Chapter 138 Zu Lang: Sun Ce, little boy!
Liyang County was the capital of Jiujiang County, and its city walls were high and strong.

When Zu Lang learned that Pan Lin's troops were defeated and Pan Lin was beheaded, he no longer fought with Lu Kang in Chaohu and retreated to defend the area.

Liyang County was the focus of defense. Zu Lang led 30,000 people to defend the city. The remaining nearly 40,000 people had 20,000 stationed in Chengde County, and the other 20,000 stationed in Junqiu County, Fuling County, Yicheng County and Hefei County respectively.

The pressure is on Jinmao.

It's June.

Jin Mao had been waiting for a reply from Lu Kang, the prefect of Lujiang County.

Before the siege of Liyang, Jin Mao did not want to attack the fortified city of Liyang which was garrisoned by 30,000 men. He hoped to attack Zu Lang from both sides together with Lu Kang and cut off his retreat in one fell swoop.

Lu Kang also wanted to come, but the Zhou family's private soldiers refused to work. Once the three thousand elite soldiers left, he was left with only four thousand men, and they also had to guard Lujiang County, so he really couldn't spare the time.

The eighth day of June.

Jin Mao finally waited for Lu Kang's reply.

The Chinese military tent.

Jin Mao sat in the middle seat, with Danyang County Magistrate Zhou Xin leading the Danyang soldiers on his left and right, and Xi Zhicai leading the soldiers in his own army.

This moment is different from that moment.

The Danyang soldiers followed He Qi and others' example and sat upright, not daring to make a sound, all hoping to leave a good impression in front of Jin Mao.

The Nurses Army was so powerful that the casualty rate of the soldiers was reduced from 80% to 90% to 10% to 20%. It was simply a miracle!

Who doesn’t want to be worry-free!

The Danyang soldiers wanted to join Jinmao's troops all the time.

As a result, Zhou Xin, the powerful county magistrate, was also sidelined, and his subordinates only listened to Jin Mao's orders and not his.

"Everyone, the governor of Lujiang County has to guard Lujiang County and cannot come to help."

Jin Mao concluded his speech and said, "The only way for us to go is to attack the city!"

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"

He Qi and others took the lead in shouting, and the Danyang soldiers were not willing to be outdone.

Jin Mao was very satisfied. He stood up and hung up a new feng shui map, which was the defense map of Liyang County.

As he spoke, he began to make plans: "The enemy outnumbers us, so attacking the city is unwise. We only need to block the south and north, and use the navy to block the east side of the river, and surround three sides and capture one side."

"Letting the bandits in the west connect with the other four counties will be a great way to rob food or fight in the wild."

"Even if Zu Lang hides in the city and doesn't come out, we can besiege it for two or three months and wait until his food and grass are exhausted, and then he will fall without a fight!"

To be honest, including the 4,000 Danyang soldiers, Jin Mao only had 12,000 men at most. Compared with the 30,000 men in the city, they could definitely take the city.

The result was heavy losses.

There is a sky-high pension waiting to be paid, it's a loss no matter how you calculate it.

It would be better to spend more food and supplies on the siege, and conduct practical exercises on how to attack the city every day.

The Danyang soldiers went to rob the grain road, and the Jinmao army would stop the enemy in Liyang County, that is, attack the city.

After the tasks were assigned, each department took their orders.

As for the effect, Jinmao does not hold out much hope, as he has more important things to do.

"Zhicai, 150,000 refugees from Yuzhang County will be resettled in Jiujiang County. How are you preparing?"

Jiujiang County has been turned into a wasteland. Of the original 400,000 residents, less than half are left now, and most of them are in the six county towns occupied by Zu Lang.

Once Jinmao prepares to attack the city, only a few of these people will survive.

Jiujiang County is very fertile and very suitable for growing rice, and Jinmao does not want to waste this large granary.

"My lord, the matter has been settled. Once the war is over, Gu Yuantan will arrange for people to come to Jiujiang County."

Jin Mao raised his hand and said, "No! Move now!"

Except for Shouchun, Chengde, Junqiu, Fuling, Yicheng and Hefei counties in Jiujiang County, the remaining seven counties of Quanjiao, Jianyang, Dongcheng, Yinling, Dangtu, Quyang and Zhongli are all suitable for farming.

If the rebels came out to cause trouble, Jinmao would be happy to wipe them out in one fell swoop.

Jiujiang County has a flat terrain, which is comparable only to Wu County. It is definitely a good place to grow crops.

Moreover, it borders the Huai River to the north, so the navy can defend the Huai River and ensure safety.

...

Liyang County Government Office.

Seven days ago, Zu Lang lost contact with Chengde County. He thought that it was Lu Kang from Lujiang County who caused the traffic to be cut off.

I never expected it to happen today.

This piece of news struck Zu Lang like a bolt of lightning.

"What did you say?"

"The governor of Yuzhang County sent people to seize Chengde County and killed the chief commander Mao Gan?!"

The person who came was Zu Lang's confidant who was placed next to Mao Gan. When he saw Sun Ce killing Mao Gan that day, this confidant rushed over to report the situation without stopping.

"My lord, it's all true!"

"I saw Mao Gan being beheaded with my own eyes!"

"If he wasn't under the command of the Yuzhang County Magistrate, who would have the strength to behead him so quietly?"

Zu Lang couldn't believe it but had to believe it.

If Lu Kang of Lujiang County in the west had such strength, Zu Lang would have been beheaded long ago and would not be able to stand here.

Only Jin Mao, who was praised as a god by Pan Lin, has such strength and subordinates.

Pan Lin himself proved this point very well. He was completely wiped out with a force twice as large as his own!
Zu Lang became more and more frightened, and a new idea suddenly popped up in his mind: "Why not surrender?"

Then he denied it again: "Even if others can live, I must die!"

What to do, what to do?
Zu Lang didn't know what to do, and two more days passed in hesitation.

"What?" Zu Lang felt like the world was collapsing.

“Hefei is lost too!”

There was no need to verify it this time, Zu Lang already believed that it was definitely done by Jinmao's men.

In the past two days, Liyang County has been under attack from Jinmao, and the city walls have been breached several times. Zu Lang felt that he was doomed during those times.

Unexpectedly, the other side called off the fight and stopped.

Zu Lang knew that it was not that the other party was unable to defeat him, but that they were teasing him like a cat playing with a mouse.

Four days later, the eastern city wall of Liyang County fell. The first enemy general to climb the city wall was a madman. He did not retreat when he heard the call to retreat, and he defeated Zu Lang's troops.

Zu Lang only knew that the enemy general was named Zhou Tai, a madman who could still fight despite having more than a dozen wounds.

It was also because of Zhou Tai's determination to fight to the death that the enemy troops were all pressed forward, and it was the first time that Zu Lang realized the gap in strength between the enemy and us.

It was also at that moment that Zu Lang became more certain that Jin Mao was playing a trick on him!
I could clearly kill him, but I just didn't do it.

But Zu Lang didn't want to give up yet.

until today.

"Fuling has also been lost!"

Fuling is near Liyang County, which means that Jinmao has blocked his retreat.

Zu Lang was disheartened and said cruelly, "Since our retreat is cut off, let's fight them to the death!"

The remaining 20,000 young and strong men in Liyang County were filled with indignation. In the desperate situation, they ignited their fighting spirit and their morale reached its peak.

"The army's morale is high!" Zu Lang excitedly ordered: "Break out tonight!"

However, the enemy was cunning.

As if they knew that Zu Lang and his men were going to fight to the death, not only did the Danyang soldiers who were robbing the grain road in the west withdraw, but they even abandoned the East City Gate that they had just occupied and the entire army retreated.

Zu Lang's morale dropped drastically, and he could no longer muster the will to fight.

"Oh no! Even I fell into the trap. Wouldn't it be even more chaotic for the people down there?"

The truth was worse than Zu Lang expected.

Although half of Zu Lang's troops were elite soldiers who had joined the rebellion from Danyang, the other half were others who joined halfway.

As soon as they saw Jinmao retreating, these people couldn't wait to occupy the East Gate and wanted to break out from this side.

Seeing this, Zu Lang stepped forward to stop it, but who would listen to him at this time?

There was no other choice, so Zu Lang mobilized his men and tried to use knives to make the group obey him.

But at this point, who doesn’t have a few lives on their hands?
Soon, civil unrest broke out in Liyang County.

What's worse, the west gate was broken, and "Jinmao" led his troops into the city from the west.

The situation is even more chaotic.

...

After Sun Ce drove the defeated soldiers to capture Fuling County, he took only a short rest before leading his men to drive the defeated soldiers to Liyang County.

At this time, there were nearly 10,000 people following Sun Ce, and their composition was very complex.

Sun Ce didn't care about that. As long as someone could kill the enemy with him, he was his brother!
It was precisely because this group of people had been following Sun Ce that Zu Lang's deployment in the four western counties was as useless as paper.

Either they broke through from within, or they were broken through by Sun Ce in the internal strife.

Now that Liyang County is right in front of us, as long as Zu Lang is killed, Sun Ce will surpass his father Sun Jian and become the number one young hero of the Eastern Han Dynasty!
"Brothers, the time has come to make achievements!"

After these days of marching, Sun Ce's hoarse voice completely transformed, becoming powerful and magnetic.

"Conquer Liyang County and capture the King of Baiyue alive!"

Everyone shouted: "Capture the King of Baiyue alive!"

"Capture the King of Baiyue alive!"

First, the defeated soldiers broke through the gate, and then Sun Ce took the lead and rushed into the city with 10,000 people.

No matter how chaotic the city was, Sun Ce killed anyone he saw.

Gradually, the slogan "Capture the King of Baiyue alive" became louder and louder.

More and more of Sun Ce's subordinates came to fight.

Wait until the first ray of sunlight shines into the city in the early morning.

The two sides are clearly divided.

To the west were Sun Ce's army of more than 20,000 men, and to the east were Zu Lang's army of less than 5,000 men.

The leaders of both sides met for the first time.

Zu Lang was covered in blood. He rode his horse forward a few steps and asked loudly, "Which department of the Yangzhou governor are you from?"

"Yangzhou Governor?" Sun Ce was confused and replied, "We are not under the command of Yangzhou Governor Chen Wen!"

Zu Lang looked at the half-grown boy opposite him and felt deeply humiliated. However, as the winners are the kings and the losers are the bandits, he still patiently shouted, "I'm asking about Yangzhou Governor Jin Mao!"

"Which general under Jin Mao are you?"

Sun Ce was even more confused. Wasn’t Jin Mao the governor of Yuzhang? When did he become the governor?
Fortunately, Sun Ce inherited Sun Jian's wit and said, "I am Sun Ce, a general under the governor. You must remember this!"

This time Zu Lang no longer had any doubts, he was just humiliated.

"A scholar can be killed but not humiliated!"

Zu Lang roared, "Do you really think I don't know who Jin Mao's powerful generals are?"

"Today, I will risk my life to make you, a young boy, understand that I, the King of Baiyue, am not just a name for nothing!"

"Brothers, do you dare to fight with me one last time?!"

To be honest, the current Zu Lang is the strongest form. Although there are few of them, each of them is a good brother who followed him in the rebellion in the early days.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

After receiving the response from his men, Zu Lang shouted with tears in his eyes: "Even if I die, I want the world to know that the people of Danyang will not accept humiliation!"

"Kill!"

Zu Lang took the lead and went straight to attack Sun Ce, and his subordinates were ready to die.

In a short time, Sun Ce was slaughtered and his men and horses were thrown to the ground.

(End of this chapter)