Chapter 776 Chaos in Changsha

In February of the third year of Jian'an, an unexpected thing happened. Zhang Xian, the governor of Changsha, Jingnan, suddenly raised a rebel flag and openly opposed Liu Biao. Moreover, Lingling and Guiyang counties among the four counties in Jingnan also joined forces with Zhang Xian.

After Liu Biao heard this, he was shocked. Civil war in Jingzhou was inevitable. Naturally, he ignored the requests of Sun Quan and Cao Cao. He immediately assembled a large army to prepare for the conquest of the Changsha rebels.

Among the four counties in Jingnan, the only one that has not yet rebelled is Wuling County. In fact, the governor of Wuling County originally planned to rebel, but Liu Biao's son Liu Pan happened to lead an army to be stationed in Wuling. After learning about this, he quickly led his troops without saying a word. He marched into Wuling County, put down the rebellion, and waited for the arrival of Liu Biao's army.

Although Jingzhou suffered a lot of losses in the previous wars, since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, many people from the Central Plains have gone south to escape, so Jingzhou has a large number of households. Liu Biao ordered Huang Zu to sit in Jiangxia and not move without permission, while he fought hard here and there. Forty thousand troops were gathered together, with Cai Mao and Kuai Liang as commanders, each leading an army to go south to quell the rebellion.

Zhang Xian originally led the rebels to attack surrounding counties, but when he heard the arrival of Cai Mao and Kuai Liang's troops, he was so frightened that he retreated into the city.

Changsha County, Linxiang City.

A solitary flag with the word "General" stands on the top of the city, and outside the city is the Jingzhou Army camp that stretches for more than ten miles, surrounding Changsha City.

"Hmph, old thief Zhang Xian is really looking for his own death. After conquering the city this time, he must kill his family to serve as a warning to others."

Cai Mao said coldly.

"It seems that Governor Cai wants to storm Linxiang City?"

Kuai Liang, who had a calm demeanor, asked.

"This is natural. Zhang Xian's rebellion must be put down quickly. Otherwise, wouldn't Jingzhou's people be in panic?" Cai Mao asked.

Kuai Liang shook his head: "I see that it is not necessary. Linxiang City is strong and there are heavy troops in the city, so it is difficult to break through it for a while. It is better to send troops and horses to attack the surrounding counties, and besiege but not attack, and wait until Linxiang City is exhausted." When the food supply is exhausted, it will be easy to say when the time comes.”

"Huh, Kuai Biejia is very resourceful, but he doesn't understand military strategy. I will leave this siege to a certain person."

Cai Mao snorted coldly, but didn't take Kuai Liang's words seriously. Anyway, this time he sent troops, he was the chief governor, and Kuai Liang was just the deputy governor. What did he know?

When Kuai Liang saw Cai Mao being so arbitrary, he just sighed and said nothing.

On the second day, Cai Mao was ambitious and led his troops to attack the city.

"kill!"

Cai Mao worked hard and understood the essence of the "Cao Gui Debate". He sent tens of thousands of troops to besiege Linxiang City on three sides, and he had the momentum to win Linxiang City in one fell swoop.

"Everyone, listen to me. Since we have raised our troops to rebel, Liu Biao will definitely not tolerate us. Now there is only one way to go to the dark side!"

However, the soldiers in Linxiang City have become Zhang Xian's accomplices despite their unwillingness. Now, even if they are unwilling, they have become grasshoppers on the same rope as Zhang Xian, and they can only follow Zhang Xian.

Cai Mao ordered an attack, and tens of thousands of Jingzhou troops surrounded the city under the cover of archers. However, the resistance in the city was extremely fierce. Arrows were flying in the city, and rolling logs and stones were thundered down. The Jingzhou soldiers on the ladders were occasionally attacked. When hit by arrows or rolling logs or stones, they could only scream in agony. They fell down and were either killed or injured.

Cai Mao had no choice but to personally supervise the attack. Jingzhou soldiers were forced to move forward under pressure. However, Linxiang City is the seat of Changsha County and is extremely strong. Moreover, Zhang Xian deliberately reduced his troops. There are still thousands of people in the city, and the defenders One side of the city has always had the advantage, as the saying goes, it can be surrounded by ten.

Cai Mao had deliberately exposed the south gate before, following the method of surrounding three towers. If the rebels in the city could not hold on, they could still escape. However, Zhang Xian was very determined to defend the city and directly ordered the south gate to be blocked. Since the soldiers in the city could not escape, they could only fight to the death for a while.

This tragic offensive and defensive battle lasted for a whole day. Both the offensive and defensive armies suffered heavy casualties. After the Jingzhou army dropped more than a thousand corpses in Linxiang City, Cai Mao ordered to stop the attack.

"Director Cai, have you ever captured Linxiang City?" Kuai Liang said jokingly.

"snort!"

Cai Mao said coldly: "The bandits are resisting tenaciously, and they will definitely capture Linxiang City in a few days."

Seeing Cai Mao's appearance, Kuai Liang didn't bother to persuade him anymore. He wanted to make him run into a wall and suffer a loss, so he naturally didn't say anything more. He was just a little regretful that his soldiers were injured.

In the next few days, Cai Mao continued to urge the Jingzhou army to launch a fierce attack on Linxiang City. However, facing the tightly defended Linxiang City, the morale of the Jingzhou army declined seriously. Although Cai Mao personally supervised the army, it was just a rush and then declined. , Three and three were exhausted, and the Jingzhou army gradually began to work hard and was unwilling to attack by force.

Cai Mao was furious at first and cut off several heads of the incompetent troops with his own hands. However, gradually he had no choice but to follow Kuai Liang's previous advice and lead his troops to besiege rather than attack.

While Cai Mao commanded his troops to attack Linxiang City, Kuai Liang secretly commanded his troops to attack many counties in Changsha. Within a month, Linxiang City had actually become an isolated city and was nothing to worry about.

At the same time, Liu Biao's son Liu Pan led his army from Wuling to attack Lingling. Liu Pan was known for his bravery. The Jingnan soldiers under his command were outstandingly brave and quickly pacified Lingling County. The next step was to attack Guiyang County and prepare to encircle Changsha with the armies of Cai Mao and Kuai Liang.

As the civil strife in Jingzhou was so intense, Liu Biao was busy putting out the fire, and naturally he didn't care about the affairs between Sun Quan and Cao Cao.

"Unexpectedly, civil strife suddenly breaks out in Changsha. As a result, Liu Biao will not be able to help our army." Sun Quan sighed.

"This matter has pros and cons. At least Liu Biao will not covet my Yuzhang County." Zhou Yu said with relief.

Sun Quan was still a little anxious: "Cao Cao has almost unified Jiangdong now, but we are trapped in Chaisang. The river has already been in decline. What if Cao Cao raises troops to attack?"

Zhou Yu thought for a while and said slowly: "My lord, who else can compete for the world now?"

Although Sun Quan was young, he was also knowledgeable. After pondering for a while, he said: "Now the world is no longer where all the heroes came together. The Central Plains is the dividing line, west of Mount Tai and Dongjun, with General Liu Yuqing as the respected one. , and to the east is the world of the old thief Cao Cao."

"Now the general Liu Ye is crusading against Sichuan and Shu. After destroying Shu, he will definitely go east. The general wants to seize the world, so there must be a battle with Cao Cao. By then the two armies will compete. If the general wins, our army can naturally take advantage of the opportunity to take back The hometown of Jiangdong.”

Sun Quan frowned and said, "In your opinion, how long will it take before a war breaks out between Cao Cao and Liu Ye?"

"It can take as little as two years and as long as five years."

"It's too long." Sun Quan sighed.