Changsha Taishou Liu Pan had already prepared, when receiving the order, 20,000 land and water troops had arrived at the junction of the northern part of Luo County and Nan County, the situation was urgent, he immediately ordered to speed up the march, the fleet went down the Yangtze River, the speed was very fast, three days to reach Xiakou, the troops did not stop, but went straight to the direction of Qichun County.

Zheng Bao's water village is located at the mouth of the Qishui River in the west of the city.

Liu Pan planned to destroy Zheng Bao's water village first, and then land, and join forces with Su Feili to attack the Yangzhou thieves.

A huge fleet, hundreds of large and small ships, mighty and magnificent.

The scout ships sent by Zheng Bao found out that the fleet was attacking and immediately reported back; The cautious Zheng Bao vetoed all objections and ordered the navy to board the ship and flee immediately, and even Wu Jing on the shore did not have time to be notified, and even the water village did not have time to destroy.

The attacking warships were sent to successfully occupy Zheng Bao's water village, Liu Pan was overjoyed, and ordered the attacking warships to guard the water surface of the Yangtze River and the Qishui River, and the cargo ships entered the water village one after another, and the officers and soldiers landed.

The arrival of such a huge fleet not only alarmed Wu Jing, but even Su Fei in the city also discovered the situation, from the battle flag, he judged that it was reinforcements, and the defenders in the city were greatly encouraged, and burst into bursts of shocking cheers.

Wu Jing was very entangled at this time, the road to the west to aid Sun Jian was blocked, and without the assistance of the navy, they could not cross the Qishui; At present, we can only evacuate to the east, otherwise we will face the danger of being flanked by the east and west, and there is a danger of being encircled, and the cavalry can rush out, but the infantry can not do anything; If the army is withdrawn, it will not be able to resist Sun Jian.

The situation was urgent, there was no room for hesitation, and Wu Jing immediately ordered the withdrawal of the army and retreated to Xunyang City, with the infantry opening the road in front and the cavalry in charge of the rear; The soldiers also saw the arrival of reinforcements from Jingzhou, but their sailors fled without a fight, knowing that the situation was dangerous, they began to evacuate with only their personal weapons, and they did not even carry much baggage.

At this time, the number of Liu Pan's troops landing was too small to pursue at all, and Su Fei in the city was even more stable, there was no cavalry, if he pursued, he would suffer losses, and it was not easy to hold the city, he didn't want to make trouble.

The county seat of Yixian County is not far from the Yangtze River, standing at the head of the city, you can see the Jingzhou boats on the river like a forest down the river, guessing that they are going to Qichun County, while fortunately not being attacked, the guard will immediately send someone to inform Sun Jian that the back road is in danger of being cut off.

Sun Jian was shocked when he received the news, and immediately sent an order that the garrison of Yi County should immediately come to Xiling to join the army, otherwise there would be a danger of being surrounded and annihilated.

Now in the enemy's territory, every soldier is very precious, Sun Jian doesn't want to make senseless sacrifices, he wants to concentrate all his forces and conquer Xiling City in one fell swoop.

After careful consideration and consultation with everyone, Sun Jian came up with a comprehensive and reasonable plan.

The cavalry attacking Anlu County was transferred back, and only a small number of cavalry scouts were sent around, and if he found Jingzhou coming to help, he could concentrate the cavalry and annihilate it.

Similar to the strategy of encirclement and reinforcement.

The infantry attacked the city with all their might, only to conquer Xiling City, relying on the abundant materials and strong city walls in Xiling City, waiting for Yuan Shu's reinforcements; At this time, Sun Jian had no idea of withdrawing his troops.

If Sun Jian chooses to withdraw at this time, Su Fei and Liu Pan will be powerless to stop it.

At the beginning of the half month, Sun Jian's siege of the city was not strong, and Huang Zu and everyone in the city did not realize the strength of the Yangzhou thieves, and they were still a little proud in their hearts.

After Sun Jian learned that the back road was cut off, he stepped up the siege, Huang Zu immediately felt the pressure, and the defenders were also nervous, not as optimistic as at the beginning.

For five consecutive days, Huang Zu ate and lived on the city wall, with the officers and soldiers, which stabilized the nervous mood of the officers and soldiers; However, Huang Zu didn't have a bottom in his heart, it had been so long, and Liu Biao's army had not arrived for a long time, which really worried him.

Fortunately, Sun Jian's battle losses were also very large, which comforted the officers and soldiers defending the city a little, their efforts were fruitful, and if the Yangzhou army could not bear the huge casualties, they would definitely withdraw.

And Zhang Yun's naval scout ships often patrol the water in the west of the city, and from time to time sneak attack Sun Jian's patrols, although the results are not great, but the defenders at the head of the city see hope, Liu Zhijun must have learned that they are fighting hard, and will definitely send reinforcements.

Hot water and hot oil poured down from the castle from time to time, and rolling logs and stones were constantly thrown off the city walls, and whether it was hot water or rocks, as long as they were stained with either death or injury, even if they were injured, the chance of survival was very small.

Not only was the consumption of arrows and other materials very large, but even the defenders of the city were in a state of extreme fatigue, so Huang Zu had to organize the old and weak and women in the city to engage in carrying and eating work, and all the young and strong people took turns to go to the city wall to guard and take turns to rest.

In order to replenish the fortifications, the houses near the city walls were demolished, and stones and timber were transported to the city walls for later use.

The major families also knew the seriousness of the matter, and they also went all out to assist Huang Zu in defending the city, not only providing family servants to assist in defending the city, but also taking out a large amount of money and food to motivate the defenders, otherwise, their losses would be even greater after the city was broken.

Zhang Yun's navy reported the situation of the fierce battle in Xiling City to Liu Biao, which made him overjoyed.

Fortunately, after listening to Cai Mao's advice, they not only cut off the return of the Yangzhou thieves and made them lonely, but their crazy siege still did not shake the defense of Xiling City; This can't help but Liu Biao looks at Huang Zu differently.

However, Liu Biao, Cai Mao and others disagreed on the next action.

Cai Mao hoped to mobilize 20,000 defenders of Xiangyang City, and the 20,000 soldiers temporarily organized by Nanjun, plus the 30,000 troops of Liu Pan and Su Fei, a total of 70,000 troops, and Huang Zu's defenders would join forces with each other and annihilate Sun Jian.

He believes that Sun Jian has been attacking the city for more than 20 days in a row, not to mention the casualties for the time being, he must be very tired, and the morale is definitely not high if he fights alone, if he surrounds them with superior forces, how can Sun Jian escape?

If Sun Jian is completely annihilated, Yuan Shu of Yangzhou will not dare to invade Jingzhou for a few years, and Jingzhou will gain a few years of stable development.

Kuai Yue felt that Dong Zhuo was uneasy and kind, he was Jingzhou's biggest enemy, if the soldiers were mobilized, Dong Zhuo would definitely go south to pick up the cheap, and Sun Jian's continuous attack on the city was unsuccessful, only the 20,000 troops in Nanjun were enough to force them back, just force them back to Yangzhou, there was no need to annihilate Sun Jian and form a life-and-death enmity with Yuan Shu, and in that case, the happiest person should be Dong Zhuo, Jingzhou has no need to do things that harm others and benefit themselves.

Liu Biao hesitated, but he finally chose Kuai Yue's idea, thinking that Sun Jian was no longer worried.

At this time, there were piles of corpses under Xiling City, many of which had been scorched by the fire, and the scene was extremely miserable; And now it's summer, there are swarms of flies, many corpses are crawling with maggots, and the smell of stinky meat and barbecue meat is in the air, which is extremely disgusting.

What Sun Jian didn't expect was that Huang Zu's resistance would be so fierce, even if he personally participated in the battle, and even had captured the city a few times, he was still violently beaten back, and the huge casualties made Sun Jian's heart bleed, if he continued to attack so strongly, when he conquered the city, his officers and soldiers would also be exhausted.

Sun Jian was very annoyed with the Jingzhou sailors patrolling the water, but he couldn't do anything, and he hated Zheng Bao even more in his heart.

Liu Biao in Jingzhou has not sent reinforcements for such a long time, so that his plan to prepare to encircle the reinforcements has come to naught, he estimates that Liu Biao must be gathering a large army, and the longer the time drags on, Liu Biao will gather more officers and soldiers, which will be more unfavorable to him.

Now Sun Jian is in a dilemma, retreating without any results, he is unwilling to continue the attack, and the losses are so unbearable, besides, he now does not know whether Yuan Shu has sent reinforcements.