Because Liu Biao is still alive, Huang Zu, Cai Mao and Liu Qi are dissatisfied with each other, and they do not immediately turn their faces into enemies, but they all hide their dissatisfaction and resentment against each other deep in their hearts, waiting for the old and new accounts to be settled together when there is an opportunity in the future, so after Huang Zu withdrew to the south bank of the Han River, Liu Qi did not hold Huang Zu responsible for the poor command of the retreat operation, and Huang Zu did not entangle Liu Qi with Liu Qi's previous refusal to withdraw from the Han River, and he tacitly felt safe for the time being.

Huang Zu also withdrew from the Han River, and the Jingzhou army no longer had a foothold on the north bank of the Han River, and the biggest problem in front of the Jingzhou army was how to hold the defense line of the Han River. Liu Qi and the Kuaijia brothers judged through scout reconnaissance and unanimously determined that the Xuzhou army was likely to choose to cross the river in the upper reaches of the Han River west of Xiangyang, so they arranged two defensive tactics, one was to order Huang Zu to lead the army to garrison Atou Mountain in the west of Xiangyang, and make every effort to prevent the Xuzhou army from crossing the river from the bottom of the mountain, and the other was to order Cai Mao to divide the water division into two, one to be stationed in the water village outside Xiangyang City to prevent the Xuzhou army's ferry from turning from the river to the Han River, and the other to go west to the south bank of the Han River west of Xiangyang to camp outside the mountain capital city, so as to go down the river at any time. Attack the pontoon bridge or ferry of the Xuzhou army.

Huang Zu took Liu Qi's order without saying a word, because Liu Qi handed over half of the land troops on the Xiangyang battlefield to Huang Zu with more than 16,000 people, and Huang Zu naturally would not miss this opportunity to seize military power. Cai Mao, who was unwilling to disperse the power in his hands, resolutely refused to accept the order, and fired at Liu Qi in front of the public, "Big boy, will you fight in the end?" The reason for the most taboo division of troops in water warfare, if you don't understand it, forget it, how did Yuan Shujun's Chen Fen Water Division be wiped out. You must have heard of it, right? If the pottery thief builds a water barrier upstream, won't our sailors be broken by the enemy? ”

"The potter's water surface power in this area is very weak, and the construction of water fences has not yet begun." Liu Qi held back his anger and said: "As long as the pottery thief builds a water fence, our sailors will immediately attack to destroy and block it?" ”

"Then how does our sailor deal with the pottery thief's stone machine?!" Cai Mao roared and said, "The pottery thief's stone machine, as long as there is a stone solid, it can kill one of our warships!" Do you want to take the soldiers of one of our warships in Jingzhou and exchange them for a piece of wood nailed to the river by the pottery thieves?! ”

"Then you won't go to a place where the Xuzhou thief army stone machine can't hit and shoot with arrows?" Liu Qi couldn't help yelling.

"Even if this can delay the enemy to build a water fence, you can't divide the troops!" Cai Mao roared even louder, "Our sailor has been defeated by you. Half of it was taken away by you. Now I want to divide another half, when the enemy launches a water war, how can the sailor resist?! ”

Hearing Cai Mao mention the old matter of Chaisang, Liu Qi's already blue face suddenly became even more ugly. Ran changed color and said: "The division of troops is my military order. Do you want to disobey military orders?! ”

"For the sake of the sailors. For the sake of Jingzhou, I only obey the correct military orders, and do not listen to the chaotic orders of the soldiers on paper! Cai Mao replied proudly.

Liu Qi was even more furious. As soon as he shouted and took down Cai Mao, who disobeyed the military order in public, Kuai Yue over there had already hurriedly stood up, and while grabbing Liu Qi's eyes and wiping his neck, he said some nonsense such as the enemy should work together at present, and urged Liu Qi and Cai Mao to calm down and discuss again. Liu Qi also knew the weight of Cai Mao in the Jingzhou army, and understood that he must not completely turn his face with Cai Mao at this time, calm down under Kuai Yue's eyes, and make concessions on the steps paved by Kuai Yue, Cai Mao also knew that he could not fight Liu Qi to the end at this time, so he also endured this anger and no longer collided with Liu Qi in public, but still firmly refused to divide the troops.

Liu Qi no longer insisted that Cai Mao divide his troops, and Cai Mao promised to make every effort to sabotage the Xuzhou army's construction of water fences and pontoon bridges, and the two sides forced a smile and dispersed. As a result, Liu Qi naturally gritted his teeth and swore a poisonous oath, saying that he would never cut off the Cai family after he officially succeeded to the throne, and Cai Mao ran to his sister to complain as a matter of course, and deliberately let Liu Biao know about it through his sister, slandering Liu Qi for how he was unpopular with the army and the people, and did not know how to fight and command blindly.

On the evening of the second day of the incident, the scouts sent by Cai Mao to reconnoiter the enemy's situation in the upper reaches of the river suddenly returned to Shuizhai, saying that his scout boat was hiding in the reeds, and found that the Xuzhou military fleet assembled at the mouth of the Bishui River had moved, and all the sailors boarded the ship. After hearing the news, Cai Mao only thought about it for a moment, and then instructed the scout captain: "You have done a good job, ask all four of your soldiers to come back and receive the reward, and you are allowed to eat enough wine and meat tonight!" But remember, don't divulge a word about this to anyone, or you won't be spared! ”

The scout captain hurriedly agreed, thanked him happily and left, and Cai Mao instructed his cronies on the left and right, asking to guard the water village strictly tonight, without his own personal order, not a single warship is allowed to leave the village, beware of the enemy's sneak attack! Then Cai Mao ordered all the scout ships to be recalled, and the reconnaissance was not allowed to cross the center of the Hanshui River tonight.

In this way, in the early morning of the next day, the weak and small fleet of the Xuzhou army, which was originally stationed at the mouth of the Bishui River, inexplicably appeared ten miles upstream of the Han River west of Xiangyang, with its back to the north bank, and set up a water village under the cover of the Xuzhou army's land bows and arrows and Xiangyang artillery. Liu Qi was shocked when he heard the report, and hurriedly climbed Atou Mountain to watch the enemy's situation, and scolded Cai Mao and Huang Zu for being bloody, accusing them of why they were so negligent in taking precautions, and even let the fleet of the Xuzhou army cross the Xiangyang area unconsciously, Cai Mao and Huang Zu shouted together, saying that there was no moonlight last night, and it was difficult for the Xuzhou fleet to detect that it had stolen Xiangyang, and the army could not reconnoiter the specific enemy situation, Liu Qi was furious, but there was nothing to do.

The raw rice has been cooked into cooked rice, no matter how angry Liu Qi is, he can only issue a strict order to Cai Mao and Huang Zu, "From now on, the Atoushan garrison will give me a strict movement of the enemy's fleet, set up a beacon tower every half a mile, take the wolf smoke as the signal during the day, and take the ignition as the signal at night, once I find that the Xuzhou thief army has moved, the sailor will immediately attack to intercept the enemy's ferry, and the army will block the river bank." Don't let an enemy soldier get on the north shore! ”

Cai Mao and Huang Zu sang a promise together, and then Cai Mao naturally forgot to remind Liu Qi that the current wind direction and water flow are beneficial to the Xuzhou army crossing the river, and the most effective way for the army to stop it should be to move the water division immediately. Huang Zu was a little cautious, he didn't know how to deliberately conceal the enemy's situation, and he didn't summon Liu Qi to ask for the crime. At the same time, the news that the Xuzhou fleet had smuggled across the mouth of the Shushui River to the upper reaches of the Han River was naturally inadvertently revealed by the Cai family to Liu Biao as soon as possible. can't stand Liu Biao's interrogation. In the end, he confessed the truth, Liu Biao was shocked and angry, and fainted again.

In fact, General Huang Zu and Huang didn't need to worry at all, he didn't want Liu Qi to find out that the Xuzhou army was smuggling into Hanshui. Deputy Director Tao on the north bank did not want his troops to be blocked from crossing the river. So it's just night. When the Xuzhou army was fighting, it was an indispensable trick and conspiracy. As soon as the sky was dark, the Xuzhou army on the north bank was beating gongs and drums, posing to rush across the Han River. The beacon tower arranged by Huang Zujun hurriedly lit the fire to give an alarm, Huang Zu led the army out of the camp and fortified along the coast, Cai Mao had no choice but to send Cai Cheng to lead the water division to respond, Liu Qi hurriedly went out of the city overnight and led the army to come to supervise the battle.

After waiting for a long time to see a soldier of the Xuzhou army crossing the river by boat, Liu Qi, who finally understood that this was the enemy's tired tactics, scolded Deputy Director Tao for being treacherous and shameless, and Huang Zu and Cai Cheng and others secretly laughed so much that their stomachs hurt. Then Huang Zu asked pretendly: "Eldest prince, the pottery thief is tired of soldiers, what if he deliberately pretends to cross the river?" Do you ignore it? ”

"Nonsense!" Liu Qi said angrily: "What if the enemy suddenly comes to the truth among the ten falsehoods? If you find the enemy, call the police immediately, and if you make a mistake, you will be killed immediately! ”

"No." Huang Zu lowered his eyebrows and agreed, and then sneered in his heart: "Just let me continue to call the police, I will exhaust your baby!" ”

It was more than half of the third watch of the night, the Xuzhou army came to a similar feint attack, the drums and horns sounded and shouted to shake the sky, Liu Qi, who had just returned to the city to rest, led the army to check the situation again, Huang Zu and Cai Mao also pretended to send more soldiers and horses to the shore to intercept, the result was naturally a trip in vain, Liu Qi hated, Huang Zu and Cai Mao secretly praised Deputy Director Tao's clever strategy. Then at five o'clock in the morning, the Xuzhou army came again, and Liu Qi stayed awake all night. Liu Biao learned from his wife that his son was so passive, and he was inevitably even more anxious.

tortured Liu Qi and the Jingzhou army for three days in a row, on the night of the fourth day, when the Jingzhou army had become accustomed to these feints of the Xuzhou army, Liu Qi, who had not slept well for a few days, was also too tired to have the strength to go to the battlefield to supervise the battle every time, the smuggling of the Xuzhou army finally began, Tai Shici personally led the fleet to carry the team across the river, Xu Chu, who was famous for fighting tough battles, led three thousand elite soldiers as the vanguard, and under the cover of night, he unknowingly leaned on the south bank of the Han River, and Huang Zu's team arranged the beacon tower next to the river bank to find the enemy's situation, Hurriedly lit the fire to ask for help from the camp, but unfortunately the Jingzhou army team that had suffered enough thought that it was another feint attack by the Xuzhou army, including Liu Qi, and no one refused to move, Xu Chu's team easily boarded the south bank to organize defense, and Tai Shici commanded the fleet to connect the boats with iron locks, and quickly built a pontoon bridge across the river, and the Xuzhou army began to cross the river endlessly.

By the time Liu Qi finally found out, it was already late, the first pontoon bridge of the Xuzhou army had already been built, and the second and third pontoon bridges had begun to be built urgently, and the fleet also carried a lot of Xuzhou troops across the river in a row, and the strength of the Xuzhou army on the south bank quickly reached more than 6,000. When Cai Mao sent a sailor to intercept it, the Xuzhou military fleet released a dense fire raft to burn the Jingzhou naval division, and the Jingzhou naval division had no intention of fighting, and was in a headwind and water.

Seeing that the situation was critical, Liu Qi, who was red-eyed, came to the front line to supervise the battle, forcing the infantry to attack the Xuzhou Army pontoon bridge with all his might, and Huang Zhong, the current first fierce general of the Jingzhou Army, also went into battle with injuries, and personally led the army to attack the Xuzhou Army to meet the battle, but the land strength of the Jingzhou Army was far inferior to the Xuzhou Army, and the Xuzhou Army was fighting to the death in the case of fighting against the water, and the team was determined to fight to the death, so no matter how the Jingzhou Army attacked, it could not break through the strict phalanx of the Xuzhou Army, on the contrary, it was also killed by the Xuzhou Army and suffered heavy casualties, and there were countless deserters, Huang Zhong, who was wounded in battle, couldn't stop the endless stream of Xuzhou elite soldiers slashing and stabbing guns, and was wounded again and forced to flee back to Liu Qi.

By this time, it was already getting light. Seeing that Huang Zhong had fled back, and seeing that the Xuzhou army's second pontoon bridge had also appeared on the river-crossing army, Liu Qi ignored Huang Zhong's blood, and just roared at Huang Zhong with red eyes, "Who told you to retreat?" You have forgotten my orders, and those who take a step back will die! Immediately lead the army to rush up, and if you don't cut the pontoon bridge of the Xuzhou thief army, you won't be allowed to come back! ”

"Childe, the enemy is full of elite soldiers, and you can't rush in!" Huang Zhong, who had already suffered six wounds, gasped for breath. Desperately, he said, "They have set up the phalanx again." No matter how much you rush, it's useless. ”

"I don't care about this!" Liu Qi yelled hysterically, "I just want you to smash the pontoon bridge of the Xuzhou thief army!" If you can't get the pontoon, don't come back! Don't forget, when you were implicated by Liu Pan's big-eared thief. I saved you! Your son is seriously ill. It's me who gets you a doctor everywhere! But how can you repay me? Xiakou let Yang Zheng pass the customs, and even a pontoon bridge can't be destroyed! What's the use of me raising you?! ”

Huang Zhong, who has not cleared his suspicions so far, has a hard time distinguishing his mouth, so he can only sigh. Then he turned around with a knife, and killed the Xuzhou army pontoon bridge with a head like an ant, and also killed the Xuzhou military array with a forest of knives and guns, the big knife slashed like a tiger down the mountain, and killed six or seven Xuzhou soldiers in a row regardless of his body, and suddenly appeared in the Xuzhou army formation again, but when Huang Zhong was struggling to advance towards the Xuzhou army pontoon bridge, two evil spears pierced one after the other, the first shot pierced into Huang Zhong's lower abdomen, and the second shot pierced into Huang Zhong's vest. He finally couldn't resist the two spears pushing together, fell off the war horse, and was chopped to pieces by the red-eyed Xuzhou soldiers............

The sky is finally clear, the Xuzhou army that has survived the most dangerous stage has also begun to counterattack with all its might, Xu Chu, Zhao Yun and Ma Yan and other fierce generals led the army back and forth to kill, the Jingzhou army could not resist and fled, although Liu Qi tried his best to restrain it, and also hacked to death several of his own defeated soldiers, but in the end he could not resist the joint impact of the Xuzhou army and his own defeated soldiers, and was coerced by the defeated soldiers to flee to the west gate of Xiangyang, the Xuzhou army took advantage of the situation to kill Atou Mountain, and attacked the Jingzhou army's Atou Mountain camp, and the main force of the Jingzhou army of this large camp had already been transferred down the mountain to participate in the battle, The camp was very empty, and seeing the Xuzhou army coming up the mountain, Huang Jie, who stayed in the camp, took the lead in escaping, leaving the strong camp to the Xuzhou army as a foothold on the north bank, and once again made meritorious contributions to the Xuzhou army.

In fact, during the fierce battle, the Jingzhou army is not without a chance to turn defeat into victory at the moment, if Cai Mao's Jingzhou Navy Division can destroy the Xuzhou army's pontoon bridge and cut the Xuzhou army into two, then at least the Xuzhou army that crossed the Han River can fall into a bitter battle, but unfortunately Cai Mao did not have the courage to do this, and did not want to do so, and at the same time, because the Xuzhou army fleet strictly protected the pontoon bridge at any cost, Cai Mao finally chose to be perfunctory, pretending to arrange the sailor to attack upstream, shouting and killing earth-shattering, In fact, it was thunder and rain, and only used long-range weapons such as bows and crossbows to shoot at the Xuzhou fleet, and refused to urge the fleet to go up to start a close-to-board battle, so naturally it was impossible to regret the Xuzhou army's iron cable pontoon bridges, and almost watched the Xuzhou army build three temporary pontoon bridges.

After seeing Liu Qi's defeat and return to Xiangyang City, Cai Mao did not hesitate to lead the army back to Shuizhai to defend the village, and at the same time sent someone into the city to contact his sister, asking her sister to tell Liu Biao the news that the Xuzhou army had broken through Hanshui as soon as possible. After Liu Biao learned the bad news, he vomited blood and fainted on the spot, and when he saw that he was about to run out of oil, he kicked his legs and passed away.

At noon that day, when the Xuzhou army was firmly established on the south bank of the Han River, a man who claimed to be a confidant of General Huang Zu came to Deputy Director Tao who was personally urging the sailor to build a water fence to protect the pontoon bridge, and presented a letter sealed with fire paint to Deputy Director Tao. When Deputy Director Tao opened it, he saw that General Huang Lao wrote a line of words on the letter-Kuailiang Kuaiyue's family and clan, mostly hiding in Zhonglu City, and there were less than 1,000 defenders in the city.

Deputy Director Tao laughed when he saw the book, and urgently ordered Chen Zhi to lead an army of 5,000 to attack the Zhonglu city 20 miles away, and asked Chen Zhi to break the city, be sure to treat the people of the Kuai family well, and not kill and insult them.

In the evening, Liu Biao finally woke up from a coma, regardless of his body was already extremely weak, immediately summoned Liu Qi and the brothers of the Kuai family in front of the sickbed, and questioned Liu Qi about the battle outside the city in person. In a few days, a counterattack could be launched to drive the Xuzhou army across the Han River.

There is no need to ask in detail, just listening to his son's tone of avoiding the serious, Liu Biao knew that the situation outside the city was definitely not good, so he sighed and said weakly: "Qi'er, you hide it from your father, you don't blame you for your father, you don't do it for your father, before you die." As a father, I just want to remind you. Don't expect the city of Xiangyang to block the attack of the Xuzhou thief army, although the city of Xiangyang is strong, in front of the battle-hardened Xuzhou thief army, there is not much hope to be able to hold on for a long time. ”

"Father is relieved. Xiangyang City is five feet high. It is more than two feet thick. If it is impregnable, the child will be able to hold on. Liu Qi comforted.

Liu Biao shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Qi'er." Don't comfort your father, your father knows the situation of the Xiangyang battlefield better than you, and your father won't hide it from you today, in fact, your father didn't expect to be able to block the enemy in the north with Xiangyang alone, just ......, so my father has deliberately put most of Jingzhou's money and grain in Jiangling for so many years, just to leave a way out of the three caves of cunning rabbits. If the battle is not right, you can retreat to Gangneung and go there to make a comeback. Remember, don't hang yourself from this tree in Xiangyang, you still have Jiangling as a retreat ....... ”

Speaking of this, the dying Liu Biao's voice was already so weak that it was difficult to distinguish, Liu Qi, Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue had tears in their eyes, and persuaded Liu Biao to take care of his body together, Liu Qi also cried: "Father, don't worry, the child remembers your advice, if the battle situation is not right, the child will take you to Jiangling to retreat." ”

Liu Biao smiled bitterly, and then grabbed Kuai Liang with his thin old hand, and said in a weak voice: "Zirou, Xenodu, my son, please leave it to you, I know that Qi'er and Cai's are not in harmony, you have to ...... in the middle, mediate in the middle, let them work together, the water ......, the water master is in the hands of Cai Mao, only if he works for Qi'er, you can successfully withdraw to Jiangling, don't ......, otherwise, you can't outrun the pottery thief's cavalry ...... and cavalry on land." ”

"Don't worry, the lord remembers."

Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue cried loudly together, comforting Liu Biao to recuperate together, but at this moment, a Liu Qi's guard suddenly ran in, and whispered a few words in Liu Qi's ear with a panicked expression, Liu Qi's face suddenly changed greatly, and blurted out: "How is it possible? I'm here....... ”

Speaking of this, Liu Qi stopped suddenly, not daring to scream, in front of Liu Biao, Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue did not dare to ask, but Liu Biao looked up nervously and asked, "Qi'er, what happened again?" ”

Liu Qi didn't dare to answer, and glanced at Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue next to him, the Kuai brothers were inexplicable, and felt that Liu Qi was not afraid that Liu Biao would know about it, but that his brother would know. Puzzled, Kuai Yue also asked, "Eldest prince, what happened?" ”

"Father-in-law, uncle, you have to hold on to it." Liu Qi saw that he couldn't hide it, so he lowered his head and said: "Zhonglu is lost, and your clan and family members are all ......." ”

"How is that possible?" Kuai Liang exclaimed loudly: "The Xuzhou thief army only broke through the Han River in the morning, how could it be possible to take Zhonglu so quickly?" Isn't there 3,000 defenders in Zhonglu City? ”

"I'm curious about that, too." Liu Qi was also confused, and hurriedly turned to the guards who came to report the news and asked, "How did Zhonglu lose it?" Zhang Chun's team, why can't they hold on for a few hours? ”

"General Zhang Chun is in Xiangyang City." The guard said with a sad face: "Last night, the Xuzhou thief army smuggled across the Han River, when the war was tense, General Huang sent a messenger to ask General Zhang Chun for help, and General Zhang brought two thousand troops to Atou Mountain to participate in the battle, and then could not stop the attack of the Xuzhou thief army, and General Zhang withdrew into Xiangyang City with General Huang Lao. Later, when the Xuzhou thief army suddenly attacked Zhonglu, Zhang Xia, the tooth general who stayed in Zhonglu City, ...... and surrendered ...... Kaicheng. ”

"Old Huangzu, did he do it on purpose?!" Kuai Liang couldn't help but yell, "Zhang Chun and Zhang Xia brothers, are his subordinate old generals, Zhang Chun inexplicably led the army to reinforce the Atoushan battlefield, Zhang Xia did not make any resistance and surrendered directly, did he arrange it on purpose?" Deliberately let the Xuzhou thief army get our family clan?! ”

"I'm going to send someone to pass Huang Zu to see him!" Liu Qitie blushed and shouted: "Come on, go and pass on the ...... of Huang Zu quickly." ”

"Heaven is dead, my Jingzhou! Heaven is dead to my Jingzhou! ”

Liu Biao's sudden scream interrupted Liu Qi's nervous order, Liu Qi and Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue brothers hurriedly turned their heads to look at Liu Biao, but saw Liu Biao's mouth spurting blood, Liu Qi panicked and rushed to Liu Biao, but Liu Biao's head was crooked, and he was directly soft in his son's arms, and his breath was cut off and he died............

"Father's ——!" Liu Qi's crying voice sounded in Liu Biao's bedroom, and Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue brothers glanced at each other with a blue face, and then nodded together. (To be continued......)