Cheng Pu, Han Dang, and Huang Gai had served the Sun family since the time of Sun Jian, and they all had high prestige in Jiangdong. However, because Sun Quan continued to promote new people to counterbalance the old officials of Sun Jian and Sun Ce, the voice of these veteran generals gradually weakened and they were gradually marginalized. The naval force leaving Jiangdong.
Although Ling Tong was reckless and impulsive, he was reused because he attracted Sun Quan's attention.
Seeing him fleeing to Liling in embarrassment, the three veterans all showed incredulous expressions.
"What do you mean by public achievements? Aren't you attacking Linxiang?" Han Dang asked doubtfully.
Ling Tong blushed and replied: "I was about to conquer Laixiang, but Gan Ning led his army to reinforce me and I failed..."
Han Dang took a sharp breath: "Hey... I heard that Gan Ning is in Lingling, why did he rush to reinforce him so quickly? Could it be that the master's plan has been seen through?"
Huang Gai frowned: "There have been constant patrols from the south these past two days, and I always feel that there is something wrong."
"Could the incident in the south be related to Guiyang Haopu?" Han Dang guessed.
"If Hao Pu still has the energy to take care of the north, then Zi Heng and Zi Qi won't have to worry about it..." Han Dang nodded.
...
Cheng Pu looked at Ling Tong and stretched out his hand to stop the discussion between the two, "Don't worry about other places for now. Our current task is to take Changsha first, and then attack Guiyang with Ziheng and Ziqi. As for Lingling, it is the final arrangement." , Gongji, please first talk about the situation in Linxiang, how many reinforcements did Gan Ning have?"
"Uh... there should be three or four thousand people... but our troops fought hard to kill most of them. Now there are only more than 2,000 defenders left in Linxiang, but all my troops have..." Ling Tong's words Although he didn't finish speaking, he already expressed his complete meaning.
Cheng Pu stroked his mottled goatee and nodded in confirmation: "I heard that there are three thousand garrison troops in Changsha. Counting Gan Ning's reinforcements, there are seven or eight thousand men. Gongji uses five thousand naval troops to fight the siege and can defeat the opponent. Five thousand people, even if the whole army is wiped out, it will still be proud.”
Ling Tong blushed and nodded. He had to lie to save his face. He didn't dare to admit that he was defeated by Gan Ning, and the defeat was so tragic.
"Mr. Cheng, I just saw the cavalry mobilizing, and several old generals frowned. Could it be that the road is not going well?" Ling Tong asked, changing the subject.
Cheng Pu nodded and replied: "We have been very successful in the past few days. We have captured Youxian, Chaling, Ancheng, and Liling. However, there are dozens of scouts from Jingzhou following us. The small number of cavalry sent not only failed to catch up, but also lost ground before and after. I have just discussed with Gong Fu and Yi Gong to gather all the cavalry and swat these 'flies' to death."
"Cheng Gong has thousands of cavalry here, and they are all used to surround and suppress dozens of Jingzhou scouts?" Ling Tong was surprised.
"Public achievements cannot be underestimated. The scouts have been coming and going in the past two days, and our march information has been grasped by others. If this continues, it will be detrimental to the battle." Huang Gai explained.
Ling Tong quickly comforted him: "Just now, Duke Cheng said that they were scouts from the south, that is, people from Guiyang or Lingling. No matter how clear they are in probing, it is meaningless. Fu Shiren has already told the truth to the lord. Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang and others entered Sichuan twice. , the soldiers taken away were all drawn from the four counties of Jingnan, and now there are very few troops left in the four counties."
Cheng Pu nodded, "The information provided by Gongzhi is very important. I speculate that the three counties of Changsha, Guiyang, and Lingling have the same number of garrison troops. Since Gan Ning brought four thousand to aid Linxiang, Lingling should be very empty now, so I'm going to divide our forces into two groups."
Han Dang, Huang Gai, and Ling Tong all showed expectant expressions. Cheng Pu continued: "Gan Ning is a strong general. I am going to lead 20,000 infantry to take Linxiang first. The remaining 5,000 cavalry can be taken from Guiyang and Ling." Ling, Duke Fu or Lord Yi, who among you would like to be the general?"
"I'll go." Han Dang cupped his fists and asked for a tassel. He was from Liaoxi County. He was skilled in bow and horse and had excellent riding skills. He was the best choice to lead the cavalry.
Huang Gai also stood up and clasped his fists: "I am from Quanling, and I am familiar with the environment of Lingling and Guiyang counties. Yi Gong still goes with the deputy governor."
"That's fine, then you go." Han Dang also wanted to give this old guy a chance. Huang Gai has not been reused for a long time due to multiple injuries, and he is still just a middle man.
Cheng Pu also had this idea. If Huang Gai could capture the two counties, Sun Quan would naturally promote him for his merit. He would not leave the opportunity to Ling Tong. Firstly, he needed to lead the way to Linxiang, and secondly, his rank was higher than that of Huang Gai. high.
When dividing the troops, Cheng Pu told him: "First, the duke will swat away the flies, then drive straight to capture Lingling, and finally turn back to capture Guiyang. The Lord will definitely give you a heavy reward after the deed is accomplished."
"Rewards don't matter, my lord has such great ambitions, I am willing to fight for him."
Huang Gai received the general's order and drove his troops south. His five thousand cavalry were divided into twenty teams and used wolf pack tactics to encircle and suppress the scouts.
Under such a dense formation, the activity trajectory of the scouts was slowly reduced. Except for a small number of people who circled eastward to pursue Cheng Pu, the remaining more than a hundred riders were driven to the narrow area east of the Xiang River in the middle of Liling and Yinshan Mountains.
This section of the Xiang River can reach Hengshan Mountain dozens of miles to the west. The waterway here has a strange U-shaped turn. Because Huang Gai was familiar with the direction and topography of the Xiang River, he premeditatedly forced the scouts to a 'dead end'.
High-end hunters often appear as prey.
While Huang Gai was planning the scouts, Lan Tian locked the U-turn area from the beginning.
The Last Stand has been successful once in history, not to mention that people have such a decision to risk their lives and survive, but the horse they sit on cannot have.
When Huang Gai's 5,000 'Praying Mantises' forced the more than 100 'Cicadas' scouts to the Xiangshui River, Gao Shun's 8,000 'Oriole's secretly encircled them from the hiding place behind.
"Dismount and surrender. I see that more than a hundred of you are advancing and retreating together. It is not easy to be trained like this. Why not just be loyal to my lord, so as not to waste your life." Huang Gai persuaded him to surrender with sincerity on his face.
Sima Chuqing of the reconnaissance camp pointed to the rear and said: "Is Sun Quan worthy of our allegiance? Old general, it is better to look behind."
"At this point, you still have to show off..." Huang Gai said as he turned around, and was shocked to see the setting sun shining on the armor, as if shining on a group of solar panels.
Huang Gai swallowed his saliva, when did Jingnan have such a well-equipped army?
"What are you..." Huang Gai was very surprised.
"The ambition to be trapped in the battle will lead to death but not life." Chu Qing took the lead in chanting.
After hearing this, the words "trapped in the camp" suddenly appeared in Huang Gai's mind. Wasn't it said that there were only 800 people? If you look at it, there are probably more than 8,000 people.
Beep beep... beep beep beep...
The rhythmic whistle sounded, and the trapped troops moved forward in neat steps.
Huang Gai drew out his sword and shouted: "Cavalry has a natural advantage over infantry, even heavy infantry. Leave one to deal with these rats, and the rest will turn their horses and charge back with me to kill..."
"Kill..." Five thousand cavalry roared at the same time.
Huang Gai took the lead and rushed to the front. When the two armies were about to collide, the enemy troops on the opposite side suddenly changed their formations. Hundreds of soldiers with long swords inserted directly into the gaps in the shield array. He had never seen anything like this in his many years of fighting. Strange arms.
