Jingzhou has many mountains and rivers. It does not produce war horses, and there are few horses in the army. There are less than a thousand war horses in Quanling.
The war horses that Lan Tian asked Gao Shun to take aboard were the forces deployed by the trapped army for the reconnaissance battalion. As the saying goes, the soldiers and horses should go ahead before food and grass are used, so Lan Tian ranked the intelligence as the highest priority.
Six hundred people in the trapped army had mounts, and four hundred of them were in the reconnaissance camp. Their armor was strong and their weapons were excellent, and everyone had a mount.
Lan Tian asked Gao Shun to train them as 'special forces', so the scouts were the first to be dispatched in every battle.
The trapped troops were fully armed and dispatched, which attracted the people near the pier to stop and watch. I don't know who among the crowd got up, and strong cheers and shouts echoed on both sides of the Xiang River.
At the mixed military and civilian wharf in the north of Quanling City, soldiers and horses have been coming in and out since the afternoon. There are people flowing in the four directions of east, west, south and south. It is not until the sun sets that everything calms down. Among them, the fastest marching speed is the Quanling navy commanded by Gan Ning. , although the scale is only a thousand people, but the combat effectiveness is really powerful.
The five hundred men in this naval force were part of Gan Ning's army. They followed him from Bajun to Jiangling, from Jiangling to Jiangxia, and from Jiangxia to Jingnan. They were elites trained in actual battles.
At night, the stars in the sky shine on the Xiang River, and the waters where the warships pass shine with fire.
It was nearly a day's journey from Quanling to Changsha, so Gan Ning ordered the warships to sail directly to Linxiang without stopping at night.
The sailors changed shifts and rowed oars, and arrived twenty miles south of Linxiang before dawn. Gan Ning ordered the fleet to dock to rest and cook, and sent out scout boats to find out the news.
An hour later, the scout not only brought back the news, but also brought back someone who surprised Gan Ning, Liao Li, the governor of Changsha.
Liao Li no longer had the reputation of being a famous scholar in Jingxiang. His hair was unkempt, his clothes were stained with mud, and he looked haggard, as if he had not slept all night.
"Why is Prefect Liao here? Has Linxiang City been lost?" Gan Ning asked in surprise.
Liao Li lowered his head and said nothing, his stomach growling.
The scout replied: "The Jiangdong warships are docked on the east bank of the Xiang River. From a distance, there are probably more than a hundred ships, but there are almost no guards on board..."
Gan Ning looked solemn, lifted Liao Li up, and shouted angrily: "My lord has appointed you to an important position, why don't you defend the enemy in Linxiang? Has Ling Tong destroyed the city?"
Liao Li was originally in a trance, but he woke up after being scolded by Gan Ning. He could only see him hesitating: "Linxiang? It seems... it seems... it seems that it hasn't been broken yet, but I guess I won't be able to hold on for long..."
"Why are you here until the city is broken?" Gan Ning felt like he was going crazy.
"We had been holding on for two days. Later, we heard that Sun Quan would follow up with an army of 50,000 to 60,000 people. How could Linxiang withstand it with only 2,000 or 3,000 people? The most terrible thing is that they would not let me go if they broke the city, so at dawn I took advantage of the enemy's relaxation and sneaked out of the city, but I didn't know where it was. Fortunately, I met your patrol boat by the river..." Liao Li cried.
"Then you just lost Linxiang?"
Liao Li was speechless in the face of Gan Ning's questioning. Gan Ning couldn't help but shake his head and sneer: "Didn't you just tell a few truths in the Yangtze River News and the rats in Jiangdong will hate you? You are really the same as the same... "
Liao Li was suddenly very excited: "This is not the case at all. Ling Tong framed General Lan and me for poisoning Zhou Yu, and wanted to use our heads to commemorate their governor. If I continued to stay in Linxiang, they might massacre the city... "
"What nonsense rumors do you believe?" Gan Ning looked at him contemptuously.
Liao Li shook his head and said, "This thing seems to be true. News came from Dongting Lake. Fu Shiren admitted it in front of General Guan..."
Gan Ning asked playfully: "Then you really poisoned Zhou Yu?"
"It's just that I'm wronged." Liao Li shook his head like a rattle, and then reminded very ridiculously: "General Gan quickly sent people to Quanling, and asked General Lan to flee immediately to Yizhou, Jiangdong. Who can bear such a big charge?"
"It's ridiculous, what kind of person is sir? Can these rats from Jiangdong allow him to escape?" Gan Ning sneered.
"How many troops are there in Jingzhou now? Jiangdong has sent 70,000 to 80,000 troops..." Liao Li swallowed.
Gan Ning opened his five fingers and asked: "How many Jiangdong soldiers are there outside Linxiang City? Are there five thousand?"
"There should have been so many at first, but they have no siege equipment. They have consumed a lot in the past two days. There should be about 4,000 people left. The city's defenders also lost a lot..." Liao Li lowered his head. answer.
Gan Ning leaned down and whispered: "I only have a thousand people here. Do you want to see how I defeat Ling Tong?"
Liao Li raised his head and stared with big eyes, and asked in disbelief: "How is that possible? Isn't it good to be alive?"
Gan Ning stood up and shouted: "Weigh anchor and set off."
"General Gan, are you serious?" Liao Li panicked and grabbed the side of the ship.
"There are no jokes in the army." As Gan Ning spoke, the warship beside him slowly pushed away from the shore.
"Can...can..." Liao Li hesitated. He wanted to escape from the warship, but he felt very shameless.
Gan Ning stretched out his hand to grab the rope on the big ship, turned around and said to the scout: "You will send Governor Liao to Yinshan County and hand him over to your husband."
"Wei." The scout received the order and steered the boat alone.
Liao Li looked back at the boat heading north. The Gan Ning on the bow was illuminated by the warm sun, like a golden sculpture. Although it looked good-looking, why did these reckless men want to die?
At the moment when they missed the boat, a cloth bag was thrown on the big ship. When Liao Li opened it, he found that it was dry food, and his stomach growled unsatisfactorily.
Gan Ning stood on the bow of the boat facing the wind, still guessing about Lan Tian's backup plan in Changsha. If he was prepared, why would Liao Li abandon the city and escape?
More than twenty warships of the Quanling navy sailed rapidly and rushed into Ling Tong's warships at lightning speed. Then the sailors on the warships, wearing soft armor and holding steel knives, jumped on like agile apes. enemy ship.
Gan Ning analyzed the intelligence from the scouts and guessed that Ling Tong was attacking the city during the day and returning to the ship to rest at night, so he rushed to seize the ship first.
There were less than three hundred miscellaneous soldiers on the Jiangdong warship. They were like chickens and ducks waiting to be slaughtered in front of the Quanling navy. The battle was over in less than half an hour.
Not far away, there were constant shouts of fighting in Linxiang. The Jiangdong soldiers were not good at attacking cities and had no equipment. It was not easy to storm a city. Fortunately, the defenders of Linxiang City were small and their combat effectiveness was not strong.
On the one hand, Ling Tongyong put up a good posture and climbed the city wall with a ladder. On the other hand, he used arrows to shoot rumors and threats into the city, which greatly undermined the fighting will of the defenders in the city.
After the prefect Liao Li escaped, Changsha Changshi Dong Dang wanted to open the city and surrender, but was executed by the city defense captain to establish his authority. The captain carried Dong Dang's head up the tower and expressed his intention to live and die with Linxiang.
Seeing Dong Dang's head fall, Ling Tong knew that he had lost an opportunity to break the city. He pointed at the man at the top of the city to persuade him to surrender: "You, a small captain, dare to attack and kill the superior. Even if you are lucky enough to defend the city today, he will How can Liu Bei tolerate you? Why don't you leave yourself a way out and follow Fu Shiren's example in surrendering to Jiangdong?"
The captain of Chengtou sneered: "I want Linxiang to take it based on my ability, but you have no way out, how can you have the face to persuade me?"
"I'm trying to persuade you, but you're so arrogant..." Ling Tong frowned.
The captain pointed to the southwest and said, "Look back and see for yourself. All your ships have escaped."
Because the distance was only two miles, Ling Tong turned around and saw the warship moving westward. He didn't understand why the boatmen moved the ship privately? So I immediately sent someone to check the situation.
Ling Tong felt that the man in the city was unusual, so he asked curiously: "Do you dare to leave your name? I will keep your body after the city is destroyed."
"Xiangyang Xizhen."
