Chapter 172: Saving People and Losing Land, Retreating Defense Line Lujiang, Wan County, inside the county magistrate's office. Five days had passed after Taishi Xiang arrived in An County. As news arrived from all sides, the situation gradually became clear, and Qin Zhen finally knew the whole story. It turned out that while they were capturing Lujiang, Sun Ce was also quietly planning a counterattack against Taishi Ci. As a result, when the two parties conspired together, the flaw appeared. First, Sun Ce led his navy back to Danyang, and then Liu Xun sent his navy eastward from Congyang Water Fort. When Sun Ce saw this, he immediately discovered something unusual. Then he decisively followed Zhou Yu's strategy and marched quietly at night. As expected, when Sun Ce arrived, their spies had not yet discovered him.

This time, Zhou Yu had obviously learned from his previous failure. Even though he had arrived in Jiujiang, he did not take direct action. Instead, he chose to use the horse-drawn boats to explore the movements of Liu Xun's navy. At the same time, he stopped advancing eastward and quietly let Sun Ce's troops march south in two groups. He went all the way to Yuyang, joined forces with Xu Yi, and marched quickly to attack Wanling. The whole way was to ambush between Chungu and Wanling! This led to the scene where Taishi Ci received the urgent news from Wanling. Afterwards, Taishi Ci hurried back to his army, but was ambushed by Sun Ce on the way. Taishi Ci was defeated and knew that Sun Ce was too powerful and Wanling could not be defended. So he led his men to break out and retreat towards Jing County. After Sun Ce won the battle, he did not pursue the enemy, but first took Chungu. He ordered Xu Yi to pretend that he was attacked from the rear and retreat, and then he falsely issued a military order to lure out Taishi Ci's troops and defeated them again. At this point, the two counties of Wanling and Chungu were recaptured by Sun Ce. As soon as Zhou Yu received the news, he led the navy westward. After learning that Liu Xun's navy was ambushed and defeated by Liu Bei, he divided his troops into two groups and sent them to the mouth of the river, while continuing westward to raid the Congyang stronghold. And then the current situation occurred! Qin Zhen captured Lujiang, and Lu Su defeated Liu Xun's navy. However, the power to control Jiang was firmly held by Zhou Yu. Not only did they recapture Wanling, but they also captured a large number of ships under Liu Xun's command! Faced with this situation, all the generals were annoyed, but Qin Zhen was the only one who remained calm. He looked at Taishi Ci's subordinates and said: "So, after General Taishi was defeated, he retreated into Jing County?" Taishi Ci's confidant was an old subordinate of his, named Wu Ji. This person has another identity, the legendary young general of Qu'a. However, Wu Ji had no experience of fighting against the thirteen generals alone, he was just a cavalry general under Taishi Ci.

When he was at Shenting, Wu Ji was just a cavalryman of Taishi Ci, and he happened to encounter Sun Ce and thirteen other cavalrymen including Han Dang, Song Qian, and Huang Gai. Seeing this, Taishi Ci rushed forward and fought with Sun Ce, and the two sides fought for a long time. Sun Ce stabbed Taishi Ci's mount and seized the halberd from Ci's neck. Ci also got Ce's helmet. The two men fought but there was no clear winner. Coincidentally, the two armies arrived at the same time, so they separated. On the way, Wu Ji, Han Dang and others just watched the fight and did not take any action. Later, Taishi Ci left Liu Yao, but because he was loyal to Wu Ji and had some bravery, he was promoted to a military marquis. He was far from the peerless general that later generations had speculated. Facing Qin Zhen's question, Wu Ji said: "That's right. The general has already arrived in Jing County, but he is worried that the deputy general is still in Lujiang. He is afraid that the deputy general will be worried after hearing the military report, so he asked me to come and deliver the message." "Besides, the general's army now has less than 2,000 people, while Sun Ce has more than 10,000." "The general ordered me to come here, and I also want to ask the military advisor, what are the arrangements for the next step?" This battle finally made Taishi Ci behave himself. Seeing that Sun Ce had blocked the river, he had already returned to Wanling. He suffered so many casualties that no matter how capable he was, he had no power to fight back. Seeing this, Qin Zhen couldn't help but shook his head and smiled: "Since our army has been stopped here and cannot move south, we have no further arrangements." "I am worried that Sun Ce has a large number of troops. You are alone now and are no match for him." "Let the general go west to Lingyang and persuade Zu Lang to go south to Yuzhang to defend it." "Don't continue to tangle with Sun Ce in Danyang!" In fact, in his opinion, the current situation is not good, but it is not extremely bad. At least their strategic goals in this battle were achieved. Lujiang was already in his hands, and Sun Ce was basically unable to go north before solving the problem of Jiangdong. They also arrived at Chaohu Lake to gather the ships they needed to build a navy. The most serious loss was that Taishi Ci's subordinates suffered heavy losses, and the control of the Yangtze River was taken over by Sun Ce. But this does not change anything. Although Taishi Ci was defeated, he is still alive. As long as he goes south to Yuzhang, he can form a fighting force again. Although their navy was blocked, at least they still had ships and people, which was much better than before when they had nothing! Anyway, the navy's ships still need training, whether in Chaohu or Pengze, the training is the same. The only thing that needs to be noted is that the navy cannot be destroyed by Sun Ce, and Taishi Ci must also be protected. He remembered that in the original history, Taishi Ci and Zu Lang were successively destroyed by Sun Ce.

After the two were killed, Sun Ce directly persuaded Hua Xin to surrender. Therefore, the only thing he could do now was to persuade Taishi Ci and Zu Lang to go south to Yuzhang. Combine the three forces together as their new force for their future march south. But when he said this, Wu Ji sighed: "Military Advisor, having said that, what if the general is unwilling to go south?" "In fact, the general intends to ask the military advisor to come south to reinforce and help us retake Wanling!" He naturally knew what Qin Zhen meant, but Taishi Ci was not the kind of person who would willingly accept defeat. Even if he was defeated and retreated to Jing County, he still had the heart to fight Sun Ce again. When Qin Zhen saw this, he shook his head and thought that this was the difference between guest generals and his own generals. Although Taishi Ci, as a guest general, had surrendered, he still retained his autonomy. In other words, Jiangdong is special and can accept the military system. If anyone under his command dared to disobey orders, he would have them dragged down and beaten with forty sticks without saying a word! If you can succeed in disobeying orders once, it means you are capable. Now that you have been defeated you still want to disobey orders. Do you really think military law is a joke? But now the journey is long, so he can only smile: "I know this myself, but how can I lead my army southward when Sun Ce is blocking the river?" "Just go back and tell Ziyi that if you save the people and lose the land, both the people and the land will be saved; if you save the land and lose the people, both the people and the land will be lost!" "We are retreating today to accumulate strength so that we can take back the lost territory tomorrow!" "The situation is like this now. If I just act like a common man, how can I be considered a great general?" "Please tell me exactly what I said. I think Ziyi will definitely follow me and head south after hearing this!" Wu Ji heard this and nodded: "Put it down, military advisor. After I go south, I will repeat these words to the general!" After saying this, he was about to get up and go back to report. But at this time, Taishi Xiang hurriedly stood up and said: "If the general returns, I will follow him!" He originally wanted to go to Shouchun with Qin Zhen. But now seeing Taishi Ci being beaten like this, he, as a son, could not abandon his father and go north alone. But Wu Ji saw this and smiled at him: "Major General, you can't do that. In fact, the general asked me to go north this time, and he also wanted to tell the major general to go north with peace of mind." "The situation in the south is urgent right now. If the Major General goes south, it will be difficult for the General to take care of everything." "It would be better to follow the military advisor north and wait for orders in Shouchun first."

Qin Zhen looked at Taishi Xiang like this and advised him: "Yuan Fu, don't be like this. Although our army is unable to move south now, we must fight with Sun Ce!" "In a few months at most, our army will march south." "Yuan Fu is not of much help if he goes south now, so why not stay here first and join forces with Zi Yi when we go south in the future!" Taishi Xiang listened to what the two said and realized that the current situation was special, so he had no choice but to nod and agree. After Wu Ji received the order, he immediately left the mansion. But when the generals saw this, they all looked solemn. While thinking, Qiao Rui stood up and bowed in a deep voice. "Military Advisor, Sun Ce has suddenly returned and not only recaptured Spring Valley, but also blocked the river. How should our army respond?" "The waterway is now related to the lifeline of our army. If Sun Ce intercepts the Jingzhou merchant ships, I am afraid that our army will be unable to maintain its operations!" Taishi Ci’s problem is one thing, and their problem is another. With Sun Ce controlling the Yangtze River waterway, their throat was controlled. As long as the navy blocking the river does not go, they will have no chance to go south. Because Jiangdong is vast and sparsely populated, supply is difficult. Even if they use a strategy to cross the river and head south, their supply line will be cut off by Sun Ce's army. Similarly, if the waterways are controlled by Sun Ce, the grain they purchase from Jingzhou will also be intercepted! It is only March now, and there are still several months before summer grain is harvested. As long as Sun Ce uses more ruthless means and does not let in any food, the situation in Huainan will probably be difficult to maintain! Facing Qiao Rui's question, Qin Zhen thought for a while and said: "The situation is stronger than the people, Sun Ce's navy is strong, our army has no choice but to shrink the defense line!" "Sun Ce is now trying to block our army's way south with his navy, but there are more than just navy forces in Jiangdong on the Chu River." "Now that our army's way into the water has been blocked by him, we need the help of the Jingzhou navy." "But this matter is of great importance and cannot be accomplished in the short term. I will have to wait until I return with my troops before considering it!" "As for when I return, you must gather the people, fortify the city and clear the fields, and do not allow him to harass and plunder the people along the coast with his navy." "As for the matter of Jingzhou's grain and grass, our army still does not know Sun Ce's attitude, but there are now hundreds of thousands of refugees in Huainan, and these grain and grass are all relief grain for our army. I don't think Sun Ce will dare to intercept them in the face of the world's disapproval." "I will send a letter and talk to you in a nice way, and I'll be able to ensure that the grain road is safe!" Everyone was surprised when they heard this. Mei Qian immediately asked in surprise: "What if Sun Ce really intercepts our army's food supplies?" Qin Zhen saw this and smiled slightly: "If our army had not notified him, he would have dared to intercept the ship." "Our army is now warning him in advance. If he dares to rob food again, he can fight against our army for the greater good." "I will send a letter to the court and have a good relationship with him!"

In fact, given the current situation, he would rather Sun Ce rob the grain ship from Jingzhou. On the one hand, this can arouse the hatred of the people in Huainan towards Sun Ce. On the other hand, you can also report it to the court and let the court punish you! If we go to Jingzhou at that time, we will have more reasons to persuade Liu Biao to send troops. However, Sun Ce could not see this, but Zhou Yu could probably see it. After he sent this letter, it would be best if Sun Ce did not rob the food and supplies. If he really dared to do so, then they would have an explanation. With this thought in mind, he said to everyone: "Just keep the situation in Lujiang stable. I will take care of the rest!" Upon seeing this, everyone stood up and bowed in agreement. Thus, as a military meeting ended, Qin Zhen completed writing a letter and sent it towards Chungu. (End of this chapter)