NOVPUBChen Xi, when riled up, wasn’t just fooling around. The previous assault on Faan County was one thing, as a seventy-thousand-strong army surrounded a minor city defended by an obscure junior officer. Taking it down in one fell swoop effectively sealed off Lub County, whether they could retake it was another matter altogether.
After dividing his forces, Chen Xi’s troops were greatly reduced, with only Hua Xiong’s seven thousand Private Troop, Yu Jin’s four thousand veterans, his own five thousand soldiers, and the four thousand men led by Xuu Yi and Wu Dun—a sum total of merely twenty thousand men. Fortunately, all were seasoned veterans; otherwise, he would have had little confidence in taking Runan across the states with such a scant force.
The good thing at this time was that there was no need to carry food and forage. Chen Xi advanced almost in a straight line. When they ran out of provisions, they simply took them from Yuzhou. It must be said that this grain-producing region was truly favorable, and with a bumper harvest this year, Yuzhou was not short on food. As Chen Xi marched, he borrowed grains, setting his goal to press down on Pingyu in Runan Commandery within a month!
Chen Xi strove to maintain a forced march, extinguishing several cities along the way. Thankfully, the defensive forces Yuan Shu left in Yuzhou were insufficient, and after Liu Bei divided his army, Zhang Xun seriously focused on Liu Bei, the Monarch.
Liu Bei had already fought several times in Peii County of Peii State, the Liu Family’s founding locale, but clearly hadn’t won a single battle. On the first day, after Liu Bei’s attempt at a surprise attack failed, falling for Jia Xu’s stratagem, he lost his main camp and was chased by Zhang Fei’s forces for a whole night.
Thereafter, steadfast in Peii State but lured out by Jia Xu’s design, he nearly lost his life in a slaughter by Zhang Fei. He then fled, only to be pursued by Zhang Fei under Jia Xu’s orders. After a hard chase of three days, the moment Zhang Xun set foot in Linju, Zhang Fei slaughtered his way in. Now, trapped in Qiaoo County by Jia Xu with inferior forces, they could only seek help from all sides, and it wouldn’t be long before Yuan Shu received an urgent report from Qiaoo County.
At this point, Chen Xi was extremely relieved that Yuan Shu had not yet moved his ancestral home to Shouchun City in Jiujiang Commandery of Yangzhou, which was where Yuan Shu later declared himself emperor. His home was still in Pingyu, and although distant, there weren’t many obstructions along the way. Chen Xi rejected Hua Xiong’s suggestion to detour through Chen State and kept to a straight line. Given that Jia Wenhe’s battle was going well, keeping Zhang Xun busy, their only remaining obstacles were Xun Zheng and Qiao Rui.
Within ten days, Chen Xi, leading Hua Xiong and Yu Jin, broke through two cities in a straight line. Faan County was taken by a surprise attack, and following, Xia County was conquered by Yu Jin after Hua Xiong, with Faan’s Command Talisman, lured out Yuan Shu’s forces, and Yu Jin assaulted and captured the city within half an hour.
On the fifteenth day, with his troops disguised in Yuan Shu’s Army uniforms, Chen Xi pressed towards Ku County. They passed Jianping with Jia Xu’s officially dispatched orders for Zhang Xun, thoroughly defeating Xun Zheng, and thus Ku County surrendered easily.
After that, there was chaos in the orders within Xun Zheng’s defense area. Chen Xi used reasonable transfer orders to take Ningping and I County.
At last, on the twenty-fifth day, they reached the proximity of Runan, with Pingyu just ahead. However, at this point, all their prior cunning tricks became meaningless. Qia Rui, having learned of Chen Xi’s usual tactics from Xun Zheng, simply sealed the city gates. The thirty thousand Yuzhou Army wouldn’t engage in battle with Chen Xi—defending Pingyu was a great achievement. Should it fall, breaking the link between Jingzhou and Yuzhou, any number of Qia Ruis wouldn’t be enough to answer for it.
"Strategist, how do we attack this?" Hua Xiong asked, glaring at the mighty city before him, feeling nothing but contempt for Qia Rui who, having so many soldiers at his disposal, did not dare to come out for battle and instead acted like a turtle retracting its head into its shell.
"Let’s see how it goes. If Yuan Shu shows any intention of sending reinforcements within five days, we should stop our endeavor. If within five days, Yuan Shu shows no sign of sending reinforcements," Chen Xi said as he gazed up at the Giant City with a long sigh, "then we will have to take it down, as for how to do that…"
Siege warfare was a skilled operation, and in ancient times some people relied purely on strategic ingenuity to conquer cities, while others depended merely on overwhelming numbers. Clearly, if Chen Xi intended to rely on such numbers with the few men at his disposal, it would truly be a death wish.
Hua Xiong was also speechlessly indifferent. Pingyu, this giant city, was full of well-trained soldiers and ample provisions. If the enemy completely holed up like a turtle withdrawing into its shell, then without a hundred thousand men grinding away for a year and a half, breaking through the city would be unthinkable.
It was just like Yuan Shu’s current assault on Jiangling; unless he could take Jiangling in one fell swoop, dragging out the siege could likely lead to Liu Biao turning defeat into victory. It reminded one of Cao Cao’s siege of Ye City, which took over a year without success, and in the end, it was only by resorting to flooding that he barely managed to capture Ye City.
Considering these points, Chen Xi felt a headache coming on. If he could take Pingyu, he would effectively trap the entire Yuan Family, and Yuan Shu would most likely fall into disarray. However, Yuan Shu had only one son and his protection was no joke. The thirty thousand soldiers in Pingyu and the general Qiaoi Rui were essentially there to guard Yuan Yao, the Yuan Family’s legitimate son. So, the thought of targeting the Yuan Family’s youngsters should be extinguished; the focus now was how to capture Pingyu with as few casualties as possible.
Liu Bei and Cao Cao’s conquest of Yuzhou had long been laid out on Yuan Shu’s table. Initially, he thought it was just a minor irritation, but the recent days’ reports showed that neither Zhang Xun, Xun Zheng, Li Feng, nor Liang Gang could hold their ground against Cao Cao and Liu Bei.
Especially Cao Mengde, whose movements were so swift that they seemed unbelievable to Yuan Shu. On the first day he received news of Cao Mengde’s troops setting out from Yingchuan, Yuan Shu was cursing Cao Mengde for seeking death, vowing to teach him a lesson when he returned. Yet, before the second day even arrived, Cao Mengde had already captured Yangzhai, Yingyin, and Yingyang—the three most important prefecture cities in Yingchuan!
Subsequently, news of crisis emerged from places like Xiangcheng, Dingling, Kunyang, and Wuyang, and the very next day after receiving the crisis reports, Yuan Shu’s urgent orders hadn’t even reached the various locations before news of their fall was already laid out on his table.
As for Liu Bei’s side, the situation didn’t look much better, but compared to Cao Mengde’s unpredictable siege techniques, Liu Xuande was much more stable. At least, with victories on all three fronts, Liu Xuande now found each of his troops blocked beneath the seriously-built prefecture cities.
"Summon Fengxian." Yuan Shu ordered the messenger by his side. Lately, Yuan Shu felt that Lyu Bu was not putting forth his best effort. Every day, punctually, he would go and fight Huang Zhong during the siege, but so far, there was no sign of either Huang Zhong or Lyu Bu being wounded. Moreover, after each battle, the morale of the defending troops of Jiangling soared, with their originally low spirits being uplifted to extreme highs due to Lyu Bu and Huang Zhong’s timely duels.
"General, Yuan Gonglu is looking for you again." Zhang Liao said with a bow.
"Ignore him. Tell the messenger I am practicing martial arts. Aside from calling me to kill Huang Zhong every day, he says nothing else. I fight with all my heart every day, and since coming to serve under Yuan Gonglu, I have conquered vast territories for him, yet not only has he not rewarded me, he also scolds me for not being able to kill Huang Zhong! Does Yuan Gonglu treat me fairly!" Lyu Bu said angrily.
As Yuan Shu’s Army’s morale gradually waned, Yuan Shu’s resentment towards Lyu Bu grew. He completely disregarded that Lyu Bu was a distinguished contributor, having conquered vast territories for him, and that Lyu Bu was not even his subordinate, which naturally led to Lyu Bu harboring resentment towards Yuan Shu.(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit qidian.com to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)
