On this day, the third day of the first lunar month in the 17th year of Jian'an, more than 100,000 troops gathered at Wankou, a normally unremarkable Jiangbei port, in just half a day.
However, compared with the crushing situation a month ago, when Liu Beijun was in high spirits and invincible, the current situation is completely reversed - Liu Beijun is the one who is at a disadvantage.
Although Zhuge Liang was cautious on the way after retreating from Piling, he still failed to realize that Yi Xiaotian was driving them step by step into the encirclement of Wankou.
But in the final analysis...the news that Chen Shi, Wu Ban and the entire 30,000-strong naval force were annihilated far exceeded Zhuge Liang's expectations.
This was an elite navy of 30,000 men. The enemy they faced was the Jiangdong Army, which had lost its ship advantage and the Chaisang Navy of the past. The entire army of 30,000 men was wiped out, and not a single stern ship was left behind.
Zhuge Liang and others were left with a mess to clean up.
Under such circumstances, it is understandable that Zhuge Liang would collapse.
However, reality will not give you any salvation just because your life is a mess.
On the contrary, whenever this happens, what awaits you is always a worse situation.
Just like Liu Beijun's current situation.
——
At dawn in the early morning, Liu Bei's army arrived at Wankou after marching all night.
And everything was as Pang Tong expected. Because the enemy defeated their navy at Wankou, they had more time to build an encirclement.
As expected, the entire retreat route was intercepted by the opponent.
Faced with such a dilemma, Pang Tong certainly would not give up hope.
He knew that the current siege by his opponents only seemed to be sparse, but in fact it was not without breakthroughs.
And the reason why he drove the army to continue to collide with the opponent's defense line even though he knew that the opponent was preparing for it——
Wancheng.
This was the first city where Sun Quan led 100,000 Jiangdong soldiers and horses to fight Cao Cao in the Battle of Hefei.
However, after capturing Wancheng, the attack by Zhang Zhao and others led to the disorganization of the army, and the subsequent split in command also led to the first battle of Hefei, which ended in a disastrous defeat for the Jiangdong people.
But although Hefei failed to be captured, Wancheng remained as the forefront of the confrontation between Jiangdong and Northern Cao Cao over the years.
After many years of management by Lu Su, Wancheng is more prosperous than before, both in terms of materials and population——
It can be said that if Wancheng can be captured, for Liu Beijun, it will be equivalent to gaining the capital to continue the stalemate with the enemy.
From now on, even if Guan Yu is really held back by Cao Ren, they can still rely on Wancheng to wait for more support.
Even...even because Wancheng is located at the northernmost end of the Lujiang River, although the opponent can isolate them from the outside world by besieging the city, due to the previous fall of large areas of land in Jiangdong, now...the supply lines of the Jiangdong people are far from as smooth as before.
If we drag it on... it will make the people of Kodong unable to accept it.
In short, with this idea in mind, although Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong's original intention was to retreat as soon as possible, what they want to do now is to attack from the front. With the disadvantages in all directions, they storm the entrance of Anhui, break through the blockade, and capture Anhui.
The city is a place of leisure waiting for work.
——
After Gan Ning led his army to wipe out the enemy navy, he was obviously in a very excited state.
What Zhuge Liang may not know is that their navy's ships were not completely blown up, and quite a few of them were actually preserved under Gan Ning's deliberate attention.
It's not that Gan Ning had selfish motives at the time, it was simply because Yi Xiaotian's torpedo did not destroy the world as described by those who escaped Liu Beijun.
How did Chen Shi die?
Of course, in the boarding battle, he was killed by Gan Ning's formation - again, with the technology of this era, Yi Xiaotian led Huang Yueying and others to develop a bomb that can explode underwater, which is already quite impressive.
It’s not easy, not to mention that they couldn’t even complete the test——
In the letter, Yi Xiaotian had already told Gan Ning that if the torpedo failed to produce the expected effect, Gan Ning should just throw the bomb out as he originally intended, and it would still be able to inflict damage on the enemy's ships.
Cause a devastating blow.
Now, despite the terrifying noise caused by the torpedoes, many of the torpedoes behind them did not explode continuously, so the ship was able to survive.
The result of this preserved ship made Gan Ning eager to try it.
Just as carriages and horses are a man's romance, boats are also a romance for Gan Ning and other trendsetters.
But - after all, Wang Can is still in Wancheng.
Yes, this time because of Yi Xiaotian, Wang Can came to Wancheng to prepare supplies for him, and naturally he also established a relationship with Gan Ning.
When he saw that Gan Ning was about to break out of his plan, Wang Can managed to hold him down.
And as expected, this inevitable battle broke out suddenly near noon on the third day of the lunar month.
Gan Ning and others, with their backs to the Wan River, built a rammed earth fortress here in just three days to resist the retreating Liu Bei army.
It can be said that as they firmly hold the river mouth, as long as they are not overwhelmed by a wave of enemies, they can hold back the enemy's retreat.
Not to mention, they still have a lot of bombs that Yi Xiaotian gave them. Gan Ning has nearly 10,000 soldiers and horses, all of whom were the elite troops of Chaisang Navy back then. Although this battle is not
Fighting on water, but there is no doubt about the combat experience of these people.
Gan Ning stood on the earthen wall of the fortress and looked into the distance. Before the enemy appeared, he received a report from his own scouts, saying that the enemy had appeared more than ten miles away and would arrive at Wankou in less than an hour.
All is ready except for the opportunity.
Gan Ning knew that this was his only chance in this life, so he had no intention of neglecting it.
But the reality far exceeded his expectation.
——
When it comes to leading troops to fight, Wang Can can't provide any useful advice.
Not to mention, Guo Jia has returned after brokering the cooperation between the two. How to deal with the enemy now is a difficulty that Gan Ning must solve.
Yi Xiaotian couldn't tell him this in advance.
Less than an hour later, Liu Beijun came along with the smoke and dust on the horizon.
Just looking at the formation, you can't feel it at all. This is what an army that has been fleeing should look like.
The murderous aura and intimidation that hit his face made Gan Ning faintly sense that something was wrong.
But he still had no intention of retreating, and just ordered his subordinates to withstand the opponent's strongest offensive no matter what.
A moment later, the distance between the two sides quickly narrowed. Gan Ning did not hesitate to give orders to his own troops who were ambushing near the valley on the side of the city. In an instant, three large armies appeared in the wilderness to attack the approaching Liu Bei army.
An attack like a violent storm unfolded.
If everything develops as Gan Ning expected, this ambush alone can delay the opponent's evacuation.
However…
"Sure enough, I have been fooled. If we continue fighting like this, we will be able to survive until my lord and the others arrive!"
Gan Ning felt sad in his heart, but the smile on his lips stiffened after a moment.
Because, within his field of vision, Liu Beijun, whose momentum was originally blocked after being surrounded, not only did not stop, but instead exerted all his energy, and his speed went up to a higher level - from within their army, a burst of
The extremely neat team of cavalry rushed out quickly and headed straight for their earthen fortress.
On the other side... the ambush he set up immediately stopped firing after firing for only one round...
