Pan Zhang fled to Chaohu in embarrassment with his remaining soldiers.

Because he was tired and hungry on the way, Pan Zhang sent his troops to plunder several wine shops near the lake.

Fortunately, there are watchtowers erected next to each wine shop. After the first two wine shops were looted, the personnel of nearby wine shops were evacuated one after another.

In the end, nearly 200 people from thirty-six rest stops in the north of Chaohu, including shopkeepers, waiters, and watchmen, all fled to Hefei together.

Since Hefei did not form a formal naval force and did not send troops to garrison rest stations, Long Xiang once ordered that people should be evacuated immediately in case of danger. For him, people are more important than wealth.

In addition, Long Xiang did not send good things like telescopes to Chaohu Observation Towers. He would rather build a few more towers by the lake to make up for the field of vision, rather than put "cutting-edge technology" in danger.

The sudden changes in the staff at the lakeside wine shop also attracted the attention of Lu Meng on the boat.

Seeing the crowds running in panic on the shore, he immediately sent another commander, Xu Sheng, to take a speedboat along the lake shore in the opposite direction to investigate.

Lu Meng guessed that these people were frightened and there might be thieves in the east.

Half a day later, Xu Sheng returned with his troops.

He found out the cause of the commotion on the shore and brought back the instigators Pan Zhang and Song Qian.

Looking at Pan Zhang and Song Qian's embarrassed appearance, Lu Meng's heart tightened and he felt that something was not good.

Xu Sheng took Pan Zhang and Song Qian to the main ship to recover. As soon as the three of them boarded the deck from the escalator, Pan Zhang took the lead and stepped forward, then knelt down on one knee with clasped fists and apologized.

"Great Governor, the general will be guilty."

"Why is Wen Gui like this? The sky will not fall down. If something happens, you will speak up."

Lu Meng was mentally prepared. He glanced at Song Qian with a serious expression, and then stepped forward to help Pan Zhang up.

But Pan Zhang did not want to get up and did not dare to look directly at Lu Meng. He still lowered his head and replied: "The last general failed to capture Liyang. Instead, he lost many soldiers and horses. Ma Zhong is also trapped in the city with his life or death uncertain. Please supervise and punish him."

."

Lu Meng frowned and looked at Song Qian and asked: "What happened? Could it be that Tai Shixiang saw through the plan? You were blocked outside the city and attacked? That's not right. Why is Ma Zhong trapped in the city again?"

"What the Governor said is true."

Song Qian nodded and clasped his fists and replied: "Actually, we have opened the city gate, but on the way into the city, the defenders suddenly attacked for unknown reasons, and we started a fierce battle with the defenders."

"Since the city gate has been forced open, there is no high damage caused by storming the city, and your strength is three times that of the defenders. Why are you still defeated and returning?"

Lu Meng looked at Song Qian in disbelief, as if blaming the two for their poor performance.

Song Qian explained awkwardly: "The governor didn't know something. Even though the Liyang defenders relied on their familiarity with the terrain to engage in fierce street battles with us, our side had an overwhelming advantage. But in the middle of the battle, a large group of soldiers suddenly came from behind and killed them.

When they came, their troops were much larger than ours, so Wen Gui had no choice but to order a breakout and retreat."

Lu Meng hurriedly asked: "Taishi has reinforcements? Who is their leading general?"

"I don't know if they have reinforcements, but they entered the city without declaring war and killed everyone they saw. Wen Gui and I don't know either."

Seeing that Song Qian's explanation was almost complete, Pan Zhang once again clasped his fists above his head and said loudly: "Please punish the guilty by the governor."

Lu Meng frowned and glanced at Pan Zhang, thinking to himself, no wonder you have to kneel down. It turns out you don't even know who your opponent is. It's really embarrassing to be so confused.

The forces close to Liyang include Long Xiang from Hefei in the west, Chen Lan from Quanjiao in the north, and Sun Yi from Danyang across the river in the east.

Lü Meng's fleet was guarding the shore of Chao Lake and did not notice Hefei's troops mobilizing eastward. This eliminated Long Xiang's suspicion first.

Chen Lan and Sun Yi were left as two suspects. Lu Meng hoped from the bottom of his heart that it was Chen Lan. After all, Sun Yi's identity was very sensitive and it would be appropriate for Sun Quan to handle it himself.

Chen Lan once wanted to surrender to Jiangdong. Perhaps because Sun Cao fought in Huainan and Jiangdong's performance dissatisfied him, he never mentioned surrendering to Jiangdong again.

In the past two years, Chen Lan had been entrenched in Quanjiao and Fuling and had never had any conflict with Taishi Ci. Even if Taishi Ci fell into a trap and was surrounded last time, he did not take the opportunity to attack Liyang.

Compared to Sun Yi, who had a secret affair with Taishi Ci, Chen Lan's motives and suspicions were much smaller, but no matter who harmed his good deeds, Lu Meng planned to find out clearly.

Thinking of this, Lu Meng bent down to help Pan Zhang, and at the same time comforted him and said: "Since reinforcements have joined, it is not Wen Gui's fault. Please get up and speak quickly."

"Thank you, Commander-in-Chief."

When Pan Zhang heard this, he stood up with relief, and then clasped his fists to ask for instructions: "This general has failed, will the governor send troops to Liyang? My general Ma Zhong is very clever, and he has practiced a good arrow but has not yet used it.

, please try your best to rescue him if possible.”

"The enemy of Liyang has ruined my important affairs. I can't send a message to the Lord until I know it clearly."

Lu Meng frowned and muttered to himself, and then told Xu Sheng: "Wen Xiang, you immediately send someone to Liyang to investigate. First find out the identity of this enemy, and then I will decide whether to send troops to investigate."

"The last general takes orders."

"Wait a minute."

"The Governor has any other instructions?"

Xu Sheng turned around and was about to leave, but was suddenly stopped by Lu Meng. He quickly turned around and clasped his fists to ask for instructions.

"Why did the people in the wine shop on the shore flee? Did you find out the reason just now?"

"Emojiang"

Xu Sheng hesitated and refused to answer, but his eyes glanced at Pan Zhang intentionally or unintentionally. Lu Meng understood what he meant by observing his words and expressions, and then waved his hand to signal Pan Zhang to leave.

Watching Xu Sheng leave the deck, Lu Meng turned around and stared directly at Pan Zhang, asking seriously: "Tell me, what did you do? Scared away the guys from the wine shop."

"The soldiers were hungry during the march. They happened to pass by a few wine shops by the lake. The general made some food and drinks casually, but only killed five or six young boys who resisted."

Pan Zhang had a dissolute nature and loved drinking. He had previously helped Jiangdong conquer the Shanyue rebellion, either by borrowing money or by robbing people of food and drink. However, because of his prowess in battle, he was loved by Sun Quan, so no one punished him for this minor problem.

After hearing this, Lu Meng frowned and reminded in a deep voice: "These wine shops belong to Hefei. If Long Xiang pursues the case, I'm afraid you will have to pay some money for compensation."

Pan Zhang disagreed and asked: "I just killed a few Guizhou leaders and used some wine and food in the shop. Long Xiang took Sun Bohai (Sun He) as the governor of Lujiang, and the lord did not ask him to raise an army to question him. Long Xiang should not

Isn’t that stingy?”

"Who knows, but you should be more restrained in the future."

Lu Meng shook his head and sighed. When he was moving bricks in Hefei, he learned that Long Xiang, who had no ambitions, was very kind to the people under his rule. It was hard to say whether he would be angry about this.

What Pan Zhang did was big or small, and Lu Meng was hesitant to explain it to Long Xiang.

Failure to explain is likely to cause the situation to escalate and make Long Xiang and himself at odds.

Taking the initiative to explain, it also shows that Lu Meng is timid in character. The dignified governor should not be too humble. Trivial matters are not worthy of his intervention.

Lu Meng thought for a long time, and finally chose not to explain. His current focus was on Liyang.
Chapter completed!