zhicai who was on guard in Lingling. Xi Zhicai urgently mobilized troops from Guiyang and Hengyang, plus Lingling garrison, plus Yang Huai's navy, but they only managed to gather 30,000 troops, and they were all new troops with insufficient training.
While the troops were stretched thin, there were no outstanding generals among Lingling's defenders. According to the orders sent back by Chen Long, Xi Zhicai became the military advisor who led all directions and was fully responsible. Zhang He became the general who assisted Xi Zhicai in guarding Lingling.
Xi Zhicai deployed defense and needed talents everywhere, so he ended the three-month training for the imperial examination candidates ahead of schedule. Hu Zhen was originally suspected of being Dong Zhuo, but now that Dong Zhuo is dead, no one is investigating Hu Zhen's identity for the time being. Xi Zhicai and Zhang He knew his martial arts skills and sent him to Hushan, which happened to be on Jinxuan's movement route, as the first barrier to defend the left army, and Bu Zhi Bu Zishan became his military advisor.
Xi Zhicai set up three barriers in the middle. The first route was chosen in the canyon of Niushan, and a stronghold was set up to prevent the enemy's army from passing through. The guarding generals were Zhu Zhi and Zhu Junli, the military advisor was Xiang Lang Xiang Juda, and the deputy general Bao Long led 3,000 troops.
The second road is located at the end of Niushan Canyon and is used to respond to Zhu Zhi's retreat at any time. The guard generals were Liu Xun and Liu Zitai, and the military advisor was Lu Su and Lu Zijing, leading five thousand troops.
The third road was located on the plain in the northern suburbs of Lingling, on the side of the Xiang River. A large stronghold was set up and was personally led by Zhang He. Military advisors Xue Zong and Xue Jingwen, with assistant generals Zhang Nan and Chen Ying, led 7,000 troops.
Xi Zhicai ordered the remaining troops to guard the city, and the civil servants from Jiang Wan on down also performed their duties and made logistical preparations. Jiang Wan's reserve military supplies accumulated over the past few days were continuously sent to the city.
Only one person, because his surname was Cai, was placed under house arrest by Xi Zhicai. This person is Cai Xun and Cai Wangxun from Xiangyang who were in the imperial examination. He was Cai Mao's younger brother. When Cai Mao attacked, Cai Xun couldn't run because he was training in a remote place.
Jinxuan, named Yuanji, was born in Jingzhao. He may be a descendant of Jin Rixi, a famous official in the Western Han Dynasty. He had a son, Jin Yi. He served as the minister of Huangmen and the prefect of Hanyang. He successively held the official positions of Yilang and Zhonglang, and finally became the prefect of Wuling in Jingzhou.
Jin Xuan's subordinate Gong Zhi also tried to dissuade him from sending troops this time, saying that Chen Longfei was an easy person to provoke, and Wuling had only a small number of generals. As long as they were just following the story, why would they send out their entire army to cooperate with Liu Biao?
Jin Xuan didn't think so. He felt that there was no heavy defense in Lingling this time. If he didn't go, he might not be able to take advantage of anything, and it would be difficult to offend Liu Biao. So he took his family with him and marched from the west, encountering Hu Zhen's troops.
At this time, the situation suddenly changed and Changsha fell. Liu Pan and Cai Mao's troops suddenly withdrew quickly without even saying hello, leaving Jin Xuan confused and left there.
Before Jin Xuan could understand what kind of person Xi Zhicai was, he had already been keenly aware of Wuling's emptiness. The three troops originally used for defense suddenly turned into weapons for attack. Fifteen thousand soldiers turned into the front, middle and rear troops of the attack and headed straight for Wuling. At the same time, Xi Zhicai had already laid out a strategy to encircle and suppress Jin Xuan. He personally led his lieutenants out of the city, fought with Hu Zhen in front and back, and defeated Jin Xuan at the foot of Hu Mountain.
Unexpectedly, Wuling was engaged in Gong Zhi, and he thought Jin Xuan would not listen to his plan, so he had already surrendered to Zhang He. The city top of Wuling was filled with Qinglong flags. Jin Xuan had no choice but to escape into the wilderness and disappeared without a trace.
Xi Zhicai fought this battle very well, losing almost no soldiers. He used subtle methods to defeat Jinxuan and occupied Wuling. He actually realized Zhou Buji's strategy and from then on he was powerful in Jingzhou.
Xi Zhicai ordered Zhang He to personally guard Wuling and increase the number of troops to 20,000. Weapons, food and other strategic materials were continuously sent to Wuling to prevent Liu Biao's army from counterattacking. Since then, he has stepped up training of new soldiers and confronted Liu Biao. Liu Biao suffered a big loss, but because of the delicate situation, he did not dare to raise troops again immediately.
Chen Long and the two conspirators dressed up again and went to visit Mr. Shui Jing, Sima Hui. On the way, we passed a place surrounded by green bamboos, with white water in the south, purple peaks in the north, and Mount Songyuan in the distance. The mountains and rivers depended on each other, and the hills and mountains were undulating and winding. It was really a beautiful scenery. Chen Long turned around and glanced at Zhou Buyi, who understood and said, "My lord, this place is called Wollongong."
Chen Long was overjoyed and chanted loudly: "If the mountain is not high, it will be famous if there are immortals. If the water is not deep, if there is a dragon, it will be spiritual. Be filial and have no doubts. Follow me into the mountains quickly."
The mountain road is winding, and indeed the mountains are not high but elegant, the water is not deep but clear, the land is not wide but flat, and the forests are not large but lush. At the end of the mountain road, a village was faintly revealed. At the head of the village was a wine shop with quite a few people sitting around.
Chen Long thought of Cui Zhouping, Shi Guangyuan and others, and suddenly became interested. First, let's see if there are any experts in the wine shop in this village? After inviting everyone to sit down at the wine shop, special forces were guarding the wine shop.
The boss and the drinkers saw Chen Long crowding into the village, and they all stood up and saluted. There were only two people in Confucian uniforms in the corner. They just looked at it briefly, then lowered their heads and drank by themselves, as if Chen Long was nothing.
Chen Long became interested instead, walked over directly, bowed and asked: "You two brothers seem to be scholars. Have you ever heard of Zhuge Jin in Wollongong, Nanyang?"
