Just as turmoil broke out at the imperial court, the fighting in Huainan was drawing to a close.
Sun Jun's original intention had been to lend Qingzhou a show of support, not to actually fight Guanqiu Jian. He merely wanted to make his position clear, support the rebels from afar, and see whether he could pick up some refugees or intercept some reinforcements along the way.
He had been confident about this. After all, Jiang Wei had been plundering Wei's population and attacking its reinforcements year after year.
If Jiang Wei could do it, surely he, the grand general of the Wu Kingdom, could do it too?
The facts told him that, indeed, he could not.
He was not Jiang Wei and had no combat experience. His opponent was not the gravely ill Guo Huai, either, nor was his opponent without any intention of attacking.
He had assumed Guanqiu Jian would have to keep his attention on the rebellion in Qingzhou. Even if Guanqiu Jian learned of his approach, he would still have to muster an army, and it would take at least ten days or more before he could march out.
But he had never imagined that Guanqiu Jian had long since made his preparations and was simply waiting for him to deliver himself into his hands.
On his third day in Huainan, he encountered the fully prepared army of Cao Wei.
It was even a combined force, composed of the armies of Guanqiu Jian, Wen Qin, and Hu Zun.
This caught Sun Jun completely off guard. Fortunately, he fled quickly enough. Just as he was hesitating over whether to rescue Liu Zan, Liu Zan's nephew arrived and told him that his uncle had resolved to fight to the death.
Even as Sun Jun tearfully lamented General Liu's valor,