On the south bank of the Han River, at the Wu Army's camp, tens of thousands of sergeants were gathering on the shore, preparing to board ships in batches. After several days of rest, they would once again embark on the journey to attack Shiyang.
On the handsome ship, Sun Quan was leaning against the ship wall with his sword in hand, watching the soldiers boarding the ship one by one on the shore. His bright armor set off his heroic figure.
On his left and right were two generals, Zhu Ran and Zhou Tai. Zhou Tai was taciturn and his sharp eyes were always paying attention to his surroundings in case anything unusual happened.
Zhu Ran was constantly discussing the attack strategy with Sun Quan. He suggested that the attack on Shiyang should be carried out in one fell swoop, without giving Wenpin a chance to breathe. Sun Quan also agreed with this method. After all, they did not have much time to fight with Wenpin. It’s a waste of time to hire someone.
As for the reason for the previous failure, they had figured out the reason for the failure through scouts and careful investigation. They knew that the reinforcements that raided that night were just the more than a thousand soldiers and horses gathered along the way by Xun Yu, the secretary-general of Cao Wei who went south to comfort the army. They were not Cao Wei's. Reinforcements arrived in large numbers.
Although this news made Sun Quan and his ministers ashamed and angry, at least a large number of reinforcements representing Cao Wei had not arrived yet, and they still had the strength advantage to besiege the isolated city.
So today, Sun Quan once again gathered his troops to board the north bank, preparing to capture Shiyang City in one fell swoop.
As soon as he stood on the ground on the north bank of the Han River, Sun Quan got some not-so-good news. After a few days of delay, two more supporting troops were added to Shiyang City. Although they are all soldiers from the nearest counties and counties in Henan and Yangzhou, and their combined strength is only three to four thousand, but with the addition of fresh troops to the defenders, it will be more difficult to attack.
At the top of Shiyang City, after hearing the news that the Wu army was invading again, a group of Wei soldiers were already ready. Even though the Wu army was approaching fiercely, Wenpin and other generals who defended the city showed little panic.
Firstly, not long after the great victory, the morale of the soldiers and civilians in the city was booming. Secondly, two more supporting troops were added to the city in the past few days, bringing the number of soldiers and horses in the city to no less than 10,000. In this way, Wenpin was very confident, and he was confident that he would give Sun Quan another good look with the help of the strong city.
So Wenpin pointed to the outside of the city with Xun Yu beside him quite relaxedly and commented on the advantages and disadvantages of the Wu army's camp and formation.
"Wu Thief's method of setting up a camp still has merit." Xun Yu stroked his beard and said with a smile to Wen Pin. Although he was born as a scribe, he had a good family background and was familiar with military formations and tactics, which was evident from his achievements in the previous night attack.
Wenpin nodded and laughed and said: "Haha, Zhu Ran, Pan Zhang and others are not ordinary people. If they can't even set up the camp well, I have already led the army to rush out. How can I allow the Wu thieves to calmly enter the camp?" ?」
"What the old general said is absolutely correct." Xun Yu said in agreement.
Three miles outside the city, Sun Quan was patrolling the soldiers and setting up camp. Suddenly, a personal guard rushed over from behind, knelt on one knee in front of Sun Quan and said: "Your Majesty, there is an urgent report from Wuchang." He said that he was holding his arms in his arms. The emergency report was taken out and presented to Sun Quan.
Sun Quan quickly took it and took a look. His body couldn't help but swayed. Zhou Tai quickly supported him.
Although Sun Quan was furious at this moment, he was a British leader after all. Knowing that there were soldiers watching around him, he immediately adjusted his breathing and calmly told Zhou Tai in a low voice: "Youping, please tell the generals to come to the tent to discuss matters. "
Zhou Tai knew that something big was going to happen, so he didn't dare to neglect, and immediately arranged for his personal guards to go and deliver the order. After a while, except for Pan Zhang and a few other generals who were busy setting up camp and other matters, all the other generals came together.
The generals looked stunned, not knowing what had happened. Not long after the army landed ashore, when they were setting up camp, the king urgently summoned himself and others. Could it be that he wanted to send troops to attack the city immediately? It's just that this is a bit anxious.
Everyone was confused and looked at Sun Quan with curiosity.
When Sun Quan saw that everyone had arrived, he could no longer suppress the anger in his heart. He threw the slip in his hand and shouted loudly: "Look, Han Zong has defected to Cao Wei."
"What, this happened?"
The generals looked shocked and looked around. They all couldn't believe this. That was the general who Sun Quan had specially arranged to stay behind.
His father, Han Dang, was a veteran who had fought with the old lord Sun Jian in all directions. He had made outstanding achievements and had been favored by the country. It was really unbelievable that a man like Han Zong would surrender to Cao Wei at this juncture.
Unbelievable.
It's just that my own king has said so, so there is definitely no truth to this matter. Zhu Ran stood up, picked up the slip, read it quickly, and passed it on with a sigh. Only then did the generals understand the whole story.
As the son of the veteran Han Dang, everyone will be very familiar with Han Zong, the second generation. He is lustful, extravagant and domineering. He is a complete playboy and has none of his father's grace and bearing.
Sun Quan also knew that Han Zong had bad conduct, but as a veteran who had followed his family for three generations, he trusted Han Zong very much and was willing to use someone like Han Zong. After Han Dang died this year and took office, Sun Quan asked Han Zong to attack the marquis and lead the army.
In August, he sent troops to attack Wei and gave him the important task of staying in Wuchang. This was a great deal of kindness. Even if Han Zong raped women and had sex with others while he was in office, Sun Quan did not blame Han Zong for Han Dang's sake. he.
Unexpectedly, this guy was so ambitious and ungrateful that he led thousands of his family members, men and women to surrender to Cao Wei overnight.
Han Zong's defection was a huge blow to Sun Quan. At this moment, he wanted to peel off his skin, cramps, crush his bones and scatter his ashes. He gritted his teeth and said, "I want to prepare an imperial edict and send it to the world. Whoever captures Han Zong will be granted the title of Marquis of Tingting and a reward of ten thousand gold."
After hearing this, everyone knew that Sun Quan hated Han Zong very much and did not dare to say anything, so they had to accept the offer in a low voice.
Zhu Ran found this matter quite strange. He couldn't understand why Han Zong wanted to surrender to Wei and was able to lead thousands of people to flee overnight. Judging from his actions, he seemed to be well prepared. The reason behind his defection may still need to be investigated in detail. It will definitely connect with Cao Wei, and Wei will have to guard against what he will do with this.
"Please, Your Majesty, temporarily calm down the thunderous anger. This thief, Han Zong, has no regard for the country's favor and deserves death. However, why this thief surrendered to Wei and how he fled north must be thoroughly investigated to prevent Wei thief from doing this again." Zhu Ran said sharply.
Sun Quan suddenly woke up and realized that what Zhu Ran said was very reasonable. If Cao Wei lured Han Zong to defect, there was no guarantee that others would be seduced by him. If another defection occurred, the country would be in chaos.
So he nodded and said, "What Yi Feng said makes sense. This matter must be thoroughly investigated." He had already made a long-term decision in his mind. It was time to vigorously activate school affairs.
Zhu Ran added: "If Han Zong escapes, Wuchang's defense will definitely be in chaos. Although there are princes and prime ministers in the city, there is no guarantee that anything will go wrong. I still hope that your Majesty will investigate carefully."
At this time, Sun Quan had calmed down. Thinking of the changes caused by Han Zong's defection gave him a headache. The army was about to attack the city. He didn't expect such changes to happen to the capital. It was really difficult to decide whether to stay or leave.
"Yes, there must be riots in the capital at this moment, but the army is standing still at the gates of the city. Do you think the army will continue to attack the city or return to Wuchang temporarily?"
When Sun Quan asked this, all the generals knew that he intended to withdraw. However, the two armies had not achieved any success in the Northern Expedition. At this moment, no one dared to suggest withdrawing the troops, otherwise they would not be able to bear the consequences of the Supreme Leader in the future.
Even Zhu Ran didn't dare to make the first suggestion. He didn't expect to be left in the cold and said ambiguously: "Your Majesty, Han Zong's incident is irretrievable. But if our army comes back and doesn't fight, the morale of the soldiers will be low." It’s going to fall. It’s better to wait and see for two more days and wait for new news to come in before making a decision.”
Sun Quan had no other choice now, so he agreed: "Then wait for two more days. Tomorrow the army will besiege the city first, and we will not attack for the time being."
Just as the generals were about to agree, a personal guard suddenly broke into the tent, raised the sealed letter in his hand and said: "Report, please report to the Supreme Being. Urgent report from Xiangyang."
Why is there another urgent report? Or is it coming from Xiangyang? Do you know whether it is joy or sorrow?
The generals now had a headache when they heard the urgent report, and Sun Quan was the same, but he had to take it apart and take a look.
"Qi Sha Gu Ye!"
A roar came from the main seat, which frightened everyone. Just when they didn't know how to respond, they heard Sun Quan say feebly: "Yi Feng, send the order, retreat."
