Kapitel 377: 363. The Start Of The Siege Of Jiangling
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After the debate going on for some time, finally, the side supporting Liu Bei win the argument as Kuai Yue and Kuai Liang take a step back to compromise, and so the decision was made that they would attack Jiangling, Liu Bei was happy with this result but doesn't show it in his face and asked for Kuai Yue, Kuai Liang, Ju Shou, and Wang Xiu to create the offensive strategy to attack Jiangling.
The four of them cupped their hand toward Liu Bei receiving the order, this offensive plan is an easy thing to do in the eyes of Kuai Yue and Kuai Liang who have lived for a long time in Jing Province.
They know the geographical location and situation like the back of their hand, even though they still think that it is best to not attack Jiangling right now they choose to compromise, ensuring that Liu Bei's government is stable in the current situation.
After receiving confirmation from his four advisors, Liu Bei then gave out another order that Guan Yu would be the Marshal of the Army, so he needed to ensure the preparation of his army was adequate.
He would lead the attack on Jiangling, accompanied by Huo Jun, Lu Gong, and Liu Pan while Zhang Fei and Sun Shao would stay in Xiangyang to guard against possible Cao Cao or Lie Fan attack.
This assignment received approval from Kuai Yue, Kuai Liang, Ju Shou, and Wang Xiu as they feel that Liu Bei's choice was steady and could ensure the success of their invasion and possible defensive battle.
With that, the meeting was ended by Liu Bei allowing all of his retainers to do their assignment leaving the hall almost empty, where Liu Qi was the only person in the hall except for Liu Bei.
Looking at Liu Qi, Liu Bei asks him if there's something wrong or something that he wants to talk about with him, seeing as he is waiting for the others to leave the hall to talk with him.
Liu Qi shook his head saying that it wasn't an emergency, but he requested that he could return to Xinye, where he was nominally the Governor and borough Fu Xun alongside him.
Hearing Fu Xun's name, Liu Bei suddenly remembered about this man who was captured after Liu Bei overthrew Liu Biao in Xiangyang, and that time when Fu Xun was accompanying Liu Qi he was found out as Cai Mao's spy.
This is of course a big betrayal for Liu Qi and Liu Pan who thought that he was one of their trusted retainers, even treating him like their own uncle but they never expected to be related by such betrayal.
Now hearing that Liu Qi wanted to bring Fu Xun back to Xinye, there are two possibilities that happened in Liu Bei's mind where the first one Liu Qi would release Fu Xun allowing him to return to Liu Biao.
The second one was Liu Qi managed to persuade Fu Xun by any means necessary to serve him and swear his allegiance to Liu Bei, allowing him to gain another advisor at his disposal, so his family could be captured when the siege on Jiangling ended, either to ensure their safety or to force Fu Xun to comply.
So after being silent for a short time, Liu Bei nodded his head and allowed Liu Qi to return back to Xinye to continue his duty there, he allowed Fu Xun to be brought with him and he also tasked Liu Qi to persuade Fu Xun to serve him.
Liu Qi hearing Liu Bei's task nodded his head and told Liu Bei that he would do his best to persuade Fu Xun, but he couldn't promise that Fu Xun would comply.
Liu Bei waved his hand and said that as long as he tried, he wouldn't blame him if he failed to persuade Fu Xun, but he couldn't free Fu Xun from prison as Fu Xun was a spy and could possibly hold many secrets and information that he has taken from them secretly.
After hearing that from Liu Bei, Liu Qi cupped his hand toward Liu Bei and took his leave, leaving Liu Bei alone in the empty main hall where he soon dreamed about his next step after taking Jiangling, which was to expand his land even further.
5 days passed by in the blink of an eye, Liu Qi returned to Xinye bringing Fu Xun alongside him while Guan Yu with Huo Jun, Lu Gong, and Liu Pan finished the preparation for Liu Bei's Army to invade Jiangling.
While the army preparation had just finished, the offensive strategy was already completed a day prior when Kuai Liang, Kuai Yue, Ju Shou, and Wang Xiu presented it to Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Huo Jun, Lu Gong, and Liu Pan.
They explained how right now in Jiangling there is a shortage of food due to the sudden army population that resided in Jinagling to guard against them, which caused the prices to increase to an absurd level and caused the common people to suffer.
This caused many commoners to resort to low level crime like stealing to feed their families, especially since Jiangling was under a lockdown where people who wanted to come and go were checked thoroughly, and the guards even sometimes asked for money blackmailing the merchants and commoners.
So they could take advantage of the public rage toward Liu Biao, inciting them to cause a riot to distract the attention of Liu Biao's army, at this time Guan Yu could lead their army to begin the siege causing Liu Biao's Army to fight on two fronts.
Even though the riot couldn't be called a fight for Lou Biao's Army, at least it would cause a massive distraction that allowed Guan Yu and his army to take advantage of the situation.
Then while Guan Yu leads the main battle, Lu Gong and Liu Pan infiltrate the city from a small secret entrance on the west side of Jiangling, which is usually used by smugglers to smuggle some food and necessities inside Jiangling.
They found out about this location due to Kuai Liang's extensive network that he had built over the past couple of decades in Jing Province, so many people owed him a favor and now he cashed in those favors to find this information.
Using this secret entrance, Huo Jun and Lu Gong then would support the rioters inside Jiangling, and from there they would do an all out assault on the Northern gate of Jiangling to force it open.
When they managed to open it, Guan Yu would less his army to subdue any resistance and began to placate the rioters while the rest began to secure Jiangling, if this plan was successful then Liu Biao and Cai Mao should have long retreated from Jiangling.
Their plan was immediately accepted by all the people present, as they believed in the four of them, especially the Kuai brothers even though sometimes Liu Bei's generals go head to head in an argument against them.
Since the plan was ready and the army was ready, Guan Yu accompanied by Ju Shou as his strategist with Huo Jun, Lu Gong, and Liu Pan as his generals, began their march toward Jiangling.
Liu Biao and Cai Mao who were in Jiangling didn't know of the oncoming threat that was heading toward their location, as there were some problems in their rear located in Changsha where Governor Han Xuan of Changsha showed signs of rebelling.
So Liu Bei's Army managed to pass through unnoticed until 2 weeks passed by in the blink of an eye, when their location was already near Jiangling both Liu Biao and Cai Mao received reports of their sighting.
Hearing that there were around 200,000 men marching toward Jiangling, Cai Mao immediately led the defenses of Jiangling while Liu Biao tried to calm down his court.
After losing Xiangyang and Cai Mao's defeat at Jixan, Liu Biao became much older than when he still controlled Xiangyang, so many of his courtiers began to lose respect for him due to his defeats and psychical aging and turned toward Liu Cong for answers.
Even though this happened, Liu Biao doesn't care because in his eyes Liu Cong would succeed him sooner or later, but of course, he has given his youngest son a warning to not mess around and report to him anything that his courtiers said to him.
After managing to calm his court, Liu Biao then ordered his courtiers to begin preparation for evacuation, in case Cai Mao couldn't hold Jiangling's defenses and they had to retreat to Changsha.
Hearing this many of Liu Biao's courtiers protested because if they retreated, then they would lose the entire Northern part of Jing Province which would weapon him drastically.
Liu Biao waved his hand and told them to listen to him if they wanted to stay alive, he had seen that Cai Mao was somewhat incompetent in land combat so he decided when he retreated to Changsha, he would order a recruitment notice for generals.
When Liu Biao wanted to say another word, suddenly they heard a loud sound of war drums being sounded and bells ringing, which indicates that Liu Bei's Army had arrived.
Outside of Jiangling Northern Gate, 200,000 of Liu Bei's men under the leadership of Guan Yu have begun to enter their designated offensive formations, especially Huo Jun and Lu Gong who will lead some men to infiltrate Jiangling.
Cai Mao was standing on the wall of Jiangling overlooking Liu Bei's Army that was preparing their formation and siege engines, and looking at a large number of men before him he wasn't optimistic about his chances of holding Jiangling.
He then turned to his commanders to ready their men, especially the archer units, and also to prepare stones that were heavy enough but still could be carried to be thrown at the enemies below.
He also orders the siege ladders to immediately kick off the wall when they see it is being placed, or if they are afraid to be shot by arrows while doing so they could use a spear or something long that is strong enough to push down the ladder.
While Cai Mao was doing his last preparation, he didn't notice that Huo Jun and Lu Gong alongside their unit were separating from the main formation, and when Cai Mao wanted to turn his head to Liu Bei's Army, suddenly from their rear they heard the sound of people shouting and rocks were thrown toward their location, and when he walked toward the opposite side of the wall he was surprised by the sight he saw.
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Name: Lie Fan
Title: Three Heroes Who Defeat Lu Bu
Age: 30 (197 AD)
Level: 16
Next Level: 462,000
Renown: 825
Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 9)
SP: 1,121,700
ATTRIBUTE POINTS
STR: 936 (+20)
VIT: 598 (+20)
AGI: 583 (+10)
INT: 587
CHR: 96
WIS: 509
WILL: 397
ATR Points: 0
AUTORENGEDANKEN 
Tang12
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