Chapter 124 118. Feng Xi's Arrangement
"Okay, this battle report is well written. Someone, seal it and send it to Yong'an City, to His Majesty."

Feng Xi asked the guards to come in, and after sealing the battle report, the guards handed it to a special messenger who took a boat upstream to deliver it to Lao Liu.

After all, he had fought such a big battle in Jingzhou, it would be unreasonable not to report it to Lao Liu, not to mention that it was a great victory?
……

"Dry slag!"

A huge rock fell from the city wall and smashed a ladder. Countless soldiers in black armor screamed and fell heavily to the ground from the air, leaving a bloody mess.

"Hot oil! Pour it!"

At Huang Quan's command, the soldiers on the city wall raised their large spoons and poured boiling hot oil down like flowers from heaven.

Although it was not concentrated enough, for the soldiers who were climbing up the ladders like ants, a few drops would be fatal enough.

There was a smell of roasted meat under the city wall. Huang Quan ordered his soldiers to take care of these ladders. Seeing that the hot oil was almost poured out, he immediately ordered his soldiers to throw down torches, burning grass balls and other flammable materials, which really ignited the hot oil that had been poured below.

"Ah! Hum, hum, hum...Ahhhhhh!"

Many soldiers below were affected by the fire and turned into firemen, rolling on the ground in pain to put out the fire.

"Boom!"

The sound of a horn was heard from the opposing army, indicating that this wave of offensive had come to an end. The soldiers in black armor and black clothes were like the tide, which had just risen and was now receding, retreating back.

Although Huang Quan won temporarily, it was not easy for him.

This is just a test from the other side today, but if I didn't use these defensive measures, I'm afraid the other side would have climbed up the city wall long ago.

Fancheng had just been burned by Cao's army, and the city was empty. A lot of supplies were still supported by Jiangling through the Han River. But even so, after days of attacks by Cao's army, a lot of supplies were consumed, and sooner or later they would run out of supplies.

"Any news of reinforcements?"

Huang Quan called the messenger to ask.

"Sir, Lord Li Yan said he was powerless. Zhang He from Guanzhong suddenly went out of Wuguan to harass the three counties of Shangyong. Lord Li Yan was originally short of troops and could not provide support. However, Lord Li Yan has ordered people to go to Yanshui to urgently ask for help from Yong'an."

The messenger reported.

"What about Jiangling? Has the Grand Commander been notified?"

Huang Quan wiped the dust off his face and continued to question the messenger.

"Jiang Ling has sent someone by boat to inform the Grand Commander, but Lord Wang Fu said that the Grand Commander is currently in a standoff with the Eastern Wu in Dongting Lake, so he may be unable to do anything."

Huang Quan nodded. Although he could have anticipated that Cao Wei would come to harass Jingxiang like flies and interfere in the war between Wu and Han, he did not expect that Cao Wei would be so courageous.

A few days ago, Cao Wei's vanguard rushed all the way from Wancheng to Jingzhou. Huang Quan was stationed in Fancheng and Zhao Rong was stationed in Xiangyang. The two of them were guarding across the river and assisted each other with large and small boats.

But Cao Wei's move this time was too big, and the great Huang Quan could hardly bear it.

General Cao Ren joined forces with the newly appointed General Zhenxi Cao Zhen, with generals such as Xu Huang, Niu Jin, and Wen Pin under their command; they also gathered an army of 100,000 and marched towards Jingxiang with the help of civil officials such as Man Chong and Cheng Wu.

At this moment, it was only Cao Wei's vanguard Niu Jin's 20,000 men who were attacking Fancheng. However, Cao Wei's soldiers were elite, which put a lot of pressure on Huang Quan, who did not have too many troops to begin with. If the main force of Cao Wei arrived, Huang Quan would not know how to resist.

In addition, Huang Quan had no generals on his side, and Niu Jin shouted and demanded to go out of the city to challenge Huang Quan in single combat, but Huang Quan could only pretend to be deaf and dumb and avoid the fight.

Under such circumstances, Huang Quan could only ask for help from Jiangling and Shangyong, but unfortunately, Shangyong was also held back by Zhang He and unable to look east, so Huang Quan could only hope that the general would respond. …

"Gong Heng is surrounded by the Wei army, the situation is worrying?!"

Liu Bei in Yong'an received Li Yan's letter and realized the seriousness of the matter, so he immediately summoned Fu Rong.

"Yi Zhong, Huang Gongheng is trapped in Fancheng by the Cao Wei army. I am afraid that Xiu Yuan is busy fighting with the Eastern Wu and has no time to take care of the north, so I order you to lead 2,000 Bai Li soldiers to Jiangling by the Yangtze River, and then turn north by the Han River to support Fancheng."

Liu Bei seriously asked Fu Zhun to support Huang Quan in Fancheng as soon as possible. Liu Bei had stationed troops in Xinye and Jiangling all year round, so he naturally knew the importance of Fancheng and Xiangyang. If Xiangyang and Fancheng were lost, the Wei army would march straight in, and Jingzhou, which had been hard to recover, would probably change hands again.

"The minister obeys the order!"

Fu Zhu knelt down to accept the order, but still asked a question at the end.

"Your Majesty, if I lead the army away again, will Your Majesty be safe...?"

"It's all right. I've asked Chen Shuzhi to take over for you. Go and support us immediately. Don't let the incident with Yunchang happen again."

Liu Bei seemed to have remembered Guan Yu, and his tone became dejected again. He waved his hand and asked Fu Rong to quickly gather the troops and set off.

Fu Rong noticed that Lao Liu seemed to be in a bad mood, but he didn't dare to say much. He immediately went to organize the troops and prepare to rescue Huang Quan and reduce some pressure on Feng Xi on the front line.

……

By the Dongting Lake, Feng Xi was in a good mood as he felt the humid breeze from the lake. Yesterday, he dealt with the surrendered soldiers in the army and reorganized the troops. In the next two days, he could set out and continue down the river, attack Jiangxia, and approach Yangzhou. The strategy of controlling the Yangtze River would be half completed.

By then, let Zhang Nan become familiar with the water conditions in Jiangxia, and it will be just around the corner for us to attack Chaisang.

Feng Xi was still thinking about the next strategic layout in his mind when suddenly a messenger came hurriedly from the camp.

"Grand Commander, something terrible has happened. An urgent report has been sent from Jiangling. Cao Wei has mobilized a hundred thousand troops from Wancheng and Huainan to attack northern Jing. Lord Huang Quan and General Zhao Rong are currently confronting their vanguards in Fancheng and Xiangyang. Lord Huang Quan is afraid that northern Jing may be lost, so he is requesting reinforcements."

The messenger handed an urgent report to Feng Xi. Feng Xi frowned and read it carefully, then fell into deep thought again.

He did not find it strange that Cao Wei would interfere, but he did not expect that they would be so bold as to mobilize almost all the military forces in Nanyang and Huainan.

Li Yan, who was originally planned to form a cornerstone with Jingbei, was also pinned down by Zhang He who came from Guanzhong and was unable to reinforce Jingbei. If he did not do something, Xiangyang might not be able to be defended for long, and Jiangling would always be under the claws of Cao Wei, which would definitely be disadvantageous to him.

"Ask Commander Zhang to come over."

Feng Xi immediately asked the messenger to call Zhang Nan to prepare to assign tasks.

"Xiu Yuan, what happened?"

Zhang Nan came over a while later, pushed the door open and walked in. Seeing that there was no one inside, he simply forgot to be polite. Feng Xi pointed at the urgent report on the table, and Zhang Nan picked it up and started reading it. After reading it, his face was not very good.

"Cao Wei has indeed taken action, and their force is fierce. Xiu Yuan, do you have any plans for me?"

Zhang Nan knew that although he had no plan, since Feng Xi had asked him to come, he must have made some arrangements.

"Yes, I want you to allocate some ships to me. I will go to Jiangling to provide assistance, and you will continue to go south along the river. When you get here, let Governor Zhao guard this place, and you can lead more than 10,000 troops to support us."

Feng Xi tapped a few times on the map, and Zhang Nan nodded in understanding.

(End of this chapter)