Changsha, south of the Xiang River—the Jing Province army's ambush site. In this era, the place was a stretch of wilderness.
Yet in later generations, it would become the densely populated city of Xiangtan, situated at the confluence of the Lian River and the Xiang River.
Its uniquely favorable terrain made it a natural place for an ambush.
Had Linxiang not yet remained untaken, Huang Zhong would almost have wanted to pitch camp here and block Qin Tian's army.
But since Linxiang, the seat of Changsha Commandery, had not fallen, the only thing they could do was lie in ambush here.
Ever since Huang Zhong headed south, they had led their troops into the dense forest and concealed themselves there.
Yet simply hiding like this was not enough, so Huang Zhong sent scouts south to gather intelligence.
They scouted for a full day. When the scouts returned, he hurriedly asked:
"Have you found any trace of the enemy? Where have they reached now?"
But upon hearing this, the scouts hurriedly shook their heads. Seeing this, Yang Ling advised Huang Zhong:
"General, if we keep searching like this, who knows when we will find them!"
"Since the city has already sent out a plea for aid, we might as well head south first."
"Our army can go directly to Mount Heng and pitch camp there. First ambush their troops, then return here to lie in wait after we win!"
"That way, we can both stop Qin Tian's army from moving north and harass them along the road while waiting for the governor's troops to come south."
Their current ambush site lay south of Linxiang, far too close to the city.
If they failed to defeat Qin Tian in one stroke, they would have no chance to set another ambush.
Therefore, he